By Melissa Antoinette Garza
I hadn’t watched this film since it was released to VHS back in the day. This is another movie I watched with my cousin Traci. I was about 13 years old and I remember we believed her house was haunted. Fourteen was much younger than it is now. Now, it’s not surprising to see a 14 or 15 year old pregnant, but when I was that age I was still playing Barbie dolls and freaking out if the Magic 8 Ball told me that my crush liked me back.
I remember absolutely loving this movie. In all honesty, it was probably because it was a horror movie that I could watch without being afraid to go to sleep afterwards. My brother bought it in a 4 pack of horror films for $8.00, and we decided to give it a go. I was expecting it to be pretty bad. I was thinking on the level of Leprechaun in the Hood bad. I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised
First, the lead was excellently cast. Larry Drake is a phenomenal actor. He was perfect in the role of the crazy Doctor Evan Rendell. The romantic “hero” had issues. The actor was fine. Most would know Glenn Quinn as Mark from Roseanne. Sadly, he died of a heroin overdose in 2002. I think he was a promising young star who may have made it further had he not had such a horrible addiction. The issue with him here is that the character is a complete jerk. He portrays Max who is the boyfriend of Jennifer (Holly Marie Combs). Jennifer has a heart issue and can’t drink. She may need a simple surgery but is extremely nervous about it. She confides in Max that her mother died of a routine operation which now has made her very tense about doctors.
Immediately afterwards, Max is ready to have sex with some slut. Jennifer catches him and runs off.
Meanwhile, Dr. Rendell escapes from a mental institution and returns to his father’s old office which is a huge house that is boarded up. He blames the town for killing his father but the truth is that his dad was just as mad. After his wife died of heart problems, he went crazy. While he held her hand as she died, he began laughing prompting then 7 year old Evan to laugh as well. After that, whenever either suffered pain they giggled.
We learn that his father murdered all of his patients and the police found the bodies. Rendell is just like his father and starts killing the townspeople.
Rendell becomes obsessed with Jennifer when he finds out she has a heart problem. Though he kills everyone else immediately, he does not outright murder Jennifer when he gets the chance. Without question, if he had done the procedure he wanted on her, she would have died. Still, it’s my opinion, that it wasn’t his intent. I believe he had a fondness for her and in his own psychotic way wanted to protect her.
One issue with the film is the first real victims. No surprise to horror fans it was the African American couple who died first. The issue is that they had a great actor which was totally under-utilized. I have always loved Doug E. Doug. He has the ability to captivate and capture the attention of the audience easily. He’s comedic but can also play it straight. I first really got to know his ability in the television show Cosby. I’m one of the few who liked the show as much as The Cosby Show. A big reason for that was Doug E. Doug.
Otherwise, the film is actually quite good. It’s funny. The lines are so bad that they’re good and the death scenes are quite gruesome, original and inventive.
I’m probably the only one who felt for Rendell. I looked at him as a broken man whose love for his parents drove him crazy at a very young age. I didn’t really fault him for his murderous ways. Though, I don’t feel the same compassion for him that I feel for Norman Bates in Psycho, I do have a certain level of empathy for him.
This has a certain levity in it that is reminiscent of The Stepfather. Some may feel compelled to compare it to films like Rumpelstiltskin or the Ghoulies series. I think it’s superior to those movies. The wit is sharper. Though the jokes are bad, they are intentionally bad and in context actually quite clever.
I would definitely recommend watching this. Though, I thought it was going to be one of those movies I loved as a child and hated as an adult, I was pleasantly surprised. Is it going to terrify you? Probably not. Will it entertain? Definitely!
Scared Stiff Rating: 6.5/10
