Night of the Demons ( 2009 )

Directed by Adam Gierasch

After reading different reviews online and in magazines how most people are trashing this as a piece of shit, I'm here to offer a little love for this remake, in name mostly. Any body expecting a cast of great thespians, thought provoking dialogue or a life changing experience needs to read that title again. This is no Citizen Kane, people. Night of the Demons, the whole movie takes place over the course of one night, Halloween. No time to expand on the character developments, it's all about getting the bimbos and the assholes into that mansion as quickly as possible so we can watch what we want to see, and that is people turning into demons and the imaginative ways of going about doing so.
The film opens with a flashback to the year 1925. In a sepia tone film stock, we can hear and see the scratchy music  coming from a gramophone, yet this is supposed to be a silent picture. A young woman, Evangeline Broussard is seen slipping a hangman's noose around her neck as a man tries to stop her. Inter title cards appear on screen reading that he is Louis Devereaux and he loves her. Another card reads " No you're not" then she proceeds to jump from the balcony , ripping her head off from it's body. I was a little intrigued by this set up as it presents a mystery and asked the following questions. Who are these two people? Are they or Aren't they lovers ? Why did she kill herself ? Through another flashback and some narration,later in the film we eventually  fill in the missing pieces to this puzzle.
Eighty five years later, Angela ( Shannon Elizabeth ) is planning on making some easy cash by charging admission to a Halloween party she is hosting. We are then introduced to a trio of busty bimbos , the high light of their intelligent conversation is one of the girls needs to rub aloe  on herself because she just received a Brazilian. Two others who are planning to attend the party are a couple of crack smoking losers, who are amusing themselves pelting a sixteen year old kid with a paint ball gun for stealing children's candy, " No costume, no candy" as they riddle him with colourful spheres of paint.
Linnea Quigley who probably had the most memorable and talked about scene from the Kevin S. Tenney ( 1987 ) original, puts in a cameo handing out candy to a couple of trick or treaters. We are treated to a peek of her goodies as she bends over. Edward  Furlong is also along for the ride as a sleazy drug dealer on his last legs to turn over a profit, or else as threatened by the cool as a cucumber Nigel, who doesn't even flinch as he is getting some lip service of his own.
Once we get Angela, the three bimbos, the two crack heads and Furlong's character Colin inside the mansion, the usual teen hi jinx pursues sex, drugs and rock and roll, which I personally don't have a problem with. After Angela welcomes her guests the party is reved up into high gear, MTV style editing follows. This  consists of fast and quirky cuts that gives the picture a jittery look, it gives the impression that much alcohol and drugs have been consumed. This doesn't put a hindrance on the film, but is just over done to death in many of today's horror movies. The soundtrack is in your face loud and a different breed from the 80's pop culture music of the original.
Shortly the party comes to an end as the police crash the festivities and force everyone to vacate the premises. Now with the mansion vacated , all but the aforementioned seven who has eluded the police remains behind . This is where the real fun begins, six skeletal remains are discovered in a concealed room in the basement. Angela is bitten by one as she tries to remove a gold tooth from a skeleton's mouth. Soon after Angela is not quite the same any longer as we catch small glimpses of her hands and face morphing into that of a demon. Playing that good old party game favourite spin the bottle,Angela very seductively kisses one of the bimbos boyfriend, Dex. The bimbo does not take too kindly to this  and needs to talk to him now... in the bedroom. While the two are getting their groove on Dex is transformed into a demon, shortly his partner will also change. The transforrmation to a demon can apparently happen with the exchange of bodily fluids like saliva from a kiss ,or doing the horizontal tango. This can be taken as a metaphor for A.I.D.S. or a kind of sexual infection, these kids are quite promiscuous. Actually they are more like thirty year olds.
Now that  three of the seven have become demons, we are treated to a round of demon menage' trois, the best gag here is one of the females performing fellatio on the male's...wait for it....horn  protruding  from the top of his head. Other special effects highlights include a face that is sliced clean off from it's skull,a pair of demon breasts that sprout tendrils that surely would make Lovecraft smile.
Once the action starts going, the pace rarely slows down until the end credits roll. Inspired no doubt from the energy of such films as Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead, Lamberto Bava's Demons and Michele Soavi's The Church. Please note that  I said energy and not the style of these films, these three films are IMHO considered classics while NOTD won't reach that status ,it is not the steaming pile of doggey  doo that some people claim it to be.
My Thoughts : There is some good stuff here, but like a buffet it's not to all tastes.
My Rating: 2 and a half Go Go Girls out of 5

