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Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: September 27th, 2016.
Director: Richard Casey
Cast: Phil Therrien, Max Manthey, Irene F., Michael Castagnola, Susan Leslie, Bill Pope
Year: 1985
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The Movie:
Richard Casey's Horror House On Highway 5 opens with a scene in which a maniac in a Richard Nixon mask lays bloody siege to a suburban home, killing some guy and then shaking his girlfriend who then… commits suicide by jumping onto a glass table? From there, the movie tells the decidedly bizarre tale of Sally (Irene Cagen Forest, credited as Irene F. so as not to upset SAG!) Louise (Susan Leslie) and Mike the pothead (Michael Castagnola), a trio of college students under the tutelage of a weird professor (Randy Daitch). As part of their final class assignment, they're tasked with studying a rocket designed by a Nazi scientist named Frederick Bartholemew who disappeared years ago after moving to a small California town when the Second World War ended. His disappearance was far from an innocent mystery, however, as it is widely believed that he was the one responsible for a rash of killings.
Louise and Mike head into Little Town (yep, Frederick's former stomping grounds are named Little Town) in hopes of getting everything they need secured to reproduce some of his experiments. Meanwhile, Sally meets up with Dr. Marbuse (Phil Therrien), who years back worked as Bartholemew's assistant. Unfortunately for Sally, Marbuse is clearly off his rocker and both he and his equally loony brother, Gary (Max Manthey), have dreams of keeping the glory of the Third Reich alive. As such, they kidnap her and hold her hostage in their home/laboratory where she's eventually subjected to a series of bizarre Nazi experiments. That Nixon-masked killer, however, is still on the loose, all while maggots are maybe/maybe not feasting on Marbuse's brain, causing him maybe/maybe not hallucinate that the long, gone Frederick Bartholemew has returned to finish his work.
Shot dirt cheap on weekends over the span of a few years, Horror House On Highway 5 is… erratic. This movie is so all over the place that you never quite know if it is supposed to be scary, funny or both. There are moments here that do generate a bit of legitimate suspense, but most of this seems to be played for laughs, even if those laughs come from cramming in gratuitous doses of Nazism, Nixonism and nihilism. Was everyone involved with this baked? Probably. Does it matter? Not when someone tries to iron a ladies hooters, no. This movie really doesn't give a fuck what you think. It works tarot cards into the plot for no reason. It credits the Nixon-masked killer as Ronald Reagan probably because Casey doesn't like Republicans, but not for any sort of subtle social commentary.
The whole thing is a mess. It doesn't make much sense, it's edited more than a little haphazardly and the acting, set pieces and pacing is just plain bad. Having said that, this movie has spirit. It has a very cool soundtrack. It has a couple of set pieces that are even a little impressive (there's one scene involving body discovery that is actually kind of creepy). There's something about this movie that holds your attention - and it's that aforementioned 'not giving a fuck.' The film plays by its own rules so if it wants to cram in a scene where invisible flying something come barreling down the hallway, Phantasm style, to attack characters, then so be it. Who cares if it's not connected to anything else in the story if it looks cool. Why not throw some maggots around while we're at it? And decorate the titular house with Nazi memorabilia? Do it! There are random cat appearances. A guy falls on a rake and that rake gets stuck in his head but it doesn't kill him, it just makes him move slowly. When Mabuser figures maggots are eating his brain he wears a papier-mí¢ché Swastika on his head to protect himself. It's all random nonsense - but then the movie comes full circle at the end, heading back on into the somewhat traditional horror movie territory that it started out with. Why? Why the fuck not!
Video/Audio/Extras:
Horror House On Highway 5 debuts on Blu-ray “Scanned and restored in 2k from 16mm archival elements†in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.78.1 widescreen. There is some minor print damage here and there but it's white specks and small stuff, nothing that will really prove distracting to anyone but the ultra-anal-retentive. Colors look good but can vary a bit from scene to scene, clearly an issue with the way that the movie was shot rather than the transfer itself. Detail and texture are pretty good, probably as strong as the elements will allow, while film grain, heavy at times, does appear quite naturally. There are no obvious issues with noise reduction or edge enhancement and the image is typically free of noticeable compression artifacts.
Audio is presented in English language DTS-HD Mono with optional subtitles presented in English only (selectable from your remote but not off of the main menu). Sound quality is fine, is low-fi in nature. Dialogue is easy to understand and the film's fairly awesome soundtrack and if the levels bounce around a bit, at least there are no problems with any hiss or distortion.
Extras start off with a commentary track from director Richard Casey that's pretty enjoyable even if his memories of the shoot maybe aren't as super sharp as you might hope for. He's got a good batch of stories to tell here, however, talking about how a music video shoot sort of evolved into this project, some of the difficulties he ran into with funding, casting the picture and dealing with some of the performers involved in the film, the difficulty of casting plaster for props and effects purposes and more.
Vinegar Syndrome also offers up Return To Horror House On Highway 5, a making of featurette that clocks in at just over eighteen minutes in length. Casey, and his neat vintage microphone, is all over this piece and covers some of the same ground here that he does in the commentary, however we also get input from John Marsh, Michael Castagnolia (Or is it Castagnola? You'll have to watch to find out!) and Steve DeVorkin (the guy who played the van driver in the finale). This covers a fair bit of ground and it does so with a bit of humor, talking about the different cast and crew experiences on set, how anyone can (and in this movie does) play the killer, how did what behind the camera, some of Casey's work making music videos and a fair bit more.
Outside of that the disc also includes a music video for Beach Party With Vom, a piece that was directed by Richard Casey way back when and which inevitably served as the starting point for the very existence of Horror House On Highway 5 in the first place! We also get an alternate full frame presentation of Horror House On Highway 5 that basically presents the film open matte complete with a few technical gaffes that are covered by the 1.78.1 matting. Transfer quality of this version is the same.
Menus and chapter selection are included and as this is a combo pack release, the clear keepcase, which includes some very cool reversible cover artwork by Kevin Thomas, also holds a DVD version of the movie (with extras that mirror those found on the Blu-ray release).
The Final Word:
Horror House On Highway 5 is pretty zany stuff, never scary really, but always weird and intriguing. Vinegar Syndrome have chosen this unlikely candidate for a special edition release and given it just that - documenting its history with a featurette and commentary and presenting it in the best possible shape.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
I may have to pick this up.
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