Meteor (1979) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - July 30, 1978

Turns out that Meteor did NOT strike leading theaters nationwide in June of 1979. No, production delays brought upon by repeated failures to create usable special effects from an ever dwindling budget pushed the release out of the summer and into the autumn of 1979. Where it landed with a resounding thud. The reverberations of which weakened the financial foundation of American International Pictures to the point a buyout proved necessary.

Those delays also led to the promised John Williams score not happening. Composer Laurence Rosenthal, who I know best for his score for 1981's Clash of the Titans, would score the film. I read the novelization, which had been published in June of 1979, I think, months before the film managed to drop into theaters and drive-ins near me. But I would not see the film until it was either on home video or HBO. I remember watching it on TV, being unimpressed, and thinking the novelization had told the story far better than the finished film. So it goes.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #54

Behind the Scenes: Camera Setup

A new technology called low-motion control had to be developed to make direct David Fincher's visions become reality. Essentially, it involves a 65mm, high-speed, motion-control, robotic camera mounted on a boom system for quick set-up and maneuverability.
 

The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 29, 1984

I think John Carpenter's Executive Producer credit on this is an honorary one, as he spent some time developing the project before throwing up his hands and walking away. He just could not come up with third act that satisfied him.

This was one of the films I missed out on seeing on the big screen because I was living overseas at that time. Still have yet to catch up with it. So it goes.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #89

Ghostbusters (1984)

 

Body Parts (1991) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - July 28, 1991

Six days prior to the publication of this ad, the infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested. Shocking and lurid details of his heinous crimes were splashed across newspapers, news broadcasts, and tabloids and any and all potential interest in a horror movie titled Body Parts, and the drew inspiration for a novel titled Choice Cuts, evaporated.

Very few, if any, of the general public were the slightest bit interested in the film. If they knew of its existence, that is. I think Paramount Pictures had already yanked the television and radio spots for the film, both out of respect for Dahmer's victims and the not at all unexpected, and easy to understand, complaints from upset viewers.

Body Parts both arrived and departed from the theaters and drive-ins in under a month, tops. I think it might have been available on home video by the end of September, 1991. That is where I saw it.

I remember liking Loek Dikker's odd sounding score, but also thinking the film felt a tad too lean. It felt both perfunctory in its storytelling and character development. Yet there are a few lively moments, including a truly bonkers and logic defying action sequence involving a passenger in one car that gets handcuffed to the driver of another.

It is an entertaining oddball of a movie, and something of a minor cult classic due to that fact, but it is also easy to see the missed opportunity to make something a bit, um, meatier with the concept.
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #53

 

Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 27, 1948

As baffling in retrospect as it might seem, star Lou Costello was adamant in NOT wanting to do this film. It took a hefty increase in salary and the hiring of a trusted director to get him on board. Good thing, as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein went on to become on of their most popular, and famous, films.

Come on, they even brought Bela Lugosi back to play Dracula! Although the studio evidently had to be talked into that bit of casting.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #88

Predator (1987)

 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #52

Behind the Scenes: Alien Torso 1

This Alien torso, built from fiberglass, plastic, and foam rubber, was used for only one particular part in the movie - the final Lead Works scene. This scene calls for the Alien's head to crack and explode in full view of the audience.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #87

Ghostbusters (1984)