Dead And Buried (1981)

Dead And Buried is a great little horror movie. It's one of those films that's just so much fun, it's a campfire tale of a movie, an E.C. comic on screen and none the worse for it.

Things start off with a horrible murder and then get decidedly odd as we see people walking around who should be staying very still due to them being mortality-challenged, according to the information that the local sheriff Dan Gillis (James Farentino) is receiving. Is there a conspiracy going on in the town? Voodoo hoodoo perhaps? Or does the local mortician (played by Jack Albertson) have some secret that he's managed to hide from the sheriff?

Ronald Shusett and Dan O'Bannon wrote the script, based on a story by Jeff Millar and Alex Stern, and the publicity at the time made the most of the fact that these men were responsible for crafting the script of Alien. This is, of course, a very different type of movie but it's handled just as carefully and paced perfectly.

Director Gary Sherman mixes some proper shocks (which gained it enough attention to get it tagged as a "video nasty" back amidst that particular furore) with lashings of atmosphere so thick that you can almost smell the saltwater-mist as it rolls through the screen.

The acting is pretty top-notch from everyone involved. Farentino is very good as the leading man trying to figure out what's going on in his town but it's Albertson who steals the show as the mortician with a real pride in his work, often accompanied by his favourite big-band music. Other faces of note include Robert Englund, Barry Corbin (a tiny role but always good to see him), Glenn Morshower, Christopher Allport, the lovely Melody Anderson and Lisa Blount, who makes quite an impression with her limited screen time.

Perhaps it's a movie that feels a bit too cheeky by the time the end credits roll but it's a fine mix of black comedy and outright horror that I feel does just enough to assume the viewer is onside right up until it reveals it's punchline. It's a fun ride but also has moments of real horror there. It has a fine pedigree (Sherman had previously directed Death Line while Shusett and O'Bannon had given us that killer xenomorph) and I think that most fans should love it.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-And-Buried-James-Farentino/dp/B0002ADX0M/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1388784797&sr=8-6&keywords=dead+and+buried

The Glow (2002)

A slick, enjoyable TV movie, The Glow benefits from some fun performances, an enjoyable premise and the way that the film unfolds with the viewers staying at least two steps ahead of the central characters.

Dean Cain plays Matt Lawrence, a man who is mugged while out jogging in the first scene of the film. He is approached, and befriended, by some elderly people who offer to let him use their home and telephone to contact his wife, Jackie (Portia de Rossi). By the time Jackie arrives, Matt has well and truly made friends with his saviours. In fact, they've all been getting on so well that Matt has been told about a vacant apartment in the block that could be just perfect for he and his wife. The other tenants own the block, and therefore keep the rents within reason, and really seem to take a shine to the "youngsters" so it's not long until Matt and Jackie cave in and accept the offer. But it also not long until Jackie starts to suspect that all isn't as it seems. Her elderly neighbours are quite obsessed with health and fitness, people start to go missing and events start to seem as if they are being manipulated to take both Matt and Jackie to a certain point.

Directed competently enough by Craig R. Baxley, and written by Gary Sherman (who adapted the book by Brooks Stanwood), The Glow is nonsense, but it doesn't put on any airs and graces. Despite the ridiculous premise, it plays everything straight and relatively safe. Think of it as an extended episode of Goosebumps for adults and you're on the right track.

Cain and de Rossi are okay in the lead roles, with the latter overacting just enough to add some amusement to the proceedings, but it's the older cast members who make this more enjoyable than it should be. Hal Linden and Dina Nerrill both have a twinkle in their eyes, and Grace Zabriskie plays a character with a tongue as sharp as her attitude. Sabrina Grdevich and Jason Blicker play the obligatory friends who get caught up in the situation as things eventually become clear in the second half, and Phoenix Gonzales and Nelson Tynes are two other, non-OAP, tenants in the building.

Although it doesn't include anything extra to spice up the material, this is solid entertainment. I was never bored, I wanted the central characters to realise what they were getting into as events unfolded, and I'd watch it again if it ever came on TV and I was too far away from the remote control. It's nothing special, but it's not bad. It's not bad at all.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Glow-uncut-english-audio/dp/B004XJ6SXW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378899202&sr=8-1&keywords=the+glow

Poltergeist III (1988)

That spooky, nasty reverend Kane is back (this time played by Nathan Davis after the death of actor Julian Beck) and he still wants Carol Anne, despite the fact that she now lives in a sleek, ultra-modern highrise building with her uncle and aunt (Tom Skerritt and Nancy Allen). Thankfully, this big building has lots of mirrors and reflective surfaces that can become portals for Kane’s particular brand of evil.

You can try to be all deep and meaningful about it and put it this way – Poltergeist was about the insidious nature of television and how too much exposure to it can literally eat up the life of your child, Poltergeist II: The Other Side was about the family unit and how important and difficult it was to stay united against outside pressures and obstacles, Poltergeist III is about the perils of complete modernisation that leads to alienation and far too many opportunities for wrongdoing. Or you could just say that Poltergeist was a great ghost flick, Poltergeist II: The Other Side was a decent ghost flick with a definite baddie to focus on and Poltergeist III was the movie that went back to the well one time too many.

The acting is okay from all involved but everything is undermined by a poor script (that should have simply been titled “Carol Anne” due to the number of times that her name is called out) and mediocre execution. Director Gary Sherman (who also shares the blame for co-writing the thing) seems happy to go along with everything that is wrong with many modern horror movies. You know what I mean: people keep running off alone, nobody seems to notice while lots of other folk disappear, one jump scare is repeated so often that it ends up being ineffective, etc.

It’s a shame that this was the last movie for young Heather O’Rourke (her death after this movie completed a trio of deaths that people referred/refer to as “The Poltergeist Curse”) because it’s just not a very good film. On a lighter note, it’s the first film gig for a young Lara Flynn Boyle so fans may want to check it out for that reason. 

There are still a few decent moments here and there but, overall, this is a poor end. 
 
5/10

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