When his loyal fans decide to steal his fresh corpse from the mortuary to party with it all night long, a true horror film star returns from the grave as a ghastly blood-sucker, bent on revenge. At least, will he spare his followers?
As a child in Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s, VHS tapes were my first real way to watch movies at home. My family was one of the first in our area to get a VCR, instantly making our home the spot where friends wanted to hang out. But even before we owned one, I’d spend ages in the neighborhood video shop, mesmerized by the rows of tapes and the striking, often gruesome cover art—especially on the horror section. For a ten-year-old obsessed with films, just reading the back covers and studying those wild illustrations was an adventure. The lurid imagery—people threatened or torn apart—stuck in my mind, and I’d imagine what those scenes might look like if I ever saw them play out on screen. Some of those covers are as vivid to me now as they were back then.
Recently, when I received a review copy of Troma’s “Frightmare,” it brought all those memories flooding back. The artwork for “Frightmare”—a stylized skull with ghostly touches and unsettling details like a knife and snake woven through the eye sockets—was etched in my memory, even though I’d never actually watched the film as a kid. Now, finally seeing it, I was curious to discover what lay behind the cover that had haunted me for years.
Coming at the film both as an indie filmmaker and a movie critic, I wasn’t expecting surprises—the formula of 1980s horror is familiar territory. “Frightmare” delivered exactly as anticipated: a playful parody of horror clichés, mixing deadpan comedy with the requisite gore. The story centers on a circle of drama students who idolize Conrad Radzoff, a veteran horror star played by Ferdy Mayne. Radzoff visits their school, regaling them with stories from his career before collapsing in dramatic fashion. Shortly after being revived by a student, he passes away.
After attending his funeral, the students decide to break into Radzoff’s tomb. What begins as a morbidly curious night out soon spirals out of control as they party with the actor’s corpse. Unbeknownst to them, Radzoff is about to return from the dead, seeking vengeance—each killing more grisly than the last. The suspense hangs on whether anyone will make it to sunrise.
“Frightmare” is very much a product of its time, loaded with the familiar motifs of ’80s horror. It features Jeffrey Combs in an early appearance, before he became famous in “Re-Animator,” and Scott Thomson, years before his roles in “Ghoulies,” “Police Academy,” and “Twister.” The performances are intentionally over-the-top, sometimes nearly theatrical—a tone that matches the film’s satirical bent but wouldn’t be out of place in a more straightforward genre entry.
Produced by Troma Entertainment, “Frightmare” shows off all the studio’s trademarks: a shoestring budget, a taste for the absurd, and a kind of gleeful irreverence. Troma is most closely associated with cult classics like “The Toxic Avenger” and “Class of Nuke ’Em High,” but its output since 1974 has numbered in the thousands. If you appreciate Troma’s unique approach, you’ll likely enjoy “Frightmare.” For the uninitiated, it might come off as just another eccentric, low-budget 1980s horror flick, complete with exaggerated acting and forgettable effects.
Now available on Tromatic Special Edition Blu-ray™
11k
19.8k
1.5k
1.8k