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| Images courtesy of Kino Lorber |
Kino Lorber recently announced a new sublabel entitled Kino
Cult which specializes in smaller cult horror and/or science-fiction flicks too
niche for their ordinary releasing label.
Among the first few entries in this new sublabel catering to grittier
regional flicks with lovingly restored new 4K restorations are Clive Barker’s Underworld,
Jeff Franco’s sleazy Sinner: The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac and not
one but two Lash LaRue starring regional vehicles by Phil Smoot: Alien Outlaw
and today’s Kino Cult entry The Dark Power from 1985.
Lensed on 16mm, shot and set in North Carolina where
Southern Fried racism still abides, the film is another one of those weekend slumber
party flicks that goes awry upon the arrival of whatever monsters the plotline
cooks up to throw at us, The Dark Power concerns a group of Native
American demons known as the Toltecs who have cursed the town by unleashing a
horde of Indian zombies at a college coed dormitory. Things seem dire for our cast of scantily clad
characters fleeing in distress from deadly Native American zombies, that is
until a grand showdown with the town sheriff Ranger Girard (40s-50s western
whipcracking legend Lash LaRue) evens the playing field and presents a real
threat to the undead entities.
The first of two features by writer-director Phil Smoot who
peppers his characters with real palpable racism that is every bit as uncomfortable
to hear now as it must’ve been for video renters in 1985, The Dark Power is
a nifty little cult item that jump started the careers of many cast and crew
members. For instance, the film
showcases some wild effects sequences from eventual Cold Storage effects
wizard Tony Elwood and Emmy Award winner Dean Jones of Star Trek: Deep Space
Nine. Though director Smoot himself
admits he doesn’t like gory movies, there’s a face ripping scene that all but
rivals the bathroom mirror scene in Poltergeist. It also sports, for 16mm, pretty strong
cinematography by eventual The Mandalorian DP Paul Hughen.
The cast is mostly amateurish save for LaRue though the
ensemble players who remember the production fondly for launching their careers
but as we’re watching this overtly regional effort we kinda don’t mind the
non-professional actors. The soundtrack
by Christopher Deane and Matt Kendrick is a tad overwrought and sounds at times
like a score written for a 1950s western.
Still, once the effects kick in and the damsels in distress find
themselves fleeing oversized goopy gloppy Native American zombies with an inexplicable
fear of whips cracking, we forget about the rest.
Barely released on video before disappearing for a few years
and reappearing on DVD, this new 4K restoration by Kino Cult featuring a newly
filmed retrospective documentary on the making of the film with contributions
from Phil Smoot and the cast is most certainly the definitive possible release
of this otherwise forgotten and overlooked little exploitation horror
flick.
Newer viewers are forewarned
about the racism of the time and setting though that shouldn’t deter film
historians and horror fans from enjoying the film. How many horror movies do you know of with
distinctly Native American zombies or a whip cracker warding said zombies
off? Understandably this did get a
RiffTrax commentary version making fun of the film, but on its own terms The
Dark Power can be an irreverent slasher horror blast.
--Andrew Kotwicki
