Some things I liked some I did not.

Disturbing yet enthralling

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Everyone should see at least one (and preferably more) of Don Dohler's low budget indie movies. Fiend is consistent with the Dohler brand; put together on the cheap, stars a bunch of his friends and relatives, and is just good crazy horror movie fun. They're usually horror/sci-fi cross-breeds, and Dohler showcases his specialty, special effects, in the production. This time, a ghost or spirit looking like a bright light enters a grave and reanimates a body. The walking dead man, frequent Dohler star Don Liefert, gives an adequately sinister touch to his blood thirsty character. He draws life essence from his victims, and has a voracious appetite to do this, since he has to replenish his energy frequently. Of course, this means there will be a high body count unless the fiend is stopped quickly. Only a neighbor of his suspects the guy, who is living amongst his victims in suburbia.The tone is more sinister and bloody than other Dohler films; even a child is among the victims. The rampaging beast is merciless, and the violence somewhat masks the mediocre acting of the cast.The low budget is visible at times throughout the movie, and the MST3K gang probably would have bludgeoned this film if they had ever shown it. Still, like all of Dohler's bargain basement horror flicks, it makes for a good thrill ride.

Despite his reputation of being one of the worst horror directors that ever lived, I personally always felt a strange respect and admiration towards good old Don Dohler. Both "Nightbeast" and "The Galaxy Invader" qualify as terrifically cheesy entertainment (if you fancy low-budget exploitation cinema, of course) and I even daresay this "Fiend" is his absolute finest achievement. Sure, "Fiend" is a slow-paced film with a total lack of logic or explanation, but simultaneously it's a truly spirited film with likable performances, better-than-average effects and (unintentionally?) clever undertones. The movie opens with a written definition of what exactly is a fiend and immediately after we witness how a demoniacally possessed reddish cloud enters a grave on a forsaken cemetery, possesses the corpse of a recently deceased music tutor and causes the body to emerge. Where did the evil cloud come from? Don't know… Why did it enter that grave specifically? Who cares…? What purpose will the walking and continuously rotting fiend now fulfill? Why even bother to contemplate about that? The fiend, Eric Longfellow, settles himself in a seemingly quiet Baltimore suburb but, unfortunately, he has one little problem to take into account. His body decays over and over again, so he frequently needs to recharge his vital batteries by strangling innocent victims – preferably young women – he picks up from the streets. His neighbor with too much free time on his hands suspects Longfellow to be involved in the unsolved murder spree and starts his own private investigation. "Fiend" is often too slow and tedious, but the delightfully cheese and clumsily shot murder sequences compensate for a lot! Whenever Longfellow strangles a new victim, his face and hands bath in a funky red glow and once or twice you even notice how his decomposing face revitalizes itself, which was really well-done. Unintentionally or not, "Fiend" also works as a parody on the typical life and relations in suburbs. The neighbors are noisy and suspicious towards newcomers and, at the same time, Longfellow himself wondrously depicts the prototypical social outcast. Every neighborhood has one like that, the strange guy your mom warns you not to go near or the bastard that never returns the ball when it accidentally falls in his garden. Don Leifert, who starred in practically all of Dohler's movies, is simply terrific as the emotionless corpse. I read in an article that Leifert was going through a rough personal period and struggled with an alcohol addiction at the time of shooting. Well, this is perhaps the only time that depressions and the effects of alcohol abuse contribute something good to someone's acting career. My advice would be to disregard the low rating, skip reading the bashing reviews and forget everything you heard about Don Dohler as a director. This film is a lot of fun too watch, Dohler's direction is actually quite steady and the script contains a handful of dared twists (child's death, for example) and a shocking finale. "Fiend" is a genuine smörgåsbord for experienced B-movie/cinematic trash fanatics.

"Fiend" is definitely one of the better examples of low budget "z-grade" horror. When I put this on, I expected it to be one of those "so bad it's hilarious" horror films, and even though the first scenes initially had me in fits of laughter, it's not one of these films.Once you've seen 5 minutes of the atrocious acting, jumpy editing, bad frame composition, laughable special effects and poor lighting and colour matching, its humour wears off. However, it actually creates a surreal and dreamy atmosphere reminiscent of the classic "Night Of The Living Dead" that will linger even when the film is finished.The story revolves around a married man trying to prove that his neighbour, a "fiend" that is an evil spirit in the body of a corpse who must feed on the living to retain his youthful appearance, is responsible for the spree of murders that have been occurring in the neighbourhood."Fiend" will brilliantly draw you into that neighbourhood yourself and make you suspend your disbelief and the unnatural dialogue and amateur acting soon appears normal as you become a part of the surreal world the film creates.The surreal atmosphere, predictable yet intriguing story, and climatic ending make "Fiend" a forgotten gem that I'd recommend to all fans of low budget horror.

Horrible acting, absolutely ridiculous effects, dull dialogue, pointless story, and one of the goofiest endings you'll ever see . . . this is an excellent film to watch with friends possessing a sarcastic, witty persona, as it is ripe for MST3K. I own a copy of the film under the Force Video label, which is long-defunct. Not an easy film to find, but not really worth looking for. My score: 2.5/10