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)

 

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - June 5, 1977

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger might be the only Ray Harryhausen effects movie I saw on the big screen. While this June 5, 1977 ad clipped from the San Francisco Examiner listed the Alameda Theatre, I remember seeing it at the ever reliable Southshore.

While the film has a bevy of stop motion beasties to enjoy, the only big screen moment that lodged in my memory was the antagonist bemoaning there was not enough magic potion to fully complete her transformation from bird back into human form. "Not enough! Not enough!"

 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #37

Datalog: Approx. 0:300 Hours, Day 3

From out of the shadows came Bishop. The company had sent a Bishop look-alike to gain my trust. He said the company wanted to remove the Alien inside me and destroy it. He said they wanted to help me. But what if he was lying?
 

Alligator (1980) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - June 4, 1981

This newspaper ad is all that stuck with me for the brief theatrical run of what became the modest cult/sleeper hit Alligator. Blessed with a solid cast that got to work with a tongue-in-cheek script by John Sayles, who claims to have wrote this on a plane flight from the New York to Los Angeles. Alligator is a fun, unpretentious, and, at times, downright nasty monster movie.

For whatever reason, this is one that slipped through my fingers and I did not see it until it debuted on network television. I think the film's infamous "walk the plank" scene made it to the airwaves intact, but that first viewing has been mixed and muddled with countless follow-up VHS and DVD viewings that it no longer matters. But I did know about the scene well in advance, because someone at school that had seen it on the big screen talked about it.

A check of Friday's "Theatre Guide" revealed that the Roxie would have Alligator on triple-bill with Shogun Assassin and Planet of the Dinosaurs. The Southshore had it paired with the action film High Risk. The Coliseum Drive-in was showing it with Humanoids from the Deep, while United Artists in Berkeley had it coupled with Windwalker. If you went to see Alligator at the Festival Cinema in Hayward, you could watch it with Excalibur. The Cooper Twin in San Pablo also had it with Humanoids from the Deep, while the Regency in Pleasant Hill paired with the Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin historical action flick Death Hunt.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #72

Pumpkinhead (1988)

Another Fright Flicks card with Vengeance: The Demon title on the back of the card, rather than that actual title of the film, which is Pumpkinhead.

This image is from late in the film, when the true cost of summoning the vengeance demon Pumpkinhead begins to manifest.
 

Ghostbusters (1984) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - June 3, 1984

Ivan Reitman and Dan Ackroyd, with the assist of Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, and an almost unacknowledged Ernie Hudson, captured lightning in a bottle that, despite numerous repeat attempts, was never truly been recaptured.

This might have been my favorite film of the summer of 1984, although it did receive stiff competition from the even darker and actually scary at times Gremlins. Which just so happened to have been released on the very same weekend as Ghostbusters.

I was visiting friends and family in the states at the time, which meant I got to see it during its theatrical run while it was enjoying massive business and the Southland Cinema in Hayward. At least that is where I remember seeing it.
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #36

Datalog: Approx. 0:300 Hours, Day 3

I could see them across the way; they had finally arrived. The Weyland-Yutani Commando team charged up the stairs, ready for battle. They were outfitted in full military uniform and each of them carried a pulse rifle. May question was: Were they here to rescue us... or the Alien?