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Curse of the Screaming Dead/Night of Horror
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Vinegar Syndrome Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (4th October 2023). |
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The Film
 The Curse of the Screaming Dead: A trio of Vietnam vets – pensive Wyatt (Nightbeast's Steve Sandkuhler), compulsive thief Mel (The Alien Factor's Christopher Gummer), and milquetoast Bill (Jim Ball) – take a camper up into the mountains for a hunting trip with their girlfriends: respectively, Lin (Judy Dixon), her blind sister Kiyomi (Mimi Ishikawa), and pushy Sarah (Rebecca Bach). Tensions are already simmering within the group when they follow Mel's idea to try a trail they have never taken before and wind up in the middle of an Civil War-era cemetery with a mass grave containing an entire unit. When Kiyomi claims to hear bells that no one else can hear, Mel avoids the awkwardness of comforting her by going to investigate and happens upon the ruins of a church and a trunk containing a Confederate flag and an old diary. While Mel and Sarah both see dollar signs in the rare items, Kiyomi and Lin urge them to respect the dead, as does Wyatt who does not notice Mel pocket the diary. Sarah becomes the butt of a joke after storming off and then insisting that the tombstones in the graveyard were moving on their own, but then the entire group hears the tolling of church bells that they could not find in the ruins and strange lights that they believe to the fireworks of another hunting party up at the church. When the group discover that they have woken the restless spirits of Confederate soldiers craving human flesh, they quickly realize that they are massively outnumbered and have only a limited supply of explosive rifle shells and fireworks and must pit their own battlefield experience against the undead. Before Curse of the Screaming Dead, however, director Tony Malanowski and company had already tangled with the restless dead in Night of Horror in which Bay Area rock star hopeful Steve (Sandkulher) reflects on his visit a few months ago back East for the funeral of his estranged father where he and equally-estranged half-brother Jeff (Jeff Cantield) learn that their father has left them a cabin and twenty acres of land deep in the Virginia mountain country. They decide to take Steve's camper Excalibur up to visit it with Jeff's wife Colleen (Gae Schmitt) and her sister Susan (Bach). Steve is only too willing to let Jeff do the driving as he has a thing for willowy, artistic types like Colleen who sketches and transcribe Poe. When Jeff nearly runs the camper off the road to avoid hitting a man in old-fashioned clothing who completely vanishes, Colleen claims to hear voices beckoning her. Susan believes Colleen is just trying to get attention until the rest of them encounter ghostly apparitions of Civil War soldiers who cannot rest and have been waiting more than a century for someone who can hear their call. Made by Baltimore, Maryland filmmakers not of the outsider circle of John Waters, but the outside-outsider likes of Don Dohler – Malanowski had worked on Dohler's Nightbeast and went on to Hollywood in the mid-eighties working as editor and sound designer for low-budget genre films by Fred Olen Ray (Phantom Empire), David DeCoteau (Nightmare Sisters), and David A. Pror (Double Threat) among others – the productions of Night of Horror and The Curse of the Screaming Dead are intertwined, with Malanowski having been provided funds by an interested distributor to shoot gore scenes for Night of Horror only to decide to shoot an entirely different film with the money. This makes sense since Night of Horror feels like a campfire ghost story while The Curse of the Screaming Dead is a regional zombie flick that seems less Dawn of the Dead than a less campy Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things. Both share the same skeleton of a storyline, with Sandkuhler transitioning from Night of Horror's hippie idealist artist to The Curse of the Screaming Dead's war vet. Both films are long on setting up group tensions, but the purpose does not seem to be to drawn out the story as to make the audience actually care about the characters even if the performances are too uneven to achieve this (at least in Night of Horror). While not exactly high drama, the differences in the relationship dynamics are interesting, with Susan assuming her sister's psychic sensitivity is a means of getting attention while the sensitivity of Kiyomi (or "Blind Kiyomi" as she is listed in the credits) is more blurred with what Lin correctly sees as a means of using her disability to manipulate people from herself to boyfriend.  The Curse of the Screaming Dead sacrifices its less-likable characters, although even then it seems as though they were not intended to be merely zombie fodder, with two cops (Dohler regular Richard Ruxton and Bumb Roberts) thrown in as more obvious victims. The Curse of the Screaming Dead is more eventful and better-photographed, but Night of Horror has an odd atmosphere for the receptive viewer which is illustrated perfectly in a sequence where Sandkuhler is strolling through the woods to the third or fourth iteration of actor/composer Jim Ball's oddly soothing theme which continues on even as the tone of the scene changes with our protagonist citing an offscreen terror and running away with the handheld camera close on his heels. The "creative lighting design" of co-star Canfield on Night of Horror, on the other hand, seems to consist of using car headlights to silhouette the ghostly soldiers