150 Movies You Should Die Before You See - Miller Steve [80]
And the Worst Actor Award goes to … Tim Bartlett for his role as Kevin, which he played with about the same degree of animation as one of the puppets.
They Really Said It!
McCreedy: All my work! Thirty years I have tried to prevent this from happening!
Betcha Didn't Know
Since the turn of the century, two different DVD editions of Hobgoblins have been issued, one of them a twentieth anniversary special edition of the film.
Rick Sloane's sequel to this film was released in 2009. He once again wrote, produced, and directed and demonstrated that his filmmaking skills haven't improved in twenty years.
Trivia Quiz
What prolific B movie director/producer has made tiny terrors a signature element of his movies?
A: Roger Corman
B: Charles Band
C: Val Lewton
D: William Castle
Answer: B. If you've been reading this book carefully, you know it's Charles Band. Starting with Dolls, he's made dozens of movies featuring small creatures creating big mayhem
THE ISLE OF THE SNAKE PEOPLE (AKA “SNAKE
PEOPLE” AND “ISLAND OF THE DEAD”) Azteca Films/Columbia Pictures, 1971
PRODUCERS Juan Ibáñez and Henry Verg
WRITER Jack Hill
DIRECTORS Juan Ibáñez and Jack Hill
STARS Ralph Bertrand (Capt. Pierre Labesch), Charles East (Lt. Andrew Wilhelm), Boris Karloff (Carl van Molder), Julissa (Anabella Vandenberg), Santanón (Dwarf), and Tongolele (Kalea)
When a new police captain (Bertrand) arrives on a small Caribbean island, he vows to break up the local voodoo cult. Can one honest cop hope to defeat a cult specializing in zombie sluts and led by a crazed, top-hat-wearing dwarf (Santanón), a voodoo priestess who looks like an exotic dancer (Tongolele), and a mysterious masked man who can't possibly be the eccentric plantation owner, Van Molder (Karloff)?
Why It Sucks
Even the great Boris Karloff — who ended a long career on this embarrassing note — can't make this movie work. The scantily clad belly-dancer voodoo priestess might have helped if she had acted with a bag over her head, because it would have hidden her vacant, burned-out sex-worker expression. But none of that saves any scene, even the most frightening, from fizzling. No one involved with the production seems to have known how to properly end a scene.
Thumbs Down Rating:
The Crappies
The Worst Picture Award goes to … Producers Juan Ibáñez and Henry Verg. If they'd trimmed the film by about twenty-five minutes and titled it Night of the Flesh-Eating Zombie Sluts, they might have had a hit on their hands.
And the Worst Actress Award goes to … Tongolele for infusing her portrayal of a voodoo priestess with a vacant “I've been in this business too long and it's sucked out my soul” stripper/sex industry worker attitude.
They Really Said It!
Anabella: Modern science has shown that alcohol is responsible for ninety-nine point two percent of all the world's sins.
Betcha Didn't Know
Although filmed primarily in Mexico, all of Boris Karloff's scenes were shot on sets in Los Angeles.
Jack Hill, director of the scenes filmed in America, worked on several pictures directed by Roger Corman.
Trivia Quiz
What celebrated actor did Jack Hill label as “terrible” after working with him on a film?
A: William Powell
B: Jack Nicholson
C: Boris Karloff
D: Cary Grant
Answer: B. Hill has stated that he was underwhelmed by Nicholson's performance in Roger Corman's The Terror. He later re-evaluated his opinion.
THE KILLER EYE
Full Moon Entertainment, 1999
PRODUCER Charles Band (executive producer) and Richard Chasen (producer)
WRITERS Benjamin Carr, Rolf Kanefsky, and Matthew Jason Walsh
DIRECTOR Richard Chasen
STARS Jonathan Norman (Dr. Jordan Grady), Jacqueline Lovell (Rita Grady), Costas Koromilas (Morton), Blake Bailey (Creepy Bill), Dave Oren Ward (Tom), and Nanette Bianchi (Jane)
Dr. Grady (Norman) has discovered a way to look into the Eighth Dimension using eye drops and a special inter-dimensional microscope. Unfortunately, a creature from that nightmarish realm has crossed into our world, possessed the