lost-in-limbo Not to be confused with Peter Walker's 1974 British shocker of the same title, the early 80s "Frightmare" was a cheesy low-budget supernatural slasher made the more interesting for it having Jeffrey Combs taking on his first main role. Other than that it was an unmemorable drawn-out fare, which sadly had a fun macabre premise which had shades of "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things", "The House of Seven Corpses", "Theatre of Death" and "One Dark Night" but the execution while proficient was stodgily drab with little imagination. Although some atmosphere did find its way in, especially with the fog machine getting a good workout within its shadowy foundation. After the death of a legendary horror actor, a group of film students steal his corpse from the crypt and go about fooling around with it within the house where the actor had made some of his best pictures. However they didn't count on the actor's corpse coming back to life to exact revenge on them. Ferdy Mayne's histrionically high maintenance turns as horror icon Conrad Radzoff is full of Grand Guignol as he comes back as a vengeful corpse reliving his glory horror days. In murderous impulses, he starts getting migraines (well that's what it looks like)… actually he's using mind control as he goes knocking off the obnoxiously detestable bunch of characters which featured the likes of Scott Thompson, Luca Bercovici and Nita Talbot as the actor's selfish wife. These were a rowdy bunch you cheered, when they succumb to their grisly fate. Of the lot, Bercovivi and Comb's deaths were the picks. The offbeat script (namely with those live interactive moments) is disjointed and gets a bit repetitive, but it had an amusingly diabolical sense of humour to go along with its cheap jolts and crazy low-rent special effects. A silly, slipshod b-horror movie."Let's call it a wrap".

Woodyanders Legendary hammy and arrogant horror movie star Conrad Radzoff (splendidly played with wicked sardonic aplomb by Ferdy Mayne) dies of a heart attack. A bunch of drama school students steal Radzoff's corpse from its crypt and take it to a rundown mansion so they can party with it. Radzoff comes back to life and picks off the rude youths for desecrating his grave. Writer/director Norman Thaddeus Vane concocts a fresh, original, and even pretty stylish spin on the usual body count premise, offers a neat evocation of the glitzy Hollywood milieu, and does a sturdy job of maintaining a pleasingly misty and spooky ooga-booga atmosphere. The kill set pieces deliver the grisly goods, with a gal being set on fire, a juicy decapitation (the severed head rolls right down the stairs and onto the lawn so a raven can peck away at it!), and another poor lass being crushed with a levitating coffin rating as the definite gruesome highlights. Kudos are also in order for the stellar cast of familiar B-flick faces: Mayne has a deliciously eye-rolling ball with his flashy role, Leon Askin contributes an amusing cameo as bitter washed-up director Wolfgang, Nita Talbot adds some class as flaky psychic medium Mrs. Rohmer, plus there are nice turns by Luca Bercovici as jerky drama student ringleader Saint, Jennifer Starrett as the sweet Meg, Jeffrey Combs as the geeky Stu, and Scott Thomson as the nerdy Bobo. Popping up in cool bits are Chuck "Porky" Mitchell as a detective, Patrick Wright in one of his customary policeman parts, and Tallie Cochrane as a corpse. Joel King's polished cinematography gives the film an attractive glossy look. The moody score by Jerry Mosely likewise hits the shuddery spot. A fun little fright flick.

ozthegreatat42330 Alright, I will be the very first to say that this is not a great film, but then ninety-nine percent of the horror films made are pure garbage. This one rises a little better than that. Ferdy Mayne (of Roman Polanski's "Dance of th Vampires") Is well suited to the vainglorious, aging horror star, determined to control things even after death. He manages to get his revenge from beyond the grave, against some college film students who have failed to respect his final remains, stealing his body from his mausoleum to have a party in his honor. Some of the acting is less than memorable, but there are true chills if you set out to watch this one in a dark room, all alone, after midnight. It is at least a middle of the road horror classic.

pumaye Not really bad this peculiar mix of teen slasher and 30's horror movie, with good direction, creepy atmosphere, Jeffrey Combs in one of his earliest role, and a very good lead in the role of the old horror star returning from the grave to punish his fans (well, they have stolen his body and made fun of his corpse, so they deserve their fate). To search, find and enjoy