100) The Monster Squad (1987) - The Last Nostalgic Horror Rental

"One hundred years before this story begins, it was a time of darkness in Transylvania...a time when Dr. Abraham Van Helsing and a small band of freedom fighters conspired to rid the world of vampires and monsters, and to save mankind from the forces of eternal evil. They blew it!" 

Director

Fred Dekker

Cast

Andre Gower - Sean Crenshaw

Robby Kiger- Patrick

Brent Chalem - Horace

Ryan Lambert - Rudy

Ashley Bank - Phoebe Crenshaw

Michael Faustino - Eugene

Leonardo Cimino - Scary German Guy

Duncan Regehr- Count Dracula

Tom Noonan - Frankenstein's Monster

Jonathan Gries - The desperate man/ The Wolfman

Tom Woodruff - Gillman

Michael Reid MacKay - The Mummy

Jack Gwillim - Abraham Van Helsing

The weekend before Halloween, I found a DVD collection of Abbott and Costello's four "meet the monsters" movies. This was a great find for sure. During Halloween week, I wanted to introduce my two oldest kids (six and five years old) to these classics.

I put on Abbott and Costello's second "monster" movie Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) for us to watch together. Well, it's their third if you want to count Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949). 

After about 15-minutes, both kids were bored. 

As they're well aware of the classic Universal Monsters, and my daughter has a bit of a liking to Frankenstein's Monster mainly from depictions in cartoons and children's books, I asked if they'd rather watch Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). 

They nodded and so I put it on. 

Both kids, and for the most part, my two-year old, sat and watched the entire movie.

At the end, I asked them if they liked it or not. The oldest said "no" because he didn't like Frankenstein's Monster. Everyone's a critic, I guess. And my daughter just gave some silly answer because, well, that's just how she reacts to all inquiries imposed on her. Silly answers require no commitment later on. 

Regardless, they stayed tuned in until the end. 

This was their true introduction to a monster movie. More specifically, this was their introduction to the classic Universal Monsters - Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Wolfman. All three star in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. 

While I first watched Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein when I was around 12-years old as my dad had a VHS copy, it wasn't my introduction to the same monsters. 

My introduction to those monsters, and to horror in general, came thanks to the 1987 "horror comedy" The Monster Squad from 1987.

Actually, to be honest, I can't say with absolute certainty this was my introduction to the genre as growing up with three older brothers, I had seen bits and pieces of some heavier horror flicks such as A Nightmare on Elm Street part 3: Dream Warriors, Day of the Dead, and Friday the 13th Part ?. They rented movies like these which my innocent eyes had no business seeing at such a young age. But I saw parts, and that was enough. The damage was done. And now I have this blog.

The Monster Squad is a horror movie my parents allowed me to rent back in my youth. And it's one I really liked as a kid. I consider it to be truly my gateway into the genre. 

For years I thought I was one of the lucky few who knew about this movie, and appreciated it as I didn't know anyone else growing up that enjoyed it, or much less ever watched it.

It wasn't until I saw horror enthusiast and critic James Rolfe's review of The Monster Squad for his annual 31-day horror review series "Monster Madness" on his site, cinemassacre.com, back in 2007 that I realized this movie developed quite a fanbase since its bleak and abysmal release in 1987.  

Since then, I've noticed that its popularity has really peaked, even leading to a 2018 documentary Wolfman's Got Nards, directed by Andre Gower who plays the protagonist Sean in the movie. I watched half of the documentary last week, and I need to finish that.

The movie opens in Transylvania 100 years prior to 1987 where vampire hunter, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (Jack Gwillim, Clash of the Titans) and a group of vigilantes charge into Count Dracula's castle to put an end to his vampiric reign of evil.

They're met with a female vampire sucking the blood out of a dead animal. Gross!

Andre Gower (left) and Robby Kiger.

As they start their attacks, the ground shakes and splits open. Living-dead corpses rise out of the floor to attack. 

In the center of the room is a powerful amulet. 

The vampire hunters bring in a young virgin girl to read an incantation that will open a portal to limbo in order to expel Dracula and his evil minions for ever. 

The portal opens, but things go wrong.

Cut to present day 1987.

A group of pre-teens who share a love of monsters and monster movies have a small club, "The Monster Squad," with Sean Crenshaw (Andre Gower) as their club leader. He's the biggest fan out of them all.

Sean has a six-year old sister Phoebe (Ashley Bank) who desperately wants to join her brother's club. 

Otherwise, the club is just Sean and his standard token friends. There's the overweight and often teased kid, Horace (Brent Chalem), Sean's second-in-command, Patrick (Robby Kiger), the little kid and club side-kick, Eugene (Michael Faustino) and the tough older kid, Rudy (Ryan Lambert). Rudy is kind of a weird character. I'll get to him later. 

Sean's mom, Emily (Mary Ellen Trainor), gives him a book she finds at a garage sale. It turns out to be the diary of Van Helsing. Lucky find!

Unfortunately for Sean, it's written in German. 

The only German-speaking person he knows in town is a reclusive old man who lives alone in Sean's neighborhood. 

The kids in town refer to him as "scary German guy" (Leonardo Cimino). 

But Jack is determined to get the contents of Van Helsing's diary translated. And much to his surprise, "scary German guy" isn't actually scary at all. He's a friendly German guy who's more than willing to assist Sean and his club. It's also subtly revealed that he's a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, so he knows a thing or two about horrifying monsters.

Meanwhile, Dracula (Duncan Regehr) steals Frankenstein's monster while it's being flown in a B-52 Mitchell. 

He also summons his monster cohorts - the Wolfman, Gillman (aka the Creature from the Black Lagoon), and the Mummy. 

They meet up at the lagoon where the Gillman dwells, and Dracula brings Frankenstein's monster (Tom Noonan) back to life. 

The Wolfman, played by Jon Gries (Napoleon Dynamite), is not the faithful follower Dracula assumes he is. When he's not transformed into a werewolf, he calls the police to warn them of Dracula's plans of bloodshed and world domination. Of course, they don't believe him.

Dracula is seeking the amulet he once possessed 100-years ago in order to take control of the world. 

Van Helsing's fighters had taken the amulet and hidden it out of Dracula's reach. 

He finds it buried in the wall of a the stone basement within an abandoned house in town. It's the same secret room were Van Helsing's diary was also found. Dracula takes up residence right there and turns it into his abode. 

Crucifixes surround the amulet along with words inscribed throughout preventing Dracula from simply taking it. 

The Monster Squad break into the house, and take the amulet, barely escaping Dracula's grasp. 

This royally pisses off the Count. With the help of his monster cohorts, along with three school girls whom he transforms into vampires, Dracula sets out the get back the amulet at any cost. 

He commands Frankenstein's monster to kill the children who took it, and get it back.

But the monster isn't necessarily keen to follow those orders. 

It becomes a race against time for the Monster Squad to find a virgin to recite the incantation to open the portal and suck the monsters into Limbo.

Dracula is a very intimidating presence on the screen thanks to Regehr's portrayal. Being a classically trained Shakespearean actor, I'm sure that has something to do with his performance.

Duncan Regehr as Count Dracula resurrects Frankenstein's 
monster (Tom Noonan) in The Monster Squad. 

Even Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Dracula manages to convey a somewhat likeable persona for the infamous vampire. That's due to the way Lugosi gives him a cunning gentleness when he's not sucking the life out of some innocent victim. Of course, the audience can see past his false persona. They know he's completely void of all sanctifying grace. But the characters are fooled by his sexy and debonair characteristics. 

