THE ICS FILES
#9-October '99
ICS OFFICIAL!
Just prior to our last meeting we've just been granted
an employee identification number by the Internal Revenue Service. You
know us as the Imaginative Cinema Society. They prefer our nickname--52-2190923!
This means that we should, in short order, be able to open up a checking
account. They will be back in touch with us in the coming months about
our request for non-profit status. So far, in the short time that we've
been in existence, we've had to cross many intersections, metaphorically
speaking. So far, we've hit nothing but green lights! We'll have our speed
bumps, our detours and our occasional dead ends. Every organization does.
But; thanks in large measure to the unity and the contributions of time,
money and energy of the members of this club; so far it's been nothing
but green! Good job folks!
SEPTEMBER MEETING WAS A SMASH
HIT!
If you missed our September meeting you missed a
good one! We began with a spirited discussion led by Dave Henderson attempting
to wrestle with the question of who gave the best portrayal of our favorite
figure in European royalty--Count Dracula. Next Lorne Marshall Brought
ten films representing every decade from the teens to the ninety's for
his selection of Lorne's "Decades of Decadence." We settled on the 1935
The Crime of Dr. Crespi, featuring a devious performance by Erich von Stroheim
as a surgeon afforded an opportunity to reek vengeance on a rival. We also
got a healthy dose of trailers from an odd menage of horror films. But
best of all, we got to welcome in 2 new members. Greetings to BOB SMITH
of Catonsville and MARK PIASECKI of Bel Air. We're happy to have you on
board!
WE ONCE AGAIN SALUTE THE SUN
We hope that Ann Hornaday isn't tired of reading
this. We're no where near close to being tired of writing this. We once
again thank her and the Baltimore Sun for writing a notice of our last
meeting in the September 24th edition of the Baltimore Sun. So we said
it before and we hope to say it again: THANK YOU ANN HORNADAY AND THANK
YOU BALTIMORE SUN!
DIRECTIONS TO OUR NEXT MEETING
Our October meeting will be held on Saturday October
30th at 6:00 P.M. at the church hall behind the Perry Hall Presbyterian
Church located at 8848 BelAir Road. Take Baltimore Beltway exit 32 north
on Belair Road. Turn left onto Joppa Road. Immediately past the miniature
golf course turn left into the parking lot. If you miss it there are ample
turn-around opportunities. If you get stuck call 410-598-8005. That's Dave
Henderson's cell phone. He'll talk you in.
OCTOBER MEETING I: DRESSING UP
As you know, our next meeting will be on the eve
of All-Hallow's Eve. As a result some of us would like to dress in costumes
. . . and some of us wouldn't. As a result we're making the next meeting
costume-optional (remember that "costume" not "clothing!"). So we
encourage those of you with costumes to shock and amaze those of us in
civies.
OCTOBER MEETING II: THE ROBERSON/GERVASIO
CONNECTION!
As a fund raiser for our next meeting Gary Roberson
is towing in his cutout figures of various Star Trek and sci-fi icons while
Ralph Gervasio is bringing in his Polaroid camera. They'll be offering
what will be the closest most of us will come to getting our picture taken
with "7 of 9." The proceeds will go to benefit the club.
OCTOBER MEETING III: THE AUCTION
Did someone say "benefit the club?" Well let's
talk auction. Some of us brought their contributions for the October auction
at the last meeting. If you forgot or couldn't make it to the September
meeting tow it along to the October blowout. At the moment there are a
potpourri of videos, books, posters, a couple of VCR's, a large Munster's
advertising stand-up and at least one DVD. Bring stuff to sell. Bring money
to buy. It should be fun!
OCTOBER MEETING 1V: THE POTLUCK
We'll be sampling a bit of each other's cooking
(or prepared food purchases) at our next meeting. We're kicking things
off with a Halloween Potluck Supper! Below is a list of who has signed
up and what they've committed to bringing. If you'd like to change your
selection, you weren't able to volunteer at the last meeting, or you have
any changes of plans either e-mail me at davidandmargie@erols.com or call
me at 410-788-4086.
BEVERAGES: Bob Kuzyk, Jerry Pleines, John Ward
SALAD: David Willard. Vince di'Leonardi (olives)
BREAD: The Gostins, Ralph Gervasio
ENTREES: David Willard, Peggy Gervasio, Dave Henderson, Lorne Marshall
(a few buckets of chicken)
SIDE DISHES: Regina Valleriani, John Clayton, Courtney Spies, Brian
Smith and Cindy Collins
DESSERTS: The Gostins, Joe Plempel, Bob Smith
SUPPLIES: Dave Henderson, Lorne Marshall, Gary Roberson
SET UP & CLEAN UP: Regina Valleriani, Gary Roberson
OCTOBER MEETING V: THE PANEL
AND FILM
As many of you know the Barry Murphy serial panel
was scratched in September due to a serious shortage of Murphy. Assuming
The Skipper will be in abundant supply at our October confabulation we'll
be examine the wide world of serials next time. Also in an unusual move
we've selected our October movie a meeting ahead of time since it involves
Bob Kuzyk lugging 16 mm canisters into the meeting. We'll be seeing the
1936 Bela Lugosi picture, The Phantom Ship. Mr. Kuzyk tells us that the
print is slightly splicy and the sound's a little low but it's watchable.
Bob will also show a selection of short subjects from Castle Films.
THE CLUB DIRECTORY
Dave Henderson is in the process of concocting a
roster of current members that can be handed out to the everyone. It will
contain names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addies. Any of you who
may have any changed information that may need to be included or who may
want not some or any of their info. shared with the membership either e-mail
Dave Henderson at hendo8@juno.com or call 410-254-4869. It should go without
saying that this for club use only. Those annoying solicitation calls that
coincide with dinner won't be coming as result of this list.
THE GLASS TEAT:
The Return of Robocop. Robocop is about to make
his return to the small screen. There will be 4 2-hour telefilms under
the general title "Robocop: Prime Directive." They're in production now
in Canada. They'll be ready for airing by the middle of next year. They
don't have a U.S. distribution deal yet. . . . Enter the Dragon. Anne McCaffrey's
fantasy series of the Dragon Riders of Pern will be entering the television
syndication market. The series will draw from all of the Pern books, but
especially Dragonflight and All the Weyrs of Pern.Like everything else
lately these will be Canadian production. Look for them in 2000. . . .Where
Who? The BBC recently announced plans to revive the "Dr. Who" series. Reports
indicate that they're reconsidering that in light of Paul Anderson's announcement
that he's considering a Dr. Who feature. . . . Richard Kimble Lives! CBS
is planning a return to television of the series, "The Fugitive." No word
yet as to when the hunt for the one-armed man begins or who will be playing
the key roles. . . . Thomas Crown and Catherine Banning Live! MGM is planning
a television series based on the further adventures of the mischievous
millionaire Thomas and the seductive sleuth Catherine. You probably won't
see it before 2001. . . . Hey there, it's SPUMCO Bear! Those of us who
were fans of the rule-breaking cartoon show "Ren & Stimpy" may have
wondered whatever became the of the show's creator, John Krisfaluci and
when will his Spumco Productions do something else. Wait no more, Spumco
fans. Mr. K. has hijacked 60's Hanna-Barbera icon Yogi Bear. The new episodes
are airing on the Cartoon Network. In this world Yogi and Booboo are trying
to cope in the forest run by the capricious, rule-happy (possibly insane)
Ranger Smith. In a recent episode Booboo was disgusted with the rules of
man, shed his clothes, stopped speaking and walking upright, and reverted
to his feral bear-like state. . . . Roughnecks get a rough time. Fans of
the new Sci-fi Channel show, "Roughnecks: The Starship Trooper Chronicles"
will have to patient. The show's being withdrawn from the Sci-Fi Channel
by the beginning of October. It's hoped that the production company can
step up the pace of production and supply the shows as fast as their needed.
Through September the same 9 episodes have been run repeatedly. . . . Evolution's
Child is the name of a movie to be aired on Friday, October 22nd
on USA. It's the story of a tragic mix-up in a fertility lab. A woman is
accidentally inseminated with sperm from a Bronze Age man that's been dead
for 3,000 years. . . . Keeping track of time. A tabloid journalist
is doing a story about great disasters. As he reviews the photographs he
notices that they have a troubling common denominator--the same face in
the crowd. This is the premise of the new TBS movie "Timeshifters" that
airs Sunday, October 17th.
