by Bone Jawnson
The lower the budget - the more ballsy the production.
Widely known by horror fans as one of the worst, if not the worst, movies ever made, "Hobgoblins" put a smile on my face. After conducting pre-viewing research on IMDB, I discovered that this movie was made on an extremely modest budget of $15,000. Accounting for inflation since the mid-1980s, this would still be a budget of approximately $38,000. Writer and director Rick Sloane has a history of making extremely low-budget horror features, which I admire. To give a little insight, during an interview for the 20th anniversary of "Hobgoblins," actress Kelley Palmer (Daphne in the film) explained that, "Working on a Rick Sloane film is raiding your closet, raiding your kitchen, raiding everything you own and bringing it to the set that day."
At first glance, I thought that "Hobgoblins" would resemble its predecessor, "Gremlins." The closest thing to "Gremlins" is the fact that the creatures are small and covered in hair, everything else seems like the director was building the plane while flying it. The budget was so small that only one of the hobgoblin props could be used as a puppet. The plot was simple, yet full of holes (amazing!). Little creatures from space apparently show up on the earth and tap into humans' thoughts, which then leads them to live out their most deeply held fantasies, eventually killing them. For all the potential killing that could happen, there is almost none and no blood (bummer).
My favorite part of the movie is when the cast is in a dance bar called Club Scum looking for one of their friends, Amy, who was influenced by the hobgoblins. Instead of tearing apart the club looking for her, they take a seat and watch a band, The Fontenelles, play a song called "Kiss Kicker 99," which is a certified post-punk banger. (click here to listen)
All in all, this movie seemed pieced together with what seems like stock sound effects and footage
with a loose storyline that is drawn out for too long and filmed on locations without the use of permits
or proper lighting. I loved all of it. Researching, watching, and reviewing low to no-budget horror comedy
movies inspires me to "just go out and do the damn thing," we all can. The fact that Rick Sloane wrote,
directed, produced, and filmed this garbage masterpiece shows that if you have a vision, drive, and creativity,
you can accomplish your film pipe dream.