Even a Man Who is Pure of Heart...

Perhaps one day a book will be written on the making of The Wolfman (2010, Joe Johnston). An expose into the elements of making a big budget blockbuster circa the end of this millennium’s first decade. It would tell the tale of the original director, Mark Romanek, walking away from production as the shooting was scheduled to begin over budgetary disputes, a patchwork screenplay and strangest of all, a Danny Elfman score that was scrapped in favor of another composer, only to be inserted back into the film a few weeks before release. There would be a chapter dedicated to bad early buzz on the internet, several different edits and release date schedule shifting. This imaginary tome would be a fascinating page turner on par with Julie Salamon’s The Devil Candy, the insider look at the making of Brian DePalma’ financial disappointment, Bonfire of the Vanities. One thing is for certain, that book would be more interesting than the actual film, or at least the theatrical version as it stands (I imagine a future DVD release will feature all kinds of different edits).

With the exception of a larger scope and more expansive cast, the 2010 version of The Wolfman is rather faithful to the original 1941 George Waggner directed, Curt Siodmak penned classic, The Wolf Man. Lyle Talbot, Benicio del Toro in the role that Lon Chaney Jr. originated, is a well respected man who on a trip back home is bitten by a werewolf near a Gypsy embankment and is cursed to a life of a lycanthrope whenever the moon is full. The new version plays up the estranged father angle, and now Sir John Talbot (Anthony Hopkins) bares a dark secret that I will not spoil, but is pretty obvious to figure out quickly (and to the film’s credit, they don’t reveal it as a big twist). The relationship between the Talbots raises one question, if Universal was so distraught over Ang Lee’s version of Hulk that they felt the need to reboot it a mere five years later, why’d they recycle the same father-son dynamic, practically beat for beat, from that film?

Johnston, the director-for-hire that came in to fill Romanek‘s shoes, shows no skill in the suspense/thriller genre. He’s too enamored with the cheap jump scare and the film loses all effectiveness especially when his frequent employment of the ADD editing style (Editing legend Walter Murch was involved? Really?) that is all the rage these days is considered. A typical “suspense” scene starts drawn out only to be quickly diminished when followed by several false alarm scares until finally, the terror strikes, with the actual real threat being shot and edited to the point of incomprehension. One assumes Romanek would’ve brought a more suitable creepy tension to The Wolfman similar to his work on his only film to date, One Hour Photo.

Rick Baker, whose most renowned work was in the werewolf genre, the 1981 John Landis directed An American Werewolf in London (which goes without saying is the superior film) does good work in collusion with the CGI effects; the transformation makes the viewer feel the bone crushing and flesh reshaping, and the film is surprisingly gory for all the editing turmoil, but the main issue again is that Johnston undermines the makeup and effects with his poor shot compositions and the rapid cutting.

Del Toro who struck me as a great casting choice, and is reportedly very enamored with the 1941 original, proves a disappointment, pretty much sleepwalking through the role. The romance between Talbot and Gwen, his deceased brother’s fiancée (Emily Blunt), just kind of happens because it’s supposed to. Hopkins is decent enough, though he’s in his “playing the villain role” autopilot. Only Hugo Weaving as Francis Abberline, the Scotland Yard detective on the case, really brings his character to life.

The finished film feels a product of a pastiche of different screenplays, though only Andrew Kevin Walker, the original screenwriter, and David Self are credited. Allusions to Shakespeare abound (Talbot is a stage actor) but are never fully expanded, Talbot’s turmoil over being a werewolf is not sufficiently explored and there’s no real characterization past what’s on the surface.

As distressing as the remake craze has become, I actually have no issue with the remaking of horror legends such as the Universal Monsters. Every generation deserves a crack at bringing the classic character back to life to see if they can add any new modern cultural thematic relevance. But much like the more recent remaking of latter day horror icons like Leatherface, Jason Vorhees and Michael Myers, the problem lies in the execution. The Wolfman at one stage had the potential to break the uninspired remake rut, but due to either not trusting instincts or too many cooks in the kitchen, it ends up a classic example of modern blockbuster filmmaking: competent enough time killer but ultimately hollow, uninteresting and forgettable.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Rick Rosenthal's Halloween II

A couple of days ago I gave a breakdown on the myriad of the quality gamut for Rob Zombie's 2009 sequel to his Halloween remake, I thought in fairness, I should give equal treatment to the other film with the title Halloween II. Make sense? I hope so. Oh, and Rick and Rob share another interesting commonality amongst themselves, they are the only people to direct two films in the Halloween saga, with Rick's 2002 entry Halloween: Resurrection being even more wretched than either of Zombie's films.

Spoilers, ye be warned

The Good:

-I think what appeals to most viewers, and me too, at least to the extent I had considered this a genuinely "good" film until recently, is that it takes place almost literally the second after the original ended. While the film ultimately doesn't work as a whole, the gimmick of making the first two films take place over the course of the entire day, or at least once Laurie Strode's character is introduced, plays into various what then? questions or theories viewers might have formulated after constant reviewing and analyzing of the first film.

-Most of the characters (and actors) from the first film return, which other than obviously Donald Pleasance and Jamie Lee Curtis, means that Charles Cyphers is back as Sheriff Brackett as is Nancy Loomis in a cameo as his deceased daughter, Annie. Brackett seeing his murdered daughter provides some weight to the proceedings and a scene we rarely see in slasher movies, the parent coping with the death of their teenage child. We also learn the fate of Laurie's crush Ben Tramer.

-This is the movie where Donald Pleasance lets his ham freak fly, he's great here and increases Loomis' obsessive relationship to his former patient. Plus he gets a wonderful line at the beginning where stewing over losing Myers, an awakened by the racket neighbor tells him to quiet down because "I've been Trick Or Treated to death tonight" to which he impudently replies "You don't know what death is!" Cue the famous Carpenter score and opening credits. This is the best moment of the film.

-While I find Dick Warlock's portrayal of "The Shape" severely lacking, there's a wonderful moment where he finally gets Laurie within his sights and he just walks through a glass door without pause. It's the only time Warlock approaches the conviction of Nick Castle's original performance.

-The final shots of the film: Laurie being taken from one hospital after surviving a night of horrors to god knows where with an expression of complete blankness on her face. She finally has a moment's pause to reflect on what just happened in the last 12 or so hours...CUT TO...Myers on fire, his mask in flames...FADE OUT...end of film. This is more unsettling than anything in either of the "trying too hard to be unsettling" Zombie films.


The Bad:

-While most of the surviving cast returns, what happened to the kids, Lindsay and Tommy? I realize that the actors would have looked the most different of all the cast in the three year gap between films, and thus would not be able to reprise their roles, but recast or at least a mention of them would be appreciated.

-Speaking of missing cast members, don't you think the Strodes would want to visit their daughter in the hospital, even if she is (and we'll get to this in the Ugly section) "adopted".

-The first film features a body count of five, but over the course of Halloween night, only three. The sequel really amps up the number of killings, a pardon the pun, stab at, ironically enough, keeping pace with the Halloween slasher film imitators that popped up with great frequency after the originals success. It seems like Myers goes out of his way to kill people here, with none of the watching or premeditation that the original film established.

-Speaking of killing, and again this was probably a response to the imitators, Myers uses a plethora of weapons in II whereas in the original he uses either a knife (a phallic extension) or his hands. I prefer the more primal Myers over the hot tub dunking one.

-The first Halloween has atmosphere and is scary, Friday the 13ths and other imitators ramped up the gore, Halloween II exists somewhere between, trying to emulate the originals suspense but without the assured pacing of Carpenter's film while trying to up the gore quotient. In that regards it fails to reach the heights of the work of someone like Tom Savini. The result is a film that's neither scary nor gory. According to IMDB, which is not all that reliable (at least two of the trivia bits they state for the film are false), Carpenter added the gore scenes after shooting, which makes sense as they feel like an afterthought.

-Too many fake jump scares, yeah the first film has it's share, but here it's a crutch that is relied on too much. Example: a cat jumps out from a previously closed dumpster, a minute or so after it's already been opened to provide a "shock"

-For the most part they recycle the original theme, which I am fine with, it's the same night, the theme is iconic, why not? But they add little flourishes (not sure if this was Alan Howarth's contribution, he's listed as a second composer in the credits) which are distracting for those like myself who are intimately familiar with the original score.

-Am I missing something, why is everyone constantly blaming Loomis for Myers' escape. Was he responsible for security at the Haddonfield Mental Hospital? Loomis was the only one who was prepared for his return and he did plug a chamber's worth of bullets into him. It's not his fault Myers escaped and is virtually unkillable. Lay off the guy.

The Ugly:

-Like I said before, Nick Castle had a deliberateness and grace in his portrayal of Myers that Dick Warlock just doesn't possess, we don't see the voyeuristic aspects of Myers here, he pops up, jumps from out of nowhere, it is what it ultimately is, a stunt man doing stunts, not an actor giving a performance.

-The direction. What better way to compare a visionary director to an anonymous one than watching Halloween and part II back to back, granted as a producer Carpenter probably oversaw a lot of the production (which would have been right smack between Escape From New York and The Thing), but there's no pacing, the deliberate nature of the first film is completely gone leaving us with a hurry up and get this done with tempo, the shot compositions are lazy (even with cinematographer Dean Cundey returning), the film suffers from bad editing and most of all, it just is not suspenseful. In Rosenthal's defense, the script, by original Halloween scribes Carpenter and Debra Hill is no great shakes.

-The Sister thing. The twist that effectively killed the mystery and much of thematic elements of the first film and gave Myers, who originally embodied unclassifiable evil, a lame and simple purpose. He was no longer "The Shape" or "The Boogeyman" he became "The dude who wants to kill his sisters". John Carpenter himself even dismisses this addition as a gimmick, put in to capitalize on the Luke Skywalker-Darth Vader paternal relationship in Empire Strikes Back. What's worse, is there's no thought put into it, and only 2 scenes that mention the sister-brother link, a fuzzy focus flashback that Laurie has in the midst of her hospital recuperation (because that's when I always randomly recall the one time my mother told me I was adopted and then took me to meet my mute murderous older brother) and when Loomis' doctor pal, Dr. Exposition, er, Marion, informs Loomis of the familial connection. I would appreciate someone doing a fan edit of the film and remove those scenes, even if it wouldn't completely redeem the film. What's most upsetting is that everyone takes Laurie and Michael's relationship to be canonical, Rob Zombie who claimed that he either hated or never saw the sequels made it a major factor of his two films and I even have friends who are convinced the baby sister is seen at some point in the first scenes of the original film. FYI: She's not.

In conclusion, if you must see a movie named Halloween II, definitely make it the 1981 Rick Rosenthal directed film. But your best bet is sticking with Carpenter's original or the Myers-less Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the two self contained entries.

Prince of Darkness (1987, John Carpenter)

For some reason Prince of Darkness had eluded a viewing on my behalf until the New Beverly screened a print recently, now I can mark it off my list of unseen John Carpenter films, on which only the TV movie Elvis and Starman remain. While not a great movie and straddled with an either needlessly complicated or nonsensical plot depending on your point of view, the film flows and ultimately works because of Carpenter's solid directing skills and rhythmic pacing.

The screenplay, written by Carpenter himself, under the pseudonym Martin Quatermass (an homage to The British Quatermass series of television shows and films) concerns a cylinder featuring green liquid that is kept under lock and key in an abandoned church in Downtown Los Angeles, the priest in charge of caretaking the abandoned church dies, leaving Father Loomis (Donald Pleasance with a familiar character name) in charge of this cylinder which is giving cryptic messages via dreams. He contacts a professor who brings a group of researchers. To cut a long story short, they revive ye old Anti-Christ himself who possesses bodies and kills off members of the group, all of whom happen to be trapped inside the church because they are surrounded by a bevy of possessed homeless people led by a pale Alice Cooper.

While it never fully congeals into a complete story and feels more like bits and pieces of cool imagery--maggots, cockroaches and ballooning body parts, et cetera, it moves at such a pace that you don't really notice or frankly care. Carpenter shoots the film in his typical precisely composed manner and edits scenes rhythmically to the minimalist repetitive synthesizer score which he performs with frequent collaborator Alan Howarth. Each scene is a case study in economical storytelling, revealing only the necessary information and moving on, allowing viewers to add it all together. This sparse "just the facts" manner of information disbursements informs pretty much all his work and gives a sense or urgency and mystery (and a thankful limit on meandering exposition) that has gone missing in modern horror, with the exception of a few rare occurrences such as The Strangers and The Descent. For a case study of why this methods succeeds, one needs only compare his Halloween to Rob Zombie's overly detailed remake to see which approach is more effective.

Carpenter throws in some nice visual moments like when he pans back from the aged and foreboding church to reveal its surroundings of a modern urban downtown with skyscrapers, and a curious shot where Pleasance's character is talking about not trusting in one's faith in which he is framed in such a way that we assume the shot will reveal the priest is talking to himself or his reflection in a mirror, but just at the last beats of the scene, it is revealed the professor character is actually on the other end.


Pleasance is solid as Loomis, who shares more than just a name in common with his character in Halloween, they also are the only persons who are aware of the severity of the potential evil involved. Victor Wong and Dennis Dun, who both worked with Carpenter on Big Trouble in Little China the prior year are even more impressive as the professor in charge and one of his smart aleck students. Dun who in another filmmaker's hands would be relegated to either comic relief or an Asian stereotype, is actually really funny in an organic-keeping in character way, and the depth imbued in both his acting and the screenplay is revealed during an extended sequence when he is trapped in a closet (insert your own R. Kelly joke here). The film's biggest weakness are the two ostensible leads, co-students played by Jameson Parker, who resembles a weird cross between Tom Atkins and Craig Wasson and who was co-lead on the hit television show Simon and Simon at the time and his love interest played by Lisa Blount. Their characters' relationship is supposed to be the humanity and heart at the center of the story, however, due to a combination of Carpenter's previously discussed economical storytelling and Parker and Blount's not so compelling screen presence (and the really bad 80's outfits they are costumed with), a major sacrifice on the part of one character has little of its intended impact.

