THE
DARK POWER (1985)
Directed by Phil Smoot
VCI Entertainment DVD
Reviewed 03.02.05
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
I may be completely dain bramaged
at this point, but I can’t
help it. The sight of ol’
b-western star Lash La Rue scaling
the steps of a righteously 80s finished
basement to confront a zombie is
one thing...When the Lasher starts
spewing dialogue like “Feel
my whip, you son of a bitch!”
to said zombie, you know the earth
is about to shift. And shift it
does.
In a roundabout way (read: after
several minutes of tedious backstory),
a group of perky college coeds move
into the House On Totem Hill. What’s
so special about this place, aside
from the tacky wood paneled walls?
The grounds of the house hold a
daring curse: four Toltec Indians
buried themselves alive for some
reason or another and are set to
rise from their graves on the Evil
Day. Before that happens though,
the chicks need to work out and
the dudes must party. Get down on
the floor! The walls are decked
with Spuds MacKenzie and Elvira
posters, a guy gets a swirly (I
SWEAR!), and the babes get an “A+”
in Over-Semantics 101 (not to mention
the classic displays of random cheesecake).
When the Kmart-faced zombies finally
rise from the dirt and embark on
a gore rampage, who can possibly
save our screaming nerds from utter
destruction? Did I hear you say
“Lash La Rue & His Mystical
Black Whip”?
Whether you’re ready or not,
The Dark Power is
here to Krazy-Glue your eyes open.
I could have done without the racist
anvils over the head (yeah, yeah,
the townspeople are hicks, we
get it), but nit-picking isn’t
in the cards. I mean, come on: the
goofy zombies wear ZUBAZ AND SWEATPANTS.
Lash’s American-Sean-Connery-after-a-nap
delivery is straight out of a comic-book
and the North Carolina locations
scream mid-80s skank. First time
director/writer Phil Smoot (he worked
on Frederick Friedel’s Axe,
among tons of other credits) shoots
a well-paced blast of enthusiastic
mindlessness, with the occasional
interesting shot. It’s like
a suburban park district haunted
house exploded, leaving Smoot and
company to assemble the pieces with
chunks of 16 millimeter film. Even
the few bits of zombie comedy (beer
chugging, brief Three Stooges hijinks)
work, which is usually a huge shot
in the foot for these types of films.
Thick southern accents? Increasingly
bizarre dialogue from Mr. La Rue?
Now that’s what I call a winner.
As if you needed more, just stick
around for the finale. Lash Vs.
Zombie in a whip-duel to the death.
My eyes were begging for mercy.
I didn’t get any.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Whip-tastic! Struck from the original
negative and transferred in anamorphic
widescreen, the presentation of
this film is really nice. The picture
manages to retain its original 16
mm charms (grain, muted colors,
cheap transitions), but presents
those elements in the cleanest way
possible. It’s like the best
of both worlds, with no compression
ticks whatsoever. Film dirt and
scratching were rarely evident and
the mono sound was keen and fitting.
EXTRAS
Whip-preoccupation! First up, an
18 minute featurette that goes by
the name of “Remembering Lash
La Rue.” While a few key aspects
of Lash’s career are covered,
this is mostly a collection of fascinating
news clippings, behind the scenes
photos, video box art, and related
Dark Power goodies,
all narrated by director Smoot.
Think of it as a quick leaf through
someone’s personal who-what-where-when
scrapbooked time capsule.
Next, join Phil Smoot and editor/Toltec
zombie Sherwood Jones for a pretty
thorough commentary track. There’s
only the briefest bit of surface
overlap from the featurette, so
we’re left with quite a few
interesting anecdotes and nonstop
discussion. Some choice topics were
the mysteries of Lash’s personal
life (married ten times?!), the
story behind Smoot’s first
meeting with Lash, and the drawbacks
of working with such a small budget.
The talk ran out of steam towards
the end, with a frequent return
to the topic of Lash’s whip
skills, but that was no big deal.
I enjoyed it overall.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Whip-mania! The Dark Power is a million times more fun than
you’d ever expect it to be.
Easily one of the top crowning achievements
in hilarious (and unknown) 80s sludge.
You’d better grab a copy quick...before
Lash rips off your hand with a flick
of the whip! |
Peace & justice
Everybody knows Nautilus
Mask attack
Blood blade
|
