When it comes to ‘80’s slashers, there’s nothing I like better than the non-franchised one offs that spewed forth in hopes of getting some of that Freddy and Jason money. In the past week I’ve talked about three very different ‘Me Decade’ slashers in Trick or Treat, The Horror Show, and Maniac. Today I’m turning my attention to another one of these one shot wonders, and this one has to have one of the best names in movie history, Hide and Go Shriek. While the movie poster might bring to mind a scene from Liam Neeson’s Taken, the film itself is pure eighties nostalgia. From the girls puffy hairdo to the nerdy kid outfitted in an Opus t-shirt and jams, this flick took me right back to those years of bad fashion choices. It also took me back to those last few years of the eighties when horror films could just be fun.
After graduating high school, a group of eight teens decide to have an all night blow out in John’s father’s closed furniture store. They plan to be up all night drinking, eating chicken, and having plenty of sex, but when they discover that they’re not alone in the store, panic sets in on the group. They soon find themselves menaced by an unseen killer, but is it the creepy ex-con who lives in the basement, one of their group, or someone completely unrelated whose story will have to be filled in at the last moment? (Spoiler alert, it’s the final choice there.) If they can hide through the night, they can look forward to all the opportunities of a post-high school world, but with a crazy killer seeking them out, they may never make it.
Though Hide and Go Shriek will never be counted among the classic slashers of the ‘80’s it does deserve to be remembered. Especially for such a late entry into the genre, the film feels very influenced by giallo style with the set design and plot both featuring a nod to the Italian thrillers. Numerous scenes are awash with shadows lit by green and red gelled lights bringing to mind Mario Bava’s stunning work in Blood and Black Lace, and the film’s ultimate reveal smacks of the same sort of perverse sexuality so popular in gialli. Hide and Go Shriek also does a really fine job of misdirection, and my suspicions went from one place to another until the final, albeit nonsensical, reveal. I suppose that is not really fair. The ending does makes sense, but it comes out of nowhere. Even so, it leaves the film with a satisfying conclusion that pays off the whole picture. Unfortunately, it happens so very late in the film that I can’t discuss the details or the character who ultimately is the killer. That in and of itself is a real shame, and if anyone has seen this film, then they know why.
Hide and Go Shriek was the first and only film directing from former Halloween II and Megaforce editor Skip Schoolnik. (He would go on to direct episodes of K-Ville and Angel) It’s a real shame that he didn’t get a chance to direct more cinema. While the film suffers in part from having a pitch dark locale as the setting, Schoolnik and Evil Dead 2 cinematographer Eugene D. Shlugleit did a really good job exploiting the shadows and rarely losing any of the action to them. I would love to see this title get a home on DVD where a brighter, more defined print could really clear up the film’s small technical foibles. Where it did really suffer was the acting department, while most of the kids are serviceable none really impress. They were just your typical group of ’80’s movie teens, the jock, the slut, the nerd, the class clown, and so forth. Only future Karate Kid 3 and Bold and the Beautiful star Sean Kanan and Ria Pavia (Candyman, Dream a Little Dream) had any kind of career to speak of after this film.
Hide and Go Shriek is a great slasher to check out f you have a chance. I’ve been looking around and I can’t even find a low end DVD anywhere. While it won’t make you forget films like The Burning or The Prowler, it will satisfy any slasher fans who love good old cheesy VHS goodies. If you can’t get enough of me talking about out of print horror from the VHS era, make sure you check out The Gentlemen’s Blog to Midnite Cinema and the 412ft Review. Every week I’ll be featuring obscure films that didn’t survive to the digital era, and for the next month, just like here at the Lair, it’s going to be all horror all the time. So check that out, and come on back here tomorrow as we roll one day closer to the Halloween Top 13 (Don’t forget to get those entries in!)
Bugg Rating
I couldn't find a trailer out there for the flick, but I did find this compilation of the all the deaths from the film. Obviously it's pretty spoiler-iffic, but if you don't care about that kind of thing or just want to see some movie deaths, here it is....
