There were news items circling around where the plot from Steven King’s “The Stand” has been compared to the current global pandemic featuring the irrepressible COVID-19. King denied that there were really any similarities. As we progress through this mess, more details emerge as to the origin of the coronavirus. Did it begin in one of the “wet markets” in Wuhan, China, where a varied selection of animals are sold for consumption? It has also been mentioned that there are a couple of virology labs close by the wet markets where tests were being made on bats for who knows [More]
Schlock director Al Adamson resurrected some classic Universal monsters for this low grade monster epic. Some tall cat named Zandor Vorkov plays Dracula with his voice heavily processed with reverb. Interesting effect but probably not necessary. Dracula pays a visit to Dr. Durea who runs a carnival monster exhibit upstairs but has a fully equipped laboratory in the basement to carry out his experiments. In fact, Durea is a direct descendant of the infamous Dr. Frankenstein. And we all know that the Franken-family has that overreaching desire to resurrect the dead coursing through their veins! Dracula wants Durea to perfect [More]
A cadre of well off individuals are transported by plane to what turns out to be anything but an island paradise. We soon learn that these folks are a troubled lot. We are eventually introduced to each character’s particular emotional baggage and then it is revealed that each may have met with a fatal accident. Wait! We are apparently watching living, breathing people who are trying to figure out where they are stranded and why fate seems to be drawing a dark curtain over their circumstances. Are they in limbo? In fact, their dilapidated island resort becomes a purgatory from [More]
This time of year with the holiday season upon us can be a stressful time. We are getting all our last minute shopping done, we are battling traffic, going to work, and juggling a lot of other life necessities and the damned weather is completely sticking its foot out and tripping up our good outlooks on life. The video clip linked here shows the people who have to deal with the elements on a daily basis: the TV weather people. Sometimes, the wind, rain, blizzards get them down too. Watch some hilarious meltdowns! Merry Christmas!
More sad news from the music world. Neil Peart, the hugely talented drummer for the rock band Rush, has passed. He had been battling with brain cancer for the last three years. Rush was the first rock show I went to back in the dark, remote past. They were touring their long player, “A Farewell to Kings.” Lovely experience, lovely dope, lovely playing, lovely man. I chose the music video they released for “Xanadu”, the second track on “Farewell”. We bid farewell to this drummer king, Mr. Neal Peart.
Kevin Conway recently passed away. He has two roles that remind me of his involvement in the fright/fantasy movie field. Conway appeared in Tobe Hooper’s The Funhouse (1981). He appears as three different barkers in a carnival (!!!). These are pretty seamy characters and lend a creepy air to the bizarre goings on at the rundown attraction. Lawnmower Man 2 (1996) saw Conway acting as an unscrupulous, corporate scumbag who is pushing the boundaries of the virtual reality world. Nice work. R.I.P., Kevin.
At one time, Phil Spector was one of the most innovative music producers in the world. He utilized an approach where he would hire a hire a group of musicians to carry out his musical ideas in the recording studio and literally create orchestras with multiple guitarists, keyboard players, percussionists, singers and what have you. The resultant thick sonic tapestry became known as The Wall of Sound. It was an influential technique that caught the ear of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. Wilson would pursue similar orchestrations of instruments using The Wrecking Crew, a group of accomplished players for [More]
Three dimensional film effects highlight the hijinx in the continuing adventures of slasher Jason Vorhees. The filmmakers trot out a new batch of interchangeable teen characters and proceed to have Jason creatively dispatch them in novel ways. It all becomes tedious and nauseating before long as objects like spears and knives thrust into the camera on their way to impaling and destroying said teens. Jason himself receives a machete to the cranium but never fear, he cannot die and his useless spirit continues on for at least seven more film adventures. Similar in nature to the “Halloween” franchise that lumbers [More]
I was struck immediately by two things in this movie. “Taurus” follows a spaceship journeying out from Earth to look for a new habitable planet for humans to reside on. On the trip, we become aware of the rampant similarity this ship and its crew have to earlier, similar cinematic journeys. Think of “Destination Moon (1950), “Conquest of Space” (1955), and “Rocketship X-M” (1950), to name just a few. A small crew ambles around a rather spacious space vehicle and spends the majority of their time talking about what they’ll do when they get home and other details of their [More]
Actor Robert Conrad recently passed away. I know him best from his role as super government agent, James West, from “The Wild, Wild West” TV series. He played a crime fighter in the mold of James Bond but in an earlier century, namely the Old American West! James West was an avid fan of hidden gadgets, throwing daggers, multiple firearms, explosives, what have you, that he sprung on the maniacal criminal masterminds that he confronted on a weekly basis. This was pretty exciting stuff for a young kid. I caught many of these TV episodes when they eventually went to [More]
Very bizarre movie about an alien visitor to Scotland who assumes the form of actress Scarlett Johansson and proceeds to lure unwary men she picks up in her vehicle to their ultimate doom. Johansson lures them to her flat where they both disrobe with the promise of a sexual encounter but end up sinking into some unseen pool “holding tank” to be “consumed” later by the alien. These are some of the many arresting visuals which occur throughout this picture. I was reminded of Bowie’s “The Man Who Fell To Earth” with its tale of an alien who tries to [More]
This is another one of those flicks I watched in my youth, 10,000 years ago, that frightened me. Watching it now, I am struck by the loveliness of some of the black and white film cinematography but bored by the dull goings on and the lumbering, costumed monster. I now remember what creeped me out all those years ago and it has to do with the beast’s predilection to behead his victims. Never pleasant in any era. So, we have a giant sea monster that walks on two legs and apparently lives in a cave near a lighthouse. The lighthouse [More]
Very fine, very abridged visual retelling of the F. Marion Crawford classic ghost story, “The Upper Berth”. I first read this story in one of the old “Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories to Keep You Awake At Night” or some such gaudy title. It was an excellent story and is well worth seeking out and getting the chills from. An adventurer finds that his cabinmate aboard a freighter may not be all he appears to be. He may not even be among the living. And there the fun really begins. Read the original story too! This video takes a very cool, [More]
Today is Bruce Springsteen’s birthday and we wish him many, many more. The evergreen rocker turns 71. We look forward to seeing him on the road again whenever we get a grip on this freaking pandemic. Vintage “The River” material is performed in the video. We need his live concert experience energy now!!!