Review : MY MOM'S A WEREWOLF (1989)

 Originaltitel : My Mom's a Werewolf

Country : USA

Year: 1989

Director : Michael Fischa

Cast: Susan Blakely, John Saxon, Tina Caspary, John Schuck a.o.

Story : 

Leslie Shaber is a caring mother and housewife.

But she isnt very happy in her marriage anymore - her hubby Howard works all week and usualy falls to sleep on the armchair after he comes home from work.

And on the weekends he plays golf or hangs around at home and watches a football game with his best buddys.

Reasonable that Leslie feels like what we call a desperate housewife - bored out of her mind and lonely.

At least her daughter Jeniffer and the dog Marbles are still loyal to her.

There comes the day when Howard pushes it too far - Leslie leaves the house angry and grieving and she aims for frustration shopping.

Since she needs a new fleacollar for Marbles, Leslies first stop is at the pet shop.

There she meets the mysterious,handsome and attractive Owner Harry Thropen who is very flirtatious.

When Harry asks her out for dinner she directly agrees and "Dessert". at the pet shop sounds pretty good in her ears too.

But instead what usualy happens between the sheets , when you go for the "Dessert", Harry does something very strange : he bites her toe.

Is it coincidence that Leslie starts to change just a few days later ?

She is craving raw meat, but she is vegeterian.

Her incisor teeth start to grow enormous and the electric shaver capitulates due to all the hair Leslie is growing.

The prophecy of a gypsy woman, who talked to Jennifer on a Horror & Sci-Fi Convention, seems to fullfil.

Who can save Leslie now from turning completly into a Lycanthrophe?

Rating :

MY MOM'S A WEREWOLF by Director Michael Fischa

(DEATH SPA aka WITCH BITCH,CRACK HOUSE,

DEADTIME STORIES 1&2) is a cheesy and trashy Horror Comedy Flick.

It cant be denied that this movie is campy, corny and ridiculous, but it is still of high entertainment value.

It includes almost all 80's cliches we made fun about, when we were in the 90's.

-wild,outrageous hairstyles

-vibrant,corny clothes (which may can cause eyecancer if you look at them too long)

-a party in the parents house (in this case a Halloween Party)

-a geeky,perky and freaky best friend (in this case a female one)

It seems like Fischa is either a fan of TEEN WOLF(1985) &TEEN WOLF TOO(1987), or he just wanted a slice of the profit cake with his version of a 80's Teen Horror Comedy.

The jokes in the movie are corny but to the point and will make you giggle.

Dialogues like :  

-"I am a werewolf, and I need a were-wife." 

-"Let me guess, we're going to live in a were-house." 

prove that this movie is full of corny hilariousity.

The cast does a decent job, and especially JOHN SAXON islike usualy, in his splendidly smooth form.

Susan Blakely delivers a delightfully vibrant performance  and also her daughter Jennifer(Tina Caspary) and her best female friend Stacey Pubah(Diana Barrows) acting is good.

The soundtrack of the movie is okay, even when you hear most of the time the Song "LIL RED RIDING HOOD" from Sam the Sham & the Pharaos.

But the Movie is a Werewolf Movie, so : DUH!

May the plot is a bit contrived, but in the badness comes the true comedy.

There will be plotholes, there will be goofs - but isnt that sometimes the essence for a cheap and stupid moive, that will entertain us ?

There was one goof in the film i noticed :

-Stacey Pubah mentions an issue of the horror magazine "Fangoria", which was published in 1978. 

Fact is that "Fangoria" didn't even yet exist in 1978 - the magazine first began being printed in 1979.

Now lets come to the Special FX and Masks.

IMHO the SFX are okay for a budget small like this.

But anyway : when you watch something with a title like MY MOM'S A WEREWOLF did you expect a serious flick and FX on one level with Tom Savini, Screaming Mad George or KNB?I guess not!

The Werewolf Costumes in the movie reminded me alot on the Lycans in THE HOWLING 3 or THE HOWLING 4 - means not bad at all, but nothing you will be scared by.

The film is fun, entertaining and captivating to fill 90 minutes. 

Don't expect anything completly outstanding here, but at least be entertained.

5/10 Shaver

Review : LONG WEEKEND (1978)

Originaltitle: Long Weekend

Country : Australia

Year : 1978

Director: Colin Eggleston

Cast : John Hargreaves, Briony Behets, Mike McEwen, Roy Day a.o.

