Skip to main content

Demon of Paradise (1987) / Winterbeast (1992)


Demon of Paradise is a low-budget 80's creature feature about an island in Hawaii terrorized by an ancient aquatic beast.















On an island in Kihono, Hawaii (though the film was actually shot in the Philippines), some shady characters who are engaging in illegal dynamite fishing awaken the amphibious, reptilian creature Akua, whom the locals have whispered about for ages. Sheriff Keefer starts to investigate the murder of a local fisherman, and partners with a herpetologist named Annie to solve it. Meanwhile, the storylines of several different characters play out, including a bored supermodel, a greedy resort owner, a reporter hungry for fame, and several drug dealers. As the monster goes on a killing spree, it's up to Keefer and Annie to stop his bloody rampage.












This movie is super cheesy, a b-grade ripoff of films like Jaws and Creature From The Black Lagoon. The monster is goofy as hell, looking more like a reptilian dog with dreadlocks than a fearsome beast. The majority of the film's runtime is devoted to the various characters and their subplots, but it's entertaining enough to keep your attention until the monster shows up. The acting is bad, the dialogue is laughable, the plot follows the same beats as most of these type of movies, and the title creature looks like he was made out of leftovers from various props. The climax is hilarious, as the two leads, backed up by a group of armed guards, keep failing miserably to stop the monster, despite emptying multiple rounds into it. If you enjoy bad creature features, then you're sure to enjoy this one. I streamed it on Tubi.
















The next flick in my creature feature double feature was an early 90’s low budget horror about a group of park rangers in a mountain area investigating mysterious disappearances.






Bill Whitman, head ranger of Indian State park, arrives at a mountain resort looking for one of his men who went missing. With the help of his colleagues, they set about to find the missing ranger, only to stumble upon more disappearances, rumors of old Indian legends that supposedly haunt the area, and the shady lodge owner who doesn’t want to shut down for fear of losing business. As they continue looking into things, they discover that the Native American legends of demons may not be hogwash after all.

















Jeez, was this movie bad. It actually made Demon of Paradise look like a critically acclaimed production. The film uses a mixture of costumes and stop motion for the various monsters and ghouls, including a zombie, a giant with devil horns, an oversized lizard and bird creature. The plot quickly becomes incoherent as the strange monsters take center stage, with scene after scene of funny attacks that seem to lack logic. This flick is of the “so bad it’s great” variety. It feels like it was made by a random guy who got a camera for his birthday and decided to make a movie with his buddies. Between the atrocious acting, disjointed storyline, and the enjoyable practical effects, costumes and monsters, you’ll be sure to have a good time. If Z-grade creature feature films like Equinox and The Alien Factor are your cup of tea, then you’ll be sure to enjoy Winterbeast. You can watch this cheesy, entertaining nonsense on Tubi.

















 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ultraman Omega finale

Episode 25, the series finale of Ultraman Omega aired this Friday. From the very first episode I was hooked, and the series continued to maintain a high quality until the surprisingly emotional end. Sorato (Omega) regained all his memories, learning that he was one of many Space Gazers, who's job is to watch a planet and not interfere with any wars between the species (in Earth's case, humans and kaiju). A space Gazer's job is to observe, study and take notes, to learn from a planet's successes and mistakes, in the hopes of finding the right formula to achieve universal peace. Having returned to his previous role as simply a watcher, Kosei, Ayumu and Sayuki were forced to rely on themselves and their team to defeat the powerful kaiju Zomera. As he continued to watch the battle, Sorato/Omega found himself wrestling with the inactive role he was meant to do and his memories of the friendships he had forged with the others, as well as the examples of human kindness he had ...
Post a Comment
Read more

S.H. Figuarts Father of Ultra

Last week I received the latest SHF Showa Ultra figure, the one and only Father of Ultra, who made his debut in the series Ultraman Ace. He’s the 1st of the two Ultra related August releases I had pre-ordered (the other being Ace Killer). Father of Ultra is easily recognized by the huge horns on his head. The rest of his body is the standard red and silver color scheme that the other original Ultra brothers have (different colors wouldn’t be introduced until Ultraman Tiga decades later). Bandai did a fine job in capturing his look, much more accurate than the highly stylized Ultra Act version, which made him quite muscular. For his accessories, he comes with 6 pairs of hands (fists, two sets of holding, 2 sets of flat/karate chop, and grappling). He has an extra right flat hand that shoots out his signature beam, called the Father Shot. What makes this different from other releases is that the beam and hand are 2 separate pieces, with a clear plastic peg on the side of the fingers that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Help Me… I’m Possessed (1974) / #Missingcouple (2024)

I've watched some weird, obscure horror movies throughout my life. I can now add this lurid 1974 schlockfest to that growing list. In a castle in the desert, Dr. Arthur Blackwood runs a sanitarium filled with mentally disturbed patients (as well as staff). He claims to be working on finding a way to cure people of any violent tendencies they have, and brags about his younger sister, innocent, child-like Melanie, as evidence that his treatment works. When she was a child, their parents had to keep her locked up and chained in the basement, to control her violent fits. Now that he's cured her, Arthur has his wife Diane come to the castle to meet Melanie, so that they can be one big, happy family. Diane begins to grow suspicious that something is amiss after a Sheriff shows up investigating the murder of 2 local teens, and sets about on her own investigation, hoping to uncover the sinister secrets that she feels her husband is hiding. Help Me... I'm Possessed is an outrageous,...
Post a Comment
Read more