Fiend

Super good cult/horror/mystery (obviously not much of a mystery for us). I can't believe its taken me this long to discover a gem as good and unique as this. Thanx to the good people at Retromedia Entertainment for making it possible by providing a nice collectors edition DVD.

This low budgeter is full of clever story and dialog. The highlight is the brilliant, long, creepy, suspicious, elusive performance by the main character Mister Longfellow. There's also a cute, loving wife... but unfortunately she wasn't as smart as her concerned neighbor husband.

A classic example of how a film doesn't need a budget to be good... just a writer/director who knows what he's doing and a few friends to help. Thats all you need. It keeps the atmosphere. And the spirits. If you haven't seen Fiend you are missing out!

Everyone should see at least one (and preferably more) of Don Dohler's low budget indie movies. Fiend is consistent with the Dohler brand; put together on the cheap, stars a bunch of his friends and relatives, and is just good crazy horror movie fun. They're usually horror/sci-fi cross-breeds, and Dohler showcases his specialty, special effects, in the production.

This time, a ghost or spirit looking like a bright light enters a grave and reanimates a body. The walking dead man, frequent Dohler star Don Liefert, gives an adequately sinister touch to his blood thirsty character. He draws life essence from his victims, and has a voracious appetite to do this, since he has to replenish his energy frequently. Of course, this means there will be a high body count unless the fiend is stopped quickly. Only a neighbor of his suspects the guy, who is living amongst his victims in suburbia.

The tone is more sinister and bloody than other Dohler films; even a child is among the victims. The rampaging beast is merciless, and the violence somewhat masks the mediocre acting of the cast.

The low budget is visible at times throughout the movie, and the MST3K gang probably would have bludgeoned this film if they had ever shown it. Still, like all of Dohler's bargain basement horror flicks, it makes for a good thrill ride.

FIEND is awful. It's hilarious. It's about a dead guy who strangles people and takes their lifeforce away from them in order to replenish himself with blah, blah, blah. Who cares about plot? This cheese ball is good for only one thing. Ridiculing it. Dig the scene where the woman gives her friend a ride home and conveniently drops her off a mile away from her house. Another priceless piece of entertainment from Prism Pictures.

OK, so I have a soft spot for low budget indie movies with typical 70's effects.

Alien Factor, the director's first movie, seemed to me to have one major problem: It was much bigger than its budget. The story had too much to accomplish. It seems to me that with Fiend writer/director, Don Dohler realized that a "smaller" movie would be better suited to his resources.

The script is pure genius at staying within its means. The main cast and locations are kept simple, the F/X aren't stupendous but they do the job and the storyline is out there enough to keep it interesting.

If you like movies with heart that just want to entertain you for 90 minutes or so, FIEND may be worth a watch. It's certainly worth having on your online video rental list or picking up on the cheap at a convention.

If you're looking for tons of gore and naked women, this one's not for you. In fact, big scares aren't really present either, but it did illicit a certain nostalgic feeling for me.

FIEND is an indisputably anorexic little presentation, but it does have a certain something...a hard-to-pin-down eerie quality that makes it click, if only in a small way. The elementary bubblegum story could easily have been lifted from a classic EC horror comic, and concerns a ghoul who kills people in order to claim their souls, sustenance which he requires to perpetuate his own abominable existence.

The special effects in this dime-store spook-show are expectedly primitive, most notably the cartoon neon-blue lightning zaps(a cheap effect which was tremendously overused in tight-budget 80s horror flicks). No worries, though...the murky atmosphere makes up for it.

As with most dirt-floor regional cinema, your average Joe Anyman is unlikely to have an especially positive experience with FIEND. Horror fans of a more lax and forgiving savoir-faire, on the other hand, should have some good fun with it.

5.5/10...Dohlericious!