THE 46TH ANNUAL HUGO AWARD WINNERS
HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED
At the 57th annual World Science Fiction Convention;
held in Melbourne, Australia; the winners of the Hugo Awards were announced
on September 4th. The winner in the "Dramatic Presentation" category (Hugo's
award for any form of science fiction from any electronic media) was The
Truman Show, edging out perennial favorite "Babylon 5." Below is a list
of the principal awards for literary achievement:
Novel...............To Say Nothing of the Dead...............................Connie
Willis
Novella............"Oceanic".............................................................Greg
Egan
Novelette........."Taklamakan".......................................................Bruce
Sterling
Short Story......"The Very Pulse of the Machine"...........................Michael
Swanwick
Non-Fiction.....The Dreams Our Stuff is Made of: How Science
Fiction Conquered the World.............................Thomas M. Disch
YET MORE BLAIR WITCHERY
Those of you on line need to get to www.spoofblairwitch.com
to check out the the potpourri of Witch-spoofs. You'll find stuff like
The Blonde Witch Project, The Griffith Witch Project, The Watts Bitch Project
and The Big Foot Project. Cindy Collins has discovered a site for The Walt
Witch Project at movie juice.com.
E! Television sponsored a contest to see who, in
the spirit of Blair Witch could make the best 2 minute horror film. Check
out there winners at eonline and see what you think.
For those of you of a particular bend you may wish
to surf over to www.picturethisent.com. They specialize in gay and lesbian
titles. They're offering the 10 minute The Blair Princess Project (available
10/26 for $9.95).
And finally, from Amazon .com, there's a specialBlair
Witch Project page that includes streaming footage not available in the
theatrical version or the home video version. It also includes memorabilia
and the chance to order the film.
MEET CEIL B. DEMENTED!
John Water's new film, Cecil B. Demented, started
filming in Baltimore in September. Indie film maker Cecil (Stephen B. Dorff--the
chief villain in Blade) and his gang, the Sprocket Holes, kidnap Hollywood
glamor queen Holly Whitlock (Melanie Griffith). They force her at gunpoint
to star in their film. She eventually transforms into a guerilla film making
terrorist and the Sprocket Holes become folk heroes and media icons. This
sounds suspiciously like the life of Patty Hearst, who appeared in the
Waters features Cry Baby, Serial Mom and Pecker.
BORN AGAIN HORROR
There have been a spate of Christian-themed films
lately in the Imaginative Cinema Field. The Advocate, Lost Souls (opening
this month) and End of Days (opening this Fall) are just some of the films
that have elements of Satan's return and connection to biblical prophecy.
Everyone else seems to be telling the Christian's story. Well now the Christians
get their turn. The Omega Code will be coming out the 15th. It's about
two men struggling to find a code that will unlock certain biblical prophecies
pertaining to the anti-Christ. One of them slowly realizes that his partner
is the anti-Christ! It stars Michael York and Casper VanDien (Starship
Troopers). It has a fairly limited release--it's not scheduled to appear
in any theaters in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, D.C. or Virginia.
It will be play in multiplexes through the South and West. I'll let you
know when it hits video.
THIS MONTH'S DEPRESSING QUOTE
"[Films today are] all gadgets, gimmicks and garbage.
. . . In television they won't hire you unless you're an ex-junkie in your
20's, hip enough to write what kids want to see. . . . It gets discouraging
to turn scripts down with the excuse, 'How can I tell my son I'm a zombie
in space?' " That's from actor James Caan, lamenting about the state of
today's film industry. Do you agree?
THINGS TO COME
In October Far Point '99 is coming to the Marriott's
Hunt Valley Inn on October 8-10. Guests include Peter Jurassic of "Babylon
5," "James Darren of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Time Tunnel," Robert
Colbert of "Time Tunnel," Mary Kay Adams of "Babylon 5" and "Star Trek:
Deep Space Nine," and astronaut Alan Bean.
Later in October the Chiller Theater Toy and Model &
Film Expo will be taking place on the 29th-31st at the Shearton Meadowlands
in North Jersey. They have their usual stellar lineup of guests. They'll
have Kelly Hu of "Martial Law," Haruo Nakajima and Kenpachiro Satsuma from
portions of the Godzilla series, Jason Miller from The Exorcist, Euro star
Carroll Baker, scream queen Brinke Stevens, June Lockhart from "Lost in
Space" and "Lassie," martial arts star Cynthia Rothrocks, and many many
more. For information visit their web site or call 201-804-8040.
On November 5-7 Eclecticon will be held at the Ramada
in Newark, New Jersey.It describes itself as "a multimedia convention,
focusing on fanzines and in-depth discussion of you favorite television
shows." Eclecticon prides itself on being a serious convention and has
chosen to not have any guests. Visit them on the web or call 800-272-6232.
WANT TO BEAT THE HIGH COST OF
MOVIES? BECOME A V.I.P.
You've had the experience before. You call a theater
and they announce the showtimes and after the hottest titles that have
just opened you hear, "sorry, no V.I.P. passes allowed." Well, like me,
many of you may wondered what these passes were and where do you get them.
They're available through large institutions and allow the patron to get
in on a prepaid lower priced ticket. Unfortunately, I didn't think that
they were accessible through any of the institutions that I was affiliated
with. I was wrong. If anyone in the club belongs to AAA you can pick them
up in the Towson office (which is opened late on Thursdays and half the
days Saturdays). The tickets are bought by movie chain and the prices vary.
Loews, R/C and United Artists are $4.75. Regal Cinema is $5.00. General
Cinema is $5.50 (and children $3.75). Hoyt's is (as usual) the most expensive
with $6.00 passes. Often these passes are not good for the first 2 weeks
of a movie's run. You'll need to check the theater for restrictions.
WATCHING GREAT FILMS IN A GREAT
THEATER!
Frederick, Maryland is home to the historic 1926
movie palace once known as the Tivoli, now the Weinberg center. Bejeweled
with crystal chandeliers, marble columns and satin mosaic wall panels the
Weinberg is a center for many performing arts. Every once in a while it
reverts back to its original intended use--as a repository of cinematic
dreams. Of particular interest this month is the October 29th showing of
the 1925 Phantom of the Opera, accompanied by the theater's mighty Wurlitzer
organ and grand piano! I was there with Tom and Dorothy Burke last winter
for a showing of The Day the Earth Stood Still. It's a bit of a drive for
most of us, but it's worth the trip.
IMAGINATIVE CINEMA FOR THE MONTH
OF OCTOBER
October 8th: Lost Souls opens with Winona Ryder, Ben Chaplin and John
Hurt. It's about a devoutly religious woman who becomes aware of a conspiracy
to allow Satan to walk the Earth. She has to convince a young, skeptical,
atheist New York journalist that he's the target of the conspiracy.
October 15th: The Fight Club opens with Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and
Helena Bonham Carter. Young men with bland lives are urged by a dark anarchistic
figure to experience life by fighting.
October 22nd: Bringing Out the Dead is not quite the Halloween release
that you'd expect from the title. This is Martin Scorcese's story of an
ambulance driver over the course of 48 hours in Hell's Kitchen who begins
to loose his sanity after repeatedly walking into the aftermath of scene
after scene of horrific violence. The movie stars Nicholas Cage, Ving Rhames
and Patricia Arquette
Look for Bats to come out today. Lou Diamond
Phillips and Dina Meyer have to deal with genetically altered bats that
escape and attack a Southwestern town.
October 29th: The release date is slightly suspect, but at least tentatively
The House on Haunted Hill remake is scheduled to come along on this Halloween
weekend. Five people are offered $1,000,000 to spend the night in a haunted
mansion. The movie features Geoffery Rush, Kamke Janssen and Peter Gallagher.
It looks as though Being John Malkovich is finally
about to release. The movie; which stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Orson
Bean (!?) and the unfortunate Mr. Malkovich; is about a puppeteer who discovers
a room into the mind of the actor John Malkovich. He can control him for
15 minutes at a time. Things start to go terribly askew when he decides
to turn this discovery into an admission-based business.
RENT BY MAIL PART I: THE WIDE
WORLD OF VIDEO
Some of you have been frustrated in your attempts
to find the titles mentioned here in "The ICS Files." Others of you might
want to simply rent a title that seems to only be available for sale. One
solution is to try a company that specializes in hard-to-find titles and
makes them available on a rent by mail basis. You probably won't be able
to find the newest releases at these places but if there's an obscure title
that's been out for a while, give them a try. There's the Home Film Festival
in Scranton, Pa. For you non-webbers they're at 800-258-3456. They specialize
in hard to find foreign films. There's Video Vault in Alexandria, Va. at
800-vault-66. They have alot of foreign and cult classics. Then there's
Video Wasteland in Cleveland, at 440-891-1920. They specialize in obscure
horror.
