Horror Flicks t-z

T-Z

TENEBRE (1982)

D/W Dario Argento

Argento’s flick may very well be one of the best splatter/slasher/gialli ever produced! A tense plot follows horror author Peter Neal to Rome where he’s promoting his new book but becomes the target for a crazed hacker who is basing his murders on scenes from Neal’s books. Contains some of the most brutal ax and straight razor attacks ever put on screen. The intriguing plot will have you guessing to the killer’s identity all the way to the end. Recommended.

THE TERROR WITHIN 2 (1991)

D/W Andrew Stevens

In the post apocalyptic future, mutant beasts roam the wastelands and it’s up to hero/star Stevens to put a whuppin’ on their deformed butts. Stevens finds a survivor and helps take her and a bunch of medicine to an underground lab. Decent creature feature produced by the drive-in movie king Roger Corman.

TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION (1994)

D/W Kim Henkel

Fourth SAW flick is another remake finding a group of high schoolers being abducted by the cannibal clan on prom night. Uneven scripting results in some logic blackouts and the flick suggests that our loveable cannibals may very well be the product of aliens (?). With Matthew McConaughey.

TICKS (1993)

D. Tony Randel W. Brent V. Friedman

A group of troubled teens spend the week on retreat in the woods and encounter monstrous sized, man eating ticks, the product of a growth steroid used by local pot farmers. One super monster bug flick that includes a mutated tick-boy and a terrific tick attack finale. With Seth Green.

THE TOOLBOX MURDERS (1977)

D. Dennis Donnelly W. Neva Friedman, Robert Easter & Ann Kindberg

Cameron Mitchell stars as a homicidal handyman who has taken it upon himself to rid the world or whores and sinners. (You know the type.) The first twenty minutes are a power tool holocaust as Big C decimates and annihilates the sinning tenants in his apartment building. Afterwards the flick slows down as Mitchell abducts a neighborhood girl who resembles his deceased daughter. Very strange and very disturbing.

TOURIST TRAP (1979)

D. David Schmoeller W. J. Larry Carroll & David Schmoeller

Outstanding nightmare flick where vacationing young people are trapped in a roadside museum where the displays come to life and kill. Proprietor Chuck Connors runs the joint with his psychotic, telekinetic brother. A fantastically surreal, nightmare atmosphere permeates throughout the entire film. Great moody score by Pino Donaggio. From Charles Band.

TWICE DEAD (1988)

D. Bert Dragin W. Robert McDonnell & Bert Dragin

Odd mix of the haunted house, ghost, revenge and slasher subgenres has the Cates family moving into a house that belonged to a 1930s Hollywood star that killed himself. The spirit haunts the family then has a change of heart and becomes their protector when a gang targets the family for terror. Has a couple nice “rubber reality” touches and a few decent shocks.

UNCLE SAM (1996)

D. William Lustig W. Larry Cohen

From the same team who brought us the MANIAC COP series, Lustig and Cohen blow up the Fourth of July with the rampage of an angry, vengeful zombie soldier who was a casualty of “friendly fire.” Moves briskly with a couple of cool gore set pieces and a great cast.

URBAN LEGEND (1998)

D. Jamie Blanks W. Silvio Horta

Nifty slasher-basher centers around a college campus where a stalker is snuffing various members of the student body via urban legends (i.e. dog in a microwave, killer in the back of a car, gang members looking for victims with no headlights on, etc). The young cast is likeable and the film builds some decent suspense while working its way to the killer’s unmasking. With Alice Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, Joshua Jackson and Robert Englund.

THE UNSEEN (1980)

D. Peter Foleg W. Michael L. Grace

A TV news crew of three women head out to the boonies to cover an annual festival. When they arrive in the town they find that their hotel reservations have been lost. They have to travel to the next closest town and find accommodations from creepy Sydney Lassick and his equally creepy wife. As the girls split up they fall victim to a strange creature kept hidden away in the basement. Well written and scary, THE UNSEEN should play on your nerves and give your gag reflex a good working out as several disturbing and nasty revelations are made during the final dash to the bloody climax.

VAMP (1986)

D/W Richard Wenk

Fast paced, amusing, vampire strip-club drama has frat hopefuls Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler scouting the After Dark Club for a stripper to pop her top at a frat bash and inadvertently fighting off the legions of the undead before dawn. Gedde Watanabe as their rich, Asian sidekick Duncan is a hoot and has all the best lines. Grace Jones is Katrina, an ages old Egyptian vampire goddess who sets her sights on the trio. Lots of kooky characters help make this a fun, wild ride.

VAMPIRES (1998)

D. John Carpenter W. Don Jakoby

James Woods plays Jack Crow, a badass vampire killer trained by the Catholic Church and sent on church sanctioned “hunting” trips to wipe out existing dens of blood suckers. Team Crow is a rowdy bunch of rough-necks. All too soon they learn that Valek, the Master Vamp, is their match. All bets are off as Crow hunts down Valek himself and attempts to prevent the vampire from acquiring the Berzies Cross, which would allow the creeper and his minions to walk in sunlight. Chuck full of typical Carpenter-esque tough guy banter and exciting vampire attacks and annihilations, Carpenter proves that he is still a master of the genre. Woods is over the top intense.

VOODOO DAWN (1990)

D. Steven Fierberg W. John Russo, Jeffrey Delman & Evan Dunsky

Okay attempt at crafting a voodoo zombie story in which an evil Haitian witch-doctor begins to harvest a crop of the undead on American soil. There are moments of really chilling ambiance, but never enough to deliver any real scares. It was based on a short novel by horror author John Russo. (Displeased with the results of this film, Russo expanded on his voodoo novella and brought it to a full length terror epic entitled LIVING THINGS.)

WATCHERS 3

D. Jeremy Stanford W. Michael Palmer

Producer Roger Corman’s third stab at adapting Dean Koontz’ bestselling sci-fi/horror hybrid WATCHERS. Actually, except for having a braniac dog telepathically linked to a monstrous killing creature, there’s little of Koontz’ novel here. (Koontz had his name removed from the project completely.) Stanford takes this outing into PREDATOR territory as a group of soldiers is wiped out by the blood thirsty beast. It delivers buckets of budget blood and guts and stars the great Wings Hauser. (Another sequel, WATCHERS REBORN, followed in 1998.)

WAXWORK (1988)

D/W Anthony Hickox

A bizarre wax museum appears and a group of rich teens are fed to the displays so pure evil can soon rule the world. Nifty “warp” horror story has each teen enter an exhibit only to have the exhibit come to life and play out a violent scene. When the teen dies in the scene, he or she becomes a permanent fixture in the museum. (Most all the scenes that play out are from classic horror films.) Hickox stated that this effort was his homage to the Hammer films of his youth, but he also gives a tip of the hat to such films as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, IT’S ALIVE and THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, among many others. Great cast keeps the proceedings alive and fun. Was followed by a weak sequel.

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK (1993)

D/W Fred Walton

Worthy follow-up to the late ‘70s chiller reunites original cast members Carol Kane and Charles Durning with original writer-director Walton. Jill Schoelen is a babysitter targeted by a stalker on a dark and lonely night. Five years later she is terrorized by the same man until, in a fit of anxiety, she tries to commit suicide. The stalker comes to Schoelen’s hospital room and brutalizes her while she sleeps in a coma. The stalker is one real sick dude who hides behind different “masks” but Kane takes care of him in the harrowing finale.

THE WILD BEASTS (1985)

D. Danielle Patucchi W. Franco E. Prosper

When PCP is accidentally dumped into a zoo’s water supply, all the animals in lock-up go nutzoid. They escape their pens and cages to chomp, stomp, chew and basically annihilate every human being that gets in their way. Gory fun with a truly twisted ending.

WITCHTRAP (1989)

D/W Kevin S. Tenney

Tepid haunted house chiller wherein a group of psychic investigators search for the malevolent spirit of Avery Lauter, a known warlock. A rather slow moving story that does come to gory life for a few fleeting scenes. (Such as the warlock’s cool meltdown at the end.) Fans of Linnea Quigley should delight in her “haunted” shower scene.

ZOMBIE (1980)

D. Lucio Fulci W. Elisa Briganti & Dardano Sacchetti

Terrific living dead romp by the man who has spilled more blood, brains and internal organs than even George Romero, Maestro Fulci. On a tropical island a virus is bringing the dead back to life and news reporter Ian McCulloch and Tisa Farrow head to the Caribbean to investigate. They arrive as the dead attack and help a handful of island survivors battle the undead legions. Flick is famous for its scene of a long splinter going into a woman’s eye in unflinching, nauseating gory close-up. Also includes a great underwater wrestling scene between an irritated shark and a hungry zombie. A must see- considered a true drive-in classick!