Regehr throws all that gentleness out. While dawning the classic Dracula look with the traditional black cape, old school tuxedo, slicked back hair and hissing, Regehr makes him a real badass. He's pure evil and Regehr doesn't hold back to let it show. I truly believe his Dracula should be on a pedestal leveled with other notable portrayals - Lugosi, Max Schreck from Nosferatu, and Christopher Lee in the Hammer Horror films. I mean, Regehr's Dracula straight up calls little Phoebe a "bitch" to her face. Not even Pennywise the child-eating clown did that!

In the documentary about the making and fandom of The Monster Squad, Ashley Bank who plays young Phoebe in the movie, says she was terrified of Regehr while on set. 

Andre Gower mentions that on the first take of the scene in which Dracula picks Phoebe up by the chin and demands she give him the amulet, little Phoebe was so scared that she lost her breath and couldn't scream. Dekker needed her to throw out a long scream, which she did in the second take. And that's the take used in the film.

There are some weird continuity moments in the movie. For instance, when Dracula recovers the crate with Frankenstein's Monster submerged in the swamp, and the other creatures gather around him, including the Mummy, the scene then switches to young Eugene's room (the kid wearing the Confederate cap for some reason). Eugene tells his dad there's a monster in his closet. Of course, his dad doesn't believe him and mockingly humors his son by opening the closet door to show his son nothing is in there. But he doesn't see the Mummy standing inside.

So, the way the scene comes across is that the Mummy participated in resurrecting Frankenstein's Monster, and then shuffles off to hide in a random seven-year old's bedroom closet. 

When his dad leaves, we see the Mummy having just crawled back out through the bedroom window and walking away. Why the hell did he bother to hide in there in the first place? He was in the closet. Did nothing except scare Eugene - accidentally, no doubt. And then left. 

While at the swamp with Dracula and the rest of the monsters, did he think to himself, "After this, I'll go find a kid's closet to hide in, hang out there for a bit,"? 

The movies biggest problem is its writing. 

For instance, only a virgin can read the words that'll open the portal. But the Monster Squad assumes the virgin must be female. These young boys struggle to find a virgin when, obviously, they're virgins themselves. No where in Van Helsing's diary does it specify the gender of said virgin. I don't recall that detail, anyways. I know it's a cliché in old horror movies that any needed virgins always seem to be female. Why? I suppose it's sexier that way, I guess?

Also, inside the Squad's treehouse, they have a camera pointed towards Patrick's older sister Lisa's room so they can watch her as she changes.

Rudy accidentally takes a picture of Lisa in her underwear while watching her through the zoom lens. He decides to use the photo of her as blackmail, as she claims she's a virgin, by posting copies around the school in order to get her to recite the words necessary to open the portal. So now the Squad is lacking in moral or ethical code just like Dracula. Aside from fighting monsters, now there;'s less for young audiences to aspire to when watching this squad that aims to do good. One of them is willing to blackmail his own sister in the worst possible way just to accomplish their goal. That's pretty evil.

And Rudy, who's the token cool guy with his slick black hair, leather coat, sunglasses, and cigarettes is clearly much older than the rest of the kids. They're in junior high while he's obviously in high school. Yet, he eagerly wants to be a part of their Monster Squad. It strikes me as awkward that a junior in high school like Rudy would be so eager to join a "monster club" made up of seventh or eighth graders. 

Ashley Bank as Phoebe with Tom Noonan as
Frankenstein's Monster.

Otherwise, considering the classic monster atmosphere, monster movie clichés are needed to maintain that classic tone. The classic monster movies gave birth to all those standards used in The Monster Squad. If the writers used monsters they made up themselves, then those same clichés would make the movie unimaginative and dull. Otherwise, impressively, they fit in well here. While watching these classic villains, those classic elements are expected.

The actors give their all in this movie, especially Jonathan Gries, Tom Noonan, Duncan Regehr, and the child actors, especially Ashley Bank. 

Mary Ellen Trainor, who plays Sean's mom, is an actress seen in a generous handful of 1980s movies such as The Goonies, Ghostbusters II, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Romancing the Stone and Back to the Future II. She is the quintessential movie mom. Trainor sadly passed away in 2015.

For a movie aimed at kids, it doesn't hold back. That accounts for the PG-13 rating.

And the look of the Gillman is fantastic and superb. Great love and care went into paying the proper homage to these Universal Monsters through their depictions. It's like a small love note to the golden years of horror. 

Monster movie fans, and those nostalgic at heart, will find The Monster Squad fun and enjoyable despite its flaws. The love for classic monster movies still shines through.

I think this is my last nostalgic horror rental for the year.  

This is the movie that did for me. I didn't know it then, but I know it now - The Monster Squad was my introduction to Hollywood's foundational monsters, Dracula, the Mummy, the Wolfman, Gillman, and especially Frankenstein's monster. 

The Monster Squad has a Scooby Doo style to it with all the kids chasing monsters. Kids and teenage protagonists were all the trend in the 1980s in movies. So The Monster Squad certainly has a spot among such teen adventure sci-fi and/or horror movies like The Goonies, Gremlins, Back to the Future, Bill &Ted's Excellent Adventure, and Teen Wolf.

Maybe I should have made this movie my first review on this blog. I'm happy with my decision to put it in a place of honor that is my 100th horror movie review. 

My set deadline for this post was Oct. 31. But broken deadlines help build anticipation. So, you're welcome!
And I never forgot that Wolfmans' got nards! Thanks to The Monster Squad, his junk is now canon. 

99) Arachnophobia (1990) - A Nostalgic Horror Rental

"A web would indicate an arachnid presence."

Director

Frank Marshall

Cast

Jeff Daniels - Dr. Ross Jennings

Harley Jane Kozak - Molly Jennings

Julian Sands - Dr. James Atherton

John Goodman - Delbert McClintock

Brian McNamara - Chris Collins

Henry Jones - Dr, Sam Metcalf

Stuart Pankin - Sheriff Parsons

In his stand-up comedy special, I'm Telling You for the Last Time, Jerry Seinfeld says "I know I will never be able to understand how a woman can take boiling hot wax, pour it on her upper thigh, and rip the hair out by the roots...and still be afraid of a spider."

From now until the end of time, millions of people will just never be able to comfortably share this world with spiders. And so spiders have been, and continue to be, the subject of a lot of horror. Hollywood has certainly harnessed their fear factor in movies such as Tarantula (1955), Earth vs. The Spider (1958), Kingdom of the Spiders (1977), Ice Spiders (2007) and Itsy Bitsy (2019).

For me, the one spider-horror movie that seems to stand out above the rest is Arachnophobia. 

It was released through Disney-owned Hollywood Pictures back in 1990.

The last time I saw Arachnophobia was back in the early nineties sometime.

It hit theaters towards the end of the classical slasher era which makes it a bit of a unique picture.

According to Sotiris Petridis's book Anatomy of the Slasher Film: A Theoretical Analysis, this particular subgenre stretches from 1974 to 1993. It's followed by the self-referential slasher era (1994 to 2000) and then the neoslasher cycle (2001 to 2013). But that's all another topic for another post.

Horror movie franchises were stretching themselves thin by the the start of the nineties as producers were attempting to attract audiences with the same old monsters for the fifth or sixth time. Friday the 13th part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers were all released the previous year. Child's Play 2 was one slasher flick that came out the same year as Arachnophobia. 

So, at the time of its release, Arachnophobia was certainly something practical and much less outlandish in the horror genre. In other words, it's a creature feature in the truest meaning of the term that doesn't rely on blood, guts, and homicidal maniacs in hockey masks or dream demons to freak out audiences.