RENT BY MAIL PART II: THE NOT
QUITE SO WIDE WORLD OF DVD'S
Video is everywhere. It's new little brother digital
video discs has not yet become quite as ubiquitous yet. As a result there
are more places where DVD is available through the mail. Following are
a group of sites where DVD can be had for both rental and purchase. There's
Digital Video Connection, Net Flix.Com, Digibuster, DVD Cache, DVD Overnight,
DVD Express, DVD Empire and DVD Wave. This is by no means all of the sites,
but it will get you started. Let me know if I've missed any of your favorites.
DVD POISED FOR AN AGGRESSIVE
PUSH
A quiet revolution is taking place here in the Fall
of '99. Best Buys and several other high end electronics stores are selling
no-frills DVD players for just under $200. Best Buys has dedicated more
space to both the hardware and software. While Best Buys still sells more
units of VHS cassettes it generates higher income on DVD discs. Tower records
has started to reduce, and in some cases eliminate, VHS from its shelves
in favor of DVD. WalMart and Target have both devoted more space to DVD
movies, often at the cost of VHS. By the end of this year projections are
that 5% of American homes will have DVD players. By the end of next year
that figure is expected to double. Within 5 years it's expected to rise
to 35%. With several big DVD releases this Fall like the Disney discs,
Titannic, The Matrix, The Blair Witch Project and Austin Powers: The Spy
Who Shagged (all with anticipated sales of a million or more copies), look
for DVD to be everywhere.
DVD HITS THE AUDIO MARKET TOO!
The home entertainment business is about to get
another goosing from DVD. DVD audio decks are becoming available this Fall.
The decks are being introduced at a hefty $1,000-$1,200 range. The greatest
growth is expected to come from home PC's and in car audio. Besides exceeding
current standards for sound quality some of the players also allow the
listener to visually track liner notes and watch slide shows of the performing
artist.
DVD HELPS VHS!
With competition from both DVD and from previously-viewed-tapes
clearanced out by video stores, studios are being compelled to provide
the sort of additional footage on their big sell-through releases that
was once found exclusively on DVD. Both There's Something About Mary and
Saving Private Ryan in VHS sell-through contained footage that was not
on the rental copies. You'll see the same in the VHS The Matrix releasing
this November. Below you'll find details on Disney's Pinocchio. The VHS
actually contains footage not found on the DVD. You'll be seeing more of
these DVD-like extras on coming big titles on VHS.
DISNEY BUCKS THE TREND ON THEIR
DVD PRICING
As DVD has been taking root the studios (despite
appearances to the contrary) have been trying to keep their prices as low
as possible. Disney has just revised their DVD price from the previously
announced $34.95 to $40.00. The minimum advertised price is expected to
remain at $29.99. Their just-announced DVD of A Bug's Life is going out
at $49.99.
VIDEOCY
Rental titles releasing 10/5: In The Omega Diary the world is forced
to pay the consequences when 80 misplaced Soviet nuclear weapons results
in global devastation. Six survivors huddle in a vintage bomb shelter and
know that they'll have to confront the world on the other side of the door.
. . .Fear 2: Halloween features a Halloween eve gathering designed to help
a young man expunge himself of his murderous father's ghost. He and each
of his gathered friends must face their greatest fears. Look for Betsy
Palmer (Jason's mom in the original Friday the 13th). . . . . The Thirteenth
Floor is a virtual reality thriller. A scientist discovers a path into
an alternate reality of his own invention. He's disconcerted to discover
that his own world may be just such a creation. . . . The Demon in My Head
shows what happens when an alien artifact hidden inside a meteorite gives
a young man power to make his dreams come true. . . .In Diamondbacks an
engineer is forced to save the world after a right-wing militia group sabotages
a space project. It stars Miles O'Keefe, Ed Lottimer and Timothy Bottoms.
Rental title releasing 10/12: Mr. Vampire is a Chinese film about a friendly neighborhood undertaker, Uncle Kau, who also happens to be a master vampire hunter. Kau has his work cut out for him when his town is placed under seige by an army of the undead and his apprentice is haunted by a beautiful ghost. DVD's are available for a very pricey $49.95 . . . Freak is about a deformed inmate who has newly escaped from an asylum. To celebrate his new found freedom he goes off on a killing spree! . . . In Modern Vampires a discreet community of modern European vampires haunts L.A. Features Casper VanDien, Natasha Gregson Wagner and Rod Steiger as a manic Dr. Van Helsing. . . . Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the gym, The Rage: Carrie 2 hits. This story of jocks teasing a high school outcast with tragic results has unfortunate real life echoes. . . . Hitman stars Jet Li as a conflicted assassin struggling between righteousness and greed as he considers killing a Japanese businessman.
Rental titles releasing 10/19: The Ogre is about an innocent man swept into a mystical destiny that lands him in the inner sanctum of Hitler's Third Reich. Featuring John Malkovich and Armin Mueller-Stahl. . . . Now that "MST3K" is officially dead it's safe for movies like Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return to come out. Help us Mike, Crow and Tom Servo. You're our only hope! . . . If David Cronenberg films chock-a-block full of disturbing imagery and confusing plot twists is your cup of tea, then today's release of Existenz is for you. . . . Chinese action star is the title character in Black Mask, a movie packed with heart-stopping acrobatic martial arts.
Rental titles releasing 10/26: The thriller Arlington Road is available today on video. When Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack move next door to the troubled widower, Jeff Bridges, they seem like the perfect neighbors at first. He slowly pieces together a troubling picture of his new-found friends. . . . In Dead Fright a man is captured, bound and tortured by his ex-lover and her daughter. It stars Tony Musante, Laura Antonelli and Florinda Balk. . . Her Name is Cat is a Chinese action movie about a deadly female assassin.
Sell through titles releasing 10/5:Start dusting off your favorite lines, Young Frankenstein gets re-released today. It contains an extra 20 minutes of footage not seen in the theatrical release, including bloopers and out-takes. The VHS is $14.98, $34.98 for the DVD.
Sell through titles releasing 10/12: Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness is
being re-released as a sell-through today. The regular VHS is $9.99 and
the disc is $24.98. A special collector's edition is available $14.98 for
the VHS and $44.98
for the DVD.
Sell through titles releasing 10/19: It's time for the 10th anniversary of the 50th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz! The VHS minimum advertised retail is $16.95. The DVD is $24.98. . . . Halloween H20 releases today. The DVD is $39.99. . . . Agent 007 is on a mission to sell! Seven James Bond classics get re-issued today--Tomorrow Never Dies, Goldeneye, Goldfinger, Thunderball, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only and License to Kill. I saw a tee-shirt once that had all the various actors who've played Bond over the years. It was captioned "James Bond is a Timelord!" Between these 7 titles you've got 4 different Bonds! For $14.95 for the VHS or $34.98 for the DVD you can check them out and make up your own mind.
Sell through titles releasing 10/22: The Blair Witch Project releases today! For only $22.98-14.95 you can go for a walk in the woods and never come out! The DVD is available for $29.98-24.95. Both the video and disc contain "newly discovered footage" not seen in the theatrical release. The Sci-Fi Channel's companion piece, Curse of the Blair Witch, also becomes available for $14.98. You can buy the pair for $32.98.
Sell through titles releasing 10/26: After a 6 year absence Disney is making Pinoccchio available again. Revising an earlier statement, they'll provide the title in both VHS for $26.99 and DVD for $40.00. As mentioned above, this is an unheard of instant where the VHS will have footage not available on the DVD! The video will contain "Making of Pinocchio" with rare footage of early ideas for the film and production shots. Both formats will be available for 60 days. Afterwards it will be pulled from the market for several years. . . . Infinity's Child is a high end animated adventure of an alien race tracking one of their (now deserted) ships that may have happened on a fabled world that's the gateway for higher consciousness. The VHS is $19.98, the DVD is $29.98. . . . The Roger Corman Collection releases today on DVD. For a mere $24.98 you can enjoy digitally remastered copies of The Arena (1973), Big Bad Mama (1974), Big Doll House (1971), Death Race 2000 (1975), Eat My Dust (1976), Grand Theft Auto (1977), Humanoids From the Deep (1980) and Piranha (1978). I wonder if digital remastering makes them any better? . . . As mentioned above, the spoof, The Blair Princess Project, comes out today for $9.95
OCTOBER CALENDAR
SUN 3RD: TV-"Animal Farm" by George Orwell airs at 8:00 P.M.