standing in dry ice fog while Curse of the Screaming Dead has a mix of greasepaint pale-faced zombies and Halloween-y latex monster masks – the latter by – Bart Mixon who went on to work on indie and mainstream films with the likes of Tom Savini, Steve Johnson, and Kevin Yagher among others – and exploding head effects by Waters and Dohler veteran/future Hollywood key grip David W. Donoho. Both films also differ in how they pad out their running times. Night of Horror illustrates the ghosts' memories with eight minutes of Civil War reenactment footage while The Curse of the Screaming Dead features seven minutes of continuous flesh-eating. The former perhaps does not feel as interminable due as much to the vocal version of Ball's theme music "One More Soldier" ("Another pawn lost to the other side, only that and nothing more") as it does to the footage looking crisper and more colorful than the rest of the feature. The flesh-eating footage, on the other hand, feels listlessly-edited with slurping sounds and the obviousness that only one of the victims has a false torso while the other two have just had offal set on top of their stomachs. While the zombies did not show up until nearly fifty minutes in and said bloodshed did not occur until nearly seventy minutes, this sequence stops the movie dead. Night of Horror, on the other hand, seems to run into its pacing issues not during the long driving sequences but after the "flashback." Night of Horror is heavily dependent on Sandkuhler's narration even for things that take place outside of his presence – although he describes the climax he is sidelined for its entirely fixing the camper while the other three carry out the ghosts' mission – while he takes a more active role in the climax of The Curse of the Screaming Dead; although even that follows up its bloodshed with an ghost story-esque "appease the dead" finale that strives for poignancy it has not really earned. The captain of the zombie is played by Mark Redfield, a Baltimore-based actor and voice artist who later starred in several independent film productions playing the likes of Edgar Allan Poe as well as Jekyll and Hyde, and has more recently been producing audio dramas including Poe and Sherlock Holmes adaptations. Neither film is really "good" on its own, but they are interesting back-to-back and in the context of Maryland's filmmaking scene in the seventies and eighties.
Video
Night of Horror was shopped around for theatrical release but ended up going direct to VHS in the mid-eighties from Genesis Home Video featuring a zombie on the cover that might have cost as much to design and photograph as the budget of the entire film. On the commentary track, Malanowski explains that the original video master was a "film chain transfer" on equipment designed for transferring news footage. The set-it-and-forget-it grading lost detail in the highlights and in the shadows, with an overall softness that suggested that the film was shot on 8mm. Vinegar Syndrome's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 pillarboxed fullscreen Blu-ray transfer comes from a new 4K scan of the original 16mm color reversal materials. Colors are more stable – also revealing the use of some blue gels not evident in the earlier video master – highlights are better managed, and the murk has been scrubbed away – revealing that there actually was a ruined church in the climactic scene, although not the same one seen in The Curse of the Screaming Dead despite the resemblance – while Malanowski on the commentary track also reveals that some shots are murkier and grainier because he duped some of the footage for padding. While not a massive improvement over the old video dupes, the film looking at its best here is indicative of the dramatic difference between it and the photography and lighting of the companion film.  Although The Curse of the Screaming Dead went some way towards supplying blood and skin asked of the interested distributor for Night of Horror, it did not receive a theatrical release; although it did find a video release before its predecessor in the early eighties on the Mogul Video label (as well as wider international release on VHS including Australia and Japan). The film had a second life on video when Troma picked it up in 1987 and released it on video as "Curse of the Cannibal Confederates" in a version that dropped most of the original opening credits and rendered them as video burns over the opening driving sequence. The film was easier to find for viewers since Troma also included it in their inaugural Toxie's Triple Terror three-disc set – which also included Deadly Daphne's Revenge and Demented Death Farm Massacre – but the old tape master was not much to write home about. Vinegar Syndrome's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.37:1 pillarboxed fullscreen Blu-ray also comes from a 4K scan of 16mm reversal materials; however, the film stock was superior as was the lighting apart from a few rough and ready shots in the night sequences. Colors are richer, giving a bit more pop to the wardrobe as well as the remaining green foliage during the winter shoot, but fine detail and texture is more impressive than before, eking production value out of the ruined church location and Styrofoam tombstones, as well as one handheld shot revealing the presence of a suburban house deep in the woods well ahead of when the group find shelter (presumably this was shot in a backyard standing in for the woods). Mixon's masks never convince but the higher resolution allows one to appreciate the craftsmanship while the more cosmetic zombie make-ups now look more "designed" than a slap of greasepaint.
