Editorials
[It Came From the ’80s] The Mad Monster Party of ‘Spookies’
With horror industry heavy hitters already in place from the 1970s, the 1980s built upon that with the rise of brilliant minds in makeup and effects artists, as well as advances in technology. Artists like Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Tom Savini, Stan Winston, and countless other artists that delivered groundbreaking, mind-blowing practical effects that ushered in the pre-CGI Golden Age of Cinema. Which meant a glorious glut of creatures in horror. More than just a technical marvel, the creatures on display in ‘80s horror meant tangible texture that still holds up decades later. Grotesque slimy skin to brutal transformation sequences, there wasn’t anything the artists couldn’t create. It Came From the ‘80s is a series that will pay homage to the monstrous, deadly, and often slimy creatures that made the ‘80s such a fantastic decade in horror.
The phrase, “the truth is stranger than fiction,” very much applies to this obscure cult film made in 1984 but released in January 1988 stateside. At least, it explains why it’s such an endearing mess. On paper, the plot seems very straightforward; an evil sorcerer sacrifices all trespassers inside his sprawling estate to keep his wife alive and youthful. What transpires on screen, however, is much more confusing. There’s a random 13-year old boy on the run, bummed that his friends and family may have forgotten his birthday. There are two cars full of people in search of party headquarters (unrelated to the birthday boy) that don’t seem to belong in the same social circles whatsoever, and then there’s the evil sorcerer pining over his dead/sleeping wife in some nondescript separate area from the main house.
Still sounds pretty clear, right? Throw in seductive spider monsters, farting Muck Men, a grim reaper, zombies, pygmy mermaid monsters, electrocuting slimy monsters, possessed witches with glowing skulls, a blue cat boy with a terrible fashion sense, and so much more and Spookies is guaranteed to make you unsure of what you’re watching. It feels like two main, unrelated plots mashed together, tethered by a horde of rubber monsters. Frankly, it is two different plots smashed together.
Initially conceived and shot as Twisted Souls, by Frank Farel, Brendan Faulkner, and Thomas Doran, with the latter two of which serving as directors, the film was meant to be a group of partygoers turned victims to an onslaught of various monsters. But it all fell apart during the editing process due to an antsy financial backer with zero film experience. Tensions between Doran, Faulkner, and their financial backer eventually ruptured over and resulted in their parting ways from their own project. The backer then hired Genie Joseph, an adult-film star and creator, to complete the film.
Joseph then added the plot with the sorcerer, his unwilling bride, a weird cat boy and blue vampire boy, and the 13-year old boy with the birthday party. It made an already kooky movie even weirder, creating a disjointed plot no matter how hard they tried to shoehorn in the sorcerer. Yet, it also made it even more memorable at the same time, because it’s so nonsensical.
The true reason Spookies has built a cult following, though, is for the monsters. So many different monsters crammed into the same film. Initially, makeup artist Arnold Gargiulo (Eaten Alive, Frankenhooker) was hired to handle makeup effects, but left only a few weeks into production. Other major players involved in the makeup and special effects team were Jennifer Aspinall (Westworld tv series, Madtv) and Gabriel Bartalos (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, From Beyond, the Leprechaun series). Bartalos work is especially impressive considering he was only around 16 years old at the time. With so many floor and creature effects, puppet work and stop-motion animation, you can bet this was a grueling shoot for the effects team, even more so considering the low budget. The seams sometimes show; you can see hands in frames maneuvering the monsters on screen and sometimes the Styrofoam tombstones are glaringly obvious, but it manages to charm anyway.
As much blood, sweat, and tears that were poured into Spookies creation, there’s a lot of bad feelings still lingering behind the scenes. That the financial backer ripped away Twisted Souls from its creators and handed over to another, who quickly made it her own, remains a point of contention. The two different production teams, and the likely legal mess created during production from this, is probably why Spookies hasn’t really gotten a proper release. It’s a shame, really, since there’s a lot of stories behind the scenes worth telling. More so, there aren’t a lot of horror films so daring as to cram as many weird rubber-suited monsters into one movie, even if it’s not great.
Having grown up in a religious family, Christian movie night was something that happened a lot more often than I care to admit. However, back when I was a teenager, my parents showed up one night with an unusually cool-looking DVD of a movie that had been recommended to them by a church leader. Curious to see what new kind of evangelical propaganda my parents had rented this time, I proceeded to watch the film with them expecting a heavy-handed snoozefest.
