Actuakers
One of my all time favorites.
Tayloriona
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Aneesa Wardle
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Jimmy_the_Gent4
Jenny, a college student meets John, a cub reporter and together they find horror at an abandoned spa.Like many others, I discovered this on late night TV when WOR in New York showed low budget and forgotten horror films. This is low on gore but great on atmosphere and shocking twists. Laurie Walters (later on Eight Is Enough) and Joe Spano (Hill Street Blues) are likable as the couple. Edna Macafee is creepy as the initially kind old woman they meet. She is the kind of scary old hag you may see in other films of the time like "Lemora-The Lady Dracula" and "Don't Look In The Basement". The low budget and grainy photography, so prevalent in early 1970s horror are great assets in this film. This also touches on subjects such as Satanism, cannibalism and ghosts. Other similar films are the well known "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and the lesser know "Terror At Red Wolf Inn".Don't miss this one if you like these type of films, the ending is a shocker!
VinnieRattolle
I'll try to keep this spoiler-lite.When they get lost on their way back from a picnic, young lovers Laurie and John stumble upon a decrepit, closed-down spa and its sole tenant, the equally aged Mrs. Abercrombi. Soon Jenny's being haunted by a ghost bride and other strange goings-on are happening in this oddball variation of "Hansel and Gretel."Although thoroughly obscure due to poor distribution, I can't praise this little b-movie enough. There's four inherent problems with no-name '70s schlockers (horrible acting, bad continuity, abysmal effects, ridiculous plot reveals) and this movie suffers from none of them. The cast is populated by actors from the stage, many of whom give nuanced performances which might seem a little over-the-top at times, but it works. The casting might also account for the overall good continuity -- once a stage actor makes an acting decision, they tend to stick with it. The film relies more on scares than effects, and they achieved them better with the camera, the foreboding sanatorium labyrinth setting and editing than many of the era's filmmakers did with effects -- though the few effects shots are equally well executed. The plot reveal could easily have been hokey, but they sidestepped that issue entirely by refusing to explain much of anything. Aside from a few pacing issues and Jenny's sometimes-illogical actions (she drives her own VW back to the spa, so she could really leave at any time!), I've got no complaints.Perhaps it's BECAUSE there's not much explanation that the movie's memorable (much like the next year's "Black Christmas"). All of the answers aren't spelled out for the audience, so it leaves one thinking. Even a moment that another filmmaker would draw hefty attention to (Jenny discovers living flowers where dead ones had been a few moments earlier) is played fairly subtly. Without giving too much away, there's also an element that has an entirely different meaning upon second viewing. Plus the filmmakers pitched several curve-balls, and the story involves a bizarre mixture of witchcraft, Satanism, cannibalism, hillbillies and hauntings. Those aren't themes that one finds interwoven too often. And I have to mention that there's one endearing mid-movie sequence where our would-be Hansel and Gretel play make-believe which initially seems completely random but the scene absolutely oozes charm. It's really a shame that the movie got saddled with a bad title (no discernible warlocks nor a single shot of the moon), worse marketing (the poster featured a vampire bat, the VHS a shrouded warlock) and distribution (Tucson, Arizona and Alaska for a few weeks in 1974 and infrequently on late-night TV), a screwed-up first DVD release (which is edited and skips a hunk of the movie during a layer transition), the filmmakers went on to get 9 to 5 jobs, and the picture has virtually been forgotten outside of the community where it was made. It's a quirky little '70s horror flick that should have been a drive-in classic.
goodvibe-1
I saw this one on late night in the 70's and was absolutely creeped out! I knew I was in for another one of those low-budget cranks...but this is one I remembered and taped off of late night about 9 years ago just so I could have it. I absolutely agree that the director should have at least made one more film like it...heck, maybe not even a horror film at that. Perhaps an action flick or even more innovative for it's time would have been for him to make a post-apocalyptic film which very well could have been a percursor to Mad Max, or even the slew of like films apparently shot in Italy in the early 80's (??)Definitely could have been better microphone placement, that's my only complaint. Warlock Moon is one of my all-time favs! I like the plot twists too. I remember it kind of took me out there after the middle of Act I and spun it off somewhere I didn't quite expect.And what a wallop of an ending!!
Greensleeves
This appears to be the only film Bill Herbert made which is a great pity as it shows a lot of promise. He wrote, produced and directed this thriller about a naive young student Jenny (Laurie Walters) who allows herself to be picked up by journalist John (Joe Spano). On a picnic date they find themselves at an abandoned health spa where the only occupant is a kind grey haired old lady Agnes (Edna MaCafee). However, nothing is what it seems and soon Laurie is in mortal danger. The two leads are excellent in this hodgepodge of witchcraft, cannibalism and axe wielding maniacs. The photography helps along the spooky atmosphere immensely and the editing is excellent. Unfortunately the bad points outweigh the good ones, the script is muddled, the music score is all over the place and the actress playing the old lady over does it dreadfully. It is much to the credit of Bill Herbert that he manages to create an atmosphere of nightmarish uncertainty despite the obvious constraints of a very low budget.
