Parts The Clonus Horror (1979) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - November 21, 1979

I remember seeing, and being fascinated with, the newspaper ads for Parts The Clonus Horror, but I did not see the actual movie until it aired on the CBS Late Movie. But when would that have been? I checked a CBS Late Movie broadcast database, to see if I could pinpoint when I might have first watched Parts The Clonus Horror.

Well, it seems very likely that occurred on Friday, April 9, 1982. There was another broadcast, on Wednesday, August 11, 1982. But my dedicated CBS Late Movie viewing was relegated to Friday nights, more often than not.

There was another listing, for Friday January 15, 1982, but Stanley was airing on Creature Features that night and I remember watching it. The Hammer fantasy adventure The Lost Continent was what aired on Friday, April 9, and I know for a fact that I did not watch that on Creature Features. Because I watched it for the first time a year or so ago.

Most people today might know Parts The Clonus Horror from its appearance on Mystery Science Theater 3000. That was one of the episodes I skipped, because I remembered really enjoying the movie and did not wish to see it mocked. It happens.

I checked to see what the 'co-hit' at the Granada Theatre was and it turned out to be The Legacy. An oddity that I discovered, when checking the listings, was that while this ad states that Halloween (1978) is the film's co-feature at the Serramonte Six theatre, the showtime listing says that Alien (1979) is its co-feature. So, which was it?

I think it's fun to share these weird trivial hiccups I uncover in the nooks and crannies of the rabbit holes I fall into whenever I start fact checking my jumbled and fuzzy childhood memories.

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #43

Innocence Lost

When she lets her guard down, Lady Death can show a side that few have ever seen and lived to tell about. Vulnerable to only a select few, Lady Death's heart is still her own. 

The Boogey Man (1980) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 20, 1980

This cinematic turkey was the last horror film to get a substantive theatrical release in the year 1980. While it did okay as an exploitation cash grab, there was not enough creative or financial juice in the tank to launch a franchise of its very own.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #7

Vengeance: The Demon (1988)

As stoked I was to see Pumpkinhead, opening weekend on the big screen, I was somewhat dismayed by how underwhelmed I was by the creature design. I thought it looked a tad too much like a xenomorph and was nowhere near 'pumpkiny' enough for my tastes and desires. So it goes.

Still, it is terrific 'little' monster movie that I wish had done a whole lot better at that box office. It really deserved to have a larger, more appreciative theatrical audience.

But it was not to be...

Side note of trivia. This Topps card series lists the film title as Vengeance: The Demon, which I think was either its original title or a brief retitling intended to make the film easier to market. Need to do some research regarding that.

The Big Show - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - November 19, 1963

Five years after five days after debuting as the second-half of a double-feature with Bert I. Gordon's superior giant bug flick The Spider, the time travel thriller Terror from the Year 5,000 aired on Channel 7's pre-primetime filler program 'The Big Show'. A rerun of an episode of The Rebel followed thereafter.

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #42

Maid to Order

Quickly on her way to becoming a pinup icon in her own right, Lady Death has been shown in thousands of poses and costumes. Need some help lighting your Jack-O-Lantern? 

Our Trail Cam - Vol. 35

Amityville 3-D (1983) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 18, 1983

In 1983 my dad got transferred to Hong Kong, so we pulled up roots and relocated. So I missed the American theatrical release of Amityville 3-D, but I did manage to see it on the big screen in Hong Kong, in 3-D.

I am somewhat certain that this was an occasion wherein I had read the film's novelization, written by Gordon McGill, prior to seeing it. I recognized his name from reading the novelization of The Final Conflict and its goofy tie-in novel sequel, Omen IV: Armageddon 2000. He also wrote a goofier tie-in sequel to Omen IV titled The Abomination: Omen V. I also read that, but all I remember about it is a gross leper joke.

Amityville 3-D was first film in the unconnected and scattershot franchise that fessed up to being entirely fictional. One not based on or inspired by either a real life tragedy or a fabricated huckster haunting. The movie neither bored me, nor did really impress me, either. It is just an inoffensive time waster, nothing more.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #6

Day of the Dead (1985)

The Major Cooper make-up effect in Day of the Dead was one of several that had me wondering how the hell they had managed to pull it off. The decapitation of Torres was another. Tom Savini really deserved an Academy Award nomination for his work here.

Dracula [Blood for Dracula (1974)] - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - November 17, 1974

Here we have a Dracula (Udo Kier) suffering the ravages of the sexual revolution. Seems that the Count can only drink the blood of virgins and, well, they are in an agonizing short supply. Considering the one-two punches of Herpes and HIV-AIDS were forthcoming, this black comedy of sexual suffering might have aged well.

I think I might revisit this one, maybe...