AMERICAN HORROR PROJECT 2: SAVED BY ARROW!

If for some reason you missed the first volume of misplaced or forgotten horror films from Arrow then by all means seek it out. It’s not that all of the movies included were fantastic but they were interesting and saved from disappearing altogether. Arrow has a reputation for doing that, saving movies that were either long lost and thought gone or that were released in poor versions on both VHS and later disc. They take these movies, clean them up and offer them in the best format possible with plenty of extras to entertain. Now they’re releasing a second volume and after watching it one can only hope that they carry on this series.

Both box sets contain three movies that were made some time ago. This time around we have the films DARK AUGUST, DREAM NO EVIL and THE CHILD. Like last time I’d heard of at least one item here but not the other two. And like last time the one I’d heard of wasn’t the one that I found to be the best film.

The weakest of the three for me was THE CHILD. Made in 1977 the film has that low budget made in some backwater location that can sometimes be a good thing but here, not quite. Laurel Barnett stars as Alicianne Del Mar, a young nanny sent for by Mr. Nordon (Frank Janson) to take care of his daughter Rosalie (Rosalie Cole). Having met a neighbor first who told her that the girl had behaved a bit strangely ever since her mother passed away Alicianne isn’t sure what to expect. In addition to Rosalie and her father her older brother Len also lives in the house and works for his father there. Soon strange things begin to happen, people go missing and Rosalie is conversing and raising the dead. Just how far this will go makes up the last part of the film. For a movie to work like this it depends on the performances to make them believable. While Barnett does a decent job Cole is terrible as the little girl. It’s more like she’s reading rather than acting the role. The fact that this is her only acting credit is no surprise.

DREAM NO EVIL (1970) also suffers from the low budget blues but still offers and interesting movie. Grace MacDonald (Brooke Mills) works in a tent evangelist show where she dives off a high ladder into a foam filled platform. The evangelist is Rev. Paul Jessie Bundy (Michael Pataki) who took over when his father passed away. Grave is engaged to Patrick Bundy (Paul Prokop) who’s studying to be a doctor. When the show stops nearby his college the pair visit one another. In the town where they’ve set up the tent Grace goes to meet her father (Edmund O’Brien) who is apparently living in a retirement home/part time brothel staffed by elderly women. There she meets the owner and local undertaker who tells her that her father passed away. She goes to visit him and he wakes up and kills the undertaker. Grace then hides her father on a nearby ranch. But stranger things than his simply waking from the dead begin to take place and much of it involves Grace’s sanity. The ending provides a nice twist. Some poorly done special effects, done this way no doubt due to their budget, and that sheen of poor quality grade film stock make this one a definite low budget film. In spite of that it presents a decent story and better than terrible acting.

The third movie in the set is DARK AUGUST (1976). Of the three I found this film to be the best of the trio. Sal Devito (J.J. Barry) is an illustrator recently who’s moved into a small town to get away from the big city. Unfortunately not long after his arrival he accidentally hit and killed a young girl who ran out in front of his car. Now her grandfather has placed a curse on him for revenge, connecting with evil spirits to do so. As misfortunes begin to affect both Sal and those close to him, including new girlfriend and gallery owner Jackie (Carole Shelyne) he doesn’t know what to do. Jackie tells him she knows of a woman in town who might be able to help, a spiritual healer she’s been to. Adrianna (Kim Hunter) can tell there are dark forces around Sal and offers to help. But the battle between good and evil is not one to be taken lightly. The movie has a slow pace to it but it works making the story more believable. In addition to that the acting here is the best out of the three films in this set. Hunter, past her prime when she starred in movies like A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and the PLANET OF THE APES movies brings her talents to the film making the character less nutball than it could have been played as. The revenge motif works well and the battle between dark and light forces stand up.

The American Horror Project is co-curated by author Stephen Thrower, the author of “Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents”, and he appears in the extras talking about each film. Not only that Arrow delivers a ton of extras here as well as 2l restorations of the film from original film elements. The extras here include reversible sleeves for each film with original and newly commissioned artwork, “American Horror Project Journal Vol. II” a limited edition booklet featuring new writing on the films by Stephen R. Bissette, Travis Crawford and Amanda Reyes, “Dream No Evil” a filmed appreciation by Thrower, “Dream No Evil” a brand new audio commentary track with Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan, “Dream No Evil – Hollywood After Dark: The Early Films of John Hayes 1959-1971” a look at the director of the film by Thrower, “Dream No Evil – Writer Chris Poggiali on the career of actor Edmond O’Brien, “Dream No Evil – Excerpts from an audio interview with Rue McClanahan who worked with Hayes, “Dark August” a filmed appreciation by Thrower, “Dark August” a new audio commentary track by writer/director Martin Goldman, “Dark August” a new interview with Goldman, “Dark August” a new interview with producer Marianne Kanter, “Dark August – The Hills Are Alive: Dark August and Vermont Folk Horror” author/artist Bissette discussing genre filmmaking out of Vermont where the film was shot, “Dark August” the original press book, “The Child” options for either 1.37:1 or 1.85:1 presentations of the film, “The Childe” an appreciation by Thrower, “The Child” a new audio commentary track with director Robert Voskanian and producer Robert Dadashian moderated by Thrower, “The Child” a new interview with Voskanian and Dadashian, “The Child” original theatrical trailer and “The Child” original press book. As you can see there’s more than a movie’s worth of extras to watch as well as the three films.

None of these three films will ever be noted for their success on the big screen or for their influence on a generation of film makers. But they are a part of film history and deserve to be treated as such. Thankfully Arrow is there to insure that this happens, giving them the loving touch that they do with everything they release. Horror fans, grindhouse fans and movie lovers should give this one a look.

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