The Avengers (2012) - Soundtrack

Listening to this soundtrack oft times makes my heart starting doing a little dance. Because it brings back the joyous memory of what it was like to see The Avengers for the very first time, on its opening weekend.

I miss that feeling. That energy. That excitement. Because, more and more, my reaction to a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, post-Endgame, has shriveled down to... "Meh. Maybe I'll go see it. Maybe."

But Silvestri's rousing action score and fist-pumping Avengers Theme brings it all back. Reminds me of a time when these movies were something I looked forward to seeing, rather than something I might to catch up with at a later time of convenience. If there is nothing else to watch, that is...

Nosferatu (2024) - Review

The very moment I heard that Robert Eggers was remaking Nosferatu, I knew I had to see it. Even though I have yet to see anything he has made. Yes, this is true. I, lifelong horror fan that I am, have not seen The Witch, The Lighthouse, or The Northman. So it goes.

Want to know what is worse than that? I have not seen the original silent film, nor have I seen Werner Herzog's 1979 remake of it. I have only seen images and snippets from both.

Yet I still knew that this version of Nosferatu was going to be my kind of thing.

At least that was my expectation and, let us be honest, expectations can and are dashed and disappointed a great many times. This is just the way of the world.

But, I am glad to share, this was not one of those times. My expectations were, for the most part, met and I walked out of the Christmas Day matinee screening I attended both satisfied and happy with what I had just seen. Nosferatu had, in fact, been my kind of movie. I loved most of it.

The part I did not love, but still liked, was the film's middle section. After being sucked in, pun intended, by the glorious atmospherics and being kept on the edge of my seat, awaiting the reveal of the dreaded Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), the middle section seemed to drag. It did not lose me, but I did find myself thinking, "Man, they need to pick up the pace here."

I can forgive it that, because the film's final act and conclusion delivered some ghoulish delights and gruesome jolts. It delivered the kind of movie that I had wanted, expected, Bram Stoker's Dracula to be. A viewing experience that was atmospheric, unsettling, and actually scary. 

Nosferatu is one of this year's best horror films. Highly recommended.

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) - Soundtrack

I first time saw Assault on Precinct 13 was when it was broadcast, complete and uncut, on one of our local UHF stations. By this time I was a rabid John Carpenter fan and, since we did not have a VCR at the time, I gathered together some audio tapes and recorded the broadcast that way.

Oakland Tribune - Saturday, January 30, 1982

The reason for my knowing and remembering this fact is due to my best friend (at the time) and I seeing a matinee of Evilspeak and Demonoid at the South Shore Twin Cinema that very afternoon and discussing our excitement at being able to see the movie John Carpenter made before Halloween.

I fell in love with the movie, of course, and listening to the recording I made, over and over, helped commit its score to memory. For years and years, which added up to decades, I wondered why a soundtrack album for the film had never been released.

Turns out it was due to the movie having, at most, only some twenty-six or so minutes of music. Its memorable theme, Carpenter shares in an interview for the album liner notes, was "a simplification of a Lalo Schifrin line in Dirty Harry, which in turn was a kind of rip of The Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin."

Having had that inspiration through-line pointed out, I can now hear the connection as clear as day. Incredible.

Arrival (2016) - Soundtrack

The predominant use of Max Richter's On the Nature of Daylight during the beginning and ending of Arrival was the excuse given as to why Jóhann Jóhannsson's phenomenal score was ruled ineligible for the Academy Awards. I say that is a load of bullshit.

This score deserved a nomination, at the very least. Jóhannsson's compositions, utilizing human vocals in irregular and arrhythmic patterns, are breathtaking. The music drifts and swirls back and forth, in and around, a vibrant tapestry of emotion; invoking awe, menace, and the excitement of dawning understanding.

I think it is an incredible and beautiful piece of work.

Army of Darkness (1992) - Soundtrack

Depressing as it is to admit, it was a struggle for me to make it through the one time I watched Army of Darkness. Which seems odd, because, on paper, this love letter to Ray Harryhausen movies, sword and sorcery fantasy, and Three Stooges slapstick should have worked.

