Got a chance to catch a rare theatrical showing of this John Russo(co-writer of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD) directed exploitation flick on 35mm last night. This plays way more like something from the 70s than the early 80s and I was really glad to see that. The great Lawrence Tierney, of RESERVOIR DOGS fame, is the standout performance to me as the constantly drunk and sleazy stepfather who's always looking to molest his stepdaughter. Strangely enough he's actually the films only real hero character before everything is said and done, which says an awful lot about how depraved most of the rest of the characters are. There's a Satanic cult/family in the backwoods(alternate title used for southern drive-ins was THE BACKWOODS MASSACRE) that's offing people in bloody stabbings and decapitations and our often molested daughter character(Melanie Verlin, who only has 2 credits to her name this and George Romero's MONKEY SHINES) runs away from home and crosses paths with them. Filled with a soft rock theme song that plays over and over and lots of brutal murders this one was a lot better than I had anticipated.
John Amplas, of MARTIN fame, also shows up as a member of our psycho family in a nice meaty role.
11 years later there was a shot-on-video sequel to this where somehow family members survive and carry on slaying, even though that seems fairly impossible.
No comments:
Post a Comment