CAMERON'S CLOSET (1988) Movie Review

Cameron’s Closet (1988) d. Armand Mastroianni (USA) (86 min)

Cameron (Scott Curtis), a young lad with psychic abilities, is put through the paces by his scientist father (Tab Hunter), but the attempts to amplify his powers have the unfortunate side effect of awakening a demon intent on crossing the veil over into our world using Cameron’s body as host. Meanwhile, a police detective with the rolls-off-the-tongue name of Sam Talliaferro (Cotter Smith) has been ordered to visit the local psychiatrist, Dr. Haley (Mel Harris), to address his poor sleeping habits due to bad dreams. When the demon starts bumping off Cameron’s inner circle, Talliaferro and Haley are mutually assigned to the case, unwittingly bringing them into the danger zone.

Combining elements of previous, better films is nothing new in the horror genre, and in some cases it results in some marvelously manic mash-ups such as Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Out of the Body or the anime/kaiju Attack of the Super Monsters. In this case, we’re getting a Mixmastered version of original parfait layers 1) young child in peril (Child’s Play), 2) mentalism (Firestarter), and 3) demonic resurrection (uh, Demon Resurrection), served up with sides of surprisingly gory and goofy kills and some not-so-special FX.

Directed by Mastroianni (He Knows You’re Alone), scripted by Gary Brandner (whose novel The Howling yielded a minor modern horror masterpiece and a franchise of varying degrees of crap), scored by Harry Manfredini (recycling some leftover Friday the 13th cues), and legendary Oscar winner Carlo Rambaldi (Possession) delivering some underwhelming if charming creature effects, it’s no surprise that the end result is wholly watchable without ever achieving any genuine level of consequence.

Nevertheless, Cameron’s Closet should resonate with fans of Empire Pictures’ heyday, with its enthusiastic blend of rubber monsters, latex gore, and briskly paced pandemonium. Order the pizza, call your pals, and enjoy a low-impact stroll down memory lane.


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