VERY loose adaptation of the H. P. Lovecraft story of the same name is nowhere as good as Stuart Gordon's "Re-Animator" or "From Beyond". Although those adaptations also played fast and loose with their source materials (for my money, the only film to really feel like a Lovecraft story is the 2005 faux silent film "The Call of Cthulhu"), but this adaptation fails at even being entertaining. The story involves rival groups of criminals looking to dig up a corpse in a graveyard that's hiding a big stash of stolen money. However, this same night a group of townspeople are planning to dispose of an ancient evil living beneath this very same graveyard. The film boasts a stronger than usual cast for a Full Moon Features production, with Jon Finch ("Macbeth" "Frenzy"), Jeffrey Combs ("Re-Animator" "The Frighteners", Paul Mantee ("Robinson Crusoe on Mars" "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"), Vincent Schiavelli ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" "Ghost"), and "Hellraiser" star Ashley Laurence, but they are wasted with poorly developed characters, though Schiavelli is a lot of fun in his one-scene appearance at the start of the film. When I rewatched the restored blu ray print of the film, I was struck by the better than expected photography by regular Full Moon cinematographer Adolfo Bartoli ("Trancers" 3-5, "Oblivion" 1-2, "Puppet Master" 3-5, etc.). However, writer/director C. Courtney Joyner ("Doctor Mordrid" "Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge") fails to create much atmosphere and it's unclear if the film wanted to be a serious horror film or wanted to be tongue-in-cheek. It ends up being neither and fails as a whole. FUN FACT! It "The Lurking Fear" was originally to be made by producer Charles Band's earlier company Empire Pictures and directed by Stuart Gordon, which I'm sure would have been a MUCH better film.
45 Reviews
And that's just barely a 6
Delrvich3 May 2020
At least there weren't fake lasers, the group of bratty ill-prepared teenagers on a trip, excessive profanity. It did have some stereotypical "cool tough guy" acting by some of the actors (eg Catherine played by Ashley Laurence kept racking the slide of her pistol almost every time she drew it). Still she was hot.
Lurking Fear...more like Lurking Boredom
logantoxic3 April 2013
This movie has buried treasure, gangsters, monsters under a town, is based off of an H.P. Lovecraft story, and stars Jeffery Combs (Re-Animator). Sounds fun right? Wrong. This movie has everything going for it but it fails miserably. The lack of execution is pretty blatant, from the editing, directing and acting, it all falls flat. Even the great Jeffery Combs could not rescue this pile of not so pleasant things. Our main character is probably the worst actor in the film but hey whatever. His character is just released from prison and is in search for his Dad's long lost buried treasure that just so happens to be buried in a town with a bunch of monsters hiding beneath the local cemetery. Eventually are Hero, a bunch of gangsters and some locals barricaded them selves in a church trying to survive from the monsters. This movie should of been Night of the living dead mix with evil dead, but instead we get a boring snooze fest. The reason why it fails is because its trying to be an action horror comedy, but fails at all three. At first glance the film seems interesting but it gets bogged down by its convoluted plot in the second act and you don't even care how this movie ends by the time you get to the third act. The only entertainment in this movie is Jeffery Combs. He is plain awesome. This movie is for Jeffery Combs completist only.
For more reviews visit my Youtube channel Logan Toxic and visit my blog: logantoxic.blogspot
For more reviews visit my Youtube channel Logan Toxic and visit my blog: logantoxic.blogspot
Buried Treasure...
azathothpwiggins13 December 2022
In LURKING FEAR, a group of greedy crooks, and a ghoul-fighting duo (Ashley Laurence and Jeffrey Combs!) all wind up in the same cemetery for different reasons. When the ghouls begin to rise, the blood hits the fan.
Loosely based on the story by H. P. Lovecraft, this FULL MOON production is a crime drama / horror movie hybrid. The criminals are -mostly- reprehensible, and the monsters are well-realized and fairly unnerving.
Mr. Combs gets to play the drunken doctor, while Ms. Laurence plays her character as a sort of Sarah Connor in the graveyard. The action builds slowly up until the truly explosive denouement.
Another decent creeper from FULL MOON's heyday...
Loosely based on the story by H. P. Lovecraft, this FULL MOON production is a crime drama / horror movie hybrid. The criminals are -mostly- reprehensible, and the monsters are well-realized and fairly unnerving.
Mr. Combs gets to play the drunken doctor, while Ms. Laurence plays her character as a sort of Sarah Connor in the graveyard. The action builds slowly up until the truly explosive denouement.
Another decent creeper from FULL MOON's heyday...
Without Love or Craft
RJC-41 November 2001
This witless exercise isn't an HP Lovecraft adaptation so much as a shameless grave robbery. Even the presence of horror cult favorite Jeffrey Combs (wasted in a minor role) can't save the halting story or painful dialogue. Producer Charles Band can do a fun Lovecraft movie (see Re-Animator and From Beyond, both made a decade earlier). But his Full Moon studio is better known for sleazy camp, and that touch is grubbily all over this film: "I'll bet you're a lousy lay -- no energy!" sneers one woman character fighting another in a tacked-on mud wrestling scene. There was apparently a bit of a budget, a few mildly interesting sets were assembled, and the opening sequence hints at what might have been a passable B-movie; the rest holds no interest at all.
If you thought that the Rutger Hauer version was bad...
Boba_Fett113827 September 2007
...Wait until you see this movie. At least the Rutger Hauer version of this movie called "Bleeders", from 1997, was still at parts entertaining and watchable.
This is a really poorly made movie. You just know that everyone involved with this movie is never going to make it in the world of movies. This includes both main cast and crew. It features some extremely bad dubbing and sound effects. Especially listen in the beginning of the movie when the woman hits the 'monster' with a gun. It sounds like a cartoon! This unfortunately is not the only example. Also the editing is really off and the movie uses too often silly slow-motion sequences, that are just nothing more than laughable. This obviously was a cheap movie to make. The monsters are not too bad looking and it deserved to be in a better movie.
The story is extremely bad and simple written, as if they put no real effort into it. It's very silly and just never seems to get of the ground. The movie also never becomes tense or scary to watch, although its fairly good with its gore.
Also the actors didn't made the movie any better. It's not just their fault, since their characters are also extremely flat and boring in the story. Still it has Jefffrey Combs and Vincent Schiavelli in it, so there are some redeeming qualities.
