(1980)
Dir - Valeri Rubinchik
Overall: MEH
An adaptation of an adaptation, Savage Hunt of King Stakh, (Dikaya okhota korolya Stakha, King Stakh's Wild Game Chase, The Wild Hunt of King Stakh, Wild Hunting of King Stakh), is based on Uladzimir Karatkievich's novel King Stakh's Wild Hunt, itself stemming from the "Witch Hunt" folklore motif which was first documented in 1835 by German author Jacob Grimm of Grimm Fairy Tales fame. Byelorussian SSR, USSR-born filmmaker Valeri Rubinchik conducts the proceedings with a keen sense for ethereal atmosphere as an ethnographer finds himself lost in a murky, fog-ridden, Belarusian wilderness and a sprawling estate there that is owned by a once prestigious family with a cursed, aristocratic past. As it is presented here, the story is low on plot and the lethargic pace makes it difficult to follow, but it is frequently spellbinding from a visual, mood-setting sense. More otherworldly elements are hinted at then explicitly shown, (at least until the finale when ghostly/skeletal horseback riders descend), but there is a permeating melancholy to the film that is enhanced by turn-of-the-century political aspects and Gothic doom and gloom. It is also subtly surreal, with few reaction shots and strange images here and there.
(1983)
Dir - Francis Leroi
Overall: MEHThere are several oddball qualities to director/co-writer Francis Leroi's Le démon dans l'île, (Demon Is on the Island), though the flat presentation unfortunately undermines these qualities. After arriving on an island as their new local doctor, Anny Duperey does not initially seem all that interested in staying, yet she gradually becomes hellbent on unraveling a bizarre mystery where townsfolk's household appliances seriously injure people at an alarming rate. Also, the village's previous doctor is still lurking around and though charming, he is also tight-lipped about some shady goings-ons that may be linked to the weirdness afoot. Besides the aforementioned death scenes involving an oven that slams shut and burns a woman's hand off, an electronic carving knife that does away with a guy's fingers when it is unplugged, and another gentleman's wine glass exploding when he goes to sip from it, there is also a jarring looking kid with a comically elongated head before somebody nonchalantly sinks into the ground during a funeral. Such tomfoolery aside, all of the performances are played straight and Leroi maintains a more suspenseful tone instead of leaning into the story's inherently ridiculous aspects.
(1987)
Dir - John Fasano
Overall: WOOFThe directorial debut from John Frasano and his first of two terrible movies to be released in 1987 that feature the word "nightmare" in the title, (he served as writer on Zombie Nightmare which would come out four months later), Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare is a colossally dumb, occasionally hilarious vanity project from Canadian writer/producer/star Jon Miki Thor. Several hallmarks of incompetent filmmaking are present, (wooden performances, "huh?" plotting, laughably cheap production values, dull pacing, lousy cinematography, etc), but like the "best" crap movies out there, it has a clueless charm that is accidentally enduring. Most of the running time is bogged down by several dopey non-actors trying to make the most out of the single farm house location, (the movie was shot in merely seven days there after all), but outside of some adorable puppet monsters, wretched musical numbers, and plenty of naked boobs, it really comes alive in the final act where the head-scratching, asinine twist is revealed and Thor awkwardly wrestles a giant Beelzebub that looks as if it was made out of papier-mâché and wire hangers. In the lead, Thor bounces between having zero charisma to cranking the ham up to eleven and his persistently off-putting appearance is half homo-erotic He-Man action figure and half androgynous Michelle Bauer stand-in. So yes, this is a Z-rent, heavy metal crud rock that should not be missed.
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