Poor Bastards of Cinema: The Redeemer (Son of Satan)

 In a Film about killing people who have Sinned, what happens when you haven't?

In The Redeemer (...Son of Satan!), the titular killer is planning to take out six targets.

To do, however, he has to replace the Caretaker...

He pretends to be someone doing an inspection.

He drops the keys by the pool to make the man pick them up...

...and shoots him, dumping the body in the pool.

He's dead.

In the aftermath, the Redeemer takes the body and makes a mold of it.

He does it for a mask...to look like someone that they wouldn't recognize.

I get that you BOTH can't be the Caretaker(s), but you could send him away.

Oh, and his body is later displayed to scare the victims.  One last indignity.

Did the guy commit some sort of sin?  Probably.  
Did he deserve to be a body on the pile just because he worked at the Building?  No.

The moral: don't trust strangers.
Ever.

VHS for the Win: The Redeemer (Son of Satan)

 After looking at the actual Film, I might as well cover the alternate release it got.

In the '80s, VHS came about and *most* Films found their ways onto it.

Many of them were rebranded or retitled for release.

This is one of those cases...

I guess this Title is not a lie.

You definitely don't get context of the Film and why it is so weird.

Is it a better Title than The Redeemer?
You decide!

'70s Trash?: The Redeemer (Son of Satan) {1978}

 A Film whose Title confuses you almost as much as the Film itself does!

This is The Redeemer, a 1978 Film also released as The Redeemer... Son of Satan!  There's a third, vastly different Title, but that's for a different Post.

The Film appears to be the only Film made by its Director Constantine S. Gochis.  The man also has no Wikipedia Page, nor does most of the Cast.
Only Jeanetta Arnette does, as she's got credits as recent as 2021's Impeachment: A Crime Story.

The Plot is just plain bizarre.  A strange man invites 6 people to a 10-Year High School Reunion, traps them inside and plans to kill them all.

Thiis is why I've skipped my Reunions so far.  You never can be too sure!

Since it is the '70s, there's weird sounds, weird angles and lots of bizarre things going on.  It's a Film that never makes you bored...but definitely befuddled.

To see how this one and done turned out, read on...

The Film begins with a VERY LONG shot of this Lake, this weird bit of text and then a young man emerging from it.

He walks out of the water casually and boards a Bus to sing in a Church Choir.

A fire and brimstone Preacher in the Church rails against people who sin as the Film cuts to 6 different people that are apparently guilty of said sin.

This includes a Lawyer for the Mob, an Actor, a Letch and...a closeted Lesbian Woman?!?

Earlier, we saw a strange man kill the Caretaker and make a mold of his face.

Now he lets the group in and they find nobody, save for a full Buffet.

This lady is so concerned that she asks the same question twice in 30 seconds...

******

...and gets the same answer twice.  Did you do 'two for coverage' and not pick one to use?

Anyhow, they soon find the dead Caretaker and realize that they are locked inside by a crazy man, dressed here as Death (or Skeletor).

The letch- a former Jock who looks like Robert Wuhl- sneaks up on the killer...or so he thinks.

When he spins the chair around, a dummy is revealed...holding a flamethrower...which then goes off.

Ow.  His friend only decides to put out the fire...after he's fully engulfed.  Dick.

The killer takes out more of the group- via gunshot and falling knife- as he shows a strong flair for the dramatic.

What was his personal Costume Budget?!?

****^+**

With the Cast nearly all dead, he explains to one of them that he's planning to kill them over their various sins.

One of them, by the way, is one that even I had to look up.

The last survivor- manages to shoot the Redeemer, but is then killed by the marionette from earlier...somehow.

Now the final reveal(s).

We learn that this all happened in the recent past as the Preacher- who was obviously the killer- recovers from his gunshot wound.

He also has a double thumb on one hand, which soon transfers to the strange boy (along with his gunshot wound) as he leaves via bus (after killing a kid and framing someone).

He goes back into the water and...that's it?!?

The (confusing) End.

Well, you get lots of points for creativity- that's for sure.

Remember too that this is 1978...and the Film was actually shot in 1976.  These kinds of Films hadn't become the rage yet, since Friday the 13th and Halloween were years and months (respectively) away.

This one definitely does some weird stuff.
I can't fault it for trying stuff.

The execution is a really mixed bag, with confusingly long shots, a real lack of Editing and so-so Production Values.

The Plot will leave you thinking about it for days...but not necessarily because it is so clever.  It's not quite, say, Memento, but nor is it, say, Monster A Go-Go.

Oh and you can make out the kid walking away from the Lake in the final Wide Shot (even in 360p).
Whoops.

Next up, I want to revisit a Film that I only know from MST3K.  Does it have any qualities that make it good un-riffed?  Stay tuned...