I see no point into why anyone should ever watch this movie.
2/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
This is a really poorly made movie. You just know that everyone involved with this movie is never going to make it in the world of movies. This includes both main cast and crew. It features some extremely bad dubbing and sound effects. Especially listen in the beginning of the movie when the woman hits the 'monster' with a gun. It sounds like a cartoon! This unfortunately is not the only example. Also the editing is really off and the movie uses too often silly slow-motion sequences, that are just nothing more than laughable. This obviously was a cheap movie to make. The monsters are not too bad looking and it deserved to be in a better movie.
The story is extremely bad and simple written, as if they put no real effort into it. It's very silly and just never seems to get of the ground. The movie also never becomes tense or scary to watch, although its fairly good with its gore.
Also the actors didn't made the movie any better. It's not just their fault, since their characters are also extremely flat and boring in the story. Still it has Jefffrey Combs and Vincent Schiavelli in it, so there are some redeeming qualities.
I see no point into why anyone should ever watch this movie.
2/10
http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
An underwhelming Lovecraft adaptation.
Hey_Sweden14 June 2017
Hunky Blake Adams plays John Martense, a young man just released from prison. He has no prospects, but good fortune could come his way. He seeks out an old associate of his father, an undertaker named Knaggs (Vincent Schiavelli), who lets him know that in the remote community of Leffert's Corner, there is a cemetery containing a corpse stuffed with money. Martense arrives in this village to find a select few individuals preparing to do battle with the monsters that have been feeding on the citizens for the past 20 years. He is soon joined by Bennett (Jon Finch), his late fathers' ruthless former partner who, quite naturally, also wants the money.
This one has to rate as a misfire. C. Courtney Joyner directs from his own screenplay of the H.P. Lovecraft short story, and it's highly uninspired. It's simply too hard to care about any of the characters here, or the tale being told. One wonders what might have been had Stuart Gordon, creator of some of the best Lovecraft adaptations out there, done this film as was originally planned. A shame, really, because "Lurking Fear" has some amusing and striking Old World type atmosphere (this was shot on location in Romania). But Joyner fails to create any suspense or much in the way of horror. The creatures are rather unimaginative looking. Some gore lovers might be mildly appreciative, though.
Ever reliable Jeffrey Combs is entertainingly eccentric as a local doctor, and it's fun to see "Hellraiser" female lead Ashley Laurence play a badass sort of character. The full name of the man played by the distinctively featured Schiavelli is Skelton Knaggs, a nod to another character actor from genre films of the 40s. (Look, also, for the name "Michael Terence Ripper" in a ledger.) Finch is okay, no more, as the human antagonist. Allison Mackie, Joyners' cousin, gets to have some fun as one of the baddies. Paul Mantee is very good as the local priest. The less said about Adams, the better.
Decent music by Jim Manzie and a short running time (just over 77 minutes) help to keep this from being particularly painful, but if one wants a Lovecraft fix, they can do so much better.
Four out of 10.
This one has to rate as a misfire. C. Courtney Joyner directs from his own screenplay of the H.P. Lovecraft short story, and it's highly uninspired. It's simply too hard to care about any of the characters here, or the tale being told. One wonders what might have been had Stuart Gordon, creator of some of the best Lovecraft adaptations out there, done this film as was originally planned. A shame, really, because "Lurking Fear" has some amusing and striking Old World type atmosphere (this was shot on location in Romania). But Joyner fails to create any suspense or much in the way of horror. The creatures are rather unimaginative looking. Some gore lovers might be mildly appreciative, though.
Ever reliable Jeffrey Combs is entertainingly eccentric as a local doctor, and it's fun to see "Hellraiser" female lead Ashley Laurence play a badass sort of character. The full name of the man played by the distinctively featured Schiavelli is Skelton Knaggs, a nod to another character actor from genre films of the 40s. (Look, also, for the name "Michael Terence Ripper" in a ledger.) Finch is okay, no more, as the human antagonist. Allison Mackie, Joyners' cousin, gets to have some fun as one of the baddies. Paul Mantee is very good as the local priest. The less said about Adams, the better.
Decent music by Jim Manzie and a short running time (just over 77 minutes) help to keep this from being particularly painful, but if one wants a Lovecraft fix, they can do so much better.
Four out of 10.
True horror
danieljmcewen21 March 2022
You have to look away and even then there's no guarantee the monster won't get you. Yes, this movie i is almost impossible to watch. It's not "so bad it's good". No, instead we have "so bad I wish I could wipe it from my memory." There's nothing good about this movie.
Could have been much better than it ends up being
loomis78-815-98903415 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Loosely based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, this Full Moon picture film has John Martenese (Bailey) following a corpse buried in a graveyard. Buried with the corpse is a Gangster's (Finch) money that his now deceased Dad had stolen. Upon arrival, John comes across a band of people who is holed up in the graveyards church. They're after a group of monster creatures that live under ground in tunnels that run through the graveyard. John finds out that the creatures, who have been killing off people for years in the town, are actually descendants of his family. The Gangster and his henchmen show up after the money as well as the creatures begin to stir. The filmmakers unfortunately really messed up a nice premise. The elements of a great creature/monster horror film are there. Underground creatures, that are very scary and creepy looking roaming around on a dark storm infested night around a graveyard. The creeping monsters are the best thing going here and supply the few chills the movie has. Great horror actors like Jeffrey Combs, (as a nervous Doctor) and Ashley Laurence are wasted here as most of the screen time is spent with the gangsters holding the group hostage as they seek the money. The characters are written as obnoxious, stupid or annoying and are played that way by a cast trying hard with nothing to work with. Good production values, set up of story and cast goes down the drain as the movie mostly plays like a two bit crime drama instead of the thrilling horror show it could have been. It is watchable, but utterly forgettable.
A Good Action /Horror Movie
loveablejohn-4662911 March 2019
This movie was typical of a Full Moon Productions movie with average acting at best and a script that could have been better written. However the special effects were good especially the monsters and the cinematography was good as well.
Vincent Schiavelli, R.I.P.
Groverdox17 June 2018
With "Lurking Fear", I hope to god I have arrived at the bottom floor of Full Moon Picture's out-put. This is one of those horror movies where it feels like nothing happens in the movie. It's an unnecessarily complicated set-up, then nothing, then a long overdue pay-off.
