ACAB '90

The next tape off the pile was the 1990 crime thriller Street Asylum.

No nonsense cop Arliss Ryder (Wings Hauser) joins a new police strike force tasked with cleaning up the streets - by any means necessary.

I think I had heard of this film, but I think I subconsciously linked it with Class of 1999 because their coverboxes are eerily similar, and as it turns out so are their plots with both featuring public servants altered to combat perceived criminals. It's also kind of like Dead Heat, but with implanted aggression instead of zombification. 

However, no matter whatever way you look at this, there is no getting around that this movie is ACAB before ACAB. It's a tad disillusioning when you watch these movies from thirty or fourty years ago and you're hearing lines like, “Strike force or Gestapo?” and it's still relevant today. Just once, I'd like to watch one of these movies and think, “Remember when this was a thing?” instead of the usual “things never change”. Imagine walking into that the briefing room for S.Q.U.A.D (Scum Quelling Urban Assault Division) and seeing this...

But I digress. Aside from that, Street Asylum, which is kind of an obtuse name now that I think about it, was a pretty chaotic affair. It's full of a lot of flash editing, crazy characters - some welcome, like Brion James as a street preacher and some not so, like Hauser's one-time partner Joker (Sy Richardson) who literally almost chewed his way through my television screen - dominatrices, Jesus antenna, Terminator guns, and sax, sax and more sax. 

Wings Hauser & Alex Cord in Street Asylum.

The cast is pretty stacked with offbeat actors as in addition to the aforementioned Jones & Hauser, you also have Alex Cord. Man, was there anyone who could deliver cheesy lines as smoothly as Alex Cord? And I do have to say there were a few cool stunts in this, like old school where you wonder if they shot them while the safety co-ordinator was on lunch break. At the end of the day though, if you want to watch a crime-ridden Wings Hauser joint, you are better off with Gary Sherman's Vice Squad. I get what director Gregory Dark - who had quite the interesting career that started in porn, moved to erotic thrillers and then spanned the next few decades directing music videos for pretty much every artist on the planet - was going for, but he's no Gary Sherman. Duh-doom.

Watched A Movie, Lived To Tell.

The next movie off the pile was a recent acquisition and, enticingly, one I knew nothing about in William J. Murray's 1986 sci-fi noir Primal Scream.

Private detective Corby McHale (Kenneth McGregor) gets wrapped up in a conspiracy involving a space mining corporation and a newly discovered (and dangerously unstable) element called Hellfire. 

This movie is an odd duck, man. I'm having difficulty knowing where to start, though I guess the beginning is as good a place as any. That's easier said than done, as it just drops you right in the middle of an action scene causing some severe whiplash. To be fair, I guess A New Hope did the same thing, but at least they gave you some screen-high expositional crawls beforehand.

I feel I need to mention that no one should've been surprised that this newly discovered element caused people to spontaneously combust. I mean, it IS called Hellfire for fuck's sake. If memory serves, they found it on Saturn, but despite what the coverbox would suggest, that is the only time this movie takes place in space.

Movie magic!

Once we got introduced to Corby, I was immediately like, "Hey, isn't that the principal from The Brain?" It was. Which made me immediately think this might be Canadian, because there were a lot of accents and locations that could've been Ontario, not to mention a bonkers plot that screamed 80s tax shelter. Upon further investigation I found that it was shot in Atlantic City. It makes sense, guys like Bill Fruet and Ed Hunt made chaotic movies, but at least it was controlled chaos. This movie is like Pandora's box, a whirlwind of villain eyebrows, bed skewering, lip band-aids and characters with names like Nicky Fingers.

Kenneth McGregor as Corby McHale in Primal Scream

I was never able to nail down what genre Primal Scream was supposed to be. I guess it's a crime noir mostly, or at least that's the distinct impression I got from all the sax in Mark Knox's score. However, once and a while, a spacecraft (or rather a 1/16 scale model of a spacecraft) or killer drone (prophetic!) would show up to remind me this was supposed(?) to be a science fiction movie, ala Blade Runner. At the very least, I got to see a few people get burnt to a crisp in spectacularly, practical fashion. 

There's not a lot of info out there about Primal Scream, because Googling mostly brings up the Scottish rock band. There is a doc made by the filmmakers, which I would love to see, but until then all my burning questions will remain unanswered. 

Now, did I fall asleep the first time I watched this movie? Yes. Did I almost fall asleep again when I tried to finish it the next day? Yes. But I still deeply admire the ambition of the filmmakers who were way out of their league, but soldiered on anyway!

Deja View.

