THE NIGHT THEY RETURNED (2004)

If ever there was a tribute movie made to honour the golden age of those hokey 50's b-movie's, this would be it. With buxom babes, gut wrenching gore, dubious lumbering monsters and clips borrowed from more obscure black and white horror fodder strewn through out this production, those with a fondness for the weird and gruesome will burst their pants over this gem.

Told from the memoirs of young Jessica (Faure) who has been confined to a mental institute, we discover that her life was once a crazy existence of mental anguish thanks to her two sick sisters Brenda (Blackthorne) and Tawny (Lorraine). The three sisters used to live together in a secluded cabin in the woods far away from prying eye's allowing them to indulge themselves in the seduction, torture and brutal slaughter of their kidnapped victims. But human flesh has always reviled Jessica and the fact that she also has the power of telekinesis means she is always chained to her bed whilst the blonde duo consume cuts of their victims.
When it comes to keeping the house tidy, these's nothing better than dumping all your left over body parts in the nearby lake, it saves on bin bags that's for sure. These girls might read Fangoria magazine but they sure don't know anything about mixing body parts with toxic waste but these scantily clad chicks are about learn the hard way.

This is Sv Bell's first feature film and having taken on the duties of scribe, producer and director it really is all down to him if this thing falls flat on it's arse. Being the visionary and the accountant can be a tough job but, if your aim is to produce an entertaining piece of b-movie exploitation, then my suggestion is to give the job to Mr Bell as he clearly knows his way around the genre. It's rough in places, as one would expect from a 5 day shoot on a budget of $1,800, but that's not really the point. This is a homage to other clunky movies who's low budget's have been stretched to breaking point whilst ensuring that the one thing people want from this type of movie is delivered - grisly fun with a side order of sauce.

Having seen much of Suzi Lorraines work in the past (and being almost totally smitten by her girl-next-door cuteness) it was good to see her act in a straight-ish horror which didn't use her assets as the driving force for the movies story. The on screen chemistry between her and Melantha Blackthorne was convincing enough and gave me the impression that they both had a ball whilst shooting, even if Suzi's taste for flesh didn't allow her to actually chew on any real guts, as opposed to Blackthorne who gnawed away like she hadn't eaten in a month. On an amusing casting note, take a good look at the eye's of the guy who plays Uncle Jerry who's surprise at seeing his scantily clad niece induces a condition called 'crafty-boob-glance' which stricken's the poor man about 5 times during their scene, poor guy.
I don't think It would be too dramatic to say that the movies sound track was f*cking excellent! Never in all my years of watching micro budget productions have I been so amazed at the quality of the musical talent involved which is of such a high standard that it is actually on sale from Canadian company Bullseye Records. Little known bands like 'Moxy', 'Cheaper Than Therapy' and 'The Kings' kick out some top notch melodic rock tunes that work so well with the film demonstrating again just how crucial the sound track can be. Fledgling filmmakers take note.

But it isn't just the music that heightens the films panache. Thanks to the efforts of Texa F/X who's work in creating the guts and gore for the film ensures a constant nightmare for the carpet cleaners. Having also crafted the look of the killer sisters zombified father along with the finale monster and several severed arms and legs, you can thank them for your sudden lose of appetite.

So this film has a lot of trapping's found in other independent low budget productions such as poor sound balancing, focus issues and editing that slightly over cooks the ham, yet out of these failures rises a very entertaining movie that will appeal to all cult horror and b-movie lovers every where.

Score

6 / 10