AMERICAN HORROR PROJECT Volume Two
The scar-mangled banner
RELEASED 24 June 1970-1977 | 18 | Blu-ray
Directors John Hayes, Martin Goldman, robert Voskanian
Cast JJ Barry, laurel Barnett, Brooke Mills, edmond O’Brien
The second of Arrow’s American Horror Project box sets brings together a fascinatingly mixed bag of genre obscurities.
Dream No Evil is a drab melodrama about Grace (Brooke Mills), an assistant to a faith healer, who gets lost in a fantasy world. Edits forced on it to dodge an R rating robs scenes of gore, but critically it’s dull, and the way it moves between fantasy and reality is clumsy – a voiceover literally announces Grace’s delusion. Mulholland Drive this ain’t.
Dark August is the pick of the set, with its shades of Don’t Look Now. JJ Barry does fine work as Sal, a down-on-his-luck fella haunted metaphorically by guilt and literally by a malicious spectre. Sal accidentally caused the death of a young girl, and now her grandpa is coming for him with the dark arts. The pacing is wayward, but there are some interesting ideas, strong visuals and a dash of occult weirdness. It feels like a proper film – which can’t be said for The Child...
This grimy shocker starts off as a creepy kid flick before turning into a zombie movie. Alicianne Del Mar (Laurel Barnett) takes a new job as a nanny, looking after Rosalie (Rosalie Cole). It’s clear that something is up with the girl, and that only becomes more apparent when Alicianne discovers that her favourite hobby is playing with mysterious, murderous “friends” in a cemetery.
The acting is weak, the score maddening, the editing borderline incompetent, and yet there’s something intriguing about it. It was director Robert Voskanian’s only feature, and it would be a stretch to call him a loss to cinema, but The Child does hold midnight movie allure.
Extras Dream No Evil has a new commentary from critics Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan. “Hollywood After Dark” looks at the early films of director John Hayes. There’s also a piece on star Edmond O’Brien, and an interview with Golden Girls actress/former Hayes squeeze Rue McClanahan.
Director Martin Goldman provides commentary on Dark August. There are also interviews with Goldman and producer Marianne Kanter. In “The Hills Are Alive”, comics artist Stephen R Bissette discusses the film’s place in the context of Vermont horror filmmaking. The original press book is also included.
The Child has interviews with Voskanian and producer Robert Dadashian, plus a commentary. It also includes the original trailer and press book. All three get filmed “appreciations” by Nightmare USA author Stephen Thrower. Plus: a 60-page booklet. Will Salmon
Most of The Child’s interiors were shot in a house scheduled for demolition; others at the producer’s parents’ place.