The Bloody Man is an 80s set horror flick centering on young Sam Harris (David Daniel) a comic book loving kid dealing with the death of his mother (Lisa Wilcox), a new stepmother (Tuesday Knight), the bullies in school and an obnoxious older brother (Sam Hadden) and brat little sister (Olivia Sanders). Feeling alone and out of place, Sam turns to his comic books. When a malevolent entry called the Bloody Manis is accidentally unleashed, Sam has to figure out a way to stop the spooky specter.
Throwback to 80s horror is directed by Daniel Benedict from his script with Casi Clark. Benedict definitely has a love for 80s horror and does a good job giving this flick the look and feel of the films he is paying homage to, right down to its very 80s score by Johnathan Fan Octo Evans. There are some unfortunate drawbacks though. Some of the dialogue is straight-up bad. The acting is very flat, from a mostly amateur cast, though it is fun to see Freddy alumni Tuesday Knight and Lisa Wilcox back on onscreen again. At well over two hours long, the flick drags on and on with a lot of long running flashbacks and there’s enough material for two movies. It’s over an hour before The Bloody Man even starts to make its presence known. A good forty minutes could have been cut without any harm to the story. The slow pace also doesn’t help with such an unnecessarily long runtime. It’s like the film was barely edited at all. It becomes a chore to sit through, when it should have been fun to watch. On the plus side, the filmmakers smartly don’t try to attempt things beyond the modest budget, and if some SPFX are a bit cheesy…well, that’s how they were in the 80s. There is some blood and gore, with some of it a little graphic for what is otherwise a fairly kid/teen centric flick.
Overall, the flick has its heart in the right place, but needed a lot of editing and a little more energy from director and cast to make this the fun nostalgic treat it could have been.
Cult Classic Cuties are characters from some of our favorite cult classics and midnight movies who captured our hearts and/or actresses who got our attention, but sadly, never returned to these type of flicks, or whose sexy stars shined only briefly, not quite achieving scream queen status. And this installment’s cutie is…
BROOKE THEISS as DEBBIE STEVENS in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER (1988)!
The Nightmare On Elm Street series was one of the most popular horror franchises of the 80s, if not of all time. A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was not only the highest grossing of the original series, before Freddy vs. Jason, but the highest grossing horror flick of 1988 as well. The story has Freddy returning to take out the survivors who did him in the last time and then stalking a new bunch of friends. One of his potential victims is tough chick and physical fitness nut, Debbie. Co-worker, classmate and friend of the film’s heroine, Alice (Lisa Wilcox), Deb is a sexy, sassy, no-nonsense girl with a flowing mane of 80s hair and a rocking hot body that proved her workouts…worked. She is confident and cocky and has a seductive smile that could melt any demonic dream haunter’s heart. She certainly is a worthy crush and Mr. Krueger agreed with us…literally…as the nightmare master used her fear of bugs against her and turned the siren into a giant cockroach…and I think you know how that went.
In the true definition of a Cult Classic Cutie, ANOES4 is attention-getter Brooke Theiss’ only horror film appearance. She did star for three seasons on the TV sitcom Just The Ten Of Us about a teacher at a Catholic boys school with a large family of mostly girls. Ironically, Elm Street icon Heather Langenkamp also starred on the show as her older sister. The comedy aired a few months before ANOES4was released in August of 1988 and lasted through 1990. She had only a scant few movie appearances after her tangle with Freddy, though Theiss did some TV work for the next few decades aside from starting her own family with her husband, who is also an actor.
Despite melting hearts as the ill-fated Deb, Brooke Theiss never graced horror screens again. She remains an actress, working even today, with small roles, while also juggling being a wife and mother and doing convention appearances. She may have bugged Freddy Krueger, but we will always remember her as the tough-talking, sexy hard body with a heart of gold, Deb.
Be sure to check out our Cult Classic Cuties (click right here on the link) section to see more crush worthy ladies from cult films and midnight movies!
As the Halloween season is in full swing, I decided to put together two of my favorite A Nightmare On Elm Street sequels! Not only do their stories connect and fit together well, but they are certainly both proper viewing for a month long celebration of things that go bump in the night. Enjoy!
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER (1988)
When deep sleep falleth on men,
Fear came upon me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones to shake
~ Job IV, 13:14
ANOES 4 has the distinct honor of being not only one of the highest grossing of the Elm St. series, but the highest grossing horror film, domestically, of the 80s. It is also one of my personal favorites and in my opinion one of the best of the series after the classic original.
This entry picks up where Dream Warriors left off with Kristen (Tuesday Knight replacing Patricia Arquette) unable to shake her fear of Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) and thus empowering him to come back to try to finish off the surviving kids from that flick. He also targets Kristen’s new friends including boyfriend Rick (Andras Jones) and his shy sister Alice (Lisa Wilcox). When Kristen’s ability to bring people into her dreams is passed on to Alice, the meek girl must now find the strength to destroy Freddy before he uses her to kill all those she loves.
Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2) directs this one from a script by Brian Helgeland and Scott Pierce from a story by William Kotzwinkle and Helgeland. It’s one of the most imaginative entries in terms of it’s use of the dream world and one of the coolest in terms of look and design. It makes some very clever use of Freddy’s ability to use people’s fears against them…one girl’s fear of bugs being a good example…and Harlin builds some nice suspense and tension as we do have a likable cast of characters to root and care for. Steven Fieberg’s cinematography captures Harlin’s visual style very well and the make-up and visual FX are top notch in it’s portrayal of Freddy’s hi-jinx. There is also a fitting score by John Easdale and Craig Safan with a cool opening song sung by star Tuesday Knight and it adds up to one of the best of the sequels and one of the most fun, too.
This entry also had one of the liveliest casts and cast of characters in the series with Knight doing a fine job as Kristen and Rodney Eastman and Ken Sagoes returning as Joey and Kincaid, respectively, to face the dream demon again. They do step aside for a new cast of very endearing characters, highlighted by Lisa Wilcox, who takes her Alice from shy and sweet to ass-kicker over the course of the film…and Wilcox is very convincing as both. Andras Jones is fun as Rick and he seems like he has a good chemistry with Wilcox as her sibling and the supporting cast of Brooke Theiss as tough chick Debbie, Dan Hassel as school hunk and object of Alice’s secret crush, Dan and Toy Newkirk as brainy Sheila, all are a very likable bunch which helps us care for them, root for them and feel for them when they face Freddy’s knives. A solid cast of young performers who are always one step ahead of the oblivious adults. And as usual, Robert Englund is perfectly chilling and fun as Freddy and new cast member Nick Mele is also effective as Alice and Rick’s alcoholic ass of a dad.
Overall, this is my favorite sequel after Freddy vs. Jason and it’s a lot of fun. The characters are all colorful, as are Freddy’s methods for taking them out. It’s an imaginative sequel that takes the story of Dream Warriors and moves it forward and opens it up. It’s got some nice tension and suspense and makes really good use of the dream world sequences which are well-designed and executed. A bloody good time!
3 and 1/2 Freddys!
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD (1989)
Dream Child picks up shortly after Dream Master left off with Alice (Lisa Wilcox) getting pregnant by now boyfriend Dan (Danny Hassel) and Freddy (Robert Englund) using her unborn baby’s dreams to get back into the real world to exact revenge against those who put him away…and their loved ones. Alice is not only forced to fight Freddy again, but deal with an unexpected pregnancy which Freddy takes full advantage of as he targets the very soul of her unborn child, Jacob (Wet Hertford). Can Alice defeat Freddy and save her child or will the dream demon gain a new protégée’ to help take out Alice and her friends once and for all? But there is one crack in Freddy’s plan…Alice may have an ally too…Freddy’s dead mother, Sister Amanda Krueger.
Not quite as good as Dream Master, I still think it’s a solid sequel, though, it did far less business than it’s predecessor. Leslie Bohem scripts this time as Stephen Hopkins (Predator 2) steps in to direct. The result is an entertaining enough entry that falls a little short of equalling the last flick. Hopkins does create some tension and suspense, but his visual style and imaginative use of the scripted dream segments, while effective, aren’t quite as sharp as Harlin’s. But the addition of an unborn child into the mix, as well as, the deeper look into Freddy’s conception…when his nun mother becomes locked inside an insane asylum overnight…does add a nice edge to the proceedings and gives the film a slightly different direction than the previous chapters. Hopkins presents the material well, it’s just the script need to be a bit stronger, maybe one more draft before filming began. The flick looks good with Peter Levy’s cinematography and Jay Feguson scores this time and utilizes the Elm Street theme well.
The cast is good, though the new characters aren’t quite as lively or mix as well as previously. Englund is awesome again as Freddy, no surprise there! Wilcox gives her Alice a nice maturity since we last saw her and her concerns over her newfound motherhood come across as legit for a character her age. Hassel’s Dan also has matured a bit and he and Wilcox have a nice camaraderie and their relationship comes across as fairly real. Newcomers Kelly Jo Minter as skeptic Yvonne, Erika Anderson as reluctant model-in-training Greta and Joe Seely as comic nerd, Mark are all fine, but the characters aren’t quite as memorable as the last batch and don’t seem as natural a fit as friends as the last crew. Nick Mele returns as Alice’s father who gives a nice performance as a man overcoming his alcoholism and finally becoming the dad he should have been years ago.
In conclusion I like this sequel. It is not up to Dream Master, but it is good enough and certainly far better than the train wreck that would follow with Freddy’s Dead. It’s moderate box office sadly caused the producers to drop the Alice/Jacob angle which was originally supposed to continue and considering how awful Freddy’s Dead is, it’s too bad. A fun sequel that continued the series and fits in very well with the other films in this classic franchise.
MonsterZero NJ's Movie Madhouse 