The first horror flick in my double feature tonight was this early 90’s supernatural horror about a woman terrorized by the spirit of her dead lover.
Model Brittney is in a relationship with professional motorcycle racer Ricky Fries. They are deeply in love, and he's completely devoted to her. The night before she goes on a trip for a modeling gig, he gives her a music box with a harlequin doll in it, and makes her promise that they'll be together forever. While she's away, he gets killed during an accident on the race track. Three years later, she's still grieving his death, and is plagued by strange nightmares where he tries to kill her. Her concerned mother takes her to see a sleep doctor to help her rid herself of the frequent bad dreams. Brittney is eventually convinced by everyone, including her best friend Sherry, that it's time to move on with her life and forget about Ricky. She decides to rent a cabin to get away for a while and start fresh. While there, she reconnects with an old high school friend named Greg, and the two begin a romance. However, the disfigured spirit of dead Ricky won't let her go so easily, and he begins appearing every time she's asleep, even if drifting off for a few minutes, determined to get rid of anyone who messes with her or stands in his way.
To describe this movie as bad couldn't begin to accurately describe how awful it is. This movie is a bottom of the barrel atrocity, one of those direct to video, shot on VHS cheapies that were prevalent in the 80's/early 90’s era. The acting is horrible, with the lead actress giving one of those whiny, damsel in distress performances where she practically whispers all her lines. To make matters worse, the sound mixing is atrocious. Most of the time, you have a hard time hearing the dialogue over the background music and noise. It sounds like this movie was recorded on an old cassette tape player, in a locked box under water. This is another one of those Nightmare On Elm Street knock-offs that utterly fails to capture what made Wes Craven's classic so iconic. Despite looking like it was shot on a budget of $200, it still manages to be entertaining enough, even though you won't be able to hear half of what the characters are saying. Not that it matters, because the plot is so dumb that you'll just turn off your brain and wait for the supernatural shenanigans to occur. There's a hilarious murder where dead Ricky tosses the sleep doctor out of a high rise window. At least the actor who played the undead lover seemed to be having a blast hamming it up. This is one of those flicks where you'll wonder what kind of crack the filmmakers were smoking to think this was actually worth releasing. I watched it on YouTube.
Th next one was a late 80’s Dutch slasher/thriller about a maniac stalking his victims in Amsterdam, using the various canals that run throughout the city.
When the body of a woman is found hanging from a bridge, detective Eric Visser is called in to investigate. He partners with an old police friend named John, and the two begin collaborating after more dead bodies are discovered. Their investigation leads them to a diving club, as evidence points to the killer being a scuba diver. Between working to solve the case, Eric begins a romance with a museum guide named Laura, while the killer continues his reign of terror.
This movie is fast paced and fun, and plays like an Italian giallo, with all the usual characters found in that genre (the tough guy detective, the seductive love interest, suspicious red herring characters, and the killer, dressed in a black scuba diving suit who stalks his victims from the canals, using a jagged knife and a spear gun). There are even a few fast paced and enjoyable vehicle chase scenes, one with a motorcycle, the other on motorboats. The murders are well done and entertaining, the dubbed dialogue is funny, and the mystery throws a twist reveal at the end. I recognized the lead actor (Huub Stapel) from another 80's Dutch horror film called The Lift about a killer elevator. Definitely check this one out if you're a fan of the giallo genre and cheesy 80's slashers. I streamed it on Tubi.
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