An American Werewolf in London (1981) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner]

August 13, 1981

Some lucky souls were able to see and enjoy a special sneak preview of An American Werewolf in London "on the eve of the full moon." I hope that each and every one of them had as much fun as I did, when I saw the film at the Century in Hayward, during its regular engagement.

My only real complaint about the film was that the werewolf was never shown with all that much lingering clarity.  We are just given glimpses and flashes of it. The best of which, for me, was when the gigantic beast, and it is indeed gigantic, approaches the escalator.

I think that is the very first glimpse of the beast the viewer is given and, dude, did my fourteen-year-old jaw drop to the floor when that happened.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #61

Weyland-Yutani File No. 132749

Prisoner:    Leonard Dillon

Offense:    rape and first degree murder, 2 counts

Distinguishing Marks:    small scar on left cheek

Notes:    leader of religious cult developing on Fiorina 161

Somewhat distinguishable bald guy #2

Whether or not Charles Dutton's character of Dillon is any more or less distinguishable from Charles Dance's character of Clemens depends on what characteristics of measrurmet one uses. On the surface, Dillon is easy to distinguish because he is only one of, I think, two people of color in the film. So there is that obvious trait.

But Dillon also delivers an excellent eulogy at the funeral for Newt and Hicks, as well as going mano-a-mano with the xenomorph during the climax in the lead works. So the character is given a lot to do and Dutton's charismatic presence gives him a stabilizing gravitas. It is not the least bit difficult to see him as a righteous and noble leader. He might be my favorite character in the film.
 

The Dracula Mystique [Eastbay at ease]

 

August 12, 1979

Staff writer Robert Taylor pens a short and sweet examination of the glut of Dracula productions that were unleashed during the summer of 1979. He even reaches back to point out that there had been a 1975 Dracula musical performed at the Berkeley Rep. As well as a production of an original play, which had starred Michael Ansara and Werner Klemperer, that had been performed at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in 1978. 

A local production of The Passion of Dracula, a new play by Bob Hall and David Richmond, takes center stage, as this article serves as something of a soft marketing push for the about to open production. The Passion of Dracula was coming off of a successful 'small-scale' run in New York's Greenwich Village, in the shadow of Edward Gorey's smash hit revival of the 'classic' John L. Balderston revision of the Hamilton Deane play, which had made Frank Langella a star on Broadway.

Taylor quotes, but does name, one (I assume) east coast critic's comparison of the two concurrent productions. "One is played for laughs, the other is played for keeps. One is obvious, the other intelligent. One looks like an Edward Gorey cartoon, the other like an old English thriller."

Jeremy Brett, who would be playing Dracula in the west coast tour venues of the Edward Gorey production, gets quoted, as does Langella. The slapstick rom com Love at First Bite gets a mention, as does the big budget Dracula movie from Universal, which just so happened to star Frank Langella, go figure, and Werner Herzog's remake of Nosferatu is not left out in the cold, either.

What is it that makes Dracula so alluring and popular to audiences, again and again? Is it the aura and mystery of human blood? The soulful yearning for immortality? Or, perhaps, the aching loneliness that has, over time, settled over the perception of the tuxedo and cape clad vampire?

Although the article ends with one potential answer, and sales hook, for The Passion of Dracula. Saying that the play's authors strived to "create a woman that Dracula would spend 400 years searching for." I think that also hints at the primal allure of Dracula stories. They acknowledge the oh-so-human nature of an aching, yearning, and thirsting desire that can never, ever truly be satiated. No matter how much, how hard, one tries.

Fright Flicks - Sticker #6

The Fly (1986)

 

The Fan (1996) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner]

August 11, 1996

Not a remake of the 1981 Lauren Bacall starring pseudo-slasher, adapted from the epistolary novel by Bob Randall, but an all-new story. One that was adapted from an entirely different novel written by Peter Abrahams, but just so happened to have the same title.

Robert De Niro plays Gil Renard, a baseball obsessed loser with anger management issues and an oh-so-tenuous grasp on reality. While a pre-Blade Wesley Snipes gets tasked with playing Bobby Rayburn, the embodiment, and thus the brutal focus, of Renard's obsessions and frustrations. 

Rayburn has hit a slump just as Renard's life starts to spiral out of whatever semblance of control it had remaining. Psychosis infused shenanigans ensue.

But what proved most memorable about this film was the scene where De Niro's character has make a "quick trip" from Candlestick (which was still standing at that point) over to Oakland, for a disastrous sales meeting, and back via the Bay Bridge. Somehow taking the same Oakland bound route in both directions...
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #60

Weyland-Yutani File No. M32201

Officer:    Johnathan Clemens

Occupation:    medical officer, 3-C rating

Notes:     former Morphine addict, served seven-year prison sentence at Fiorina 161 for negligent manslaughter.

Somewhat distinguishable bald guy #1

Because Clemens, um, interacted with Ripley more than most of the other prisoners and supporting characters, he stood out a bit and even proved somewhat memorable. Thanks in large part to performing the infamous Newt autopsy and delivering a tragic backstory monologue about how he came to be at Fiorina 161... just before being dispatched by the Xenomorph. So it goes.

 

Manhunter (1986) - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune]

August 10, 1986

Thief had made me something of a Michael Mann fan, although the artistic and narrative choices he made adapting F. Paul Wilson's The Keep both baffled and frustrated me. The same applies for this adaptation of the bestselling thriller Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.

While there were definitely things I liked and admired about the film. I thought it fell short of capturing the darker and more harrowing aspects of its source material. In 1986, when I watched the film on home video, I thought it seemed to be a failure on Mann's part. Nowadays, however, I think it has more to do with how certain aspects of the story that most resonated with me could not be translated from the page to the screen and retain what had made them so powerful when I experienced them as a reader.

Learning to let go of that perceptual intimacy from when I read a story and to appreciate a filmmaker's unique interpretation of said work would take me a few decades to accept and even embrace.
 

Fright Flicks - Sticker #5

 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #59

Weyland-Yutani File No. 121156

Prisoner:    Thomas Murphy

Offense:    grand theft, space vehicle

Distinguishing Marks:    none

Notes:    well-behaved, quite protective of his dog

Indistinguishable Bald Dude #1. 

I think it is equal parts hilarious and necessary to have these cards handy so one can get an idea of who these indistinguishable bald dudes are.
 

Fright Flicks - Sticker #4

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 Dream Warriors (1987)