Thirty-One Days O’Horror: The Monster (2016)

Let’s Ride #30!

Today’s Let’s Ride entry is the surprisingly enjoyable The Monster from 2016. The film has a very small cast including its two stars, Zoe Kazan and Ella Ballentine, and Aaron Douglas, Christine Ebadi, Marc Hickox, and Scott Speedman. Keira Knightley narrates the film as the adult version of Lizzy, Ballentine’s character. The movie was written and directed by Bryan Bertino, perhaps best known for his work on both films in the The Strangers franchise.

The film tells the story of Kathy (Kazan) and her estranged daughter, Lizzy (Ballentine), as they are driving back to Lizzy’s father’s house. Kathy is struggling with alcoholism and Lizzy hopes that her father, Roy (Speedman), gains full custody of her since her mother is terribly abusive towards her. The pair find themselves on a lonely stretch of road and are in an accident whenever a wolf jumps out in front of them and they spin out of control. Kathy hurts her wrist and is scratched up by the wreck. The car is banged up and has a flat. They call 911 and wait for an ambulance and tow truck to arrive.

They get out of the vehicle to check on the wolf and discover wounds on the wolf’s body that were not a result of the wreck. They also find a massive fang in the wolf’s flesh. They go back to the car and wait inside while waiting for help. When the tow truck arrives, the driver, Jesse (Douglas), is brutally attacked by a creature. The same thing happens to the ambulance crew. Lizzy and Kathy have to get beyond their differences to figure out how to stop the monster that is terrorizing them. Do they survive? Do they mend their broken relationship? Watch The Monster and see for yourself!

Bertino does a great job of lacing past struggles between Lizzy and her mother throughout the entire film while the beast is on the prowl. We see Kathy struggle with her alcoholism and Lizzy coping with her mother and father’s behavior. We also see that despite the fact that they have major issues between them, Lizzy and Kathy truly love one another. The monster is slowly revealed in the film, with a full reveal towards the climax of the movie. The beast, created by a team headed up by Jennifer Stroud, looks amazing, especially considering the budget. Bertino uses light, shadows, and focus to let the viewers see the creature. The action is excellent as well.

The Monster is a really good film. It’s a bit of a slow burner that does a brilliant job of letting the viewer get to know the two leads and then throws them into a chaotic situation that has a shocking result. Give this film a look. I think that you’ll like it.

As always, thanks for checking out my post.

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: The Sadist (1963)

Let’s Ride #29!

Three teachers en route to an L.A. Dodgers game have car trouble and wind up face-to-face with a sadistic killer and his young girlfriend in 1963’s tense The Sadist. The film was inspired by a real life duo of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, who went on a killing spree across Nebraska and Wyoming. Arch Hall, Jr. stars as the primary antagonist, Charlie, and Marilyn Manning as Judy, his girlfriend. The film also stars Richard Alden as Ed, Helen Hovey as Doris, and Don Russell as Carl, the three teachers that Charlie and Judy terrorize at a junkyard where the owners have already been murdered.

Believing that the owners simply aren’t around, Ed decides to take a fuel pump from a vehicle in the junkyard to replace his own damaged one. While he begins repairing the vehicle, Carl and Doris look around for the owners. Soon enough, Charlie and Judy reveal themselves to the trio. Charlie holds them at gunpoint and forces Ed to finish replacing the fuel pump. He also threatens the trio. He gropes Doris, plays sadistic games with the group, and tells Carl that once he’s finished drinking his soda, he’ll kill him. I won’t spoil that particular scene for you, as I believe that this film is a must see thriller.

Hall is brilliant in the role of Charlie. Charlie truly is a sadist and thrives on fear. Manning does a great job as Judy. Her face shows the viewer that she’s somewhat threatened by Doris’ beauty. Speaking of Doris, Helen Hovey, in her only role, is amazing. Her character arguably has the most growth of all of the characters in the film. Don Russell is good as Carl, but his character is somewhat resigned to being the hopeful optimist that may or may not make it out of the film alive. Richard Alden does a fine job as Ed, the “every man” that knows his way around a vehicle, is brave, and is ready to risk anything to protect Doris.

Written and directed by James Landis, this bare bones, independent production has everything that I love about my favorite independent films. It punches above its weight class, relies on the strength of the cast and the plot to rise above its production budget, and tells a great story.

I love this film. It’s a great movie that holds your attention, develops its characters and plot at a great pace, and features a cast that simply blows you away. I highly recommend this film and am glad that I found this gem during Thirty-One Days O’Horror. I promise that it will be a perfect addition to your thriller collection.

