Squirm (1976) - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune]

August 24, 1976

The most vivid memory I have of the theatrical release of Squirm was of seeing and thumbing through the film's novelization while browsing the Books & Magazines section of our local Gemco. All the way back in 1976.

I did not see the film until it made its network television debut and, well, I cannot say if it was worth the wait. Although I did not know it at the time, I had already heard Don Scardino's voice on a few episodes of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater. What I did know at the time it aired was that the film featured early special effects make-up by Rick Baker. Effects that were trimmed into invisibility for television, of course. It would not be until I rented the film on home video that I would be able to observe the worms burrowing into some poor hick's face in all its ghastly glory.

Writer-director Jeff Lieberman was rather dismayed at the film being shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000, just not for the reasons one might think. He was more irked at the lowball price paid to secure the film's rights, more than it being made fun off. Seeing that the former did more financial harm to the film's earning potential than the latter.

"It's a movie about killer earthworms, after all," Lieberman said in an interview. "People have been making fun of it ever since it first opened."
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #67

Weyland-Yutani File No. 117309

Prisoner:    Daniel Rains

Offense:    drug trafficking

Distinguishing Marks:    none

Notes:    submissive, indecisive, a follower

Indistinguishable Bald Dude #5

He's wearing a hat, at least.
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #66

Weyland-Yutani File No. 123748

Prisoner:    Edward Boggs

Offense:    kidnapping, felonious assault

Distinguishing Marks:    cross and snake tattoo on forehead

Notes:    hostile and dangerous

Indistinguishable Bald Dude #4

Granted Boggs is the only other black dude in the movie, so he does stand out a bit more than the plethora of other interchangeable chrome domes cluttering up the supporting cast of Alien 3. He also gets dispatched in one of the more visually memorable moments, involving extinguishing candles in a darkened corridor. He also says the somewhat memorable, to me, at least, line, "It's all right to say shit, it ain't against God." Sounds legit...
 

Fright Flicks - Sticker #11

 

Strange Brew (1983) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner]

August 21, 1983

It's Bob and Doug McKenzie, eh. If you want to avoid being either a knob or a total hoser, I suggest you crack open either a can or a bottle of favorite brew, put your feet up, and enjoy this utterly nonsensical and hilarious comedy. One that has just the teeniest, tiniest splash of science fiction foam and an oh-ever-so-light dusting of gothic horror imagery (i.e. Elsinore Castle).

Don't want to see it, or have no interest in seeing it? Then take off, eh!
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #65

Weyland-Yutani File No. 127251

Prisoner:    Ted "Junior" Gillas

Offense:    aggravated sexual assault; assault with a deadly weapon

Distinguishing Marks:    teardrop tattoo in corner of eye

Notes:    difficult to control

Indistinguishable Bald Dude #3

Hey, that's Holt McCallany!

In 1992 I did not recognize him as being the very same actor that played the hair obsessed Sam Whitemoon in the Old Chief Wood'nhead segment in Creepshow 2 (1987). Nor would I make the same connection when he made another memorable supporting turn in the underrated haunted submarine thriller Below (2002).

I think, maybe, I was finally able to put a name to the face thanks to his high profile, and excellent, turn in the unnerving Netflix copaganda series Mindhunter.
 

Blade (1998) - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune]

August 20, 1998

Although the official kick-off for what would become the Marvel Cinematic Universe would take another decade to appear, the success of Blade helped pave the way for it. Showing that there was plenty of box office gold to be mined from the comic publisher's 'lesser known' characters (in regards to general audience awareness of said characters at that time) than believed possible.

This movie was a fun and entertaining introduction to the character of Blade that, most likely, will never be surpassed in my lifetime. I think part of the problem is that the current regime at Marvel Studios seems reticent to lean too far into the bronze age horror stuff with the necessary and unapologetic zeal. Which is one of the many things that made Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness such an underwhelming and chaotic mess.

One would have thought the success of the R-rated Deadpool trilogy (at time of posting) would have given the regime's backbone some much needed calcium, but that did not happen and the long-delayed introduction of Blade into the Marvel Cinematic Universe withered and died on the creative vine. So it goes, unfortunately.

Fright Flicks - Sticker #10

Ghostbusters (1984)

 

Darkman (1990) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner]

August 19, 1990

I am pretty sure Darkman is my all time favorite Sam Raimi movie. An almost perfect blending of the operatic angst of the eternally suffering masked super hero with the high energy slapstick of The Three Stooges, covered with just the slightest dusting of gothic horror. I loved this movie just about from frame one. 

Seeing the late Jessie Lawrence Ferguson, who I knew from John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness, kick things off in the small, but nonetheless important, role of Eddie Black warmed my heart. Couple that with my eagle eye spotting director William Lustig in the nearby mob of menacing dock hands and I knew Raimi was not turning his back on the horror franchise that had catapulted him into the Hollywood system.
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #64

Weyland-Yutani File No. 120049

Prisoner:    Walter Golic

Offense:    multiple murder and dismemberment, 32 counts; arson, 13 counts

Distinguishing Marks:    small scar over right eye

Notes: mentally unstable

Indistinguishable Bald Dude #2

No idea who this is.