31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 26 Frankie Freako

 

TITLE-Frankie Freako

SOURCE-Prime Video

A tribute to all those  80s Lil creature films,stuff like  Ghoulies/Munchies/etc,Frankie Freako is another hit from Ashtron 6.  A group of Canadians that make lower budget horror/comedy films.

Our lead works at a advertising agency.  He is  left in charge of the  home he shares with his girlfriend. Is  up late  at  night watching  tv  and sees an  ad  for a  party line. For  those that weren't around in  the 80s it was a number you  called and talked to other people and  usually cost ya say 2 bucks a minute. Frankie Freako is the party line and when called Frankie and  2 other  freaks  appear.

Imagine a more demonic looking Garbage Pail Kid and  that is Frankie  Freako. The three freaks wreck  the house. Glue  our leads boss to  the floor of  the basement. Then end  up  taking  the lead to their home  world. Where we me the corrupt leader.. 

The freaks and our lead stumble and  bumble their way to victory against the evil tyrant. Head  back to our world thinking it is all over. Nope the evil tyrant comes through the portal and we get a wild battle.

Evil defeated our lead gets a phone call  his girlfriend is on  her  way back.  He has an  hour to get the  house back to how it was. The Girlfriend gets there and we learn she went to college with  the female  freak. And we end with Xmas music playing as the credits  roll.

Sure the  story isn't  much  new. It  is  the great practical  FX that make this film stand  out. When the lead and the three freaks  first  get to  their  homeworld it is a long sequence  of stop motion miniture  work that looks really good.

Just saw Shout Factory has the full film up  on their Youtube channel

https://youtu.be/dxBAptawFdU?si=2not7njMnwH41uoW

Frankie Freako gets a B-.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 25 RL Stine's Pumpkinhead

 

TITLE-R.L.Stine's Pumpkinhead
SOURCE-TUBI

I heard about this last year and planned on watching  it. Thinking it was connected to  the old Pumpkinhead Franchise,it isn't. Needed a film for 31  Days of Horror and gave  this a shot.

New family moves  to a small farming  town.  Mom and her two  sons,the dad is  dead. The  older brother  tries to  help the younger brother get  over the death  of their  father. The younger brother's new friend tells them about  a farm  where vegetables are given  away in a festival. 

They got and the new  friend,sorry no one in this film's name stuck in my  memory,warns the younger brother to not mess with the  farmer's pumpkin. Being a dumb  kid he of course steals it. 

Of course the farmer notices his prize pumpkin missing and  the younger brother is told  to  bring  it back. Being a good kid the older brother sets  off on  his bike at night to return it. And  just vanishes.

The next day the mother acts  like she only has one  child. And the  friend  tells the younger brother how  kids  just vanish and are forgotten  about. But that the town oddball might know more.

So off into the woods to meet up with a grown man who lives  in a camper.  He tells them  to "Dont  move you are surrounded by landmines" then walks right by them.... Seems he  is sure  the farm is connected to the  missing  kids. And  his living outside  of the area is  why he is the only  adult that remembers the  missing kids.

Plan is made they are gonna get the brother back. Using  fireworks  the farmer  is distracted. We get a twist and  then the gut punch of an ending.

SPOILERS

The older brother and the  missing  kids  are found! But now the mother  and everyone else  it appears has no clue who the  younger brother  is....

Guess that will be resolved in the next film. Which has already been made.Worth  seeing,there is some creepy  scenes. But go  in remembering this is a kids/young  teens horror  film. 

R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 24 Water Park Shark

 

TITLE-Water Park Shark

SOURCE-TUBI

There  is  enough cheap  made  Shark movies I could do 31 in October. And  this one is one  of the better  ones.

A former  football star has returned  to his  hometown. He is  gonna be security at the  local water park. Which is  where his former football coach works. And the  coach  is great has various  COACH TIPS. But  sharks have invaded this water park,seems the park  gets it's water from a source with  sharks. And with interest in  the park  dying  can it survive this attack  of sharks?

Dumb and fun and shockingly better than  I expected. The acting isn't  bad. I was  expecting local  community theater level acting and instead got made  for Lifetime channel level acting. The FX work is decent. And whatever waterpark this was shot at looks great.

The stand out in  the  film is the toothless shark that loves candy,kknown as Gummy. Great little twist that helps add to  how fun this  film is.

Just remember going  in this is gonna be a bit dumb. A big cheap. The kind  of film  back in  the day we would  rent drink a few beer and  watch while cracking  jokes.

Water Park  Shark gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 23 Summer of Fear

 

TITLE-Summer of Fear

SOURCE-Artisan DVD

I saw this Wes Craven made for TV,at  least in the States,film a  long ass time  ago on  VHS. Sure  it was a dub. Really didn't remember much about it. Then good brother CodyLL offered me his DVD. Knowing I needed  stuff  to  watch in October I  took him up on the  offer.

