Introduction

Hello all!

I've written a ton of reviews over the years for any number of websites, and thought it might be cool to assemble a host of them in one place, particularly those that have somewhat fallen by the wayside over the years. I will likely just post things at random, one or two at a time, perhaps with the occasional intro.

In addition, look out for the occasional review of a new movie, or a link to my latest articles online. By all means let me know if there's something you would like to see me review! My specialty is movie and TV reviews, but I also do the occasional music review, and I love making lists.

You can find the lion's share of my work at the following sites:
Film Equals: http://www.filmequals.com/author/marktrammell/
TV Equals: https://www.tvequals.com/author/mark/
HorrorGeekLife: http://horrorgeeklife.com/author/mtrammell/
Rue Morgue: https://www.rue-morgue.com/
Film Debate: http://filmdebate.co.uk/tag/mark-trammell/

Thanks for checking me out, and be sure and comment if you like what you see, and let me know if you're interested in me writing for your website! See below for all relevant social media links! 😈

Mark Trammell
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Horror Movie Round-Up! - Volume 16

It wasn't all spooky scarecrow movies and Night of the Demons for me over the last few months- I watched lots of other stuff, too. I'll be dealing with the non-scary stuff at another time, but this time around, I'm sticking with horror, seeing as the world has been a fright as of late. 2021 can't come fast enough for me, I don't know about you. Until then, let's take a look at some movies that aim to give 2020 a run for its money in the scare department- good luck with that! 😱 

First up...

Freaky (2020)

Definitely a front-runner for horror flick of the year- not that there's a lot of competition, really- Freaky is another amusingly high-concept horror-comedy from the demented mind of director Christopher Landon, who gave us the horror Groundhog's Day shenanigans of the Happy Death Day series. This time around, he takes on a horror Freaky Friday, which is an idea so great, I can't believe no one's done it before. (Maybe they have- I've definitely seen several movies where someone was able to "see" through the killer's eyes, i.e. The Eyes of Laura Mars.) 

Of course, a lot hinges on the lead actors in the "switching" roles, and Landon hit the jackpot here. In his best role in ages, Vince Vaughn is a hoot-and-a-half as The Blissfield Butcher, a serial killer with a penchant for taking out teens around the time of the Homecoming Dance. When he absconds with an ancient knife at the art collector parents' house of one of his victims, the Butcher gets more than he bargained for when he uses said knife to attack his next victim, the hapless Millie Kessler. Kessler is played to excellent effect by burgeoning Scream Queen Kathryn Newton (TV's Supernatural), who worked with Landon before in Paranormal Activity 4, which he wrote, along with three others in the series. 

Anyway, when the Butcher stabs Millie, he feels it, and, freaked out by that and the appearance of Millie's cop sister, Charlene (Dana Drori), he takes off in confusion. The next morning, you guessed it, the two have switched bodies, with the Butcher inhabiting Millie's body and Millie in the Butcher's, and now with everyone knowing what he looks like, thanks to Millie and Charlene's descriptions. According to the lore, the two have 24 hours to switch back or the change will be permanent. But with his mug all over town, does the Butcher really want to switch back? Then again, as he discovers the hard way, it's not as easy to overpower his victims when he weighs about 70 pounds soaking wet.

Newton undeniably has the trickier role, being as how she's got to convincingly seem menacing and intimidating all the while looking like a head cheerleader type. Thankfully, she's up to the challenge and does a great job with the polar shifts in personality, as does the more experienced Vaughn, who's both adept at comedy (Swingers, Wedding Crashers, Dodgeball, et. al) and horror, having played no less an iconic role as Norman Bates in the much-derided Psycho remake, as well as a killer in the underrated Clay Pigeons. 

You haven't lived until you've seen Vaughn do cheerleader routines- actually, it's sadder than that, as Millie is, in fact, a dorky mascot- a wise move on the part of Landon, as it taps into Vaughn and Newton's inner nerd alike. Vaughn also has a heart-to-heart with Millie's mom (an ace Katie Finneran, who horror fans may know from the Night of the Living Dead remake)- technically her mom, as it's Millie herself at the time- that manages to be both sweet and funny, as her mom ends up hitting on her, lol. But things really reach a fever pitch when Vaughn recites love poetry to unrequited crush Booker (Uriah Shelton, Girl Meets World) and then subsequently flirts with him and even kisses him! 😅

Also worth a mention is Misha Osherovich (TV's NOS4A2) as Millie's GBF, who has a hilarious reverse coming-out scene with his mom; and Celeste O'Connor (the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife) as Millie's bestie, Nyla, who also has excellent comic timing. But make no mistake, this is Vaughn and Newton's movie, and they, if you'll pardon the pun, totally kill it. Landon might want to quit while he's ahead on the genre splicing- what's next, a horror 13 Going on 30? - but for now, he's knocking it out of the park between this and Happy Death Day, which manages to be both suspenseful (with plenty of great kills for horror fans) and funny as hell. By all means, check this one out. 

Boo! (2018)

Not to be confused with the Madea comedy-horror series of the same name, this Boo! features another Scream Queen in-the-making I have a major thing for, Aurora Perrineau, whose genre credits to date also include Freaks of Nature, Truth or Dare, two of the best episodes of the horror anthology series Into the Dark and a lead role on the Thomas Harris-esque TV show Prodigal Son, about the son of a serial killer who serves as a criminal psychologist for the local police that sometimes seeks advice from dear old dad, who is serving life in prison, a la Hannibal Lecter. She also happens to be the daughter of Harold (Lost, The Rookie) and Brittany Robinson (Lost, Felon) Perrineau, so good genes all around, which would account for her overall breathtaking hotness. 

Here, she plays Morgan, a sullen teenager (?), who longs to get out of her hometown, potentially via her BF, Ashton (Charley Palmer Rothwell, Dunkirk, Darkest Hour). On Halloween, she and her family receive a variation of a chain letter, here called a "Boo" letter, in which they are encouraged to copy and plant three "Boo" packages of their own, lest they be visited by a real spook later on that night. The Bible-thumping dad, James (Rob Zabrecky, Strange Angel, Lost River) scoffs at doing any such thing and burns the letter, much to the horror of son Caleb (Jaden Piner, Moonlight), who fears of the repercussions of his dad's actions. He's not wrong to, as the ghost soon hits the fan. 

This particular type of ghost preys upon one's deepest fears and mines its approach from one's past, leading to a more psychological approach than one tends to see in most movies of this type, and I don't mean the whole is-this-happening-or-not type of thing. For instance, Morgan is a cutter, by which I mean she intentionally cuts herself, so the ghost makes her hallucinate more brutal cuts than usual and tries to encourage her to kill herself. Obviously, if this is an IRL problem for you, you might want to skip this one- it also deals with a miscarriage, via the mom of the story, Elyse (Jill Marie Jones, TV's Sleepy Hollow, Ash vs Evil Dead), who is also depressed and a full-blown alcoholic.     

As you might have guessed by now, this is not your average ghost story- it's more of an arthouse drama that happens to have some horror elements. As such, it may be a little too slow for some horror fans' liking, and I get that. Overall, I dug it, thanks to that strong cast, all of whom are great, and some effective scary moments. It's not really a jump-out-of-your-seat type horror movie- it's way more subtle than that. 

For that reason, some may be bored to tears by it. It's almost kind of Lynchian, particularly in terms of sound design- to say nothing of all the smoking, lol. If David Lynch is your jam, you'll probably dig it, but if it's easy answers and a tidy ending you're after, this isn't for you. (Though I did like the twist at the end.) If this sounds like something you'd like, it probably is- all others steer clear.

Haunters (2014)

Not to be confused with the Netflix doc Haunters: The Art of the Scare or UK Haunters, this documentary is about a group of people that stage a haunted house in Michigan that is consistently ranked one of the best, but hits a snag when the local fire marshal shuts them down one year. The following year, they rebuild in a new location, determined to make up for lost time and make their haunted house the best once again. That's really about it. 

I watched this one on Tubi around Halloween and it's definitely comparable to The American Scream, which I reviewed last year. Only here the focus is on one group's effort, instead of several groups. As such, it can drag a bit, and your interest may completely hinge on how you feel about this group in general, the Gerards, a family that pride themselves on being the best at what they do, which can sometimes come off as a bit superior- though you do have to feel for them when the lengths some of the competition goes to in order to best them is revealed- for instance, it's implied that one of them may be behind the aforementioned shutdown. Who knew the haunted house industry was so cutthroat? (Thankfully, not literally, lol.)

It took me a few watching sessions to get through it entirely, but that's not to say it was terrible, just a bit poky at times. But things definitely pick up as the haunted house opens to the public- one girl visitor actually pees herself! Needless to say, the people working there are thrilled by the reaction. They also get a little earned payback after they catch literal spies in the act and later run them off by having some of the dressed-up "actors" attack a spy's car. 

I guess a lot of your enjoyment of this hinges on how fascinating one finds all this. If you'd rather watch something that's actually scary, you'd be better off watching the fictional scare-house-centric series The Houses That October Built, which I also reviewed last year, or perhaps my next entry, which kicks off a round of found footage flicks I watched. 

Hell House, LLC, Parts 1-3 (2015/2018/2019)

As with my last entry, this series deals with a group of people and their preparations for a scare-house, or at least the first one does. Here, though, it's a fictional approach to the subject matter, and the hook is that the group opts to do it in what is reported to be an actual haunted hotel, The Abaddon- note the name. Naturally, it is haunted, and it isn't long before spooky stuff starts to happen, some of it notably involving a creepy stuffed clown that has a habit of popping up when least expected. 

I call him Left Clown, in tribute to Katy Perry's infamous Left Shark incident at the Super Bowl, and because he is the far left of three stuffed clowns stationed in the basement, and the one that gets the most action, though the middle one does get to passively make out with one of the crew in the second one, so there's that. Pity the Right Clown, who merely gets to turn his head a few times. 🤡

I can't say I have particularly intense clown phobia- IT didn't scare me as a kid, much less as an adult- but I certainly wouldn't want to see one chilling in my living room when I came downstairs at night in the dark, or standing outside across the street at night when I went to take the trash out or whatever. But then again, I wouldn't want to see ANY stranger in my house at any time of the day when I came downstairs or when I went outside that was staring me down- even a hot chick, lol. (Though that would be slightly more welcome, I suppose- especially these days. 😍)

Anyway, the point is, this clown in question, Left Clown, is admittedly hella creepy, and I did manage to creep myself out going downstairs after watching two of these things two nights in a row, so there's that, I guess, if you're looking to spook yourself out. There are other fairly effective scares where that came from, though the series threatens to veer off the rails at the end of the second one, where a particular actor hams it up a little too much, breaking the mood established throughout up until that point. 

Thankfully, the series course corrects in the third installment, where said character's presence is considerably more diminished, though the end is a bit bonkers, but not without some intriguing elements that might warrant a re-watch of the entire series, which is saying something for a found footage film, most of which I can't say I've watched more than once. Pity that crappy CGI, though. 

The through-line is that it's all presented as a documentary, with the footage in question being left behind by the haunted house crew (Part One), the news crew that goes in search of clues as to what happened to the first crew, as well as one of their own that was the first to look into it (Part Two), and finally, a pretentious theatre group headed up by a Mark Zuckerberg-type (but way better looking), who are planning to stage a version of- what else? - Faust at the location (Part Three), even as the town wants to demolish the place after all the freaky stuff that's happened there, understandably enough.    

There's also a religious theme that presents itself in earnest in the third installment (note the "Lake of Fire" subtitle), after basically being introduced at the end of the second one. How you feel about that element may color whether or not you enjoy the series as a whole. I thought the first one was the scariest overall, but the other two have their moments, and I did like the finale, which touches upon a motif loyal readers know I'm fascinated by, and which the film basically comes as close to pulling off as any film I've seen, so there's that. (I'd say what it is, but it would ruin the moment.) 

The entire series is available on Shudder, who produced the last two after the general success of the first one, so the last two are a bit slicker than the more low-budget first one- but I like the first one's down-home charm more, so it's a mixed blessing. The acting is pretty decent overall, though a few actors here and there, as I said, are given to hamming it up- they know who they are. 

But most importantly, the hotel itself, actually known as The Haunting at the Waldorf Hotel in Lehighton, Pennsylvania- which, of course, means you can actually visit it IRL, which is pretty cool- is admittedly pretty creeptastic: it's a maze of spiraling hallways, rooms and, of course, that infernal clown-ridden basement that you'll think you know the layout of by the time you get to the third one, but which they keep cleverly changing up, just to keep viewers on their toes, kind of like a low-rent version of the Overlook Hotel. That house is the real star here. I say check 'em all out, if only once, but this may not be any place one wants to have an extended stay in, if you know what I mean and I think that you do. 😉

Hinsdale House (2019)

A variation of the same kind of theme, Hinsdale House is about what happens when a group of people decide to shoot a horror film in a house actually reported to be haunted. Needless to say, it doesn't go well. This one had the novelty of being shot in what is purported to be an actual haunted house in New York, with the back-story related in the film, but I'm afraid that back-story is the closest thing to scary about the film itself, which is pretty lackluster.

