You'd think in my years of watching movies, I wouldn't be duped into thinking just because a box cover looks awesome means the movie will be just as good, if not better. Well, double dumbass on me for thinking that thought about this film directed by Frank LaLoggia.
In upstate New York, Andrew is a brilliant teenage boy who does well in school but does not get along with his peers. His parents are frightened of him because he has exhibited disturbing behavior ever since he was born. When he starts having problems at school, people start dying. It turns out Andrew is Lucifer reincarnated and apparently doesn't know it. His old woman neighbor and his high school crush discover they are archangels on a mission to stop him.
That's pretty much it...sounds linear, right? HELL NO!!!! What does this movie want to be? Carrie?, The Omen?, Monty Python and the Holy Grail?, The Church?, Night of the Living Dead? This movie is not only extremely incoherent and poorly acted, but disturbing in the bad way. I don't mean the famous shower scene, that doesn't bother me. But there are two other scenes involving a baptism and a dog that made me cringe with discomfort.
In addition, I was expecting a teenage revenge horror film not this cinematic drivel. I understand this movie came out in the early-80s and one can expect flaws but not potholes like this one. But at least the late 70s/early 80s soundtrack featuring The Ramones(A DBH favorite), Sex Pistols, and the Talking Heads almost make up for this abomination!
3 comments:
I wish I could agree with you here, but this movie is a massive guilty pleasure for me. Sure, the acting is awful. Sure, it's homoerotic in ways that even Rent could never be. But the cinematography, the mood, the locations and the general idea behind it all were really ambitious, and not poorly executed at all. If you can ever double-feature this movie with a very lesser-known flick called Judgement Day (or The Third Hand), I highly recommend it. Both carry a very cool undercurrent of dread that isn't something that hits immediately, but does definitely hit.
The movie is rather cheesedick, though; I'll give you that! :)
That's cool...if the movie would have been more focused(and I don't mean camera focus) it may have been better but when you try to throw all sub-genres of horror together, it just doesn't work most of the time.
I took that idea of it "not working" with a grain of salt, viewing it more like an Argento film than a piece of American horror trash. It really felt like it was meant to be experienced more as a dream than as a popcorn muncher, so watching it in that way left me much more satisfied.
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