Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon

It's time to take a trip back to 1978 (three years before I was born), the year when the psychological thriller Eyes of Laura Mars was released to theatres starring Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones,René Auberjonois, Brad Dourif, and Raul Julia!

Based on John Carpenter's eleven-page treatment, Eyes of Laura Mars was written for the screen by David Zelag Goodman and directed by Irvin Kershner. Faye Dunaway plays Laura Mars, a famous controversial fashion photographer who takes erotic photos of models in settings of graphic violence. What makes Laura Mars completely different than other photographers is that she has a psychic ability, giving her a mind's eyes (similar to looking through the lens of a camera). This is how she has been witnessing a series of brutal murders, which have inspired all of her gallery portraits.

Laura becomes a possible murder suspects after a police detective, John Neville (played by Tommy Lee Jones), discovers her portraits are very similar to real crime scene photographs. After ruling her out as a murder suspect, John begins to believe she has a sixth sense and will do anything to protect from the serial killer.

Eyes of Laura Mars (R; 104 minutes; $14.98) will be released on Blu-ray on May 14th by Mill Creek Entertainment. The only bonus extra is an Audio Commentary by Director Irvin Kershner.

Final Thoughts

AMAZON

Good or bad, one of my favorite television series to watch is AMC's The Walking Dead, which the second half of season nine is currently airing on Sunday nights. I've never read the comic books the series is based on, but I've been a fan of the show since episode one. Yes, there were a couple of bad seasons, but I've stuck through it and continued watching.

However, I can't say the same thing has happened with the prequel spinoff Fear the Walking Dead, as that would be a lie. I never cared much for first season and I eventually tuned out early on during the second season. I skipped season three completely and only returned to the series when the character Morgan (played by Lennie James) crossed over from TWD for the first episode of the fourth season. Thanks to the much needed change in direction by the new showrunners, Andrew Chambliss and Ian B. Goldberg, I became a fan of the series. I even bought the first three seasons, so I could play catch up during the mid-season hiatus.

Fear The Walking Dead: The Complete Fourth Season ($44.99; Not Rated; 12 hrs 10 mins) landed on Blu-ray, Digital, and DVD this past week from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. I received an early review copy and spent last weekend binge watching the entire 16-episode fourth season.

Season four doesn't pick up directly after the third season finale cliffhanger, instead it begins where the eighth seven finale of TWD left off, where Morgan has isolated himself from the other communities because he feels guilty for killing the Saviors. After a brief cameos by Rick, Carol, and Jesus (played by Andrew Lincoln, Melissa McBride, and Tom Payne), Morgan leaves Virginia and travels to Texas. This is where Morgan meets the soft-speaking John Dorie (played by Garret Dillahunt), a friendly police officer who's looking for his lost love Laura (played by Jenna Elfman). Shortly after their meeting, they're captured by a group of survivors, but are later rescued by Althea (played by Maggie Grace), a journalist driving a SWAT CMTV. By the end of the first episode the trio meet Alicia, Nick, Lucian, and Victor (played by Alycia Debnam-Carey, Frank Dillane, Danay Garcia, and Colman Domingo).

The final eight episodes of the season involves a a fierce storm which separates the group. Along with three new characters, Sarah, Wendell, and Jim (played by Mo Collins, Daryl Mitchell, and Aaron Stanford), Morgan goes on a mission to find his missing his friends.

Special Features include:

• Episode 401 Audio Commentary with Executive Producer Scott Gimple, Showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg
• Episode 405 Audio Commentary with Director Michael Satrazemis, Actors Jenna Elfman and Garret Dillahunt
• Episode 410 Audio Commentary with Director Michael Satrazemis and Actress Alycia Debnam-Carey
• Episode 416 Audio Commentary with Showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg

Final Thoughts

A little known fact about me is that my favorite movie is the 1978 slasher classic John Carpenter's Halloween, which I first watched when I was a seven-year-old. Thanks, Grandma!

