Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Leofwine_draca This is a real oddity of a film, dealing with insanity and family madness in the vein of all those '60s shockers starring Bette Davis, such as WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?. This film features a barnstorming central performance from Susan Tyrrell as an absolute nutter of an aunt, who has sexual designs on her own nephew and who bumps off anyone who gets in the way. Tyrrell hams it up and screams and shouts with relish, shearing off her hair at one point to make her look even more wacky; this is an extreme physical performance and as such, Tyrrell is very disturbing in the part. You can't imagine anyone else playing it just like her. Is the actress mad too? You'd think so on the strength of her acting here.The first hour of the plot is very slow and sedate with only a bloody knife murder to recommend it to horror fans (the subsequent blood-on-beast shots, apparently a pathological trigger for psychopaths, gained it a notorious 'video nasty' classification and a subsequent banning in the UK). Director William Asher was more at home with goofy '60s flicks like MUSCLE BEACH PARTY and he seems at home when dealing with small-town American life as he does here. However, the last twenty minutes of the film add a Grand Guignol punch to the proceedings as things become extremely over the top and the film turns into your typical slasher fare. People are stabbed, shot to pieces, impaled on pokers and have their limbs lopped off; there's also a pickled head in a jar which is always a fun plot ingredient for the horror film. Gore fans are sure to get their money's worth in this bloody climax which makes up for the slow-moving first hour.Compared to Susan Tyrrell, the rest of the cast are a little dull; certainly the young male lead seems wooden in comparison. There is one sympathetic male character, a basketball coach played by Steve Eastin, but he's hardly in the movie. B-movie fans may spot Bo Svenson, star of the original WALKING TALL; here he's another enforcer-of-the-law, except this time in the shape of an extremely nasty and homophobic small-town detective. My money's on Svenson as the real villain of the film; at least Tyrrell has madness as an excuse. Film fans may also spot Bill Paxton in a very small role as a bully; hell, this was even before his bit part in THE TERMINATOR! As for the film, well, it certainly packs its punch and delivers a powerful climax; at least it achieves some moments of true horror, and the same can't be said for many an inferior imitator.

d_m_s This is a very dark and serious slasher is and slight above average in terms of low budget b-movie slashers. In fact, I'm not even sure if you would call it a slasher. It's just a very dark toned horror film.Susan Tyrrell was remarkably good as the mental Aunt Cheryl. Bo Svenson was also very convincing as the homophobic detective who is determined to convict those he thinks guilty for a recent murder(i.e. homosexuals) regardless of evidence to the contrary. These two characters lend the film a very menacing tone and make it quite and uncomfortable watch. Although this film is somewhat better made than most b-movie horrors and has some very good performances, it lacks the humour that other slashers have and so it's a bit of an uncomfortable watch rather than a fun one.

Scarecrow-88 Susan Tyrrell's off-the-charts lunacy highlights this psychological thriller about an unstable aunt who can not accept the fact that the nephew she has been raising as a son(his parents were killed in a car crash which resulted from tampered brakes, obviously caused by Tyrrell's Cheryl Roberts)is about to "leave her behind" for college on a basketball scholarship and this obsession drives her to do whatever it takes(including killing anyone that might threaten her goal of keeping her boy Billy home)necessary to not have that happen. Bo Svenson is a homophobic, spiteful, belligerent, abusive detective, Joe Carlson, who has convinced himself that Billy is behind the murder of a mechanic stabbed to death viciously by Cheryl when her sexual advances were denied. Carlson considers Billy a homosexual because his basketball coach was reputed to be and believes that's part of the reason why the teenager murdered the mechanic. It's such an absurd theory and anyone who challenges it is instantly shot down, including Sergeant Cook(Britt Leach; the store owner who "gets the hammer" in SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT)who, correctly so, considers Cheryl's testimony of rape-self defense as faulty. A cute and very young Julie Duffy(NEWHART)is Billy's girlfriend, Julie, who is later victimized by Cheryl. Marcia Lewis is the nosy, snooping neighbor, Margie, who gets too close to the truth and pays a major price. Jimmy McNichol is the handsome basketball stud with a babyface who is the apple of Tyrrell's psychotic eye.Cheryl poisons Billy's milk which causes him to collapse in a big game with scouts there to seem him play. She continues to do so with Billy bedridden. Cheryl cuts her hair and we actually see the mental deterioration to the point where she's simply stark, raving mad. Wielding a machete, butcher knife, or meat tenderizer, Tyrrell's willing to go to extreme lengths to keep Billy all to herself. Perhaps the ending, where Svenson holds Billy at gunpoint despite the evidence of Cheryl's guilt all around him, is a bit too much(so Carlson's a mean, stubborn sonofabitch, we get it), but I imagine the final result will have many viewers applauding with jubilation. But, make no mistake about it, Tyrrell is the whole show, her deranged theatrics are a sight to behold. This movie provides the rare chance to see Duffy naked and she's a beauty.

The_Void Nightmare Maker achieved cult status through it's inclusion on the DPP 'Video Nasty' list, which has also lead to it becoming a 'lost' film. It's somewhat unfortunate that William Asher's film was included on the infamous list, as aside from a couple of gory scenes; there really isn't anything in this film that warrants it's banning. Nightmare Maker focuses on themes of insanity and incest, and the way that the director portrays these themes is bold and uncompromising…although I find it hard to believe that this film was banned for it's themes by the same set of censors who made such decisions as banning 'The Driller Killer' merely for it's artwork. The plot focuses on Billy Lynch; a young man living with his aunt after his parents were killed in an unfortunate car accident. However, his relationship with his aunt isn't how she would like it; as the aunt has designs of a sexual nature on the boy, and does her best to ruin all of his plans; including his relationship with his girlfriend, and his hopes of winning a scholarship. All in all, making his life a nightmare...The film features performances from a few well known actors, including Bo Svenson as a bigoted sheriff and Susan Tyrrell as the maniacal aunt. The film also features a small early role for Bill Paxton; who, as he would in the rest of his career, doesn't appear in the film for long enough. The acting performances overall aren't bad considering the type of film; but it would be unwise to go into it expecting anything brilliant. Susan Tyrrell does get to enjoy herself as the central matriarchal figure, however, and seeing her descend into insanity is a lot of fun. The style of the film is very eighties indeed, and through gritty cinematography; director William Asher ensures that the film feels every bit like the 'Video Nasty' that it would become shortly after it's release. The scenes of gore are short and don't show much blood; although scenes involving a machete, as well as the pivotal scene that sees Billy's parents killed in a car crash are rather bloody and deserve mention. The plot never really gets going properly, which is a shame; although the final fifteen minutes are very good indeed and manage to bring closure to all the plot threads. Overall, this certainly isn't the best film on the Video Nasty list; but it's a good one, and well worth tracking down!