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Wherever it is in the outer realm of this eternal existence that producer/director/writer Al Adamson now hangs his hat, here’s hoping it has one hell of a view of the heavens. His bankable B-movies – however cheap and trashy they come across – are endlessly entertaining. From Dracula vs. Frankenstein to Angels’ Wild Women, exploitation was the name of his game and, while his cinematic output will never be regarded as high art, sick bastards like myself enjoy them with the same amount of respect.
Schlock rocks! Thank the Goddess then for Vinegar Syndrome, who continues their exploitation reign of terror (IN THIGH HIGH TIGHTS!!!) with the release of Adamson’s famous Nurse Sherri (aka Killer’s Curse and Beyond the Living). It is a horror film with as many plot holes as bodacious babes in skintight nurse outfits. But who cares? The nurses in this hospital, well, let’s just say that their method of treatment is all about some skin-on-skin action. Who needs shots and penicillin when you’ve got a healthy supply of tits and ass?! Oh my!
Nurse Sherri, ugly wallpaper and all, is definitely covered by your HMO. It might not be as filthy as we expect it to be, but writers Michael Bockman and Greg Tittinger make sure this exploitative flick is all about developing some good bedside manners. And the 2K restoration from the original 35mm negative certainly helps.
Beginning with the space age sound of theramin music, Nurse Sherri – and the evil spirit that has possessed the poor girl – is a supernatural nurseploitation flick from the sexy nurse heyday of the 1970’s. The trippy visuals of its credit sequence will leave you grinning ear to ear, but it is the wash of the sun-bleached desert as a professor of the Dark Arts, Reinhauer (Bill Roy), tries to bring a dead and bloated type of deceased dude back to life that will leave you gasping for air. Hilarious. He and the members of his cult fail, of course, but not before he himself suffers from a heart attack and requires some extensive medical attention. Dumbass.
Reinhauer is, of course, “rushed” to the hospital for an emergency surgery. When the staff fails to save him, Reinhauer’s sparkling Satan-infused spirit kicks about a few hours before settling INSIDE the voluptuous body of Nurse Sherri (Jill Jacobson), our titular heroine. There’s more than one way to skin a cat, though, especially with the devil on your side. And Reinhauer, now inside Sherri’s moist and warm… BODY, wants revenge on everyone who did him wrong.
Whether by a haunted, decapitated head visual or by Nurse Sherri, Reinhauer makes his presence known to his victims in demented ways. Sherri starts to sound like him when his floating green-flickering head isn’t present and, as he’s included her boyfriend - the doctor, DUN-DUN DUUUNNNNNN!!! – on his hit list, she starts to turn on her own people. All of which makes the b-movie hilariously uproarious when the dialogue becomes dramatic.
Sherri misses her lunch date with Peter (Geoffrey Land), the surgeon who “killed” Reinhauer because he was a “demented little twerp”, due to her possession. She’s sleeping with someone is what Peter suspects. She is later seen covered in blood and freaks out one of her friends. She’s sleeping with someone, her boyfriend AGAIN suggests. Then, in a later scene, he confesses to his BFF, a psychiatrist, that Sherri is being weird and cancelling on him left and right. Lock her up, is the response. Poor Sherri.
Full of limited acting and iffy ten-cent effects, Nurse Sherri is BEYOND ready for rediscovery. We’ve got the floating “ghost” head of a lunatic occultist tromping around, a blind football player (Prentiss Moulden) that steals Nurse Tara’s (blaxploitation star Marilyn Joi) heart (and bra), and a mystery requiring a cemetery cremation of sorts kicking about in this movie. Eventually, all of these loose parts come together into one semi-cohesive narrative about saving Nurse Sherri from the other side.
Nurse Sherri is probably the only nurse who could get me to shower with formaldehyde. Maybe she could get you in the stall, too. Give Vinegar Syndrome’s classy release of exploitation classic a spin and see what she can do for you. Just don’t trust her with a pitchfork…
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[tab title="Details"]
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 88 mins
Director: Al Adamson
Writer: Michael Bockman, Greg Tittinger
Cast: Geoffrey Land, Jill Jacobson, Marilyn Joi
Genre: Horror
Tagline: Meet Sherri... for an evening of Pleasure and Terror!
Memorable Movie Quote: "The only way we can get this thing over with is to burn the body."
Theatrical Distributor:
Official Site:
Release Date: August, 1978
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: June 27, 2017
Synopsis: Meet Sherri...for an evening of pleasure and terror! Young and beautiful nurse Sherri (Jill Jacobson) has been possessed by a crazed preacher who died of a heart attack. Under his demonic control, he uses Sherri to enact revenge against those who he believes were responsible for his death. As Sherri begins to carry out his bloody bidding, two fellow nurses realize that the only way to stop her may be to exorcise the forces of evil out of her in a ghastly and dangerous ritual!
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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]
Blu-ray Details:
Home Video Distributor: Vinegar Syndrome
Available on Blu-ray - June 27, 2017
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: DTS-HD Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Region A, B
For freaks like me, the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack from Vinegar Syndrome is a must-own. Originally filmed in 16mm but “blown up” to 35mm, the new 1080p transfer does have some limitations. Nothing too terrible, mind you. This is easily the best the film has ever looked. With an aspect ration of 1.85:1 and DTS-HD Master Audio Mono soundtrack, the HD transfer is both crisp and clearer, supporting a much more stable picture than I’ve ever seen from this flick. The skin on display is well-balanced and less sun-blasted orange than I’ve ever seen, too. Black levels are stable. Shadows are good, too. Even if nothing about its sets or its photography would be anything award-worthy, Nurse Sherri looks great.
Supplements:
Commentary:
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Producer Sam Sherman discusses the history of the movie and its lasting impact on the new commentary provided here.
Special Features:
Along with reversible cover artwork and a restored print, Vinegar Syndrome provides a NEW featurette with interviews from Jill Jacobson and Marliyn Joi and a “Then and Now” location featurette. An alternate version of the movie (on DVD only) is also included. There is a still gallery and a collection of original trailers.
- Nurses’ Confessions
- Alternate Version
- Then and Now
- Promotional Still Gallery
- Original Trailers
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