Hobgoblins (Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray Review)

Is Hobgoblins a Hidden Treasure or Dumpster Fire?

Blu-ray Distributed By: Vinegar Syndrome / October 25, 2016

Kevin just got hired to be the assistant night watchman at an old film vault. Warned to stay out of one mysterious chamber, the rookie guard can’t help but satisfy his curiosity and unwittingly unleashes a group of hobgoblins: furry aliens who grant people wishes only to kill them in the process. As the body count starts to rise, Kevin, with the help of his friends, decide to track down the deadly creatures before they wreak havoc on the city.

Director Rick Sloane’s cult classic and Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan favorite is a sleazy, low rent tribute to creature features and drive-in fare. Long available only in tape-sourced editions, Vinegar Syndrome presents HOBGOBLINS on Blu-ray newly restored from its original 35mm camera negative.

Hobgoblins

Jimbo’s Take (2.5 / 5)

Rick Sloane promised himself that he would give up filmmaking if Hobgoblins flopped. After all, he couldn’t make a living off of the critical and financial failures of his first two films; Blood Theatre and The Visitants. Considering the world has since been assaulted with six iterations of Sloane’s sleazy Vice Squad movies, we can surmise what happened.

At first glance you’ll draw the obvious comparisons to Gremlins, and that certainly played a huge role in its success (box office, not critical). But you would be wrong to draw these comparisons. Hobgoblins is sooo much worse!

Sloane claims that the script was written well before Gremlins was ever produced, but this is hard for me to believe. Some similarities hit too close to home. For instance, these pint-sized trouble makers are attracted to the light (instead of repelled). Direct sunlight makes Hobgoblins stronger (instead of killing them). And they must be stopped before Midnight (instead of fed afterwards) otherwise they’ll become unstoppable. Yep, no similarities whatsoever.

And to call the Hobgoblin appearances “puppet work” would be an insult to the puppet master profession inside and out of the film industry. No, Sloane’s method for bringing these Hobgoblins to life is achieved by a firm grip and a good shake. Have you ever tried to make a small child laugh by taking his favorite plush toy and roll around on the ground, pretending the inanimate object is devouring you? I hope you like watching the cast do the same thing.

But I’m underselling it. As with Blood Theatre and The Visitants, the Rick Sloane experience is best enjoyed when your expectations are dialed down for a “classic of trash.” Best viewed as a cinematic oddity, Hobgoblins sets itself apart because of Sloane’s earnest attempts at making genuine entertainment. He may be a poor filmmaker, but he scores high marks for effort.

And (as usual) Vinegar Syndrome’s Hobgoblins blu-ray scores exceptionally high marks. The movie looks and sounds better than it deserves. And if you want to line up a prefect Rick Sloane triple feature, I highly recommend Vinegar Syndrome’s Blood Theatre/Visitants release to compliment this one. Both discs are packed with bonus features. And all three movies are amazingly bad!

Hidden Treasure/Dumpster Fire?

[amazon_link asins=’B07D5V3FVY,B01LVTULW6′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’trashmenamaz-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’6e2913f5-a310-11e8-818f-a75af1354558′]

Special Features