Took me a while to digest the trailer for SORORITY ROW (2009). While HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW (1983) is my favorite retro slasher, this redux is one of the increasing number of “requels” – remakes that feel more like sequels. At the very least I’ll be watching to play catch-out on a number of confirmed references back to the original that only fans like us would catch, like “sea pig” and the bird cane.
I don’t know what the hell has happened to Fangoria.com lately but I do still trust the word of longtime scribe for the mag, Michael Gingold. Being a super-duper SLAUGHTER HIGH fan it was less his comments about the quality of the film that reached me, but those about the quality of the DVD.
Video transfer? I can live with that. Video is not a dirty word in my household. But the pop-up track idea was awkward yet full of possibility – possibility squandered, according to Gingold. A damn shame, too, all Lionsgate had to do was pluck someone from Retro Slashers to do the writing and it would have been a far better affair!
Unless you’re a die-hard slasher completist, it’s understandable if SLAUGHTER HIGH is, as stated on the case of its “Lost Collection” Lionsgate DVD edition, one of those “movies you totally forgot about.” And if you do happen to recall catching it during its very brief theatrical release or via VHS from Vestron back in the day, well, it’s pretty much as goofy as you remember.
This very late-in-coming entry in the 1980s slasher cycle (completed in 1985 but not released till a couple of years later) starts with a protracted prologue in which high-school misfit Marty (Simon Scuddamore in oversized dork glasses) is tormented by his cruel 20- and 30something classmates, until one of their pranks ends with him being horribly burned. Cut to an undisclosed amount of time later, when one of those students, Carol (Caroline Munro), is now an actress turning down a sleazy movie offer from her agent, played by SLAUGHTER producer Dick Randall. (Would that Munro had followed her character’s lead…) Instead, she heads off to a reunion at the old school with her old friends, all of them now “grown up” but not looking appreciably older.
Fans of the form will immediately know, of course, that the get-together has been staged by the deranged, vengeance-seeking Marty—though why, if he’s so thirsty for payback, he makes it so hard for his would-be victims to get into the building (it’s all locked up when they arrive), goes unexplained. Anyway, they eventually do get in and, after much wandering through darkened halls, arrive at a well-lit room decked out for a party. Cue the beer-drinking, drug-taking, splitting up for sex and other good reasons and a Harry Manfredini score comprised of borrowed riffs from his classic FRIDAY THE 13TH compositions combined with cheesy synthesizer noodlings.
The blood soon flows freely, though not quite as freely as some viewers may expect or hope given that this is the “Uncut Version.” The only scene that might challenge an R today involves a naked woman burned to death via acid in a bathtub, a setpiece that also challenges credibility for those who might wonder why she doesn’t just clamber out. They might also ponder why murderous Marty dons a jester costume, whose jingling bells would seem to preclude the possibility of sneaking up on potential victims. A good deal of SLAUGHTER HIGH, the brainchild of no less than three writer/directors (George Dugdale, Mark Ezra and Peter Litten, the latter of whom also oversaw the makeup FX), is over-the-top enough in its embrace of the subgenre’s clichés—with acting that follows suit—that it almost, but not quite, suggests that the whole thing is intended as a sendup. Those who enjoy the camp value of nuggets of nostalgia like this might derive a certain amount of amusement from it anyway.
They shouldn’t let the “Uncut Version” status lead them to believe a video restoration has been undertaken here, though: the fullscreen picture has the appearance of a VHS transfer, complete with attached Vestron logo. There’s also a vintage trailer that once again, while played straight, today suggests a satire on the order of Eli Roth’s THANKSGIVING from GRINDHOUSE. And what’s supposed to be the key extra, an optional subtitled “trivia track,” is a great disappointment. Playing out very sporadically, and largely as a series of multiple-choice and true-or-false questions, it’s barely concerned with the movie for about the first 20 minutes, instead dealing with factoids about brassieres, gymnastics and bunsen burners. When Marty is given some reefer and the viewer is hit with, “A ‘joint’ commonly contains what drug?” you may find yourself wondering who wrote this stuff, and who it was intended for.