First off, I just want to apologize for the lack of posts. I had some things going on the last couple of months, but I hope to get back to regular VHS loving posts - especially since I re-upped my supply at the last Shock Stock - and get these old digs back in regular working order. Anyhoops, the next tape on the pile was Gary Winick's 1989 film Curfew.

Two psychotic brothers (Wendell Wellman & John Putch) escape from death row and track down those who put them there.

Ever start a movie you think you've never heard of and within the first frame, you're like 'I've seen this before.' Well, that was me with Curfew. I mean, accidentally rewatching movies is not unusual, hell I've even unknowingly double reviewed them before. However, Curfew was different because it was so fresh in my mind, like I knew the outcome of every scene as they happened. I scowered my VHS to see if perhaps I had another release under a different name (it did release in some parts of Canada under the title Carnage) but nope. It wasn't on Tubi (where I often random watch horrors) and just appeared on Prime, so negatory on those fronts. The next day I was driving to work and it finally dawned on me. It was the Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray that I bought during their last Black Friday sale and subsequently gave away as a prize at trivia. Mystery solved.

Kyle Richards as Stephanie in Curfew.

But onto the movie. It's okay. It's kind of like Blood Rage, but one-tenth of the fun. It's missing the gore, even though Curfew did attempt to up the body count by throwing in some fodder during the third act in the jock (Peter Nelson), the tramp (Nori Morgan - whose other, far more prestigious, credit was vampire food in The Lost Boys) and tagalong wish Willie Aames (Niels Miller). It was fun to see Kyle Richards in a lead role, during that stage of her life between child actor and meme. And I can say that I have never seen a house cat used as a defensive weapon before.

As a whole though, Curfew is pretty thin. Wellman & Putch play off each other serviceably, skirting chaos, but never go full scenery chew, which is a shame because it could've made this effort much more memorable in the way Louise Lasser's performance in Blood Rage is the stuff of legend. At the end of the day, too much of this movie is pedestrian, lying somewhere between TV movie and low budget schlock. I can safely say that there will be no third viewing of this movie.

April Horror Trivia Watchlist

To all those who came here from the event or the FB or Instagram page, welcome! I am Jay, one half of the horror trivia quizmasters and this is my humble blog. Here's a selected list of titles mentioned at the last event. Click on the titles to be redirected to their Imdb listing. Horror Trivia Night happens at Storm Crow Manor in Toronto. If you're in the area, come on down! Register here.

Crawlspace (1986)

Puppet Master (1989)

Parasite (1982)

Tourist Trap (1979)

Mansion of the Doomed (1976)

Cellar Dweller (1987)

Pit & The Pendulum, The (1991)

I Spit on your Grave (1978)

Planet of the Vampires (1965)

Heart Eyes (2025)

Event Horizon (1997)

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

Outpost (2008)

Outpost: Black Sun (2012)

Outpost: Rise of the Spetznaz (2013)

Cannibal Girls (1973)

Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century (1977)

Ninth Gate, The (1999)

In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

Funhouse, The (1981)

Shirley (2020)

TV

Forever Knight (1992-1996) 

March Horror Trivia Watchlist.

To all those who came here from the event or the FB or Instagram page, welcome! I am Jay, one half of the horror trivia quizmasters and this is my humble blog. Here's a selected list of titles mentioned at the last event. Click on the titles to be redirected to their Imdb listing. Horror Trivia Night happens at Storm Crow Manor in Toronto. If you're in the area, come on down! Register here.

Men (2022)

The Keep (1983)

Near Dark (1987)

Cat People (1982)

Obsession (2025)

Bubba-Ho-Tep (2002)

My Name Is Bruce (2007)

The Man with the Screaming Brain (2005)

Running Time (1997)

Moontrap (1988)

Darkman (1990)

Ernie & Emma (2026)

The Car (1997)

I Bought A Vampire Motorcycle (1990)

Duel (1971)

Joy Ride (2001)

Nightmares (1983)

Road Games (1981)

Killdozer (1974)

Death Race 2000 (1975)

Race with the Devil (1975)

Books

The October Film Haunt (2025)

Storm Crow Trivia, Partial Poster Round

Full Circle

Just a quick note to post about a webseries that recently hit the YouTubes. My filmmaker buddy Darryl Shaw, who has been kicking it in Japan for the last few years, just premiered his new web-series The Hounds of Asterisk. The first two eps are now up.

Now, puppy ownership may not sound all that malevolent, but if I know Darryl, things are about to get fucked up right quick. The “full circle” part of this equation is that within my 2013 short Lively, I had footage from one of Darryl's past works Garlic Bread Man vs Superbo Lasagna Man playing on the television. Well, responding in kind, in episode 2 of HoA, Darryl has Lively playing on the tube. It's just like the back-and-forth Raimi & Craven had going back in the day!

