Trash Guru Review #2: Stuff Stephanie In The Incenerator

*Stuff Stephanie in the Incinerator* (1989) is one of those obscure, low-budget oddities that feels like a fever dream of late-'80s direct-to-video horror. Released during the dying days of the slasher boom, it lacks the gore and sleaze of its more infamous contemporaries but compensates with a bizarre, almost theatrical structure that keeps you wondering if the filmmakers were in on the joke—or just had no idea what they were doing.  

At its core, the film is about a wealthy couple, Jared and Stephanie, who are invited by their eccentric friend, Robert, to his mansion for a weekend of elaborate role-playing games that quickly take a sadistic turn. The movie sets up a series of betrayals, fake-outs, and power struggles, playing with the audience’s expectations in a way that almost feels like a lost *Tales from the Crypt* episode—except without the style, budget, or a cackling Cryptkeeper to reassure you that it's all meant to be fun.  

Despite the sinister title, the film is surprisingly light on actual incineration. Instead, we get an overcomplicated narrative that constantly pulls the rug out from under itself. Every time you think something horrific is happening, it turns out to be part of the game—or does it? The constant reversals make it hard to take anything seriously, and by the time the movie settles into its final act, you've either bought into its weird, surreal energy or completely checked out.  

Technically, it’s rough. The acting wavers between passable and community-theater levels of awkward. The cinematography has that stiff, overly-lit look common in late-'80s VHS fare. But there’s a strange charm in its commitment to its own nonsense. The artificiality of the whole thing—combined with the awkwardly theatrical performances—gives it an uncanny, almost dreamlike quality, as if *April Fool’s Day* (1986) had been made for pocket change and directed by someone who’d seen *Sleuth* once but didn’t quite understand it.  

Is it a lost classic? Not really. But if you have a soft spot for cheap, forgotten oddities from the VHS era—especially ones with more ambition than talent—this one’s worth digging up. Just don’t expect it to actually throw Stephanie into the incinerator.