Starring: William T. Hicks, Harris Bloodworth and Debra Bloodworth
Written by Tom McIntyre
Directed by Charles Reynolds
Released on Blu-ray by Severin Films
True Detective’s Rustin Cohle once said, “If the only thing keeping a person decent is the expectation of divine reward, then brother, that person is a piece of shit.” A DAY OF JUDGMENT asks, “What if the only thing that kept you in line was the fear of sudden decapitation at the hands of the Grim Reaper himself?” Bizarre and fascinating on so many levels, A DAY OF JUDGMENT was released in 1981 by Earl Owensby Studios. Earl Owensby was a master of independent Southern filmmaking, working as an actor, producer and director of multiple low-budget genre films. Horror fans best know him for the 3D killer dog movie, Rottweiler. I contacted Owensby early in my VHS collecting days to obtain some of his releases. Not fond of email, he was nonetheless very kind and sent me several tapes and a clipping from Fangoria discussing his release of Rottweiler. For A DAY OF JUDGMENT, Owensby handed the reins to Charles Reynolds for what would be his only directorial effort. The script for the film had been in play for some time and originally stuck to the structure of a Christian morality play. Reynolds was an atheist and more artistic in his influences, leading an element of languid weirdness to the production, and subsequent reshoots added violent kill scenes. The result is a Southern-fried piece of utterly bizarro cinema, a regional horror that feels like the goriest church theater group performance committed to celluloid.
A DAY OF JUDGMENT sets the stage as we are introduced to a small Southern town in the 1920s. Its current pastor (director Charles Reynolds, looking like a character from a Mr. Show sketch) is leaving his flock, unable to break them of their sinful ways. As he crosses the bridge out of town, a figure in a horse-drawn carriage arrives. Subtext be damned, this scarred ghoul is the actual Grim Reaper, who has arrived to violently murder the sinners of the town. What follows is the introduction of multiple characters who have transgressed against the word of the Lord and therefore must get thoroughly wrecked by the righteous hand of this supercool-looking embodiment of death. Like characters from an E.C. horror comic, the townspeople are exaggerations of corrupted humanity. Among the soon-to-be victims are an old woman who passionately hates children and animals, a drunk willing to destroy the lives of those he believes have wronged him and a son ready to send his parents to a psych ward if that will grant him social independence. The time it takes for our sinners to get their comeuppances can drag, but the execution of their undoing is often so jarring and violent that it ends up worth the wait. The finale pushes the weirdness even further, providing a fate for the corrupt townsfolk that combines the ending of A Christmas Carol and Amicus’ original Tales From The Crypt anthology film.
A DAY OF JUDGMENT was never released in theaters due to hurdles Earl Owensby faced while trying to independently distribute his films. Originally available only on VHS, it was recently released as a gorgeous Blu-ray transfer by Severin Films. I should be clear that the film has an undeniable pacing issue but that its atmosphere has a hypnotic quality that sears its way into your brain. The Reaper looks like a haunted hayride interpretation of Vincent Price in Madhouse, and his appearance is heralded by drippy synthesizer and red, backlit fog. This flick is like a Flannery O’Connor story with no subtext, taking place in a world where poisoning someone’s pet goat will get you literally dragged to hell. So crank up that Stryper cassette and apologize to Scott Stapp because you never know when your divine retribution will come… (Spoiler alert: It won’t. Being a good person is its own reward.)
Death to false horror,
Dr. Benny Graves
