WITCHBOARD – Comes from the director of 'Night of the Demons', Kevin Tenney, although it's quite different in tone. In it, Tawny Kitaen plays the bored wife of a medical school drop out who gets into messing with a Ouija board left behind after a disastrous house party. She contacts what she thinks is the spirit of a little boy, who starts to cause some mischief – like killing hubbie's work colleagues and basically trying to possess her. Hubby does the manly thing and teams up with an ex chum to sort things out. 'Witchboard' goes for atmosphere over eighties schlock and manages quite well for some of the time. There are sequences which feel quite tense, despite being 'horror basics' – the bird's eye view shot circling a room conjures a spirit vibe, despite it just being a camera move etc. It falls down when it has to face those aspects it can't embrace ie aspects of eighties cheese like the ditzy medium and the whole 'buddies on the road' thing later on in the film. But, for a film with quite a lot of talk, 'Witchboard' is pretty absorbing and entertaining.
MURDER-ROCK – Once again I come round to reviewing a lesser Fulci flick, and once again I'm baffled as to why I hold this end of his stuff in such high regard. Over-stylised eighties hell 'Murder-rock' is a last gasp Giallo / slasher set in a 'Fame' style New York dance academy. Someone's going around offing legs and co by skewering their breasts with a long needle. Unlikeable, slightly snappy dance teacher takes centre stage to solve mystery etc etc. Although it's not very good, of course I lapped 'Murderrock' up. It has that mixture of rank awfulness and style that I see as the hallmark of Fulci – a collision of sweaty, leering dance sequences soundtracked by catchy hits such as 'Paranoia's Coming Your Way' and artfully elegant shots such as the one which follows a body on a gurney down a corridor, passing each suspect's face in turn. Class and tastelessness, that to me is Fulci. And of course there's those stock in trade heavy close ups around the eyes and weird field reversals. The plot may be bland but the resolution is psychotic, and the film is full of eccentric characters and events, from the little girl in the wheelchair to the bitter dude with the metal foot. And of course there's that pungent but difficult to 'pin' Fulci atmosphere. See it, and squirm your way through those skewerings, the awful music and that whole 'Hot Shoe Show' travesty thing.
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