Recently I was going through a box of VHS tapes at a flea market pushing aside the numerous copies of Beverly Hills Ninja and Urban Legend II when I pulled out a particularly ragged looking copy of Empire Pictures’ Zone Troopers. The cover was partially ripped, it had an odor one doesn’t usually expect from video tapes, and it felt like the set in mildew might latch onto my hand. The actual tape however looked pretty nice, and I knew that the sci-fi WWII tale had long been out of print, and so tattered, smelly, nasty cover, and all; I brought it home with me. I’m so glad I did. Zone Troopers is a true VHS classic. After a short, and extremely limited, theatrical run in 1985, the tape was released by Lightning Video, the same fine folks who brought Hands of Steel, Manhattan Baby, and Massacre in Dinosaur Valleyto video store shelves, and I could not help but love watching this long out of print gem in its prime format.
Zone Troopers starts out with a few familiar faces to anyone familiar with Charles Band’s productions, Tim Thomerson, Art LaFleur, and Biff Maynard, who all also appeared in Trancers together. Joining them is Timothy Van Patten, Dick’s half brother, and the foursome make up the core of an American combat unit that we are told is “somewhere in Italy”. Caught behind enemy lines after a series of mysterious events, the squad stumble across a downed UFO and its pilot, a bug eyed alien. When the Nazi’s catch wind of the discovery, they bring their full force down to capture all the evidence as well as eliminate the U.S. forces. From there you get all the laser blastin’, fuhrer punchin’, World War II action that you can handle until it leads up to all out battle where the aliens will decide the fate of the war.
There are a couple of things that Zone Troopers really has going for it. The sheer pulpiness of the story combined with the performances from Thomerson, LaFleur, Maynard, and Van Patten really sell the whole film. Thomerson especially stands out as The Sarge. His character and performance seem inspired by actors like Lee Marvin and Gene Evans in Sam Fuller’s war movies. The tough guy bravado definitely works for Thomerson, and while the story doesn’t revolve around him, the action scenes certainly do. Van Patten has some of the film’s most memorable scenes that display his character’s naivety without resorting to stock situations. His Joey is still quite the kid, acting out the World Series with baseball cards and worrying that he’d cracked up when he discovers the alien. He makes the character sweet without ever turning saccharine. The other actors get their own high points with Maynard as a war correspondent who gets a little too close to the action, and I can't forget LaFleur’s character Mittens, the scene where he clocks Adolph Hitler is cause enough for repeated viewings of Zone Troopers.
This was director Danny Bilson’s first film, but he knew several of the cast members from when he had penned the script for Trancers. While nothing in the film is shot with mind blowing skill, Zone Troopers is a solid film that uses its low budget to its advantage. Bilson keeps things small, and the only outlandishly bad effects come via the aliens. Yeah, the lasers look shoddy and the alien makeup (other than for Bug Eye) is just a light glaze that makes them look bluish (funny, they don’t look it). Keeping it simple fir entirely with the pulpy feel of Zone Troopers and definitely added to my enjoyment of the film. Bilson would go on to write films like 1989’s alien gladiator film Arena as well as 1991’s The Rocketeer. He also produced and directed some episodes of The Flash TV series, penned a few of the most recent James Bond video games, and was a consulting producer for the videogame The Sims. His film career never took off past his second film, the 1989 comedy The Wrong Guys starring Richard Belzer, Louie Anderson, and Richard Lewis as former Cub scouts on a reunion camping trip, but if he never did anything other than Zone Troopers he’d be OK by me.
Sitting down to Zone Troopers is not like sitting down to an episode of Masterpiece Theater, meaning you won’t be bored to tears and want to claw out your eyes, but for a cross between Critters and The Big Red One, it’s not bad at all. This is a film so strange it is tailor made for cult film status, now if MGM, who owns the rights to the film, would get off their ass and release it to DVD, it might just get there. The trouble with Zone Troopers now is that I would love to tell you all to go out there and grab it, but if you don’t want to get a VHS or track down a grey market copy, then you’re out of luck. However it is worth the effort, and taking a bit if inspiration from the cover, 'I Want You' to check Zone Troopers out.
Heya folks. This week for It Came From Video Tape I've tracked down a bunch of covers for Holiday horror films. Hope you enjoy, and come on back and see us tomorrow for more Christmas goodies.
One hundred and sixty six years ago, Charles Dickens first published what would become his most famous work, A Christmas Carol. Twenty-five years ago, CBS first aired George C. Scott’s adaptation of the classic tale. When it aired, my family taped the classic production on our massive VCR for posterity, and I have watched it every year since. So for this week’sIt Came From Video Tape, I am very happy to be reviewing this film from that very same tape. It takes me right back to when I was eight years old, and I love it that the tape contains the intact commercials. ( IBM sponsored the showing, and each break contained all kind of great commercials for their new fangled personal computers.) As I’ve grown older, not only do I appreciate how fine this version is, but also it has a great many wonderful actors with strong ties to genre films.
