By Geno McGahee
As I cleaned my attic, I stumbled upon a DVD that I bought quite a few years ago called “NIGHTWALKERS.” It was that magical time where the internet was still in its developmental stages and horror filmmakers were popping up all over the place. I would blindly buy DVDs from indie guys and this was one such instance. NIGHTWALKERS is an anthology from Gallows Hill Productions and anthologies usually have something for everyone. Even a bad one can bring some joy as long as there’s one tale that’s entertaining. This was the project of D.T. Carney. He gets most of the credits for writing and directing this and his heart was in the right place, but there was plenty missing from this flick.
Brinke Stevens is an actress that has appeared in a lot of horror films. Her real launch into this genre was in 1982 in THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE. She would land roles in SOLE SURVIVOR, BODY DOUBLE, FATAL GAMES and SPIRITS, but her star began to dim and she began to embrace a new career of doing cameos in lower budgeted flicks. She was obviously paid for a day and did an intro for NIGHTWALKERS, but damn, she didn’t put in any effort. I’m not sure if she was sent the dialogue and recorded it herself or if the people behind NIGHTWALKERS went there and filmed her, but whatever the case, her intro was not good.
The intro comes off as strange too. I could understand if Brinke was placed in between each tale as sort of a crypt keeper or Elvira presence, but she is just shoved in there and then gone. The same can be said for the zombie walking around in the graveyard in the very beginning. There and then gone forever. I guess they were trying to establish that Pumpkin Hollow has all sorts of evil stuff going on, but it muddles it up.
NIGHTWALKERS begins with Ricky (Ronny Macomber) answering an ad for a car for sale. Mr. Damoan (Tom Harris) is selling the car and is very strange and is also a terrible terrible actor and who he is is painfully obvious. Ricky is getting quite the deal, but the heavyset neighbor witnesses the deal and runs out to speak some sense into Ricky, telling him of the story of …
THE INITIATION
A complete prick sits on a couch, watching a basketball game. His wife leaves him and takes their son and he sits there, reflecting aloud about his life. I hate this common thing in micro-budget films. The filmmakers have their character explain their feelings rather than showing it through action. The guy says something along the lines of “I got no wife. No kids. Gonna kill myself now.” He then kills himself. It was weird for such a prick to do such a thing. Most guys like this are so selfish that killing themselves is not on the agenda…unless they are going to prison. Months later, three college kids join a fraternity and pull a prank on a fellow classmate that ends up in his death. They hide the body and eventually return to the scene of the crime and find out that Nate has dug himself out of the grave and is seeking revenge. Nate walks like he got a visit from Bubba in prison. Perhaps there is prison in hell and there are big Bubbas down there too. Whatever the case, Nate walks rather strangely after death and kills all three bad guys. One has a hairdo like Sting from WCW fame. I wonder if that got him chicks…probably not. This tale was very simple and had little to offer.
THE FAMILY FRIEND
This tale borrowed a lot from other stories like THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. Three bad guys find a house with a family. They barge in and terrorize and kill them. The acting here really kills what could have been a good short in this anthology. When the three goons are talking, the two younger ones throw in lines that are obviously ad-libbed. The mustached older goon wasn’t really that bad and was really the best actor in this short. When the family is killed, their scarecrow comes to life to get revenge. I wonder if this scarecrow knew Nate. The scarecrow kills the bad guys, but why did he wait so long? Couldn’t he have come around when just the daughter was killed or before anyone was killed at all? Fucking scarecrow. And there are a couple small things that I want to say about this scarecrow. He walked funny. I think that Gallows Hill Productions needed to work on their monster walks. Nate walked like he was the victim of a prison train and the scarecrow walked rather dopey. Also, when he grabs the goons, you can see his flesh underneath. I know it’s a small matter, but I want to believe that scarecrows can come to life and are not made of flesh like people. Is that too much to ask?! This tale had potential, but missed the mark.
NIA: UNDYING LOVE
Back from the dead, back for revenge? Did you guess that this would be the story of the third tale? YES! You win! You noticed the pattern. Nia (Nydia Ramos) is head over heels for Sean (Brandon Carney), but he’s not a very nice guy. He uses her and then is responsible for her death. Well, much like Nate and the Scarecrow, we have Nia coming back this time from the dead to exact revenge. Out of the three tales, this one is the worst and that’s an accomplishment, I guess. It’s watchable but it’s terrible as well. No wonder Brinke said fuck it.
We end with the evil Mr. Damoan showing his true colors. (Spoiler) He’s the devil. Why the fuck would the devil be selling a car? Why the fuck would the devil be wearing terrible devil prosthetics? Whatever the case, NIGHTWALKERS is about as bad as it gets, and I typically love micro budget stuff. The hearts were in the right place, but the stories were unoriginal and uninspired and the filmmakers just didn’t have a clue. I struggled to make it to the end but since I paid for it back in 2003, I felt that I should at least do that. If you stumble across NIGHTWALKERS, best keep moving along. Is it too late to ask for a refund?
Rating: 2/10
