Blood Stalkers

Two married couples decide to spend their vacation at an old hunting cabin located deep in the Florida everglades.On their way to the cabin they meet an old gas station attendant who warns them to turn back because of Blood Stalker territory.They also meet a trio of hillbilly hunters,who leer at the women while they play with their guns and knives.They aren't too friendly to begin with.The upcoming night quickly turns into blood-chilling nightmare with Bigfoot-like creature on the loose..."Blood Stalkers" is a perfect example of low-budget regional film-making.It features few nasty gore bits((a gutted dog,a hand being severed,an axe to the stomach)during its pretty tense climax,unfortunately the action moves at a snail's pace.The soundtrack is truly annoying and pretty much destroys any mood.The director Robert W.Morgan has a small role as bald-headed hunter,who is always having fun with his knives.A generous 6 out of 10.

This film is about a couple that decides to take a vacation to The Everglades along with another couple and the family dog. When they first get there, they are not welcomed by the neighboring gas attendant that warms them to stay away from the cabin in which they are to spend the night at for the week. After pestering with the old man, three hillbillys also do not take kindly to their arrival as they approach their car and threaten them to leave. After asking some of the local dummies that can't speak or just don't want to answer, they finaly find the cabin. After they settle in, strange things happen to the visitors including discovering crap on their car, the man thats the head of this trip thats an idiot shoots the family dog thinking it was a killer clawing at the door and a series of deaths later on in the end. Adding a church group did not make the story any better. Then at the end, the idiot that survives the whole ordeal goes around the town carrying a shot gun. Lame. thats what this movie is.

BLOOD STALKERS is a small dramatic movie with horror overtones. The body count is high and there's some on-screen violence and gore but the script is more concern with Mike (Jerry Albert)'s fragile psychological well being than scaring or grossing out the viewer. The film ain't bad but it's not stellar too. For instance, the three hicks, who keep fighting with each other, and the old man who runs the gas station, look more like cartoon characters than real people living in the backwoods. As for the good guys, Ken Miller is a strange actor, if you know what I mean. Jerry Albert is also an odd looking fellow. One rarely sees his average type of face in today's films, which, when you think about it, is unfortunate. The two women are buxom and don't make fools of themselves (a rarity in these types of films). The actors are okay in their roles but their characters are pretty limited. The cinematography is at times pretty good.

The worst thing in BLOOD STALKERS is the music. The soundtrack actually nullifies all attempts at suspense or empathy towards the characters with its terrible TV-like generic music. Had the music been better and the gruesome foursome had been a bit more believable, BLOOD STALKERS would have been fairly good. As it is now, BLOOD STALKER is okay, nothing more.

I rented this film about a year ago at a 'mom n pop' video store, thinking it would be trash, but perhaps entertaining trash. I made fun of the movie for the first thirty or forty minutes before I finally shut up and began to enjoy it. I'm not going to exaggerate and say this is a classic or anything, but it is a surprisingly good film with a few twists and some acceptable performances. It also has what, for my money, has got to be the greatest "scared sh*tless" performance in a single scene of any horror film I've ever seen; just keep your eyes on Jerry Albert (Mike) when he goes back to the car to get the beer. Albert may not be that great of an actor, but in this scene he delivers and then some! Albert redoes his "scared sh*tless" moment with Toni Crabtree later in the film. All in all, a great "C" movie that's hard to find, but worth it if you do.

Two married couples go out to an inherited hunting lodge, which has been vacant for eight years. They experience curious resistance from the yokels when they ask about the place. Worse, they're in for a night to dismember.

"Blood Stalkers" (1976), aka "The Night Daniel Died," was obviously inspired by "Deliverance," but also includes some (possible) swamp ape frolics. It starts out surprisingly well for a spare change Indie, as you get to know the four protagonists, although it starts to drag a bit. Voluptuous Cisse Cameron as Jeri is a highlight and so is blonde Toni Crabtree as Kim, the latter appearing in a tame nighttime skinny dipping sequence (just a heads up).

After the midpoint, unfortunately, there's an extended nighttime sequence that's too dark and tedious, which reflects lousy filmmaking. However, the bad parts are usually counterbalanced by effective sequences such as the artistic black church segment. The violent close is well done, all things considered, and I liked the explanation.

Ken Miller, who plays the secondary protagonist (Daniel), was 43 during shooting in June, 1975, while Cisse Cameron, who plays his wife, was 21. I bring this up because someone complained about how much older he was than her. But Cisse could easily pass for mid-30s, so it's not really an issue. And, besides, it's not like husbands being significantly older than their wives is rare.

Some of the music was composed by Stan Webb, who went on to contribute a song to "Thelma & Louise." The rest was done by Blood Sweat and Tears, who were uncredited to save money.

This was the sole flick directed by the writer/director, who happens to play the bald yokel in the film. He supposedly saw Bigfoot when he was 21 and appeared in four sasquatch documentaries between 1972-76, not to mention lectured at colleges and universities before retiring to western Montana.

"Blackwater" (2007) is a better movie of this no-budget Indie sort, which involves four women as the protagonists rather than two couples.

It runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot in southeastern Florida at Fort Lauderdale and the Everglades just west of there.

GRADE: C/C- (4.5/10)