Hy Pyke Movies

Satanic antics and unnatural family relations abound in this twisted Halloween tale about a kindly old gent (Hy Pyke) who initiates his innocent grandson (Gregory Scott Cummins) into a devil-worshipping cult at a tender age, culminating in his induction as a full-fledged member in young adulthood. Despite what would seem to be a clear indication of the cult's practices -- including human sacrifices and perverse sex rituals -- Cummins is strangely resistant to Grandpa's suggestions that he commit a ritual murder himself in order to fulfill his destiny and become the group's new leader. This may have something to do with the fact that Pyke is not actually the man's grandfather but his true father, having slept with his own daughter in the hope of siring a worthy successor. Viewers who find these sorts of plot twists appealing will still be utterly confused by the last reel. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

A blend of science fiction and noir detective fiction, Blade Runner (1982) was a box office and critical bust upon its initial exhibition, but its unique postmodern production design became hugely influential within the sci-fi genre, and the film gained a significant cult following that increased its stature. Harrison Ford stars as Rick Deckard, a retired cop in Los Angeles circa 2019. L.A. has become a pan-cultural dystopia of corporate advertising, pollution and flying automobiles, as well as replicants, human-like androids with short life spans built by the Tyrell Corporation for use in dangerous off-world colonization. Deckard's former job in the police department was as a talented blade runner, a euphemism for detectives that hunt down and assassinate rogue replicants. Called before his one-time superior (M. Emmett Walsh), Deckard is forced back into active duty. A quartet of replicants led by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) has escaped and headed to Earth, killing several humans in the process. After meeting with the eccentric Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel), creator of the replicants, Deckard finds and eliminates Zhora (Joanna Cassidy), one of his targets. Attacked by another replicant, Leon (Brion James), Deckard is about to be killed when he's saved by Rachael (Sean Young), Tyrell's assistant and a replicant who's unaware of her true nature. In the meantime, Batty and his replicant pleasure model lover, Pris (Darryl Hannah) use a dying inventor, J.F. Sebastian (William Sanderson) to get close to Tyrell and murder him. Deckard tracks the pair to Sebastian's, where a bloody and violent final confrontation between Deckard and Batty takes place on a skyscraper rooftop high above the city. In 1992, Ridley Scott released a popular director's cut that removed Deckard's narration, added a dream sequence, and excised a happy ending imposed by the results of test screenings; these legendary behind-the-scenes battles were chronicled in a 1996 tome, Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner by Paul M. Sammon. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Also released under the title Spawn of the Slithis, this film follows the terror that strikes Venice, CA, when a terrible, man-eating monster crawls from its radiated home to ravage the nearby residents. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

During a horror-film convention in San Francisco, the guests are properly aghast when they discover that one of their favorite film stars, Malakai (Jerry Walter), who plays a vampire onscreen, is the real thing off-camera. Convention guest begin succumbing to him right and left. However, it was probably a bad idea on Malakai's part to come to a horror film convention, because the attendees are unusually well versed in vampire lore, and at least some of what they know turns out to be helpful in ridding the world of the fanged menace. This affectionate spoof of horror films contains many in-jokes which are likely to make sense only to devoted fans of the genre. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Lila Lee (B-movie starlet Cheryl Smith, later also known as Rainbeaux Smith) is the teenage daughter of a vicious gangster, Alvin Lee (William Whitton). Her backwoods life is disrupted when her father murders her mother. Reverend Mueller (played by writer-director Richard Blackburn) looks after the girl, whom he defends to his congregation as "the most innocent creature on God's earth." But soon after the murder, Lila gets a letter from a mysterious woman named Lemora (Lesley Gilb). The letter instructs Lila to quietly leave town and come to a remote community, Asteroth, where her ailing father is waiting for her, so she can forgive him for his sins. Lila follows the instructions, sneaking off during the night, but leaves a goodbye note for the reverend. Lila eventually finds her way to a rickety old bus driven by a wild-eyed madman (Hy Pyke, who would go on to play Taffey Lewis in Blade Runner). He takes her to the swamps outside Asteroth, where the bus is attacked by snarling, humanoid creatures. Lila manages to escape, and finds herself in the home of Lemora and her acolytes. Naïve Lila doesn't realize that Lemora is a vampire who appears to have a sexual interest in the teen, at one point bathing Lila and praising her "exciting figure." Eventually, Lila catches on, and as she fights to escape, the reverend rushes to rescue her. Lila's reunion with her father is worse than disappointing, as he's turned into a bloodthirsty fiend, like those that attacked the bus. Since its unsuccessful initial release, Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural has become a minor cult item, bolstered by tales of disappearing prints and a ban by the Catholic Church. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide