I was more than usually interested in this because it was shot amidst the late 1980s San Francisco punk scene, and I was in that scene (although not involved with this film, or even aware of it being made that I can remember). Yet even given that personal curiosity value, AND loving schlock horror movies, this was a chore to actually sit through. It's got the qualities of many shot-on-video, meant-for-the-VHS-market horror movies of the era, but unlike such camp classics of that little niche such as "Boarding House," it's just tongue-in-cheek enough-- and just well-made enough--to avoid providing many unintentional laughs. But not tongue-in- cheek or well-made enough to be actually witty or stylish. It's just mildly snarky in serving up turgid doses of blood and breasts (if you don't think those things can be dull in themselves, then this movie will be a revelation for you), with lots of talky boredom between.
The Nuns play in a couple scenes (as fictional band "Disease"--there's also a fictional recreational drug called "DZS"--but frankly that's just bad New Wave music. The leads have a sort of soap opera-actor sheen to them that's in contrast to the variably campier/more inept supporting turns. Technically, the movie suggests some personnel had some expertise (probably in theater lighting, maybe doing low-end music videos etc.), but not any feature-film experience to clue them into how to pace scenes, let alone a whole movie.
I kicked up my rating one star because (SPOILER SPOILER) the mutant-monster effect at the end is sort of cool if not exactly convincing. But otherwise this is a curio that's not really much fun, beyond the sheer novelty of seeing something that basically went unseen for nearly 30 years-- supposedly the only exposure it ever got until now was (weirdly) VHS release in Poland.
The Nuns play in a couple scenes (as fictional band "Disease"--there's also a fictional recreational drug called "DZS"--but frankly that's just bad New Wave music. The leads have a sort of soap opera-actor sheen to them that's in contrast to the variably campier/more inept supporting turns. Technically, the movie suggests some personnel had some expertise (probably in theater lighting, maybe doing low-end music videos etc.), but not any feature-film experience to clue them into how to pace scenes, let alone a whole movie.
I kicked up my rating one star because (SPOILER SPOILER) the mutant-monster effect at the end is sort of cool if not exactly convincing. But otherwise this is a curio that's not really much fun, beyond the sheer novelty of seeing something that basically went unseen for nearly 30 years-- supposedly the only exposure it ever got until now was (weirdly) VHS release in Poland.
