THE DEMON (1981)
Article 4969 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 10-26-2016
Directed by Percival Rubens
Featuring Jennifer Holmes, Cameron Mitchell, Craig Gardner
Country: South Africa / Netherlands
What it is: Slasher film

A killer with a clawed glove who likes to strangle people with plastic bags is on the loose.

Usually when I see Cameron Mitchell’s name in the credits, I suspect two things. One is that the movie is not going to be very good. The other is that Mitchell will probably be the best thing about it. That’s how I feel about this one. The fact that he is a psychic who is hired to track down the killer made me suspect this was another of the many “serial killer versus psychic” movies I’ve encountered. Unfortunately (though I may be supplying a spoiler here), that particular plot thread ends so abruptly that I rather suspect that it only exists to pad out what is in most other respects only an imitation of HALLOWEEN. As far as I can tell, the most famous thing about this movie is that during the climactic chase scene, the heroine of the movie is topless. Those impressed by that detail are welcome to hunt up the movie; the rest of you need to be aware that most of the movie seems more concerned with the uninteresting love lives of a pair of schoolteachers. It generates little in the way of suspense. This was a singularly dull way for me to spend a Sunday afternoon.

DEFCON-4 (1985)
aka Def-Con 4
Article 4968 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 10-25-2015
Directed by Paul Donovan, Digby Cook and Tony Randel
Featuring Lenore Zann, Maury Chaykin, Kate Lynch
Country: Canada
What it is: After-the-Apocalypse action

A trio of astronauts on a secret NORAD defense satellite witness nuclear holocaust, but are forced to land back on the earth. They become prisoners of a gang of punks who are after their food and trying to find a haven of safety.

Well, I will give the movie this much; at least it just doesn’t come off like an imitation of the Mad Max movies or other post-apocalyptic movies of the period. That’s not to say that there isn’t some influences to be found; for example, having the main villain wear an earring is at least a mild nod in that direction. The trouble is that the movie never really develops much of a real identity of its own; it’s not directed with much flair, and it’s only adequately acted. There’s some interesting ideas in the script; I liked the idea of one of the astronauts seeing a one-way transmission from his wife in which she confides with him that her way of coping with his absence is to believe that he’s already dead, and this could have been a powerful scene if the movie were better. As it is, it’s not much fun as either an action movie or in any real visual sense. At least part of the problem is that our “heroic” main character is actually a bit of a worm; it’s rather hard to root for him. Still, I think the movie is a little bit better than its reputation would have you believe.

DEATH CAR ON THE FREEWAY (1979)
Article 4967 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 10-25-2015
Directed by Hal Needham
Featuring Shelley Hack, Frank Gorshin, Peter Graves
Country: USA
What it is: TV-Movie thriller

A maniac is loose on the freeway, forcing cars being driven by beautiful women into having accidents. An ambitious female reporter tries to get to the bottom of it.

Hal Needham was a stunt man turned director who specialized in light-hearted action fare with lots of stunts and car crashes and usually starring Burt Reynolds. As a director, I’ve only encountered him once before in this series with the dismal MEGAFORCE; if this movie is better than that one, bear in mind that it didn’t take much to be so. Actually, it’s interesting to see him try for a straightforward thriller rather than a comic one, and if there’s one thing the movie does well, it’s the car-driving stunt work on display here. Most of the rest of the movie is pretty bad; there’s a lot of name stars in forgettable cameos and a lot of tiresome time is spent on the reporter’s relationship with her sexist ex-lover/husband (I’m not sure which) played by George Hamilton. He’s so obnoxious that I found myself wondering whether he would end up to be the killer; as it is, you never see the latter’s face. Technically, the movie should be called DEATH VAN ON THE FREEWAY, but then, I would have had real trouble identifying the killer’s trademark music as “bluegrass” or even that it was being played on a fiddle; it almost sounds like avant-garde electronic garble. Nevertheless, the movie does hold the interest and is fairly exciting, and it also features a memorable cameo from Sid Haig. Actually, it’s not too bad for a TV-Movie. The movie’s fantastic content is that it is, of course, a variation on the serial killer theme.

DAWN OF THE MUMMY (1981)
Article 4966 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 10-23-2015
Directed by Frank Agrama
Featuring Brenda Siemer Scheider, Barry Sattels, George Peck
Country: USA / Egypt / Italy
What it is: Mummy / zombie movie

A group of gold-seekers desecrate a mummy’s tomb. A mummy appears to fulfill the curse, and he brings with him a gaggle of flesh-eating zombies.

If the plot description of the horror movie you’re watching includes the following development – “Then a gang of models and photographers show up and decide this is a great place for an exotic photo shoot” -, then you most likely have a stinker on your hands. But then, what do you really expect of a “curse of the mummy” movie that thinks it’s being clever by throwing in a bunch of fashionable flesh-eating zombies into the mix? Unlike yesterday’s movie, this one looks like it at least had the help of professionals in the making of the movie. But that doesn’t change the fact the script is a confused mess, and that it tries to get most of its scares out of having half the dialogue being shrieked. There’s plenty of gore in the final reel, but there’s little in the way of real tension and it’s too shrill to be much fun. The best thing about this one is the Egyptian locations; beyond that, it’s just tiresome.