Story :

A bickering young Australian couple wants to camp on an isolated and gorgeous strip of beach.

On their way to the nature retreat , Peter had hit a kangaroo in a car accident. 

And there will be tragic consequences for their violent actions.

In the wilderness theyre just about to enter, nature is king and mankind is servant to his powers.

Allready after being there for a couple hours, Peter demonstrates how much of a threat to mother nature he is, with his irresponsible, nature-threatening behavoiur.

He gets buzzed, throws bottles into the ocean and shoots at innocent animals. 

Marcia isn't the *out-doorsy* type, opting for the life in the city around an inner circle.

She's moody and troubled and she makes the mistake of throwing an eagle's egg into a tree.

Peter and Marcia will reap what they sow. 

After Peter shot a seacow multiple times - which was supposedly "chasing" him - the downward spiral starts.

The offspring of the seacow can be heard far off seeking it's mother. 

Perhaps a manipulation of guilt in the mind(..and maybe not!), the dead sea cow seems to draw closer and closer from the beach to his camp site! 

And, Peter even gets attacked by a possum and eagle!

The local wildlife decides enough is enough - its payback time for mother nature.

Rating : 

LONG WEEKEND is a more than decent Eco-Horror Thriller from Down Under.

"Nature Revolts" is somewhat the generic term for a sub genre of Horror that was particularly huge throughout the 70's decade. 

Basically all these films are the illegal offspring of Alfred Hitchcock's legendary milestoneTHE BIRDS - released in 1963.

But the popularity only skyrocketed during the 1970's, when creative Exploitation Directors began to use all sorts of unlikely animal species as crusaders against the ongoing pollution and abuse of our planet's ecological system.

LONG WEEKEND is a peculiar but extremely worthwhile contribution to the "Nature Revolts" Sub-Genre, as it doesn't focus on one animal species in particular, but puts forward the entire Eco-system as a combatant.

Plotwise it is expectedly simple, but it is still eerie and delivers a message.

The cinematography is  brilliant and every single frame is beautiful to behold and a really creepy soundtrack adds uo to the movie's power to unsettle the viewer.

Made on an obviously low-budget, this is a deliberately-paced chiller.

Please, don't watch this flick expecting a highly exhilarating and non-stop spectacular thrill-ride. 

This film moves along at a very slow pace, but is loaded with symbolic imagery and subtle hints of the supernatural, that truly get under your skin.

LONG WEEKEND importantly never  moves away from the central couple - Australian actor John Hargreaves and English actress Briony Behets - in the lead roles.

Their acting is great and both deliver an amazing performance, to make the Peter and Marcia very unlikeable - you will get yourself caught cheering for Mother Nature while watching this movie.

The script is tight and avoids many clichés, which other animal attack flicks are lacking off.

Everett de Roche did sterling work in writing the script, but this man just knows how to write something tight and atmospheric.

Everett de Roche also was responsible for Movie Scripts like PATRICK,HARLEQUIN,RAZORBACK and ROAD GAMES.

It is an intelligent look at the relationship between the carelessness of mankind and the suffering of nature, which wil take his time in delivering justice.

Made in a country where outback dangers are never more than a short drive away, LONG WEEKEND illustrates the fragile veneer of civilisation, constantly under threat from both nature and the feral heart of man.

The end shot will make a shock-impact even though you could never really sympathize with the protagonists. 

Competently directed by Colin Eggleston and featuring some of the most plausible acting performances I've ever seen, LONG WEEKEND is another genuine Aussie horror sleeper.

8.5/10 Eagle-Eggs

Review : ANDY WARHOL'S DRACULA (1974)

Originaltitle : Dracula cerca sangue di vergine... e morì di sete!!!

Country : France/Italy

Year : 1974

Director : Paul Morrissey

Cast : Joe Dallesandro,Udo Kier,Arno Juerging,Maxime McKendry a.o.

Story : 

Count Dracula and his sister are the last of a dying breed in Transylvania.

The only thing that can save them from starving to death is blood.

But not just normal blood,it has to be the blood of a virgin!

And this seems to be the hard part since the moral in Romania decayed and its literaly impossible to find virgins.

Now the count is forced to leave his  ancestral home in Transylvania and to travel 

to Italy with his manservant, under the pretence of seeking a "suitable wife".

