Italian Horror in my Backyard - a Look at Night Killer
While going through Tubi the other day, I came across an interesting movie description about a masked killer terrorizing Virginia Beach. I was intrigued for a few reasons, mostly because I’ve never seen a movie set in my hometown before. We get a few offhand pop culture mentions here and there but a movie? Let alone a cheesy horror movie? Okay, I’m there!
Upon further research, I learned that this was from Claudio Fragasso, going under the pseudonym Clyde Anderson, the director of cult classic bad movie Troll 2. So I thought I knew what I was in for here, off of that film’s reputation alone. Little did I know just how weird it would get.
This movie is best experienced as cold as possible, in my opinion, so I won’t get too detailed into the plot, as weird as it is, but it’s about a guy in what looks like an even more deformed Toxic Avenger mask, trench coat, and monster hand glove that looks like a cross between Freddy’s glove, Voldo from SoulCalibur and a little bit of Nemesis from Resident Evil, who has a penchant for punching holes in people’s chests. It’s got some more plot to it of course but any description I could do could not do this bizarre movie justice.
It stars Peter Hooten, who played Doctor Strange in a 1978 TV movie, and local actress Tara Buckman, who’s big claim to fame was a role on Days of Our Lives in 1984, well that, and this underrated classic of a B-movie. The performances these two give…calling it overacting would be underselling it. You just have to see it to believe it.
I was really shocked to see that the movie was not only set in my hometown, but filmed here for the most part too, as a local I recognized the strip down in Virginia Beach, the old aquarium, and other locations around town.
This movie really has everything you could want in a cheesy horror movie, terrible acting, gore, random and for no reason at all nudity, and quotable bad dialogue that gets in your head and won’t let up. I’m surprised this isn’t a bigger cult hit, like Troll 2 has become.
If you’re a fan of cheesy horror, you owe it to yourself to see Night Killer. You won’t regret it!
Scared to miss a post? Subscribe to our newsletter HERE
Want more horror movie reviews? Just search below:
