Video Nasty: Night Of The Demon (1980)

Yes guys, and ghouls. It is once again time to get my video nasty on after about a one year hiatus. Been at it for ten years now, and am not even halfway there! Oh well, better late than never, so here we go with this (year's) nasty; Night Of The Demon.

Plot:
Ted Nugent's name brother professor Nugent is found running out of the woods badly burnt. He gets the dubious pleasure of first being commited to a hospital, and then to the nut house where he tells the story of people being sliced, and diced by a beast living in the forest, and the actor playing Nugent's name is Michael CUTT none the less, pun intended.

People have been missing after having visited the woods, so Prof. Nugent, and some of his students decide to venture out into the forest to find out what really goes on there.

And boy, do they, as they find out the hard way that this furry monster is on a rampage out there. Is it Bigfoot, or perhaps Sasquatch? Neither. It is a demon!

So now our friends are stuck in the woods with a blood thirsty, flesh ripping, axe swingin' homicidal demon out to get them. What shall they do? And will they survive?

What's Good:
Much accomplished on a tiny budget this one's at times suspenseful, fun, dark, violent, bloody, and brutal. Bodycount a plenty where the demon attacks, and kills with axe, knife, hayfork, and beastly flesh tearing claws, even throwing a victim around, noose rope style. Something I'm sure not to be the only one wishing they sometimes could do to somebody. Teen girl campers get hacked, not as in the computer way, and a random biker also gets his nobler parts fondled by the demon!

A little too rough for the poor bikers liking though, I bet. Moral of the story: Be careful where you whip it out, or else...

There's a tripped out creepy score, with some easy listening, and quite funky at times, plus some noisy annoying psychotic synths, and a beautiful Bernie Worrell of Funkadelic sounding psychodelic organ piece. To my knowledge no soundtrack was released, but it is an original score, and not library music.

What's Bad:
A tiny budget flick. They did the best with what they had but there's still signs all over that this is an ultra cheapo film so avoid if you're only into A grade movies.

A slow burn at times.

Acting? Nah, not in this one.

The Verdict:
Bad, and unintenionally funny but an honest attempt at amateur filmmaking where they did the best with what little they had. It's dark, violent, and understandably a video nasty because this is a perfect Horror film for home video viewing, and must've had much rewind, and replay value of the nastiest scenes back in the 80's.

The kind of film once seen, you just skip to the nasty bits, to show you're friends who'd then brag about having seen it, and tell stories to others making more people run out to rent this "filth" out of curiousity, so it must've been responsible for plenty sleepless nights back in the early 80's cause the violence is indeed nasty, and sexualized as the demon not only kills, but rapes, and makes demon babies, so it's deserving of it's video nasty "promo campaign".

There's  a funny VHS cover with an Oscar next to the title btw...as if...that's all I'm sayin'...as if.

So what happens to the demon in the grand finale? See this movie to find out but, beware...cause...he's...still...out...there...

Bad, but fun gory low budget nasty so...

Rating:
3/6

Video Nasty: Snuff (1975)

Snuff was a bad movie as far as I remember, so I've put this review on hold forever, and at an imdb rating of 2.8, it must be shite, right? Let's re-watch, and find out.

Enter bad ass junkie biker chicks into drugs, sex, violence, torture, sadism, etc, and it's enough to keep a (male) re-view'er awake, and to the sound of a groovy soundtrack none the less as it starts not with a snuff but a sniff.

We all know that cocaine is one helluva drug so the action kicks in as they shoot, and shoot up, a girl who apparently stole drugs from them. Then some dude suddenly appears out of nowhere, and they start torturing the poor honey for disobedience to him for which she will "feel the pain!"

But oh wait now..the way she moans, and groans, It sounds like she WANTS to feel the pain!? Whoa, now we already know why this became a video nasty, and so far it's actually more fun than I remembered so time to lie back, grab the knife, and...enjoy?

 "Each one of you must obey by my commands, or each one of you must die" the dude says who's name's no less than Satan, so I guess he must be some kinda self appointed head of a cunt, eh, cult. :)

Enter the movie biz where everything is peaches, and cream, and Snuff snails along portraying the lifestyles of the rich, and shameless, occasionally switching back to cult leader Satan, his bikerettes, and the sadistic fun they have, with some nudity, and softcore sex in the mix, plus some out of place Mardi Gras footage. Sound messy to you? It is, but that doesn't prevent Snuff from moving along at the speed of a turtle.