Of course, I also like all the sequels (maybe not Resurrection) and I tolerate the Rob Zombie remakes. So, naturally, I was looking forward to watching Halloween (2018), which is the third film in the franchise with that title. Did I watch it in the theatres? Sadly, no, I didn't get a chance to the see it on the big screen. My town only has a one-screen theatre that is run by volunteers and they hardly ever carry rated R movies. Instead, I had to settle on reading the novelization by John Passarella. You can read my review for it here!

Directed by David Gorden Green, the 2018 film ignores the entire Halloween franchise except for the original 1978 film, which basically means that Laurie Strode (played once again by Jamie Lee Curtis) isn't the sister of the masked serial killer Michael Myers.

Confused yet?

3/4 of the film is more or less a rehash of the now-forgotten sequels, where Michael escapes a prison bus transfer, steals back his original mask, and returns to Haddonfield, Illinois to do some trick-or-treating with a butcher's knife. Sounds familiar, right?


On his path of destruction, Michael accidentally runs into Laurie's granddaughter Allyson Nelson (played by Andi Matichak), which leads to a weird situation with his current shrink, Dr. Ranbir Sartain. Seriously, what the hell were the writers thinking with this part? Since they're wanting to do sequels, why kill off the mad doctor?

The last 30-minutes is the so-called "final confrontation" between Laurie and Michael, as well as Allyson and her mother, Karen (played by Judy Greer). Why did the writers rename the daughter? They should have kept the name as Jamie Lloyd and brought back Danielle Harris from Halloween 4 & 5. (Yes, I'm well aware the actress who played Jamie also played a different part in the Rob Zombie films.)

Final Thoughts

Yes, I'm back with another Midnight Horror Review, which I had originally planned to post weekly. However, due to a recent family emergency, I just didn't have time to watch a horror flick last week. Nevertheless, I'm back tonight to review the 1981 slasher film Final Exam.

Written and directed by Jimmy Huston, the film is set in a college campus during "finals" week. The campus nerd Radish (played by Joel S. Rice) has heard tales of students being murdered in nearby colleges and he's now a little paranoid! After witnessing a shooting and kidnapping on campus, Radish calls the authorities. Unfortunately, the whole "event" was faked by a fraternity, leaving the sheriff (played by Sam Kilman) to believe Radish is nothing but a joke. Later, when Radish reports a killer on the campus, nobody wants to believe him.

Meanwhile, Courtney (played by Cecile Bagdadi) is spending most of her free time studying for the "big exam", while her roommate Lisa (played by DeAnna Robbins) is way too busy trying to seduce her professor. Unknowingly to them, there is a real killer loose on the campus, who has targeted them for his next victims.

Final Thoughts

Rated R; 89 minutes; AMAZON

Despite the fact that I have an Amazon Prime subscription, I hardly watch any of the movies or television series included with the service. I didn't realize until tonight that there were so many older horror flicks on there. Not being able to sleep and with nothing else to do, I decided to watch 1972's Season of the Witch.

Directed by the late great George A. Romero, the film is a weird horror drama centering around a bored suburban housewife named Joan Mitchell (played by Jan White). She has an abusive, controlling, workaholic husband, Jack (played by Bill Thunhurs). Their daughter,  Nikki (played by Joedda McClain), is a nineteen-year-old college student, who no longer has any need for Joan, besides for room & board. Joan has strange recurring nightmares that her psychotherapist believes is caused by her husband.

After meeting Marion Hamilton (played by Virginia Greenwald), a new neighbor who claims to be a witch, Joan becomes interested in learning about witchcraft. She buys a book full of spells and casts a spell to make her daughter's lover, Gregg (played Raymond Laine), sleep with her.

As Joan continues to casts spells, she starts having nightmares about being attacked by a man wearing a Satanic mask, which ultimately leads to her fulfilling her own dark destiny.

Final Thoughts