The Laughing Dead 1990 Written and directed by Somtow Sucharitku under the name SP Somtow. This is Somtow's first feature film as a director, the other was called Ill Met By Moonlight, which I've not seen. Somtow once wrote an episode of Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers and 4 episodes of Dinosaucers. I've seen the former but not the later.
I saw this back in 1990 when a local guy got a VHS tape from the director. The film didn't get a US release but Somtow showed it at SF conventions a few times. It did eventually show up on DVD, usually packaged with another film, recently there's been a Blu-ray release.
It's 80s Asian horror transplanted to the US southwest and mixed with Mexican mythology. Somtow plays the evil Dr Um-tzec, he loves sacrificing people and ripping their hearts out. He's got his eyes set on the son of Father Sullivan. The Father is leading an archeology expedition to Mexico. Dr Um-tzec seems a bit weird at first but soon enough his true nature comes apparent. There's the typical sort of slaughter with a fair bit of gore. They did pretty well for a small budget and a group of film makers that haven't had much experience. From the making of documentary Somtow wasn't supposed to direct but the woman hired stepped down and he was forced to direct. Some others helped.
I remember liking it on the first watch, much of that like was the fun of seeing it in a group and enjoying the appearance of several SF authors in the cast. You may or may not have heard of any of them: Tim Powers, Tim Sullivan, Gregory Frost, Larry Kagen, Wendy Webb, Arthur Byron Cover, William F Wu, Len Wein. Edward Bryant, Forest Ackerman, Bill Warren and his wife Beverly. After seeing it now, the rose off the bloom, I can see why it scores a 4.2 on the IMDb. It's entertaining but it's still below average. It's nice seeing it widescreen and with a nicer image than that old VHS tape. You can check out the copy on YouTube, you might like it, at least you'll know if you might want to spend the money on the Blu-ray. It's a stonking $35 on Amazon. It's hardly worth that.
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