You know you're in trouble in a monster movie when Vincent Schiavelli is the most interesting thing on screen. The creatures, when they FINALLY appear, can't hold a candle to that great man.
Which brings me to another point: "Lurking Fear" has a surprisingly strong cast. Aside from Schiavelli, there's Mr Shakespeare, Jon Finch, and Mr Lovecraft, Jeffrey Combs. They don't do anything, or add anything to the movie at all.
The plot: An improbably handsome man is released from prison for a crime he didn't commit. He has a map to find buried treasure in a cemetery, but there's a bunch of other people who are also after the treasure, including some criminals. They have a stand-off in a church where apparently creatures live under the ground.
About 90% of the movie is all the above named characters hanging around the church pointing guns at each other. None of the characters make any impression and it is hard to tell them apart. Presumably some are good guys and some are bad guys but the movie doesn't make this point strongly enough... or at all.
The creatures are not unimpressive, but the movie never gives you a good look at them, and there are some scant moments of gore that could have been impressive.
I think what we have here are all the ingredients to make a passable or even better than passable movie, and a writer-director with no clue how to use any of them. It's a waste of time for everyone concerned.
You know you're in trouble in a monster movie when Vincent Schiavelli is the most interesting thing on screen. The creatures, when they FINALLY appear, can't hold a candle to that great man.
Which brings me to another point: "Lurking Fear" has a surprisingly strong cast. Aside from Schiavelli, there's Mr Shakespeare, Jon Finch, and Mr Lovecraft, Jeffrey Combs. They don't do anything, or add anything to the movie at all.
The plot: An improbably handsome man is released from prison for a crime he didn't commit. He has a map to find buried treasure in a cemetery, but there's a bunch of other people who are also after the treasure, including some criminals. They have a stand-off in a church where apparently creatures live under the ground.
About 90% of the movie is all the above named characters hanging around the church pointing guns at each other. None of the characters make any impression and it is hard to tell them apart. Presumably some are good guys and some are bad guys but the movie doesn't make this point strongly enough... or at all.
The creatures are not unimpressive, but the movie never gives you a good look at them, and there are some scant moments of gore that could have been impressive.
I think what we have here are all the ingredients to make a passable or even better than passable movie, and a writer-director with no clue how to use any of them. It's a waste of time for everyone concerned.
After reading the reviews, I thought crap, After seeing I say very good.
Rabensblut2 February 2007
I am big fan of horror films, I saw tons of them, some of them were good some were bad. One of my friends advised me to see this one pointing that it is H.P.Lovecraft based horror film.
1. I know quite all the stories of the Master himself, but this had nothing to do with none of them. Maybe the plot reminded me of shadow over Innsmouth, where the boy finds out, that he is a part of this strange community and one day he is going to be like them. So please do not take it as HPL. If U want to see some HPL just take Dagon, that is real HPL influenced film.
2.The acting was not for Oscar nomination, but what do You want for a low budget flick. Jeffrey Combs is excellent, but anyway also the others did a good job. I saw that this film was made in Romania, I recognized this Pintea guy from Vlad Nemoritorul (Dracula - The Impaler) film, playing the undertaker with the scratched face.
3. The explosions - not every company has the money to do a great explosion. According to this, they did quite good job.
4. The ghouls - Very well made. I have to say they looked very good and realistic. Nice work.
5. The Gore - Not every film has to be as Lucio Fulci, but anyway here it was quite optimal. The only gore scene was that one with the heart. Or maybe I had a shorter version of the film so the gore scenes were cut out. Mine has 1:29.
1. I know quite all the stories of the Master himself, but this had nothing to do with none of them. Maybe the plot reminded me of shadow over Innsmouth, where the boy finds out, that he is a part of this strange community and one day he is going to be like them. So please do not take it as HPL. If U want to see some HPL just take Dagon, that is real HPL influenced film.
2.The acting was not for Oscar nomination, but what do You want for a low budget flick. Jeffrey Combs is excellent, but anyway also the others did a good job. I saw that this film was made in Romania, I recognized this Pintea guy from Vlad Nemoritorul (Dracula - The Impaler) film, playing the undertaker with the scratched face.
3. The explosions - not every company has the money to do a great explosion. According to this, they did quite good job.
4. The ghouls - Very well made. I have to say they looked very good and realistic. Nice work.
5. The Gore - Not every film has to be as Lucio Fulci, but anyway here it was quite optimal. The only gore scene was that one with the heart. Or maybe I had a shorter version of the film so the gore scenes were cut out. Mine has 1:29.
Be careful who you bury
Cemetarygirl17 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I watched this and enjoyed it. I am a Lovecraft fan and found that this was a reasonable rendition of Lovecraft's work. I thought the monsters where good and clearly defined, and not, as in a lot of cheap flicks, hidden from view to save on the cost of making an effort. When the family, re-emerged I was surprised and would have liked that bit to be a little longer. This piece (due to budget-I guess) was an ensemble piece and could even work on the stage if anyone wished to do a live version. Novelty theatre, now that would be good. I enjoyed the heroine, although the script suffered in this area for predictability. (Get out the how to book, on "How to" have a woman against man battle of wits and "Easy one liners for anyone" ) Even a book on "Your turn to have the weapon." But all in all a reasonable time was had by me. I would also like to further mention the wonderful Coombs' whose part could have been an inch or two bigger. A man who always manages to make me smile at his antics and cool one liners. So don't expect an Oscar or two but enjoy the ride and revel in the undead or dead or whoever they are.
Okay horror flick with a nice B-movie cast
Coventry14 December 2004
I spent quite some time looking for this film, only because it stars Jeffrey Combs. Ever since the brilliant "Re-Animator", I suffer from an unhealthy obsession to track down all the flicks Combs ever starred in
This is a rather amusing production, loosely based on yet another H.P. Lovecraft tale. The plot involves small time crooks treasure-hunting for big loot that is supposedly hidden in a corpse buried in the Leffert Corners cemetery. Coincidentally, the inhabitants of this little town are fighting a bloody battle with carnivore demons on that same cemetery. The budget is obviously low and so most of the make-up effects look more cheesy than scary. There's practically no tension or humor, only a bit of entertaining demon action and fairly good acting performances by a decent B-movie cast. Besides Jeffrey Combs, who stars as the physically weak but sarcastic town's doctor, "Lurking Fear" also has Hellraiser's Ashley Lauren as a demon-butt-kicking babe. There also is a small role for Vincent Schiavelli! The name might not mean much to you but you'll surely recognize his face when you're familiar with B-movies.
Not having read the short story...
BHorrorWriter25 April 2001
...I went into this movie with an open mind, as I do with most Full Moon movies. I had recently purchased this movie from an online used-vidoe provider. It was in very good condition...I started watching it when I got it (maybe 3 months ago), and couldn't get into it. I was too busy trying to get my daughter to sleep...I feel asleep!
Anyway...Like most early Full Moon pictures, this did seem to have a budget behind it...nothing over the top, but a budget nonetheless. A good ensemble of actors: Jeffrey Combs of Re-Animator and Dr. Mordrid fame, Ashley Laurence of Hellraiser Fame and several others that has been either in a Full Moon picture, or various others. Blake Bailey (Creepy Bill from The Killer Eye) makes his screen debut with this picture. He is a very good, rugged looking actor...I couldn't believe he was in Killer Eye, only because I thought he was the best actor in that total mess of a movie.
As previously mentioned, I have not read the short Story by H.P. Lovecraft (though now I want to after seeing the movie), I thought this story was fresh and unique. This movie started off almost like it was already underway and the audience just walks in all a the same time...It builds with a very gory murder of a very bad actress, who is onan unknown mission to destroy something or someone...1 year later...Her sister, who witnessed her murder, and saved her baby is back to the little cemetary..Questions? what happened to the baby? So, she (Laurence) is back, after "training" for a year to destroy the creature that killed her sister. She kinda looks alot like Linda Hamiltons character in Terminator 2...Over the top Rambo Bitch!
I hate to give away plot like I have noticed most reviewers do... I want people to watch the movie...So I will throw out Key elements to the movie...and Let people decide from there....
1. Acted better than the last 20 Full Moon films one has seen 2. Jeffrey Combs in a comical (not in a bad way) role as a drunk doctor 3. Ashley Laurence's cleavage 4. (for the ladies): blake Bailey without his shirt on...He works out! 5. Criminals Killing people 6. Subhumanoid type monsters...killing people 7. decent plot with twists 8. explosions 9. blood 10. an opening for a sequel that has yet to come to pass
There is more but this is long enough 8 out of 10
4.
Anyway...Like most early Full Moon pictures, this did seem to have a budget behind it...nothing over the top, but a budget nonetheless. A good ensemble of actors: Jeffrey Combs of Re-Animator and Dr. Mordrid fame, Ashley Laurence of Hellraiser Fame and several others that has been either in a Full Moon picture, or various others. Blake Bailey (Creepy Bill from The Killer Eye) makes his screen debut with this picture. He is a very good, rugged looking actor...I couldn't believe he was in Killer Eye, only because I thought he was the best actor in that total mess of a movie.
As previously mentioned, I have not read the short Story by H.P. Lovecraft (though now I want to after seeing the movie), I thought this story was fresh and unique. This movie started off almost like it was already underway and the audience just walks in all a the same time...It builds with a very gory murder of a very bad actress, who is onan unknown mission to destroy something or someone...1 year later...Her sister, who witnessed her murder, and saved her baby is back to the little cemetary..Questions? what happened to the baby? So, she (Laurence) is back, after "training" for a year to destroy the creature that killed her sister. She kinda looks alot like Linda Hamiltons character in Terminator 2...Over the top Rambo Bitch!
I hate to give away plot like I have noticed most reviewers do... I want people to watch the movie...So I will throw out Key elements to the movie...and Let people decide from there....
1. Acted better than the last 20 Full Moon films one has seen 2. Jeffrey Combs in a comical (not in a bad way) role as a drunk doctor 3. Ashley Laurence's cleavage 4. (for the ladies): blake Bailey without his shirt on...He works out! 5. Criminals Killing people 6. Subhumanoid type monsters...killing people 7. decent plot with twists 8. explosions 9. blood 10. an opening for a sequel that has yet to come to pass
There is more but this is long enough 8 out of 10
4.
Not vintage Lovecraft, but a good film
The_Void12 September 2006
Full Moon seem to have a rather poor reputation arising from the fact that many of their films are low budget and not exactly masterpieces, but the company certainly does well when it comes to H.P. Lovecraft, and while this film isn't up to the standard that Stuart Gordon went on to set with Castle Freak, Lurking Fear is still a good example of low budget horror. I've not read the Lovecraft short story that the film is based on, so I can't say how faithful to the original material it is; but the film features a number of Lovecraft's trademarks, and the central theme of a town overrun by strange otherworldly creatures is pure Lovecraft. The plot centres on the town of Leffert's Corners, which as mentioned, has a problem with strange otherworldly creatures. A man named John Martense also has a problem also as his criminal father happened to bury a corpse in Leffert's Corners, which is filled with money; and he isn't the only one that wants it. We then follow John Martense and a group of three would-be robbers who arrive at the town just as the locals are preparing a spectacular fight back.
The main problem with this film really is that not enough happens. We focus on a claustrophobic church where the locals have holed up, and while the atmosphere is good and every now and then someone gets killed, the characters aren't interesting enough to pull it through as well as possible, and the creatures never take centre stage. But even so, I enjoyed this film as its PURE horror; we don't get mixed up in any needless subplots, and director C. Courtney Joyner (who has directed a slew of trashy horror flicks) keeps the focus on the central theme well. The acting isn't up to much, but the cast just about pull it through. Jeffrey Combs is never far from H.P. Lovecraft, and I always enjoy seeing him in films. Hellraiser's Ashley Laurence makes a welcome appearance and is actually very sexy, while Allison Mackie does well as her opposite number. The film gets better as it goes along, and the director just about succeeds in building tension on the way to the ending, which wraps everything up nicely. Overall, this is not a great film and I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to see it; but its fun enough and definitely worth watching.
The main problem with this film really is that not enough happens. We focus on a claustrophobic church where the locals have holed up, and while the atmosphere is good and every now and then someone gets killed, the characters aren't interesting enough to pull it through as well as possible, and the creatures never take centre stage. But even so, I enjoyed this film as its PURE horror; we don't get mixed up in any needless subplots, and director C. Courtney Joyner (who has directed a slew of trashy horror flicks) keeps the focus on the central theme well. The acting isn't up to much, but the cast just about pull it through. Jeffrey Combs is never far from H.P. Lovecraft, and I always enjoy seeing him in films. Hellraiser's Ashley Laurence makes a welcome appearance and is actually very sexy, while Allison Mackie does well as her opposite number. The film gets better as it goes along, and the director just about succeeds in building tension on the way to the ending, which wraps everything up nicely. Overall, this is not a great film and I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to see it; but its fun enough and definitely worth watching.
Um.. No.
snarkyshoggoff29 December 2006
This is just awful.
It's almost as if the writer had heard particulars of several Lovecraft stories, but didn't read them and didn't understand the basic concepts of his particular type of horror.
While this one isn't a meandering mess of plot holes, such as Dagon is, the Lovecraftian elements feel like they've been welded onto a preexisting plot that has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Full Moon has a number of Lovecraft adaptations that are fun, if not exactly true to either the story or atmosphere of the originals. This, unfortunately, isn't one of them. Skip this one and watch Reanimator again. Or even Castle Freak. Both of which have at least something of a Lovecraftian feel to them.
It's almost as if the writer had heard particulars of several Lovecraft stories, but didn't read them and didn't understand the basic concepts of his particular type of horror.
While this one isn't a meandering mess of plot holes, such as Dagon is, the Lovecraftian elements feel like they've been welded onto a preexisting plot that has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Full Moon has a number of Lovecraft adaptations that are fun, if not exactly true to either the story or atmosphere of the originals. This, unfortunately, isn't one of them. Skip this one and watch Reanimator again. Or even Castle Freak. Both of which have at least something of a Lovecraftian feel to them.
ed wood meets evil dead meets rambo meets film noir
dutchchocolatecake26 May 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Good props, good scenery, good make up job on the ghouls, and adequate music. The female characters had minds of their own, which is a plus, except for the pregnant woman who had to do little else but sit around and scream hysterically. Jeffrey Combs is always a treat.
However, casting Jeffrey Combs doesn't make a film good. Dunwich Horror, 2009 did not have to happen if they had learned from the mistakes of this movie.
I'm like any other Lovecraft fan - I'll take what I can get and am willing to look past a lot to widen my collection. But dang, this film sucks. It didn't have to, either, because it could have been salvageable had they tweaked the plot a little, rounding out the main characters and scrapping the film noir grave robbing subplot nobody cared about anyway.
There's too much going on and not enough context to put it all in. The action scenes were unbelievable and contrived to the point of being comedic. Maybe they should have taken a cue from the Evil Dead franchise and hammed it up for the laughs.
No, this is a film that took itself way too seriously. Lots of posturing and gun waving machismo to make anyone with half a brain want to rip that stupid plastic gun out of their hands just to get to the next scene.
None of the characters were written well enough to care about, so when they were picked off I just blinked and glanced at the clock. That's a shame, too, because the actors themselves weren't the problem. Their script just wasn't worth two sifts out a litter box.
But this is what happens when movie makers try to do more with a film than what they actually can. This movie did not need any time fillers, nor did it need a garbled plot to gain/keep interest. What it needed was an improved story-line with well written characters. They never did explain how the Martin family got to be the way they were, and why they would meet an ugly death. That would have been far more interesting than the other nonessential subplots they put into this movie.
Just as a side note: If you don't know how to choreograph and splice together believable action scenes; scrap them all together and work in a couple of good chase scenes instead. I think that was the main problem with this movie - too many badly executed action scenes and not enough ambiance. This didn't feel like a horror movie at all.
However, casting Jeffrey Combs doesn't make a film good. Dunwich Horror, 2009 did not have to happen if they had learned from the mistakes of this movie.
I'm like any other Lovecraft fan - I'll take what I can get and am willing to look past a lot to widen my collection. But dang, this film sucks. It didn't have to, either, because it could have been salvageable had they tweaked the plot a little, rounding out the main characters and scrapping the film noir grave robbing subplot nobody cared about anyway.
There's too much going on and not enough context to put it all in. The action scenes were unbelievable and contrived to the point of being comedic. Maybe they should have taken a cue from the Evil Dead franchise and hammed it up for the laughs.
No, this is a film that took itself way too seriously. Lots of posturing and gun waving machismo to make anyone with half a brain want to rip that stupid plastic gun out of their hands just to get to the next scene.
None of the characters were written well enough to care about, so when they were picked off I just blinked and glanced at the clock. That's a shame, too, because the actors themselves weren't the problem. Their script just wasn't worth two sifts out a litter box.
But this is what happens when movie makers try to do more with a film than what they actually can. This movie did not need any time fillers, nor did it need a garbled plot to gain/keep interest. What it needed was an improved story-line with well written characters. They never did explain how the Martin family got to be the way they were, and why they would meet an ugly death. That would have been far more interesting than the other nonessential subplots they put into this movie.
Just as a side note: If you don't know how to choreograph and splice together believable action scenes; scrap them all together and work in a couple of good chase scenes instead. I think that was the main problem with this movie - too many badly executed action scenes and not enough ambiance. This didn't feel like a horror movie at all.
And the town had trouble with these things because?
Aaron13755 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This is a film brought to us by Full Moon Studios, a studio that was constantly creating low budget horror back in the day. They made some good films and some bad ones; however, during the time this film was made, they were mainly doing horror comedies all the time and this one tries to be that too. I am kind of baffled by the score here on IMDb as I thought this film was quite bad, even for one of their movies because it just had too many flaws. A promising opening scene and a rather good premise were completely undone by where they took it and so many unnecessary plot points. I read the H.P. Lovecraft short story this one is based on and they had the makings of actually doing something with it, but just clogged the film down with so many things that just did not fit in with the premise. The deaths were also pretty much unmemorable, the acting horrid with the exception of the only two actors one would tend to recognize (Combs and Schiavelli) and the film has a complete lack of tension due to the fact that through the majority of the film it looks like there is only one creature when they keep suggesting there are several...enough to take out a town apparently. The film is short though, so the pain of watching it did not take too long.
The story has two sisters or something at the beginning arguing about stuff. Something tries to take the baby and the sister that seems to know how to fight is killed. This is also the best kill in the film. Not sure if this was the past or what. I could not tell as the editing was not all that good. All I know is a guy is getting out of prison and a guy working at a funeral home gives him part of a map that will show the location of a cemetery by a church where a lot of money is buried. He goes there and some bad guys follow and get mixed up in a mess as citizens of a town are taking a stand against creatures that have been terrorizing them for 20 years because apparently no one wants to exert the effort to leave town.
