Crazy wicked (Witched?) imagery, a cool setting (abandoned seaside house), lots of blood, Linda Blair and David Hasselhoff? Sign me up! Actually, Witchery features one of the most disturbed deaths ever (see bottom panel). Not because it’s particuarly violent (although it is), but because you watch this poor man in pained agony as he starts bleeding… and bleeding… and bleeding… Agony.
And click on the center picture. Neat – There’s people in there!
An underrated little gore chiller, Witchery is the kind of movie you’ll want to watch on a cold, rainy night.
It goes without saying that every movie has a story (hey, I just mentioned it anyway! I’m a rebel that way). And almost every horror movie featuring a deranged murderer has a backstory (or should). With a few exceptions (the original Michael Myers just was and that was scary!), the killer is often motivated by a past act which was done unto him or someone he loved. Thus, a course of events was set, and eventually, the triggered pulled. Sometimes, it was the backstory to these unstoppable killing machines that made the movie that much more intriguing, and sometimes it was the reason the film was even memorable at all… So I present the most often used motivations behind the (sometimes) masked marauders of the slasher genre.
I’m sure many of these titles could fit in several categories, but I put them into the one that instantly struck a bell.
Beware of many, MANY Spoilers ahead, yo!
Motivation #1:The Self Important Killer
You would do well in Hollywood with your it’s-all-about-me attitude. It’s your self-centered stance that makes you want to exact revenge on those who did you wrong. Like the rest of us didn’t have some kind of trauma in our lives?!? A part of me wants to scream, “Get over it!” But who doesn’t want to see you rid the world of snarky cool kids for being… uh… snarky and cool?
Watch the beautiful people meet an ugly end in:
The Burning
Evil Laugh
Evil Speak
Iced
Jennifer
Massacre at Central High
Monkey Shines
Mortuary
Nail Gun Massacre
Slaughter High
Pick of the Litter: Killer Workout – Woman goes nutzo after horrible (and hilarious) tanning bed accident. Killer Party is a beautiful train wreck about revenge and leg warmers.
You are probably my favorite motivation. You kill because the loss of someone you loved is too great of a burden to carry. You most likely started off fairly normal but were pushed over the edge thanks to some cruel undoing to a family member or lover at the hands of someone else. Your backstory carries the most depth for me, and it’s the one I find the most relatable too. Cuz, you know, I’m all scary and stuff.
Don’t mess with my family, yo:
Evil Laugh
Graduation Day
Happy Birthday To Me
Mutilator
Rush Week
Silent Madness
To All a Goodnight
Toolbox Murders
Pick of the Litter: Prom Night – And accidental killing trips the postal effect on one kid and a dance floor.
Motivation #3: The Crazy Insane Doppleganger Who is Actually a Twisted Twin:
You are a mouthful of vengeance that can be extremely effective. Think about it, you’re twin has gone on to live a fairly normal life while you rot away in some hole because you’re supposedly insane. Well, there’s no supposedly about it, based on these few films that prove that two great tastes don’t always taste great together.
Watch the Doublemint Twins go all psycho in:
Blood Rage
Girl’s Nite Out
The Initiation
Pick of the Litter: Madhouse – Underrated chiller about one angry, deformed sibling’s jealousy for her pretty counterpart. Creepy.
Motivation #4: A Lover Scorned:
OK, so you do not like getting dumped. I mean, none of us like it, but you take the cake! The wedding cake that is! You are pushed to the limit when your love is completely disregarded. One is the loneliest number which might by why you attack in multiple digits. How thoughtful!
I want my ring back:
Blood Lake
He Knows You’re Alone
New Year’s Evil
The Prowler
Savage Weekend
Schizoid
Pick of the Litter: Hide and Go Shriek – Another train wreck of homoerotic symbolism, cooking with woks and banana clips. Pure awesomeness can be found in one very skinny actress namedBunky Jones who tells her dear friend/victim-to-be to “Buzzzzz off, Buzzzzzzhead.”
Motivation #5: Childhood Traumas
Maybe you saw mama kissing Santa under the mistletoe, right before he took a chainsaw to her! You probably did witness something kinky mixed with a little bit of something violent and your prepubescent brain couldn’t process the whole sordid scene. Oh well, it makes watching you stalk sexed-up teens and adults alike a total, unmitigated blast!
