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Strangeland

Play trailer Poster for Strangeland R Released Oct 2, 1998 1h 26m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
7% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
A pierced and tattooed sadist, Captain Howdy (Dee Snider), 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 (Kevin 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.
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Strangeland

Critics Reviews

View All (14) Critics Reviews
Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Rated: F Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Bob Heisler Los Angeles Times It's a disturbing, hopeless, irredeemable series of images that will scar you if you wander into it unprepared. Rated: 0/5 Feb 14, 2001 Full Review Marc Savlov Austin Chronicle Painful to endure even by modern primitive standards, it's a freaky, funless wreck, intolerable in the extreme. Rated: 0/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review James Berardinelli ReelViews But most everything else about Strangeland, from the writing to the acting to the camerawork to the editing, is Grade Z in quality – not just uncomfortable and off-putting but downright incompetent. Rated: 1/4 Dec 10, 2024 Full Review Felix Vasquez Jr. Film Threat This terrible horror film pretends to tell a moral about internet chat rooms, but really it's a cheap C grade slasher flick. Rated: 2/5 Jul 16, 2007 Full Review Luke Y. Thompson New Times Snider's Captain Howdy is an appropriately scary creation, but the movie mostly lets him down. Rated: 3/5 Oct 21, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Joshua B Strangeland is a movie defined by the decade it was made in. The film starts out with a pretty interesting concept. A high stakes game of cat and mouse between a Detective and a Psycho with an early 90s internet backdrop. Unfortunately, that quickly dissolves into a something seemingly written by a high school edgelord. The writing is atrocious and insults the intelligence of the viewers many times with its lack of logic. The characters are mostly cardboard 90s cliches with the dialogue to match. Only a couple performances stand out as somewhat decent. Dee Snider's Captain Howdy does come off as very intimidating and Snider puts a lot into the performance, but it is mired in senseless monologues and the lack of a fleshed out backstory. Robert Englund also shines as he gives an over the top yet entertaining performance as vengeful member of the community. It's somewhat ironic as well considering his most well known role. I do feel the need to say that the imagery of body modification torture that Captain Howdy inflicts on his captives is very well done and highly disturbing. If you don't have a piecing, this film will make you consider never changing that. Overall, this movie has the bones of something that could have been an instant classic but it fails to add the much needed flesh and viscera that would have brought it to life. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 10/26/24 Full Review Daniel A I love Dee Snider’s Strangeland it’s suck a cool movie it should get more love than it does. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/09/24 Full Review J.P. H Dee Snider, longtime front man for the heavy metal band, Twisted Sister, and the one time director of "Dee Snider's" Strangeland, an abysmal collection of horrible on set choices exacerbated by what one can only hope were Snider's eventual acknowledgement that perhaps he should have relegated his boundless rock-and-roll confidence specifically to his career in that very industry. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/24 Full Review Jenna R I absolutely loved this one!! This movie came out before the internet became what it is today, and in those days, it was easy for predators to lure young teens into meeting up with them. I think this movie raises a concern that still exists today, which is to be cautious when interacting with strangers online. You never know who is on the other side. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/23/23 Full Review NEMXA R If u grew up with dial up internet this movie was great to freak Ur Christian parents out with. The effects r better than the flash movie. Very dark n very kink if Ur a adult watching it. He also knows how to do the body mods which was cool to see someone do it right not just go pop n it's done n all healed up in 2mins Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/15/23 Full Review Audience Member WHY TF IS THIS MOVIE SO HATED!? I mean, the writing is tight, the story keeps you on the edge of your seat, and the social commentary is especially is something to behold! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Strangeland

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Movie Info

Synopsis A pierced and tattooed sadist, Captain Howdy (Dee Snider), 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 (Kevin 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
Producer
Dee Snider, David Bushell
Screenwriter
Dee Snider
Distributor
Artisan Entertainment
Production Co
Artisan Entertainment
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 2, 1998, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2007
Box Office (Gross USA)
$631.2K
Runtime
1h 26m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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