Fiend

I absolutely love Don Dohler films. They have a certain charm to them that you can't find anywhere else. Fiend is a bit less spectacular than Alien Factor or Nightbeast, but it's still definitely worth watching. Of course you have to be the type of person who enjoys bad movies... but Dohler flicks are always bad in a good way. They're not boring or torturous to sit through. The quality of this new print is excellent. I'm glad this gem finally got the restoration treatment it deserved. 5-stars!

What’s not to love about Fiend? It’s a movie with a runtime of 1:30 but feels like an entire 15 season tv series that takes 203 hours to watch. There’s a lobster ghost, a violin player, a weird person who can’t open a fence, and most importantly the best line in cinema history: “what about Longfellow?” Don Dohler >>>>>>

BOTTOM LINE: More shoestring cinema fun from Baltimore's own Don Dohler, an obscure indie auteur who achieved underground cult status by fashioning a half dozen sci-fi & horror-themed films in the late 70's - early 80's with nothing more than a handful of cash and sheer force of will. You don't have to be a fan of threadbare theater (or a washed up Hollywood/Spielberg wannabe) to fully appreciate this stuff, but it helps. And even if you're just curious you're still in luck, because this second feature from Dohler has received a nicely polished hi-def release from the freaky folk at Massacre Films. The 2k hi-def transfer of the film is uniformly excellent and a sizeable selection of sturdy supplements are included with it. 4 STARSTHE STORY: The shuffling zombie & bloodthirsty vampire tropes collide head-on in this tepid tale. Going the 2-for-1 option one better, writer Dohler also posits that a wormy whatsit from outer space has reanimated the crumbling corpse, forgoing the traditional magic spell and/or demonic spirit angle. The newly resurrected crusty creep moves into a nearby suburb and quickly sets up shop posing as a violin tutor(!?) in order to tempt tasty young tarts into his ghoulish grasp. And even though this FIEND drains a victim's life force instead of her blood, a dead body is still the end result... and local residents soon become understandably miffed when their friends & family members start turning up strangled to death.THOUGHTS: A mostly bloodless movie (originally shot in the hopes of selling it for late night TV consumption), FIEND is a quaint throwback of sorts and star Don Leifert does a pretty good job as nefarious necro-musician Eric Longfellow; a juicy role which would've fit Boris Karloff to a "T" - had this film been shot in the mid-1940's. The acting on display here is strictly at the high school drama class level for the most part, but that's to be expected when cast & crew were friends & family of the personable but penniless director, and who were working essentially (often literally) for free. The usual cash-starved look of Dohler's 'Homemade Hollywood' product is disguised slightly better this time around by keeping his suburban sets simple and his cast small. For those curious about old school handmade F/X there are a couple of crude stop-motion bits (in the opening & closing scenes), plus several nifty hand-drawn cell animation sequences peppered throughout the film.THE BLU-RAY: Massacre Films put forth a yeoman effort to give this ultra low budget charmer a real first class release. First off, the transfer is really quite nice. A 2k scan taken directly from the original 16mm film elements results in a surprisingly sharp, clean picture. No washouts, burn throughs, jump splices or tattery edits to be found… although there are a handful of shots bedeviled by vertical lines & a few small stains, (found on the elements themselves most likely, and probably not the fault of the technicians nor the transfer process). Sound is clean, clear and mercifully level. Extras start with a cardboard slipcase cover, featuring different artwork than the inner snapcase box sports. Next up is a fun & informative full-length moderated audio commentary track with go-to Dohler acting regular George Stover & FIEND's cinematographer, Rich Geiwitz. There's also a genuinely amusing blooper reel lasting about 10 minutes, a brief promo stills gallery and four of Dohler's early super-8mm short subject films (which run around 40 minutes total). For diehard Dohler-ites, his infamous BLOOD MASSACRE is included here as an Easter Egg bonus. A twisted take on "The Last House on the Left", BLOOD MASSACRE is a dark, ugly, depressing tale. The underhanded behind-the-scenes a-hole tactics of Dohler's financial backers on BLOOD MASSACRE so soured the man on film making that he turned his back on the business for almost a decade. BM is... well, it IS worth checking out, but it's rather gory, even by no budget/Dohler standards, so don't say you weren't warned! Last (and most certainly least) on this loaded disc are a couple of trailers for two other movies in Massacre Films' library, neither of which are by Dohler.Now if only someone out there would do an equally top flight restoration & remaster of my favorite Dohler flick: THE GALAXY INVADER. Please, please, please Massacre, Retromedia or Shout!Factory... are you reading this??? ;-)

Low budget but strangely compelling little movie...just like most Don’t Dohler films. I love the care given to this release. Everything looks great and the special features are a plus. The slip cover is awesome. And the coup de grace is a secret Easter egg: Blood Massacre! Read the other guy’s review which is better than mine and more detailed.

Its 1979 so won't you come on down to the Don Dohler school for independent shoe string budgeted schlock found here in Baltimore, Maryland! All I can attest to is that there might not be great effects or a real good storyline to this turkey but I enjoyed it. I killed some time and sat down to view this gem and was quite surprised despite its rep that its not that horribly unentertaining. I had a laugh and viewed it for its worth. You have to respect that these people had a blast making this film. Don was recooping from a jilted SNAFU on the "Nightbeast" film he would later complete around 1982 and some money was leftover. I personaly enjoyed 1978's "Alien Factor" which he made with almost the same cast better.Cheers

Great DVD. I grew up around the corner from Don Dohler. Watched him making movies in his back yard. Ended up working with him on his last couple movies! What a great guy!

Beautiful version of the film in a cool case. The VHS i received was perfect. I love the format. It's much warmer looking and sounding than DVD. The music is full and organic. The color has a rich and satchurated, artistic look to it. The movie feels natural and the pace and pitch are slightly lower and slower than DVD which I feel is too sped up. The VHS version feels alive compared to the cold DVD version. This is a great representation of a great film.

Excellent Blu-ray of a classic corny Don Dohler film