The last horror, thriller or suspense film you watched

Screamers (1995) by Christian Dugay
Seen it once or twice before, but kind of wanted something within the world of 90s sci-fi/action-thrillers last night, at least to get me started up, and thought I might give this 1995 Peter Weller film another chance.
For the first 40-45 minutes, I kept thinking to myself "Now why did I not rate this solid sci-fi film an higher rating that 6/10?", then sadly I realized that while the third and final part does not "suck", it still kind of falls flat, compared to the impressive, unpredictable and at times, very exciting and thrilling ride that Screamers start up with.

Anyway, Peter Weller puts in a very good performance here, and he usually seemed to thrive within these kind of movie genre, the sci-fi and action part, and while few of his co-stars comes off as "likeable", I kind of felt the film hit off best, when it was just Weller and his much younger and naive marine side kick, along with those damn David's, who were some creepy bastards.

Sadly, when things began to take off, a little too much, some very annoying newcomers arrives, and the Screamers as well, begin to reveal too much of themselves, and while I hoped for a bit more of the psychological paranoia "Who is the real deal, and who's not" the film seems to show too much, where I would have prefered the "less is more" style.
Still, Screamers is a well worth a watch, and would maybe go very well along with Starship Troopers (1997) or Soldier (1998), as part of a little 90s sci-fi/action movie night.

All in all, I really wanted it to keep on in the same style and pace as the first half, more of less, but when the film hit above the hour mark, I kind of knew why I have never rated it above a 6/10, which is still a good one, but not anywhere near a great one.

6,5/10

Dead Man Walking (1988) by Gregory Dark
Once I noticed that this film contained not only Wings Hauser, but also Brion James and Jeffrey Combs (here listed as Jeffery), then I guess my plans for which film to watch next, was not that hard to pick out, of all the potential ones from Youtube.
It is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where the plague has divided the rich, the poor and the unlucky ones, into different zones, and where those trapped among the poor and unlucky, are well, pretty much left on their own. 

Here, a certain new kind of "eccentric" behaviour, have started to settle into a few of the more extreme people, who realizes that instead of just awaiting a painful and horrible death, they will kill of time, and play some rather different versions of the russian roulette, and this is where Wings Houser comes in, as Luger. A man with nothing to lose, and he is convinced by a former driver (Combs) to a rich and wealthy businessman and his daughter, who were attacked by a ruthless criminal, known as Decker (James), who has kidnapped a young woman and set into the wasteland to cause total mayhem, and since the Police is of no use, Luger is the only one capable of helping out.

I kind of liked this film, even if it does drag on a bit, here and there, and I would have wanted maybe a bit more night time scenes, rather than day time.
Still, Hauser and Combs are a fun duo to watch, and Brion James delivers surely one of his most sadistic and nasty villains, I have ever seen, one that even tops Mad Max Cleaver Jenke, from House 3 (1989), or the Horror Show.

6/10

Final Jeopardy (1985) by Michael Pressman
A surprisingly fun and well acted made for tv movie, where a naive couple of out of towners, arrive with bright hopes of landing a successfull job interview, along with doing some nice sightings in the big city. But sadly all they end up with, is an unpredictable nightmare, and as the day goes from bad to worse, it means everything from mean dogs and violent gangs are onto the them, and with little to no help from anybody else, this little "nice" trip into the big city, soon turns into a survival of the fittest, if they can hold out until the morning.

Richard Harris and the beautiful Mary Crosby puts in some fine performances, as a young and naive couple from the countryside, who tries their luck in Chicago, but is instead swallowed up, by the chaotic and dangerous difference between daytime and night time, as the city changes from a crowded and fun place, into the complete opposite, and yeah, for a tv movie, this one was really good, one I would like to have a DVD of, if it excists.

6,5/10

Slaughter High (1986) by Mark Ezra, George Dugdale and Peter Mackenzie Litten
This film caught my eyes, big time, due to the great movie poster and striking title, when it was brought back into the light by Lionsgate and their "The Lost Collection" of 8-10 DVD releases, of "The "best" films, that you have forgot". Or something similar.
Sure, out of all of these so called "best" films, few if any really deserved that kind of description, but I gotta say, I really had a good time watching both Slaughter High and My Best Friend is an Vampire, which were part of this 80s collection, that arrived back in spring of 2009. 
I think I also picked up Hiding Out with Jon Cryer, but sadly that one turned out to be a bit of a downer, not bad, but felt like a cheap yuppie-teen comedy, meant for Matthew Broderick, but since they could not get a hold of him, it landed with Cryer instead.

