PSYCHO COP RETURNS – Ragged comedy horror from the genre’s wilderness years, the early / mid nineties. Office block yuppies throw a naughty party after hours – Psycho Cop, although not on the guest list, turns up to ensure that no minor violation goes unpunished. Lots of tits, shagging and photocopiers, plus a sprinkling of splatter alongside obligatory one-liners and performances that seem partially automated. Thin gruel, but enough fun to keep going with, plus I liked the shadowy office block, I’m a sucker for ambient lighting and a bit of atmosphere.
NEW YEAR’S EVIL – Hurray for seasonal horror. There are better ones. Who can top the likes of ‘Christmas Evil’ or ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’, or even ‘Bloody New Year’? Let me get on with it before this post gets even more out of date. ‘New Year’s Evil’ is a competent slasher which trades on the gimmick of a midnight killing spree spread across America’s four time zones. It centres on an old New Wave music show host and her difficult family life, alongside attendant mask-wearing and serial murdering. Most of the fun comes from its depiction of punks and various subcultures, which is in line with the era’s media-based misperceptions. Not enough blood, but some atmosphere in places, enhanced by eighties fashions and attitudes. Enjoyable enough.
MURDER WEAPON – From David De Cocteau, starring Linnea Quigley. It’s a shoestring no-budgeter that pads out its main scenario, about two bored rich kids wanting revenge against their exes, with overlong flashbacks and non-sequiturs. That could be painfully boring, but after a while it becomes quite intoxicating. It’s just so fragmented; “I guess that bit might’ve been a dream, then?” was a thought that occurred to me more than once whilst watching it transform into an LA house party-gone-giallo with random but gratuitous gore, brazen fourth wall breaches showing camera crew in-shot and weird, weird sound – that howling wind gets everywhere. It won’t work for those looking for something well-made and undemanding because it’s one of those where you kind of have to fight to find it entertaining or even meaningful. But it’s definitely authentic movie trash, well worth seeking out if you like unintentional surrealism and / or Linnea Quigley.
DR JEKYLL’S DUNGEON OF DEATH – I watched the old Vipco version of this long ago, back when it was known as ‘The Dungeon’ to the three or four people in the UK who’d picked it up. I had dim memories of gothic murk and endless fist-fights; both factors pretty much sum up DJDOD, though the VinSyn transfer highlights a lush aesthetic that the previous DVD could only hint at. Plotwise, it’s about a descendent of the original Dr Jekyll who injects people with a serum that ‘releases their inner rage’ and inspires them to engage in overlong sub-Kung Fu scenes; otherwise, it throws in incest, nice lighting and a gloweringly droney electronic soundtrack that makes even the most innocuous moments seethe with unease. The material is a bit thin and nothing much happens beyond cackling, fighting and bursts of unwholesomeness that never quite dip into full-on sleaze, but it is very atmospheric and, in its pungent shadowiness, reminded me of a sort of ripe Euro-goth version of Andy Milligan.
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