If I have to tell you what A Christmas Carol is about, then you must have lived most of your life in a room by yourself. Seeing a few people on the internet might just fit that description, then I suppose I should include the briefest of synopsis. Ebenezer Scrooge (George C. Scott) is an old miser who treats everyone he meets with contempt. This includes his clerk Bob Cratchit (David Warner) or his nephew Fred (Roger Rees), and no one should get him started on Christmas which he thinks is a lot of old humbug. One night the ghost of his old partner Jacob Marley (Frank Finlay) visits Scrooge. Marley warns Scrooge of the fate awaiting him after his death and tells him he will be visited by three ghosts, and he should learn from each of them if he wants to avoid eternal punishment.
While I definitely enjoy the performances of Alastair Sim, Albert Finney, Patrick Stewart, and Uncle Scrooge McDuck in other versions of the tale, George C. Scott seems to fit the role like a well-worn glove. It’s incredible how perfect he is. With his gruff demeanor and commanding voice, there was no one more suited to growl, “Humbug!” than Mr. Scott was. He also made demands on the production that greatly influenced how good it looked. In most other versions, when Scrooge is yanked out of bed to gallivant with the three spirits, he is dressed in a sleeping gown and cap. In this version, he wears slacks, a shirt, and vest along with a dressing gown that is in line with Dickens’ own description of the character. With this attention to detail (and a massive, massive set of muttonchops), Mr. Scott is exactly what I see in my mind when I think of Scrooge.
As I mentioned earlier, there are a ton of other great actors in this film with genre film connections. First off, David Warner, who played Bob Cratchit, had parts in StrawDogs, The Omen, TimeBandits, and TRON, and he would later appear as Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Warner exudes nice guy charm in this film that is quite surprising considering he so often was cast as a heavy. Frank Finley. Marley’s Ghost, also has a good many genre credits with appearances in Shaft in Africa, TwistedNerve, and The Deadly Bees. His Marley is frightening, and it always makes my skin crawl when he ties his loose jaw back together with an audible clacking sound.
While the acting is magnificent by everyone involved, there are far too many actors to mention them all. Suffice it to say I don’t feel there is a weak performance among them. Also showing great vigor is director Clive Donner. In a strange coincidence, Donner actually started his career as a film editor and 1951’s Scrooge with Alastair Sim is among his credits. As a director his film credits include 1965’s What’s New Pussycat?, 1974’s Vampira, and 1981’s Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Lady starring Peter Ustinov as the Asian detective. Working with cinematographer Tony Imi (Enemy Mine, Wired), Donner created a beautifully realized version of Victorian England. It eschewed the typically glossy version of the past in favor of a dank, dark, dirty vision of times long ago. Not only does this give the film great realism, it also adds something missing from other versions of the tale, horror.
At its core, A Christmas Carol, in any version from novel to film, is a ghost story. I think this is something that is overlooked. Marley tells Scrooge plainly that he will be haunted by three spirits, and Donner’s version makes sure that each of the ghosts is damn creepy. The Ghost of Christmas Past with her otherworldly glow seems almost delighted with Scrooge chooses to stamp out her light, Christmas Present opens the folds of his robe to reveal two emaciated children who are the embodiment of pestilence and famine, and there’s no mistaking that Christmas Yet to Come is none other than the Grim Reaper himself. From beginning to end, Donner’s version is a dark affair that only becomes bright and sunny in the expected conclusion. This film captures the horror of the story as well as the redemptive quality of the tale, and that is what I think makes it stand out above the rest of the adaptations.
If you have never seen this version, I can’t recommend it strongly enough. For a production seen on the TV in the US (although it received theatrical release in the UK), it is a wonderfully realized film. I’ve been watching it now for 25 years on this ancient tape, and here’s hoping that it lasts me many, many years. I know I’m going to be covering many Christmas films in the weeks to come, but if you only take one recommendation from me, then let it be this one. I can guarantee you won’t be sorry. When a film can make an old humbug like me say, “God bless us, every one.” then you know it must be doing something right.
Bugg Rating
For obvious reasons there's no trailer out there for this one, but I found a nice chunk of it on YouTube featuring the scene with Scrooge and Marley's Ghost. I think it is very representative of the film as a whole so check it out.
