Frightmare

Plot synopsis:
In an isolated farmhouse, a woman named Dorothy Yates lives with her husband. Dorothy has just been released from a mental institution after it was found she was a cannibal who killed and partially ate at least six people in 1957. Her husband, Edmund Yates was convicted as well but we come to find out that he only faked his dementia in order to remain with his wife. He was a truly devoted husband who loved his wife dearly but really had nothing to do with the actual murders in 1957 and in the present.
Now it is 1974 it seems as if Dorothy has had a severe relapse. She secretly lures lonely young people to her Haslemere, Surrey home, promising tea and a tarot card reading, only with the session ending with a violent murder and "feast". Jackie, (Edmund's daughter by previous marriage) began to suspect her stepmum, Dorothy, rather early in the film and juggles her family ties while at the same time, trying to control her stepsister, Debbie (Dorothy's actual daughter that she and Edmund had shortly before being committed to the asylum). Debbie rides with a violent bike gang and has apparently inherited her mum's appetite for human flesh herself. Debbie became involved in a fight with her boyfriend and a barman after closing time near one of London's hip nightclubs. The bike gang leave when spotted by customers but Debbie hid the body in a car shelter before the police arrived.
Debbie has severe arguments with Jackie about where Jackie goes at night. She learns (offscreen) that Jackie has been visiting her parents in Haslemere. Debbie finds out where they live and she and boyfriend (Alex) flee to the countryside home to be reunited with mum and dad. They are a family again and plan to plot against Jackie, who kept Debbie from them.

Tags: revenge, murder, violence

Review:
Ferdinand Mayne stars as Conrad Ragzoff, an arrogant old ham horror actor who dies of a stroke.
The scenes in the old house, where Conrad stalks the kids, are a little more basic, but still entertaining.Jeffery Combs is good, but the movie really belongs to Mayne.
So basically, it's not one of the great horror movies or anything like that, but still well worth seeing for fans of eighties horror..
Although I do agree that Frightmare is underrated, it isn't something to put too much work into finding.The storyline is a semi-interesting twist on the life after death theme: A legendary horror actor [Conrad] dies mysteriously in his bedroom.
A little later, a group of horror/drama kiddies decide to steal Conrad's corpse and bring him to the house where some of his movies were filmed.
Conrad, a legendary star of classic horror films, is a narcissistic killer as monstrous in life as he is on the screen.
Once reunited with his body, Conrad proceeds to wreak bloody vengeance against the young graverobbers.FRIGHTMARE is a largely miscarried and routine supernatural slasher with atrocious editing and exanimate characters.
Conrad Radzoff is more or less a combination of Vincent Price and Christopher Lee:two famous Gothic horror icons.He sleeps in his coffin like Bela Lugosi and he considers himself a superstar.Unfortunately the times of his stardom are falling apart as he only gets silly roles in commercials.So Conrdad kills his director and after murder he suddenly dies.His body is kept in creepy Gothic mausoleum.A group of university students decide to steal his coffin and defile his corpse.But Conrad isn't really dead.He rises from his slumber and kills defilers one by one..."Frightmare" by Norman Thaddeus Vane is a likable supernatural slasher with few gory deaths including decapitated Jeffrey Combs.The storyline is absurd with standard scare techniques,but if you like supernatural slashers with levitating coffins give this one a chance.7 horror stars out of 10..
The star, an aging horror film actor, gets posthumous revenge on those who decide to kidnap his corpse.
The plot centers around an aging horror star (its original title), who is bent on revenge, when a group of college kids steal his corpse.
One of the last surviving horror screen greats - Conrad Radzoff - dies and has his body placed in a mausoleum with televised-before-death snippets of the great Conrad greeting you as you visit.
News of the missing body reaches Radzoff's widow and her friend(who happens to be proficient in the black arts) and she holds some kind of ceremony that brings Conrad back to life so he can, in his own words, get "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Well, Frightmare is an interesting "bad" film.
Jeffrey Combs of Re-Animator fame is in tow, but really he does little in this rather thankless role as a horror obsessed teen that needs to steal a dead man's body for kicks.