The monsters when on screen look rather good; unfortunately, they are not in the movie all that much. As I said, you never really get a sense that there is really all that much danger as you only see more than two monsters on the screen like once. Too often in this one the focus of the film is on this guy wanting his money back which begins to get absurd. Things are going badly, the guy is clearly rich so I am rather sure he could have left without collecting what was probably 100,000 dollars tops. I was getting sick of the stupid girl he had with him and wanted her to die slowly, but I did not get that satisfaction. We have monsters in tunnels that are supposed to be overrunning things and the subplots overran them!
So this Full Moon film was incredibly bad and I felt there were very few things of redeeming nature in it. It had decent looking monsters and a nice opening scene, but that was it! No good deaths beyond the opening scene, no nudity, no sense to be made with the plot! Seriously, why the heck did the townspeople not leave!?! Monsters are feasting on them and they just stay around, why? Because the property taxes are cheap, perhaps? This monsters were also incredibly slow killers, how anyone got snuffed by them is a testament to what poor survival skills these people must of had! I guess that should be surprising seeing as how the monster only strike when it rains and at night so the people in town only had like plenty of time to leave over the 20 year reign of terror! Just too much stuff wrong with it to say it was anything, but bad in my opinion; however, like most Full Moon Studio films, at least I can say it was really short.
The story has two sisters or something at the beginning arguing about stuff. Something tries to take the baby and the sister that seems to know how to fight is killed. This is also the best kill in the film. Not sure if this was the past or what. I could not tell as the editing was not all that good. All I know is a guy is getting out of prison and a guy working at a funeral home gives him part of a map that will show the location of a cemetery by a church where a lot of money is buried. He goes there and some bad guys follow and get mixed up in a mess as citizens of a town are taking a stand against creatures that have been terrorizing them for 20 years because apparently no one wants to exert the effort to leave town.
The monsters when on screen look rather good; unfortunately, they are not in the movie all that much. As I said, you never really get a sense that there is really all that much danger as you only see more than two monsters on the screen like once. Too often in this one the focus of the film is on this guy wanting his money back which begins to get absurd. Things are going badly, the guy is clearly rich so I am rather sure he could have left without collecting what was probably 100,000 dollars tops. I was getting sick of the stupid girl he had with him and wanted her to die slowly, but I did not get that satisfaction. We have monsters in tunnels that are supposed to be overrunning things and the subplots overran them!
So this Full Moon film was incredibly bad and I felt there were very few things of redeeming nature in it. It had decent looking monsters and a nice opening scene, but that was it! No good deaths beyond the opening scene, no nudity, no sense to be made with the plot! Seriously, why the heck did the townspeople not leave!?! Monsters are feasting on them and they just stay around, why? Because the property taxes are cheap, perhaps? This monsters were also incredibly slow killers, how anyone got snuffed by them is a testament to what poor survival skills these people must of had! I guess that should be surprising seeing as how the monster only strike when it rains and at night so the people in town only had like plenty of time to leave over the 20 year reign of terror! Just too much stuff wrong with it to say it was anything, but bad in my opinion; however, like most Full Moon Studio films, at least I can say it was really short.
Rather 80s than 90s Style
Tweetienator13 April 2022
The production value and acting are solid stuff, sadly, the story is not - it just meanders rather aimlessly one. Half the movie we watch some people talking in a church at a cemetery, plotting against each other to turn the tide. But nonetheless there is some fine work: the masks of the creatures look gorgeous and the setting of the graveyard looks fine too, but all rather in a 80s style. To sum it up: an okay horror movie who had the potential, to be, with the same cast and production, but with a better script, a really good one.
Very nearly a great film.
poolandrews12 February 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Lurking Fear starts as small time crook John Martense (Blake Adams) is released from prison after serving five years, he heads straight for a funeral parlour run by Knaggs (Vincent Schiavelli) whom is in possession of one half of a map that reveals the location of a buried body stuffed full of money & John has the other half. Together the two pieces reveal that John's father buried the body in a cemetery in his home town of Lefferts Corner, armed with the information he needs John heads off to find the town although the casino boss who John's father stole the money from in the first place is in hot pursuit. Once at Lefferts Corner things take an unexpected turn when a group of locals inside the Church are planning to rid the town of underground creatures who like eating the local population, John becomes involved as to get the money & save his own life he has to do battle with the creatures too...
Written & directed by C. Courtney Joyner based on the short story of the same name by H.P. Lovecraft it seems that Lurking Fear is one of three filmed adaptations including Dark Heritage (1989) & the Rutger Hauer flick Bleeders & while Lurking Fear retains Lovecraft's original title unlike the other two it's perhaps the least faithful of the three & has no real connection to the short story other than feature a guy called Martense & underground creatures. Lurking Fear is almost a great film, every aspect is almost great but not quite, the character's are good & while I appreciate that there are no teenagers here & the cast are proper adults some feel like they are making the numbers up, while the story is good it never quite reaches the heights you hope for with the crime aspect not going anywhere (no-one gets the money) & there's no reasoning behind the underground creatures like where they came from or why they stay underground & there are little subplots like the religious angle where the Priest's faith is tested but again nothing is done with it. The set-up is good with various character's trapped fighting off flesh eating creatures outside but again you just hope for a bit more, the attack scenes are few & far between, there's never more than or two creatures on screen at once & aspects of the plot don't make much sense like why hasn't anyone stood up to these creatures before or why didn't anyone call the army or police & didn't anyone ever notice all the people going missing from that town? At a little over 70 minutes Lurking Fear is short, it's brisk & moves along at a good pace but you just can't help but feel a little disappointed at the end since this could have been great, I still enjoyed it & thought it was good but it should have been better.
Lurking Fear has a good atmosphere about it, the dark night, the thunder storm, the dark underground tunnels full of creatures & a traditional Church as a setting but there's not much gore & while the make-up on the creatures are good we never see more than a couple. The ending also features some impressive & pretty big explosions. This was executive produced by Charles Band who was going to make it under his Empire Pictures company with Stuart Gordon directing (who is a bit of a H.P. Lovecraft expert now having already directed Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), Castle Freak (1995) & Dagon (2001) which are based on stories by him) before it went belly up & Full Moon Entertainment produced it.