I expected and wanted Army of Darkness to work, because I loved The Evil Dead, Crimewave, Evil Dead II, and Darkman. With a track record like that, how could I have any doubt abut it working?

Two things, though. First, the version of Army of Darkness I watched was a bootleg of the Director's Cut, the one with the Rip Van Winkle ending, and it just felt slow to me. The entire movie just seemed to sit there. Which felt off-putting and wrong.

Second, and this was the real deal breaker for me, is that I grew to dislike the character of Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell). How could the hapless everyman character from the first two films turn into such an unlikeable dunderhead? It got so bad that I began to root for the bad guys!

The version of the soundtrack I have is Varèse Sarabande's 2020 reissue, which is a presentation of the score as it heard in the theatrical release prints that screened in the United States.

While I might not have liked the movie all that much, Joseph LoDuca's score for it is incredible. As is the single track composed by Danny Elfman, March of the Dead. I've had so much fun listening to it, I might try giving Army of Darkness a second viewing.

Arena (1989) - Soundtrack

The elevator pitch for Arena might have gone something like, "Hey, think Rocky, only he has to fight the Predator instead of Apollo Creed!" Too bad the pitch is more exciting than the film itself.

Composer Richard Band, in his liner note for this Intrada release, shares how the music he wrote and performed for Arena marked a turning point in his career. "Up until then," Band writes, "I had primarily composed for orchestra, using electronics in only a few scores. But Arena called for something different - a truly futuristic electronic score."

With the assistance of Gary Chang's Fairlight and Synclavier, Band was able to achieve the "driving futuristic feel" he desired. He also came to understand the necessity of becoming better versed with the technology, which he now recognizes as his first step towards going fully electronic in the 1990s.

While this might not be Band's best electronic score, it is by no means terrible. Like so many other scores for movies of this kind, the music is one of the best things about it.

Jujutsu Kaisen, Volume 2 - Review

The battle against a cursed womb residing in a detention facility takes a tragic turn when Yuji Itadori appears to loose control of Ryomen Sukuna. 

Volume 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen overflows with sorcery battles and expansive world-building. New characters and group dynamics are introduced while a variety of backsides get kicked, good and hard.

It turns out that the higher-ups of Jujutsu High are not too keen about a cursed object vessel attending the school. An opinion that seems to be shared by some of the second and third year students. Something that 'forces' Satoru Gojo to engage in some outside-the-box thinking and teaching.

But there is more going on than that. Powerful curses are also plotting and planning their own nefarious schemes for the Itadori-Sukuna one-two combo, which means all these fireworks are just the prelude for much bigger battles to come.

Any magic system that requires the binge watching of movies as a form of prep is one I can get behind. Add a trash-talking second-year student that just so happens to be a panda and my nabbing and reading the third volume of Jujutsu Kaisen is a sure thing.

April Fool's Day (1986) - Soundtrack

I have three versions of this soundtrack.

The first is the vinyl album that was released by Varèse Sarabande in 1986, which is just an all-electronic presentation of the score, performed by the composer.

Second is a compact disc release of the vinyl album recording that served as the kick-off for Varèse Sarabande's 12 disc LP to CD Subscription Series. Which resurrected out-of-print soundtracks that, at the time, had not had official compact disc releases.

The third and last, but in no way shape or form least, version is the one pictured. This is Varèse Sarabande's 'Deluxe Edition' offering, coupling the actual score used in the film with the electronic realization Bernstein released in 1986. There is also a wealth of stingers and source cues tossed in.

Only thing missing, from all three versions, is Jerry Whitman's song Too Bad You're Crazy, which plays over the film's end credits.

Anna and the Apocalypse (2017) - Soundtrack

Anna and the Apocalypse was one of the movies released in 2017 that I most wanted to see on the big screen, but was unable to. Turned out it had a limited release, perhaps all of a week, at most, and I was busy with other things at that time. So I had to wait with some irked impatience for the film to become available on VOD.