Watch something kinky turn bloody here:
The Boogeyman
Christmas Evil
Don’t Go in the House
House of Death
My Bloody Valentine
Pieces
Popcorn
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Pick of the Litter: Nightmares (aka Nightmares in a Damaged Brain) – What this little guy saw wasn’t exactly that traumatizing, but boy did he take it to another level. Add a little scientific experimentation to an already warped mind and stand back! This guy takes no prisoners!
Motivation #6: The Mutated Monster (Not Quite as the Lord Made Him)
You have some real problems in life. Born deformed (a kind word for butt ugly), your anger at all things lovely has not been lost on us. OK, maybe you’re not ugly, maybe it’s nobody’s fault you can’t function among us normal folks, but we do love a good blood show!
Cringe at the uglies here:
The Funhouse
Humongous
The Prey
Silent Rage
Pick of the Litter: Hell Night – C’mon, like you never been gorked out at any point?
Motivation #7: You Raised a Demon, Vivia
You certainly did. You didn’t want to be there or you might have had some connection to a horrible act committed years before, or maybe you made a pact with the devil (Note to self: not a good idea), but youdid it. You crossed over into the otherworld and now we have to pay. Well, they have to pay… I only have to watch!
Spiritual slaughter can be found here:
Class Reunion Massacre
Happy Hell Night
Hellraiser
I, Madman
Madman
Pledge Night
The Unnamable
Pick of the litter: Killer Party – Based on my title for this motivation, I’m sure you could have guessed KP would be my film of choice. Take the hijinks, the (admittedly tame) slashings and one pissed of dead frat guy and mix it up with a little White Sister and you’ve got a Molotov cocktail of awesomeness!
Motivation #8: The Idiot-Man-Child
Let’s face it, you’re just some moron who probably had to fend for himself in the wild. Not always, sometimes you could surprise us with your settings, but your reaction to interlopers is still fairly predictable. And you wear diapers, don’t you?
Poopy pants slaughter here:
Don’t Go in the Woods
House on Sorority Row
Offerings
Memorial Valley Massacre
The Unseen
Pick of the litter: Just Before Dawn – Dumb hillbillies with a penchant for blood, this film is one of the greatest works of slasher cinema ever committed to celluloid. A complete triumph of terror (with its own set of Doublemint Twins – both evil!).
Motivation #9: You So Crazy!
Let’s face it, you are just fucking nuts. And I love you!
Insanity, your table for one is ready:
Final Exam
Home Sweet Home
Love Butcher
Maniac
Slumber Party Massacre
Visiting Hours
When a Stranger Calls
Pick of the Littler: When a Stranger Calls Back – I still can’t figure out why this guy did what he did, but he had an awesome ventriloquist act, he painted himself to match the walls and he had a crazy knack for throwing his voice. Dude was scary!
Motivation #10: Killer Kids
You think you’re so cute and rambunctious but we know you better as the child without a conscience who only sees what he/she wants and will do anything to get. Your parents certainly raised you right!
Tykes of terror:
Bloody Birthday
Mikey
Sleepaway Camp
Pick of the Litter: The Pit – Jamie was a boy who loved his teddy bear, his hot local librarian and feeding his fellow Tralalogs humans. How sweet!
Motivation #11: Psychic Connections – You might not have raised a demon, but you definitely have an open phone line to them and help them make the trip over to our side. Gee, thanks!
Mr. Telephone Man, Satan is on the line:
Blood Song
Ghostkeeper
Meatcleaver Massacre
Nothing Underneath
Tourist Trap
Pick of the Litter: The Slayer – Another great underrated classic, the Slayer is one part Nightmare on Elm Street, one part gore galore and one part monster flick. A perfect combo for those cold, rainy nights when a good scare is needed.
Motivation #12: Greed
You want it all don’t you? And you don’t mind getting a little blood on your hands if you helps you down your path to riches. Or maybe you’re just ticked because others have benefited and you haven’t? Really, can’t you just, like, get a job?
Money & mayhem go hand in hand:
Open House
Intruder
Pick of the Litter: Bay of Blood – Greed is an understament in the game of death as not one, but several killers enter the fold in the hopes of attaining a large estate. Dollar signs and gore reign.
