That’s right, It’s the final night of my October Review Challenge. That means it’s Halloween and *that* means it’s triple bill time. As you can probably guess, I watch the movies I review in October the day before I post (Sometimes earlier). So what I do on Halloween is sit back and enjoy three old classics without the pressure of having to review them. But this year, I’m sharing the fun somewhat by offering you a triple bill of reviews as well. That takes this years review challenge up to 35 movies reviewed. A new record (For me anyway). Anyway, tonight I’ve got a mixed bag of 80’s horror for you. Ouija boards, rats and very small demons. Let’s get to it!

Of Unknown Origin (1983)

Rats. They are creepy, territorial and hard to get rid of. Some are harmless pets, but even those creep the hell out of a lot of people. Naturally rats have always found their way into the horror genre. Tonight’s movie is the rat horror “Of Unknown Origin” from 1983. This is based on the 1979 novel “The Visitor” by Chauncey G. Parker III. The movie is directed by George P. Cosmatos and stars Peter Weller (Of Robocop fame). Cosmatos would go on to direct such smash hits as “Rambo” and “Tombstone”. His horror CV isn’t quite as impressive but “Leviathan” and “Cobra” do have their fans (Including myself for the latter). Brian Taggert provides the screenplay, René Verzier the cinematography and Kenneth Wannberg composed the soundtrack.

The movie focuses on Bart Hughes (Weller), an investment banker. Bart has just moved into a recently renovated house in New York City. His wife and daughter are due to go on Holiday, with Bart staying at home to finish work on a major project he thinks will earn him a promotion. Not long after, a flood in the flat reveals the presence of a rat somewhere in the house and Bart sets about trying to kill it. This turns out to be easier said than done, with the vicious beast not falling for his tricks and turning his life into a living hell.

Captain Ahab

At one point in the story Bart throws the book he is reading at the ceiling out of anger at the noises he is hearing from the invading rat. We get a clear shot of what he is reading and it is of course Moby Dick. This is basically all you need to know about the movies subtext. This is one man’s obsession to prove he can eliminate his nemesis. The rat doesn’t quite turn out to be his undoing though I’m sure he probably didn’t earn his promotion at work after all that.

The rat itself doesn’t look particularly good, but the movie compensates by being clever with what it shows and when.The result is we actually get some pretty disturbing visuals with glimpses of the rats teeth or eyes or a tail disappearing behind objects. It’s certainly creepy. Most often though you don’t see anything, you just hear noises. The weight of convincing the audience to buy into this movie is entirely on Peter Weller’s head. It is his performance that is the driving force behind the movie and he doesn’t let us down.

You Dirty Rat

Your millage may vary with this horror. When the focus is something like rats, obviously how you feel about those animals is going to impact if you find the film scary or even just end up sympathizing with the rat. However, I think everyone can appreciate the fear of an unseen monster running around their home and appreciate Weller’s performance. The downside is that there just isn’t anything more to the plot. Once you get the Moby Dick reference it’s basically just man vs beast to the end. Man wins, but at a cost. Because of that I can’t really give this more than a strong 5.5/10.

Ghoulies II (1987)

For the second entry in our triple bill I’m watching the sequel to 1984’s Ghoulies. This one promises to actually focus on the Ghoulies themselves instead of saving them for the final act as in the first movie. This is of course from Charles Band’s Empire Pictures (The precursor to Full Moon Features) and is directed by Charles’ father Albert. The screenplan is from Dennis Paoli and the movie stars Damon Martin, Royal Dano and Phil Fondacaro.

The setting for this sequel is a carnival fun house called “Satan’s Den”, which has found itself home to an infestation of Ghoulies. That is small mischievous psychotic demons. The funhouse is in danger of being shut down by the carnivals accountant/investor. The sudden arrival of the Ghoulies initially turns out a boon for business, but as their antics become more fatal it is down to Larry (Martin), Nigel (Fondacaro) and Nicole (Kerry Remsen) to deal with them.

Ghoulies Go To The Fair

I feel like there has been a definite budget increase between this and the previous movie. Not that it looks expensive, but we do see a lot more of the Ghoulies and they are a lot more mobile than they were in the first movie. That’s good because the creatures effects are pretty cool and their murderous antics are entertaining. One of the Ghoulies actually does get to get someone in the end… Ahem. The death scenes, including those of the Ghoulies are pretty amusing. That’s basically all they are going for here and that’s fine, this is a movie that knows what it is.

