88 Films throws together the "sucky sucky sucky sucky" succubi of David De Coteau's NIGHTMARE SISTERS with two of his early erotic thrillers MURDER WEAPON and DEADLY EMBRACE in the two-disc Region B Blu-ray set THE BEST OF 80s SCREAM QUEENS.

NIGHTMARE SISTERS: The hot gals of the Tri Eta Pi sorority are all off for the weekend, leaving behind their three homeliest new members: myopic Marci (Brinke Stevens, HAUNTING FEAR), buck-toothed Melody (Linnea Quigley, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS), and fat Mickey (Michelle Bauer, THE TOMB). Ever optimistic, the trio decided to have a party and invite some guys over. Melody calls up nerdy physics major Kevin (Richard Gabai, BIKINI DRIVE-IN) who recruits fellow fraternity pledges Freddy (Marcus Vaughter, SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE) and Duane (William Dristas) who are desperate enough for physical contact with any member of the female sex to go along. The party seems like it's going to be a bust until compulsive flea market shopper Marci busts out a used crystal ball for a séance and they contact its previous owner Omar (Michael Sonye aka musician Dukey Flyswatter, THE PHANTOM EMPIRE), a fortune teller who lost his head while in contact with the spirit of a man murdered by a demon. Omar tricks the girls by offering protection from the threat into touching the ball, whereupon the three are transformed into gorgeous succubi. Given the slip after ordering the three pledges to stay away from the Tri Eta Pi (pronounced "Try Eata Pie") party, senior fraternity members (and future Hitler Youths) Phil (Timothy Kauffman), J.J. (Matthew Phelps, DREAMANIAC), and Bud (C. Jay Cox, FROM A WHISPER TO A SCREAM) follow to administer cruel and unusual punishment but then decide after spying the girls sharing a bubble bath to take the places of their three pledges (who were already trying to make a run for it after noting the sudden behavior and appearance changes in their dates). While the three frat bros are sucked to death by the demonic seductresses, Kevin, Freddy, and Duane let their fingers do the walking to find an exorcist (Jim Culver, LADY AVENGER) who makes house calls.

A four-day wonder shot from a first draft script thrown together in a week by Kenneth J. Hall (PUPPETMASTER) to take advantage of left over short ends and a house recently vacated by producer John Schouweiler (DR. ALIEN), NIGHTMARE SISTERS is low on ambition but delivers the goods nonetheless. Bauer, Quigley, and Stevens get to show off their comic chops and their bodies (often at the same time), making up for the lame comedy elsewhere (including one-liners by the guys like "She sure made an ash of him" after one victim bursts into flames). Animator Bret Mixon (THE TERMINATOR) gives the film a bit more polish with some optical effects while effects artist John Vulich (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) – who died a couple weeks ago – provides the succubus' vocal effects. The underscore was provided by Del Casher while most of the songs were recorded by Flyswatter's band Haunted Garage.

MURDER WEAPON: Dawn (Quigley) and Amy (Karen Russell, VICE ACADEMY) are mob princesses who met in the mental hospital (Amy having a compulsion to date abusive guys and Dawn having been the sole survivor of a fire that killed the rest of her family). Making a deal that the one who gets out first will throw a "hell of a party" for the other, Dawn blackmails her randy therapist (Lenny Rose, SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT 2) into signing her release. When Amy gets out – after having seemingly satisfied her therapist (THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW's Lyle Waggoner) of her progress despite her recurring nightmares in which unhinged rocker boyfriend Eric (Mike Jacobs Jr., AMERICAN RAMPAGE) murders her – Dawn invites her ex Jeff (Eric Freeman, GHOST WRITER) and Dawn's exes Kevin (Stephen Steward, VICE ACADEMY), Cary (Allen First, AMERICAN RAMPAGE), Billy (Richard Sebastian, DREAM A LITTLE EVIL), Bart (Rodger Burt, LADY AVENGER), as well as Eric over to Amy's father's compound for beer, swimming, tanning, and sex. As the guys pair off with Amy and Dawn and are subsequently brutally murdered, the survivors suspect that a rival of Amy's father has put a hit on Amy and her guests, but the truth may be even more disturbing.

