(1990)
Dir - Fred Olen Ray
Overall: MEH
Schlock maser Fred Olen Ray takes on Edgar Allan Poe as loosely as anyone else ever has with Haunting Fear, one of several collaborations between he and stars Brinke Stevens and John Henry Richardson. Michael Berryman, Karen Black, Jan-Michael Vincent, and Robert Quarry even show up, and one has to wonder if Ray was able to film all of their scenes in one of the six days that the whole thing was shot in. Ray's script is full of logical blunders surrounding Stevens troubled and rich housewife who suffers from vivid nightmares of being buried a live as her douchebag husband Richardson bangs his also douchebag secretary. Why the sleazy couple decides to go full cartoon super villain by doing away with Stevens in the exact manner that she is terrified of in order to get her money instead of just drugging or even shooting her makes as much sense as why Stevens wakes up from her would-be entombment with supernatural powers and scary vampire make-up on when she was screaming normally without it a few seconds before. These are just some of many examples of "Eh, whatever" screenwriting and to be fair, Ray knows that people want to see boobs, cliches, and a little gore, all of which he delivers.
(1991)
Dir - Don Jones
Overall: WOOF
For his final venture behind the lens, director Don Jones did the goofy sleaze-fest Molly and the Ghost; a comedy/horror/late night TV hybrid that fails on all fronts. First off, none of the intended humor lands and the attempts at such are as clumsy as they get, something that is not helped by Jones' piss-pour sense of agency. Scenes go on for too long and the first act could have easily been trimmed to get to the ghost mayhem at a more agreeable rate. The actors stare blankly at things happening around them, with Ron Moriarty coming off the most embarrassing since his character has the same nonchalant response to everything, whether its his wife's underage sister seducing him, getting questioned about such seduction, the eventual poltergeist activity that terrorizes their home, or his wife getting possessed by her dead sister so he can get seduced again. The horror bits are just as awkward since the script has no interesting ideas in how to parody its tropes, plus Ena O'Rourke's plans both before and after death are just as illogical, with no supernatural rules being upheld at any point. Also, people looking for some T&A action will be equally disappointed since we only get a couple of brief scenes of the two lead female actors in their birthday suites. When a cheap exploitation movie cannot even get its exploitation aspects right, you have a problem.
(1993)
Dir - Fred Gallo
Overall: MEH
Another Roger Corman-produced B-movie, Dracula Rising was shot in Bulgaria with Corman protegee Fred Gallo at the helm, and it is a typical low-rent hack-job that takes itself seriously yet delivers mediocre results. As a flowery romance, half of the movie is told in flashback when a monk falls for a woman during the plague, which is such a no-no that another monk easily decides to convince the townspeople to burn the harlot as a witch because we simply cannot have holy men having feelings for women and getting laid. This ties into the contemporary setting where Stacey Travis plays a different character who looks exactly the same, plus the two monks, (who are both vampires now), end the movie by confronting each other in the desert. The wild ideas are there, and cinematographer Ivan Varimezov keeps the camera moving by capturing fog, vivid backlighting, and some cornball special effects with the right level of schlocky pizzazz. Christopher Atkins is miscast as the dashing undead lead, Doug Wert does a fake European accent, and the dialog is nothing but melodramatic fluff that does not save these poor actors from embarrassing themselves while delivering it. Also and despite what is promised, no, Dracula is not in it.
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