As always, thanks for checking out my post! The Sadist is available on a number of streaming formats. The first version that I watched was a colorized version available, as of this writing, on Tubi. I don’t recommend this version, as the colorization is poor. I prefer the original black-and-white version available on multiple streamers.

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Dark Country (2009)

Let’s Ride #28!

Thomas Jane stars in 2009’s Dark Country, a film in which he also makes his directorial debut. The film was written by Tab Murphy and and features Lauren German and Ron Perlman in supporting roles. The movie was shot in 3D which, in my opinion, heavily limits the film’s style and also shows the limitations of the film’s CGI. Jane appears to have drawn heavy influence from The Twilight Zone, pulp novels, and film noir.

The film opens with Jane (as Dick) and German (as Gina), freshly wed and barely acquaintances, heading out on the road from Las Vegas on their honeymoon. Traveling by night, they quickly find themselves lost on a highway that seemingly goes nowhere. They soon come upon a one vehicle accident and place the lone survivor, a man with wounds so bad that his face is disfigured, in their backseat with the intention of bringing him to a hospital. As they rack up miles on the lonesome road, however, the survivor becomes agitated with the couple, Dick in particular, and Dick ends up killing him in self defense. They bury his body out in the desert, but when they come upon a rest stop and clean themselves up from the struggle with the stranger, Dick realizes that he lost his watch in the desert and must go back for it. From this point on, the film attempts to goes full Twilight Zone and attempts to drum up confusion, fear, and desperation. It fails. Watch the film for yourself to find out what happens.

I applaud Jane for making this film. He definitely has film noir down to a science. From the heavy narration at the beginning of the film to the different shot perspectives, Jane knows the genre well. That said, shooting the film in 3D was a mistake in my opinion. As I stated before, it revealed the limitations of the special effects and CGI with glaring clarity. A lot of the scenes look very fake, and jar the viewer out of the story. As far as the story is concerned, it doesn’t explore any new territory and, unfortunately, doesn’t add anything to the dark genre, either. It’s a serviceable enough film, but I don’t necessarily recommend it.

Dark Country had potential, it was just executed poorly. If you enjoy film noir, you may want to check this flick out for yourself. Ron Perlman’s role is small and comes close to the end of the film, but even his acting chops can’t save Dark Country from being a disappointment.

Thanks for checking out my review!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Psychomania (1973)

Let’s Ride #27!

What happens when you combine frog worshiping cultists, a rich boy with a motorcycle gang, and a desire to live forever? You get 1973’s absolutely insane Psychomania! Known as The Death Wheelers in the United States, Psychomania tells us the story of Tom Latham, a well-to-do bad boy who leads a motorcycle gang called The Living Dead. His mother, a medium who channels the dead and their butler, the devilishly sinister Shadwell (a great butler villain name, by the way), hold the secret to eternal life, and Tom wants it. They finally give in to his desires and give him the secret: In order to live forever, you must die and really, really believe that you’ll come back to life. After killing himself by driving off of a bridge and then being buried atop his motorcycle, Tom comes back from the dead and encourages his fellow gang members to join him. A suicide montage ensues, and the gang unleashes a flurry of violent attacks on the locals. Only Abby, Tom’s girlfriend, resists the urge to commit suicide, but as pressure from Tom increases, she turns to the police for help. Can Abby stop Tom and his hooligan buddies before she succumbs to death? Watch Psychomania and find out for yourself!

The film was written off by critics of the day, but found its audience as the decades passed. Director Don Sharp tried very hard to find a balance between the absurdities of the film and the violence, but he failed in my opinion. I spent more time laughing at this movie than I did anything else. It’s absolutely goofy. From the massive helmets with Jolly Roger goggles to the ridiculousness of a rich boy running a gang of ne’er-do-wells and being part of a frog-worshipping cult, I found it very difficult to take any of the things that happen in this film seriously. For folks that enjoy this type of film, kudos to you. You’ll love this flick. It’s just not for me.

The film’s cast was good, with George Sanders (Shadwell), Nicky Henson (Tom), and Ann Michelle (Jane Pettibone) really standing out from the rest of the pack. I enjoyed the suicide montage and found it quite funny, which is an odd thing to say about the subject of killing oneself. The rest of the film is a goofy mess, but it definitely has its fans.

If murderous motorcycle gangs hellbent on immortality is your thing, give Pscyhomania a look. I think that you’ll enjoy it. I have a hard time recommending this film, but something tells me that a few of my followers already know and love this movie.

Thanks for checking out my post.

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Freeway (1988)

Let’s Ride #26!

