Fans of the old mom and pop video stores have found a friend
in Shout/Scream Factory. The company has rounded up a ton of the old mainstays
of those glory days of the video store, the shelf fillers from the eighties that
had fantastic box art on display for some of the lamest movies ever seen. There
is indeed a place for these movies yet today, movies that kids from that time
loved to no end and long to watch once again. Top of the list are the first
entries in the GHOULIES franchise from Charles Band’s Empire Pictures. Now both
can be found on a blu-ray double feature disc from Shout/Scream Factory.
The first film opens with a satanic ritual being performed
by a cult leader played by Michael Des Barres. This was at a time when movies
considered this just something frightening and before more practices like this
resulted in more serious concerns. As he is about to sacrifice his own child, a
protective spell is cast on the baby by his mother. Denied this sacrifice he kills
the woman and banishes the child, to be watched over by the caretaker of his
property.
Fast forward a number of years and we find the child now
grown and inheriting the estate. He moves in with his girlfriend and begins
trying to restore the estate. An unease settles over him and he finds the book
of spells his father left behind. Caught up in the mysticism and search for
power he begins practicing rituals on his own. During a house warming party
with their friends there, he tries to summon demons only for it to fail. Or so
they think. Once they leave the cellar where they performed the incantation the
ghoulies, tiny Gremlin knock offs arrive.
The tiny creatures are not nearly as friendly as their more
famous cousins and begin killing off the guests one by one. Interestingly
enough, among those is a young Mariska Hargitay. Just what they have in store
for our young misguided wizard wannabe is yet to be seen as is who is really
pulling their strings. Not literal strings even if they are puppets but, well,
you know what I mean.
The puppets on display have a certain amount of charm to
them but are extremely simplistic. That was fine for the eighties but my guess
is kids of today will be left unimpressed. This is why I say that those who
loved the movies back then will remember them with fondness and seek out this
blu-ray disc. Some decent acting, some over the top acting, and a fairly well
laid out plot make this one passable. Best of all are the unintended laughs
when it comes to what an eighties party looked like, including some of the
worst hip hop dancing ever filmed.
The sequel, GHOULIES 2, find the tiny critters on the road
after a preacher tries to extinguish them in a vat of acid. They come across a
traveling carnival with, of course, a haunted house and hide there. The
carnival has fallen on hard times and with a new corporate takeover (did
corporations really want to take over carnivals?) our bad guy is introduced as
the son of the owner, hot sports car and all.
Of course he takes a liking to one of the belly dancers and
has an immediate dislike for the one guy she has eyes for, the nephew of the
haunted house ride owner. Telling them all that to save money one ride/event
must go he lets it be known this is the likely victim. Kids are no longer scared
by these things. That is until they walk through to find the ghoulies inside
claiming victims. Suddenly the ride is a smash. But the costs in lives of
keeping it open past that initial night is soon discovered along with the
ghoulies and a battle to save the girl and the carnival from these things is
on.
While the satanic rituals may be gone and some early form of
CGI used in portions of the film, the campy puppets remain for most of the
feature. It’s easy to see why this movie was made, an attempt to cash in on the
amazing success of the first film. Not only did these two movies make money,
they made enough for producer Charles Band to start a new company called Full
Moon that went on to fill video store shelves with many more horror and science
fiction films like these.
The extras include interviews with Band and more and
trailers for each. While the casual viewer might not be interested in these
movies the fans of the films will be delighted with the presentation here. Not
only will they rediscover memories of the films they enjoyed while kids, my
guess is they’ll remember those trips to the video store where they perused the
box art of movie after movie wondering if the movie was any good or not. Great
for a trip down memory lane.
Click here to order.
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