(1980)
Dir - Ulli Lommel
Overall: MEH
The generically titled The Boogeyman from German actor/filmmaker Ulli Lommel may not be exclusively formulaic in its execution, but it is an unmistakable dud all the same. Lommel's script was inspired by some personal, childhood fears and throws in references to The Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, and various other slasher motifs in a vague, stylistic sense. Speaking of vague, none of the supernatural elements seem coherently placed, with wishy-washy Freudian subtext and superstition based folklore mucking up a series of murders and fantastical encounters. Sadly, Lommel is not a skilled enough director to make the unfocused plot work and nearly all of the frightful scenes are accidentally hilarious instead. This includes an evil "possessed voice" that sounds like a five year old trying to intimidate their parents into giving them more ice cream for dessert. Such attempts at frightening atmospherics also fall flat due to the low-end production values and sub-par cast which includes a small role for John Carradine who sadly was very much in the "anything for a paycheck" stage of his career.
(1986)
Dir - Gene Wilder
Overall: GOOD
Gene Wilder closed out the directorial end of his filmography with the throwback, self-proclaimed comedy chiller Haunted Honeymoon. Set during the 1930s in which movies that directly inspired it like The Old Dark House and The Cat and the Canary were made, it is a shameless homage to juvenile wackiness and retro spook show tactics that Wilder and his likeable cast seem mutually fond of. Also doubling as a couples vehicle for he and wife Gilda Radner, (in her final film role before succumbing to ovarian cancer three years later), their cutesy chemistry unmistakably comes through and one or two song and dance numbers help keep things solely on the lighter side. Both Dom DeLuise and Roger Ashton-Griffiths perform in drag, the latter as a corpse and the former as a wailing old Auntie. Even with the rest of the cast mostly playing it straight, the silly factor is cranked all the way up and Wilder throws enough puns and illogical haunted house gags at the audience to forgive the ridiculously convoluted, short-sighted plot. It certainly delivers on its intentions and has a goofball charm that is easy to fall for. They also remembered to throw a werewolf into the proceedings because why would they not?
(1987)
Dir - Larry Cohen
Overall: WOOF
Joining the ranks of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, American Werewolf in Paris, and Exorcist II: The Heretic as one of the worst horror sequels ever made, A Return to Salem's Lot is a continuation of the outstanding 1979 miniseries in name only. Larry Cohen had penned a rejected screenplay for the aforementioned Stephen King adaptation and finally took on a follow-up project when Warner Bros. approached him years later to make something on the cheap. This certainly qualifies but problems persist far beyond the shoddy production values. Cohen at his worst was a tonally inept filmmaker; one that combined humor, strangeness, absurd plotting, and gore in an aggravatingly awkward fashion. His trademark weaknesses are in "peak" form here as the movie fumbles all of its comedic intentions with a presentation that seems to be half purposely "bad movie terrible" and half tongue-in-cheek camp. Maybe those two are the same things though. Throw in a foul-mouthed kid who never stops deserving to be smacked, a foul-mouthed Samuel Fuller who tries desperately to schlock-up the proceedings, yet another aloof performance from Cohen's inexplicably favorite leading man Michael Moriarty, and a musical score that is so repetitive as to cause nausea, and everything here deserves to be erased from one's memory.
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