I’ve already written about the movies that Shout/Scream
Factory has been bringing out on blu-ray format for fans of the VHS films
horror fans grew up with from the eighties on. Memories of those movies found
on the shelves of mom and pop video stores will always trigger a bit of
nostalgia from those fans. But memories can be tricky and misleading. Watching
these movies a bit older and wiser now may make them not as great as they once
were, but they will indeed trigger those memories of days gone by.
This time around the double bill offered begins with THE
OUTING. Here we have an archeologist whose daughter stops by to visit her dad
after he’s been busy going through a collection of artifacts taken in when an
elderly woman is killed by thieves attempting to steal her treasures. Of course
we watched these thieves killed by the genie that was in the lamp she owned.
The archeologist’s daughter gathers her friends to secretly
spend the night in the museum he works in. Unaware of exactly what it was that
was found, the genie ends up possessing the daughter and mayhem follows as does
the body count of anyone in the group or still in the museum. The result is
some gruesome gore filled moments for fans of effects and a story and acting
that leave much to be desired. It’s not the worst movie ever made but it’s also
not one that most will think of as a great example of a horror film. It does
make you remember the types of movies that were being released at the time and
that’s not always a good thing.
The second film doesn’t get much better, unless you’re a fan
of mean or killer children flicks. THE GODSEND involves an English family of
six that take in a young baby when their mother gives birth at their home and
then disappears. They raise the child as their own but after a time their other
children begin to be killed in one way or another. Is this child killing the
others to take center stage in the lives of her adoptive parents? Do I really
need to ask that question?
The movie has a hazy look to it at times and doesn’t truly
offer any chills that I felt while watching. Donald Pleasance’s daughter Angela
stars as the strange disappearing mother in the beginning and she has an odd
enough look to her that she fits the role perfectly. The young girl who plays
Bonnie, the adopted child, has a weird look to her as well but I have no doubt
that was intended and done with the way she is shot and made up.
I’ve never been a big fan of movies that use children as the
cause of horror with the exception of VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. About the time
this movie came out in 1980 it seems that authors of the time including Stephen
King and Saul David were using children as protagonists in nearly all of their
books. Over time the fear factor involved in doing so made it less frightening
and more boring.
Once again fans of the old VHS shelves of mom and pop stores
will want to add this to their collection. So will horror fans willing to add
everything ever made. Everyone else might want to pass these by.
Click here to order.
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