Night of Horror is arguably the largest cinematic abomination to ever grace the silver screen. (Although, to my knowledge, only Gouda and myself have seen it; making us the only one's arguing) So, it should come as no surprise that, one year later, this sequel/remake was unsuccessfully dumped on the American public as Curse of the Screaming Dead; a horror film with a plot suspiciously similar to that of it's unheard of predicessor.
A few years later, a representative from Troma Team viewed this turd and, for some unkown reason, purchased the rights. Alas, this film sat where it belonged; in a dark storage room for more than a decade. Even Troma admitted this garbage is one of the five worst films in their library; I'd hate to see what else they're storing! I assume the copyright was nearing expiration, because Screaming Dead was recently re-released as Curse of the Cannibal Confederates. Lucky for us Tony Malanowski afficiandos.
The film opens as a delapidating 1970's camper (that's right, folks; must've been left over in the prop department) drives across miles, and miles, and miles of Maryland back roads. After this excruciating sequence, we are introduced to Wyatt, a Barry Gibb look-a-like, and his buddies; Mel the theif and Bill the borderline beer-a-holic. They spout incoherent, poorly recorded dialouge about some stolen jewlery, or something. Meanwhile, in the back of this love machine is Bill's Girlfriend, Sarah, and two sisters; one of which is kindly billed as "Blind Kioymi" in the opening credits. Good thing, beacuse I would of have had no idea. In fact, I thought Lin, her sister, was the blind one until thirty or so minutes into this film's durration.
After some poor dubbing and editing, the camper pulls over and this group is ready to head into the woods. Meanwhile, the large black spot on the lens from Night of Horror returns by means of popular demand. We also learn that their rifles are loaded with illegal exploding bullets. Those seem neccessary when hunting deer. During their long, and believe me when I say long, hike into the woods, Kiyomi overhears church bells. This prompts Bill to scout ahead and find out from where the noise originated. Shortly afterward, he comes across a church ruin of some-sort and unearths an old Confederate flag. In this scene, the contuinuity is extremely poor as it changes from night to day with each camera angle. He, of course, keeps the flag and returns to the group. It is day once again.
The group camps out and, meanwhile, an army of dead (though well preserved) zombie soldiers rise from the grave; their uniforms spotless and inaccurately recreated. Here's where the film differs from Night; there are actually a few pretty decent gore scenes and some death, although the poor lighting ruins the over-all effect. By the end, you'll be lost in an incoherent mess of recycled exploding heads and human intestines.
The music in Night of Horror was the film's lowest point (the song "One More Soldier" still resonates in my head) and Confederates doesn't disappoint in this category. The entire score sounds as if it stolen from the Peanuts soundtracks. The recordings are warped and the arrangements extremely primative. The dialogue is what you'd expect in any Malanowski movie; trite and obvious. I was curious as to find out who did the fairly decent make-up effects; but deciphering the blurry, out of focus closing credits was impossible. If you find a copy and can figure this out, please e-mail us.
The low point: As Mel, standing next to "Blind Kiyomi", enters the woods, he removes his shotgun and fires into the sky without warning.
A few years later, a representative from Troma Team viewed this turd and, for some unkown reason, purchased the rights. Alas, this film sat where it belonged; in a dark storage room for more than a decade. Even Troma admitted this garbage is one of the five worst films in their library; I'd hate to see what else they're storing! I assume the copyright was nearing expiration, because Screaming Dead was recently re-released as Curse of the Cannibal Confederates. Lucky for us Tony Malanowski afficiandos.
The film opens as a delapidating 1970's camper (that's right, folks; must've been left over in the prop department) drives across miles, and miles, and miles of Maryland back roads. After this excruciating sequence, we are introduced to Wyatt, a Barry Gibb look-a-like, and his buddies; Mel the theif and Bill the borderline beer-a-holic. They spout incoherent, poorly recorded dialouge about some stolen jewlery, or something. Meanwhile, in the back of this love machine is Bill's Girlfriend, Sarah, and two sisters; one of which is kindly billed as "Blind Kioymi" in the opening credits. Good thing, beacuse I would of have had no idea. In fact, I thought Lin, her sister, was the blind one until thirty or so minutes into this film's durration.
After some poor dubbing and editing, the camper pulls over and this group is ready to head into the woods. Meanwhile, the large black spot on the lens from Night of Horror returns by means of popular demand. We also learn that their rifles are loaded with illegal exploding bullets. Those seem neccessary when hunting deer. During their long, and believe me when I say long, hike into the woods, Kiyomi overhears church bells. This prompts Bill to scout ahead and find out from where the noise originated. Shortly afterward, he comes across a church ruin of some-sort and unearths an old Confederate flag. In this scene, the contuinuity is extremely poor as it changes from night to day with each camera angle. He, of course, keeps the flag and returns to the group. It is day once again.
The group camps out and, meanwhile, an army of dead (though well preserved) zombie soldiers rise from the grave; their uniforms spotless and inaccurately recreated. Here's where the film differs from Night; there are actually a few pretty decent gore scenes and some death, although the poor lighting ruins the over-all effect. By the end, you'll be lost in an incoherent mess of recycled exploding heads and human intestines.
The music in Night of Horror was the film's lowest point (the song "One More Soldier" still resonates in my head) and Confederates doesn't disappoint in this category. The entire score sounds as if it stolen from the Peanuts soundtracks. The recordings are warped and the arrangements extremely primative. The dialogue is what you'd expect in any Malanowski movie; trite and obvious. I was curious as to find out who did the fairly decent make-up effects; but deciphering the blurry, out of focus closing credits was impossible. If you find a copy and can figure this out, please e-mail us.
The low point: As Mel, standing next to "Blind Kiyomi", enters the woods, he removes his shotgun and fires into the sky without warning.
The high point: Only TWENTY minutes of film involve the camper.
Rent this one for unintentional laughs with friends but, for God's sake, don't watch this alone. The boredom sets in like rigor mortis.