ROCKTOBER BLOOD [1984]

 THE FUN HAS JUST BEGUN!  COME BACK, RAINBOW EYES! 

Finally!  The cheezy, zero-budget, home-made horror flick I've been wanting to top off the Countdown to Halloween.  Damn, I thought I was gonna have to rewatch WINTERBEAST!  But here it is:  ROCKTOBER BLOOD!  The DVD I watched was definitely taken from a VHS tape probably on LP speed!  Never mind, though, because this is another of those hoot and a holler horror movies like the aforementioned WINTERBEAST that is just so much fun to watch.  There is just so much 80's vibe going on here that, while watching it, my jeans acid-washed themselves!  Our lead actress Donna Scoggins is either cocooned inside neon-coloured spandex or else she is disrobing.  A lot.  And the camera lingers on her each time.  Now, I know what you're thinking.  But no, this film was directed by a woman:  Beverly Sebastian.  She co-wrote it too.  Well, you can't say she doesn't know her audience.

You'd be excused from thinking you walked in halfway through the movie when it starts but you didn't.  Heavy metal singer Billy "Eye" Harper is in the music studio recording some tracks with his sorta girlfriend and backup singer Lynn Starling, his band, producer, recording engineer, etc.  Billy is a bit of an asshole and leaves to have a "quickie" with some wannabe singer. 

The rest of the bunch soon leaves with only Lynn, recording engineer Kevin and his assistant Mary remaining behind.  Lynn goes upstairs to the jacuzzi (first Donna Scoggins nude scene) while Kevin goes to the game room and Mary remains in the recording studio.  Then we see some boots enter the studio; Billy Eye is back.  He slits Kevin's throat, goes upstairs and finds the jazuzzi room door is locked (Curses, foiled again) then goes downstairs and garrots Mary, drags her across the room and Linnea Quigley's her onto a wall coat peg.  Lynn leisurely towels herself off, gets dressed and goes downstairs to find Billy Eye smoking a bowl with his feet up on the mixing desk.  He tells Lynn that Kevin has been "terminated" and Mary is "hanging around in the other room".  What a card!  Billy attacks Lynn and starts to cut her under her right breast when a security guard interrupts the proceedings.  Billy chases security guard. 

Smash cut to onscreen caption of "TWO YEARS LATER" and Lynn Starling has become lead singer of Billy Eye's band (renamed 'Headmistress') and Billy Eye has been executed for 25 murders (which we obviously didn't have a budget to show). We're now at the 'Rocktober Blood Tour Press Party' where the crowd is entertained by the antics of a guy in a robe and Halloween mask; it appears fans call this guy 'Fangface' and I approve.  Later, Fangface is stalking Lynn (who has gotten naked at least two more times) and reveals himself to be Billy Eye. 

Back from the dead to kill some more.  For some reason.  He's not a zombie, really.  He's just kinda . . . . around again.  Even though he's dead.  The state could've done a better job deading him!  He's not supposed to be running around killing people.  I mean, wasn't that what the trial and conviction were for?  I digress.  Billy chases Lynn around with a knife cackling and saying things like:"You know what happens when I get tense, don't you?!  I'm gonna cut your throat and I'm gonna have blood everywhere!"  I TOLD you he was a card, didn't I?  Anyway, Billy continues to stalk Lynn and kills various people along the way; however, he hides the dead bodies so no one believes Lynn's story.  Tray Loren as Billy Eye is actually very good as the crazed killer; he really sells the giggling nutjob.  And, unusually for a heavy metal horror movie, the music is actually decent.  Three actual existing metal bands were hired to provide the songs:  L.A. band Sorcery, Facedown and Eyes.  Believe it or don't, there was actually a soundtrack album and it was re-released in 2015 -- I really wouldn't mind tracking it down.

This is the epitome of the type of movie we used to rent at the local Erol's back in the 1980's.  Yeah, Erol's.  That's where I went before the monolith Blockbuster swallowed every store up.  Erol's was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better.  While I don't remember renting ROCKTOBER BLOOD, it was probably on the shelf at Erol's in 1984.  I'm sorry but I have a lot more time for this sort of movie which may not be skillfully made but is very entertaining.