MON 4TH: TV-"Earth: Final Conflict" season 3 premieres in syndication this week
TUE 5TH: TV-"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" season 4 premiere
"Angel" new series debut
"Dilbert" season 2 premieres
RENTAL VIDEO-The Omega Diary ,Fear 2: Halloween, The Thirteenth Floor,
The Demon
in My Head and Diamondbacks release today.
SELL-THROUGH VIDEO-Young Frankenstein gets re-released today.
WED 6TH: TV-"Roswell" new series debut
FRI 8TH: TV-"Harsh Realm" new series debut
EVENT- Far Point '99 at Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn
MOVIE- Lost Souls opens
SAT 9TH:EVENT- Far Point '99 at Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn
SUN 10TH:EVENT- Far Point '99 at Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn
TUE 12TH: RENTAL VIDEO-Mr. Vampire, Freak, Modern Vampires,The Rage:
Carrie 2 and
Hitman release today
SELL-THROUGH VIDEO- Army of Darkness is being re-released.
FRI 15TH: MOVIES-The Fight Club opens
SUN 17TH: TV-"Timeshifters" airs on TBS
TUE 19TH: RENTAL VIDEO-The Ogre, Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return,
Existenz and
Black Mask release today.
SELL-THROUGH VIDEO- The 60th anniversary edition of The Wizard of Oz! comes
out
today, as well as the James Bond retrospective--Tomorrow Never Dies, Goldeneye,
Goldfinger,
Thunderball, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only and License to Kill
FRI 22ND: TV-"Evolution's Child" on USA
MOVIES-Bringing Out the Dead premieres today
Bats premieres today
SELL-THOUGH VIDEO-The Blair Witch Project releases today! The Sci-Fi Channel's
companion
piece, Curse of the Blair Witch, also becomes available today.
TUE 26TH: RENTAL VIDEO- Arlington Road, Dead Fright and Her Name is
Cat release today
SELL-THROUGH VIDEO-Pinoccchio is available again. Infinity's Child, The
Roger
Corman Collection and the spoof, The Blair Princess Project, "come out"
today
FRI 29TH: EVENT-Phantom of the Opera at the Weinberg center
MOVIES-The House on Haunted Hill premieres today
Being John Malkovich premieres today
ICS-EVISION
A guide for our kind of movies on American Movies Classics and Turner
Classic Movies for October '99
Welcome to the first (and probably last) movie guide
that I'll ever issue for the science fiction, fantasy, horror and selected
mysteries popping up this Halloween season on AMC and Turner Classic Movies.
I've selected those two channels because they're widely available to cable
and satellite users and they offer commercial-free classic films .
I have tried to make this guide as VCR friendly
as possible. Therefore, if a movie starts at 12:05 A.M. on Wednesday the
6th, I list it as airing on Thursday the 7th. Unlike TV listings that consider
any programming until 6 A.M. as belonging to the previous day, the VCR
perceives (correctly) that anything on midnight or beyond belongs to the
next day. Consequently, the days reflected here run from midnight to the
following 11:59 P.M.
The character of the 2 networks differs widely.
A lot of TCM's stuff is fairly obscure. AMC's more reliant on more
readily available stuff--much of it 50's sci-fi and Japanese imports. Of
course AMC is doing "Monster Fest" for Halloween weekend with Roger Corman
on hand.
This is not a replacement for the newsletter. It
is considered a supplement. I hope that you enjoy it and find it useful.
Tuesday October 5th
AMC 6:30-8P Invaders From Mars (1953)
This is science fiction from a kid's point-of-view.
David (not me) sees a flying saucer land. Before he knows it, key people
in his life (including his parents!) are made slaves to the tentacled head
in the glass globe that commands the ship. This is one of the all-time
kid nightmare generators. One of the oversize alien drones is Lock Martin.
We'd seen him 2 years before as "Gort," the giant robot with Klaatu in
The Day the Earth Stood Still.
AMC 8-9P "The Moviemakers: Robert Wise"
AMC 9-10:45P The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
If you haven't seen it, or haven't seen it for a
while, take a look at this diamond of a science fiction classic. In most
of the sci-fi 50's films we were presented with unambiguously good or evil
aliens. Is Klaatu good (he brings us advanced technological tschockes and
he wants world peace) or bad (he'll blow us up and kill all of us in the
process if we don't find a way to achieve peace). You decide. Also, check
out the controversial Christ-allegories that most of the people responsible
for the film say were unintended (descending from heaven, a messenger bringing
a message from above, lives among us under the name "Carpenter," is betrayed,
crucified, ressurected--you find the rest!).
Wednesday October 6th
AMC 12:30-1:30A "The Moviemakers: Robert Wise"
AMC 1:30-3:15A The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
If you haven't seen it, or haven't seen it for a
while, take a look at this diamond of a science fiction classic. In most
of the sci-fi 50's films we were presented with unambiguously good or evil
aliens. Is Klaatu good (he brings us advanced technological tschockes and
he wants world peace) or bad (he'll blow us up and kill all of us in the
process if we don't find a way to achieve peace). You decide. Also, check
out the controversial Christ-allegories that most of the people responsible
for the film say were unintended (descending from heaven, a messenger bringing
a message from above, lives among us under the name "Carpenter," is betrayed,
crucified, ressurected--you find the rest!).
Friday October 8th
AMC 10-11:30P The Fall of the House of Usher(1960)
This is the first of Corman's Poe cycle and the
first time the team of Vincent Price starring, Richard Mathesson writing
and Corman producing and directing came together. This ws also the first
time Corman got to work in color. The story is about the last insane days
of the reclusive Roderick Usher. He chooses to bury his sister Madelline
alive rather than let her marry and pass on the family's genetic weaknesses.
Saturday October 9th
TCM 1-3P Eye of the Devil (1966)
David Niven is a nobleman who agrees to sacrifice
himself to save the grapes in his vineyard. Deborah Kerr is his wife. David
Hemmings is a warlock. Sharon Tate plays a witch.
Sunday October 10th
AMC 1-3P The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
If you haven't seen it, or haven't seen it for a
while, take a look at this diamond of a science fiction classic. In most
of the sci-fi 50's films we were presented with unambiguously good or evil
aliens. Is Klaatu good (he brings us advanced technological tschockes and
he wants world peace) or bad (he'll blow us up and kill all of us in the
process if we don't find a way to achieve peace). You decide. Also, check
out the controversial Christ-allegories that most of the people responsible
for the film say were unintended (descending from heaven, a messenger bringing
a message from above, lives among us under the name "Carpenter," is betrayed,
crucified, ressurected--you find the rest!).
TCM 10P-12Mid The Power (1967)
From producer George Pal and director Byron Haskin.
George Hamilton is framed for murdering Arthur O'Connell in a space endurance
device. Someone involved with the project is trying to frame him. They
have the power of telekinesis. Who is it? Is it Michael Rennie? Suzanne
Pleshette? Earl Holliman? Aldo Ray? Yvonne DeCarlo? It's fun to see this
cast together, especially Michael Rennie in a science fiction film when
he's not scaring the crap out of the citizenry with his space ship parked
on L'Enfant Mall.
Tuesday October 12th
AMC 1:05-2:30P Kronos (1957)
A big walking square sucks the Earth's energy as
it walks from Mexico to L.A. Scientist John Emery is taken over by aliens
as his colleagues, Jeff Morrow and Barbara Lawrence, race to save the planet.
Wednesday October 13
AMC 12N-1:30P Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
A fabulous red-scare nightmare! The citizens of
Santa Mira, California are being replaced by pod-grown duplicates that
intend to spread across the planet. Each year, since 1988, the National
Film Registry reviews the hundreds of thousands of films ever done and
selects an additional 25 to preserve for all time. In 1994 Invasion of
the Body Snatchers was added to the list. This is an all-time classic!
Friday October 15th
AMC 4-6P The Omega Man (1971)
This is the second version of Richard Mathesson
I Am Legend (Last Man on Earth in 1964 was the first). This was made when
its star, Charlton Heston, was spending a lot of time in the future (in
Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green). Heston is harassed by victims of
a plague that has turned its survivors into cannibalistic zombie vampirish
mutants. This is obviously a fiction film. It shows Heston repeatedly watching
the movie Woodstock and enjoying it!
AMC 10-11:05P Teenage Caveman (1958)
Roger Corman directs a pre-Napoleon Solo Robert
Vaughn. He plays a rebellious "boy" who breaks away from his primitive
tribe, wanders into a forbidden zone and discovers a terrible secret. The
movie was shot as Primitive World but American International had such success
with I Was a Teenage Werewolf and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein that they
couldn't resist the title change. Its star once called it, "one of
the worst movies ever made."