Audio
Both films have DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono tracks, with the Night of Horror track sounding cleaner, particularly during the musical interludes while some post-synched dialogue is more obvious. The Curse of the Screaming Dead opens up with a disclaimer revealing that original sound elements were missing so Vinegar Syndrome had to resort to VHS for all of the sound. The sound has its limitations, which are more evident because it is the better-mixed film, with the more ambitious scoring going a little shrill at the high ends. Both films also have optional English SDH subtitles that are free of errors and provide some unintentional laughs in conveying the mood of the score repeatedly during long sequences only featuring music and describing the interminable flesh-eating sequence of the latter film.
Extras
Both films are accompanied by an audio commentary by producer/director/editor Tony Malanowski and actor Steve Sandkuhler, and it pays to listen to them in chronological order of the films rather than their arrangement on the disc. On the Night of Horror track, Malanowski reveals that he had a full scholarship to film school but dropped out to make films with Dohler. He realized that he did not learn a whole lot producing for Dohler and decided he needed to try his hand at directing, shooting, and editing his own film. At the time he was working for the Maryland Highway Administration – and he admits that the character Steve is his idealized version of himself – and recruited co-worker Sandkuhler who was in a band called Off the Wall by night. Sandkuhler notes the big "theatrical" acting of his theater troupe co-stars – Canfield constantly leaning on the camper and gripping its handle a means by Malanowski of having the actor be less expressive with his hands – while Malanowski discusses the additional contributions of the cast behind the scenes. Sandkuhler also reveals that "One More Soldier" had been written by band mate Ball before the film and that he suggested it when he saw Malanowski's Civil War reenactment footage, leading to Ball scoring the rest of the film with variations on the theme as well as doing additional instrumental work for the iteration of the song in the film. On the track for The Curse of the Screaming Dead, Malanowski recalls sending a promo reel for Night of Horror to distributor Alexander Beck who asked him to add blood and sex; whereupon, Malanowski decided to take the money Beck gave him and create a new film, replacing ghosts with flesh-eating zombies but only asking the female cast to go as far as wearing bikinis (albeit in chilly October), and that the film would probably fare better with an actual script (leading to him sending an outline to friend Lon Huber). He reveals that Ishikawa had already been cast – that she was doubled by a few females in the cast later in the film when the actress started college – while Dixon was recommended by her own mother who thought she was too old for the role herself, and Gummer was intended to play the role Malanowski took himself in the previous film's wraparound footage. Sandkulher recalls that his and Ball's band Off the Wall's rental of a Victorian house on the grounds of a hotel for a recording studio and living space allowed them the use of the surrounding woods and the authentic church ruins. They also discuss the film's make-up and pyrotechnic effects – Sandkuhler's wife contributed to some of the zombie make-ups based on Malanowski's reaction to a Halloween party look she did on her husband – as well as the casting the investors in the role of the two cops who get eaten by the zombies, and Redfield's suggestions for his character.  An entire second Blu-ray disc includes some impressive video extras including retrospective documentaries for both films. In "Oh, What a Night... of Horror!" (43:50), Malanowski and Sandkuhler recall some of the same material from the commentary but with the added participation of Bach. In addition to production anecdotes, they discuss individual contributions behind the scenes – including coming up with some scenes on location – and the parallels between Steve's interest in his half-brother's wife and Malanowski becoming involved with Schmitt as her relationship with Canfield was petering out. Malanowski also goes into detail about the post-production work on the film completed at-cost in the lab where