Strangeland

1998

Horror / Thriller

15
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 7% · 15 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 63% · 10K ratings
IMDb Rating 5.1/10 10 8215 8.2K

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Plot summary

A pierced and tattooed sadist, Captain Howdy, trolls the Internet for naive teens, luring them to his home to torture and defile them. When Howdy kidnaps and tortures the daughter of police Detective Mike Gage, he is caught. Deemed insane, he is sent to an asylum but is released soon after, seemingly better. However, Gage knows it is only a matter of time before Howdy strikes again, and he's ready to unleash his own form of retribution when the time comes.

Director

John Pieplow Photo
John Pieplow

Top cast

Linda Cardellini Photo
Linda Cardellini as Genevieve Gage
Ivonne Coll Photo
Ivonne Coll as Rose Stravelli
Tucker Smallwood Photo
Tucker Smallwood as Capt. Churchill Robbins
Amy Smart Photo
Amy Smart as Angela Stravelli
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
796.24 MB
1280*718
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles   
23.976 fps
1 hr 26 min
Seeds 4
1.44 GB
1920*1078
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles   
23.976 fps
1 hr 26 min
Seeds 5

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by gavin6942 6 / 10

A Very 1990s Horror Film If Ever There Was One

The sadistic Captain Howdy (Dee Snider) lures kids to his lair of torture and bondage via the Internet. After being caught (by the police father of one of the victims) and released, will the reformed Howdy be accepted into society? Will he accept the society? Is he reformed? I call this a 1990s horror film because unlike any other horror film that I can think of, this one really drove home the 90s underground scene: piercing, tattoos, leather, industrial music, bondage. These things existed in the 1980s and the 2000s, but as someone who grew up in the 90s, I can tell you that they were by far the most prominent from 1994 until 1999. My friend Jason even goes so far as to say this film is more of an advertisement for a lifestyle than it is a horror film. He may be right.Another great thing about this as a 90s film is the use of the Internet. It may not be the first horror film to utilize the Internet, but it stands out for me as one of the earliest to really make it a central theme. Later films would use the Internet and computers as killers or as tools for killers ("Stay Alive", "Pulse", "Watch Me", and even "Memory" with Billy Zane). But the late 90s were the days of the Internet boom, and this really shows the danger of online chatting before even MySpace existed. (Coincidentally, 1998 was also the year I would meet most of my online acquaintances.) The film draws on a history of horror with its use of the "Captain Howdy" name (the ghost from "The Exorcist") and the inclusion of Robert Englund, as well as some subtle (or not-so-subtle) "Nightmare on Elm Street" references. The movie knows it really isn't covering any new ground, and pays proper tribute to its ancestors.I don't think this one should be dismissed as just a period piece. Sure, it can be described that way, but look at what it set up. There's the computer aspect I already mentioned, but also look at the bondage and torture. Today, torture in films is big business ("Hostel", "Saw") and this film beat them to the punch. Again, it's likely not the one that started the torture subgenre, but I think it may have been one of the biggest films of its time.I recommend this film. If you grew up in the 1990s, you might have a better appreciation for it, but overall it's a good exploration of horror and Gothic themes. Dee Snider knows his stuff, and he has earned his place as the DJ for Fangoria Radio. I only wish he would make another film, if he has it in him to match or improve upon what he laid down here.
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Reviewed by Lunarsilver629 5 / 10

Rubbed me the wrong way

I admit the acting is a little mediocre and some of the torture scenes made my skin crawl. But none of that disturbed me as much as the ending did.

I didn't like Mike at all throughout the movie. I was sympathetic to him because of his daughter's predicament, but that quickly faded half-way through the movie.

I hate it when the town tried to lynch Captain Howdy. Here's a guy who seems to have genuinely turned around and they string him up based on suspicion. And Mike by all means as an officer should have stopped it. But he didn't. He just sat there and watched them drag him off.

The whole attempted lynching and the aftermath just proved to me how sick the whole town was. I couldn't see them as mere "upstanding citizens" as they stood there laughing as he choked. Even more so, the guy leading the mob after leaving him forgets completely about his own "missing" daughter and goes home to watch kiddy porn.

Of course, because they tried to kill him his evil side re-emerges and he gets back to his old ways, this time by torturing the people who tried to kill him. I almost wished he'd taken Mike along, and the fact he kidnapped his daughter again for torture irked me completely. Then again, I can imagine that's the best way to hurt him.

Anyways, onto the ending. After rescuing everyone, Captain Howdy and Mike get into a typical fight to the death. And here's where Mike's sick side comes out; he beats Captain Howdy to a bloody pulp and instead of arresting him as, you know, a cop SHOULD do, he murders him. Viciously. Sadistically. Like a monster, NOT the cop he SHOULD be. I can't even watch this movie all the way through anymore because of this. It was even more sickening afterward when his COP comrades commend him for it!!

I'm not denying Captain Howdy deserved justice for the horrible things he did. But he didn't murder anyone. And the horrible way he died wasn't necessary. All this movie did was show me that "normal" people can be just as monstrous, if not more so, than the very criminals they scorn.

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