I think I mentioned Tales From The Crypt in an earlier post. I stress this segment from the anthology film from the ’70’s because it features a diabolical madman on the loose who dons a Santa Claus suit to get into the spirit of the Christmas season during which the segment transpires. Seedy Santa leers and creeps outside the residence of an equally seedy sexpot played by Joan Collins. You can question whether there was type casting involved. I have. Anyway, an enjoyable if edgy representation of the jolly fat guy who in this case gets his jollies from stalking less than innocent, soon to be victims. Simply crazy!
All posts by Andrew Swartz
EXISTS – 2014 – TRAILER
I started watching this from about the half way point and got hooked. This is your basic kids stranded in a lonely cabin with no way to get past or rid of the nasty, howling bigfoot creature which wants to avenge itself on them. Fairly effective “found footage” approach is used throughout. One of the humans in peril is video recording the whole adventure. The scene with the guy on the mountain bike and the GoPro trying to find a cell phone signal and, then, trying to outpace a hotly pursuing sasquatch is pretty nerve wracking. Exists brings to mind a similar tale from the ’70’s, “The Creature from Black Lake”. Don’t mess with Mother Nature’s babies may be the lesson here.
THE SHINING – 1980 – TRAILER
Stanley Kubrick’s visually stunning interpretation of Stephen King’s novel. I guess the two follow different plot trajectories. I never sat through the entire King tome. A cursed family moves into a rambling hotel to act as its caretakers during the winter. Seems the Overlook Hotel has some dark secrets of its own that start to manifest during the family’s stay. Expect a LOT of unsettling, frightening moments. The movie takes on the tone of a nightmare. Events, circumstances keep building up and piling on the dread factor. Famous Nicholson over the top performance. Amazing use of Stedicam during filming to move things along nicely.
FIRST BLOOD – 1982 – TRAILER
My favorite Stallone actioner, “First Blood” was the first and best screen appearance of Vietnam Green Beret John J. Rambo. Rambo strays in to the wrong town when its hard ass sheriff takes an immediate dislike to him and throws him in jail. Rambo’s treatment in incarceration brings on flashbacks of his torture at the hands of the enemy in a prisoner of war camp in Vietnam. All Hell breaks loose as Rambo busts out of jail and goes on the lam into the wilds of the Pacific Northwest. The sheriff then takes his personal vendetta against Rambo to extremes and enlists an army of law enforcement to bring the fugitive from Justice in. Great action sequences, some well staged chases, amazing, forested locales and some solid performances from the dependable thespians Dennehy and Richard Crenna. I remember seeing this at a drive in and not knowing what the heck was going on as the forest settings proved too dark to translate well to a drive in movie screen. LOL. At least we were well stocked with booze!
THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD – 1958 – TRAILER
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad has to be stop motion animator, Ray Harryhausen’s, crowning achievement. Sinbad sets out on a fantastic odyssey to retrieve the ingredients to concoct a potion to release his love from a spell which has reduced her to the size of a doll. Many pitfalls and danger are met along the way, of course. The cyclops has become one of the icons of fantasy creatures unleashed on the masses, at least in my world. A sweeping, sprawling cinematic treat, this flick is packed with monsters, mystery, and action. Great creature models and the best stop motion animated work ever done by anybody, in any age!
THE MEPHISTO WALTZ – 1971
Juicy, supernatural soap opera featuring the fabulous Jaqueline Bisset as the wife of an aspiring concert pianist who has her world turned upside down by a gaggle of satanic cult members. Plenty of post Flower Power saturated colors, soft focus lenses and semi risqué goings on. Very enjoyable time waster that plays like the cinematic equivalent of a melodramatic romantic novel. Featuring a cast of great character actors including Willian Windom, Bradford Dillman, Curt Jurgens, Alan Alda and Barbara Parkins.
