A HAUNTED TURKISH BATHHOUSE – Pinky nastiness from the director of ‘Wolf Guy’. A woman is forced into prostitution by her fella, a cheap hood; going from bad to worse, she falls prey to some Edgar Allen Poe-ism and ends up behind a wall after a fairly intense scene of torture, but at least she gets to round things off as a vengeful cat demon. How come? Watch it to find out, especially if you like Ero-goru type affairs. It’s grimy, pretty hard boiled, and well-paced enough to make up for the fact that most of it plays out more like a sleazy thriller rather than the psychedelic cat demon bit at the end that it’s ‘renowned’ for. Quite liked it, it was weird enough to keep me going, not the sort of thing I watch tons of these days, but it certainly has its admirers.
THE FINAL TERROR – I love to trawl for early eighties slashers I’ve missed along the way, so enter ‘The Final Terror’, a film of no great reputation – but who cares, I had a great time with it. The set up’s as simplistic as they come. College kids, working for the Forestry Commission, follow a river through the woods where it rains a lot and yes, there’s a killer on the prowl… et cetera et cetera. ‘The Final Terror’ tends to get ignored or panned these days. In part that stems from its ruinous treatment at the hands of distributors, but maybe also the director, who went on to become a semi-big shot, downplays its presence on his CV. ‘Fans’ moan about its derivative nature and lack of kills – there’s really not that much slasher action at all – but come on. It’s got such a great atmosphere. Forest, shadows, rain. Everyone uptight and muddy, taking a pop at each other, including Daryll Hannah and several other faces. There’s such a looming feeling of offness, that the bad outcome is inevitable and just around the corner, and isn’t that the quintessential early eighties horror quality? The sense of a great darkness on the horizon? ‘Final Terror’ has that, I think. For all this imminence, what does transpire isn’t that impressive, granted; a few stabby bits, a lukewarm reveal. Underwhelming, but NOT undermining. It might not work as a conventional slasher, but as a haunting piece of backwoods atmosphere, it’s magnificent. So, sod the naysayers – ‘The Final Terror’: I really, really liked it.
 |