A year before Witchboard bewitched enough audiences to beget follow-ups and facsimiles, Roberta Findlay (Tenement) summoned similiar subject matter in The Oracle, but with nary a witch nor a board. Here, the evil antique in question appears to be the painted hand of a child mannequin clutching a calligraphy feather long enough to have been … Continue reading The Oracle (1985)→
Down Nova Scotia way, the po-po are on strike due to a labor dispute, so crime runs rampant, primarily under the grip of the New Order — not the band, although that would be something. Of blue collars and unfettered ignorance, the loose collection of garden-variety fascists take advantage of the lawless land — at … Continue reading Siege (1983)→
Ever since she was a 10-year-old blonde, the brunette Cathy has seen visions throughout New York City. In the day, it could be a granola-looking woman wrapped in thrift-store duds or a little girl who looks like she came in fourth place in the Heather O’Rourke look-alike contest. In the night, however, Cathy sees Lurkers: … Continue reading Lurkers (1988)→
All but lost, the unreleased Banned represents the final film of cult New York director Roberta Findlay (Tenement). Beholden to no genre and without an internal logic to call its own, the movie is utterly strange even for her. Ostensibly, it’s about the ghost of Sid Vicious-esque punk rocker Teddy Homicide (Neville Wells), he of … Continue reading Banned (1989)→
Maybe I’ve seen too many gory horror flicks (guilty, your honor!), but Prime Evil director Roberta Findlay’s infamous Tenement didn’t quite strike me as the mega-disturbo flick it’s made out to be: “TOO VIOLENT TO BE RATED!” I mean, it’s no picnic in Central Park, but how could it mess up your mind when its … Continue reading Tenement (1985)→