After a cruel practical joke goes horribly wrong, a young student is left in a coma. Her spirit subsequently possesses the body of a newcomer to an American girls' college, using her as an instrument of revenge against those responsible, as a series of increasingly violent and supernatural deaths begins to unfold.
Directed by Lucio Fulci, from a screenplay co-written with Giorgio Mariuzzo, Ænigma was produced by Boro Banjac and Ettore Spagnuolo, with Walter Brandi serving as executive producer. Vanio Amici handled the editing, Luigi Ciccarese the cinematography, and Carlo Maria Cordio the musical score.
Although comparisons can be drawn with Carrie (1976) and The Medusa Touch (1978), this feels much more like Fulci's own take on Dario Argento's Phenomena (1985), which preceded it by two years.
There are a handful of suitably gruesome set pieces, including severed heads and the memorable snail sequence. There's some nudity and seduction thrown in for good measure. The make-up and practical effects mostly hold up, while the model work adds to the film's old-school genre appeal. Fulci's involvement in the special photographic effects is another welcome touch.
The cinematography has its limitations, but the on-location setting in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, lends the college an imposing, atmospheric character that works particularly well within the film's supernatural framework. The production design makes good use of the buildings and surroundings, giving the fictional American institution a distinctive visual identity along with some fresh faces.
It's a step away from Fulci's own Zombie Flesh Eaters, and the likes of The Beyond or City of the Living Dead, but if you want to see a faux Argento, this is it.
Ultimately, though, it is the alluring Lara Naszinsky (credited elsewhere as Lara Lamberti), in the lead role of Eva Gordon, who provides much of the film's appeal. She brings a welcome presence to an otherwise uneven production.
Eddie Marino is an ordinary working man whose life is shattered when a street gang attacks his family. What follows is an uncompromising journey into New York’s criminal underworld, where the distinction between justice and vigilante gang vengeance becomes increasingly blurred.
William Lustig’s Vigilante is frequently overshadowed by the likes of Death Wish, Dirty Harry, The Exterminator and The Warriors, but it deserves considerably more recognition in its own right. Although its marketing, particularly some of its poster imagery, borrows heavily from The Warriors, the film itself has far more in common with the grimy urban crime pictures of the seventies and early eighties, including The French Connection. Its influence has arguably been overlooked, particularly when considering the subsequent popularity of vigilante-themed cinema and video games. Games such as Renegade (1986) and Irem’s Vigilante (1988), with its gangs belong to that same cultural landscape.
Interestingly, Vigilante received an invitational screening at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1982, although its US theatrical release did not follow until 4 March 1983. Street Gang was later proposed as an alternative title for a 1985 re-release, but the plan was blocked following legal action by the filmmakers. Although Vigilante received its British cinema classification through the BBFC in November 1982, evidence of an actual UK theatrical release remains limited. Alpha Films Ltd was listed for the cinema classification, while its subsequent video history is better documented, including an early Intervision release and a 1986 pre-cert video release associated with Xtasy Video and SK Productions. The distinction between classification and confirmed cinema exhibition is worth noting, particularly given the film's relatively obscure British distribution history.
Fred Williamson is excellent as Nick, delivering an imposing, grounded performance that makes excellent use of his screen presence. His opening speech is particularly memorable, beginning with the statistics: “There are some 40-odd homicides a day on our streets.” (Williamson actually contributed the monologue himself), a clear precursor of the hardline speech that Stallone delivered later in Cobra. Robert Forster is equally on form as Eddie, bringing an increasingly convincing sense of desperation and anger to the character. And, like alligator obligatory observation, Forster’s hair deserves a credit of its own!
The supporting cast is another considerable strength. Richard Bright, Joe Spinell and Willie Colón all make their mark, but Woody Strode practically steals the prison scenes.
There’s also an interesting collection of shades of grey throughout, with the film never making the consequences of vigilantism quite as straightforward as its premise might suggest.
The violence is certainly not softened for audiences. From the disturbing elevator assault and prison brutality to the car chases, explosions and confrontations, Lustig pulls no punches. This is a far cry from the sanitised action that would become familiar with shows such as The A-Team.
Jay Chattaway’s excellent score perfectly complementing the grimy New York locations and the film’s relentless atmosphere. Lustig’s direction has a raw, street-level quality, with James Lemmo’s cinematography capturing an unpleasantly convincing urban environment.
There are echoes of The French Connection in its location work and particularly its car chase, while Lustig would subsequently develop his own cult following with Maniac Cop.
Vigilante may not enjoy quite the same reputation as some of the films mentioned, but it is a hard-hitting, memorable piece of early-eighties exploitation cinema that deserves to be held in considerably higher regard.
