Curse of the Blue Lights

I read numerous warnings about this movie being a totally worthless and inept piece of garbage, so I watched the crummy VHS (yes, I still watch movies on VHS in 2015…) with an absolute minimum of expectations. Great was my astonishment when "Curse of the Blue Lights" suddenly began with a terrific and powerfully atmospheric scene involving a scarecrow that comes to life and viciously pursues a petrified farmer! Good horror movies with scarecrows are, well, scarce and thus I even had a little bit of hope for a brief moment. Could it be that this isn't a dud at all, but a misunderstood and wrongfully ridiculed late '80s gem? No, of course not, the powerful scarecrow opening is just a fluke and the rest of the film is unendurable nonsense. "Curse of the Blue Lights" fits into a series of late '80s horror films that are child friendly – on the verge of childish, in fact – and feature wannabe comical screenplays, dim- witted lead characters, brainless dialogs and utterly cheesy make-up effects. Other, similar films like this one include "Spookies", "Cameron's Closet" and "The Monster Squad". I can't really say I liked any of these very much, but "Curse of the Blue Lights" is by far the worst. It's only been 2 days since I watched and already I can't remember much about it apart from the scarecrow intro and a handful of brief flashes involving fat, green-faced and inarticulate ghouls. I'll admit that – once again – the cool title and intriguing artwork on the cover lured me into watching something that should have been forgotten longtime.

From the third minutes until the very end you will have to laugh (or cry). I think the hungarian version is much better than the original one... It was nice to hear famous hungarian artists become zombies :-))) We have already organized a "The curse of the blue lights fun club". We have the T-shirts, and poster on the wall. We are also planning to make a color like bikers have... :-))

The basic plot of "Curse of the Blue Lights" revolves around a decrepit group of ghouls living beneath a Colorado cemetery. Aside from consuming the dead, they are plotting to raise the petrified remains of a towering entity. Enter a group of teenagers who get involved caught up in their plot and must struggle to stop the ghouls and avoid a gruesome fate.

Apparently inspired to some extent by the works of writer H.P. Lovecraft, this low-budget offering has surprisingly sophisticated makeup effects, but little else. The acting is poor and some of the dialogue is bad to the point of pathetic. Some is evidently intended for humor, but the result appears rather childish. Strong points include sets and some of the shooting locations as well as the special makeup effects. Die hard fans of ghoul and zombie flicks might have some interest in this one, but most other viewers should steer clear.

A group of horny and obnoxious teenagers find the corpse of the Muldoon Man buried under Colorado cemetery.The ancient mythological creature Muldoon Man has an army of zombies and ghouls,who follow his orders and are hungry for some teenage blood.I remember having seen "Curse of the Blue Lights" on Polish cable TV many years ago under the title of "Przeklenstwo niebieskich swiatel".The acting is bad and the plot is childish,but I must say that make-up effects of ghastly ghouls are excellent.The film lacks nudity and gore and it resembles "Spookies" and "Neon Maniacs".Die hard zombie fans may want to check this very rare local oddity out.I doubt that it will ever be released on DVD.6 ghouls out of 10.

The young me would probably have loved Curse of the Blue Lights. The seven to twelve year old me, free of expectations, free of growing into gore or serious horror cinema. Curse of the Blue Lights is a pretty juvenile affair really, and looking at it through the cold light of adulthood it isn't all that good, but on a Friday night peering back into the mists and yearnings of youth it does the trick. A low budget regional affair, it sees a group of teens out for the night in the Blue Lights area, an ill defined and ill lit place that seems to have a river nearby but most importantly a slope wherein is buried an ancient beast, the Muldoon Man. One teen slips and falls, revealing a petrified hand protruding from the dust, they also find a medallion which they take before heading home for a pick up truck, get apprehended for speeding, return and find the body gone. Following tracks they find nefarious ghouls beneath a cemetery and realise there are some bad shenanigans afoot, which they set about putting to rights with the help of a local witch. Its a fast paced film bounding with enthusiasm, the cast are generally as young looking as the ages they seek to portray and there's a pleasant feel of youthful endeavour to the film, friends getting together to make a movie and test their skills. Though the writing is poor and the acting often flat there's a drive and purpose to everything that makes it a pretty easy watch. Special effects are the highlight, much better than would be expected for a film of this budget. Quality ghoul make up and some neat melting effects, even an amusing old school shonky monster at the end, if nothing else the sum of the effects makes the film a decent cheesy time. Special effects man Michael Spatola went on to credits in Stargate and Terminator 2: Judgement Day as well as other more minor projects and there's loving craft here that seems to foretell such a career. Some of the performances are fun as well, mostly from folk who only did this one film. Cheers go out to Brent Ritter hamming as fiercely as he can beneath a lot of make-up as main ghoul Loath, Kent E. Fritzell and Willard Hall as his equally enthusiastic but inept assistants Bor and Forn and Bettina Julius as the aforementioned witch, who really isn't terribly comprehensible but is quite watchable in a weird sort of way. This stuff and the energy of the leads makes for a cheerful camp that buoys the film through its slower patches and gives a bit of an extra pop when things do hot up. The film is a bit too long at over an hour and a half and the lack of general gore (a spot of blood and melting effects mostly) puts a slight dampener on things, preventing it from ever reaching a full head of delirious steam, but its a fun watch nonetheless. Best recommended to younger viewers, those seeking films suitable for younger viewers and those seeking to revisit their earlier years, this one gets a fair 6/10 I think.