We’re barreling down the highway to the end of October and Thirty-One Days O’Horror! Today’s post takes a peek at 1988’s Freeway starring Darlanne Fluegel, Richard Belzer, James Russo, and Billy Drago. The movie was written by Deanne Barkley, Francis Delia, and Darrell Fetty. Delia also directed the film.

Fluegel stars as Sunny Harper in the film. Roughly one year after her own husband’s unsolved murder on the highway, Sunny sets out on a quest to find the culprit in a new string of violent gun deaths on the highways of Los Angeles. Helping her are a rogue cop turned bounty hunter named Quinn (Russo), and a local talk radio psychiatrist named Dr. Lazarus (Belzer). Drago appears in the film as the murderer who drives a black 1969 Lincoln Continental and when he realizes that Sunny is on his tail, he decides to eliminate her. Does Sunny survive? Will she finally get justice for her husband? Is the killer a psychotic priest? Check out Freeway and see what happens!

Drago’s Bible-quoting killer steals the show in this film. He does a great job in his role. Belzer and Russo also give solid performances. Fluegel is very convincing as a young woman hellbent on finding her husband’s killer. The rest of the cast is also impressive.

To be completely honest, this film could have passed for a Made-For-TV film. Sure, there’s a bit of strong language and some brief nudity, but these moments could have easily been edited. Considering the fact that Deanne Barkley wrote a lot for television and Delia directed a number of music videos and television episodes, it’s not a big stretch to see Freeway playing on a Saturday night on NBC or one of the other major networks.

The film has a number of excellent action sequences involving vehicles. Sunny drives around in a beautiful 1967 Pontiac Firebird that she acquires from Clint Howard’s creepy body shop worker named Ronnie. There’s also some cool bazooka work in the movie and, hey, it wouldn’t be the 1980’s without sweet rides and the occasional bazooka, right?

Freeway screams late 1980’s action thriller and it’s the perfect movie to watch on a rainy afternoon. While there are definitely better highway killer flicks out there, it’s definitely worth a look.

Thanks for checking out my review.

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Highway To Hell (1991)

Let’s Ride #25!

Much like yesterday’s post, today’s review features a film that I became aware of just a few days ago. What’s really mind-boggling to me is the fact that this film features one of my favorite actresses, Kristy Swanson, and a ton of cameos from some pretty awesome people! Somehow it flew completely under my radar. The film I’m talking about is 1991’s Highway To Hell. The film stars Swanson, Chad Lowe, Patrick Bergin, CJ Graham, and Adam Storke. I’ll get to all of the cameos throughout the rest of my post.

Lowe and Swanson star as Charlie and Rachel, a young couple heading to Las Vegas to elope. Hoping to avoid anybody attempting to stop them from getting married, they take backroads and sleepy highways. When they stop for fuel at a gas station, the attendant (the legendary Richard Farnsworth) warns Charlie to not stop between two Joshua trees. Charlie does, however, when he is stopped by a police officer. The officer, Sgt. Bedlam (CJ Graham), is no ordinary policeman, however. He’s a cop from Hell (literally) who pulls over Charlie and Rachel so that he can take Rachel to Hell to be Satan’s newest plaything. Charlie rushes back to the gas station and the attendant, named Sam, gives him his classic car and a special shotgun. He then gives him special instructions to enter Hell between the two trees. Arriving in Hell, Charlie encounters a number of bizarre beings, most with ill intentions, that lead him to find Sgt. Bedlam and Rachel. He befriends Beezle (Bergin), a tow truck driver who “fixes” things in Hell, and continues his quest to save Rachel. Does Charlie succeed? You know what to do. Watch Highway To Hell!

The film looks like an episode of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse gone wrong. It has a very Tim Burton-esque feel to it and has often been compared to Beetlejuice. It features heavily stylized sets, stop-motion animation, and fanciful costumes and makeup. Directed by Ate de Jong (Drop Dead Fred) and written by Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, 976-EVIL, A Knight’s Tale), the movie features a bizarre cast of characters portrayed by Ben Stiller, his parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, and his sister, Amy Stiller. Hitler makes an appearance and is portrayed by Gilbert Gottfried. Lita Ford is simply breathtaking as a villainous hitchhiker. In his final film role before his untimely death, Kevin Peter Hall (Harry And The Hendersons, Predator) has a small role as Charon, the ferryman who brings the dead across the River Styx to the afterworld.

The film is bonkers. Somehow De Jong manages to keep a nice balance between absurdity and terror. Patrick Bergin does an excellent job as Beezle who, to no one’s suprise, is actually Satan, and the rest of the cast are amazing as well. The film features some excellent chase sequences between Charlie and Sgt. Bedlam in their vehicles as well. It’s a really fun ride and I definitely recommend it.

