Night School (1981) aka Terror Eyes

3.5 / 5 Sept '10
Tagline: A lesson in terror
Directed by: Ken Hughes
Written by: Ruth Avergon
Actors include: Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, Drew Snyder
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Length: 84 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I've got to say, for a video nasty and a slasher they did try with this one despite some bad writing and cheapness. If they had Tom Savini working on the effects this could have been wicked, but at least as is they do splatter around a fair bit o' the red stuff. Oh and I should mention, death by merry-go-round & knife oh yes. It's very much set up like a giallo, the mystery is around who is decapitating girls from a night school and leaving their heads in a nautically themed way. The body count is certainly reasonable, as a mystery goes well it's very easy to pick out the responsible person despite the fact that they put some pretty silly red herrings in the plot. It also could have used a little pep in places, but I do give them credit for some absurd things that happen and some interesting places to have shot the film. It should be rewarding for most slasher films as it does have a little extra sparkle, it's just not as shocking or tightly wound as one could hope for is all.

Availability:  Not on DVD

Inferno In Diretta (1986) aka Cut And Run

3 / 5 July '10
Tagline: The one story you won't be seeing on the 6 o'clock news!
Directed by: Ruggero Deodato
Written by: Cesare Frugoni, Dardano Sacchetti
Actors include: Lisa Blount, Leonard Mann, Willie Aames
Genre: Action, Adventure, Horror
Length: 90 minutes
Banned: Finland

Review:
Well in some way this is a sequel to Cannibal Holocaust, or at least it's very similar and from the same director. This isn't nearly as good as Holocaust, though I suppose it's nicely filmed. The plot is about a news team who suspect a member of Jonestown has survived and is hiding out in the jungle. Also they intend to hunt for the son of a TV Producer who has been lost in the jungle for quite a while and it has a cocaine smuggling plot too. The missing son is hilariously played by Willie Aames (Buddy from Charles In Charge) who is ridiculous when trying to act, it's almost sad to watch. This does have a lot of violence in it though nothing as extreme as in Holocaust, it does have a rather high body count I suppose (though I could have done with less poison dart death). One perk this does have is actor Michael Berryman (the creepy dude from The Hills Have Eyes) as a violent savage which is kind of neat. It's okay I guess when you add everything up but it certainly could have been much better.

Availability:  On DVD