Anyway, enjoy! 

Evil is a Strong Word.

My intention to see out February with a final serial killer flick was thwarted by the fragility of analog media so TBD on that one. That meant I had to pivot to the next VHS off the pile, and another one from my recent jaunt to that antique warehouse, in Burt Kennedy's 1974 movie Evil in the Swamp.

A traveling photojournalist (Stacy Keach) picks up a young hitchhiker (Tim Parkison) and after taking him home to his family finds himself trapped in their company.

This will be a shorter one folks, as this was pretty plain. Keach was good in this role, maybe not as memorable as his turns in Road Games and The Gravy Train or even Class of 1999, but he steered the shp in what is a fairly straightforward and pedestrian script. Evil in the Swamp was painfully PG, and only real horror I experienced was from watching Keach absolutely cook his Chevy driving over all that uneven ground. Also, his red eyes on the coverbox are not my camera, they actually look like that for no discernable reason at all.

It was of no surprise to me to discover this originally aired as a Movie of the Week on ABC as All The Kind Strangers. A more apt title and the family in this story was by no means evil. Misguided, yes. Neglected, absolutely. And sure, they may have offed a couple of people and hid their cars ala Texas Chainsaw, but it didn't seem like there was anything intentionally malevolent going on. The television nature of it would explain why something so blasé would be able to land names like Stacy Keach and Samantha Eggar, who really didn't get to do much here. Maybe I'm overvaluing them I dunno.

Samantha Eggar & Stacy Keach in Evil in the Swamp.

Director Burt Kennedy was a seasoned pro who worked mostly on westerns, and with the help of two(!) cinematographers banged this out pretty workmanlike. At the end of the day, Evil in the Swamp just isn't all that memorable. The teleplays from my childhood in the early eighties seemed way more lurid and nightmare inducing, Don't Go To Sleep and Deadly Lessons come to mind. However, I'm not going to knock it too bad, this movie is surely not the first TV movie that got renamed and repackaged for video store shelves. Oh well, onto the next!

February Horror Trivia Watchlist

To all those who came here from the event or the FB or Instagram page, welcome! I am Jay, one half of the horror trivia quizmasters and this is my humble blog. Here's a selected list of titles mentioned at the last event. Click on the titles to be redirected to their Imdb listing. Horror Trivia Night happens at Storm Crow Manor in Toronto. If you're in the area, come on down! Register here.

Iron Lung (2026)

Slaxx (2020)

Children of the Corn (1984)

The Children (1980)

Village of the Damned (1960)

Children of the Damned (1964)

Bloody Birthday (1981)

It's Alive III (1987)

The Bad Seed (1956)

The Good Son (1992)

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

The Ruins (2008)

Fantasy Island (2020)

Shock Waves (1977)

Dead Calm (1989)

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)

Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Tremors (1990)

A New Addition

Hey all! I added a new piece to The Brain museum this weekend.

This piece is courtesy of Chris of Bavbusters. He 3D prints all kinds of movie creatures and when my buddy Schwartz sent me a link to this listing, I knew it must be mine. Less than two days later, it is now holding court in my living room.

Check out his Instagram @bavbusters, you won't be disappointed.

R.I.P Tom Noonan 1951-2026.

I was sad to hear about the passing of Tom Noonan this Feb 14th. He was a genre giant, not only in stature also in the roles he left behind.

R.I.P Tom Noonan 1951-2026.

As a filmmaker and actor, he played in dozen of films and television shows, including memorable roles in The Last Action Hero, Robocop 2 and Heat. He had terrific range, as evidenced in his turns as Frances Dolarhyde in Manhunter as well as the Frankenstein monster in The Monster Squad. His screen presence will be sorely missed. Rest in peace, Tom.

Stop Me If You've Heard This One.

Next up is a movie I'd never heard of until my jaunt to the flea market last month, in Turi Meyers' direct-to-video effort Sleepstalker: The Sandman's Last Rites.

A serial killer dubbed The Sandman (Michael Harris) rises from the dead after his execution to go after the boy that got away. 

So there is a lot of sand in this movie. I mean, it's about a dude named The Sandman, but they really doubled down, nay tripled down, on the sand angle. The entire opening takes place in the desert and while the credits unfurled, I wondered if I hadn't put my tape of Dust Devil in by accident. No, I thought. This guy traipsing through the dunes didn't look nearly as cool as Robert Burke did. But I digress. One thing that did pump me up during this very sedate opening was the appearance of Gary Tunnicliffe's name. At least the effects would be good, right? RIGHT?