Vampire Circus

Directed by Robert Young
A long, disturbing and creepy precredit sequence ensues when a young girl is seen frolicking in the forest, she is being watched over by the local school teacher. He is occupied with reading a book, when he looks up next he sees the little girl being led  away by Anna, a busty woman ( this is a Hammer production ). The school teacher chases after the two, but is too late. They have already entered the castle of Count Mitterhaus, who is known to have seduced and killed many young girls.The school teacher returns with an angry lynch mob, whom many have had their own daughters go missing. Once inside they find the young girl dead, her throat torn apart. The Count puts up a good fight but is eventually taken down with a wooden stake through his heart. As he lays dying he places a curse on the small Austrian village, vowing their children will die, so he may return. Fifteen years later, a plague like illness falls on the village. The town's doctor and his son risk their lives for medicine by leaving the quarrentine boundaries of their village . Meanwhile the Circus of the Nights  has  come to town, but the performers have more on their minds than entertaining the small crowds.
Vampire Circus presents plenty of  dream like, surreal and hallucinatory images within it's circus motif  like animals that  jump into the air but land as  humans, a strongman that acts as the protector of the circus family and a creepy, menacing midget that is literally two faced. Leading the caravan is an older gypsy woman with a mysterious past. Also adding to the circus atmosphere is the traditional caliope music which makes itself present  quite often . The mirrors of life, a tent housing mirrors that distorts images, but can have deadly results as well when two young brothers are seduced and killed by a pair of vampires.
Vampire Circus is oozing with sexuality, some quite sensual such as a beautiful woman naked , all but the grease paint that covers her entire body. Performing a strange dance with her partner, an animal trainer she slinks around like a tigress, once in his arms she succumbs to an orgasmic pleasure with her outstretched legs quivering. Director Young cuts the camera away showing a caged tiger's back legs reacting the same way. Other scenes are down right disturbing as young children, both boys and girls are seduced and killed by the vampires. Even in today's movies the act of violence towards children are shunned upon.
With the Circus of Nights arriving to the small town of Schettel the morality of the towns people has steadily declined as seen in such instances when a wife is being seductively kissed by one of the circus performers with her husband and children present. I have to wonder if the men band together to rid their town of this circus because they are vampires or is it because their women are being seduced ? Also the Burgermaster's (mayor ) wife allows their young daughter Rose to spend the night with one of the performers she is crushing on. Subsequently when her father attempts to protect her, he dies from a heart attack, instead of Rose tending to her dead father's body she returns to her vampire lover and takes his hands, placing them onto her breasts. Not a very lady like characteristic of a 19th century young woman, never mind being the daughter of a dead Burgermaster. And let's not forget about that twelve minute opening scene where little Jenny is abducted which hints at the Count's perversion of pedophilia. " One lust leads to the other" as he then gets it on with Anna, the school teacher's wife. This is very racy subject matter.
There is plenty of decent scenes of gore and vampire mayhem to please the blood lust, if you were thinking that this picture was all sex and no blood. There is your typical wooden stakes impalings, torn throats, bitten necks, gun blasts to an abdomen and a decapitation by the string of a crossbow. All which are done decent enough. One scene of a trio of would be escapees are tricked , and led to a black panther in waiting. The jungle cat shreds them to pieces, the panther's head is shown quickly and in rapid edits but still looks just like what it is, a stuffed toy. The blood seen splashed onto the forest foilage looks terrible, more like that of a child's finger paint,the colour is not a natural blood colour. The look of the blood throughout the film is the same unnatural look but is comparable to most of the other horror pictures of the 1970's. A couple of decapitated heads seen later from the panther attack looks rather unsophisticated  by today's standards but still grisly enough with maggots filling the orifices.And dangling eyeballs.
This is the most offbeat Hammer production of a vampire movie I have ever witnessed and I believe it's a keeper. Not the best vampire picture out there, but with it's equal doses of sex, circus themes and the Gothic imagery of castles, fog, lynching mobs and bats, especially the one that sneaks away from the eye socket of a skull. Add all these elements together and you have yourself  a couple hours of some fun entertainment.

