The Deadly Spawn

     This is a great monster movie from the early '80s, my favorite kind! Two campers see a meteorite fall to the earth, when they go inspect it, they encounter a giant eating machine of an alien with multiple heads and literally thousands of teeth. 

      The creature moves into town and hides in someone's basement. People start disappearing left and right. A tea party is subsequently attacked by what looks like a baby spawn, which bears a striking resemblance to the "Killer Condom". Sort of like tadpoles on steroids with nothing but rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth. 

      A few teenagers figure out that they better kill the parent creature before it makes enough spawn to devour the whole planet. One of the teens is really into magic shows and puts a huge amount of flash powder in a dummy head and dangles it in front of the creature, who is hesitant at first but finally gives in and takes a great big bite. Then suddenly... boom! The creature splatters everywhere. All seems well with the world again. That is until the end when you see a HUGE spawn emerge from a mountain, smile and bear literally millions of little teeth.  

     This is a typical alien creature flick from the good old 1980s that rides the line between horror and comedy.  A lot of times in these types of movies the comedy is unintentional but this one doesn't apologize for some of the more absurd scenes and never really takes itself too seriously.  The creature effects are actually quite good when you realize how simple they were to pull off.  Sometimes simply painted silicone really is a horror movie maker's best friend.

The Alien Dead

     Even though I knew this movie was gonna be crap, the title was very catchy since I love both alien and zombie movies, and I decided that it was definitely worth a try. I was wrong.

     The story begins with an alligator poacher whose wife is killed by what he claims to be "monsters" in the swamp. While on a late-night walk, the mangled corpse of the wife is found by the sheriff. Even after this gruesome find, the sheriff still doesn't buy this story about monsters in the swamp. So the next day, the sheriff and a reporter scout the swamps and encounter strange human-like creatures that eat human flesh and somehow survive under the water. In total denial, they're convinced it's some kind of rabid alligator responsible for this murderous mayhem. A bounty is put on the alligator and tons of people trying to make a quick buck by catching a murderous gator, end up facing their own massacre by the "swamp zombies". 

      Soon a story emerges about a "falling star" that landed in the swamps. Another story emerges with a more detailed account... apparently, the "falling star" is not a spaceship as one might assume from the title, but rather a meteorite that crashed into a houseboat full of people. The effects of the meteor revive the mutilated bodies that it just crashed into, turning them into blood-thirsty zombies. The zombies also have that cliche aspect about them that if a zombie bites you, you become a zombie yourself, which George Romero originally conceived in Night of the Living Dead and has been ripped off ever since. Therefore, before long (or at least an hour into the film), there's an army of zombies and about three survivors. The remaining survivors hole up in a cabin, again much like Night of the Living Dead. Are there gonna be any survivors? It's always mandatory that there be at least one. 

      Nice concept, very misleading title, but just too damn talky, with not nearly enough blood splatter.  Even the poster for the movie itself is a ripoff.  The woman's face on the cover is from a completely different horror movie that's been tinted purple and placed in front of a swamp.  Not really worth it, but the cover art, ripoff that it is, still managed to suck me in.

The Amityville Horror

     This is a big one so hold onto your computer! There are so many facets to this story, it's ridiculous. 

     Since this is a website about films, let's start with the 1979 movie starring Margot Kidder and James Brolin. George and Kathy Lutz think they have found the perfect home for their family, only to find out that a year earlier, a guy murdered his parents and his four brothers and sisters in the house because demonic voices told him to do it. Pretty soon, the Lutz family starts having some seriously creepy events happening in their newly acquired home. George starts getting sicker and meaner by the day. He also is obsessed with the fireplace and chopping wood and develops an unnerving affection for his ax. Their parish priest comes to bless the house and is told by "the voices" to "GET OUT!!!!". Following this event, the priest becomes violently ill and eventually goes blind. The Lutz family endures all sorts of phenomena in the house... money disappears, the toilets flood with black slime, the door gets ripped off its hinges, a marching band that only George can hear, their daughter befriends a demonic pig named "Jody", Kathy breaks out in blisters after touching a cross, blood oozes from the walls, a swarm of flies at the wrong time of year, etc. Finally, after 28 days, the Lutz family can't take anymore and run for their lives. Although in reality, they did return the next day to have a garage sale. 

