Trilogy Of Terror

      "Trilogy Of Terror", directed by the great Dan Curtis and based on three short stories by Richard Matheson, is one of the most infamous made-for-tv movies of all time.  "Trilogy Of Terror" has cemented its status in the annals of horror and pop culture.  This scared the living bejesus out of pretty much everybody when it first aired back in 1975 as the ABC MOVIE OF THE WEEK, and it's one of the best made tv horror movies of all time.  Although the final act of "Trilogy Of Terror" usually gets all the attention, all three stories are actually quite good.  Karen takes on three different roles in this tv frightfest, and earned herself some legendary cult status in the process.

     The first story, "Julie", finds Chad (Robert Burton), becoming obsessed with his mousy college English professor, played by Black.  Chad finally asks her out on a date, and Julie accepts.  But Chad has sinister motives, as he plans to drug her and take racy photos so he can blackmail her.  But little does he know that she is involved with the supernatural, and suddenly the tables are turned on him...  It's a quiet and creepy story that starts the film off on a strong point.

     The second story, "Millicent/Therese", concerns two sisters (both played by Black) who hate each other.  One of the sisters is plotting the demise of the other, but little does she know of the surprises in store for both.  It's probably the weakest of the stories (although Black portraying a sashaying floozy is certainly campy), but sometimes I wonder if they didn't purposely put a weak story in the middle, just to catch us off guard for the shocking finale.

     Easily the most effective and frightening is the third and final act of "Trilogy Of Terror", entitled ""Amelia", or sometimes known as "Prey".  The story is very simple, actually.  Karen Black buys an African fertility doll as a gift to her boyfriend, and takes it back to her apartment to give it to him the next day. However, alone in her apartment that night, she finds it suddenly and shockingly coming to life and hellbent on killing her.  It's this scene that puts this little tv shocker in the pantheon of such horror icons as Damien, Michael Myers, and Carrie.

  

     This was supremely scary stuff back in the day- I know I didn't see it when it first aired, but it's been shown so many times on the late show that I probably saw a repeat of it around 1982 or 83...  and it literally caused me to sleep with the lights on for at least a week.  Granted, I was only ten or eleven when I first saw this, but even today it's still rather shocking and disturbing.  Even for a 1975 made-for-tv movie, the effects are impressive.  This is a gleefully terrifying sequence, one that completely takes you off-guard and is the stuff of nightmares.

     "Trilogy Of Terror" is truly one of the most famous and well-loved of all the fantastic tv horror flicks from the 70s and 80s.  You can guarantee an October showing of it somewhere on cable, and the doll is a highly sought-after collectible.  I grew up on this stuff, and as much as I love retro tv horror, "Trilogy Of Terror" is a personal favorite.  It's available on Netflix, and if you haven't discovered the awesomeness that is Karen Black, not to mention the wonderfully weird work of Dan Curtis and Richard Matheson, then you are totally missing out.

The Boogens

   
     THE BOOGENS was another horror film that somehow escaped my youth. I distinctly remember hearing about it, but never seemed to catch up with it.  Usually, when you finally get your hands on a lost horror movie that somehow escaped your grubby little hands, you're somewhat disappointed when you finally get to see it.  However, I can honestly say I enjoyed every single minute of THE BOOGENS!  Starring Rebecca Balding (SILENT SCREAM), Anne-Marie Martin (PROM NIGHT), and Fred McCarren (NATIONAL LAMPOONS CLASS REUNION), "The Boogens" is a wonderfully old-fashioned monster movie that looks sensational on blu-ray.