he was also working and his eventual move to Los Angeles where he was told by someone else that the film had been released on VHS. Bach recalls signing onto the film for points and being pleasantly surprised when Malanowski sent money from the West Coast to the cast and crew. In "Scream On! The Making of The Curse of the Screaming Dead" (50:32), Sandkuhler, Malanowski, and Bach are joined by Gummer who reveals that part of the film was shot in his parents' backyard which had also served as a backlot for Dohler's films. Bach recalls her delight in getting to play a "bitch" while Gummer discusses the necessity of playing an obnoxious and unlikable character for the purpose of getting the plot in motion (as well as working out stunts with the zombie performers), and Sandkuhler recalls that Dixon's characteristic death glares seemed to be genuine when aimed to him (while the others have more pleasant memories of her). Discussion of Ishikawa includes her preference for working behind the scenes, suggesting that her other IMDb credit as a grip on another film is likely accurate. The disc also features "Bart Mixon: The Man Behind the Masks" (12:33) in which special make-up effects artist Mixon recalls falling in love with movies, working with his twin Bret Mixon (Mortal Kombat) who moved into visual effects when they both wound up in Hollywood, and how The Curse of the Screaming Dead was one of his first film credits, and his practice when he still worked at home of mailing his creations to filming locations when he still lived at home, as well as the economy of designing multiple masks from a single mold. "The Score of the Screaming Dead" (15:08) is an interview with composer Charlie Barnett (Hell Squad) and recording engineer Jim Crenca in which Barnett describes the film as terrible but that it was the self-taught composer's opportunity to record in a professional studio. He discusses the score and sourcing musicians and instruments on no budget, as well as what he would have done on the film in retrospect (including a theme for Kiyomi). In "A Morning After a Night of Horror: The "Unmade" (20:42), filmmakers and fans Rosie Nakamura and Autumn Nakamura Neal recall seeing the first film with their family at a time when renting a movie on video along with the player was an "event" and noting something off about the film even when they did not possess the experience to distinguish between mainstream and independent films. They recall revisiting the film years later to resolve a bet with friends who claimed Manos: Hands of Fate was the worst film ever made only to develop a new appreciation of it. They convey their appreciation of the film for all its faults as well as their decision to make a documentary on the film, scouring the phone book for the right Sandkuhler who provided them with some anecdotes but either could not or did not put them in touch with Malanowski who himself subsequently contacted them via their film school band's webpage where they listed their unfinished Night of Horror documentary in their profile, as well as their subsequent meeting with him in person in Los Angeles (at a concert for The Zombies). "I Put a Spell on You" (29:13) is an interview with author Stephen Thrower who covered both films in his book "Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents". He provides background on Malanowski associate Dohler in the context of Maryland independent filmmakers – both Dohler and Malanowski were encouraged to go out and make a film by George A. Romero who appeared at a local conversion to screen The Crazies – and the resulting films as a "learning process caught on camera."  The disc closes with outtakes (8:31) from The Curse of the Screaming Dead and Troma's "Curse of the Cannibal Confederates" video trailer (3:08).
Packaging
The disc is housed in a case with a reversible cover (featuring the Troma artwork on the inside, although it is too bad they could not get the Genesis Video artwork for Night of Horror) while the first 6,000 copies ordered directly from Vinegar Syndrome include a special limited edition spot gloss slipcover designed by Black Coffiend.
Overall
Neither The Curse of the Screaming Dead or Night of Horror are really "good" on their own, but they are interesting back-to-back and in the context of Maryland's filmmaking scene in the seventies and eighties.
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