AMC 11:05P-12:30A The Undead (1956)
In the 50's there was a brief fascination with reincarnation
when the book, The Search for Bridey Murphy, came out. Roger Corman, ever
alert to possible business opportunities, rushed into production to take
advantage of the craze. He did this movie about a woman who is regressed
back to her life as a witch who'd been guillotined in the Middle Ages (and
please ignore the fact that Dr. Guillotine did not invent his devise until
the 18th century). The movie was to be called the Trance of Diana Love.
Unfortunately, in short order, the reincarnation "boom" quickly became
as hot as yesterday's mashed potatoes. Knowing the public's endless fascination
with horror, this movie became The Undead.
Saturday October 16th
AMC 3:45-4:45A Teenage Caveman (1958)
Roger Corman directs a pre-Napoleon Solo Robert
Vaughn. He plays a rebellious "boy" who breaks away from his primitive
tribal, wanders into a forbidden zone and discovers a terrible secret.
The movie was shot as Primitive World but American International had such
success with I Was a Teenage Werewolf and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
that they couldn't resist the title change. Its star once called
it, "one of the worst movies ever made."
AMC 4:45P-6A The Undead (1956)
In the 50's there was a brief fascination with reincarnation
when the book, The Search for Bridey Murphy, came out. Roger Corman, ever
alert to possible business opportunities, rushed into production to take
advantage of the craze. He did this movie about a woman who is regressed
back to her life as a witch who'd been guillotined in the Middle Ages (and
please ignore the fact that Dr. Guillotine did not invent his devise until
the 18th century). The movie was to be called the Trance of Diana Love.
Unfortunately, in short order, the reincarnation "boom" quickly became
as hot as yesterday's mashed potatoes. Knowing the public's endless fascination
with horror, this movie became The Undead.
Monday October 18th
AMC 5-6:30 A X--The Unknown (1956-British)
Radioactive mud from the Earth's core roams across
the Scottish countryside, dissolving people and absorbing radiation. Dean
Jagger is the American officer on its trail. A nice piece of Hammer sci-fi.
TCM 6-7:45 A Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
Frederic March won a best actor Oscar for his performance
as the scientist, Jekyll, and the ghoul, Hyde. Compare with the Spencer
Tracy version airing on Halloween and see which one you like best.
Friday October 22nd
AMC 10-11:30P The Day the World Ended (1956)
Roger Corman's post-apocalyptic sory of good guys
(Richard Denning, Lori Nelson and Paul Birch) vs. bad guys (Mike "Touch"
Connors, Paul Dubov and Adelle Jergens) vs. telepathic, three-eyed, four-horned,
four armed atomic mutants.
AMC 11:30P-1:30A Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998)
A documentary hosted by Roddy McDowell on the Planet
of the Apes movies.
Sunday October 24th
TCM 8P-4A Les Vampires episodes 1-10 (1915)
This is not, strictly speaking, a horror serial.
The "Vampires" of the title are a Parisian gang of criminals. Even so,
the 10 chapters have at least one zombie, a severed head, and a very very
slinky vamp--Irma Vep (whose name is an anagram for "vampire"). The print
has been lovingly restored with its original tints and a period score.
AMC 10-11:30P Horror of Dracula (1958-British)
Some would argue that this is the finest rendition
of Dracula on the screen. This is Hammer's first time with the Count. The
legendary film, of course, boasts Lee and Cushing at their best. This film
inspired 6 sequels.
Monday October 25th
TCM 4-6A Night of Dark Shadows (1971)
Shot on a very low budget. Only for the most ardent
"Dark Shadows" fans.
TCM 2-4P Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)
Producer George Pal kicked out all the stops for
this fantasy of Dr. Lao (Tony Randall) an old Chinese showman setting up
a traveling circus in an old West town. The cast also features Barbara
Eden and Arthur O'Connell. One of the stop motion animators was Jim Danforth.
Willaim Tuttle won a special Oscar for makeup effects (makeup didn't become
a regular award in the Oscars until 1981).
TCM 8-9:30 P White Zombie (1932)
This is Bela Lugosi's first horror movie after Dracula.
In 1929 the book, The Magic Island, introduced the term "zombie" to the
American vocabulary. A play called Zombie played on Broadway. This movie
is the first to use zombies as its central theme. Lugosi plays Murder Legendre,
creator and ruler of a zombie empire in Haiti. A young lecher hires him
to zombify a young bride-to-be that he lusts for. Lugosi wasn't the only
Universal star borrowed by United Artists for this production. Make-up
wizard Jack Pierce was also on hand for the zombie make-up effects.
TCM 9:30-11P The Walking Dead (1936)
Boris Karloff is framed for a murder and is subsequently
executed. Edmund Gwen is the doctor who brings him back to life through
the use of electricity (reminiscent of the creation scene in the 1931 Frankenstein).
Karloff becomes a piano playing zombie, bent on avenging his death. Ricardo
Cortez is the slimy villain. It was directed by Michael Curtiz.
AMC 10:05-11:45P Mad Monster Party (1969)
A stop-motion puppet feature with Boris Karloff
doing the voice of Baron Boris VonFrankenstein. He brings his monster chums
together to announce his retirement. The Hunchback has a Charles-Laughton-like
voice. The Invisible Man has a Claude-Rains-like voice. You get the idea.
Phyllis Diller does her own voice as Boris's ugly wife. Forrest Ackerman
contributed to the script.
TCM 11P-12:30A Mark of the Vampire (1935)
Director Todd Browning remake of his (now) lost
silent classic, London after Midnight. Bela Lugosi is the vampire, Count
Moor (sort of) and Carol Borland is his unholy daughter, Luna (kind of).
Lionell Barrymore is the VanHelsing type hunter. Lionell Atwill is Inspector
Neuman. The ending is a bummer, but the remarkable photography of James
Wong Howe of these legendary performers makes it worth the while.
Tuesday October 26th
TCM 2:30-4:30 A The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
Subtitled Pardon Me, Your Teeth are in My Neck.
A nice blend of horror and humor. A bumbling vampire hunter and his incompetent
assistant (played by the film's director, Roman Polanski) try to take on
a lair of vampires. Also features Sharon Tate.
AMC 4:15-6A Mad Monster Party (1969)
A stop-motion puppet feature with Boris Karloff
doing the voice of Baron Boris VonFrankenstein. He brings his monster chums
together to announce his retirement. The Hunchback has a Charles-Laughton-like
voice. The Invisible Man has a Claude-Rains-like voice. You get the idea.
Phyllis Diller does her own voice as Boris's ugly wife. Forrest Ackerman
contributed to the script.
TCM 4:30-6A The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919-German)
The film is an example of the German abstract expressionist
art at its most powerful! The sets and acting grow more bizarre as we delve
into the mind of a schizophrenic. The suffering somnambulist, Cesare, is
played by Conrad Veidt. Nearly 2 1/2 decades later,as the vicious Nazi
Colonel Strasser, he'd be pointing a luger at Rick, Ilsa and Victor Laszlo
at the airport in Casablanca.
TCM 8-10:15P The Birds (1963)
Hitchcok's first film after Psycho flopped when
it was first released. Birds start attacking the citizens of Bodega Bay,
California for no particular reason.
AMC 9-10P Attack of the 50 Foot Monstermania (1999)
AMC 10-11:30P Frankenstein Conquers the World (1964-Japanese)
A Japanese boy eats the heart of the Frankenstein
monster that had been sent from Germany and irradiated at Hiroshima. Just
as you'd expect, he turns into an affable bucktoothed giant that dresses
like a caveman and defeats a nasty dinosaur (the "baragon"). Footage with
Nick Adams has been inserted for U.S. audiences. He plays Dr. James Brown
(insert your own joke here). This is not exactly a "think piece."
TCM 10:15-11:30P Cat People (1942)
Producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur
featured a shape-shifting monster that we never see transform. Irene (Simone
Simon) fears that she's descended from a race of people who turn into large
predatory cats when they're sexually aroused. This is a prime example of
atmospheric horror.
TCM 11:30P-12:45A The Leopard Man (1943)
From producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur.
A small New Mexico town is traumatized by a series of killings. Is it an
escaped leopard, or a murderer who kills like one? Look for the blood-trickling-under-the-door
scene.
Wednesday October 27th
TCM 12:45-2A The Son of Kong (1933)
This is a quickie squeezed out to take advantage
of the popularity of the original film. But it's still fun! This time the
girl is Helen Mack, instead of Fay Wray. The special effects are once again
Willis O'Brien and the music is still Max Steiner's.