Arachnophobia begins in a South American jungle as entomologist James Atherton (Julian Sands, Warlock) is leading a small team to search for a species of spider that has remained undisturbed by humans for centuries.

He finds two huge spiders that he identifies as being a prehistoric species. And they're both very aggressive. 

Atherton believes they belong to a hive of spiders acting as soldiers for a queen spider.

Nature photographer, Jerry Manley (Mark L. Taylor), is on the exploration with Atherton. When they get back to their camp, Manley goes to rest in his tent as he has a fever. Little does he know that a male spider found its way into his backpack. The spider crawls out into his tent, and makes its way under his sheets as he rests. 

It sinks its fangs deep into Manley's leg, sending him immediately into a seizure which kills him.

Atherton sees to it that Manley's remains are sent back to his hometown of Canaima, California. 

Little does anybody know that one of these spiders hitches a ride inside his coffin. 

By the time Manley's body gets to the local mortuary, it's completely desiccated. The spider had plenty to feed on during the trip.

The hitchhiking spider escapes the mortuary undetected, makes its way outdoors, and is picked up by a hungry crow.

Jeff Daniels searching for the spider's nest in Arachnophobia.

The spider bites the bird in mid-flight causing it to fall out of the air and onto the property of the town's soon-to-be new physician, Dr. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels). 

Jennings just moved his family to Canaima from San Francisco to take over the medical practice of the town's retiring doctor.

The spider takes up shelter in Jennings's barn, mates with a house spider, and spins one hell of a web much to the displeasure of Jennings who suffers from a severe fear of spiders. 

Soon, it lays a ton of eggs as spiders tend to do. And like those Atherton found in South America, the newly hatched spiders spread out from their nest in a web formation to dominate the area. 

Soon, residents around town begin dying, one by one, after encountering these spiders.

At first, Jennings and others are clueless as to the circumstances behind these deaths. But after an autopsy of the victims, which local old local doctor and the sheriff protest to, Jennings finds bite marks on the deceased bodies. He remembers that Manley had been part of an expedition in South America, connects the dots, leading him to Atherton. 

Jennings contacts Atherton for assistance, and soon, a group of locals including the town's exterminator, Delbert McClintock (John Goodman) are out to fight these deadly arachnids. 

The presence of John Goodman really kicks the movie up several notches. He plays a fun character who refers to himself as "infestation management." His business-as-usual persona amidst the community's deadly infestation really makes his supporting role superb comic relief. He fits perfectly into the setting. 

His lines of expertise in the field of pest control and annihilation made me laugh. 

In one scene where he's discussing the spider situation with Jennings, he tells the doc that spiders would find his barn "a tad breezy this time of year. In that respect, spiders are a bit like you and me. No, I frankly doubt there are any spiders in your barn."

"Well, I frankly know there is, Delbert, I saw a web! There is a web in my barn," Jennings replies.

Delbert pauses a moment.

"...a web would indicate an arachnid presence."

Later, when he's introduced to the sophisticated Atherton, Delbert introduces himself and says "always nice to meet a colleague." 

Otherwise, he's a guy who collects beer cans, including "a rare '74 Miller Lite with a misprint on the label. Only a hundred or so cans in circulation."

Julian Sands' character is semi-pompous but not a bad character. His role is crucial as he knows what he's getting into. Usually, the common horror trope is the mean guy will get what's coming to him. Atherton isn't cruel to his collection of rare spiders. He treats them with the respect such poisonous spiders deserve. I wasn't expecting his fate towards the end. Oh...oops. Um... spoiler

Sometimes less is more. All it takes to make Arachnophobia creepy and unforgettable is its simplicity of being a movie about spiders. They don't need to be oversized mutated spiders. Sure, they kill a few people. But they terrify much more because, as we all can attest to, those damn spiders hide anywhere and everywhere. I've seen spiders crawl out of sink and bathtub drains. I also saw a huge wasp crawl out of my bathroom sink drain once, oddly enough. That sucker was long and huge. 

What Arachnophobia has is a very plausible story. That's what makes it chilling. Realism. This is the kind of movie that leaves lasting images in the minds of audiences, like clusters of spiders covering the walls of a house. This movie is what a creature feature ought to be.

I'm nitpicking when I mention the film's obvious use of mechanical spiders, but real spiders are used alongside those fake ones. The way those real arachnids are used is truly impressive.

One thing I don't like is the way the spiders hiss when they jump or throw their front legs in self defense. That aspect is unintentionally funny, cliché, and a completely unnecessary. 

The ending of the film felt rather uncharacteristic of the spiders after its explained that the species will spread out like soldiers on order from their general. But I don't want to lambast it too much as a movie like this needs an unsettling climax that encompasses the entire feel of the film. So, in that regard, it definitely succeeds.

The fear factor of this story is segmented in two parts which is common among classic creature features.

The first half delivers fear of the unknown. People are dropping dead around town, and nobody knows why. The audience is in on it, but the characters are clueless at first. That much is gripping. How will anyone know what's really going on? 

The second half comes when someone finally finds the scary monster (the spiders, in this case). Now the fear shifts as the characters face off against the deadly threat. How are they going to deal with it? How can the possibly attack all these small but deadly spiders that are spread all over the town? They can be anywhere! 

On top of that, Jennings suffers from an acute fear of spiders. The audience can really put themselves in his shoes as he finds himself surrounded (quite literally in the end) by what he fears most. The audience doesn't have to be afraid of spiders to feel what Jennings is feeling, but they have to be afraid of something. For me, it would be wasps, especially a swarm of them. 

Director Frank Marshall, who has produced and directed some truly memorable films, kicked off his motion picture directorial debut fantastically with Arachnophobia. He makes sure the audience gets plenty of up-close looks at those creepy spiders, with their fangs, multiple eyes, and all.

In some instances, all we're treated to are spider silhouettes. We know where the spiders are. One is in the lamp shade. One is behind the toilet. Another is hiding in the somebody's slipper. What we don't know is what they're going to do. There's a few surprises in these creepy crawly tropes.  

John Goodman as Delbert McClintock in Arachnophobia.

Though the movie has lots and lots of spiders, it doesn't feel over done.

The squirms will come. Those that are squeamish will certainly bury their eyes. All it takes is some brown, hairy spiders to do so. The movie's poster depicts the premise perfectly - one tiny spider dangling predominately over a wide open town. Again, sometimes less is more. I was actually going to watch another movie for my 99th review - the 1980 mystery horror The Changeling with George C. Scott. But that fell through. I'll have to review it later. 

Oh, and the trailer for Arachnophobia calls it a "thrill-omedy." Thankfully that's a word that died as soon as it was coined. 

I believe good horror movies can act as a way for someone to face their fears. They can act as a sort of how-to guide for confronting what frightens someone most. Arachnophobia is a perfect example.

So, I'll throw this into my pile of favorites.

97) Little Shop of Horrors (1960) - A Nostalgic Horror Rental

"It grows like a cold sore from the lip."

Director

Roger Corman

Cast

Jonathan Haze - Seymour Krelborn

Mel Welles - Gravis Mushnick 

Jackie Joseph - Audrey Fulquard

Dick Miller - Fouch

Myrtle Vail - Mrs. Krelborn

Wally Kampo - Sgt. Joe Fink

Jack Nicholson - Wilbur Force

Charles B. Griffith - Voice of Audrey, Jr.

Gripe from the Editor 😡

I was all ready to publish this post on October 7. I researched a fair bit of information. I had everything nicely arranged. I just needed to proof it one more time. In the process I decided to change up the standard layout a bit by adding a GIF in the middle of the post. 

