The last horror, thriller or suspense film you watched

The Blob (1988) by Chuck Russell

"Your meteor brought something all right but if it's a germ, it's the biggest son of a bitch you've ever seen!"

When a meteorite strikes down, close to a small town, it soon becomes all too clear that it have brought with it along a very hungry "guest", which turns out to be the result of a long going and very expensive process of beating out the soviets when it comes to biological warfare. Sadly, this means bad news for the townspeople of Arborville, as they have absolutely no idea of what they stand up against, and things go from bad to worse, when a bunch of cynical and aggressive military and scientist suddenly turns up, and tries to shut the whole town and its citizens down, in order to gain control over their "successful" experiment, before it is too late.

I had big plans of "saving" this little late 80s sci-fi/horror gem until later of October, but I just could not wait that long, so I gave it a spin during this weekend, and while I usually tend to watch it during late summer nights, it fitted perfectly as a late night autumn kind of entertainment, as I had just earlier been out running in the woods, and it had the same foggy/chilling atmosphere as the one in the movie, so yeah, that was pretty cool.

Anyway, the 80s brought with it some incredible and stunning remakes of classic horror and sci-fi films of the 50s, such as The Thing and The Fly, and while The Blob might not reach up to the masterpieces to Carpenter or Cronenberg, it sure stands out as one of the most enjoyable and surely interesting ones from that decade.

What I have always loved about this kind of horror movies, is that it have such a great feel and look to it, the whole classic smalltown vibe is very strong, and there were so many similar titles made in the 80s, specially the ones combining sci-fi, horror and comedy as well. 

Here we meet up with a lot of sterotypical clichees, the sex-crazed jockies, the "crazy" old drunken man, the popular kids, the nosy but seemingly kind Sheriff and his not so kind co-worker, and of course the "black sheep" of the town, the restless outsider (Kevin Dillon), who just cannot wait to get out of this town, and never look back. 

"SPOILERS AHEAD!"

Still, it does not take far too long until you forget about all these typical characters, as the movie sure makes it out that "NOBODY IS SAFE", something that means even potential leading figures such as Paul, the local football-hero, who is written out in such a gruesome and terrifying way, that it must have been quite a shock for those who first saw it back when it hit the cinemas.
Even the ones who usally make it all the way, the kind and gentle people seems to go out early on, and I have yet to mention that kids are not safe either, so that is another "bonus" if one can call it that, as very few horror movies seems to go all the way, and okay, so the kid was kind of annoying, but still it was surprising seeing it again, and the death scenes are very well done, and the victims are hit with such as nasty and brutal fate, and I really felt for the poor waitress/cafe owner (Candy Clark) who was about to go out on a date, only to end up trapped inside a phone booth, while hoping to be rescued, then noticing the face of her date that evening (Jeffrey DeMunn) having been eaten alive by this evil thing, which now will most likely do the same to her as well.

"SPOILERS END!"

All in all, I had a great time. Shawnee Smith looked stunning, and I love how Kevin Dillon and her made such a great team, and also not only the horror and action part, but the comedy were also very funny at times, such as the whole scene where Art LeFleur realizes who is his daughters (Smith) date for the evening, and remembering his little "chat" with the sleazy Steve who looked for some condoms for his date with a young Erika Eleniak, but since the towns priest suddenly appeared behind him in the line, he blamed that the condoms were not his, but his pal Paul, and when LeFleur notices Paul later that evening, he burst out a huge:

"RIBBED!" 

Also I have always loved the fitting band named (Alien) and their hair-metal song Brand New Love, which I always love to sit through the entire end credits, and just listen to this delicious sweet and cheesy theme song, and again, I had a really good time, and I think The Blob would sit down well along with another small town creeper known as Slither (2006), which also comes with a pretty cool and fitting quote:

"Like in the good old days of the 80s, when horror movies used to be scary and fun!"

