This very recognizable and enjoyable actor died in 2022. I have been very negligent in posting about some of the entertainers I have admired who passed away during the run of this blog (not just this year). I need to make amends in my own mind and list those who have passed that I have very badly neglected. David Warner appeared in a number of memorable roles over the years. I was fond of his performance as the mentally challenged instigator of the societal clash in Peckinpah’s “Straw Dogs”. He played the inquisitive photographer who stumbles on the supernatural forces [More]
Our three favorite saps are schlepping this time as detectives and get a client who wants them to find his missing daughter. The boys take the job and go “undercover” dressed as pie salesmen (guess what’s coming? lol) to the area where the girl was last seen. It turns out that the dilapidated house they stumble into actually conceals a secret laboratory of a mad scientist who is intending to use the lost girl’s noggin as a brain transplant for his gigantic, bi-pedal, caged gorilla! Dr. Frankenstein is spinning in his grave! This episode adopted the Fifties fad of the [More]
“…and it will not stop coming after you until you are dead!” Well, that was a line from an ’80’s science fiction film but this REAL! This weird, robot contraption kind of gives me the creeps.
An enjoyable time filler fantasy picture that follows a team that captures a live abominable snowman or yeti. Forrest Tucker plays a sham naturalist who talks of sharing the capture of a yeti to the world as a scientific wonder. As the movie progresses, we find out that he is in fact a P.T. Barnum in the making who wants to parade the beast around the world at fair and make a killing at the box office. Peter Cushing is a more traditional scientist who comes to detest the intentions of Tucker. Very atmospheric music and sets when the team [More]
It gets to be a drag commenting on the great personalities who are no longer with us. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper just passed at too young an age. Roddy Piper made his name in the wrestling ring and established himself as one of the most memorable heels ever. You were never quite sure what stunt Piper would resort to as he became increasingly wound up and then exploded in some violent act of lunacy. Sports Entertainment never looked so good when this maniac was present. Piper branched out into action flicks and turned up in this John Carpenter directed paranoid fantasy. [More]
Ah!!! Here is a delightful little trifle called “Race with the Devil”. Two vacationing couples take their RV out into the wild and make the mistake of setting up camp smack dab in the middle of human sacrifice country! Truly terrible luck. After this unfortunate incident, the movie becomes one long chase sequence as the blood thirsty devil worshippers continue in hot pursuit of the couples. Great action and some nice turns by the always dependable actors Warren Oates and Peter Fonda. This one is definitely not an Easy Ride.
Gruesome Hammer Films reinterpretation of the classic Universal monster movie vehicle of a mad, maverick doctor and his attempts to bring life to dead bodies. Made in 1957, this horror remake is a graphic, Technicolor chronicle of the despicable practices that Dr. Frankenstein engages in. Portrayed as a kind of sadistic, cold-hearted deviant, Peter Cushing is marvelous as the doctor. Cushing carries on an affair with his housekeeper even while his long suffering fiancé is sleeping upstairs in the castle. Having previously promised the housekeeper marriage, as well, Cushing laughs in her face and says he never had any such [More]
This Roger Corman produced and directed film is a treat. There is a quasi-comical air about the proceedings as a lot of the action takes place in a Beat Generation inspired coffee house where poets and musicians alike share a performance stage, hang out and spout off in exaggerated artistic fashion. In the midst of this “Cool” cafe trundles waiter Walter Paisley, a loner who aspires to be creative and wants something more out of life than just busing tables for the rest of his life. Walter buys a packet of clay and tries his hand at sculpting in his [More]
Here is a film documentary showcasing producer/naturalist Ivan Marx’s exploration to find evidence for the existence of Bigfoot, the mythical giant creature which is said to coexist with Man but can’t seem to pause long enough to ever get examined or clearly defined. I like this grainy film for its ample critter footage of bears, cougars, etc. and scenes of the wilds of the Pacific Sierra. Beautiful country. In addition to the charming and interesting film work, we also get Marx’s running commentary about his life in Nature and his thoughts about the big hairy guy and his examination of [More]
Not to start the New Year off on a bad note but I recently read an interesting article that outlines some of the difficulties we currently face in our global society and possibly safe places to go in case of catastrophe. (I guess it may not matter if you get there and don’t already have a compound set up and self-sufficient means of survival set up!) But Definitely food for thought in our currently turbulent times. When aren’t times on this planet turbulent? But read on and enjoy! The link is here: 7 Best Places to Go in the U.S. [More]
Surprise shocks as people in scary costumes jump out from behind doors, curtains, out of ice cream freezers, etc. Bring an extra diaper along for this one.
A disquieting tale of the destruction of a remote research station by unknown forces. The culprits are right under our noses but we don’t find out until the very end of the movie. Dread and paranoia in abundance as Robert Culp and Eli Wallach attempt to put a halt to the rapid erosion of the human community at a snowbound scientific research center. Will they find a solution in time? Similar surroundings and situation to “The Thing” but without an other worldly threat. An ABC Movie of the Week entry.
Brief interview with the late Dennis Hopper discussing his troubled time on the set of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now”. Listening to Hopper in this interview, it is amazing how much more lucid he was at the time as compared with his binging days of the Late Seventies/Early Eighties when “Apocalypse” was made. I highly recommend seeking out “Hearts of Darkness”, a documentary on the making of “Apocalypse Now”. “Hearts” includes a longer take of the snippet of Coppola trying to communicate with a seemingly deranged Hopper on the set of “Now” shown at the end of this interview. Coppola [More]
One of the swan song performances of the Monkees. This is from a TV special called “33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee” that no one really watched when it first came on. This is a great Mike Nesmith penned tune. The four Monkees converge on to the set after Peter Tork’s noodling electric piano play and kick in to the tune. There then commences a musical “freak out” of the assembled TV special guests. Peter Tork left the band shortly after this show.