Black Room

Well, if nothing else, "The Black Room" at least deserves a few extra points for originality! In an era where most American horror were derivative and tepid slasher knock-offs, this film comes with a totally creative and unique (albeit utterly grotesque) storyline that is certainly trashier, sleazier and nastier than all those dull slashers. The protagonist of "The Black Room", a seemingly average middle-class guy named Larry, is a heroic role-model for all of use horny males! Dig this: because his sex life with his wife Robyn suffers from routine boredom and children always interrupting at the exact wrong moment, Larry invents a fantasy place - the black room - where he satisfies his sexual need with other women. He shares his lewd fantasies with Robyn in order to excite her, but Larry actually also does rent such a room for real! He picks up horny students and prostitutes like it's the most normal thing in the world and takes them to his secret for sweet-loving, while later that same night in the marital bed his wife whisper: "Tell me again about the black room, honey". Ha! Larry is awesome! What he doesn't know, however, is that the proprietors of the room, a very seductive brother and sister, are sick psychos that murder the lust objects in the black room and transfuse their blood into the brother's body because he supposedly has a rare blood disease! "The Black Room" obviously isn't an Award-winning masterpiece, but it sure is a compelling, unpredictable and darn hot 80s horror oddity! When Robyn discovers Larry's deceitful little secret, and plots her revenge together with houseowner Jason, the film resembles more of an early 70s European sexploitation movie rather than an 80s US horror flick; - especially with that randomly bonkers vampire twist-ending! He may only have made less than a handful of films, but the least you can say about writer and (co-) director Norman Thaddeus Vane is that he tried different things (see also "Frightmare" that was released one year later). Beautiful people in this film as well, both males and females. It's one of the earliest films of Christopher MacDonald and Linnea Quigley never looked prettier in her life.

Although I was an avid thriller movie fan in high school when this came out, it somehow escaped me. Upon hearing of it for the first time recently, I watched it and was pleasantly surprised by its overall good quality, handsome/well dressed leading men and moody score.

This is primarily a psychological thriller with an intelligent script and a deliberate pace. The writer, director and cast accurately depict the bored, horny husband looking for kicks and the tearful wife who becomes a hard, bitter feminist as a result. Thrown into the mix are a pair of siblings whose hilltop mansion is something of a spider's web for the unlucky.

Although other reviewers found the film to be sleazy and raunchy, this reviewer considers the smut scenes to be quite tame. Curiously, most of the coupling is done woman-on-top, save one very brief interlude between a college punk and the bitter, weepy wife. Had this been released primarily in Europe, it probably would have done well; American audiences, on the contrary, tend to be much less sophisticated and patient. Americans love farce and other forms of low-brow comedy, usually favoring the ridiculous. "The Black Room" however, is at its core a serious character study with a few dabs of horror thrown in towards the end.

Worth a look for adults interested in "grown up horror".

Larry, a dashing family man, decides he needs some escapism in his life and rents a room to fulfill his darkest fantasies. The room he finds is within a Hollywood Hills mansion and is decorated seductively in black with lots of candles and drink. His doting wife goes along with the fantasy, but what she doesn't know (if you can believe it) is that the lurid tales of prozzies and pickups he's ravished in the room are actually true. And what Larry doesn't know is that the kooky siblings from whom he rents the "black room" are after blood and not his rent! This is a quirky and unique low-budget film that delivers in some areas. It manages to go from creepy to sizzling hot to awkwardly funny from scene to scene. The acting is excellent for a low budget-80s film, especially by the four relatively unknown leads. Jimmy Stathis (Larry) manages to pull off loving father and husband in some scenes and complete sleazeball in others. He's a character that is difficult to root for (and even watch at times), but thankfully he isn't the only protagonist in the film. His wife (played by the fantastic Clara Perryman) smiles and laughs along with Larry's kinky fantasies that don't involve her, which is an aspect of the story that comes across as silly considering she knows that he really does have this "black room." But once the story gets going and she becomes more involved with the plot, it's easy to get past this. The demented landlord sibs steal every scene they're in. Stephen Knight is believably lecherous and Cassandra Gava is both sexy and insane as his caretaker and BDSM-loving sister. The atmosphere, especially in the titular room, is eerie and alluring. The score is inventive and one of the movie's high points. So while some of the plot premises are a bit brow-raising, and the horror in the film didn't seem to fully lift off, this is an original and steamy genre movie in which I found enough things to enjoy. Look for Christopher McDonald and Linnea Quigley in small roles.