I perked up when I saw that Eric Freeman was in it, thinking there would at least be some primo bad acting on display, but alas, it's not the same Freeman of Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 and "Garbage Day!" fame, but rather some young CW pretty boy, best-known for the show Katy Keene, a Riverdale spin-off which was one of the victims of post-pandemic cancellation, so no dice there for entertainment value, either. 

I will allow that there are some unusually attractive ladies in it, especially leading lady Victoria Oliver, of the Web Series BFFs, and Aly Mang, who has a lead role in the forthcoming TV series Psychosis, as well as turns in the low-budget horror flicks Chronicle of a Serial Killer and Sleepaway Slasher. The other ladies, including Marisa Bertani (Terrifier 2), Patricia Alves (#Models Wanted) and Candice Marie Bennett ain't too shabby either, with Bennett in particular a standout as a wanna-be director given to backseat directing the actors behind the real director's back. 

But this poorly constructed would-be horror film completely falls apart just after the horror element starts in earnest, when it becomes a never-ending series of still images shot from the perspective of planted cameras- think Paranormal Activity, but WAY more boring. Characters just randomly vanish until only one is left standing, at which point the film stumbles to a climax that could have been semi-creepy if it didn't go on so long and feature the lead screaming her lungs out for several minutes straight. 

As it stands, it's terrible, but at least it's blissfully short at just over an hour long. I did like the whole notion of everyone being stuck in a sort of time loop, best shown in the scene in which two of the characters make a break for it only to be shown to be literally driving in circles, unable to escape the property they're on, but the same kind of idea is used to much better effect in several of the other films reviewed here, notably the Hell House LLC series and our next entry...

Grave Encounters 1 & 2 (2011/2012)

Here we have a group of would-be ghost hunters, but before that became a "thing" in earnest on TV, according to the producer who introduces the film. Unfortunately for them, their being ahead of the curve meant that, around the sixth episode, they ran afoul of actual ghosts at an abandoned psychiatric hospital and were never seen or heard from ever again. The first film is mostly made up of the footage discovered after the fact, a la The Blair Witch Project. It's standard found footage festivities, somewhat shot in the foot by some clumsy CGI effects. 

Amusingly, the second film calls the first film out for all that by the producer admitting he stuck all that stuff in via post-production and he regretted it, due to the low quality of the FX. The second film follows a would-be horror film director that becomes obsessed with the first film, which is rumored to be "real," even though he initially gave the first film a negative review on YouTube. (The film opens with a montage of fair-to-middling reviews of the first film, which are reportedly real, save the leading man's character, according to the writers, The Vicious Brothers, who also play themselves in the film as total dufuses.)

By following a series of clues sent to him by an internet user who goes by the name "Death Awaits," Alex Wright (Richard Harmon, of The Killing and The 100  fame, looking like Robert Patterson's degenerate little brother), the director in question, goes in search of the "truth," which eventually leads him, naturally, to the asylum itself. The whole "Death Awaits" thing implies that it's the haunted asylum itself sending the messages- what, are ghosts using the internet to recruit people now? Lol. 👻

Be all that silliness as it may, this is a way better film than the first one, with halfway interesting mythos at play here, involving, as I mentioned, time loops and a similar architecture to the main setting that doesn't adhere to physics, only unlike Hell House, which is more like the Overlook Hotel, here we have a Winchester Mystery House model, with stairs going up to ceilings, widows opening up on brick walls and doors opening into closets one minute and entire wings of the hospital the next. That's a pretty nifty idea, a building that is constantly rebuilding itself, as it were. 

Unfortunately, the CGI remains terrible- just because you point it out in a tongue-in-cheek way doesn't excuse doing it again- and the characters are almost entirely unlikable, especially the lead, which is a problem if you're supposed to be rooting for him to get to the bottom of things and make it out alive. Not that he necessarily has to get out alive- the first bunch didn't after all (not a spoiler, as it's revealed in the opening monologue by the producer that introduces the film), but still, I hate that in a horror film. 

The one bright spot is Leanne Lapp (iZombie), as Jennifer, director Alex's would-be girlfriend and leading lady in the crappy torture porn-type slasher he's filming in college when the film begins. She's actually likable and you genuinely root for her to survive, especially when her would-be savior Alex goes to pieces as he realizes that the first film really wasn't a fake- it's all real, and so are the ghosts. 

He does pull it together eventually, but the ending is pretty brutal, which I did kind of respect the film for, even if it's not the ending we maybe wanted- it may, however, be the one I deserve, for watching two of these movies in a row. I won't say that either film is completely terrible- they both have their moments- but, like I said, it's a problem when you're actively hoping most everyone will die.  I'd also argue that, even though these two movies came first, the Hell House LLC series does a much better version of the same ideas, with much more likable characters. As such, unless you're a found footage completist, you might want to skip it.

Apartment 143 (2011)

In this one, we have more "professional" parapsychologists, investigating what they already know may be the real deal, located in the titular Apartment 143. Unlike the other aforementioned films, this ghost is a mover and a groover, a la Poltergeist, following the main family, the Whites, to their current location, after it first started haunting them in their previous home. 

The ghostly events began after the death of the mother, leading the father, Alan (Kai Lennox, Green Room) to believe it's the mother that's haunting them, as her death occurred under unfortunate circumstances, and she may blame him for it. His daughter, Caitlin (Gia Mantegna, Under The Dome), certainly does, and there may be more to it than he's saying. 

Aiming to get to the truth, one way or the other is lead parapsychologist Dr. Helzer (Michael O'Keefe, Caddyshack, looking a bit worse for the wear- or maybe he's just bored), whose name may or may not be a homage to legendary OG ghost hunter Dr. Hans Holzer. Whatever the case, he's not about to let sleeping ghosts lie, doing any number of things to "test" and provoke the spooky pest.

Needless to say, ghostly shenanigans ensue. This one reminded me of The Devil Inside, only with an actual ending, for better or worse. Spanish director Carles Torrens, who did the excellent Pet, is not without talent, and he knows how to effectively stage some scary scenes, some of the best of which revolve around the troubled Caitlin, who reminded me a bit of Sarah Hyland, of Modern Family, who had a run-in with some demonic spirits of her own in the so-so Satanic.

Writer Rodrigo Cortés (Buried, Red Lights) knows how to make the best of a low budget- Buried, for instance, which he also wrote, as well as directed, mostly took place inside a coffin of a man buried alive, played by Ryan Reynolds, and it was an effective little film. I didn't mind this one, either, even if I had mixed feelings about the ending- it's worth at least a watch. 

