Blu Release – 4/5
Beyond Dream’s Door
Director – Jay Woelfel (Demonicus, Ghost Lake)
Starring – Nick Baldasare (They Bite, Road Meat), Rick Kesler (Slammer Girls, The Birthmark), and Susan Pinsky
Release Date – 1989
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “It takes it’s victims and hides them in your nightmares…”
Like most genre fans, I fucking love 80s horror. I know people often say that the 80s was the last decade to make good horror films. I don’t agree with that at all but there is something to the saying that rings true. The 80s was the end of the practical effects driven horror films with computer generated visual effects becoming far less expensive in the 90s. You still get some in 80s horror but it’s not as predominate as it is in recent years.
Sometime back Vinegar Syndrome announced that they would be releasing a box set featuring three regional horror classics that has never made it’s way to blu. The set, Home Grown Horrors Volume 1, features one late 80s horror flick and two early 90s. Obviously I had to start with the 1989 film Beyond Dream’s Door.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows Ben (Baldasare) who suffers from horrible dreams and has for some time. He reaches out to a professor who might be able to help him where he hands him a transcription of his dreams. The professor is well versed in the dream he is having and tries to help him but things take a dark and twisted turn once they investigate the dreams further. **Spoiler Alert**
Beyond Dream’s Door is an experience more than it is a movie you can just watch. When I was in high school I was introduced to The Dead Next Door and it was the first time that I witnessed a movie you experience and not watch. The soundtrack, the visuals, the story, they all pull you in and sticks with you for sometime. BDD is not perfect and falls short in a lot of different ways but it’s still a fun film that I can see myself tossing in several more times in the near future.
The acting in this one is solid for the most part but there is a few scenes where the cast missed their marks. I don’t know if it was from exhaustion or what but a couple scenes just lacked the charisma that we were given in most of the film. The cast does have limited experience but for the most part they deliver exceptional performances but they are inconsistent.
The story for this one is a bit messy but it eventually comes around to explain itself. At first the movie may feel a little confusing or overwhelming but if you stick with it and pay attention the last act puts all the pieces into place. I’m a bit of an idiot so if I can understand it then I’m sure you will not have any issues.
Finally, the film focuses more on the story and the dream sequences over gore. The creatures and monsters we get in these all look great and I really enjoyed the practical effects and make-up effects we see. These add to the overall look and feel of the film which only solidifies the dream-like atmosphere the film is going for. Overall, Beyond Dream’s Door is a must see. It may not be for everyone but if you are a fan of low budget 80s horror with great atmosphere and story then this one is for you. I highly recommend it.
Special Features:
Region Free Blu-ray
Newly scanned & restored in 2k from its 16mm original camera negative (with tape inserts)
“Where Horror Lies” – a brand new extended making-of documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew
Brand new group commentary track with: director Jay Woelfel, cinematographer Scott Spears, actor Nick Baldasare & actor Rick Kesler
Brand new commentary track with: actor Nick Baldasare, moderated by Dave Parker
Group commentary track
Commentary track with the director
“Behind Dream’s Door” – making-of documentary
“Getting Monstered” – fx featurette
Montage of unused and alternate takes
Unused and alternate fx footage
Bloopers and behind-the-scenes footage
Local news coverage
Multiple deleted scenes
Multiple trailers
Multiple short films with commentary tracks
Reversible cover artwork
English SDH subtitles
Winterbeast
Director – Christopher Thies
Starring – Tim R. Morgan, Mike Magri, and Charles Majka (The Polka King)
Release Date – 1992
Rating – 3.5/5
Tagline – “It must be seen to be believed…”
When Vinegar Syndrome announced the release of their Home Grown Horrors box set I was very excited for it. Not only did it have a late 80s horror film I had never seen before but it also includes the 1992 horror film Winterbeast which is a notorious film among genre fans. Most of the people that know my taste in horror has recommended this one to me for some time but I’ve never came across a copy or forgot about it when I set out to order movies. With the inclusion of it in this set meant I was finally able to check it out.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a forest ranger who is investigating a large number of missing people. The local lodge owner chalks it up to people not sticking to the trails but the ranger suspects something more is at play. While investigating they uncover remains and a skeleton posed in some sort of ritualistic fashion making the ranger suspect that it has something to do with an urban legend linked to the Native Americans but the lodge owner refuses to listen putting more and more people’s lives in danger until his real intentions are uncovered. **Spoiler Alert**
Winterbeast is one of the oddest yet purely entertaining 90s movies I had ever seen. The story combines so many different elements that the viewer won’t know what hit them while the effects will leave you speechless. I loved it but I’m not blind to the film’s shortcomings. I can look passed some of these things to see the fun hiding underneath.
The acting in this one is not the best. In fact, there was times that I found myself laughing at the interactions happening on screen. The cast is extremely stiff and some of the dialogue is so bland that it feels like they are reading their lines off screen. While I was putting this review together I noticed that most of the cast and crew have no other credits and that would explain why. It’s funny but it’s clearly not meant to be.
