* Proudly polishes his wall plaque, "Horror Movie Master - Level 98" *
Perhaps you've heard of such unsung horror fare like:
DUST DEVIL [uncut version] (1992) - A creepy tale about a cowboy-clad, shape-shifting serial killer in South Africa. The natives believe him to be the incarnation of a desert demon they call simply the "Dust Devil", whose stock and trade is to roam the earth preying on lonely people. On the trail of this being is a homicide detective who is aided by an African shaman. Haunting and atmospheric. This one delivers.
DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973) - A young couple inherit an old mansion from her deceased, demon-worshipping grandfather.
Years before, the grandfather summoned demons to our world in the basement, and unable to control them he imprisoned them in the fireplace down there, at the cost of his own life and soul. In the present day, the granddaughter unknowingly sets the creatures free, and now they stalk and terrorize her nightly through the house, unseen, looking to make her pay severely for the grandad's deeds. No one believes her, of course.
A chilling little tale, with a very downbeat ending.
LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971) - A young married woman just released from a mental hospital moves with hubby to a house in the country, where they encounter a strange teenage girl who has been squatting in the formerly empty house.
Weird happenings occur in and around the house, as well as in town, that only the wife is privy to, causing her to think that perhaps she is having another nervous breakdown. It turns out that the strange girl that is now living with them is an unusual creature that is an amalgamation of a ghost and a vampire.
DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1981) - A mentally-challenged young man is accused of the murder of a little girl which he did not commit.
He attempts to hide from his accusers by dressing up as a scarecrow and propping himself up in a cornfield.
A search posse is organized and they eventually hunt him down and shoot him in the cornfield.
Afterwards....the members of the search party are hunted and killed one by one by a mysterious scarecrow. I won't spoil the rest of it for ya.
This movie may sound like your standard cheesy horror fare, but this is in fact a well done production. And the ending of this movie will leave you thinking for a long while.
FROM BEYOND (1986) - Loosely based on the H.P. Lovecraft story of the same name, this story concerns two scientists, Doctors Crawford Tillinghast and Edward Pretorious, who invent a device called the Resonator.
This device is supposed to stimulate the pineal gland, believed to be the center of the much-theorized "sixth sense" in humans.
However, the device turns out to be more powerful than expected. It is capable of opening a door to a strange new dimension of perception....one inhabited by weird and dangerous creatures that co-exist in our reality, but that we are unable to see under normal circumstances. The Resonator meshes the two realities, making us aware of these creatures around us, but it also makes THEM aware of US, unfortunately.
The first activation of the device causes the death of one of the scientists, leading authorities to believe Dr. Tillinghast (played by genre fave Jeffery Combs) to be responsible for the murder. Now in a mental hospital, he is forced to go back to the house where the experiment occured under the supervision of a detective and a psychologist (played by Ken Foree and Barbra Crampton, respectively) to find out exactly what happened there.
This movie is from the same film makers that brought us the cult horror hit "The Re-Animator". It's an underrated gem.
More to come later................