03. Alien Space Avenger (1989) by Richard W. Haines

A group of aliens who have escaped an intergalatic prison (or so I think it was)  , arrives at mother earth in the 1930s, where they soon seems to fit right in, and suddenly begins to kill off a whole bunch of people, and this does not stop the moment they "stumbles" upon a bunch of weapons.
Then, this jolly gang all of a sudden travel 50 years forward, and out of their spaceship they comes, to the surprise of a bunch of construction workers, and the violence and murdering seems to continue on, like it never had stopped.

They eventually arrives into the Big Apple, and starts to terrorize the New York citizens, or maybe it is the other way around? As now, they just look like a normal gang, who do not stand out in the crowd, beside their bloodthirsty killings, that is.
Anyway, within all the madness that goes on, a soon out of job, comic writer must come oup with some new and great stuff, if not, his boss will fire him within the next few days. And when he meets up with the alien gang, he finally has something to write about, which is good news for him and his boss, but not so much with the aliens, whom soon becomes a popular theme in many comic books, and they decide to turn to the writer himself and have a few words with him about the situation.

Sure, this "smells" of Troma Entertainment, a long way, and of course having just seen the movie poster, I guess it was no big surprise, but not a bad one, as I am very fond of Troma, at least when it comes to their more enjoyable and cheesy b-films of the 80 and early 90s.
Anyway, the alien gang leader I think showed up in a few of their titles as well, pretty sure he was the second in command of the gang that bullied poor Melvin in the gym center of Tromaville, and then later on had a bigger part as the main leader of some nasty mutant bikers in Class of Nuke Em High, a couple of years later on.

The story is pretty fast and paceful, and they surely do go out with a huge bang, when it comes to action and gore, and if there is something I have always liked about these 80s and early 90s horror films being set to New York, is that there is such an incredible amount of cheesy and sleazy stuff taking place, something which sadly very few modern horror and b-movies in New York seems to be able of delivering anylonger. Of course, things have changed drastically over the last decades, probably a whole lot cleaner and safer there, but still, as a movie fan, it must have been paradise or "heaven" on earth, to be able of visit the streets of Manhattan back in those days, and catch a few movie theatres, that shows all kind of move genres, all day and night long.

Alien Space Avenger is not a awful movie, at least if one compares it to so many other similar sci-fi horror b-movies made during the same era, but for me, what stood out beside the atmosphere, was that it featured some very impressive (for a low budget title) special effects, and it was also at time funny, and you had some very nice looking space-babes as well.

Now where neare a "good" film, and it could get a little one-dimensional at times, still, I thought it was a "huge" step up, from something like Zombie Nightmare, which I saw the other night. 

4,5/10

October Horror Challenge - 2020 - Day 02:

04. Dracula’s Daughter (1936) by Lambert Hillyer

This film seems to follow up right after the first classic ended, and which is bad news for the citizens of London, as there is a new threat in town, where a mysterious Countess wanders the streets during night time, and seems to be in the search for "models" who can show up at her gallery.

Well, another, kind of easily forgettable Universal Classic Studios Dracula sequel, which do come with a pretty good gothic mood and tone, and some solid acting, but for me, I guess having seen 2 movies (Airport 79, more a parody or comedy than a "horrror" film) earlier, plus another episode of X-Files, I began to feel very sleepy when I hit the third film, and I ended up falling asleep in my bed. Still, I managed to pick up where I left in the morning, with about 20-25 minutes to see through, and I guess it might have been for best, as I thought once again (also with Son of Dracula) that the ending was where it finally started to deliver the goods.

Gloria Holden does a fine job, as the chilling and mysterious Countess Marya Zalesa, and there is something about her vampire-Countess style and persona, that made me think of Anjelica Huston and her performance to that of Morticia Addams, which was of course no minus.

5/10

05. Sweatshop (2009) by somebody

Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. A movie so full of lousy, terrible, annoying and completely useless vulgar "characters" and "story", only to be vulgar for the vulgar sake, and of course, for those who loves that kind of absolute trash, then I guess it is of no problem. But for me, this is about some of the most lowest of the low within the horror genre and movies in general, that I have seen for a very, very longe time. 

