You can always spot a real indie film director since they figure out ways to do more with less. They don’t moan and groan about not having a massive Marvel Cinematic Universe budget to tell their story. They figure out how to turn smallest amount of cash into 80 minutes of their cinematic vision. They imagine how Roger Corman would pull movie magic out of his hat and follow his lead. What Tony Malanowski and his crew did in the early ’80s should be taught in film schools. He had found a distributor for his indie no budget horror film Night of Horror. They wanted the film to have more gore. Instead of merely grabbing nasty close ups from other movies in their vault, the distributor gave Tony money to shoot the new scenes. Tony wasn’t going to settle for putting the gang back together for a few extra blood drenched scenes. He produced an entire second movie on a shoestring budget. Curse of the Screaming Dead was like the miracle of the fish and loaves for filmmakers. Somehow, Tony made a feature film with so little and got it sold. That’s the miracle any indie filmmaker dreams of achieving. Curse of the Screaming Dead gives us a tale of why you shouldn’t go camping in the Maryland woods before The Blair Witch Project. Now Vinegar Syndrome has upgraded to Blu-ray both Curse of the Screaming Dead and Night of Horror.
Curse of the Screaming Dead (1982 – 89 minutes) has three couples take an RV into the Maryland woods for a fun weekend of camping, hiking, hunting and bikini wearing. But things get weird right when the ex-Air force guy Mel (Nightbeast‘s Christopher Gummer) stumbles across a decaying church and a graveyard full of Confederate dead. While he’s warned by one of the girls to not take anything from the graves, Mel unwisely borrows a diary from the Confederate commander resting space. We get a bit of Ken Burns documentary vibe as he reads about the plight of the soldiers as they retreated from the Union. But instead of a sad violin and a slow pan across a Matthew Brady photo, the Confederate soldiers rise from their graves. They want revenge on those who desecrated their final resting spaces. The South is rising again. This also explains the time the film was re-issued with the title Curse of the Cannibal Confederates.
The film is a bit of a hoot when the horror kicks in. A few of the white-faced confederate zombies look like dunking booth carnies – which is also a rather frightening site. The best part is the end credits include a thanks and plug to the sporting goods store that the camping equipment came from. That’s the joy of indie filmmaking – thanking the people who really helped you make it happen.
Night of Horror (1981 – 73 minutes) takes us back the woods. The film features the camper, decaying church and Civil War uniforms that were reused in Curse of the Screaming Dead. But we’re not seeing the original version of the “sequel.” Steve Sandkuhler (Wyatt in Curse of the Screaming Dead) plays a musician named Steve. In a sparse basement bar, Chris (Tony Malanowski) wants him to join his band and come on the road. Steve tells the story of why he won’t join a band and hit the road anymore. He once took a trip in an RV with Jeff (Jeff Canfield), Susan (Rebecca Bach) and Colleen (Gae Schmitt) to check out property in the woods of Virginia that his pal Chris has inherited. But things get weird when they arrive in the area since the artsy Colleen begins to have visions of Civil War soldiers. While we get ghostly soldier in the dark telling his story, we get a massive battle scene. How was this possible? Like all great indie productions, they grabbed it. Malanowski used his camera to film a Civil War recreation event. This Corman movie moment saved a fortune in wardrobe rental, extras, military advisors and cannon blanks. I do wonder if any of the weekend Civil Warriors ever saw this film. If they see the film that’s been upgraded to Blu-ray, they might be able to make out friends, family and themselves on the screen. Night of Horror is more of a creepy ghost story, that will have all of its elements turned into a ghoul story in the semi-sequel.
Tony Malanowski really did improve his directing skills between the two films. There’s a lot of questionable camera angles in the first film compared to a more solid effort in the second. Tony was right to follow his instinct to make a whole new movie with the same theme of undead confederate soldiers rather than shoot a few gore shots. At the end of the experience, Tony had two films under his belt so he could book his own double feature. While Curse of the Screaming Dead might not be taught in film school, anyone who learns from the lessons of Corman University need to experience the films as an extra credit project.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame for both movies. Each film was shot on 16mm reversal stock so they have a grainy feel on the 1080p image. Curse of the Screaming Dead looks better since they seem more familiar with the stock. The Audio is DTS-HD 2.0 Mono for both films. There’s a roughness to the audio including a notice that they lost the master recording on Screaming so the track is taken off the videotape.