Vile enough to be a video nasty however when  the girl pictured above tells why she ended up a violent biker cult member, as we flashback to her past with pedophilia suggestive dialogue like "Ever since I've been a little girl, I've always been in bondage", and the story of how she was raped at 12, ending up a slut because of it.

After all that, the cult finally mashes up with the rich & shameless movie biz people, and one can surely imagine what happens then?

What's good:
Better than I recalled. 70's throwback bad girls get naked, have sex, and violence. The still unreleased original soundtrack by Rick Howard is surprisingly good, and varied, as it ranges from 70's groovy Funk to easy listening. Director Michael Findlay did softcore porn mostly, but is decent in the exploitation genre here. He died in 1977 as he was snuffed in a  helicopter accident on top of the Pan Am building in New York which was the big deja-vu moment for me as one of my friends in school, and his family were in that accident, but unlike Findlay, they lived to tell.

What's bad:
Sometimes boring, and quite messy. Switches from an orgy of atrocities to a light TV type drama, and back. Bad acting to the extreme at times, even worse special effects, and how they managed to convince anyone that this was a real snuff movie is way beyond me, but it was the 70's, so, I guess...the drugs?

The Verdict:
I doubt strongly that Stanley Kubrick was ever inspired by Snuff, however this little fella reminds of Eyes Wide Shut.

What I'm trying to say here is that Snuff of course is nowhere near the masterpiece EWS is but is better than the 2.8 imdb rating, and cool demented video nasty fun that's worth a re-watch.

Although it's got guts, it wasn't so much about the film, but the hype, as the film makers claimed it was a real snuff film, and so audiences, and police, lined up for the premiere. Well, at first the movie was slept on, and forgotten, so they added an extra scene at the end, and promoted that as a real killing where the actors were never seen again, hence the tag line, and it ends with "Shit we ran outta film..did you get it all?" pretending it was all real. Nowadays, that wouldn't fool a fool, but back then it was genius marketing.

Snuff is quirky fun. Hands down.

Rating: 3/6

Video Nasty: SS Experiment Camp (1976)

No rest for the wicked so back to the Nazi camp I go. Not that I'm lookin' fwd. today either , and not out of fear that I'll be tortured, and killed, but cause this has an even lower Imdb rating than SS Hell Camp, at 3.1, but if the same happens with this as Hell Camp, I'll be pleasently surprised, so without further to do, here I go to the:

Like yesterday it wastes no time, so straight to the SS camp we go where naked prisoner girls are being forced to swear allegiance to the fuhrer by means of electrocution, and if they don't, and at first they don't, it's lethal injections, and off to the crematory.

The grim, dark atmosphere tells me right away that this won't have the comic relief which made Hell Camp a fun but twisted ride. In other words, this will be much closer to the real thing, and probably much harder to sit through because of that, we'll see.

Once again we witness Nazi camp murder, torture, rape, sadism, nudity, orgies, and oh, did I mention hairy armpits?

Fine mix there for it to be banned, and labeled a nasty. This time it comes with a twist however as sexperiments are carried out between female prisoners, and Nazi soldiers to attempt creating the ultimate master race so the (un)lucky participants gets training through orgies, etc, and if they refuse to participate, they end up like this:

But it goes further than that as the head Nazi officer in charge decides he wants a new set of balls from a soldier younger than him, so to the operating table it goes where the surgery is shown in a drawn out vomit inducing sequence.

But when the young soldier finds he's impotent, and naturally goes "nuts" because of it by first approaching the officer who now possesses his family jewels, saying "You Bastard. what have you done with my Balls?", and from there on out, it's all down hill for the SSexperiment camp staff, but is justice served at the end?

What's good:
Funny at times, especially during the end, and when Nazis toast at a party they don't go "Cheers", but "Heil!" Hahaha. OK. The what have you done to my balls line was also worthy of some ROFLOL biz. The movie is at best somewhat realistic regarding what went on in those camps during the big one. The hot, and cold water torture shown in this film was one of the most painful SS torture methods according to a long gone friend, and neighbour of mine who was unfortunate enough to be a concentration camp prisoner during the war. The typical 70's Italian OST is ok, and has some catchy haunting tunes. Directing, acting, and all the other tech stuff is done well but not great by any means, the sets are fitting, and feels like it happened during WW2, and there's enough vileness goin' on for it to deserve it's video nasty stamp of disapproval. Well at least it was, back in the 80's, and this was no less than the movie that started the video nasty hysteria much because of it's original GO Video VHS cover art. GO video was also responsible for releasing Cannibal Holocaust, and more nasties, and of sending them to the censorship fanatics, hoping to get some extra promo that way, and they had Pandoras box wide opened at a level they hadn't dreamt of in their wildest nightmares, so SS Experiment Camp has to get props for kickin' off the vid nasty hysteria in the first place.