My Thoughts: If you are looking for something a little different, a little kinky and daring, try this on for size.
My Rating: 4 Go Go Girls out of 5

Humanoids from the Deep

In  the small coastal fishing community of Noyo, a sorry circumstance of events lead  to one boy's death and the explosion of his father's fishing boat when the crew believes they have netted something big. Indeed they have.
Back on land, locals discover their dogs have been horribly mutilated. A local Native American is quickly blamed, there is hostility  towards him as he is opposed to the possible cannery  company that wants to locate to the community. For  low budget exploitation wares I found it  interesting that the social and racial tensions were padded out as well as they were. The townsfolk are divided by the cannery company Canco. that promises to bring jobs and wealth to the fishing community of Noyo. Jim Hill( Doug McClure ) doesn't seem to be big on the idea, but wants to see the town become successful. The employment offers are most welcome.
During the opening ceremonies of the 75th anniversary of the Salmon festival ,scientists make the announcement of the salmon cannery company opening in the community, this has divided the town's people into two groups, even causing a bout of fisticuffs outside the town hall. The Native Americans ( actually there is only one seen throughout the entire movie ) are holding their ground and refuse to have any industry set up camp on their land.
Meanwhile promiscuous teens are being visciously attacked, the males are killed . The  females are spared the killings but violently raped instead. As we later learn for procreating purposes. One of the more unusual of these sexcapades happens inside a tent along the beach. A young woman is talked into taking off her clothes by a wooden doll and it's horny ventriliquist. This I'm sure must have won some kind of an award for best use of wooden dummy in a movie, ever. Unfortunately the two would be lovers are attacked, and she eventually ends up being chased naked along the beach to her inevitable mating session.
We finally learn from the too hot to be a scientist Dr. Drake that DNA 5, a growth gene has caused the salmon to evolve much more faster than normal, this process was to be used at the town's new cannery industry.
The monsters' design courtesy of Rob Bottin comes across more of a simiam like Creature of the Black Lagoon with it's long arms ( in some scenes ). A bulbous head with the brain exposed, a tail, not unlike that of a tadpole, a mouth full of razor sharp teeth and the body covered with sea weed. The look of the creatures presents it's self quite nicely, much better than any C.G.I. could do in my opinion. With the help of some smart editing the creatures appear even more threatening as it appears there is an army of these soggy soldiers.
All hell breaks loose during the festivities at the Salmon festival , as the monsters attack the carnival, rising up from beneath the wooden boards of the pier to cause their havoc. With so many women out and about here , this is like an all you can eat buffet for the procreating creatures. As their town is being overtaken by the malicious creatures,the Native Indian(s) and the townsfolk put aside their differences and band together to defeat the water soaked invaders.
One can not come away watching Humanoids from the Deep without recalling movies such as The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Jaws, or even producer Roger Corman's other low budget under water classic Pirahna.
With it's abundance of  T& A, blood and gore scenes, I found it interesting that this film was directed by a woman, Barbara Peeters. Unfortunately for her,a 2nd unit was hired on to reshoot the rape scenes as Ms. Peeters had them happen off screen. What the hell was she thinking, Roger Corman is famous for his low budget exploitation pictures and has advanced the careers of many of today's top film makers. Joe Dante, James Cameron, and Jack Nicolson to name but a few. Barbara Peeters, nope hav'nt heard that name since she directed Humanoids from the Deep. The shots she did shoot offer up some nice scenes of suspense, false scares, and the teasing  glimpses of the creatures, such  as the early scene of one caught in a fishing net. Briefly showing the creature's webbed hand as he tries to escape. Apparently director Peeters did'nt mind showing men being horribly mutilated and killed in the most violent of manners but could'nt bring herself to show the rapes on screen.
The ending is not for the squeamish, especially for women as Dr. Drake has taken a pregnated young woman back to her laboratory. This scene no doubt inspired by Ridley Scott's Alien.

