Synopsis: When a cast of actors rehearse their new musical about a serial killer, an actual psychopath breaks into the theater and torments them.
For tonight’s film, I’ve decided to delve into one of my favorite sub-genres of horror and that’s some good old fashioned Italian horror. Over the top acting, questionable dubbing, extreme death gags and buckets of frighteningly bright red blood. Nothing beats it. With me being a casual fan of Dario Argento, I’m actually kind of surprised I’ve never stumbled across Michele Soavi’s work before considering he was Argento’s protege but here we are.
This flick is 1980’s horror cinema through and through. With a creative, yet simple plot things don’t take very long to get to the payoff and just when you think the fun is coming to an end, boom, there’s still 20 more minutes left.
The story begins with our actors rehearsing their serial killer musical under the direction of a tyrannical director. When one of the actors, Alicia (Barbara Cupisti) injures herself, she sneaks away with a set dresser friend in an attempt to get medical care and sneak back before the director notices. In true horror fashion, they end up at a mental asylum seeking assistance where we are introduced to real life serial killer, Irving Wallace (Clain Parker). Somehow Wallace escapes and hitches a ride back to the theater, unseen in the back of the car. Once he gets locked in with the rest of the cast all Hell breaks loose and the actors are picked off one after another in grisly fashion.
This movie was everything I wanted it to be and more. I just love that schlocky feel of it and being coupled with everything Italian horror offers just pushes this one over the top for me. This is quintessential 1980’s horror. The kills were all accomplished using practical effects (big plus for me) and fairly creative. Example, one scene sees an actress get pulled through the floor and subsequently torn in half, with her top half landing on the guy trying to save her. Absolute perfection! I know I’m not alone when it comes to this type of genre film and the ones that understand that love should be and probably are all over this director’s work. I’m honestly not sure why it took me so long myself. This one was a ton of fun and reminds me why I love this genre. This one will be added into my usual rotation from now on and I’m actively seeking out more of Soavi’s work as we speak.
This one needs to be experienced at least once, so head on over to Tubi and you can find it as of this writing.