Finally, the queries get around to SLAUGHTER HIGH itself (testing your ability to recognize its plot as being ripped off from CARRIE), but things don’t improve much. All the info here seems to have been gleaned from a quick study of the movie’s IMDb pages, and the debt to that site is revealed when the potential answers to one name-that-title question include “DER NAME DER ROSE.” Potentially interesting subjects go ignored—surely there’s a reason two different onscreen characters insist that “April Fool’s Day ends at noon”—and the assertion that 1989’s CUTTING CLASS was a “spin off” of HIGH is just plain wrong (despite a German DVD release suggesting a connection). By the time lone survivor Carol is being endlessly pursued by the villain and the track is challenging your knowledge that NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD doesn’t have a “final girl,” it’s clear that this feature is aimed at people who are far from dedicated stalker-film devotees. But who else would pick up this disc in the first place?
Source: Fangoria
A rumor was posted on HorrorDVDs.com regarding the version of HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME is airing this month in the States on FearNet/Comcast in both standard-definition and HD.
The tantalizing tidbit however is that it contains the original, real soundtrack to the film instead of the alternative score pressed onto the Columbia DVDs. I haven’t been able to secure a 100% confirmation or link on this yet but will update as soon as I do.
“They got Alfalfa!” The good lads at Deadpit Radio dropped us a line to let us know while recording their April 3rd edition with DVD producing mogul Michael ‘Slipcase’ Felsher from Red Shirt Pictures. They learned that this Halloween is going to be creepier than ever with Fred Dekker’s Night of the Creeps at least hitting official DVD. Felsher stated:
‘In October Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be releasing Night of the Creeps to DVD in a directors cut special edition, it is coming out officially for the first time ever. Fred Dekker is already working on it, It’s going to be the director’s cut with the original ending. We’re going to go balls to the wall with the special features on it…I talked to Sony today its official, we’re going ahead and its coming out in October!’ ‘It’s officially In production…and moving forward, its coming!’
Source: Deadpit
We here at Retro Slashers are big fans of ol’ pockmark-face Joe Spinell’s thematic acting follow-up to Bill Lustig’s MANIAC, and are excited about its forthcoming S.E. DVD release via the bastions of the bad, Troma Entertainment.
The uncut status and special features sound mouth watering – it even contains the “lost” remnants of the MANIAC sequel MR. ROBBIE! We hope to have a review for you soon – for now, read on for the details:
TROMA TO RELEASE CLASSIC 80s SLASHER GEM – UNCUT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN AMERICA!
THE LAST HORROR FILM: THE UNCUT SPECIAL EDITION – THE TROMASTERPIECE COLLECTION #3
Street Date: 5.19.2009 – List Price: $14.95
“Cuts deeper than the average slasher film.” – MOVIE GAZETTE
“The late, great Joe Spinell is a knockout…a must-see!” – RETROSLASHERS.NET
Troma Team Video is proud to unleash for the first time uncut on DVD, one of Joe Spinell’s (Rocky, The Godfather) most perverse, unnerving performances, since his unforgettable starring role in Maniac, in this underrated gem of the 80s — The Last Horror Film.
The Last Horror Film will be the third installment in the ‘Tromasterpiece Collection’ – Troma’s new line of video product which promises fans and new audiences alike, optimum quality releases, along with the comprehensive supplemental material, of the world’s greatest obscure entertainment.
Cult/horror fans will rejoice, as this film also reunites Spinell with another Maniac-alum; Hammer horror film star and Bond-girl babe Caroline Munro. Contrary to the typical psycho-stalker-roaming-the-streets affair, The Last Horror Film at the height of the American slasher revolution takes place during the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.
