THE CASE OF THE SMILING STIFFS (1973)
aka Case of the Full Moon Murders

Article 3674 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-21-2011
Posting Date: 9-5-2011
Directed by Sean S. Cunningham and Brud Talbot
Featuring Sheila Stuart, Jed Ziegler, Cathy Walker
Country: USA
What it is: After hours horror

A vampire is loose in Miami whose method of attack leaves a number of happy corpses around. Dragnet-style cops investigate.

The producer of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and FRIDAY THE 13TH shows that he was as interested in live bodies as he was in dead ones with this movie; yes, the title does indeed have a double meaning. Apparently, this movie was made in both hardcore and softcore versions, with only the latter version surviving. Now I find these movies rather difficult to review; since they’re something in the way of a “specialty” genre, they really need to be judged on the degree they provide that “specialty”, and other factors (such as acting, plot, etc.) are of minimal importance. However, I have no interest in reviewing movies on those terms, so let’s just say that I’ve watched this on to get it off my hunt list. I will make one comment, though; the “Dragnet” style narration really gets tiresome before this one is through.