JLT VHS release
Alien Zone/House of the Dead/Last Stop on 13th St., Sharron Miller, USA, 1978, 100 mins, Apprehensive Films (As Last Stop On 13th St.), Region 0
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This is a surprisingly unique and well made american horror anthology. Talmudge (John Ericson) has just left his married lover, and seeks shelter from a hard rain when invited by an older man who turns out to be a rather morbid mortician (well played by Ivor Francis). After having offered some coffee, the mortician insists on telling the stories of four dead persons he has been working on lately. We get to hear the story of the school teacher who gets terrorrized after having treated the local children a bit too roughly; a man who captures his own murders on camera of unsuspecting dates in his apartment; two master detectives whose competition gets out of hand, and at last a man who gets punished after having been way too selfish. These four judgemental and moral stories compile the movie; they are very diverse and the direction differs a lot, but never loses the red line (resting in an eerie supernatural edge to the whole thing), and while some are more sophisticated than others, it all - both in story and direction - makes up for an enjoyable continuity that never gets boring. The special and "alien" (perhaps a reason for the totally misinforming title) atmosphere is present in all installments of the anthology, and though the soundtrack is a bit dated at times it finely compliments the feeling that you never know what will happen next. Sharron Miller does a fine job in both conveying traditional horror elements and experimenting with psychedelic effects and breaking down these same conventions as in the 2nd installment where the killer - a character similar to that of Peeping Tom, yet more focused - films his murders with "our" camera/eye. All actors do a fine job, especially the two detectives stand out as cynical competing detectives each representing their countries (USA and UK) with a clichéd charm. The last installment stands out in particular in achieving an alien atmosphere to it, similar to those of the dreams in A Nightmare On Elm Street, or Phantasm. As a whole, the movie is one of the better anthology horror films, yet it doesn't solely keep itself within the supernatural horror conventions, so some horror fans might be disappointed with it. As with any horror anthology, it is difficult to rate this movie as excellent, but within its own parameters it works quite well. 3½ out of 6 - Reviewed by Media Cult |