That means I had expectations for Anna and the Apocalypse, which can be problematic thing. You go in expecting, or hoping, for a certain kind of movie, only to see something that is not that movie. Sometimes this is a pleasant surprise, sometimes it is not. With Anna and the Apocalypse it was the former, rather than the latter. For which I am grateful.

The ad campaign for Anna and the Apocalypse played up its zany musical-comedy aspects, making it look much more similar to the iconic British zombie-comedy Shaun of the Dead than it turned out being. Anna is a tad darker that Shaun.

While Shaun made references and in-jokes to Romero's zombie films, Anna seemed to be capturing their pessimistic tone and bitter irony. While Shaun looked and felt like a loving homage to Romero's zombie films, Anna looked and felt like the kind of zombie-comedy-musical that Romero himself would have made.

Perhaps I should put it this way, Shaun of the Dead has a Hollywood Ending, while Anna and the Apocalypse does not...

The Strange House, Volume 2 - Review

What started out as a simple, albeit rather sinister and morbid, hypothetical regarding how and why a doorless and windowless room would exist in a detached house uncovers a baffling and unsettling mystery. Or does it?

The first volume of The Strange House hooked me good with its chilling and intriguing blend of labyrinthian mystery and menacing atmosphere. What, if anything at all, was going on with the design plans of those houses?

Yes, houses. There are two of them. At the moment. But I would not be the least bit surprised if a few more strange houses were discovered in future volumes.

While I did hope and expect for there to be some intriguing developments in this second volume, which I was surprised and delighted to find I had to wait for, I was just a tad gobsmacked by the direction the story wound up taking.

It is still unclear as to whether or not there will be any kind of rational explanation here, or if there truly is something malevolent and murderous going on. As ludicrous and logic defying as the theories posited by the mystery loving Kurihara might seem to a rational mind, every revelation about the houses appear to point towards something odd and unusual.

Just how strange and how unusual the ultimate answers may or may not be remains to be seen. Judging by this volume's cliffhanger ending and its cryptic teasers for volume three, which will be released in April of 2025, whatever answers or questions are uncovered or asked are bound to chill and unnerve this particular reader.

April 2025. That's four months from now. I am going to have to wait four months to find out what happens next...

So it goes.

Angel Heart (1987) - Soundtrack

I remember plucking William Hjortsberg's novel Falling Angel from the paperback rack at a local store, way back in 1982, and giving it a brief once over. I did so because there was a blurb from Stephen King himself stating, "A terrific book. I've never read anything like it." The publisher ad copy, just beneath Hjortsberg's name, also promised that the book was a spellbinding novel of terror and the occult.

Despite all that, I passed on getting and reading Falling Angel. Why? No idea. I was fourteen and the book's artwork did not look scary enough to me, maybe? That was forty-two or so years ago, after all, and I wasn't taking notes.

Five years later a friend and I attended a matinee screening of Angel Heart that left us creeped out and good and rattled. That experience got me to track down and read Falling Angel. As much as I liked and admired the movie, I thought the book was even better.

I also purchased this soundtrack. which muddied the score presentation with snippets of dialog and sound effects from the film. Another shortcoming is the absence of the recording of Girl of My Dreams used in the film. Thanks to Angel Heart and its soundtrack, the song's melody became an ear worm that haunts me to this very day.

Anaconda (1997) - Soundtrack

I am unaware if an expanded edition of Randy Edelman's score for Anaconda has ever been planned or released. Which means I am stuck with this 30-minute sampling of the highlights, which is better than not having anything at all.

Edelman's score leans into the adventure aspects of this delightful and unpretentious "little" creature feature. Anaconda combines a dash of Creature from the Black Lagoon with a whole lot of Jaws, with the end result being an entertaining monster mash of a movie.

I loved seeing the grin on the late Gene Siskel's face, and the twinkle in his eye, when he said, "I give this movie thumbs up for Jon Voight and the snake, how's that for film criticism!" I agree, they were both impressive as hell in Anaconda.

