Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #44

Radiant

Basking in power, Lady Death soon found that being alive was taking its own toll. Her memories and emotions of former self coalesced into their own being which haunted the mortal Lady Death to the ends of the earth.

The Jaunt by Stephen King - Review

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 24, 1976

I did not see Assault on Precinct 13 until it was broadcast, complete and uncut, on KBHK Channel 44 (Cable Channel 12) on Saturday, January 30, 1982. By that point in time, I knew (and idolized) who and what John Carpenter was. The audio cassette recording I made of that broadcast got played every bit as much as the audio cassette recordings I had made of the network television premiere of Jaws and a pay television broadcast of The Fog.

But when Assault on Precinct 13 opened in a minuscule number of theaters in November of 1976, nobody knew who John Carpenter was or what he was capable of. I do envy the people lucky enough to see this movie on the big screen. Before John Carpenter was John Carpenter.

At the Coliseum Drive-In, Assault was coupled with the action-thriller Killer Force (1976), which starred Telly Savalas and Peter Fonda and was directed by Val Guest (who had helmed The Quatermass Xperiment, Quatermass 2, The Abominable Snowman, The Day the Earth Caught Fire, and many, many more).

The Hayward Automotive and Eastmont Four had it paired with Switchblade Sisters (1975). While the Lux in Oakland had it as part of a triple feature, alongside Take A Hard Ride (1975) and something called Kung Fu Master. That latter film might be a Shaw Brothers offering better known as The Master of Kung Fu [Huang Fei Hong (1973)]. Who knows.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #8

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Here the labored gag actually syncs with the film image(s) being used for the card.

"I'm your boyfriend now Nancy..."

Although the Phone Tongue prop was only on screen for a few seconds, the grotesque image, and the defilement it represented, made for quite an effective marketing image. Nice BTS shot of the prop, too.

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?