Motivation #13: The Institution of being Institutionalized – Society tried to cure you, but something went horribly awry and now nothing anyone does can fix the damage they’ve caused. And now you you need to make sure we pay for what we did. Awesome!
You can check in because you’ve checked out:
Last Slumber Party
Night Screams
Silent Madness
Silent Rage
Silent Scream
Pick of the Litter: Stagefright – One of Italy’s most underrated horror directors, Michele Soavi helmed this incredible slasher about an escaped mental patient who runs afoul of a rehearsing band of dancers. Locked in for the night, mayhem ensues as a crazed maniac wearing a giant (and effectively scary) owl head stalks his prey with finesse!
*Amanda By Night would like to thank Michael Ferrari from Cinema Du Meep and Nathan Johnson for their help with putting together this list.
What permeated the air in the late 80s that made it so… so … so stonewashed… so feathery… so scrunchie socked? What, I ask? Iced is a prime example of the late 80s in all its bad fashion glory. Unfortunately, it’s not scary, but it’s an awful lot of fun in one tiny time capsule.
Jeff Stinson (Dan Smith) is this crazy ski type who after a bad blind date with Trina (Debra Deliso of Slumber Party Massacre fame), takes a flying leap – literally – while Trina is expressing her real love for cute Cory (Doug Stevenson). A few years later, Trina and Cory are married and they take the rest of their friends (all attached to Jeff’s death) to this fancy new ski resort. They are followed by a creepy ski type person (uh-huh) who is determined to make this reunion its bloody best.
Let’s face it, Iced is not a very good movie. Technically, it’s a bit of a mess with horrible editing, slow pacing and overtly misguided dialog (with only marginal acting at times), but if you’re a USA Up All Night kind of person (and who isn’t?), then this movie is a must. Plus, there’s plenty of boobs (courtesy of Lisa Loring who played Wednesday in the original Addams Family) and some decent blood to keep the proceedings going. There’s also a surprising amount of male nudity. Not that I was complaining, but as a woman who watches a ton of 80s schlock, I’m just not used to it. So, for some of us, it’s an added bonus.
Deliso is pretty good as the final girl and spends her chase scene in her underwear and snow boots! The twist is pretty predictable, but never you mind because the cheese flows freely on top of Blood Mountain, so get yourself a room, pop open a beer and enjoy!
One of the most beautiful things about the horror genre is how utterly subjective it is. One man’s Madman is another man’s Prom Night. OK, I love both of those movies, but you get my point, see? I have spent years analyzing what it is about certain slashers that chill me to the bone. Even now, after so many films, I can still be surprised by what has an effect on me. Case in point, Ghostkeeper.
Ghostkeeper is a truly bare boned affair. Filtered with only a few characters, located mostly in one building and featuring very little in the way of gore, there’s still something so… uh… good, which even now after thinking about it for a couple of days, I just can’t explain. But I won’t let that stop me from trying!
Riva Spier is Jenny, a quiet girl who finds herself in a dead end relationship with Marty (Murray Ord) and together they embark on a vacation that feels anything but fun. They are visiting a desolate, snow-covered mountain with their party-girl buddy Chrissy (Sheri McFadden) and the three take off to parts unknown. After a minor accident, they find themselves seeking shelter at the Deer Lodge, an abandoned hotel. Well, maybe it’s abandoned, since they notice the heat running, even though the guest book informs them there haven’t been any visitors in five long years. Looks like they were right, and finally encounter a creepy old lady referred to in the credits as the Ghostkeeper (Georgie Collins, who truly has a disquieting aura about her). She attempts to boot them out, but because of the ferocity of the storm, she relents and they spend the night. That’s when things get weird. Apparently, this Ghostkeeper is keeping a surprise in her basement. And it’s hungry!
Ghostkeeper doesn’t rely on characterization or story and finds its greatest strengths in the ambiance and the score (by Paul Zaza who also did Prom Night and My Bloody Valentine, among others). There are long stretches of nothingness, yet in that space of air, there’s a feeling of dread so thick you could cut its bloodied heart out with a knife! The desolation in the snowy mountains only heightens the claustrophobia as the film heads towards an ambiguous ending.
