Director – Curt McDowell (Sparkles Tavern)
Starring – Marion Eaton (Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat), George Kuchar (Bongwater), and Melinda McDowell (The Devil’s Cleavage)
Release Date – 1975
Rating – 1/5
Blu Release – 4/5
Tagline – “Ecstasy so great, that all heaven and hell become but one Shangri-La”
I watched a great deal of sexploitation and vintage porn last month so I thought it would be awhile before I watched another one. I was wrong. When I started getting my horror movies together to review this month I remembered that Synapse sent over a unique horror porn from 1975 titled Thundercrack!
Horror porn is a very weird and fun experience to check out. I’m more accustomed to the horror porn I watch and review being parodies of famous horror films butThundercrack! was different. This one was a porn with an actual plot that payed homage to the cliches of horror films from the 30s and 40s. Once again I want to thank Synapse for hooking Horror Society and myself up with this strange film to review.
**Spoiler Alert**The film begins during a very dangerous thunder storm. Several people are traveling and seeking refuge from the storm. They approach a mysterious house known as the Prairie Blossom. The Prairie Blossom is owned by an alcoholic window whose late husband was a horrible country western singer. As more and more travelers show up we are presented with everyone’s back story along with several secrets of the mysterious house and it’s alcoholic owner. In between these pivotal stories we are greeted by unsimulated sex scenes. **Spoiler Alert**
Horror porn. Most horror fans look at me with a confused look on their face when I bring it up. Most don’t even realize that it is actually a thing. For the most part, horror porn is parodies of horror hits or classic horror films that are well known to movie fans. What most people don’t know is that there is some horror porns out there that have an original story but are full of hardcore sex scenes. Dawna of the Dead and Porn of the Dead are just a few that have actual stories with hardcore sex scenes. Thundrecrackpainted a very illustrious image with the synopsis on the back of the blu but it was a huge let down for the most part.
The acting in this one is rather annoying to watch. Most of the cast act angry with each other for some unknown reason that is never mentioned in the plot. I don’t know if they were told to be intense or what but they come off as angry the whole film. They actually yell at each other for a good portion of the film. With that being said, Marion Eaton was fun. She was odd and strange but this worked with the style of the film. I would have loved to see her character play a more vital part to the story.
The story for this one is all over the place. The film, at it’s heart, is a porn. Nothing complicated there. The purpose of the old house is a plot device to get everyone in one area to fuck it out. This could have been such a fun story but the gothic haunted mansion story was never fully explored. We needed more of the house and not all the character’s back stories.
Finally, this film has no kills, gore, or blood. In fact, if you are looking for carnage then you are looking in the wrong place. This film finds it’s way into horror by setting some dark, gothic scenery along with the cliches of the haunted mansion films of the 30s and 40s which it does a great job at doing. Overall, Thundercrack! could have been one hell of a horror flick but put too much focus into the porn aspect and not enough into establishing the story. Sadly, it somewhat fails as a porn as well resulting in a movie that just cant figure out what kind of movie it wants to be. Skip it.
Special Features:
Interviews
New Subtitles
It Came from Kuchar Documentary
Short Films
Audition Footage
Outtakes