What's bad:
If it hadn't dropped before it, I'd say they tried to make a Holocaust for the big screen, but failed at that as it has few of the qualities that made the Holocaust TV series a masterpiece, so I doubt this hit many big screens if any at all. 3/4 of the movie is hella boring, and I was tempted to fast fwd. a lot, but it picks up in places, and towards the end. The love experiments are nothing but an excuse to show as much softcore porn as possible. Yawn. The testicle transplant scene almost had me puke, and that my friends has never happened to me, and I've seen a disgusting scene or two before surprisingly enough. That scene was hard to sit through, and has the power to make even the most jaded reach for the barf bag like it almost did to me though I'm fine now but not without scars, so as an endurance test I guess that scene's actually not a bad, but a good thing.

The Verdict:
Not all that much left to say really but it's not essential viewing,  however worth a one time watch to see if you can endure the worst bits, and to check the film that started the video nasty hysteria. Other than that it's pretty much boring, and worthless, so SS Hell Camp reviewed here yesterday was a way better example of a good Nazi explo film.

Rating: 2/6

Video Nasty: SS Hell Camp (1977)

Yay! Finally back again with more video nasty reviews after another two year absence, but I was locked up at Hell Camp, and oh no, now it seems I have to go right back there!

Because today's nasty is none other than the infamous SS Hell Camp aka Beast In Heat, and here we go with some Italian Nazi flick madness which should be fun so let me break out the old Gestapo uniform, and Mein Kampf to get in the mood to enjoy the SS havin' fun @ experiment camp!

Ok. That was a joke, and a bad one at that, as I don't consider WW2 Nazi atrocities fun entertainment, but it's a video nasty so it has to be reviewed. My expectations are low with an Imdb rating of 3.4, but the shock value should still be worth it. Only one way to find out, so let's do this!


Plot:
First thing we see is a Swastika, then it's straight off to the Nazi camp where atrocious experiments take place on the poor prisoners, and nothing's left to the imagination, to the sound of a sinister 80's style synth score, which is far from a masterpiece, but gets the job done.

The oh so notably beautiful, but oh so evil Dr. Ellen Kratsch is portrayed by Macha Magall, (un)known for a handful of not so notable Italian erotic, and Nazii exploitation films, does a great, and believable job here as the head Nazi mistress in charge. Why the hell didn't she do more films? She has only nine to her credit, and looking as great as she does, one would think she could've done a lot more, but at least we get to see just about all there is of her in this movie. ;)

She's got an experiment goin' where a 100% retarded beast of a man is injected by something that makes him go bonkers. He rapes, screams, howls, growls, drools, etc through his entire screen time, and his favorite dish is pubic hair!

All that during the first 30 minutes! So far, so gross. Of course, even a nasty can't be all sex, and violence, so there's a plot too. Imagine that! It's your basic WW2 Resistance vs. Nazis with plenty of battlefield action.

Of course there's also brainwashed, sadistic SS including this guy who gets a call from a superior, and when Der Fuhrer called it was "Stop your grinnin', and drop your linen'!"His girlfriend has a habit of yelling "Heil Hitler!" while jumping naked on their bed too.

The plot switches back, and forth between the Nazi camp experiments, the Nazi vs. Resistance fight, sadism, torture, violence, rape, and twisted sexual desires, so it's all lined up for some of the good old video nasty business here.

The arguably worst scene has the Nazis throwing a baby in the air, then shooting it with a machine gun, which is up there with the worst scenes from any video nasty.

And they all look like they're having so much fun doin' it, and get turned on sexually by it, and so much, the head Nazi bitch in charge cuts off this poor dude's dick too.

As it was in WW2, the Nazis get limited time to do evil though as the Resistance closes in on them which results in a final showdown at the experiment camp, and by then it's gonna be hard for the Nazis to save their asses even if they have the Gestapo version of Laurel & Hardy coming to their rescue:

What's good:
I expected this to be bad so I waited for years to view it but was pleasently surprised actually. It has enough sex, violence, gore, torture, etc to deserve being a video nasty, and though I'm sure it was supposed to disgust, and apall the viewers it does that yes but is often un-, and intentionally funny, especially Salvatore Baccaro as the caged beast who's performance is so over the top we rarely see anything like it, and none quite as savage as him, so that alone is worth the price of a free download, and even a purchase as this can be viewed repeatedly with no problems, and is a great one to disgust your friends by showing them the demented delights of a true video nasty. It's fast paced, has lots of nudity, and once again I gotta stress how hot the Nazi experiment mistress is even though she's pure evil.