Ferdy Mayne, an oft overlooked actor from Germany who had Christopher Lee features and did star as a vampire in The Fearless Vampire Killers, does a more than commendable job as the aging horror icon in public life and a real demon of a man in private life.
Conrad Radzoff in a bad human being in life, living solely for his own pleasures and we see him kill twice before he is even dead(obviously none of the swinging teens at that point).
Aaaaahhh, the classic B-movie horror films of the 70's and 80's...
I loved it.Now it has everything you can expect from a cheesy B-movie horror: Cheap gore, Lots of murders, Topless women, Bad acting, Terrible effects.But the last 2 are not negative remarks...
if the acting and the effects were good, it would not feel right.The film is about an old horror actor, which i believe was an imitation of Christopher Lee, that dies and has his grave made into a crypt where people can go and see his body and see video messages from him.
Some teenagers decide to steal his body from the crypt to have a party with it, but little did they know that when they took the body some black magic happened thanks to his widow and he comes back to life to take revenge on his kidnappers...It is a great film...
An early appearance by the Re-Animator (Jeffery Combs); many homage's to old horror movies; the Troma label on the front this movie could be a gem!
The oft  recycled slasher film formula is used here, this time with a thought to be dead actor named Conrad Radzoff doing the killing.
In fact, the performance by the Radzoff's actor Ferdy Mayne is the only redeeming quality of this film.
But as for the kids, its not so good, with Combs only having a minimal part.The film lacks entertainment value, and only features one cool character, and one or two scenes that can hold your attention.
Not to be confused with the 1974 Pete Walker horror film of the same name, Norman Thaddeus Vane's Frightmare is a goofy little film, the strange plot, weird atmosphere and offbeat performances resulting in a film that, while not particularly effective as a horror (genuine scares are in short supply), almost demands cult status.The silly story sees ageing horror star Conrad Radzoff (Ferdinand Mayne, doing an amusing pastiche of Christopher Lee) bumping off two of his directors, one past and one present, before finally shuffling off this mortal coil himself.
Soon after, Conrad's eternal peace is rudely interrupted by members of the local horror film society, who break into the actor's mausoleum and steal his corpse, treating it with a considerable lack of respect.
When the horror star's wife is alerted to the fact that Conrad's body has gone missing, she hires a medium to contact her husband's spirit, and instructs him to return from the dead and teach the impudent scallywags a valuable lesson.So what makes this film so batty?
The death scenes are also a mite strange, the weirdest one seeing Conrad levitating his coffin to bash in a girl's head.Without a doubt, the best thing about the whole film is Mayne's performance: whether it be alive as a hammy horror actor, or stone cold dead and motionless as a cadaver, he is utterly convincing and quite beguiling.
Unfortunately, whenever Mayne is off-screen, the film is almost as lifeless as his character's corpse.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for the brief topless nudity from Donna McDaniel and the nice and bloody decapitation of a young Jeffrey Combs..
Frightmare begins with a horror movie icon killing a director and then his servant before he is laid to rest.
This icon, who has some Christopher Lee qualities to him, then continues to haunt those around him when a group of horror film society students steal his corpse from the mausoleum he is in.The first ten minutes is well-filmed, good writing and lots of potential for murderous mayhem.
But the film drags in the middle (although thankfully not as much as "House of Death") and never really gets that initial spurt of energy back.Lots of the deaths are confusing, as they seem to have people just falling over scared when they see a floating coffin or other odd things.
Boy, is that false advertising, unless he spent his career playing boring old men who take naps and watch "Matlock".The general principle of the film is decent: horror society kids stealing a corpse of a dead icon.
(A note to this movie's film-makers: mention Combs on the cover of the DVD, you'll sell more copies if if you would be deceiving customers.) If you're a Jeffrey Combs die-hard, check out this early role.
Not really bad this peculiar mix of teen slasher and 30's horror movie, with good direction, creepy atmosphere, Jeffrey Combs in one of his earliest role, and a very good lead in the role of the old horror star returning from the grave to punish his fans (well, they have stolen his body and made fun of his corpse, so they deserve their fate).
Even though a lot of the film's aspects are a bit amateurish, it's still chilling and fun to watch, and I really loved the scene where the teenagers are dancing with Mayne's dead body around the dinner table.