After a hiatus of several years, I’m delighted to be bringing readers a new novel. Echoes of Yesteryear marks my return to fiction, blending horror, mystery and thriller elements into a story where the past refuses to stay buried.
Kurtwood Ferryman was once a familiar face on national television, claiming to communicate with the dead. Then the voices stopped, his reputation collapsed, and the world branded him a fraud.
But what if the truth is far more disturbing?
With Halloween approaching, it seems a fitting time to invite you into this one. I won’t reveal too much just yet. Some things are best discovered between the pages.
The Kindle edition is available to pre-order now.
Universal link: https://a.co/d/04IhJAIm
Thank you to everyone who has stuck around during my time away. It’s good to be back.
A. M. Esmonde
Echoes of Yesteryear – Amazon Kindle Link
A disgraced medium, decades of disappearances, and secrets buried in a Welsh castle.
Echoes of Yesteryear out now!
FREE with one click: https://link.amazon/B0cVwNuFO
They called him a fraud… the dead knew better!
A young last minute replacement chauffeur takes a job driving two mysterious women around Los Angeles, only to discover that his passengers are vampires caught up in a deadly power struggle.
Adam Randall's Night Teeth feels like Collateral mixed with 1980s vampire hijinks. The on-location feel gives the film an appealing sense of nocturnal Los Angeles, although the crisp, polished photography occasionally works against the atmosphere.
Jorge Lendeborg Jr. Is excellent as Benny, the unsuspecting driver, bringing charm and vulnerability to the role. Australian actress Lucy Fry and Debby Ryan make an effective vampire double act, while Alfie Allen and Raúl Castillo add menace as rival figures in the city's underworld. Megan Fox and Sydney Sweeney cameo.
Eben Bolter's cinematography captures the city beautifully, while Drum & Lace and Ian Hultquist's score helps sustain the late-night mood. The film could have been more cinematic in its presentation, but writer Brent Dillon high-concept setup, bloody moments and jokes that hit more often than they miss make it a great deal of fun.
Night Teeth may lack the grit and visual flair to make it truly memorable, but there is enough attitude, bloodshed and old-school vampire mischief here to make it an entertaining ride.
After being fired from a supermarket, an increasingly unstable employee returns and begins terrorising the staff, while a killer lurks among them.
Scott Spiegel's Intruder has almost every ingredient a 1980s horror fan could ask for: a grimy supermarket location, inventive kills, practical effects, atmospheric music and a cast that commits to the material. There is a real sense that this could have become a much bigger cult favourite.
Elizabeth Cox gives a strong performance as Jennifer, with Renee Estevez, David Byrnes and Sam Raimi adding to the film's appeal. The practical effects by KNB EFX Group are the real highlights, while Fernando Arguelles' cinematography makes good use of the supermarket setting. Dick Walter and Graham De Wilde's music adds further atmosphere.
The problem is that something never quite clicks. It is difficult to tell whether the direction, editing or both are responsible, but the film often feels awkwardly assembled and lacks the momentum its ingredients deserve.
Intruder has everything there, yet somehow never becomes the film it could have been. A nasty little supermarket slasher with excellent practical effects, a great location and plenty of cult potential, but even with Elizabeth Cox's strong lead performance, it ultimately falls short.
A team of Vatican-backed vampire hunters led by Jack Crow finds itself facing an ancient master vampire who wants to obtain a relic that will allow the undead to walk in daylight.
John Carpenter’s Vampires is a kooky blast of action, horror and attitude. The high-concept setup is excellent, turning vampire hunting into a blue-collar job with guns, trucks, winches and plenty of blood. Carpenter sets the tone immediately and never seems particularly interested in taking the traditional vampire mythology too seriously. Yet, still throws in a few serious twists.
James Woods is perfectly cast as Jack Crow, with Daniel Baldwin equally effective as his right-hand man, Montoya. Sheryl Lee makes an impression as Katrina, while Thomas Ian Griffith is suitably imposing as the master vampire Valek. Maximilian Schell and Tim Guinee also add to a strong supporting cast.
The practical effects hold up remarkably well, giving the violence and vampire deaths a physical quality that CGI often struggles to replicate. Gary B. Kibbe’s filter filled cinematography also suits the dusty Western atmosphere, making the film feel as much like a modern vampire Western as a traditional horror film.
John Carpenter’s score fits perfectly, with a bluesy, guitar-driven sound that occasionally feels like They Live transported into the New Mexico desert. It adds to the film’s attitude and gives the action sequences plenty of drive.
