William Marshall is at his nocturnal pursuits again as Blacula, the vampire, in this sequel to “Blacula” (1972). The vampire this time out is at the end of his rope with his undead existence and seeks a way to eradicate himself from his vampiric tendencies. Blacula enlists the help of a voodoo practitioner, played by Pam Grier, to create a spell that can free him from his vampire curse. Marshall exudes a debonair yet deadly presence and he can be an interesting and menacing figure when shifting into his vampire mode. That being said, I can say that I found [More]
Fine actor, Donald Sutherland, has passed. Sutherland appeared in a number of quirky movies but had a very relaxed, personable, acting style that ingratiated the viewer to the performance. Take a look at “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1978), to see a fully fleshed-out performance by Sutherland as a character trapped in an impossible scenario who slowly realizes the inevitability of the apocalyptic situation he faces as it begins to make itself apparent. Great work! Equally memorable are his strong performances in “Klute” (1971) and “M.A.S.H.” (1970). Donald Sutherland will be missed!
The sad passing of this very unique sounding vocalist for Iron Butterfly. Check out the trippy, gothic vibe of this epic song in our video link below.
It was 71 years ago to this day, May 29th, that Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, was first summited by Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay. An amazing feat to be able to claim to be the first to get to the top of that very dangerous mountain. Over the years thousands have taken a stab at the Everest summit and, by this point, a thousand plus have summited. The challenge of enduring the cold, the wind, the high altitudes and its resultant tolls felt by the climber’s body and brain persist but it seems that due to [More]
We sadly mark the passing of exploitation giant, Roger Corman: a tireless, budget minded producer/director who was creatively involved in some very memorable science fiction, horror, western and action genre pictures. Many of these movies have become classics and provide a blueprint of how to manufacture films quickly and cheaply without sacrificing all quality. I will reference “A Bucket of Blood” (1959) as being one such example of a low budgeted, though engaging story of a homicidal “artist” who finally runs out of luck. A very engaging movie. It was in the 1960’s that Corman turned his attention to adapting [More]
Mike Pinder was a founding member, and once the keyboardist, of the band The Moody Blues. Pinder passed recently. Mr. Pinder was an acolyte of the weird instrument, The Mellotron. What was The Mellotron? I asked ChatGPT to provide some illumination. Here is what they said: A Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in the early 1960s. It works by triggering prerecorded sounds stored on magnetic tape when a musician presses the keys on its keyboard. Each key on the Mellotron is connected to a tape playing a recording of an instrument, such as strings, flutes, or choirs, allowing [More]
I have always personally enjoyed this Boris Karloff scare fest set in the English countryside, but it may not be your cup of Earl Grey. I think it is the atmospheric locales complete with swirling fog banks and the rustic British environs plus the deeply saturated colors that most appeals to me. Boris is his sinister best in one of his latter day horror roles. I guess you could call this a cosmic horror tale as it is loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Colour Out of Space” short tale. American Nick Adams ventures to a distant estate to visit [More]
The 1970’s had its share of weird movies that featured very bizarre characters and groups, “Lemora” (1973, also!) immediately comes to mind. This feature details a seaside community where a diabolical cult of some sort is in operation. Are these conservatively dressed people zombies, vampires, demonically possessed drones? It seems the latter. An old tale is recounted in flashback about the community where an evil preacher begins to spread his evil presence felt. The town’s weirdness continues to the present and we see a malevolent mob tracking down innocent victims and then devouring them. Very interesting visual style is applied [More]
Entertaining, creepy, filmic embellishment using Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” novel as its source material. There is a passage in Dracula which recounts the captain’s log of the sailing ship Demeter and its journey from Transylvania to London. It seems that the ship is transporting a large number of crates in its seaward passage. Count Dracula is moving to London! Unknown to the ship’s crew is that this truly uninvited, evil presence is going along for the ride. Slowly but surely, crew members start disappearing and the quest is on to discover just what in fact is going on. There are many [More]
Polyerius performing a few tunes in a studio setting – the /counter office, in particular. Very nice production to showcase Polyerius’ melodious music. Enjoy!
This is a trifle of a segment but I noticed recently while binge watching some Vincent Price scarefests that a lot of his films conclude with a purging fire breaking out and ridding the story of some of the evil situations and characters thus far encountered. Maybe it was a favored conclusion for director Roger Corman who concluded “The Fall of the House of User” (1960) and “The Haunted Palace” (1963) in such a fashion. It certainly is a flamboyant way to conclude a movie with the set catching fire and falling down into flaming pieces! Price or another actor [More]
Actor David Soul passed away at 80. Soul had a couple of notable turns in the fantastic movie genre. Soul had the lead in one of my favorite, depressing movies, “World War III” (1982). The only bleaker end to a movie can probably be found in “The Thing” (1982). Hmmm. Both released in 1982. Obviously, a very good year! I think I posted about “WW3”, years past. Look it up and catch the flick. The clip included below is from the TV mini-series of Stephen King’s “‘Salem’s Lot” (1979). Soul gives a credible performance as a writer who stumbles upon [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]
I am divided on this movie. It has a cool premise: a group of kids decides to charter a guide to take them to the restricted site of Chernobyl, Ukraine, where a nuclear reactor plant experienced a meltdown and rendered the surrounding countryside exposed to high levels of radiation. Definitely a place that the local government has made unavailable to public access because of health concerns. Well, our group gets through the blockaded area and explores the abandoned ruins of the town left behind. The guide notices that there is evidence of activity in the supposedly dead place and urges [More]