Lake Mungo (2008) 

Now, we get to the really good stuff. One of the best mockumentaries I've seen in recent memory- maybe ever - like Grave Encounters, I've had this one for years, but never bothered watching it until recently. About the only good thing about our current situation is that it's given us ample time to catch up on the stuff we're behind on in watching. It happens, especially if you're a film collector, and especially if you're a fan of TV shows on top of that, in this, the Golden Age of Streaming. But, like a lot of people, I've been barreling through all sorts of things, and this (as well as my final selection this week) is far and away one of the ones I wish I'd watched a long time ago. 

It's about the mysterious drowning of the daughter of a family in Australia and the odd supernatural events that follow in the wake of that inexplicable death. It's set up as a documentary that feels as real as any actual documentary you're likely to see, to such an extent that, if I hadn't known that, I might have been duped into thinking it was real, the same way many were fooled by Blair Witch. Combining interviews with the family and friends of the deceased with found footage and creepy still photos, it's a spellbinding look into the way death can haunt us long after it occurs, especially if there are unanswered questions. 

I'm not sure what else to say about it, save that the less you know, the better, and that it's never less than convincing. By deftly underplaying it all, filmmaker Joel Anderson, who wrote and directed, manages the not small feat of not really letting the viewer know the nature of the supernatural elements involved until the viewer is already neck deep in them. 

Even better, he allows for natural explanations, while, at the same time, smoothly undercutting them throughout so you're not sure what to believe. By the end, you might think it's all explainable- or the complete opposite. Just as in real life, there are no easy answers, and I kind of dig that in a movie, especially if it's as well done as it is here. It's a crying shame that Anderson hasn't made a feature film since- Hollywood, get on that, stat! By all means, check this one out, if you haven't already. I'm sorry I waited as long as I did, honestly. 

 

The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)  

I saved the best and worst for last- by which I mean, this may be the best horror movie of the bunch, but boy, is it a tough watch. In fact, it took me two sittings to get through- a rarity for me, unless it's just a bad movie. This isn't- it's just actively unpleasant viewing. As such, it may not be everyone's cup of blood. As with Lake Mungo, it's a mockumentary, but This is Spinal Tap it is not, to be sure. 

The film revolves around Edward Carver, a prolific killer based in Poughkeepsie, New York, though he by no means sticks to that locale- or any sort of constant MO, which makes him that much tougher to catch, to say the least. As the film opens, the police have found Carver's house, but not Carver himself. They also discover any number of dead bodies buried in the backyard, a cache of over 800 videotapes featuring chronicles of his murders from start to finish, along with other perverse stuff (such as him ordering a prostitute to bounce around on top of and ultimately pop a giant balloon!). 

Last but certainly not least, they find the victim he left behind, perhaps not by choice: Cheryl Dempsey, played by a fantastic Stacy Chbosky, of Quarantine, Devil and Chromeskull: Laid to Rest 2. She's the sister of Stephen, of The Perks of Being a Wallflower fame, which she also appeared in. Interestingly, Chbosky is married to the film's director, John Erick Dowdle (As Above, So Below; No Escape) - if those two can stay married through this movie, they can get through anything, because, holy hell, does Dowdle put Chbosky through some shit, even if it is all fake. 

Basically, Carver tends to kill his victims outright- but they prove to be the lucky ones, as Cheryl he opted to keep, and to basically torment for years on end, even forcing her to kill someone at one point. After years of torture, she becomes a shell of her former self, and by the time the cops get to her, she's a lost cause. It's beyond sad to hear her say that she loves Carver and that one day, he'll come back for her- and say that longingly, no less. Chbosky's performance is admittedly the reason why this was a hard one for me to get through- she's just that good, that convincing. If watching a woman be broken to the core is easy for you, I don't know what to tell you. 

But yeah, make no mistake, the other stuff is no picnic either. It's basically a better version of the August Underground series, which also isn't for the faint of heart. While that series plays like a virtual snuff film, Poughkeepsie Tapes is made all the more real by it's documentary-style wrap-around framework, in which various investigators working on the case and reporters and the like chime in on their take on Carver and why he may never be caught. 

One of the most clever and underappreciated things a filmmaker can do is to make a film seem worse than it is by virtue of what they DON'T show, rather than what they do. It's actually easier to show over-the-top violence than it is to NOT show it and make viewers think they've seen something worse than they have. 

Think The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which many think of as one of the goriest films of all time- it's not, it's just that many viewers look away or shield their eyes, thinking they've seen something they haven't. Oftentimes, what we picture in our minds is way worse than anything FX people can come up with for real. 

This film gets that, and by describing a lot of the killer's actions in gory detail without showing them, by the time we get around to seeing some of them for real, we're prepared for the worst, and yet, the film isn't that gory, least of all compared to some of the gore-fests I've seen over the years. It's more of a psychological horror film than a visceral one, TBH, like a case study of a serial killer, down to the professors and psychologists opining on what make Carver tick. 

 

But the atmosphere of this thing is so heavy, so unrelenting, that it's a tough watch nonetheless. Lake Mungo I put off simply because I kept forgetting to watch it- this one, I've had just as long, but I put it off because so many people talked about how horrific it was. Mind you, it wasn't that I was scared to watch it- quite the opposite, in fact. 

It's my general experience that, the more a film gets hyped as the "Best Thing Ever," the more likely it's not going to live up to that hype. At least to me. That's why I tend to wait a while before watching movies talked up like that, to give things a little time to die down- only I still see posts about this one online, even over a decade later. Now THAT piqued my interest. 

So, I finally broke down and watched, and now I can see what all the fuss is about. This film is no joke. It's pretty hardcore, and, like I said, not for the faint of heart. It will stick with you, and likely disturb the hell out of you, and I say that as someone who's watched countless horror movies and quite a few of these types of movies, which is to say, faux documentaries and/or found footage flicks. This one is in a class of its own, and easily ranks with one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen. 

As such, I can only recommend it to those with the strongest of constitutions. It's not that gory, but it is a hard watch, especially if you cringe at the prolonged abuse of women. I'm not kidding- there are scenes that just go on and on with Carver tormenting Cheryl in particular, but plenty of others as well. And, given that he's filming everything, we, as the viewers, know good and well what's coming, but the victims don't, so it just becomes more and more daunting and tense to see what he'll do next and how he'll do it, especially as he keeps changing his methods throughout. 