Maybe the fact that Carpenter hasn't had a theatrical release since 2001's underwhelming Ghosts of Mars in addition to the indifferent hackwork he displayed in his last two projects, both Showtime Master of Horror episodes: Cigarette Burns and Pro-Life, both of which further illustrates Carpenter medium is film (even his prior made-for-TV movies were shot like a movie) furthered my appreciation for Carpenter's fundamental grasp of cinematic tools on display here. Prince of Darkness is definitely second-tier Carpenter and call me an auterist if you must but I'd rather watch these second-tier works of his than anything in the darkly shot, over-explained, quickly edited and CW ready actor starring Platinum Dunes crap that passes as horror these days.

Posterized: The Psycho Series

Here are the posters for every film in the Psycho series, and since I am feeling generous, I will even include those for Gus Van Sant's much maligned, and I would say justifiably so, although I am tempted to give it another chance one of these days, 1998 remake.

Psycho (1960, Alfred Hitchcock)












Psycho II (1983, Richard Franklin)



Psycho III (1986, Anthony Perkins)


Psycho IV: The Beginning (1991, Mick Garris)


Psycho (1998, Gus Van Sant)

Trailer of the Moment: Alfred Hitchcock Gives Us a Tour of the Bates Motel

Possibly the most famous trailer in cinematic history, the trailer for Psycho breaks all conventions. It's over six minutes long, compared to the 2-3 minutes standard length. It's hosted by the director himself, something I cannot imagine anyone other than Hitchcock at the height of his TV success as host of Alfred Hitchcock Presents could ever get away with; even today's most recognizable directors like Steven Spielberg or Quentin Tarantino probably will never be tasked with being the sole marketing image of their own studio made films. And it manages to have no actual footage from the film (that's Vera Miles not Janet Leigh at the end) but is completely full of spoilers as Hitchcock in his usual droll gallows humor nature cheekily describes or hints at every sinister plot point.

And in case you're wondering about the end, where we're told that "no one will be admitted after the film starts", cinema goers generally came into pictures whenever they felt like it and would stay until they caught the rest of the film at the next showtime, then leave at the time. Psycho is often credited with changing the culture of how people watched films.

Now let's join the fabulous Mr. Hitchcock as he escorts us on a tour of the set of his new film, Psycho!

October is Horror Month at Colonel Mortimer Will Have His Revenge!

And Norman Bates can hardly speak he's so excited!


Join me all month long for a celebration of the macabre with horror themed version of your favorite Colonel Mortimer features (okay favorite may be too hyperbolic, but they are the only features I got!) as well as a review or two!

Exclamation points!!!!

Voorhees' Family Values

I'd be remiss if I skipped another Friday the 13th without paying homage to the film series that helped increase awareness of the peculiarities of this date.

The first experience I've ever had with the horror genre was at the age of seven, when late one night I snuck into the kitchen and caught a few minutes of Friday the 13th part III which my father was watching on Betamax in the living room. Obviously, my life was forever altered. It wasn't until part VII (The New Blood) in 1988 that I was able to see a Friday the 13th film theatrically, though I do remember catching some scenes from part VI by ever so slightly contorting my head in the direction of another screen at the Drive-In when I was ostensibly watching Howard the Duck. True story! What's more, I actually kind of liked Howard. Hey, I was 10.

So in tribute to the series that I had memorized as a teenager, I am posting this video I found on YouTube that features every kill scene from every Friday movie. This video is obviously not safe for work, unless, of course, you work as a counselor for Camp Crystal Lake, in which case, please study the footage and use it as an educational tool.



And because it wouldn't be Friday the 13th without a quickly produced follow-up, here for you title sequence enthusiasts are the opening titles to each film:



I particularly enjoy the fidelity in the usage of the boldly fonted title fast approaching the screen in the first three films (crashing into and breaking glass in part I, exploding in part II, comin' at you third dimensionally in part III). For part IV aka The Final Chapter, judging by the way the title is written, the graphic design budget must have been cut severely, however slight redemption comes by way of having the subtitle collide with Jason's hockey mask causing a dramatic explosion!?! (Kids remember, the combination of hockey masks and titles may cause combustion!) For part V aka The New Beginning, they bring back the original title font but the twist this time is that the hockey mask collides with the title causing the explosion (see, it is a new beginning after all). Part VI, Jason Lives, features the awesome Bond reference as well as two firsts: the first time the size of the subtitle is exponentially larger than the Friday the 13th portion as well as the first time the font in the title was represented in the scrawling manner matching the type on the posters. This would be replicated in the title sequences of part VII (which this time has the hockey mask crack in half) and part VIII, which is the first time the title is printed atop an actual filmed image, stock footage of Times Square circa 1989. The less said about the cheap computer graphics utilized in the three New Line films, the better.

Like any good zombified homicidal maniac, you can't keep Jason away for long, the series will get a reboot next year when Michael Bay's production company, Platinum Dunes, will release a remake. Yes, that's the same company that has released remakes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, The Hitcher and has remakes of The Birds (gasp!) and Rosemary's Baby (double gasp!!) in the pipeline. You may remember their company credo: "Original Thought? Yo, Fuck dat noize!"

Happy Friday the 13th!

Son of Frankenstein (1939, Rowland V. Lee)

Though not held in as high esteem as either the two preceding films in the franchise(the eponymous first and follow-up Bride Of…), Son of Frankenstein is a worthy addition to Frankenstein lore. Of the three principle members of those first two films, only Boris Karloff returns in his role as the monster; director James Whale is replaced by journeyman Rowland V. Lee, and Colin Clive, Baron von Frankenstein, passed away two years prior (at the age of 37) of pneumonia. Lee proves an able substitute as director, deft at adapting to the stylistic milieu Whale established. While Bela Lugosi as Ygor and Basil Rathbone as the titular offspring of the good doctor prove spirited additions to the cast.

Sixty plus years later, the original Universal Horror films might not posses the ability to truly scare modern audiences weened on an ever increasingly extreme genre the way they did in their era, however, they preserve due to the quality of their distinct expressionist idiom and thematic subtexts. And boy does Son have art direction and set design style to spare! In the film, Wolf von Frankenstein (Rathborne) returns to the castle of his father, now sparse and decaying. The angled design, haunted ambiance of the sets and heavy reliance on shadowy juxtapositions are so pronounced that they must bring a tear to the eye of Tim Burton. For example, here is the Frankenstein family dining room:
How are you not supposed to experiment with manufacturing human life when you have your morning cup of coffee here?