TCM 2-3:15A The Devil Bat (1941)
Ridiculous Bela Lugosi "thriller" from PRC that
we saw at a meeting earlier this year.
AMC 2:30-4A Frankenstein Conquers the World (1964-Japanese)
A Japanese boy eats the heart of the Frankenstein
monster that had been sent from Germany and irradiated at Hiroshima. Just
as you'd expect, he turns into an affable bucktoothed giant that dresses
like a caveman and defeats a nasty dinosaur (the "baragon"). Footage with
Nick Adams has been inserted for U.S. audiences. He plays Dr. James Brown
(insert your own joke here). This is not exactly a "think piece."
TCM 3:15-4:30A The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
A non-sequel/sequel to The Cat People. A beautiful
little girl sees the ghost of her father's first wife (Simone Simon from
the first film). This is more of a psychological study. Directed by Robert
Wise.
TCM 4:30-6A The Ape (1940)
One of nine movies that Karloff made in 1940! This
proves that Lugosi wasn't the only Universal superstar reduced to making
bad movies. Karloff is a mad doctor trying to cure a polio victim. To do
this he finds and kills a circus ape, steals his hide, dresses in it, and
proceeds to murder people to steal their spines for research! Of course!
Why kill as a human? No one would notice a spine stealing homicidal gorilla!
Karloff's dumbest.
TCM 8-9:30 P The Thing (From Another World) (1951)
Howard Hawks produced this classic that helped to
herald the 1950's wave of science fiction films. After seeing this you'll
never think about frozen vegetables in the same way! Get Joe Plempel to
tell you his early childhood trauma surrounding this film.
TCM 9:30-11P Village of the Damned (1960-British)
British science fiction, based on John Wyndham's
novel, The Midwich Cuckoos. Everyone in a rural English village spontaneously
looses conscience. When they awake all the women are pregnant. They give
birth to strange emotionless children with brilliant minds, psychic powers
and bad attitudes.
AMC 10-11:30P The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)
From Hammer studios. Fred Clark plays an American
showman who totes the mummy of Ra-Antef back to England of the 1920's.
It goes on a killing spree and kidnaps the leading lady. This is not a
sequel to The Mummy (1959).
TCM 11P-12:30A It! The Terror From Beyond Space (1958)
A monster loose on a spaceship! Check out the movie
that some people call the original version of Alien.
Thursday October 28th
TCM 12:30-2:30 A Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
A pretty good remake of a very good film. Look for
the cameos by Kevin McCarthy, star of the 1956 original, and Don Siegel,
the director of the first film.
TCM 2:30-4A The Creeping Unknown (1956-British)
Director Val Guest's Hammer sci-fi classic. Professor
Quatermass (Brian Donleavy) hunts a hideous mass that has that has consumed
the body of the only survivor of a rocket crash.
AMC 3:30-5A The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964-British)
From Hammer studios. Fred Clark plays an American
showman who totes the mummy of Ra-Antef back to England of the 1920's.
It goes on a killing spree and kidnaps the leading lady. This is not a
sequel to The Mummy (1959).
TCM 4-6A The Wild Wild Planet (1965-Itallian)
. This is a dim-brained "B" movie about an alien
mad scientist sending female agents in tight leather pants to shrink earth's
leaders. The tiny people are taken to a futuristic city populated by mutants,
dwarves and 4-armed androids.
AMC 5-6:30 A X--The Unknown (1956-British)
Radioactive mud from the Earth's core roams across
the Scottish countryside, dissolving people and absorbing radiation. Dean
Jagger is the American officer on its trail. A nice piece of Hammer sci-fi.
AMC 6:30-8:05P Homicidal (1961)
A William Castle knock-off of Psycho. But a fun
knock-off. This one has more blood. Like Psycho, this has a central character
of dubious gender. Psycho patrons weren't allowed in the theater after
the first five minutes. The Homicidal audience was allowed a "fright break"
five minutes prior to the end. Any audience member could follow a yellow
stripe to "coward's corner" illuminated with a yellow light. After being
publicly shamed they could receive a full refund.
AMC 10P The Werewolf (1956)
An unfortunate victim has an accident (that ain't
really an accident at the hands of the nasty scientist) with some serum.
Sonuvagun, he's turned into a werewolf.
TCM 10P-12Mid M (1931-German)
This movie is not a horror movie--it's a horrifying
movie. Peter Lorre made his screen debut as the child murderer at the center
of the story, who blithely whistles "Hall of the Mountain King" as he goes
about his grim task. Director Fritz Lang had a lot of trouble at first
when he announced that he was making this film. He was originally going
to call it Murderer Among Us. He discovered that the growing (at the time)
adherents of the Nazi party thought, from the title, that it was a movie
critical of them. The "court" at the climax of the film is made up of actual
members of Berlin's criminal elite of the day. They had to clear the set
when word leaked that the police were about to stage a raid.
Friday October 29th
TCM12 Mid-2A Diary of a Madman (1963)
A Vincent Price low key horror based on a Guy deMaupassant
story, "The Horla." Price is a 19th century magistrate who is forced to
kill a deranged condemned man in self-defense. The man's eyes glow and
the murderous wraith, the Horla, that had possessed him now occupies the
unfortunate magistrate.
TCM 2-4A Night Must Fall (1937)
Robert Montgomery is thoroughly charming as the
Cockney handyman who ingratiates himself with a wealthy British dame. Just
don't open that hat box that he loves to carry around.
TCM 4-6A Tower of London (1962)
Director Roger Corman's remake of the 1939 Universal
classic. In this one Vincent Price takes over the role of the mad hunchback,
Richard III (played by Basil Rathbone in the original). Price made his
screen debut in a supporting role in the original.
TCM 8-9:30 P The Devil Doll (1936)
Underrated horror tale from Todd Browning. This
was his next to last film. Lionell Barrymore is a deranged Devil's Island
escapee swearing to avenge his unjust imprisonment. He shrinks humans to
doll size to carry out his evil schemes. The movie was co-written by Erich
vonStroheim.
AMC 9-10P Attack of the 50 Foot Monstermania (1999)
TCM 9:30-11P Bedlam (1946)
Set in 1761, actress Anna Lee is unjustly sent to
an insane asylum overseen by the sadistic Master Sims (Boris Karloff).
Produced by Val Lewton.
AMC 10-11:15 P It Conquered the World (1956)
Roger Corman's story of a big rubbery pointy thing
with little arms and lots of teeth. It drops in on its willing servant,
Lee Van Cleef, and his wife, Beverly Garland, who becomes monster chow.
Peter Graves is the good guy.
TCM 11P-12:30A Donavan's Brain (1953)
Before she was First Lady, Nancy Reagan (at the
time known as "Nancy Davis") teamed up with Lew Ayres to duke it out with
Donovan's brain. Filmed previously in 1944 as The Lady and the Monster.
AMC 11:15P-12:40A The She Creature (1956)
The Great Lombardi (Chester Morris) hypnotizes his
assistant. He regresses her back to the way we all once looked--to a prehistoric
sea-monster with bad skin, blonde hair, a tail, claws in the stomach, wings
and huge breasts. Charlie Sheen hits on her for her phone number.
SATURDAY October 30th
TCM 12:30A-2A The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)
Karloff is the Oriental madman bent on the destruction
of the white race and domination of the globe (with the help of the sword
of Genghis Khan and his handy electronic ray machine). Myrna Loy is his
devilish daughter. Lewis Stone is his chief nemesis, Nayland Smith of Scotland
Yard. In my humble opinion, I think that this is THE Fu Manchu movie.
AMC 12:40-2:05A The Amazing Colossal Man (1957)
A lovably cheesy Bert I. Gordon production, rushed
along to take advantage of the popularity created by The Incredible Shrinking
Man. Colonel Manning (Glenn Langan) gets nailed with radiation from a plutonium
bomb. Naturally he goes bald, goes nuts and turns into a giant. Hey, watch
what you're doing with that giant syringe. AHHHH!!!
TCM 2-4:30A The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933-German)
This is a sequel to Lang's silent classic, Dr. Mabuse
(1922). In this, Mabuse controls a criminal organization from his cell
in an insane asylum. When he dies his soul is reincarnated into the director
of the asylum. The storyline was too close to real life for the Nazis--it
reminded them of Hitler laying out his plans in Mein Kampf from his prison
cell, dreaming of power. The director, Fritz Lang, fled Germany (his wife,
screenwriter Thea von Harbou, stayed and remained loyal to the Nazis).
The film was not shown in Germany until after the war.
