Have you been wondering what The Amazing Kreskin has been up to lately? Me neither. But here he is, the most recognizable name in the cast of this bizarre and surreal horror film by director Dante Tomaselli, who has earn a bit of a cult following after his first feature, "Desecration." His follow-up, "Horror," is similar in look and feel, with a seemingly non-existent plot used to link numerous scenes of surreal terror. While the film wavers between being artistic and amateurish, chilling and laughable, it nevertheless contains some well-directed set-pieces and truly eerie imagery, playing like a 77 minute nightmare from which you can't awake. Just don't try to make much sense out of it.

As far as I can tell, the story involves five youths who escape from a drug-rehab facility in order to meet up with Reverend Salo, a "preacher" whom has promised salvation through hallucinogenic drugs. Meanwhile Salo, along with his loony wife, has been keeping their daughter in a drug-induced stupor - for what purpose, it is never made clear. Anyway, flying high on mushrooms, pot and whatever else he can find, the leader of this group, Luck, shoots the reverend and his wife upon arrival at their country home, while their daughter, Grace, seeks comfort from Reverend Salo Sr. (Kreskin). Soon after, evil and bizarre doings are afoot: Luck vomits blood all over his girlfriend and runs into the woods, a mysterious and deformed little girl gets into the house, dolls melt, a family portrait of Salo Sr. begins to change, hordes of the undead lay siege to the house, and a demonic presence (in the form of a goat) makes its presence known. Most of the aforementioned scenes may or may not have anything to do with what this film calls a plot. In fact, I could be completely wrong about the plot, which is barely mapped out with ambiguous, and sometimes frustratingly incoherent, imagery; characters die in one scene, only to return in another, and the viewer is never made privy whether or not what they just watched is a flashback - or flash forward. For all I know, the whole picture is about a bad acid trip experienced by Luck, or some nightmare experienced by someone else. In fact, it's best the forget trying figure out the plot and just let it happen. Director Tomaselli is definitely a talent, although I think he's seen one-too-many Dario Argento movies. "Horror" is very skillfully made on a low budget, with many stylish and nerve-wracking sequences. But, nearly as often, there are scenes which don't work, like the "ominous" goat which appears from time to time; yeah, I know goats are satanic symbols in folklore, but I had to laugh while watching this one standing in the mist, chewing its cud while an actor screams in horror at its presence. The glowing jack-o-lanterns, symbolizing (I think) Mr. And Mrs. Salo, are a pretty cheesy effect, resembling paper lanterns. And, nearly all the scenes involving Kreskin are terrible - the guy can't act, and the scenes in which he's allowed to perform his famous power-of-suggestion shtick have no place here, even if the whole film is simply a string of isolated set-pieces. Perhaps Tomaselli, thrilled to have a famous face in the cast, felt he had to work the old guy in somehow. But, Kreskin isn't alone - no one on the cast is going to give DeNiro a run for his money, especially with some of the silly dialogue they've been given. Tomaselli is a much better director than he is a screenwriter, which may be why the best moments in "Horror" occur during the many scenes with no dialogue - in fact, I don't think it would have suffered much if it contained NO dialogue. It isn't as if anyone in the film is ever going to explain what the hell's going on, anyway.

Presented in 1.85:1 widescreen, the picture is nearly abysmal, with a ton of grain. That's too bad, considering the great care Tomaselli took to create an eerie mood with his camera. The colors also seem washed-out - I don't know if that is intentional or not (personally, I'd have shot it in black & white). The sound is a bit lackluster, as well, particularly during the scenes of dialogue, registering much lower than all the surrounding sound. Then again, I doubt to many folks are going to care about the dialogue after five minutes, anyway.

There are some pretty decent extras on this disc, which Tomaselli fans will definitely enjoy, like his audio commentary - his commitment to his work is obvious. There's also some pretty neat behind-the-scenes footage, though only about 10 minutes worth, and another featurette featuring The Amazing Kreskin, who expresses his enthusiasm for the project, though he admits he can't act (yeah, no s**t); he also claims the scenes in which he "suggests" things to cast members in the film are all real - an interesting revelation if you buy it (I don't). In addition, there's an 11 minute segment from Tomaselli's first feature, "Desecration," as well a trailers for both films.

Useless trivia: This movie was made for only $200,000. Summary: Aside from the terrible dialogue, bad acting and non-existent plot, "Horror" is a freaky little movie - and feels just plain evil at times. It has the look and feel of many of the old school Italian films of the 80s, where style, style, style is everything. Tomaselli is definitely someone to watch out for in the future. At the very least, "Horror" is never boring, and at a scant 77 minutes, doesn't overstay its welcome.