It's a solid achievement for Dowdle, who tends to work with his brother, Drew, who produces and co-writes with John, most recently on the riveting mini-series Waco. Given that the door is potentially left open for a sequel here, we may not have seen the last of the Carver- reportedly, two more movies have been planned- but there's plenty of nightmare fuel in this one, for sure. Check it out, but tread carefully, if you're a newbie to this sort of thing. It's a rough one. 😨

Well, that about does it for now. Join me next time for a Round-Up of Xmas offerings, then one for the other stuff I've been watching lately after that. And yes, The Cronenberg Chronicles will be back soon, I promise, though likely not until the new year. You can also look forward to a Best Of 2020 article or two, not that there was a lot to celebrate. 

Regardless, thanks for reading! 😉

Franchise Review: Night of the Demons (2009 Remake)

 Author's Note: Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, whatever your circumstances might be- sadly, on my end, our usual extended family get together was cancelled, as our typical house host family (aka my aunt & uncle-in-law) have COVID. Hopefully, they recover soon, and things can get back to normal next year, but yeah, it's a pretty scary time right about now. (Edit: since I first started this article, several more of my extended family have come down with the virus as well- the danger is VERY real, y'all.) Hope everyone out there heeded the doctors' warnings and stayed home like my mom & I did- but, if not, I genuinely hope you emerge unscathed. 🙏

With this article, my franchise review is done. Next week, I'll be doing a Movie Round-Up (or maybe two: one horror, one everything else) to review some of the other stuff I've been watching over the last few months, then it'll be back to The Cronenberg Chronicles. The forecast for Xmas is looking mighty bleak- probably more of the same situation as Thanksgiving, but I'll try and do some Christmas movie reviews here and there, too, even if the holiday spirit is somewhat lacking this year. 😞  

And now, the party concludes with a look at the 2009 remake of...

Night of the Demons 3 was a modest success on home video, but not such a huge hit that it justified doing another- especially with a budget that was more than the other two put together. So, Hull House closed its doors for good in 1997. On the plus side, while the third installment was overall kind of underwhelming; it did at least bring Angela's story to a resolution in the process. Interestingly, it would be yet another shift in the home video market that brought the franchise back to life again, just as it had with the second film in the franchise. 

Shortly before the release of NOTD 3, another home video format arrived on the scene in late 1996: the DVD. As with VHS, the format didn't take off right away, in no small part because, like VHS, the price of both a DVD player and a DVD itself was pretty high. Having learned their lesson from VHS the first time around, Hollywood wasted no time in getting the prices of both down ASAP. By 2003, it was the go-to format of choice for home video consumers, and VHS would eventually be run out of business. 

As a way of enticing customers in the early days, DVD took a nod from Laserdiscs and started offering up lots of bonus goodies, like documentaries, commentaries, trailers and so on and so forth. While, like Laserdiscs, DVD was essentially a collector's medium in the beginning, the lower prices of both the players and the movies themselves would eventually do the trick and sales took off accordingly. 

One thing that did not escape notice from Hollywood was the fact that cult films, especially horror and sci-fi films, were strong sellers, with long out-of-print films selling briskly, with some obscure films even making their debut on the format. Cult film fans are a loyal bunch, and it didn't take long for Hollywood to notice that they not only would re-buy films that they already had on VHS, but that they would even buy films they'd never seen before, as well as re-buy 
"special editions" of films that they already had on DVD if the distributors packed them with bonus features. 

Night of the Demons was no exception, being released initially in 2004 via Anchor Bay, then again in 2014 via Scream Factory after Blu-Rays eventually became the next big thing. In the meantime, the in-between time, the brisk sales of various horror classics led Hollywood to go on a horror remake frenzy, including reboots of the likes of Halloween, Friday the 13th, My Bloody Valentine, When a Stranger Calls, Prom Night, The Fog, April Fools' Day and lots more where that came from. Few improved on their predecessors, but some weren't too bad, notably My Bloody Valentine. 

As such, it was only a matter of time before Night of the Demons got a remake of its own, and sure enough, in 2009, that's exactly what happened. This time around, original director Kevin Tenney opted to produce the film, wisely letting someone else take the reins when it came to the writing. Don't get me wrong- Tenney's a decent director and I quite like the Witchboard series, all of which he wrote, but NOTD 3 was not his finest hour as a writer, that's for sure. But would the writers and director the producers hired do any better?

In the director's chair this time around was Adam Gierasch, who also co-wrote the film with frequent partner, and IRL wife, Jace Anderson. The two were then-hot off of Gierasch's directorial debut, 2008's Autopsy, which was fairly well-received on the horror circuit. They also wrote the fun creature features Spiders and Crocodile, both of which spawned sequels; and worked with Tobe Hooper multiple times, including, in addition to Crocodile, Mortuary (not a remake of the 80's horror cult classic) and The Toolbox Murders, which is indeed a remake of the late 70's horror semi-classic. 

They also co-wrote the controversial Mother of Tears, the long-awaited finale to Dario Argento's The Three Mothers trilogy, which also included the classics Suspiria and Inferno. To say that the movie got mixed reviews, even from horror fans, is putting it mildly, but points for trying. From what I've read about the behind-the-scenes efforts, Gierasch and Anderson's original script took place right after Inferno and was very much in keeping with the other two, but Argento jettisoned a lot of their stuff and the end result was mostly his doing, so I wouldn't blame those two for it, assuming you weren't a fan. I thought it was okay, but nowhere near as classic as the first two. 

The writers went on to collaborate again on Fertile Ground (part of the After Dark series) and Fractured, with Gierasch following that up with 2015's House by the Lake, which he and Anderson didn't write, but Anderson did produce, and a segment of the decent horror anthology, Tales of Halloween- his was entitled "Trick," which was the third story about the home invasion. The two have both been MIA since 2015, but give it time. 

The story is a true reboot, taking place in a completely new location and an all-new house, in this case, the Broussard mansion, in New Orleans. As tends to be the case with these remakes/reboots, the story is way more elaborate than it needs to be, but points for trying. To wit, back in 1925, Evangeline Broussard (Tatyana Kanavka, also of Autopsy), is dating a man named Louis Deveroux (Michael Arata, Deja Vu), who is into black magic. One night, presumably Halloween, the couple hold a séance with five other people, in an attempt to contact the beyond. 

Instead, Louis conjures up seven demons, who promptly start to possess everyone, save Evangeline, who is able to run upstairs and jump off the balcony and hang herself before she is possessed. Since, for reasons that aren't entirely clear, the demons need to possess all seven- I guess to be able to manifest on Earth or something- the action nips their nefarious plans in the bud before they can begin in earnest. The house is subsequently boarded up and condemned. 