AMC 2:05-3:20A War of the Colossal Beast (1958)
Bert I. Gordon has the tall, tempestuous Colonel
Manning back. He seemed to be dead at the end of The Amazing Colossal Man.
Somehow he's living in Mexico with an empty eye-socket and 1/2 a ruined
face. And meaner than ever.
AMC 3:20-4:45 A Earth vs. The Spider (1958)
When producer/director Bert I. Gordon was shooting
this it was called The Spider, presumably to cash in on the popularity
of The Fly. In this, a high school biology teacher finds a (presumably)
dead giant spider. He totes it back to the school gymnasium. A rock'n roll
band and a bunch of crazy mixed up kids dancing wake spidey up. He goes
on a rampage. Particularly great are the shots from the spider's point-of-view
as screaming extras fall down in front of it and wait to get eaten. This
movie was one of the last of the 50's big bug shockers.
TCM 4:30-6A Doctor X (1932)
From director Michael Curtiz, Lionell Atwill plays
the prototypical mad Doctor Xavier. Fay Wray plays his daughter. Filmed
in an early two-strip technicolor process.
AMC 4:45-6A The Giant Gila Monster (1959)
To the sound of 50's rock 'n roll a band of teenagers
fire up their hot rods to battle a rear-projected gila monster in New Mexico.
AMC 6-7:30A Reptilicus (1961-Danish)
It's Copenhagen's for a whooping. Oil drillers find
a hunk of dinosaur flesh on a drill that grows into a giant flying reptile.
He proceeds to try and show them who's the REAL "great dane."
AMC 7:30-9A The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
Before Tokyo got squished between Godzilla's toes,
New York was being turned into pate' by the (fictional dinosaur) rheosaurus,
thanks to director Eugene Lourie. In 1952 King Kong got re-released and
was a sensation. It made more money than it did in 1933. That may have
been the inspiration for this movie, that spawned countless big critter
movies. It was in production when it was discovered that it had some relationship
to Ray Bradbury's story, "The Foghorn." Bradbury was paid and the movie
used his name extensively in its promotion. This was Ray Harryhausen's
first solo effort away from his mentor, Willis O'Brien.
AMC 9-1030 A The Giant Behemoth (1959)
Another Eugene Lourie film. This one is about a
brontosaurus that goes for a walk. Unfortunately for England he's strolling
through modern-day London. This guy's radioactive. He sears the skin off
the Brits as it turns their town into humus. Willis O'Brien, the Hollywood
legend who already had a 10 year long career when he animated the dinosaurs
for The Lost World in 1925 and who was in many ways the father of stop-motion
photography in popular cinema, ended his career with this film.
AMC 10:30A-12 Noon Gorgo (1961)
Eugene Lourie, the godfather of the big-beast-stomping-the-city
movies did this follow up about a 65 foot dinosaur captured off the coast
of Ireland and taken to London as a circus exhibit. The party's over when
his mom shows up. Oy! Watch as they nail "West-monster" Abbey.
AMC 12-1P Attack of the 50 Foot Monstermania (1999)
AMC 1-2:25P Godzilla (1956-Japanese)
A pretty good movie got ruined when the decision
was made to re-arrange the movie and insert footage of Raymond Burr as
American "Steve Martin." Essentially, Gojira is woken up and tramples anything
he can find.
AMC 2:25-4P Godzilla vs. the Thing (1964-Japanese)
Godzilla's rest is disturbed by a greedy developer
who's trying to suck away part of the ocean to build luxury condos. Mothra
comes to Japan's defense when Godzilla goes on the rampage.
AMC 4-5:30 P Ghidra, the Three Headed Monster (1965-Japanese)
Rodan, Mothra and Godzilla team up to kick Ghidrah's
leathery dragon butt!
AMC 5:30-7:05 P Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1970-Japanese)
Aliens borrow Godzilla and Rodan to battle King
Ghidra on Planet X. Actually they try to use the three monsters to take
over the Earth.
6:00 P.M. ICS HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZA!!!
TCM 7-9P Universal Horrors (1998)
Kenneth Branaugh narrates this documentary about
how Universal evolved into Hollywood's house of horror.
AMC 7:05-8:35P Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (1966-Japanese)
Godzilla battles a jumbo jumbo shrimp named "Ebirah."
Mothra puts in an appearance.
AMC 8:35-10P Terror of Mechagodzilla (1977-Japanese)
The big guy takes on his mechanical counter-part
and a "titanosaurus" controlled by the bad guys.
TCM 9-11P The Haunting (1963)
If you sat through the hyperactive 1999 version,
check out the low-effects 1963 original. Then ask yourself which one's
scarier.
AMC 10-11P Attack of the 50 Foot Monstermania (1999)
AMC 11P-12:50A Godzilla vs. King Ghidrah (1991-Japanese)
Time travelers from the 23rd century warn the Japanese
of 1992 that Godzilla will cause a catastrophe in the 21st century. They
travel back to 1944 to try to prevent Godzilla from being created by the
Bikini H-bomb test (please overlook the fact that in 1944 we had not yet
developed the atomic bomb and that the test on the hydrogen bomb in the
Bikini atoll wouldn't occur until 1951!). As it turns out, these sneaky
time travelers really just want to get Godzilla out of the way and unleash
King Ghidrah to destroy Japan to keep it from become the dominant economic
power. Maybe it was their crappy sense of history that thwarted their schemes!
SUNDAY October 31st
AMC 12:50-1:40 A Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992-Japanese)
We get a three-way slug fest between Godzilla, Mothra
and Battra (who was created to punish the humans for the bad things they've
done to the earth).
TCM 1-3A Poltergeist (1982)
The film that did a lot to move the haunted house
away from the remote baronial estate and into the suburbs. A family discovers
why they got such a great deal on their new home rancher when the house
attacks them.
AMC 1:40-3:35 Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla (1994-Japanese)
Mothra flies into space to stop a meteor from colliding
with Earth. She accidentally takes cells from Godzilla and Biollante. They
pass through a black hole and become Space Godzilla. The new critter heads
for Earth and takes on Godzilla, junior and the G-Force robot, Mogera.
TCM 3-4:30A The Ghost Ship (1943)
From director Mark Robson and producer Val Lewton.
A fresh third officer signs on board under Captain Stone (Richard Dix).
At first he likes Stone a great deal. But slowly he begins to realize that
the captain of the ship is a dangerous psychopath.
AMC 3:35-5:30A Godzilla vs. Destroyer (1995-Japanese)
The aftermath of the Oxygen Destroyer used on Godzilla
previously creates Destroyah, a beast intent in killing Godzilla. Meanwhile,
the big guy's nuclear energy is nearing melt-down levels.
TCM 4:30-6A The Return of Dr. X (1939)
This has nothing to do with the original movie.
Humphery Bogart is the recently executed Dr. Quesene. He's brought back
to life and now needs a steady supply of fresh blood. The cast also includes
Rosemary Lane, Dennis Morgan, Huntz Hall and William Hopper. This is Bogey's
only horror film and definitely not one of his favorites.
AMC 5:30-6:35A Attack of the 50 Foot Monstermania (1999)
TCM 6-7:15A Scared to Death (1947)
This is an odd little film. It was done in
1947--possibly the only horror movie done that year. It was shot in "cinecolor"
(not very common for a low budget film). And it's being told from the point-of-view
of a woman's murdered corpse! Bela Lugosi and his dwarf buddy Angelo Rositto
(from Freaks) play Inspector Leonide and Indigo. George Zucco is the fiend,
Dr. Van Ee (he replaced Lionell Atwill, who chose to die rather than be
in this film). This is low budget fun from Screen Guild productions.
AMC 6:35-8:15A Frankenstein Conquers the World (1964-Japanese)
A Japanese boy eats the heart of the Frankenstein
monster that had been sent from Germany and irradiated at Hiroshima. Just
as you'd expect, he turns into an affable bucktoothed giant that dresses
like a caveman and defeats a nasty dinosaur (the "baragon"). Footage with
Nick Adams has been inserted for U.S. audiences. He plays Dr. James Brown
(insert your own joke here). This is not exactly a "think piece."
TCM 7:15-8:30A Pharaoh's Curse (1957-British)
A 1903 expedition in Egypt is threatened by an Egyptian
mummy/vampire (and his sister) who is aging thousands of years.
AMC 8:15-10A War of the Gargantuan (1967-Japanese)
Russ Tamblyn is an American scientist trying to
help his Japanese buddies cope with a pair of big hairy green gargantuas.
