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Blu Review – American Horror Project Volume 1

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Director – Christopher Speeth
Starring – Janine Carazo, Jerome Dempsey (The Hudsucker Proxy), and Daniel Dietrich (Dawn of the Dead)
Release Date – 1973
Rating – 3/5

Tagline – “You’ll shriek with horror…as you watch his victims take a diabolical roller-coaster ride to bloody death”

 

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**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a family who work for an old carnival.  Their son went missing after visiting the carnival and now they work there in hopes of finding out what happened to their beloved offspring.  However, things turn bleak for the family when they find out that the carnival is actually run by a vampire who controls a group of zombies that live under the carnival.  Now they have to fight for their lives with only an idea of what happened to their son.**Spoiler Alert**

I love the look of 70s horror films.  Some really lacked story and rehashed what films released just months before did but I really enjoy the way they look.  I had never heard of Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood before but I was very surprised by how much I actually enjoyed it.  I could easily see this film being released by Troma under the Retro label.  The film was cheesy, late night drive-in cheesy, but was still able to hold my attention fully.

The acting in this one is a little goofy and clumsy at times but it was still fun to watch with this kind of story.  No one cast member stands out over the other and that is the way I like it.

The story for this one is a real roller-coaster ride of a film.  When you think you know where this one is going something else gets thrown your way.  I loved that aspect of it.  With that being said, some of the scenes went on for way too long while others made no sense.  The film needed to be re-written and edited before it was first released.

Finally, those of you looking for blood and guts will not find them here.  Instead, the film offers up a fun story that will hold your attention.  Overall, Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood was a very entertaining film.  It was far, very far, from being perfect but still very much worth your time.  I recommend checking this one out in the American Horror Project Volume 1 set.

Special Features
2K Restoration
Introduction by Author Stephen Thrower
Commentary
Interview with Director Richard Harland Smith
Interview with Werner Liepolt
Malatesta’s Underground Featurette
Outtakes
Still Gallery
Reversible Sleeve

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Director – Matt Cimber (Sex and Astrology)
Starring – Millie Perkins (Necronomicon: Book of the Dead), Lonny Chapman (The Hunted), and Vanessa Brown (The Twilight Zone)
Release Date – 1976
Rating – 2.5/5

Tagline – “Molly really knows how to cut men down to size”

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**Spoiler Alert**The film follows Molly (Perkins) who says she lost her father at sea.  She has two nephews who she continues to tell stories of grandeur about their grandfather to.  She suffers from migraines and often hits the bottle to cope.  To support herself she works as a waitress at a bar where she is also dating the owner and bartender.

However, she is also obsessed with television and it’s stars.  She secretly goes out with several television personalities and every time she is aroused she kills.  We then learn that her father was not the amazing man that she claimed.  He often physically and sexually abused her resulting in her unstable nature.**Spoiler Alert**

The Witch Who Came from the Seais one of those films that I really wanted to like but was really disappointed with it.  I loved the film’s artwork (seen above) but the film was actually nothing like that image portrayed.

The acting in this one is awkward considering the cast that the film had.  The film’s lead, Millie Perkins, is a legend in her own right.  She was Anne Frank in the 1959 production ofThe Diary of Anne Frank, and she would go on to appear on The Bob Newhart Show, Murder, She Wrote, and Our House.  She obviously has some talent in front of the camera but her role in this one made it difficult to watch.  Most of her scenes made me think she was drugging it up.  The remainder of the cast has had just as lucrative of a career as Perkins but they deliver some solid performances that did not make me question their sobriety.

The story for this one is not one involving witches and the sea.  Instead, it is more a psychological horror film that uses the witch and the sea as a metaphor.  This could have still been one hell of a film but the awkward acting and random scenes that make no sense take away from it.

Finally, there is several on screen kills but they are so fucking weak.  The kills are nothing we haven’t seen before and they are so cheap that the viewer has no option but to laugh at their poor attempts.  The little bit of practical effects we do get are so bad that it makes me wonder if they were actually planned at all or just tossed together that day on set.  Overall. The Witch Who Came from the Sea is not the film the poster makes you believe.  Instead of a classic witch tale, we get a psychological horror flick that is extremely boring.  This is not the high point of the set.

Special Features:
2K Restoration
Introduction by Author Stephen Thrower
Commentary
Making-of Documentary
A Maiden’s Voyage Featurette
Lost at Sea Featurette
Reversible Sleeve

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Director – Robert Allen Schnitzer (Kandyland)
Starring – Sharon Farrell (Freddy’s Nightmares), Richard Lynch (The Lords of Salem), Jeff Corey (Conan the Destroyer)
Release Date – 1976
Rating – 2.5/5

Tagline – “Beyond the power of an exorcist…beyond the door of science lies the world of terror for two damned souls and the spirit that’s dying to get out!”

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**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a little girl who lives with her foster parents.  Her biological mother is trying to find her and eventually tracks her down.  However, her foster mother has a premonition about the encounter and is able to stop her before she can take her.

The biological mother does not give up and is able to eventually get her daughter after placing the foster mother in the hospital.  She goes into hiding forcing the foster parents to turn to a specialist to interrupt her dreams to find her foster child.**Spoiler Alert**

I had high hopes for The American Horror Project set and the first film I saw, Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood, was very enjoyable and I assumed the rest of the set would be just as good.   Sadly, the next film, The Witch Who Came from the Sea, was a huge let down.  The story was very flat and boring.  It moves painfully slow with scenes that do not fit the film at all.  The Premonition was the last film in the set and, sadly, it was not much better.

The acting in this one was a huge improvement over the last film.  The cast all work very well together very well and the scenes flow smoothly.  I enjoyed the cast in this one and I really enjoyed the weird performance from Richard Lynch.  His character was very entertaining.

The story for this one could have been one hell of a dark thriller but went about it all wrong almost as if it was edited incorrectly which is possible when studios get behind a release.  They move stuff around to make sure they can squeeze every penny they can out of it.  The film needed to be re-edited.

Finally, those of you looking for gore and blood will not find it here.  Instead, you will find a film that tries to tell an important story only to fall flat.  Overall, The Premonition is another disappointment.  It had one hell of a story that could have been one of the best dark thrillers from the 70s but misses it’s mark.  Can not recommend this one.

Special Features:
2k Restoration
Introduction by Stephen Thrower
Commentary
Making-of Documentary
Interviews
Trailers and TV Spots
Three Robert Allen Schnitzer Short Films
Reversible Sleeves

 

Overall, this release is beautiful.  I would rate it 4/5 looking at the release as a hole.  The films are not that great but the special features and set is amazing.

Blacktooth

(Staff Writer) Lover of all things horror and metal. Also likes boobs and booze.

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