It’s prom night! Everything is alright!

My lord, is that the worst movie theme song of all time? Disco death at its worst.

Anyway, Jamie Lee Curtis is back again as a teenager stalked by a psycho killer. The concept this time is that the killer is seeking revenge on a group of kids for the accidental death of a child six years prior. So in that way, it’s got a similar premise to Slaughter High, which we talked about the other day. This movie has been sequeled and remade to death, but for good reason. It’s one of those quintessential 80s slasher flicks, though not as good as some of the more popular movies from that era.

The most bizarre part of this movie is the fact that Leslie Nielsen plays a remarkably serious character for the guy most known for The Naked Gun series. The rest of the cast here is pretty decent as you’ve got all your standard 80s teen stereotypes. The kills are fun and inventive, and help cement the “slasher film rules” that later got popularized in the movie Scream.

As I mentioned, Prom Night won’t blow you away today, but if you look at it from a historical perspective, it’s fairly important in the slasher genre. Check it out, if for no other reason.

And man, this trailer is spectacular.

I’ve got another newer slasher flick today with Hatchet, the story of Victor Crowley. This movie seems to be an attempt to resurrect the slasher films of the 80s, with recognizable baddies like Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers. The victims are, as usual, a group of teens hanging out in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. They sign up to take a fan-boat tour out in the bayou and – you guessed it – bad shit happens.

As they’re out on the fanboat, they’re told of the legend of Victor Crowley, who was whacked with a hatchet by his father. It seems Victor’s haunting the bayou, killing unsuspecting tourists. Of course, just then, the fanboat sinks and our happy tourists become target practice for Victor.

I originally went out and bought Hatchet on its day of release because of all the praise that was being heaped on it by websites I respect. They all proclaimed that it was a fine return to the slasher films of yesteryear. And while it’s certainly a decent film, it’s no classic. Victor doesn’t fill the shoes of Freddy or Jason, though the bayou setting is definitely a nice change of pace from the typical forest/haunted house.

But unlike many of the movies I’ve talked about in SHOCKtober, Hatchet has some really nice production, decent acting, and really cool special effects. There are also some great cameos for horror buffs. Definitely seek this one out.

And by the way, in that picture up there…that’s an axe.

See that guy? That’s Robert Englund. “Freddy Kruger”. He’s in a lot of horror flicks, but he’ll always be Freddy to me. That’s why every time he came on screen with a southern drawl, I kept waiting for the glove to emerge from his back pocket. No such luck, I’m afraid.

2001 Maniacs takes the “teens break down” slasher flick to a whole new realm. This time, the kids are on a trip to Florida for spring break when they get lost in the middle-of-nowhere Georgia and come across a very odd small town. In a Children of the Corn-like turn, they’re led down a road and are unable to escape. But it’s okay, as the townsfolk seem friendly enough, though a bit old-fashioned in their southern ways. As it turns out, the southern hospitality is masking the resurrected victims of a Union-led slaughter back in the Civil War. And these Rebels are out for revenge.

The kids decide to stick around for the town’s “Guts and Glory” jubilee, not knowing that they are to be the featured course for dinner. Lots of sex, violence, and gruesome kills ensue until the ultimate showdown with Freddy Robert Englund at the very end.

2001 Maniacs is an odd film, but completely watchable. This straight-to-DVD flick features great laughs and downright bizarre moments. Oh, and the chicks are pretty hot.

This trailer is NSFW!

Christine and I checked this out last year on Comcast’s OnDemand service. Oh yeah…this is the good stuff. Low-budget, horrible acting, ludicrous premise, and awesome kills. This movie’s got it all!

The movie begins with nerdy Marty getting picked on at high school. He’s the victim of a rather brutal prank resulting in his being institutionalized. Five years later, the perpetrators of the prank are invited to a class reunion – just for them – at the now-abandoned high school. That’s right: they all show up and none of them are suspicious. Now as ridiculous as this is, even more ridiculous is when the reunited students start having sex in the school even after people start getting picked off. One girl even takes a bath in a scummy old bath tub. I guess the filmmakers decided they needed some T&A to make up for the shitty plot.

Slaughter High is a great 80s flick if you love to laugh at your horror movies. The kills are cheesy and terrific and the plot will have you rolling. Marty’s a great killer and you’ll be rooting for him as he picks off his former high school bullies one by one.

“Where’s the beef! Where’s the beef!”

Too funny.

I didn’t really care for Rob Zombie’s first film, House of 1,000 Corpses. It was an interesting premise that just jumped the shark at the end, in my opinion. But The Devil’s Rejects is a pretty enjoyable flick, although it’s certainly not strictly a horror flick. It’s more of a road movie, with the deranged family from Corpses on the run from the law.

The Devil’s Rejects is really The Empire Strikes Back as told by Rob Zombie…with lots of killing. The film starts with the Empire (the cops) attacking the rebel base (the family farm), the family escaping, and eventually seeking refuge with “Lando”, with a similar outcome.

Despite these blatant similarities, there’s a load of Tarantino-like dialog and some seriously demented shit at work here. The scene at the rat-trap motel is especially intense. I’m more of a slasher guy than violence and torture, but The Devil’s Rejects does a great job of making you peek through your fingers to see what happens next. And by the end of the film, I found myself almost rooting for the band of serial killers and – I’m ashamed to admit – humming along with “Freebird”, of all things.

It’s too bad Rob Zombie has been occupied with the Halloween series for the past few years, because I’d love to see more of his original material on the screen. So do me a favor: check out Rejects and let me know what you think.

