Fright Flicks - Trading Card #87

Ghostbusters (1984)

 

The Lost World (1960) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - July 24, 1960

Producer-director Irwin Allen glued some plastic fins onto some live, and no doubt disgruntled, lizards, shot them with macro lens, and christened them DINOSAURS for this loose adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic adventure tale.

This might be on par with the colorful and campy television productions (i.e. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Lost in Space) that made Irwin Allen something of a household name in the sixties, before he became the legendary Master of Disaster in the seventies. I have yet to see it, but my experiences watching reruns of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Lost in Space, and Allen's lackluster and characterless direction of the both The Swarm and Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, do not fill me with hope.
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #51

Behind the Scenes: Laser Disc Composite System

A special Laser Disc Composite System was invented for work on Alien 3. The system creates temporary video composites during the shooting of the miniature Alien, allowing crew members to immediately see how the Alien's actions will look on the real background.

Wolfen (1981) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 23, 1981

After having been beaten to the box office punch by Joe Dante's tongue-in-cheek The Howling and John Landis's only ever so slightly more serious An American Werewolf in London, both of which featured jaw dropping transformation sequences. The former designed by Rob Bottin and the latter created by Rick Baker, who won an Academy Award for his efforts on that film. Wolfen suffered unjustly in comparison. Because the titular creatures are just wolves with some minor optical effect overlays giving them a somewhat otherworldly look and feel.

In all honesty, Wolfen kind of looks and feels what a werewolf movie made by Christopher Nolan might look like. Make of that what you will.

Although the film does retain the setting, structure, and concept of Whitley Strieber's bestselling source material. It also creates all new storylines and characters to populate the setting and navigate the twists and turns of the somewhat underdeveloped narrative.

While some may have been disappointed at the lack of a more monstrous looking pack of creatures hunting the almost post-apocalyptic appearing Bronx neighborhood where most of the film was set. The movie worked for me.

I saw it on a double-bill with Escape from New York at the Parkway, in Oakland, and they paired perfectly. I could even envision them taking place in the same universe.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #86

Alien (1979)

 

Dressed to Kill (1980) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - July 22, 1980

This was one of the more memorable movie going experiences of 1980 for me. Being that the opening sequence was, without a doubt, the most sexually explicit material I had ever seen. In a movie, at least. I had already thumbed through an issue of Playboy or two by that time.

But, like Alien the previous year, Dressed to Kill did provide a memorable post-viewing comment from my dad to my mother, when we got home from the matinee showing. "It starts with this woman masturbating in the shower. It was so explicit I started thinking I had brought the boys to the wrong kind of movie, but it didn't last long and the rest wasn't as bad. But there was a moment, there..."

I think this was the movie that made me a Brian De Palma fan. While I will acknowledge that there are aspects to the plot that are indeed very problematic, in regard to its clear transphobia. The movie is also very tongue in cheek and laced with a heaping helping of blackly comedic irony. Certain scenes are so slathered in comedic irony that the film brushes up against the line of creative self-parody.

John McCarty, in his seminal Splatter Movies: Breaking the Last Taboo of the Screen, said that, "Dressed to Kill may not be Psycho, but it is certainly a very skillfully made and entertaining copy."

I agree. This one really needs to be added to my blu-ray collection.

 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #50

Behind the Scenes: Finishing Touches

One member of the special effects crew puts the finishing touches on a miniature version of the EEV. This model was used to film shots of the EEV crashing to the planet's surface in the opening scenes of Alien 3.
 

The Leopard Man (1943) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 21, 1943

The Vaudeville Stage Show surrounding The Leopard Man takes up most this ad, making it a crowded cacophony of appearances. I am also suspect that the quiet thrills and iconic door sequence might have jolted viewers that watched the stage show first. Or did the movie get screened first and then the stage relaxed everybody's jangled nerves? No idea, but there had to have been a little something for everybody to enjoy here.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #85

A Nightmare on Elm Street II Freddy's Revenge (1985)

 

Hauntings: Is Anybody There? by Norah Lofts - Newspaper Ad

 

San Francisco Examiner - July 20, 1975

Although Norah Lofts was best known for her historical and romance fiction, she was also quite enamored with ghost stories. I was unaware of this until I uncovered this advertisement. Now I have several more books added to my shopping wish list.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #49

Behind the Scenes - Under Construction

An exterior of the Weyland-Yutani prison facility had to be constructed for the movie's wide-angle establishing shots. This model represents the facility's ten square miles of living space and maze-like passageways. The two protruding cones will become vents, for the blast furnace.

