13 Nights of Shocktober: Eaten Alive

 by A.J.

Night 8: Creature Feature Night

Meet The Maniac And His Friend

Eaten Alive

The career of director Tobe Hooper consists of films you’ve certainly heard of (the landmark 1974 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), films that sound familiar (Lifeforce), and films you might never have heard of, like his follow up to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Eaten Alive. I doubt anyone would argue that Eaten Alive is scarier or more intense than Chainsaw, but it is very difficult to watch at times. This is the kind of sleazy and grimy low budget movie that will make your skin crawl. What’s to like?...What's not to like?

The opening seconds let you know what is in store. The very first words spoken are “My name is Buck. I’m rarin’ to fuck,” said by none other than a young Robert Englund over an extreme close up of a his crotch as he undoes his jeans. The reluctant sex worker responds, “Let’s just get it over with.” What follows is an attempted rape. The movie does not become any more pleasant. The sex worker, Clara (Roberta Collins), quits the brothel and ends up at an isolated hotel run by local yokel, Judd (Neville Brand), a puritanical psychopath who ends up killing and feeding her to the crocodile that lives in the swamp right next to the hotel. Other characters arrive for various reasons including Clara’s father Harvey (Mel Ferrer) and sister, Libby (Crystin Sinclaire), who are searching for her. A quarrelling husband and wife, Ray and Faye (Marilyn Burns), with their very young daughter, Angie, and dog named Snoopy also stop at the hotel. There is something off about the couple and Ray (William Finley) proves to be about as mentally unstable as Judd. 

There is no real protagonist. Libby and Faye are not so much passive characters as they are barely written. The town sheriff allows the brothel to operate and makes vague come-ons to Libby. Harvey disowned Clara causing her to run away in the first place. The closest we get to a hero is attempted rapist and all around troublemaker Buck, who looks around after hearing a child scream for help, but he only does this because the woman he is in bed with insists.

So much about this movie is off putting, but that is part of its appeal–though I will of course admit that for some it may be off putting entirely and that is okay too. A big element that takes the edge off and keeps things entertaining in spite of the unpleasantness on screen is the low budget and stylized look. The run down hotel and pier are obviously a set. Fog and mist straight out of old horror movies covers the seams of the sets and crocodile effects. If the crocodile looks fake that only helps. It is up to the actors to sell the killer croc, who needs victims brought to it–not unlike a later Tobe Hooper movie also featuring Robert Englund, The Mangler. The exterior of the hotel is almost always bathed in red light that at first I thought came from a neon sign but actually comes from nothing but the film itself. It helps build the hellish atmosphere. The overacting is another element that adds camp and takes the edge off the horror. Neville as Judd reminded me of Stephen King’s classic overacting in "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" segment of Creepshow (1982). 

The hard lines that I must bring up that may make the movie too much are: 1) the dog is eaten by the crocodile almost immediately 2) Angie, a small child, is in danger for most of the movie; there are scenes of a scythe wielding chasing after her and the crocodile chases after her too. She is too young to be clever but Judd is pretty dumb and seems to just forget about her when she hides under the hotel.

There is not enough of an ethos for Eaten Alive to qualify as “dark” but like many grindhouse exploitation movies, it is entertaining in spite of and because of its low elements.

Eaten Alive is available to stream for free on Tubi and Plex.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Poltergeist (1982)

by A. J. 

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. So, for the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some horror movie recommendations to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 4: Haunted House Night Redux

“They’re here.”

Poltergeist (1982)

Poltergeist is the rarest kind of horror movie: a non-R-rated horror movie that is truly terrifying. It also proves that a glossy mainstream studio movie can be as scary and disturbing as any indie or underground horror movie. Steven Spielberg produced and co-wrote the screenplay and it feels very much like a Spielberg movie that picked the wrong path through the forest. The dark, at times gruesome, nature of the scares can be attributed to director Tobe Hooper, most famous for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). There is controversy over who actually directed the movie, with claims that Spielberg either filled in for Hooper or micromanaged every detail of the production (the reason why depends on the source). Of course, this is all background and regardless of any behind the scenes controversy the final film is a horror movie that doesn’t pull any punches but is still widely appealing. 

