Dropping old IMDb slasher reviews Here

The Prey (1983) November 2009

Backwoods horror concerning three couples, friends who decide to back pack through the mountainous wilderness, unaware that a killer lives within, seeking a mate.

This nonsense about The Prey being the worst film every made is rather silly..sure it has a devastating slow pace which causes the movie to lag unforgivably, weighing on the patience of even the most tolerant viewer.

I didn't consider the performances too unpleasant, nor the characters(..except for the pretty gal, always glamming up, despite the fact the gang's in the middle of the wilderness)that aggravating.

It's the main fact that there's no sense of timing or development of tension..in a film such as this, I think it's of vital importance to continually establish the menace, but in a more expedient fashion where the audience isn't lulled into a coma.

That said, the Utah location is a definite plus, the wilderness during the day and at night. To be honest, I didn't really have a problem, as others, with the additional nature footage because I recognized that the filmmakers desire to establish the surroundings, the different creatures living within the setting, lurking about like the badly burnt gypsy killer.

While the filmmakers have some music(..reminiscent of The Shining, with some music also akin to Halloween)scored in the film, they mostly use natural sounds. A lot of the time, they shoot POV for the killer, accompanied by a heartbeat and heavy breathing, keeping him fresh in our minds when we start to doze off.

Some recognizable faces in the cast include the handsome Steve Bond(General Hospital soap opera)and Lori Lethin(Bloody Birthday;Return to Horror High), as members of the group pursued by the killer, and a nice supporting turn from Jackie Coogan(..in his final film)as head over the Forest Service. Jackson Bostwick is ranger, Mark O'Brien, who sets out to look for the couple attacked by the killer in the opening frame.

The scene when Mark finds a body picked away at by buzzards is pretty chilling. And, probably one of the better sequences has a character in peril as he climbs down a mountain not knowing the killer has sinister plans for him up above. The final 17 or so minutes are rather intense, which may be too little too late, with a rather downbeat twist at the end. The gore is limited(..a throat ripping by far the most effective other the discovery of a dead body which had been supplying nourishment to the buzzards), but the attacks are still quite violent in nature. The film gives you glimpses of the killers charred visage, and we also are made aware of his gigantic presence when he lifts young men in the air with relative ease.

 Hide and Go Shriek (1988) June 2007

Group of teens(forming four boyfriend-girlfriend couple), just recently graduated from high school, decide to stay overnight in a furniture store to have a little sex, but have no clue that a killer awaits them..a transvestite psycho at that! The film opens the door that a recently released con, who needed a job and place to stay, is bedding in a room on the bottom floor. John(Sean Kanan)is the son of the furniture store's owner and takes the rest on a tour of the massive multi-floored building with it's bevy full of mannequins creating a creepy decor. When asked why his father would have all these mannequins stored throughout, John says it makes the customers feel that someone's always at home. So anytime a teen bumps into a mannequin, they jump because you never know if it is someone with flesh not plastic. They keep the lights off so that no one will spot them inside fooling around which even increases the danger and scary-factor of the mannequins for they are always there popping up when the characters come around corners. They decide to play a game of hide-and-seek within the furniture store while also taking time out to have sexual relations in the numerous beds on the different floors available to them. This furniture store becomes a playground for the killer as he can come upon them unannounced, often hiding within the mannequins in the darkness. What's his purpose for killing them? You have to see it to believe it! It's absolutely an outrageous reason.

Gloriously lame late-80's cheese-ball slasher with hammy overacting by the young cast made with style thanks to the darkened, enormous setting inside the huge furniture store. Multi-levels provides plenty of room for the killer to hide and attack his prey. The idea that he is amongst them without their knowledge also allows a slow build-up until he strikes. Not very gory, but still a blast if you go in not expecting much. I probably enjoyed this one a bit more than I should have.

Sweet 16 (1983) March 2009

Bo Hopkins stars as a small town sheriff, Dan Burke, trying to uncover the one responsible for a series of murders towards young men surrounding fifteen year old Melissa Morgan(Aleisa Shirley)whose "sweet sixteen" is approaching. A number of suspects emerge including two Native Americans, elderly Greyfeather(Henry Wilcoxon)and his grandson, Jason Longshadow(Don Shanks), but they could be smokescreens of another, whose long buried past has awakened and those who attempt to get involved with Melissa pay the price. Susan Strasberg(..still quite beautiful at this time)is Melissa's mother, Joanne, and screen veteran Patrick Macnee is her father, archaeologist Dr. John Morgan, excavating old Indian grounds for artifacts. Don Stroud is a rowdy racist cowboy, Billy Franklin, often hanging around with goofy hoodlum, Jimmy(Logan Clarke)teasing and abusing Greyfeather when he enters their juke joint for a beer. Billy and Longshadow are mortal enemies and a destined showdown is imminent. Dana Kimmell is Dan's inquisitive daughter Marci and Steve Antin is his son Hank, whose attraction to Melissa puts him in potential danger. The horror escalates at Melissa's sweet sixteen birthday party, put together as a way for the town to meet the Morgan family..the killer will be revealed and Billy, along with Jimmy(..his shadow, pretty much)will attempt to have a little fun with Melissa when she goes skinny dipping with Hank.