The Intruders by Pat Montandon - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 15, 1975

After an irritated Tarot card reader hurls a curse at both her and the house she is living in, socialite Pat Montandon's life begins to unravel. As online review summarized "[Montandon] began to feel unsafe and uneasy in her apartment. She heard noises, felt dread, felt a presence. Mysterious fires broke out, her apartment was robbed, criminals seemed to be lurking about at all times."

Was it real, or was it just a figment of imagination and nervous paranoia brought upon the very real troubled and troubling times occurring in the city of San Francisco in the late 60s and early 70s? I have no idea, but finding this ad buried in the pages of the Oakland Tribune arouses my curiosity. 

Whether real or imagined, this is an interesting foreshadowing of true haunting genre that would arise following the larger commercial and cultural success of Jay Anson's book The Amityville Horror. Which would be published two years later, in 1977.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #84

Vengeance The Demon (1988)

Another card utilizing the discarded alternate title for Pumpkinhead.
 

The Frighteners (1996) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - July 14, 1996

As much as I would have loved to have gone and seen The Frighteners on the big screen, it was released at a time when such luxuries were out of reach.

When I finally was able to catch up to the film when it hit home video, I thought it was a tad unfocused and all over the place. The organizational threads of story and character seemed to have gotten tangled with the distractions of the massive amounts of special effects.

While Jackson was aiming for a PG-13 rating, it became clear that the MPAA, for whatever reason, did not want the film to have that rating. No matter the amount of cuts and alterations made. So Jackson amped up the gore for one character's death, just so the R rating felt earned rather than arbitrary.

This one movie I need to revisit sooner, rather than later.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #48

Behind the Scenes - Lead Works Set

Here, the enormous Lead Works and Blast Furnace set undergo construction on the "007 Stage," the world's largest sound stage located at Pinewood Studios, London.
 

The Swarm (1978) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 13, 1978

Irwin Allen's production of The Swarm is one of the crown jewels of my childhood. The pre-release hype and ballyhoo was impressive, causing the "killer bee" fear mongering of the late-seventies to reach a fever pitch. I had the movie-tie edition of the Arthur Herzog novel and examined each and every black and white photo, wondering if this movie would do for bees was Jaws had done for sharks.

Then the movie opened and, well, the rancid stench of flop sweat and fresh turkey manure filled empty theaters across the nation. Ineptly made and poorly written, The Swarm is a bombastic mess of a movie that was woefully out of touch with the era in which it was made and set. The meandering plot wanders and drifts at a pace that makes a glacial seem like a speed run.

Allen seems to have spent most of his big budget on wrangling an all star cast that, despite all having done solid to great work elsewhere, give performances here that range from wooden to operatically over the top. I think Michael Caine and Richard Widmark, who spend a majority of the film arguing with each other, made bet as to who could chew the most scenery and boy do the splinters fly when they  go at each other.

One of the many joys this film has given is the gleeful delight whenever I take the Warner Bros Studio tour. Being able to see and walk around the raw material with which "Marysville, Texas" was created on the Burbank backlot is an intoxicating joy that will forever have me wanting to take just one more tour and just a few more pictures.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #83

Alien (1979)

 

The Fly (1958) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - July 10, 1958

A rather impressive roster of 'Hollywood Ghouls' will be attending tomorrow night's Studio Sneak Preview of The Fly. I have a suspicion that the Invisible Man was the subject of a "no show" joke of some kind. Unless they had some dude wrapped in bandages milling about.

Although The Fly would be released as part of a double-bill with the killer space fungus flick Spacemaster X-7, this sneak preview substitutes for Beautiful But Dangerous. Which was the co-hit for the Gregory peck starring western The Bravados, which would could watch before or after The Fly.

 

Alien (1992) - Trading Card #47

Behind the Scenes - Sound Stage

The sets - Lead Works, Toxic Waste Disposal, Morgue, Infirmary - were housed on this huge sound stage in London, England. Norman Reynolds, famed British production designer, gave the sets of Alien 3 continuity with the other Alien movies. Dirty, rough, crude, and eerie.
 

