Tag Archives: 1990

Tales from the Crypt S2 E6: The Thing from the Grave (1990)

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Directed and written by Fred Dekker, “The Thing from the Grave” starts happy when centerfold model Stacy (Teri Hatcher) and photographer Devlin Cates (Kyle Secor) fall in love. It doesn’t stay that way because her stalker ex Mitch Bruckner (Miguel Ferrer) kills him.

Crypt Keeper?

“Oops! Looks like you caught the old Crypt Keeper checking out one of his ghoulie magazines. Which gives you a little hint about tonight’s dead-time story. It’s all about the way some guys just die over a pretty girl. But don’t worry kiddies, if it starts to reek a little of rotten romance I think the title of our nasty narrative makes no bones about where it’s heart is really at. I call it “The Thing From the Grave.”

“The Thing from the Grave” is from Tales from the Crypt #22 and was written by Al Feldstein and William M. Gaines and drawn by Al Feldstein.

This has one of the craziest images in the show, as the undead Devlin pulls Mitch into the grave and buries them both. It’s also the first of three appearances by the sadly gone Ferrer would make on the show.

Tales from the Crypt S2 E5: Three’s a Crowd (1990)

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Directed by David Burton Morris, who wrote the story with Steven Dodd and Kim Steven Ketelsen, “Three’s a Crowd” is based on the story of the same title from Shock SuspenStories #11, which was written by William Gaines and Al Feldstein and drawn by Jack Kamen.

“Hello, party animals. Are you ready to bop till you drop? Dead, that is. Tonight, I’ve chosen a fiendish little tale from my hold of moldy oldies. We’ve been invited to an anniversary celebration of holy deadlock. You know, to love and to perish; for richer, for horror; in sickness and in stealth; till death do us part. This is one anniversary the husband will never forget.”

Richard (Gavan O’Herlihy, Death Wish 3) and Della (Ruth de Sosa) get invited to a cabin — the same one from The Great Outdoors — owned by their best man (Paul Lieber), but he’s sure that his wife is having an affair. They’re keeping a big secret from him. Want to know what it is? It’s his birthday. She also has another thing she’s not telling her husband. She’s pregnant with his baby.

Too bad he killed both of them.

Sometimes, this show can get pretty dark. At least the Crypt Keeper gets to wear a party hat.

VISUAL VENGEANCE BLU RAY RELEASE: The Wrong Door (1990)

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Ted Farrell (Matt Felmlee) loves a mystery. As a college student and singing telegram actor, he goes from creating an audio thriller into one of his own, as a gorgeous woman named Jennifer (Loreal Steiner) ends up near death in his car. Soon, her last boyfriend Jeff (Jeff Tatum) and his friend Vic (Chris Hall) are stalking him. Can he stay one step ahead?

Directed by the team of James Groetsch, Shawn Korby and Bill Weiss, this is a suspenseful story that is anything but a student film, even if it’s one made by students. Shot on Super 8, it seems to never stop moving or to get boring, always keeping the viewer guessing what happens next.

Plus, seeing as how it’s a movie about someone who tells stories with sound, it has plenty of audio design that moves the tale forward. Here’s to another great find by Visual Vengeance, who have perhaps their most ambitious animated menu to date and, as always, hours of extras.

 

A very rare regional horror thriller from the late 1980s video store era, The Wrong Door enjoys its first time ever on disc and a brand new 2K transfer from the original Super 8 elements.

This Visual Vengeance blu ray has a brand new director-supervised 2K transfer from original Super 8 film elements with extras that include two commentary tracks, one with directors Bill Weiss and Shawn Korby and a second with director James Groetsch and producer John Schonebaum. There’s also a new documentary Men Make Movie, If Not Million$, interviews with Groetsch, Korby, Weiess and actor Matt Felmlee; an interview with Chris Gore; an alternate director’s cut; two Super 8 shorts, Raiders of the Lost Bark and The Pizza Man, an episode of The Gale Whiteman Show; the original unedited Muther Video VHS intros; an image gallery; trailers; storyboards; a limited edition slipcase and door hanger; a reversible sleeve with original VHS art and a “stick your own” VHS sticker set.

You can get this from MVD.

Tales from the Crypt S2 E4: ‘Til Death (1990)

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“Ah! Welcome to my cozy crypt. Have I got a story for you! A tacky, tropical tale of love and lust, greed and ghouls, and my personal favorite – death! But I’m warning you, it’s not a pretty picture. So, pack up your passport and prepare for this torrid tale of putrification in paradise. I’m sure you’ll find it appealing.”

