Well, here we go with another Monday Monster Mash, this time we take a look at the Don Dohler movies. Don has 10 credits for producer, 10 credits for writer, 7 directing credits, 10 editing credits and a pile of other miscellaneous credits. All his movies were released direct to video as far as I can tell. In 1972 he launched the movie magazine "Cinemagic," which had a run of eleven issues that lasted until 1979. Don was a filmmaker from Baltimore, using nearby locations for his backdrops, he was only 60 years old at the time of his death in 2006...
In 1978, Don releases his first mind-boggling movie,
THE ALIEN FACTOR! I like this goofy towering creature the most!.. Hey, watch yer head!!
In
FIEND from 1980, a spirit enters into a grave site and reanimates a corpse back to life as Mr. Longfellow. In order for him to stay alive, he needs to absorb the life energies out of the living by wrapping his hands around his victims' throats..
In the sci-fi adventure NIGHTBEAST from 1982, Don brings in his space alien with a wicked sense of humor!! Like, man, he really seems to enjoy his work!
Next up is
THE GALAXY INVADER from 1985, a real degenerate story about a space alien being hunted by a gang of drunken hillbillys who saw him crash-land his big old spaceship in their back yard!
Apparently, Don needed a break from sci-fi, because, six years later in 1991, he releases BLOOD MASSACRE. In this crazy tale, four punks rob a video store and kill the owner's daughter. They decide to hole up in a farm house but don't realize these farmers are actually blood thirsty cannibals!.. Oh, hey George!
Looks like Don needed another break, this time from movies themselves, because, ten years later in 2001, he gives us... HARVESTERS! It's a thriller about a small-time gang of misfits led by lesbian Gulf War veteran, Frankie Falzone. After she kicks a redneck's ass at a strip club, the gang moves on to a small town to cause even more trouble...
Also in 2001, it's back to sci-fi for Don with
ALIEN FACTOR 2: The Alien Rampage! Man, this is one whacked out follow up to the original story, watch in horror as alien space specimens escape to pillage the countryside, leaving pandemonium in their wake!
Okay, bring on the vampires!!.. In 2002, Don gives us STAKES! Okay, so, try and imagine a parallel Earth where vampires have savaged humanity, the disease is so bad, the bloodsuckers begin feeding on each other! Three surviving humans create a jump gate to our Earth, but, the Queen of the Vampires and her evil bodyguards use the gate to come to Earth as well!
Keep 'em coming!!.. In 2004, we get
VAMPIRE SISTERS, a twisted erotic tale about three of the world's most beautiful, yet horrific, creatures of the night, who engage in the world's oldest profession. Utilizing a web site to entice victims to their lair, the seductive Vampire Sisters fulfill their unholy desire to feed on human blood.
Our last sci-fi tale is CRAWLER from 2004! This is wild 'n' weird, but, I cannot find any info on this damn movie, WTF!!
Our last movie is DEAD HUNT from 2007, released a year after Don's death. In this story, ten movie reviewers are invited to a party by the host of a website devoted to horror films. The party is in full swing when the power abruptly goes out, a mysterious, black-hooded figure starts terrifying the group, who find that they are trapped in the house!
Check in again Wednesday for even more precious Dungeon Cargo!
Never heard of CRAWLER at all, maybe George Stover knows something about it (since he's in the photo with...whatever that is).
ReplyDeleteGALAXY INVADER may be the only one I know, but it's a real experience.
ReplyDeleteThere's the father who wears that same torn tee-shirt all through the film, as if they were going for a "Stanley Kowalski" look. And there's the scene where the town loose woman runs away from him shrieking, because he's evidently the one man she can say no to.
And even though this is a SPOILER, there's his wife hitting him with that big stick over and over in slow motion. It looks more than anything else like a bad gold swing in a comedy!
The dumbest thing in the whole film is when they toss a dummy - that is plainly a dummy - off a cliff! I told Don that it looked terrible, but he didn't hear me. For whatever his (and his films) faults, Don was a guy who did more than most people ever do, putting his own money on the line and making films. I remember when he was working on his first feature, ALIEN FACTOR, and that it was just a joy to know that somebody I knew was actually doing what very few have the guts to do, making a feature film and putting it out there. I think that his first film was his most successful, financially and otherwise, maybe because it WAS his first! A total labor of love...and no matter how "cheap" or "cheesy" it may seem, you can tell he and his friends and family had a good time making it. For them, it was an adventure! Same goes for the Dungeon Gang here, and their amazing films, THE CREEP and SILVER ANGEL! Much more delightful to watch this kind of film than any bloated blockbusters coming out of "Hollyweird" these days! So, mucho kudos to the guys who have the guts to actually put their money where their mouth is, to make their own films! CHEERS!
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ReplyDeleteI was referring here to GALAXY INVADER, in response to Grant's post. Re: the dummy-off-the-cliff goof. I still get a kick and many smiles out of this film and ALIEN FACTOR, even if Don did steal the GALAXY INVADER title from me!
Crawler has yet to be released! Sadly Don Dohler passed before it was completed. A couple people have been slowly but surely working to complete it. Last I heard it's just about done and hopefully will be released in the next few months or so.
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