In Search of Dracula [Vem var Dracula (1974)] - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - May 5, 1976

I know this ad is supposed to invoke a Vampire Bat swooping down to attack, but to me it just looks a slightly doctored image of a hanging bat that was inverted. So it could look spooky and threatening. While I am somewhat certain it may have worked in 1976, today it only makes me think of those videos of inverted bat footage set to Bela Lugosi's Dead.

In Search of Dracula is one of a plethora of paranormal-themed documentaries that carpet bombed theaters and drive-ins throughout the 1970s. The big selling point here is Christopher Lee, who was quite vocal with his frustrations at being unable to perform Dracula as written and envisioned by Bram Stoker. This documentary gave him the chance to portray the historical figure, and Dracula inspiration, Vlad III (aka Vlad Țepeș, or Vlad the Impaler).
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #61

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

 

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - May 4, 1965

While Amicus would produce a great many more, and quite a few better, anthology films. Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, the company's first such offering, is a nostalgic favorite of mine. It is one of those movies I grew up watching. Back when the proliferation of English and European genre films on the various late, late shows, as well as any and all syndication stations, made it seem as if Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing had starred in every horror movie made between 1957 and 1977. This one even had Donald Sutherland in it! I also recognized character actor Michael Gough.

My childhood favorite segment was The Creeping Vine, because a monster plant just seemed weird and cool to me. That segment also featured Bernard Lee. An actor best known for playing M in every James Bond film from Dr. No (1962), the first, to his final appearance in 1979's Moonraker.

As an adult I think my favorite segment just might be Werewolf. Maybe. But I do reserve the right to change my mind at any time.

The distributor looks to have dusted off the 1959 Hammer offering The Man Who Could Cheat Death to keep Dr. Terror company, whilst touring with his diabolical deck of terrifying tarot cards. 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #25

Datalog: Approx. 0:1700 Hours, Day 2

I left Galic under guard by Morse. Galic was still bound in a straitjacket and was ranting about the dragon he had seen. I remember what he said when we were in the infirmary with the Alien, just after it had killed Clemens. He told it, "I want to be your friend."
 

Creepshow 2 (1987) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - May 1, 1987

Considering that Creepshow 2 was made by the same creatives that were grinding out weekly episodes of Tales from the Darkside, it comes as no surprise that this film feels more like a collection of Darkside episodes spliced together than it does a sequel to Romero's visually kinetic Creepshow.

While not an altogether bad film, it does lack the narrative and visual zest of the first film. Old Chief Wood'nhead, the opening tale, is the weakest of the three live-action segments. The Raft is my favorite segment, and even scared me the first time I saw it, because it is a faithful-to-decent adaptation of one of my all time favorite Stephen King short stories.

But the best segment of the film is its final live-action tale, The Hitch-hiker. You might be muttering, or wanting to say, "Thanks for the ride, lady," well after the film has ended. According to an article, or interview, I read in Fangoria, King had written The Hitch-hiker for Creepshow as a possible replacement for the "They're Creeping Up on You!" segment, should it be considered too difficult to film. This might explain why this segment seems to have a tad more energy to it than the segments that preceded it.

The wraparound, like the first film, is animated. But this time there is an actual story being told. One featuring Venus Fly Traps. "They eat meat." Heh.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #60

Ghostbusters (1984)

First and best Ghostbusters, that is all.
 

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - April 30, 1981

Georgetown Productions and Paramount Pictures wasted zero time making a sequel to one of their biggest moneymakers of 1980, Friday the 13th. This short and simple retread was rushed into theaters and drive-ins before the first anniversary of the first film's release.

Friday the 13th Part 2 was my first Friday the 13th movie and thus is something of a personal favorite of mine, warts and all.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #24

Datalog: Approx. 0:1500, Day 2

Just when we thought we were safe, the Alien appeared from an overhead air duct. Junior quickly lured the Alien into the Toxic Waste Disposal, sacrificing his own life. And Dillon reached the control box just in time to close the triple doors and trap the Alien - and Junior - inside.

The New Man by Barbara Owns [Tales from the Darkside - Season 1, Episode 1] - Review

Alan Coombs steps off the bus from downtown and out into a cold winter’s night awash with stinging flurries of snow. Waiting for him amongst the others at the stop is a young boy, maybe twelve, with sandy hair, a slight frame, and a narrow freckled face.