Resurrection is an essential theme of the entire Frankenstein movie series (as well as, obviously, Mary Shelley's novel) it also unifies three of the main characters in Son. Ygor (spelling in credits, although I've seen it spelled with both an "E" and "I" in other circumstances) has survived a public hanging and proclamation of his own death for his responsibility in the grave robbing of the first film. He is, uh, bitter. He manipulates Rathbone's Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (awesomest horror name...ever) to take up the work of his deceased father which he considers an opportunity to restore his ostracized reputation. Frankenstein, already on the precipice of obsession in regards to his father's work, requires little convincing to resurrect the lifeless monster from his "death" in the climax of Bride. As in the original novel and first two films, the lesson is, the dead really ought stay that way.

Bela Lugosi who famously rejected the opportunity to play the monster in the original Frankenstein, shines here as the true villain of the piece, going over-the-top early and often. In the process he redefines the role of Ygor from subservient man-child to a master schemer (he, "pulls the string" if you will) manipulating Frankenstein to resurrect the monster who he then uses to do his own biding for personal vendettas. Rathbone also brings the right air to his role. He never tries to replicate Colin Clive's iconic performance, managing to create within his own unique persona the same obsessive qualities as Clive. His Frankenstein is a man constantly confronted with the sins of his father and often falls prey to those sins in himself. This marks Karloff's final performance as the monster, and a sense of disinterest, or at the very least sameness, is apparent, perhaps due to the regression of his character who goes back to speaking monosyllabic grunts instead of further forming language as in Bride. He's also for reason completely unexplained, wearing an unflattering huge fur sweater over the famous size-too-small suit, proving Ygor to be as adept at costuming as he is at brain finding. And while we are on the subject of the film's performances, Donnie Dunagan, as the grandson of Frankenstein gives one of cinematic history's most obnoxious child performances, due in large part to a voice which is several octaves above Shirley Temple's. He would later voice Bambi; it cannot be denied he's the right temperament for that role, but imagine that voice in a gothic thriller. A little distracting.

As the first film to not adhere at all to the plot of Mary Shelley's original novel (though both of Whale's films were loose adaptions to say the least), director Lee and screenwriter Wyllis Cooper are afforded the opportunity for some meta-commentary. The previously mentioned exaggerated sets are a playful satire and tribute to the design construct of Universal monster films in general, and very early Baron Wolf expresses exasperation at people who mistake his family name as the name of the monster,a nod to one of filmdom's most frequent perception errors (kind of like how Mrs. Voorhees not Jason is actually the killer in the first Friday the 13th). The theme of desire for friendship amongst the socially alienated that resulted in the monster's demand for a mate is mirrored in Ygor who desperately insists to the monster that he is his true "friend". In the denouement, Boris Karloff's monster is redeemed when he does not throw a child into a body of liquid (sulphur instead of a lake) a callback to the monster's fatal playful mistake in the first film.

The film is an epic by comparison 99 minutes long (all others in the series tend to waiver somewhere between 65 to 80) and was originally intended to be the first Universal Monster film shot in color.

Son of Frankenstein as well as two other entries in the franchise (the still unseen by myself: Ghost of Frankenstein and House of Frankenstein) was included on the Frankenstein Legacy Collection DVD that came out a couple of years ago to capitalize on the release of the godawful Van Helsing. The other Universal Monsters (Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, Invisible Man and Creature From Black Lagoon ) also received similar DVD sets featuring 4 to 5 movies in unison. As far as "threequels" go, it's respectful of what came before and succeeds in adding to the legacy, instead of coasting on past glory. And, needless to say, it's a hell of lot better than Van Helsing.

Bravo for Bava!

In Los Angeles, between the New Beverly Cinema, the newly remanaged Silent Movie Theatre, occasional AFI screenings at the Arclight and the American Cinematheque, to name a few, you have no paucity of repertory movie options. This is often a double-edged sword for me since even though I try, due to other social engagements or lack of energy, I can only attend a fraction and always feel I missing some great series. I cannot imagine the lack of social life and fresh air that I would be confronted with if I lived in New York or the 1970's when the rep theatre was in its renaissance.

One series I will definitely be attending, though not as often as I'd like, is The Egyptian series Mario Bava: Poems of Love and Death dedicated to the Italian master genre filmmaker. As shameful as it is to admit, up until last year I had seen a grand total of one of his films, Black Sunday, but started to make up for it in 2007 by purchasing both of the Mario Bava's Anchor Bay DVD sets as well as two of his films that were not in either set, Danger: Diabolik! (I also saw it at the New Beverly during the Edgar Wright fest where Gremlins director Joe Dante introed it and then sat in the aisle across from me!) and Blood and Black Lace and am becoming a huge fan of his.

Thanks to the DVD sets and the assistance of biographer Tim Lucas, who literally wrote the book on Bava (the 1128 page and 12 pound All the Colors in the Dark featuring a foreward by Martin Scorsese) and drops his knowledge on many of the commentary tracks featured in the sets, Bava has been reassesed and his unique use of color, inventive camera work and the amount of followers he inspired has finally earned him some long overdue respect outside of horror fanatics.

Here's the schedule for the program, most of these are now on DVD so if you do not live in Los Angeles or cannot make it, you can at least recreate the festival at your own home, though good luck getting Joe Dante and Eli Roth to speak at your place.

Thursday, March 13th:
Black Sunday & Black Sabbath:


While Bava's colorful production design is often lauded (and for good reason!), with Black Sunday , his "official" directing debut he proves he can be just as crafty with black and white cinematgraphy. Barbara Steele stars as a witch who returns from the dead 200 years after being forced to wear a mask of spikes and she's not in a particuarly forgiving mood. Black Sabbath is an anthology film featuring Boris Karloff in the wraparounds and one of the stories. Roger Corman distrubted and reordered the stories in America, but they are presenting the European cut of the film that provided the name for Ozzy Osbourne's band. Joe Dante introduces the films.



Friday, March 14th:
Five Dolls for the August Moon & Blood and Black Lace:



Although I own August Moon as part of the Bava DVD set, I haven't gotten around to watching it yet (sadly an all too common occurrence, damn life!), the Egyptian calendar describes it as a Pop Art giallo where the idle rich gather for a swinging weekend only to be murdered one by one, which would make it a great mate for Black Lace which is about fashion designers and models being killed off one by one and is considered the first official "slasher" film, and definitely inspired Scream, but telling you how would be revealing a key element. One nitpick, why does Blood not preceed Five Dolls seeing how it was made six years prior?



Saturday, March 15th:
Lisa and the Devil & Baron Blood:


I have tickets for this already and am psyched since shamefully once again I have not seen either. Lisa features Elke Sommer as a woman lured into a spell by the satanic Telly Savales and Baron Blood with its used of Technicolor has been said to be what a Douglas Sirk horror film would look like. Joe Dante introduces and there will be a conversation with producer Alfredo Leone.