Humongous (1982) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 9, 1982

Having struck a modest vein of box office gold with the 1980 Halloween cash-in Prom Night, director Paul Lynch made a somewhat quick return to the same exploitation well for this 1982 monster-themed slasher.

While not a 'bad' film, in that it looks like a film made an actual filmmaker, it is hampered by a paint-by-the-numbers body count script that mashes together Friday the 13th Part II with The Grim Reaper. The only things missing here are some gnarly and inventive deaths and an impressive looking visage for the titular Humongous. Which leaves little to nothing of interest left to hold the viewer.

Between Prom Night and Humongous, Lynch directed four segments for the short-lived Night Gallery styled anthology series Darkroom, which was hosted by James Coburn and ran on ABC. Those segments were Stay Tuned, We'll Be Right Back, Needlepoint, Daises, and Who's There?

Lynch would move between theatrical features, such as the 1986 drama Bullies, and episodic television. Of interest to me would be the six segments he directed for the mid-80s return of The Twilight Zone - Examination Day, A Message from Charity, Wong's Lost and Found Emporium, Need to Know, Shadow Play, The Storyteller, and The World Next Door. As well as the three half hour episodes he directed for the syndication package - The Crossing, The Hunters, and Crazy as a Soup Sandwich.

I also need to seek out the two episodes he directed for The Ray Bradbury Theater - Marionettes, Inc. and The Long Years. There were also two episodes of the short lived return of Dark Shadows in 1991. Five episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation - The Naked Now, 11001001, Unnatural Selection, A Matter of Time, and The First Duty. Five episodes of RoboCop - The Future of Law Enforcement, Parts 1 and 2, Trouble in Delta City, Officer Missing, and Faces of Eve. Two episodes of the 90s reboot of The Outer Limits - The Second Soul and Dark Matters. Eight episodes of F/X; The Series, four episodes Poltergeist: The Legacy, two episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess, and three episodes of Sliders - Net Worth, Please Press One, and Requiem.

An incomplete list of some of the films and television work that screenwriter William Gray is credited with include the classic 1980 ghost story The Changeling, the aforementioned Prom Night, the Chuck Norris action flick An Eye for an Eye, The Philadelphia Experiment, and Black Moon Rising. Two episodes of The Hitchhiker - Joker and Fashion Exchange. Two episodes of that 90s relaunch of Dark Shadows and three episodes apiece for RoboCop and BeastMaster.

At the Roxie, Humongous was on a triple-bill with The Seduction and Beyond the Fog [which was retitled reissuing of 1972's Tower of Evil, aka Horror of Snape Island]. The Parkway had it paired with Escape from New York. Humongous rampaged solo at both the Festival Cinemas in Hayward and the Regency Cinema in Pleasant Hill.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #82

Fright Night (1985)

 

Dracula (1979) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - July 8, 1979

Thanks in very large part to the massive success of the Edward Gorey designed revival of the Dean/Balderston penned play, both on Broadway and as a national tour, Universal dusted off the gothic horror property that launched its famous monster line-up and released this "all-new" cinematic version of the classic story in 1979.

There were also three or four Dracula movies that came out during the summer of 1979, depending on whether or not you count (heh, "count") Werner Herzog's Noserfatu the Vampyre. Love at First Bite, a rom-com take on Dracula that starred George Hamilton as the Count, preceded this film's release by 3 or so months. The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula, a delayed by five or so years retitled release of Hammer Film's Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, would open the Wednesday before this film's release.

Because the movie looked "old" to me, in that it was set in the 19th century and 12 year-old me preferred movies and stories set in time periods with electricity, indoor plumbing, and motor cars, I was disinterested in seeing this on the big screen. Too bad for younger me.

I did catch up on during a Halloween night sleepover with a whole bunch of friends. An independent pay TV outlet had an awesome marathon lined up. What I remember being shown that night was the animated film Wizards (1977), followed by The Amityville Horror (1979), Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980) and Dracula (1979). There may come a time when I might be able to fact check this, by checking the Oakland Tribune's TV listings, but who knows if, or when, that will ever occur.
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #46

Behind the Scenes - Alien Puppet 2

An Alien rod puppet is used to film the fast-moving chase scenes. Here, two crew members control the Alien to give it a character of its own. The Alien puppet scenes were done in a California studio and matched up with the live action scenes done in London.
 

Phantasm II (1988) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 7, 1988

One of several 1988 summer horror films that underperformed at that box office.

