Hallucinations

Director(s) - John Polonia (Peter Rottentail, Night Crawlers), Mark Polonia (Land Shark, Amityville Exorcist), and Todd Michael Smith (Splatter Farm, Lethal Nightmare)

Starring - John Polonia, Mark Polonia, and Todd Michael Smith

Release Date - 1986

Genre - Horror

Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     As I continue to push through some SRS Cinema releases that has stacked up I find myself really enjoying it even if a few of the films were duds.  I've come to realize that Ron Bonk is a well rounded filmmaker that is fairly consistent with his films.  I'm glad he released his earlier films as part of his retro line.  I've also realized that I'm more of a Polonia Brother's fan that I had realized.  Bad Magic didn't work out too well for me but these "lost' Polonia flicks are so much fun.  Mark Polonia found some unedited and unfinished films from their youth and cut them for SRS to release.  Church of the Damned was a fun watch and I wanted to keep the Polonia marathon going so I tossed in 1986's Hallucinations.  

     The film follows twin brothers (Mark and John Polonia) and their adopted brother (Smith) as they are home alone while their mother works a late shift.  One of the twins is often picked on for being a little slow so that causes animosity between the adopted sibling and the other twin.  The day starts out normal but soon all three succumb to strange hallucinations when they suspect that something supernatural is preying on them.

     Hallucinations, much like Church of the Damned, is a very rough film from some very young filmmakers but it's fun.  It's so strange and odd, even for a Polonia film, but it is still fun in a cheap late night creature feature kind of way.  I enjoyed and could confidently recommend it to other genre fans but I don't see myself revisiting it anytime soon.  The acting in this one is rough at times but still far from the worst that I've seen.  If I'm not mistaken, the Polonias and Smith were all high school age here.  Their lack of experience and budget does not stop them from trying.  They give the roles the best that they could and it was just enough to make the scenes work.  It's awkward at times and funny when it shouldn't be but it works.  The story for this one really pulled me in even more so than Church of the Damned.  The "hallucinations" was a very interesting concept especially for a no-budget flick but the editing is extremely choppy.  The film was abandoned and only edited for SRS to release which would explain some of the inconsistencies and poor editing but I would love to see Polonia allow a fan to remake this one.  Finally, this is not the splatter fest that the Polonias and Smith are known for but there was a few practical effects that really surprised me.  The film isn't really about deaths but we get a few memorable moments with some fun practical effects.  Overall, Hallucinations isn't for those of you that are looking for big budget or well polished horror films.  Pop horror fans may not appreciate it but fans of no-budget or backyard horror flicks should check it out.