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Four females from a Catholic college in Virginia head to Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break, but inadvertently see something they shouldn't have seen in a Southern town along the way. Havoc ensues.

"Shallow Grave" (1987) begins with an homage to "Psycho," but it's more of an adventure/crime thriller than a slasher. Movies from the early 80s like "First Blood," "Trapped," aka "Baker County, USA," and "Murder in Coweta County" come to mind. It starts fun and amusing, keeping with the college girls traveling to Spring Break motif, yet takes a deadly serious turn in the second act, becoming suspenseful till the uncertain climax.

Brunette Donna Baltron stands out on the feminine front as Rose; too bad her role isn't bigger. On the other side of the gender spectrum, Tony March is notable as the hairy-chested Sheriff.

There's an interesting subtext on the domino effect of negative decisions, which can lead to desperation and committing the most awful acts imaginable. Even the best of us is susceptible, so don't make the initial bad decision in the first place (in this case, adultery). Other themes include injustice, the corruption of an authority figure and the responsibility of those in subordinate positions.

It runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot in Medley, Florida, which is 15 miles northwest of Miami and 30 miles southwest of Fort Lauderdale.

GRADE: B.

A disgruntled bachelor in Greater Los Angeles (Eli Rich) hops from job to job while being a faithful churchgoer. He vents his negative energy by preying on females.

Shot on weekends in twelve days, "MurderLust" (1985) wasn't released to video until 1987. Like the slightly superior "Hitch Hike to Hell" (1977), it's a prosaic psychological study of a serial killer. That flick used The Co-ed Killer as a template, Edmund Kemper. His victims from 1972-1973 were six female students who happened to be hitchhiking in the vicinity of Santa Cruz County, an hour's drive south of San Francisco. The scriptwriter of this movie researched Ten Bundy and the Hillside Stranglers. Bundy's reign of terror took place from 1974-78 whereas the crimes of The Hillside Stranglers involved a dozen victims between 1977-78.

Besides being reminiscent of the obscure "Hitch Hike to Hell," the straightforward tone is similar to "Targets" and maybe "The Toolbox Murders." Yet this isn't a slasher like the latter since the five victims are all strangled, not to mention there's very little gore. Being a psychological study, the focus is on the killer's routine day-to-day life, which will strike many viewers as dull. The no-name actor smacks of a poor man's Jon Voight.

Ashley St. Jon is notable as the too-young blonde prostitute, but her role is too small. She happened to be a dancer in the Los Angeles area and is the only female to appear top nude in the movie, briefly. As the story proceeds, Rochelle Taylor is the one who rises to the fore as the proverbial 'final girl,' Cheryl.

While it's easy to look down on these types of films, there are some well-done parts, such as the climax that symbolizes wandering through the desert of this world like a lost zombie, wounded and dying. Additionally, I like the interesting reflection on the masculine spirit, which is very much a positive thing in our world, generally speaking, but if it becomes contaminated by bitterness or what have you, it veers toward self-destruction, abuse, misogyny, and murder.

For anyone who might criticize the film as anti-Christian, it's not. It's just showing the reality of mentally troubled (and hypocritical) people hiding their dark side behind a respectable garnishment. For instance, I know faithful churchgoers who brazenly murder people with their tongues every day; sad, but true.

It runs 1 hour, 38 minutes, and was shot in Pomona (the church) and Upland (the pub), which are a 30-35 minutes drive due east of downtown Los Angeles; other scenes were done in the city proper and the Mojave Desert, the latter located 3-4 hours northwest of the city.

GRADE: B-

It is reported that Crites are still present on Earth, so Ug (Terrence Mann) and two other galactic bounty hunters return to wipe them out, including earthling misfit Charlie (Don Keith Opper). Brad (Scott Grimes) just so happens to be in town when they visit the planet. Along with his new girlfriend (Liane Curtis), they team-up to eradicate the extraterrestrial menace of furry critters.

"Critters 2: The Main Course" (1988) has several highlights, but it's just no where near as good as the original film from two years prior. For one thing, it's more cartoonish and goofier, which makes it difficult to suspend disbelief as could be done with the first one. On the positive side, winsome Liane Curtis (Megan) is superior to the actress who played the young female in "Critters," but the director failed to take advantage of her presence.

Statuesque blonde Roxanne Kernohan is entertaining as a 'playmate' of whom bounty hunter Lee takes the appearance. Her brief top nudity is surprising for a PG-13 flick. Unfortunately, Roxanne would be deceased in just five years due to a car wreck. Speaking of bounty hunter Lee, this 'nothingface' alien combined with his partner, Ug, results in the team Ug-Lee (ugly in English).

There are enough amusing bits to make this worth catching if you liked the first movie, such as the giant ball of critters rolling over a guy and leaving only his bloody skeleton. It's just a letdown by comparison.

It runs 1 hour, 26 minutes, and was shot in Santa Clarita, California, which is located 32 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-/C+