So was Edelman's score. Expanded release, anyone? Anyone?

Frankenstein (1931) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - December 3, 1931]

The success of Dracula set the stage for the taking of this risky second venture into gothic horror. With Dracula, at least, there was the proven success of the stage production it was adapting to point at and assuage the concerns of dubious investors.

That was not the case with Frankenstein, though. This was a big swing gamble that had more than a few people at Universal Studios questioning the commercial instincts of Carl Laemmle Jr., the 23-year-old head of production.

Laemmle's instincts proved correct, though. Frankenstein was another smash hit for the studio and, coupled with Dracula, opened the creative doors, so that other monsters would be able to shamble out of the shadows and up onto the big screen.

Halloween (1978) - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune - November 15, 1978]

On October 25th my Facebook feed was peppered with posts celebrating the fact that John Carpenter's Halloween opened in theaters and drive-ins for the very first time on October 25, 1978. Because, more than likely, that is the earliest date that is listed on its IMDB page.

While this might be true, the number of theaters it played in was quite small. I was surprised to learn that Halloween never had a wide theatrical release. That it never played in more than 200 theaters at any given time. It would open in a market, play for a week or two, then move on to the next.

Which explains how and why Halloween first opened at a theater or drive-in near me on November 15, 1978. NOVEMBER!?! The celebration of Halloween would already have been a distant memory to 11-year-old me. My heart would be focused on Thanksgiving and, even better, Christmas.

So it should come as no surprise that I have no memory of this release, at all.

Halloween would first ping my blossoming horror geek radar when this issue of Newsweek arrived in the family mail.

Newsweek - June 18, 1979

This is where, buried amongst the coverage of the looming releases of Alien, Prophecy, and Dawn of the Dead, that I learned that a movie called Halloween existed. I am pretty sure that Phantasm, The Brood, and maybe even The Dark were also mentioned in the cover article.

Although the positive word of mouth of audiences, and the acclaim of critics, was beginning to grow around Halloween, the article's coverage was pretty basic. It stated that Halloween, a scary sleeper hit, would be getting another release in the fall and offered a single image from the film. That of a sheeted figure standing in a doorway. But it was enough to get me interested and excited about seeing this movie called Halloween.

7 Doors of Death [The Beyond (1981)] / Superstition (1982) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - November 14, 1985]

How on earth did I miss out on catching this banger of a "Cursed House" double feature? 

If I had gone to see this, then I would have been able to have seen at least one Lucio Fulci movie on the big screen. Granted, this would have been in a somewhat edited version, but still.  It would have been a Lucio Fulci movie, on the big screen. Come on.

Superstition is also a whole lot of fun and well worth checking out.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - November 11, 1984]

I was living overseas, in Hong Kong, when A Nightmare on Elm Street was released in the United States in November of 1984. So I have zero memories of it as a theatrical release or viewing experience. Never saw the poster hanging in a lobby, nor did I see any TV spots for it. Because I was not there. So it goes.

It was not until Fangoria's 43rd issue arrived in the mail and I read a letter in The Postal Zone that praised a film called A Nightmare on Elm Street for creating an ultimate boogeyman that I became aware of its existence. What was this movie with a villain the letter writer deemed capable of scaring Jason Voorhees himself?

This praise both intrigued me and made me anxious to see this "ultimate boogeyman" film. Which I was able to in, I believe, the Thanksgiving weekend of 1985. When I rented the movie on home video. It not only managed to scare the shit out of me, but it also kept me awake that night. As I was afraid to fall asleep.

Something that would not happen again until, 25 years later, an opening night viewing of Paranormal Activity rendered me too scared to sleep. Good times.

The Stand by Stephen King - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - November 5, 1978]

Having just read and reviewed a book about the 1918 influenza epic, why not share this newspaper ad hyping the release of Stephen King's End Times epic The Stand?

