The Guardian (1990) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - April 27, 1990

As entertaining a raconteur as the late William Friedkin was, The Guardian reveals his amusing hurling of verbal brickbats at John Boorman's Exorcist II The Heretic were being thrown from the porch of a fragile glass house.

Because The Guardian stinks. It is a movie that serves as a great of example of "just because I suspend my disbelief does not mean you can insult my intelligence." I walked out of an opening day matinee screening mad as hell at this movie. I hated it.

When it came out on home video I think I gave it a second chance. At least I have a fuzzy memory of giving it second chance. Or maybe I just want to see the scene where the tree kills a trio of miscreants.

No matter, though. It still stunk and was just as insulting to the intelligence as when I sat through it at the Kabuki Theatre in San Francisco, on April 27, 1990.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #58

Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)

The H. R. Giger infused 'Tequila Worm' scene is one of the technical highlights of Poltergeist II The Other Side.
 

Carrie by Stephen King / The Swarm by Arthur Herzog - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - April 24, 1975

Finding this ad for the source material for two seminal movies of my youth was a pleasant, even chuckle inducing, delight.

While I do not remember seeing either of these particular editions on bookstore shelves, or nestled in drugstore spinner racks, I do remember picking up one for The Swarm in a used bookstore in Berkeley, way, way back in the day.

The two editions I remember, and actually read, were the movie tie-ins. 

In 1976 I was equal parts fascinated and frightened by the black and white stills in the center of the Carrie tie-in. My interest was fueled somewhat by John Travolta being in it. Because he was one of the beloved Sweat Hogs in the popular sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter.

While I did read Carrie, two or three times, it might not have been until 1979, or maybe even 1980. It was long after I had seen the film's broadcast debut on network television. Which was the first time that I saw it.

The Swarm, which I was obsessed with in the first half of 1978, was my "birthday movie" for that year. Like a great many books at that time, I struggled to get through it. It would not be until 1980 or 81 that I would actually manage to read the entire book, from start to finish.

While not a great book, The Swarm could have made for a pretty good movie. If the person making said movie had understood the kind of movie they were making. Which had not been the case with Irwin Allen. So it goes.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #22

Datalog: Approx. 0:1400 Hours, Day 2

We were all armed with flares, hoping to flush the Alien out into the open. One of the prisoners was high up in the vertical air duct before he realized the Alien was up there too. That's when he dropped the flare and the passageways exploded into flames. 

Fear No Evil (1981) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - April 23, 1981

Last year, on April 24, I posted the opening day ad, also clipped from the Oakland Tribune, for Frank LaLoggia's debut feature Fear No Evil. In that post I shared a clip from Creature Features that featured LaLoggia doing a promotional interview for the film.

Having done that, I thought it might be cool to track down one of the TV spots I remember seeing on television. I know that it featured Andrew (Stefan Arngrim), a birthday cake, and Andrew's father screaming "My son is the devil!"

This appears to be the one.

I feel the need to qualify this with the phrase "appears to be" as April 1981, at time of writing, is a whopping 45 years in my past. While the ad does feature what I remember, watching it did not trigger the dopamine hit response of, "Ah, that's the one! That's it!"

But it has been 45 years, man. That means a whole lot of memories smashing, mixing, or blending together. I think that it lodged in my memory at all is something of pop culture win.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #57

Aliens (1986)

 

Ghost Story by Peter Straub - San Francisco Examiner - April 22, 1979

San Francisco Examiner - April 22, 1979

Peter Straub's fourth published novel, and third involving a supernatural threat, was the one that put him on the popular culture map. I would not read the book, from start to finish, until 1981, or thereabouts. When it was a paperback bestseller for Pocket Books.

I don't think it has ever been out of print.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #21

Datalog: Approx. 0:1300 Hours, Day 2

We had no leader, no weapons, no way to fight it. Our only hope was to trap it inside the huge Toxic Waste Disposal. It was the only place without air ducts. But we had to get the Alien out of its hiding place and into the disposal room.

From Beyond the Grave (1974) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - April 21, 1976

The seventh, and final, anthology film from Amicus Productions ended the cycle on a high note. Although the film's source material was a selection of stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes, the thematic core of moral retribution for wrongdoing (lying, cheating, stealing, et al.), makes it feel like a continuation of the E. C. horror comic adaptations (Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror) that had preceded it.

This might be my favorite one of the entire run, though. It is just a rock solid 'little movie' that works and is well worth seeking out.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #56

The Fly (1986)