For a couple of years near the end of the ‘80’s, the Coreys were kings. They ruled the land of teen films for as far as the eye could see, but then the nineties reared its ugly head. The Haim and Feldmen partnership was torn asunder, and while Mr. Feldman embarked on the new decade with his scintillating turn as the voice of Donatello in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mr. Haim decided the time had come to lace up his skates and get post-apocalyptic with it. That brings us to 1990’s Prayer of the Rollerboys. If you only ever get to see one movie about a teenage gang on rollerblades, it pretty much has to be this one.
What you’ve really got here is your basic gang type tale. Cory Haim plays Griff, a guy who’s just scraping by delivering pizzas, but it keeps him and his brother out of the homeless internment camps. It just so happens that his childhood buddy is Gary Lee,(Christopher Collett) the charismatic mulleted leader of the globally funded, white supremacist, drug pushing gang known as The Rollerboys. When Griff unknowingly saves a member of the gang, Gary Lee decides its time for Griff to join their ranks. Griff, of course, is his own man, and its not until he catches his brother selling a street drug called Mist that he decides he has to do something. Something ends up meaning going undercover in the Rollerboys so the cops can bust the drug ring. With the help of fellow undercover officer Casey (Patricia Arquette), Griff must bring down the Rollerboys if he wants to keep his little brother in line.
So what could have happened to the world to cause the rise of a group like the Rollerboys? An American banking crisis. That’s right people. Now we know what “too big to fail really means”. What they’re actually trying to say is “too big to fail because we’d end up with America coming under the sway of a rollerblading, white trench coat wearing gang.” Now if they would just come out and say that then I think the whole bailout thing would be more understandable. I mean Haim is nineteen years older now. There’s no way he could go undercover in a gang like that now. Maybe Feldman, but not Haim.
I can’t wait any longer to talk about the title to this film. Prayer of the Rollerboys. Now, granted there are Rollerboys, but there is definitely no prayer. Who would want to pray for these guys? There’s never a single point in the film when any of the Rollerboys seemed redeemable. Even the one named Bullwinkle was a psycho racist jerk off. I mean how do you sully a good name like Bullwinkle? He should be pulling rabbits out his hat, not beating up friendly black guys that run junk yards. The Rollerboys are unquestionably the bad guys so I just don’t get it. I think it’s really the ‘of’. Even if you replaced it with the word ‘for’ then it already gets a little better. So to whoever owns the remake rights to this one, just leave it as Rollerboys. Trust me.
I should get serious about this movie for a moment, but I just can’t. From top to bottom this thing is a silly mess. You get not one, not two, but three separate chase sequences on rollerblades. You get to see Patricia Arquette in a series of strange hats. You get to see synchronized rollerblading gangs. You get to see Cory Haim’s hair get more and more absurd as the film goes on. You even get an early appearance by the NIN song “Head like a Hole”. To top it all off, you find out that there may be a financial collapse, but there will still be a Dunkin Doughnuts open somewhere.
I really don’t have too much more to say about this one. I don’t think I really have a burning need to talk about Corey Haim’s acting chops, director Rick King’s other great directorial effort Kickboxer 3, or incredible dialog like “I have this thing about betrayers, they piss me off.” There’s just nothing about this film that screams for dissection. What it really screams for is laughter. I had a really great time watching this slice of absurdity, and possibly an even better time thinking about it later. The image of the Rollerboys skating in unison will forever be ingrained on my mind. While I don’t think there is really a Prayer of the Rollerboys, I might just take up prayer to see if I can get more people to check this one out.
Despite the title of today’s film, it does not star the dearly departed Ken Ober who has gone on to the great game show in the sky. There is nary a Colin Quinn anywhere to be seen, and though it could have used it, not a hint of Kari Wuhrer. Instead this film was built on a foundation of ‘50’s science fiction coupled with the development of the futuristic appliance known as the VCR. In 1988, Blockbuster had yet to rear its ugly head, and the majority of video rental places were still little Mom and Pop joints. Getting into this movie, it took me right back to that time, and seeing that this segment is devoted to video tape in all its glory, I had to tell you folks about it.