Spier is an interesting actress. She’s gorgeous and because the film doesn’t contain a lot of dialog, she expresses herself mostly with cold stares. I can’t tell if Spier wasn’t very good in the part or was fantastic, because her wooden performance actually feels right for some reason. Perhaps it’s because Jenny is terrified of inheriting her mother’s insanity and it’s that fear that keeps the character distant and slightly blank, as if taking in her surroundings before figuring out if it’s safe to react. The rest of the cast is fun, with Collins the stunning winner. Just thinking about her creeps me out.
Loosely based on the Wendigo legend, this Canadian horror film is slasher and monster lite, but has oodles of snow and deep synthesizer sounds to keep you going. Like Madman, or more appropriately, The Prey, Ghostkeeper isn’t hampered by nothingness, it’s enriched by it.
Films become legendary for different reasons. Some are plagued with problems; others manage to transcend the art form and become something else entirely. Then there is the rarest beast indeed, the movie that no one knows anything about. You know it exists, you’ve seen it. You even recognize some of the actors. But somehow little was documented about the actual making of it. A film that fell into that category would certainly be The Prey. A fun, if bewildering, slasher film that despite its low-budget and niche interest has managed to maintain itself in the genre. If you love slashers, you’ve seen The Prey. You may not have loved the film, but I’ll be damned if you weren’t curious about its incarnation.
Jackson Bostwick played Ranger Mark O’Brien, the sweet would be hero who tells the infamous ‘wide mouth frog’ joke (he also plays a mean banjo). Jackson was kind enough to sit down and answer a few of the burning questions horror fans have been asking themselves for the last two decades. His answers were quite interesting…
Retro Slashers: How did you get involved with The Prey?
Jackson Bostwick: My acting coach at the time, Lurene Tuttle, recommended me for the part. I went in, read for the director, and got it. They loved a picture I had of me with a two-week beard growth and asked me how long it would take for me to duplicate it. I told them two weeks — duh — and to let me know the start date and it’ll be ready.
RS: I always see varying dates on the release of the movie. When was it actually shot and released?
JB: It was shot in 1978. I’m not sure of the exact release. I know New World picked it up later.
RS: Edwin Brown made a lot of movies for the adult industry. What was he like to work with?
JB: I don’t recall a lot about Ed Brown and his producer wife, Summer, but I do know they were a good team on the set and were very “adult” and professional in their approach to the work at hand.
RS: The Prey was a pretty bare-bones/minimalist movie. Do you remember how long the screenplay was and what it looked like? By that I mean did you know that a good portion of the film would be filler consisting mostly of nature photography?
JB: It seems the script was around 86 pages (or less) in length.
As far as any acting was concerned, I could have phoned in most of my part. But the locations and getting into the outdoors was a hoot.
The Prey was filmed in and around Idlewyld, USC’s summer music camp, in the 9,000 foot mountains above Palm Springs, and Tapia Park over the Santa Monica Mountains opposite Malibu.
I don’t remember seeing a call for a lot of stock footage in the script, but then again, it probably wasn’t listed to a great extent in the Tarzan scripts either — just thrown in whenever nature (or the Ape Man) called for it. (In our case … whenever.)
RS: Debbie Thureson was really good in The Prey and then seemed to disappear. Do you know what became of her or do you have any stories about her?
JB: I didn’t know a lot about Debbie, then or now. I don’t think she became a nun in Austria, or a tour guide in the foothills of Zimbabwe; I guess she just kinda drifted away into oblivion.
I do recall in the final scene of the movie, however, when I’m supposed to be killed by the mutant love child (who later played Lurch in the “Adams Family” movie); Debbie was having a great deal of difficulty with her emotional CLOSE UP when she sees the forsaken one come up behind me. As I recall, Ed Brown was ready to literally break her neck right after letting the bad boy cinematically break mine. Debbie was rather wanting in any film technique.
RS: Lori Lethin is a very popular actress in horror. What do you remember about her?
JB: Lori was very energetic and bubbly and did a fine job in The Prey. She had a cute figure and was fun to work with and she later worked with my friend, Lurene Tuttle, in the MOW, The Day After (she does quite well with this part, also).
RS: I think the scene fans remember most is the ˜Wide Mouth Frog Joke” scene. Was that written in the script or did you come up with it?