The film has a very unusual atmosphere and horror buffs should enjoy it, it's got a little bit of everything (i.e. gore, creative deaths, chills, spooky settings and locations).
My parents used to rent a lot of horror movies when I was a child.
Ferdy Mayne is well cast as the villainous horror actor - he's a cross of Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, and Bela Lugosi, and the movie gets a burst of energy whenever he's in action.
Is there any question that Jeffrey Combs is one of the true horror greats?
Even minor actors like Whit Bissel and Paul Ehlers(star of the silly slasher movie 'Madman')have come off as very normal or down-to-earth in person.But wouldn't it be great, however, if for once there WAS a horror film star who truly was just as much a fiend off-camera as on?
'The Horror Star' provides you with an opportunity to see such an actor!Ferdy Mayne, who gave what is in my opinion, the greatest portrayal of a vampire of all time as the menacing Count Von Krolock in Roman Polanski's 'The Fearless Vampire Killers' plays Conrad Ragzoff(mispronounced 'Ragoff' and 'Radzoff' several times)an aging horror film star with a homicidal temper who has this hilarious ability to brutally murder people in plain sight and just walk away from it.
Although I eagerly anticipated each coming slasher flick in the era when this film was made and I was young, my true interest lay in the classics of Hammer & Universal, so I felt like a fish out of water back then.
I could really relate to Conrad as I too felt like a discarded relic; a fan of Gothic castles, foggy cemeteries and moonlit nights rather than horny teens getting sliced and diced(and now in this era of crappy remakes and lame plot twists I'm nostalgic for those things too!).
Seriously, the cast was almost entirely killed off and I still had no clue to who they were!(one of the teens is played by a young Jeffrey Combs; take a guess who gets top-billing on bootlegs of this movie).
Conrad's grieving widow contacts him through an obnoxious medium, and he comes to life with demonic powers and goes on a killing spree, But because the teens are so nasty, with them humiliating Ragzoff's body by kissing him and dancing with him, one's sympathy ultimately ends up lying with Ragzoff rather than the teens.It's here where the film starts going to hell.
For the first 17 minutes it is a good send up of the horror film industry, with a great performance by Mayne(though nowhere near as good as Krolock)but then it just turns into a typical slasher film with Gothic overtones, Conrad may as well just be Jason wearing a Dracula costume since he has no dialog.
It also seems unrealistic that Ragzoff would be allowed such an elaborate and well-publicized funeral considering that he was working in commercials and it's made clear that he wasn't an "A" horror actor like Karloff or Price but a "B" lister like George Zucco or Lionel Atwill, one of the characters even says "His entire life was a B-movie".
The teenage leads in "Horror Star" supposedly all are devoted horror fans, yet when their favorite idol (Conrad Radzoff) passes away, they dig up his corpse and do all sorts of disrespectful stuff with it, like disco-dancing it around the house and throw food leftovers at it.
I'm a big horror fan and I immensely idolize departed icons like Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Boris Karloff, but it would never come to my mind to ridicule their memory.
"Frightmare" and "Body Snatchers") is a pretty lame 80's horror flick, but there are a handful of cheesy & gory highlights to enjoy.
One teenager enjoys the experience of getting cremated alive and another one (Jeffrey Combs in one of his first roles!) loses his head in a delightful decapitation sequence.
Writer/director Norman Thaddeus Vane wanted to bring homage to vintage horror cinema and he obviously how to make film look sinister.
The acting performances are overall decent, with Ferdy Mayne (imitating Christopher Lee) and Jeffrey Combs delivering the most memorable roles.
Legendary hammy and arrogant horror movie star Conrad Radzoff (splendidly played with wicked sardonic aplomb by Ferdy Mayne) dies of a heart attack.
Kudos are also in order for the stellar cast of familiar B-flick faces: Mayne has a deliciously eye-rolling ball with his flashy role, Leon Askin contributes an amusing cameo as bitter washed-up director Wolfgang, Nita Talbot adds some class as flaky psychic medium Mrs. Rohmer, plus there are nice turns by Luca Bercovici as jerky drama student ringleader Saint, Jennifer Starrett as the sweet Meg, Jeffrey Combs as the geeky Stu, and Scott Thomson as the nerdy Bobo.
