Ghoulies

GHOULIES (18)

D: Luca Bercovici

Empire (Jeffrey Levy)

USA 🇺🇸 1985

88 mins

Horror

W: Luca Bercovici & Jeffrey Levy

DP: Mac Ahlberg

Ed: Ted Nicolaou

Mus: Richard Band & Shirley Walker

Peter Liapis (Jonathan), Lisa Pelikan (Rebecca), Michael Des Barres (Malcolm), Mariska Hargitay (Donna), Jack Nance (Wolfgang)

Schlocky Gremlins rip-off about a couple who enter a mansion occupied by a satanist wizard and his horde of demonic creatures.

Cheap rubbish which would make perfect entertainment for a bad movies night.

A trio of sequels followed, all of varying quality, although the first of which, released in 1988, was (slightly) better than the first film, changing the formula slightly and relocating the action to a fairground carnival..

3/10

GHOULIES II (15)

D: Albert Band

Empire (Albert Band)

US 🇺🇸 1987

89 mins

Horror

W: Dennis Paoli

DP: Sergio Salvati

Ed: Barry Zetlin

Mus: Fuzzbee Morse

Damon Martin (Larry), Royal Dano (Uncle Ned), Phil Fondacaro (Sir Nigel Pennywright), Kerry Remsen (Nicole), Dale Wyatt (Dixie)

A slight improvement on the original 1985 film, even if the bar wasn’t particularly high and these movies are just a blatant rip-off of Gremlins (1984).

This time around, the diminutive beasties stow away with a travelling carnival, where they become part of the ‘Satan’s Den’ horror-themed ride, where people think they’re simply a prop until they’re taken out one-by-one by the tiny demons.

Empire Productions weren’t exactly known for the high-brow, and this is the sort of film you’d expect from them - horror trash for juveniles, albeit with a 15 age rating, slimy effects and rather gross puppetry.

It should also be mentioned that dwarf actor Phil Fondacaro gives a decent performance that carries more dramatic weight than a film like this deserves.

5/10