Frightmare

Starring:Kim Butcher, Fiona Curzon, Jack Dagmar, Rupert Davies, Pamela Fairbrother, Deborah Fairfax, Leo Genn, Paul Greenwood, Anthony Hennessey, Nicholas John, Noel Johnson, Edward Kalinski, Sheila Keith, Trisha Mortimer, Andrew Sachs (II), Michael Sharvell-Martin, Victor Winding, Tommy Wright, Jon Yule
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Britain's answer to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre finds its villain in a little old fortunetelling lady who likes to take an electric drill to the skulls of her customers. Sheila Keith is the seemingly dotty old woman recently released from an insane asylum with her doting husband (Rupert Davies). Brunette Deborah Fairfax's good-girl heroine helps stepmom through the transition with midnight visits and animal brains (yum!), while her thrill-killing delinquent half-sister (the appropriately named Kim Butcher) takes to the family business with a deliriously ferocious glee.

This is the film that gave British goremeister Pete Walker his notorious reputation, with its brain-munching matron and her gory murder spree (including a red-hot fireplace poker through the stomach--ouch!). The movie is tight and well acted, and Walker's usually blunt style rises to the occasion of David McGillivray's script, a sad and savage psychodrama that takes the blood in blood relations with a cruel literalness. Walker's grainy black-and-white prologue is startlingly visceral, and his penchant for numbing, nihilistic climaxes remains as strong as ever. This well-mounted splatter film is smarter than most of its ilk, with a strong subtext of family tensions, but it's definitely not for the squeamish.

Product Description

The gory ghosts of Hollywood's Golden Era return from the grave craving bloody revenge in Frightmare! Following the death of legendary horror actor Conrad Radzoff (Freddy Mayne, Howling II, Conan The Destroyer), a group of overzealous drama students steal his corpse from the crypt and take it to the decrepit haunted house where his finest fright films were made. As the night goes on, the students learn the true meaning of terror as Conrad's vengeful spirit takes them out on by one.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

You can never kill a great horror star.......2006-10-27

FRIGHTMARE

Review by Nickolas Cook

Ah! The 80s. A simpler time of cheesy horror, screaming bimbos, and budding horror stars. And I'm here to tell you, FRIGHTMARE is a classic example of that wondrous period in horror cinema history.
Ferdy Mayne plays aged horror star Conrad Radzoff, once great, but now bitterly arrogant and a little evil...well, just evil enough to kill a couple of people who piss him off before he crocks in front of an auditorium full of fawning college film students.
Some of these said idolatrous students decide it'd be a great idea to break into old Conrad's Hollywood tomb and carry his corpse to his classic stomping grounds, an old mansion where his once great films had been shot. Well, you know the story...the kids get a little tipsy, a little naked, and the next thing you know, old Conrad gets a little back-from-the-dead and starts killing them off one at a time, in some pretty nasty ways.
Yeah, pretty standard stuff...but wait...this is where the film really starts to get better than the average back from the dead revenge flick.
Like a bad dream, things get weird. Fog rolls in from nowhere onto the set, the music gets dark and foreboding, and the scenes go from day to night, from one scene to the next.
Continuity errors, you say?
I don't think so.
This looks to have been done on purpose, and it really gives the movie a nightmarish quality that disorients the viewer.
The acting is much better than you'd expect from this kind of low budget, run-of-the-mill lot, including (little known at the time) Jeffrey Combs. And the production values aren't glaringly bad. At least the house remains spooky, and the lighting is consistent from scene to scene.
The worst part of the this film is the terribly ridiculous introduction by Lloyd Kaufman, the creator of the legendary Toxic Avenger and owner of Troma Studios, during which he makes some oblique attempt at humor as someone dubs in the names of the stars and director while he pretends to hold stuff in front of his mouth. Having a little background on Kaufman's varied legal problems, I'm sure this was done more for a screw you to whomever got the short end from Troma in regards to FRIGHTMARE than for fun times. But, hey, Debbie Rochen is around to brighten it up, so I can forgive it.
The quality of the DVD isn't great, folks. So don't expect much from the tech end of this little seen gem of the 80s. I mentioned the lighting and music, both of which work hard for the movie. Unfortunately, Troma didn't work hard for them. And that's a shame; because I'm sure it would've added an extra kick to FRIGHTMARE.

