⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 89min Classic teenie horror with flying spheres and Angus Scrimm
Recap
So there is this young orphan who lives with his adult brother, and when they bury his uncle, yes, the family seems not to be too lucky, he observes how the undertaker steals the whole coffin with the uncle inside.
Of course, the boy pays the funeral home a nightly visit, and he even encounters some Jawas straight from Tatooine. Yes, in a way this is a horror movie for young teenagers. The hero, Mike, is a youngster who rides a motorbike and drives really hot car and even plays with a big knife and guns. And when his brother Jody locks him in, he uses a pump gun round to macgyver a mini explosive. The undertaker, known as Tall Man, is an extremely corny boogeyman and was a highlight in actor Angus Scrimm’s otherwise not so overwhelming career, much like Freddy Krueger was for Robert Englund. There is a little gore in the movie, but it is a quite unreal scene involving a (by now legendary) flying metal ball, other scares are more appropriate for a younger audience, like having an insect in one’s 70s mane or a disappearing ice-cream vendor.
This one is not a masterpiece, at one point Jody’s friend Reggie has to tie up several loose plot threads in a half dozen lines of dialog. But yet, the movie was made with inspiration and diligence, and even though it is lowbudget, there are some very nice sets and special effects. The atmosphere in some scenes is quite dreamlike, and the plot even includes some kind of interdimensional space travel.
I think they sure made the most out of the budget, and I guess for 1979 the movie even was a little bit avantgarde. So while it was not an instant success it gained some well deserved popularity and became the first part of a small franchise.
Definitely recommended.
Arkham TV 