In present day, a girl named- duh- Angela (Shannon Elizabeth), decides to throw a massive party in the long-since abandoned house. For the record, I don't think this Angela is meant to be the same one as in the original, as her surname is Feld, instead of Franklin. Whatever the case, the party doesn't last long, as the cops burst in and break it up, leaving a downtrodden Angela all by her lonesome. To add insult to injury, she was counting on the party to raise money to put a roof over her head- which was taken by her so-called friend Diana (Tiffany Shepis). 

One of the partygoers, Colin (Edward Furlong), a drug-dealer, stashes his drugs in a grate on the way out, and circles back to the house to get it after the cops leave; while another, Maddie (Monica Keena), realizes her friend, Suzanne (Bobbi Sue Luther), who had been drinking a lot, didn't make it out, so she and her friends, Lily (Diora Baird), Dex (Michael Copon) and Jason (John F. Beach) also head back to the house. Together with Angela, that makes- you guessed it again- seven people.

While looking for his drugs, Colin stumbles upon a hidden room, where the gang finds six skeletons in a rough circle, one of which "bites" Angela when she goes in to grab a gold tooth from its mouth. Not unlike another Demons franchise, the cut causes Angela to feel out of sorts, and before long, she is indeed possessed by a demon, presumably Louis, as she seems to have inside knowledge on what exactly went on there back in the day. Suzanne also has some inside info, namely that only the maid survived the night in question, by barricading herself in one of the rooms and scribbling symbols and magic spells to keep the demons out- info which will obviously come in handy later. 

The group inexplicably decide to hang out for a bit, playing games and drinking and the like. During a game of, of all things, Spin the Bottle- what are they, twelve? (okay, maybe not, judging by Angela's considerable wine bottle skills, as seen above) - Angela infects Dex with a kiss, which doesn't go over too well with girlfriend Lily: more so the kiss than the infection, which doesn't present itself readily. Dex runs after Lily to apologize and the two end up hooking up, during which we realize that the infection can also be passed via sex, so we get a cool scene where Dex turns into a demon while having sex with Lily, who then also shortly thereafter becomes a demon herself, all during the same sexual encounter. Pretty neat stuff. 

Angela then goes after Suzanne, seducing her and infecting her in the process- she also does a sexy dance, just like the OG Angela, but not quite as good- though Elizabeth does have a dance background, so it ain't half bad, either. The song she dances to, however, is a straight up Halloween classic: Type O Negative's "Black No. 1." 

In fact, this film easily has the best soundtrack of the entire franchise, including tracks from Concrete Blonde- another Halloween classic, "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)"- old-school punk bands T.S.O.L. and 45 Grave (of "Partytime" fame, from the classic Return of the Living Dead, who do the title track here); and other spooky groups like Ghastly Ones, Creature Feature, Zombie Girl, The Swinging Neckbreakers, Wednesday 13, The Death Riders, Psycho Charger and Goatwhore.

It's after this, with four of the seven fully infected as demons, that all hell breaks loose in earnest, as the remainder fight for their lives, attempting to escape the house both from the outside and through a tunnel in the basement, both to no avail. Eventually, they hide out in the aforementioned room with the symbols, which keep the demons at bay for the time being. 

There, Maddie finds more writings on the wall that help to explain what exactly is going on here, which is pretty convenient. But you can't keep a bad demon down, so eventually the demons find a loophole and it then becomes a battle to the death- or till dawn, whichever comes first. Although even dawn may not put a stop to these particular demons- sort of. (You'll see.) 

While fairly predictable overall- you shouldn't have any trouble this time around determining who the last one or ones standing will be- I'll say this: Night of the Demons, the remake, does a pretty decent job of restoring the fun vibe of the original. The characters are reasonably likable- the two main guys even avenge a bully that is terrorizing some kids for their candy at the beginning, with only Colin qualifying as a bit of an asshole. (Makes sense, given who's playing him- more on that later.)

I liked all the girls, and have a special fondness for Monica Keena, who I had a bit of a thing for at the time, and they even manage to sneak in a cameo from the first film's Linnea Quigley, which is cool by me. Quigley even recreates her infamous first scene, with the whole bent-over ballerina act, albeit for a decidedly different audience this time around. 😂 

Indeed, let's take a closer look at the cast, starting with Keena. Born in Brooklyn, NY, the gorgeous actress made her feature film debut in the Sandra Bullock rom-com While You were Sleeping. She followed that up with a sexy turn in the indie Ripe, then tackled Snow White herself in the horrific take on the fairy tale princess, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, which also featured Sigourney Weaver as the Wicked Witch. It's pretty underrated. 

Other movies include A Promise Kept: The Oksana Baiul Story (her overall debut- she played the titular role in the TV movie), The Devil's Advocate, All I Wanna Do, Crime and Punishment in Suburbia (another underrated one), Orange County, Bad Girls from Valley High, First Daughter, All I Want for Christmas, Man of the House, Fifty Pills, Loaded, Left in Darkness, The Narrows, 40 Days and Nights, Aftermath (also with Furlong) and The Ghost and the Whale.  

However, she's probably best-known for her turn as the ill-fated Abby on TV's Dawson's Creek, a recurring role on Entourage, and especially, to horror fans, for her leading turn in the classic Freddy vs. Jason. She also had a leading role in the short-lived but somewhat fondly-remembered early Judd Apatow TV effort, Undeclared, which also featured a young Seth Rogen and Charlie Hunnam, of Sons of Anarchy fame. 

Unfortunately, her career never quite took off and she only works sporadically these days, mostly on TV shows like the Law & Order franchise (she's been on two: the original and Criminal Intent), Without a Trace, CSI, Ghost Whisperer, Grey's Anatomy, The Closer, Private Practice and Castle. She's also done voiceover work for King of the Hill, Beavis & Butthead and Robot Chicken. She's got several movies in the pipe, though, including Manson Girls, Zombie Bride and Karma, also with Furlong.

She and co-star Edward Furlong became romantically involved IRL after this film and have dated off-and-on ever since, in what, by all accounts is a tumultuous relationship, to say the least. He's been arrested three times, in part for attacking her, apparently. Boo, Furlong! 😡 I suppose we might as well deal with him next, as he's one of the more high-profile actors in the film.  

The California-born Furlong hit the ground running at the ripe old age of 14 with a starring role in the classic Terminator 2: Judgment Day, for which he won several awards, including a Best Breakthrough Role at the MTV Movie Awards. Soon after, the gifted actor was sharing the screen with the likes of Kathy Bates (A Home of Our Own), Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson (Before and After), Tim Roth and Vanessa Redgrave (Little Odessa) and Jeff Bridges (American Heart). None of the films were anywhere near the hit that T2 was, but they got him noticed as a young up-and-comer possessed with an unnatural gift. 

