Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) - Promo

Oakland Tribune - December 2, 1979

With its theatrical release looming on the horizon, Star Trek The Motion Picture gets the cover of the Oakland Tribune's Sunday supplement At Ease.

Although I did watch Star Trek re-runs on the regular, and also sampled the Saturday morning animated show, I did not see The Motion Picture on the big screen until it was re-released on a double-bill with the far better Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. So it goes.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #10

Fright Night (1985)

 

Mr. Sardonicus (1961) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - December 1, 1961

Although I have not seen every movie William Castle foisted upon the world, I can say that The Tingler and Mr. Sardonicus are pretty much neck-and-neck at the finish line for the "Favorite" crown. Both unnerved and delighted me, back when they made the rounds on either KTVU's 'Chiller Diller' or KBHK's 'Monstrous Movie' Saturday programming. I also have zero doubt that both were shown on 'Creature Features' at some point.

A 'few years' back (it was 2018, actually, I just checked my Goodreads shelf) I read Haunted Castles: The Complete Gothic Stories by Ray Russell, which contained the source material for this film. Since Russell himself penned the adaptation, Castle's film version remained rather faithful.

A few images from the film did lodge in my memory... the henchman placing leeches on some poor woman's bare feet, the rictus grin of a corpse laying in a coffin, the shock reveal of Sardonicus's grinning visage, and the final shot of the film.

About that final shot... while Russell's short story makes clear the ultimate of fate of Sardonicus, while the film implies that might be avertible...

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #45

Resplendent

Captured in simple black and white, Lady Death's beauty shines through, her pale skin a stark contrast to her costume. Utter beauty, but containing terrible power.