Michael gets some guitar time in before returning to his favorite vocation. Happy Halloween!
Category Archives: horror tv
Vincent Price’s Dracula (1982) – Good Halloween Fare
A documentary detailing the history of the vampire character Dracula, assembled using various movie clips and the narration of horror icon, Vincent Price. You’ll see clips from the silent “Nosferatu” and other cinematic appearances featuring the ancient blood sucker such as Lugosi in “Mark of the Vampire”, and the 1950’s alternative vampire film, “The Vampire” . “VPD” is a good flick to curl up by the fire to watch as we come upon the Autumn season and move closer to Halloween. Heavy on the garlic fries. Hehe.
Farewell, Tobe Hooper, 2017
Iconic horror film director Tobe Hopper sadly passed away this year. Looking at his work, you see a good handful of classic horror films! Hopper’s masterpiece, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, personified the Hell of being victimized and threatened by a twisted family of cannibalistic freaks somewhere in Texas. There was the thoroughly enjoyable horror TV two-parter, “Salem’s Lot”, an atmospheric, nightmarish look at a town and its populace destroyed by a vampire plague. “Poltergeist” presented the mounting menace of a ghostly presence invading a suburban home and the dislocation and fear that ensues for the family inhabiting the now haunted house. I thought “Lifeforce” was a very entertaining pulp science fiction feature chronicling the awakening of a dormant alien species of vampire on our planet. The outcome? You guessed it. Mass destruction, death, zombie hordes and London in flames.
An entertaining storyteller who let the punches fly, Tobe Hopper produced a very engaging body of work that you must seek out.
Moon Of The Wolf – 1972
A made for TV fright film that touts a modern day werewolf on the loose in Louisiana. Although this movie gets a little talky in spots, I like the atmosphere present from the Louisiana setting and the modest amount of frights served up: Some nice POV shots of the monster descending on his soon to be victims. Also, some creepy moments as a country estate is stalked at night by the howling, marauding wolf man and a hospital is plagued by the unwelcome presence of the destructive monster. Certainly not the best monster make up you will see but thankfully we are not shown the beast too often until the conclusion of the film. The cast has two dependable talents in the form of David Jansen (The Fugitive) and Bradford Dillman (Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Bug, The Enforcer, The Mephisto Waltz). This is a good choice to play on Halloween night or on scary movie night. When the dialogue heavy scenes are wearing on, that is a good time to grab a cold one or a slice of pizza.
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!
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!
TOP 10 ZOMBIE TYPES
Very cool compilation of different zombie types that are found in movies and TV. We find that there may be multiple ways to be turned into a zombie including plagues, solar flares, voodoo, etc. The general consensus is, though, that in order to end a zombie’s miserable existence is to your advantage to severely wound or damage the head area of said zombie. If your aim is steady and accurate enough, use a gun or rifle to shoot the zombie in the head. Seems to do the trick in most cases. Always nice to watch these cats shamble around on the big and little screens but pray that all the talk about an impending zombie apocalypse is just that. Hehe.
KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER – “THE WEREWOLF”
This may be my favorite episode of Kolchak – The Night Stalker TV series. Kolchak ends up on an ocean cruise to do a fluff piece on the singles scene. It ends up being anything but a pleasure cruise for the intrepid reporter. A series of brutal attacks on the paying customers ensue and Kolchak theorizes that a werewolf may be responsible. It turns out one of the guests is harboring a dreadful secret that has a nasty habit of getting completely out of control when the full moon rises. This is a very suspenseful show full of dark shadows, memorable acting and plenty of spooky scenes. Eric Braeden (see “Colossus: The Forbin Project”) turns in a powerful performance as the tortured soul who suffers the curse of the werewolf. Well worth seeking out!