Showing posts with label luca bercovici. Show all posts
Showing posts with label luca bercovici. Show all posts

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Fightful

(imdb)

FRIGHTMARE-1983-Some idiot fans of the recently deceased horror star Conrad Razoff (Ferdinand Mayne; THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (1967)) steal his corpse and have a party where they get drunk and dance with him. Later they put him in the attic. His wife contacts a psychic (Nita Talbott) who performs a seance that brings Conrad back to life. He kills most of them (including Jeffery Combs in his third film) and a fat cop investigates. One guy (future director Luca Bercovici) is cremated alive. Leon Askin (from TV's "Hogan's Heroes" has a small role). 

Confused typical '80's slasher nonsense written & directed by Norman Thaddeus Vane who many years earlier penned The Herman's Hermits movie MRS. BROWN, YOU'VE GOT A LOVELY DAUGHTER (1968).

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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The Wacky '80's



GHOULIES-1985-A young man named Jonathan (overacting Peter Liapis) who as a baby was saved from being a demonic sacrifice inherits an old mansion and moves there with his girlfriend (Lisa Pelikan). During a party with his drunken stupid friends (one is Mariska Hargity in her movie debut) he begins to practice the black arts eventually conjuring up the little nasty demons of the title. His eyes glow green and he gets help from two little people Grizzel and Greedigut (who provide comedy relief). He throws another party and during another ritual makes his ghoul faced father (Michael Des Barres) rise from the grave. The ghoulies then kill his friends (one pops out of a toilet bowl like in the poster) and Jonathan must fight his demon dad.

Jack Nance (ERASERHEAD) plays a good guy sorcerer/caretaker who saves the day. Bobbi Bresee (MAUSOLEUM) has one scene.

This possession-sorcery nonsense was obviously inspired by Joe Dante's GREMLINS (made the year before) but I've read it went through several plot and script changes before being filmed. In a way the little monsters do seem like an afterthought. But it spawned 4 sequels!

Charles Band was the executive producer. It was the first movie directed by actor Luca Bercovici who later made ROCKULA and THE GRANNY.

Lead Liapis later played the same character in Part 4. England born Des Barres fronted the '70's rock band Detective and did a lot of American television. As a teen in his native England he'd already been in TO SIR WITH LOVE and I MONSTER.

Thanks for reading!