Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls (1973) / Unknown Visitor (2019)

The first film of my double feature last night was this goofy 1973 horror about a magician who holds the secret to prolonging life.

The movie begins at a funeral. Fred is saddened by the death of his wife, and vows to be reunited with her. He eventually learns of a magician named Dr. Death (John Considine), who claims that he's learned the secret to prolonging life, by transferring his soul into another body. When Fred asks him to bring his dead wife back to life, Dr. Death informs him that her soul is gone, but he can reanimate her body with another soul. After several unsuccessful attempts, Fred tells him to forget it, as he's now fallen in love with another woman. But Dr. Death is determined to find a soul to inhabit the dead wife's body, and with the help of his henchman, he starts murdering several woman to use their souls.

The movie was campy fun, reminiscent of the works on Herschell Gordon Lewis (Blood Feast, The Gore Gore Girls), though a bit less graphic. John Considine was fantastic as Dr. Death, giving the character a lot of personality. He really seemed to be having a blast in the role. There were entertaining murders, enthusiastic performances, and a lot of dark humor. If you enjoy your horror with a nice dose of outrageous camp, then you're sure to enjoy this one. I streamed it on YouTube.

The next one was a 52 minute found footage horror about a woman who has a ring camera installed at her front door, as she claims that she feels something is stalking her. The entire movie is filmed from the POV of her front porch camera.

Anne is convinced that someone has been stalking her house, so she has her friend Jeff install a ring door camera facing her front porch so she can see anyone who comes to her door. The camera eventually picks up shadows in the distance, just out of view of the range of her camera, as well as mysterious hand prints that show up all over her front porch. Eventually, things become weird and sinister as the activity ramps up.

Despite its low budget and pretty bad acting, the film, with its short length, still manages to have some effective scares. The plot also takes an unexpected turn, keeping you invested in the story. Ultimately, it ends on a predictable note. If it had a bigger budget, a better script and more experienced actors, it might have turned out pretty great. But for a low budget effort, it's at least decent and still watchable. I caught this one on Tubi.

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