Linda Blair,when  she was doing a streak of Made for TV movies,lives  on a ranch with  her brothers and parents. A cousin  of her's loses her family so moves in  with them. The cousin and Blair get a long at first. Then  Blair's horse attacks the cousin. Stuff starts  missing and Blair is  suspecting this cousin is a witch.

A bit over 1 hour and 38 minutes this film  really feels  like a 70s made  for TV horror film.  Seem a few of them as a kid and  many more as an  adult and  they got a feel and  look that stands  out. The pacing is a bit slow. With really enough plot for a 60 minute feature stretched out.  Thankfully the cast helps cover this minor flaw.

Besides Linda  Blair  you got a young Fran Drescher as Blairs  best friend. and many of the  others in the cast I knew their faces . Looking them  up some  were from  soap operas. The cousin....  more than  a feew times I was sure it was Michelle  Baurer.

Betting this is the  first film Wes Craven  directed  that was  filmed on 35mm,which  is why this DVD looks really nice  even if it  is framed  for TV. Speaking of Craven he is on  the  commentary and  offers  some decent info on the film. Mentioning that Linda Blair had "just gotten better"...guessing this was during her partying days.

Worth seeing? Yea it is. Worth  owning? Maybe if you find it cheap. 

Summer of Fear gets a C+.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 22 Beast from Haunted Cave

 

TITLE-Beast from Haunted Cave

SOURCE-Shout Studios channel on Youtube

Was looking for something  to watch  today. Wanted something short plus something  I had never seen. This came up in my YT feed and what the hell it is barely over an hour give it a watch.

Some crooks are planning on robbing a company. The plan is set of explosions in a nearby mine and while everyone is dealing with that they gonna steal the  gold and haul ass on skis to a cabin  out in the middle of no where.But when the explosions happen it releases a beast. Got our crooks  in the cabin and the beast outside killing them off.

Simple plot. Did a bit of research and this was made in South  Dakota while Roger Corman was also filming Ski Patrol Attack,a WWII movie. Using mostly the same cast and locations. 

Monte Hellman directs and this is his first feature film. And even early on you can see that Monte has an eye for capturing moments. Lots  of interesting  angles and shots  in the  film. Which normally you don't see in cheap films  like this.

The beast? Looks cheap but betting the  budget  for it was 20 bucks. What makes this film stand out rom the 100s of creature from this era. 

Made cheap and it shows some this is worth seeing at least once if you got any interest in low budget horror film making.

Beast from Haunted Cave gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 21 Ghoulies

 

TITLE-Ghoulies

SOURCE-MVD 4k UHD

I can clearly remember being  10 or 11 and seeing  the trailer for  Ghoulies. And  I wanted to see it. It looked like  a more  horrific version  of  Gremlins. No theater near me got the film. And almost a year later  finally Video  Showboat got  in the tape. Rented it and HATED IT.  The  Ghoulies are barely in the  film  and pre-teen me wanted small monsters running wild.

So since  the  first one sucked I skipped  the sequels. Decades  later I saw Ghoulies goto  College and loved it. Earlier this year saw this 4k  and  it  was 12 bucks. Took a chance.

At a old home a Satanist is  trying  to do  evil. A wild party is going on. With Law & Order's Mariska Hagerty as one of the cast. I do enjoy seeing her in  stuff like this. Back when she knew how to act  and just didn't make the "I gotta crap but  can't"face she makes on SVU now. You end up with  dwarves,Ghoulies and other evilness running all around  this place  as our heroes try to prevent them from taking  over the  world.

Seeing the film now without the idea that it is gonna  be  like Gremlins I actually enjoyed it.  I can  see why it go so many sequels. Now it  isn't an  amazing  hidden gem.  But it is much  better  than I remember.

The 4k looks  great  sounds good and I love how it comes with a poster that makes the cover look like  a CED. 

Ghoulies gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 20 The Stepfather Remake

 

TITLE-The Stepfather

SOURCE-Screen Gems DVD

Having seen the original back  in the  day when  this remake was announced I wondered why? I  get remaking  films that were good but had flaws. The Stepfather had no flaws. Decided to  wait till  I could get the DVD in  thru Netflix by  mail,remember that? Got it in,watched  it and it was decent. Totally forgot about it until I  found the above pictured  copy at a junkstore cheap.

So this is  an ex-rental DVD. Which means a great  super tough case,these Blockbuster cases are great and much better than  the eco-cases we get  now with most releases. And yea I  gotta get  the "$9.99 sale" sticker residue on the bottom right  corner.

The film  starts off with  our lead  having just killed  another  family.  He targets widowed or freshly divorced women  with kids. Ends  up married to  them and as  the family disappoints him he  kills them and then moves to another state and starts  up again. 