Ok, this rounds out the original batch of Sleepaway Camp movies, and unfortunately, this is the worst of the bunch. The first one had that unbelievable ending, the second one had great – and funny – kills, and now part three…well…it doesn’t have much, to be honest. The kills mostly happen off screen, and you never really get much of a sense of suspense. You just know that Pamela Springsteen is back and chipper as ever as she kills teen after teen, camper after camper.

Sleepaway Camp 3 takes place exactly a year after part 2. The camp is under new ownership who have concocted a scheme in order to get government funding, since nobody in their right mind locally will pay to go to this place. So they start a project where they mix inner-city and underprivileged kids with wealthy, well-educated kids as some sort of social experiment. Of course, Angela quickly figures out a way to impersonate one of the kids and the killing spree begins.

As I mentioned, though, what could be the best, most gruesome kills usually wind up taking place off screen. For example, there’s a great lawnmower scene that cuts away just as the audience would have let out a collective gasp. Instead, we get to see blood splatter on Angela’s face.

It seems that rather than focusing on horror and kills, the filmmakers decided to take the cheesy humor of the second movie and run with it. In one scene, Angela and a couple of kids are fishing and they pull a hockey mask out of the water. Angela asks, “What day is it today?” and the kids respond, “Saturday the 14th.” Yeah…that’s gold…

Aside from that, there’s a healthy dose of T&A and The Boss’s sister is joined by Michelle Pfeifer’s sister. So unless the first two movies hooked you so much that you just have to see the third, I’d say avoid this particular entry in the series. Later in the month, perhaps we’ll talk about Return to Sleepaway Camp, the movie that came out just a couple years ago.

Alright, stick with me on this one. I haven’t seen this movie since I was twelve years old, but it’s stuck with me this long. This damn thing scared the piss out of me in my prepubescent years. And I’m talking about the 1980 Night of the Demon here, not the one made back in the 50s.

This insanely low-budget, poorly-made, poorly-acted film is about a college professor (hilariously named Professor Nugent) who takes a group of students out to the woods to look for bigfoot. What they find is kinda Sasquatch-ish, but more like a big, hairy, man-eating demon who will rip your dick off. Literally. The scene that stuck with me all these years involves a dude who’s casually taking a piss in the woods. Next thing you know, the demon jumps out and rips the dude’s dick off and I shit my pants.

I watched this movie at a friend’s house – with his parents – and when we got to that scene, his dad nearly lost it. Somehow, we managed to continue watching, but the mental scars remain to this day. Other highlights include a flashback scene to an old lady getting raped by bigfoot and bigfoot killing a camper while he’s in his sleeping back. It’s gruesome, gory, yet somehow hilarious stuff.

Finding this movie on DVD may be a challenge, but it’s well worth the effort.

This movie is big, dumb fun. The cover boasts “H.P. Lovecraft!”, but don’t go expecting a classic tale of horror and suspense. Instead, look for 80s schlock, complete with stiff acting, laughable special effects, and a goofy villain.

Dan and Megan are engaged to be married. Dan’s a med student, trying his hardest to get through while making ends meet. He takes in a new student who’s moved to the States from Switzerland to continue research on a fluid he’s discovered that brings the dead back to life. You know…re-animation. This guy, Herbert West, is a creepy, Dr. Frankenstein type, obsessed with his work and convinced that what he’s doing is not, in fact, psychotic. Dan eventually finds out what West is up to and is intrigued by the possibilities. People (and cats) die, heads talk, and many good laughs are had.

The morgue is always great for good laughs, isn’t it?

Re-Animator has become one of those cult classics. I don’t recall it being that big a deal back in 1985, but you can’t go into a video store in October without seeing this thing sitting there, complete with plastic syringe. Check out this trailer.

SHOCKtober continues today with Cabin Fever, a decent disease-based horror flick from seven years ago. The movie stars that kid from Boy Meets World; not Fred Savage’s brother…the other kid. The Other Boy meets a flesh-eating disease when he and his college buddies head to a cabin for a few days to celebrate the end of college.

Incidentally, why do so many horror movies take place at a cabin? Evil Dead, Friday the 13th, Sleepaway Camp, etc. The woods are a terrifying place, I guess.

Anyway, so the kids head into the woods, meet some hillbillies, have some sex, drink some booze, and stumble across a sick dude who won’t leave them alone. Turns out he’s infected and eventually spreads his disease to the group of kids. Gross stuff happens – really gross stuff – and the kids eventually start killing eachother off.

The movie is directed by Eli Roth, and despite that recognizable name, it didn’t get much play back in 2002 when it was released. That’s perfectly understandable thanks to a mostly no-name cast, shitty acting, and an at times ridiculous plot. Nevertheless, Cabin Fever reminds me of the great 80s horror flicks, and for that I say give it a go.

Damn, we had a good time with the first one didn’t we? Well, as great as that ending was, the second movie is even better; mainly because the entire film is watchable, not just the ending.

That’s not to say that the movie isn’t “bad”, because it’s certainly not “good”. It’s just a really fun flick. I mean, look at that movie poster. “Hey! We’re just like Freddy and Jason.” Not really, though. The killer here is (are you ready for this) the bubbly sister of Bruce Springsteen, Pamela. That’s right, it’s the boss’s sister. If you look at her closely you can definitely see the resemblance.

So Pamela Springsteen plays Angela, a super chipper camp counselor who just can’t wait to murder a bunch of not-so-happy campers. Why? Well, as it turns out Angela’s got a lot of secrets. I won’t say what they are, but yeah…it ties in nicely with the first flick.

Sleepaway Camp II is a great movie to watch with a group of friends, laughing at it’s cheesiness and yelling during the kills. It’s almost a parody, but manages to be pretty damn entertaining.

DO NOT watch this trailer if you haven’t seen the first movie as it contains a MAJOR SPOILER!!!