Search - The Hearse on DVD

Little Gore, Low Budget, Still Spooky! ?

Micah Glynn | MN, USA | 06/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Film: The Hearse

Year made: 1980



I bought this film a few weeks back because I collect horror films and I had not seen this what I now consider to be a "gem" of a film in horror. So picture this, it's about 3AM in the morning and it's raining outside my window. What better time then to pop in a movie like The Hearse. Yes I'm a nightowl and yes I love horror films. MAHAHAHAH :)



The Package: 2 stars. There is nothing extra in regards to liner notes on the film. A basic cardboard holder that opens up to hold one plain looking disc. I love to see something a bit more special to each film that I can feast my eyes on, but the graphics still look cool with the hearse on the cover even though it's very basic.



Spook Meter: 3 Stars. As a seasoned horror film buff it takes a lot to spook me however this film is very well done and in good taste with a lot of spook as well. The camera angles, lighting, and shadows really give it a creepy feel to the overall movie and on a rainy night ones imagination can run wild for sure. :) You will get a bit of a "chill" from this film and walk away at the end of it happy and wishing it did not end. Creapy sounds like the piano that plays throughout the film will raise the hairs on your neck a few times for sure.



Gore/Violence Meter: 1 Star This film this one star on the gore meter. I was amazed as I watched this gem of a film just how great a movie can be with almost no gore, blood what so ever in the whole movie. I kept wondering when some bloody thing was going to happen, but in the end it was great camera work, shadows, lighting, eerie sounds that carried the film through and made the total lack of gore not matter what so ever in this case.



Profanity Meter: 2 Strikes. Very little profanity throughout the whole film except of course like most films, film makers always have to toss Gods name in vain in a few times and this one has that twice toward the end of it. I always find this dissapointing, wither it's Gods name used or any other profanity I just don't see a need for it in films at all.



Final thoughts: There are many a great horror films out there and one may wonder why I would give 5 stars overall to a film like this compaired to many other greats. When I review a film I like to do so on a individual basis and I do not compair to other films but rather I look at this one and rate it based on just how much I enjoyed it. I hope you will enjoy this one too.



Micah."

Here's A Thought: Hire A Locksmith

Robert I. Hedges | 01/25/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

""The Hearse" starring Trish Van Devere and Joseph Cotten is a moody horror film from 1980. The plot boils down to Jane (Van Devere), a newly divorced independent woman, moving into her late Aunt's rundown old house in the middle of nowhere. She is not exactly welcomed by the locals, and is haunted by a black hearse driven by a creepy lunatic.



It turns out the sultry divorcee has just inadvertently moved into a town full of devil worshippers. She shakes up the town and learns valuable life lessons along the way. Lessons that she missed, however, include learning not to hide in front of windows, not thinking to buy a dog or have a locksmith change the locks on the house, especially when cranky old Joseph Cotten keeps letting himself in to complain and make veiled threats, and not moving out of a haunted house surrounded by devil worshippers after the previous owner's body exploded mysteriously in a hearse.



The plot creaks and groans along, and while atmospherically creepy, all the plot devices are very transparent, and there isn't a great deal of surprise anywhere to be found. The film concludes with a priest-assisted resolution, which was more of a letdown than the rest of the film combined: it could have really used Richard Burton or even Donald Pleasance. This is definitely not the worst horror movie to come out of the 1980's, but it is slow and undistinguished."