Sunday, March 16th:
Kidnapped & Shock:


The common theme of these two films is Bava's collaboration with his son, a horror filmmaker in his own right, Lamberto Bava. Kidnapped was just recently rediscovered after sitting in a vault in Rome for over 20 years before being completed and edited for the DVD release by Lamberto. This is an extremely rare theatrical print screening. Shock was Mario's final film, at the age of 63, co-directed by Lamberto, three years before Mario passed away.



Thursday, March 20th:
Danger: Diabolik & Planet of the Vampires:


You know I find myself more and more disenfranchised with the overuse of CGI in today's filmmaking, and thusly embracing more and more older filmmakers like Bava's optical tricks and set design prowess, both in full display in Diabolik one of the great (if not the greatest) comic book adaptation. It features an amazing Ennio Morricone score (not available on CD...crap) and inspired the Beastie Boy's video for "Body Movin'". Vampires is another Bava blindspot (although I have recently ordered a copy of the DVD) for me, but like Diabolik Bava proves his diversity with another genre other than horror (sci-fi here), although it does contain horror elements. It's said to be a big influence on Ridley Scott's Alien.



Friday, March 21st:
A Bay of Blood (aka Twitch of the Death Nerve) & Four Times That Night:


After inventing the slasher genre with Blood and Black Lace, Bava further redefined it seven years later by creating the limations of a remote location, and thus Friday the 13th and its ilk were born. Bay of Blood features a twist that proves the adage "no one is truly innocent" and a hilarious final scene that comments on violence in a simpler, shorter and more straightforward manner than a Michael Haneke film. While Bava is best known for his horror work, the guy had range; he directed pirate films, westerns, even a James Bond spy spoof along with other genre pictures (the already mentioned Diabolik and Planet of the Vampires) and frequently inserted humor into his horror films. Four Times That Night is inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon and is of all things, a romantic comedy. Introduction by a guy who made some money homaging Bava's work and style, Eli Roth.



Saturday, March 22nd:
The Whip and the Body and Kill, Baby, Kill!:


The Whip and the Body features Hammer alum Christopher Lee who returns from the dead to haunt and entice his brother's wife (again, haven't seen it yet). Kill Baby Kill! besides having one of history's greatest film titles, is one of Bava's most deliberately filmed picture and none other than Tim Lucas declares it his favorite of the director's work. It's atmospheric nature and use of ghosts of dead children has infulenced the latest wave of J-horror films and their American remakes like The Grudge and The Ring. Former Spike Lee cinematagropher and director of the Snoop Dogg zombie film, Bones, Ernest Dickerson introduces the film.



Sunday, March 23rd:
The Girl Who Knew Too Much & Hatchet for the Honeymoon & Cal Tiki The Immortal Monster:


The series ends with a triple bill of films I haven't seen, The Girl as the title suggests is a Hitchcock homage about a woman who sees a murder and finds herself hunted. Features John motherfucking Saxon! Hatchet is a black comedy about a wedding dress designer who murders brides before their nupitals. Bava was a cinematographer on Cal Tiki before original director Riccardo Freda walked off the set and he completed directing duties. Bava worked as a cinematagrapher for many years before he began his directing career and pretty much shot his entire directorial output. How appropos to end the series with the film that launched his career!

Christmas Evil (1980, Lewis Jackson)

Part of the 80's Project

If Christmas Evil (aka You Better Watch Out) teaches us anything, and really who doesn’t go to cheaply made Troma-produced 80’s horror films for instructions on how to live your life, it’s this: Be conscientious of where you engage in your fetishistic sexual transgressions, especially if you have children. If having your partner dress as Santa Claus while making sweet love to you is your cup of tea, all the more power to you, but please do it behind closed and preferably locked doors. This film depicts one such possible worst-case scenario for parents who do not adhere to this rule.

Harry, aged 8, his younger brother Phillip and mom sneak down the stairs and what to their wondering eyes should appear? Santa Claus himself leaving presents, filling the stockings hung with such care and pilfering the cookies and milk left out for him. When in bed, the younger but more world savvy sibling confides to Harry that it wasn’t really Santa, but dad in a costume. Ever the believer, Harry denies his brother’s cynicism, but has to see for himself, so he sneaks back down the stairs where he sees Mommy kissing Santa Claus, and Santa Claus kissing her back and not just on the mouth, if you catch my drift.

Cut to thirty some odd years later, Harry still possesses a child-like obsession with Christmas. His apartment is decked out in Christmas paraphernalia, when he shaves and the cream is across his face beard-like, he talks in character as Santa Claus (while we only see this once, I assumed it was a daily routine), works as a manager in a toy factory (get it?), and most distressingly, spies on the neighborhood children, keeping large binders journaling whether they’ve been naughty or nice. I was never a Psych major, but I have to think there’s something interesting Freudian-wise about a man who after seeing his mother in flagrante delicto with Santa as a child lives a life dedicated to the holiday. Unfortunately, as is par for the course with the film writer-director Lewis Jackson ignores any insights into Harry’s relationship with his mother post opening sequence or sexuality, preferring to focus on the voyeuristic angle with the kids, while disturbing on the surface, is not predatory.

If Christmas Evil teaches us two lessons, the second is: Beware of false charity! What eventually leads Harry off the precipice of sanity and into cuckoo land is when his bosses at the toy factory reveal that their charitable cause is actually a scheme to have the employees make all the donations and the corporation claim them as theirs (I may not have explained that well, but hey, neither did the movie!) on Christmas Eve of all nights! This bout of un-Seasonalness leads Harry to believe that he is, in fact, Santa Claus. He sneaks into the factory, steal toys and goes around giving them to the good boys and girls. Of course since this claims to be a horror movie, he also punishes the naughty people. His punishment ranges from the fairly innocuous, spooking out the bad neighborhood kid to the lethal: murder!

While the ingredients are all here for an interesting, entertaining or at the very least, since this is Troma, funny film, it’s actually a bit of a chore to get through. With two exceptions, the film is really drably shot. I consider myself fairly forgiving to cheaply made films, as Maniac displayed, you can still compose interesting shots with small budgets and on location filming. The two exceptions to the overall blahness of the cinematography are the scenes that bookend the film. The initial childhood scenes actually has expressive use of color and a fantastical look, as does the final scene, where Harry, being chased by the cops, drives his sleigh (actually a white molester van painted to look like it has reindeer on it) off a cliff where it doesn’t crash, but flies (to the North Pole?). This depiction of the separation of fantasy and reality elements using lighting, framing, etc. however is the only thing in Jackson’s film that is remotely cinematic.

The fact that the DVD Netflix sent me had a horrible transfer, looked like the source material was a VHS tape edited with scotch tape, didn’t help. It doesn’t appear that I got the 2006 special edition, but rather the 2000 extraless version, so if you want a better looking copy of a crappy movie, I suggest seeking out the former, which also includes a commentary between Jackson and John Waters. As far as Christmas slasher films go, this lands itself way below Black Christmas and Silent Night, Deadly Night and probably somewhere in between Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: You Better Watch Out and Black Xmas (the 2006 remake).

Hope you have a Happy Holiday, please don’t kill anyone…or feed your Mogwai after midnight!

Maniac (1980, William Lustig)

Part of the 80's Project

Much like it’s main character Maniac is a schizophrenic film. Equal parts exploitative 1980’s slasher film, show-offy gorefest for the talents of its make-up artist extraordinaire Tom Savini, intimate character study courtesy of its star and co-writer, the great character actor Joe Spinell (probably best known for his roles as Will Cicci in the first two Godfathers and Tony Gazzo in the first two Rockys) and grimy cheap late 70s/early 80s New York independent art vibe (I’m thinking Abel Ferrara territory).

The first shot immediately reveals its intention to put the audience in an intimate relation with Spinell’s character, Frank Zito. The very first image is a shot of one of those beach pier telescopes you put a quarter into, the next shot is a subjective POV through the telescope’s lens at a couple frolicking about who will be the film’s first victims. A slasher film opening with the subjective POV of its killer is nothing unique, even as early as 1980, having been done beforehand most famously in Halloween (lil’ Michael Myers attack on his sister) as well as another 1980 film featuring the work of Tom Savini, Friday the 13th. However, we never get to follow Myers or Mrs. Voorhees having a post-murder schizophrenic conversation with their dead mother as we do in Maniac. In these scenes Spinell gives a fearless, personal and an intimate, some, hell most, would say uncomfortably intimate, performance. We always call actors like Charlize Theron “brave” for gaining weight, wearing bad make-up and not washing their hair for a couple of weeks in Monster, but Spinell’s turn as Zito earns that distinction because this is his actual body and he allows Lustig to film it in unflattering close-ups, in all his flabby stomach, sweaty balding head and acne scarred faced glory.

The first half hour or so of Maniac is structured thusly: Zito picks a target, follows that target around until they are in an isolated location and then kills them in a graphic manner (thanks to Savini). What’s interesting is Zito’s improvisational process of killing people. In the Friday the 13th sequels, Jason mixes things up from time to time, but he’s a machete man at heart, Myers usually sticks to the tried and true kitchen knife, but Zito is the type of guy who sees what he has around the house and says to himself “hey, that’ll do”, as a result we get strangulations, shotguns to the face, even a sword as murder methods.

An interesting aspect of this structure is that while he's stalking his victims we stay with Zito’s perspective, but once we get to the chase our perspective shifts, and we find ourselves in the victim’s shoes, not knowing when or how Zito will strike. I’m not sure exactly whom we are to sympathize with. We have spent more time with the killer and know him more intimately, but then again, he is a maniacal killer, I mean it’s in the title! But due to the nature of his random victim selection there’s less character definition with them than we’d have if we were introduced to them earlier, like the typical camp counselor in a Friday film, and yes, that is the first and only time a Friday the 13th movie will get credited with any form of character development.

After awhile it must have occurred to Lustig, Spinell and co-writer C.A. Rosenberg (who has no other film credit, is it a pseudonym for Lustig or Savini?) that 90 minutes of Zito going around killing someone and going home and having conversations with his dead abusive mother would seem repetitive and go nowhere. So we are then introduced to a fashion photographer who will become Zito’s “love interest”. This part drags the film down, not because there’s no murder, but due to the fact that a.) it’s more than a little unbelievable that this trendy, beautiful, popular woman would have any romantic interest in Spinell, even when he’s playing “normal” he still looks like Spinell and has more ticks than Norman Bates, and b.) the filmmakers seems indifferent to these scenes. Spinell saves most of his acting energy for the schizo scenes, Lustig shoots them boringly, saving his savvier cinematic tricks for the suspense and kill scenes, and Savini is not around. Eventually Zito decides that he’d rather be a serial killer than an arty New York hipster and while it’s a commendable choice, his attachment to her and the fact that he attempted any sort of an emotional relationship with a woman who is not his dead mother ultimately costs him.

Despite borrowing liberally from not only Halloween, but also aspects of other horror classics such as Psycho (killer channeling and conversing with his dead mother), Carrie (let’s just say hands pop out a grave at one point) and Dawn of the Dead (in a dream sequence, Zito gets torn to pieces by his zombified victims, where Savini pays tribute to one of the great horror make-up artist, one Tom Savini), the sum is greater than its parts. If you’re a fan of the genre, and have a strong stomach, Maniac is definitely worthy.


Extra Spoiler Type Comments Below:

Maniac receives runner-up honor on my list of idiotic work by police officers in a horror movie climax. The winner is of course Black Christmas (don’t make me have to specify the original) where after Olivia Hussey survives the traumatic experience of being stalked and nearly killed by her boyfriend (or was it?) everybody leaves her asleep alone in her sorority house bed. With, it turns out…the real killer…duh duh dun! Well in Maniac, after Frank unsuccessfully tries to kill his fashion photographer girlfriend he returns to his apartment, has the aforementioned dream that he’s torn apart and apparently dies from self inflicted stabbing wounds. It turns out his lady friend didn’t cotton to being nearly murdered and ratted him out, so two Serpico wannabes bust into Zito’s apartment only to find him dead (or is he?). So what do they do? Shrug and leave. Of course after they leave, it’s revealed that duh duh dun…he’s still alive! Seriously guys, I know its pre-cell phone, but you have a CB radio in your car, right? The correct procedure, I am guessing, is not going “well, shit happens”, but rather having one of the cops stay in the apartment as the other goes to contact a coroner or one of them CSI guys. Hell, if you don’t have a CB radio, find a goddamn payphone, man. Its 1980, they still exist, plus you just found the killer that has been plaguing New York for a few months, I’m sure your boss would accept a collect call.

I guess what the Strokes said about New York City cops in that one song was pretty spot on.

Extra Special Random Fun Fact

While this was definitely Joe Spinell’s biggest role of 1980, probably biggest role ever, it was one of 8 films and 1 TV movies featuring a Spinell performance in the year.

The Changeling (1980, Peter Medak)

Part of the 80's Project

Since it's been about a month and a half since I actually watched The Changeling, I am going to do something a little different here, instead of forming some kind of cohesive review (not to imply I've ever written a cohesive review) I am just going to go through notes I took during and after the film and just bulletin point my thoughts. Act like it's one of those progress reports your boss makes you waste time drafting, just try to refrain from coming into my blog and shooting the place up like you've been strategically planning the last fifteen years.

SPOILERS AHOY! (*especially the ending!*)

* General plot synopsis portion: George C. Scott plays a classical pianist whose wife and daughter die in a car accident. He moves from New York to a quiet Washington (Pacific Northwest, not District of Columbia) town where he teaches music at a university (and is wildly popular for some reason, like 500 kids crash his first class, I guess Washington is wild for their mourning classical pianists) and moves into an old house with a mysterious history. Creepy stuff starts happening, stuff like for an example an antiquated wheelchair appears out of nowhere and moves by itself and a rubber ball very dramatically falls down the stairs. Ends up this house is haunted by the spirit of a dead boy. Through copious amounts of research and mediation with a spiritual we discover that the boy’s father stood to inherit a significant sum under the one guideline that it would actually go to the boy, but since this kid suffered a fatal disease one night the father drowned his son, secretly buried him and hightailed it to Europe with no one ever the wiser, in Europe he adopts a similar looking kid who he brings back to America a few years later and cha-ching gets the inheritance. In the present day, the adopted son has become a Washington state senator and one cannot help but speculate his first initiative in office was some kind of inheritance reform. George C. Scott decides to stay at the house and help the kid gets some form of vengeance (we'll discuss this a little later), but it kind of comes back to bite him in the ass since after the boy's vengeance is satiated, the house burns down. Hope Scott had insurance! (I did say there would be Spoilers, right?)

* The film begins with a great opening sequence and title card. George C. Scott's wife and daughter are killed in an auto accident in the snow while Scott watches helplessly in a phone booth. Close-up on Scott's grieving face...and...FREEZE FRAME...The Changeling. What I especially like about the film is it‘s non-explotative nature concerning the death of Scott‘s family, evidenced by the fact that his assisting the child offers him no emotional resolution or cathartic reconciliation with the spirit of his deceased loved ones (a la this year's 1408), obviously their death inspires him to help the boy but that’s more a character trait than a plot contrivance.

* The fact that this film continually pops up on various "Scariest Movies of All Time" list is due to the deft direction, sound design and quiet atmosphere director Medak--a journeyman director who resume includes on anarchistic British satire (The Ruling Class), many television credits (ranging from Tales From the Crypt to Seventh Heaven to Magnum P.I.), neo-noir (Romeo is Bleeding) and one of the crappiest films in the history of films (Species 2)--employs. The house is quiet and so is the film, until you know, shit goes down, Medak effectively mines suspense by contrasting the silence and Scott's character classic piano playing with loud disruptive sounds. Today it's a cliche, I know, but it’s always effective when done right. Too often filmmakers hijack their own suspense by wallowing in poor sound design filling what should be quiet moments with lame rock songs that serve only to attempt to sell the soundtrack (this is a Miramax specialty) and avid farts editing style (copyright Vern), Saw and those horrible Michael Bay produced remakes being primary offender.

* The best scene of the film occurs when a psychic comes to the house to communicate with the spirit. The acting and direction remains contained. Nowadays, the woman would be portrayed like a Zelda Rubenstein type kook and the scenes where she communicates with the spirit would be over-edited with flashes of some ghostly images too you know, freak you out. Instead we get a nice drawn out scene which is treated not like a crazy event, but rather a woman nonchalantly just doing her job, sure her job involves being in a trance like state and communicating with the dead, but hey to her, it's just another fucking Tuesday.

* But what I find most interesting about The Changeling is that the ghost of the kid is actually a bit of a jerk. I’ve already mentioned how after George C. Scott helps the kid out by finding his skeleton and confronting the senator/impostor he repays him by burning down the house. “Thanks, bud, that'll be the last time I ever try to assist spirits of murdered children.” But the whole act of vengeance on the senator/impostor is kind of petty. Yeah, it sucks that this guy got your fortune and is now a senator, but hey, money alone didn't ascend him to his position, it's mentioned that he's served several terms, so hey, people liked him enough to re-elect him. Hell, the senator doesn't even know the truth about his past until the film's climactic scenes. So he ends up dying for the sins of his father, only it wasn't really his own father, but his adoptive father. On the flip side he had a fairly long and prosperous life and was able to avoid any Dickensian-like orphange abuse and calling everybody "guv'ner" all the time. All in all, the measure of payback perfectly gels with what the five year old mindset would consider fair.

This wasn't really much shorter than most of my reviews was it? At least I still have the lack of cohesion thing going on.

Let's Hear It For the Best Month of the Year!

October or as its sometimes referred: Rocktober (by your local hard rock, less talk radio station), Shocktober (by cable channels with horror movie-thons) or Frocktober (amongst the Monk community)is by far my favorite month of any given year for one simple reason, two of my favorite hobbies, watching horror movies and drinking beer are not only considered socially acceptable but are actually encouraged. This October particularly holds a special place for me as I am getting married on October the 13th (no, not a Friday)! The only down side is I will miss some cool blogging and horror movie related events (as well as Oktoberfest!). I have one more 80's Project entry I hope to get done before I leave town (and it's a horror movie) and I am hoping that when I return to town (on the 29th) I can revisit Halloween III finally.

In the meantime, let me make some suggestions on things to do while you are going through Colonel Mortimer withdrawls:

New Movies:

Sadly, October is no longer a fertile time for new horror movie releases, unless you count the new Tyler Perry joint. Why is that? Wouldn't Rob Zombie's Halloween remake be greeted with a bit more enthusiasm had it been released this month instead of August, sure it would have still sucked or to use the nomenclature of Mr. Zombie "skullfucked", but at least people would have been in a horror movie state of mind. This year's horror slate is limited to all of three releases, and one is a 14 year old children's movie. Seriously film studios and independents, get your shit together, I want a minimum of eight horror films released October 2008. Let's look at the slate:

30 Days of Night (October 19th)
Vampires attack a small Alaskan town where it's dark all month long in this horror thriller based on a graphic novel (as is everything these days), any film with Josh Hartnett as its main star is already missing something in the charismatic lead role department, but the premise is interesting enough. David Slade directs, his last film was Hard Candy where he had some nice tension created until the film unraveled in the final act. Hope this script is decent. According to IMDB, Slade has also directed some Aphex Twin videos, and that dude's video are creepier than 90% of modern horror.

The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D (October 19th)
What's this, what's this, Disney is remarketing an old film? Simply shocking! Disney's (by way of Henry Selick, Danny Elfman and Tim Burton) first spooky animated film since the Adventures of Ichabod Crane short has become quite the merchandising bonanza since it's initial release in 1993 thanks to Hot Topic and it's dual Halloween and Christmas setting.

Saw IV (October 26th)
While I cannot endorse this horror series, I checked out after the lame first film, after watching Zombie's idiotic retelling of Michael Meyers origin, I do have to concede some props for creating a new horror character and series instead of remaking a classic.

Repertory Theatres (Los Angeles):

The NuArt, October 19th at Midnight: Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn

A brand new 35mm print of Sam Raimi's gory and hilarious sequel that I would gladly give up a hand to catch (as long as I can replace it with a chainsaw!)

The Egyptian, October 30th at 7:30pm: Seed of Chucky

While I am of the opinion that the Child's Play series results from morphing into comedy terrain is not quite as clever as the makers think it is, I grant them that Seed has some choice meta moments, and this screening should be fun with both writer-series creator-director Don Mancini and Jennifer Tilly in attendance, but where art thou, Brad Dourif?

