Empire of the Ants (1977) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - June 12, 1977

Last year I clipped and shared the STARTS WEDNESDAY ad for Bert I. Gordon's Empire of the Ants that ran in the San Francisco Examiner. Now it is the Oakland Tribune's turn.

The other day the 7 disc Sangster Directs Hammer box set from Severin arrived in the mail. One of the film contained therein is Fear in the Night, which just so happens to feature star Joan Collins. Who played a vibrant and campy role in today's subject.

My reason for mentioning this factoid is that the Fear in the Night disc features a video essay titled Joan Collins: Queen of the Horror Film. Collins appeared in a lot of British horror films in the early seventies, the most famous being Tales from the Crypt, of course. 

Yet it seems this particular slice of b-grade cheese schlock was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Embarrassed and, quite possibly, infuriated, Collins would option her sister Jackie's novel The Stud and reinvent both her public persona and acting career. A decision that paid huge dividends when she was cast in the long-running primetime soap opera Dynasty.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #75

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2 Freddy's Revenge (1985)

While these publicity shoot images bled together over time, because there were just so many of them, I am somewhat unsure if the above image was taken for the second film in the franchise. It might have been, but I think it might actually have been taken during the production of the third film.

The Freddy make-up would change from film to film, depending on who was working on the make-up and what idiosyncratic flourish they wanted to give it at that time, and this looks more Dream Warriors than it does Freddy's Revenge. To me, at least.

But I could be wrong. That can and does happen. Like I said, New Line did a lot of these publicity shoots.
 

Jaws (1975) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - June 11, 1975

This teaser ad hyping the upcoming release of Jaws is one of what, at time of typing these very words, is close to ten or so dozen examples of why I started looking at every page of an archived paper. Because this teaser was not nestled with all the other movie ads in the Entertainment Section. No, this ad was 'hidden' in either the Business or Sports section. Or between to two. Just so eyes that might not bother checking the Entertainment Section might see and take note of it.

I have no idea when the very first teaser ad for Jaws appeared in either the San Francisco Examiner or the Oakland Tribune. But, since I am going through every available edition archived ad Newspapers.com, I should be able to find and archive it here. It is my favorite movie of all time, after all.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #39

Outtake - Scene not included in the Movie.

In one of the original scenes for Alien 3, oxen are used to pull Ripley's EEV from the water. When one of the oxen falls to the ground, the prisoners take it to the Abattoir for butchering. But while a prisoner is preparing to butcher the ox, the Alien bursts from the animal's chest.

A scene I believe you can now see in the 'restored' Assembly Cut version of the film.
 

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - June 10, 1981

Although I am incapable of NOT remembering the pop culture and box office juggernaut that was Raiders of the Lost Ark, since it was a massive hit. I have no memory of seeing the film on the Big Screen. Because... I did not see it until it was on home video.

Why? No idea. It baffles me that I was uninterested in seeing the film. While I was all kinds of excited and eager to partake the likes of Friday the 13th Part 2, An American Werewolf in London, Wolfen, and Escape from New York. Yet I still gave one of the most iconic fantasy-adventure films of all time a pass. Weird.

Come to think of it, I was more excited and determined to see Brian De Palma's Blow Out on the big screen than this film. Again... weird.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #74

Alien (1979)

"Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal!"
 

Gremlins 2 The New Batch (1990) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - June 9, 1990

Despite the wish casting in the banner of this ad for a "Special One Night Only" Sneak Preview screening of Gremlins 2 The New Batch, the Gremlins did not get out of hand when they were unleashed on June 15th. So it goes.

Less a linear sequel and more of an outright Looney Tunes cartoon-style parody of what a Gremlins sequel might be like, both in front and behind the camera. Gremlins 2 The New Batch is a whirling and wobbling dervish anarchic energy and slapstick comedy.

If there is to be a downside to this movie, it is that it leans a tad too heavily into cartoonishly comedic chaos and nowhere near enough toward something approximating an actual, you know, story. It just takes the narrative framing of the first film upon which to hang an insane, almost exhausting, number of jokes, references, gags, parodies, and creature effects.

Not that that is a bad thing. There are will always be times when one is dire need of watching something that only exists to be a silly, funny, and goofy good time. An admission that makes me want to plop on the couch and watch Gremlins 2 The New Batch one more time.
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #38

Datalog: Approx. 0:300 Hours, Day 3

I wanted to believe him, but I couldn't take the chance. If this Bishop was lying it could mean that the Alien would never be destroyed. I knew what I had to do...
 

The Giant Spider Invasion (1975) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - June 8, 1976

I remember seeing some television spots for this big bug throwback's theatrical release and being freaked out by them. Surely The Giant Spider Invasion would shock and terrify me beyond all measure.

Twenty-three or so years would pass before I would actually see The Giant Spider Invasion and, well, whatever horrors I imaged the film containing at age eight or so turned out to be far, far worse than what was in the film itself. But it did provide fodder for what just might be my all time favorite episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

"GILLETTE, THE BEST A MAN CAN GET!"  "PACKERS WIN THE SUPER BOWL!" "MOSES, MOVE THE BIKE!"

Quoting it only makes me want to watch it again.

As far as the film's co-hits go. The Alameda Showcase had The Giant Spider Invasion on a double-bill with 1972's Tales from the Crypt. The Eastmont Four had it showing with a different feature from 1972. The Hit Man, which starred Bernie Casey and Pam Grier. At the Roxie, The Giant Spider Invasion was paired with yet another different feature from 1972, Eddie Romero's Philippines lensed The Twilight People. That same double-bill was also unspooling at the Coliseum Drive-in. But the Nimitz bucked the trend of dusting off features from 1972 by pairing The Giant Spider Invasion with 1973's cheapie science-fiction thriller The Clones. Pleasant Hill's Motor Movies Drive-In did not buck the trend, as it had Spider, like the Alameda Showcase, paired with Tales from the Crypt.

United Artists in Berkeley had to have had the most thematically appropriate pairing, though. There it was paired with the William Castle production Bug. The Plaza, the eighth and final venue listed, also had it showing with 1973's The Clones.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #73

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 Dream Warriors (1987)