The Demons of Ludlow

I just got done watching this movie and as it was barely watchable I did get a few laughs out of it. The storyline is very similar of Carpenters "The Fog" except these ghosts come out of a white piano to exact their revenge on the town of Ludlow and there was very little fog. Most of the movie is a big yawn but several death scenes were hilarious. For instance, the first scene a half naked girl gets her intestines ripped out but it is just kind of a flash to her stomach and it looks really fake. There was a really funny scene where two girls throw rocks at this old lady and hit her square in the face. And there was a great decapitation scene that had me on the floor. Over all, this was a bad movie but it did have its moments (even if they weren't meant to be funny). I give this movie a 4/10.

On its 200th birthday a town is given a piano as a gift. Unfotunately its haunted by the spirit of sorcerer killed by some of the town's founders.

You've seen it all before and better. Actually you've also seen it shorter on any number of old TV anthology shows. And to be honest the script is not all that bad (even if it is full of plot holes and contradictions). The problem with this film is that anytime the ghosts of the past show up to torment and kill someone this film goes from just okay thriller to jaw droppingly awful. You will not believe how bad the scenes with the ghost are. They are so badly filmed, costumed and played out as to resemble nothing so much as the worst grammar school production of a Thanksgiving pageant that you can imagine. Its really bad.

This is a movie to avoid since its not good in a bad sort of way, its just bad.

My uncle used to have this copied on a tape with Fear No Evil and I often used to treat myself to a scary double bill back when I was a young 'un (around 12 years old I think I first saw this). I recently managed to pick it up on DVD on the Mill Creek 50 Chilling Classics collection, and while the transfer leaves a lot to be desired it does appear to be uncut and is certainly longer than the versions i'd previously watched. I think there's a very good chance that i'm the only person on this planet that thinks of this film as a minor masterpiece. There are some genuinely frightening scenes in the film (the bizarre multi-coloured hand that kills the teens, that evil laughter, the group of demons that kill Emily, the intrusion of the old woman in her bed) and the gore is certainly no worse than countless slasher films from the same era. The obscurity of this film means that very few people will ever get to see it and judge it fairly. It obviously cannot be compared to classics such as The Exorcist, TCM, Suspiria and The Evil Dead but as far as obscure minor horror pieces go, you could do a lot worse. The idea in itself is a fairly original one, of a bunch of warlocks coming back to life to destroy a town and reclaim Ludlow's severed hands while taking refuge in a giant white piano and coming out every now and again to murder the grandchildren of the people who killed them! I don't think some people (or all the reviewers here) actually comprehend how low budget this film was and when you consider how ambitious it is, you can't help but respect the makers of the film. Acting-wise there is nobody particular of note with barely any of the cast members starring in anything else! They do their jobs admirably and while there's no Oscar winner material from anyone, no-one falters. Just give the film a chance and maybe you'll enjoy the film as much as I do. In fact...i'm gonna watch it again right now!...

Using the TV previously, I forgot I had the volume turned up, a little higher than usual. Bang straight away, it made me jump, as hitting play; a creepy sounding organ score started playing over the opening credits. And that's where it ends. Bill Rebane's clunky, second-string supernatural horror falls more on mean-spirited and strange with a jaunty dream-like quality, than anything overly chilling. Even trying to make sense of the choppy story, is far from Rebane's mind.

Well having an antique piano, that when it's played, unleashes a demonic force seeking revenge against the towns cursed descendants. And these superstitious folks, along with a head tilting dog, are quite a disinterested looking bunch too. Meaning there are going to be a few silly, gaudy shocks. Malevolent ghosts start showing up, ladies clothes get torn off their bodies, limbs are cut off, objects begin floating around, small-time pyrotechnics ignite, every now and again a green glowing demonic hand pops out of nowhere and a grand white piano that bleeds blood, begins playing by itself and even at one stage laughing while elevating. Those moments with their cheap effects, limited sets are weirdly fun.

It's just in between those hokey, exaggerated set-pieces, it can look flat. Ignoring the picturesque locations and concentrating on stodgy background exposition of a priest and freelance journalist simply going around in circles trying to uncover and convince everyone of what's happening in the town is a result of its past. Even small community dramas, the cliché kind, play apart.

Nonsense about an old, haunted piano being brought to the small town of Ludlow, population: 47, and it causes all sorts of murder and mayhem there. The plot is obviously rather thin.

A surprising, although slightly silly, killing in a barn is a highlight. Snowy photography is well done, film has the look and feel of a small town in the middle of winter, to great effect, but interior photography is unmemorable; the special effects are variable: sink catches fire (already done in Boogeyman, three years earlier) and a girl is attacked by a roll of toilet paper? Did I see that correctly? An overlong, dumbass sequence with a girl trimming her doll's hair and being attacked by people in white wigs and dressed like it's the 1700s was seemingly trying to be so-bad-it's-good, but ended up just trying this viewer's patience.

The first half hour was pretty good, and there is a bit of atmosphere throughout, but it's a downhill after that first third.