Starring - Tomas Arana (Gladiator, Blood Feud), Carole Andre (Yor: The Hunter from the Future, Flawless), and David Brandon (StageFright, Beyond Darkness)
Release Date - 1996
Genre - Horror
Format - UHD (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
Lamberto Bava is a name that many genre fans know and love but is one that I could argue is severely underrated. Bis career started in the mid-70s but it was in the early 80s that he really made a name for himself in the horror genre with films like Macabre, A Blade in the Dark, Demons and Demons 2, You'll Die At Midnight, and Delirium. There was a few stinkers scattered throughout, like Devil Fish, but the majority of them are must see title for genre fans but they are not as widely known as films like Friday the 13th, Night of the Living Dead, and so on. Demons especially, is a movie that I think every horror fan needs to see at least once but I can easily argue that most of the other films I previously mentioned of his should be seen as well. A few weeks back my friends over at Severin sent me the High Tension set. The set contains four made for television movies from an Italian show titled High Tension. These episodes never made it to air due to their graphic nature and was recently restored by Severin. I couldn't wait to check these out and started with The Prince of Terror. I want to thank Severin for sending this one over!
The film follows a horror director who calls himself The Prince of Terror and lived in a secluded home with his wife and teenage daughter. After hosting a dinner for a producer and his date, he finds strange things happening around his home from their family pet going missing, the toilet backing up, and light fixtures suddenly exploding. Things take a sinister twist when they find their dog skinned and a maniac inside their home. When the three fight back they learn that the maniac is actually an actor who has history with the director who has partnered with a writer recently fired by the director. Both are disgruntled and plan on putting him through hell but are unaware just how far the Prince of Terror is willing to go to protect his wife and child.
It absolutely blows my fucking mind that Bava went into this to make a made for television movie and this was what he came up with. I don't know the ins and outs of this one so I'm not going to pretend like I do but from what I have read is that these four films were never aired but did find some sort of release eventually finding its way to VHS or BETA. While working on this review I was able to find several clips on YouTube from the film that was recorded from sort of tape. Regardless if it was aired or not, this was one hell of a movie and I fucking loved it. I wish I would have seen this one earlier, especially when I was first getting into Bava and his films. The acting in this one is over the top especially for the time but that has always been a trademark of his. We have some of the cast delivering serious performances almost like they are chasing awards while others are hamming it up in front of the camera. This inconsistent acting would normally ruin a film but it's fun with Bava and most other Italian genre films. The story for this one is a bit far fetched but it wasn't predictable and the "what the fuck" moments were plenty. I don't think this one has a lot of replay value but the story is fantastic for a first time watch. I suspect he had this story ready for a film and was up against a deadline for the television movie so he did some doctoring and submitted it. Finally, the film has some pretty gruesome moments that I'm still daydreaming about. The film doesn't have a big body count but two particular instances uses some phenomenal practical effects that were absolutely gorgeous. It's not the most gruesome Lamberto Bava film but the few times we get gore, he makes it count. Overall, The Prince of Terror is nowhere near my favorite film from Italian filmmaker Lamberto Bava but god damn did I love it. It's a strange film for sure but fans of mid-90s horror and Italian gore will appreciate this one. It's not your typical made for television movie which makes me question that entirely.
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