If you’re going to get a love potion to win over someone that doesn’t love you, don’t ask your ex-girlfriend voodoo queen to do it.

Logan Andrews (D.W. Moffett) once was with Psyche (Janet Hubert), the voodoo woman whose family’s land he stole. Now he’s in love with Margaret Richardson (Pamela Gien) but she’s not interested. That’s why he needs some help. Psyche says, “One drop and she will be your wife but two drops and she will be yours for life.”

Logan treats this magic like I do edibles and when it doesn’t seem to take right away, he gives her more. That’s how you end up screaming into a TV set, sure that you’re going to die. At least from drugs. Here, Margaret croaks — well, Psyche does have a doll of her — and professes her undying love before she, you know, died.

Happily, she comes back from the dead but she’s starting to rot. Not even killing himself will get Logan away from her, as Psyche has cursed him to be chased by a skeleton that wants to have sex with him for the rest of his life. Or forever. Probably forever, right?

Directed by Chris Walas (the director of The Fly II and The Vagrant, as well as a special effects expert) and written by Jeri Barchilon and Steven Dodd, this is a quick and grisly outing.

It’s based on the story “Till Death” from The Vault of Horror #28, which was written by Al Feldstein and William Gaines and drawn by Johnny Craig.

Tales from the Crypt S2 E3: Cutting Cards (1990)

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“Cutting Cards!” is from Tales From the Crypt #32 and was written by Al Feldstein and William Gaines and drawn by Fred Peters.

Directed by Walter Hill, this episode is exactly the episode I love from this show.

Reno (Lance Henriksen) and Sam (Kevin Tighe) are a pair of hardcore gamblers who don’t play for fun. They literally put their bodies on the line to try and destroy each other at a variety of games, ending up in a hospital barely alive and still trying to win.

It’s simple but sometimes simple is what you want.

Roy Brocksmith, who was also in the last episode, plays a bartender. He was in three episodes of the show.

Seriously, this episode is so good that when another is bad, it actually upsets me. This is the promise that this show had. Two actors going all out, just like their characters, trying to kill it no matter what it takes.

Tales from the Crypt S2 E2: The Switch (1990)

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Arnold Schwarzenegger has only directed two projects: the TV movie Christmas In Connecticut and this episode. It’s based on “The Switch” from Tales from the Crypt #45, written by Carl Wessler and drawn by Graham Ingels. Strangely, this is the first story from the actual Tales from the Crypt comic book to be adapted for the show.

It’s a simple little parable. A rich elderly bachelor named Carlton Webster (William Hickey) wants to impress Linda (Kelly Preston) by switching his body with Hands, who is a more vital younger man (Rick Rossovich). Tey being young again turns out to be very expensive. And is she looking for looks or — shudder — money?

The Crypt Keeper even gets interrupted by Arnold in this!

Crypt Keeper: “Welcome horror hooligans, this is your shiver chef. It’s disgusting what people will do to stay young.”

Arnold: What’s the matter with you? Want to keep that 90-pound corpse for the rest of your death? Keep pumping while I tell the story. Tonight’s story is about an old man who finds a new wrinkle in the fountain of youth. A twisted tale that we call “The Switch.””

Roy Brocksmith, who plays the doctor who operates on Carlton, must be an Arnold favorite. He was Dr. Edgemar in Total Recall, the man who sends Arnold on an adventure. Arnold also enjoyed working with Kelly Preston on Twins, so he cast her, and he was in The Terminator with Rossovich (who is in Spellbinder with Preston).

Tales from the Crypt S2 E1: Dead Right (1990)

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This episode is based on the story that originally appeared in Shock SuspenStories #6, written by William Gaines and Al Feldstein and drawn by Jack Kamen. There was also another “Dead Right” that was in Tales from the Crypt #21 but that was turned into the episode “Abra Cadaver.”

I look into the future, my darlings… and for you, I see something… grotesque. It will sicken and disgust you! It’s me! Tonight’s tale is a sickening stab at suspense, about a gold digger who wanted big bucks to buy baubles and bangles. Look out, Cathy! I see you just might buy the big one!”

Directed by Howard Deutch (Pretty In Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, The Great Outdoors) and written by Steven Dodd and Andy Welk, this episode really has some star power with Demi Moore playing Cathy, an exotic dancer told by Madame Vorna (Natalija Nogulich) that she will soon marry a man who will die and leave her great wealth. She thinks that it’s one of her customers, Charlie Marno (Jeffrey Tambor), who always speaks of his rich family. Yet the fortune doesn’t seem to be coming true. That is…until Cathy becomes rich at an automat. She didn’t see her dream ending up this way.

