This month’s installment of Deep Cuts Rising features a variety of horror movies. Some selections reflect a specific day or event in February, and others were chosen at random.
Regardless of how they came to be here, or what they’re about, these past movies can generally be considered overlooked, forgotten or unknown.
From a killer bear to a man-eating demon, here are five hidden horror gems and deep cuts that you can check out in February 2023.
Trapped (1973)
Directed by Frank De Felitta.
In this offering from ABC Movie of the Week, James Brolin plays a divorced father looking for a certain gift for his daughter. Had he not tried to thwart a mugging, though, his character might have been able to deliver the gift on time. Instead, the protagonist is rendered unconscious until he wakes up alone in the mall. Well, not completely alone because the grounds are patrolled by a highly trained pack of Dobermans. And these vicious dogs aren’t about to let a possible intruder get away in one piece.
Trapped, like other TV-movies of this time period, reflects prevalent social trends. U.S. divorce rates were higher than ever, and “weekend fathers” like Brolin’s character were increasingly common. While the element of mall security dogs is unusual — and maybe an inspiration for Chopping Mall — it also makes this movie more unique.
As of now, Trapped is trapped on video tape. Digitized copies have since been put online, but fans undoubtedly want to see this virtually lost TV-movie restored and put on DVD/Blu-ray one day.
Def by Temptation (1990)
Directed by James Bond III.
With February being Black History Month, now is a great time to watch Def by Temptation. This Troma-released movie is James Bond III’s one and only feature as a director and screenwriter. Bond also stars as the main character who crosses paths with a female demon (Cynthia Bond) preying solely on men. The movie also features Kadeem Hardison and Samuel L. Jackson.
The stylish cinematography of this charming and oddball snapshot of late 1980s Brooklyn was made possible by Ernest R. Dickerson, who later directed Demon Knight and Bones.
Def by Temptation is available on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome, and it’s currently streaming on Tubi.
Yellow Fangs (1990)
Directed by Sonny Chiba and Kinji Fukasaku.
Bears typically avoid humans, but even keeping your distance is not a guarantee that these massive mammals won’t hurt you. Sometimes they are unpredictable creatures. For instance, the settlers of a Hokkaidō settlement were plagued by an Ussuri brown bear in December of 1915. This incident is considered one of the worst bear attacks in history.
Like other tragic events, the Sankebetsu encounter was turned into a movie. This slow-burning period piece takes some creative license with the true story it’s based on, and it inserts original characters like those played by Hiroyuki Sanada and Mika Muramatsu. The obvious bear “suitmation” makes Yellow Fangs (originally Remains: Utsukushiki Yūsha-tachi) a tad too campy, and Muramatsu’s warrior bikini is out of place, but overall this emotional epic is a visual treat.
Availability for Yellow Fangs is limited but not impossible. A translated release occasionally pops up on streaming sites outside of Japan, and it was issued on a now out-of-print DVD by Cinema Epoch.
All-American Murder (1991)
Directed by Anson Williams.
All-American Murder is an Oklahoma-shot oddity starring Christopher Walken as the detective hunting down a killer on a college campus. Charlie Schlatter — who starred in the short-lived Ferris Bueller sitcom, playing opposite Jennifer Aniston — is Walken’s main suspect, a young troublemaker who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. And before she later landed her career-boosting gig on Melrose Place, Josie Bissett was this movie’s murder victim. Also in attendance is Joanna Cassidy as the sexually frustrated wife of the college dean.
While the setting and young protagonist make All-American Murder sound like a standard slasher, it has more in common with classic giallo thrillers. Slasher or not, this movie is a wildly entertaining mystery.
Vinegar Syndrome has since released All-American Murder on Blu-ray, and the movie is currently streaming on Tubi.
Love Object (2003)
Directed by Robert Parigi.
Socially awkward people finding solace in hobbies and inanimate objects is a popular subgenre in horror. In this 2003 movie, Desmond Harrington plays Kenneth, a talented but shy technical writer whose chronic loneliness urges him to purchase a life-sized and realistic sex doll named Nikki. What began as purely physical soon turns into something emotional and twisted once Kenneth believes Nikki is alive and jealous of his coworker (Melissa Sagemiller).
Love Object starts off quirky before it becomes more and more dark. It’s a solid companion to May when putting together a horror double-feature for Valentine’s Day.
Right now Love Object can only be found on DVD, but at one point it was streaming. Maybe that will change again down the road.
No genre is as prolific as horror, so it’s understandable that movies fall through the cracks all the time. That is where this recurring column, Deep Cuts Rising, comes in. Each installment of this series will spotlight several unsung or obscure movies from the past — some from way back when, and others from not so long ago — that could use more attention.