      Now here's where it gets tricky. This movie is based on a book by Jay Anson, coauthored by the real George and Kathy Lutz. After buying the house, with a sky-high mortgage, that George and Kathy cannot possibly afford, they along with author Jay Anson, concocted an "out of this world" story to justify leaving the house, and conveniently use the true events of what happened in the house prior to their purchasing it as the reason for the supposed hauntings. 

     As I said, there was a guy that actually did kill his whole family in the house, but it wasn't demonic voices driving him that night, it was greed and lots and lots of drugs. Ronald "Butch" DeFeo Jr was an unhappy camper. He fought with his family a lot, mostly with his abusive father. The family had quite a bit of money and Butch needed some cash to fuel his drug habit. Killing his parents would unleash the inheritance, but he would have to share it with the four brothers and sisters... Marc, John, Allison, and Dawn. Ronnie didn't want to share, so he killed them too. All were shot with a rifle in the dead of night (pardon the pun). Ronald DeFeo tried to make up a story about how he came home and they were already dead, possibly all killed as part of a mob hit. It didn't work and Butch was put in prison for the rest of his life. 

      Now, there are lots of rumors surrounding the house. It was supposedly built on an Indian burial ground, it was also supposed to be the home of a man named John Ketchum who was expelled from Salem for being a witch. There was also a story about how the Native Americans used the area as an exposure pen for the diseased and insane who were left there to die. All of which is complete bullshit. Butch's lawyer was also in on the game of ghost storytelling, thinking that he might actually be able to convince the jury that Butch was innocent because he was under the influence of demonic possession... it didn't work but gave rise to one of the best (albeit fake) ghost stories ever told. 

      Kathy Lutz passed away some years ago, and on her death bed, she admitted that the story was false and concocted over several bottles of wine, but George Lutz proclaimed it to be the truth until his dying day.  But he did manage to make a living off of his story so why tell the truth when a lie can make you so much more money? When investigated, by fact checkers, not paranormal researchers, the entire story has more holes than Swiss cheese. The priest in the story could never be found.  Small inconsistencies discovered in the book would be conveniently changed to match the events they'd already described, etc. The Lutz family had three children.  Two have managed to achieve anonymity, but the oldest son decided to cash in on the franchise, but only after years of poverty and drug abuse.

      After the Lutz family left, three different families have since lived in the house and all three families have said that it was a beautiful house with absolutely no supernatural phenomena whatsoever. In fact, one of the families actually sued Jay Anson, author of "The Amityville Horror" and George and Kathy Lutz, stating that their fictitious story has caused them to have a complete loss of privacy because of thrill-seekers, ghost hunters, and the obnoxiously curious. The town of Amityville even had the address of the house changed and the eerie eye-shaped windows of the house were remodeled to look like a different home entirely. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, but that still hasn't stopped people from loitering outside, peering in the windows, and basically doing anything to disturb the privacy of anyone living in what is supposedly one of the most haunted houses in the world.  It went up for sale a few years back to a man who was gonna charge money for tours of the house and the town of Amityville vowed to sue him so the deal fell through.

     Truth is, this is a great ghost story.  Easily believable due to the absolutely horrific events that really did occur there.  Six family members were all murdered in their sleep by one of their own, which is pretty gruesome actually. One story that keeps coming up to support the paranormal aspect was that all members of the family appear to have been shot in the back while asleep and not one of them was woken up by the loud blasts of the shotgun, even though tests revealed that no one had been drugged.  A popular theory is that Butch DeFeo didn't act alone and that the oldest daughter Dawn was his partner in crime.  She and Butch were apparently tight so perhaps she told the others to lie face down while Butch shot them.  Then once they reached the top of the house and everyone else was dead, Butch decided that Dawn didn't deserve any inheritance either and double-crossed her.  She was the only one not lying on her back when shot and her bed had been the only one that was mysteriously wiped of prints.  She was very much into drugs too and it's not a far leap to think that she may have had a hand in the entire affair.  