The acting quality is about what you expect for a Charles Band horror in the 1980’s. A just about passable lead and weaker performances the further down the cast you get. Nothing that really takes you out of the movie though and that is the important thing. The characters aren’t particularly compelling, but have a bit of charm to them. I love how the Fun House actually has a fully sharpened bladed pendulum as one of the attractions. Not to mention how quickly bits of it explode. Yeah, this carnival probably should have been shut down. I guess it’s part of the fun how little of this movie makes any kind of sense.

They’ll Still Get You In The End

As sequels go this is giving the audience what they want. The main complaint from the first film was the lack of Ghoulies, so this definitely addressed that. However, that film at least had a plot. This is basically just Ghoulies being Ghoulies for an hour and a half. I don’t know why it wasn’t a more direct sequel to be honest. The intro is never explained and serves no purpose. The Ghoulies were already on the loose, so they could have just turned up at the Carnival. Anyway, this is a dumb fun film. Nothing more. Effectively it’s just a B-Movie version of Gremlins (Even more so even than the first one). For the fun factor and creature effects this narrowly hits a 5.5/10. You already know if you want to watch it.

Witchboard (1986)

For the last movie of the 2024 review challenge I’m checking out Ouija board horror Witchboard from 1986. Written and directed by Kevin Tenney in his feature movie debut. Tenney would go on to direct a run of similar low budget horror movies to varying degrees of success. The movie stars Tawny Kitaen, Todd Allen and “Days of Our Lives'” Stephen Nichols.

The movie tells the story of a Linda Brewster (Kitaen) who becomes entranced into using her friend’s Ouija board alone after it was accidentally left behind at her party, resulting in her becoming terrorized by a malevolent spirit. Linda’s boyfriend Jim (Allen) and her ex Brandon (Nichols), whose board it was brings in a psychic medium (Kathleen Wilhoite) to exorcise the spirit. Things take a turn for the sinister when the psychic is murdered on her way home. Before Jim and Brandon can save Linda they have to find out just who the sinister spirit is that is terrorizing her.

Something Stupid This Way Comes

The cast and characters are not especially strong None of them are particularly likable and most of the supporting cast are given over the top personalities that just make them annoying, especially when mixed with below average acting. The worst offender is the medium Zarabeth, whose role is thankfully short. But the police detective is a close second. The leads are only marginally better. Despite that at least there are some interesting character dynamics.. The two male leads being old friends and now part of a love triangle is the most original thing, but It adds some much needed interest because outside of that their personalities suck.

The story on the other hand is actually pretty compelling and original. It is well paced and actually keeps you guessing at least until the final act. The layout of the three acts reminds me a bit of movies like Shocker and The Changeling where each act is virtually it’s own film. The middle act is probably the peak where the story turns into more of an investigation. Sadly the final act turns generic horror, leading to an underwhelming conclusion. There is pretty good use of sound throughout, both music and sound design in general. The visuals are not stunning but have creativity in places. .

Ouija Quit It

Overall this is a pretty average horror with a good story that unfortunately becomes silly at the end. The biggest problem is how annoying the characters are. Some, such as the police detective and the medium didn’t really need to even be in the story. The central three you could get away with providing everything paid off. Specifically, the relationship between the two childhood friends should have played a role in the finale. It didn’t though and the eventual solution was sort of dumb. While the movie is quite original, there’s a few too many flaws with this one to give it more than a 5/10.

That’s A Wrap

Well, that’s it for this years October Challenge! The top five recommendations this year turned out to be Peeping Tom, Blood and Black Lace, A Dark Song, Opera and Crimson Peak. The only clangers (Below 5/10) were The First Omen and The Limehouse Golem. The rest was generally above average. I didn’t get in any Japanese horrors this year, but covered most of my usual traditions. Anyway, I don’t know what the future holds for me or this blog, but if I am back for another round next year I hope you will join me! Don’t forget, I do post reviews and articles throughout the rest of the year too. I’m most prolific in October and more horror focused, but I think you’ll find value to checking screen-wolf out all year round. Anyway…

Happy Halloween!

Tonight’s movie is the arty indie movie “Carnival of Souls” from 1962. Loosely based on a French short film and later Twilight Zone episode “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. The setting and characters are drastically changed but the core of the story is the same. This version was directed by Herk Harvey (As his only feature length movie) and stars Candace Hilligoss with main support from Frances Feist and Sidney Berger. Originally it was released as part of a double feature with the Swedish anthology film “The Devil’s Messenger” (Actually a compilation of episodes from a TV show). The movie was largely forgotten until randomly becoming a cult classic in the 80’s. Let’s see if this Carnival is worth visiting.

