Terror on Alcatraz (1987) / Force of Darkness (1985)
2-Disc DVD set
DIRECTOR: Terror on Alcatraz: Philip Marcus / Force of Darkness: Alan Hauge
STARS: Terror on Alcatraz: Aldo Ray (Hollywood Cop, Crime of Crimes), Sandy Brooke (Sledgehammer), VeronicaAli, Bea Marcus, Scott Ryder / Force of Darkness: Mel Novak (Lovely But Deadly, Game of Death), Doug Shanklin, Loren Cedar
SYNOPSIS: Two 80's suspense slashers set in Alcatraz prison.
Terror on Alcatraz: Aldo Ray plays “Frank Morris”, the only man to escape Alcatraz (8 years after Clint Eastwood did). He’s living under a fake name and biding his time. He needs to retrieve a secret clue his cell mates left at Alcatraz. It leads to a hidden key for a safety deposit box full of jewelry and cash. He takes a tourist boat out to the “Rock” and tries to find the map. The only problem is a group of classic slasher movie 20-somethings are on the tour too. One annoying guy is an Alcatraz expert and realizes that Ray is the infamous convict. He convinces the rest of the group to go back after hours to find him. Of course, they find time to drink, get high and screw, as well. Ray realizes he must kill all those nosy kids in order to keep his secret. At this point it becomes a prison set slasher as Ray grabs a giant meat cleaver from the wall of prisoner weapons on display and starts hacking. Much of Ray’s footage as he stalks the victims reminded me of Bela Lugosi wandering around in Plan 9 from Outer Space by himself. Ray absolutely throws himself into the role of a vicious killer and looks like he’s having fun. In one scene his girlfriend is annoying him so he puts out his cigarette on her naked breast! The film is surprisingly gory with a hand chopped off, impalement, meat cleaver to the head, etc. There’s an unexpectedly lengthy epilogue and an unbelievable twist ending. The 80’s style synth score is pretty good.
Force of Darkness: This horror film has a supernatural element to it. A very disturbed sociopathic man with multiple personalities (Novak) becomes obsessed with a woman, “Gloria”, he sees at psychatrist’s office. He brutally kills her boyfriend and even haunts her in visions. Novak’s brother is way into psychic phenomena and blames his sibling’s problems on a bad upbringing by their religious father. For some reason Novak is drawn to Alcatraz and large chunks of the film take place there. At one point Gloria’s gung-ho military brother joins the hunt as he prowls the dark empty corridors of the infamous prison in search of Novak. A friendly detective on the case tries to figure it all out. The scenes at Alcatraz are effective and Novak really chews up the scenery.
Fullscreen / Color (both films)
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R
2-Disc DVD set
DIRECTOR: Terror on Alcatraz: Philip Marcus / Force of Darkness: Alan Hauge
STARS: Terror on Alcatraz: Aldo Ray (Hollywood Cop, Crime of Crimes), Sandy Brooke (Sledgehammer), VeronicaAli, Bea Marcus, Scott Ryder / Force of Darkness: Mel Novak (Lovely But Deadly, Game of Death), Doug Shanklin, Loren Cedar
SYNOPSIS: Two 80's suspense slashers set in Alcatraz prison.
Terror on Alcatraz: Aldo Ray plays “Frank Morris”, the only man to escape Alcatraz (8 years after Clint Eastwood did). He’s living under a fake name and biding his time. He needs to retrieve a secret clue his cell mates left at Alcatraz. It leads to a hidden key for a safety deposit box full of jewelry and cash. He takes a tourist boat out to the “Rock” and tries to find the map. The only problem is a group of classic slasher movie 20-somethings are on the tour too. One annoying guy is an Alcatraz expert and realizes that Ray is the infamous convict. He convinces the rest of the group to go back after hours to find him. Of course, they find time to drink, get high and screw, as well. Ray realizes he must kill all those nosy kids in order to keep his secret. At this point it becomes a prison set slasher as Ray grabs a giant meat cleaver from the wall of prisoner weapons on display and starts hacking. Much of Ray’s footage as he stalks the victims reminded me of Bela Lugosi wandering around in Plan 9 from Outer Space by himself. Ray absolutely throws himself into the role of a vicious killer and looks like he’s having fun. In one scene his girlfriend is annoying him so he puts out his cigarette on her naked breast! The film is surprisingly gory with a hand chopped off, impalement, meat cleaver to the head, etc. There’s an unexpectedly lengthy epilogue and an unbelievable twist ending. The 80’s style synth score is pretty good.