It didn't look good so I deleted it. This threw off the alignment in the middle of what I had written. When I tried to fix that, the whole article vanished - pictures, links and all. And just as I was about to hit the undo option, autosave decided to kick in. I tried everything I could to restore my article, but nothing worked. I even had the post open on another computer, and that had somehow updated itself to a blank canvas. I even tried searching for a link to the post's preview I had opened earlier. For a writer, nothing is more painful than seeing work disappear with no hope of recovery. So, here's take two. I'm going completely on memory from what I said the first time. It just sucks I had to write this over again. So much so, it's worth griping about.

~

Jonathan Haze as Seymour Krelborn in Little Shop of Horrors.

At some point in my youth, my brother told me about the movie Little Shop of Horrors. Thanks to him, I knew the basic premise involving a man-eating plant. And that's about all I knew. That much was terrifying for young me. In fact, I recall having a nightmare during my youth about what I pictured a man-eating plant to look like. This was before I even saw the movie.

Regardless, I was interested in watching the 1986 Little Shop of Horrors. That's the one directed by Frank Oz and starring Rick Moranis. 

I seem to recall Jack Nicholson being mentioned at some point in the conversation. However, I don't think I caught on to the fact that there are actually two Little Shop of Horrors movies. Aside from the 1986 film, there's an original movie from 1960 directed by "the Pope of Pop Cinema" himself, Roger Corman. 

Needless to say, my young curious mind wanted to see this "Little Shop of Horrors." I somehow talked my mom into allowing me to rent it. I'm guessing I would have been about 10-years old at the time.  

I recall standing in an aisle at California Video (I've mentioned this place several times before) and finding both films side by side on the rental shelf.

One video cassette cover had a picture of Jack Nicholson, grinning his Jack Nicholson grin at the viewer, and holding a potted flower. The shadow behind his flower shaped like a ravenous plant monster showing its piercing sharp teeth. 

The other video had a large plant monster with sharp teeth and a huge tongue sticking out of its gaping mouth as it popped people in like candy. 

I don't recall how or why I couldn't tell these two apart. I was confused as to which one was the version I wanted to see - namely, the more recent one. 

But I picked the Jack Nicholson cover, checked it out, and watched it. And I was disappointed at the choice I made. My 10-year old self wasn't as appreciative of classic films as I am now. 

Still, I watched it regardless. So, Roger Corman's Little Shop of Horrors was my introduction to the franchise.

The story takes place inside the financially struggling floral shop of Gravis Mushnick (Mel Welles), located in the impoverished part of the city called "Skid Row." His shop sees very few customers walking through the doors. 

One of his two employees, Seymour Krelborn (Jonathan Haze), is rather clumsy and often screws up customer orders. He also has a crush on his co-worker, Audrey Fulquard (Jackie Joseph), which is reciprocated. After he makes one more mistake, Mushnick fires him on the spot. 

In an attempt to save his position, Krelborn says he has a special and unique plant that resembles a Venus Fly Trap which he's been trying to care for. 

Krelborn thinks if Mushnick puts this plant, which he affectionally named "Audrey, Jr.," on display, it will surely attract on-lookers with money in their pockets.

He runs back to his apartment, which he shares with his hypochondriac mother Winifred, to fetch Audrey, Jr. 

He claims to have grown his intriguing plant from some seeds he purchased from a Japanese gardener on Central Avenue.

It's already beginning to wilt as Krelborn doesn't know how to properly care for it. 

When he returns to the shop, Mushnick is less than enthused. But he gives Krelborn one week to figure how to bring some life back into his plant.

Later, while alone with his Audrey, Jr., Krelborn accidentally pricks his finger. While shaking his hand in pain from the sting, his blood lands in the open plant. 

Audrey, Jr., reacts in a way making Krelborn realize it wants more blood. 

He starts feeding the plant by pricking his fingers. But as Audrey, Jr., grows, it needs more than what Krelborn can supply from his finger tips.

Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, Jonathan Haze, and Dick Miller.

It begins talking and demanding to be fed. 

Its presence in the shop has increased sales. Still, its constant need for food leaves only one path for Krelborn to go down in order to keep the sudden success continuing. 

He doesn't know if he can bring himself to it, but Audrey, Jr., says it'll make it worth his while.

This is an eccentric, outlandish film for sure.

For instance, a lot of the characters have their own weird quirks. 

For instance, Krelborn's mother, Winifred Krelborn (Myrtle Vail) is a hypochondriac. Dick Miller's character, Fouch, enjoys eating flowers. Another of Mushnick's customers, Mrs. Shiva (Leola Wendorff) tells sob stories in an attempt to acquire free flowers. And, of course, the local dentist, Dr. Phoebus Farb, DDS (John Shaner), is in his field for the joy of inflicting pain on his patients. Steve Martin plays the dentist in the '86 film, his character name being Dr. Orin Scrivello. 

The most notable eccentrics in the film is Jack Nicholson's character, Wilbur Force. He visits Dr. Farb because he loves pain like a masochist (in the general use of the term). 

He even reads the latest issue of "Pain" magazine while waiting in the dentist's office. The same character, by the way, is called Arthur Denton in the 1986 movie, and is played by Bill Murray.

But despite the rather over-the-top quirky humor, and obvious low-budget quality, it all still works as an entertaining horror movie. And the gruesome elements aren't watered down.

It comes on like a switch during a scene in which Krelborn witnesses a railroad tramp get hit by a train. 

Since the guy dies from the impact, Krelborn decides to feed his remains to his plant. 

It's worth mentioning that this tramp character is played by Robert Coogan (uncredited in the film). Robert is the brother of Jackie Coogan who played "the kid" in Charlie Chaplin's legendary movie The Kid (1921). Jackie also plays Uncle Fester in the 1960s sitcom The Addams Family. 

When it comes to the comedy, the best lines go to Mr. Mushnick. 

In one scene where he's having dinner with Audrey, Mushnick realizes he forgot his wallet back at the shop. After being chided by the waitress, even before his meal is done, he walks back to the shop to grab some cash. When he gets there, Mushnick witnesses Krelborn feeding Audrey, Jr., severed body parts. 

Shocked, he makes his way back to the restaurant and asks the waitress to bring him whatever kind of booze she can find. 

"Did you bring the money?" she asks. 

"Don't work me with the money. I've got to get drunk, now!" he says. 

The movie's opening narrator is a clearly a spoof of Dragnet, as are the characters Sgt. Joe Fink (Wally Campo) and Officer Frank Stoolie (Jack Warford). They're a rip on Joe Friday and Frank Smith from the classic detective program. This humor might be lost on younger audiences, which certainly isn't the movie's fault. It definitely dates the film, though. 

Some fans speculate that Little Shop of Horrors is inspired by the 1932 John Collier short horror story Green Thoughts about a man-eating plant. 

In his book Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times, author Dennis McDougal thinks it may have been inspired by the 1956 science fiction horror story The Reluctant Orchid  by Arthur C. Clarke. 

Clarke's story is inspired by H.G. Wells's story The Flowering of the Strange Orchid. Wherever the idea stems from, it's now fairly well known.  

Neither version of the film is obscure. The Corman film later became a stage musical in 1982, which is when the popularity really took off. It led to the 1986 musical movie followed by thousands upon thousands of high school and community theater productions. It even became a Saturday morning cartoon called Little Shop that aired on Fox Kids TV for one season back in 1991. 

While the carnivorous plant is named "Audrey II" in the musical version, it's called "Junior" in the animated series. Is that a nod to the Corman original? I'd like to think so.   