This movie may not be for everyone, but I definitely plan on getting my hands on a hard copy of it at some point in the near future. It’s a really fun film and I’m really glad that I’ve had the chance to watch it.

Thanks for checking out my review. Oh, and I’ve been in love with Kristy Swanson since I first saw her in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her twice and here’s my proof:

It’s okay. You can all be jealous!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Roadgames (1981)

Let’s Ride #24!

Up until a few days ago, 1981’s Roadgames wasn’t even on my radar. I didn’t know that it existed. Heck, I never even knew that Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis ever made a film together. When I finally put eyes on this little gem of a movie, however, I was pleasantly surprised with just how excellent it is. It’s probably the least scary film that I’m reviewing this month, but it’s so good that I just had to throw it into this year’s Thirty-One Days O’Horror list.

In the film, Stacy Keach portrays Quid, an American trucker working in Australia. While stopping for the evening, he sees a man in a green van check into a hotel with a young, female hitchhiker that he passed on the highway earlier that day. When he wakes up in his rig the next morning, he sees the man from the van watching trash trucks pick up a bunch of bags. Thinking that the man’s behavior is a bit odd, Quid heads off to pick up a load of pork for his next delivery along with his dingo, Boswell. As they travel along the highway to Perth, Quid passes and encounters a number of odd travelers including a motorcyclist in red, a station wagon loaded down with various sports balls, a clunky boat being towed by a poor driver, a family, and a few hitchhikers. He also encounters the green van and hears about a serial killer murdering young women. Quid picks up the woman from the family car he passed earlier and they begin playing games. Soon enough, Quid starts questioning the woman about the recent murders. Thinking that he might be the murderer, the lady runs from him. Later on, Quid picks up a beautiful young woman that he nicknames “Hitch.” In actuality, she’s Pamela Rushworth, an American diplomat’s daughter looking for a few days of fun. Together, they attempt to piece together evidence that points to the man in the green van being the murderer. It soon turns into a cat-and-mouse game between Quid, Hitch, and the man in the van, but Quid also becomes a prime suspect in the murders. Who’s who? Watch Roadgames to find out the truth!

This is a character driven film spearheaded by the brilliant performance of Stacy Keach. He spends a lot of the movie talking to himself and Bosworth. Some of the best moments are when he gives names, personalities, occupations, and more to the travelers that he passes on the highway. We also get to see the effects of driving long hours in isolation. Jamie Lee Curtis does a great job as well but, in all honesty, she isn’t in the film enough to flex her acting chops. The film, directed by Richard Franklin, has some very humorous and ridiculous moments stitched together with some very dark sequences. It’s an extremely well done film.

There were plenty of moments where this film’s plot could have unraveled, but Keach’s performance, coupled with Franklin’s direction and the solid script written by Everett De Roche, keep the ludicrous events and bleak moments tightly woven together to create a solid film. Be sure to check this thriller out for yourself!

Thanks for checking out my review!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Monster Man (2003)

Let’s Ride #23!

2003’s Monster Man is a film that left me full of mixed feelings. The bulk of the film isn’t that great. It’s littered with bad, sophomoric jokes, most of which are delivered by Justin Urich as Harley, who comes off as a blend of every single stereotypical fun-loving jerk who the viewer ultimately grows to love……except I can’t stand Harley at all. If the intent was for the viewer to be repulsed by the character, mission accomplished. If he’s just meant to be the funny sidekick, writer/director Michael Davis totally missed the boat. The climax of the film which, oddly enough, has a considerable amount of Harley-less time, is very, very good. It manages to deliver decent action mixed with a heaping helping of absurd and grotesque humor. If only the rest of the film were as good as the climax.

The film stars Eric Jungmann as Adam, a virgin driving across country hoping to stop the wedding of the woman that he loves. He’s a lot like Jesse Eisenberg in Zombieland. He’s awkward, eclectic, and has a ton of useful items in his seemingly bottomless fanny packs. Riding along with him is the previously mentioned Harley, who manages to sabotage pretty much everything that Adam attempts on the drive. Harley also loves drawing the wrong types of attention to himself and Adam. He’s a jerk, plain and simple. The duo are terrorized by a monster truck and haunted by a hearse on the drive. They eventually pick up a lovely hitchhiker named Sarah (Aimee Brooks), who falls for Adam.

