By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Halloween is approaching which is the favorite holiday for every true horror fan I know. October is certainly the month to throw in some scary movies that you’ve never seen before. The classics like Evil Dead (1981) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968) are a must as well, but finding a unnerving movie not yet watched is as exciting as a child opening the largest present under the Christmas tree.
I had come across Lurkers accidentally. I was just perusing the internet and reading random synopsizes of 80s horror. I was shocked that there was one I hadn’t heard of. Immediately, I looked for it and found the whole thing on You Tube.
Though it rated low on IMDB, my hopes were high as the plot seemed really interesting.
The film opens with young Cathy (Dana Nardelli) sitting at the kitchen table as her berating and abusive and murderous mother orders her to go outside. Her mother actually had stabbed her father to death seemingly without reason as he appeared to be very reserved and mousy.
Cathy is no more than 8 years old when we are introduced to her. She is deathly afraid to leave her house as she is constantly bullied. Her psycho mother insists and takes a burning hot iron to her arm as punishment for not immediately doing as told.
Once outside two young girls take their jump rope and wrap it tightly around Cathy’s neck. They pull it tight and begin to choke her. It is there she sees a woman across the street staring at her. The woman seems to be concerned yet doesn’t’ react.
The rope releases before Cathy dies. Later that night in bed, Cathy attempts to keep the light on. Her mother has different ideas and takes the bulb out despite the unrelenting and understandable fear of her daughter. Soon after the lights are out, they show up. Known as the Lurkers a group of ghosts with demonic faces show up and surround the bed.
Fast forward years later, and Cathy (Christine Moore) is engaged to what seems to be a very nice man named Bob (Gary Warner). When she has nightmares, he holds her. He even encourages her to reconnect with her estranged brother who is now a priest. Reluctantly, she attempts to but her brother turns her away. She doesn’t understand why he blames her for all that occurred when they were children.
Visions of the past begin to haunt her constantly and odder still she begins to see the girl who bullied her as a child, yet the girl has not aged. The woman who had attempted to help her is also seen and like the girl, time has seemingly stayed still. One day she is standing in the middle of the street, and Cathy insists Bob pick her up. The woman jumps in and begs Cathy to not go home. Cathy is confused but before she can get clarification, the woman vanishes. Bob insists she must’ve gotten out of the car when it had stopped as it is a convertible, but Cathy knows otherwise.
As all this occurs, we find out Bob is not as pure and innocent as he appeared to be. His extracurricular activity includes having sex with other women unbeknownst to his fiancé.
Things slowly come together and all is explained in a chilling and fitting conclusion.
Though the movie isn’t exactly original, it is still a great and memorable horror flick that has creepy sequences, on par acting, well written dialogue, and characters with depth. The plot is solid and the ending is even a bit surprising.
There are aspects of the movie which are reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) and the horrifying classic The Sentinel (1977); but rather than just being a copycat, the film does offer a lot more than one would expect for such an under-recognized film. The tone and pace remind me of another lesser known movie that was made the same year. Ghosthouse (1988) like The Lurkers was able to slowly build the tension and fear without losing the viewer. There are not many jump scares but instead relies on creating the time of horror scenes that sit with the audience after the credit roles.
Coincidently, I recently viewed a recent film that likewise is an underrated gem and shared commonalities to this as well. When watching The Lurkers, I actually realized how old-school The Beacon (2009) was and it gave me an even greater appreciation for the movie and the parallels between it and these types of older flicks. The pace, the characters and the payoff were all very comparable.
For those true horror fans out there who don’t need a blood-filled death scene every five minutes or a cheap thrill every moment or so, this film is one you should seek out. It’s clever and very well done. Though, I cannot honestly say it’s original in its premise, I can attest that it is quite unique in its execution.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7.5/10