I have no doubts, even now, that Vampires would not have been made in quite this form without the sleeper success of From Dusk Till Dawn two years earlier. The combination of vampires, hard-edged action, black humour and genre irreverence feels unmistakably of the same moment. Carpenter, however, gives the material his own tongue-and-cheek, western-inflected identity.
Nonchalant, violent, quotable and occasionally ridiculous, Vampires knows exactly what sort of film it wants to be. It is not Carpenter at his most sophisticated, but it is a hugely entertaining genre ride, with strong casting, excellent practical effects and a great high-concept premise.
After the death of her husband, Alice seeks solace with her in-laws, only for a family gathering to become a terrifying confrontation with the Deadites.
Sébastien Vanicek's Evil Dead Burn takes the franchise in a direction that is further removed from The Evil Dead. I enjoyed Evil Dead Rise, but here the domestic family arguments and increasingly familiar supernatural-adventure influences feel further removed from the cutting, nasty spirit of the earlier films.
Hunter Doohan brings strong screen presence as Joseph, with Souheila Yacoub excellent as Alice. Tandi Wright, Luciane Buchanan and the supporting cast deliver solid performances, even when the material doesn't always give them enough to work with.
Technically, there is plenty to admire. Philip Lozano's cinematography is impressive, the film contains some effective horror set pieces and visual ideas, and the effects are outstanding. The Deadites still deliver suitably creepy moments, while the production shows clear ambition. However, with the French-inspired elements and a few conceptual tweaks, it could almost be a REC instalment, something from The Conjuring universe, or even The Exorcist series.
There are also some effective ideas, but the film increasingly feels closer to adult oriented Stranger Things-style supernatural chiller, particularly in its closing stages. Again, Evil Dead Rise does fit closer to the energy of a modern Evil Dead film, but not as fresh as its predecessors.
Evil Dead Burn has good performances, strong visuals and is entertaining, but its domestic themes, and increasingly familiar supernatural influences stop it from feeling like an Evil Dead.
The humorous tagged-on credit scene simply doesn't cut it. An after-credits scene then tantalisingly connects it to Evil Dead Rise - appealing in itself, yet ultimately making the whole exercise feel like cheating.
Jason Voorhees returns, stalking a group of young adults at Higgins Haven for another bloody night at Crystal Lake.
Like Steve Miner's predecessor, Part III opens with a lengthy recap of Part 2 in true 1980s horror tradition. What's notable is the absence of Amy Steel's Ginny Field, one of the series' strongest Final Girls-no return, not even a cameo like Adrienne King's Alice previously.
The opening quietly rewrites the previous ending: Jason pulls the machete from his shoulder and crawls away, confirming the final window attack was Ginny's dream.
Miner introduces Richard Brooker as Jason, giving him a heavier, more physically imposing presence and a stronger Michael Myers-style lurking menace. Later the dreaded burlap sack from Part 2 is gone, replaced by the iconic hockey mask that becomes inseparable from the character. (This is still the living, wounded Jason-not yet the unstoppable undead figure of later entries.)
The new group arrives at Chris Higgins' family property (house and barn beside the lake): Dana Kimmell as the traumatised Chris, Paul Kratka as her slightly hunky, goofy ex Rick (who drives a VW Beetle), Memorable Tracie Savage as pregnant Debbie, notable Catherine Parks as Vera, Larry Zerner as practical-joker Shelly, Jeffrey Rogers as juggling Andy, Rachel Howard as Chili, and David Katims as pot-smoking, popcorn-loving Chuck.
Kimmell is given the most character; Chris's knife-attack trauma two years earlier (an interesting backstory that appears linked to Jason) gives her vulnerability and purpose when she finally recognises him.
The rest are classic 1980s types, that said, Debbie's pregnancy is an unusual series touch that has rarely been explored since-but motivations elsewhere stay thin. Abel (David Wiley), the bearded local, effectively replaces Crazy Ralph as the ominous warner.
An '80s-stereotype bike gang (Fox the arsonist, burly Ali, Loco) drops in to pad out the body count and pays off later.
The first hour is slow-paced; with the attractive young women sharing screen time, it takes a while to lock onto the Final Girl. Parks' Vera Sanchez could have easily been the one to root for, but sadly bites the spear dust in one of the film's most memorable setups.
Incidentally, excellent Catherine Parks (Vera) and Dana Kimmell (Chris) stay fully clothed the entire film, with no undressing, shower, or sex scenes for either character. It's a minor but noticeable break from the franchise's (and genre's) typical "sex = death" visual language for the women. The movie still has the expected teen partying, implied sex (the hammock couple), and kills, but Parks and Kimmell's characters specifically avoid the clothing-removal trope.
In turn, the nudity is tamer and more limited than in Part 2, including some later entries, though Debbie's memorable bikini-and-shower sequence still delivers the expected sleaze.
The kills are basic yet realistic and varied enough to stick: Harold (meat cleaver), Edna (knitting needle), Fox and Loco (pitchfork), Vera's classic speargun-through-the-eye, Andy sliced during a handstand, Debbie's Kevin Bacon-style hammock stab, Shelly's throat-cut "boy who cried wolf" demise, Chuck's electrocution, Chili's burning poker, Rick's famous eye-popping skull crush, and Ali finished with a machete.
A classic Final-Girl trope appears when Chris discovers the hidden bodies of her friends.
Shot specifically for 3-D (Martin Jay Sadoff supervising), the film leans hard into the gimmick-wooden poles, joints, chains, yo-yos, popcorn, rats, pitchfork, speargun, fire poker, even Rick's eye flying at the camera. Some are ridiculous, but they're part of the charm.
Harry Manfredini returns, joined by Michael Zager on a funky, disco-infused reworking of the theme that gives the score a fresh 80s vibe alongside the familiar stings that punch up the jump scares.
Gerald Feil's cinematography is strong across the ranch, woods, lake, house and barn, though the budget clearly prioritised the 3-D effects and the closing makeup (including Pamela's left-field lake jump-scare). The ending has its logic gaps: Jason's axe-to-the-head body is left undiscovered, his fate open.
The result is pure 1980s slasher: attractive young adults, sex, drugs, practical effects, comic relief and a rising body count. It sets the stage for later camp-set imitators such as Cheerleader Camp (1988) and locks in several franchise essentials-most notably the hockey mask, machete and Brooker's imposing Jason.
Part III is ultimately a paint-by-numbers affair; the string of kills is more obvious than in stronger entries, the pacing slow to ignite and the 3-D gimmicks occasionally overwhelming the drama. Yet Brooker's Jason, the mask's debut, Feil's photography, Manfredini and Zager's music, and a handful of memorable kills make it an enjoyable slice of 80s horror.
Overall, it may not be the series' best, but it certainly lays down the foundation that followed.
Three years after the events of the original, Charley Brewster is trying to put his encounters with vampires behind him, but when a mysterious woman arrives in town with her own supernatural entourage, he and Peter Vincent are drawn back into the world of the undead.
Tommy Lee Wallace's Fright Night Part 2 offers more of the same, with solid setups and some enjoyable ideas, although the comedy occasionally lands better than the horror. Wallace, who previously directed Halloween III: Season of the Witch and would later direct It, keeps the film moving at a good pace, but there is a sense that the formula is beginning to feel tired.
Mark Irwin's cinematography maintains the dark, colourful atmosphere of the original, while the excellent practical effects retain that unmistakable 1980s charm. The werewolf and vampire transformations are particularly effective, with the physical makeup and creature work having a tangible quality that outdoes the weightless CGI that would become commonplace years later.
William Ragsdale returns as Charley Brewster, while memorable Traci Lind replaces Amanda Bearse as Alex, Charley's new girlfriend. Lind feels closer in age to Ragsdale and makes Alex a more natural fit for the character.
Chris Sarandon is sorely missed, and the sequel inevitably feels different without Jerry Dandridge. Still, stunning Julie Carmen is excellent as Regine Dandrige, Jerry's sister, bringing her own presence and style to the female vampire. Jon Gries plays Louie, a twitchy vampire who effectively fills the mischievous role left vacant by Evil Ed, while Brian Thompson's imposing Bozworth serves as another physical threat in place of Billy Cole.
Roddy McDowall remains the highlight as Peter Vincent. His hair is a little better and more natural this time, and McDowall again provides much of the film's charm and humour.
Brad Fiedel returns with another synthesiser-driven score that provides atmosphere and continuity with the first film. There is less reliance on prominent soundtrack music this time, allowing Fiedel's music to carry more of the mood and suspense.
Interestingly, Tom Holland's Fright Night had influenced The Lost Boys, but this time the sequel appears to borrow from the 1987 film, including the idea of the lead becoming a vampire. Fright Night Part 2 consequently feels as though it has come full circle, taking elements that had become familiar through another vampire film and bringing them back into its own world.
Fright Night Part 2 is still an enjoyable 1980s vampire sequel. The practical effects, performances and Fiedel's score give it plenty of atmosphere, while McDowall remains terrific as Peter Vincent. It may not have the bite of the original, but there is enough old-school horror charm here to make it worth revisiting.
