[Frankie Teardrop]

TERRIFIER 2 – I was a bit worried, as these days I tend to reach my limit around the two-hour mark (and in fact I did a double-take when I realised just how long this rattled on for). In the end it was all OK. The interesting thing about ‘Terrifier 2’ is the weird fantasy angle – over its leisurely course, what begins as a slasher re-tread morphs into a cross between a sister-brother relationships drama and a battle that pitches a winged warrior-girl against a serial killing clown. You can’t knock that kind of ambition in a horror movie these days. Obviously, the gore couldn’t live up to the online hype, but then again it’s not really even the focus. Good stuff, and I hope Leone reins it in a little next time (duration-wise).

THE MARDI GRAS MASSACRE – Jack Weiss made some flicks in New Orleans in the seventies including ‘The Mardi Gras Massacre’, a film that even in this day and age somehow continues to dine out on its overblown ‘video nasty’ tag. I’d seen it before – couldn’t remember it, apart from a bit of butcher’s leftover-style gore (although Weiss seems to have had less of an offal allowance than HG Lewis given his comic overreliance on basically one ‘special effect’). It’s very stiff, badly made and dull. Slightly contra to the recent chorus of Cult Labs disapproval, I could still pull a few good bits out – mostly just odd little quirks like the spooky echo music, wonky characters like the jive talkin’ pimp who’s obviously played by an accountancy student, and the grotty but vivid and genuinely atmospheric street life – but I’m not saying it wasn’t a struggle. On the other hand, shit like this is what it’s all about.