Horror Hotel Cinema - The Prowler/Rosemary's Killer (1981)

Just look at that one-sheet....

I first came across THE PROWLER when I was a little kid. I remember seeing this one-sheet, (in VHS cover form) in our local video store, and being thoroughly freaked out by it. Of course, I was around 7 or 8 and so didn't see the actual film till later....much later as it happens.

I finally got my bloody mitts on this underrated slasher sometime around 2009, and it proved worth the wait for a number of reasons. The first and foremost being the effects work by none other than Tom Savini. The kills in this thing are among the most brutal of the slasher's golden era, and still hold up today as some prime nasty shit. Its a violent little bitch of a film, folks.

The second reason to give this film some eye-time is the killer himself. He's a fearsome looking bastard with his WWII fatigues and his prediliction for sharp objects.

The third, is the films atmosphere. It's a genuinely creepy little movie that, while slow in parts, has a real 80's flavor to it that's hard to resist.

Anyway, you came here not to read, but to view. So I'll shut the fuck up, and you can kick back and enjoy...have fun...

Editorial : A Brief History of Horror Gaming - Part 2

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HORROR GAMING - PART 2


THE FALL OF TRADITIONAL SURVIVAL HORROR AND THE RISE OF ACTION BASED HORROR

For many, Survival Horror's descent from prominence was the equal of its rise. After the tidal wave of hits that pushed gaming in such exciting new directions, came the inevitable calm. The purity of intent that led developers to embrace the influence of Horror remained, yet like in its cinematic counterparts, Horror gaming was to become a much less cerebral affair and take on a more action oriented guise. RESIDENT EVIL 4 (2005), ditched many of the elements that made its predecessors so powerful. Gone were the pre rendered back grounds and the sparse encounters with lurching zombies and while the game retained plenty of what fans cherished about the originals, (limited inventory, strong gore), its focus was moving more towards action rather than suspense. The game featured more weapons, a far more precise aiming system and, whereas the original saw the player take on one or two enemies at a time, RE4 featured large crowds of death dealing enemies at any given time. The game was praised for its visual design and its massive crossover appeal, yet remained divisive among the core Survival Horror fans. Today, RE4 represents, for many, the point where traditional Survival Horror morphed into some new, and just as SILENT HILL followed suite with the original RE's template, so would SILENT HILL : HOMECOMING follow in this new direction. It’s argued that the more action Horror based games featured, the more compromised the emphasis on terror and dread became. And although this is often a very easily defendable stance, there are games that have challenged this thought line.

F.E.A.R

FEAR (2005) combined the fast paced shootouts of the first person actioner, with the eerie discordance of J-Horror, to create a product both exciting and unsettling. Its depth of story and keenly felt Horror themes were perfectly balanced with tense gunplay, creating perhaps the first true hybrid of Horror and Action gaming. It was soon followed by Sega's CONDEMNED: CRIMINAL ORIGINS (2006), which launched on the shiny new X-BOX 360, and was an instant hit, worldwide. CONDEMNED followed the,‘FEAR’, template and put its own spin on things. As a homicide detective, the player was required to investigate scenes of murder, and the reliance on gunplay was replaced with melee combat, adding to the sense of threat that its dank, filthy environments elicited. Sure, there were guns, but ammo was extremely sparse, (the guns contents were all the ammo you could hold). The influence of Survival Horror was again very prominent. And very welcome.

Editorial : A Brief History of Horror Gaming - Part 1

A Brief History of Horror Gaming


IN THE BEGINNING

As I write this, the second game in THE DARKNESS series is sat atop the shelves in stores worldwide. A game that utilises first person action, comic-book sensibilities and is blessed with a bucketful of glorious gore. Jimmy Stewart was right, life is indeed wonderful.

