Satan Strikes

 

 (imdb)

NIGHT VISITOR-1989-Billy Colton (Derek Rydall), a moronic high school student who's always late for class spies on his new single hot neighbor Lisa (Shannon Tweed). He has a dopey friend Sam (Scott Fults) and a kind of girlfriend Kelly (Teresa Van der Woude). When Billy decides to climb to a window of Lisa's house to get some pics, he sees her ritualistically killed by a masked Satanist who turns out to be his teacher Mr. Willard (Allen Garfield) who lives with his weird brother Stanley (Michael J. Pollard) and have a kidnapped hooker in their basement. Unfortunately, the police (lead by Richard Roundtree) don't believe Billy because he's known to be a liar. Billy goes to an ex-cop Devereaux (Elliot Gould) for help. Meanwhile Willard and Stanley sacrifice the hooker to Satan. The police consult an authority on Satanism (Henry Gibson!). Later, when Kelly is kidnapped, Billy and Devereaux invade Willard's house. 

The out-of-control finale saves this from time wasting boredom and the annoying Billy character! Brooke Bundy plays Billy's mom. Director Rupert Hitzig earlier had produced WOLFEN (1981) and JAWS 3-D (1983).

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Murder Tape

 

 (wikipedia)

BENNY'S VIDEO-1992-In Vienna, teenage Benny (Arno Firsch) spends too much time watching violent videos (including one of a pig being shot in the head). One day he meets a young girl around his age and they go to his home where while his parents are away. They hang out for while until he kills her and has taped it. He goes about with the rest of his day, going to a club, staying at a friend's home. Eventually he shows the tape to his ineffectual parents who debate what to do. 

This psychological modern horror film was directed by Michael Haneke who later made an excellent version of Franz Kafka's THE CASTLE (1997).

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It Started Here

 

TEENAGERS BATTLE THE THING-1958-A high school teacher Roger Mason (Dave Flocker who directed) and his friend anthropologist Bill Wyman take five teenagers to an Indian burial ground in Ivanpah to dig for artifacts. After digging for a while and eating lunch they discover a cave with a mummy inside. Somehow they get it out and take it to the house they are using. After 2 of the guys talk about a bottle of pop the mummy monster comes to life! It kills a local woman and the next day the sheriff shows up. They search part of an orange grove and discover traces of the monster. Roger has a plan to lure the mummy monster out in the open. Using bales of hay, meat scraps and gasoline, the adults and kids burn the monster mummy to death. The End. 

This less than an hour little low budget regional horror film later became the basis for THE CURSE OF BIGFOOT in 1974, in color with a new introduction featuring Flocker in the Mason role. His brother James T. Flocker wrote it and later on made some very low budger movies of his own like GHOSTS THAT STILL WALK and ALIEN ENCOUNTERS.

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Bad Teen

EXCISION-2012-Misfit Teen Pauline (AnnaLynne McCord, who's actually good in the role) is a smart ass religion obsessed jerk who makes a guy go down on her when she's on her period. She insults a priest (John Waters!) and has bloody fantasies. Her stupid domineering mother is played by Tracy Lords (trying to win an Academy Award). Later she shaves her head and dissects her sister and a friend. There are also small bits by Marlee Maitlin, Ray Wise and Malcolm McDowell. I question the sanity of writer/director Richard Bates Jr. for making this pretty strange horror movie.

 

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Movie Gone Dead

GIRLS GONE  DEAD-2012-In this routine stupid gore movie, a semi-religious teenager named Rebecca (Katie Peterson) goes to a friend's house with 5 bimbos to party for the weekend. Her God fearing mom (Julie Kendal) thinks she's going on a retreat. After rollicking in a pool they go to a place called Wild Wylee's where Linnea Quigley is the bartender (she also sings). They get very drunk and one of them goes off with an extremely fat guy and they become the first victims of a hooded masked killer who uses an ancient ax on victims. The next day the group (who don't really seemed concerned that their friend hasn't returned) get involved in a "Girls Gone Wild" parody (where Ron Jeremy shows up) and the killer beheads a black dwarf named Beetlejuice. Later they have some guys come over to the house and everyone starts dying. Turns out Rebecca's religiously bent mom is the killer, getting help form Rebecca's equally deranged ex-boyfriend.  Pro wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler is a local sheriff who pile drives the killer in the fiery anti-religious finale.

Although the movie features some extreme gore and nudity, it's just like any other modern slasher film. There's a funny outtake at the end though. Two guys, Aaron T. Wells and Michael Hoffman Jr. share the director's credit.

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Arch Halls

THE CHOPPERS-1961-A group of juvenile delinquents strip cars for kicks in this seldom seen low budget teenage crime drama. The leader of the group is spoiled rich kid Cruiser (Arch Hall Jr. in his film debut), assisted by Torch (future director Robert Paget), Snooper (Larry Buchanan regular Burr Middleton), Ben (Chuck Barnes; later OJ Simpson's agent) and Flip (Rex Holman from MA BARKER'S KILLER BROOD). Parts of it are narrated by a reporter named Jim Bradford (producer/writer Arch Hall Sr. in an un-billed role) concerned because  "our greatest national resource is in danger".The gang uses a truck full of chickens and a guitar case full of tools to disguise their operation.