--Nickolas Cook

ehh. not as good as I remember.......2006-01-16

I remembered this film from when I was a kid. As I thought about it, I remembered it to be a super spooky film. When I found out it was on DVD I bought it with much anticipation. It really isn't that great, but still a little spooky. But I only watched it once before it was put away on the DVD shelf. Still it is good to have it on DVD. The opening Troma sequence is annoying as it gets though.
Look for the dude that played 'Porky's' and another dude that played in the Police Academy movies in this film.

Great Early 80's Cheese, Horrible DVD.......2005-10-27

I'll agree with every reviewer before me who stated Troma's DVD transfer could be one of the worst ever. Bad picture and it's hard to hear anything. The movie is worth 4 stars the DVD is worth 0.

I wish Anchor Bay would pick up this little seen horror gem starring Ferdy Mayne as a beloved horror movie actor whose freshly deceased corpse is stolen from a morgue by a bunch of students. The students take the cadaver to a creepy old house where Ferdy made his most well known films. Soon the students are spooked by the spirit of Mayne.

Jeffrey Combs("Re-Animator", "From Beyond") stars in this great early 80's little known horror classic. Definitely worth an evening. Anchor Bay please pick this title up.

The Gnosis Queen Reviews "Frightmare".......2005-10-26

It was quite refreshing, to see Jeffrey Combs,
in such an early career role, as a co-star,in
the movie, Frightmare. This is a very colorful
movie, and wonderfully macabre. It should
tickle the fancy of occultists everywhere. I
thought Conrad Ragzoff's mansion, was rather
gorey, and his memorial service very
imaginative. What a great idea! "A Video
Funeral"
If you believe, that the dead, can come back,
for revenge, Frightmare, will remind you, to
treat them with more respect!

TROMA SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2005-06-28

AS A CHILD BACK IN THE 80'S I REMEMBER ON SATURDAY MY COUSIN AND I WOULD RENT 3-4 HORROR MOVIES FOR THE WEEKEND. FRIGHTMARE WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE HORROR MOVIES INCLUDING A HOST OF OTHER HORROR MOVIES THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD,EVIL DEAD, GALAXY OF TERROR, DAWN OF THE DEAD, AND SO ON. FRIGHTMARE IS ABOUT A HORROR ACTOR THAT DIED AND A BUNCH OF PUNKS STOLE HIS CORPSE FROM THE CEMETERY AS A PRANK. HE THEN TAKES REVENGE ON THE PUNK@$$ KIDS. ITS ALL BASIC STUFF WITH GOOD GORE BUT THE REAL PROBLEM IS THE DVD IN FACT ALL OF TROMA FILMS THAT COME OUT ON DVD REALLY SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

Average customer rating:

Frightmare
Starring: Shanda Besler , Summer Sloan LaPann , Brandon Carroll (III) , Michael Short (II) , and Ruth Dalton
Director: Ash Smith
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000A1HSR
Release Date: 2003-09-02

Average customer rating:

Under-appreciated Masterpiece
I have a Meegrane.....no wonder
Uneventful and boring Film
Creepy and surprising.
This Is No Nightmare.....It's A Frightmare!!

Frightmare
Starring: Kim Butcher , Deborah Fairfax , Leo Genn , Noel Johnson , and Sheila Keith
Director: Pete Walker
Manufacturer: Shriek Show
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Flesh & Blood Show
House of Whipcord
The Confessional: House of Mortal Sin
Anthropophagus - The Grim Reaper
The Asylum

ASIN: B000EOTTY0
Release Date: 2006-05-16

Amazon.com

Britain's answer to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre finds its villain in a little old fortunetelling lady who likes to take an electric drill to the skulls of her customers. Sheila Keith is the seemingly dotty old woman recently released from an insane asylum with her doting husband (Rupert Davies). Brunette Deborah Fairfax's good-girl heroine helps stepmom through the transition with midnight visits and animal brains (yum!), while her thrill-killing delinquent half-sister (the appropriately named Kim Butcher) takes to the family business with a deliriously ferocious glee.

