Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Riffed Films: The Demons of Ludlow (1983)

 In lieu of accidentally repeating content, let's cover a Film that I didn't even know about before Rifftrax.

Bill Rebane is a name that only the most dedicated of cinephiles will know right away.  That or those who watched too much MST3K.

Who am I kidding- they are the same people!

Made famous for The Giant Spider Invasion, he also did (most of) Monster Go-go, The Alpha Incident, The Capture of Bigfoot (which Lloyd Kauffman lists as one of the WORST Films he ever distributed), Blood Harvest, Twister's Revenge (a Film I've owned as part of a 50-Movie Set and never watched...yet) and... a Hallmark Christmas film?!?

This is The Demons of Ludlow, a low-budget Film he did in 1983.  As someone who loves John Carpenter Films, I sure was 'excited' to see someone ripping one off.

To see how silly (and droll) this gets, read on...

A Town called Ludlow is gifted a Piano...or is it a Harpsicord...or a Harmonium by its past residents, who now reside in Britain.

It was said to be owned by the Founders before being taken away a century ago.
What's the harm?

Well, it apparently summons Ghosts (or Demons?) from the Past to kill people.
Not the people that play it mind you (since it needs them), but someone else nearby.

The rules are...lazy.
For instance, the woman above plays it and the 'Demons' kill her Daughter instead.

Insert Low-Budget Horror Film Nudity here.
The two folks who run the Town Newspaper (a Town with 47 people in it, mind you) think that something is up.

What is causing the Demons to kill?
Well, the Harmonium was owned by the Founders, who were betrayed by others in the Town and killed.

Now they want revenge.

So...it is just The Fog, but with confusing Costumes, Bad Writing and Terrible Pacing.
Will the survivors (who are also descendants of the betrayers) live to stop the Demons?

Well, this looks and feels like a '70s Horror Film...so, no.

The End.
Ooh boy.  This one is bad.
It is mostly the boring kind of bad, unfortunately.

Even with Rifftrax, I watched this in 2 sittings.  Long, long shots of meandering and looking around are presented in High-Def (thanks to a 2020 HD copy in use now).

Yes, this Film got a Blu-Ray release!

Rifftrax, in my opinion, is probably the best way to watch this.  They make great jokes- like a Kirk Hammet reference of all things- and fill out the slow, padded Scenes of people walking around.

It is one thing to watch someone 'pointlessly meander,' but another to watch it while people joke about how 'I'm a fan of pointless meandering, but even THIS is too much for me.'

I'm sure that Mr. Rebane is a nice man.  I just wish that he made a nice Movie- especially in my birth year.
Take us away, familiar floating hand from many, MANY Movie Posters...

A bad Film with a silly- if unoriginal- Premise.  This is another one of those 'Why not Remake This- It Can't Be Worse' Films.

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