Frightmare

Frightmare obviously will never win an academy award, but it is something that most low-cost horror movies aren't--scary. The star, an aging horror film actor, gets posthumous revenge on those who decide to kidnap his corpse. The sequences of their murders are suspenseful and chilling as they get picked off one by one. The easiest death is by gas chamber and the worst is by live cremation. For those who like mindless entertainment, tey may not like this movie. But for those who like movies about retribution getting served for a bunch of grave robbers, this would be up their alley. Though not the best horror film ever made, but it certainly isn't the worst either. It's worth the 99 cent rental fee.

Frightmare is an interesting attempt to combine the old thirties style horror with eighties slasher. Ferdinand Mayne stars as Conrad Ragzoff, an arrogant old ham horror actor who dies of a stroke. Some of his fans steal his body from his tomb(what fans!) and all heck breaks loose. Mayne is lots of fun, appearing on a special monitor in the tomb and taunting his soon to be victims. The opening parts of the movie are wonderful; showing Conrad's old movies, him taking care of an unlikeable director, etc. The scenes in the old house, where Conrad stalks the kids, are a little more basic, but still entertaining.

Jeffery Combs is good, but the movie really belongs to Mayne. He seems to enjoy himself and makes the movie lots of fun. So basically, it's not one of the great horror movies or anything like that, but still well worth seeing for fans of eighties horror.

I suppose I am a bit partial to Frightmare because I first saw it on television late at night about 15 years ago (back when ABC did Fright Night Theatre-anyone remember that?) and it did give me the creeps. Even though a lot of the film's aspects are a bit amateurish, it's still chilling and fun to watch, and I really loved the scene where the teenagers are dancing with Mayne's dead body around the dinner table. The film has a very unusual atmosphere and horror buffs should enjoy it, it's got a little bit of everything (i.e. gore, creative deaths, chills, spooky settings and locations). Mayne really hams it up in the film's opening sequences, and it fits here. Rent (or buy-I did) this one from your local video store. You'll have a blast. My rating: 6/10

Conrad Radzoff is more or less a combination of Vincent Price and Christopher Lee:two famous Gothic horror icons.He sleeps in his coffin like Bela Lugosi and he considers himself a superstar.Unfortunately the times of his stardom are falling apart as he only gets silly roles in commercials.So Conrdad kills his director and after murder he suddenly dies.His body is kept in creepy Gothic mausoleum.A group of university students decide to steal his coffin and defile his corpse.But Conrad isn't really dead.He rises from his slumber and kills defilers one by one..."Frightmare" by Norman Thaddeus Vane is a likable supernatural slasher with few gory deaths including decapitated Jeffrey Combs.The storyline is absurd with standard scare techniques,but if you like supernatural slashers with levitating coffins give this one a chance.7 horror stars out of 10.

Conrad, a legendary star of classic horror films, is a narcissistic killer as monstrous in reality as he is on the screen. Shortly after his death, his corpse is stolen by a group of young cinephiles(among them is horror linchpin Jeffrey Combs in an early role). This prompts his devoted widow to enlist the aid of a mystic in retrieving the evil actor's soul from the fire-pits of Hell. Once reunited with his body, Conrad proceeds to wreak bloody vengeance against the young graverobbers.

FRIGHTMARE is a largely unimpressive and routine supernatural slasher with atrocious editing and exanimate characters. To the film's credit, however, it does manage to serve up sporadic atmospheric moments which are effectively punctuated by the creepy sound of multi-layered echoes and whispers. It's a prescriptive and nonessential 80s chiller overall, but it might suffice as a tolerable time-filler when nothing better is at hand.

4/10.