Shortly after, Jimmie Olsen and his wife get murdered by some weird serial murderer who recites nursery rhymes as he sprinkles sand in their eyes. For reals. However, before he can kill the son, the cops arrive and off him. Then, it eventually becomes apparent that this movie is really just NOES or Shocker or The Horror Show or The First Power, with a psycho using supernatural forces to come back from the dead to kill again. Which is fine, except Sleepstalker is not anywhere near as cool as any of those other films.

How many movies did you say have this plot?

While this movie does a have a whole bunch of fun supporting characters (which is at least an improvement over last week's title The Rain Killer), Ken Foree & Michael D. Roberts among them - man this would've been quite the dud without those two cats - the above the line cast are kind of mediocre. Michael Harris as The Sandman can't hold a candle to Mitch Pileggi or Brion James, and the lead Jay Underwood is severly lacking in charisma. Kathryn Morris as Megan is decent and pretty much the only one who gets to do a cool stunt at the very end of the movie.

This is not the look of a leading man.

I can't help but feel that the Sandman, which let's face it is ripped off from Marvel Comics, should be a lot cooler than it actually is. Despite the fact we get treated to some sweet nineties CGI for the times that real sand won't suffice, the character itself has many weaknesses, including sunlight, water and fire. Sure, he can fit through a keyhole, but that seems like a lot of disadvantages.

I could go on about some of the implausible subplots, like our whitest of whitebread hero's attempt to win a Pulitzer with a tell-all book about life on the streets, but it's really not worth the effort. Is this movie the worst ever? No, it's mildly entertaining, and may have been what got Meyers the gig directing Candyman 3 down the line, but I'd also say your time could be better served watching (or rewatching) those aformentioned titles instead. Or catch some Z's. Do want you want, I'm not your mom! Anyway, check back next week for my last serial killer yarn of the month.

Seek Shelter

Okay, here we are, another VHS Friday. This one is the 1990 serial killer thriller The Rain Killer.

A hardened cop Capra (Ray Sharkey) & an FBI agent Dalton (David Beecroft) attempt to track down a serial killer who strikes when it rains.

Hope you like that cover, because this pseudo-giallo was damp as fuck. I remembered the cover, which is why I picked it up in the first place and figured I'd seen it, as it would have come out during my tenure as a video store jockey, but I didn't remember thing one about it as it was unspooling. Though, of course, it could just be due to its super forgettability. But, let's break it down.

At the hop, I was met by some welcome sax and piano from Terry Plumeri (who a year later would score One False Move, one of the most underrated movies of the nineties) and watched some precipitation-bathed kill scenes for which I was onboard. However, then the energy just drained out of the movie, like water down an old rusty pipe.

Praying to the Rain God.

Perhaps the most prohibitive thing about it was the pacing. I mean, the movie starts off with three kills right away and then nothing for like an hour. In the interim, we had a lot of cop stuff and a thirty-minute obvious red herring setup that did nothing, except check the full frontal nudity box for whoever was keeping track at the production company.

The Rain Killer doesn't have anything to latch onto. The relationships, whether it be the frenemy duo of Capra & Dalton or the unsexy romance between Capra & Adele (Tania Coleridge), are just awkward and uninteresting. I re-watched Jeff Hathcock's Night Ripper last weekend, and say what you will about its quality (or lack thereof) there is at least something pure about it. This was shiny and wet, but far from appealing. And oh God, that sex scene in the living room... I wager zero blocking went into that scene. It's like they forgot they had to shoot it and just “banged” it out in one take before they hit the lights.

Ray Sharkey getting his Corey Hart on in The Rain Killer.

Michael Chiklis appeared as Capra's partner, but I found myself distracted by his headwear. As in plural. He had a new sports cap every few scenes - Chicago, New York, Boston, San Fran, like pick a team, man! It must have been intentional and a running joke on set, because if not, that continuity person needed to find a new line of work.

So anyway, once we finally limped to our conclusion, there's never any real explanation as to why the dude was killing chicks in the rain. Or how it was raining every day for two solid weeks in LA anyway. Like that doesn't happen normally, right? The Rain Killer cannot hold a sprinkle to last week's Relentless, which had a better cast, better banter, better set pieces, shit this director couldn't even make a car chase look interesting. I had to struggle just to pull a decent fucking GIF.

Anyway, I'm done with this movie. Hopefully, the next one is better. Have a good weekend and great Friday the 13th, kiddies!