Dawn Wildsmith Movies

This Florida-lensed slasher silliness (not surprisingly produced by exploitation overlord Fred Olen Ray) is enlivened only slightly by posthumous cameos from John Carradine and Cameron Mitchell, as well as appearances from B-movie "Scream Queens" Linnea Quigley and Brinke Stevens. The plot is basically a riff on the standard Freddy Krueger-esque supernatural-maniac formula, only here the unstoppable psycho is merely a lumbering ghoul with a big pumpkin for a head, awakened from a cursed sleep on Halloween night by the usual handful of obnoxious teenage morons. Amid confusing flashback sequences and some phony occult blathering (courtesy of the town witch), we're told that Jack-O is the incarnation of a murdered farmer who has returned to avenge himself by taking a scythe to his killers' ancestors, but this particular pumpkinhead's people-reaping spree seems to cover a much broader swath, including a crop of nubile young things -- preferably just out of the shower, or fresh from a randy romp in the local cemetery. Even allowing for a certain camp appeal, there's not an original concept to be found amid the abundant nudity and severed limbs. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

There's not much doubt this film's a direct descendant of Schwarzenegger's Terminator classic, though it's certainly a distant descendant. Here a fugitive from a far-away planet escapes execution in a hijacked spaceship and crashes on the planet Earth where he's befriended by some young campers and the local constable. However this Terminator take also has a chasing enforcer (the Alienator) who shows up before long, sent to capture the escapee. The earthlings come to the defense of their new friend and fight it out with the indestructible Alienator. ~ All Movie Guide

In a future where the planet Earth has been poisoned by radiation, a fearless warrior named Dow (David Carradine) stands as mankind's last hope against a tyrannical ruler known only as The Warlord (Sid Haig) and his murderous band of mutant warriors. Accompanied only by the beautiful but fierce warrior Danny (Dawn Wildsmith) and the unpredictable Ammo, Dow attempts to conquer the desert savages who seek to rule the world. By summoning the courage and resourcefulness that will allow the fearless trio to do battle with an army of relentless killers, they make one last heroic attempt to save the world or die trying. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

One of the few sleaze-horror movies that actually delivers on the lurid promise of its title (and what a title!), this trashy treasure from the irrepressible Fred Olen Ray also sports a classic exploitation cast, toplined by "Scream Queen" Linnea Quigley. Quigley plays a cute young runaway whose desperate dive into the Hollywood prostitution racket lands her smack in the middle of a demonic chainsaw death-cult, presided over by none other than Texas Chainsaw Massacre's "Leatherface," Gunnar Hansen. This deliberately over-the-top item makes no pretense about its primary mission -- the display of female nudity and severed body parts -- and comes through with flying colors, so to speak. Highlights include a decidedly un-subtle cross-dressing hooker, an Elvis-loving cultist who covers her movie posters with plastic before chainsawing her next john, a victim's-eye view of a chainsaw attack, and a body-painted Quigley performing the "Virgin Dance of the Double Chainsaws!" ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

"B"-sleaze auteur Fred Olen Ray pounded out this vampire parody, which stars career nerd Eddie Deezen as an affable dork and wannabe Hollywood hot-shot who discovers that a high-market bordello -- overseen by slinky Madam Cassandra (Britt Ekland) -- is actually a den of lascivious vampire bimbos from hell. Though his companions are easily lured by the ladies' deadly charms, Deezen takes a definite liking to his self-proclaimed title of Vampire Hunter, even going as far as to sew a crucifix into his skivvies. Laughing yet? This is actually one of Ray's more witty efforts -- with a manic pace, some clever in-jokes, copious amounts of skin, and a throwaway attitude that makes the relentless silliness a bit more palatable... although Deezen's hyperkinetic mugging may be more than some viewers can endure. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Evil Spawn, a violent, bloody, but surprisingly effective English horror film directed by Kenneth Hall, deals with a woman's fear of aging and its consequences. When a space probe brings back microbes, scientist Dr. Zeitman (John Carradine) uses them for his experiments in aging but dies before his work is finished. An aging actress, Lynn Roman (Bobbi Bresee), desperate because she is being passed over for roles being given to younger women, injects herself with the drug -- hoping to become young again. The microbes in the serum turn the actress into a bug-like alien killer who quickly deals with her rivals. The film is routine, but the special effects are frightening and the premise is interesting, and while it adds little that is new, is worth a view for horror-film fans. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

A group of crazed young neo-Nazi vigilantes try to take over California's beaches in a campy apocalyptic saga that takes place after a devastating earthquake wipes out half of the Golden State's population. A rival gang of surfers is challenging the Surf Nazis' turf, and the beaches turn into battlefields. One of the Nazi's leaders is named Adolph, and he tries to make love to his girlfriend on the sands but is rebuffed. The anti-Nazi fighters are led by an overweight surf gangster named Leroy's Mama who uses hand grenades to dispatch the Surf Nazis one at a time. The film is a cult classic of bad acting and poorly staged special effects. It's a product of Troma Studios, which specializes in such intentionally tasteless and cheap low-budget films aimed at the collegiate market. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

A surprisingly slick flick from Emperor of Exploitation Fred Olen Ray, the story (which Ray co-wrote with T.L. Lankford, borrowing heavily from the director's earlier Biohazard) begins when a satellite carrying top-secret bio-engineered mutants plummets to Earth and disgorges its slavering contents in a scrap-yard outside Los Angeles. Hot on the beast's slimy trail are a pair of L.A. cops (Russ Meyer-veteran Charles Napier and the miscast Ann Turkel), who butt heads with their chief (Bo Svenson), the military, and the scientists who bred the monster -- until the inevitable confrontation, which features a no-holds-barred grudge match between the toothy slime-demon and a chainsaw-wielding Napier. Campy, fun performances by the talented leads (especially Julie Newmar as a psychic who assists the investigation) elevate this material far beyond the limitations of its hoary premise and Alien-esque monster. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

This low-budget, supernatural, tongue-in-cheek story is about an ancient Egyptian princess out to maintain her immortality. Nefratis (Michelle Bauer) has two problems: her tomb has been desecrated, and she needs some special amulets (now in California) that are used in the rituals of human sacrifice to keep herself alive. After she kills the professor responsible for the sacrilege committed against her tomb, the professor's son David Manners (Richard Alan Hench) and his friend Helen (Susan Stokey) set out to solve the mystery behind the murder. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide