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papermoonloveslucy · 2 years ago

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LUCY & THE CRIMINALS

Lucy’s Encounters with the Criminal Underworld ~ Part 3

Lucycoms introduced crime stories to keep plotlines exciting and contemporary. Here’s a look at the thieves, burglars, robbers, murderers, prowlers, second-story men, mobsters, forgers, counterfeitters, and con artists in the Lucyverse!

“Lucy’s Impossible Mission” (1968) ~ In this parody of “Mission: Impossible” (a Desilu / Paramount production), Lucy Carter fights international espionage in the persons of Mulhill Omar (Tim Herbert) and Ambassador Korlik of the Slobtoni Embassy (Joseph Ruskin).

“Guess Who Owes Lucy $23.50?” (1968) ~ It’s Van Johnson! Or is it? Lucy loans the film star money to fix his car – but the man turns out to be a con-man posing as Johnson.

“Lucy and the Ex-Con” (1969) ~ The Unique Employment Agency sends Rocky (Wally Cox), a reformed safe cracker, on an assignment as a janitor. When the place is robbed, Rocky is the number one suspect. Disguised as old ladies, Lucy and Rocky go undercover to catch the real crook...

...Doc Morgan (Bruce Gordon). Morgan is nicknamed Doc because he uses a stethoscope when safe cracking. Bruce Gordon had played mobster Frank Nitti on Desilu’s “The Untouchables” (1959-63).

“Lucy and the Great Airport Chase” (1969) ~ Filmed on location at Los Angeles International Airport, Lucy and Harry elude dangerous spies Enemy Agent Yang (Larry Duran) and Enemy Agent Kurt (Sid Haig).

“A Date for Lucy” (1969) ~ Caesar Romero plays jewel thief Tony Rivera, Lucy’s date for a soiree at which he plans to steal the gems of a wealthy dowager. After Rivera is knocked out cold, Lady Warren (Barbara Morrison) discovers she’s been robbed. When Lucy tells her who it was, she can’t believe it.

“He’s so charming! He’s so handsome! He looks just like Cesar Romero!”

“Lucy Gets Her Man” (1969) ~ Harry’s old Army buddy is working in Counter-Intelligence and needs a stenographer to help get the goods on suspected spy Arthur Vermillion (Victor Buono). Naturally, Lucy gets the assignment. Isabel (Mary Wickes) calls Harry Jack the Ripper, comparing him to the famous London serial killer.

Lucille Ball and Victor Buono were both featured in “Like Hep!”, a Dinah Shore special that aired a few months after this episode. In it, Ball did a variety of sketches, including one set in a speakeasy with Buono as a mob boss. On television, Buono is probably best remembered for playing King Tut, one of the arch villains on “Batman” (1966-68).

“Lucy’s Burglar Alarm” (1969) ~ When Lucy and the kids are robbed and Harry refuses to fund a $500 burglar alarm, Craig comes up with an elaborate home alarm system. Guy Marks plays the well-dressed crook.

“Lucy and Viv Visit Tijuana” (1970) ~ On a sightseeing trip to Mexico, Harry is convinced by shopkeeper / smuggler Pedro (Don Diamond) to transport a stuffed animal over the border, claiming it is for his 3 year-old niece living in Los Angeles. Stopped at the border, they discover it actually contains contraband.

“Lucy and Wally Cox” (1970) ~ Lucy and Wally are assigned to be security guards at a warehouse, where they encounter armed robbers Lefty Logan (X Brands) and Baby Face Johnson (Gil Perkins).

“Lucy and Ma Parker” (1970) ~ When a woman and two children mysteriously move in next door, Lucy discovers that they're a band of criminals led by Ma Parker (Carole Cook). Her cohorts are little people dressed as archetypal children: Herman Golub (Billy Curtis) is dressed as Buster Brown, and Milton / Mildred (Jerry Maren) is dressed as Shirley Temple.

Lucy is recruited to impersonate Ma Parker and help nab dangerous Chicago mobsters Muggsy (Boyd ‘Red’ Morgan) and Joe Grapefruit (Marc Lawrence).

The title character is a parody of Kate 'Ma' Barker (inset), the mother of several criminals who ran the Barker gang in the 1930s. She traveled with her sons during their criminal careers.

“Lucy and Harry’s Italian Bombshell” (1971) ~ When Lucy and Kim sleep at the office, they encounter a burglar (Herbie Faye). Instead of robbing them, the he actually gives Kim and Lucy five dollars!

“Lucy and Mannix are Held Hostage” (1971) ~ Mannix (Mike Connors) and Lucy are taken hostage by Vernon (John Doucette) and Ruby (Marc Lawrence).

“Lucy and the Candid Camera” (1971) ~ Allen Funt, host of TV’s “Candid Camera”, plays himself and his con-man doppelganger.

As the con-man, he convinces the Carters to rob a fur salon, then a bank - all under the impression they are pranks for the TV show.

“Lucy and the Little Old Lady” (1971) ~ When Mrs. Brady, a kindly widow from out of town (Helen Hayes), comes to the Unique Employment Agency looking for a part-time job, Kim becomes suspicious that she may be running a con game so they plan to hold a fake séance to expose her. The character Hayes plays here capitalizes on her Oscar-winning role of Ada Quonsett in Airport (1970), a sweet little old lady who cons the airlines and stows away to get free air travel. On “Here’s Lucy” the plot relies on the premise that Mrs. Brady could be a con artist.

“Lucy and the Reckless Wheelchair Driver” (1972) ~ Hickey, a show business agent (Jesse White), tries to sue Lucy for hitting his client with her wheelchair. Lucy and Harry think the young man is faking and that the agent is a con artist.

“Dirty Gertie” (1972) ~ In this story based on A Pocketful of Miracles, Lucy is mistaken for an apple peddler who just happens to be the good luck charm of Rocky (Bruce Gordon), a mob boss. The police recruit Lucy to help capture the mobster in his own nightclub. Johnny Silver plays Benny, one of Rocky’s mob.

Other mobsters include ‘Moose’ Murdock (John Harmon) and ‘Numbers’ Smith (Ed Hall).

“My Fair Buzzi” (1972) ~ Kim’s shy and awkward friend Annie Whipple (Ruth Buzzi) comes out of her shell in order to audition for a 1920s revue in which Harry plays a mobster named ‘Big Jake’.

“Lucy Goes To Prison” (1973) ~ Lucy goes undercover as a convict to get information out of bank robber Mumsie Westcott (Elsa Lanchester).

“Lucy Plays Cops and Robbers” (1973) ~ Lucy forms a neighborhood watch group and starts seeing criminals where there are none. After several false alarms to the local police, a real burglar (Gino Conforti) actually shows up!

“Lucy the Sheriff” (1974) ~ Lucy finds out that her grandmother was the first woman sheriff of a Montana town that is celebrating its centennial. She is asked to play her grandmother at the celebrations, which include the recreation of a bank robbery. Lucy is enjoying playing lawmaker until Jake (Cliff Osmond) and Rusty (John Craig), a couple of genuine robbers, interrupt the celebration and take her hostage!

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sidhaigofficial · 2 years ago

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SidHaigactor Site's

Sid Haig was born Sidney Eddie Mosesian on Nov 29, 1994 in Fresno, California, a screaming ball of hair. His parents, Roxy (Mooradian) and Haig Mosesian, an electrician, were of Armenian descent. Sid's career was somewhat of an accident. He was growing so fast that he had absolutely no coordination. It was decided that he would take dancing lessons, and that's when it all began. At the age of seven, he was dancing for pay in a children's Christmas Show, then a revival of a vaudeville show… and on it went.

Hotline: 209-978-3781

Website: https://www.sidhaig.com/

City: Fresno

State: CA

Country: United States

Zip code: 93721

Address: Thousand Oaks, California, U.S.

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missysmadhouse · 5 years ago

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Clowns: Causing Laughter and Terror Through the Ages

Photo: Wikipedia

Traditionally viewed as a benevolent figure, the clown has instilled both joy and fear in audiences for ages.The appearance of the clown, with it's exaggerated features and bizarre, colorful costumes could be viewed as comical or horrifying, depending of course on the eye of the beholder. There's even a term for an extreme fear or phobia of clowns, coulrophobia.

The image of the “killer” or “creepy” clown has entered public consciousness, especially in the form of Pennywise from horror writer Stephen King's "It." Demonic child-killer Pennywise has gone on to frighten audiences in two film versions of King's novel, a 1990 made for TV movie and on the big screen in 2017.

Portrayals of Pennywise: Top: Tim Curry (1990) and Bill Skarsgard (2017). Photo: Wikipedia

A strange phenomenon began in the United States in South Carolina around mid-August 2016. Police were receiving reports and sightings of people dressed as clowns engaging in a variety of bizarre and even criminal behaviors: attempting to lure children with candy, chasing people with weapons or threatening students and faculty of various schools and universities throughout the country.

There were reports of encounters with "creepy clowns" in 20 different states, from mid-August 2016 to October 2016. Some of the reports are harmless and suspected to be hoaxes or pranks. One incident, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, was part of a publicity stunt to promote a horror movie.

The rash of bizarre sightings began with reports from an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina. Children reported that a group of clowns were hanging around the complex, trying to talk to them. The children described the clowns as carrying "flashing green laser lights" and said that the clowns lived in a dilapidated house in a secluded, wooded area by a small lake. When police investigated, they found an area matching the description but there was no evidence or a trace of any clowns living there.

Clown sighting in Wasco, California. Photo: The Denver Channel/turnto23.com

A South Carolina woman also reported that a clown had been standing in her backyard, but ran away when she tried to take a picture. Children also reported that a clown was trying to lure them into the woods with money and candy.

Attacks and sightings were reported across the United States, many of which were reported around schools and universities. Some teenagers were arrested for creating social media accounts as clowns threatening to harm students and faculty at schools and universities.

The attacks did not stop in America, but also began to be reported Canada, the United Kingdom and many other countries.

Art depicting clowns in Ancient Greece. Photo: Clown Bluey

Clowns are traditionally thought of as positive figures that are supposed to make us laugh. But throughout history, the clown was not always a benevolent figure.

Clowns appear in history dating back to as early as 2500 BCE., entertaining royalty from Ancient Egypt to Ancient Rome to Medieval Europe. Originally, clowns were seen as a reflection of society's more hedonistic side, of that part of humanity that over-indulges in food, drink, sex and "manic behavior."

Clowns were employed at circuses during the mid-19th century as comic relief from the death-defying stunts of trapeze artists and other performers.

Bozo, portrayed by many actors over the years, was a beloved character who entertained children. Photo: Chicago Reader

The figure of the clown still had a dark side.

French literary critic, Edmond de Garcourt, is quoted as saying, in 1876, that, "The clown's art is now rather terrifying and full of anxiety and apprehension, their suicidal feats, their monstrous gesticulations and frenzied mimicry - reminds one of a courtyard of a lunatic asylum."

Serial killer John Wayne Gacy entertained children at birthday parties as Pogo the Clown. Photo: Medium

Pagliacci (Clowns), an Italian opera written during the late 19th century, tells the story of a man who kills his domineering wife on stage during a performance.

Clowns gained a more benevolent reputation on American TV during the 1960's with the popular character "Bozo" and when the McDonald's fast food franchise introduced its non-iconic character Ronald McDonald in 1963.

The figure of the "Killer Clown," emerged after the arrest and conviction of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who worked entering children as “Pogo the Clown” at birthday parties. Gacy was convicted of killing 33 young men in Chicago, Illinois during the 1970's. He is quoted as telling investigators that "...clowns can get away with murder." Some of the paintings he did in prison were self portraits of him as Pogo.

From l. : Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker, The Clown Prince of Crime. Photo: Daily Movies

Sid Haig as homicidal clown Captain Spaulding. Photo: Wikipedia

Besides Pennywise, other clown-like images have appeared in horror movies. "Poltergeist" (1982) features a scene in which a clown doll drags a young boy under his bed. A clown-faced puppet appears in the "Saw" franchise. Batman's nemesis, the unrepentant anarchist, the Joker, has been portrayed in many films over the years. Rob Zombie's "House of 1,000 Corpses," "The Devil's Rejects," and "3 from Hell," feature homicidal clown Captain Spaulding.

From Ancient Egypt to modern film, whether frightening or benevolent, the image of the clown has survived throughout the ages and will last many more to come.

- Missy Dawn

Sources:

Smithsonian.com: "The History and Psychology of Clowns Being Scary," by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie

USA Today: "Serious or Just a Sick Joke? What We Know About Creepy Clown Reports," Ashley May, Sept. 28, 2016

#creepy clowns #clowns

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stella-monstrum · 4 years ago

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Rob Zombie; "Why it's time to step outside the confinements of his own box."

For close to four decades,

Rob Zombie has brought nonstop psychedelic grooves and a rockstar presence while gracing his own music and the silver screen with gut-churning, drug-tripping visuals. He not only commands quite the presence in films (whether his own successes or others’), but also makes appearances within many other horror soundtracks. There’s no denying that Zombie is a bloodied savant who has stayed incredibly consistent.

[ᴿᵒᵇ ᶻᵒᵐᵇᶦᵉ. ⁽ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ: ᴳᵒᵒᵍˡᵉ ᴵᵐᵃᵍᵉˢ⁾]

(Written by Stella, edited by Jacob J.)

(Side note; tumblr’s photo formatting is a pain)

Let’s take a dive into his music before getting into his film library. From 1985-1997, White Zombie released six albums (between studio and compilations). La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One didn’t break into the Billboard 200 chart until a year after its 1992 release. Shortly thereafter, it became the hot and groovy bong success of the band, going on to sell two million copies. Astro Creep 2000, their final and fourth studio release, was their first and only album to chart within the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 in 1995. Up to this day in 2020, “White Zombie” has been featured in 47 TV, film, and video game soundtracks, from Beavis & Butthead to Pen15 to Bride Of Chucky (which includes a personal favorite moment of mine), amongst many others.

After the disbandment and separation, Zombie continued on his solo journey. He has gone on to release six studio albums, with a seventh on the way in March 2021, titled The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. A multitude of hits—eight to be exact—sat within the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 records.

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Zombie’s extensive film career is a “Super Beast” on its own.

He has been very vocal about gaining inspiration from 1920s-1980s horror culture. In many interviews, he’s cited Stan Lee, Bella Lugosi, Alice Cooper, and Steven Speilberg as being responsible for molding the brain that we know today.

Some of his influences include:

George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

The Shining (1980)

Zombie’s upbringing in the carnival industry alongside his family is another key influence.

[[I’ll only be focusing on Zombie’s live-action films here.]]

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In 2000, Rob made his directorial and (very memorable) screen debut with House Of 1000 Corpses.

It took three years to be released because of quarrels with major production companies regarding the film’s majorly aggressive themes of torture, blood, violence, sex—not to mention his arrogance with MGM, fighting to get rights back from Universal. Eventually, Lionsgate bit the bullet, albeit with the major stipulation of having Rob edit it down much further so House could pass with a “tame” R rating.

[[House of 1000 Corpses: Rainn Wilson as taxidermy merman (Source: Tumblr—and if you’re brave, you can view the scene here.)]]

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In 2005 and 2019, the franchise’s next two installments—Devil’s Rejects and 3 From Hell—were released. The franchise is heavily influenced by the shocking, sickening, and unforgettable ’70s classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It follows a family of psychotic, sadistic, and bloodthirsty (if I’m being honest) necrophiliacs. They kidnap, kill, torture and brutalize anyone who gets in their way. At the end of Devil’s Rejects, they somehow manage to survive a police shootout, escape prison, and waltz on into Mexico (as seen in the franchise finale 3 from Hell).

Look, it’s all complicated.

Main Characters from the franchise:

Captain Spaulding—Sid Haig

Baby Firefly—Sheri Moon Zombie

Otis B. Driftwood—Bill Moseley

Momma Firefly—Karen Black (recast as Leslie Easterbrook after Karen’s passing)

(Other notable appearances throughout: Chris Hardwick, Rainn Wilson, Danny Trejo, Dee Wallace, Ken Foree, and Diamond Dallas Page.)

⁽“ʰᵒᵘˢᵉˢ ᵗʳⁱˡᵒᵍʸ”, ᵈᵛᵈ ˢᵉᵗ�� ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹔ ᵗᵃʳᵍᵉᵗ.ᶜᵒᵐ⁾

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The notorious/controversial Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978) remakes from 2007 and 2009.

(ᵃ ᵛⁱᵉʷ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ᵇᵒˣ ᵃʳᵗ ᶠᵒʳ ᵗʰᵉ ʰᵃˡˡᵒʷᵉᵉⁿ ʳᵉᵐᵃᵏᵉˢ ⁽ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹕ ᵃᵐᵃᶻᵒⁿ⁾)

Look, this is a remake that you either adore or hate with a burning passion. If you’re a horror fanatic, you know what’s up with the original.

I personally adore Zombie’s take. The fact alone that he gave us an entire background story as to why Michael became the psychotic slasher that we’ve come to know and love. Plus, with an increased suspense and gore factor? Worked incredibly well and did justice (in my opinion).

The film made me feel bad for Michael, with moments of child Myers in therapy, particularly his love for making masks to pass the time while he was locked up and the touching family moments between him and his mother Deborah (Sheri Moon).

ᵈᵉᵇᵒʳᵃʰ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵐⁱᶜʰᵃᵉˡ ᵐᵉʸᵉʳˢ ⁱⁿ ʲᵃⁱˡ ᵗʰᵉʳᵃᵖʸ. ⁽ˢᶜʳᵉᵉⁿᶜᵃᵖ, ʰᵃˡˡᵒʷᵉᵉⁿ. ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹕ ᵍᵒᵒᵍˡᵉ⁾

[Michael’s cell in the 2007 Halloween remake. (Source: Google)]

Add in the supporting cast of Michael McDowell (Loomis), Brad Douriff (Sheriff Leigh), Scout Taylor-Compton (Laurie Strode), etc., and I honestly think that it came together very well as a remake.

The films rated relatively low, but they did gross higher than the budgets that they originally had to film on. Again, I’m not going to give much attention to the higher-ups of critical perception—it all comes down to personal taste.

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“Lords of Salem” (2013)

[[Promotional art for Lords of Salem. (Souce: Google Images)]]

A film that’s centered within Salem, Massachusetts,

this film—you guessed it—tackles witches, occultism, possession, Satan, and all the usual topics. Heidi (Sherri Moon) is a radio DJ who gets sent a mysterious record that’s labeled as being from “The Lords.” From then on out, shit gets a little dicey and admittedly, very disjointed. You can’t fault the cast here, and I loved the visuals that they were going for. However, with set schedule conflicts and multiple rewrites, which led to essentially running out of time to film? As a whole, what looked great on paper just couldn’t be done justice.

My FAVORITE sequence within the film (SPOILERS):

youtube

I can forgive the disjointedness solely because of how mind-boggling and brilliant the film’s history and proper visuals were. Also, we got to see Dee Wallace, Judy Geeson, and Patricia Quinn as creepy and badass witches who moonlight as Heidi’s landlords. Also Meg Foster who leads their coven? Can we talk about what a femme-fueled power cast that is?!

[[Left to right: Patricia Quinn as Megan, Dee Wallace as Sonny, and Judy Geeson as Lacy Doyle. (Screencap, Lords of Salem. Source: Google) ]]

[[Meg Foster as coven leader Margaret Morgan. (Screencap, Lords of Salem. Source; google)]]

Like I said prior, the film gets a little wild. If you’re...well, buzzed prior to watching, it may make a little more sense.

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“31” (2016)

[[Film poster for 31 (Source: Google)]]

[Synopsis from IMDB; “Five carnival workers are kidnapped and held hostage in an abandoned, hellish compound where they are forced to participate in a violent game, the goal of which is to survive twelve hours against a gang of sadistic clowns.”]

Here, we clearly see that Zombie is invoking his childhood growing up within carnivals. In a 2013 interview with LA Weekly, Zombie divulged more about it:

“When we were kids, my parents would [work at the carnivals], and me and my brother would get dragged along to these things all the time and have to work.”

He went further on to say;

“Yeah, and it's not the nicest world. As a kid, you get exposed to the crazier underworld of the carnival. Me and my brother, when we were very little, we'd be inside the haunted house playing all day. So, already, what people are paying money to be scared [of], we're just playing in because it's fun. We saw the inner workings behind the machines.”

youtube

(”31″ trailer, source; Youtube)

Once again in this film, Zombie brings a powerhouse cast:

Jeff Daniel Phillips as Roscoe Pepper

Meg Foster as Venus Virgo

Malcom McDowell as Father Murder

Judy Geeson as Sister Dragon

Richard Brake as Doom Head

You can view the entire cast at IMDB here.

Set in 1976, Zombie stays true to his nods. Again, depending on taste, this is a huge hit or a wild miss with mindless homicidal violence, campiness, and climbs across the monkey bar of standards that we’re used to seeing from him.

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So at this point, you’re probably wondering why I think that it’s time for Rob Zombie to step out of the confinements of his own box...

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It’s no secret that Zombie sticks to only a small group of tropes:

Slashers, families or groups of homicidals that lack remorse, the occult, etc. There’s no shame in sticking to what you know. Hell, Zombie has seemingly cracked the code over the past two decades that he’s been in the film industry that so many directors still don’t seem to get.

IMO, despite whatever you personally feel about the films mentioned above- I feel like we’re living a freaky groundhog day repeat within Zombie’s filmography.

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Now, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Look, I’m not saying that Zombie has to change anything. However, I would love to see him tackle some other nuances that we’ve already seen from him in small doses.

- Children: We haven’t seen Zombie exactly take on what horror films depict kids as. Sure, he made a breakout and impeccable choice with young Michael Myers (Daeg Faerch) back in 2007. I personally would adore to see a reimagined (NOT remade) Children of the Corn on acid, one we all know Zombie can tackle and turn every existing view on its head.

- Witchcraft, The Occult, Satan, Voodoo: Zombie genuinely had a phenomenal concept (on paper) for 2012’s Lords of Salem. It was unfortunate that they ran out of resources and ran into unfortunate circumstances on set while filming.

The film wasn’t a total tank, though, given how inspiring and insane all the visuals were throughout the 1 hr, 41min film. I am absolutely positive that, given a full-force opportunity, Rob could rectify the mess that was out of his control. We completely saw that he provided visuals that left quite the impression, and he could take those taboo subjects by the goat horns.

- Animals (not the human form): It’s no secret that Rob and his wife Sherri are ethical vegetarians. It would be so tongue and cheek to see them take on such topics as animals getting their revenge, or even vegetarians torturing carnivores. This twist on the formula would make for an interesting viewing.

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2.) In regard to time periods,

Zombie stays within—and pays homage to—the 1970s and 1980s quite a bit. Obviously, those are the eras that Zombie personally loves the most when it comes to filmmaking. However, it would be very interesting to see him take on current day settings.

Zombie has such a unique viewpoint. Given changing climates in politics, human decline/growth, the economy, etc., he would do work that could easily put Ryan Murphy to shame.

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3.) He could also do with some different casting every now and then.

Let me preface this by saying that I adore every repeat casting choice that Zombie has made for his films.

Of course chemistry is a huge thing, and sticking to his friends is a very smart choice. However, he also has the potential to make new stars, boosting the power of those that may be under the radar. He can support those new stars with cameos from classic actors that we haven’t seen in awhile. I can’t begin to even fictionally cast those who fit the bill, but I do believe that with the “Zombie Touch,” he can bring so much more fresh air to the usual casting.

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There’s no doubting what Rob Zombie is clearly very good at. Despite mixed reviews from the horror world and critics, it’s time that his fans open their eyes to new possibilities. Of course, there are die-hards, but digging your feet in further doesn’t allow the growth of horror and its ever evolving themes.

[[ʳᵒᵇ ᶻᵒᵐᵇⁱᵉ, ˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ﹔ ᵍᵒᵒᵍˡᵉ ⁱᵐᵃᵍᵉˢ]]

This theory has been on my mind for a very long time—since 3 from Hell came out. I’m sure, in his usual fashion, we won’t be seeing any new films from Rob anytime soon (what with his new album set to release in March 2021, not to mention the toll that the pandemic has had on Hollywood.)

Still, it never hurts to challenge the set standards and ways.

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ibtravart · 5 years ago

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I wanted to do a tribute piece for the late, great Sid Haig and there’s a story behind it:

I remember seeing House of 1000 Corpses by myself one Sunday night before another hellish work week. I left the theater skeezed out by all the craziness I saw but Captain Spaulding had me fanned out already. Sid created a legendary character in the good ol’ Captain.

When the movie hit DVD, I wasn’t quick to rush out and get it but rather caught sight of it as my brother had rented it. The DVD menus had all the actors playing their characters and Sid was in full SPAULDING mode in the main menu. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched and rewatched his spiel from that DVD. It was genius and HILARIOUS!

One of the extras on the DVD was Sid being interview in full Spaulding makeup and the final question asked of him was “Is there anything you would like to add?” At this point, he could have said famous lines like “Shit the bed” or “Most of all FUCK YOU!” in full character. But he didn’t. It was a sincere moment he shared with the interviewer and us fans and it was his delivery of his answer and the answer itself that always stuck with me. At the time I saw it, I really needed to hear those words and when I rewatched it after his passing, his words rang louder than before.

I did some art of Sid with that very quote from that DVD extra of House of 1000 Corpses. The quote that made me a true fan of his, one that had me drive over 4 hours to get his autograph, that had me in the theater for every Spaulding film.

It’s not often you hear your movie monsters wax poetic or show their softer side. To look at Sid in that getup would send small children screaming. It’s what was beneath all that makeup that really connected with THIS fan and for that, I thank you Sid.

Rest In Peace

#sid haig #captain spaulding #house of 1000 corpses #rip #ibtrav

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imran16829 · 5 years ago

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Sid Haig Biography, Wiki, Net Worth, Age, Family, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook

Sid Haig Biography, Wiki

Мауbе уоu knоw аbоut Sidney Eddie Mosesian vеrу wеll Вut dо уоu knоw hоw оld аnd tаll іѕ hе, аnd whаt іѕ hіѕ nеt wоrth іn 2020? Іf уоu dо nоt knоw, Wе hаvе рrераrеd thіѕ аrtісlе аbоut dеtаіlѕ оf Sid Haig’ѕ Social media activities, ѕhоrt bіоgrарhу-wіkі, саrееr, рrоfеѕѕіоnаl lіfе, реrѕоnаl lіfе, tоdау’ѕ nеt wоrth, аgе, hеіght, wеіght, аnd mоrе fасtѕ. Wеll, іf уоu’rе rеаdу,…

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#Sid Haig Age #Sid Haig Bio #Sid Haig Biography #Sid Haig Children #Sid Haig Facebook #Sid Haig Husband #Sid Haig Instagram #Sid Haig Known Fast Facts #Sid Haig Net worth #Sid Haig Twitter #Sid Haig wife #Sid Haig Wiki #Sid Haig Wikipedia

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itsbiography · 5 years ago

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Sid Haig Bio, Wiki, Age, Death Cause, Wife, Net Worth

Sid Haig Bio

Sid Haig was the legendary horror American actor. Haig is best known to horror fans for his roles in “3 From Hell” and “The Devil’s Rejects.”

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There will be fuckin' ice cream in your fuckin' future! Announcement coming Monday or Tuesday. Time to head out to the airport for @daysofthedeadhorrorcon.

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halloweendailynews · 5 years ago

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The 6th Annual Scares That Care Charity Weekend returned to Williamsburg, Virginia this past weekend, Aug. 2-4, with the most heartfelt convention we’ve ever attended, as genre icons, talented vendors, and thousands of fans and cosplayers gathered, all to benefit a truly great cause.

Scares That Care is an all volunteer charity, where net proceeds from all organization events are provided to the recipients selected. Founded in 2006, “Scares That Care!” to date has raised and donated over $250,000 to organizations that treat sick children and families with a child affected by illness, burns, or women fighting breast cancer.

Celebrity guests at the 2019 Scares That Care Weekend included Sid Haig (House of 1,000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects, 3 From Hell, Halloween 2007), Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th VII-X, Hatchet), Sarah Butler (I Spit on Your Grave), composer Henry Manfredini (Friday the 13th), and Lia Beldam (The Shining), Jibrail Nantambu (Halloween 2018), Joe Bob Briggs (The Last Drive In) and his Last Drive In co-host Darcy the Mail Girl (aka Diana Prince), cast members of The Monster Squad and The Thing, and many more.

Halloween Daily News was honored to be a part of this great event for the first time this year, and we have a ton of coverage coming soon, included photos, videos, and exclusive interviews.

We just added our first batch of photos from Friday in the gallery below, but be sure to check back, as many more photos and videos from the entire weekend will be added to this post throughout the week!

(Click an image to enlarge and view in gallery browser.)

#gallery-0-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

For more Halloween news, follow @HalloweenDaily.

Scares That Care Charity Weekend 2019 Highlights [Video / Photo Gallery] The 6th Annual Scares That Care Charity Weekend returned to Williamsburg, Virginia this past weekend, Aug. 2-4, with the most heartfelt convention we've ever attended, as genre icons, talented vendors, and thousands of fans and cosplayers gathered, all to benefit a truly great cause.

#Scares That Care

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brokehorrorfan · 6 years ago

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Blu-ray Review: To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story

Although largely unknown to mainstream audiences, Kane Hodder is instantly recognizable to horror buffs as the only person to play Jason Voorhees more than once; donning the hockey mask in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, and Jason X. He also performed the motion capture for Jason in the recent Friday the 13th: The Game.

Hodder has over 100 acting credits on his resume, the majority of which are in the horror genre. Along with Friday the 13th, he has played ruthless killers in the Hatchet franchise, Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield, B.T.K., and Death House, among others, helping him to earn the unique distinction of killing more people on screen than anyone in the history of cinema. He's also an accomplished stunt performer and coordinator.

In between his numerous acting and stunt gigs, Hodder is a regular on the convention circuit, where a seemingly never-ending line of fans gleefully wait to be choked for a photo op. His commitment to the genre is well-established and his stature as a horror icon is indisputable, but the new documentary about his life, To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story, shows that there is much more to the man behind the mask.

Interview subjects include actors Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Cassandra Peterson (Elvira), Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead), Sid Haig (The Devil’s Rejects), Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects), Danielle Harris (Halloween), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Zach Galligan (Gremlins), Ted White (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter), and Jack Coleman (Heroes); filmmakers Adam Green (Hatchet), Sean S. Cunningham (Friday the 13th), John Carl Buechler (Friday the 13th Part VII), and Harrison Smith (Death House); and Hodder's wife, children, friends, and fans.

Hodder is candid about both the positive and negative events in is life. Most notably, he goes in-depth about the burn injury he sustained during a stunt gone wrong that nearly claimed his career - and his life - before it really began. For the first time on camera, he tells the harrowing story of the incident and the difficult road to recovery - during which doctors were unsure if he would live - that followed.

The stunt performer-turned-actor gets unexpectedly, yet entirely understandably, emotional when recounting his journey; it’s virtually impossible for the viewer not to get choked up as well. As part of the film, Hodder returns to the burn unit where he was cared for and, for the first time in 39 years, speaks with the doctor who saved his life. He also opens up about being bullied as a child and his battles with depression, both when he was younger and in the aftermath of the burn.

Although his seminal work in the Friday the 13th franchise is touched upon, it is not a focal point. Hodder's stories about this movies can already be found in the comprehensive Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th documentary, so To Hell and Back largely pares it down to focus on his earning and playing covered role of Jason for the first time in Friday the 13th Part VII and the disappointment of being recast for Freddy vs Jason. Hodder also discusses other landmarks in his life, including pinpointing the moments he fell in love with cinema and with stunts.

To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story is available as a limited edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack via Dread Central Presents. Slasher enthusiasts who want to hear more insight about the actor's iconic roles in the Friday the 13th and Hatchet franchises will be pleased to find over 90 minutes of deleted/extended segments, much of which focuses on Hodder's films. Trailers round out the extras.

Offering far more insight than a mere fan-produced retrospective documentary, To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story showcases a unique and ultimately uplifting human tale. Horror fans whose interest is piqued by the subject matter will be rewarded by seeing the genre icon share his story of finding success, but anyone can empathize with Hodder’s struggle to overcome adversity.

To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story is available now on Blu-ray/DVD via Dread Central Presents.

#kane hodder #robert englund #cassandra peterson #bruce campbell #friday the 13th #jason voorhees #friday the 13th part vii #friday the 13th part viii #jason x #victor crowley #to hell and back #dvd #gift #review #article

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weekendwarriorblog · 4 years ago

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The Weekend Warrior Reopen Movie Theaters Edition 8/21/20: UNHINGED, PENINSULA, THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLS, TESLA and More!

Well, this is the weekend when movie theaters are supposed to reopen, whether it’s some of the big chains like Regal or AMC, even though, Canada is well ahead of us, having opened about 300 theaters last weekend. A few of the movies in this week’s column will supposedly only be released only in theaters, while a few of them have already given up on theatrical to go the streaming route. I really don’t know what to tell you if you live in New York and L.A. except that pre-COVID, you used to get all the movies first, so I guess we better get used to things flipping thanks to the pandemic. Either way, there’s an INSANE number of new movies this week, and I’m going to do my best to cover all of them… or at least the ones that I know exist.

And then on top of all THAT, the annual Fantasia Festival in Montreal is starting this week in a virtual edition filled with literally hundreds of genre films, and lots of great films from Asia in particular, and man, I wish I had time to watch more of the movies they’re offering. I’ve only been up to Fantasia in person a few times, and both times were great experiences. Much of that has to do with the audience, which is mostly made up of college-age and older genre fans who enthusiastically lap up every minute of genre awesome that Fantasia delivers. Sadly, it’s very much the type of festival that benefits from being together in person, especially at the end of the night when filmmakers and fans alike converge on one of the local drinking holes.

One of the movies I did have a chance to watch was Justin McConnell’s Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business, an intriguing doc that follows the director of Lifechanger on his five-year journey to get that movie made. It involves a lot of schmoozing and networking at festivals like Fantasia (in their Frontiéres market, which I’ve never attended) and Cannes, basically struggling to sell his ideas to financers and trying to focus on other ventures (like short films) in the meantime. It’s a sobering film for anyone wanting to become a filmmaker, because McConnell doesn’t leave any moment of utter heartbreak on the cutting room floor on his journey to make a movie that I have literally never heard of! So yeah, I guess calling your movie “Lifechanger” could end up being more ironic than you set out to, but what McConnell has in this movie is some great advice and anecdotes from some of the greatest horror filmmakers, including Guillermo del Toro, Richard Stanley, Larry Fessenden, Sid Haig, Mick Garris. I mean, if they’ve been involved in any aspect of indie horror over the past five years, they’re in this movie, and often, it’s more worthwhile listening to them than following McConnell’s own journey.

I hope to have more to say about Fantasia over the next few weeks as it runs through September 2, but I gotta get to the crazy number of movies opening this week, and again, a few of them are in theaters.

Speaking of movie theaters, Russell Crowe stars in the action-thriller UNHINGED (Solstice Studios), which will presumably ONLY be seen in movie theaters this weekend, reportedly 2,000 theaters that will not include either New York or California, the two biggest movie markets in the country. Sigh. Let’s just get on with this…

Directed by Derrick Borte (The Joneses), Crowe plays a violent and angry white man – can’t wait for THOSE think pieces, he said sarcastically – who is literally honked at by Caren Pistorious’ soon-to-be-divorced mother who is late bringing her son Kyle (Gabriel Bateman) to school. He does what every sane person would do… he proceeds to terrorize her, kill her loved ones and do everything he can to teach her a lesson. America, what a wonderful place, huh?

Those going to see this movie to literally watch Crowe come unhinged won't have to wait too long, as we meet his character as he’s attacking a family and burns down their house, before we’re subjected to an opening credit montage of the type of anger and violence that’s permeated this country over the past few years. We then meet Pistorius’ Rachel as she tries to cope while facing a divorce and trying to get her son to school when she has what would normally be a fairly innocuous encounter with Crowe’s character that drives what is clearly an already insane man over the endge.

There’s something about Unhinged that reminds me of the Michael Douglas movie Falling Down, but that’s only if you consider Crowe the protagonist of the movie, which I certainly don’t. That would be Pistorius’ character, who finds herself being tormented as this man starts following her around and making an already bad day even worse, just to make her feel as miserable as he does. Yeah, it’s not a great movie for current times, but you at least have to give it credit for having a title that gives you exactly what you’re paying to see.

Borte does a pretty decent job creating tension, although parts of it end up being unintentionally funny due to how over-the-top and absurd the whole thing is. At least it all builds up to an amazing final car chase, driven by David Buckley’s score, and that more or less makes up for how ridiculous the movie’s high concept premise gets earlier. While Unhinged has its moments of silliness, I honestly haven’t gotten as excited watching a movie over the past few months as I did watching it – your road rage may vary.

After opening in roughly 300 Canadian theaters last weekend, it will expand into North America in an estimated 2,000 theatres. Under most normal circumstances i.e. before March, I might try to predict how well it might do at the box office, I feel that the times have made it tougher or nearly impossible. (I’ll say it makes $2 to 3 million, just for a laugh.)

The movie I was MOST looking forward to seeing this week was Yeon Sang-Ho’s TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS: PENINSULA (Well Go USA/Shudder), which as you may guess from the title is the sequel to his 2016 zombie flick, Train to Busan. This one takes place four years later as a group of Koreans that have evacuated to Hong Kong before the country was shut off from the rest of the world are sent back to retrieve a truck full of American money that could make them rich beyond belief. Not only do they have to contend with zombies but ruthless military gangs that make their mission more difficult.

Listen, Train to Busan was so good as its own standalone movie, we really didn’t need a sequel to see what was going on with that world, but Director Yeon clearly had some idea what that world might look like years later, and it’s a pretty scary place. Paying tribute equally to movies like The Road Warrior and Escape from New York, he decided to introduce some new characters and follow their journey. We meet Kim Do-won’s Cheol-min as he’s taking his wife and son to a ship that’s going to take survivors from the first zombie wave to Japan. Things don’t go as planned and Cheol-min is one of the few survivors thanks to his military brother-in-law Jung-seok (Dong-Won Gang), but the two end up stranded in Hong Kong as the borders of Korea are closed. Four years later, they’re given the incentive to go back to Korea to retrieve the money, and of course, things don’t go as planned. After being attacked first by zombies and then the gang-like military group Unit 631, led by Min-jae Kim’s Sgt. Kwang and Gyo-han Kwoo’s Captain Seo, Jung-seok is saved by two young girls (Re Lee, Ye-Won Lee) and their mother, played by Jung-hyun Lee.

That’s the basic set-up for a film that doesn’t quite measure up to Train to Busan, not because director Yeon wasn’t trying. He clearly didn’t want to necessarily copy exactly what he did in the first movie, but also, he wasn’t able to completely replicate that film’s magic either. A lot of that may be since the characters aren’t nearly as interesting; they’re tougher and far more able to fight off the zombie swarms, which lowers the stakes considerably. Setting the movie further into an apocalypse just means it’s going to tread familiar territory, particularly from things like The Walking Dead.

Despite what I said above about the characters, I generally liked the cast, especially the spunky young girls who took on zombies and militia men alike, but I’ll admit I got more than a little confused about the two main guys, the brothers-in-law. They look so different in the opening sequence, I couldn’t figure out which was which when introduced for the body of the movie. Since this movie mostly takes place at night, it’s also harder to see the brilliant work done by the FX people and zombie actors, which is still pretty amazing to watch.

Peninsula makes for a pretty decent throwback action flick, and you can’t completely fault it for not having as many emotional beats throughout, because the ending is so overflowing with feels, it’s obvious Director Yeon has succeeded again.

Disney+ is premiering the family film THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN on its Disney+ streaming service this Friday. Directed by Thea Sharrock (Me Before You), it stars Bryan Cranston as Mack, the ringmaster of a strip mall circus whose star attraction is the gorilla, “The One and Only Ivan!” (as voiced by Sam Rockwell). The circus isn’t doing as well as it used to, so Mack has bought a baby elephant named Ruby (voiced by Brooklyn Prince) as a draw for the show’s other elephant Stella (voiced by Angela Jolie). Ivan isn’t too thrilled with the show’s new attraction, but he has other things on his mind, including a pesky dog named Bob (voiced by Danny DeVito) and others voiced by Hellen Mirren, Phillipa Soo… and yes, you’re reading this right… Chaka Khan!

It’s based on the children’s book by Katherine Applegate, adapted by the always great Mike White, and while at first glance, it might seem like a dangerous meld of Tim Burton’s Dumbo with the early 2020 dog Dolittle, there’s a lot more at work here. Sure, there’s a lot of the typical Disney kiddie-related humor – fart jokes and other visual gags – but it’s really about these CG animals and their feelings about their situation, and the elements used to create them and make them feel are superb. Cranston also does a good job maintaining his composure while getting involved in some of the film’s silliness.

Of course, you could just “aww” over the adorable elephant Ruby (basically a miniature version of the Jolie-voiced Stella) or laugh at the antics of the other animals. My favorite was definitely the De Vito-voiced dog, Bob, who offers some of the best jabs and gags, which helps keep the tone from ever getting too heavy without losing the dramatic weight. The movie even takes a cue from Madagascar for one sequence, but either way, it will keep you and your kids entertained.

The entire movie is very emotional, especially the last twenty minutes that might make it hard from having a good old ugly cry. This is a truly wonderful family film and one of the weekend’s nicer surprises. (Note: I also did a more technical review of the movie about things like cinematography and visual FX over at Below the Line.)

This week’s “Featured Flick” is WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLS (LD Entertainment/Roadside Attractions), based on the novel by Julia Walton, which stars Charlie Plummer (Lean on Pete) as Adam Petrozelli, a high school senior who discovers he suffers from schizophrenia that is far worse than just the voices he hears. It gets him expelled, but knowing he wants to go to culinary school, Adam’s mother (Molly Parker) enrolls him at St. Agatha’s Catholic school, where he tries to keep his condition a secret while being tutored by a brainy and quite attractive classmate, played by Taylor Russell (Waves).

If you read last week’s column, you’ll already know my reticence towards young adult fare. Even with that in mind, I do enjoy coming-of-age tales, especially those set in or around high school, and then if you throw in a bit of religion, some foodie culture and a little tinge of humor, even while dealing with a serious subject, you’ll probably have me on board. That’s definitely true about this movie, adapted by Thor Freudenthal, who makes a smooth transition from kiddie fare to older kiddie fare with a really unique look at one young teen’s journey through an important moment in his life while dealing with a condition that some are never able to overcome.

Having not read the original book or anything about the movie before seeing it, I was a little surprised when things go haywire in Adam’s science class, since I thought maybe he was a mutant. We then meet three characters who will follow him around (at least in his head) for much of the movie, played by Anna Sophia Robb, Devon Bostick and Lobo Sebastian, each representing a part of Adam’s psyche: kind of like the devil and angel telling you what to do in any given situation. It’s quite witty and a clever way to bring some humor into many scenes, particularly Sebastian’s role as “The Bodyguard,” carrying a baseball bat, ready to attack anything that keeps Adam from achieving his goal of being a chef. I loved how the three characters interplayed as a Greek chorus with what was happening.

Adam eventually meets Russell’s Maya, the perky, snarky and super smart St. Agatha’s Valedictorian, who he convinces to tutor him in math, while also trying to hide his biggest secret from her. As Adam starts taking a new medication, the voices and his companions start disappearing, but he also learns there are negative side effects. There was a lot to enjoy about this movie, but it was particularly interesting how Freudenthal uses sound and CG FX to recreate what’s going through Adam’s mind when he’s off his meds.

The film coasts gracefully on the general likability of both Plummer and Russell during the highs and lows of their relationship, but I also enjoyed the adults cast around them, including Molly Parker as his mother, Walton Goggins as her overly-cloying live-in boyfriend, and Andy Garcia as a compassionate padre, who all have great scenes with Plummer, bringing many more layers to the characters and story than we normally might get.

Words on Bathroom Walls is an absolutely wonderful movie – for me, it’s this year’s Book Smart -- and a very pleasant surprise at a time when I’m super-cynical about movies that I’m forced to watch on my laptop. Besides being a really original coming-of-age film, it also finds a way to deal with schizophrenia in a head-on way that hopefully gets others to understand a mental illness that makes it hard to live a normal life.

Michael Almereyda writes, directs and produces TESLA (IFC Films), which as you may guess is not a biopic about Elon Musk, but is actually a very different biopic about inventor Nikola Tesla, as played by Almereyda regular, Ethan Hawke. The film follows Tesla through his early relations with Thomas Edison (Kyle MacLachlan), George Westinghouse (Jim Gaffigan) but more importantly the women, including Anne Morgan (Eve Hewson), who narrates the semi-fictionalized account of Tesla’s life.

If you saw last year’s The Current War, you may be wondering why we need another movie about Nikola Tesla that covers some of the very same ground. I’ll get to that in a moment. Using IMDB, I can probably figure out how many movies Almereyda and Hawke have made together, but I’d have a harder time figuring out if Almereyda has made a single movie I’ve liked, and believe me, I’ve tried. That’s partially what makes Tesla such an interesting endeavor, since it might be Almereyday’s most daring and accomplished work to date.

You have to assume The Current War was already made and out there by the time Almereyda even started making this since that played at Toronto many years ago. Apparently, Almereyda had his own vision and decided to make it, undaunted, because this is certainly a rather unique take. It’s narrated by JP Morgan’s youngest daughter Anne, played by Hewson, but she does so in a way that’s almost out of time, even mentioning Google. For the most part, Almereyda and his cast stick with the period, but there are definitely a few moments like that where it veers into an almost surreal fictionalized version of events.

What really makes Tesla standout is the subdued performance by Hawke where he never goes overboard with Tesla’s Eastern-European accent (unlike Tesla’s associate Szigeti who often sounds like Borat). More importantly, Almereyda decides to tell Tesla’s story through his tentative relationship with women. You see, he never got married, and yet, he meets all these beautiful women along the way who have an impact on his life and career, mostly Anne who provides him with her father’s money but also the intriguing actress Sarah Bernhardt (played by Rebecca Dayan) and others. There are still some of the other players like Edison (played by Kyle MacLachlan) and though I like the interesting turn in Jim Gaffigan’s career into dramatic roles, I did prefer Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse in The Current War.

Regardless, Tesla is just such a gorgeous film that delivers a biopic unlike others using a very distinctive tone, maybe even with a nod or two to David Lynch, and that’s what helps set it apart from Almereyda’s previous work.

Wu-tang Clan founder The RZA directs his third movie, CUT THROAT CITY (Well GO USA), a crime-drama set in post-Katrina New Orleans, starring Shameik Moore (Dope) as James aka Blink, a cartoonist from the Lower 9th Ward, who, along with three of his drugdealer buddies (Denzel Whitaker, Demetrius Shipp Jr, Keean Johnson), are coerced by T.I.’s vicious druglord, “Cousin” Bass, into robbing a casino that puts them in the crosshairs of the local police and others.

There’s something on paper about this movie, written by P.G. Cuschieri, that seems a little been-there done-that, although the cast The RZA has put together – including Ethan Hawke, Rob Hunter, Wesley Snipes, Isaiah Washington and Terrence Howard – some in smaller roles – is just so impressive you just can’t ignore it. RZA is also working with a decent script, one with a few tonal and pacing issues, but also one tht maintains a youthful energy that feels authentic to the time and place.

It takes a little time to get to the actual heist, which paves the way for everything else that happens, including a few deaths. It’s after that where we meet Detective Lucida Valencia (played by Eiza González), who is trying to solve the case of the casino robbery, as more parties get involved, including a City Councilman played by Hawke and some of their fathers. Rob Hunter is fantastic as Blink’s father, who delivers some mighty fine scenes, but others, like Snipes and Howard, have fairly small roles. At first, Hawke’s role seems like a mere cameo, but when he returns almost an hour into the movie, he delivers quite an impassioned monologue that proves his worth in any sized role. It’s a sign of a good director to cast such great actors them step aside an let them do their thing.

Cut Throat City is definitely one of those movies that gets better as it goes along, although it’s by no means an “action movie” in terms of how it deals with the situation in New Orleans that turns so many young men like James/Blink to crime to earn a living. It sometimes gets bogged down in its dialogue and drama and things might not come together as well as hoped, but right now, as a director, the RZA might end up being the unlikely successor to the Singleton legacy.

Jay Baruchel adapts the comic book RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE (Shudder) by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. It follows Todd Walkley, a graphic novel writer played by Jesse Williams, who goes on a road trip with his wife Kathy (Jordana Brewster), for them to follow the trail and study the murders of the serial killer that inspired Todd’s hit comic book character “Slasherman.” Along for the journey is Todd’s best friend Ezra (Baruchel) and art assistant Aurora (Niamh Wilson).

Although I had read the original comic book on which this is based, it was a long time ago. I clearly forgot how dark it was, especially since in this case, the quartet’s story starts in far lighter and fun way. I assume Baruchel and his co-writer Jesse Chabot did this intentionally. It isn’t long before a killer in a welder’s outfit starts brutally killing people and leaving the bodies where our heroes can find them. Turns out that it’s a copycat who is recreating the murders in Todd’s comic.

Baruchel does a decent job with his second feature as a director, which is surprising since his first movie was a hockey comedy, which would have been right up his wheelhouse. Goon: Last of the Enforcers also was tougher since it was a sequel to a really good movie, but Baruchel shows that he has a real handle on horror, especially when it comes to making it as disturbing as anything out there. He has able help in cinematographer Karim Hussain, who gives the film such a stark look with bright green and red lighting, as well as the make-up FX team who create some truly grotesque murder victims.

I’m not usually a fan of slasher films so much, but Random Acts of Violence takes the interesting spin on the genre from the comics and adds new elements that really elevate the original story. (For one, Niamh Wilson’s character was terrific, and she’s completely original to the movie.) These elements and just the overall look and tone makes Baruchel’s adaptation one of the more effective horror films I’ve seen this year.

Indie filmmaker Aaron B. Koontz (Camera Obscura) returns with his second feature, the horror-Western THE PALE DOOR (RLJE Films/Shudder). It’s about two brothers, Duncan Dalton (Zachary Knighton) and his younger brother Jake (Devin Druid), who lead a motley group on a failed bank robbery. After Duncan is injured, they find a girl named Pearl chained in the wilderness, and they follow her back to a ghost town to get Duncan medical aid where they’re brought to a brothel that turns out to be a coven of witches.

I don’t want to fully shit on this movie, because it has a few elements of merit, but honestly, none of them show up until roughly 51 minutes into the movie when it transforms from a fairly lame Western into a semi-decent horror flick. The movie is co-written by Keith Lansdale, who you might guess is the son of Joe R. Lansdale (an EP on the movie), who is kind of legendary for his horror-Westerns. Instead, The Pale Door spends the first half following overused Western tropes but not particularly well-written ones, and everything just looks too clean and bright without the grit that’s necessary to make a Western work. Granted I’ve seen a LOT of Westerns in my day but there are so many great ones even of similar budget, like Ti West’s In a Valley of Violence, so there’s little excuse for how badly this one falters.

Amidst the mostly bad cast, Koontz does have a few ringers like Pat Healy (from Ti West’s The Innkeepers!) and Stan Shaw, the latter as Lester, the former slave who becomes a substitute father for the brothers and who has some great moments in the last half of the movie. After the big reveal of the witches, things do generally get better and the ending is quite touching, as it strikes a nice note about brotherhood. But all of the stuff up until that point just isn’t very good on so many levels. It’s almost as if Koontz was learning how to make a movie while actually making the movie. (This is something more common on someone’s first movie, though.) Even the fact this movie is basically about brave men fighting evil women just isn’t a particularly good look for a movie right now. The Pale Door is a movie that needed to be better from the jump, and also get to some of the more exciting and gory stuff faster, since it’s just going to lose too many people before it finally shakes things up.

Actor Peter Facinelli (from The Twilight Saga, among other things) writes and directs the suspense thriller, THE VANISHED (Saban Films), starring Thomas Jane and Anne Heche of a ten-year-old girl, Taylor, who disappears while they’re RVing at a lakeside camp, causing them to do all sorts of unexpected things in order to find her.

I’m not sure whether I was more surprised that this was based on true events before or after actually watching it, because this movie gets pretty cray-cray, and that’s in the same week where we have Russell Crowe in Unhinged! Unfortunately, Facinelli’s sophomore effort as a filmmaker – that seems to be a theme this week -- comes across like a bland TV movie that doesn’t offer anything new from ‘90s thrillers like Fatal Attraction or I Know What You Did Last Summer, other than maybe some overacting from Heche or general sleaziness from Jane. It also stars a barely-recognizable ‘90s star Jason Patric as the town sheriff trying to find the couple’s daughter along with his deputy (Facinelli, who else?).

Very quickly, the couple get so desperate to find their daughter they start killing anyone they think might be responsible. By an hour into the movie, everyone is still a suspect, including the guy who runs the camp who (just by coincidence) happens to be part of a pedophile ring. UGH. The problem is that Facinelli throws red herring after the red herring at the viewer, leading up to one of the biggest “What the Holy F?!” endings that would likely make Shyamalan proud. The Vanished wears out its welcome pretty quickly and just leaves you wondering how much of it is true… and mind you, this is in a week where we have a movie with a talking gorilla, who also happens to be an artist… and that’s also based on a true story!

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get to some of these other movies or won’t have time to review, and hopefully you’ll check some of them out.

A genre film that looks pretty cool is Jimmy Henderson’s THE PREY (Dark Star Pictures) that follows Xin (Gu Shangwei), a Chinese undercover cop on a secret mission who ends up in a remote Cambodian jungle prison where the warden (Vithaya Pansringarm from Only God Forgives) sells his prey to rich hunters looking to go after “the Most Dangerous Game.” Yup, this is the second movie this year (after The Hunt) inspired by that short story. I’ll try to add some thoughts if I have a chance to see it before week’s end

Oscar-winning BlackKklansman writer Kevin Willmott writes and directs THE 24th (Vertical Entertainment) is about the all-black Twenty-Fourth United States Infantry Region and how 156 African-American soldiers held a mutiny in Houston as protest to the violence and abuse at the hands of the city’s police. The film stars Trai Byers, Bashir Salahuddin, Aja Nomi King and Thomas Haden Church.

Bummed I didn’t get to watch Thom Fitzgerald’s STAGE MOTHER (Momentum Pictures) in time to review since it has such a great cast that includes Lucy Liu, Jacki Weaver, Andrian Grenier and Mya Taylor from Tangerine. Weaver plays Maybelline, a Texas church choir director who inherits her late son’s drag club in San Francisco so she goes there to save it from bankruptcy.

Of this week’s docs, I’m most interested in Barbara Koppel’s DESERT ONE (Greenwich), which looks at the 1980 rescue attempt by U.S. Special Forces to rescue American hostages held in Iran (as seen in Argo) with interviews with President Jimmy Carter, Vice President Walter Mondal, Ted Koppel and both hostages and hostage takers. I haven’t had a chance to watch it, but Koppel is an amazing doc filmmaker, and I’m sure it’s a fantastic movie. Just need to find the time to watch.

I did get to watch Danny Wolf’s Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (Quiver Distribution), which not only has the most self-explanatory title of any doc ever made but is also quite comprehensive in covering how nudity has been used in movies going all the way back to the pre-Code and silent film days. No surprise that Wolf is the director of the highly-enjoyable Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All Time series, because he gets just as many interesting names and faces on this movie, including Malcolm McDowell, Peter Bogdanovich, Pam Grier, Amy Heckerling and more. This is actually a really good doc for the cinephile completist who wants to know everything (or just watch) every semi-famous nude scene that people have been talking about over the past 100 years.

I didn’t have nearly as much interest in P. David Ebersole & Todd Hughes’s House of Cardin, which gets a virtual cinema release this Friday before its On Demand release on September 15. I’m just not into fashion. More my speed is Dana Brown’s new doc A Life of Endless Summers: The Bruce Brown Story (1091) about his father who became famous for his surfing movies. Also on Thursday, you can catch Ric Burns’ doc Oliver Sacks: His Own Life about the neurologist and storyteller on his battles with drug addiction and homophobia. If any of those names jump out at you, just go on Google, and I’m sure you’ll find the movies.

Opening at the Metrograph for a one-week one as part of its Digital Membership (with a live screening with intro on Friday at 8pm Eastern) is a 2k restoration of Judy Irving, Chris Beaver and Ruth Landy’s 1982 film about the arrival of the nuclear age with the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. TONIGHT at the Metrograph is a special Live Screening of James Gray’s 2008 film Two Lovers, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow with an intro by Gray tonight at 8pm Eastern. Remember, it’s only $5 a month and $50 a year for a Metrograph digital membership, which is a fantastic deal!

Also opening in Virtual Cinemas (including Film at Lincoln Center’s and other regional arthouses) this week is Marcell Jankovic’s Hungarian 1981 animated film Son of the White Mare (1981), getting its first ever U.S. release in a new 4k restoration made from the original 35mm print. FilmLinc will also show Robert Kramer’s 1990 doc Route One/USA about a five-month road trip from the Canadian border to Key West.

A few of the other movies out this week include Love Express: The Disappearance of Walerina Borowcyk (Altered Innocense), Jamie Patterson’s Tracks (1091), Mona Zandi Haghighi’s African Violet (Venera Films), Behind the Line: Escape to Dunkirk (Trinity Creative) and Watch List (October Coast).

Oh, also Christopher Nolan’s Inception is opening in some U.S. theaters as a 10th anniversary rerelease? Man, I miss 10 years ago.

On Netflix this week, you get Trish Sie’s The Sleepover, a family adventure-comedy starring Sadie Stanley and Maxwell Simkins as Clancy and Kevin, who discover their mom (Malin Akerman) is actually a high-end thief in the witness protection program. When she and their dad (Ken Marino) are kidnapped to commit one last job with her ex-beau (Joe Manganiello), they have to team-up to rescue their parents. There’s also the Argentine crime-drama The Crimes That Bind, starring Cecilia Roth, coming to Netflix Thursday, and the Indian gangster film Class of ‘83 coming Friday. Amazon will premiere Richard Tanne’s teen romance Chemical Hearts, based on the book “Our Chemical Hearts” by Krystal Sutherland, which stars Lili Reinhart and Austin Abrams.

Next week, more movies not in theaters, but also some movies in theaters! And others not in theaters, since I’m guessing the ones in New York will still be closed.

By the way, if you ever read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest

#TheWeekendWarrior #Movies #Reviews #Unhinged #Peninsula #Tesla #ThePaleDoor #TheVanished #WordsOnBathroomWalls #RandomActsOfViolence #CutThroatCity

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anhed-nia · 7 years ago

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10/7/17: SPIDER BABY

When I was child, I had extremely limited access to movies in general, due to my parents’ hippyish media paranoia. This had the desired effect of making me read more, although most of what I read either resembled the reviled horror movies that obsessed me, or was actually about said movies. A couple of dogeared books of shlock criticism and history kept me company throughout these years, and with their aid, I read about Jack Hill’s incomparable SPIDER BABY over and over again. I simply could not conceive of it. It had the trappings of an innocent Addams Family style affair: it was in black and white, it was apparently comedic, and it even boasted a goofy theme song with word salad-y lyrics that might has well have advertised for Count Chocula and Frankenberry. However, its plot was rife with incest, rape, murder, and generalized perversion of a sort rarely attempted in more obviously adult exploitation films. What could this movie possibly be like?

It would be quite a long time before I found out, and what I would find was that the literature I’d pored over was surprisingly accurate. Lon Chaney, Jr. plays Bruno, the defacto patriarch of an orphaned trio of siblings who suffer from a rare degenerative brain disease that reduces them to a progressively childlike mental state. The stunted teenagers are living happily in the remote familial Merrye manse, sustaining themselves with a diet of bugs and varmints and cohabitating corpses and cannibals, until a juicy-looking civil servant happens by with an ominous message about some distant relatives slated to arrive at any moment. These interloping normies are here to claim the substantial Merrye estate as their own. Bruno attempts to hide his wards’ peculiarities--Ralph’s mismatching infantile behavior and adult sexuality, Virginia’s role playing as a deadly spider, Elizabeth’s passionate obsession with HATE--but wouldn’t you know it, the greedy cousins’ presumptuous behavior prompts these eccentricities to escalate, leading to a sticky end for most of the cast.

While SPIDER BABY (OR, THE MADDEST STORY EVER TOLD as per the credits) inevitably suffers from the usual hallmarks of a B-grade horror film, with pacing problems, impoverished production values, and loopy dialog, it is also utterly magical. Living dolls Jill Banner and Beverly Washburn play their dueling bad seed characters with a demented vivaciousness that makes a mockery of the mature sensuality wielded by their obnoxious cousin Emily, who gets what she deserves after performing a ludicrous masturbatory dance number in front of her bedroom window. The great Sid Haig has no lines, but speaks volumes with his incredible body, which explodes out of a Little Lord Fauntleroy-like getup. (Haig took dance lessons in his youth to preserve his motor skills against the ill effects of his abnormally accelerated growth, and it shows) As these three prowl about the heavily stylized Merrye house, closing in on their pompous prey, the viewer is apt to relate more heavily to these antiheroes than any other slashers in the genre.

Slasher movies, as we know, are often accused of giving vicarious vent to puritanical feelings about societal hygiene. Jason Voorhees purges premarital sex, drug abuse, and other expressions of teen anarchy from Camp Crystal lake, just as misogynistic and jealous viewers might like to do to peers who they perceive as having more fun at the expense of the law. The Merrye children, on the other hand, target the adult arbiters of rectitude as their victims. The girls gleefully drag the cigar-chomping lawyer Schlocker to his death as he ludicrously harangues them about morality, taste and bureaucracy--something I’m sure director Jack Hill would love to do to uptight critics who might fail to recognize the greatness of his many “exploitative” girl gang and women’s prison movies. Sure, the Merrye children are a bunch of violent perverts whose very existence goes against the dictates of nature, but they are also individuals fighting for their right to live life their own way. The ostensible hero, smarmy cousin Peter, thinks he can worm his way into their hearts with his Ken doll physique and condescending bullshit, but he’ll find that the affection of these three terrors is still a very Merrye affection. It’s their world, we’re just dying in it.

I’m very much open to submissions from the audience, but I have a very hard time thinking of any movie with quite this story, told so strongly. You could draw a line from BONNIE & CLYDE to THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE to NIGHTBREED through all the movies you can think of about outsider societies, but you’ll still find some characters too controlled and predictable, some too traditionally sympathetic, some too entirely evil. Jack Hill skillfully imbues his characters with a unique blend of anarchic sadism and personal integrity that’s hard to match. The only movies I can immediately think of that even come close are every single Rob Zombie movie that isn’t a literal remake of something, and the less said about those the better--especially since the presence of Sid Haig isn’t the only signal that Mr. Zombie seems to have based his entire career directly on SPIDER BABY alone.

I hadn't seen SPIDER BABY in a long time when I selected it for Saturday night’s review, and I found that I related to it even more as an adult suffering the ravages of our Kafkaesque society than I did as a young precociously pervy gorehound. If the dark heroics of the Merrye clan don’t make you sit up and applaud, you need to get your spine checked.

I’m going to add, because I never know how to close these things out, that the appearance of noir staple Carol Omhart as vain cousin Emily triggered a surreal argument between my fiancé and I about whether SPIDER BABY actually stars Meryl Streep--which is certainly the maddest conversation I have ever had. There is, of course, no reason to anticipate such a shock in this movie, but I did discover a fact about Ms. Omhart that I hadn’t heard before. Here she is sporting a rather different look, with comics master Milton Caniff, posing for the character Cooper Calhoon in his epic adventure strip Steve Canyon. Whooda thunkit.

