I mentioned that last week at Horror-Rama, I found a rare VHS tape of an eighties shot-on-video slasher called Spine.
I am still surprised I came across this, as even its diminished cut box state, it is still quite valuable. And, even more to my surprise, the actual tape inside was in immaculate condition and showed almost no wear at all when I viewed it.
However, much to my disappointment, the movie itself was fairly toothless. Paul Zamarelli from VHSCollector.com pretty much sums up Spine perfectly here.
It is amazing to me that a distributor known for making porno could've produced an SOV slasher - a subgenre known for excessive gore and violence, 555 and Burning Moon being two examples - with practically no gore or nudity. It is almost appalling.
As thorough as Zamarelli's review is, I have to say I was surprised he didn't mention the constant use of hats. There's this one guy, supposedly a detective, who for some reason, felt the need to wear a hat in every scene. And I don't mean something occupation-specific like a fedora, I'm talking like trucker's caps and weird fishing hats!
I suppose it is some kind of in-joke, his partner even saying “nice hat!” in their first scene, but it winds up just being another confounding element to this mess of a movie.
I'm still very happy I got my hands on this, but is by no means a crusty treasure like The Abomination or The Video Dead.
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