Incidentally, the 1986 film has two endings. There's the theatrical ending, and an original ending. The latter is somewhat similar to this movie's ending insofar as Krelborn's fate is concerned. 

I've seen stage productions ending the same way, accompanied by the song "Don't Feed the Plants." There is a lot to say about the Frank Oz film, but that's another post for another time.  

It seems the second biggest claim to fame for this movie is Jack Nicholson's cameo. His appearance on the VHS cover is rather misleading in that not only is his appearance short, but his character never interacts or even appears with Audrey, Jr., in any scene.

And the claim that this is his "first motion picture performance" is simply wrong.

Before his Little Shop of Horrors cameo, Nicholson had in a lead role in the film The Cry Baby Killer (1958), produced by Corman and directed by Joe Addis. 

By the way. he also stars in another well known Corman movie, The Terror (1963) were he appears alongside Boris Karloff.  

Another legend in the horror genre, Dick Miller, has appeared in a large handful of Corman's earlier films such as Apache Woman (1955), It Conquered the World (1956), The Undead (1957). Bucket of Blood (1959), The Terror (1963), and X: The Man With X-ray Eyes (1963) to name a few.

With Little Shop of Horrors, it's not the last time Miller and Jackie Joseph would work with each other. They're both in the Joe Dante films Gremlins (1984) and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) where they play Mr. and Mrs. Futterman in both movies.

Little Shop of Horrors is a drive-in style, or late night Creature Feature comedy horror that's fun to watch for its own sake. It's certainly a foundational film, and one that deserves to be on the same pedestal as other such classics like Night of the Living Dead and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Update (10/19/2024)

It's worth mentioning that Jackie Joseph made an appearance on the classic quiz show "You Bet Your Life," hosted by Groucho Marx, back in October 1959, episode #59-02! 

Did she win the big money? Watch and find out. 

96) Frightmare, AKA Horror Star (1983) - A Nostalgic Horror Rental

 "A star in life is a star in death."

Director

Norman Thaddeus Vane

Cast

Ferdy Mayne - Conrad Radzoff

Jennifer Starrett - Meg

Alan Stock - Oscar

Carlene Olson - Eve

Luca Bercovici - Saint

Scott Thomson - Bobo

Donna McDaniel - Donna

Jeffrey Combs - Stu

Leon Askin - Wolfgang

Barbara Pilavin - Mrs. Radzoff

 

When it comes to VHS tapes once hidden amidst the old shelves of the video rental stores of yore, the 1983 supernatural slasher Frightmare definitely fits among them - hidden and overlooked. 

That's kind of how I found this movie. I came across a VHS copy, plastic clamshell and all, in a bin of movies someone donated to my local library. It's a clean copy, and I grabbed it for free. 

Not to be confused with the 1974 British horror comedy also called Frightmare, the 1983 Frightmare is also known as Horror Star.

Various sources on-line give different release dates for this flick. Wikipedia says 1981. Others say 1982. I'm going with the online horror database allhorror.com which says Frightmare was released Sept. 9, 1983. 

Just for kicks, I also checked whether this movie has any DVD releases. It does. 

The weirdos over at Troma Entertainment released Frightmare on DVD in 2005. I also found a double feature copy of Frightmare from East West Entertainment packaged with Vault of Horror (1973), based on the EC Comic of the same name, and which stars the fourth incarnation of Dr. Who himself, Tom Baker. Stay tuned for that!

Before now, I had never seen nor heard of Frightmare so I really went into this blind. I didn't even so much as read the synopsis on the back cover. I went solely on the title and cover art alone. The cover art, by the way, is completely different from the poster I uploaded to this post. The picture on the clamshell can be found here. -----> *CLICK ME* 

So, basically this movie centers on some pesky college drama students, all of whom are huge fans of horror icon Conrad Razkoff (Ferdy Mayne), and then they die. Spoiler warning, by the way!
Actually the plot is a little more detailed than that. 

It starts with Razkoff playing a vampire in a denture commercial. During a shoot, he gets reamed by the director for giving a supposedly bad performance in his little denture ad. 

Razkoff later spots the director sitting on the edge of an outdoor balcony on the second floor going over some notes. Since the director hurt his feelings earlier, and probably gave him a tummy ache as a result, he sneaks up on him and pushes him off with his cane. 

The director dies when he hits the pavement below. 

Afterwards, Razkoff visits the school where these same drama students are enrolled to discuss his past performances in horror films. During his lecture, he passes out from the excitement around him. Or, perhaps he collapses because his feelings are still hurt. I don't know.

Meg (Jennifer Starrett), one of Razkoff's fans, is able to revive him.    

As he's sitting at home in bed recovering from the bad feels and collapsing, one of his former directors, the obese and sweaty Wolfgang (Leon Askin) pays him a visit.

Ferdy Mayne as Conrad Razkoff in Frightmare.

They discuss what will happen after Razkoff dies. In an attempt to fool the director, he closes his eyes and feigns death. And he does it rather well. 

Wolfgang is dumbfounded that Razkoff actually died right in front of him while they were discussing Razkoff dying. So, he takes the opportunity to speak his mind and ridicule the actor for making life difficult for so many years. 

Suddenly, Razkoff lunges at him, smothers him with a pillow, and kills him. 

And soon after, Razkoff dies, too! This time, he really dies. 

After his body is placed inside a mausoleum, those same drama students - Meg, Saint, Bobo, Eve, Donna, Oscar, and Stu - sneak into the cemetery at night and steal Razkoff's body, coffin and all.

They bring it back to their student house where they hold a horror party which includes wearing masks of their favorite horror monsters during dinner, and dancing with the cadaver of Conrad Razkoff. 

Meanwhile, Mrs. Razkoff (Barbara Pilavin) is desperate to find the body of her husband. She consults a medium in order to channel his spirit so he can tell her where he is. 

And this actually works. Meanwhile, the body of Razkoff rises from the dead in a literal explosion, and he seeks vengeance on the students, one by one, who stole and desecrated his body. He even has telepathic powers that he uses to terrify and kill his victims. Once, he uses his telekinesis to set one of the girls on fire. At another time, he makes his coffin float down some stairs and ram another victim to death.  

There's not much to the story. It's very cut and dry.

I'm grateful for the apparent effort within the movie to create something thrilling. Perhaps, time hasn't been friendly to Frightmare causing the frightening aspects, such as the overuse of fog, several close-ups with colored lighting, and awkward low angles when the story grows tense, to come across as unintentionally laughable. 

Mayne deserves applause, though, for pulling off a convincing cadaver amid all the stuff the other actors do to him, such as placing a live raven on his head. Mayne doesn't flinch, breath, smirk, move or blink. That's talent!
The rest of the acting is like watching community playhouse. For many of the actors, they're just getting through their lines and movements. 
There are some inconsistent cutaways which make me wonder who the hell was editing this movie. A few scenes manage to be a little unsettling and gruesome such as one where Razkoff pulls Oscar's tongue out because, evidently, Razkoff doesn't mess around! 

But despite the effort, Frightmare tries too hard to be a bone-chilling flick, using cliché horror elements to do so.
It's truly a standard horror movie offering all the day to day scares that would work just as well inside a haunted house attraction at Halloween. 
The plot could easily be accidental. There are a few scenes where the actors on screen just run around in a panic in the sloppiest way possible as though the director told everyone "just chase each other around the scene in a scary way. We'll provide the fog and constant close-ups, and just see what we get. Ok? Go team!" It's pretty messy.
Frightmare is the quintessential Friday night Creature Feature that used to air on random local stations. Fans of gore might enjoy it slightly more as there's just enough in there to classify it as a slasher. Heads are lobbed off in slow motion. Guilty parties are set ablaze. Others are bludgeoned to death with floating coffins. Movies like this are entertaining enough for a late night thrill, only to be reduced to "that one movie with that guy...what was it called again?" later on.