The Aero:

This Santa Monica theatre is the only rep theatre in Los Angeles going full on horror as it dedicates the last few days of October to horror movie programming:

October 25th at 7:30pm
The Haunting & The Uninvited
Robert Wise's (who passed away earlier this year) classic The Haunting is still the movie that all haunted house films are judged by, just ask Jan de Bont. It plays with another haunted house story, the lesser known and unavailable on DVD, The Uninvited, directed by Lewis Allen and starring Ray Milland.

October 26th at 7:30pm
Demon Seed & The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (78)
A supercomputer wants to impregnate Julie Christie (can you blame it!) in this thriller from Performance co-director Donald Cammell, it plays with Phillip Kaufman's remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers which is not only miles better than this year's The Invasion, but stands with John Carpenter's The Thing as exhibit A in the remakes don't have to suck debate.

October 31st at 7:30pm
The Omen
The original, Richard Donner directed non September 11th and Hurricane Katrina referencing version. "It's all for you, Damien!"

October 27th at 7:30pm
By far the most interesting option for your Halloween needs, the Aero is hosting an all night horror movie-thon, for a mere $20 you can watch 7 films all night with snacks and foods included, that is if you can survive, muwahahah!

The line-up:
Return of the Living Dead
Acid rain and punk rock zombies!

Freaks
Tod Browning's classic follow-up to Dracula. One of us! Gabba Gabba! One of us!

From Beyond
Stuart Gordon's follow-up to Re-Animator adapts a HP Lovecraft story that according to the Aero's calendar (sorry haven't seen it yet, need to queue this up) involves "sixth sense, mutating humans and monster unleashed from the netherworld."

The Beyond
Directed by Lucio Fulci, about a Louisiana hotel that contains a gateway to hell...aka The Superdome! (rim shot)

Last House on the Left
Wes Craven's debut is one of the most disturbing films I've ever seen, it's a revenge story inspired by Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring. Just keep telling yourself...it's only a movie...only a movie.

The Children
Basically City of God, only instead of gang members, this time the children are zombies!

The Gates of Hell
The night ends with another from Italian gore maestro, Lucio Fulci, and again its about a gateway to hell. Hey, Wes Anderson has his recurring themes, Fulci has his gates to hell ruminations.

Non Horror Related Repertory Screenings of Interest

Since I won't be in Los Angeles for much of the month, I am not going to do the New Beverly calendar like I did for September. But here are a handful of double bills worthy of your attention.

October 7,8,9

Rushmore 7:30pm (plus 3:50 Sunday)
Bottle Rocket 9:20pm (plus 5:40 Sunday)
Speaking of Wes Anderson, his fifth film, The Darjeeling Limited opens this weekend, what better time then now to catch up with his first two and arguably best films.

October 10,11

Il Grido 7:30pm
Zabriskie Point 9:45pm

This is a double bill I am really sad to miss, two of Michelangelo Antonioni's lesser seen efforts play together, Il Grido was the film he made before his first international success, L'Avventura. And Zabriskie, his only American financed film, has been out of print for decades. Its considered a disaster by some and masterpiece by others, I would like to see it for myself and decide, but alas, maybe another time.

October 23rd
God Told Me To 7:30pm
Bone 9:30pm

This month's grindhouse double bill is two from cult writer-director Larry Cohen. In God various New Yorkers go on a murdering rampage because, well god told them to. Kind of like how he "told" Bush to invade Iraq. Bone stars Yaphet Kotto as a thief who breaks into a wealthy Beverly Hills mansion and discovers the dark secret of the couple who resides there, I actually prefer it's other title: Beverly Hills Nightmare!

Television

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown--Friday, October 27th at 8:00pm, ABC
This year marks the 41st airing of this classic Peanuts Halloween special, maybe this time Linus will finally stay up and see the Great Pumpkin and Charlie Brown will get candy instead of rocks!

Halloween Marathon--Wednesday, October 31st at 10:00am, AMC
If you like your horror movies edited for television, tune into the channel formerly known as American Movie Classic for an all day festival of the first six films of the Halloween franchise, beginning with John Carpenter's classic and all the way to Donald Pleasance's last appearance, in the Curse of Michael Meyers.

Classic Horror Movie Directors Series, Fridays at 8:00pm, Turner Classic Movies
The cable station that still actually plays classic movies has the most interesting programming, dedicating all Friday nights in October to a series of film by a classic horror director:

Friday, October 5th--Jacques Tourneur Night: Curse of the Demon, Cat People, I Walked With a Zombie, The Leopard Man

The French director who made several artistically solid films for producer Val Lewton also directed the Robert Mitchium noir classic, Out of the Past.

Friday, October 12th--William Castle Night: Homicidal, Straight-Jacket, 13 Ghosts, The Tingler

Castle was a showman above all, Joe Dante's Matinee starring John Goodman was loosely based on his life and the gimmicks he used to sell his films. Make sure to electrically shock whomever you watch these films with at the appropriate time.

Friday, October 19th--Tod Browning Night: Mark of the Vampire, Freaks, The Devil Doll, London After Midnight, The Unknown

TMC proves the director of Bela Lugosi's version of Dracula was no one trick pony with these four films that display his range, directorial fortitude and experimental techniques.

Friday, October 26th--Roger Corman Night: A Bucket of Blood, Creature From the Haunted Sea, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Terror

Before introducing the world to such diverse talents as Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme, Corman directed many of his own low budget horror films. My only complaint, no X: The Man With X-Ray Eyes!

Blogosphere

Sadly, I will not be able to participate in any of the interesting blog-a-thons that will pop up this month, but that doesn't mean I won't be reading them. And so should you:

31 Days of Zombie at The Projection Booth

Who doesn't love zombies? No one, that's who, and what better way to prepare for the inevitable uprising of the undead by checking out the Projection Booth's month long discussion of a different zombie movie a day? From the new to the classic to the obscure this blog is sure to rattle your "brainnnnsssss". So far essays include reviews of Zach Snyder's remake of Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later.

31 Movies That Give You Willies at Shoot the Projectionist

Shoot the Projectionist is also devoting the month of October to a discussion of horror movies, the most intriguing is his survey of several bloggers to create a list of 31 Horror Movies That Give You the Willies.

Various Fun at Final Girl

Much like the Ministry song, for Stacie Ponder, everyday is Halloween. She is a devout lover of all facets of horror, especially the cheesy. She participated in the Shoot the Projectionist survey and all month long she is writing extensively on some of her picks and runner-ups.

2 Horror Movie Reviews a Day at Horror Movie a Day Blog

Likewise, at the Horror Movie A Day Blog, it's always time for horror movie discussions. This October though, instead of just reviewing one horror movie a day, he will be discussing two horror movies a day, one he's never seen and one that is a classic.

Well I think I leave you with many an option for the month ahead. Hope you have fun with your "tricks or treats" and remember folks, caro syrup and red dye = best fake blood.