BODY PARTS – Jeff Fahey’s new arm is up to no good in this proficient early-nineties transplant-gone-wrong thriller from ‘Hitcher’ guy Eric Red. I remember clocking the title back in the day and wondering whether it might go the gross-out route – in fact it’s a slow, tense build which focuses on personal plight and relies as much on nice turns from the likes of stalwarts such as Brad Dourif before jacking it in for a final half hour of silliness. Good.
CREATURE – A very blatant mid-eighties ‘Alien’ rip-off which must’ve played as dated even at the time; it’s not called ‘Creatures’, is it? This is like a straighter variant of those wacky Roger Corman rip-offs from five years prior – ‘Galaxy of Terror’ et al – but it’s still good, gory fun. Klaus Kinski pops up for the full five minutes the makers had access to him, and just about establishes a plot point. Otherwise, it’s aesthetically nice, sometimes making the fag-ash gloom of its alien world seem a bit gothic after the addition of a few cobwebs and heaving bosoms.
ZOMBIE ISLAND MASSACRE – Some tourists in the Caribbean fall foul of… well, that would be telling, but unfortunately it ain’t zombies. Actually, although some corners of ‘fandom’ would pummel it as an execrable waste of time, ZIM really isn’t that bad. It’s cheap, ludicrous, full of unlikely plot devices and at least manages to match dull wandering with a smattering of poorly done gore… what more might you realistically ask of a film that bears the taint of Troma? I’ve seen, and enjoyed, far worse.
MANIA KILLER – ‘Classic’ Eurocine from ‘Burial Ground’ maestro Andrea Bianchi. Any attempt to summarise what happens is doomed to collapse in a pool of its own wee. Hilarious? Tedious? ‘Mania Killer’ is not going to win any awards for its sensitive portrayal of oppressed identities; on the other hand, it’s just not going to win any awards. Robert Ginty wears an inquisitorial crimson cape and tortures hookers in a cellar. Chuck Connors has an amazing computer and teaches a mute guy to speak. Another guy does some other stuff. It’s the kind of movie where a gunfight happens because the director found three squibs. I lost track of the fact that I was even watching a film god knows how many times. Have I put you off or turned you on? ‘Mania Killer’ is quite good at doing both at once.
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