My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Somehow, this is the first time I have seen this film. I spent a lot of weekends in the 80s watching horror films, so how did I miss one of the most popular (among horror films, not in terms of box-office success) slasher films that popped up in the wake of the Halloween/Friday the 13th knock-off boom?
This film is one of the better examples of a slasher flick out there. The plot follows the basic formula of the genre - there is a maniac on the loose (in this case, on Valentine's Day), and the victims, unaware of any danger, find various reasons to be split up and picked off. The main thing that sets this film apart from its contemporaries is the setting - it takes place in a mining town, and since most of the characters are miners, a lot of the action takes place in a mine. The makers of the film decided to use an actual mine, too. The mine adds a little something extra to the film. A mine is bigger than an old mansion, so there are even more isolated tunnels/hallways spread out over a larger area that makes it more plausible that people could be split up and not hear what is going on around them. Also, a mine is supposed to be dark and spooky, so there is no need to manufacture that feeling with things like a power outage or a thunderstorm.
The killer himself looks especially scary with his miner outfit (I have no idea if that's how miners actually dressed in the early 80s, but the get-up was certainly effective), and the kills are well done. I watched the extended version of the film, which restored several minutes of footage that was removed to avoid an X rating at the time. After seeing films like Saw and Hostel in recent years, the removed scenes do not compare to some of the stuff film makers get away with today, but the removed scenes are still effective (one guy is killed by drowning in a scalding pot of hot dog water).
This is a must-see for anyone who is a fan of the genre. I am going to try and watch the remake this month to see how they compare (most likely not very well,but you never know).
Return of the Living Dead (1985)
This is another film from the 80s that I remember seeing all the time at the video store when I was a kid, but somehow never saw all the way through until now (I had recently seen a bit of the edited version on cable recently and I enjoyed it enough to stop watching and add the DVD to my Netflix queue).
Return... was based on a story by on of the guys, John Russo, that was involved with George Romero in making the original Night of the Living Dead. When they parted ways, Russo kept the rights to any films with "Living Dead" in their title (which was why none of Romero's subsequent zombie films had any version of the title of his original). This film is a great example of the over the top, somewhat campy, morbidly funny horror film that, when done right, can be very enjoyable. Its not scary at all, but it's really not trying to be. It relies on special effects and gross humor to get its reaction from the audience rather than fear.
The plot revolves around the chemicals that cause the zombie out break in Night of the Living Dead (in the world of the movie, that film actually exists and as a true story, but the details were changed to hide the truth of what really happened) are released into a medical supply warehouse, and then eventually to a cemetery. Of course, zombie mayhem ensues.
I enjoyed the hell out of this film. The the acting was sub-par, but this movie wasn't meant to be played straight, so it fit. The zombie effects, especially the initial creature that was freed, were weird end gory enough without looking cheap. This is a completely different film than the Romero zombie films, but it is enjoyable for its own reasons.
Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988)
Since the sequel to the last movie was available on Netflix Instant, I decided to dive right in. Within the first few minutes, it was apparent that I was not going to enjoy this movie as much as the first one for one simple reason - I hate movies that have child characters that behave and think like adults, and the main character in this film is one of them. However, one of the other main characters is the guy who played Bobby Briggs on Twin Peaks, so it has that going for it.
This film tries to replicate everything that the first film pulled off - over the top acting, campy/morbid humor, and weird zombie effects, and does none of it as well. It even casts two of the main actors from the first film in different roles, but has them act just like (and has the same thing happen to them, practically) as in the original Return. There are much more zombies in this film, and it takes place over a larger area (a whole town instead of just a cemetery (and the surrounding blocks), since this is a sequel after all. However, most of this movie falls flat.
Virgin Witch (1971)
I really wish I would have looked into this film a little more before I added it to my Netflix queue. There is nothing scary, suspenseful or creepy about it - its an early 70s British soft-core nudie film that just happens to be about a coven of witches. A total waste of time (if you are expecting a horror film - if you are expecting copious amounts of 70s female nudity, totally NOT a waste of time...).
(No trailer available)
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