Editorials
Slashy Thanksgiving! ‘Home Sweet Home’ Remembered
You know you’re in for an interesting ride when a musclebound maniac strangles a man offering him a beer in the opening minute of the film, all the while cackling like a cartoon character. Toss in a radio report that an escaped lunatic is on the loose and then show him doing PCP? Well, you have yourself a unique start to your film. The movie in question being the 1981 slasher, Home Sweet Home.
Contrary to what Eli Roth thought when he crafted his stellar faux trailer for Grindhouse a decade back, there already were ‘80s slasher movies set on Thanksgiving. Two of them, to be exact. One is 1987’s Blood Rage, which Nate Guerra wrote up here a few days back. The other, of course, is Home Sweet Home. Directed by filmmaker Nettie Pena (Dracula Sucks), the film has also been known under the titles Bloodparty and Slasher in the House.
Bloodparty might be the more striking of the three, but the producers were clearly angling for the “holiday slasher” angle by choosing Home Sweet Home. I can’t blame them, although to be honest, the movie has little to do with Thanksgiving. The holiday gives the victims a reason to be gathered together in a remote location, but it doesn’t factor much into the proceedings beyond that. Since the same can also be said of Blood Rage, Roth’s fake trailer remains the lone slasher “movie” to fully capitalize on the holiday it inhabits.
Unlike Blood Rage, which Arrow Video lovingly and painstakingly restored a few years back, Home Sweet Home is not a good film. While it has been somewhat lost to time due to never even seeing a proper DVD release, it is no hidden gem. This is a bad movie. Lucky for me and anyone else who takes the time to track it down, it’s a WEIRD bad movie.
The weirdness of this not-so-festive slasher tale extends both in front of and behind the camera. For starters, it’s one of the few slashers out there directed by a woman. It’s also the acting debut of Vinessa Shaw, who appears as a child here, but would go on to have prominent roles in memorable films such as Eyes Wide Shut, 40 Days and 40 Nights, and Alexandre Aja’s remake of The Hills Have Eyes.
The biggest slice o’ weirdness behind the scenes is its killer. Much like Final Exam, we are treated here to an unmasked killer whose face is prominently showcased throughout the feature. Our murdering musclebound madman is played by none other than Jake Steinfeld. Comedy fans will know him from his appearances in classics such as The Money Pit and Coming to America, but many will likely recognize him as the exercise guru behind Body by Jake (and the ‘90s sitcom Big Brother Jake). There’s really nothing quite like seeing the usually-happy Lou Ferrigno-esque face of Mr. Body By Jake as he gets hopped up on PCP and murders the hell out of almost 10 people. Add in that aforementioned high-pitched cackle and it’s something you’re unlikely to forgot.
Speaking of that group of people, they’re also super weird. This family seems to heavily dislike one another for the most part, which I guess isn’t too strange, but it adds an odd dynamic to the situation. Hell, the patriarch flat-out calls his son “Mistake” repeatedly, never using another name for him. Is that his name? One would hope not, but then again the guy does run around in mime make-up while constantly annoying everyone with his guitar. Did this earn him the name Mistake or did the name Mistake come first and this is how he has chosen to embrace it? We’ll never know.
As cheap and shoddy as this offering is, it at least has a decent body count (by Jake). Nine people meet their messy end here. They range from a poor little old lady who gets run down in slow motion to some poor soul who gets smashed to death when the psychopath body slams (by Jake) the hood of his car as he is underneath it working on the battery. What a way to go!
Whenever I see someone say “this decade of horror sucks. Things were better in [insert older decade here]”, I often remind the speaker that every decade of horror has its fair share of duds. It’s only with distance that we forget most of them and focus more on the gems. Home Sweet Home is a perfect example of one of those forgotten bad eggs.
This isn’t a film worth seeking out unless you are doing a slasher craze deep dive. Even with its quirks and occasional absurd kills, there’s not much to recommend here. Still, given its footnote in history as one of cinema’s few Thanksgiving slashers and some of its other odd pieces of trivia, it’s one worth our remembrance. If you’re curious, you can find it both on YouTube and for sale as a bootleg DVD on Amazon (sourced from a VHS transfer, naturally). If you take the dive, be sure to watch it with some friends and make a fun night of it. It’ll be far more palatable that way.
Editorials
‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel
The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.
The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.
Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.
With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).
It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.
The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.
The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.
Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.
Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.
Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.
The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.
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