I don't really know what this movie is trying to be. A horror comedy? A gory macabre chiller?

Despite its low-budget appearance, Frightmare does have a few notable things going for it. 

Actors in Frightmare acting really, really hard! Hot sticky acting
everywhere...on the walls...in the cracks. Everywhere!

It stars a young Jeffrey Combs in his first horror movie debut. Combs since went on to appear in many other, and better, horror movies including well-known titles such as Re-Animator (1985), Bride of Re-Animator (1990), Frighteners (1996) and Would You Rather (2012). 

On top of that, Scott Thomson also stars in this flick. Thomson has appeared in a lot of movies, horror and otherwise, such as Police Academy 1,3, and 4, Ghoulies (1984) Twister (1996), and Jack Frost (1998). 

And Ferdinand "Ferdy" Mayne strikes me as a poor man's Christopher Lee. At least in this movie, he does. 

In fact, Lee and Mayne appear together in the horror sequel, Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (1985).

But I certainly don't want to dishonor this veteran German-British stage and film actor who has appeared in a lot of films between 1943 to 1995. 

Mayne has shared the screen with many noteworthy actors such as Peter Sellers in The Bobo (1967), Roman Polanski in The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), Ringo Starr in The Magic Christian (1969) Ryan O' Neal in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975), and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan the Destroyer (1984).
Mayne sadly passed away in 1998 at the age of 81. 

The passage of time as turned Frightmare into more of a museum piece as it's Jeffrey Combs' horror debut. And it's a quaint little nostalgic piece of VHS history that surely once warmed the shelf of the horror aisle at any given rental store back in the day. I bet it was often overlooked. In these regards, it's fun to watch.  As a story, I'm not sure what it's trying to be. Despite its best efforts, I was left with a mundane sloppy mess.

95) Waxwork (1988) - A Nostalgic Horror Rental

"They'll make a movie about anything nowadays."

Director

Anthony Hickox

Cast

Zach Galligan - Mark

Deborah Foreman - Sarah

Michelle Johnson - China

Dana Ashbrook - Tony

Clare Carey - Gemma

David Warner - David Lincoln

Patrick Macnee - Sir Wilfred

Mihaly Meszaros - Hans

John Rhys-Davis - Wolfman

The prime reason the 1988 film Waxwork stands out in my head above other horror movies on the decade is because it stars Zach Galligan. It's the only other movie I associate with him outside of his character, Billy Peltzer, in Gremlins (1984) and Gremlins II: The New Batch (1990). 

Incidentally, I've seen him in the Tales from the Crypt episode "Strung Along" as well as his cameo in Warlock: The Armageddon. 

That's no surprise because Waxwork director, Anthony Hickox, also directed Warlock: The Armageddon. He also directed Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1993). 

Galligan is also in the slasher sequel Hatchet III (2013). I'm certainly not trying to water down Galligan as an actor. Listening to him in interviews, he seems very passionate about being an actor. Galligan certainly stands by the work he's done, and he's fun to watch on screen. Also, I hope to see him return as Billy Peltzer in a third Gremlins movie. He briefly return as Billy, much to the joy of fans like myself, in a Mountain Dew commercial that aired earlier this year. Maybe that's a precursor of things to come. Galligan certainly Tweets often about "Gremlins 3."

With Waxwork, Galligan isn't the only actor in the movie to have appeared in other classic (more or less) horror films. It's loaded with several names that are worth dropping. 

Deborah Foreman who appears in the 1986 slasher film April Fool's Day - a movie I plan on reviewing - is in this. She's also in 1989's Lobster Man from Mars also directed by Hickox.

Waxwork also stars Michelle Johnson who also appears in the English speaking Mexican horror flick Beaks: The Movie (1987), as well as Dr. Giggles (1992), and Death Becomes Her (1992). 

Most notably, the film stars English actors David Warner and Patrick Macnee. 

Macnee is well-known  for playing John Steed in the 1960s espionage series The Avengers. He can also be seen in the other 80s horror flick The Howling which I'll review shortly. I have a copy of it sitting on my desk as I write this. 

And I can't fail to mention that in Waxwork, actor John Rhys-Davis plays a character who transforms to a werewolf. Who doesn't want to see that?

Waxwork certainly isn't the first, nor the last horror movie that takes place in a wax museum. There's quite a list of such films. Vincent Price's 1953 classic House of Wax comes to mind right away along with its loose 2005 remake of the same name starring Paris Hilton. Terror in the Wax Museum (1973) and The House That Dripped Blood (1971) are a few others as well. Wax museums are a perfect setting for terror because they're simply terrifying places. The realism behind the blank motionless stares of wax figures can be unsettling.  

Zach Galligan in Waxwork.

So, the story begins with a disturbing scene of a guy getting his head shoved into a fireplace. This sets the macabre tone.

We then cut away to a suburb where rich boy Mark Loftmore (Zach Galligan) is eager to get away from his babying mother who won't even let him have a cup of coffee lest the caffeine hinder him somehow. 

Loftmore meets up with his college buddies. Two of them, Sarah (Deborah Foreman) and China (Michelle Johnson) tell Mark and the others about a strange encounter they had with the reticent proprietor of a wax museum, David Lincoln (David Warner), which is oddly located in the middle of a residential neighborhood. 

Lincoln invited the girls and their friends on a special viewing at midnight. 

The crew decide to go see this place, and find themselves to be the only visitors at the waxwork's midnight tour. 

Inside, the displays are all grim depictions of horror scenes with standard horror characters - werewolves, vampires, executioners, etc.

As the friends separate and meander through the museum, one of the college kids, Tony (Dana Ashbrook - Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!, Return of the Living Dead II) crosses the barrier of a display and finds himself suddenly in the middle of a dark forest. 

Rather than collapse with fear at being in a different location all of a sudden, he thinks his friends are pulling a joke on him, or spiked his drink. It's a horror cliché at its worst. 

Tony finds a secluded cabin, and walks on in still thinking it's all one big joke. There's a man inside clearly in distress, yelling at Tony to get out. Of course, Tony sticks around.

This stranger, played by John Rhys-Davis, turns into a werewolf right before Tony's eyes and attacks him. 

In no time, Tony also starts turning into a werewolf just as two hunters with rifles and silver bullets barge in. 

Soon after, the others begin crossing the barriers of various wax displays and find themselves in the horrific scenes. To them, those scenes are now reality.

Loftmore quickly realizes what's going on as he escapes one of the displays.  

When he goes to the police, who of course don't believe him (useless cops...another standard horror cliché) he turns to a family friend, Sir Wilfred (Patrick Macnee) who explains the true nature and intent of the wax museum, the proprietor, and why so many of people around town have gone missing. 

Fans of gore will surely get something out of this movie. It's like a Halloween walk-through attraction on film. 

Waxwork is a product of its day in style and special effects. That's not necessarily a criticism. What is a criticism, however, is the film's use of banal elements that were tiresome, even in the 1980s - bully cops who serve little to no purpose, insanely clueless teenagers, laughably bad decisions, and ancient evils wanting to take over the earth. 

Michelle Johnson as "China."

This is supposed to be a comedy horror, but the comedy is just lame.  

Aside from that, the scene transitions are too quick. And the fighting scene in the film's climax is cringe and embarrassing to watch. Maybe that's where the comedy was hiding this whole time?

There is a small reference to my favorite musical horror Little Shop of Horrors. That part was fun.