     A sequel to the original 1979 movie was made that focused on the DeFeo story (for at least the first half of the movie, the other half was an Exorcist ripoff with Butch becoming fullout possessed) and implied that Butch and Dawn had an incestuous relationship but that's all conjecture and has never been proven one way or another. It was the first of literally a dozen more sequels, rivaling only the Friday the 13th franchise in its abundance. 

     A remake of the 1979 film came out in 2005, using more of the DeFeo story than the original. Only this time, "Jody" was the youngest of the DeFeo children. It might have made more sense than a demonic pig, but alas there actually was no Jody DeFeo. The youngest daughter was named Allison. The remake was ok, but performed rather poorly and the best thing I can say about it is that Ryan Reynolds made for a much sexier version of George Lutz and remained shirtless for the majority of the film.

The Blob

     This is a great stereotypical 50's cult flick. The Blob also takes the credit for having introduced Steve McQueen to the world as an actor and Burt Bacharach to the world as a composer, and even though the movie is 98% crap, we have at least those two things to be thankful for. 

      The story is quite simple. A "falling star" crashes near a small town. When investigated by an old man, a meteor is found, which cracks open, revealing an unidentifiable blob of goo. When the old man gets too close, the blob adheres to his arm and won't let go. He goes screaming into the street, where he's almost run over by a young couple in an automobile. They take him to the doctor, where the blob finishes off the old man and moves on to the doctor and his nurse. Every time the Blob consumes something (or someone) it grows bigger and bigger. It grows huge when it ambushes a bunch of teenagers in a movie theater. The young couple from earlier in the film (Steve McQueen and his female costar that hasn't done much since, and when you see her acting, you know why) are trapped inside a diner. 

      When blasted with fire extinguishers, the Blob retreats. They figure out that the blob hates cold. Everyone is asked to bring their fire extinguishers into town so that this gooey enemy can be subdued. Once the blob is frozen, it's shipped Federal Express to the North Pole where it will never thaw out and become a problem ever again. I guess they didn't take global warming seriously back then. Too bad because this would be an ironically perfect opportunity for a sequel these days.

     A pretty decent remake was made in 1988, starring Kevin Dillon in one of his first major roles after surpassing his older brother Matt Dillon as a sex symbol.  It also starred the gorgeous Shawnee Smith, who was no doubt the subject of many teenage crushes and actually made several good movies, even though unfortunately most people today only know her from a bit part in the first Saw movie.
 

Faces of Death

     Released in 1979, "Faces of Death" was banned in over 46 countries until a video boxset containing all six volumes was released on VHS. Only parts 1 and 2 (and a "greatest moments" version containing clips from parts 1 and 2) have been released on DVD.

      Dr. Frances B. Gross (great name huh) takes us on a journey through the different arenas of death in all its blood and gore. From suicides to gruesome accidents, and from eating live monkey brains to orgies and cults that dine on dead human flesh. Part one is by far the best. Although, some of the footage has since been revealed as having been faked. Mostly blended together with real footage for appearance's sake. 

      Part one probably has the highest volume of real footage out of all six volumes. Part two is a slightly cheaper version of part one. Part three is pushing the boundaries of being all fake. Part three also has a new host who loves to give the camera big-eyed close-ups that are far more frightening than any of the fake footage piled together. Part five is a hodgepodge of clips from parts 1 and 2. Part six has absolutely no extra footage. The first 30 minutes are from part 2, and the rest are clips from parts 1 and 3, which is pretty damn lazy, and is absolutely no reason to release a boxset.  Therefore, stick to volumes 1 and 2, for some real footage, and part 3 only for the absurd dramatics of the new host. The rest is a waste of time.  The actual real footage contained in it is well worth seeking out though, especially for those cult fans who thought they had seen it all. 