HAUNTED HOUSE

It’s been a long ride to get to where we are now in the gaming world, where old masters of the genre like Mr Carpenter come to spread their creative wings. It’s easy to sit back today with our Wide-screen TVs and our super powerful consoles and live the dream, but it was a long road.  Let's face it, we Horror fans are spoiled for choice when it comes to gaming, and that's cause for celebration, kids. In an ever changing world our love for horror is a constant, but our means of experiencing and enjoying fear and the macabre are making leaps and bounds forward, and its damned exciting. We can share the gaming experience with other fans the world over without moving from our couch, we can BE the guy behind the gun with only a few bullets left and a horde of the hungry undead hot on our heels. Hell, we can even play through the eyes of the undead ! We can band together and fight off mutants, and take on lank haired ghost girls in worlds so fully realised they make Main Street look like 24th Street, but It wasn't always this way....

As a card carrying 80's kid, I was lucky enough to have been there at the start.  I grew up with each consecutive gaming system, and watched the whole story unfold as games that today's generation would, rightly, deem so basic as to be laughable, filled our young heads with nightmares and fuelled our imaginations for endless hours. Put us in a dimly lit room with a twenty minute loading time, some monotone bleeps for a soundtrack to back up the unrecognisable graphics, and we were THERE, man!

Horror Hotel Cinema : Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981)

Every self respecting Horror lover appreciates a scarecrow themed Horror film....

So for this weeks show, I have an absolute stunner for you. DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW was originally made for TV, and while its roots were humble, its developed something of a cult following over the last few decades, and for many, is the last word in 'scarecrow horror'.

Its a genuinely eerie work. A haunting story that will stay with you, and it boasts perhaps the creepiest damn scarecrow ever put on screen. If you haven't seen this little known masterpiece, your in for a good time, folks. Scarecrows are a sparsity in Horror, sadly. I've never understood why, as for me, theres something fundamentally frightening about those silent figures, deep within the corn-rows, lifeless and poised. They freak me out, man. Ever patient sentinels waiting to strike the unaware.

Horror Hotel Cinema : Madman (1982)

Welcome back to the midnight show, friendo's...

This weeks mini-masterpiece needs to no introduction whatsoever. Why, you ask? Because I reviewed this little gem right here!

Go read that, then come back here, and watch 'Madman Marz' killing visually challenging cast members in style!

Review : Madman (1982)

Director:

Joe Giannone

Writers:

Joe Giannone (screenplay), Joe Giannone (story), and 1 more credit »

Stars:

Gaylen Ross, Tony Fish and Harriet Bass

Legend tells of a deranged madman, who lives deep in the woods surrounding some summer camp or other, and if you say his name above a whisper, he'll come looking for you, brandishing an axe and an attitude problem. Cue dumb teenage kids shouting his name out into the dark woodlands. Bad idea, son....

Believe it or not, this much-ignored little slasher sits proudly among my very favourite of the sub-genre, alongside BLACK CHRISTMAS, HALLOWEEN, THE BURNING, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and COLD PREY 1 & 2. I just cant get enough of this film, from its lumbering, doom-laden opening theme to its horrendous casting. Its just perfection.

Review : Fright Night 2 (1988)

Director:

Tommy Lee Wallace

Writers:

Tom Holland (characters), Tim Metcalfe, and 2 more credits »

Stars:

William Ragsdale, Roddy McDowall and Traci Lind

Charlie Brewster and Peter Vincent from the original Fright Night must face more vampires out for revenge. 

FRIGHT NIGHT is my favourite vampire movie of all time. It often feels like my favourite film of all time, period. I see it at least four or five times a year and it never fails to enthrall me with its potent mix of King-esque suburban horror and Gothic, romantic sensibilities. I see the film as a love letter to the Hammer Horror movies I grew up with, and a perfect encapsulation of all that the vampire mythos has to offer. I semi-reviewed it here, for those of you who want my perspective on why its so damn delightful.

Now, its sequel is another matter. I hadn't seen this film since its original release back in the day, and with the new film on the way I figured it'd be a good time to have a look at it with fresh, (or, more accurately, less fresh) eyes. It never shook my world on its release, so could it charm me in the same way the first film did as an adult?

