I don't know about anyone else, but this film really did give me the chills. It was a very scary, dark film that made me feel uneasy long after it was over with. I love these kinds of movies...a bit disturbing. The ending was fantastic and really made the entire film. I won't spoil it for you, I just think more people really need to see this.
shareI agree, one of my favorite 80's horror. It was different from all the slasher flicks during that time. I wish Paramount would release it on dvd.
shareWell, it is kinda strange, the way the film was made just made it disturbing and chilling. The music (I can still hear the hauting music). Best horror film I've seen in ages.
shareYou know those video clearance bins, where you buy three and get one free? Well, this was the fourth title I chose, and if the first three are anywhere near as good as this, I shall have hit paydirt indeed!
I've just finished watching it, and it was an extraordinary thriller with remarkable performances and, as you said, a truly chilling ending that will haunt me for the rest of the day -- and probably longer.
This is far from a conventional thriller, with excellent performances by Zeljko Ivanek and Kathryn Harrold. Some truly inspired moments, particularly the scenes with the electrodes and the rats. Those were real rats, right? Imagine how bad it would look if they made it today, complete with CGI gimmickry.
I can't believe I had never heard of this film until now. The '80s were a bit of a wasteland for horror, with mind-numbing slasher films taking over from the supernatural terror of the '70s, but this is a real treasure. Truly one of the greatest unknown gems of the '80s. Nine out of 10 stars.
This was one of those gems you never seem to find anymore. Unusual, effective and thank god a total lack of all the damn CGI junk that is so heavy in the crap they pump out these days. The scene with the rats was one that has never left me, I can still remember it on tv when the ad for this ran.
I hope NOMADS was one of those other three movies you got...that was another good title from 1986.
I don't even remember what the other three titles were at this point, but "The Sender" was far and away the finest of the four. It's a true treasure, a film I though would be total trash but turned out to be imaginative, well acted and completely unsettling.
It's too bad you just can't find intelligent thrillers like this anymore. It seems like everything is geared toward the teen market, with cheap thrills and phony special effects making up for the lack of intelligent plot and character development.
Thanks for recommending "Nomads." I have not heard of that film, but I will seek it out. Clearly you have excellent tastes! ;-)
It felt good to watch The Sender again, it had been a long time and I couldn't agree with you more. There's too much schlock in films these days, there needs to be more intelligent fare that make you think. I am so turned off on CGI these days that I find myself watching very little of what comes out now.
Let me know if you get your hands on a copy of Nomads...I really enjoyed it and it had a great cast. It was the art on the box that attracted me to it back in the mid 80's. I was more than pleasantly surprised with it ;-)
I should be able to find "Nomads." Thanks for the recommendation!
I'm a big fan of '70s horror films, when they still had a lot of imagination and were made for grown-ups. There were some good films such as this in the '80s, but I think the slasher trend contributed to a dumbing-down of that genre. Are there any other titles similar to this you'd recommend? A few off the top of my head: "Don't Look Now," "Let's Scare Jessica to Death," "The Baby," "The Haunting of Julia," "Jacob's Ladder," and the films of Curtis Harrington, particularly "The Killing Kind."
Are there any other titles similar in spirit to this that you'd recommend?
You just made me think of Dominique is Dead...good god I've not even thought of that movie since the late 70's. Let's Scare Jessica To Death I think may have been similar but I've not seen that one in years either.
Inferno, Argento's second chapter in the Suspiria trilogy, was a good one-I think I actually liked it better than Suspiria. I think I had a bit more atmosphere rather than going for an all-out shock & gore.
Hmm, Burnt offerings is another of my faves-give that one a god. I think it works more on us 'old farts' than kids. I've not met anyone my age (40 and up) who has ever forgotten it, lease not the chauffeur ;-) Yes, go for Burnt Offerings!
Jacob's Ladder is another of my all time faves as is Don't Look Now.
There needs to be some type of 70's Horror festival...that would be a total blast!