JB: The joke itself wasn’t written in the script. I was verbally told it by Ed before we shot, then I ad-libbed and embellished on it. I did it in my own words for the scene. The fawn did it just for the bananas.
RS: What about the banjo? Did you tell them you could play and they added it?
JB: Correctamundo.
I self-taught myself the Earl Scruggs style, three-finger technique, and then later took instructions from Herb Peterson (who was backing a then up-and-coming singer, Emmy Lou Harris). I told them I could play, and I guess they saw they could save some money on stock footage shots of nature, so they threw it in.
RS: Of course I have to ask about Jackie Coogan. He had an interesting life and was obviously a seasoned performer. What was he like?
JB: Jackie was a very professional actor to work with and as I knew him, a very warm a funny person. He had recently had a stroke before we did the film, but I never really noticed it that much until he signed my script. It took him at least 30 seconds just to write, “The Kid.” Like Red Skelton, Dorothy McQuire, Ann Baxter, Broderick Crawford, and many other greats I have worked with, I’ll never forget him.
RS: What did you think about the final product?
JB: It’s not a Lawrence of Arabia by any stretch of the imagination, but it beats watching a home movie in a closet.
RS: On IMDB, you are listed as the voice of the Jinn in The Outing (aka The Lamp). Is this correct and how did that come about? By the way, I love that movie!
JB: “This is correct, Keeper,” or so the Jinn would say. Not a large part, but a lot of fun.
I was set to do a little film called Break Dancers from Mars with Linda Day George for the Producer of The Lamp (now called, The Outing), Warren Channey. Tobe Hooper of Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame was going to direct Break Dancers. That fell through, but then came The Outing.
RS: The Prey is one of those films that is either loved or hated but it has also endured all these years. Does its popularity in the horror world surprise you?
JB: There aren’t many surprises left for me in the horror world, anymore, but for anything to “still have legs” in that realm is quite refreshing.
RS: You’ve done a lot of work in the genre. Do you yourself like sci-fi and horror? What has been your favorite project so far?
JB: Sci-fi, horror, and fantasy are my favorites with action/adventure close on their heels. These fields are where dreams and imagination can best run their course and allow for that pure escapism that any of the media can provide — especially film.
Escape from DS3 was a fun project. It was one of two films I did for Ann Spielberg (Steven’s sis). The other one was, The Killings at Outpost Zeta. Good luck in finding them anywhere.
RS: When can you tell us about your newest film, Dodge City: A Spaghetto Western, which you also produced? When will we be able to see it?
JB: The new film Dodge City, like the old western town of Dodge City, needs a lot of help. Make no mistake, I didn’t produce it. As to when you will be able to see it … probably, not in this life.
I’ve been wanting to do a little tribute to The Prey, one of the more underrated slashers, but as you may have noticed (or not!), I’m only on RS sporadically (something I truly regret), which means Prey week is looking like it might not happen. So instead, I thought I’d do my posts in piecemeal.
Today, I will present an interesting influence The Prey had on Wrong Turn:
The Prey:
I have always loved this odd camera shot featuring the back of this victim-to-be’s head. Moments away from terror and death, there’s something so strangely weird about this shot that compliments the surreal setting.
When arthouse meets the grindhouse what do you get? Well, you’ll get a little number called Disconnected. And don’t hang up! Because this admittedly convoluted slasher is just weird and interesting enough to seek out.
Frances Raines (star of The Mutilator and niece of acting legend Claude Raines) plays twin sisters, Alicia & Barbara Ann. The main focus of the story is on Alicia, and the film begins with her letting an old man into her apartment to use the phone (he had been waiting outside a neighbor’s door). She leaves him to make some tea and when she goes back into the living room, he’s gone.
Alicia is the more conservative of the two, although quite pretty and extroverted. Her sister, Barbara Ann is a man killer (but not literally!) and likes to cause a little sibling rivalry by stealing Alicia’s boyfriends. After Alicia breaks up with Mike (Carl Koch) for just such a discretion, she has a chance encounter with Franklin (Mark Walker) at the awesome video store she works at. He’s shy, sweet, a movie lover… and a sadistic serial killer. It’s around this time the phone calls begin. They are something akin to a crossing between Black Christmas and a dying elephant. Creepy, disjointed sounds emit from the phone, putting Alicia in a panic, but are they connected to Franklin or has someone else targeted her?