      There's a ripoff series called "Traces of Death" which steals all the "supposedly real" scenes from Faces of Death and has added some new scenes of their own, some real and some obviously not, but it's set to an instant headache-inducing death metal music soundtrack that makes watching it rather difficult.

Toxic Zombies

     Pothead Zombies ain't that a kick in the rubber parts? A truly unique combination, don't you think? 

      It starts off with a ripoff reproduction of the beginning of the classic "Night of the Living Dead". A long winding road with an approaching car, a creepy soundtrack building in the background. Quick cut to some Feds watching a naked woman take a bath in a creek. They chase her and shoot her. Turns out she was part of a group of potheads (hardly a reason to kill someone) growing a field of dope out in some campgrounds, somewhere. Looks like backwoods Mississippi, I dunno. 

      Anyway, The Feds decide to dump a load of some experimental chemical herbicide that hasn't been approved by anyone, onto their crop. The potheads and the idiot pilot that was conned into crop dusting with this unknown chemical weapon, all the dopers start to get sick, puke blood, and for some reason begin to crave human flesh. Y'know, the typical symptoms of "zombieism". 

     A few unexposed potheads, a ranger and his wife, and a family camping in the woods (complete with a mentally challenged son), all get caught up in the drama. We lose a character here, a zombie there until the Feds finally figure out that they have really screwed things up and go out to assess the damage, eventually getting killed in the process by the few remaining zombies that are left. 

      That's about it really, the rest is all women screaming at the top of their lungs and moaning zombies. There's a lot of rather convincing gore, but other than that it was kinda boring. It ends with the ranger leaving office, mourning the death of his wife, who by the way was one of the worst actresses of all time, and that says a lot coming from someone like me who loves watching shitty movies on purpose. It was about potheads and zombies, two things that I really thought would make for a great flick, so I thought it would be cool. And as far as cult films go, it's pretty good (meaning it basically still sucked). It's very Troma, although I can't say for sure whether it was actually made by them or not.  This is just another example of a movie that had a really great premise but missed its mark, mostly because it had no budget, terrible actors, and zero promotion.  

Robot Monster

     Wow, what a piece of doggy doo. This movie is a great example of a movie that is "so bad, it's still NOT good". So bad in fact, that it makes the worst of Ed Wood's films look positively top-drawer.  

     Released in 1953, this movie has all the hallmarks of a 50's sci-fi drama. It's filled with Christian overtones and riddled with scenes that are so blatantly sexist, that you can't help but laugh to yourself, and at the same time feel truly sorry for the unfortunate women who had to deal with this astonishingly huge amount of sexism during these challenging times in American cinema. 

      Anyway, little Johnny Pipsqueak gets zapped by a falling star while picnicking with his family in what looks like a barren desert wasteland (probably some small corner of California). Soon, there is a guy in a cheap gorilla costume, complete with a zipper running up the back, and wearing a diving helmet with TV antennae on it, named Ro-Man. Often, just pronounced like "Roman". Can you feel the preaching yet? Ro-Man has conquered all mankind. All of course, except this desert-dwelling Brady Bunch knockoff who is hiding out in some adobe shanty just outside Ro-man's cave headquarters. 

      Ro-Man often reports to a TV screen boss who constantly bitches at him for not doing his job in completely wiping out the human race. NASA, FBI, CIA, KGB, and all the rest of the world were apparently conquered with ease, but the "Preachy Partridge Family" somehow stops him dead in his tracks, mostly because they're a loving family unit, which gets Ro-Man all soft-hearted. Which makes you wonder what happened to the rest of the world? Was Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, and Marilyn Monroe not enough to soften him up a little? (They were all alive when this movie came out) 

