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 a cursed house and some of the very unpleasant characters which inhabit it. Soul soon finds himself swapping his profession from scribe to vampire killer. Probably not a preferred career choice. Pretty harrowing final scene in this one, too.
So long, David.
When you get right down to it, there are a ton of potential choices for Halloween movie viewing marathons. For the sake of brevity, I am choosing just five selections which will still take you a good day to get through so plan ahead to take the day off from your work or school grind!
- Wolfen (1981) – a cop is assigned to investigate a series of animal attacks. Is there a pack of werewolves on the loose in modern day New York? Some creepy situations and a suspenseful story should keep you entertained throughout. Albert Finney and Gregory Hines are the stars of this one.
- Attack Of The Mushroom People (1963) – OK. This one is really freaky. A group of young folk out on a boat trip have an accident and are stranded on a mysterious island. They take refuge in another landlocked but larger ship. The ship’s journal is examined and a warning is discovered: don’t eat the island’s ample mushroom supply. In order to survive, they’ve got to eat and it’s just easier to grab some of the island’s main staple. That, as you will find out, is a big mistake. Dripping with atmosphere and garish color, this is a must see shocker.
- The Thing (1951) – Science fiction film cornerstone that still maintains its freshness to this day. An alien spaceship is discovered buried in the ice by an American military team stationed in a remote arctic outpost. Although the ship is destroyed, the craft’s only surviving occupant is accidentally reawakened and is in a thoroughly pissed off frame of mind. A last stand ensues as humans battle a formidable alien foe to the death. Essential viewing!
- The Lost Continent (1968) – More whacked out material as a group aboard a doomed ocean freighter become stranded in the Sargasso Sea, a place of strange clogging and rampant seaweed and some cool matte painting shots of a ship graveyard. Yes. There have been others who have also unfortunately succumbed to the deadly area. Attempting to find a way out of the morass, the ship’s inhabitants have a run in with a population of lost in time Spanish conquistadors who rule the region by force. Also thrown into the mix are some oversized creepy crawlies who see anything on two legs as there next meal. This is all great fun.
- Lifeforce (1985) – A huge alien ship is investigated by a team of astronauts from Earth and three seemingly human survivors from the other worldly ship are brought onboard the astronaut’s space shuttle. One by one the human crew succumb to some bizarre malady with only a sole survivor who incinerates the shuttle and takes an escape pod back to Earth. A rescue mission recovers the three aliens from the wrecked shuttle to the detriment of the human population as they come out of a dormant state and seek out our life sustaining energy or lifeforce. A plague ensues on Earth as these energy vampires plunder our planet. Epic destruction and carnage result. Pretty entertaining!
So there are another five fine films that I would personally take a day/night to sit through consecutively for a perfect Halloween viewing experience!
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.
A varied collection of unusual movie and music video clips.
