Once upon a time, aspiring filmmakers wanted to make movies. Today, it seems they only want to make one kind: the slasher film. That would be fine if the young pups came equipped with a new twist to offer; barring that, I’d settle for capable execution (no pun intended). In Scream Park, neophyte writer/director/producer Cary … Continue reading Scream Park (2012)
Also known as Terror in Toyland, You Better Watch Out and — at least in my book — I Saw Mommy Fucking Santa Claus, the oddball slasher flick Christmas Evil begins on Christmas Eve, 1947, when young Harry spies his father dressed in full Santa regalia getting it on with his mom. This prompts Harry … Continue reading Christmas Evil (1980)
Given all that bank made by Halloween and Friday the 13th, the immortal Cannon Films wanted to get in on some of that calendar-slasher action, making its stake on the holiday of hollow resolutions with the punny but cannily titled New Year’s Evil. It’s Dec. 31 in Los Angeles, and the big show is the … Continue reading New Year’s Evil (1980)
That damned Alaric de Marnac! He’s the 16th-century knight who caught his wife in flagrante delicto, so he beat her to death with a mace. Not content with that act of revenge, he rises from the tomb every 100 years to kill any Marnac woman. Or at least that’s the legend told to Geneviève (Julia … Continue reading Panic Beats (1983)