After moving the Stepfather  meets Sela Ward in a grocery store. They start talking  and 6 months  later when Sela's oldest son is coming back  from reform school and learns he has a new step dad. 

The  new Stepfather starts cracking,like when  the younger son  is  told to turn the TV  down and doesn't. So Stepfather gets a bit  rough with the kid. More and  more cracks are showing, with  the  oldest son and his girlfriend noticing  them.

Decent remake. Still wasn't needed.  Good cast with Sela Ward standing out as the best in  the film.  Still  it's a film  I doubt I watch  again for a long time. Glad  I paid  a buck or less  for this.

The  Stepfather Remake gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 19 Primate

 

TITLE-Primate

SOURCE-Blu  Ray

I barely remember seeing ads for  this when  it was hitting theaters. Never heard many folks talking about it. Saw the Blu ray cheap,got a local pawn shop I have found  out that usually has new  releases  in a week after  they came out cheap. 

A family that lives  in Hawaii has a pet  chimp. One  of the daughters is coming home  to visit right when the father has to be  gone. So  she plans a party with her friends. Not knowing a mongoose with rabies in in  the chimps cage.Now our lead and her friends are trapped by a rabid chimp.

Simple plot and one I've seen before with other animals. What made Primate stand out is the level of gore. First few minutes got one  guy getting the skin ripped off his face. Got another scene where all the women are in the pool,the chimp fears water. They think they are safe,but the chimp shimmys out on some wires grabs one girl by the hair and rips her hair  out by the root.

Yea it's nothing  amazing. Just not use to see a studio film  with this levels of gore. More than  worth seeing. 

Primate gets a B-.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 18 Pet Sematary II

 

TITLE-Pet Sematary II
SOURCE-DVD

I am  sure I saw this back in the day.  More than likely in a  2 year period where I got cheap/free rentals from a video store. But when I put  the movie on  I remembered nothing about it.

Ed Furlong is the  son  of a actress. He is on the  set of her newest film and  watches as she accidentally gets  electrocuted on set.  And wow is  it brutal. Which leads to his father taking  him and moving from California all the way to  Maine. His dad is Anthony Edwards and is a vet.

In this new  town  of course Ed stands  out. Making just one  friend,a local fat kid  with  a POS step dad. This  step dad is  a local cop and played by  the great Clancy Brown. The POS Step Dad shoots and kills  the fat  kid's dog Zowie. So of  course Fat Kid  and Ed go bury Zowie in the Pet Sematary and big  surprise  the dog comes back to life. 

Shit happens and the step dad dies and gets buried and  comes  back.  And that is when  the film  just goes off the rails. Clancy  is amazing in  this role and single handedly saves  this movie. 

I had heard for years how this was horrible,and it could be,if not for Clancy Brown. Him  as the piece of shit  cop saves this movie. He is so over the top and appears to be having  a blast. Like in  the scene where he kills a  kid using  a motorcycle tire.

Sure this ain't a classic like the  original. It is still one of the best sequels to a Stephen  King movie.

Pet Sematary II gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 17 Skeleton Man

 

TITLE-Skeleton Man

SOURCE-DVD

I had heard for  years how bad this "horror" film is. Had a friend that loved  shitty horror  claim it was one of the worst she had seen. So when I found the DVD for  a buck I had to grab it.

A man  removes a  skull from an  ancient  Indian  Burial ground. Causing  the Skeleton Man to rise from  the grave,hop on his horse and ride through the woods killing people. Skeleton  Man  is someone in a cheap leftover cloak  the production staff got from  an after Halloween sale at Walgreens.  And  Skeleton  Man has on a skull mask. The standard Skull mask  you find for 10 bucks  at any store around  Halloween. The horse Skeleton Man rides,it changes color from shot to shot.  Yep they didn't bother to  get horses that  look  similar  for this  film.

Fairly  quickly Skeleton Man kills off two "Delta Force" troops that are in  the woods. Never seen Delta Force dressed in cheap workout gear. Still their deaths brings in the only names this film  could get.

Michael Rooker,yea I know to many  he is Merle from Walking Dead,he is  always Henry from Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer to me. He is head of a another group of "Delta Force" Troops. Which also includes Casper Van Dien. I always wondered  how and why he went from big roles like  Starship Troopers and Sleep Hollow to made for SYFY tripe like this. 

The rest of the film  is  this group of "Delta  Force"members  trying to stop Skeleton Man. And if  this is legit Delta  Force wow recruiting standards have went way down  since I  was in the military.

The kills are decent,fairly gory and look good. Just you get dumb stuff like a scene where Skeleton Man uses a standard arrow to take down a helicopter. 

Normally  a film like this I can just sit back  and enjoy it  being  BIG DUMB  FUN. This  is just  dumb!

Skeleton  Man gets  a D+