Re-Review: Jaws of Satan (aka King Cobra)

Back in 2016, I had a decent enough copy and was okay at writing these.
In 2026, I have an HD Copy and am hopefully a bit better at writing these.

As such, let's look back at Jaws of Satan, a 1981 Film that was a bit late on the big Film trends of the 1970s.

Killer Animals!
Films about Satan!

As the Meme goes, why not both?

The Plot involves Satan coming to a small Town as a snake to kill a Priest.  You'd think he'd be busy keeping the Public Domain Horror trend alive, but whatever!

Like many bad things, it comes to us from a guy named Bob. 
Mr. Claver was a Director for lots of forgotten TV Shows like Here Comes the Bride to respected stuff like The Bob Newhart Show to the cheesiest of 80s Shows like Small Wonder and BOTH Shows where the Lead is an Alien Teen (Out of This World and The Powers of Matthew Star).

Somewhere in the middle of all that, he made this Film.

Is it better than I remembered now that I can see Fritz Weaver's pores?  To find out, read on...

This still has the original Title.

On a train, a killer snake breaks free of a chest...somehow (it apparently pushes open the lid via magic) and kills the two people on board.

We immediately saw how you do these Scenes in the late '70s- you put a snake behind a plate of glass.

Note the guy's reflection.

This is a Jaws Film in a new skin (which it doesn't shed).

As such, we have the corrupt Mayor who will ignore the problems due to opening a Dog Track.

This guy's name would have been a funnier joke a few years back.

Nobody told me life was going to be this way.

At a Party, this Psychic lady warns the Priest (Weaving) about a danger facing him.

The snake is looming, since it is way scarier as an ominous shadow.

Said woman is killed off camera for dramatic effect as the Mayor tries to hide the bodies from study.

Maybe we should take it seriously now.

A Snake Expert (a la Hooper) arrives and he does help out, but can only do so much.

Weaver's Mon Signor warns him of some sort of family danger involving Druids (no, really) and Satan.

The snake chases him, only fleeing when he presents a cross.

A Meeting where they get the Town together to deal with the threat.

It's not an official piece of Jaws Bingo, but it is a key one.

In my previous Review, I joked about this random guy attacking the Lady Scientist was random filler, but...actually, it's not.

The snake scares him off and then we see the Mayor complaining about how 'he' failed.
Imagine if the Mayor in Jaws hired a hitman to kill Brody!

The Film is more famous for being the Film debut of Christina Applegate.

She plays the Mayor's Daughter (and her Mom is her Mom here) and eventually ends up being bitten (but survives).

The Dog Track Plot ends with her attack, by the way, and that's it.

It all ends with the Lady, the Expert and the Priest (this Fall on CBS) in a cave with the Satan Snake.

Weaving says his prayers and the snake is lit aflame!

I was expecting it to explode or something else to happen, but...no.

Let's just leave, shall we?
Okay.  The End.

It's fun in a silly way and it works because it is treated so seriously.

The Films is kind of a glorious mess.  It is about Satan.  It is about Snakes.  It is clearly just a re-skinned version of Jaws.

Credit where credit is due, the Actors do as good of a job with this as you possibly can.  This is absolutely a candidate for private riffing or a Rifftrax Feature.

I didn't even mention how they used every angle to imply that you would see the Lady naked, but you never do.  It's so sleazy and hilarious.

The snake looks good in still form, but they always use the glass plate trick (as they should).  That said, the thing also doesn't appear to have fangs at all, so...huh?

It's all very silly and I don't hate it.  The 4.0 score on IMDB seems a bit low, if you ask me.
That said, Mr. Claver only did one Feature Film, so...

This might be a recurring thing, so, for now at least, enjoy how well this Film scores...

It 'explodes into flames,' so does that count?

Next up, a random Film from my recent collecting of out of print Films.  Which one is next?  Stay tuned...

Holiday Flix: Hack-O-Lantern (1998)

 Today make sure to carve a pumpkin, not a person!

This is Hack-O-Lantern, a 1988 Film that keeps my streak of not watching Trick 'r Treat going.
Sorry, Film- maybe one day.

It comes to us from Jag Mundra, the Director of, well, nothing else I've ever seen.  Given the quality of this Film, that may not change anytime soon.

The Plot involves a family, a creepy grandpa and a dark ritual.  It's set on two different Halloweens, so it still works today.

Will evil win this day?
Will our Hero resist temptation?
Will the Plot stop for five minutes to let a random Stand-Up Comic try out his 'tight five?'

To find out, read on...

In, um, 1975...maybe, a blond kid is given a pumpkin and a strange gift from his Grandpa.

He cuts his hand during the carving later and the Mom smashes it.

