The Resurrected

aka Shatterbrain

1992 / Dir. Dan O’Bannon / Written by Brent V. Friedman / Starring John Terry, Jane Sibbett, Chris Sarandon and Robert Romanus

O’Bannon, the evil genius behind horror classics such as the Alien series and Dead & Buried (incidentally, one of my favorite horror movie posters of all time), takes a story from one of his obvious influences, H.P. Lovecraft, and slaps it on screen in his final attempt at directing. O’Bannon passed away last December and left behind a career in horror that is far more valued for what he wrote rather than what he shot. Lovecraft, too, is often better in his written works than anyone has been able to translate on screen – of course, save for the still excellent Re-Animator. In this particular genre-conflicted mess, Terry plays a P.I. hired by Sibbett to find out what her husband (Sarandon) has been working on away from home. What he’s working on becomes less and less of an issue since the film takes so long to get there. The “investigation” setup has Terry narrating like a world-weary gumshoe worthy of a Hammett novel, with Sibbett’s leggy blonde dame acting as the femme fatale – two plot devices that went out of fashion in the 1950’s – yet the cheap sets and soapy acting feel more like a 1980’s melodrama. The few moments of good gore and frights turn to schlock with poor camera work (crash zooms, anyone?) Sarandon, however, is good as always, and from Fright Night to Bordello of Blood he has always remained one of my favorite horror film actors. **

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie

aka Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti
aka The Living Dead at Manchester Mourge
aka Do Not Speak Ill of the Dead
aka Don't Open the Window

1974 / Dir. Jorge Grau / Written by Sandro Continenza and Marcello Coscia / Starring Cristina Galbo, Ray Lovelock, Arthur Kennedy, and Aldo Massasso

From the start this is quite obviously a retread of Romero’s Living Dead territory, like so many zombie films in the early 1970’s that were influenced by his seminal work. But unlike those films, Corpses is genuinely scary with some great atmosphere and special effects, and a story that actually works. It begins rather slowly taking us from city to rural England, where local farmers are ecstatic about a new technique to kill crop pests by using a giant tractor-like machine and a wand that omits radioactive sound waves. The problem is, these waves also jump-start the nervous systems of slumbering residents of the local cemeteries, and the deceased rise from their graves to hunt for – what else? – braaaaaaaainsssss. Our heroes are caught between proving this to the police (and thus proving their own innocence) in what appears to detectives to be Manson-like crimes committed against families living in the countryside. The ending, like many of the zombie effects, will definitely remind you of Romero; however, this film feels more like a reinvention than a rip-off in a surprisingly succinct collaboration between Spanish and British filmmakers. The film on its own would probably have received 3 ½ stars on my rating system if not for the terrific introduction by director Jorge Grau on the American DVD, who asks that you “suffer profoundly” while watching his work. That’s the right attitude for a horror filmmaker – and definitely merits a half star extra in itself. ****

The Beast of the Yellow Night

1971 / Written and Directed by Eddie Romero / Starring John Ashley, Mary Charlotte Wilcox, Leopoldo Salcedo, and Eddie Garcia

Hasn’t anyone learned by now that making a deal with Satan is never worth it? Joseph Langdon (Ashley) is saved from death by Satan, but in exchange he must become one of his devoted proselytes and carry out his evil bidding. This includes transforming into the eponymous beast and wreaking havoc on the unsuspecting Filipino public. Langdon then realizes he’d rather die than continue to perpetrate these horrors (duh). The film is low budget, yes, and there are certain expectations that one has regarding special effects (which are laughable) and set design (practically nonexistent). However, I’ve seen much better done for much less in other horror films. Some of the photography is so dark that the actors are barely visible – and one of the major reasons to watch Werewolf/man-to-beast films is to witness how the filmmakers depict the “change.” Beast, however, only gives us one lousy transformation, and not until close to the end of the film. The Philippines location seems incidental, when it could have been a good means of playing up the atmosphere. The are some good ideas in the script and I don’t fault it for being shot with little money – in fact, some of the best horror films are low budget because it forces the talent involved to be more creative than just acting opposite a piece of blue tape (which will later become a CGI dinosaur/critter/hobgoblin). In his career, Romero has churned out some gory, campy trash that always had an element of fun, making up for the lack of story and/or decent acting. Beast, however, lacks a great deal of what makes a Video Nasty so appealing – instead of reveling in its badness, it just falls flat. *