This movie feels loose at the seems. There's little to nothing for the audience to become invested in as the plot is rushed through and the characters are pretty much throw-away characters. I just sat and waited for token character after token character to get picked off, one by one.

It seems all effort went into the movie sets, make-up effects, and the salary for those high-end actors. 

A sequel was released in 1992 - Waxwork II: Lost in Time with Hickox back in the director's chair. Galligan returns in part two and is joined by the legendary Bruce Campbell as well as David Carradine and Patrick Macnee once again. I'm willing to give it a try.

I think all Waxwork has going for it is the nostalgia behind it, the ride from one horror scene to another, and watching John Rhys-Davis's performance of a man turning into a werewolf. Everything else is flat and unimaginative.

93) Tourist Trap (1979) - A Nostalgic Horror Rental

"Mr. Slausen, can I use your phone?"

Director

David Schmoeller

Cast

Chuck Conners - Mr. Slausen

Jocelyn Jones - Molly

Jon Van Ness - Jerry

Robin Sherwood -Eileen

Tanya Roberts- Becky

Seldom does a horror film from any decade cross my field of vision, and leave me truly creeped out even several days later. The 2018 movie Hereditary managed to pull it off. So did the insanity that is Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects. I had to pause that one just to pull my sanity together.

I first heard about director David Schmoeller's (Puppet Master) 1979 low-budget slasher flick Tourist Trap on one of horror critic James Rolfe's "Cinemassacre's Monster Madness" segments. What I saw on Rolfe's review was compelling enough for me to keep it in my mental list of films to watch.

Recently, I managed to stumble upon a copy on DVD. Score! 

Seldom do I purchase movies that I haven't seen before. But this one I just had to see. I bought it and waited for a quiet evening to watch. 

The movie begins with a young couple (as slashers so often do), Eileen (Robin Lyn Sherwood) and Woody (Keith McDermott) who get a flat tire while driving along a desert road. Obviously no flat tire ever leads to a good outcome in a horror movie. 

Their friends Molly (Jocelyn Jones), Jerry (Jon Van Ness), and Becky (Tanya Roberts - Charlie's Angels) are traveling with them but in another vehicle.

Woody goes looking for help and comes across a rusty ol' gas station that looks like it hasn't conducted  business in years. He walks in anyway, only to find the place deserted. 

Still, he keeps shouting "hello?" just in case someone who hasn't given up on their life in the gas station business is still lingering around. 

Woody hears a moan coming from a back room. So, he goes to see who's back there. Again, in horror movies, a moan or any kind of noise coming from a back room certainly won't lead to any worthwhile discovery. Only hell and regrets lie in the back rooms of empty horror movie gas stations.

When he walks in, he sees what he thinks is a woman lying in bed. So like the good potential customer he is, Woody (a strange man in a woman's bedroom) tries to wake her up.

Suddenly the woman lunges forward, revealing that it's a mannequin. Other mannequins start popping out of various spaces, laughing hysterically at him. The door shuts and locks by itself. Supernatural forces hurl random objects at him. 

He punches a hole through the door, but when he sticks his arm through to unlock it, something takes hold of him and won't let go. Pretty soon, Woody realizes he's trapped.

This scene starts the movie off with a simple but incredibly terrifying tone that continues throughout. It certainly doesn't stray. 

As the others continue driving, they come across a roadside tourist attraction and assume Woody is inside. 

When they pull in, their car mysteriously breaks down. 

As Jerry tries to fix his car, claiming how it has never given him any trouble before, the girls go skinny dipping in a nearby secluded lake. What more vulnerable a position could these young girls put themselves in?

Suddenly they spot a creepy old behemoth of a man in overalls sitting in the grass, holding a rifle, and staring at them.
He comes across as polite as he informs them that they're trespassing, but is willing to let it go. 

As he chats with the girls, who are clearly uncomfortable, he also seems perturb as he mentions his roadside attraction "Mr. Slausen's Tourist Trap" hasn't seen foot traffic in a long time. 

Mr. Slausen (Chuck Conners) offers to help fix their car, but insists the girls come back to his house while he gathers his tools. Of course!

They agree, and wait inside his tourist attraction, which is filled with animatronic mannequins Slausen uses for his attraction. He also has a shrine to his late wife made up of a mannequin in a wig that resembles his wife.

He leaves them inside while he goes to fix their car. Slausen also instructs them that for their own safety. they shouldn't wander outside in the dark.

The phone in the house doesn't work, so Eileen goes out to find one in the house nearby.

She makes her way inside to room around, and finds rooms full of mannequins. Eileen then hears someone call her name. 

She thinks it's a joke, until a stranger in a hideous mannequin mask attacks her. 

When Slausen comes back to his tourist shop where Molly and Becky are still waiting, he tells them 

Jerry was able to drive his car back into town. 

But when he notices Eileen is missing, he suddenly becomes very concerned about her safety and goes out to look for her.

Still waiting inside, Becky and Molly become frustrated and conduct a search party of their own. It doesn't take long before they encounter horrors beyond their expectations, and the truth behind the word "trap."

This is a movie that did it for me as a horror fan. Tourist Trap, despite how schlocky, cliché and predictable it is, is the rarity that comes by every 100 or so films which makes me remember why I keep a blog like this in the first place. It's the kind of horror you stay up late on a Friday night to watch. This is one of the most quintessential of quintessential popcorn horror flicks I have seen in a while.

All the common tropes are there. The movie begins with young attractive girls and a couple beefy guys getting a flat tire in the middle of a deserted highway. 

It has the old, dusty abandoned locations that doesn't seem to dissuade needy intruders from barging in.

Then que the creepy, yet friendly old local offering the naïve group a ride. 

After that, these young attractive girls willingly put themselves in extremely vulnerable situations. Yeah...we know only the worst will happen. 

It's all mixed with unsettling music from Italian composer Pino Donaggio, who was working on director Joe Dante's horror movie Piranha in Los Angeles at the time of filming. His eerie soundtrack is mixed with drones that comes from the mannequins who seem to move under supernatural powers. 

It still has a true and classic horror feel to it that fits well with the movie. It sets the mood perfectly, and adds to the already dreadful look of these mannequins. 

While watching Tourist Trap, movies such as House of Wax (1953) and House of 1000 Corpses (2003) came to mind. The off-putting atmosphere reminded me of these other films.

I mention House of Wax because of the similarities between the use of unsettling likenesses in the haunting figures. Both are absolutely nightmare fuel. 

As for House of 1000 Corpses, its the twisted or darkly satirical imagery of an innocent homestead utilized by completely evil people looking to trap innocent folks.

These movies share an eldritch tone in their otherwise seemingly innocent settings, like a tourist attraction or wax museum, both of which can be unintentionally unsettling. Old places, whether a palace or an abandoned gas station, seem to develop a tingling, haunted atmosphere on their own accord that grows in and around them like the weeds that also take over. A tourist trap is exactly what its name implies. A trap!  

Tourist Trap captures that needed dark tone rather well. Escape is not as easy as it looks. 

Tanya Roberts (left) and Jocelyn Jones in Tourist Trap.

I have to give credit to Jocelyn Jones. She puts in so much effort and energy, pulling off a convincing performance that her character Molly is legitimately terrified.

Tourist Trap plays the mannequins into the story well in both imagery, atmosphere and even soundtrack. 

Tourist Trap deserves recognition for how scary it is alone. Sure, the acting is rough, and it's saturated with all the typical horror stuff audiences have seen over and over, but it's the fear that audiences want. And it doesn't disappoint when it comes to that. It finds a way to succeed in delivering what's expected. Why? Because mannequins are friggin' terrifying. Gimmicky, but scary as hell. 