Made on a supposed budget of about $1,000,000 this has good production values, good effects, a decent cast & it actually feels like a horror film. Although set in the US this was filmed in Romania. The acting is pretty good with Ashley Laurence & genre favourite Jeffrey Combs the most familiar faces here.
Lurking Fear is a film that is almost great, as it is it's still good but you can't help but feel a little bit more time & money Lurking Fear could have been a classic. I liked it & would recommend it especially to horror fans & those who like dark Gothic stories.
Written & directed by C. Courtney Joyner based on the short story of the same name by H.P. Lovecraft it seems that Lurking Fear is one of three filmed adaptations including Dark Heritage (1989) & the Rutger Hauer flick Bleeders & while Lurking Fear retains Lovecraft's original title unlike the other two it's perhaps the least faithful of the three & has no real connection to the short story other than feature a guy called Martense & underground creatures. Lurking Fear is almost a great film, every aspect is almost great but not quite, the character's are good & while I appreciate that there are no teenagers here & the cast are proper adults some feel like they are making the numbers up, while the story is good it never quite reaches the heights you hope for with the crime aspect not going anywhere (no-one gets the money) & there's no reasoning behind the underground creatures like where they came from or why they stay underground & there are little subplots like the religious angle where the Priest's faith is tested but again nothing is done with it. The set-up is good with various character's trapped fighting off flesh eating creatures outside but again you just hope for a bit more, the attack scenes are few & far between, there's never more than or two creatures on screen at once & aspects of the plot don't make much sense like why hasn't anyone stood up to these creatures before or why didn't anyone call the army or police & didn't anyone ever notice all the people going missing from that town? At a little over 70 minutes Lurking Fear is short, it's brisk & moves along at a good pace but you just can't help but feel a little disappointed at the end since this could have been great, I still enjoyed it & thought it was good but it should have been better.
Lurking Fear has a good atmosphere about it, the dark night, the thunder storm, the dark underground tunnels full of creatures & a traditional Church as a setting but there's not much gore & while the make-up on the creatures are good we never see more than a couple. The ending also features some impressive & pretty big explosions. This was executive produced by Charles Band who was going to make it under his Empire Pictures company with Stuart Gordon directing (who is a bit of a H.P. Lovecraft expert now having already directed Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), Castle Freak (1995) & Dagon (2001) which are based on stories by him) before it went belly up & Full Moon Entertainment produced it.
Made on a supposed budget of about $1,000,000 this has good production values, good effects, a decent cast & it actually feels like a horror film. Although set in the US this was filmed in Romania. The acting is pretty good with Ashley Laurence & genre favourite Jeffrey Combs the most familiar faces here.
Lurking Fear is a film that is almost great, as it is it's still good but you can't help but feel a little bit more time & money Lurking Fear could have been a classic. I liked it & would recommend it especially to horror fans & those who like dark Gothic stories.
Lovecraft Full Moon
BandSAboutMovies25 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Written and directed by C. Courtney Joyner, who directed Trancers III and wrote From a Whisper to a Scream, Doctor Mordrid, Class of 1999, Prison and Total Excess: How Carolco Changed Hollywood, this film tells the story of Leffert's Corners, a place that has been plagued by unearthly beings for decades. It's basically abandoned except for a few hearty souls like a priest and now John Martense, who is in town to put his family's estate in order. And we all know what happens to people who come to claim inheritances in horror movies.
Joyner was a first-time director, so there was a worry that hiring an actor like David Hemmings would lead to him not being treated well, as Hemmings was also a director. Instead, Jon Finch, who was also in Frenzy and Murder on the Nile, was hired. He did exactly what the production teamed feared and repeatedly clashed with the director and refused to even listen to him say cut.
The rest of the cast is pretty strong with the dependable Jeffrey Combs as a town doctor, Vincent Schiavelli as a mortician and Ashley Laurence as a woman seeking revenge. Plus, it's also cool to see Paul Mantee in a movie.
For a while, it seemed like H. P. Lovecraft was to Charles Band as Edgar Allan Poe was to Roger Corman. This is another of the many Full Moon films that use a Lovecraft story as an inspiration.
This also was edited down to thirty minutes and used as part of Full Moon's remix movie Tomb of Terror, where it had the title "Infinite Evil."
Joyner was a first-time director, so there was a worry that hiring an actor like David Hemmings would lead to him not being treated well, as Hemmings was also a director. Instead, Jon Finch, who was also in Frenzy and Murder on the Nile, was hired. He did exactly what the production teamed feared and repeatedly clashed with the director and refused to even listen to him say cut.
The rest of the cast is pretty strong with the dependable Jeffrey Combs as a town doctor, Vincent Schiavelli as a mortician and Ashley Laurence as a woman seeking revenge. Plus, it's also cool to see Paul Mantee in a movie.
For a while, it seemed like H. P. Lovecraft was to Charles Band as Edgar Allan Poe was to Roger Corman. This is another of the many Full Moon films that use a Lovecraft story as an inspiration.
This also was edited down to thirty minutes and used as part of Full Moon's remix movie Tomb of Terror, where it had the title "Infinite Evil."
A doomily nihilistic, morbidly misanthropic horror movie.
Weirdling_Wolf5 January 2021
'As above so below...in misbegotten Leffert's Corners there's nowhere left to hide, as there are ceaselessly hungering ghouls lurking hatefully in the brackish earth below, and a glacial, soul-crippling fear paralyses the nightmarish, increasingly desolated world above!' - Weirdlingwolf.
In 1994 Full Moon Entertainment unleashed another spectacularly grisly, H. P Lovecraft-inspired, gruesomely Gothic fear-fest, 'Lurking Fear'. A smartly written, ably directed low budget gut-puncher by, C. Courtney Joyner. In the ill-fated Leffert's Corners, this cursed, dilapidated ghost town is ignominiously dragged ever further into despond by the foul, subterranean machinations of grotesque, evil-seeded, corpse flesh coveting fiends below! Of the four misfits arriving in ill-fated Leffert's Corners, jailbird, John Mortense (Blake Adams)returns to stake his claim on the malign Mortense family's buried fortune. Arriving with the same mercenary goal, duplicitous, gun-happy goons, led by erudite B-Movie hoodlum, Bennet (John Finch) aim to retrieve the Mortense filthy lucre by means nefarious!