     Amidst Ro-Mans destruction, a couple gets married, walks off into the desert on their honeymoon, and makes out in a ditch. Ro-Man kills the husband and kidnaps the wife. Ro-Man even starts putting the moves on her himself (really?) Truly, if I listed all the totally sexist remarks in this movie, I'd be at this damn keyboard for days. The goofs in this movie are the only things rivaling the blatant sexism. There's even a scene where Ro-Man goes to tie the girl up, can't do it, gives up, and the "actor" throws the rope down in frustration. Literally, two frames later, she's all trussed up with a perfect rope job, complete with a square knot. Then we see a rocket that already looks like a cheap plastic toy with a sparkler shoved up its tailpipe, with its "special effects" secret being revealed when a flash goes off and you can actually see a guy dressed in all-black holding the rocket and moving it around a bit to make it look like it's flying. And for some reason, we sometimes see dinosaurs attacking each other, which literally makes no sense since this is supposed to be the future. Some are claymation stock footage, and others are just alligators or armadillos with dinosaur-looking fins and attachments glued onto them. What this has to do with the story, is anyone's guess. 

      Another funny tidbit about this film is that it actually has an intermission... on a movie that's literally only an hour long! I'm assuming that it's there merely to give someone the chance to leave and spare themselves from wasting another minute of their lives on this piece of shit, or to spend a whole five minutes making out at the drive-in. Although after watching a movie this steeped in Christian overtones, making out with a date would almost seem downright blasphemous. If you really want to laugh at a cheaper-than-cheap 50's sci-fi period piece, this film's for you. It's not even a B-movie, it's at least a C or D, all the way.  It claims to have been released in 3-D, but I've yet to find a copy in color, so I'm not sure how that would work.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

     Even though this is the perfect movie to be part of Cultarama, I've been avoiding its addition, mostly because an explanation of it is just too damned tiring. It's a really good film, but much like Eraserhead, this movie can be endlessly discussed and critiqued because of the sheer amount of plot vagueness and surrealistic symbolism involved. Y'know, the whole "Was it a dream/fantasy/real-life distortion/etc?" 

      Made in 1920 Germany, it's a silent movie of course, therefore the lip reading you can usually do with American silent films is totally lost here because the actors are speaking in German. You have to rely on facial expressions and the rarely given, overly simple, written text frames to make heads or tails of this incredible dreamland of a movie. 

     The most dreamlike aspect of all has got to be the sets, which are totally bizarre. Mostly made of paper. There are crooked houses, warped streets, and the trees look like cheap silhouettes made from cardboard. Probably one of the cheapest sets ever made, yet it's so mesmerizing in its puzzling appearance which I have to believe was done on purpose because it really enhances the strange atmosphere dramatically and definitely gives you the feeling of being in a dream, fantasy, delusion, or whatever this movie is supposed to be. 

      The bare bones of the story are this: Francis is sitting on a bench telling someone his story. A glassy-eyed woman drifts in front of them, Francis remarks that this is his fiancee. One look at her and you know somethin' ain't right though. Francis tells the story of how he and his best friend Alan are in love with the same woman, Jane. 

      A creepy carnival (is there any other kind?) then comes to town. And traveling with this carnival is a strange old man named Dr. Caligari, presenting as his exhibit, a somnambulist (a sleepwalker) named Cesare who has been sleeping for the past 23 years. When awoken, Cesare is able to tell you the future. Cesare, by the way, is one of the oddest-looking guys imaginable, with solid black eyes and a mouth that looks like a cross between Joan Crawford and Mick Jagger (HUGE!). Anyway, when Alan visits the carnival he asks Cesare "How long will I live?" Cesare informs Alan that he'll die by tomorrow morning. Naturally, Alan freaks. That night, Alan's fortune comes true when he is found stabbed to death. We see a fleeing shadow of the murderer who looks an awful lot like Cesare. Soon, Jane is kidnapped by a man that also looks like Cesare, yet Cesare's whereabouts are confirmed by police to have been sleeping in his cabinet/coffin/bed, whatever it is. This proves very puzzling until Cesare is inspected a little more closely by police and a dummy is found in the cabinet instead. Francis is enraged and chases Dr. Caligari who flees to an asylum. Francis asks if a patient named Caligari is a resident of the asylum, but is met with confusion and brought to the asylum Director's office. Guess who the asylum Director is... that's right, Dr. Caligari. 