When the COVID-19 pandemic started, there was a lot of chatter and jokes about Captain Trips and such. There were even chain letter tweets sharing and spreading, back when there were tweets worth sharing and spreading, the eighth chapter of the novel, which charted the explosive spread of the super flu.

Further back in time, however, I struggled to get through the totality of The Stand. I could make it as far as the end of the plague, but would start to lose patience with the seeming meandering pace of this behemoth novel. Then again, I was all of eleven or twelve at that time and had the attention span of a gnat. So it goes.

I also remember being super disappointed to learn that the Star Wars invoking cover art, featuring a sword-wielding Luke Skywalker type fighting a scythe-wielding crow creature of some kind, did not happen in the book.

Although props should be given for that art, which does a great job of invoking the epic fantasy vibe of the work more so than the epic horror expectations this potential (and future constant) reader had in the early months of 1979.

Further props for it invoking both the grim reaper, via the scythe, and the plague, via that beaked countenance. I love it.

Zombie Island Massacre (1984) - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune - October 27, 1985]

On the lower right hand side of this ad, clipped from the Oakland Tribune, are the listings for the screenings in San Francisco. At the very top of the listings is the Electric Theater. That is where I saw Zombie Island Massacre.

It also marked my first of what would be many trips to an actual, honest-to-goodness grind-house movie theater. Each week offered a different triple bill. A mix of whatever current movie was about to end its theatrical run, some moldy oldie, and the occasional first run low-to-no budget exploitation flick. Zombie Island Massacre is a lackluster example of the kind of first run flicks that 'debuted' at the Electric.

I regret not staying for at least one of the other two films on the bill. If my memory serves me well, those might have been Terminal Island and The Howling. So it goes.

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - October 26, 1975]

I would not make it all the way through the novel 'Salem's Lot until well after the broadcast of the 1979 mini-series, which is what the "major Warner Bros. film" promised in this ad eventually became.

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage [ L'uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo (1970)] - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - October 6, 1970]

Dario Argento's impressive feature film debut was an atmospheric jolt of terror and suspense that caught the attention of both critics and audiences. I was unable to see it for myself until the mid-to-late 1980s, when it was released on home video.

The Skull (1965) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - September 28, 1965]

September 28, 1965

Despite my growing up on a semi-regular diet of assorted Hammer and Amicus films broadcast on television, coupled with my burning through all the Robert Bloch novels and short stories I could get my hands on in the late 80s and early 90s, a viewing of The Skull has eluded me.

The source material for the film was a short story by Bloch titled The Skull of the Marquis de Sade, which was first published in the September 1945 edition of Weird Tales. While I have read the story twice - first in Final Reckonings, the first volume of The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch, and again in the 1963 anthology Bogey Men - I have zero recall of it.

The Skull was first released on a double-bill with The Mad Executioners, a German 'Krimi' film from 1963. It appears to be one of a very few to receive wide distribution in the United States. If the IMDB is to be believed, that is.

Creature from Black Lake (1976) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - September 22, 1976]

Creature from Black Lake is one of a handful of films from my childhood that I deemed to be "far too scary" to see, because the ads were scary enough, thank you.

I finally caught up with this particular piece of regional filmmaking cheese when it played after an episode of Kolchak The Night Stalker on the CBS Late Night Movie. At least that is how I remember it.

Creature from Black Lake turned out to be an inoffensive little thing, about as scary as an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man featuring Bigfoot (Andre the Giant). My being a fan of Dennis Fimple, Jack Elam, and Dub Taylor no doubt helped keep my interest...

Up from the Depths (1979) - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune - September 1, 1979]

One of an innumerable number of ads that were better (much, much better, in fact) than the film being advertised. Considering some of the broad performances, goofy dialog, and whatnot, it came as no surprise to learn that director Charles B. Griffith intended, or wanted, Up from the Depths to be much more of a broad comedy than producer Roger Corman "allowed" it to be.