This is the film that gave British goremeister Pete Walker his notorious reputation, with its brain-munching matron and her gory murder spree (including a red-hot fireplace poker through the stomach--ouch!). The movie is tight and well acted, and Walker's usually blunt style rises to the occasion of David McGillivray's script, a sad and savage psychodrama that takes the blood in blood relations with a cruel literalness. Walker's grainy black-and-white prologue is startlingly visceral, and his penchant for numbing, nihilistic climaxes remains as strong as ever. This well-mounted splatter film is smarter than most of its ilk, with a strong subtext of family tensions, but it's definitely not for the squeamish.

Released uncut on home video for the first time by Image Entertainment, it's a sharp, colorful full-screen transfer of a good print, with only minor scratches. --Sean Axmaker

Description

After spending 18 years in an institution, suburban mother Dorothy Yates is released, apparently cured of her cannibalistic urges. Yet her bloodlust proves to be too much to resist and it appears it may even be hereditary!

Customer Reviews:

Under-appreciated Masterpiece.......2007-03-29

The most famous and disturbing image of Pete Walker's 1974 exploitation horror film "Frightmare," is when psychopathic matriarch Dorothy (Sheila Keith) gleefully and with lip-smacking relish, uses a Black and Decker cordless drill on a poor chaps head. The disgust and revulsion of this sequence is matched only by Dorothy's look of ravenous hunger has she looks forward to a spot of cannibalism (well it certainly beats McDonalds!). This single image effectively signalled the end of Hammer's restricted and regulated gothic milieu and Amicus Studios overly simplistic tales of modern morality. Walker unceremoniously dragged the British horror film into the world of grime, dirt and perversion that "Peeping Tom" had hinted at 14 years before. Walker depicts a modern England of filth, degradation, moral decay, and destroyed social institutions. None of our sacred ideological institutions survive "Frightmare's" scathing and savage discourse. The family, normally presided over by a domineering patriarch, is instead ruled by a cannibalistic matriarch. She quietly dominates her hen-pecked husband who watches on helpless and mute. The next generation are no better; their children are violent, permissive and hypocritical, the older generation securing the possibility of a bleak future. Law and order is made of mockery of, non-existent or doltish, something Walker explored in his earlier feature "House of Whipcord." Most importantly psychology fails, our token hero ending up on the menu. This is social dystopia of the highest order. What makes the film truly special is how Walker extends his nightmare vision to the aesthetic presentation of the film. Dark, dank and dreary naturalist photography swamps the visuals in a drab, colourless shade. Furthermore the film explores issues that are still relevant to this day, and remain alive and well, beneath the surface veneer of society.

I have a Meegrane.....no wonder.......2006-12-07

The man and woman who play Mr. & Mrs. Yates are two favorite actors. You can watch her in House of the Long Shadows......she is an excellent actress and you can see him in Dracula has Risen from the Grave. Put these two together in one film and it's a horror fest fun for all. Keith plays a true crazy in this one.....so turn off the lamps, light some candles and enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!

Uneventful and boring Film.......2006-08-02

I am startled to see that there are hardly any 'negative' reviews of
this routine film, on the advice of the positive reviews I bought the
film and was utterly taken aback at how boring and amateurish it
looked.

The start looked promising, an eerie promenade at an abandoned
carnival but then it went downhill from there. Most of the screen time
is taken up by inexperienced actors who can't hold a scene together and the story is tepid and unworthy for a long feature. Nothing ever really
happens and there are no scary moments or plot elements that make us
shudder. The 'murders' look fake and are exaggerated to the point of
ridiculousness. I kept waiting for something startling to happen but it
never did, just banter between dull British folk. Avoid this at all
costs.

Creepy and surprising........2006-07-04

Try not to let the reputation of Frightmare influence your opinion of it - by which I mean that the abundance of praise from many professional reviewers and movie guides may actually dilute it's impact as it's hard to live up to a reputation that must have been mind-blowing at the time of it's release (1974), but the content of the film has been surpassed and taken to much further extremes by a lot of the sleazy horror releases that came out in the years that followed it.