The escalating brutality of the repellent gargoyles gruesome attacks, and the hair-triggered villain's increasingly asinine behaviour galvanize locals, Cathryn Farrell (Ashley Laurence) and slovenly booze hound, Dr. Haggis (Jeffrey Combs) to stand their devil-polluted ground against these earthly, and monstrously unearthly travails! And it is in this desperate melee, claustrophobically cloistered within the town's mildewed church wherein the fulminating fear, far from lurking, surges bodily out of the stinking ferment to lace its icily gnarled fingers tightly around the viewers unsuspecting throat!
'Lurking Fear', for all its brevity is generously replete with sinisterly spine-skewering set pieces, a marvellously moody score by composer, Jim Manzie, and triumphantly ghoulish, luridly eye-popping practical FX by Alchemyfx (Wayne Toth et al.) The oppressively mouldering ambience of Milo's credibly age-dilapidated sets engenders a suitably moribund backdrop to these eldritch, flesh-feasting shenanigans! All of their creativity lending this grimly Gothic B-shocker a doomily nihilistic, morbidly misanthropic atmosphere that I'm sure author, H. P Lovecraft would strongly approve of!
In 1994 Full Moon Entertainment unleashed another spectacularly grisly, H. P Lovecraft-inspired, gruesomely Gothic fear-fest, 'Lurking Fear'. A smartly written, ably directed low budget gut-puncher by, C. Courtney Joyner. In the ill-fated Leffert's Corners, this cursed, dilapidated ghost town is ignominiously dragged ever further into despond by the foul, subterranean machinations of grotesque, evil-seeded, corpse flesh coveting fiends below! Of the four misfits arriving in ill-fated Leffert's Corners, jailbird, John Mortense (Blake Adams)returns to stake his claim on the malign Mortense family's buried fortune. Arriving with the same mercenary goal, duplicitous, gun-happy goons, led by erudite B-Movie hoodlum, Bennet (John Finch) aim to retrieve the Mortense filthy lucre by means nefarious!
The escalating brutality of the repellent gargoyles gruesome attacks, and the hair-triggered villain's increasingly asinine behaviour galvanize locals, Cathryn Farrell (Ashley Laurence) and slovenly booze hound, Dr. Haggis (Jeffrey Combs) to stand their devil-polluted ground against these earthly, and monstrously unearthly travails! And it is in this desperate melee, claustrophobically cloistered within the town's mildewed church wherein the fulminating fear, far from lurking, surges bodily out of the stinking ferment to lace its icily gnarled fingers tightly around the viewers unsuspecting throat!
'Lurking Fear', for all its brevity is generously replete with sinisterly spine-skewering set pieces, a marvellously moody score by composer, Jim Manzie, and triumphantly ghoulish, luridly eye-popping practical FX by Alchemyfx (Wayne Toth et al.) The oppressively mouldering ambience of Milo's credibly age-dilapidated sets engenders a suitably moribund backdrop to these eldritch, flesh-feasting shenanigans! All of their creativity lending this grimly Gothic B-shocker a doomily nihilistic, morbidly misanthropic atmosphere that I'm sure author, H. P Lovecraft would strongly approve of!
Just let the weapon do the work
nogodnomasters19 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Demonic type creatures live underground at Leffert's Corners. They like to come out on Christmas eve as our human hunters prepare a surprise from them at the church cemetery. Meanwhile some bad guy grave robbers are looking for buried money. The two clash, in what becomes a three way fight.
You don't get to see the Creepshow looking creatures until near the end. Until then it was just arms reaching out. The scare factor was hit and miss. Short film with little to no character build up.
6 stars because it didn't completely suck and was based on an H.P. Lovecraft short story. Part of a 30 Horror Film Collection.
Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.
You don't get to see the Creepshow looking creatures until near the end. Until then it was just arms reaching out. The scare factor was hit and miss. Short film with little to no character build up.
6 stars because it didn't completely suck and was based on an H.P. Lovecraft short story. Part of a 30 Horror Film Collection.
Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.
You'll Root for the Villains
TheExpatriate7006 February 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Lurking Fear is a mediocre but still watchable adaptation of one of H. P. Lovecraft's more obscure stories. The film suffers from weak writing, less than compelling characters, and not especially threatening monsters, but benefits from some surprisingly strong performances, especially from the actors playing the human antagonists.
Long story made short, an ex-convict learns of a stash of money hidden in a graveyard, left there by his father, a thief. When he comes to dig it up, he finds himself caught in a battle between the townsfolk and some unholy creatures that, unsurprisingly, he has a connection to.
The pacing and writing in this film are poor. Most of the first half plays like a heist movie rather than a horror film, as a trio of gangsters crash the graveyard and try to take the ex-convict's loot. Furthermore, the creatures that stalk the graveyard aren't particularly menacing and easily fought off, leading one to wonder how they terrorized a town for twenty years. This isn't helped by the fact that the human protagonists, for the most part, come across as incompetent. Ashley Laurence's caustic action girl comes across as particularly obnoxious.
However, the film is salvaged by a decent cast. Character actor Vincent Schiavelli has a small role as a shifty undertaker, while Paul Mantee does well as a priest in charge of the church and graveyard. The highlights of the film are Jon Finch and Allison Mackie as two of the gangsters. One wishes the film had cast them as anti-hero protagonists. It would have been much more interesting.
Long story made short, an ex-convict learns of a stash of money hidden in a graveyard, left there by his father, a thief. When he comes to dig it up, he finds himself caught in a battle between the townsfolk and some unholy creatures that, unsurprisingly, he has a connection to.
The pacing and writing in this film are poor. Most of the first half plays like a heist movie rather than a horror film, as a trio of gangsters crash the graveyard and try to take the ex-convict's loot. Furthermore, the creatures that stalk the graveyard aren't particularly menacing and easily fought off, leading one to wonder how they terrorized a town for twenty years. This isn't helped by the fact that the human protagonists, for the most part, come across as incompetent. Ashley Laurence's caustic action girl comes across as particularly obnoxious.
However, the film is salvaged by a decent cast. Character actor Vincent Schiavelli has a small role as a shifty undertaker, while Paul Mantee does well as a priest in charge of the church and graveyard. The highlights of the film are Jon Finch and Allison Mackie as two of the gangsters. One wishes the film had cast them as anti-hero protagonists. It would have been much more interesting.
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