What's bad:
The fight coreography is clumsy, and I can't help but wonder if the Nazi vs. Resistance plot was such a good move as it would've been more interesting to stay at the camp more but hey it sorta mixes the hardcore atrocities up with a basic action war movie a bit for some relief. There's also a fighter plane which is definitely a toy plane model. See for yourself below, but that too makes for some unintentionally fun moments.

Verdict:
Luigi Batzella is miles away from one of the best Italian directors being best known for the lackluster Nude For Satan, but hit more of a home run with SS Hell Camp. I was pleasantly surprised, and had a twisted fun time watching this. The Beast is insane, the acting was passable for such a C grade flick, the nasty bits were fun, and makes the film rewatchable for shock value, and Macha Magall was a hottie! Way better than I thought it would be, and the Imdb rating, so I'm lookin' fwd. to reviewing the next video nasty which is also an Italian Nazisploitation flick. If you like 70's trashy shock cinema, violent video nasties, and have a no holds barred sense of humour, then by all means give this one a shot.

 Rating: 4/6

Video Nasty: Tenebrae (1982)

Any day I can rewatch a Dario Argento classic is a good one, and now I even have an excuse to do so because of this review, so here we go with what's surprisingly the only Argento film to make it to the infamous nasties banned list, so get ready to be swept aside by the simple act of annihilation.

Plot:
What would you do if you were an author, and suddenly a maniac started killing people based on a book you wrote? And not only that but what if the maniac also stuffed pages from your book down the throats of the victims? I would probably follow the investigation closely, and write another book about that, and that's close to what's goin' on in Tenebrae as author Peter Neal experiences what I just said. Brutal murders a plenty follows, and everyone is trying to find out who the killer is including the police, Peter Neal, and everyone around him.

The murders get more brutal and gory as the film carries on, and among other things we get to witness axe-murder where nothing is left to the imagination, hand being chopped off painting white walls blood red, a lesbian couple getting killed, a girl being chased by killer dog sequence, and other fun. Among all that, flashbacks of a sexual encounter with a slut from the killers childhood who was played by a she-male nonetheless.

What's good:
Dario mixes violence, and gore with sleaze, horror, and an Agatha Christie type murder mystery in Tenebrae which was the second Argento film I ever saw after Opera many years ago, and is arguably Dario's best film. His trademark camera techniques are present too, giving this an artsy early 80's Italian feel. The acting is also good for an Argento film, Anthony Franciosa does a great job as Peter Neal, so does the rest of the cast, especially John Saxon as Neal's agent, and Daria Nicolodi, Dario's ex-wife. Several legends of the Italian horror cinema are also involved on the production side plus acting, like Michele Soavi, and Lamberto Bava.

Add an almost Goblin score to that. Three members including Simonetti did it because the band had just split up and Simonetti & co didn't have the rights to use the Goblin name. The score is a mix of your basic electronic horror soundtrack with a bit of Disco and Electro mixed in and a bunch of weird experimental music too which is perfect for the movie, and the Italo-Disco main theme works well on the dancefloors. I used to play it at times back in the old days as a DJ and it rocked the clubs. There's a 12" single of it with added breaks in the beginning of the song that any DJ, Horror or Disco fanatic should get even if they have the album.

　
Also the movie has plenty of beautiful women, some get naked too, and the mix of sex & violence was a sure way for a film to end up on the video nasties list. A final great thing about this is the murder mystery plot. Dario' always does his own killings when shooting films, but I dare you to find out who the real killer is. You will have a very hard time, but in the end it all makes as much sense as a Giallo should. Finally, this is a great film to introduce people to Argento, the Italian horror genre, and the giallo as it's a mix of the American and Italian styles of moviemaking.

What's bad:
Absolutely nothing. Dario Argento is one of the very best horror and giallo directors and this is one of the masterpieces from his golden era.

Verdict:
Horror and giallos don't get much better or more brutal but at the same time cinematically artistic as this. This shows the damage a Dario Argento at his very best could do, and Tenebrae is also typical of the Italian cinema of the 80's when it comes to style though this is a lot better than the average later Italian Giallo. Another fantastic Goblin score, and different from their 70's work. They've always managed to change with the times, and be a bit ahead of them too so their newer albums are also great though very different from their older stuff, and the same can be said about Argento for the most part. Not only is this one of the best video nasties but one of the best horror and mystery movies of all time, period, so once you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth, so I give Tenebrae a solid...