The Dad is upset about Grandpa still visiting.

He goes out to his House on Halloween Night (not that one) and it turns out that he was having a ceremony with his Satanic Cult.

Whoops.

He's killed and we see that the Grandson was given a satanic amulet.

One transition later and now he's an Adult who poses like Jeff Goldblum.

We get to see the now grown up family- two sons and a daughter- and their random, dead meat friends.

Grandpa wants the Grandson to do a big ritual that night to fully join the Cult.

In the meantime, a masked guy is killing the dead meat.

The other Son is a friendly Cop.

He meets with the Mom- who has aged well!- and tries to get his big Brother to change.

Silver Spoons here fails.

Skipping ahead past the random Rock Video and Halloween Party filler, the Grandpa gets the chosen one for the Ceremony, but it is interrupted by the Sister.

Her Boyfriend was killed by- she assumes- the Brother and calls him out.

Grandpa tries to sacrifice her, but the Brother frees her...and that's his Arc over.

She calls the Cops to the Barn from the ritual, but it is empty now.

The Cult- or at least one of them- is now at the Party and kills a few people, including her best friend.

At this point, we get to the big twist when the killer in the mask arrives and Grandpa confronts them!

The masked Cultist kills Grandpa, who sets up the Sequel Bait.

Said killer was wounded and wanders to the tombstone of the Dad and it's...Mom?!?

'What a Twist!'

In the aftermath, we see that the Sheriff's Deputy Son was corrupted by Grandpa's touch on the forehead and now he's the new Leader.

Dun dun dun!

Oh right- no Sequel (and the Director died 14 years ago).

A pretty underwhelming Film, especially for a Halloween Film.

To be fair, it does feature a Party, many people in costume and pumpkins.
It's not a cheat to call this a Halloween Film, but does it fit the spirit?

The Plot is both too rushed and too slow.
They clearly didn't have enough Plot for the full 80 minutes, so it just stops for the Party Scenes, the Rock Video and that random Comic.

What you actually get is really melodramatic, not too well acted and also with a hint of incest.  
First Elves did it for Christmas and now YOU did it for Halloween!

There is some fun to be had here- intentional and unintentionally- but I'd recommend most other Halloween Films over this.

That said, what the hell is going on with this background picture?!?

Have a Happy Halloween.  Try to avoid any Cults if you can- unless they offer seasonal cocktails, of course!

Tubi Thursday: Fright House (1989)

 I only got half the Movie that I was promised...and I'm okay with that.

This was going to be a special Tubi Thursday in one regard...but now it is a different story.

To find out, read all about the...

A hairy guy with a mullet makes out with his girlfriend...now his fiancée.

They get right up to actually having sex.

We cut to this random guy- who looks like the Drummer in Any '80s Band- wandering around a building and eventually being killed by a demon hand...I think.

It is called a suicide.

Later, a nerdy guy talks about a fireplace in the middle of the woods being a portal to Hell...and die off-screen.

A jarring cut goes from hand appearing to the Funeral!

Our guy- who is a Cop- talks to the guy's Therapist...because he was his Brother!

The Cop guy sends a random Cop Lady undercover at the School- via the worst ADR in history- and talks to his Boss....played by Al Lewis.

Why have I seen two Al Lewis Films (that aren't The Munsters) in the past week?!?

After barely any setup, a bunch of random groups of people go into this Building.

We see Cultists.
We see Monsters outside.

People die.

The Cop is undercover in the group, which means he has bad KISS makeup on.

To the surprise of nobody, the leader of the Cult turns out to be Grandpa Munster.

Clearly being in Gremlins 2 is a major upgrade for playing off-brand Ernest Borgnine in The Devil's Rain.

In our big finale, our Hero keeps yelling off-camera for him to stop...but does nothing.

He throws a crystal from earlier and everything explodes.

The Cop and his Fiancee wake up and go off...but she's possessed...I think (more on that later).

At this point, FH is supposed to then cut to a condensed version of 1986/88's Vampires, with Duane Jones.

The Tubi Version doesn't.  Oh well.

********

This Film sure...exists.  I wish that I could say more fun things about it.

The Film is a bunch of random bits, little bits of setup and then a bunch of 'action' in the latter half.

They introduce about a dozen Characters.  They do little with any of them.

Literally one Scene just kills off 5 of them off-screen in a few seconds.
The hell?!?

I wasn't expecting lots from here...and I was right.

Fright House is lots of nothing, a few cliches, Al Lewis hamming it up and that's about it.
Oh and the HD Remaster ruins the final shot, apparently removing the evil eye effect (seen here in an SD copy on YT).

It's a Thriller, Thriller Cliche.

A Film that promised me two tales and only gave me one.  Given that I didn't like the missing section the first time, I'm good.