     The story goes something like this-the Silver City mine in Colorado is reopening after some 70 years of being closed down.  Turns out, the "Boogens" are monsters who dwell in the closed-up mine and are awakened by the miners descending down to see if it's unusable or not. Some college kids have rented a house in the woods nearby, and these "Boogens" seem to have taken over the basement of the house. It's an interesting premise, and it plays well off the dark, abandoned mine shafts and creepy old buildings. THE BOOGENS has some great atmosphere, a pretty good script, competent acting, good production values, and a surprising amount of suspense to boot. Probably because of budget restraints,  lots of POV shots of the monsters were used, and it's extremely effective. Director James L. Conway wisely keeps the monsters unseen throughout the entire film, until the ending. Some may laugh at the monsters when you actually get to see them, but I was having so much fun with THE BOOGENS up until then that it made no difference to me whatsoever.

     It's a great forgotten little monster movie of the 80'S. It's actually pretty good for a movie of this type.  I think it works so well because it lays on the suspense so think in the first half of the movie, so that when all hell breaks loose in the climax, we are thoroughly into what's going down onscreen. The characters are actually likable, for once- which certainly doesn't hurt matters. Hell, even the dog, Tiger, is actually quite talented and becomes a very likable character in his own right. Rebecca Balding was set to take over the title of Scream Queen from Jamie Lee Curtis in 1981- with her back to back roles in SILENT SCREAM (a great and underrated little slasher...) and THE BOOGENS, but seemed to just up and disappear without a trace.

      THE BOOGENS is a movie that by all rights should have been terrible... but I honestly enjoyed it very much. It's far better than its reputation, I think. It's a rare, almost forgotten monster movie that was all but swallowed in the glut of slashers that dominated the horror genre in the early 80's, although was briefly popular on HBO for a bit. It's a funky little fan favorite that I think is slowly gaining a respectable cult reputation, and because of the recent blu-ray release, looks sensational. Watch it!

The Hills Have Eyes

     Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes" already had a reputation back in the day as being quite the infamous shocker.  Yet I had never experienced it until recently. The mood just struck me, and I went with it.  I figured why not, right?   Now, I went in expecting absolutely nothing.  The sorry state of horror has made me somewhat bitter and jaded these days, and I've been burned one too many times with false promises and over-hype.  But I'd heard so many good things about the film over the years that I figured the odds were with me.  So, I popped it in and settled down with "The Hills Have Eyes".

      Even though the plot is nothing new- family gets lost on vacation in the desert and become stalked by a violent clan of inbred  and mountain-dwelling cannibals- the raw and intense atmosphere is what easily sells the movie.  The empty and creepy desert is terrifying, and becomes a perfect setting for a horror film.

     Craven winningly directs the movie- he really conveys a sense of hopelessness and isolation here, and this film is a huge step up from the dreadful (in my opinion) "Last House On The Left".  And much like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", the grainy, low-budget look of the film stock only adds to the movie.  It just makes it scarier to me.  All that, combined with excellent cinematography and rather impressive special effects for such a low budget, make a gripping and ruthless shocker that undoubtedly made a mark on horror and pop culture.  It's a highly influential and cheap 70's exploitation horror film that, unlike "The Last House On The Left", actually lives up to its hype.

     Brutal and harrowing, "THHE" manages to be one of the most disturbing and frightening genre flicks of the 1970's.  On top of being classic Craven and one of his more creative, in my opinion.  Possibly Wes Craven's greatest B-movie, "The Hills Have Eyes" certainly lives up to its reputation as a violent and shocking cult classic.  This is a perfect drive-in movie here- an unassuming little shocker that doesn't try to be anything more than what it is.  A simple and scary movie.  And for the most part, it succeeds.  Scream Queen Dee Wallace-Stone makes an appearance in this Craven classic that all fans of horror should experience!

The Food Of The Gods

  

        I had always wanted to see "The Food Of The Gods", and finally, I got my wish.  O...m...g...  This trashy adaption of H.G.Wells' classic story is just something that has to be seen to be believed.  Simple as that. It's just so wild and bizarre- and somehow manages to be hilarious, disturbing, ridiculous, and somewhat creepy all at the same time.  The plot goes something like this.  Basically some farmers, one being Ida Lupino, discover some weird goop mysteriously bubbling up from the ground on their land.  Thinking it a gift from God, they start feeding it to their chickens.

