Savage Cinema Reviews – Way Bad Stone 1991

I feel like many of us, as horror fans, have a “blind spot” when it comes to our fandom. I’ve worked over the years to dig in to my own blind spots and do some research.  This led to finding a treasure trove of great movies that I’ve enjoyed immensely. However, there is one genre, if you can call it that, of horror that I have been avoiding on purpose. This blind spot is SOV (Shot On Video) Horror. I won’t talk about my experience with SOV horror much because that’s not what this article is about… but just to give you a tiny bit of background, SOV horror has been one I’ve avoided because of the ultra-low-budget, lower technical quality films that, unless you can force yourself to get a taste for, they’re almost off-putting. I completely did a 180 on my opinion on SOV when recently I finally watched Video Violence from 1987. I loved it. Was it super high quality with brilliant acting, camera work, or special effects? No… but what I realized is that I’ve been doing myself a disservice by not giving SOV a chance, because Video Violence is an amazing movie.

Today we’re going to talk about a SOV masterpiece named Way Bad Stone. Its an adventure story of wizards, demons, wanderers, swords, and sorcery. Here is a quick synopsis that I snatched from IMDB:

A band of adventurers steals an enchanted stone, and earns a wizard’s desperate revenge. The wizard must summon all his old fighting comrades to get the artifact back – before its evil dooms their world.

Let me be clear before we get into this. Yes, this synopsis describes what happens… but with this movie, it’s not about what happens, but how it happens. Let’s begin:

From Vinegar Syndrome’s website we learn that Way Bad Stone was filmed for $2000 in the lush forests of Florida . Much of what I’ve read about this film describes it as a D&D quest performed by Ren Faire attendees. As much as I want to come up with my own unique description of this movie… that pretty much sums it up. Also, when I say that, there is no criticism intended, because for such a low budget I am astounded what they were able to accomplish. Had this movie been professionally lit and photographed, it would fit right in with the likes of Full Moon Features, and the like.

Aladar, a bearded wizard, loses a magical stone, so he summons a group of warriors to help him recover it. This group consists of 5 warriors of differing character classes. They come up against a rogue troop of vagabond warriors whose leader, the evil sorceress Phaedra, has taken the stone. The characters are wildly entertaining and unique. None of the acting styles seem to be in line with what you’d expect from a Hollywood film of the time. The actors seem to be putting everything they’ve got into their role, which really makes some of these scenes unforgettable. Admittedly, some of the characters and/or situations in this film made me ask myself who on planet earth thought this was a good idea… but it really worked and added a lot of character to the film.

Interesting Characters / Scenes that made me ask the question… but why?:

1. 1. There is a character, that is part of the “bad guys” that has no lines, no shirt, and skulks around shooting his mini crossbow and acting like a creep.
   2. Ren – one Aladar’s warriors, decides, as he is banging this strange-looking woman, to basically show everything he’s got… Just a very bizarre choice. I’m going to assume the actor really wanted to show it all off… uncomfortable and weird.
   3. There’s a guy who looks exactly like 80’s Dave Mustaine. 
   4. Two weird muscly dudes in a tavern arm wrestling… actually… basically all the actors in the tavern were bizarre as heck.
   5. Dude is hanging out in a tree,  meditating, or something, when he is summoned by Aladar. He then falls out of the tree. huh…
   6. Lastly… just the sheer number of mullets featured in this movie is astounding

Outside of the indoor scenes, which took place in Aladar’s home, the majority of the movie is filmed outside, in the forests of Florida (“an ecosphere known as a Florida Oak Hammock.” -Archie Waugh). The locations that were chosen, have an isolated look and it really fits in well and looks great for the rogue wanderers’ camp and other settings. Aladar’s home looks like a real dwelling of a wizard. There was a lot of attention to detail when it comes to the indoor sets… that, or I couldn’t really tell because it was pretty fuzzy, on account that it was SOV. Archie Waugh, on the disc’s commentary, said that the costumes used were mostly outfits that the actors already had and used for their Ren Faire characters. He also mentioned that many of the set design pieces were owned by him and his family who really enjoyed collecting antiques.

In the last act of the movie is where this movie really packs a punch. From the, obvious amateur gore effects, to the demon makeup, which was actually quite impressive, the makeup effects add a lot to the movie. Even though a lot of the fight scenes looked super staged and comical, there were a couple deaths that were great. Not all of them, mind you… but some. It almost seemed like the filmmakers focused on a couple fights/kills in particular, and just kind of winged the others. We also get some characters in the background of the fight scenes not really staying in character, or staying in character for way too long like with one guy that takes his sweet time dying and ends up in a subsequent shot.

Finally… the synth score is great. There’s even a theme song that is comical fits in perfectly with the rest of the film.

All in all, the way the movie looks and feels is maybe one step above those LARP dudes in your city park, especially when it comes to the fight scenes. I feel like this is exactly what Archie Waugh intended. On the blu-ray commentary, he even calls this “The home movie that got out of hand”. The finished film is an absolute genuine love letter to fantasy sword and sorcery books/movies/games, even though Waugh claims never to have played D&D. The flaws in this movie are very apparent, but so is the hard work and love that was poured into it. My suggestion to you, if you dare to give this one a try, is to just understand that this may be less about putting together a professional level film, and more about the filmmakers and actors pouring their heart and soul into a movie. My favorite parts of this movie are all of the utterly bizarre interactions between characters, almost demented behavior by the characters at times, and just the moments of unfettered madness. I’d say give this one a chance. You may not be ingesting high-art, but it may still blow your nips clean off out of sheer insanity.