Meanwhile in Italy : 

Marchese di Fiore and his family have fallen upon hard times. 

The marchese likes to gamble, and he’s managed to squander just about everything he owns except for the house and its grounds. 

The way his wife sees it, the only hope for the di Fiores is for them to marry off one of their four daughters to somebody as rich as they used to be, and then live parasitically off of their in-laws. 

Fourteen-year-old Perla is too young for marriage, while introverted Esmeralda is too old by conventional reckoning which only leaves the intermediate sisters, Saphiria and Rubinia. 

When Dracula arrives in the di Fiores’ village, and Anton begins to ask around for marriageable maidens for his master, it’s all but inevitable that the two scheming bluebloods will batten upon each other as the antidote to their troubles.

It isn’t going to be nearly that simple, however, because Saphiria and Rubinia are both far away from being a virgin and the impure blood of the girls only causes to the count to get weaker.

Will Dracula get his virgin blood in time that he has not to die from the lack of it?

Rating :

Here we are - it's 2014, and since a few years Vampires have found their way back in style.

Well, hot damn for them - we all knew it would happen sooner or later. 

Since Bela Lugosi redefined exactly what a Vampire is, back in the 1930's, these guys are here to stay. 

However, the current crop of Vamp-entertainment has me a little worried - except DAYBREAKERS from the Spierig Brothes,which was a decent & innovative Vampire Movie. 

So the best thing to do, is ususaly to stick to the roots and look what Vampires from the 1920's to the 1980's have to offer!

BLOOD FOR DRACULA - also known as ANDY WARHOL'S DRACULA or YOUNG DRACULA - is an Italian and French Co-Production.

Director Paul Morrisey deluvers here a free and rather deranged interpretation of Bram Stoker's legendary Dracula tale.

And this one still is today one of the best independent vampire stories - besides George A. Romero's MARTIN -  that was made in the 1970's. 

The sheer brilliance of this film completely lies in the characterization of the bloodsucking count. 

Dracula no longer is a vile and overruling monster here, but a sickly and almost pathetic weakling.

Blood for Dracula is an outstanding Exploitation Film! 

The humor is black as the night itself and the substance is essential viewing for every cult cinema admirer. 

Udo Kier is terrific as the needy count while pretty boy and Morrissey regular Joe Dallesandro has the time of his life portraying the manly skirt-chaser. 

The budget of Blood for Dracula was low (almost non-existing), yet the set pieces and atmosphere-creating elements are great! 

The musical score in particular is beautiful and contains a few gripping piano compositions.

The performance of Udo Kier (BLADE,FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN,IRON SKY,BARB WIRE,SPERMULA) is charismatic,outstanding and to the point.

For this movie i could not imagine any better actor for the part of Dracula.

Arno Juerging as Anton is also astounding.

He allows his character to be somewhat charming and timid while still allowing him to show a vicious tendency. 

He's an unusually memorable aspect of the film that certainly helps to differentiate this picture from other films of it's nature.

Joe Dallesandro is a hero who you don't feel entirely comfortable rooting for. He's a main character whom the writer doesn't mind showing you his sleazy side and he is not entirely likable in this movie.

This film also includes a cameo by Roman Polanski, in the Pub Scene.

Call me crazy, but IMHO the idea behind the movie is truly heartbreaking. 

This is a very tragic, pessimistic, and cruel film and watching it is like watching a weak old man slowly bleed to death in a creek after getting in a bicycle accident. 

The musical score by Claudio Gizzi is one of the great haunting Horror Film Scores of the 70s. 

This score, as well is equally to the powerful score in Flesh For Frankenstein.

BLOOD FOR DRACULA is not as graphic in violence like FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN is, but at the end of the movie you will witness some pretty brutal scenes with an appropiate gore level!

BLOOD FOR DARCULA is beautifully shot, it's evenly paced, it's gory, it's genuinely erotic, and it's not afraid to break your heart. 

If you are a fan of cult horror and you haven't seen this, you are seriously missing out.

8/10 Fangs

Review : DEAD HEAT (1988)

Originaltitle : Dead Heat

Country : USA

Year : 1988

Director : Mark Goldblatt

Cast : Treat Williams, Joe Piscopo, Lindsay Frost, Vincent Price a.o.

Story :

Detectives Roger Mortis and Doug Bigelow  are walking, talking police partner stereotypes. 