That's not meant to distract, however, from the fact that Frightmare is a very good horror film. It's a brutal tale of a family struggling to live under the shadow of the elderly mother's previous stay in an asylum for the crime of cannibalism. After a rather unnecessary flashback prologue, the film starts properly with mother back home and supposedly cured, but you can tell by the uncomfortableness all round that she's probably not all that cured at all!

People disagree over what is director Pete Walker's best film, but I go with this one. I'm not sure how much of it's success is down to his directorial skill, but the story, script and acting are all top notch. I guess the acting performances must be due in part to Walkers direction, as most conversation sequences are natural and unforced. Although at times (daughter Jackie's dinner party scene, for example) the film seems more like one of those old 1970's television "Play For Today" dramas than a horror film. Mind you, the BBC never roamed into the territory that this film does, and we are soon knee deep in power-drills and red hot pokers. I mentioned the good acting, and all the cast do well, but of course it's Sheila Keith as the mother Dorothy who everyone remembers, and she's terrific. Playing Dorothy as outwardly completely harmless and loveable, while at the same time being able to turn her into a snarling murderess - while still making it recognisably the same character - is a skill that could easily be beyond many actresses, but Sheila Keith does it with great subtelty.

On the downside, the "made for TV" appearance of the movie probably works against it more often than not, and it's low budget origins are fairly apparent. Nevertheless, it has a unique "Britishness" about it that would be lost without this. I would wager that nearly all the footage was shot on real locations, as the lighting always seems harsh and the indoor scenes are all very cramped and murky. The gore scenes, while effective, are not particularly realistic, but luckily the sheer nastiness of what Dorothy is doing is enough to turn the violent parts of the film into very queasy viewing.

Frightmare is a nasty and sleazy treat of a film for fans of vintage horror. It's great to see it on DVD, and the Shriek Show edition has released it with the fantastic promo art of Dorothy wielding her drill that scared me to death when seeing it in a video rental shop as a child. It's drawbacks are the dated visuals and low quality picture, lacking in both budget and visual flair. Although the DVD release does a great job with the transfer, the lighting (as I mentioned) is poor enough to make several important shots suffer quite badly from being too dark, and added to which, no part of the film stands out as being particularly elegant or dazzling. But if you want simple brutality, Frightmare has it to spare. So hooray for Pete Walker's dark and cynical vision of family life gone rotten... just don't watch this if you want to feel good about the world at the end of it!

This Is No Nightmare.....It's A Frightmare!!.......2006-06-26

Frightmare! The film that shocked the whole world! Well, not really, but it makes for a good intro. Lots of reviewers got the plot nailed down pretty good, so I'm spared all that nonsense. Frightmare's a rather well done British horror flick about an old cannibal chick(the Frightmare rap!). There's nothing terribly surprising or original about the film's plot, but for some reason it's never boring and you find yourself wondering how it's all gonna end up. It does have a bit of a Hammer feel to it. This is probably due in some small part to the presence of Rupert Davies who was in Dracula Has Risen From The Grave. Gore is minimal, but there are a few juicy parts thrown in here and there. All in all this movie plays out like a kind of gothic soap opera dealing with the relationships and psychological effects of being part of a dysfunctional family. Very interesting, well done and recommended.

Average customer rating:

Under-appreciated Masterpiece
I have a Meegrane.....no wonder
Uneventful and boring Film
Creepy and surprising.
This Is No Nightmare.....It's A Frightmare!!

Frightmare
Starring: Kim Butcher , Fiona Curzon , Jack Dagmar , Rupert Davies , and Pamela Fairbrother
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Flesh & Blood Show
House of Whipcord
The Confessional: House of Mortal Sin
Anthropophagus - The Grim Reaper
The Asylum

ASIN: B000056NWA
Release Date: 2001-02-20

Amazon.com

This is the film that gave British goremeister Pete Walker his notorious reputation, with its brain-munching matron and her gory murder spree (including a red-hot fireplace poker through the stomach--ouch!). The movie is tight and well acted, and Walker's usually blunt style rises to the occasion of David McGillivray's script, a sad and savage psychodrama that takes the blood in blood relations with a cruel literalness. Walker's grainy black-and-white prologue is startlingly visceral, and his penchant for numbing, nihilistic climaxes remains as strong as ever. This well-mounted splatter film is smarter than most of its ilk, with a strong subtext of family tensions, but it's definitely not for the squeamish.