This movie is so loaded with psychological turmoil, it's hard to tell who's the crazy one by the end of the movie. Otherwise, it's just another slasher flick with naive girls screaming for help, a pervy old man, and a lot of blatantly stupid decisions.

92) In the Mouth of Madness (1995) - A Nostalgic Horror Rental

"Reality is not what it used to be."

Director

John Carpenter

Cast

Sam Neill - John Trent

Julie Carmen - Linda Styles

John Glover - Saperstein

Jurgen Prochnow - Sutter Cane

David Warner - Dr. Wrenn

Francis Bay - Mrs. Pickman

I'm very familiar with the John Carpenter film In the Mouth of Madness probably more than I am with John Carpenter. I enjoy his movies for the most part. I did a podcast review of his classic film The Fog. And a good portion of my horror movie favorites, or just favorite movies in general, are John Carpenter films - Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York, and of course Big Trouble in Little China to name a handful.

In the Mouth of Madness is no obscure film. The titles I just mentioned may came up first if you ask someone what Carpenter they've seen, or asked them to name some of his films off the top of their head. Anyways, I've mentioned Carpenter several times on this blog, but haven't reviewed any of his movies. It's thanks to him that the term "slasher" is a word and a horror sub-genre.  

This movie is a rental I stumbled upon during a visit to my cousin's house (well, my great-aunt's son and grandkids, whatever relation they would be to me? Cousins once removed? Twice removed? I don't know - I'll consult my sanguinity chart later.)

Not only is In the Mouth of Madness another rental title from my past, it's the first movie I watched on a laser disc format. I must have been 14 at the time. My cousins rented it from their respective rental store somewhere in San Jose.

Three things stood out to me when I first watched it. 

First, it has Wilhelm von Homburg whom I immediately recognized as Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters II. I even remember declaring, "Hey, it's Vigo" when he came on screen. It's the only other movie I have ever seen him in.

In the Mouth of Madness also stars John Glover, whom I recognized from Gremlins 2: The New Batch where he plays Trump-esque business mogul, Daniel Clamp. 

But above Glover and von Homburg, what I remember most of all is the unsettling horror images from the movie. They're truly memorable in a movie that's unforgettable thanks to its very unique horror style. They've stayed in my memory all these years.

Fifteen years ago, I went looking for the movie I saw at my cousin's house. I didn't know the name, and had some difficulty finding it, even online. I found it through searching for von Homburg movies. So, I found it and bought it.

I've intentionally waited until now to review In the Mouth of Madness. I've wanted to give a suitable review. I also have it on my list for potential films for my 100th review. I still haven't narrowed one down, by the way. Evidently, now it won't be this one. 

Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) plays insurance investigator John Trent. An insurance buddy of his asks Trent to work with a client who's looking into a claim filed by a New York company called Arcane Publishing while the two are out having lunch together.

During the lunch meeting, a maniac with an axe breaks through the front window of the restaurant and attacks Trent.

"Do you read Sutter Cane?" he asks, his split pupils looking right into Trent's eyes.

Cane is a popular horror writer in the film, who just released his latest novel. The release incidentally led to huge riots outside bookstores. 

Police shoot the axe guy dead. And it turns out he was Sutter Cane's agent who went insane after reading that new novel, and then killing his family. 

Sam Neill as John Trent in In the Mouth of Madness.

Trent later has a meeting with Jackson Harglow (Charlton Heston), the director of Arcane Publishing which publishes Cane's books.

Harglow tells him the claim involves Cane who has mysteriously disappeared. 

Harglow also wants Trent to obtain the manuscript for Cane's last and final novel, In the Mouth of Madness. 

Trent thinks this disappearance is one ginormous publicity stunt. Still, he agrees to investigate regardless. 

While doing some thinking about the case, he notices how the covers of Cane's novels all contain red lines. 

Trent takes the covers and lines up the red lines discovering that they form the shape of New Hampshire when put together. A location is indicated, too, within the shape of the state. Trent takes this location to be Hobb's End, a town used in the novels. He's certain that's were Cane is.

Harglow sends the company's editor, Linda Styles (Julie Carmen), who edits Cane's novels, to accompany him to Maine.

Styles fills Trent in on how Cane's stories have caused paranoia and delusion among some of his readers.

When they find the town, the atmosphere seems off. In fact, Hobb's End isn't suppose to exist. It's not on any real map. 

They find specific locations in town referenced in Cane's works. All the while Trent is still skeptical about the whole debacle.

Among the locations in town is a lone Eastern style church painted black. Styles is certain Cane is hiding within. 

She goes inside to find Cane, which she does, only to be driven mad when he gives her the manuscript to his final novel. 

As Trent explores Hobb's End, he comes across many unsettling things. He goes into a bar where a local named Simon (Wilhelm Von Homburg) warns Trent to leave.   

Trent runs out, only to be approached by a mob of hideous looking people. 

He jumps into his car and tries to drive away, but keeps finding himself right back where he was. 

He crashes and wakes up inside the church confessional with Cane on the other side of the screen. 

Cane tells him that the belief in his works among those who read his books set loose an ancient evil hell-bent on reclaiming the Earth. 

"That's the point - believe," Cane says. "When people begin to lose their ability to know he difference between fantasy and reality, the old ones begin their journey back. The more people who believe, the faster the journey." It's like a dark, twisted version of The NeverEnding Story as far as premise goes.

Cane also says Trent is just another character in one of his stories, forced to follow his plot by returning the manuscript to Arcane Publishing which will ultimately end the human race.

The plot of this movie is an insane one - literally. And like true insanity, it gradually increases with the story. 

Insanity is portrayed in various ways either through the atmosphere of Hobb's End, or in Trent's grasp on reality as it slips away. 

Some say doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. 

This came to mind during the scene where Trent tries to escape the angry, devilish looking mob and drive out of town only to return to keep returning to the same street with the mob waiting for him. 

This movie takes a ton of inspiration from the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Even the title plays off of Lovecraft's story At the Mountains of Madness. And as the film opens with the main character held within an insane asylum, the story is told as a flashback. It's a method of story telling common with Lovecraft. A little bit of Stephen King is thrown in the mix, not just with mention, but it the movie's New England setting. 

The imagery and insanity is what makes In the Mouth of Madness a memorable John Carpenter horror film.

Uh...nope!

One thing I found clever is the exposition after Trent wakes up in the church confessional, and Cane begins telling him his plans. Placing the scene inside a confessional adds a certain sense of fear that wouldn't exist if Cane and Trent stood looking at each other. 

As Cane is attempting to set evil loose on the world, such a profanation as admitting his evil intentions to Trent inside a place where sinners go to repent is certainly not out of place. 

This movie tries to bring the insanity from the characters to the audience, which is why some critics, such as Fred Topel at About.com, think this movie is "too confusing."

Film critic Roger Ebert said "One wonders how In the Mouth of Madness might have turned out if the script had contained even just a little more wit and ambition."

It may be a more memorable movie if such was the case. But my guess is it would have much more points to pay attention to and think about, which may have limited its audience by the end. 

This is a horror movie that wants its audience to really be engaged, not miss a thing, and keep thinking about they saw long after the credits roll. 

It's ambitious which is why I consider it one of my personal favorites in horror. 

If picking my top 50, maybe even top 10, horror movies, In the Mouth of Madness would be among those titles based on its story line, horror/ thriller element, cast, film atmosphere, and depiction of insanity.

In the Mouth of Madness lives up to its namesake as it's a great depiction of insanity on film.