Customer Reviews

Seizure [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Beware, this DVD release by Telavista is a bootleg taken from a full-screen, pan & scan VHS transfer. I was excited to think someone was finally putting out Oliver Stone's classic first feature on DVD, but alas... it was not so. Apparently, even he can't get the rights to his own film... some Canadian tax write-off has buried it.

Do not buy this horrible rip-off version.

I will not dispute that Hervé did a great job, his villainous Spider is unbelievably cold, but this movie belongs to its star, Jonathan Frid. He finally gets to step out of the (dark) shadow of Barnabas Collins in this film, and shows his acting chops in a "mainstream" role. Christina Pickles plays his wife, a harried woman who turns out to be rather strong in the end, even as Frid's character weakens. I'll warn you, though, the editing in particular is rough unless some of it was recut for this DVD release. I'm thrilled that it's finally going to be available.

This disc is NOT worth 21.99 or even 16.99 because NOTHING distributed by the Substance dvd group is worth more than 9.99 due to their lousy non-remastering. I rate this movie 3 for the rarity and pleasure to see Jonathan Frid in one of only several movies besides his "Dark Shadows" career. The other film "The Devil's Daughter" is now available on Amazon (with a 1-4 week wait (or longer) and also highly advised. As stated with the other reviews this film is in legal limbo and what ever form you can get it be thankful. Oliver Stone apparently does not have the copyright to this movie.
Substance has made a habit out of distributing poor quality dvds of films in legal limbo and asking more money that what they deserve for each release. I hate when such sought after films end up in the hands of greedy low class companies.

I bought this movie strictly because I'm a Jonathan Frid fan. I, of course, loved (and love) him as Barnabas Collins, but I really became a fan after hearing some of the audio work on his site, some from his acclaimed one-man readers theater shows of the '80s and '90s, some completely new material. I knew about "Seizure", that it was Oliver Stone's first film, and a few plot items, but that was it. I was anxious to see this, his only non-DS starring role in a movie.

The plot has been adequately covered in previous reviews, so I won't restate it here. I thought the screenplay, by Stone and Edward Mann, did a good job of twisting and turning, keeping you guessing right up to the end.

Many of the acting performances, particularly by the women, were rather stiff. If this had been made five years later, it would have been a very different movie, and the not-so-great acting wouldn't have made a difference. However, this script wants very much to be character-driven. In only three cases does it succeed: Spider (Hervé Villechaize), who creates a ruthless character with very few words; the Queen of Evil (Martine Beswick), who is so cold, she's hot; and Edmund Blackstone (Mr. Frid), who has created these demonic figures in his nightmares, but has a heart big enough to be broken as each of the visitors to his home, and then his wife, are killed. You feel his gut-wrenching torment as this torturous massacre occurs, and when he is forced to kill one of the villains.

Mr. Mann and Mr. Stone attempt to script Edmund toward the end as a weak person, more interested in saving his own skin than anyone else's. However, Mr. Frid's portrayal takes him above that, making Edmund a strong character at heart, loving his wife (Christina Pickles, who I was none too impressed with) and son Jason (Timothy Ousey), even if he doesn't always make the best choices in the heat of the moment. This is evidenced well when the Queen of Evil comes to Edmund at 3:00 AM and attempts to seduce him, but he rebuffs her, telling her emphatically he wants his wife (a particularly steamy scene). The fear on his face as she makes her move toward him is not so far removed from the fear he engendered as Barnabas, and intrigued me very much.

The twist at the end, which I will not give away, came as a surprise to me. While this movie is not the caliber of his later efforts, Mr. Stone has crafted what I felt was a very entertaining thriller. Mr. Frid's performance MAKES the movie, and the villains are villainous indeed (if you like Mr. Villechaize's work and have not seen this, you should -- you'll never completely see him as Tattoo again!). If you're a fan of any of these, you should take a look at this movie.

Edmond Blackstone (Jonathan Frid) is an author of horror stories who suffers from a recurring nightmare in which he and his family are terrorized by three bizarre figures. Just as Blackstone starts to write, the three figures appear at this home, and the dream becomes reality. One of those figures is played by the late Herve Villechaize (Fantasy Island) and he is VERY convincing and scary as hell! I would love to see this movie remade!

Yes that's right, you have read correctly this is Oliver Stone's Directorial Debut, his first film is this horror
film from 1974 called "Seizure" which stars Jonathan Frid
best known as Barnabas Collins from "Dark Shadows" as
a trouble writer who keeps having nightmares that monsters
are killing him.

As cheesy as that sounds the movie is surprisingly pretty
good. The movie starts out with Frid as Edmund Blackstone
awaking from another nightmare. Blackstone tells his

wife about it, and then tries it to put it beside him.
He then has a getogether with friends and family where
the monsters in his sleep come to life and come to kill
him and his guests....

The demons in this case are composed of "The Jackal"
(Henry Baker), "The Spider" played by well known
actor Hervé Villechaize (Tatoo from Fantasy Island)
and "Queen of Evil" (played by sexy actress
(Martine Beswick), so thus we have the Trio of
Darkness.

If you watch any Oliver Stone flick, they are all
dark and moody and they probably have their origins
in "Seizure" which is very dark and moody. However,
we do have the interesting visuals we come to expect
from Stone and the fact that this movie was made in
1970's tells you it was going to be bizzare. Thrown
in with the suspense is eroticism with "Queen of Evil"
and a couple of bloody scenes.

Frid is really believable as Edmund Blackstone and it's
surprising to see him play someone normal since
we are accustomed to seeing him as the EvIL Vampire.

The performance from the Trio of Darkness are equally as
good, Hervé Villechaize, shows that for someone who is
small can act, and Miss Beswick is great too, as she
takes pleasure in killing her victims.

Overall, I would highly recommended you seek out "Seizure",
it lays the groundwork directing for Stone and you'll
see why he is a great director, I find it strange though
that noneone has interviewed Stone about it since
this is his first film. Furthermore, this is one of
those great out of print movies (like "The little Girl
who lives down the lane" ) which hasn't been transferred for the dvd, for the fact that the vhs prints themselves
are hard to find.

My daughter and I recently watched this movie at the Dark Shadows festival 2010. Being a huge Jonathan Frid fan, my daughter insisted on me buying this as part of her Christmas. It is really hilarious! I don't think it is meant to be funny but it is. Anyone who likes Jonathan Frid will enjoy this movie.

this was oliver stone's first film and it isn't too bad. It suffers from a cast whose acting skills are limited. the idea is a pretty good one but the story doesn't effectivly set up the mania the ensues. everyone tries pretty hard and it is always nice to see mary woronov on screen. stone does a good job making it all moody and meancing to the guests who visit jonathon frid and wind up being tormented by creatures from his imagination, But Frid isn't a strong enough lead to make it work. you could do worse