At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964)

Interview with José Mojica Marins



Directed by José Mojica Marins

Starring José Mojica Marins

IMDB

Alice, Sweet Alice (1976) aka Holy Terror aka Communion

Watch the full movie here:



Directed by Alfred Sole

Starring Brooke Shields, Linda Miller and Paula E. Sheppard

IMDB

Superstition (1982) aka The Witch

Alternate trailer:



Watch the full movie here:



Directed by James W. Roberson

Starring James Houghton, Albert Salmi and Lynn Carlin

IMDB

The Pyx (1973)

Soundtrack: Karen Black (singing) and Harry Freedman


Directed by Harvey Hart

Starring Karen Black and Christopher Plummer

IMDB

Beyond Evil (1980)

Directed by Herb Freed

Starring John Saxon, Lynda Day George and Michael Dante

IMDB

Cathy's Curse (1977) aka Cauchemares

Watch the entire movie here!



Directed by Eddy Matalon

Starring Randi Allen, Alan Scarfe, Beverly Murray and Mary Morter

IMDB

Ninja III: The Domination (1984)

Watch the entire movie here!!



Directed by Sam Firstenberg

Starring Shô Kosugi, Lucinda Dickey and James Hong.

IMDB

The Sect (La Setta) aka The Devil's Daughter (1991)

Directed by Michele Soavi

Produced by Dario Argento

Starring Kelly Curtis and Herbert Lom

IMDB

Race with the Devil (1975)

Directed by Jack Starrett.

Starring Peter Fonda and Warren Oates.

IMDB

I love this film. It's a perfect blend of three genres - the Car Movie (such as Vanishing Point, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry), the Hillbilly Horror movie (Rituals, Deliverance) and the Satanic Cult movie (Rosemary's Baby, Horror Hotel).

The whole thing is so breezy and fun that you hardly notice how fast the reels spin out towards the memorable ending and the chemistry between Fonda and Oates is great to watch (in an interview on the DVD, Fonda claims he and Oates were already best friends since starring in the 1971 western "The Hired Hand").

The satanic stuff is more funny than scary but you really feel the tension as their little vacation goes to hell and all sorts of creepy events unfold. The car stunts are top notch and are unique in that they involve a speeding Winnebago versus pick-up trucks instead of the usual Dodge Chargers and Mustangs.

Just a great little movie to waste a Saturday afternoon with.

80's Metal Movie Tie-Ins

Dated?

Uh, a little. But horror movies and bad hair metal had a thing going on in the 80's and here's a few samples of some of those glorious train wrecks.

First up, Dokken does the main theme song for 1987's Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. This brings me back to my youth when I took stuff like this quite seriously. I wonder what's more scary to main star Patricia Arquette - Freddy Krueger and his minion of creepy girls skipping rope or Don Dokken's poodle haircut?





Somehow, this one is worse. Alice Cooper continues his embarrasing 80's slide by penning this keyboard driven drivel for 1986's Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives.

Yet the video itself is entertaining as hell. The theatre setting is great and there are some truly bad special effects, such as Jason ripping through the screen and Alice inexplicably trying to scare the patrons by breaking a glass bottle over his forehead. Oooohh scary!





I have to include this one even though it's not really a music video. It's one of the climactic scenes of 1986's Trick or Treat, one of the best heavy metal themed films from that era.

That's actor Tony Fields as rock demon Sammi Curr but the music is really by Fastway, a second-tier act that included a former member of Motorhead and a guy from U.F.O.

This film also had Ozzy Osbourne in a great cameo as a preacher who railed against heavy metal lyrics and musicians, lampooning the PMRC and Tipper Gore who were in the midst of their metal witch hunts at the time.

The best part of this is when the guitar goes flying through the air and someone randomly yells "Rock and Roll!!".

If you can't stand the Fastway stuff, fast foward because there is some hilarious shenanigans towards the end and a ripping guitar solo straight from hell that could have been the inspiration for Will Ferrel's classic Satan and Garth Brooks sketch from SNL.




And while we're going there, I might as well bring this one out. A scene from 1988's Black Roses.

The context of this scene is that a metal band called Black Roses is playing a small town and the local parents and authorities are concerned about the effects on their kids. They sit in on the first song to make sure that nothing is going on and the band do their best to fool everyone with a vanilla sounding soft rock song. Soon the parents leave and the real metal begins!





Now, the best for last. This is a clip from 1985's Hard Rock Zombies. It's not a metal song, but there's a bunch of long hair bangers doing choreographed dance moves in the film's big montage scene and even some miming. Completely retarded and great.



Had enough yet? This is another clip from Hard Rock Zombies. This is quite possibly the most ridiculous scene ever put on 35 mm film. The band have been killed earlier in the day and then rose from the dead, making sure they still turn up to do their soundcheck for that night's show! This is some kind of love song for the main girl Cassie in the movie. Oh unrequited love!

Shock 'Em Dead (1991)

Soundtrack - I'm In Love With A Slut



Continuing with our possession theme, Shock 'Em Dead is a late entry into the short-lived Heavy Metal horror genre but it's a memorable one. It was made in the 90's but its heart is in 1986. This of course stars ex-porn star Traci Lords right after her successful stint in John Waters "Cry Baby".

This trailer has all the elements and goes for the gold right away with a shameless breast exposure. Also watch for nods to the Exorcist and the classic quote, "When you make a deal with the devil, there's always a catch".

If you like fare such as Trick Or Treat, Black Roses or Rock and Roll Zombies, you'll dig this.

Shockingly, this hasn't been put out on DVD yet so you'll have a hard time tracking it down.

Directed by Mark Freed.

Starring Traci Lords, Troy Donahue and Aldo Ray.

IMDB

People Freaking Out Over The Exorcist

This is some footage from 1973 showing various audiences reacting to the then hardcore scares of the Exorcist. I can't think of any film that could be released today that would cause the same reaction. This is fun stuff.

Beyond The Door (1974) aka The Devil Within Her

A Euro-Trash classic and, along with the blaxploitation film "Abby", one of the most unapologetic rip-offs of the mega-succesful "The Exorcist". This has Gabriele Lavia who was also in other great Italian horror films like Deep Red, Inferno and Zeder.

In my opinion, the head-turning scene in this film (as seen in the trailer) is creepier than the one in the Exorcist.

This film made a lot of money in America and it's success made the distributors of Mario Bava's unrelated film "Schock" to release it as "Beyond The Door 2" in North America.

Directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis and Robert Barrett.

Starring Juliet Mills, Richard Johnson and Gabriele Lavia.

IMDB

The Killing of Satan (1983)

Nothing tops this scene. Nothing. "Lando!!!"



Directed by Efren C. Piñon.

Starring Ramon Revilla.

IMDB

Satan's Slave (1976)

Directed by Norman J. Warren.

Starring Michael Gough and Candace Glendenning.

IMDB

The Redeemer: Son of Satan! (1978) aka Class Reunion Massacre

Radio spot



Directed by Constantine S. Gochis.

Starring Damien Knight and Jeanetta Arnette.

IMDB