      That night while Dr. Caligari is asleep, an investigation ensues. Francis and some friends raid Caligari's office and read his diary. They learn that his main course of study is somnambulism (sleepwalking). They also find a book containing information about a mystic, also named Dr. Caligari, who in 1703 toured with a carnival, exhibiting a somnambulist who he had enslaved into doing his bidding and committing crimes that kept many towns in a panic for months on end. Having the sleepwalker committing Caligari's crimes proved beneficial in relieving Caligari from being caught as the actual killer. In the present day, Dr. Caligari (his real name is never given) begins to obsess over his idol, the previous Dr. Caligari from 1703 who could make a sleepwalker do all his bidding. His diary reveals his desire to become Caligari and also his elation that a somnambulist has finally been committed to the asylum in which he is the Director. This means that he can finally study and unravel the secrets of how the original Dr. Caligari from 1703 succeeded in making somnambulists do his will. 

The present-day doctor's plans are finally discovered, he is put in a straight jacket and hauled off to his crooked paper cell.

      In the next scene, we see what seems to be the inside of the asylum. Francis is there telling another inmate not to talk to Cesare or you'll end up dead. He then asks a comatose Jane to marry him. She responds with a nonsensical answer that only an asylum inmate would come up with. When the doctor approaches, Francis exclaims "I'm not crazy, he IS Caligari!" The doctor then mumbles something to himself about how he now knows what the cause of his mania is and how to cure him.  

     OK, so we're left asking ourselves... Was Francis also an inmate at the asylum? Did he simply fabricate a story using other inmates as the characters? Was the present asylum Director really obsessed with an old mystic named Caligari? Was Francis just displaying his own insanity by accusing the Director of being the real Dr. Caligari? Who exactly is the insane one? My guess is that it's made up of a little of all of these possibilities. Whether it makes sense to you or not, it's still a cinematic masterpiece.

      Made in 1920, it's often regarded as the first horror movie. It isn't really that frightening, but for the time it was released, it was probably pretty disturbing, and a cerebral twist ending like that was not at all common in films. The sets definitely give you that surrealistic dreamlike sort of feeling and are sometimes almost dizzying because everything is straight-lined but at completely crooked angles.  

     Common sense tells you that this was obviously a black-and-white film when it came out, but on the DVD release, almost every scene is tinted by a wide range of colors. Tense scenes were tinted brown, tender scenes in pink or purple, and asylum scenes in various shades of blue. This colorization technique is subtle, effective, and works so well, whereas a full colorization might be fun, but would completely destroy the feel of the story.

      Overall, it's one of the most artistic and beautifully conceived movies I've ever seen. A little confusing, but what a boring world it would be if every movie was plainly explained and bluntly predictable. Being quite the opposite, this movie can be watched and discussed over and over again. And possibly with the right drugs, it could actually make sense. 

      A side note for Rob Zombie fans, Zombie used this film as his inspiration for the video for his hit song "Living Dead Girl". He plays Caligari and his wife Kitty plays a combination character of Jane and Cesare.

The Entity

     This is one of the more mainstream cult films out there (translation for mainstream-they had a little bit of money to spend on production and had a rising newcomer for the lead actress, Barbara Hershey). It became a little more well-known due to the DVD release.

      I have to admit, this movie STILL scares the piss out of me every time I watch it. Probably because I know that it had been partially based on a true event. I've been a believer in ghosts, poltergeists, and other such phenomena all my life and I knew the basic story of this particular case before actually seeing the film. The thought of being violently physically and sexually assaulted by something that you cannot see is such a frightening concept.  And the thought of no one believing you when you beg for help is an even scarier thought.

     Barbara Hershey was amazing in this movie and truly made us all believe that she really was going through one hell of a paranormal incident that showed us that a living person can be just as easily haunted as old dusty mansions can. A truly gut-wrenching performance that ensured she'd be offered more film roles to add to her growing resume. 