Released uncut on home video for the first time by Image Entertainment, it's a sharp, colorful full-screen transfer of a good print, with only minor scratches. --Sean Axmaker

Description

At the quaint little farmhouse down the road live an old couple. They seem nice enough, but... The judge pronounced Edmund and Dorothy Yates sane after spending 18 years in a mental hospital for a series of gory cannibal killings. Now, after their release, everything seems fine--until a psychiatrist starts poking around and uncovers the blood-splattered truth. From master of cult horror Pete Walker (The Flesh and Blood Show) comes a ghastly tale of dark secrets and bizarre appetites. "Frightmare" is a must for horror fans with good taste.

Customer Reviews:

Under-appreciated Masterpiece.......2007-03-29

I have a Meegrane.....no wonder.......2006-12-07

Uneventful and boring Film.......2006-08-02

Creepy and surprising........2006-07-04

This Is No Nightmare.....It's A Frightmare!!.......2006-06-26

Average customer rating:

alot of flaws mixed with some really creative budget work!!!
Very Good
Good Plot but Bad Camera Work!!!
Frightmare

Frightmare

Manufacturer: Spartan
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Slasher Flicks | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Customer Reviews:

alot of flaws mixed with some really creative budget work!!!.......2004-03-21

first of the camera work was just fine!!for what they had to work with.as amatter of fact some of the camera work was awsome!!some very BAD!acting,and the storyline never quite stays in line.thats what is bad about the movie.this is whats good about the movie,the killer is spooky looking(with his silver mask)the direction & the camera work at times could be very good(like i said for what they had to work with)but most of all, and what all horror fans care about is the murder scenes. well there were some pretty cool one's in this low budget slasher flick!!!!!anyway i liked it,could have been much better and it could have been much worse,BUT DOESN'T THAT DEFINE B HORROR?!!! I THOUGHT SO!!!

Very Good.......2004-02-23

Frightmare (AKA Paranoid) is very good horror movie with a good plot and good acting. The camera use was not that great 2/5. But overall it was scary.

Good Plot but Bad Camera Work!!!.......2003-06-30

This movie caught my eye in the video store. There was just something about it. The cover looked interesting, and the story looked scary! But, when I popped in the movie I got a whole different thought, then I expected! First of all, the camera work totally [stunk]!!! The directing [stunk]!!! And the make-up for the murders looked so fake!!! The only good part of the movie was the story! Thats the only thing!! Also, the movie was annoying!! But in other words, I'd say its pretty scary.

Frightmare.......2003-05-29

Frightmare is a great film. Well, it is great for what it is... a straight to video slasher movie. The story follows a teenage girl and her friends as they are mercilessly slaughtered by a psychopath known as the "Concionse Killer" who leaves some kind of twisted letter with each victim. It overall is a great movie with actual scenes that scare you so go and rent "Frightmare" today!

Average customer rating:

Karate Frightmare/Karate Death Squad
Starring: Karate Frightmare , and Karate Death Squad
Manufacturer: Sofa
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0009VND2M
Release Date: 2005-09-06

Description

Karate Frightmare: Three generations ago the vicious land grabbing Master Karate Mercenary, Fi Li, raised the ire of Chon Ying, the powerful head monk of the village, who in retaliation, cast an evil curse over Fi Li, and all of his henchman. Now they are faced with unrelenting demon warriors, who continue to exact a bloody vengeance that causes Fi Li to flee the village in shocking defeat, while vowing to return to seek revenge over Chon Ying and all his supporters. Karate Death Squad: The evil ganglord, Mang, rules with an iron fist over his empire of gambling, loan sharking, and protection. The ruthless rival gang, headed by Tu Pa, decides that he is going to attack the territory of Mang. His gang robs and plunders the various businesses that the Mang gang is being paid to protect. Mang must now bring in his Karate Death Squad to take care of Tu Pa and his thugs, or loose face, and his position of power within the underworld syndicate. What follows is an explosion of raw, brutal power, as the forces of Mang's Karate Death Squad systematically destroy the Tu Pa thugs with incredible karate, fighting, and ruthless revenge. It will leave you breathless

DVD:

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