A more muscular, 4 and 6 string driven rendition of this early 1980’s gem from Gary Numan: “Cars”. Numan these days has ventured from his Bowie like posturing and has taken on more of a resemblance to actor Robert Carradine with a bit of Klaus Kinski thrown in. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (I have no shame), age will have its rage. With us all. Like this fresh take on the song, though.
I always liked this song from the band Hawkwind. It is an uplifting pop song with synthesizer sound wash and varied instrumentation thrown on top. Hawkwind has a long history. You might be interested in learning more about these “cosmic warriors” who constituted part of a music genre labeled “Space Rock”. Try checking out the book “Space Daze”. This video is a little weird, though, as is the lead singer’s getup.
A 1960’s attempt to bring Wonder Woman to the small screen. After the huge success of the campy Batman series starring Adam West, a small effort was made to test out if the same serio-comic approach could be applied to the comic book character Wonder Woman. Here is the result of that effort. Best that it was passed over. Maybe more promising would be to screen the Batgirl pilot which never made it to network TV created during the TV Batman series’ period of popularity and bedlam.
Night of the Living Dead. One of the all time great horror movies! Zombies surface from the grave after some nebulous explanation involving a a solar flare or a mishap involving a returning spacecraft. Take your pick. Whatever causes the dead to resurface among the living, this movie yields some terrific shocks and scares. In this scene, Johnny and Barbara come to pay their respects to the dearly departed and end up getting disrespected BIG TIME by the dead! Johnny and Barbara: one stays at the graveyard and one moves on to remain among the living.
Another Horror great has left us. Director George A. Romero has died at age 77. Romero and screenwriter John Russo made zombies fashionable again and truly terrifying with the release of their independent feature “Night of the Living Dead” (1968). This movie was gutsy, gripping and gruesome and it has frightened viewers for nearly 50 years. The living dead in this picture have shambled through the nightmares of millions of viewers and, to this very day, “Night of the Living Dead” will more than likely cap off the horror movies played on Halloween night. The vivid memories of watching [More]
Another major contributor to the horror field has died. Wes Craven has left behind a legacy, love it or hate it. I liked this first entry in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” series. There were a few sequels that I didn’t much care for. And after awhile, Freddy Kreuger’s wisecracks can get grating and tiresome. There are some style points to consider though. Craven incorporated a lot of dazzling effects in this film that still retain the power to creep out the viewer. There are elastic walls groping toward intended victims with claws and bodies busting through. There is the [More]
Miners uncover a piece of preserved dinosaur tail that ends up thawing in a scientific research facility. That ends up being an awful turn of events. The small bit of flesh soon grows and regenerates a complete dinosaur! The resilient reptile. Very soon, a full-fledged rampaging beast is on the loose and begins laying waste to the Denmark countryside where the tale takes place. There are bits of this fantasy film that I find actually enjoyable. There is a travelogue of sorts that appears near the middle of the film that highlights some of the festive night spots and activities [More]
I just viewed this science fiction film from the 1950’s a few days ago. I admit that I was mostly entertained by this movie which eluded viewing until just recently but coincided with some articles I saw that illustrated the decline and fall of the Salton Sea recreational area located in the southern most part of the state of California, USA. Seems that this area was once a thriving vacation and resort spot before things got a little disgusting with the receding of this (basically) unnatural lake. The lake resulted as a collection of runoff of high water from the [More]
If money is no object with regards to gasoline prices and you need to satisfy your wanderlust, then consider taking a road trip across Highway 50 in Nevada AKA “The Loneliest road in America”. I have been on this highway a couple of times and I must say that there are some cool small towns and many historical sites along the way but there are also miles and miles of twisting, winding roads travelling through a barren desert locale. All in all, though, a very rewarding drive. Just don’t expect to see too many other vehicles along the route. Or [More]
Multi-instrumentalist and revolving UFO member MVP, Paul Raymond, passed away recently. Raymond played keyboards and guitar in many different iterations of UFO and had a memorable participation in The Michael Schenker Band. A very reliable addition to any band, his energy and enthusiasm will be missed in the music world.
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]
Not quite a horror comedy but this film definitely has some satirical touches added by director/writer, the late, great Larry Cohen. There is also a good supply of gore such as bitten off limbs and rains of blood from the sky above. Two New York cops are in pursuit of a crazed killer who is enacting Aztec ritual sacrifice on people. Why, you may ask. The rituals will summon forth, Quetzalcoatl , an Aztec god of wind and air who could give the killer more of an edge in taking New York over by force. So, the killings continue both on [More]
Madman, comedian, writer, director, actor, humanitarian Jerry Lewis, a show business legend, passed away this year. My best advice to see the man in action is to seek out his movies on cable and video on YouTube to get an appreciation for his zany style. Check out the live stage act vids of him with his partner Dean Martin, too. The included clip demonstrates the chaos inducing style he brought to talk show appearances.
I have had time to catch up on some reading while sheltering at home with the coronavirus pandemic raging on. I came across an interesting observation made by Kim Newman in his “Apocalypse Movies” book. He observed that in several 1950’s era science fiction movies, the military and scientists combined their efforts to rid the world of alien menaces with some new sonic based weapons. Newman imagined that the sonic weapons could have either been introduced as a safer, more progressive form of warfare, especially when having to secure the safety of the civilian population, as opposed to nuclear weapons [More]