My Thoughts: This is another excellent example of low budget film making  brought to us from producer Roger Corman. Some of the actors over do it a bit, but generally not too bad.
My Rating: 3 and a half Go Go Girls out of 5

The Mansion of Madness

Directed by Juan Lopez Moctezuma

In 1900's France, Gaston Leblanc is traveling by stage coach, along with life long friend Julien Couvier and his cousin Blanche. Couvier owns the estate next door to Dr. Maillard's mental institution. Leblanc has returned to France after spending many years in America. His mother was murdered by his father after the two went through a nasty divorce. His father spent his remaining days inside  the institution . Working for  a newspaper, Leblanc takes on the assignment to investigate the institution.
Upon arriving at the front gates they are greeted by armed guards dressed in military regalia, but lack the discipline and training of a soldier. When it appears that a higher ranking officer has arrived they are permitted to enter the institution grounds. When Blanche becomes ill, Couvier leaves Gaston there alone so he can return his cousin back to his estate. On their way, the stage coach is ambushed by Maillard's guards. The strong coachman, Henri is overtaken in a display of roughhousing, Couvier is  captured and hog tied.  Blanche escapes but is pursued by a guard , she is eventually caught, her dress ripped from her body and possibly raped. If she was it happens off screen. Mean while having finally met  Dr. Maillard, Leblanc becomes smitten with Maillard's niece Eugenie who is strumming on a harp.
The following morning Maillard begins his tour of the institution. Director Moctezuma has many strange, fascinating and erotic images to show us, but even with the abundance of beautiful naked breasts, unless you must see every obscure Mexican exploitation film. I can not commend this slice of offbeat cinema. I believe if one could travel back in time and watch it,in it's era, the 1970's it would have been much more appreciated.
The tone of the film turned me off, mostly the slapstick humour and the chase scenes as well, which reminded me of a Benny Hill skit.The story takes place in the 1900's, but Moctezuma forgets or perhaps purposely shows many references of the 1960/70's drug and hippie cultures. There is a very psychedelic vibe emitting from this adaptation of an Edgar Allen Poe story. During a very seductive dance Eugenie performs,her accompanying musicians are sitting cross legged, playing sitars, bongos  and wearing long, loose, flowing robes.
Maillard is a nice enough person, but has an odd disposition about him, like something is not quite right. The methods he applies to his patients are questionable. The doctor also seems to display a sick sense of humour as discovered after Leblanc is introduced to Mr. Chicken. A man who literally believes himself to be a chicken, covered in feathers, clucking and pecking as Maillard tosses chicken feed at his feet. Soon after Leblanc and Maillard are struck by a hail of falling chickens, as some patients are throwing live chickens down upon them. ( Surely , you couldn't get away with this today, not with PETA  and everything ). Dr. Maillard picks up a dead chicken, with an obvious broken neck and non- chalantly says " I hope it's not Mr. Chicken ",he lets out a menacing cackle and discards the chicken corpse into the corner. Another time after touring an elevated part of the institution, Maillard decides to use a rope ladder to descend instead of the stairs. Maillard climbs down safely, but when it is Leblanc's turn the guards deliberately try to topple Leblanc from the ladder as Maillard has a menacing laugh at his friend's expense. Deep in the dungeons the cruelest punishments are utilized as one poor man is shackled to a wall, having been starved to the extent  of becoming a living skeleton.
Retiring to his room that night, Leblanc( which translates to The white in English, white means pure, naive, innocent ) has an awakening of a sort. He suddenly has a realization, he has been caught like a fly in a web of  deceit and lies. . Maybe it's just me but I thought it even looked like an overgrown spider had spun it's silky thread in his room. The real Dr. Maillard has been kept prisoner,as a patient had taken over his identity and the institution. Leblanc and Eugenie who turns out to be the real Dr. Maillard's daughter is reunited with Couvier and Blanche as they are tormented by the madman's unorthodox methods, including a bizarre chicken dance. ( What's up with the chickens ? )
My Thoughts: Like I said earlier, there is plenty of weird, surreal and exotic images to take in. But as a whole, meh.
My Rating: 2 Go Go Girls out of 5

