Not Really Horror

 

 (imdb)

FACE OF FIRE-1959-In a small town, a good old boy named Monk (James Whitmore) saves his employer's son from a fire. The kid is ok but Monk severely disfigured. A judge (Robert F. Simon) suggests he should be killed but his employer (Cameron Mitchell) wants to help him. Monk tries to act normal but no one wants anything to do with him. After a lot of conflict there's a happy ending. Also with Royal Dano, Bettye Ackerman, Richard Erdman and Lois Maxwell (a few years later she was “Miss Moneypenny” in the James Bond series). 

Albert Band directed and co-wrote the screenplay which was adapted from the Stephen Crane story “The Monster”. This is not a horror movie although it was sometimes advertised as one.

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Empire Ghouls

 

 (imdb)

GHOULIES ll-1987-In this sequel, mean little monsters, the spawn of Satan, hitch a ride with a traveling circus after a priest fails to kill them. They cause death and destruction. The circus is run by an old guy (Royal Dano) and his nephew Larry (Damon Martin). After the old man is killed, a yuppie co-owner name Hardin (J. Downing) hangs around wanting to close down the circus. With the help of Nicole (Kerry Remsen), a belly dancer and Nigel (Phil Fondacaro), a little person, the nephew conjures up a giant demon that eats the ghoulies. But then they have to contend with the demon. 

Tasteless, useless sequel from Richard Band's Empire Pics filmed in Italy by Band's father Albert (I BURY THE LIVING (1958)). Somehow, 2 more sequels followed.

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Dead Graffiti

 

 (themoviedb)

MESSIAH OF EVIL-1973-From a mental hospital, a woman Arletty (Mariana Hill; she was in THE GODFATHER PART 2 the same year) tells the story of how she went to a town called Point Doom looking for her estranged father. Stopping for gas, the attendant (Charles Dierkop) acts weird and gives her a warning. He gets very perturbed when a big albino stops for gas with two dead bodies in his pickup. The attendant is killed a little later. 

While snooping around town Arletty meets a freaky art dealer and his blind mother and talkative town drunk Charlie (Elisha Cook Jr.) who talks about the blood red moon and people bleeding. She meets dandy Thom (Michael Greer; FORTUNE AND MEN'S EYES) who seems interested in the legend of the blood moon, and his two female companions the stuck-up snob Laura (Anitra Ford) and the dumb Toni (Joy Bang). Later after a lot of talk, Laura decides to leave. She hitches a ride with the albino (Bernie Robinson) who eats a rat. She wanders around town, goes to a supermarket and sees a bunch of weird people eating raw meat. They chase her down and eat her. Meanwhile, Arletty reads from Dad's diary. Poor Toni! She goes to see a movie and is attacked and eaten by the audience. Thom wanders around town. Dad (Royal Dano) shows up to explain the story of a dark stranger who had been part of the Donner party. It's not a good reunion though. Arletty sets her dad on fire. Then she tries to kill Thom. The dark stranger comes back too…

The directing and writing credits of this low budget bizarro horror film go to the husband-and-wife duo of Williard Hyuck and Gloria Katz who the year before had written the screenplay of AMERICAN GRAFFITI (they also have cameos as zombies). It is a kind of eerie movie but some parts don't make sense. Some critics have praised it as a “neglected masterpiece”. Re-released under the title DEAD PEOPLE.

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