RemoteControl stars Kevin Dillion as Cosmo, a video store clerk with an inordinately low voice. Cosmo and his pal Georgie (Christopher Wynne) spend the afternoon building a display for the new hot film Remote Control, and people are strangely drawn to the display. The movie flies out of the store with the last copy going to Georgie’s crush Allegra James (Jennifer Tilly). The next day she turns out to have been killed, and the video store clerks become suspects. Soon the guys are avoiding the cops and avoiding watching Remote Control which they think makes people go crazy. A visit to the factory where the tapes were made uncovers the truth. This is no ordinary video tape. This is an invasion from outer space.
The film within the film, also called RemoteControl, is a ‘50’s science fiction film about a video tape that makes people go crazy and kill their husbands with futuristic knitting needles. To say this film plays out with a tongue in cheek style is pretty obvious, but the really surprising thing is that it actually works. A lot of the credit has to go to writer/director Jeff Lieberman. He doesn’t have many credits to his name, but those he does have are singular type of films. He brought us killer hippies in BlueSunshine (1976), an avalanche of killer worms in Squirm (1976), Robert Vaughn starring as the diabolical doctor in Franken (1980), and the killer rednecks feature JustbeforeDawn (1981). While RemoteControl goes for a more broadly comic feel, there should be no doubt to anyone that’s seen Lieberman’s other films that the director always seemed to be directing horror with a humorous slant.
While the script was clever and most of the scenes well put together, none of it would have worked if it hadn’t been for Kevin Dillon. The lesser known, or lesser employed, brother of Matt Dillon is best known now for his role as Johnny Drama on the HBO series Entourage, but back in 1988 he just looked like a skinny stretched out version of his big brother. Oh, and his voice. I mentioned it briefly earlier because it was so striking. Dillon physically didn’t even look like his balls had dropped, but his voice was already giving James Earl Jones a run for his money. It was strange to hear that voice come out of that body. Dillon was great in the film, and his personality totally fit the film’s tone. He played his part straight while campiness exploded around him, and it was just what the film needed. It also begs to mention that after this parody of ‘50’s Sci-Fi Dillon starred in a remake from the same genre with the 1988 version of TheBlob.
The film features a few other good players, but before I get to them I have to mention the future star in this film. Way before Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon heated things up in Bound; Tilly was just starting out with bit parts on TV and film. (Her last role was in the Anthony Michael Hall film Johnny Be Good.) Her role in RemoteControl is fairly small, but she makes an impression while she’s around. This is partially because you know it's Jennifer Tilly, and partially because her character’s hair looked a lot like a gothic version of Bozo the Clown’s coif. Sadly, her character Allegra Jones doesn’t last long, and it's too bad. Tilly was much better than the girl cast in the lead role, but maybe they just didn’t have that much hairspray in the budget.
The lead female part is played by Deborah Goodrich, and she was mostly forgettable as Cosmo’s unrequited crush Belinda. The only really interesting thing about her character was how Lieberman played with ‘80’s fashion and made it come off looking like costuming from the ‘50’s Sci-Fi he was paying tribute to. Also fairly enjoyable was Christopher Wynn as Georgie. Wynn provided the perfect foil for Dillon’s over the top heroic character. Wynn still shows up form time to time in bit parts, but never a guest role on Entourage. Come on Kevin; throw your old co-star a bone.
RemoteControl works as a pretty clever satire of both classic science fiction and the VHS boom. Just the shots running though the video store were enough to take me back. There was one scene that especially made me nostalgic. A kid is told to pick up a movie, but to “cover your eyes while you go by the adult section”. Like any good kid, he peeks and gets an eyeful of sleazy cover art. I recall stealing quite a few glances into that section in my youth. If you grew up in the era where VHS became king, I think you’ll enjoy this little flick and the unique spin on the alien invasion storyline. It’s a film with an important lesson. Be kind, rewind, or the aliens will get you.
Bugg Rating
There's no trailer available on this one, but you can check out the whole film in parts on YouTube. Here's a link to part ONE.
Once again, it’s time to throw open the video tape vaults here at the Lair and delve into another diabolical selection from the world of VHS. That’s right; it’s time for another thrilling installment of It Came From Video Tape. Today’s selection, I, Madman, is one that I recall staring at me from the racks of my local video emporium, and now that I got my hands on a copy, I cold not resist firing up the old VCR and giving it a whirl. Plus, I love things that start with I and a Comma, I, Robot (Asimov’s book not Will Smith’s travesty), Christopher Lee’s I, Monster, and the British mini-series I, Claudius come to mind. So with a name like I, Madman and the director of The Gate at the helm, it’s time to press play and see if I‘ll be a happy Bugg or if it ends up with me being I, Mad Man.
