More Italian horror? More Italian horror! Yes, I watched two more scary spaghetti flicks along with another shot on video movie.
For this year’s Halloween we have a zombie picture, this one with some nuclear radiation, and a pair of slasher features. All three go into sleazy, bloody territory, which always makes things fun.
Nightmare City (1980)
So, Nightmare City is the aforementioned zombie movie… Sort of. It certainly has a lot of the zombie movie staples, so it’s in the sub-genre. However, the zombies are far more sentient than, say, their George A. Romero counterparts.
In fact, they’re more like another Romero film, “The Crazies.” They’re not only capable of using weapons, including guns, but also have the wherewithal to do things like cut a phone line. It makes them more of a genuine threat than typical hordes.
What’s strange, though, is despite this cognitive ability, they still have no ultimate goal or objective. Like any other zombie flick, it’s a mass overtaking a city, without much meaning. One would think there would be a bit more going on with them considering they aren’t as brainless.
Regardless, the movie works well enough in portraying the zombie invasion as a man-made disaster sweeping over the unnamed metropolis. At the military headquarters, it’s revealed that nuclear radiation caused the zombie mutation, and it leads to cautionary “science can go to far” type dialogue throughout the picture.
So, it earns some points for being socially relevant in its commentary, again, similar to a Romero work. But how is it as an actual spooky flesh-eating flick? It’s not too bad. Perhaps a bit overly serious at times, as there is not much levity going around. But that gives it some charm, in that the movie almost plays out like a dramatization of how things would really happen.
There are some solid kills in this one, too. There’s an axe death early on with a gush of blood and a stab to the eye in the third act that stand out. There’s even a solid explosion taking out a few zombies that was respectable for a film of this budget.
What isn’t as great is some of the makeup on the zombies. They’re covered in what’s supposed to be radioactive burns, but it kinda looks more like someone smeared mud on their faces. I was also a bit disappointed there wasn’t more impact from the nuclear aspect. It would have been cool if during scenes at night some of the zombies would take on a glow with those old 80s effects.
That would be difficult, though, since a giant portion of this movie takes place during daytime. That’s not much of an issue, in fact it’s a welcome change of pace in horror movies. What is more of a detriment, though, is that it’s called “Nightmare City,” but doesn’t have as many scenes in the city.
You’d think that there would be an urban setting, action scenes in subways and abandoned busses, stuff like that. But more of it takes place on the countryside. It’s a disappointment, but it’s not nearly as much of a let down as the ending to this thing is. All things considered, though, not bad for a zombie flick, overall.
2.5 out of 3 scalpels turned throwing knives
Body Count (1986)
The fourth and final Italian film this year is “Body Count,” but it has more in common with an American slasher than a Giallo. A group of college-age youths go to a secluded camp site and get killed off one-by-one. It should be pretty straightforward stuff.
However, the movie attempts to add some intrigue by making a viewer guess whether the killer is an ancient shaman or just a person from the present in a costume. That by itself isn’t inherently bad. The problem is how the flick tries to pull this off.
Director Ruggero Deodato and his writing team attempt to throw a viewer off by making it seem like an old grudge could be driving a person to kill. That old grudge mainly revolves around some melodramatic family drama related to a love triangle, and it honestly makes some of the movie a slog.
While an audience member can appreciate trying to add more to a slasher’s narrative, it just comes across more like filler. It doesn’t help that the actual main group of characters are mostly interchangeable, making it hard to really root for any of them to survive.
But what about the actual kills? Well, they are fairly hit and miss. Unfortunately, a few of the early ones take place off screen, so that’s a bummer. However, they do ramp up in the second half, including a good knife through the mouth.
It would have been nice if the killer itself was a bit more intimidating, too. The mask is of pretty poor quality and for a slasher they don’t have much personality. Now, obviously, most slashers are usually just mute with a mask, but often there’s some attempt to make them stand out. That’s not as much the case here.
The movie does establish a good spooky atmosphere, though, which helps enhance the overall suspense. Deodato, best known for 1980’s “Cannibal Holocaust,” is able to properly set up the scarier sequences well enough to be effective. There’s genuinely a commitment to the technical craft which gives it a boost.
This to me is one of those movies where it could have been much more memorable with a few tweaks. Trim the melodrama with some of the characters, streamline things a bit, go a bit harder on the kills and this would have been stronger. As it is, it’s well made enough to be passable.
2 out of 3 camps built on Indian burial grounds
Screen Kill (1997)
Was the best saved for last? Maybe! We’re back in SOV territory with this one and boy do things get gory with this one. Actually, it gets really damn sleezy, too. I t thought “Body Count” was going a bit heavy on the nudity, but damn, “Screen Kill” surpasses it.
Also known as “Snuff Kill,” this flick centers on a pair of amateur filmmakers who set out to make a horror movie, and end up committing acts of murder to be used as the death scenes. So, if the last movie was a little too heavy on plot, this one was far too light.
The story is razor thin here. Going in, one expected that maybe there would be an unknown killer on set that would be killing off cast and crew one-by-one, and their identity would be revealed toward the end. It seemed like the movie was even setting up a red herring with a character who so plainly looked like he was wrongly going to be set up as the antagonist.
Nope, that guy is just one of the two killers. The plot is they invite a person onto their set, telling them they are starring in a horror movie, before offing them. Al Darago, who also wrote, directed and produced, stars as Ralis, while Mark Williams portrays Doug. Ralis does the killing of their actors while Doug rolls the camera.
Rinse and repeat, again and again. Other than that, the bare bones of a plot there is mostly revolves around Doug hiding the film production from his girlfriend. Otherwise, it’s just one death after another. And you know what? It delivers on what it offers.
For its one hour and 18 minute runtime, this thing goes all out on the kills. The amount of prop bodies, fake blood and artificial intestines the filmmakers pulled out here is damn respectable. There is one death involving a person getting cut in half via chainsaw using bloody dummy legs, while another features a person getting decapitated, prop head and all.
The camera never shies away. In true B-movie fashion, the flick commits to the deaths. They don’t exactly look convincing, but they are definitely bloody and gory. If there’s one area a movie like this should put all its chips on the table, it’s the kills and this movie does just that.
Now, did Ralis need to say a one-liner after every single kill? No. No he did not. But, one can let that type campiness slide. To an extent, a person can also let the really poor lighting, shoddy acting and several abrupt cuts slide. It’s an SOV horror flick, you roll with it. And for a film that goes this in on the kills, rolling is easy.
3 out of 3 rather tame satanic rock bands
Matthew Liedke on Film 