I know the kids just went back to school, but it's never too early in the year for the North Carolina slasher film Final Exam. I'll have a review of the new Scream Factory Blu-ray in the upcoming issue of SCREEM.
Although primarily based in California, Al Adamson ventured into North Carolina to collaborate with Teen-Age Strangler (1964) producer Elvin Feltner for this weird fantasy film, which was partly shot at Earl Owensby's EO Studios.
Among the many unexpected charms to be found in regional horror films, the most surprising may be the wide variety of sublime and ridiculous musical interludes. To kick off our tribute to the fine art of the regional horror soundtrack, I give you Pete Yellen's title track for Buddy Cooper's North Carolina slasher film The Mutilator (1985), which originally bore the title "Fall Break". Performed by Yellen's group The Breakers, the song was composed by Michael Minard along with Artie Resnick, a tunesmith who had earlier co-written the Drifter's hit "Under the Boardwalk." It was released a 45 rpm single.
This being back-to-school week for a lot of folks, I thought I'd celebrate with a look forward to Fall Break -- the original title of this North Carolina favorite from attorney/director Buddy Cooper.
Frederick R. Friedel's minimalist classic (also known as Lisa, Lisa) was shot in North Carolina and distributed by Harry Novak at Box Office International.
House of Death (Death Screams, 1982) Shelby, North Carolina
When we first learned about the passing of former child star David Nelson, we weren't too surprised to note that most obituaries failed to mention that he had directed the obscure slasher film House of Death/Death Screams. Nelson is best known for portraying himself on the family sitcom "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" along with his parents and younger brother Ricky Nelson. But in the 1980s he directed several films (and TV show episodes), including two made in the South: The Florida film Last Plane Out (1983) starring Jan-Michael Vincent, and House of Death, which was filmed at Earl Owensby's EO Studios compound in Shelby, N.C.
House of Death is set against the backdrop of a carnival, with a shadowy killer offing teenagers. Like that other EO slasher film Final Exam (1981), House of Death suffers from a long, boring stretch in the middle and a lackluster killer with seemingly no motivation. What it does have, however, is former Playmate Susan Kiger and former North Carolina pageant queen Monica Boston. William T. Hicks, who plays the obligatory fat sheriff, was also in Owensby's Tales of the Third Dimension, A Day of Judgment, Challenge, and Living Legend: The King of Rock and Roll. (Thanks to Fred Adelman for the VHS images).
It's back to school time, so we've decided to dedicate September's trailer of the week selections to educational-themed regional horror films. First up: North Carolina's Final Exam (1981), which features one of the most boring, non-descript killers in cinema history.
The tax shelter laws that existed in the U.S. prior to 1986 encouraged a lot of professionals to invest in low-budget film projects, in hopes that they could shelter potentially significant amounts of their income from the IRS. Attorneys frequently pumped cash into these productions; however, these legal eagles occasionally took a more active role, producing and even directing low-budget horror films of their own.
Exhibits A, B, and C:
Toxic Zombies (a.k.a. Bloodeaters, 1980)
After the success of Night of the Living Dead, Pennsylvanians produced a lot of zombie movies, but for viewers of a certain age, writer/director/star and Yale Law School graduate Charles McCrann's Toxic Zombies/Bloodeaters is held in particularly high regard --- and not just because the film opens, incongruously, with a scene of a woman giving herself a sponge bath in the middle of the forest. Toss in some zombified hippie pot farmers, shady government agents (including real-life Romero vet John Amplas), and some corny jokes, and you've got yourself a kooky kilo of stoner zombie comedy.
This was the only film for McCrann, an exec at financial services company Marsh & McLennan. Decades later, he was killed on Sept. 11, 2001, in the World Trade Center attacks. If you check out the preceding link to his tribute page, you'll note that he was not shy about sharing his singular zombie opus with his law school buds or co-workers.
Girls Nite Out (The Scaremaker, 1984) We meant to cover this peppy slasher flick when we were doing our tribute to Ohio, but we ran out of time. Plus, although it was set in Ohio, and produced by two Ohio attorneys, and starred former Ohioan Hal Holbrooke, Girls Nite Out was actually made in ... New Jersey.
Set on the campus of a fictional Ohio college during an annual scavenger hunt, Girls Nite Out features a crazy killer decked out in a bear suit (the school's mascot) outfitted with steak-knife claws who picks off co-eds while an obnoxious DJ spins a surprisingly good selecton of oldies (how much of the budget went to music licensing?).
Producers Anthony Gurvis and Kevin Kurgis are both well-known attorneys in central Ohio, but Kurgis has definitely made the bigger name for himself with a series of ominous commercials in which he emerges from behind a door and charges the camera like a brahma bull while touting the value of hiring a good personal injury lawyer. These commercials are so infamous around Columbus, that they have inspired several YouTube parodies, and this Facebook page.
The Mutilator (1985) Finally, we have this North Carolina classic written and directed by Atlantic Beach attorney Buddy Cooper, which positively drips with blood and confusing Freudian subtext as a deranged killer stalks his own son and junior's college buddies in order to exact revenge for his wife's accidental death years earlier. With cast members from Two Thousand Maniacs! and DeadtimeStories, early work from special effects artist Mark Shostrom, and an extremely nasty death-by-gaffe-hook-in-an-especially-uncomfortable-place.
Here's Cooper himself talking to some dude in sunglasses about his one and only film credit:
The Dead Next Door is a blog about regional or "backyard" horror and science fiction films made from the late 1950s to the earlyl 1990s (and beyond). These films were released during the peak years of independent film production, created by a motley crew of seasoned pros, gifted amateurs, and enthusiastic genre fans, along with dozens of eccentric dreamers -- doctors, lawyers, insurance salesmen, publishers, commercial filmmakers, TV production crews and moonlighting pornographers -- all looking for their big break or a fast buck or both.
