Experience Terror as Cold as the Grave.Being an avid horror fan and a blogger means that I will occasionally go outside of my normal comfort zone in pursuit of those lesser known films that, despite precautions to avoid, just have to be seen. One such film that I've been actively pursuing for the past few months has been Troma's Frightmare(1983).
Now, as I've never been a huge Troma fan their films are usually a gamble for me. Either I "get it" or I just can't believe that what I witnessed didn't burst into flames upon completion. Frightmare, aka The Horror Star, is a special film however due to the fact that it marks the first horror movie appearance of Jeffrey Combs (Cellar Dweller, Re-Animator, Castle Freak).
I've always kind of dreamed what this film would be like when I would finally able to get my hands on a copy and to be fair, it doesn't suck. The plot is fairly solid featuring a group of college-aged drama students who (in their infinite wisdom) decide that it would be a good idea to resurrect their favorite horror star for one last "performance" only to find him well awake and fully prepared for some black magic-fueled menace of his own.
Despite the notoriously low budget of Troma features, Frightmare offers a fair amount of ghastly grue. It actually reminded a lot of Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein with its overly dramatic, cape clad villain and constant use of classic horror footage featuring cameos by Lon Chaney, Christopher Lee and Bela Lugosi. It's definitely one of the more serious and low-key Troma films I've ever seen and one that pays due respect to its inspirations.
Fun Fact: Jeffrey Combs also appeared in an episode of Freddy's Nightmares entitled "Love Stinks." Check out part 1 of 5 below.
My favorite Troma film is Graduation Day. Such a silly slasher.This sounds fun.