Abby (1974)

3.5 / 5 Jun '11
Tagline: The Devil took her for his lover! Her body is possessed, her soul is next!
Directed by: William Girdler
Written by: William Girdler, Gordon Cornell Layne
Actors include: Carol Speed, William Marshall, Terry Carter
Genre: Horror, Blaxploitation
Length: 89 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:

Friggin' hilarious over-the-top Blaxploitation take on The Exorcist courtesy of unusual movie maven Mr. William Girdler. The way this plays out is that Abby is a marriage councilor who is happily wed to a Preacher. Life is peachy keen, and although she's an overachiever (what with all of her singing in the choir and other cliched good girl activities) things are good. Abby's Father-In-Law accidentally conjures up an evil demon of sexuality that invades her body. Suddenly Abby's voice is much lower, her new hobbies include ripping off her clothes, kicking her Husband in the groin and seducing weirdos in bars. The dialog is really what makes this such an entertaining feature, I couldn't stop laughing through parts. The horror end of things is weak, barely anyone dies but that isn't really the reason to watch, it's all about the '70sisms. Abby's demon make-up looks hilariously like that of The Incredible Hulk, and she does the usual things like levitate and so forth and endure an exorcism in typical possession fashion. Truthfully this is my first Blaxploitation flick (unless you count the remake of Shaft which I don't) and I did really like it, oh it's not classically good but if you like camp then you should adore this.

Availability:  On DVD

Day Of The Animals (1977) aka Something Is Out There

3 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: For centuries they were hunted for bounty, fun and food... now it's their turn
Directed by: William Girdler
Written by: William W. Norton
Actors include: Christopher George, Leslie Nielsen, Lynda Day George
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Length: 97 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
One of those nature gone bad films, this time because we have been depleting the ozone layer somehow nature knows and is seriously pissed off. A group of hikers featuring Leslie Nielsen as a racist hilarious jerk are out and about when they notice the animals are acting strange. From our perspective we see many animals looking angry, particularly birds but some bears, dogs and cougars but they seemed lazy even reusing some shots with this. At any rate, a girl is attacked by a wolf (which is awesome), so she and her friend leave the group to go get help for her wounds. Along the way nature goes even more berserk and starts to cause fatalities (the deaths are pretty wicked). The group starts to have a divide and they split into two with Nielsen leading one of the packs and the tour guide leading the other with hilarious result. If you want to watch Nielsen dance with a bear, rats that fly and various other things that shouldn't exist but they do then this is worth your time. I was at least amused, it's better than I thought it might have been.

Availability:  On DVD

Three On A Meathook (1972)

2.5 / 5 Mar '10
Tagline: A Padlocked Shed, Hooks of Cold Steel -- a Maniac on the loose
Directed by: William Girdler
Written by: William Girdler
Actors Include: Charles Kissinger, James Carroll Pickett, Sherry Steiner
Genre: Horror
Length: 78 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
So this is William Girdler's (The Manitou) debut film and boy is it cheap...I mean it looks like Herschell Gordon Lewis must have had twice the budget and gore effects then this had. The thing is, although it's relatively poorly made it's still relatively ahead of it's time (especially when you consider this predates The Texas Chain Saw Massacre by two years). Although today this seems very formulaic there really wasn't much of a formula to follow at the time so I give credit to Girdler on that account too. The plot is about a young Man named Billy who is desperate for some Lady attention. When he stumbles upon four lovely young ladies he offers them a place to stay for the night. See Mother is dead, and Father isn't too pleased about this, in fact he warns Billy never to bring Woman home because of his "issues with Women". After the girls are brutally slaughtered (including one of the first horror decapitations I believe) in ketchup Billy wakes up the next morning to their corpses not having a clue what happened. When he gets drunk to forget in a club he passes out and wakes up in the bed of a nice young waitress. They end up being fond of one another and so he invites her and her friend to his house for the weekend but will they survive? It actually nearly shares it's plot with the film Frightmare which is rather strange...I actually give credit to the plot for being decent. It's only the budget, acting, effects and large dull parts that make it less than a fun film to watch. Oh and I should mention, we have a few performances from quite the band American Xpress, quite ridiculous! Oh and when the band isn't on screen prepare for ridiculous AM '70s songs nobody has ever heard and for good reason.

Availability:  On DVD

The Manitou (1978)

3 / 5 Feb '10
Tagline: Evil does not die... It waits to be re-born!
Directed by: William Girdler
Written by: William Girdler, Graham Masterton
Actors include: Tony Curtis, Michael Ansara, Ann Sothern
Genre: Horror
Length: 104 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
You have to see it to believe it (or at least I had to) but I can't imagine anyone watching it twice. Somehow randomly (explanation is for suckers?) a woman ends up with a growth on her neck/back area that contains the fetus of a 400 year old Indian Medicine Man spirit hellbent on revenge. Hilariously this Medicine Man is played by a "Little Person" covered in goo angrily trotting about in a room having a hissy fit (because another Indian was able to temporarily contain him using a circle of ash or something). Tony Curtis is funny as the Psychic boyfriend of fetus Lady who has to get help from another powerful Indian to stop the madness. See most of the time when an Indian Spirit is born from another's body, the "host" dies and Curtis doesn't want his lady friend to die so he's got to try! Surprisingly it's rather dull for much of the film (until the spirit is born) and then after that they didn't really seem to know what to do with it. Kudos to them for coming up with one of the most ridiculous stories I've heard then trying to play it straight though...

Availability:  On DVD