     About the first 3/4 of the movie is actually very close to the truth, but the last quarter of the film is complete fiction. We'll just start at the beginning and work our way through, including the occasional inserts of what supposedly really happened. 

      Carla Moran (her real name was Doris Bither) has a very difficult life. She's a single mother struggling to keep a job, going to night school to get a better job in order to financially survive in this world, dealing with three difficult children, and having a boyfriend who is almost never in town. One night she is raped in her bedroom. When the rape was over, there was no one there to call the police on. The attacker simply vanished as though he'd never been there. Everyone assumes that she dreamt it, but Carla knows it really happened. Another violent attack ensues while Carla is taking a bath. Again she is brutally raped. Carla seeks the help of a doctor, clearly displaying bruises and bite marks in places that Carla could not have possibly bitten herself. As is usually the case, the doctors aren't much help and are determined to convince Carla that the attacks are a result of Carla's imagination and her checkered past. 

      Frustrated with being told that she's just crazy, she abandons her doctors in favor of parapsychology. When other people start to witness the phenomenon for themselves and even capture photographic evidence of it, things finally start to look up for Carla. She enlists the help of some researchers in the field of parapsychology from the local university.  Finally, someone believes her and these are people who are trained (as best as someone could be) to help her. All of the above is supposedly true. Even the photographic proof, which most photography experts say are some of the most authentic photos of this type ever captured, both witnessed and photographed by many people. After a "big showdown" where Carla confronts her ghostly attacker, he shows up as a full apparition, with a room full of witnesses who photographed the entire incident, the attacks begin to wane but do not stop entirely.  The photographers helped other people believe her story, but her trauma continued. The true part of Carla's ordeal that's portrayed in the film ends here.  The real Carla Moran (Doris Bither) moved her family from state to state but was never able to escape her ruthless entity. It followed her and the attacks continued. After some ten years on the run, Doris was no longer able to be found. Efforts to locate her continued unsuccessfully. 

      OK, now for the fictional conclusion to the story, which in my opinion is kinda stupid, but what the hell, it's Hollywood. The parapsychology team that investigated and witnessed the entity at Carla's house has now decided to try to capture this being, using Carla as bait, since it seems to follow her outside of her home, at one point taking control of her car and causing her to crash. They build a basic replica of Carla's real home, consisting of a chemical toilet, hot plate, and some furniture to make her (and her torturous entity) feel more at home. They have also added a special little ghost-catching device, that shoots liquid nitrogen, which we all know, freezes virtually anything on contact. Their theory is to catch a ghost in a block of ice. Poor Carla not only is bait for the entity but has only a glass "safe room" to keep the liquid nitrogen from killing her instantly (which by the way doesn't work). An annoying doctor that (very inappropriately) cares too much for Carla interferes endlessly at this point, trying to convince her of the dangers of liquid nitrogen. She simply states that she would rather die than go on living the way she's been living. And with that, he's thrown out for good. The entity finally shows up takes control of the nitrogen machine and destroys just about everything. The huge tanks of liquid nitrogen that are stored above are ruptured and encase the entire replica in ice. Carla survives by running for her life when she can obviously see that all hell is breaking loose. The ice glows green, shakes for a moment, and the entity bursts loose. The end. There's a brief epilogue about how the attacks on Carla and her family, though decreased in frequency and violence, continue to this day.

      As I said earlier, the real Carla Moran has been identified as Doris Bither. Author Frank DeFelitta, who originally wrote the book "The Entity" on which the film is based had kept in touch with Ms. Bither. The events had originated in her house in Culver City, California, so in an effort to escape the attacks of her entity, she moved to San Bernardino. Again unsuccessful at evading the entity, which followed her wherever she moved to, she finally tried moving all the way to Texas. Again it followed, and she even reported that her neighbors would experience poltergeist activity, almost as a radial effect. By now convinced that the entity would follow her anywhere she goes, she decided to move back to California. The parapsychologists who investigated this case had lost track of Doris' whereabouts after her move to Texas. But, Frank DeFelitta managed to track her down once she moved back to California and the two remained in contact. When he revealed that he was writing a book based on her story, it was at her suggestion that her name be changed to protect what privacy she had left (he actually changed her name to "Carlotta" for the novel).  

