David Holbrook Movies

This less-satisfying sequel to the 1982 George A. Romero/Stephen King anthology presents a new trio of King stories, framed in a similar EC Comics-style format -- this time featuring some rather lackluster animated segments involving horror-host "The Creep," who introduces each chapter with pun-heavy gallows humor. The stories vary widely in quality: first there's "Old Chief Wood'nhead," involving a cigar-store Indian who quite literally guards the entrance to an old general store and comes to life to avenge the murders of the elderly couple (George Kennedy and Dorothy Lamour) who owned it. The middle segment, "The Raft," features a group of obnoxious teenagers stranded on a raft in the middle of a lake at the mercy of a murderous oil slick which looks like a bunch of plastic garbage bags stitched together. Both of these suffer in comparison to the closing segment, "The Hitchhiker," in which a bored, promiscuous socialite (Lois Chiles) mows down a hitchhiker, who refuses to stay dead, returning again and again to torment her at every turn, rasping "Thanks for the ride, lady!" Despite its strengths -- a livelier pace, some creatively gory set pieces -- this is a much cheaper-looking effort than its predecessor, with the deft guidance of Romero conspicuously absent (long-time collaborator Michael Gornick took up the directorial reins); as a result, King's gross-out sensibilities don't come off as well. Makeup maestro Tom Savini appears in heavy makeup as a live-action version of The Creep, and King pops in for a bit part as a redneck trucker. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

This dull, routine slasher film focuses on a nighttime scavenger hunt sponsored by a sorority that takes a tragic turn when a figure in a bear costume with knives strapped to one "paw" begins slashing the women to death. Years ago, a student was killed by her mentally unbalanced boyfriend when she broke off their relationship. After his capture and trial, the young killer was sent to the local Weston Hill Sanitorium for the mentally insane -- and now he has escaped. Even though the sorority is rapidly losing members, the police are no closer to finding the killer than before they heard of the crimes, so Mac (Hal Holbrook), the original victim's father and head of campus security, goes after the serial murderer himself. Even a surprise ending cannot pull the rest of this film out of the horror doldrums. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi