Revealer

A young generation of teenagers are living in the Tik Tok cloud. Everyone wants to be seen, and heard on video. There are of course good things you can do on Tik Tok videos, like inform people of problems of this world such as the environment, that´s it´s not ok to abuse someone. So i am all for content like that, as long as it is made to tell something important. How about funny content ? Absoutely, but since i am personally too old for the Tik Tok cloud, i prefer old school ways to deliver funny content. But let´s travel back in time for a moment, into the late 80´s. I was a teenager back then and we did not need Tik Tok or social media to have fun. We would ride our bicycles to the comic book store, or checked out the latest VHS movies at the local video stores. We bought movie magazines to read about the latest horror movies, and played our Vinyl records. The 80´s was a very unique time, when we actually spent time together, where friendship was on a completely different level than today. We did not have cell phones, but we did have skateboards and phone booths. We were very creative and always came up with ideas on how to keep ourselves busy. If someone would not show up on a time we decided, we could just find the closest phone booth and call to their home. Since i grew up having my grandmother Maj being a huge horror fan, she introduced me into horror in the 80´s. And it was from there i started discovering a lot of horror films, that i was actually too young to see. One of the films i especially remember seeing back then is a film called Maniac Cop from director William Lustig ( director of the violent 1980 cult classic slasher known as Maniac ). I remember my parents friends The Robertsson family bringing home this VHS tape from the rental store ( they always got good stuff since they knew the owner ), and i was able to watch it. Maniac Cop was a fun combination of action of horror, that tells the story of Officer Matt Cordell ( Robert Z´Dar ), who was unjustly imprisoned in Sing Sing prison for police brutality and closing in on corruption in city hall. Officer Matt is brutally murdered in the shower room of Sing Sing, and his spirit bring his dead body back to life, to revenge his death. Maniac Cop have a little bit of everything if you appreciate the combination of action and horror, and especially great characters. Legendary actor Bruce Campbell can be seen here, and i really love Robert Z´Dar as Maniac Cop. The sequels are worth checking out as well if you are curious to see the first film. Speaking of the 80´s, it seems that a lot of horror directors these days are definetely influenced by the 80´s, and one of the film i thought looked interesting is called Revealer. I loved the trailer, and i decided to give the film a chance on Shudder. Is this a film for true fans of 80´s horror, or is Revealer not as good as i was hoping it would be?

It´s the summer of 1987 and Angie Pitarelli ( Caito Aase ) picked up an extra shift at the strip club she works at. Outside there is a demostration going on from evangelical Christians, where especially Sally Mewbourne ( Shaina Shrooten ), who have to tell Angie what a sinner she is. This does not affect Angie in any way, so she heads inside the strip club to get her own strip booth from owner Ray ( Bishop Stevens ). As Angie have done some dance shows for customers, something strange seems to be happening outside. She is about to find out, that what used to be an ordinary world, is no longer the same anymore.

If you are in the mood for a horror film that actually show some love for the 80´s, then you have found the right place to be. Revealer is not only a surprisingly fun horror film, but i love the colorful style that this film brings. It is as if you can sense the 80´s strip club atmosphere, while you are watching the film. Not only that, but you get the right kind of 80´s clothes, 80´s hair style and most of all a really good 80´s styled sountrack. This clearly shows that they really wanted to capture the right 80´s feeling so that the fans would be pleased. But that´s not all the positive i have to say, and this is where we get into the characters. There are especially two characters that i love, and especially the main character Angie ( played by actress Caito Aase ). Caito is really funny as the stripper Angie, and her comedy timing is surpringly good in several scenes. I love her satirical approach on everything towards evangelical people to the strip club owner Ray ( played by Bishop Stevens ). The other great character in this film is evangelican Christian protester Sally ( played by actress Shaina Schrooten ), who hates strip clubs and people like Angie. Shaina really capture the mentality of an American evangelical Christian in a very effective way. When the fun really begins in this film, is when we see something evil attack the strip club, as the rest of the world outside seems to be doomed. The apocalyptic approach matches well with the story. The snake creatures are actually quite effective, and the demonic beast works pretty well. We do get some brutal violence, but only towards the end. So what would i describe Revealer to be? In some ways it feels like a strip club version of Night Of The Creeps, Flashdance and the 1989 film Intruder. If you happen to enjoy all of those 80´s films, well you definetely found something to look forward to. Director Luke Boyce is clearly passionate about 80´s films, and he proves that by bringing us a film that is a pure love letter to horror fans of the 80´s. It may not be perfect, but i see so many positive details to be pleased about this film that i definetely recommend Revealer. If you want to have a good time, Revealer is the film to choose. I am definetely picking up a DVD copy, and so should you,

Rating: DDD