You have excellent tastes!
I have indeed seen "Burnt Offerings," and it's a Halloween classic in my home. In fact, I reviewed it for IMDb:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074258/usercomments-89
I'm a big fan of Dario Argento, though somehow "Inferno" has slipped through the cracks. I'll have to rent that soon. I love "Suspiria," featuring the lovely and talented Jessica Harper.
I've never seen "Dominique," but it sounds like my type of chiller. Too bad it appears to be fairly rare. I love weird '70s thrillers like "Alice, Sweet Alice," "The Manitou" and "The Sentinel," as well as the high-minded movies like "The Exorcist" and "The Omen." I too am "of a certain age" (40s), so I remember just how effective and creepy horror films can be without relying on cheap special effects.
I would totally love to attend a '70s horror festival, but without one, I'm content to rely on my collection of horror movies on video!
Thank You ;) Great review of Burnt Offerings. Did you read the novel as well? It was a bit slow in the beginning but wasn't a bad read overall.
I hadn't realised Dominique is Dead went OOP so quickly. I thought I got it off Amazon last year but maybe it was another quirky site. I'll check around and drop you a note if I find it.
Alice Sweet Alice is one I want to see again I thought of that back in the spring and haven't seen it since the 70's LOL! It was pretty decent from what I remember. The Manitu...think I remember that too-anything with Burgess Meredith is ok in my book-he was such a good actor!
I love Burgess Meredith, and he was in some great horror films late in his career. The reminds me of one I forgot to mention: "Magic," with Anthony Hopkins as a ventriloquist controlled by Fats, his alter ego (I dare not call Fats a dummy!). That was a book I read in high school because I was too young to see an R-rated movie. I did that a lot with movies I couldn't see yet -- I also read Stephen King's "Carrie" before I could see the film.
I haven't read "Burnt Offerings," but I shall seek it out when I'm at the thrift stores. I love those easy, cheesy, pulpy reads!
I see used DVDs of a "Dominique is Dead" DVD start at $5.81 on Amazon.com. That's odd because IMDb says it's never been released on DVD, so I suspect this is a bootleg. There's a rental store in my town with a great selection of out-of-print titles, so I'll seek it out the next time I'm there.
You may know about these, but here are two Web sites that may appeal to you, if you love '70s horror:
Kindertrauma:
http://www.kindertrauma.com/
Trailers from Hell:
http://www.trailersfromhell.com/
Thanks for those sites-I'll check them out & bookmark them.
I can't check my Dominique is Dead as I don't have it here at the house but I think it was legit. There's been a few movies they've listed as not available but are.
Magic.....the tv ad scared the crap out of me, dummies spook me to this day. I was really happy when I saw this out on DVD. I think I saw it with my cousins on cable back in the day. Some R rated movies we were able to get into-mainly horror because at that time they hadn't yet sunk to the lowest common denominator with the T&A crap yet. We had gotten in to see stuff like The Shining, The Funhouse (can I get those 90 minutes of my life back? It was so black you couldn't see a damn thing LOL!) Prom Night and god only knows what else.
I think the key is horror films used to be made for adults, and in the '80s all that changed with the slasher genre. A film like "Magic" had a great script and character development, as well as excellent performances. The standards weren't so high for "Friday the 13th."
As I recall, I was able to sneak into R rated films once a megaplex opened in my hometown. I agree that "The Funhouse" was a huge disappointment because you never really got a good look at the killer.
There were also some excellent horror films that were rated PG because they didn't rely on explicit gore: "The Baby," "It's Alive" and "The Stepford Wives" are three examples. The slasher genre played by a different code, largely relying on graphic violence at the expense of story.
This movie was fantastic. An amazing thriller, which gives me chills now, even though it was made long before today's world of CGI and relied on truly scary content.
sharean amazing showcase I was quite shocked by the violence it's surprising it has not seen more acclaim
sharePretty good film.
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