Unfortunately, he also picked up a nasty alcohol and drug problem around the late 90's that landed him in rehab by 2000 when he was in his early 20's. This began to affect his personal life as well, beginning a long string of domestic battery charges with a long line of women, one of which he had gotten involved with when he was a mere 15 and she was 28. His uncle filed a statutory rape charge against her when he found out, but it was unsuccessful. 

Somewhat ironically, her own case against Furlong years later for domestic violence was a success, beginning his long decent into a life of drugs and physical violence against the many women in his life, including Keena, with whom he reportedly still has a relationship; his ex-wife, with whom he had a child; and others. In 2013, he finally got clean, and landed a cameo in Terminator: Dark Fate, after having been replaced in the role of John Conner by multiple actors in previous sequels (notably Nick Stahl and Christian Bale), due in large part to his addiction and legal issues.

Furlong has nonetheless maintained a consistent, if uneven, career along the way. Other notable movies include: Pet Sematary 2,  Brainscan, The Grass Harp, Pecker, American History X, Detroit Rock City, Animal Factory, Intermedio, The Crow: Wicked Prayer, Cruel World, The Visitation, The Covenant: Brotherhood of Evil, Dark Reel, The Green Hornet, This is Not a Movie, The Mortician, Below Zero, For the Love of Money, Crave, Paranormal Abduction, The Zombie King, Aftermath and A Winter Rose.   

Moving on to happier life stories, we have the sexy Shannon Elizabeth, taking over the role of Angela, albeit a seemingly different one from the original trilogy. Elizabeth was born and raised in Texas, and started out in the business as, appropriately enough, a model. She relocated to California in the late 90's, landing her first role in the amusingly bent killer snowman horror flick Jack Frost, not to be confused with the Michael Keaton drama of the same name, though that one is pretty twisted, too. 

After lots of TV guest spots, she had her big break in 1999 with a plum role in the massive hit American Pie, which spawned multiple sequels, though she only appeared in two of them. The turn made her an immediate sex symbol, but also proved her comedic chops, which led to a tongue-in-cheek performance in another sequel-spawning venture, Scary Movie. She did a similar turn in the amusing Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, a franchise she also returned to, albeit nearly two decades later, in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. 

While never a huge star, Elizabeth did achieve success in a variety of other arenas, including a highly successful run as a poker player in the mid-2000's, winning a whopping twelve competitions; a healthy run on Dancing With the Stars (she came in fifth place out of 12); and forming a laudable non-profit animal rescue operation called the Animal Avengers. She relocated to South Africa in the 2010's, where she continues her work rescuing and aiding abused animals. 

Other notable movies include: Dish Dogs, Tomcats, Thirteen Ghosts, Love Actually, Johnson Family Vacation, Cursed, The Kid & I, Grand (which is about poker and features many of her fellow champions), Deal (ditto- the girl clearly loves poker!), A Novel Romance, A Green Story and The Outsider (not the recent Stephen King-based miniseries). She also had a recurring role on That 70's Show, hosted the stand-up comedy show Live Nude Comedy, had a leading role on the short-lived Cuts and came in ninth on the second season of Celebrity Big Brother. 

Another model-turned-actress is the delectable Diora Baird. Born in Miami, Florida, she moved to LA at 17, eventually landing a deal with Guess? (their question mark, not mine, lol). She also posed for Playboy in 2005, landing the cover in the process. As her acting career took off in the mid-2000's, she continued to model, featuring in such magazines as FHM, Maxim, Stuff and Esquire, making all of their Top 100 Hot lists in the process. 

After a debut in a guest spot on The Drew Carey Show in 2004, she landed her first feature film gig in the low-budget horror-comedy Brain Blockers, but the film wasn't released for years on end and eventually went straight-to-video, likely to capitalize on her subsequent success, particularly in the horror genre. Her big breakthrough came in 2005's Wedding Crashers. She continued in the comedy vein for a while with roles in Hot Tamale, Bachelor Party Vegas (incidentally, one of my first paid reviews- it wasn't a good one), Fifty Pills (also with Keena) and Accepted. 

However, it's her Scream Queen roles like this one that most endeared her to horror fans, as well as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, the goofy horror spoof Stan Helsing and 30 Days of Night: Dark Days. Unfortunately, as of late, she's taken to the Lifetime circuit, with the likes of My Daughter Vanished, The Missing Sister, Her Secret Family Killer and Psycho Sister-in-Law. Such are the perils of growing old in Hollywood, I guess- though if you ask me, she's still quite the babe. (Also, 37 isn't THAT old- shame on you, Hollywood.)

Other notable movies include: the excellently-titled Young People Fucking, South of Heaven, My Best Friend's Girl, Let the Game Begin, Hot Tub Time Machine, Quit, Love Shack, Dry Run, Thunderballs, Transit, Last Call, Riddle, Concrete Blondes, Beautiful Girl, Cocked and recurring gigs on the shows Shameless, Angel from Hell and Cobra Kai. Baird may have a spotty resume, but she's really got a cool presence and I genuinely hope that someone besides Lifetime gives her another shot at impressing in that key role that could make all the difference. Ditto Keena and Elizabeth, for that matter. 

The babe factor continues with the last of the main female characters, Bobbi Sue Luther, as the party girl Suzanne, who spends most of the movie trying to keep her cleavage from breaking free from her skimpy top- not that I'm complaining, mind you. The naturally blonde Luther was born in Annapolis, Maryland, and, like Elizabeth and Baird, started out as a model. She made her motion picture debut in 2003's Dude... We're Going to Rio as a "hot airline attendant." 

The following year, she made it to the top twenty finals of the WWE Diva search, but didn't quite make the top ten. She would, however, go on to become the St. Pauli Girl Beer spokeswoman in 2007. She also graced the cover of many magazines and was in numerous commercials before her big break hosting TLC's Junkyard Wars in the mid-2000's. 

In 2004, she memorably played an Orion Slave Girl in an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, followed by bit parts in the movie Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Her first proper role was in the movie Gameface, with a turn in the creepy The Poughkeepsie Tapes (which I'll be reviewing soon) shortly thereafter. Other movies include: Killer Pad, Extreme Movie, Laid to Rest, Made in Romania, Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, Crazy Kind of Love, Aftermath (a reunion with Keena and Furlong) and Happy Horror Days.  