A man rents a room a brother & sister so he can have extramarital affairs away from his own house, however his landlords are draining the blood from everyone who enters the room.

An extremely dark and original take on the vampire genre. Set in the modern day (1981 when it was made) unlike many vampire movies of the time, the setting does give it much more credibility than its Gothic counterparts. The draining sequences are very dramatic, no fangs here but a massive machine which pumps out the blood into some very gory scenes. The performances are a lot better than you might think, the 4 leads are surprisingly good as is most of the supporting cast. The second half of the movie is great, tension mounts very well, the pace improves and the last 10-15mins are superb and quite scary at times. The film does have a couple of issues though, in the first half pacing is quite sluggish, as the set up sequences to key scenes take an age and at times fail at keeping the viewers attention, editing is also quite strange at the beginning (although that could just have been the copy I watched 1983 UK VHS).

Overall a very good surprising watch, if you enjoy weird fairly gory horror there should be plenty for you to enjoy here. Interestingly this quite rare horror was put onto the DPP's section 3 list here in the UK (meaning the police could seize it from the shelves), a real shame as this well made little horror didn't deserve the negative attention it got.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of The Black Room; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.25 Direction: 1.00 Pace: 0.75 Acting: 0.75 Enjoyment: 1.00

TOTAL: 4.75 out of 10.00

I do like a good vampyre story and love an original take on their mythology. The Black Room was so close to being both; sadly, it slightly misses the mark with both.

The story centres around two couples. Jason and Bridgette are a brother and sister living in the Hollywood hills. They make an extra buck or a hundred by renting out a room in their home for wayward spouses. The couple offers secrecy and privacy to do whatever their sleazy little heart desires. Enter Larry, a husband who likes to treat women like whores and hookers but cannot bring himself to treat his wife, Robin, in the same fashion, though she's willing. So he starts to fund Jason and Bridgette's lifestyle. But, how long can he keep the deception from the missus? And, what will she do when she finds out? The writer and director, Norman Vane, adds an even darker element into the mix. There's something not quite right with the owners of the black room. Vane unravels their secrets and sins as we progress through the narrative. Though his characterisations are decent, they needed to be better, because the story is primarily character-driven. Larry, Robin, and their family are credible. However, Jason and Bridgette required more substance. Granted, they are strange individuals, but there's something diaphanous about them, particularly Jason. His character demands to be more prolific and imposing. And the relationship he has with his sister craved more attention. In the beginning, you're unsure who these people are to one another. When we learn of their kinship, instead of the story becoming unclouded, it gets a tad muddier. The uncertainty halts the couple's growth and, in turn, hinders the story and the viewer's enjoyment.

Director Vane is comparable to Writer Vane. The filming suffers some of the same ailments as the scripting. Vane could have used some easy camera techniques the emphasise Jason's character. Always shoot him from at a slight upward angle, making him more imposing. Have the actor deliver his lines with more zest and zeal. Etc! But sadly, he merely points the camera and captures whatever's on offer. There are myriad opportunities to increase the audience's interest. All it would have taken is to get slightly creative with the filming - A few engaging pans, stimulating camera angles, and entrancing close-ups. Nothing too fancy or complicated. Just a taste of eye candy. The worst thing about the movie is the tempo. It's on the slow side and could have been faster overall and even faster at the kills to build the excitement and tension.

The cast is a mishmash. There are moments when each individual performer is respectable and times when they are below-par. Fortunately, they are never terrible in the same scenes, and they somewhat level out the unevenness of their performances.

I am unsure whether I would recommend The Black Room to anyone. As it stands, it's just okay but nothing special, though it easily could have been. If you see it on a streaming service, and there's nowt else worthy of your attention, then check it out. But if you miss it - don't worry, you're not missing much. Maybe Blumhouse can do a modern remake - it deserves the attention - and remove their hands from destroying the classics.

Turn on those bloody lights, or you won't be able to read my Absolute Horror and Killer Thriller Chiller lists and see where I ranked The Black Room.

Take Care & Stay Well.