Vinny Durand (Spinell), a lonesome New York cab driver who lives at home with his mother, has dreams of becoming a famous film director. Consumed by his depraved obsession with beautiful horror actress Jenna Bates (Bond-Girl Caroline Munro) and determined to have her star in his first film, Vinny trails her to the Cannes Film Festival. While Vinny’s disturbing fascination grows, a mysterious killer begins slaughtering all people in Jenna’s entourage. Is the obsessed fanatic and the psychotic killer one in the same? Will this be Jenna’s Last Horror Film?
“Exciting…Like nothing else…” – Steve Swires, STARLOG MAGAZINE
The Last Horror Film DVD will include the uncut version of the film, which has never been released in America on video and was only available on the pre-certification UK VHS tape released over 25 years ago. The Troma Team produced a fascinating new featurette, My Best Maniac which features Spinell’s closest friend, Luke Walter who boldly reminisces about the hilarious antics and vivacious spirit of Spinell during the film’s production. Also inclusive on the disc, is a brand new audio commentary with Walter, a new interview with Maniac director William Lustig, Buddy G’s (Combat Shock) rarely-seen short film Mr. Robbie (aka Maniac 2) which features Spinell in one of his last performances before his untimely death, original and new trailers, and much more!
Special Features include:
Please view the trailer here:
Last year John Klyza, Amanda by Night, and myself were approached by a television network in desperate need of ghost writers. The writer strike was on and the network that shall remain nameless needed some slasher experts to jazz up some scripts for an upcoming series. In exchange for our cooperation, the network promised each of us our own special Halloween project to be broadcast in October. So now, after complete secrecy on my part and numerous hints from Klyza and Amanda, I can finally reveal the three Retro Slasher Halloween Specials coming your way this fall.
ABN will be hosting Made-for-TV horror movie double features for TVLand. The films and dates are Moon of the Wolf and Deathmoon (Oct. 3), This House Possessed and Death at Love House (Oct. 10), Dark Night of the Scarecrow and Don’t Go to Sleep (Oct. 17), The Bermuda Depths and Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby (Oct. 24), and The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler (Oct. 31). Check back with Retro Slashers in the coming weeks for images from the set and pics of ABN dressed in her horror host costume.
John Klyza is making his directing debut with the remake of Hillbillys in a Haunted House for VH1, only this version is based on a Dee Snider script and called Heavy Metal Maniacs in a Haunted House. The basic plot is Dee Snider and Bret Michaels have a party to announce their new tour in a house haunted by the victims of rocker Sinner Steel, who went nuts and killed his band and several groupies twenty years ago. Since VH1 is producing expect to see cameos from many of their “stars”, including Danny Bonaduce, Joanie “Chyna” Laurer, Christopher Knight and wife Adrianne Curry, Ron Jeremy as Dee Snider’s sleazy manager, and Jeff Conway. Ed French is handling the gore effects. H.M.M.i.a.H.H will be broadcast on Friday Oct. 30 on VH1 at 9 p.m. The uncut dvd should be released in November.
My pet project is a script for The Ghost and Mr. Chicken remake on CBS Oct. 25. Jon Cryer stars as Luther Heggs, a reporter for The Rachel Courier Express who comes face to face with the supernatural when he spends the night in the Simmons place. Most of the cast are regulars on CBS programs but I did talk the producers into hiring a few familiar genre faces. Angus Scrimm is playing the ghost of Old Man Simmons, Linda Blair is the ghost of his murdered wife, and Tom Noonan is playing the sinister Nicholas Simmons. This story is different from the original in that Luther will really encounter the supernatural. None of that “tuning keyboard under the pipes” crap in my script. I will be supplying the voice yelling “That a boy, Luther!” during the crowd scenes.
