StrangeLand (1998)

6% of critics liked it
(17 reviews)
64% of users liked it
(10,432 ratings)

Dee Snider, of the Twisted Sister heavy metal music group, made his debut as a screenwriter and producer with this horror film, directed by John Pieplow. A psycho on the Internet uses the handle, "Captain Howdy" (Snider), an obvious reference to the unseen Ouija board spirit in The Exorcist (1973).… More Dee Snider, of the Twisted Sister heavy metal music group, made his debut as a screenwriter and producer with this horror film, directed by John Pieplow. A psycho on the Internet uses the handle, "Captain Howdy" (Snider), an obvious reference to the unseen Ouija board spirit in The Exorcist (1973). After the abduction of his daughter Genevieve (Linda Cardellini), detective Mike Gage (Kevin Gage) is on the case, joined by detective Christian (Brett Harrelson). Kidnapper Captain Howdy is eventually captured and sent off to the asylum. Released four years later, Howdy is hanged by a vigilante mob led by redneck Jackson Roth (Robert Englund). Reborn as Carleton Hendricks (Snider), Howdy turns against the vigilantes, kidnaps Genevieve a second time, and once again confronts Gage. Snider also contributes an original heavy-metal tune for the closing credits. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 26 min.
Directed By: John Pieplow
Genres: Horror

In Theaters: Oct 2, 1998 Wide
On DVD: Mar 23, 1999
Studio: Artisan Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Bob Heisler, Los Angeles Times
It's a disturbing, hopeless, irredeemable series of images that will scar you if you wander into it unprepared.
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.
Stefan Birgir Stefansson, sbs.is
a little too messy for me
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
Snider's Captain Howdy is an appropriately scary creation, but the movie mostly lets him down.
Anthony Miele, Film Threat
After the agonizing torture that was endured I can safely make the statement that Strangeland is now and will be the worst film of 1998.
David N. Butterworth, rec.arts.movies.reviews
Perhaps if I hadn't expected it to be so bad I might have approved of it less.
, E! Online
Entry into the realm of disappointing horror videos.
Evan Gatehouse, Apollo Guide
The kind of movie where you want to take a bath after watching.
Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
Painful to endure even by modern primitive standards, it's a freaky, funless wreck, intolerable in the extreme.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Twisted Sister's Dee Snider makes a movie -- a must-see, right? Wrong-o!

Read all 10 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Jeff "

Strangeland written by Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame is a fairly interesting horror flick. The premise is a predator played by Snider and nicknamed Captain Howdy who scours internet chat room for teens that he invites to a party so he can torture them in Sadomasochistic ways. A… More
Strangeland written by Dee Snider of Twisted Sister fame is a fairly interesting horror flick. The premise is a predator played by Snider and nicknamed Captain Howdy who scours internet chat room for teens that he invites to a party so he can torture them in Sadomasochistic ways. A film with plenty of potential, Strangeland however doesn't realize the potential it has. The ideas expressed in the film are cool, and interesting, but lack something that can make this film better. The film is good, don't get me wrong, but it could be better. Strangeland is somewhat of guilty pleasure because of the reception the film has received over the years. But Strangeland is a fairly decent horror film. The problem that most people seem to have is that it's low budget with a cast of seemingly unknown actors. Only Dee Snder, Amy Smart and Robert Englund are known in this film. I've never heard of the rest of the cast Strangeland has good elements of horror and thrills, but it never is scary. But the plot is pretty interesting and does have fairly good elements of potential good horror film. But the thing is, this is an average horror film where the filmmakers gave a half assed effort into crafting a horror film out of a script by Dee Snider. Good film, but it could've been much better with ideas that Snider expressed in his script.
Wahida K

So much flesh, so little time.
Greg S

Dee Snider tortures teens (with needles, not by playing them cuts from the Twisted Sister reunion album). A shallow peek at modern primitive culture can't save this incompetent, rote shocker.
Leigh R

Eh...
Curtis L

Dee Snider is such a loser. This movie sucks.
David L

"Strangeland" is one disturbing, brutal little horror movie. The film basically revolves around a detective and his family. After his teenage daughter disappears after supposedly attending a house party (which she heard of while talking in an online chatroom) with her best… More
"Strangeland" is one disturbing, brutal little horror movie. The film basically revolves around a detective and his family. After his teenage daughter disappears after supposedly attending a house party (which she heard of while talking in an online chatroom) with her best friend, he is committed to finding his daughter, like any other parent would be. Turns out a tattooed, pierced, schizophrenic sadist by the name of "Captain Howdy" (a reference to "The Exorcist") is responsible for the disappearance. Captain Howdy spends his time torturing and brutally slaying young teenagers in his basement torture chamber, after luring them in via the internet. After the corpse of his daughter's best friend is found, Captain Howdy is caught, and locked up, and luckily the detective's daughter made it out alive. But upon the maniac's release from the mental hospital, the townspeople are outraged, and Captain Howdy starts all over again. The internet is a scary place to begin with, especially in today's age, so I think many people can relate to the film's premise. It fleshes out all of the potential dangers of internet chatrooms, and giving out personal information to the world wide web. I have to admit that many things in this film were quite disturbing. It isn't necessarily scary per se, but it is unsettling. The Captain Howdy character is a vile, disgusting person, doing inhumane things to his victims (example being sewing their mouths shut), and sometimes his little torture methods were hard to watch. Dee Snider plays the maniac well, and he is a thoroughly creepy villain. There was some decent acting, from recognizable stars including Linda Cardellini, Amy Smart, and horror legend Robert Englund. Overall, "Strangeland" is a decent horror movie. It's not a perfect movie, but it is far from the traditional teenage slasher film, so don't expect anything along those terms. Most people won't find this scary, but it was good for a horror film. This movie goes to show you how scary of a place the internet can be.
Jacob P

Although Dee Snider played an excellent and suitable character for the movie, it wasn't as good or "scary" as I thought it would be. There were a few parts here and there that were frightening\disturbing, but they weren't good enough to save the films poor acting… More
Although Dee Snider played an excellent and suitable character for the movie, it wasn't as good or "scary" as I thought it would be. There were a few parts here and there that were frightening\disturbing, but they weren't good enough to save the films poor acting and dull directing.
nefnie l

A twisted, sadistic, disturbing movie about the dangers of internet chatting with strangers. Dee Snyder does a surprisingly good turn as Capt. Howdy, an internet predator. A little reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange with the reformed Howdy turned loose on a public that… More
A twisted, sadistic, disturbing movie about the dangers of internet chatting with strangers. Dee Snyder does a surprisingly good turn as Capt. Howdy, an internet predator. A little reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange with the reformed Howdy turned loose on a public that can't/won't accept him.
Nicky M

One of the first torture horror I had seen but it's only ok. Dee Snyder from Twisted Sister wrote, produced, and was the villian. Focuses on a internet predator in the earlier days and Snyder's character is way over the top. It was cool to see Linda Cardellini and Amy Smart… More
One of the first torture horror I had seen but it's only ok. Dee Snyder from Twisted Sister wrote, produced, and was the villian. Focuses on a internet predator in the earlier days and Snyder's character is way over the top. It was cool to see Linda Cardellini and Amy Smart in early roles. Some of the other acting is... wooden to say the least.