Trailer Terrors: Spookies (1986)



The most baffling cinematic experience since Naked Lunch.

Seriously, I mean Spookies (1986) makes absolutely no sense. At all. Sure its full of impressive special effects, a decent score and a great opening animation sequence by Robert Nemser and Paul Killian, but its as if all the lights in this horror house are on and yet no one is home.

Part of the problem in my opinion is how hard the film tries to pay homage to (or blatantly misuse) predefined horror memes such as the Creepshow (1982)-inspired intro where an innocent kid is caught up in supernatural mischief, an Evil Dead (1981) ouija board/spellbook that conjures the spirits of the dead and even a little Bride of Frankenstein. I also drew correlations between Spookies and Night of the Demons, but came to realize that the latter wasn't released until 1988 (2 years after Spookies premiered).

Despite being all over the place, the film still has some standout moments such as farting zombies that are killed by wine, an Asian demonic Spider Queen, an exploding Grim Reaper and perhaps the most strangely metaphorical zombie gangbang rape sequence I've ever scene for a finale (and yet not a shred of nudity to be found). While I can't in good faith recommend spending over $10 on this film, its a definite rental for this year's Halloween horror night lineup.





5 comments:

  1. How did you watch this? Online? If so, hand over that link to the site you watched it at cause I'd love to see it again! I love love LOVE the puppet so far by the way dude. I cannot WAIT to see it in its completed state.

  1. Strange Kid said...:

    Glad to hear you're liking the new direction. I'm really excited for some of the changes in store here at Strange Kids Club and hope that it'll help the blog grow.

    As for Spookies, I was fortunate to see it online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlblJ-5rs48. However, its also available over at VHSPS for only $10. Not a bad deal really.

  1. Jon Guerra said...:

    Just finished checking out the movie on Youtube. Vaguely remember watching it as a kid. I do remember the VHS cover though. Fun & Worth the watch.

  1. There is a reason Spookies feels disjointed and all over the place. The final director for that film details her adventures working on that film.
    http://www.hawaiimoviestudios.com/makingof.html

  1. Strange Kid said...:

    @FijiMermaid: Thanks for the link, that definitely explains a good bit of the chaos that occurs during the film. Now Spookies is the kind of movie Hollywood should be re-visiting, not Halloween, The Thing or any number of other films that are just fine to begin with.

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