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The Demon Murder Case / Blood & Lace


Tonight’s retro double feature on YouTube began with The Demon Murder Case, based on the true story of Arne Johnson, who claimed he stabbed his landlord under the influence of demonic possession. This is what the plot of the 3rd Conjuring movie was based on. This was a made for TV movie from 1983, starring Kevin Bacon as the young man on trial for murder. 








A family are planning on moving into a home where their young son says he got attacked by a burnt up creature while playing on a water bed. He says this creature has followed him home. At first the family dismisses it as his imagination. However, the young boy soon begins to behave oddly, talking in another voice, yelling and cursing, and acting out violently. The family become convinced that he’s under demonic  attack, so they call in a pair of demonologists (one played by Andy Griffith) to help them. The demonologists try to get a priest to help them exorcise the boy. Kevin Bacon’s character challenges the demon to leave the boy alone, despite being warned not to. Soon enough, he begins to behave oddly, claiming to see the same creature and becoming jealous of his landlord’s obvious interest in his girlfriend. They get into a fight and the landlord is stabbed to death. Now on trial for murder, his lawyer attempts to defend him using the demonic possession defense.








The movie is decent, with a few interesting scenes, such as the exorcism and scenes of the young boy possessed. The movie is more faithful to the alleged true story than the Conjuring film was. Since it was made for TV, it’s not overly violent or graphic. Still, it’s an interesting take on the infamous story.

The next movie I caught was Blood and Lace, a very cheesy, sleazy movie about a young girl named Ellie who is placed in a children’s home after her mother is murdered by a hammer wielding psychopath while in bed with a man. The home where she’s put in is run by a shady woman and her alcoholic, equally shady handyman. Turns out they run a strict home and punish the kids who try to run away by killing them and keeping their bodies in the freezer, so they can thaw them and put them in bed for their regular inspection, since the state pays them for each kid.








The movie stars Vic Tayback (Mel from the TV series Alice) as an investigator who’s trying to solve the murder of Ellie’s Mom. The flick plays like an over dramatic soap opera, filled with lustful characters, fighting, back-stabbing and melodrama. There’s also a weird man in a funky mask lurking around the place with a hammer. It’s entertaining even in between the killings and dead bodies. 









I vaguely remember this being on TV when I was a kid. I recall seeing a POV scene of a hammer stalking people; well now I got to see the movie that memory was from. It’s quite a sleazefest, especially the ending, filled with fights, murder, the identity of the killer being revealed, and Ellie learning a shocking secret from her past. Some of the dialogue had me laughing as well. It’s an interesting flick, that’s for sure.












 

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