Conrad Radzoff(Ferdy Mayne), a hammy cult icon, dies from a heart ailment(not before disposing of an ungrateful assistant and TV commercial director, both of whom disrespected him with showers of insults).
His body is removed from his mausoleum by some film students(they wish to "invite him to dinner"..they are quite big fans).
This 1983 horror film tells about a horror actor (Ferdy Mayne) who plans to make his final mark when he dies.
This is a good, creepy 80's horror flick that pays tribute to classic films of the genre and is also known as "Horror Star." The late, Mayne was great in it, the score & sound effects are chilling and there's some gory make-up effects.
Writer and director Norman Thaddeus Vane here creates an interesting little horror film that makes the most of its meagre budget.
It comes highly recommended to those horror fans that crave atmosphere, because for Vane the atmosphere takes priority over the gore.It's a nice melding of 60s and 80s styles, and gives a juicy lead role to an actor who definitely deserves to be better known: Ferdinand "Ferdy" Mayne.
Mayne shows that he had what it took to be a major genre star a la Lee, Price, and Carradine, not that he did too badly for himself, appearing in things like "The Vampire Lovers" and "The Fearless Vampire Killers".
He brings dignity and theatricality to his role as Conrad Ragzoff, an egotistical horror star who passes away.
Unfortunate for them, as Conrad's widow Etta (Barbara Pilavin) uses a medium (Nita Talbot) to allow Conrad to come back to "life" to terrorize and brutalize the kids.One thing that really hurts "Frightmare" (alternately titled, appropriately enough, "The Horror Star") is sluggish pacing, but otherwise Vane does a creditable job at building up some tension and menace.
The deaths aren't terribly imaginative, but they're still entertaining; highlights are a decapitation and a human torch sequence.In addition to capable veterans like Mayne and Talbot, other familiar faces include Leon Askin, as a bitter film director, Luca Bercovici (director of "Ghoulies"), Scott Thomson (a cast member of same), and Chuck "Porky" Mitchell as an investigating detective.
Jennifer Starrett, daughter of film director Jack Starrett, is appealing as the character of Meg. But "Frightmare" will definitely be intriguing to the genre fan for featuring an early film appearance by future "Re-Animator" star Jeffrey Combs, who's basically just one of the gang here.This movie is good enough to warrant more attention, and in the end it's hard to resist any film that shows vintage Christopher Lee footage to stand in for the clips from the Conrad Ragzoff filmography.
It's about an aging horror icon named Conrad Radzoff who is very much modeled after the look of Christopher Lee and the attitude of Bela Lugosi.
Ferdy Mayne, who plays Conrad, was in such classics as Howling II and Night Train to Terror.
Not to be confused with Peter Walker's 1974 British shocker of the same title, the early 80s "Frightmare" was a cheesy low-budget supernatural slasher made the more interesting for it having Jeffrey Combs taking on his first main role.
Other than that it was an unmemorable drawn-out fare, which sadly had a fun macabre premise which had shades of "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things", "The House of Seven Corpses", "Theatre of Death" and "One Dark Night" but the execution while proficient was stodgily drab with little imagination.
After the death of a legendary horror actor, a group of film students steal his corpse from the crypt and go about fooling around with it within the house where the actor had made some of his best pictures.
Ferdy Mayne's histrionically high maintenance turns as horror icon Conrad Radzoff is full of Grand Guignol as he comes back as a vengeful corpse reliving his glory horror days.
Ferdy Mayne (of Roman Polanski's "Dance of th Vampires") Is well suited to the vainglorious, aging horror star, determined to control things even after death.
He manages to get his revenge from beyond the grave, against some college film students who have failed to respect his final remains, stealing his body from his mausoleum to have a party in his honor.
Strange horror film from the early '80's that is just bleeding with style, freaky imagery, and atmosphere.
I enjoyed this film.It looks as if it were trying to be a modernized take on the old Dracula movies of the '30's and'40's.
The horror themed music that is filled with snarling growls that plays through the film sounds as if it were meant for a Halloween haunted house, and thats a good thing.
Story is about movie obsessed teens who steal the corpse of a recently deceased horror star and are soon bumped off in supernatural ways at the hands of said horror star, who wanders around the Gothic mansion looking like Dracula.