Disconnected needs a lot of work storywise, the first half is fantastic and features some oddly creepy moments, like when Franklin is lying in bed with one of his now-deceased victims. Sure the wood paneling is a touch scarier, but it’s obvious that director Gorman Bechard was making the best of his limited resources. Shot for around $40,000, Disconnected becomes a low budget slasher made for an arty audience. There are hints of David Lynch lurking beneath this film and had this not have been Bechard’s first feature or if he’d had a little more money, he may have been able to expound upon the seriously weird elements. Instead, the results are hit and miss, with most of the hits occurring in the first half.
After the major twist halfway in, the film gets a little more surrealistic and deals mostly with Alicia and the phone. And it just loses its steam, or if I can be so blatantly punny, I got disconnected.
Until I saw this movie, I didn’t know Frances Raines had done anything besides The Mutilator, where she says my all time favorite line from a movie, “I’m going to get high score in video game!” Well, good for you! She’s simply stunning in Disconnected and her performance is much stronger here than when she was getting high score! She is great as both twins, possessing both likeable and unlikable traits, keeping the characters completely different from each other. And since she’s the main focal point for about 90% of the film, she does a commendable job of keeping everything fluid.
Bechard went on to some cult fame. He helmed both Galactic Gigolo and Cemetery High. He has also written several novels. His site is pretty amazing and you can read a little about the making of Disconnected there, so please stop by!
Awkward and unfulfilled, yes. But Disconnected has enough going for it (including an awesome 80s post punk soundtrack. And I do mean awesome!) to put it on the list of truly obscure slashers worth finding.
There’s just a lot of interesting stuff online right now, so I thought I’d share…
For those of you who might not have heard yet, there is documentary in the works on the late, great Bob Clark. According to the ClarkWorld Films site:
In the tradition of award winning, offbeat and stylized documentaries such as The Kid Stays in the Picture and Crumb, ClarkWorld is an inside look into the eccentric life of famed film Director, Bob Clark. When success was met with high-profile box office failures, Clark would effortlessly switch genres, studios and even countries…anything to continue making movies. But as Clark continued to struggle against a series of flops, he was simultaneously being heralded as an inspiration to a new breed of filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, John Carpenter and many others, citing their influence from his iconic films such as Porky’s, Murder by Decree, Turk 182, Black Christmas, and of course, the legendary film A Christmas Story (on over 100 critics lists of top 50 movies of all time, and the best Christmas movie of all time). Clark’s film Black Christmas was initially blasted by critics when originally released in 1974, but now, three decades later, it is acknowledged a a pure post-modern masterpiece. As we continue to weave between various anecdotes told by some very famous people, we discover insight to Clark’s quirky and unpredictable personality as well as his integrity and genius. ClarkWorld is unique, because Bob Clark was unique. It is a riveting, hilarious, edgy, and poignant film that takes us on a whimsical journey inside the world of Bob Clark.
There are updates, and a bittersweet YouTube short featuring Bob’s son Ariel, who died alongside his father (you’ll find it in the Links section). Please check out the site and keep an eye out for what is sure to be a fantastic doc!
Another site recently cropped up that I think everyone should visit. As some of you are aware of, Blood Diner is one of my all time favorite films of all time ever in the history of the world and maybe even the universe. Ever. The lead actor, Rick Burks was tragically killed in a drunk driving incident in 1989 (what is it with drunk driving?!? Don’t do it!), cutting short a life and career full of infinite potential. Recently, Rick’s father, Don created a tribute site for his son. Please visit Rick Burk’s Tribute Site. This is a work in progress. I will be contributing something to the site in the future as well.
Sadly, Rick’s mom, Sandra “Beau” Beauchamp recently passed away. I had met her a few years ago when she and Rick’s sister, Lori invited me into their home where they showed me home movies and let me listen to some of his fantastic music. Please support his family and keep Rick’s memory strong.
And finally, the Bodycount Continues forums are BACK ON LINE! YAY! Please stop by, register and let your love of all things slasher be heard!
There’s also a request for hot chicks! If you’re a hot chick who loves horror, trust me, these guys would LOVE to have you stop by!
Motivation #12: 
