(1990)
Dir - Marina Sargenti
Overall: MEH
Notable as being one of the few horror films to be predominantly written by, directed by, and starring women, Mirror, Mirror kicked-off a lesser known, direct-to-video franchise based on an age-old motif of, naturally, a haunted mirror. This serves as the directorial debut for co-writer Marina Sargenti and is also one of numerous genre films that Karen Black was forced to collect a paycheck on. Taking a page out of the Beetlejuice book, it concerns a doting, busy-body mother, (Black), who somehow has a barely-not-Winona Ryder/parody of a Goth kid daughter, (Rainbow Harvest who makes her last feature film appearance before seemingly retiring from the industry a year later), both of whom recently move into a big house where supernatural stuff starts happening. The story leans too heavily into high school bully stereotypes to be all that unique and the finale kind of runs itself in a meandering wall, but there are some decent, murderous set pieces like a gym shower, garbage disposal, and tub full of water all inadvertently murdering certain people. It also has a pretty dark tone that is partially enhanced/partially ruined by the sparkly keyboard score that very obnoxiously punctuates a countless number of jump scares along the way.
(1993)
Dir - Jeffrey Arsenault
Overall: MEH
Not to be confused with the Jennifer Beals-starred thriller that was released the same year and under the same title, the debut Night Owl from New York-based, indie filmmaker Jeffrey Arsenault was shot on location in Alphabet City and rather inadvertently or not, set the stage for a series of similar, no-budget Manhattan vampire films from the decade such as Michael Almereyda's Nadja, Abel Ferrara's The Addiction, and Larry Fessenden's Habit. Arsenault's work here is definitely primitive as he fills a good amount of screen time with borderline embarrassing footage of bad poets and house/techno singer Screamin' Rachael performing in a bar, the latter who is introduced to the stage randomly by famed journalistic Michael Musto. Speaking of filling screen time, there is also a TV interview with Caroline Monro playing herself for reasons we will probably never comprehend. The film kind of deals with the addiction elements inherent in vampirism as the main character becomes an impulsive recluse, but the story is far too barren to get a proper grip on. It also does not help that all of the women look the same, (as do the men who sport an identical build, haircut, and hair color more or less), which, whether intentionally or not, makes everybody on screen seem interchangeable. By never gaining its footing or really going anywhere in the first place, it is more a DIY curiosity than anything else.
(1996)
Dir - Dan Curtis
Overall: GOOD
Though television legend Dan Curtis had remained busy since his 1970s heyday, Trilogy of Terror 2 marks his first time in the director seat as far as horror is concerned in nineteen years. Following an identical structure as the first and far more seminal Trilogy of Terror, this one has occasional British scream queen Lysette Anthony stepping into Karen Black's shoes by appearing in all three stories. Screenwriter William F. Nolan is back on board with Curtis and the two reinterpret two of Richard Matheson's already-filmed stories. "Bobby" had appeared in Curtis' last horror feature Dead of Night and "He Who Kills" brings back the Zuni fetish doll for another round of torment. The only segment that was new to the television medium was the opening "The Graveyard Rats" which was an adaptation of Henry Kuttner's short story of the same name and features Geoffrey Lewis as an Irish-accented, graveyard groundskeeper who is prone to helping himself to any valuable knickknacks buried with the recently departed. Neither "Rats" nor the other two tales are particularly full of unique surprises and "Bobby" may as well be a shot-for-shot remake of its earlier counterpart, but Curits still dishes out a tense, old school, creepy atmosphere and Anthony rises to the challenge just as Black had over two decades earlier. Plus the Zuni doll is still a lot of fun, even if the hysterical woman it is battling once again insists on checking on it more than once when it is of course only playing dead.
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