cjpershall

I remember Devil Dog playing on TBS almost 20 years ago, and my older sister and her friends watching it and laughing all the next day. It's not that bad for a made-for-TV horror movie, but it is derivative (mostly of The Exorcist) and businesslike, for lack of a better word. It won't blow you away with artful cinematography or great acting, but it's not a waste of time, either. It's the kind of movie you watch to kill a couple of hours when you aren't in the mood to think too hard.

However, if you go into the movie looking for some laughs, you won't be disappointed. The early scenes, with Lucky the Devil Dog as a cute little puppy with Children of the Damned eyes are hilariously non-threatening, and the climactic blue-screen effects of a giant black dog (with horns!) are pretty side-splitting. And keep an eye out for the cloaked Satanist in Maverick shades toward the beginning.

Not a great horror film by any stretch of the imagination, but I wish they still made stuff like this for TV.

Night of Bloody Horror is certainly not accurately named, but if you get into the atmosphere of '60s and '70s low budget exploitation films, then you'll probably enjoy this campy Psycho copy. There's some great music, some performed in club scenes by a noisy psychedelic band called The Bored; and great kitschy visual effects, like the swirling lights Wesley sees before a murder happens. Plus it has that wonderful, sickly faded color that is a must for any great "psychotronic" movie.

The film starts slow, but reveals Wesley's haunted past little by little through creepy childhood flashbacks while simultaneously establishing the unhealthy relationship he has with his bitter, domineering mother. It doesn't keep all of its secrets well, but the sick revelation of the ending is memorable and entertaining. There's a lot of cheese value, but underneath it all is a decent little psychological horror movie.

Bloody Pit of Horror is unbelievable for a lot of reasons, among them a doughy writer hero who beats up several muscular henchmen in his muddled attempt to save the day, and some torture devices far too intricate to actually work (how exactly did Kinojo end up in that giant, clearly visible spider web?). But the most unbelievable thing of all is smiling Mickey Hargitay, who seems like such a friendly guy even when he's dumping hot tar on a victim's back.

That said, Mickey's gleeful performance and the actually nice-looking models are all Bloody Pit of Horror has going for it--that is, unless you really enjoy torture scenes. The non-Hargitay acting is excruciating, the cinematography is an afterthought and the story is unimaginative, even when they spring the pathetic "twist" ending. Normally I can get into just about any 1960s sleaze, but as Bloody Pit of Horror dragged on and on, I found myself fast-forwarding through any scene that didn't involve Hargitay. If only all villains could be so happy.