Force of Darkness: This horror film has a supernatural element to it. A very disturbed sociopathic man with multiple personalities (Novak) becomes obsessed with a woman, “Gloria”, he sees at psychatrist’s office. He brutally kills her boyfriend and even haunts her in visions. Novak’s brother is way into psychic phenomena and blames his sibling’s problems on a bad upbringing by their religious father. For some reason Novak is drawn to Alcatraz and large chunks of the film take place there. At one point Gloria’s gung-ho military brother joins the hunt as he prowls the dark empty corridors of the infamous prison in search of Novak. A friendly detective on the case tries to figure it all out. The scenes at Alcatraz are effective and Novak really chews up the scenery.
Fullscreen / Color (both films)
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R
2-Disc DVD set
DIRECTOR: Terror on Alcatraz: Philip Marcus / Force of Darkness: Alan Hauge
STARS: Terror on Alcatraz: Aldo Ray (Hollywood Cop, Crime of Crimes), Sandy Brooke (Sledgehammer), VeronicaAli, Bea Marcus, Scott Ryder / Force of Darkness: Mel Novak (Lovely But Deadly, Game of Death), Doug Shanklin, Loren Cedar
SYNOPSIS: Two 80's suspense slashers set in Alcatraz prison.
Terror on Alcatraz: Aldo Ray plays “Frank Morris”, the only man to escape Alcatraz (8 years after Clint Eastwood did). He’s living under a fake name and biding his time. He needs to retrieve a secret clue his cell mates left at Alcatraz. It leads to a hidden key for a safety deposit box full of jewelry and cash. He takes a tourist boat out to the “Rock” and tries to find the map. The only problem is a group of classic slasher movie 20-somethings are on the tour too. One annoying guy is an Alcatraz expert and realizes that Ray is the infamous convict. He convinces the rest of the group to go back after hours to find him. Of course, they find time to drink, get high and screw, as well. Ray realizes he must kill all those nosy kids in order to keep his secret. At this point it becomes a prison set slasher as Ray grabs a giant meat cleaver from the wall of prisoner weapons on display and starts hacking. Much of Ray’s footage as he stalks the victims reminded me of Bela Lugosi wandering around in Plan 9 from Outer Space by himself. Ray absolutely throws himself into the role of a vicious killer and looks like he’s having fun. In one scene his girlfriend is annoying him so he puts out his cigarette on her naked breast! The film is surprisingly gory with a hand chopped off, impalement, meat cleaver to the head, etc. There’s an unexpectedly lengthy epilogue and an unbelievable twist ending. The 80’s style synth score is pretty good.
Force of Darkness: This horror film has a supernatural element to it. A very disturbed sociopathic man with multiple personalities (Novak) becomes obsessed with a woman, “Gloria”, he sees at psychatrist’s office. He brutally kills her boyfriend and even haunts her in visions. Novak’s brother is way into psychic phenomena and blames his sibling’s problems on a bad upbringing by their religious father. For some reason Novak is drawn to Alcatraz and large chunks of the film take place there. At one point Gloria’s gung-ho military brother joins the hunt as he prowls the dark empty corridors of the infamous prison in search of Novak. A friendly detective on the case tries to figure it all out. The scenes at Alcatraz are effective and Novak really chews up the scenery.
Fullscreen / Color (both films)
Region Free / Code Free DVD-R