They do business with junk man Moose (Bruno VeSota who had a cameo role in NIGHT TIDE the same year) and harmonica playing Cowboy (Britt Wood who also sings a song). Insurance investigator Tom Hart (Tom Brown) tracks them down with the help of his blonde secretary Liz (Marianne Gaba; also in MISSILE TO THE MOON) and police Lt. Fleming (William Shaw). Cruiser uses a two way radio (while lounging in his cool hot rod) to warn his gang when "the bandits" are closing in.

Arch performs "Monkey In My Headband" and another of his compositions "Konga  Joe" plays on the radio. No matter what anyone says, these songs are cooool! Eventually their car stripping leads to a massive shootout in a junk yard where, after two cops are killed  Cruiser wants to give up but Torch refuses. The cops resort to using a bulldozer to get the gang. After his arrest Cruiser  dejectedly says: "We had a ball. A real ball".

There's a lot of jive talk and it's fairly violent for the time. It was the last movie directed by Leigh Jason who's career started in the late '20's. By the time of THE CHOPPERS he'd been working mostly in TV.

Next up for the father and son Hall team would be EEGAH!

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On Top Of The Bed You'll Fall Asleep

UNDER THE BED-2012-In this stupid teenage horror movie, a dysfunctional kid named Neil (Jonny Weston)  returns home to live with his father (Peter Holden), stepmother (Musetta Vander) and younger brother Paulie (Galltin Grittith) after spending 2 years with an aunt in Florida following the mysterious death of his mother. It seems somehow the brothers are being terrorized by a monster that resides under their bed. Their step-mother seems generally concerned but the father is an idiot who locks the boys in their room to punish them even though they haven't done anything wrong. Later at a sleep over the monster kills their neighbors' obnoxious kids. Then it kills dad. It seems the monster comes from dead body cells left on sheets and pillows so be sure to change your bed often. Later after some bloody but too dark deaths the monster takes Paulie captive and Johnny has to journey into a dark realm to rescue him.

UNDER THE BED is just another boring excursion into the ho-hum genre of "urban horror" inspired by movies like PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and INSIDIOUS. Director Steven C. Miller will surely be heard from again. You've been warned.

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Cherry Bomb

CHERRY FALLS-2000-I've been told this is a "must see" cult film. Ok, I saw it. It's just more slasher nonsense but this time with a female killer preying on screwed up virgin teens in a small town. A stupid sheriff (Michael Biehn) tries to figure it all out and control his own teenage daughter (Brittany Murphy who died in 2009). It has to do with a girl who was raped by 4 football players years before (the sheriff was one of the players). I won't reveal the one other plot point about the killer who goes on a rampage killing teens who are having an orgy in an old house (since the killer only targets virgins it seems a good idea to have sex and therefore not be an intended victim). I guess it was suppose to be a grotesquely funny horror movie...I guess!

Jay Mohr and Candy Clarke also have roles.

The director Geoffrey Wright (from Australia) made ROMPER STOMPER before this.

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Because

BECAUSE THEY'RE YOUNG-1960-American Bandstand's Dick Clark (who died in April 2012 at 82)  is a new high school teacher. His students include a loving couple (Doug McClure & Roberta Shore; 5 years later they would both co-star on TV's THE VIRGINIAN) who want to get married, skinny Warren Beringer (who later became a pudgy TV character actor) who doesn't know his mom's a floozy, bad boy Riff Rimer (Michael Callan) and his ex-girl friend Anne (Tuesday Weld) who has a nagging mother. Chris Robinson (later the lead role in STANLEY) is a toughie who tries to cause trouble at a dance where James Darren and Duane Eddy (who also does the theme song) perform! 


Riff gets involved in a hold up staged by his butcher shop boss. Lying and misunderstandings (and a knife fight) follow but the man who made lip-synching fashionable on music shows straightens out everything in the end. 


Also with Victoria Shaw (who was Maria Van Braun in I AIM FOR THE STARS the same year) as Clark's love interest, Phillip Coolidge, Bess Flowers and John Zaremba. It's based on a novel called "Harrison High". 


The year before BTY director Paul Wendkos had directed the original GIDGET (and would also make its two sequels) but later devoted himself mostly to TV. 


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More of The Same

ASYLUM-2008-More derivative psychological horror nonsense has a group of teens staying in a dorm that used to be an insane asylum for teenagers where the doctor did experiments on them. One teen (Sarah Roemer from DISTURBIA) who'd seen her father kill himself when she was little has weird visions. It seems the evil doctor has come back and is killing off the new kids. 

The director of this muck David R. Ellis previously made SNAKES ON A PLANE and FINAL DESTINATION 2 and was stuntman on movies like HOTEL FOR DOGS.

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Why Are They Scared?

13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS!-1965-This talky, innocuous drama shows the decline of once popular "gimmick" director William Castle. 

13 girls from a Swiss boarding school (all daughters of diplomats) get into trouble while on vacation. The story focuses on one girl Candy (Kathy Dunn) who's diplomatic father is played by Hugh Marlowe (EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS). Khigh Dhiegh (in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE the year before) is the Red Chinese diplomat who's niece Candy befriends. Murray Hamilton and Joyce Taylor are the special agents Candy helps. Despite the violence and espionage this almost seems aimed at teenage girls!

Emil Sitka has an un-billed role as the school's care taker. Castle made the comical remake of THE OLD DARK HOUSE the same year. Screenwriter Robert Dillon also penned Corman's X-THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES the same year.

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