SATAN’S TRIANGLE – 1975
The 1970’s were rife with speculation about what mysterious force could be behind all the missing and vanished boats, ships and planes which entered the region known as The Bermuda Triangle and then were never seen again. There are many books and television shows which have delved into this haunted spot. Are there natural forces to blame for the swallowing up of all these vessels or is it something supernatural? This scary TV picture thought that The Devil was at work in the area. Doug McClure and Kim Novak get stuck in the middle of all this mess and try to find a way to elude the evil. Good luck, mates!
THE MISSOURI BREAKS – 1976
Certainly an interesting pairing of acting talent in this oater. Jack Nicholson plays a horse thief, who, along with his fellow gang, are systematically picked off by an eccentric, manic bounty hunter, Marlon Brando, hired by a cattle rancher whose stock has been stolen by the thieving bunch. This film is kind of a combination of genres: western and slasher. This was slasher before it existed! Halloween was still a couple years out. Members of Jack’s gang, including the great talents Harry Dean Stanton, John Ryan, Frederic Forrest, and Randy Quaid, are killed one after the other in some new graphic fashion. Yes. This film is heavy on the violence. Although he is an insufferable ass in this part, Brando is a freaking joy to behold in his weirdness. Very entertaining, enjoyable film.
15 Creepy Unexplained Photos You Won’t Believe – That’s Entertainment
Here are some creepy examples of unexpected, ghostly patrons photobombing the living’s photo ops. Plenty of examples provided here to get your hackles up. Another frightening element to this video is the narrator’s robotic, sing song tone. The entertainment value of this post just went up!
DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK – TRAILER – 1973
1970’s TV movies offered up a plethora of weird subject matter the net result being that it left deep psychological wounds on young, impressionable viewers which I am sure, myself included, they carry with them to this day. I remember the exhilaration of braving some of this creepy TV material and then spending sleepless nights terrified by the experience. This unpleasant little story included these hideous, shriveled up, doll sized demons you see here. You see, there is a lady, actress Kim Darby, who spends quite a lot of time in a dark house filled with these beasts. They only want her to join their infernal ranks. Let the drama begin!
THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE – TRAILER (1973)
A lovely, wet weather, stay inside creep fest to indulge in and then pay the price by looking over your shoulder or seeing things out of the corner of your eye when the movie does what it’s supposed to do and scares the Hell (House) out of you. A scientist and his hand picked psychics and sensitives venture to a sprawling estate long rumored to be infested with ghosts. The investigators’ purpose is to gather evidence and finally prove that there is a form of life after death: that ghosts really exist. Heavily atmospheric and unsettling. Good performances from Roddy McDowall and Clive Revill. Nice, frightening electronic music score.
ALIENS EXIST ON THE MOON – UFO DOCUMENTARY – 2015
Some ideas never seem to go away. Over 40 years ago, there was a book documenting strange anomalies seen in NASA photographs of the Moon’s surface. Some of the images originated from orbital surveyors, others were taken during Apollo missions to the Moon’s surface. I have to say that some of the things supposedly seen by acute observers of unusual structures and objects on the Moon stretch credibility and take a good bit of imagination to visualize. And then there are other images, still and motion, which are hard to figure out what the heck they are. Anyway, here is a documentary which pours over some of these ’60’s era artifacts along with more recent visuals delivered from the surface of Mars by our rovers, Google Moon images, more NASA footage of UFOs in Outer Space, etc. Seeing is believing or at least wondering if there could be something to these claims of aliens in our midst all these years.
HALLOWEEN REEANCTMENT WALK THROUGH – FINDING MICHAEL MYERS!
What a cool concept! A haunted house walk through at Universal Studios in Hollywood of psycho Michael Myers’ various killing grounds. In this scenario, you go toward the hulking Shape and he and other scary figures jump out at you. No nasty slashing or blood spilling is involved. You may soil your shorts but at least you’re doing this in the dark. You may get away with no one seeing it.
GHOST RECORDINGS AND OTHER ODDITIES
Halloween rapidly approaches. What better way to get into the spirit (a little ghostly pun, there) than to start tracking down some creepy videos of ghostly manifestations and other strange stuff that will make your skin crawl? Here are some samples to get you startled, er…., started.