      Which soon results in a barn full of giant chickens.  It's absurd for sure, yet kinda scary at the same time.  Giant birds are spooky anyway, but a giant chicken? Yikes.

      To make matters worse for them but awesome for us viewers,  rats, wasps, and other vermin have managed to get into this "food of the gods"- resulting in, guess what?  You got it.  An island crawling with giant critters.  One of the many man vs. animal movies of the 70's, this one is a sight to behold, that's for sure.  This is total drive-in schlock.  Completely batshit and over the top.

     Now as sublimely cheesy as this movie is, it does get really disturbing once the giant rats come into the picture.  As the movie goes on and the humans become more and more desperate for survival, the rats seem to take center stage- which results in lots of rats getting blown away.  Many people were disgusted and shocked by the violent scenes of the rats being shot and destroyed.  And it is disgusting and shocking.  Some claim that it's all done with paintballs and special effects, but it quite obvious that you're seeing many rats visibly killed in some of the film's most infamous scenes.  A source of controversy for years, it's somewhat surprising that as late as 1976 acts of cinematic cruelty to animals would be allowed to be shown on film, especially in mass quantities like in "The Food Of The Gods".

     Bottom line- "The Food Of The Gods" is one of those movies that starts off so bad, you just have to keep on watching to see what happens next.  There are many sublimely ridiculous moments- I myself will never forget the sight of Ida Lupino desperately beating the giant plastic worm supposedly chewing on her arm.  The special effects are pretty laughable, but somehow all this works, to a certain degree.  I'm not saying I love this movie, or even like it.  But I own the movie, so I must like it somewhat... Okay, I do like it, okay?  Fine.  I like it!  This is most definitely a movie I would love to see on MST3K.  It would be a hoot, for sure.  Overall, as cheesy and laughable as the movie gets at times, it still manages to be entertaining.  The film has achieved a cult status of sorts, and it's certainly not the worst horror movie out there- although it does almost reach Ed Wood level at times.  Which of course is why it's so watchable and why I recommend Bert I. Gordon's classic nature's-revenge opus from 1976. You just gotta love the 70's, man.

Silent Scream

       A gloomy seaside boardinghouse occupied by college students who can't find on-campus housing is the setting for this lost slasher.  The house is owned by Mrs. Engels (Yvonne DeCarlo), her strange son, Mason (Brad Reardon), and her daughter Victoria (Barbara Steele), who's suffering from a botched lobotomy.  Her surgery has left her elusive and dangerous, and like a dirty secret, she's kept locked in the attic.  On top of all this madness, a mysterious killer with a knife is lurking...

      "Silent Scream" has finally found it way to DVD, and for those of you who haven't seen this little-known slasher flick from 1980, it may surprise you.  I watched it again last night, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  This movie was exactly as I remembered it from 1987 when I first saw it, and I had a blast with it.  This is exactly the type of movie that made me such a fan of horror in the first place.

   

     Rebecca Balding plays Scotty, who's just a gal out looking for some affordable off-campus housing, and soon finds herself up to her Tenille in the eerie old house full of dark, family secrets and a murderous psychopath on the loose.   Scotty moves into the strange residence, meeting Mason and eventually his mother.  She instantly senses that something is just a little off in this crazy house.  (And boy, is there...)  We're also treated to wisecracking Doris, another residence of the house, along with a hunky college student whom Scotty instantly takes a shine to. Doris is certainly a hoot, but things waste no time turning sinister as we're immediately treated to creepy eyes peering through vents and a frenzied stabbing of another student on the beach.  The student was also living in Mrs. Engels' house, so after the body is found, a police investigation is launched, and the mystery of the mansion and its strange owners is all unraveled.  But not after some serious stabbings occur in the dark, dusty mansion.

