The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - February 5, 1988

After the creative misstep that was Deadly Friend (1986) Wes Craven returned to form with this atmospheric and effective horror film interpretation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Wade Davis. Although, yet again, the studio (this time Universal) insisted that Craven jazz up the scares with some nightmare sequences.

While not a huge hit at the box office, it did do modest to effective numbers, but nowhere near enough to give Craven the industry capital to make something outside of the horror genre. So it goes.

The Last House on the Left (1972) / Twitch of the Death Nerve [A Bay of Blood, Ecologia del Delitto (1971)] / Mark of the Devil [Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält (1970)] -Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - September 26, 1973

Oof. Here is a triple-feature that I am certain qualified as something of an endurance test for the more squeamish and unsuspecting drive-in viewer. 

Wes Craven notorious Last House on the Left is a rough and unpleasant experience by design. Craven and producer Sean Cunningham (Friday the 13th) wanted to make an exploitation movie capable of shocking and disturbing even the most jaded viewer. Goal achieved.

Twitch of the Death Nerve is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, proto-slasher movies. One that many were quick to point out the similarities it had with both Friday the 13th and Friday the 13th Part 2. Being a Mario Bava film, it is the classiest looking of the trio.

Mark of the Devil might serve as one of the early examples of the sub-genre that came to be known as torture porn. No idea, really. I have not seen it.

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.