An inversion of the slasher formula in which the scantily-clad guys are murdered after sex or in search of sex – with effects by David P. Barton (HOWLING VI: THE FREAKS) that are alternately accomplished (a gorier take on the arrow through the bed scene from FRIDAY THE 13TH) or ropey (a shotgun to the face effect that is at first laughable but has an icky payoff) – MURDER WEAPON still boasts plenty of T&A from Quigley, Russell, and Victoria Nesbitt (LINNEA QUIGLEY'S HORROR WORKOUT) as Dawn's sister in the extended opening flashback (not to mention clips on TV from NIGHTMARE SISTERS that are careful to crop out Quigley) for those who are not fans of De Coteau's later male-oriented softcore horror films (for those that are, there is a good helping of beefcake on view as well). The film starts out with an extended nightmare flashback shot MOS with droning underscore that looks as though it was composed of every single frame of usable film De Coteau shot for it, but the film livens up once the party gets underway. The flashbacks between Quigley and Rose and Russell and Waggoner are welcome if only because they offer the film's most serious and professional acting bits (with Quigley and Russell attempting to flesh out their characters).

DEADLY EMBRACE: Businessman Stewart Moreland (Jan Michael Vincent, THE RETURN) tires of his wife Charlotte (Mindi Miller, BODY DOUBLE) but learns from his lawyer (Jack Carter, ALLIGATOR) that he will forfeit half of his business empire if he leaves her for secretary DeDe (Ruth Collins, DOOM ASYLUM). Having already hired studly college student Chris (Ken Abraham, CREEPOZOIDS) as pool boy, Stewart hopes to bribe him into having an affair with Charlotte; however, lonely Charlotte has already had similar ideas after spying on Chris in his room through a false mirror. The affair between pool boy and trophy wife, however, comes to an abrupt end when Chris' actress girlfriend Michelle (Quigley) comes to stay for a few days and pushes Charlotte over the deep end. A somewhat more traditional "erotic thriller" than MURDER WEAPON, DEADLY EMBRACE has the formula down for the most part years before BASIC INSTINCT launched an entire subgenre of pseudo-noir unrated erotic thrillers that glutted the video store walls. Guest star Vincent really has about as much bearing on the plot as top-billed Waggoner in MURDER WEAPON, but Miller is a nice discovery and owns much of the picture with a series of longing looks.

Released theatrically and on tape by Trans World Entertainment in the United States, NIGHTMARE SISTERS also had wide play on the USA Network's "Up All Night" line-up in a version that made use of covered takes and alternate angles. Somehow, the film did not end up with MGM like other Trans World pickups and made its digital bow through Fred Olen Ray's Retromedia Entertainment in 2003 and then again from De Coteau's Rapid Heart label in 2013 (in a "Linnea Quigley Grindhouse Triple Feature" with DEADLY EMBRACE and MURDER WEAPON). Vinegar Syndrome's gave the film a new 2K scan of the original 35mm camera negative for their Blu-ray/DVD combo, and that master has been utilized here by 88 Films. Although shot on nineteen-thousand feet of 35mm short ends left over from SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA, the transfer looks quite slick apart from a couple soft night exteriors (presumably shot wide open but not properly focused) with vivid colors and undistorted gel lighting. The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 track is clean and the dialogue clear, but the music mix seems a bit uneven (or possibly the recording of the songs). Optional English SDH subtitles are included.

MURDER WEAPON was released direct to laserdisc by Image Entertainment (with a separate video release by Cinema Home Video), and its earlier 2013 DVD release as part of the aforementioned "Linnea Quigley Grindhouse Triple Feature" was derived from the laserdisc master. Vinegar Syndrome's did a new 2K scan of the 16mm original camera negatives once thought lost for their own Blu-ray/DVD combo double feature with DEADLY EMBRACE, and that master has been utilized here by 88 Films. The image is relatively slick and colorful, grainier than NIGHTMARE SISTERS, but in keeping with the "erotic thriller" look of the late 1980s and nineties DTV examples of the genre. Although the older video masters were unmatted, the framing here reveals not only a light and stand but also a technician standing beside it with a beer in one shot that becomes unintentionally hilarious. While I have not seen the earlier transfer, the main titles seem to have been newly-created. The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono track clearly delivers the dialogue, droning score, and occasionally under-equipped sound effects track. Optional English SDH subtitles are included.

DEADLY EMBRACE was released direct to VHS by Prism Entertainment in 1989, and that master was presumably the source for the aforementioned triple feature 2013 DVD edition. Vinegar Syndrome's 2K scan of original 16mm materials has once again been carried over by 88 Films, and the photography of Thomas L. Callaway (SHE CREATURE) is as glossy, glistening, and detailed as the film element allows. The film was shot in 16mm with a CP-16 camera and some shots were unusable because they were scratched in the camera, while a few scenes during the climax exhibiting such scratches were left in presumably because they were more essential and could not be reshot. The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono track is about the same as MURDER WEAPON, rather basic in terms of sound design but boasting clear dialogue and scoring. Optional English SDH subtitles are also included.