Speaking of exotic dancers, one of the girls in that scene is former GLOW and adult star Tiffany Million.

The second season of this show gets off to a decent start, as this is well shot and moves quickly. That said, no one consulted a lawyer because a murderer can’t inherit anything. Then again, if that was true in movies, we wouldn’t have so many plots that use it.

88 FILMS BLU RAY RELEASE: The Last Blood (1990)

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Released in the Philippines as Police Protectors, the UK as Hard Boiled 2 and with an original title that means 12 Hours of Terror, The Last Blood has Interpol officer Lui Tai (Andy Tam) and Big B (Alan Tam), a gangster on vacation get caught up in the Japanese Red Army trying to kill the Daka Lama (Law Shu-kei). It turns out that he has the same blood type as Big B’s girlfriend May (May Lo), a type that only three people in all of Hong Kong have. Those three people must be found to save their lives while the terrorist cell led by Kama Kura (Chin Lo) must be defeated.

The JRA kills two of them, but the last one is Fatty (Eric Tsang), who doesn’t want to help a gangster or the police. But when his girlfriend and nearly all of his family are murdered by the terror cell, he decides that he needs revenge.

Directed and written by Jing Wong, this has the gunplay and violence that you’d expect from a movie that is trying to live up to Hard Boiled. I guess they both have lots of weapons and a hospital setting, so it makes sense.

The 88 Films blu ray of this movie has commentary by Frank Djeng and a trailer. You can get it from MVD.

CULT EPICS BLU RAY RELEASE: The Last Island (1990)

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Cult Epics has released several Marleen Gorris movies, including Broken Mirrors and A Question of Silence. This is the best of the three that I have watched.

The world has ended and seemingly the only survivors are those who escape from a plane crash: Sean (Paul Freeman), Frank (Mark Hembrow), military man Nick (Kenneth Colley), naturalist Pierre (Marc Berman), Jack (Ian Tracey), Joanna (Shelagh McLeod) and Mrs. Godame (Patricia Hayes). They figure that if they’re the last one left, every man should impregnate Joanna, which doesn’t seem like something she’s interested in.

Produced by Alex Maas and shot by cinematographer Marc Felperlaa, who filmed his Amsterdamned, this gets dark as Nick tries to impose religion on the island. When faced with some of the men being gay or becoming gay as the days become months and years, something bad has to happen. But man, it gets really horrible for everyone. This is a bigger movie from Gorris but it’s also really well done.

The Cult Epics blu ray has a new 2K HD Transfer from the original 35mm print, commentary by Peter Verstraten, behind the scenes footage, news footage, a trailer, a promotional gallery and an audio introduction by Dick Maas. You can get it from MVD.

USA UP ALL NIGHT MONTH: Strangest Dreams: Invasion of the Space Preachers (1990)

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Strangest Dreams: Invasion of the Space Preachers was on USA Up All Night on March 1 and 2 and October 18, 1991 and June 20, 1992.

Directed and written by Daniel Boyd (Chillers), this is the story of dentist Walter Bennett (Jim Wolfe) and accountant Rick Lowery (Guy Nelson) who have gone on a vacation to the mountain cabin of Truman Gator (John Marshall). They want to prove that they’re real men, but all they find are rednecks in the wild and wonderful woods of West Virginia, the House of Dung, a rockabilly icon named Johnny Angel (John Riggs), his groupies Dreama (Stacy Weddington) and Rhonda (Piper Thayer), more rednecks that want some Gray Poupon — which I thought was fancy and beyond my family’s means as a kid only to learn that it only costs $3.99 a jar today — as well as a pond filled with nudists, two old people who have adopted a small adult as their child, a survivalist named Vic 20 (Jesse Johnson), Jimmy Walker (yes, the actor, playing himself) and Reverend Lash (Gary Brown), a radio evangelist whose sermons play 24 hours a day.

There’s also a spaceship that has crash landed. The alien survivor asks to be taken somewhere to rest and when the shell that covered the creature breaks away, it ends up being Nova (Eliska Hahn), who is more attractive as a female. The Reverend is also an alien with an army of bad guys that she has flown here to stop.

Boyd didn’t have much experience here and it shows. There are some ideas — as you can see above — but he’d get much better from this as Chillers is pretty fun. But even though this is rough, there’s just enough to keep it entertaining, like the idea of Elvis living in the Appalachians.

You can watch this on Tubi.