Frustrated with the lack of quality in the roles she was getting, Luther segued into production with 2009's horror anthology web series Fear Clinic, which featured a who's who of horror luminaries, including Robert Englund, Kane Hodder and Danielle Harris. This proved to be a much more successful line of work, as Luther ended up becoming an executive producer on the aforementioned Judy Moody flick, as well as producing Laid to Rest, Paranormal Abduction, Crazy Kind of Love, Aftermath, The Boy, The Last Movie Star, The Devil Has a Name, Sylvie's Love, the TV series Paradise City and the forthcoming Devil's Night, among others. 

Also like Elizabeth, she's very active in animal-centric non-profit organizations, having co-founded Cuties for Canines, which helps place shelter dogs in proper homes. She's still quite the cutie her own damn self, and I'd love to see her back in the Scream Queen business again- she's adorable here as the convincingly drunken party girl Suzanne. 

Rounding out the ladies is the ubiquitous cult star Tiffany Shepis, who is to horror of the Millennium era what her co-star Linnea Quigley was to the 80's and 90's. Basically, she's a proper Scream Queen in the traditional sense. She made her motion picture debut in the classic Tromeo & Juliet, which was scripted by none other than James Gunn, of Guardians of the Galaxy fame. She solidified her horror cred with a role in the biopic Ted Bundy and basically has stuck to horror ever since. 

Her long, long list of credits include the likes of: Embrace the Darkness 3, Scarecrow, Bloody Murder 2, Delta Delta Die, Dead Scared, The Deviants, Corpses, Abominable, Dorm of the Dead, Nightmare Man, Home Sick, Chainsaw Cheerleaders, Dead Reel (also with Furlong), Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!, Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula, Live Evil, The Violent Kind, Do Not Disturb, Axeman, Hallows' Eve, Caesar and Otto's Paranormal Halloween, Tales of Halloween (also with Gierasch), The Black Room, Victor Crowley, Ouija House, Strange Nature, Star Light and the ever-popular Sharknado 2: The Second One. She's a National Treasure amongst horror fans, to say the least, and one of the closest things we have to a traditional old-school 80's/90's-style Scream Queen these days.

As Dex, we have Michael Copon, best-known for his role as Felix on the popular WB/CW show One Tree Hill, which ran for damn near a decade. Copon also sang in the hilariously badly-named boy band The Boyz N Motion, which I'm guessing probably put the final nail in the coffin of the spelling of boys as "Boyz" for good, to say nothing of that whole "N" business. (Here's a clip of the "Boyz" in action, if you dare.)

Copon got his first big break in one of the leading roles in Fox Kids' Power Rangers Time Force, where he played Lucas Kendall, aka the Blue Power Ranger. He was also one of the leads on The N's Beyond the Break and won the VH1's singing competition But Can They Sing? in 2005, so apparently he can (sing). His other film credits include: Dishdogz (again with the spelling!), All You've Got, Bring It On: In It To Win It, The Scorpion King 2: Rize of Da Warriorz (j/k- it's actually just "Rise of the Warriors," but I couldn't resist), Dark House, Killer Holiday, 247 Degrees F, Mad World and, but of course, BoyBand- their phrasing, not mine this time. 

As Jason, we have John F. Beach. I don't know too much about his background, but his credits include: Hallow's End, Seventy-8, Living & Dying, several episodes of the aforementioned Fear Clinic, Ruby Sparks, The Pardon, Adulthood, Tales of Halloween (yep- in  Gierasch's segment "Trick," alongside Shepis) and Body at Brighton Rock. As with Luther, he seems to have segued onto the other side of the camera, also as a producer, but writing and directing things as well, including the TV series Holloway Heights. 

Rounding out the main male cast as Nigel, the drug dealer that Colin is in debt to, is British actor Jamie Harris, who makes quite the impression, given that he spends his entire screen time getting head- I'm not kidding, it literally extends into the end credits! Harris is the son of legendary character actor Richard Harris (aka the OG Dumbledore from the Harry Potter movies), which also makes him the brother of Jared, of Mad Men and AMC's The Terror fame. Harris made his debut in the excellent In the Name of the Father, with legendary actor Daniel Day-Lewis, and has worked steadily ever since. 

Other movies include: Princess Caraboo, Savage Hearts, Touch Me, Made Men, the excellently-titled Fast Food Fast Women, Made, The Next Big Thing, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The New World, The Prestige, Crank: High Voltage, The Green Hornet, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, God Bless America, Lost Revolution, 2 Jacks, Blood Ransom, Knight of Cups, The Frontier, Lost Transmissions and recurring roles on the TV shows Magic City, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., TURN: Washington's Spies, The Magicians, Kingdom, Shameless, Carnival Row and a turn on HBO's recent Lovecraft Country.  

Night of the Demons is a pretty good effort that goes a long way towards redeeming Kenney for that godawful third installment- although, granted, he didn't write or direct this one, only produced it. The gore and demon effects are on point, especially in the unrated version, and the script and the cast are both pretty solid. It's also easily one of director Gierasch's best efforts, if not his best- or his most fun on the whole, at least of the ones I've seen. (For the record, I haven't seen Derailed or Fractured.)

It also has arguably the sexiest cast, and that's saying something for this franchise, with apologies to past stars Amelia Kinkade, Christi Harris, Christine Taylor and others. But let's put it this way- one could do a lot worse than having to spend eternity with Monica Keena, Diora Baird, Bobbie Sue Luther, Tiffany Shepis and the awesome Linnea Quigley. Although, preferably Luther would still have her face, lol. 😈 

At this point, it seems unlikely we're going to get another one, as well over a decade has passed since this one came out. It was not a hit, making a mere $64,000 on a $10 million budget- ouch! - and basically going straight-to-video. In 2013, Tenney announced a tentative sequel called After Party, to be directed by horror stalwart Anthony Hickox (the Waxwork series, Sundown, Hellraiser III, Warlock: The Armageddon), and a Kickstarter campaign was subsequently launched. Alas, they didn't meet their price goal- a mere $250,000- so it didn't happen. I guess the appetite wasn't there, sadly, but this is Hollywood we're talking about, so if there's a buck to be made, you can be sure that it will happen eventually.

Until then, we have three pretty solid horror flicks and one passable one, and that's not too shabby in my book. The party may have concluded for now, but at least it went out on a high note, IMHO. By all means, check them all out, especially the first one and the remake, both of which are readily available on DVD and Blu-Ray with all the expected bells and whistles. You won't regret the invitation here. 😉

Join me next time for a Horror Movie Round-Up, featuring all the stuff I didn't get to around Halloween time and in the month since. I'll also be doing a regular Movie Round-Up for the other stuff I watched, and there will be more Cronenberg Chronicles and maybe a Christmas horror flick review or two. See you then, and hope you enjoyed the party festivities! 🎉 👿