Virginia (Jenny Wright) just can’t get enough of Malcolm Brand’s books. After reading his first novel, Much of Madness, More of Sin, she scours the used bookstore she works in to find his other tome, I, Madman. She can’t find it, but when she comes home from acting class, she finds a package containing the book on her doorstep. Virginia can’t put the book down much to the chagrin of her boyfriend Richard (Clayton Rohner). She is deeply disturbed by the book, but can’t get enough of the story of the demented Doctor Kessler. In the book, Kessler is harvesting facial features to make himself more attractive to a girl who says he is ugly. As Virginia gets deeper into the book, the book gets deeper into her world. Murders that are eerily similar to the ones Virginia reads about begin to happen around her, and Virginia begins to be stalked by a man she believes to be Dr Kessler.
Apart from a few supporting players that stumble in their roles, I found I, Madman to be a highly entertaining film. While it doesn’t ever rise too far above the average, it contains an entertaining mystery, some bloody murders, and a trio of solid performances from the lead actors. I, Madman was the follow up to director Tibor Takács’ demons in suburbia film, The Gate. I saw The Gate years ago, and I can’t quite recall what I thought about that one so unfortunately I can’t comment on if this one was better. Takács brought the script by writer David Caskin (Nightmare on Elm Street 2, The Curse) to the screen with exceptional style, and I really liked how it seamlessly moved from 1989 Los Angeles to the noir world of the book. The film has a quality that felt like what might have happened if Dashiell Hammett and Steven King had a baby and it wrote a book. Sure, it would be ugly as hell, but the book it could write would combine horror, suspense, and paranoia with a helping of detective fiction.
It took me some time to place her co-star Clayton Rohner. Turns out that my geek knowledge paid off, and I realized that he had played an Admiral that aged backwards on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Meanwhile, my wife who was watching this with me pulled out even more geek knowledge when she pegged him as appearing on an episode of Joss Whedon’s Doll House. Rohner was very good in the film, but I would have to say that playing a cop is not his strong suit. The scenes where he was less cop and more boyfriend were much better overall. He also has a seriously hair sprayed coif in parts of this film, and at one point, I feel certain it extended four inches straight from the front of his head.
Really putting on a show was Randall William Cook, a man usually known more for doing effects than being them. A couple of years back Cook picked up an Oscar for his special effects work on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, but someone should have given him some kind of award for his intensely creepy role as the psycho from literature. Cook also headed up the make-up department, and he did a hell of a job with the Kessler makeup that goes from a featureless gruesomeness to an even freakier look later in the film. I’m glad they held off on the reveal of the character in full until the climatic scene as it added to the mystique. While Kessler is not a character that could or should have returned for sequels (even though the cover of Fangoria featuring this film read “Move Over Freddy"), he is a character I will not soon forget. I also have to mention that Cook provided some really cool looking stop animation for this film, and it made me happy seeing practical effects done with such style.
At one point in the film, Virginia describes Malcolm Brand’s book by saying it “makes Steven King read like Mother Goose. It’s horrific, but passionate like Poe.” While the film never reaches such a horrific height as she describes, it surely stands out among a sea of mediocre films from the same era. For a night of literary horrors, may I suggest throwing on Tenebre, I, Madman, and In the Mouth of Madness for a triple features of books exacting horror on real life. While I, Madman may be the lesser of the three films, I think you’ll find it an entertaining and all but forgotten film. So check it out. It just goes to show again that you never know what you’ll get when It Came From Video Tape.
When it comes to ‘80’s slashers, there’s nothing I like better than the non-franchised one offs that spewed forth in hopes of getting some of that Freddy and Jason money. In the past week I’ve talked about three very different ‘Me Decade’ slashers in Trick or Treat, The Horror Show, and Maniac. Today I’m turning my attention to another one of these one shot wonders, and this one has to have one of the best names in movie history, Hide and Go Shriek. While the movie poster might bring to mind a scene from Liam Neeson’s Taken, the film itself is pure eighties nostalgia. From the girls puffy hairdo to the nerdy kid outfitted in an Opus t-shirt and jams, this flick took me right back to those years of bad fashion choices. It also took me back to those last few years of the eighties when horror films could just be fun.
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