I rarely hand out "perfect" bottom of the pile ratings, but this is surely among the worst films I have seen, and I was very angry and frustrated at how awful it really ended up to be.
Not much else is really worth to mention here, beside that if not for what I guess is some pretty solid gore and nasty stuff, the killings, the rest was of no use and interest, and I kind of wished I had the possibility to hand out a huge ZERO out of 10, but since not, it ends up with a very "kind":

1/10

October Horror Challenge - 2020 - Day 03:


06. Metamorphosis : The Alien Factor (1990) by Glenn Takakjian

Somehow, this have been mentioned or brought up as kind of a "sequel" or continue from the cult-VHS sleaze title that was The Deadly Spawn (1983), which I actually saw last year, and that one was quite fun, for a film with probably a very small budget, yet it managed to make it up with some incredible special effects, make-up and cool setting and atmosphere. 
A good example of how people with little money and time, but probably a lot of love for the horror and sci-fi genre, could still be able of making a fun and creative little b-movie, which is something that those behind the god awful Sweatshop never came close to re-capturing, but again, I guess for those who love "torture-porn" or whatever they seem to brand that kind of "entertainment" as, it might be far more suitable. 

Anyway, in this little sci-fi monster tale, we meet up with an unlucky scientist, who gets bitten by an alien creature in a rather suspicious lab, and before you know what goes on, the entire building erupts with all kind of nasty and slimy monsters, and in the middle of it all, an evil boss tries to hide his shady business empire, along with two teenage daughters trying to find their dad, and at last, a female co-worker who desperately tries to save her beloved boyfriend and turn him back into human, which is easier said than done, as he is now a huge monster with a lust for human blood, and is chasing pretty much every one and all!

Thankfully this one came up next, after the horrible film I sadly opened up the friday night with, and The Alien Factor is lots of heart and charm, and while probably not something that might end up as a favorite within the sci-fi/horror genre, I quite enjoyed the solid special effets, monster creations and the cool setting and atmosphere. 

5/10


07. Day of the Animals (1977) by William Girdler

A group of outgoing tourists in the american wilderness, are suddenly caught up in several bizarre animal attacks, and which we soon learn is because of the Ozonlayer have become effected, and where the side effects seems to cause the animals and some humans to revolt into complete madness.

I have always been quite fond of these kind of creature-feature or nature-disaster films of the 70s, where mother earth strikes back towards mans obsession with greed and power, but is now all of a sudden helpless against unkown powers from nature and its many wild animals alike. 
Of course, I guess classic films like Hitchcock and his The Birds and Spielberg and Jaws might have a hand in there as well, but I think some of these titles, like Piranha (1978) and certainly Grizzly (1976) showed that many of the knock-offs actually were not all that bad, in fact some where very well acted, written and directed.

The director William Girdler (who also did Grizzly a year earlier) have once more brought with him several of the same people and cast, and I think Day of the Animals is surely one of the better of the many animals-fight-back movies, and much of it is down to its great cast, setting and of course how good the animal attacks actually turned out to be.

Nobody is safe, and another big reason to why this movie does not end up as yet another "cheesy" b-movie, is because of the much more dark and menacing feeling it has going on, and specially where the usually (at least for those who are mostly used to see him in much more funny and likeable roles during the 80s and 90s) nice Leslie Nielsen portrays a not so "nice" character, who delivers a vicious and dark role, as giant asshole, who over the course, seems to be more crazy and dangerous than most of the animals, and who ends up causing total chaos, when he goes up against the groups tour-guide (Christopher George) and ends up running the show like a complete madman, and where it leads towards him trying to murder and rape his way to the "top", until he meet his match in a battle to death, against a giant grizzlybear, and where Leslie fights only with his fists.

That scene alone, is almost worthy of watching the film, just to see Leslie in action.

Then you also have the whole classic post-apocalyptic/zombie doomsday feel, and instead of flesheating dead people, you get a whole bunch of very hungry animals, such as wolves, bears, cougars, snakes, spiders and lots of birds as well. 

All in all, I quite enjoyed this, and have seen it from years earlier, and ended up with pretty much the exact same rating as then:

6/10