Life Is A Drag.

The story starts with “Mary Henry” (Hilligoss) and her friends being challenged to a drag race by some young men. During the race Mary’s car goes off a bridge. It appears there are no survivors until someone spots Mary struggling to the shore. A few weeks later she has decided to leave the town and take a job as a church organist in Salt Lake City. Here she is haunted by visions of a strange man (and occasionally over ghoulish apparitions) and finds herself strangely drawn to an old pavilion just outside town where there used to be a carnival.

Mary seems to be indifferent to personal relationships and going through life now almost like in a day dream. When she actually does dream, she dreams of being invisible to people and still pursued by that strange man. Usually when he catches up to her is when she awakens. One day while practicing her organ parts at the church she falls into a kind of trance where she starts playing spooky music (It’s a shame it was six years too early for In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida) and sees people from the carnival dancing around. She is stopped by the reverend who fires and for playing such “Satanic” music. Freaked out, Mary tries to spend the evening with her neighbouring lodger John (Berger) so as to not be alone, but eventually drives him off too. The following day she decides to flee from the town… but can she leave?

A Silent Movie With Sound.

Carnival of Souls is very much an art movie. Director Herk Harvey was influenced by European films of the period such as the works of Igmar Bergman and Jean Cocteau. However, this movie comes across to me more like a silent movie… just with occasional speech. The organ soundtrack is reminiscent of a live musician playing to a silent movies (As well of course being a reference to Mary’s job) and the more silent scenes involving the carnival ghouls have the entities moving around in exaggerated ways that could be right out of a silent film. There is not a great deal of dialogue and that’s probably for the best because the acting is mediocre at best.

The editing and cinematography is well done considering how much of it was filmed guerrilla style (I.e. Rushed and without permit). It’s no masterclass though and is overall quite a mixed bag. Some very impressive spots and some seeming quite amateur. However all together, it fits the tone of the movie. The whole thing is designed to feel like somewhat of a dream and for a very specific reason, which you should have already guessed. Spoilers for the next section, skip to the conclusion if you don’t want to know the twist.

Soul Spoiler Section.

I’ve written before about twist movies, but there are some times where a twist doesn’t make a movie disposable and that’s where the movie doesn’t rely on the shock factor to work. In the case of Carnival of Souls… well, the name is pretty much a giveaway to the story, at least paired with the already quite suspicious intro with the car crash. It’s pretty obvious that Mary is dead so when the car is recovered in the epilogue with her still in it, there was no shock.

But it’s not just the title, the entire tone of the movie, the dreams where Mary can’t be seen by regular people and her aloof nature, not even feeling any desire to be with people, until she was afraid to be alone. All these things laid out Mary’s condition pretty plainly. I don’t know what they did intend with the movie, but in my view it was never meant to be a shock. It was meant to feel inevitable and we were meant to be watching a lost souls journey into accepting the reality of her terrible fate. The story of the ghost that doesn’t realise they are dead is pretty well known these days and a fairly standard part of the horror genre, not sure I can think of earlier examples on film though. So credit for that.

Conclusion

All told this is a very melancholy horror film. Indeed it’s not really much of a horror, it’s more just a sad supernatural story. The ghouls are far from scary, partially because neither the extras playing those roles nor the quality of their make up was especially good. The lead ghoul was actually played by the director, but was not much more convincing than the rest. But none of that is a big problem because as a melancholy supernatural tale it doesn’t need horror. The movie talks to isolation, both self imposed and simply not feeling part of society. It is also a very fatalistic movie. It certainly invokes a vibe.

Overall this movie is a pretty straight line from A to B but presented like a confusing dream. It was always clear where things would lead, and while it embraces that it doesn’t give you a huge amount extra. With very little actually going on in, without any real actors performances of note and with a conceptually interesting but easily forgettable soundtrack this movie ends up feeling overly long, despite the short run time (80 minutes). This is effectively a short movie dragged out into a feature. Which is not surprising considering it is literally based on a short French movie/Twilight Zone episode. This is a strong 5.5/10. Sure to be divisive, artier viewers and those that love good cinematography will enjoy it, those after fun entertainment or engaging characters will probably not.

Tag: ghosts

1980’s Horror Triple Bill