As fun and atmospheric as Phantasm II is, general audiences were just not all that interested in seeing a spooky carnival ride of a movie in July. Maybe, just maybe, if the film had been pushed to late September or early October? Maybe. But who knows, really? I don't.

But what I do know is that this movie is fun. The higher budget, an estimated 3 million, not only allowed for better special effects and production design, but may have given writer-producer-director Don Coscarelli a tad more of the old shooting schedule.

And it shows, because the movie also looks great. I was able to see this opening weekend and had a blast. The friend I was with, however, did not. He hated the movie. So it goes.

The one downside is that Universal wanted a more established actor to play the lead character of Mike. So A. Michael Baldwin was switched out for James Le Gros. The one and only time Baldwin did not play Mike.

 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #81

The Fly (1986)

 

Bug (1975) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - July 6, 1975

William Castle's production of Bug did not ping my pop culture radar until 1976, when I saw it at the Alameda three on a double-bill with Godzilla vs. Megalon.

The order in which the two were screened is a memory long buried under the inexorable sands of time. What I do remember is being both freaked out and grossed out by Bug, while being off-put by the broad cartoonish-ness of Godzilla vs. Megalon.

For a time the theatrical one-sheet for Bug hung in my bedroom. There are even some polaroids of my sitting at my desk and play acting as a working writer with the poster behind me. Where those polaroids are, and if they even still exist, I have no idea. If I do find them, I will share them. Why not?

In mid-to-late 1980s I managed to get my hands on a paperback of Thomas Page's source novel, The Hephaestus Plague and read it. While my admittedly fuzzy memory of the book remembers there being a tad larger scope to the firebug invasion, the core story beats of the novel seemed to have survived and been retained for this film adaptation.
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #45

Behind the Scenes - Alien Puppet 1

Close-ups of the Alien "puppet" are filmed separately on a plain blue screen. Later, in the editing room, the real background will be added to give the illusion that the creature is quickly moving through the prison's narrow air ducts.
 

Watch Out, We're Mad [...altrimenti ci arrabbiamo! (1974)] - Soundtrack

New addition to the collection.

Although the English language title of this energetic and delightful action comedy, starring the popular duo of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, is Watch Out, We're Mad. Its original Italian title is ...altrimenti ci arrabbiamo! [Otherwise we'll get mad]. Which means that this disc will be filed under A, rather than W, and, since I am currently on the letter C of my collection, this oddity gets to cut in line. Because A has already been done and, well, alphabetical order.

Watch Out, We're Mad is the kind of film that Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, and Hal Needham thought they were (and should have been) making. Hill and Spencer are two affable and intensely competitive racers that have tied for first place. Which means they have to share the grand prize, a red and yellow dune buggy.

Yeah, right. Their playful games to decide who will win the dune buggy are interrupted when the car is stolen and destroyed by a local crime boss. Irritated and determined to get a replacement red and yellow dune buggy, so they can continue their challenges to see who will win said buggy, the duo confront the crime boss...

What follows are well choreographed fight scenes and car chases. There is also a comedically hammy performance from Donald Pleasance that needs to be seen to be believed.

Underplaying it all is this quirky score from the pop duo of Guido & Maurizio De Angelis, who I know best for their score for Great White [aka The Last Shark, L'ultimo Squalo (1981)]. Be forewarned though, you will be hearing and humming their song "Dune Buggy" incessantly afterward, as it is both a pesky earworm and underplays just about each and every action sequence. Of which there are a sizable amount.
 

Men in Black II (2002) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 3, 2002

Sequels, like all creative endeavors, exist on a spectrum. One that has three distinct points on its gradient.

First, and considered best, are the sequels that continue or evolve the pre-existing story in new and unique ways. This is where you will find the likes of The Bride of Frankenstein, The Godfather Part II, and The Empire Strikes Back.

Second, and where today's subject rests, is the most common and recognizable type of sequel. Which is to just replicate the first film's structure or story beats, albeit with some cosmetic changes that will make it appear 'all-new' and therefore different, and dial up all the stuff people loved or remember from the first. Think Jaws 2 or Die Hard 2, etc.

Third, and last, would be the anthology or in-name-only sequels. These are your James Bond, Dirty Harry, and Blind Dead films, which feature a reoccurring character, or characters, but do not continue a fixed storyline. Also folded into this example are the plethora of direct-to-video sequels that would just slap a franchise name on an unrelated film and call it a sequel. The Howling and Witchcraft 'sequels' are good examples of this. Also, Hellraiser.

Now let me get out of these weeds and back to today's ad, which is for Men in Black 2. While the first film was something of a delightful unicorn, this sequel... was not. The first Men in Black ended with the now seasoned Agent Jay (Will Smith) with a new partner, protecting the planet from the scum of the universe.

While there were two tie-in novels that attempted to deliver on the promise of that ending, The Green Saliva Blues, published in 1999, and The Grazer Conspiracy, published in 2000, this sequel presses the dreaded reset button.

Jay's partner washed out and Kay's retirement was a bust. The 'all-new' cosmetic change here being that it is Jay who has to break in the amnesiac Kay. Also new, the alien threat disguising itself as an underwear clad female model. Yay, I guess?

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #80

Poltergeist (1982)

One of the more irritating paranormal-themed urban legends regards the usage of actual human skeletons (aka human remains) in Poltergeist. While that may add an additional layer of ghoulishness to both the film and the gruesome reason for why the haunting is occurring. The truth is that actual human skeletons were used with great frequency throughout countless productions.

That skeleton hanging in the background of the doctor's office? Most likely real. Real skeletons were cheaper to rent than fake ones. So... if you see a skeleton in any and every thing from 1930s up through the 1980s, chances are it is a real skeleton.

Also, ignoring the real world horrors of domestic violence and blaming an innocuous prop is in very poor taste, in my humble opinion.

Scary Movie (2000) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - July 2, 2000

I have yet to see any of the Scary Movie films, or any of the genre parody films their box success unleashed into theaters, so I have little to nothing to say about them.

However, I do have some interesting trivia that will be pointed out whenever the appropriate film title gets a posting. So... here goes.

In 1982 writer-director Robert Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer, Places in the Heart) made a film called Stab, which starred Roy Scheider and Meryl Streep. Prior to release, the title was changed to the less visceral sounding Still of the Night.

In 1996 directer Wes Craven helmed a film called Scream, which had the working title of Scary Movie. A movie within the movie, as it was a very meta commentary on slasher films, was a fictional film titled... Stab.

In the year 2000 the Wayan brothers used the title Scary Movie for an outright parody of horror films that combined raunch comedy with the ham-fisted self-awareness of the Airplane and Naked Gun franchises.

Oh, and Wes Craven directed Meryl Streep in the inspirational drama Music of the Heart.

Connected, they're all connected...

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #44

Behind the Scenes - Foam Rubber Casting

Only one Alien haunts the prisoners planet of Fiorina 161, but dozens of foam rubber castings were produced in order to construct the three rod puppets used in filming based on designs by creature effects designers Tom Woodruff, Jr., and Alec Gillis. 

Lone Women by Victor LaValle - Review

From the very start of Lone Women by Victor LaValle, it is made quite clear that whatever is locked inside Adelaide Henry’s steamer trunk is both alive and very dangerous. It tore her parents to pieces, after all. An act that forces Adelaide to burn the family home, with the remains of her parents inside, and flee with whatever she can carry and whatever is locked inside that steamer trunk.

Being a lifelong addict of any and every thing to do with monsters. I was predisposed to wondering and guessing that when the locked steamer trunk would be opened, either by accident or on purpose, what style of entity would be revealed. 

While it could be something akin to Fluffy, the insatiable carnivorous beast that was locked inside The Crate in the first Creepshow movie, and in the source material story of the same name. I had serious doubts that that would be the case. No, my biggest suspicion as to what was inside that steamer trunk was that it was not all that different something akin to Belial, the deformed twin brother of Duane Bradly in Frank Henenlotter’s cult classic Basket Case.

Adelaide’s journey to Montana is not all that easy, but it is also not all that dangerous, either. She is going east from a homestead in California, after all. But while the frontier has been settled, it is also far from being toiled and tamed.

The real dangers and life-threatening challenges Adelaide must face and do battle with as she attempts to settle and build an all new life, in a region where no one knows her, begin manifesting when she arrives in the Montana town of Big Sandy, the city closest to her claim.

This is another homestead claim, which means that Adelaide needs to live there for three years, during which she is required to make it habitable and cultivate crops. If she succeeds in doing so, she gets to keep the land. If she fails or gives up, the land reverts back to the government. Failure is not an option for her. Neither is discovery, or so she thinks when she first arrives in Big Sandy.

