With a cast featuring Sally Field, Jessica Walter, Julie Harris, and Eleanor Parker and a script by Psycho's own Joseph Stefano, Home for the Holidays delivers the ghoulish holiday horror you'd expect with some first-rate performances, twists, turns, and lots of great performances. With a pedigree like this, it's surprising to me that Home for the Holidays is still languishing in relative obscurity with not so much as a legitimate DVD release to its name.
Reviews
18 Reviews
Pieces
(1982)
Splatter-Filled Slasher Silliness
21 December 2021
If you're on the lookout for a slasher film with less plot and more slashing, Pieces is the film for you. It doesn't twist itself out of shape to give the audience anything unexpected, but it delivers its gruesome delights with a mix of inept dialogue/character interactions and stylish murder sequences. It makes for a strange, but oddly satisfying brew.
Happy Birthday to Me
(1981)
Great Canadian Slasher
21 December 2021
The Canadians prove once again that they were responsible for some of the most interesting slashers of the early 80's. Happy Birthday To Me has a labyrinthian screenplay with so many characters and subplots that you might find yourself thinking it would function better as a TV miniseries. The twists and turns come fast and furious, sprinkled with some gnarly and gruesome death scenes and styled with old school Hollywood class by veteran director, J. Lee Thompson. Be sure to stay for the absolutely insane final act.
Black Christmas
(1974)
Unsettling Classic
21 December 2021
Even though it's been remade twice now, it seems nearly impossible for filmmakers to grasp what makes this 1974 chiller so powerful and deeply frightening. Its plot, even at that time, seemed routine and humdrum, but with the unsettling killer P. O. V. Shots, the haunting music, well-crafted suspense, deeply disturbing phone calls, and excellent cast playing characters that function as more than cardboard cutouts, Black Christmas goes to the head of the class. It's really hard to shake this one after the film ends.
Absurd
(1981)
Entertaining Splatter Flick
21 December 2021
Absurd feels like a spiritual appropriation of themes and beats from the first two Halloween films but translated to Italian with their own unique flair for grotesque imagery. Lots of splattery gore effects with an oven mishap being one of the nastiest.
Beyond the Darkness
(1979)
Splatter Fest
21 December 2021
Beyond the Darkness (or Buio Omega) might be low on plot and complex characters, but the gore quotient is off the charts and some of the effects will churn the stomachs of even the most hardcore horror fans. If they were passing out medals for that, it would win hands down. While the script isn't the best, there's an engrossing "car crash" quality to the film that keeps you invested.
Obsession: A Taste for Fear
(1987)
Beautifully Shot
5 October 2021
A fashion photographer's models are being picked off one by one by a deranged redhead who lures them to phony photo shoots and stabs them to death.
Obsession: A Taste for Fear looks absolutely gorgeous even in its obviously cropped and muddy VHS transfer. It's part giallo and part erotic thriller with a little futuristic Blade Runner vibe throughout. Everything is bright, colorful, and futuristic. Unfortunately, the plot is both too convoluted and sluggish to keep one's interest for much time. You might find yourself nodding off midway through as the film's unlikable heroine tries to seduce yet another person for no apparent reason.
Obsession: A Taste for Fear looks absolutely gorgeous even in its obviously cropped and muddy VHS transfer. It's part giallo and part erotic thriller with a little futuristic Blade Runner vibe throughout. Everything is bright, colorful, and futuristic. Unfortunately, the plot is both too convoluted and sluggish to keep one's interest for much time. You might find yourself nodding off midway through as the film's unlikable heroine tries to seduce yet another person for no apparent reason.
Low Budget Horror Character Study
4 October 2021
Millie Perkins is excellent as the traumatized heroine of The Witch Who Came To See. She plays a confused woman who murders men due to trauma from her past. It's low budget, but is an interesting character study at times with some memorable scenes.
Human Experiments
(1979)
A Bit Bland
4 October 2021
For those expecting wild and raunchy exploitation goodness, Human Experiments will come up short. It's nowhere near as memorable as other woman-in-prison films and it doesn't quite pack a punch in the horror/suspense department either.
Night of the Dark Full Moon
(1972)
Gritty and Creepy
4 October 2021
While not as professional or slick as the slashers that came after it, Silent Night, Bloody Night has just the right kind of low budget regional horror mood that makes films like this so unique. The plot can meander and it's a little too convoluted, but there are several memorable creepy sequences including some that were used later in Black Christmas, When A Stranger Calls, and Prom Night.
The Forgotten
(1973)
Low Budget Gem
4 October 2021
A young nurse arrives for work at a mental hospital where the patients are in danger of overtaking the staff and there are many secrets she'll discover along the way.
Clearly made for next to no money with actors of varying degrees of talent, Don't Look in the Basement is a testament to creativity over money. The script is tighter than it should be with some excellent twists. If you can look past the obvious surface flaws, it's incredibly enjoyable.
