Xtro (1982)
aka. X-tro
aka. Judas Goat
★ ★ Creature feature with some impressive makeup effects. Doesn’t really know what it wants to be about, so the focus shifts between the kid, the mom, her boyfriend and her husband who shows up after three years. There’s clown imagery and body horror and a monster looking to plant some eggs. Effective moments but not a cohesive film.
The Killing of Satan (1983)
aka. Fight Satan
★ ★ Man vs. Satan ...and his gang of super-powered magicians. Thought I might need a good bad movie about now so I added this title from badmovies.org’s Best B-Movies. They accurately describe Philippine genre cinema with, “sometimes they almost make sense, until they suddenly don’t.” You could have a David Lynch of a time looking for internal logic where it probably doesn’t exist. It’s the full satan here: red tail, horns and pitchfork. Also our hero backhands a snake.
Revenge of the Dead (1983)
aka. Voices from Darkness
aka. Voices from the Beyond
★ ★ ½ Not an Italian zombie rip-off, but a mystery (discovered cleverly in the ribbon of an old typewriter) that sends out curious lead on a quest to discover a religious cult that believes in the ability to bring the dead back to life. More Pet Sematary than Dawn of the Dead, marred mostly by a conclusion that just left me thinking, “I guess that’s it, then.” Had one scary scene, one tense encounter, a surprise and a shocking image, raising what’s been a very low bar for this year’s marathon.
Sole Survivor (1984)
★ ★ One woman survives a plane crash completely uninjured, but while suffering survivor’s guilt, she thinks death may still be coming for her. Small indie which borrows heavily from Carnival of Souls could be seen as the inspiration for Final Destination, Unbreakable and 1993’s Fearless. By itself, it doesn’t develop the story to have nearly as much interest as the later films and can’t afford a fraction of the strange atmosphere of the earlier one.
Demons 2 (1986)
aka. Demoni 2... The Nightmare Returns
★ ½ Officially, Demoni is my least favorite film of All Time. In truth, I've probably seen worse since then, but back in 1989 when I watched the original - and I remember the experience clearly - I was offended by the narrative incoherence and the use of disgusting imagery for entertainment. Nothing in this film is as repellent and a lifetime of Michael Bay has numbed me to a filmmaker who prizes a sensational image above all else. The film moves fast, looks stylish and there are plenty of 'big' moments, but the uncaring stupidity towards any story still annoys.