While this is Adelaide’s first experience living in an area with few people of color, there was a refreshing absence of overt (i.e. dramatically performative) racism in the narrative. Oh, there is racism. But it is more a humming undercurrent of white noise (pun kind of intended) than anything of the kind that would found if this tale were set in the Jim Crow south.

As long as Adelaide is 'good' (in that she meets with the community standards in an area starved for people to populate it) she will be accepted. But if those arbitrary community standards are altered, or challenged, in any way… Adelaide may no longer be considered one of the ‘good' ones. While this is never explicitly stated outright by any character, it is something that Adelaide knows and is aware of.

There is a lot more to the story than Adelaide and the contents of her steamer trunk. There is also a traveling family or ruthless, murderous criminals that Adelaide gets on the bad side of. A ghost town that may or may not have actual ghosts residing within it. Then there is Mrs. Reed, Big Sandy's wealthy matron, who is supportive of the suffrage movement and the bringing of industry for women to work to the town. But she is also the author and the enforcer of the community standards. She and her husband, Mr. Reed,  are where that humming undercurrent of menace vibrates loudest. Make them happy and, well, everybody is happy. As long as the community standards are met and abided by.

Lone Women is my kind of book. It is exciting, it is touching, it is suspenseful, and, best of all, it continually surprised and subverted my expectations. I give it a hearty recommendation to any all Weird Western fans.

Until next time, happy trails… 

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 1, 2003

While the much ballyhooed "all practical" car chase in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was both exciting and entertaining, I think christening the film itself "The MOST exciting movie of the year" was a tad much. Then again, 2003 was not a good year for me and my son. The only other films I can recall seeing on the big screen that year were Ang Lee's Hulk, Eli Roth's Cabin Fever, and an all-new live action version of Peter Pan released during the Christmas season.

This was the first Terminator film made without the creative input of James Cameron and, despite the admirable effort of director Jonathan Mostow to maintain the tone of and style of the first two films, it shows.

Rise of the Machines is to the first two Terminator films what Jaws 2 was to Jaws. A competent enough piece of entertainment that, nonetheless, fails to retain the creative energy that made the previous movies pop.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #79

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3 Dream Warriors (1987)

"Welcome to prime time, BITCH!"

Count Dracula [il Conte Dracula (1970)] - Soundtrack

Although the film Bruno Nicolai composed this excellent music for was first released in 1970. A soundtrack LP of Nicolai's score would not be released until 1982. Twelve years later, that same album recording would get reissued on compact disc, with an additional 10 previously unpublished tracks. This 2021 disc is a remaster and reissue of the latter and a welcome addition to my collection.

When I checked the IMDB I found that Christopher Lee was in a total of nine films that had 1970 as the registered year of release. Three of those films were Dracula movies. Two of them were Hammer Film productions. The first being Taste the Blood of Dracula, which was the last film, at that time, to have a narrative connection to the entry that preceded it. Seeing that it picked up right where Dracula Has Risen from the Grave had ended. The second Hammer offering was the far inferior, I think, Scars of Dracula.

Count Dracula, an offering from Spanish director Jesús [Jess] Franco, would be the third time Lee would play the legendary vampire on the big screen in the year 1970. The lure here seems to have been an intention stated by the filmmaker(s) to hew closer to the narrative of Bram Stoker's novel than any other film had, up to that point.

While I have seen, and enjoyed, Franco's more Universal Monster mash styled (and almost dialogue free) Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972), which also used this score. Count Dracula remains a vacancy in my viewing history. One that I hope to rectify, sooner rather than later.

Explorers (1985) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - June 30, 1985

I was not living in the States at the time of Explorers theatrical release, so I missed out on seeing it on the big screen. The version I did see was the home video release from Paramount, which had some modest alterations.

The tragedy of this movie's perceived failure, both commercially and critically, in 1985 most likely is rooted in its dire (and admitted by director Joe Dante) third act issues.

When Explorers went into production, it was slated for a Fall of 1985 release. At some point during production the film's release was moved forward to July, which shortened the film's post-production and might even have cut into some of its filming schedule. That latter point is an assumption of my part, at that time of writing this particular blog entry, that is. But I make it after having read how Dante has regularly voiced disappointment with the film's third act and stating that the moving forward of the release robbed them of the ability to work out the revelation and tighten the pacing. So it goes.