Roger (Treat Williams) plays the straight man…all calm, cool, and collected. 

Doug (Joe Piscopo) is his wisecracking, loose cannon of a partner. 

Called to a jewel heist in progress, Roger and Doug join the fracas as two thieves with Uzis unload on what appears to be the entire Los Angeles Police Department as they’re exiting the store with the goods. 

Roger and Doug, along with the rest of the good guys unload back with a flurry of gunfire, only to see the thieves take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’. How can these thieves survive such a barrage? That’s the million-dollar question.

The thieves aren’t dying because they’re already dead! 

It looks like someone in town is resurrecting the criminal element and using the zombies to do their dirty work. It takes a grenade and a well-placed sedan to the midsection to finally dispatch the two undead evildoers, and detectives Mortis and Bigelow begin their investigation into just who might be behind this bizarre new crime wave. 

When Roger bites the big one in a doggie euthanasia room while fighting a hefty undead two-faced biker and is resurrected shortly thereafter, it becomes a race against time as they try to find Roger’s killer. Can Roger find his killer before his body decomposes and he turns into worm food? Can Doug keep from becoming a walking corpse himself?

Rating :

DEAD HEAT is a classic 80s Midnight Movie.

The movie combines some popular Genres of that Decade : the Buddy-Cop-Movie and the Zombie-Movie.

Perhaps the only time zombies, cops, and a generous dose of humour have been infused together on film. 

Dead Heat is a fun, Drive-In type feature. 

Writer Terry Black(who is the brother of Shane Black who wrote Lethal Weapon) and director Mark Goldblatt grabbed the opportunity with both hands and they cheerfully combine all the clichéd situations and stereotypes both genres have to offer. 

The formular of this flick works damm well with his great Actors Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo.

They know how to make jokes to the point and even can satisfy the viewer in the Action Scenes.

Some of the greatest one-liners in Horror Comedies i've ever heard came out of this film.

So many scenes in this movie are priceless because of the utterly stupid humor!

You also will meet again with Vincent Price in one of his last Movies before he died(after DEAD HEAT he only did 5 other Movies in hi career).

I am sure that makes it very interesting for all the fans of him to watch the movie, even when he doesnt have that big of a part.

Price is a delight - it's nice to see that he was still embracing the horror genre and working steadily late in his life and career. 

The Special FX(done by Steve Johnson,who also did the FX in SPECIES) and the Sets look great - they are done in a way that could only be done in the 80's!

Most memorable is a scene where a Chinese restaurant is resurrected... causing chicken, duck and cow carcasses to attack.

The Score from Ernest Troost may is not anything special or remarkable but it enhances the atmosphere and suspense in DEAD HEAT.

Seeing as 1988 was the same year that brought Horror Fans Chucky's debut film (CHILD'S PLAY) and the fourth installment of Freddy and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, I can see why DEAD HEAT was easily overlooked. 

Interestingly enough, the similarly titled buddy cop movie RED HEAT (with Schwarzenegger and Belushi) actually did well in theaters that year!

The other Problem DEAD HEAT was not that succesful and overlooked  would have been :

It's a horror comedy made at the end of the eighties. 

A time when horror was in trouble, the Slashers were out of order, SF Horror were over - nothing really happened, so it was a problem to find Producers and Distributors for Horror.

The MPAA didn't like the used effects, cause they considered them to gory - so the movie sadly was cut in his best parts.

So the gore was cut out and it failed at the Box Offices and it also meant to be the end of New World Pictures. 

On VHS it became a bigger success and even went on to became a cult classic. 

Due the ending of NWP the film was never again released Uncut.

Luckily "Anchor Bay" released DEAD HEAT almost 15 years later.

The film is still cut, but they were able to add in an extra feature : the parts that were cut out! 

DEAD HEAT is a light-headed and fairly engaging spitfire of gags and grotesque action sequences and I have yet to meet someone who regrets watching it.

To sum it up for you   :

DEAD HEAT is a great Mix of Action,Horror and Comedy, which doesnt bore the spectator at all over the full lenght of the movie.

Sure you cannot expect an Award Winning Masterpiece, but if you are a fan of 80ties Midnight Movie Horror-Comedies, you will be very pleased with DEAD HEAT.

Let me close this Review with the words of Det. Doug Bigelow :

You are under arrest. You have the right to remain disgusting. 

8.5/10 Biker-Zombies