Lurking Fear

VERY loose adaptation of the H. P. Lovecraft story of the same name is nowhere as good as Stuart Gordon's "Re-Animator" or "From Beyond". Although those adaptations also played fast and loose with their source materials (for my money, the only film to really feel like a Lovecraft story is the 2005 faux silent film "The Call of Cthulhu"), but this adaptation fails at even being entertaining. The story involves rival groups of criminals looking to dig up a corpse in a graveyard that's hiding a big stash of stolen money. However, this same night a group of townspeople are planning to dispose of an ancient evil living beneath this very same graveyard. The film boasts a stronger than usual cast for a Full Moon Features production, with Jon Finch ("Macbeth" "Frenzy"), Jeffrey Combs ("Re-Animator" "The Frighteners", Paul Mantee ("Robinson Crusoe on Mars" "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"), Vincent Schiavelli ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" "Ghost"), and "Hellraiser" star Ashley Laurence, but they are wasted with poorly developed characters, though Schiavelli is a lot of fun in his one-scene appearance at the start of the film. When I rewatched the restored blu ray print of the film, I was struck by the better than expected photography by regular Full Moon cinematographer Adolfo Bartoli ("Trancers" 3-5, "Oblivion" 1-2, "Puppet Master" 3-5, etc.). However, writer/director C. Courtney Joyner ("Doctor Mordrid" "Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge") fails to create much atmosphere and it's unclear if the film wanted to be a serious horror film or wanted to be tongue-in-cheek. It ends up being neither and fails as a whole. FUN FACT! It "The Lurking Fear" was originally to be made by producer Charles Band's earlier company Empire Pictures and directed by Stuart Gordon, which I'm sure would have been a MUCH better film.

Very loosely based on a story by H.P. Lovecraft, this Full Moon cheapie deals with an ex-con going to the town of Leffert's Corner to dig up a corpse that his late father stuffed with money. Unfortunately for him, his father's old partners are on his trail. On top of that, Leffert's Corner has been dealing with attacks from underground creatures for years, and they live beneath the very cemetery the money is buried in.

Anyone going into this expecting a faithful Lovecraft adaptation certainly aren't going to find one here. Don't expect a good movie either. Right from the opening scene, we're immediately hit with some horrible acting, and it doesn't get much better from there. The lead (Blake Bailey), who also narrates on occasion, is particularly awful. The only actors who don't come off too poorly here are Allison Mackie as an eccentric femme fatale and Jeffrey Combs as the town doctor. Ashley Laurence (credited as Ashley Lauren for some reason), such a likable heroine in the "Hellraiser" films, is just annoying here as a bitchy Rambo wannabe.

There's a lot of really bad editing in this thing, and the attempts at action suffer for it. What little story there is doesn't come together in any satisfactory manner either. The ending is laughable, especially when you throw in Bailey's final voice-over. Full Moon has managed to churn out a few good movies, but this isn't one of them. I bought the VHS for 50 cents at a video store that was going out of business, so at least it was cheap.

Hunky Blake Adams plays John Martense, a young man just released from prison. He has no prospects, but good fortune could come his way. He seeks out an old associate of his father, an undertaker named Knaggs (Vincent Schiavelli), who lets him know that in the remote community of Leffert's Corner, there is a cemetery containing a corpse stuffed with money. Martense arrives in this village to find a select few individuals preparing to do battle with the monsters that have been feeding on the citizens for the past 20 years. He is soon joined by Bennett (Jon Finch), his late fathers' ruthless former partner who, quite naturally, also wants the money.

This one has to rate as a misfire. C. Courtney Joyner directs from his own screenplay of the H.P. Lovecraft short story, and it's highly uninspired. It's simply too hard to care about any of the characters here, or the tale being told. One wonders what might have been had Stuart Gordon, creator of some of the best Lovecraft adaptations out there, done this film as was originally planned. A shame, really, because "Lurking Fear" has some amusing and striking Old World type atmosphere (this was shot on location in Romania). But Joyner fails to create any suspense or much in the way of horror. The creatures are rather unimaginative looking. Some gore lovers might be mildly appreciative, though.

Ever reliable Jeffrey Combs is entertainingly eccentric as a local doctor, and it's fun to see "Hellraiser" female lead Ashley Laurence play a badass sort of character. The full name of the man played by the distinctively featured Schiavelli is Skelton Knaggs, a nod to another character actor from genre films of the 40s. (Look, also, for the name "Michael Terence Ripper" in a ledger.) Finch is okay, no more, as the human antagonist. Allison Mackie, Joyners' cousin, gets to have some fun as one of the baddies. Paul Mantee is very good as the local priest. The less said about Adams, the better.

Decent music by Jim Manzie and a short running time (just over 77 minutes) help to keep this from being particularly painful, but if one wants a Lovecraft fix, they can do so much better.

Four out of 10.

At least there weren't fake lasers, the group of bratty ill-prepared teenagers on a trip, excessive profanity. It did have some stereotypical "cool tough guy" acting by some of the actors (eg Catherine played by Ashley Laurence kept racking the slide of her pistol almost every time she drew it). Still she was hot.

In LURKING FEAR, a group of greedy crooks, and a ghoul-fighting duo (Ashley Laurence and Jeffrey Combs!) all wind up in the same cemetery for different reasons. When the ghouls begin to rise, the blood hits the fan.

Loosely based on the story by H. P. Lovecraft, this FULL MOON production is a crime drama / horror movie hybrid. The criminals are -mostly- reprehensible, and the monsters are well-realized and fairly unnerving.

Mr. Combs gets to play the drunken doctor, while Ms. Laurence plays her character as a sort of Sarah Connor in the graveyard. The action builds slowly up until the truly explosive denouement.

Another decent creeper from FULL MOON's heyday...