Commentary track with producer/director/editor Tony Malanowski and actor Steve Sandkuhler for The Curse of the Screaming Dead. We learn where Wyatt’s name came from. They get into how they turned shooting pick up shots into a feature film.
Commentary track with producer/director/editor Tony Malanowski and actor Steve Sandkuhler for Night of Horror. Tony admits he used his Dr. Phibes voice for the Confederate narrating. Sandkuhler was a musician and had played with composer Jim Ball. Tony wasn’t supposed to act in the movie, but Chris Gummer had a major audition that night so he filled in. He gets into the Civil War reenactment battle that he didn’t steal. He did the proper paperwork for the event.
Scream On! The Making of The Curse of the Screaming Dead (50:32) is a documentary featuring interviews with producer/director/editor Tony Malanowski and actors Steve Sandkuhler, Rebecca Bach and Chris Gummer. Tony digs up the old Styrofoam tombstones from the set. Alexander Beck was the distributor who bought Night of Horror and suggested they shoot confederate zombies coming out from the graves. Tony wasn’t sure if they could just shoot outtakes and help out Night of Horror. He figured he could just make a new film with the horror suggestions from Alexander Beck. Steve felt the new movie wasn’t a remaking although he enjoyed that it has action films. Rebecca Bach points out that they had an actual script this time. There’s great behind the scenes pictures from the shoot.
Bart Mixon: The Man Behind the Masks (12:33) meets up with the make-up effects artist. Curse of the Screaming Dead was one of his early works. He was a Monster Kid who was inspired by reading about Rick Baker. He ended up meeting Rick Baker who gave him a tip that allowed him to make the zombie masks for Curse. We see the masks from his photo tests. Bart has been working special make up for decades including plenty of Marvel Cinematic Universe films and even HBO’s The Idol.
The Score of the Screaming Dead (15:08) gets together with composer Charlie Barnett and recording engineer Jim Crenca. Barnett didn’t go to music school and is self-taught as an orchestrator. Crenca had done a session or two before they recorded the film school for Curse. They recall how things went since they didn’t have much of a budget. He’s not even sure how he paid some of the musicians. He did have a few members of the Andrews Air Force Base band record since they were up for playing for beer and fun.
Oh, What a Night… of Horror! (43:50) focuses on Night of Horror, featuring interviews with producer/director/editor Tony Malanowski and actors Steve Sandkuhler and Rebecca Bach. Tony gets into learning how to make a feature film on the fly. He was part of the team that made The Alien Factor that found success after Star Wars happened. He was working on a film that didn’t happen and Tony decided to just make a movie while people were eager to shoot something. He met Steve while they both worked for the State Highway department. He gets into how things were made and what happened on the location. After cutting the film together, he only had an hour so he came up with the bar wrap around to pad out the movie by another 10 minutes. They shot the scene with their backs to the camera since the script was on the bar.
A Morning After a Night of Horror: The “Unmade” Making of… (20:42) is an interview with Night of Horror fans Rosie Nakamura and Autumn Nakamura Neal. The two saw the film on VHS at Box Office Video in Albany, Indiana. Their brother’s friend bought the used videotape because of the cover on the box. It was a family night when they first saw it. This is a great remembering of the kids wondering “When’s the horror going to start?” This was their first experience with a shoestring production. They made jokes about “creative lighting director” credit as kids. They do think the acting isn’t that bad.
I Put a Spell on You (29:13) lets Nightmare USA author Stephen Thrower talk about how Night of Horror and Curse of the Screaming Dead is watching people learn how to make a movie. He sees the films as a pair. The budget was $4,000 on the first film. Thrower has interviewed Tony so he has real answers.
Outtakes for The Curse of the Screaming Dead (8:31) includes plenty of bloopers. They used beer cans for the slate noises.
Original video trailer under the title of Curse of the Cannibal Confederates (3:08) is from when Troma renamed the film. They used banjo music to deal with the South will Rise Again theme.
Vinegar Syndrome presents Curse of the Screaming Dead. Directed by Tony Malanowski. Screenplays by Tony Malanowski, Lon Huber, Rebecca Bach and Gae Schmitt. Starring Tony Malanowski, Steve Sandkuhler, Christopher Gummer, Rebecca Bach, Judy Dixon and Gae Schmitt. Boxset Contents: 2 Blu-ray discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: September 10, 2023.
