20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) / The 27th Day (1957) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - June 23, 1957

20 Million Miles to Earth tells the tragic tale of a Venusian animal brought back to Earth where, alone, confused, and scared, it is tormented by equally confused and scared humans. Although somewhat hampered by its paltry budget, the stop motion animation by Ray Harryhausen is superb. The unnamed alien, known to fans as the Ymir, is so skillfully animated that it moves and reacts as if it were a living being and not a mere special effect.

This would be the first of three films that Nathan Juran would make with Harryhausen. The other two being the 1958 classic The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and 1964's First Men in the Moon.

The 27th Day is a movie I have the vaguest memory of seeing a portion of on television. It was a scene of a man being hit by a car. But that is all I remember of it.

The film was based on a 1956 novel written by John Mantley, who would go on to write a season two episode of The Outer Limits that was titled Behold Eck! Mantley also served as producer, perhaps show runner, for the television series Gunsmoke from 1965 - 1975, and is credited with writing 17 episodes and producing 240. He also produced and wrote the late 1970s series How The West Was Won. He also had some producing credits on the series The Wild, Wild West, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and MacGyver.

I was also surprised and delighted to learn that the film was directed by William Asher. A television workhorse, Asher credited as director on 102 episodes of I Love Lucy, a first season episode of The Twilight Zone titled Mr. Bevis, 131 episodes of Bewitched, and many, many more.

But I know Asher best for directing the queasy 1981 hagsploitation-themed slasher thriller Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, which I saw on the big screen as Night Warning.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #76

Poltergeist (1982)

Those hands belong to Steven Spielberg, who had a grand old time working with DIRECTOR Tobe Hooper.
 

The People That Time Forgot (1977) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - June 22, 1977

When I went to see The People That Time Forgot, on the big screen, I had no idea that it was a direct sequel to The Land That Time Forgot. I just thought it looked like a fun and exciting fantasy adventure.

Since this ad is from the San Francisco Examiner, I am going to focus on the screening in that region and leave the East Bay for when the daily clipping comes from the Oakland Tribune.

All the markets looked to have paired the film with the a reissue of At the Earth's Core, which just so happened to have been made by most of the same creative team responsible for The People That Time Forgot. Save for the absence of Milton Subotsky, as he and credited producer Max J. Rosenberg had parted ways and their Amicus Production company was no more. 
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #40

Outtake - Scene not included in the movie

Another of the original scenes from Alien 3 included this shot of an unsuspecting prisoner actually picking up the Alien in its facehugger form. The Alien has just burst from the dead ox strung up in the prison's Abattoir and is about to its first victim.

I might be in the minority here, or maybe not, but I do not find the Assembly Cut to be all that much of an improvement over the theatrical cut. Because a lot of the film's problems rested within the film's underdeveloped and unfocused script. That it needed a few more drafts to strengthen its characters and setting can not be ignored or denied.

 

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!"