The monster truck is driven by the titular Monster Man (Michael Bailey Smith), who rams Adam’s car, attempts to attack him in a restroom, leaves dead animals in Adam and Harley’s bed, and stuffs a human body in their car. This is just a few of the things that he does to the young men and Sarah. Things come to a head whenever the Monster Man captures Sarah and all is revealed in an amazing sequence at the climax of the film. Of course, Harley does eventually show up to ruin everything but for a few moments, Monster Man is really impressive.

Is Monster Man worth a look? Yeah, I guess. It is pretty cool that Michael Bailey Smith portrayed Ben Grimm in the Roger Corman Fantastic Four film from 1994. I highly recommend checking that film out if you can dig it up online or on a bootleg DVD. The cast, excepting Urich, do great jobs. The makeup and effects are very good as well. Overall, this film could have been much better, especially if it leaned more into the horror and left out a lot of the comedy.

Thanks for checking out my review!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: The Car (1977)

Let’s Ride #22!

After yesterday’s post, I decided to blog about one of the better killer car flicks out there, 1977’s The Car! So what’s The Car all about and why is it so awesome? Basically, a demonic car arrives in a sleepy Utah town and begins killing people. The local sheriff’s department, which is losing officers at a quick rate, attempts to destroy the vehicle and may or may not fail. In order to find out, you’ll have to watch The Car for yourself.

The film stars James Brolin as Wade, who quickly goes from chief deputy to sheriff, Ronny Cox as Deputy Luke Johnson, a struggling alcoholic who has a relapse when the body count starts to rise, Kathleen Lloyd as Lauren, a brave woman and Wade’s girlfriend, R.G. Armstrong as Amos, a local jerk who beats his wife and loves to cause trouble, and Kim and Kyle Richards as Lynn Marie and Debbie, Wade’s daughters. The film also features a number of Native American actors. Henry O’Brien features prominently as Chas, one of Wade’s most trusted deputies, Geraldine Kearns as Donna, the sheriff’s switchboard operator and dispatcher, and Eddie Little Sky as Denson, one of the deputies. Fans of The Young And The Restless may recognize Suzie, an ill-fated bicycle rider, as Melody Thomas Scott.

Despite the fact that this film is regularly panned by “professional” critics, myself and many, many more people love it. Its plot has no real point to it other than the fact that an evil car decided to go on a killing spree in a small town. That is reason enough to enjoy this movie. It’s loaded with action, ridiculous moments, and unexpected moments of bravery such as the moment when some locals put their lives on the line in order to save school children from the car. Even the ending is a beautiful blend of ridiculous and awesome. It’s one of those bad movies that you just have to love.

For an insanely fun time, watch The Car. It’s available to rent or buy, but there are a few streamers out there that have the film to watch for free. Of all of the films I’ve reviewed this October, it’s one of the few that I consider a “must see” film. Give it a look!

As always, thanks for checking out my review.

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Road Train (2010)

Let’s Ride #21!

Opening with a needless sex scene and then unraveling into a ridiculous mess, 2010’s Road Train (also called Road Kill) is a terrible film. I love bad movies, but this film just plain sucks. It tries very hard to give the viewer a cyclical view of Hades, or something similar, but never really pays off the viewer with a conclusion. The characters, excepting one, are completely unlikeable and the story is ludicrous.

I’m assuming that the sex scene that opens this film is meant to introduce friction between the two couples in the film, but that could have simply been tossed into the story while the gang is barreling down the highway on their getaway in the Outback. Instead, we get to see Bob Morley and Sophie Lowe moan and groan for a bit before the story actually gets moving. Once the four friends are on the road, they are rammed by a road train (for us Americans, think a massive semi-truck pulling more than one trailer) and ultimately end up getting driven off of the highway. As they gather up supplies, they discover that the road train is parked not far from them. They investigate it and soon enough, the driver returns shooting a gun at them. They still the road train and make a dash for safety, but they eventually find themselves at a dead end. Then they begin having hallucinations, visions of Cerberus, the three-headed dog that protects Hades’ gates, and start turning on one another. Oh, and the semi runs on humans, just FYI.

I cannot emphasize enough how terrible this film is. The only character that I actually liked was Nina (Lowe), who is in a relationship with the very, very easy to hate Craig (Morley). Along with them are Craig’s ex-girlfriend, Liz (Georgina Haig), who is now dating Craig’s best friend, Marcus (Xavier Samuel). Let me say that I had no issues with the acting in this film. My issues are strictly with the plot written by Clive Hopkins and the way director Dean Francis patched it all together on the screen.

I do not recommend this film. It’s one of the worst road horror flicks that I’ve watched. I’m all for absurd stories or time loop terror, but this movie is too much of a jumbled, boring mess to waste your time.

Thanks for checking out my review.