     Since the investigation, the release of Frank DeFelittas book, and the eventual movie based on her story, Doris Bither succeeded in fading into the background as much as she could, not wanting a single bit of attention for fear of always being thought of as a haunted woman, or worse...simply crazy.  She died in 2006, due to liver failure brought on by extremely heavy alcohol consumption, but can you blame her?  I'd have stayed plastered myself if I had to deal with something as out of this world scary as constant violent spectral rape.

Trick or Treat

     This is a great 80's period piece. I saw this as a teenager and I loved it, mostly because it's a "revenge against your high school tormentors" type of movie. Sort of a "Carrie" for guys. Something I and probably thousands of other people can relate to back in those awkward (and sometimes traumatic and insanity-inducing) teenage years. 

      The story centers around Eddie Weinbaur... metalhead, mullet sporter, torn denim wearer, dressed in a never-ending selection of Metallica t-shirts. Needless to say, he's an obvious target for all the "normal" guys at his school. Why is it that the preppy guys always seem to be the biggest bullies around? It always amazed me how preps wearing pink (and a various assortment of other pastels), playing polo, using gobs of hair gel to enhance their fake highlights, and throwing pool parties could possibly have the nerve to call us "fags". Did they not have mirrors or did they just spend too much time looking into them?  

     Anyway, Eddie is actually a pretty cool guy, loves all the best metal bands... Judas Priest, Megadeth, Anthrax, etc. But his favorite is (the fictional) Sammi Curr. Eddie absolutely adores his ultimate idol Sammi Curr and writes him tons of fan letters under the pseudonym "Ragman". Mostly complaining about his lousy high school existence. 

      One day, the unthinkable happens. Sammi Curr dies in a mysterious hotel fire. Eddie is crushed. He seeks empathy from his radio DJ friend (appropriately played by Kiss frontman Gene Simmons) who presents Eddie with a one-of-a-kind gift. Sammi's new album which was scheduled to be released, but delayed because of his untimely death, is now intended to be played at midnight on Halloween, and the DJ has the only master copy. He gives Eddie the master album because he's already made a tape recording of the album which he intends to play at midnight. Thrilled shitless, Eddie takes the album home, presses play, and listens to the album over and over until he falls asleep. 

      Eddie wakes up to the sound of the record skipping. The short bits of music between the skips sound like language in reverse. Eddie begins to play the album backward and hears the voice of Sammi Curr leaving vague messages that seem to be left specifically for Ragman (Eddie). Eddie plays the rest of the album backward and discovers some instructions for a revenge plan to get back at his preppy bullies. He executes the plan as directed and it works perfectly. Eddie begins an ongoing conversation with Sammi Curr through messages contained in the album. Eddie asks in forward mode and Sammi replies in reverse. 

      Soon, Eddie is all-powerful... that is until he realizes that he's just a tool for Sammi to be "reborn" through the power of METAL, DUDE!. Using electricity as his general vehicle, Sammi Curr terrorizes the Halloween dance at Eddie's school, killing more than just the preps. And has plans to reach an even bigger killing ground with his new album being played at midnight over the radio. Though Eddie has destroyed the master vinyl album, he realizes that the DJ has a tape recording that also needs to be destroyed, so it's up to Eddie and some sympathetic ex-prep chick with a secret crush on him to save the day by preventing the album from being played at midnight. They succeed in shutting off the power, by smashing a transformer or something. 

      A pretty predictable ending to a very cliche teenage 80s flick, but still a good film nonetheless. Most metalheads I knew in high school were actually really nice guys and it was the popular kids who were always the nasty ones, so I actually really related to this movie. Don't miss Ozzy Osbourne's cameo as a Christian televangelist, bitching about the sexually suggestive lyrics of heavy metal music. Nice touch.