#blogtober #horror #slasher #spider baby #the maddest story ever told #jack hill #carol omhart #lon chaney jr #sid haig #beverly washburn #jill banner #quinn redecker #karl schanzer #mary mitchel

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esonetwork · 5 years ago

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Flopcast 402: Memorial Show Part 2 - Squirrels in Space

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/flopcast-402-memorial-show-part-2-squirrels-in-space/

Flopcast 402: Memorial Show Part 2 - Squirrels in Space

Flopcast episode 402! Okay, let’s wrap up our tribute to the pop culture legends we lost in 2019. (We’ve been drinking so many shots in their memory that we’re almost out of coffee. And that frightens us.) Part 2 includes more movie stars (Peter Fonda, Sid Haig, Danny Aiello), sitcom stars (Valerie Harper, Bill Macy, Philip McKeon), rock stars (Eddie Money, Ric Ocasek, Ginger Baker), and, uh, Star Trek stars (DC Fontana, Aron Eisenberg, René Auberjonois). There are even a couple of beloved performers from bizarre 1970s variety TV (which did not get more bizarre than The Brady Bunch Hour and The Star Wars Holiday Special). And from children’s TV we have Russi Taylor (the voice of Minnie Mouse), Jack Sheldon (the voice of Conjunction Junction)… and Big Bird himself, Caroll Spinney. So hang on, kids, and we’ll get through the whole list together. And hey, if you need cheering up, Squirrel Appreciation Day is this week too. You know what to do.

Episode 402 complete show notes and links at www.flopcast.net!

#Earth Station One #ESO #Flopcast #Geek #geek podcast #Geek Talk #Kevin #Kornflake #nerd #nerd podcast #nerd talk #Podcast #The ESO Network

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mst3kproject · 7 years ago

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Spider Baby, or the Maddest Story Ever Told

You will find this movie under many titles, including Cannibal Orgy and The Liver Eaters, but Spider Baby is probably the most appropriate for both the content and the tone. You'll also find it dated to both 1964, when it was shot, and 1967, when it was released (after being auctioned off when the producer went backrupt shortly after the film was finished). For our purposes, what matters is that it stars Lon Chaney Jr from The Indestructible Man and Sid Haig from Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II, and the cinematographer was Alfred Taylor, who did the same job on The Atomic Brain. The latter explains a lot.

The Merrye family suffers from an incurable genetic disease that causes progressive degeneration of the brain starting at around the age of ten or twelve. Sufferers regress into a childlike state before finally being reduced to drooling, mindless cannibals! Despite this, the family seems to have been living quite happily in isolation, looked after by Bruno the chauffeur, until one day some cousins turn up looking for the family fortune. Realizing they could be taken away and separated, the family tries to convince them to leave, then to scare them away – and finally decide they're just going to have to kill them.

Spider Baby has a reputation for being a cult classic, which puts it in the odd position of appearing on several lists of The Worst Movies Ever Made while also having a one hundred percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes! I have to say, the movie is pretty bad, but at the same time, it's also mesmerizing. There are bits that I think you're supposed to laugh at, bits you're not supposed to laugh at but do anyway, bits that fail spectacular to be scary, and bits that are creepy as shit.

At a glance, Spider Baby comes across as an embryonic form of the 'crazy family in an isolated house' movie, a precursor to The Hills Have Eyes or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It probably is, but there's one important difference: while movies like that see the fucked-up world of the family through the eyes of an outsider, in Spider Baby the Merryes themselves are our point-of-view characters! We meet them when a delivery man arrives at the house, only to be stabbed to death by a young woman who tells him that he's a bug caught in her spiderweb! With the 'straight man' out of the way, we have to meet the family on their own terms.

The youngest is Elizabeth, a spiteful but mostly normal girl of indeterminate age (it's really hard to tell how old the 'children' are supposed to be, partly because they're supposed to be mentally regressed but also partly because we're all used to actors in their twenties and thirties playing teenagers – actress Beverly Washburn was twenty-four). Middle child Virginia dotes on her two pet tarantulas, Barney and Winnifred, when she's not murdering the guests or kissing skeletons goodnight (Jill Banner was twenty-one). The Eldest, Ralph, is a non-verbal sexual predator who enjoys raw meat (Sid Haig was twenty-eight). Three more, who have degenerated into sub-human monsters, are kept locked up in the basement.

This menagerie of weirdos is cared for by Bruno, the family chauffeur, who swore an oath to their dying father that he would look after them for as long as is necessary. Lon Chaney Jr. actually gives a really good performance in this role. We can feel that he loves the children and really believes it's better to keep the family together at any cost, and is very much afraid of what might happen when Emily and Peter meet them. When he and the family clean up and try to look a little more normal for their visitors, our sympathies are with them. We are right with them in resenting the intrusion, and anticipate the fates of Emily and the lawyer with thoroughly nasty glee.

Besides Lon Chaney Jr., the movie has one other really effective actor, Sid Haig. If his performance doesn't make your skin crawl, especially when he's creeping down the wall to look through Emily's window, then you should probably see a dermatologist. The movie amps up the creep factor in other ways, too – the music is pretty good, referencing The Itsy Bitsy Spider in a way that's both chilling and funny. The unbelievably awkward dinner scene has no music at all, which makes for a sense of claustrophobia. The house is decorated with taxidermied birds, which I found pretty creepy in themselves, although this may just be my personal dislike of taxidermy. Naturally, one of them turns out to be a real bird and scares the bejeezus out of the lawyer. Too bad it's so obvious, which ruins the jump scare when the animal moves.

The movie's theme is fairly well-developed, too – it's about humanity's fear of our own inner monsters. For as long as we have recognized that we are qualitatively unlike the rest of the animal kindom, we have worried about what might happen if whatever causes that difference were to cease to function. Might we really all be just one head injury away from savagery? The family members of different ages represent stages in the disintegration of an individual's humanity: first, like Elizabeth, they become mean. Then, like Virginia, they become murderers. Third, like Ralph, they are torturers and rapists. Finally, like the creatures in the cellar, they are cannibals. One by one, all taboos are broken, and the thin verneer of humanity is stripped away to reveal the monster underneath.

The final taboo is incest, which we are told has occurred in the Merrye family and has made the syndrome worse. It is notable, however, that there is no hint of it among the characters we actually meet – Ralph never tries to molest his sisters, and they show no fear of him doing so. For all her love of knives, Virginia never tries to hurt Elizabeth or Ralph, either, and none of them ever tries to harm their surrogate father, Bruno. Demented as they are, this little family is a loving one, and they save their violence for outsiders. This is a big part of why the three children remain endearing characters even as they commit unspeakable crimes. Their familial love is the one nugget of humanity they have not yet lost.

Another fear that Spider Baby takes advantage of is the fear of what's in our genes. This, too, is very old. Long before we understood the basis of it, we knew that some diseases and conditions ran in families. Hemophilia is a good example, as are things like ectrodactyly ('lobster syndrome'), and like Merrye Syndrome they become more pronounced in small gene pools – witness the prevelance of polydactyly (six fingers) among the Amish. Until very recently it was impossible to tell if a baby had inherited the flawed genes until it was born, and pregnancy in such families was a roller-coaster of hope and terror. Spider Baby takes it one step further, positing a syndrome that does not manifest until late childhood. How much more stressful this must have been for the late Titus Merrye, having to wait until his children were ten or twelve before learning whether they'd inherited the condition that he was lucky enough to escape? No wonder he died young.

Worse still, such conditions can hide in a bloodline for multiple generations without ever manifesting, until somebody finally loses the genetic lottery. This is addressed at the end of the movie, when we get Cousin Peter's happily-ever-after ending with his wife Anne and daughter Jessica – who is fascinated by spiders. Is she showing early symptoms of Merrye Syndrome? The movie certainly wants us to think she is, in which case Peter should not have taken it for granted that he wasn't a carrier. None of us can.

What about the sufferers themselves? With conditions like ectrodactyly, it is with a person from birth and he or she will learn to live with it, never knowing anything else. Among the Merryes, however, a child would grow up seeing aunts and uncles who must be locked away, and perhaps watching older siblings decline, all while knowing that a similar fate may or may not be awaiting them – there's no way to tell until they reach the age of onset.

While Spider Baby gives us a lot to think about, it never really gels. Except for Lon Chaney Jr. and Sid Haig the actors are nothing to write home about, and there's plenty of cheese to go with the ham. The sets always look like sets, the prop knives look like prop knives, and for every honestly uncomfortable thing (like Peter enjoying his dinner of toadstools and roast cat) there's something that falls flat (the ear in the box is no more than an anticlimax). It's still a hell of a lot of fun to watch, though, mostly because of the perfect balance struck by never making the awful characters so awful that we don't like them in spite of it all. It's full of scenes and lines I would have loved to see the Brains run with, and a great movie to show your friends and munch popcorn while you watch their reactions.

If you're interested, there is a real-world medical condition that is strongly reminiscent of the fictional Merrye Syndrome. This is Fatal Familial Insomnia, a genetic disease in which a toxic protein, called a prion, slowly accumulates in the brain over the course of decades. Symptoms don't start to show until adulthood, but as the prions build up the sufferer experiences hallucinations, memory loss, convulsions, dementia, and a complete inability to sleep. It runs in families, but you can also acquire it by random genetic mutation – and once it sets in, you have no more than two years to live.

Sweet dreams!

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #spider baby #tw: rape #tw: incest #60s #tw: spiders

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