Still, it the film as is had more than enough charm and magic and love for schlocky science fiction movies that it is impossible not to enjoy it. And Jerry Goldsmith's score is, as always, a joy to hear. 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #43

Behind the scenes: Alien Head - Rubber Model

A final rubber model of the Alien's head is constructed only after a series of schematic drawings were created depicting the Alien from several angles. The original Alien design came from H. R. Giger and was reworked by Tom Woodruff, Jr., and Alec Gillis for Alien 3.

Tentacles [Tentacoli (1977)] - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - June 29, 1977

I have a memory of seeing the poster for Tentacles displayed at the Alameda Theatre and being unnerved and grossed out by the idea of being gripped and engulfed by slimy and sucker encrusted tentacles. The concept so unsettled me that I did not go and see the film.

Now there might be some out there that might hold the opinion that I dodged a bullet by making that decision. Because, when the film made its network television premiere and I finally watched it, I found the film to be a rather underwhelming and silly affair.

Ovidio Assonitis, credited here as Oliver Hellman, having made considerable bank with his Exorcist cash-in, known stateside as Beyond the Door, struggles to build and maintain any kind of tension whatsoever. While there a few nifty moments scattered throughout, they are just that. Moments. Not sequences, just an occasional well crafted edit or nicely angled shot during an attack sequence.

Though I would like to add Stelvio Cipriani's zesty score to my soundtrack collection at some point.

A check of the Theatre Guide revealed that, at the Lux, Tentacles was on triple-bill with The Little Cigars Mob, a film about gang of bank robbing circus midgets, and Savage Sisters, another Eddie Romero Philippines lensed exploitation flick. The Coliseum drive-in, that aforementioned Alameda Theatre, as well the Hayward 6, the Hilltop Mall, and the Nimitz drive-in all had Tentacles paired with a re-issue of The Food of the Gods. Not surprising, really. As both were American International releases and The Food of the Gods was the distributor's biggest moneymaker of the previous year.

The California Cinema, which is where I saw Boots Riley's debut Sorry to Bother You on the big screen, had Tentacles showing with Eddie Romero's Philippines lensed exploitation flick Twilight People.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #78

Day of the Dead (1985)

"You almost killed Rickles. Yeah. You almost fucking killed Rickles." 

Gigantis The Fire Monster [Godzilla Raids Again (1955)]/Teenagers from Outer Space (1959) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - June 26, 1959

The first Godzilla movie took two years to reach theaters and drive-ins in the United States, albeit in a cosmetically altered version. This quickie sequel, released the very next year in Japan, took twice as long getting to the states. Titled Godzilla Raids Again in Japan, the film was retitled Gigantis The Fire Monster because, well, the distributor did not have the rights clearance to use the moniker Godzilla.

While Gigantis The Fire Monster is no Godzilla King of the Monsters, it does introduce Anguirus. Although a quickly vanquished antagonistic nuance to the Godzilla here, Anguirus would, much Godzilla itself, be resurrected and evolve into Big G's forever BFF.

I have never seen Teenagers from Outer Space, not even on Mystery Science Theater 3000. All I know about it is that one of the alien threats is represented by the black silhouette of what is clearly a lobster. It was evidently a real lobster and quite dead and therefore quite odiferous.

There is also a moment, at the very beginning, where an "annoying" dog gets zapped by a raygun and collapses as a skeleton.

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #42

Behind the scenes - Planet surface

To create the surface of the planet Fiorina 161, the set was littered with derricks and cranes, on the back lot of Pinewood Studies, London. The planet's unusual horizon will eventually replace the plain blue background.

The Omen (1976) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - June 25, 1976

In these United States, where this blog is currently housed, The Omen celebrates its 50th birthday today.

I remember being equal parts fascinated and unnerved by one of the countless advertisements for The Omen. It was the one where the shadow Damien casts is that of doglike figure, which I had no way on knowing at the time was supposed to represent a jackal (and Damien's birth mother). The more used alternate, of course, was Damien casting a shadow of cross that, because of the perspective, was rather conspicuously upside down (which means EVIL).

My only other memories are of flipping through the novelization and getting frightened by the black and white photos in the center. The same also applies for the novelization of Damien Omen II (1978).

I think I first saw the film when it made its network television debut. Because, at time of The Omen's theatrical release, my brother and I were considered far too young to see R-rated fare on the big screen.