Or, maybe, the comedy just was not all that funny to begin with? No idea. I just know that the movie itself, while it does have some goofy so bad it's good charm to it, is best consumed by seasoned b-movie aficionados only. 

The Brood (1979) - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune - August 1, 1979]

This is one of those kindertrauma ads I remember scaring the daylights out me, back in the day. I also might have seen a couple of television ads for it, but cannot be too sure about that. August 1979 would be some 46 years ago, at time of writing. 

I also remember reading about the film in either an issue of Fangoria, Starlog, or, most likely, Cinefastique. This had to have been post Scanners, because I was fascinated, curious, and eager to learn of Cronenberg's early works.

When I did get the chance to watch The Brood on home video, it did not disappoint. I think it is my favorite Cronenberg film. There is a lot in and about the film that I relate to. Feel free to make of that what you will.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) - Promo [San Francisco Examiner - July 4, 1971]

The Abominable Dr. Phibes gets a nifty little shoutout in the July 4th edition of Examiner/Chronicle's Datebook, a few days prior to its opening on Wednesday, July 7th.

I was also pleased with the amount of love that this ghoulish little gem got doused with in the 'Horror Comedies' episode of the Shudder series Horror's Greatest.

The Beast from 20,000 (1953) - Newspaper Ad [San Francisco Examiner - June 24, 1953]

I have taken to describing Roland Emmerich's ill-conceived 1998 version of Godzilla as "a bloated and overlong, but nonetheless acceptable, remake of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms."

Movies that had the word "Beast" in their titles were a matter of routine, back in the day. At some point, during any given week, there was bound to be a movie with a titular beast that lurked in some haunted cave, or cellar. One that had five fingers, or a million eyes. That craved blood, or had to die.

But the most coveted beast of them all, for me, was the one that came up from 20,000 fathoms. The infamous moment when a cop gets snatched up and gulped down, while no doubt laughable by today's standards, shook me to my core. Back when I was somewhere between the ages of 5 and 12, that is. 

I have heard and read conflicting stories about this film and its connection, real or supposed, to Ray Bradbury's short story The Fog Horn. Some versions have the filmmakers purchasing the rights to Bradbury's story prior to production. Other versions have the purchasing of the rights occurring during the production, when the similarities between a lighthouse scene and events in Bradbury's story were noticed and/or pointed out.

Here it might be best to invoke what I have come to call The Liberty Valance Rule: Whenever truth contradicts a legend, it might be best to just go with the legend.

Godzilla vs. Megalon [Gojira tai Megaro] (1973) - Newspaper Ad [Oakland Tribune - June 16, 1976]

It took three years, but the film English speaking audiences know as Godzilla vs. Megalon plopped into our local theaters and drive-ins on June 16, 1976.

This would be the first 'new' Godzilla movie I would see on the big screen, but may not have been the very first I would have seen. I know that I sat through a matinee screening of King Kong vs. Godzilla at the Southshore Twin Cinema, at some point. That was one of three Kid's Matinees I remember seeing there. The other two would be the 1966 Batman movie and the first third of 1970's Yog: Monster from Space.

Godzilla vs. Megalon would also serve as a memorable example of bait-and-switch movie marketing, because Godzilla and Megalon did not fight while standing atop the World Trade Center in New York City. Something the advertisement appears to promise.

Adult me knows and understands that the artwork here was designed to resemble the artwork for the remake of King Kong that would be getting a Christmas release that same year. But 10-year-old me wanted and expected to see Godzilla and Megalon duke it out in New York City.

They did not.

The poster also promises something "All new never before seen!" Which is as true as it is false. The movie itself, and the monster it adds to Godzilla's rogues' gallery, are, indeed, new. But a great deal of the film's special effects are not. A lot of its footage is recycled from earlier, and far more generously budgeted, movies.

Something else worth noting is that our downtown theater had Godzilla vs Megalon double-billed with William Castle's production of Bug (1975). I don't remember if we started or finished the double-bill with Godzilla vs. Megalon, but I do remember Bug scaring the ever living crap out of me.

More on that later...