6 (out of 6)

Video Nasty: The Burning (1981)

We continue with the Video Nasty reviews. Way overdue of course but it is what it is. Today's pick is nothing less than a Slasher classic. I've seen this one hundreds of times, but it's only right to watch again when reviewing and I suggest you do the same. Lock the doors, close the windows, lights off, and volume up loud. Don't move or you're DEAD! Light some candles or better yet make a skull and put some lit candles in it for decoration cause hey, that's exactly how The Burning starts.

Plot:
Summer camp, I must admit I loved it in junior high, and like me, the kids at Camp Blackfoot knows how to have fun, meaning pranks with a big P! Most of them quite innocent though like the camp bully, Glazer, about to get glazed by the trusty old airgun, and that shit hurts when it hits, trust me.

As much fun as summer camp is there's usually a kid or employee who ruins the fun, and The Burning is no exception as the camp caretaker Cropsy isn't exactly what you'd call popular among the kids, havin' a rep for being quite a bit of an asshole, so the kids decides to do the right thing, and get more than even on his ass.

Short story short, they sneak into his cabin at night while he sleeps, with the aforementioned homemade skull filled with maggots and lit candles for good measure. They place it by Cropsy's bed, sneak back outside, and starts bangin' his window to wake him up. Well he does, sees the skull, and has a heavy panic attack. Unfortunately for him he bumps the skull over, lighting fire to his own bed, and yes you guessed it, not only does the bed catch on fire but so does the whole cabin with Cropsy inside. Now I've done some heavy pranks in my days but they never turned out quite as bad as this one...

But!...Cropsy survives, and ends up in a hospital with n'th degree burns all over his body. There he's known as the hospital monster. The freak that's burnt so bad that it is what the new doctors needs to see. It's where it's at, and Cropsy is by now a fuckin' Big Mac!...Overdone!

However, not for long, as the Big Mac escapes the hospital, and goes on a killing rampage revenge spree for the kids who were responsible for turning man into monster, so back to the old camp he goes, and that is when the slicing and dicing slasher fun starts, and The Burning has plenty of it. Cropsy stabs, chops, axes, and more than anything, hacks, and he doesn't settle for only the kids who turned him into a monster but any kid that comes in his way gets the Cropsy treatment. He's literally on fire!

What's good:
This is one of the few films that manages to mix comedy with horror without it becoming too silly. The kill and gore scenes are heavy which is why it was banned, thanks to fx master Tom Savini who actually turned down working on Friday The 13th. part 2 in favor of The Burning, but the comedy somewhat lightens up the mood in between the blood and guts.

If you ever went to summer camp this is as real as it gets and brings back fond memories, well, except for a murdering maniac being about, as that was of course mostly campfire tales, and The Burning was based on a real such tale about the Cropsy Maniac. Then there's the incredible musical score! Rick Wakeman's synth score just might be the greatest of all time for a slasher movie, only rivaled by Carpenter/Howarth's original Halloween score in my opinion. All the characters or just about, are likeable too so we don't want em to die, well maybe except for the bully, "You got that!", but even he is a good guy at the end of his days.

What's bad:
For the first time I can't find much bad things to say when reviewing a movie. To some it might be that this film's from the 80's so it's slower than modern films, and a bit outdated, but that's just the way I like em, especially since I grew up in the 80's, and there never was or will be a better time to grow up in. There's also a scene early on where Cropsy kills a prostitute which doesn't make much sense as there were no prostitutes at Camp Blackfoot, no? However that scene looks great in a very Dario Argento type way, but it's out of place considering the revenge type plot.

The verdict:
This is the perfect slasher movie, once again only rivaled by the original Halloween, perfect cast of quite a few who became famous later like Holly Hunter and that guy from Seinfeld, direction by Tony Maylam is superb, villain, plot, musical score, I could go on and on. One of my favorite slashers and one of the very best video nasties that really wasn't nasty enough to be one, but it still delivers on the gore, and the fun, and that means repeated viewings, and plenty of 'em. They truly don't make em like this no more, and it's rep hasn't been ruined by sequels or god forbid, a remake, and if you plan on doing a remake beware that Cropsy's still out there...waiting...watching.

The Burning, you're never gonna forget this man, as long as you live, so for the first time on this blog it will have to be a...

Score:
6 (out of 6)