Macabre Movie Mausoleum: Shakma
Welcome back, Tombstones! Geekade’s 31 Days of Halloween continues with the third installment of Dr. AzarRising’s Macabre Movie Mausoleum. And since today’s movie couldn’t be any worse than our previous review, let’s chant a prayer to the dark gods of Horror Heaven (or is it Hell?) in hopes that we’ve got a better frightful flick on our hands.
“Shakma” (1990)
Directors: Hugh Parks and Tom Logan
Stars: Christopher Atkins, Amanda Wyss, and Ari Meyers
Shakma poster
I’m going to do something a little different this go around. I just want to present you with the actual Netflix description that made me NEED to watch this movie.
“Turned murderous by experimental drugs, a baboon escapes from a laboratory and attacks a group of students in the building.”
How could I, or anyone for that matter, possibly pass that up?
Shakma victim
And honestly there isn’t much more to say about this movie. It was released in 1990, but looked more like 1980 movie, which was a heyday for cheap horror movies, and seemingly before PETA existed (I actually just looked it up, ironically they formed in 1980. Guess they missed this one). Baboon, mutated, killing people, nuff said.
Shakma screaming
So, how does this killer baboon fare? Is the 80’s nostalgia enough to carry the film? Are the obviously awesome special effects special enough to earn more than a baby in a popcorn costume?
Shakma Rating…
I wanted to like this one more, it had everything a good cheesy horror movie needed, a killer monkey… and that’s about it, which in all honesty, is enough to make it entertaining on at least one level. Unfortunately, the lack of quality in everything else made this one a little worse for wear.
The acting wasn’t horrible, but it wouldn’t be confused with good either. The plot was fairly bare bones, but that simplicity is probably a good thing. But then we have the special effects. They were certainly better than I could do in my garage, but unfortunately that’s only because I don’t have a garage. Still, while nothing was perfect in this movie, it wasn’t supposed to be, so I’m okay with that. In fact, I revel in these kinds of movies, so be prepared to find a lot more like this in future trips to the Macabre Movie Mausoleum. Until next time, Tombstones! (You hear maniacal laughter as Dr. AzarRising disappears into the night, and laments his lack of a garage.)