The story for this one is nothing we haven’t seen before. Hell, the last few months I’ve reviewed several other movies that used similar stories. However, the movie has many different moving gears to create a story that is unlike anything I had seen before. The major plot premise centers around a forest ranger warning people of an evil presence in the woods. This is almost like the plot to Grizzly but then you add the Native American legend and you get a little bit of The Cellar (another Vin Syn release) and even Scalps to an extent. Form there we take a turn into late night creature feature territory and that’s when the movie goes bat-shit crazy and pulls the viewer in. Honestly, you need to be on some good shit to understand this movie fully but I enjoyed it.
Finally, the film has some seriously impressive stop-motion animation that I was not expecting and not only do we get it for one creature but for several. The make-up and practical effects all look great but the stop-motion is really what sells the film. Overall, Winterbeast is not going to be for everyone. However, if you are a fan of the films you would see on MST3K then I highly recommend checking this out. Hell, this film makes this set worth the price! I highly recommend it.
Special Features:
Region Free Blu-ray
Newly scanned & restored in 2k from its original 16mm and Super 8mm film elements
Brand new commentary track with producer Mark Frizzell
Archival commentary track with director Christopher Thies, producer Mark Frizzell and cinematographer Craig Mathieson
“It Came from Lone Peak” – an unfinished early workprint version of Winterbeast
“Sweat & Persistence” – a new interview with producer Mark Frizzell
“I Saw it in a Dream” – a new interview with actor Charles Majka
“My First Career” – a new interview with actor David Majka
“So Bad, It’s Good” – a new interview with actress Dori May Kelly
“He Wears Sunglasses at Night” – a new interview with actor Mike Magri
“A Movie For Filmmakers” – a new interview with filmmaker Simon Barrett
“Oh, Dear, What can the Matter Be?” – an archival making-of documentary
Archival deleted scenes
Archival audio interview with composer Michael Perilstein
Archival ‘soap opera’ footage
Reversible cover artwork
English SDH subtitles
Fatal Exam
Director – Jack Snyder (Fatal Call, Ghost Image)
Starring – Mike Coleman (Fatal Examination), Terry Comer (Fatal Examination), and Carol Carlberg-Snyder (Fatal Examination)
Rating – 3/5
When Vinegar Syndrome announced the release of their new box set Home Grown Horrors I was extremely excited about it. Their Forgotten Gialli box sets are absolutely fantastic and one of my favorite pieces in my collection so I was extremely excited to check out some not so memorable regional horrors. I was really excited to finally see Winterbeast and check out an 80s horror film I had never seen before. I was also pumped for Fatal Exam which I thought was a standard slasher flick. Holy fucking walrus pussy was I wrong.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a group of college students who are on a class trip for the weekend to the home of a man who killed his entire family. The group intends on doing a paranormal investigation and quickly discover that not only is the spirit of the deranged man still roaming the halls of the house but a cult is using an ancient amulet that he had. **Spoiler Alert**
Fatal Exam may not be my favorite film in the set or the one that I was the most excited to see but it is still a solid entry in the set. This one was filmed in 1985 but was unable to find the funds to be released until 1990. I was unaware of this until I was putting my review together but if I would have knew that ahead of time I would have been just as excited for this one as I was for Beyond Dream’s Door. Regardless, its another fun film in the set.
The acting in this one is questionable at times and funny at others. The film has a lot of unintentionally funny scenes that I was not expecting. I was laughing more than I was expecting and the humor comes from the cast’s reactions to certain terrifying scenarios. They really do try to get into their roles but their inexperience shows.
The story for this one is fucking wild. You have a lot going on but the movie is just too long. I love movies centered around cults so I was very much pulled into this one. However, at almost two hours long I found the film was overstaying their welcome. We get a lot of smaller scenes that do very little to the story that could have been cut out to make the film flow better. I loved the mash up of supernatural and occult and the story goes to great lengths to give us a great back story regardless of how cheesy it is.
Finally, the film is not a bloody one. We do get a few gags that rely on camera tricks and some practical effects but nothing that really stands out which is a shame. If this one would have followed the story a little closer and showed a few deaths it would have been a lot more enjoyable. Overall, Fatal Exam is a long one but it has some cheese and a charmingly 80s story that I really enjoyed. It is rough around the edges but that’s to be expected from a film of this caliber. It fits nicely into this Home Grown Horrors set from Vinegar Syndrome.
Special Features:
Region Free Blu-ray
Newly scanned & restored in 2k from its 16mm original camera negative
Group commentary track with: Jack Snyder (director), Terry Comer (actor), Carl Leta (composer), William Crawford (sfx), Mike Coleman (actor), Dave Mayer (actor)
“Fatal Examination” – a brand new extended making-of documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew
Reversible cover artwork
English SDH subtitles
