Jack-O (1995)

Best movie ever!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Mr. Jack, the Pumpkinman. Yeah, expect a camp horror flick here. Not as bas as I was expecting, but maybe that was because I was prepared for something truly excremental. I think one thing I admired about Steve Latshaw's "Jack-O" was the homage to screen legends John Carradine and Cameron Mitchell. Some critics I imagine would complain that their belated appearances was just an excuse to use footage of the two deceased screen veterans, but I could sense an appreciation for them even if their faces did cause me to feel a bit odd that they had been passed a few years after this movie was made. Good old Fred Olen Ray, an executive producer and one of two behind the film's idea, was more than willing to lend a fellow low budget filmmaker a helping hand. Carradine is a warlock who conjures a supernatural demon which looks like a scarecrow with a pumpkin head to kill the townspeople behind his lynching. Many moons later, and some dopey kids fooling around remove a wooden cross buried in it's grave, and so Mr. Jack, The Pumpkinman rises, scythe in hand, prepared to slice and dice. A little boy(played by the director's son), must save his father(Gary Doles), an ancestor of the family who sent Carradine to his death, by somehow killing Mr. Jack (something about being the fifth descendant and according to some rule must be the one to defeat Mr. Jack) or else the Kelly clan will indeed be put to rest by the Mackins. I could say I was interested in seeing how the filmmakers would present some pumpkin-head killer, but who am I kidding? I wanted to see Linnea Quigley and as much of her as possible..and Latshaw give me just that. I'm never one to complain when I get my customary Quigley shower as she soaps that magnificent naked body. Oh, and besides that you get a side-splitting murder by toaster with animated lightning bolts as the victim deteriorates to a skeleton! Anyway, a descendant of Mackens(Catherine Walsh) befriends the Kelly family wanting to help silence Jack forever, finally laying the demon to rest. Latshaw and company aren't without a sense of humor..you have to imagine they'd have to consider that their killer would be a laughingstock. And among the victims, a pair of uptight, penny-pinching conservatives who don't have the Halloween spirit. Oh, and there's also a fake decapitated head gag with a not-so-very-convincing prop which might provide some extra chuckles. Quigley, if you are interested, is a babysitter taking the Kelly kid trick-or-treating while her sister is off with the biker boyfriend on his hog. The effects are poor and Quigley's role is minor, (although she does prevent the kid from getting stabbed, before being socked across the face and knocked unconscious)..not a lot to recommend to slasher fans unless you enjoy cheap gore gags and seeing Quigley bathe her nude body. Without the nudity and modest gore, this could be a family television horror flick. Mitchell's part is of a host of the Dr Cadaver Horror Theater while Brinke Stevens turns up as the character of a bad horror flick on the boob tube(something called The Coven).

Man, I can't believe the largely harsh and negative comments for this movie. Okay, it sure ain't no sophisticated work of cinematic art. But it is a good deal of entertainingly tacky fun. For starters, the titular pumpkin-headed supernatural killer dude has to be one of the single most laughably silly and unscary things to ever stumble in front of a camera; he looks like something you would see in a fourth-rate carnival spookhouse. Secondly, the moderate gore is ridiculously fake and unconvincing, with the definite highlight occurring when this annoying uptight ultra-conservative woman gets electrocuted by a toaster. Then there's the always welcome presence of the ever-lovely Linnea Quigley, who's memorably introduced taking a nice, long, utterly gratuitous shower that goes on for two minutes. Amazingly, we also have appearances by deceased schlock picture legends John Carradine as an evil warlock and Cameron Mitchell as a horror TV show host. Moreover, scream queens Brinke Stevens and Dawn Wildsmith have fleeting cameos. Lead child actor Ryan Latshaw projects all the charm and acting ability of a moldy old tree stump. Pretty brunette Rachel Carter pops her top and bares her cute little breasts. The cruddy special effects are decidedly less than special. The score is suitably overwrought. Yet this film overall has a certain endearingly hokey appeal to it which in turn makes this honey a real delectably cheesy hoot to watch.

This thing, it shouldn't be called a film, is almost worse than "Manos", but you just have to see it it's hilarious. If you see it at video store rent it, if you see the 10th anniversary edition, yes there is a special edition, for under $10 buy it, if your friend has it borrow it, you just have to see this. The acting is so bad, and the gore is is so fake. After viewing this you'll be asking yourself why did they make this insult of the art of film? That's assuming your face doesn't melt off like the Nazis's in "Raiders" . If you manage to see this, be sure to vote this movie as 1 (awful) so it can make the bottom 100, it really deserves a spot there. I'm surprised it's not number 1, right now.

I've always loved horror flicks. From some of the usual well-known like "The Exorcist" to some of the more underrated like "Black Christmas" or "Just Before Dawn". But who are people kidding,even calling this trash a b-movie. It's straight up bottom-of-the-barrel Z-grade. The acting is the worst ever on film. Really,I've seen better on an episode of the "Young and the Restless"...SPOILER...Lookout for when the woman comes to tell them about the legend of Jack-o. She pauses sometimes for a matter of seconds as if someone is flashing her cue cards and she's struggling to read her lines. A RIOT! Oh,and besides the bad acting,absolutely no gore or F/X. And Jack-o looked like a plastic lit pumpkin. Watch Linnea Quigley in "Night of the Demons",or "Silent Night,Deadly Night",far superior flicks.