(1983)
Dir - Joseph Sargent
Overall: MEH
The television pilot turned feature length anthology film Nightmares from prolific television director Joseph Sargent is not a particularly good one, which would explain it not getting picked up as a series. Comprised of four unrelated stories that were authored by Jeffrey Bloom and Christopher Crowe, the premises of each range from lackluster to goofy, though there are occasional moments that are worth the price of admission. "The Bishop of Battle" has a young Emilio Estevez as an arcade-addicted teenager and it has a fun if foreseeable conclusion. The opening "Terror in Topanga" is the shortest and most forgettable with "The Benediction" being nothing more than a religious-themed re-working of Steven Spielberg's debut Duel. "Night of the Rat" is probably the most ridiculous and clumsy, which provides an unfortunate entry to go out on. Besides Estevez, there are appearances from genre regulars Lance Henricksen, Veronica Cartwright, Cristina Raines, and Anthony James, with Lee Ving and Moon Unit Zappa even cameoing for good measure.
(1986)
Dir - Frank Oz
Overall: GOOD
Critically and commercially successful, the big screen adaptation of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's off-Broadway Little Shop of Horrors, (itself based on Roger Corman's ultra cheap, 1960 B-movie of the same name), is quite the well-crafted genre mash-up. Originally attached to Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, Frank Oz ultimately made it his The Muppets Take Manhattan follow-up after he re-worked the initial script. Heavy on the catchy songs which appear sometimes every couple of minutes, it was shot entirely at Pinewood Studios in England and has a big-budget, decorative style that fits the throwback, doo-wop musical aesthetics from the 1960s. Though gore-less, it still has some gruesome details and macabre humor, both with the flesh-eating, extraterrestrial plant and Steve Martin's sadistic dentist. Cameos by Jim Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Guest, and Bill Murray are a hoot, plus Rick Moranis plays his textbook, mild-mannered underdog while Ellen Greene, (who appeared in the stage production), basically steals the show as his squeaky-talking-voiced/huge-singing-voiced love interest. Well, steals the show along with the animatronic masterpiece that is Audrey II, voiced hilariously by The Four Tops' Levi Stubs.
(1988)
Dir - Chuck Vincent
Overall: MEH
For anyone who is wondering if Linda Blair and pornstars Georgina Spelvin and Randy Spears ever appeared in a movie together, the answer is yes, yes they did. Bad Blood, (A Woman Obsessed), is that movie and it is one of several mainstream genre offerings from Chuck Vincent who made a consistent switch to non-adult films in the latter part of his career. Never one to skimp on the scenery-chewing, Spelvin was at an appropriate age here to portray a psycho-biddy baddie who manipulates her long lost son into her Misery-style clutches and she delivers the raving, wide-eyed mugging as delightfully as can be expected. The story by Vincent's frequent collaborator Craig Horrall gets plenty icky in the second half where all of our unwholesome, incestuous suspicions of Spelvin's lunatic character are justified. Blair unfortunately gets sidetracked early on as she was delegated to such inconsequential B-movie parts at this point in her career, but Spears holds his own in the victim role where he has to remain tied to a bed while his biological mother tortures and has her lustful ways with him. Ewwww. Well made if not exceptional, it suffices as a bit of straight-to-video, sick camp.
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