A Day of Judgement (1981)
A Day of Judgement (1981)
By J.P. Deliz February 2, 2022
A Day of Judgement (1981) is an obscure slasher film that sets itself apart from other genre offerings with its Christian undertones and Creepshow-Esque storyline. It's a rare genre offering that's interesting to see despite the limitations of its minuscule budget. It may not be on the same level as the classics which would precede it, nor will it stand as one of the best slasher films. Nevertheless, it stands on its own as a slasher film, unique by its off-kilter vibe and oddball nature. Perhaps we can dive deep to unravel the mystery behind how it came to be.
A Day of Judgement (1981) transpires in a small Southern town in the 1920s or 1930s (IMDb lists the setting as 1920s, but the Severin Films blu-ray lists it as 1930s.). The settlement, which was once devout, has become a breeding ground for sinners who scheme, lie, cheat, and steal. The church's pastor decides to leave, only for a grim reaper-like figure to arrive in his place. However, instead of preaching the Lord's word, he is here to find and punish the sinners for their terrible deeds. The premise alone would make for a kick-ass slasher film, but an idea needs good execution to work. However, A Day of Judgement suffers from the limitations of a first-time director and a small budget.
A Day of Judgement (1981) was not an easy film to research, as its obscurity hampered most efforts to find the exact info on how it came to be. I had to resort to the Blu-ray's bonus features, The Atheist's Sins, Interview with Stephen Thrower, author of Nightmare USA. In the interview, Thrower provides a fascinating look into the backstory of Charles Reynolds, along with a brief history of the film's production. It's an interview I highly recommend checking out as it helped me research this film. Now, back to the review itself.
A Day of Judgement (1981) is the first and only film directed by Charles Reynolds, credited as C.D.H. Reynolds. He had worked as a professor for the University of Nebraska before starting his career in film. Reynolds began as a provider of interns for film production houses in Charlotte, North Carolina. His efforts led him to Earl Owensby Studios, where he met Worth Keeter, who showed him around the studio and helped him land a job. It was through this where Reynolds landed a job as a grip in Redneck Miller (1976), where he met Austin McKinney, director of cinematography for Axe (1974) and Kidnapped Coed (1976).
Reynolds would find a job working as a grip on several EO films: Seabo (1977), The Last Game (1978), Wolfman (1979), and Living Legend (1980). Owensby produced dozens of low-budget films, which earned him the nickname "the redneck Roger Corman." He had connections to the King of Rock himself, Elvis Presley, and helped build the underwater sound stage for The Abyss (1989). Owensby is a devout Christian who applied his values to the work ethic of his studio and having the staff rest from work on Saturdays. This information provides background on A Day of Judgement (1981) and how it came to exist.
Through the information provided by Stephen Thrower, the film began as a script floating around the studio for a few years. It started as a Christian morality tale for churches to screen for their congregation. Owensby decided to make the project happen, reworking the script into a horror film instead and enlisting Reynolds. Reynolds was not too big on horror, admiring the arthouse works of Francois Truffaut rather than the exploitation work of EO Studios. The movie was filmed in six weeks in Shelby and Rutherfordton in 1979, with Reynolds handling most of the production aspects.
The film was never released in theaters since Owensby attempted to distribute the movie himself, as he had tried with previous films. It did not go well, and A Day of Judgement (1981) went straight to video through the Thorn EMI label. Reynolds would never direct again, working as an assistant producer in various EO Corp productions, a job he disliked immensely. He eventually worked and acted in infamous exploitation maverick Al Adamson's bizarre children's film Carnival Magic (1983). Soon after that, Reynolds retired from the film industry and returned to his old teaching job.
A Day of Judgement (1981) quickly faded to obscurity, and it would have remained forgotten had it not been for Severin Films. Severin released it on Blu-ray for the first time in their September 2021 lineup. It's not the first time Severin had released forgotten films on much-needed Blu-ray releases (ex. The Changeling [1980], Stone [1974].) Now that the film is available on HD for the first time, let us dive in to see what EO Corp has brought to us. Perhaps we could discover a diamond in the rough, or would the film be a wasted opportunity of a good concept?
The film opens with Reverend Cage (Charles Reynolds) preaching to a trio of devout women in an empty church. He leaves town over the sin in the population, his replacement to arrive next Sunday. Here we are introduced to the sinners who will become victims of the grim reaper. We have Mr. Sharpe (William T. Hicks), a corrupt banker committing usury against the townsfolk. Mrs. Fitch (Helene Tryon) is an elderly alcoholic who's racist to her housemaid and harasses children for the mere crime of being close to her flowers. Ruby (Careyanne Sutton) is a gold digger and unfaithful woman who only married her husband for his money and is cheating on him. George (Toby Wallace) is the son of two parents he plans to place in a poor house by selling their gas station to leave the town. And lastly, the envious businessman Charlie Milford (Brownlee Davis), who's convinced his wife, Grace (Denise Myers), is having an affair with his superior, Sid Martin (Harris Bloodworth).
