It’s a double disc release of 2 horror movies from Italian director Marcelo Avallone, neither of which I had ever seen before purchasing the set. Both of them have enough whacky 80s Euro horror elements to leave me satisfied and offered plenty of nostalgic vibes, but they’re not really good movies overall.
SPECTERS (1987)
In this one, Donald Pleasence plays an archaeologist working at a mausoleum location in Rome. A wall caves in and unleashes a demonic entity.
There are random characters killed in random places, and each time there is a death scene, we mostly see just a monstrous hand and some blood.
There’s a rat attack scene when a group takes a tour of catacombs, a guy dies gruesomely at a restaurant, a guy gets attacked in his bathtub, a woman gets dragged into her mattress…
None of it makes sense, but when the main couple gets chased by the demon in the catacombs in the final act, which is when we finally get to see the full monster Monty, it provides some last minute horror fun.
As a bonus, the final frame is as cheesy as you’d expect and hope for from an 80s horror movie.
MAYA (1989)
Ages ago a wizard king learned how to slip between the worlds of the living and dead. An archaeologist knows he can bring the king back if he sacrifices himself at the bridge to the two worlds, so he does just that.
His daughter then comes to town to find out why her father died. She gets some help from the leading man, a total fox who is often shirtless and is also a total man whore. Awesome.
In fact, there are plenty of classic sleazy, sweaty dudes in tank tops and bandanas. Ah, the 80s.
As with Specters, random people get killed, this time supernaturally.
There’s a tribal exorcism scene in which a dude pukes up little snakes (so nasty), a girl gets brutally killed in her tub, and a woman gets killed by fishing poles.
It’s another hot mess, but unfortunately, the ending fails to deliver the horror party that Specters gave us.
