Jack-O (1995)

Director:

Steve Latshaw

Writers:

Brad Linaweaver (story)
Patrick Moran (writer)

Release Date:

10 October 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

He's Baaack!

Plot:

A long long time ago a wizard was put to death, but he swore vengeance on the townsfolk that did him in...

Plot Keywords:

Halloween | Partly Teenkill | Throat Slitting | Buried Alive | Decapitation

Cast

Linnea Quigley	...	Carolyn Miller
Maddisen K. Krown	...	Linda Kelly (as Rebecca Wicks)
Gary Doles	...	David Kelly
Ryan Latshaw	...	Sean / David Kelly
Catherine Walsh	...	Vivian Machen
Rachel Carter	...	Julie Miller
Tom Ferda	...	Jim
Bill Cross	...	Richard Watson
Helen Keeling	...	Amanda Watson
Thor Schweigerath	...	Robbie
Christina Connell	...	Sarah
Kelly Lacy	...	Shannon
George Castells	...	Brent
Bernie Fidello	...	Simms
Michael Walsh	...	Paul

Also Known As:

Jack O'Lantern (Europe) (video box title)

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence and nudity.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:15 | Australia:MA (2007) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Apopka, Florida, USA

Company:

American Independent Productions

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Steve Latshaw]the Cable Installer. He is credited under the pseudonym "Vic Savage", an in-joke reference to actor/director 'Arthur Nelson (I)', who used that name when played the lead in his film, The Creeping Terror (1964).

Quotes:

Rush Gingbaw: [on television] Love your neighbors. Oh, sure, love your neighbors. If they're real Americans.

Good dumb fun!

I bought this out of curiosity. How did John Carradine (who died in 1988) and Cameron Mitchell (who died in 1994) make appearances in a film made in 1995? Thanks to the miracle of unused film can footage that's probably been sitting on a shelf somewhere for ten years, that's how! You can tell because the film stock used to shoot their scenes doesn't match the film used for shooting "Jack-O." The curse of Ed Wood lives on. The good thing for both Carradine and Mitchell is that this is exactly the kind of movie you'd expect to find on both of their filmographies. Same goes for Scream Queens Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens and Dawn Wildsmith.

The setting is Oakmoor Crossing on Halloween, and some kind of curse is released when dumb, beer-guzzling teens disrupt a grave. The result: a hulking killer with a scythe and a big plastic pumpkin on his head! He (it?) goes after the wholesome Kelly family for revenge (and kills others who get in his way). The father opens a Haunted Garage for the neighborhood kiddies. The son (Ryan Latshaw, son of the director) has one continuous, perplexed facial expression for all his scenes and one hilariously badly acted dramatic scene lying in a grave. At least he's a kid. The mother's eyes about pop out of her head while she strains to read her dialogue. There is also an annoying woman who shows up to explain things who seems to be trying to phonetically pronounce all of her dialogue.

So what about the name actors? You see Stevens, Wildsmith and Mitchell briefly on a TV screen (they're used to pad out the time). Linnea has a bigger role as a babysitter, and she does exactly what she can with it. Her enthusiastic performance helps a little bit. There's also one out-of-nowhere laugh when an ultra-conservative couple who watch a Rush Limbaugh clone on TV bite it. The woman slips on a rug and stabs a toaster with a knife. She's electrocuted and the end result looks like a flame-broiled Muppet.

All and all, pretty entertaining stuff! I wasn't bored!