Clearly made for next to no money with actors of varying degrees of talent, Don't Look in the Basement is a testament to creativity over money. The script is tighter than it should be with some excellent twists. If you can look past the obvious surface flaws, it's incredibly enjoyable.
The Boogey Man
(1980)
Sometimes Imaginative
4 October 2021
The ghost of their mother's abusive lover returns through a mirror to terrorize a brother and sister after they've grown up.
The Boogey Man is a lot like a mix of Halloween, The Exorcist, and The Amityville Horror blended together but a lot of the elements haven't fully dissolved yet. What you end up getting is a sometimes tasty but never completely satisfying horror film with some great elements.
The Boogey Man is a lot like a mix of Halloween, The Exorcist, and The Amityville Horror blended together but a lot of the elements haven't fully dissolved yet. What you end up getting is a sometimes tasty but never completely satisfying horror film with some great elements.
Slaughter High
(1986)
Turn Off Your Brain and Enjoy
4 October 2021
10 years after their prank left a fellow student physically deformed and mentally scarred, a group of classmates attend their high school reunion and are picked off in a variety of clever ways by a killer in a jester's mask.
Slaughter High never really tries to shroud the killer's identity in a veil of mystery, so the usual slasher film whodunnit aspect is missed, but it makes up for it in sheer gore level and the ways the killer knocks off his victims are certainly creative. There are some lulls in the pacing here and there, but it's mostly enjoyable cheese.
Slaughter High never really tries to shroud the killer's identity in a veil of mystery, so the usual slasher film whodunnit aspect is missed, but it makes up for it in sheer gore level and the ways the killer knocks off his victims are certainly creative. There are some lulls in the pacing here and there, but it's mostly enjoyable cheese.
Final Exam
(1981)
Not Much Happens
4 October 2021
At Lanier College, there's a murderer on the loose and you can never tell which students will make it to their final exams or not.
Final Exam is about 20% slashing and 80% college hijinx. If this appeals to you, I'd say check it out, but if you're in it for gore, stay far away. It tries to ape Halloween by relying more on suspense instead of gore, but it simply can't compete with the storytelling abilities of John Carpenter and Debra Hill. It does feature some likable and fun characters that aren't a total chore to spend time with and the finale does build a reasonable amount of suspense.
Final Exam is about 20% slashing and 80% college hijinx. If this appeals to you, I'd say check it out, but if you're in it for gore, stay far away. It tries to ape Halloween by relying more on suspense instead of gore, but it simply can't compete with the storytelling abilities of John Carpenter and Debra Hill. It does feature some likable and fun characters that aren't a total chore to spend time with and the finale does build a reasonable amount of suspense.
Madhouse
(1981)
Birthday from Hell
4 October 2021
A teacher's demented sister escapes from an asylum on their birthday and begins terrorizing everyone in her life with the help her vicious dog.
Madhouse is stylishly shot with better than average performances, especially from Trish Everly in the leading role, and it all builds to a nutty conclusion that's much gorier than expected.
Madhouse is stylishly shot with better than average performances, especially from Trish Everly in the leading role, and it all builds to a nutty conclusion that's much gorier than expected.
Unhinged
(1982)
Great Moody Location
4 October 2021
Three girlfriends get into a bad car wreck on their way to a concert and wake up in a secluded mansion belonging to a spinster and her man-hating mother. Before long, a killer appears and starts killing everyone.
Owing a good deal to Psycho, Unhinged isn't the shiniest low budget horror film out there, but it's not without its high point. Some shots are executed with style, the synth score is creepy, and the main location that's used is ripe with mood.
Owing a good deal to Psycho, Unhinged isn't the shiniest low budget horror film out there, but it's not without its high point. Some shots are executed with style, the synth score is creepy, and the main location that's used is ripe with mood.
Visiting Hours
(1982)
Very Scary
4 October 2021
Unlike many other slasher films, Visiting Hours focuses on adults rather than teenagers and the results are more gripping than expected. Lee Grant's feminist heroine says something on air that angers Michael Ironside's woman-hating psycho and he goes after her and leaves her for dead. When he discovers that she's still alive and recuperating in a local hospital, he goes after her again and kills anyone who gets in his way.
A much more realistic slasher than most, Visiting Hours has its slow spots, but is more than worth it for the thrilling finale.
A much more realistic slasher than most, Visiting Hours has its slow spots, but is more than worth it for the thrilling finale.
Alone in the Dark
(1982)
A Scary Good Time
4 October 2021
Loved this one! An all-star cast featuring the likes of Martin Landau, Donald Pleasance, and Jack Palance slum it in a slasher movie and seem to be having a great time. There are a lot of shocks and twists that still hold up all these years later. Scream Factory did a great job on the Blu-Ray.
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