Poltergeist is about a reasonably content average American family who lives in an idyllic suburb. A good portion of the movie is spent just getting to know the family on an emotional level. We don’t get much background about the parents, Steve (Craig T. Nelson) and Diane (JoBeth Williams), but thanks to the intimate moments we see and their performances, we feel as though we know them very well. Then, out of nowhere strange things start happening in their home. Their youngest daughter Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke) starts talking to voices only she can hear coming through the static of the television. In one of the best non-monster scares in the movie, or maybe any movie, Diane looks away for a brief moment and when she looks back all of the dining room chairs have stacked themselves on top of the table. Things escalate quickly to terrifying levels when one night, again seemingly out of nowhere, an old spooky looking tree reaches into the son’s bedroom and takes him and tries to swallow him. Meanwhile, Carol Anne is sucked into another plane of existence by a vortex in her closet. Steven and Diane reach out to paranormal investigators at a university to try to figure out how to get Carol Ann back.  

From low key creepy touches like the flickering blue glow of the static on the television with its roar like a storm to a screaming demonic monster face to being tapped in a muddy swimming pool with corpses, there are all kinds of scares in Poltergeist. Perhaps one of the most memorable scenes involves an oversized clown doll that is already creepy to begin with before any paranormal activity starts. There are scares that involve only practical effects and makeup effects and scares that involve optical effects and composite shots. It’s no surprise that Poltergeist received Oscar nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Effects. They hold up very, very well and still pack tremendous shock value. It’s hard to pin down any one moment or scene as the scariest. There’s a good scare for everyone in Poltergeist and that is what makes it a great and lasting horror movie. 

As much as the special effects take center stage, the cast is great and what really grounds the film and makes all the scary moments so affecting. JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson are cast perfectly as the parents and they have a great casual chemistry. Maybe my favorite scene in the whole movie happens after they first experience the seemingly benign paranormal activity and go to a neighbor’s house to ask if they have experienced anything similar. In the middle of their question Steve and Diane become awkwardly giddy as they realize the strangeness of what they want to ask, all the while mosquitoes buzz around them. Child performances are always tricky as they can make or break an entire movie and O’Rourke does a great job as Carol Anne, too young and innocent to be suspicious of the voices she hears. A perfect example of the “there are no small parts” adage is Zelda Rubinstein as Tangina, a psychic the paranormal investigators turn to after they are totally overwhelmed. Emanating her own spooky atmosphere, she enters the film late, doesn't have much screen time and still manages to be one of the most memorable things about the movie, even along with the special effects.  

Poltergeist is a movie that a lot of kids end up watching because it is rated PG. At the time the PG-13 rating did not exist but it's still hard to believe that this movie is only PG and airs on television unedited. This was always a popular rental at Vulcan Video around Halloween in part because parents were renting it to watch with their kids or for their kids to watch on their own. It should be remembered, however, that this is a movie where, in one of the most impressive and grossest use of practical effects, a man hallucinates ripping his face apart and it’s not even the scariest thing in the movie. Horror movies that are just as scary 40 years after their first release are a rare thing indeed. It’s not a stretch to call Poltergeist a classic horror movie. 

Poltergeist airs on TCM on Friday, October 28th at 7PM CST and is streaming on HBOmax.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Body Bags

 by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some horror movie recommendations to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 9: Anthology Horror Night “Ah, body bags. You see, if it's murder, suicide or a nasty accident, they put them in here.” Body Bags

Body Bags is a 1993 anthology horror movie produced by Showtime. It was originally meant to be an anthology horror series, likely to compete with the hit HBO series Tales From the Crypt. When Showtime did not continue the series, the episodes that had already been filmed were put together and aired as a single movie. Regardless of the reason for its cancellation, Body Bags is an entertaining anthology film thanks to the talent involved. 

The setting is the overnight shift at a morgue where a ghoulish, corpselike coroner examines different body bags and shares the details behind the gruesome deaths. John Carpenter directed the first two stories and also plays The Coroner. You can’t help but compare him to the Crypt Keeper from Tales From the Crypt, even though one is a person in makeup and the other is a puppet. The Crypt Keeper is far more decayed and has a bigger personality but both are high energy characters that love death, gory details, and making jokes. There is hard rock music playing in the background of the interstitials with The Coroner and you can tell John Carpenter is having fun with the character.

In the first story, The Gas Station, Alex Datcher plays a young woman working the overnight shift at a gas station. At first she only has to deal with odd customers. Then she finds herself being stalked by a deranged psycho killer played by Robert Carradine. The second story, Hair, stars Stacey Keach as a man obsessed with stopping his hair loss. He seeks out a radical hair growth treatment that actually works but has sinister side effects. In the final story, Eye, directed by Tobe Hooper, Mark Hamill plays a baseball player that loses an eye in a car accident. He undergoes an experimental eye transplant but soon begins to have macabre and murderous visions.

