Tag: Monte Hellman

[31 Days of Horror Part V: A New Beginning] Day 9 – Beast from Haunted Cave (1959)

Director: Monte Hellman

Cast: Michael Forest, Sheila Noonan, Frank Wolff

Screenplay: Charles B. Griffith

72 mins. Passed.

 

Roger Corman was, is, and always will be the king of the B-Horror film. He has directed, produced, and created some of the weirdest pulp terror stories in existence. I was looking through his catalog of work and came across Beast from Haunted Cave, a film shot and set in Deadwood and the Black Hills of South Dakota, where I went on my honeymoon earlier this year. I simply couldn’t avoid it, and I probably should have.

Beast from Haunted Cave concerns a group of criminals plotting to steal gold bars from a bank in Deadwood, led by Alexander Ward (Frank Wolff, The Great Silence, Once Upon a Time in the West). Ward and his team plan on escaping from the robbery toward a small cabin out of town, led by a guide named Gil Jackson (Michael Forest, Ninja Scroll, Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution 1), but Gil becomes aware of the plan. To make matters worse, there is a cave close to the cabin where a creature lurks, and it has a thirst for human flesh.

I didn’t like Beast from Haunted Cave. I really just wanted more Beast, but he’s barely in the film, and what is there is shrouded in so much darkness that it’s tough to get any action from the film. The pacing is fine enough due to its short run time, but I was far more interested in the horror elements than this robbery of gold bars. First-time director Monte Hellman (Iguana, Road to Nowhere) handles the film and cast well enough, but I found so many of the characters unlikable that I didn’t pine for their survival.

The creature design was interesting, and it was one of the reasons I wanted to explore it more. We just don’t get enough time with the Beast. The film was left open-ended in order to move towards a future sequel that ended up not happening, and sadly, it leaves another stain on the film. There just isn’t enough to grasp onto.

Beast from Haunted Cave starts out promising and the finale is quite enjoyable, but the film just doesn’t go where it needs to go. It just kind of fritters away its 72 minutes, leaving me wanting way more and not feeling satisfied with what I did get. Overall, this was a major letdown, and not of the top-tier Corman films.

 

2/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

 

 

For my review of Monte Hellman’s Silent Night, Deadly Night 3, Better Watch Out!, click here.

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[31 Days of Horror: The Final Chapter] Day 26 – Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989)

Director: Monte Hellman

Cast: Richard Beymer, Bill Moseley, Samantha Scully, Eric DaRe, Laura Harring, Elizabeth Hoffman, Robert Culp, Richard C. Adams

Screenplay: Rex Weiner

90 mins. Rated R.

 

I’m probably going to get some shit for a Christmas movie right now. Whatever, I just wanted to see this one.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! continues the B-Movie horror franchise with Ricky Caldwell (Bill Moseley, The Devil’s Rejects, Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival) in a coma. Overseeing his health is Dr. Newbury (Richard Beymer, West Side Story, TV’s Twin Peaks), who has been using blind psychic Laura (Samantha Scully, Best of the Best, Bloodsuckers) to access Ricky’s mind for…reasons. Laura is successful at awakening Ricky, though she doesn’t know, and she leaves to celebrate Christmas with her brother Chris (Eric DaRe, Starship Troopers, Ted Bundy) and their Granny (Elizabeth Hoffman, Dante’s Peak, TV’s Sisters). But Ricky is soon on her tail, and Dr. Newbury is on his. And…yeah, you know, it really does get very convoluted for a shit sequel.

Of the first three films in this franchise, Better Watch Out is the worst. It doesn’t really make sense. There’s this whole thing with Ricky where his brain is encased in a dome outside his head and he kind of reminds me of Chop Top mixed with Krang. The inclusion of a blind psychic is weird, especially because her powers kind of work but then don’t work, and his motive for chasing her down is altogether absent.

In fact, this third entry feels so wasted for the kind of talent involved. You have three David Lynch faves in Beymer, DaRe, and Laura Harring (Mulholland Dr., Inside), who plays Chris’s girlfriend Jerri. Robert Culp (Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, TV’s I Spy) appears as Lt. Connely, a cop on the case with Dr. Beymer. And I cannot forget the wonderfully talented Bill Moseley (who is famed far too little for his genre work) as Ricky. This film had the talent in front of the camera. It just didn’t have it behind nor on the written page.

Better Watch Out is fun for its kitsch but the movie is quite bad, but going into this franchise, you also know what you are getting into, so at least it isn’t surprisingly bad. If you sat with it this long, I guess the third installment is still worth your time, but this is one Christmas gift worth regifting.

 

1.5/5

-Kyle A. Goethe

 

For my review of Charles E. Sellier Jr’s Silent Night, Deadly Night, click here.

For my review of Lee Harry’s Silent Night, Deadly Night 2, click here.

For my review of Steven C. Miller’s Silent Night, click here.

 

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