Child's Play 2 (1990) - Soundtrack

Although I had gone and seen the first Child's Play movie on the big screen, it had not impressed me all that much. So when Child's Play 2 arrived between Halloween and Thanksgiving in 1990, I gave it a pass. On the big screen, at least. But when I snagged a look on home video, I was made to regret skipping that big screen viewing. Because screenwriter, and Chucky creator, Don Mancini and directer John Lafia had delivered a sequel that, unlike the first film, was both entertaining and surprising. Until Seed of Chucky popped out, I think Child's Play 2 might have been my favorite entry in the franchise.

Composer Graeme Revell, flush from his success scoring Philip Noyce's breakout hit Dead Calm, had emigrated from New Zealand to the United States, in the hope of launching a career as a film composer. It was Don Mancini that brought Revell to the attention of producer David Kirschner.

And it was Revell that suggested an orchestral score for the film. When asked if he had any experience composing for orchestra, Revell lied and told them, "Yes!"

"When the orchestra played [the Main Title] the first time," Revell says in the liner notes for this La-La Land release, "it was a total mess." Dismayed at how the composition sounded nothing at all like he had intended, Revell thought, "my career was over."

Walker conducted another read of the Main Title and, this time, it sounded perfect.

While I don't find this score to be as memorable as some others, it nonetheless does find a way to balance between the serious aspects of the film and its tongue-in-cheek self-awareness. Even if Revell himself had his doubts, back in the day.

"At times I felt like I was trying to be [Looney Tunes composer] Carl Stalling and failing," he says in the liner notes. Well, he did not fail. He nailed it.

The Horrible House on the Hill [Peopletoys (1974)] - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - December 4, 1974

The Horrible Hose on the Hill, also known as Peopletoys and best known as Devil Times Five, is a delightfully nasty entry in the killer kid sub-genre. It can also be considered a Christmas film. Look out for Sorrell Brooke, who would go on to play Boss Hogg on The Dukes of Hazzard, in a small role. Ditto Joan McCall, who would go on to play Christopher George's love interest in Grizzly (1976).

The movie was paired with something called The Night God Screamed (1971), which I have yet to see, but it sounds both unpleasant and intriguing enough to perk my interest.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #11

Aliens (1986)

[Former] Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) shouted these very same words, minus the and, just before the charging shark chomped down on the power line at the end of Jaws 2. Sure it was no, "Smile, you son of a bitch." But nothing could rival that.

If you have seen Aliens, and if you are visiting this blog I will assume you have, then you no doubt can hear what Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) had just snarled at the Queen xenomporph between the before and after images on this particular card.

Psycho (1998) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - December 3, 1998

While I do remember Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of Psycho being released, and giving it an emphatic pass, I thought it was a summer release.

Nope, it was lump of cinematic coal dumped into the holiday season for... reasons. While there are those that will defend this 'artistic exercise' as being a scathing statement on, or indictment of, remakes, I doubt I will ever become one of them. I have zero interest in ever watching this.

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #46

Raw Power

One constant in Purgatori's life of change? Her quest for power. Desiring godhood, she'll kill, corrupt, or sleep with anyone who can aid her in her lust for more power. 

The Cloisters Unicorn - A 1000 Piece Puzzle

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.