The film carves a psychological path as Dan soon discovers the history of a certain character whose traumatic past could have developed a disturbed personality willing to kill those who pose a fictional danger to Melissa who represents someone else symbolically. The director, Jim Sotos, mentions that they were working from an unfinished script, during an interview with Hopkins admitting to ab-libbing some lines(..and a funny story mentions how Macnee was confused with the twist regarding why the killer was committing such grisly knife murders). Aleisa Shirley, a very pretty girl, has some nude shower sequences that left me rather disoriented..as a fifteen year old character, I didn't know whether to be mortified as the camera embraced her naked flesh, or jovial because it's obvious she was a much older woman than the Melissa she was portraying. Sharon Farrell has a nice supporting role as Kathy Hopkins, a forensics expert carrying a torch for widower Dan, who proposes marriage to him all the time. A great asset to the movie was the camaraderie between Hopkins and his fictional family, Kimmell and Antin..their chemistry together is quite fundamental to the overall success of this rural slasher. They will become embroiled within the developing situation just as much as their father investigating the case, just in a different way. Fans of Macnee will be rather disappointed in his rather lackluster role here..it's nice to see him, but not much is demanded from him since the character isn't too strongly involved within the major plot. Strasberg, however, has an interesting development since it's revealed that she was born in the town setting of this movie..and has friction with Michael Pataki's citizen, George Martin, an obvious history between these two is apparent. The violence isn't too gruesome, with carefully edited attacks showing the knife stabbing torsos up close..not that extreme for dye-in-the-wool slasher fans used to gratuitous gore. Hopkins is as appealing and laid back as ever, a dominating presence of the plot, his authority convincing in a small town atmosphere, dealing with confrontational cases appropriately and realistically. I particularly liked how his sheriff handles his kids who respect their father, even if they disobey him sometimes..unlike today's children who resist parental guidance, Dan's children know their place and don't cross him. Kimmell, who would go on to star as the lead final girl in Friday THE 13TH III, is adorable, always studiously involved in dad Dan's cases.

The Final Terror (1983) December 2006

A group of fire-men and some ladies who accompany them fall prey to a killer living within the woods..she's a mental ward escapee with a shed that contains lots of grotesque things in jars.

A standard(if worse)backwoods horror flick suffers most from minimalist lighting which sure makes the supposed terror especially hard to see. The film isn't that gory because everything's so damned dark. The photography seems dirty and cheap as if the day-time is anything but bright. Within the woods this, at times, provides some creepiness, but when you need to see the horror on people's faces or the killer doing her worst, the film just simply fails.

You can vaguely see images of what seems to be people and occasionally faces of those running can be transmitted, but over all the film disappoints. Some weird music helps a bit as well, but the film just fails to really deliver where it matters most..true thrills.

This is more of a curio piece for those familiar with director Andrew Davis(who is better known for directing solid action fare such as "Above the Law", "Code of Silence", & "The Fugitive")and actors in early roles such as Rachel Ward, Daryl Hannah, and Joe Pantoliano.

Sorority House Massacre (1986) March 2007

Beth(Angela O'Neill)has been battling recurring nightmares since moving back to her sorority after her beloved aunt passed away. There's a man who has just murdered an entire family and seems to be coming for her. Director Carol Frank juxtaposes Beth returning home to her sorority with a man named Bobby(John C Russell)trying to free himself from the cell of a psycho ward. What does happen over time is that Beth will find that the images that occur in her mind and dreams(not just that one recurring nightmare, but various images of Bobby trying at her with a long curving knife)are repressed memories from her childhood resurfacing because they are awakened as she comes to the sorority which was once that very home Bobby killed in. Bobby will break from his cell when he attacks a nurse and return to the scene of the crime to finish what he started..killing Beth, the one that got away. But, other sorority friends of Beth's will unfortunately bear her burden as they fall individually to his twisted wrath once he takes from a hardware store a knife he used to kill the owner.

Energetic photography, potent nightmarish images of Bobby and his mean blade in Beth's mind, and a likable performance from cute O'Neill as heroine Beth lend a helping hand in another of those run-of-the-mill college slashers where young adults are simply enjoying life until they walk unknowingly into the knife of a sicko. There are jump-scares aplenty, over and over. The film pretty much is predictable and the screenplay provides ways for Beth's poor college mates to perish. This has those wonderful 80's items we cherish, the lousy fashion, lots of posters of musicians hot at the time, and those glorious hairstyles. The film also shows lots of cleavage..nearly all the females(..but, Beth, of course, who appears to be the pure virginal innocent)show their breasts. The boyfriends are all goof balls(and most of the gals,as well)so that might be another reason to check this slasher flick out. Just don't expect originality, because this sticks pretty close to formula except the added angle of repressed memories.