Review : Fright Night ( 1985 )

This is my vampire movie. There are other vampire movies like it, but this one is mine...

I believe FRIGHT NIGHT to be the finest example of a vampire movie we have to date. In my mind its never been surpassed, and the way things are going, it never damn well will be. How did I come to regard this humble reworking of REAR WINDOW with fangs, as the zenith of the vampire sub-genre? Well, let me explain. There are a number of factors that led me to this illuminated state. And for easy access, I'll list them for you all....

1/ Jerry Dandrige: A vampire to rival the great Count Dracula himself. And perhaps even overthrow him. Jerry is the epitome of what vampirism is all about. He's cold blooded, ruthless, and oozes liquid confidence. This is a vampire in the classic mold of old, yet now he's stalking suburbia. More than anything, Jerry is a sexual predator. Seducing first Evil Ed, through fear and subtle prods at his sexuality, and then Charlies broad, through good old fashioned animal magnetism, and hypnosis.... Maybe. I think she'd have fucked him anyway, frankly. Crucially; he's damn scary. When he threatens you, you'd best be paying attention, because Jerry doesn't take prisoners, (except the schoolgirl he's planning to bone, which is just how Jerry rolls).

2/ Peter Vincent: Obvious nod to horror giants Vincent Price and Peter Cushing aside. Peter is the archetypal Van Helsing figure. Yet with an entirely original twist. Here he's a hero to fictional horror fans worldwide but is in fact, a sham. He's a scared, broken, lonely man with little to live for, who finds inside him the inner strength to become the persona others have always identified him with. He conquers his fears and rises to the challenge of becoming, "PETER VINCENT! THE GREAT VAMPIRE KILLER!". Peter is the heart and soul of the story. That he's become so beloved a character in the hearts of real horror fans across the globe is testament to Roddy McDowell's wonderful performance. And is surely a fine example of life imitating art. Also, he's a very funny character too. Check out the scene where he finally faces his fears and meets Charlie outside the mansion, only to immediately start shitting himself all over again. Human, real and brilliant.

3/ IT'S REAR WINDOW WITH VAMPIRES!

4/ The Dandrige House: What a setting for a tale of terror! The house Jerry occupies has it all. Its a mansion torn straight from the glory days of Hammer Horror, replete with all mod cons. Dusty ornate furniture. A dark, foreboding basement for his coffin. A living fog that entwines itself around the whole property....all here. We've seen it all before in the classics, but in FRIGHT NIGHT, the damn things been dropped right next door to poor Charlies house. Its Gothic horror meets suburbia. And not since Halloween has suburbia ever felt so fucking claustrophobic. It truly feels like Charlies little corner of the world is the world entire, and there is no way out.

5/ The soundtrack is pure 80's brilliance. Something about the synth scores they used back then really gave horror an identity, and its brilliantly demonstrated here. The score adds tension where needed, and eroticism when the time is right. Its instantly recognizable to genre fans.

6/ There are no 100 year old schoolboy, 'Emo's', who live on cabbage or what-the-fuck-ever in FRIGHT NIGHT.

7/ The special effect are fantastic. Its all in camera, from the glory days before anyone, never mind George Romero and pals, would use CG for blood splatter. They're gruesome, convincing and in one particular scene involving Evil Ed, help to convey deep compassion for a monster. Many horror fans, myself included, still pine for the days when prosthetics were the only way. Watching FRIGHT NIGHT is one very good example of why.

Lock up your girlfriends!

So there you have it, an easily accessible list of reasons why FRIGHT NIGHT, for my dollar, is the king of all vampire flicks. No matter how often I see it, (and its a lot), I never lose my love or admiration for it. I wonder if we'll ever see its like again. In writing a love letter to the classic vampire films of distant years, Writer/Director Tom Holland crafted a film beloved by millions. A film that has earned its place in the pantheon of vampire greats. And for a few out there such as myself, he's taken the throne.

Check it out.

10 Cool Brewster's out of 10