releases, but this is the first time the slightly shorter cut of this wild ’60s horror trip has been available to soon-to-be-confounded viewers.
PAUL CORUPE Cathouse Fever
THE NESTING (1981) Blu-ray/DVD Starring Robin Groves, Christopher Loomis
and Michael David Lally Directed by Armand Weston Written by Daria Price and Armand Weston Blue Underground
I couldn’t figure out at first why a class imprint such
as Blue Underground would release The Nesting. The film is certainly no masterpiece, nor does it feature any beloved horror icons. It’s the sort of movie that must’ve collected dust on video store shelves in the ’80s, providing a cheesy horror night for whoever picked up the aging cassette. The film stars Robin Groves as Lauren, a woman
suffering from agoraphobia, among many other things (actual line: “You know what? You’re too damn crazy to be crazy”). One day she inexplicably moves to a house in the country that turns out to be haunted. You’d think that would help with the agoraphobia but she’s still scared to go outside, put- ting her in quite a pickle as she tries to find out how the former brothel she
rented could possibly be a spook hangout (mistreated prostitutes, perhaps?). It’s all silly fun with Lauren constantly on the edge
of madness and everyone in the community just one wrong question away from becoming a murderous psychopath. Some of the characters, such as Lau- ren’s wisecracking boyfriend, can be grating, but that only makes it more fun to watch them get killed off in gruesome ways. According to the IMDb, director Armand Weston’s
previous film was a “documentary” called Radical Sex Styles, so he’s not exactly an ar-tiste; this is a trashy mix of creepy atmospherics, schlock vulgarity, dated camp and surprisingly well-crafted scares. Clearly made in the pre-irony era, major laughs come from ludicrous moments when characters inexplica- bly turn into drooling psychotics or spit out endless streams of cornball dialogue. With everyone involved with the movie either dead
or out of the business, there are no special features other than extended scenes and advertising material.
The Nesting: Gruesome murders galore.
However, extras aren’t really necessary here. Uncov- ering why the gratuitous sex scenes or the sickle-to- the-face sequence were included wouldn’t add much. Take The Nesting for what it is: a magical combination of genuinely effective suspense and gore sequences, topped with a hysterical layer of ’80s cheese. Maybe Blue Underground’s got the right idea after all.
PHIL BROWN Debauchery Down Under
NIGHTMARES (1980) DVD Starring Jenny Neumann, Gary Sweet and Nina Landis
Directed by John D. Lamond Written by Colin Eggleston, John Michael Howson and John D. Lamond Severin
Not to be confused with the
other 900 or so horror films with a similarly generic name, this sleazy slice of Ozploitation gives an arty, Down Under spin to the slasher genre. With little real sus- pense or mystery it’s far from an essential entry, but it manages just enough lurid nudity and gi- allo-esque goodness to raise the eyebrows of even well-travelled slasher buffs. Dealing with a childhood
trauma that conflated sex with bloody violence – isn’t that always the way? – American actress Helen (Jenny Neumann) lands a part in an Australian stage play opposite handsome thespian Terry (Gary Sweet). When the pair starts getting romantic, however, Helen’s deep-seated hang-ups prevent her from tak- ing their relationship any further. But that’s the least
of Terry’s worries – in an apparently totally unrelated coincidence, a black-gloved killer is loose in the creaky old theatre, using a jagged shard of glass to dispatch cast and crew caught mid-coitus. Director John D. Lamond was better known for his
Aussie softcore films of the ’70s, so it’s not terribly surprising that Nightmares is really more of a wet dream than anything else, featuring just as much naked writhing as bloodshed. Lurking somewhere between Carpenter and Hitchcock, the film is mostly defined by creeping POV shots uncovering lovemak- ing couples, who are interrupted by quick montages of knives and recoiling flesh that makes an impact through editing rather than the then-de rigueur brutal explicitness. But these blood-spattered set-piece highlights are broken up by long stretches of not much happening. Aside from the te- dious details of Helen and Terry’s rela- tionship, Nightmares also gets bogged down in its obvious satire of the theatre world. So, in between kills, viewers must suffer through scenes of the pre- tentious director, who insists that the rhythm of his dialogue is more impor- tant than the words, and a slimy critic whose opinion can be bought with sex- ual favours. The result is that there’s little inner
tension – especially when it comes to the “mystery” of the killer’s identity, a
plot point that is handled so poorly that most won’t even realize that the film is trying to set up other sus- pects besides Helen. Not that it matters too much – Nightmares often delivers where it counts, and is sure to entertain, as long as you can survive those moments in between when it’s lulling you to sleep. PAUL CORUPE
R E I S S U E S
45RM
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