With characters like these in a period slasher film, A Day of Judgement (1981) sounds like a fun film to watch. However, the movie has many flaws which can affect the viewing experience. For a low-budget production, the film sometimes suffers from the effects of its minuscule budget. To give EO corp some credit, the crew tried their best to make the film feel as authentic as possible with its 1920s setting. The costumes look accurate to the time, and the camera is framed in a way to make it look like it's the 1920s. I have to give Owensby and Reynolds credit since they at least tried their best with the setting. They frame the camera in a closed-up space in the interior scenes to not break the immersion of the time setting. Reynolds makes sure no modern appliance makes its way into the frame, and that's a credit he deserves to have.
(I couldn't find a decent picture of Andy Milligan, so here's a picture of the box set released by Severin.)
It's an admirable attempt from EO and company to make the film seem as convincing as possible, unlike the infamous Andy Milligan. For those who don't know, Milligan was a filmmaker who shelled out dozens of no-budget horror films he usually shot in his mansion. These films got made for less than $10,000, and he used a 16mm handheld camera to film them. His movies were amateurish, both in production quality and camerawork full to the brim with laughable special effects and lousy acting. Most of his horror films are in historical periods, but you can see mismatched outfits and hairstyles in the movie. With that said, it's no surprise Milligan is considered one of the worst directors of all time, often being called the "Ed Wood of Staten Island." (Stephen King called The Ghastly Ones [1968] "the work of morons with cameras," in his book Danse Macabre.)
A Day of Judgement (1981) is convincing as a period piece slasher film set in the 20s or 30s most of the time. I did mention the framing of scenes, but they're not too egregious to the eye of the viewer. The exterior scenes, however, are too brightly lit for my liking. It feels distracting when we see the brightly lit outside where characters interact. Film's such as The Witch (2015) and Sleepy Hollow (1999) succeed in immersing the viewer into the periods they take place. They had lighting effects, such as darkened skies or natural grey from the environment. Although A Day of Judgement (1981) lacks the large budget of the mentioned films, it looks decent for such a low-budget film.
Anyone who comes to this film expecting a gore fest will be thoroughly disappointed. The film features minimal violence, focusing on characters and stories instead of outlandish, violent deaths. The movie makes up for its lack of blood by adding variety to each sinners' death. Screenwriter Tom McIntyre had the film include more violent deaths to appease horror fans. One of the death scenes included a character being dragged under the ground by arms before the hollow pit is set ablaze, and another character is beheaded by the reaper using his sickle. Admittedly, these deaths were fun to watch, given how the other characters get killed off-screen, albeit through various ways.
Given the movie is a regional production, the cast comprises unknown actors starring in their first film. For a bunch of first-time actors, they do good jobs as their respective characters. Each actor puts in the effort to make their characters believable as despicable people guilty of their crimes. I got a kick out of William T. Hicks as the greedy banker and Hanns Manship as a widowed farmer who falls victim to usury. The performances are adequate for a film of its kind, keeping the movie going without stopping. It's better acting than various other faith-based films I've seen out there for sure.
A Day of Judgement (1981) has an accompanying musical score composed by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith and Clay Smith. Arthur is best known for "Dueling Banjos," the famous piece from Deliverance (1972). The score for the film is quite distinctive, giving the film an off-kilter vibe with its weird John Carpenter-Esque experimental music at the horror sequences. The music theme of the film is quite endearing; I feel it represents the film as a whole, in my opinion. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if the film were to see a soundtrack release; I would buy it in a heartbeat. The movie also features a cool killer at the center, in the form of the grim reaper figure. He's silent like Jason and Michael, only riding on a horse carriage wielding his scythe. It's implied the figure is sent by God to deal out punishment to the sinners, which is a cool idea to behold. (Yes, I was bound to make that BOC reference.)
A Day of Judgement (1981) is quite an interesting little slasher film that's the obscure oddity Severin Films advertised. It doesn't deserve such a low rating on IMDb (3.7/10), and it's a shame Reynolds never directed again. I thought he did great with this movie, even if his shortcomings as a first-time director are visible throughout the film. It's flawed but sincere, and I can credit it for being different from the other slasher films. Its sincerity shines throughout the film, delivering a Christian morality tale with the narrative of a slasher film.
It's probably the only Christian slasher film out there, and I absolutely wouldn't change it in any other way. It reminds me of the movie Creepshow (1982), with how the characters had their own stories, but it's all interwoven into the narrative. At the end credits, when the town returns to normal, we see a list of the ten commandments, and it was quite a nice little gesture from EO corp. It's a film that deserves a cult following for fans of obscure slasher films. I may not have liked the ending, and the film may drag in some parts, but I nevertheless enjoyed the movie for what it was.
No copyright infringement is intended with the use of these images. All images used belong to their respective authors. "Don't Fear the Reaper" belongs to Blue Oyster Cult and Columbia Records. I am in no way sponsored by Severin Films and this review is not an endorsement of the home media distributor. They are nevertheless a kick-ass home media company and release some great blu-rays.
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