Because this was a major theatrical release, The Omen had no double-feature in its indoor venues. However, at the Coliseum drive-in, where double-bills were essential to the point of being required, The Omen was well paired with 1973's The Legend of Hell House.
 

And those double-bills being shown on the adjacent screens were also pretty cool. 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #77

Poltergeist (1982)

 

Land of the Dead (2005) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - June 24, 2005

That Eli Roth quote comparing the release of a new George A. Romero zombie film being something akin to the release of a new Star Wars film (in the year 2005, at least) was not all that far off the mark. Well, at least for me.

I took a vacation day just so I could see the very first matinee screening of Land of the Dead on its opening day, because I was really that excited about it. When the movie ended, I contemplated staying at the theatre and getting a ticket for the next showing. I kind of regret not doing so, but I had to get home and write a review for a now defunct webpage. So it goes.

Oh, and there was the whole needing to pick up my kid from school thing.

Reaction to the film was mixed, or course. I remember one message board comment describing the film as having a first and third act that were in dire need of a second. Something that might have to do with Simon Baker's character of Riley Denbo feeling a tad thin and underdeveloped when compared to the more colorful and more energetic characters that surround him.

The true standouts are John Leguizamo's Cholo, Asia Argento's Slack, Dennis Hooper's Kaufman, and Eugene Clark's Big Daddy. I also like the satirical flourish of having Big Daddy being surrounded by a zombie crew of this own.

While it may not have been the thunderous and energetic achievement I had hoped for, I still think it is makes for a solid entry. One that that showed Romero still had the vision and the creative ability to make something interesting and entertaining.
 

Alien 3 (1992) - Trading Card #41

Outtake - Scene not included in the movie

In the original scene from Alien 3, prisoner Murphy becomes the first victim when he finds the Alien in the Abattoir just after it has burst from the ox. In the released version of Alien 3, Murphy is still the first victim of the Alien. But the Alien does not come from an ox. It bursts from his dog, Sparky.

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) / The 27th Day (1957) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - June 23, 1957

20 Million Miles to Earth tells the tragic tale of a Venusian animal brought back to Earth where, alone, confused, and scared, it is tormented by equally confused and scared humans. Although somewhat hampered by its paltry budget, the stop motion animation by Ray Harryhausen is superb. The unnamed alien, known to fans as the Ymir, is so skillfully animated that it moves and reacts as if it were a living being and not a mere special effect.

This would be the first of three films that Nathan Juran would make with Harryhausen. The other two being the 1958 classic The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and 1964's First Men in the Moon.

The 27th Day is a movie I have the vaguest memory of seeing a portion of on television. It was a scene of a man being hit by a car. But that is all I remember of it.

The film was based on a 1956 novel written by John Mantley, who would go on to write a season two episode of The Outer Limits that was titled Behold Eck! Mantley also served as producer, perhaps show runner, for the television series Gunsmoke from 1965 - 1975, and is credited with writing 17 episodes and producing 240. He also produced and wrote the late 1970s series How The West Was Won. He also had some producing credits on the series The Wild, Wild West, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and MacGyver.

I was also surprised and delighted to learn that the film was directed by William Asher. A television workhorse, Asher credited as director on 102 episodes of I Love Lucy, a first season episode of The Twilight Zone titled Mr. Bevis, 131 episodes of Bewitched, and many, many more.

But I know Asher best for directing the queasy 1981 hagsploitation-themed slasher thriller Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, which I saw on the big screen as Night Warning.
 

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #76

Poltergeist (1982)

Those hands belong to Steven Spielberg, who had a grand old time working with DIRECTOR Tobe Hooper.
 

The People That Time Forgot (1977) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - June 22, 1977

When I went to see The People That Time Forgot, on the big screen, I had no idea that it was a direct sequel to The Land That Time Forgot. I just thought it looked like a fun and exciting fantasy adventure.

Since this ad is from the San Francisco Examiner, I am going to focus on the screening in that region and leave the East Bay for when the daily clipping comes from the Oakland Tribune.

All the markets looked to have paired the film with the a reissue of At the Earth's Core, which just so happened to have been made by most of the same creative team responsible for The People That Time Forgot. Save for the absence of Milton Subotsky, as he and credited producer Max J. Rosenberg had parted ways and their Amicus Production company was no more.