Dead-Time Stories

Not to be confused with Jeffrey Delman's film from 1986 (aka Freaky Fairytales), this tape features three episodes from the anthology series The Hitchhiker, from which the titular Hitchhiker himself (Page Fletcher) has been cut out of each episode (as per other episodes released on video in the UK). Australian Phillip Noyce (Newsfront), tackles the first two episodes, but it's the final installment of the trio which shows the most flair: directed by Swiss film-maker Carl Schenkel, perhaps better know for Dracula Sucks (1979) and Strike Back (1980).

The Curse (Phillip Noyce, 1985) [Season 3, ep. 9]

Whilst at a party, Jerry Mackland (Harry Hamlin) — a rich real-estate broker — is taken aback by ebony beauty Tanya (Deborah Lacey), but his flirting is cut short when he's called away to a run-down property he owns after a near-fatal accident occurs there. He promises an old female tenant that he will renovate the building, but decides to sell when he realises the expense it will incur. Later, Tanya arrives unexpectedly, seducing Jerry — who wakes up alone with a bleeding tattoo of a snake entwined around his leg. As the hours pass the tattoo grows, encircling Jerry's body until the snake's head reaches his throat…

Man's Best Friend (Phillip Noyce, 1985) [Season 3, ep. 5]

Thrown out by his wife, a dejected Richard Shepherd (Michael O'Keefe) crashes at his best friend Carl's — who leaves for New York. That night, Richard hears a stray dog howling outside and decides to take it in. The two bond instantly, and Richard sets out looking for his estranged wife Eleanor (Jennifer Cooke) with the dog in tow. Soon, the papers are headlined with two brutal murders: a local male hairdresser and a female psychologist — both acquaintances of Eleanor. Tell-tale blood on the dog leads Richard to believe that his canine friend is behind the slayings, but does the dog actually exist or is just the pathology of Richard's own warped reality?

True Believer (Carl Schenkel, 1985) [Season 3, ep. 10]

World-weary police detective Frank Sheen (Tom Skerritt) is sent off the beaten track to investigate the suicide of Father Michaels, a priest from a small rural community. Upon arrival, he learns from Father Dowling (Walter Learning) that the suicide house was once a convent, but was closed after a young nun killed herself at the altar and is now "demonically possessed". Once inside the old house, the skeptical Sheen meets a beautiful young nun, Sister Theresa (Ornella Muti), who reminds him of his dead daughter. After a brief conversation the nun leaves, and Sheen is left to stay in the house alone. Finding the room where the suicide took place, the disbelieving detective is subjected to a violent wall-shaking tremor — the start of a terrifying supernatural attack on his own psyche.