We have something real cool today and it's all thanks to our pal Darkko who shared this flick with me. It's called NIGHT VISION and it's from 1987 and it's directed by the apparently late and clearly great MICHAEL KRUEGER. Now, if you're NOT the type who digs zero budget flicks that lean toward the long winded and feature only short spurts of sanity, you may want to run in the other direction, feel free, nobody blames you. But if you, like me, go gaga for the blessed confetti explosion of idiosyncrasy such outsider efforts frequently supply, you may have just entered heaven and not just any heaven, hog heaven, the best heaven of all! To bait his hook, Dan H. cleverly advised me to simply watch a short scene on YouTube knowing full well it would seal the deal…
Did you see that? This movie largely takes place in a corner Mom and Pop video store sometime in the eighties! I feel like I'm seeing something that was filmed in some beloved home I once lived in and in a way I am. I don't have to tell you that this little gem has many flaws but so do we all and flaws really aren't so bad if you simply embrace them. Scraggily though it may be, NIGHT VISION is rather imaginative all things considered and was ambitious enough to go against the grain during a time when many horror flicks were marching in line. Also this film is basically about a haunted videotape which makes it quite the early precursor. Or maybe this KRUEGER guy just liked VIDEODROME a lot, I don't know. If nothing else it fearlessly exposes the seedy underbelly of Denver.
So here's the thing, I have to go away for a little while because I gotta do something that I said I was going to do that I never did. You know how it is. I need to focus because I can only do one thing at time and multitasking is for chumps. So I'm leaving you with this movie to view and here is my challenge to anyone who wants to participate…
Watch this movie and identify as many VHS movie boxes that appear on the shelves at the video store that you can.
I'll even start you out!
All right, I gotta get started on the thing I said I'd do that I never did. I'll check back in the comments section when I can. Have fun, play safe!
Oh fantastic! A little off topic (but not), I believe this is by the same guy who made the great Mindkiller, which takes place in a library! No joke, this guy is awesome.
Thanks for the linkage! I will watch this soon!
Amanda,
You're right! Michael Krueger did direct Mindkilller and it was released the same year. I just watched it last night (again, thanks to Darkko's suggestion) and found it equally amazing if not more. The same actress (Shirley Ross) is featured in both films and it too was filmed entirely in Denver. Now I'm sure that Krueger had a thing for Cronenberg as much as Night Vision nods towards Videodrome, Mindkiller is like Scanners spliced with The Fly's relationship issues and concluding with a giant Brood inspired body mutation. It's too bad Krueger is no longer with us because I'd love to see what he'd have directed next.
I'm very impressed that he swings for the fences with so little at his disposal rather than playing it safe and the backyard homemade quality just makes me appreciate the effort more.
Anyway here is the link to MindKiller too. Good call Darkko!
Also:
1. I should really thank the original uploader Jonathan Moser who edited Night Vision.
2. I was also reminded of Frank Henenlotter while watching these.
3. I spied the box for THE NESTING and was made really happy for some reason. That was a fun movies to review…
https://www.kindertrauma.com/?p=29858
Yes, I'm procrastinating.
I'm glad you like it and Mindkiller!
I was scraping through the On Demand movies on AT & T Uverse when I came across Night Vision. Oddly enough, they throw up some pretty strange films for filler to beef up their library. Luckily, Jonathan Moser was kind enough to make it available on Vimeo.
I'm not kidding when I tell you I started freeze framing scenes to jot down all the movies on the shelves but stopped, thinking that maybe I was crossing a line into pure madness.
I'm glad that there's someone else out there who was thinking the same thing!
I really enjoyed this. Much better than I expected actually… though I think I might also have just been in the mood for that sort of 80's weirdness.
Is it just me or did the acting seem a notch above the norm for such a thing? Maybe it was the writing… something. Like, the short-n-skeezy street hustler guy seemed like he could have come off as way more ridiculous than he did.
3 INVASION OF THE BLOOD FARMERS excellent SDC and Dr. Nick!
7
9 ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES yay Darkman
7 was a hard one!
that is NIGHT VISION
Here's an old post on it…
https://www.kindertrauma.com/viewing-party-night-vision-1987/
Still an excellent job and great guesses SDC!
Hope everyone has a great weekend and
Thanks to all who played!!!