A Day of Judgment (1981) (BLU-RAY REVIEW)
DIRECTED BY: Charles Reynolds (XVII)
STARRING: William T. Hicks, Harris Bloodworth, Brownlee Davis
RATED: UR/REGION O/1:85/1080P/NUMBER OF DISCS 1
AVAILABLE FROM Severin Films
From Earl Owensby Studios – the South’s biggest producer/distributor of ’70s/’80s regional horror and exploitation hits – comes what may be the most obscure and bizarre slasher movie of the entire godless genre: In a 1930s small town rife with lust, corruption and sin, a mysterious figure wielding a scythe arrives to cut an unholy swath of murder, madness and moralizing that may lead straight to Hell. William T. Hicks (DEATH SCREAMS), Brownlee Davis (WOLFMAN), Jerry Rushing (FINAL EXAM) and Harris Bloodworth star in this “early ’80s oddity worth seeing as something very different” (The Slasher Report) produced by Earl Owensby (TALES OF THE THIRD DIMENSION) and Worth Keeter (L.A. BOUNTY), now scanned in 2K from the IP for the first time ever.
Yeah, this is an odd one folks! We have by all means what you could call a slasher movie, but it doens’t seem to do a whole heck of a lot of slashing when you get down to the thick of it. We basically come into a town once the preacher is leaving, because in his own words he has failed. He has failed the town and failed God. No sooner than he is on the way out, we see just how awful most the people in this town are and then not much longer after that we see these people start to get taken down by a variety of different things. The odd nature of this one might be the best thing about it. If you just like strange cinema that might be where you want to see this one. I’ve heard it called the first Christian slasher and that could go a ways for it, but I’m still not sure I’m 100% sold on what this one has to offer.
I think the movie gets in its own way in a number of ways. One of which being the pace of all of it. There are times when you just want this one to get on with it and it is at it’s best when it does just that. The rest of the way you find a sluggish film that might feel “dream like” at times, but can also feel a bit sluggish more times than not. It is still a very good thing that Severin has brought it to Blu-ray. And the movie looks very good for what it is. It can now go on to live forever in the history of Severin’s variety of horror releases, but I do not think at the end of the day you’ll be wanting to revisit this one too often.
Extras
- NEW 2K RESTORATION OF THE FILM FROM AN INTERPOSITIVE
- The Atheist’s Sins: Interview With Author Of NIGHTMARE USA Stephen Thrower
- Tales Of Judgment: Interview With Filmmaker Worth Keeter And Writer Thom McIntyre
- English audio and optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
- REGION-FREE
QUALITY OF TRANSFER: 88%
