| The film has a very spooky opening scene.A black masked maniac is having some gruesome fun with a young man in a graveyard.He's doing this by burying him alive in wet cement.While this is going on there are some very spooky and weird background noises. Later we meet some of the leads.Marge works at a bar as a hostess for Wesley Blake.Marge is with Dave. Ken (Rod Lauren)comes in. He is a college student (& one of Marge's boyfriends)and is writing a mid term paper on terror.We also find out that the young man who was buried in cement is Marge's brother Joey. Marge wants to go out to the ghost town and talk to Wild Bill, the local drunk.Since the graveyard where Joey was assaulted is there she feels that maybe he may know something about it.Dave agrees to go but Ken prefers not to. When Dave and Marge get out to the very creepy ghost town they feel that they are not alone.And it isn't wild Bill.Somebody has taking a portion of an iron rail fence and driven the spikes through him.Ken arrives as the other two are about to head back into town for the police.Ken stubbornly decides to stay. Ken is menaced by the hooded maniac.He's locked in a room full of spiders.Then he is tortured by a drowning attempt.The maniac sadistically toys with Ken.He is a ventriloquist that continually taunts Ken.Who is the maniac and why is he doing this? There are a few unconventional things about this movie.The burial in wet cement is pretty brutal.So is another scene of someone else being buried alive.The ghost town sets are pretty effective.There are some weird sounds going on in the background to set you on edge.The maniac is pretty twisted and there is a real sense of isolation about this film. The night photography seems to actually have been shot at night instead of the cheesy day for night method often employed in low budget films.This gives it an added unsettling edge of desolation and helplessness.It moves pretty well and is better than average.This is the last film directed by Lew Landers.He directed the 1935 shocker The Raven starring Karloff and Lugosi. |
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