Alvin Lee (William Whitton) is a notorious 1930s gangster first seen kicking down doors and shotgunning people in their beds. During his flight from the law, he takes the wrong road and finds himself in Asteroth, a netherworld kind of place populated with diseased, monstrous people and presided over by the mysterious Lemora.
Lemora is also glimpsed sitting among an all-female congregation in a church, gathered to listen to fire-and-brimstone admonitions by a preacher (played by director Richard Blackburn) and the angelic singing of Lila Lee (Cheryl Smith), daughter of the aforementioned gangster. Lila Lee receives a heartfelt letter explaining her father is dying and wants to see her one last time. She boards a rickety bus for Asteroth. The animal-like denizens of Asteroth attack the bus, drag off its driver, and somehow Lila Lee pilots it to Lemora's creepy mansion. She discovers her father has turned into a monster, and he chases her around the mansion. Lemora is revealed to be a vampire who preys on children.
LEMORA, which is subtitled "a child's tale of the supernatural," fulfills its promises to show spooky events through the eyes of a child. And several horror movie guides have commented on this obscure flick, calling it a gem and worth catching. I thought there were a couple of spooky moments, and Lila Lee's night-time bus ride through the swmpy forest is a highlight. But the rest of it struck me as tedious and confusing, sort of like what it would really be like to listen to an over-imaginative child tell a scary story.
Lemora is also glimpsed sitting among an all-female congregation in a church, gathered to listen to fire-and-brimstone admonitions by a preacher (played by director Richard Blackburn) and the angelic singing of Lila Lee (Cheryl Smith), daughter of the aforementioned gangster. Lila Lee receives a heartfelt letter explaining her father is dying and wants to see her one last time. She boards a rickety bus for Asteroth. The animal-like denizens of Asteroth attack the bus, drag off its driver, and somehow Lila Lee pilots it to Lemora's creepy mansion. She discovers her father has turned into a monster, and he chases her around the mansion. Lemora is revealed to be a vampire who preys on children.
LEMORA, which is subtitled "a child's tale of the supernatural," fulfills its promises to show spooky events through the eyes of a child. And several horror movie guides have commented on this obscure flick, calling it a gem and worth catching. I thought there were a couple of spooky moments, and Lila Lee's night-time bus ride through the swmpy forest is a highlight. But the rest of it struck me as tedious and confusing, sort of like what it would really be like to listen to an over-imaginative child tell a scary story.