Ed Carlin Movies

Flamboyant, giallo-style gore effects are the only highlight of this otherwise pedestrian supernatural horror film, which was originally filmed in 1981 as The Witch and shelved for four years, before it experienced a mild midnight-movie revival in the wake of The Evil Dead's success. The ghastly goings-on begin when a clergyman (Larry Pennell) and his family move into an eerie mansion built near the lake where a powerful local witch was drowned four centuries earlier. It soon becomes evident that the spirit of this evil sorceress, whose powers have increased exponentially after her death, is not content with conducting the standard haunted-house scare tactics, and the bodies begin to pile up at an incredible rate. (These audacious death scenes peak with one poor soul's dismemberment courtesy of a flying circular saw.) When a homicide detective (Albert Salmi) and a minister (James Carl Houghton) discover the cause of the macabre mayhem, they prepare to conduct an exorcism (in the mode of The Amityville Horror), much to their own peril. Overblown performances, a scatter-shot screenplay, and hilariously messy gore effects make this movie impossible to take seriously, but it does have a certain tacky charm. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

This superbly chilling haunted-house opus stars Richard Crenna as a therapist who, with wife Joanna Pettet, selects a lavish mansion for use as a drug rehab clinic. No sooner have the staff and their assistants set up housekeeping when a nightmarish force emerges from a trap door in the basement, and the house begins preying on the occupants in horrendous ways, from freak electrical bursts to sudden flash fires (leading to some extremely graphic scenes of people being burned alive). Director Gus Trikonis keeps the tension unbearably high and drives the plot on the strength of an excellent cast -- especially Victor Buono in a magnificent but brief role as the Devil himself. Amazingly, some prints of the film deleted his appearance altogether. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In this low-budget exploitation outing, a trio of curvy young woman, fresh out of reform school, go to college to participate in an experiment and end up having loads of erotic fun. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this grim and gory thriller, a young woman testifies against a murderous cult in court and finds herself threatened by a vengeful hood-wearing killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Gloria Grahame joined the list of aging Hollywood stars who bloodied their hands in the wake of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? with this sick, effective horror film about nasty doings at a private orphanage. Grahame gives a wonderfully grotesque performance as Mrs. Dorothy Deere, a crazy widow who bilks the county out of money by running a home for wayward youths. If any of her tenants happens to run away, the wino handyman Tom kills them with a meat-cleaver and throws them into a deep-freeze in the cellar. Into this unsavory situation comes young Ellie Masters (Melody Patterson of TV's F-Troop), whose prostitute mother was viciously murdered with a claw-hammer while in bed with a john. Ellie witnessed the killer leaving the burning bedroom, and is warned by helpful cop Carruthers (Vic Tayback) that he could still be around. This film looks absolutely horrible considering the names involved, with an air of cheapness pervading even the most minor elements of the production. Nevertheless, it works because of the performances. Grahame brings a deadpan madness to her character that is a welcome and chilling change from the fright-wigged harridans of similar films, and Len Lesser exudes considerable menace as the murderous Tom. It might also amuse some to see a young Dennis Christopher as the nerdy Pete. The "shock" ending is pretty silly, but director Philip Gilbert manages to maintain a fairly skillful tone of depravity and madness until that point, making this an atmospheric (if ratty) treat. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide