Spookies is a 1980s oddity that promises cult-classic gold but delivers in fits and starts. A group of partygoers stumbles into a mansion and gets picked off by creatures conjured by a sorcerer. The execution is plodding and disjointed, thanks to production woes.
What saves it—and earns its midnight-movie following—are the practical effects. Monster designs are inventive and grotesque: oozing muck men, skeletal ghouls, and more that evoke horror comics or toys. Some visuals create a creepy, uncanny VHS-era atmosphere.
Directed fragmentarily by Genie Joseph, Thomas Doran, and Brendan Faulkner, with makeup by Gabriel Bartalos and others, it’s more creature spectacle than cohesive story. The cast (Felix Ward as sorcerer Kreon, Maria Pechukas as Isabelle) does what it can, but the monsters steal the show.
Ultimately, Spookies is a patchwork, slow in spots but salvaged by scrappy charm. Not a classic, but worth a late-night watch for low-budget 80s horror fans if you’re really desperate.
No comments:
Post a Comment