TCM 8:30-10A Kongo (1932)
A bizarre story of a crippled madman (Walter Houston)
who seeks revenge on the man who wronged him by torturing that man's daughter.
This is a remake of the Lon Chaney silent, West of Zanzibar.
TCM 10-11:15A The Cat People (1942)
Producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur
featured a shape-shifting monster that we never see transform. Irene (Simone
Simon) fears that she's descended from a race of people who turn into large
predatory cats when they're sexually aroused. This is a prime example of
atmospheric horror.
AMC 10-11:30A Rodan (1957-Japanese)
A gigantic artist terrorizes 19th century Paris,
sculpting his way through the city. OOPS! That's Auguste Rodin. This is
a really really big pterodactyl that's unearthed by Japanese miners. It
heads straight for that ol' monster-magnet, Tokyo (geez, how does this
work? Is it like trailer parks and tornadoes?).
TCM 11:15A-1P Strait-Jacket (1964)
From director/producer William Castle and writer
Robert Bloch. Joan Crawford goes nuts and decapitates her philandering
husband and his girlfriend (maybe she caught them using wire hangers!).
Twenty years later her daughter (Diane Baker) is there waiting for her
when "Mommie Dearest" gets released from the nut house. Sonuvagun, heads
start tumbling off of shoulders. But Joan says it ain't her. Is it? Leif
Erikson, George Kennedy, Rochelle Hudson and Lee Majors are on hand to
help her find out. In its original release patrons were handed cardboard
bloody axes upon entering the theater. The ad line, "Just keep saying to
yourself 'It's only a movie, it's only a movie,'" was later used in Wes
Craven's 1972 Last House on the Left.
AMC 11:30A-1P Gamera, the Invincible (1965-Japanese)
Like Godzilla, American footage was added with U.S.
Secretary of Defense Albert Dekker and U.S. General Brian Donleavy trying
to help the Japanese defeat their terrible new foe, a giant fire-breathing
turtle unleashed by an atomic bomb. Like Godzilla, Gamera is ultimately
defeated (after using "plan 2" to trap him on a Mars-bound rocket). And
like Godzilla, Gamera eventually became a sensitive new-age guy in subsequent
films, helping his human buddies.
TCM 1-2:30P Children of the Damned (1964-British)
A nicely done sequel (or companion film) to Village
of the Damned. This time the children are after global domination.
AMC 1-2:30P Konga (1961)
An evil scientist gives a growth serum to a chimpanzee.
He grows into a guy in a gorilla suit. He's then hypnotized to kill. The
scientist's spiteful wife throws a "monkey wrench" in the works by zapping
the gorilla suit with an extra large dose of serum. He becomes King Kong
size and goes on a rampage (that is he becomes a guy in a gorilla suit
scampering through miniature sets).
TCM 2:30-4P Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
This is a companion movie to Dr. X (which aired
yesterday), with a similar cast and also directed by Michael Curtiz. Lionell
Atwill is the insane curator of the museum. The movie was thought to be
lost until the early 70's when it was found in Jack Warner's private archive.
Like Dr. X, this was also filmed in 2 color technicolor.
TCM 4-6P House of Wax (1953)
Set in turn-of-the-century Bawlmer, this 3-D remake
of Mystery of the Wax Museum features vintage Vincent Price as a homicidal
sculptor of wax figures. This is the film that really launched Price's
horror career.
AMC 4-5:45P The Land that Time Forgot (1975)
The crew and prisoners of a WWI German submarine
wind up in the lost land of Caprona. They discover a land of Hollywood-style
cavemen, men in dinosaur-shaped rubber suits, cheesy prop dinosaur heads
on poles and rubber pterodactyls on easily seen wires. The hero is Doug
McClure.
AMC 5:45-7:30 P Valley of the Gwangi (1969)
Cowboys in 19th century Mexico go up against Ray
Harryhausen's dinosaurs.
TCM 6-8P Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
This lush remake of the classic story features Spencer
Tracy and Ingrid Bergman in more of a psychological study of man's best
and worst sides.
TCM 8-9:15P Freaks (1932)
If you haven't gotten around to it, check out this
film that was banned for decades and can still generate nightmares! Director
Todd Browning bet his whole career on this movie and lost!
AMC 8-930P The House on Haunted Hill (1958)
William Castle's classic about a wealthy Vincent
price attempting to scare his mansion load of guests to death. This is
the Castle film that featured "Emergo" that was touted as being, "more
startling than 3-D." During the film a glow-in-the-
dark skeleton would be flown over the heads of the young theater patrons
with a pulley. The beleaguered bag of plastic bones made a favorite target
for wadded up candy wrappers and popcorn bags.
TCM 9:15-10:30P Mad Love (1935)
Remake of the silent German classic, Hands of Orlac
(1925). Peter Lorre (in his American cinema debut) is the mad surgeon,
Dr. Gogol. The rival for his affection, the great pianist Orlac (Colin
Clive) has his hands injured. Gogol grafts the hands of a recently executed
knife thrower onto his wrists. The results are disastrous. This is the
last film directed by legendary cinematographer Karl Freund. The man who
directed The Mummy (1932) and photographed The Golem (1920), Metropolis
(1927) and Dracula (1931) would eventually serve as cinematographer for
"I Love Lucy."
AMC 9:30-11P The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
This is the second team up of director Roger Corman
with writer Richard Mathesson and star Vincent Poe to produce this next
entry in the Poe series. Price is a 16th century Spanish nobleman, driven
mad when he believes that he's buried his wife alive. He assumes the identity
of his father, a vicious inquisitor. The torture chamber, with its massive
razor-sharp pendulum, provide some terrific scenes.
TCM 10:30-12Mid The Beast With Five Fingers (1946)
Peter Lorre is incredibly creepy as a deranged astrologist
who's sure that the disembodied hand of his dead employer has escaped the
crypt. Famous Spanish surrealist (and cohort of Salvador Dali's) Luis Bunuel
filmed some of the hand sequences.
MONDAY November 1st
TCM 12Mid-2A The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
After nearly 75 years this silent classic still
holds its power. Lon Chaney is the insane Eric, haunting the sewers below
the Paris Opera House. The falling chandelier, the masked ball, the final
chase and ,of course, the unmasking, are still very disturbing and gripping
scenes. A few years ago this movie was shown in its entirety on the jumbo
screen overlooking Times Square in Manhattan in honor of Halloween. Thousands
of usually tough, jaded New Yorkers stood and stared in awe at this silent
gem.
AMC 12Mid-1A "Roger Corman: Hollywood's Wild Angel"
AMC 1:30-3:10A The Abomonable Dr. Phibes (1971)
Vincent Price is a vengeful vaudevillian who decides
to avenge his wife death at the hands of incompetent surgeons. He goes
biblical on them. He is inspired by the 10 plagues of the old testament.
The ad line was, "Love means never having to say you're ugly."
TCM 2-4A The Monster (1925)
In this silent classic a deranged Lon Chaney is
a researcher engineering car wrecks so he can experiment on the survivors.
AMC 3:10-4:45A Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)
Price is back as the diabolic doctor, now in Egypt
trying to beat Robert Quarry to the Elixir of Life (Phibes is trying to
revive his dead wife--Caroline Munro). As in the original there are plenty
of imaginative deaths (the telephone receiver with a spike is a hoot).
TCM 4-6A The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
This is a flawless retelling of the Oscar Wilde
story about the handsome young man who remains unchanged while his picture
shows signs of age and depravity. Hurd Hatfield played the title role.
The cast also featured Angela Lansbury, Donna Reed, Peter Lawford and narration
by Cedric Hardwicke. Thanks to ubiquitous old movies on 50's TV, this was
the first horror movie that I ever saw. It still scares me.
AMC 4:45A The Tingler (1959)
William Castle directed this movie about a scientist
(Vincent Price) who discovers that we all have little rubbery critters
in our bodies that become huge rubbery critters when we're afraid. They
can only be paralyzed by screaming. The gimmick was "Percepto." The story
that Castle told was that while trying to come up with a gimmick to promote
the film he was in bed reading when his bedside lamp went dark. When he
went to change the bulb he discovered that the lamp had a short and got
a hell of a shock. After recovering he exclaimed to his wife, "I'm going
to buzz the asses of everyone in America!" Theaters were equipped with
special buzzers to zap the behinds of hapless patrons in a special screaming
section in the film (one bored projectionist in Boston decided to test
his buzzers a week early, during the run of the Audery Hepburn film, A
Nun's Story). When all was said and done Castle fell slightly short of
reaching out to the posteriors of everyone in America. But he figured he
buzzed about 20,000,000 of them.