Any horror anthology is likely to feel uneven and Body Bags is no exception. The Gas Station is a well-made but basic slasher story. It's not fresh but not stale either. Things pick up with Hair, which leans heavy into comedy. Naturally this story about a hair transplant gone wrong delves into body horror but it’s watchable because of its fun tone. Though it is not especially explicit with visual or makeup effects, it feels more graphic than it actually is due to the subject matter. Keach, who usually plays a heavy or tough guy, does a good job playing a lighter, insecure character. Eye is similar to The Gas Station in that it is a well-made short film that covers familiar territory, but this story is more of a psychological horror, with some gory effects too. The reason Eye holds together and feels as dramatic as it does is thanks to Mark Hamill’s solid performance. 

Body Bags uses some early CGI effects, which like most early CGI effects do not hold up, but the rest of the horror sights are practical visual effects and special makeup effects which go a long way. It might not be for everyone, either because of its light but macabre tone or the horror visuals, but it’s clear that Body Bags wants you to have as good a time as The Coroner is having. Watch for cameos and appearances by: Wes Craven, Sam Raimi, Debbie Harry, Twiggy, Tom Arnold, Charles Napier,  Tobe Hooper, David Naughton, David Warner, and legendary B-movie producer-director Roger Corman. I love horror anthologies but I’ll admit that most are made up of more misses than hits. Body Bags is better than most and makes for spooky fun Shocktober viewing.

13 Nights of Shocktober: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and October becomes the month-long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 2: Tobe Hooper Memorial Night

Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them?

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Is there a better title in the annals of horror movie history, or non-horror movie history? Comedian Patton Oswalt even has a bitabout how The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the perfect movie title because it lets you imagine a mini movie in your head that makes you want to see the actual movie. He’s right. If you know nothing about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you know whether or not this is the kind of movie for you just from the title.

After director Tobe Hooper’s death earlier this year, news websites and mainstream media outlets called him the director of the “cult” horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. If you don’t watch horror movies regularly I can understand classifying The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a “cult” film, but, if you are a horror movie fan The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a classic, highly influential horror film. It’s the kind of film that you certainly know about, have heard other people talk about, and can recognize scenes even from even if you’ve never seen the movie. It’s usually one of the first serious horror movies people see, perhaps as a teenager at a sleepover. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remains a highly sought-after movie every Shocktober at Vulcan Video.

The plot follows Sally, her handicapped brother, Franklin, and their friends who become the victims of a family of psychopathic cannibals in rural Texas. The group of friends first pick up a hitchhiker who behaves strangely and cuts himself and then cuts one of the teens. The hitchhiker is a portent of the horrific things about to befall them. As they search for Sally and Franklin’s ancestral homestead they encounter the family of cannibals, including Leatherface, at a dilapidated house. Leatherface, who wears the faces of his victims, makes one of the most memorable first appearances in any horror movie franchise. One of the teens goes into the old, seemingly deserted house. Then in a flash, a steel door slides open, Leatherface appears, bashes him with a hammer, drags him into the other room, and slides the door shut. It all happens in just a few seconds and is jarring upon every viewing. Hooper wanted to keep the amount of blood in the film to a minimum, hoping for a PG rating. Though there is not much blood and practically no gore in the film, it is loaded with gruesome, unsettling imagery. It initially received an X rating, but was later rated R.

Despite the movie’s own claims, it is not based on a true story. Tobe Hooper got the idea for the movie while waiting in a long line at Sears. He noticed the chainsaws close by and thought grabbing one would be a quick way to make the line shorter. Certain aspects of Leatherface and his cannibal family, however, are loosely based on serial killer Ed Gein. 

The slasher movie as we know it had not taken shape in 1974 when The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released, but traces of slasher movie elements can be found in this movie: a group of teens are stranded in an isolated area, pursued one by one, the villain is a masked killer, and there is even a “Final Girl.” Like Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a low budget exploitation film that elevates itself from similar films of the era because of the skill and efforts of the filmmaker. Though you may not expect it, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has a thick layer of subtext commenting on the state of American society in the early 1970’s. When the teens are told that the gas station is out of gas, this is not solely a plot device. Audiences at the time would have been reminded of the gas crisis of 1973, in which there was quite literally not enough gasoline for everybody. Leatherface’s family of psycho cannibals used to run the slaughterhouse, which satisfied their bloodlust, but industrialization put them out of work and they moved on to killing people. Enhancing these themes, and of course the horror, is the quasi-documentary look of film, a fortunate side effect of the low budget. This movie spawned numerous sequels and remakes of diminishing quality, but the original still packs a punch and is a landmark of modern horror.