Maniac

I thought I would give this another viewing, it's been  forever since I  saw it last. Blue Underground has recently re-released it on Blu - Ray as it's 30th anniversary edition.
Frank Zito( Joe Spinell ) is a killer, he also enjoys collecting women, in fact his squalid little basement apartment is full of them. Not real ones of course that would be crazy, just mannequins that he adorns with his victims clothing and their hair.Frank will scalp the corpses and bring the bloodied hair pieces home where he will nail them to the heads of store window dummies.
Frank's mother never really bothered with him much, except when she was using him for an ashtray, putting lit cigarettes against his body or torturing him in some other sadistic manner,evidenced by his unclad upper body. No, Frank's mother was more interested in sleeping around with strange men.
What makes this killer more scarier than some of the other killers seen in the movies is the fact he does'nt need  to hide behind a goalie's mask, fedora, or even a William Shatner face turned inside out. There is no super natural forces at large here, just a child trapped inside a man's body, shown by such scenes as Frank playing with a toy space gun and the eating of Cracker Jack popcorn as he is packing his instruments of death inside an empty violin case. And most importantly his doll collection. His child hood was destroyed by his mother, hence his hatred towards women.
Frank is a little over weight, sweats protrusely, kind of a sleaze ball but sort of likable. But I still have a hard time being convinced that a beautiful woman takes an interest in him and accepts his dinner invitation. Anna ( Caroline Munro ) is a fashion photographer who shows an interest in Frank. Strangely Anna is even more beautiful and photo genic than the models she is photographing.
Director Bill Lustig can be seen working behind the desk of the sleazy pay by the hour hotel, where Frank will take the young prostitute he just picked up to. This young hooker has just turned her last trick.
In one of the most suspenseful scenes of the film, a young nurse who has just finished her night shift. Making her way home and believing to be followed, makes her way to an empty subway station. Finding sanctuary in a graffiti riddled bathroom, she hides in a stall that you know is just reeking of piss. You can sense the fear in her like a rabbit being chased down by a fox. She slowly exhales  as minutes have elapsed, releasing the tension she had built up, even laughing a little to herself at how silly she must look.  Gaining her composure she makes her way to the sink, bending over splashing the cool water onto her face, when she stands erect again, she is horrified to see another reflection sharing the mirror with her own. This is a marvelous piece of low budget film making and a brilliant display of acting on the young actress' part.
Tom Savini supplies the gory mayhem we see here, and again we are thankful for the splatterific displays he has to offer , such as a shotgun blast to the face of his own character of Disco Boy. The bloodied trophy scalping's from Frank's victims, and other scenes of carnage that all adds realism to an already too realistic look into a man's descent  into mental deterioration. One scene involving Frank at his mother's grave, again showing the breakdown of Frank's mind is no doubt inspired by Brian De Palma's ending of Carrie. The conclusion shows that good old Frank has finally reached the point of no return as he believes he is being mutilated by his beloved collection.

My Thoughts: I believe this was on England's list of video nasties of the 1980's. This is not as shocking now as I'm sure it once was , but still packs one hell of a punch, even without the gore.

My Rating: 4 Go Go Girls out of  5