SCARED STIFF (1987) Blu-ray review

Scared Stiff (1987) d. Richard Friedman (USA) (84 min)

Following a nervous breakdown, recovering rock star Kate (Mary Page Keller) and her young son (Joshua Segal) are planning to move into an old colonial mansion with her handsome psychiatrist beau David (Andrew Stevens), unaware of the sinister occult habits of the previous owner, a tyrannical plantation owner named Masterson (David Ramsey). When pigeons (oh, so many pigeons) make their presence known in the boarded-up attic, the songbird stumbles upon a collection of bones and an ancient journal that may hold the secret to banishing the evil forever, but Masterson has other plans...

PHANTOM OF THE MALL: ERIC'S REVENGE (1989) movie review

Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (1989) d. Richard Friedman (USA)

I’ll be honest – I didn’t actually believe this was a real movie when I first saw it pop up in one of my reference books (I think it might have been Legacy of Blood, Jim Harper’s fine examination of slasher films). I mean, could you come up with a cheesier title? But upon actually visiting the beast, it’s a fairly faithful repurposing of Phantom of the Opera...set in a shopping mall, so what else would you call it?