Lurkers (1988)

Director:

Roberta Findlay

Writers:

Ed Kelleher (written by) and
Harriette Vidal (written by)

Release Date:

March 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Cathy's not scared. She should be... she's one of them!

Plot:

A woman is haunted by flashbacks of her dead mother and visions of dead people floating.

Plot Keywords:

Vision | Hell | Manipulation | Ghost Child | Mother Wielding Knife

Cast

Christine Moore	...	Cathy
Gary Warner	...	Bob
Marina Taylor	...	Monica
Roy MacArthur	...	Desmond
Peter Oliver-Norman	...	Steve
Nancy Groff	...	Rita
Tom Billett	...	Leo 'The Hammer' (as Thomas Billett)
Carissa Channing	...	Sally
Dana Nardelli	...	Young Cathy
Lauren Ruane	...	Ghost Child
C.C. Banks	...	Agnes
Gil Newsom	...	Phil
Eva Baumann	...	Guardian Angel
Ruth Collins	...	Jane (Model)
Annie Grindlay	...	Lulu (Model) (as Anne Grindlay)
Gregory Sullivan	...	Lurker 1
Timothy Rule	...	Lurker 2
Jeanette Smith	...	Lurker 3
Steve Villalobos	...	Lurker 4
Lynne Nonnenmacher	...	Lurker 5
Bonnie Sterner	...	Lurker 6
Jeffrey Wallach	...	Salesman
Wayne Burcham	...	John (Cathy's father)
Jodi Armstrong	...	Cathy's Friend
Walter E. Sear	...	Engineer (as Walter Sear)
William Titus	...	Asst. Engineer
Elka Shapiro	...	Jump-Rope Girl
Dayna Shapiro	...	Jump-Rope Girl
Janeen Rossi	...	Jump-Rope Girl
Danielle Leonard	...	Jump-Rope Girl
Tara Lyn Catanzaro	...	Jump-Rope Girl
Deanna Rossi	...	Jump-Rope Girl
Christina Rossi	...	Jump-Rope Girl
Florence Galperin	...	Woman in Menage
Shana Seer Gaskill	...	Musician
Ric Frank	...	Musician
Moira Tobey	...	Musician
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rob Anderson	...	Lurker (uncredited)
Maitland McDonagh	...	(uncredited)
Debbie Rochon	...	Evil Host (uncredited)

Directed by
Roberta Findlay

Writing credits
Ed Kelleher		(written by) and
Harriette Vidal		(written by)

Produced by
Walter E. Sear	....	producer

Original Music by
Walter E. Sear

Cinematography by
Roberta Findlay		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Roberta Findlay
Walter E. Sear

Art Direction by
Jeffrey Wallach

Costume Design by
Ivy Rosovsky
Jeffrey Wallach

Makeup Department
Jean Carballo	....	makeup artist (as Jeann Carballo)
Ed French	....	Lurker prosthetics
Ed French	....	special makeup effects artist
Tom Lauten	....	effects crew: Ed French
Erik Schaper	....	effects crew: Ed French

Production Management
Walter E. Sear	....	production manager

Art Department
Ivy Rosovsky	....	art department
Jeffrey Wallach	....	art department

Sound Department
William Titus	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Burkhardt	....	second grip
Richard Eliano	....	assistant camera
David Phillips	....	gaffer
Ethan Phillips	....	best boy
Bob Podbielski	....	key grip (as Robert Podbielski)

Editorial Department
Pete Spataro	....	color timer (as Peter Spataro)
Jay Wander	....	negative cutter

Other crew
Juan Calderon	....	craft service
Jim Cirile	....	assistant to producer (as James M. Cirile)
Tony Landano	....	laboratory consultant (as Anthony Landano)
Willie Matos	....	production assistant
Jay Samuels	....	production accountant: G.B. Tepper and Associates

Production Companies

• Reeltime Distributing Corporation

Distributors

• Crown International Pictures (1988) (USA) (theatrical)
• BCI Eclipse (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Media Home Entertainment (video)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Mogul Communications (1987) (UK) (VHS)
• Rhino Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• A.B.C. Carpet  special thanks
• Advertising in Movies  special thanks
• Cattiva by Maya Jornot  Cathy's party dress furnished by
• G.B. Tepper & Associates  production accountants (as G.B. Tepper and Associates)
• General Camera Corporation  our sincerest thanks to: for all their help and cooperation (as General Camera)
• New York City Mayor's Office of Film, Theater & Broadcasting, The  we wish to thank (as The Mayor's Office For Film, Theatre And Broadcasting of The City Of New York)
• Original Ray's Pizza  special thanks
• Sear Sound  re-recording and mix
• St. Vincent De Paul Society  special thanks (as Society of St. Vincent De Paul)
• Unique Clothing Warehouse  special thanks
• Videart Opticals  titles and opticals (as Videart)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Reeltime Distributing Corporation

Quotes:

Cathy:I know what I saw! I know what happened! It sounds stupid but it happened!

So, we didn't get up to much lurking?

After emotionally / psychically being abused by her mother, Cathy would hear tales that the lurkers would come and get her if she was naughty. These lurkers were ghostly figures that hanged around the apartment building and only she saw. While, playing with friends the skipping rope strangely finds itself around Cathy's neck with little concern from the other children. Then a mysterious lady shows up and everything goes back to normal. Then we skip 15 years into the present where Cathy is in a relationship with a photographer, Bob. They're happily in love, but there's something lurking under the surface and Cathy starts getting recurring nightmares of her traumatic childhood.

Roberta Findley might not have a great rep behind her films, but surprisingly I enjoyed "The Oracle", which made me grabbed this particular flick. The shame was that I didn't quite get into this shonky trash, despite an interestingly offbeat concept. Sadly I found it quite tough going as its terribly talky without really going anywhere with the idea. Sure, chat is fine, but when it strings you along and along with even more lifeless chitchat. The overall silliness of it shows up strongly that your hoping it would break out the madness, but it hardly eventuates. When it does. It's not for long, and back to pointless chitchat we go. Throw in plenty of redundant build-ups and odd stretches that fill like nothing more than fillers to pad out the running time. This only dragged out the slow pace even more. It should have been more fun than it was, as I found myself to be either bored or baffled.

The plotting of the flat story was a convoluted jumble (It skips in between a whole lot of elements) with many uneventful happenings. It's a nasty little item that doesn't explicitly show it, but it's grim and mean-spirited in nature. After a genuinely creepy and tight opening couple minutes when Cathy was a child and throw in some motherly love. Some inspired touches creep up here. It never seemed quite sure where to go and its poor execution shows it up immensely. The look and feel of it is quite amateurish and it can't seem to shake it or work around it without embarrassingly telegraphing to us.

Now it's better to leave the moronic script alone! While, the overwrought music score is quite a groaner and like something that would fit nicely in a silent film. The only real component technical aspect had to be that it was actually pretty well shot and caught the grimy locations. The acting was very indifferent and Christine Moore in the lead role was the only one to give a reasonable turn. Roy MacArthur had a bit a fun with his performance and lightened it up when on screen.

This forgettable, drab feature definitely squanders every opportunity to make something fulfilling out of this idea.