While we won’t make appearances in each other’s projects, we did throw in an in-joke that will connect all three projects. There will be a “John” and “Thomas” on ABN’s shows (John suspects one will be a pet rat and the other will be a pet snake), an “Amanda” and “Thomas” in Heavy Metal Maniacs in a Haunted House, and an “Amanda” and “John” in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. John actually took the in-jokes much further by including references to many of his slasher blog buddies. Some are pretty obvious. His Final Girl is named Stacie, ponder that one for a minute. Others take a little thinking. One character is an anchorwoman and she will be in peril.
Expect more updates, interviews, and photos from the sets of all three projects as we get closer to October.
Proto-Slashers: Looking at the flicks that paved the way for Halloween and the heyday of slasher movies.
Hands of the Ripper (1971)
Suppose an infamous serial killer had a baby daughter who witnessed her father murder her mother. Years later, the memory of the event buried, the daughter commits a series of murders herself. That’s the premise of the 1971 Hammer thriller Hands of the Ripper, a terrific and not nearly famous enough late-era flick from the genre-defining British film studio.
As the title reveals, the serial killer/bad role model here is Jack the Ripper. Though his vaguely diseased and scarred face is seen only briefly in the film, appearing in the opening and in several quick flashbacks, his influence is felt throughout. In my books, madmen don’t come much creepier than the Whitechapel Murderer.
The plot really begins to get cooking when Anna (Angharad Rees), the Ripper’s daughter and now a young woman, is taken in by Dr. John Pritchard (Eric Porter). The good doc is obsessed (is there any other kind of doctor in horror flicks other than the obsessed ones?) with unraveling the secrets of the mind, especially those of the schizophrenic. Recognizing the signs of the disorder in Anna, the doctor sets out to cure her, developing a particularly unhealthy variety of codependency. As Anna begins killing, Dr. John (as Anna calls him) hides her crimes, allowing her to continue her murderous behavior.
Though we always know who the killer is, part of the grisly fun of Hands of the Ripper lies in waiting to see who will set Anna off and how. You see, each time the Junior Miss Ripper kills, she falls into a sort of catatonic trance first, facilitated by a kiss and a shiny object glistening in her eyes. It’s surprising how many ways screenwriter L.W. Davidson and storywriter Edward Spenser Shew find to bring these two elements together, happily ushering in yet another attack with yet another sharp object. When the killings do occur, they’re sudden and bloody, often catching the viewer off guard with their urgency.
Davidson and Shew have also given us interesting characters in Anna and Dr. John, as well as in some of the supporting characters. Anna, though a vicious killer, is sympathetic and likeable (when not slashing someone’s neck) and Dr. John is single-minded and purposefully blind to the danger he’s enabling, but with more than enough humanity to be a-okay otherwise. In bringing them together, Davidson and Shew have constructed a much more complex relationship than at first meets the eye.
Davidson/Shew and director Peter Sasdy make good use of the Whispering Gallery at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral during the film’s climax. It works both as a dramatic setting and, on a more hoighty toighty note, as a metaphor laden with whispers and repeating cycles. Hitchcock would be proud of their use of local landmarks and Freudian hoo-haw. Of course, being a Hammer Horror, Hands of the Ripper is literate and thick with period atmosphere. Though this might all sound a little mellow or highbrow for some gorehounds’ tastes, my advice is to slow down and smell the… er, blood.
Hands of the Ripper is a neat twist on Slasher conventions even before Slasher movies proper existed. Unfortunately, it has yet to be available on Region 1 DVD. Resourceful Ripper freaks, however, can find VHS copies and DVD-R versions available online, and those with Region Free players can pick up the Region 2 disc. With any luck though, MGM’s Midnight Movies series might just see fit to release this flick into the hands of Ripper fans in North America too.
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.
INTERVIEW: Christian Sellers
How did you first develop a taste for acting and what was your first introduction into the industry? Continue reading
Note: This interview was conducted for RS in 2005
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.
Read my review of The Prey here.
And read my interview with Bostwick about his life as Shazam at Pretty Scary
More:
Part One
Part Three