Anyway, Slaughter High was supposedly to be named April Fools Day, and happened to be in the making around the same time as another mid 80s slasher, with the exact same title, and a similar themed plot as well. So things were changed, that and with the tragic news, that one of the main leads (Simon Scuddamore) who plays Marty, ended up taking his own life, the film were put on hold for a while, and not released until around 1986.

Sure, Slaughter High ain't as good or well made as April Fool's Day (1986), which most likely had the better cast, director and bigger budget to play around with, still I have always gotten a kick out of watching Slaughter High, as it is really a goofy and light hearted slasher, which I guess was not that unusual, as it felt like the further into the 80s one got, the more silly and over the top they became, and I guess it was a natural reaction, as one could only go that far, with another Friday the 13th rip-off, including tits and ass, creative kills and some forgettable murdering lunatic.

I like the atmosphere, the scenery and location of the school building, even thought I always got a laught out of seeing all these "young" students, as most where likely hitting the 30s or way above, where even the lovely Caroline Munro probably was closer to her 40s than 30s, at the time of filming. Still, I could care less, as she looked fine as hell, but I wonder how many students there really were at the school, as we only see the same ones, and a grumpy gym teacher and some random care taker, but I guess the budget only had so much to offer.

The story is pretty simple, it is part Terror Train (1980) and part April Fool's Day, and where the popular crowd, ends up tormenting and making some very cruel attempts on doing a "joke", on their fellow geeky student, Marty, and of course, things go way over, causing a freak accident, and yeah, much later on, we are invited along to a high school reunion, and everything is going okay, until people suddenly gets their stomach turned inside out, being hacked and electrocuted to pieces, and so on.
The jocks and bimbos are the usual unlikeable gang of cliches, but here, the killer/victim is even less likeable than most of the bullies, and that is kind of little downer. 

All in all, some of the kills are ridiculous, other more forgettable and lame. Yet, the film never gets boring, and while surely not among the better late 80s slashers, I have always enjoyed the cheese it offer so much of, and I am glad it were handed an uncut DVD release back in 2009.

6/10


Alien from the Deep (1989) by Antonio Margheriti
Another piece of italian jungle adventure junk, tried to be sold of as a "great" sci-fi/horror film, with some giant claw, and a crew of annoying and cheesy dubbed actors, trying to keep up, with all the boring stuff which goes on.
Charles Napier tries to put in a bit of a performance here, but is constantly let down by his fellow cast, and yeah, this one is only for the die hard fans of trashy late 80s monster movies. 

4/10

Street Asylum (1990) by Gregory Dark
Another surprisingly enjoyable Wings Hauser and Gregory Dark late 80s film, and one which turned into a real crazy one, as when you have both Hauser and Brion James, being among the more sensible and "normal" characters in a film, then you know you are about to witness something "special".
As Street Asylum is pure sleaze, from start til finish, and I really enjoyed all the ridiculous and slimy things that happened throughout the time, where Hauser is brought in, to a very special Police force group, which is more like their very own death squad, or scum squad, which is set out in the streets, to clean up the human waste, and use any means in order to get it right.

Of course, the real human waste, is the one in charge, a ridiculous nasty and sleazy guy, who wants to run for Mayor, but seems more interested in having some freaky sex stuff taking place at his office and watching home made videos of his fellow officers in action.
Hauser puts in yet another impressive performance, and while Brion James has just a very small one, he is hard to miss out, and then you have the stunning Roberta Vasquez as Hausers romantic interest.

I kind of have enjoyed a few of these late 80s and early 90s Wings Hauser releases, and would love to find a decent DVD copy of it. 

6/10 


Love at First Bite (1979) by Stan Dragoti
Not seen in a while, but remember it never quite impressed me, and sadly, I was once more reminded of why.
I guess with the 1979 relase of Dracula (with Frank Langella) and the success of Young Frankenstein (1974) and the Blacula films as well, trying to cash in on those films success were very tempting, but this was a very uneven and mediocre horror comedy, that never quite managed to find the right "balance". 

5/10