To my surprise, I was a few minutes in when Denzel Washington proceeded to dismember a band of cannibal raiders when I realized that this was in fact a real movie. My mom was horrified by the flick’s extreme violence and dark subject matter, but I instantly became a fan of the Hughes Brothers’ faith-based 2010 thriller, The Book of Eli. And with the film’s atomic apocalypse having apparently taken place in 2024, I think this is the perfect time to dive into why this grim parable might also be entertaining for horror fans.
Originally penned by gaming journalist and The Walking Dead: The Game co-writer Gary Whitta, the spec script for The Book of Eli was already making waves back in 2007 when it appeared on the coveted Blacklist. It wasn’t long before Columbia and Warner Bros. snatched up the rights to the project, hiring From Hell directors Albert and Allen Hughes while also garnering attention from industry heavyweights like Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.
After a series of revisions by Anthony Peckham meant to make the story more consumer-friendly, the picture was finally released in January of 2010, with the finished film following Denzel as a mysterious wanderer making his way across a post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book. Along the way, he encounters a run-down settlement controlled by Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man desperate to get his hands on Eli’s book so he can motivate his underlings to expand his empire. Unwilling to let this power fall into the wrong hands, Eli embarks on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of his faith.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Judging by the film’s box-office success, mainstream audiences appear to have enjoyed the Hughes’ bleak vision of a future where everything went wrong, but critics were left divided by the flick’s trope-heavy narrative and unapologetic religious elements. And while I’ll be the first to admit that The Book of Eli isn’t particularly subtle or original, I appreciate the film’s earnest execution of familiar ideas.
For starters, I’d like to address the religious elephant in the room, as I understand the hesitation that some folks (myself included) might have about watching something that sounds like Christian propaganda. Faith does indeed play a huge part in the narrative here, but I’d argue that the film is more about the power of stories than a specific religion. The entire point of Oldman’s character is that he needs a unifying narrative that he can take advantage of in order to manipulate others, while Eli ultimately chooses to deliver his gift to a community of scholars. In fact, the movie even makes a point of placing the Bible in between equally culturally important books like the Torah and Quran, which I think is pretty poignant for a flick inspired by exploitation cinema.
Sure, the film has its fair share of logical inconsistencies (ranging from the extent of Eli’s Daredevil superpowers to his impossibly small Braille Bible), but I think the film more than makes up for these nitpicks with a genuine passion for classic post-apocalyptic cinema. Several critics accused the film of being a knockoff of superior productions, but I’d argue that both Whitta and the Hughes knowingly crafted a loving pastiche of genre influences like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog.
Lastly, it’s no surprise that the cast here absolutely kicks ass. Denzel plays the title role of a stoic badass perfectly (going so far as to train with Bruce Lee’s protégée in order to perform his own stunts) while Oldman effortlessly assumes a surprisingly subdued yet incredibly intimidating persona. Even Mila Kunis is remarkably charming here, though I wish the script had taken the time to develop these secondary characters a little further. And hey, did I mention that Tom Waits is in this?
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
Denzel’s very first interaction with another human being in this movie results in a gory fight scene culminating in a face-off against a masked brute wielding a chainsaw (which he presumably uses to butcher travelers before eating them), so I think it’s safe to say that this dog-eat-dog vision of America will likely appeal to horror fans.
From diseased cannibals to hyper-violent motorcycle gangs roaming the wasteland, there’s plenty of disturbing R-rated material here – which is even more impressive when you remember that this story revolves around the bible. And while there are a few too many references to sexual assault for my taste, even if it does make sense in-universe, the flick does a great job of immersing you in this post-nuclear nightmare.
The excessively depressing color palette and obvious green screen effects may take some viewers out of the experience, but the beat-up and lived-in sets and costume design do their best to bring this dead world to life – which might just be the scariest part of the experience.
Ultimately, I believe your enjoyment of The Book of Eli will largely depend on how willing you are to overlook some ham-fisted biblical references in order to enjoy some brutal post-apocalyptic shenanigans. And while I can’t really blame folks who’d rather not deal with that, I think it would be a shame to miss out on a genuinely engaging thrill-ride because of one minor detail.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly curious to see what Whitta and the Hughes Brothers have planned for the upcoming prequel series starring John Boyega…
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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