“Hi, Dad.” The boy says to Alan. “I came to meet you. Surprised?”

Without realizing he is doing so, Alan takes a slow step back. He does not know, or even recognize, the boy. After telling him that he is mistaken, Alan turns to leave and the young boy, who has said his name is Jerry, reaches out and touches Alan’s arm.

Even though the fabric of his coat, Alan finds Jerry’s touch repugnant.

And so Barbara Owens’ unsettling short story The New Man begins. First published in the March 1982 issue of Twilight Zone Magazine, The New Man was also adapted for the direct-to-syndication anthology series Tales from the Darkside.

Alan returns home to find his wife, Sharon, and his son, his real son, Pete, just as he knows and remembers them. Until the kid who calls himself Jerry rings the doorbell and Sharon lets him in and then chastises Alan for locking the boy outside. “Look at him - he’s freezing. What made you do such a cruel thing, Alan?”

Sharon and Pete know Jerry and treat him as if he were a part of the family. But Alan knows the kid is not part of the family. He never has been and he never will be. Sharon and Pete both suspect that Alan has started drinking again…

But Alan knows he is sober. Has been sober. FOR A YEAR. He also knows that they DO NOT HAVE A CHILD NAMED JERRY!

So why is Alan's den now Jerry’s bedroom?

Determined to seek out the truth, Alan starts spiraling. He gets angrier, more distant, more abusive, and all the while Jerry watches, eye gleaming, and smiles. And smiles and smiles and smiles.

The story is told in the first person, by Alan, so one must take everything he tells us and claims to experience with certain wariness. As he could be, and is, an unreliable narrator. As much as he claims to be a New Man, he is fast to slip into the aggressive and accusatory behavior of a practicing alcoholic. Too fast, it seems.

The episode, which stars Vic Tayback, as Alan, and Chris Herbert, as Jerry, hews pretty darn close to its source material. A lot of dialogue is verbatim from the story, but there are still some major differences.

Unlike the story, all locations are interior, taking place either at Alan’s workplace or in the Coombs home. A scene where Alan visits his ailing and dementia suffering mother is excised and, truth be told, not really necessary for the episode.

What Jerry is, or what he is supposed to represent, in both versions, is left up to the reader or viewer to interpret. Is he the implacable embodiment of addiction, or the unaddressed, or unresolved, scars of psychological or emotional trauma.

Because the short story is entirely from Alan’s point of view, the ending, and its meaning, varies greatly from the episode. Alan is the observer and narrator until the end of the story, seeing what happens after his own story is resolved. Which is not the case with the episode. As the ending is restructured into a kind of circular bookending. With the beginning of the episode being recreated with another 'New Man". A changes that adds another potential layer to the story. Was Alan in some kind of purgatory? Was Jerry a spiritual test for Alan, before he would be consigned to either Heaven or Hell, depending on his actions and decisions?

I have no idea. What I can tell you is that my own life experience living with an alcoholic who drank herself to death, both the short story and its episode adaptation made my heart ache, even as the slightest of chills ran up my spine.

So, a recommendation from me and, until next time, try to enjoy the daylight….

Mausoleum (1983) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - April 29, 1983

Cool ad for a really trashy (i.e. 'bad') movie. Its biggest selling point for me is that the late John Buechler provided the special make-up and creature effects. Other potential selling points, for others, might include star Bobbi Bresee going topless and co-star Marjoe Gortner getting gnawed to death by a pair of demonically imbued breasts.

Yeah, that happens.

I also recognized Norman Burton, who plays a well-meaning psychiatrist, from his small role in 1974's The Towering Inferno. LaWanda Page, best known to me for playing Aunt Esther on Sanford & Son, shows up for a cameo. Maybe she owed somebody a favor, or lost a bet, or something.

This is Ed Wood level exploitation cheese that few will find entertaining and most an unpleasant and amateurish chore to sit though. One viewing of it was enough for me, it seems.

I checked the listing for the Roxie and discovered it was part of a banger of a triple-bill. For one ticket you Mausoleum, Funeral Home, and The Gates of Hell. Although the paper misprinted Funeral as General.

Oops.

The Parkway had it paired with just The Gates of Hell, while the Four Star was showing it alongside... E. T.!?!

WTAF!?!

Although that double-bill of Xtro and The Gates of Hell looks mighty sweet...