Blood Rage (Aka Shadow Woods / Slasher) (1987)

Blood Rage (Aka, Shadow Woods / Slasher) is an American Slasher film produced in 1987. Written by Bruce Rubin and directed by John Grissmer, its undertones are very reminiscent of the campy “Friday The 13^th” series and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” with one homicidal son yearning for mother’s sympathy with a quick snap of his sanity. The film starts out in a crowded night at the local drive-in theater in 1974 in Jacksonville, Florida. For a fun night for many quickly turns into a blood soaked drive-in, when a single mother, Maddy Simmons (Louise Lasser) , takes her two young identical twin boys Todd (Mark Soper) and Terry (Mark Soper) with her while on a date.  The couple takes their night further as Ms. Simmons assumes the twins are asleep in the backseat, and as things get heated up in the front seat, the boys mischievously sneak out the back door without notice. Terry mysteriously finds and picks up an axe.   Peering into the next car, a couple takes their drive-in experience further and when discoved being watched by the twins, curses the boys to leave them alone.  Enraged, Terry  brutally attacks the couple. As the crowds gather after the shouts and screams, Terry quickly and hesitantly rubs the blood of his first victims on Todd’s face who had nothing to do with the murders and ditches the axe. In a dark twist, Todd claims that Terry was the one who murdered the couple and is quickly sent to a long term psychiatric hospital, leaving Todd as “The good child” knowing what he really did that dark night.  Fast forward nearly a decade later, it is Thanksgiving in Jacksonville, and the twisted Todd has kept his hands clean, now focused on convincing his innocence, life begins a new turn of events for him.  Terry has been locked up in a catatonic state with little to no memory of that night except that he was framed by his twin brother.  We are shortly introduced with Terry’s psychotherapist Dr. Berman (Marianne Kanter), and she admits that she knows Terry is not capable of such a crime and is determined to break  Todd’s secret. She rises to the top of Terry’s kill list. Ms. Simmons is now about to get married and this comes as unsettling news for Todd.  To make things more difficult, Todd’s brother, Terry has escaped his psychiatric hospital. Unworried, but a still very damaged Todd snaps further into his psychosis making sure Terry doesn’t expose his dark secret of that unfortunate night. Todd begins to pretend to be Terry, tricking his unfortunate victims, as the body count rises and his rage for blood is heightened in search of Terry. He begins to kill anyone and everyone who gets in his way. Blood Rage is a great psychological slasher film with plenty of gore and unique murder scenes. The film also features a cameo appearance by Ted Raimi as a condom salesman in the beginning. It’s one of the many eighties horror films you must add to your watch list. Now available exclusively as a Special Edition from Arrow Films, it comes packed full with 3 Discs, Blu-Ray/DVD & a DVD bonus disc which features three different versions of the film including the uncut and composite version.

Dressed To Kill (1980)

Dressed to Kill is a horror / thriller film released in 1980 and directed by Brian De Palma.  The film revolves around the murder of a sexually active housewife (Angie Dickenson) who is killed and witnessed by a young prostitute (Nancy Allen) and her teenage son (Keith Gordon). The young prostitute is seeing a psychiatrist about her sexuality, yet he seems to be confused about his own as well. The psychiatrist (Michael Cain) is a transvestite trapped inside a man’s body who when is sexually excited, his female side takes over and kills. As he stalks his prey dressed as a blonde haired woman this crime filled thriller keeps you at the edge of your seat and reminds me of many of the Italian Giallo films produced, due to its erotic nature and the use of a razor blade. It’s one film I am glad I saw and enjoyed it very much. It has a solid plot and twists that you’d never expect. Dressed to Kill has been released as a Criterion Collection on Blu-Ray restored with 4k footage and bonus features it is a must own for any fan of the Italian Giallo films, as this one seems to fit the American profile quite well.

Death Valley (1982)

Death Valley is a classic horror film from 1982 and directed by Dick Richards and written by Richard Rothstein.  Newly divorced Paul Stanton (Edward Herrmann) and his son Billy (Stephen McHattie) decide to venture into Death Valley during a road trip.  They stumble upon a serial killer, who enjoys wearing a pink male thong and his demented twin. Both enjoy tap-dancing and belting out old cowboy songs. Billy finds the murder instrument and decides to keep it unfortunately, allowing him to become stalked by a serial killer.  Billy wanders upon an old RV stuffed with dead bodies; he suspects what might be going on.  When the local sheriff (Wilford Brimley) becomes one of the victims, Billy sets off to find out more about the crime. Death Valley is a well directed and produced horror film with an original tale not to miss. The film has been currently released by the horror release masters Scream! Factory and is on a DVD/BluRay Combo pack with bonus features of various Trailers of the film. This release is not one to pass up. Purchase Death Valley directly from Scream! Factory.

Bad Dreams (1988)

Bad Dreams is a classic 80’s Horror Film by director and co-writer Andrew Fleming and produced by Gale Anne Hurd. The film begins with a cult known as Unity Fields, gathering with its psychopathic leader Franklin Harris (Richard Lynch) dousing his members with gasoline and lighting his followers on fire in a mass suicide. One survivor Cynthia (Jennifer Rubin) survived and recently awakened from a thirteen year coma with occasional reminders of the suicide. Dr. Alex Karmen (Bruce Abbot) is the resident psychiatrist determined to help his patients but as people in her group therapy begin to commit suicide in gruesome ways, Cynthia believes she is being stalked by the ghost of the evil cult leader. But are these deaths suicides or murders from an unseen entity of the sinister cult leader Franklin Harris?  As it turns out, her dreams become more vivid with each day confusing  of what’s left of her reality into a horror as Franklin has come back to claim his “Love child”. This film is a great thriller with horror elements that remind one of the classic Elm Street series. Now released as a double feature BluRay/DVD by Scream! Factory, Bad Dreams comes packed with extras such as an original alternate ending, a behind the scenes and a make-up effects featurette.