     "Silent Scream" is a marvel.  Practically nobody has even heard of this little movie, yet I find it far more entertaining than say, "My Bloody Valentine".  This is a great little slasher, simple and to the point.  It moves along nicely, and you kind of dig Scotty- she's quite likable.  Mason is super weird and creepy, and his mother, (who's actually Lily Munster herself!) manages to be spooky on her own.  But Barbara Steele owns this movie.  She is truly scary in her role- she never utters a word in the entire film, yet completely steals the show. This would be her only on-screen performance in the 80's.

       "Silent Scream" was released slightly before the bloody onslaught of hundreds of copycat slashers, and kind of just got lost in the shuffle.  It's a shame, really, because it's actually quite good.  Predictable and cliched?  Sure.  But it does deliver some genuine shocks and suspense.  And it's chock full of dark cobwebbed hallways, frenzied stabbings, spooky music, and days of atmosphere.  All that on top of Barbara Steele's unnerving, eerie stare...  It doesn't hit you over the head as say "Friday the 13th" did, instead going for more of a disquieting, eerie effect.  It's a nifty mix of Gothic and Slasher flick, and I can't stop talking about the chilling Barbara Steele.   It borrows heavily from "Psycho" and "Halloween", and that's part of what makes it great.  Bottom line, "Silent Scream" is nothing spectacular, but it is a neat and underrated little thriller that certainly deserves an audience.  I love this little forgotten movie.  This is the kind of movie that you might stumble across at 11:30 one night and get completely caught up in.  If you enjoy gloomy mansions, spooky cellars and secret passageways that lead to certain doom, then "Silent Scream" is for you.  And it's available on Netflix!

  

      The film received a high-definition 1.78:1 transfer with a 5.1 surround soundtrack, so "Silent Scream" looks great.  Nothing you haven't seen before, but this one did leave an impact on me when I first saw it years ago on VHS.

Dark Shadows

      A lonely woman travels by train to a fog-drenched, sleepy seaside town.  Her destination- a gloomy old mansion named Collinwood...

      Originally airing on ABC in 1966, "Dark Shadows" started as a deliciously gothic and gloomy afternoon soap. The story was about a woman, Victoria Winters, who was raised an orphan and takes a job as governess at the seaside manor of Collinwood, in the small town of Collinsport, Maine. Victoria soon learns that something strange is going on with the mysterious Collins family, led by matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.  Film legend Joan Bennett played Elizabeth, giving an air of class to the show.  The first season languished on- to be honest, not much really happens in the first season.  Basically the cast of characters are introduced, and while watching, you can tell that something is eventually going to happen, but it does take its time getting there.  In fact, the show was dangerously close to being cancelled and lost forever in oblivion.

      However,with the sudden introduction of a character, Barnabas Collins, near the end of Season One, it became an instant, world-wide phenomenon as it took a full-blown turn into the supernatural.  Barnabas, you see, is a vampire who's been locked away in his coffin for the last 250 years or so.  Once Barbabas arrives at Collinwood, all hell breaks loose as all sorts of supernatural shenanigans start to happen.  "Dark Shadows" was certainly no ordinary soap opera, and while most soap operas are addicting, this one is about the most addictive of them all.  People went absolutely nuts over this show back in the latter 60's.  And it's easy to see why.

     First of all, it's campy.  Shot on a low-budget, there are many shots where you can plainly see the overhead microphone, shadows of the crew members, and actors constantly flubbing their lines.  Yet, all of this only adds to the appeal of "Dark Shadows".  It becomes almost as if you're watching a stage production.  "Dark Shadows" also broke new ground for a daytime soap.  Seemingly no topic was off limits- besides the lead star being a vampire, the show would introduce witches, demons, ghosts, werewolves, bodies in the cellar, and even the Devil himself at one point.

     Second, television audiences had just never seen anything like this before.  "Dark Shadows" was absolutely unique from the very first episode.  Shot in black and white at first, the show incorporated many classic horror film elements.  Creaking doors, fog-swept mansions, and many other Gothic trappings all helped the wonderfully spooky atmosphere the show would become known for.  "Dark Shadows" also concentrated more on character and plot, rather than cheap scares.  The show still provided many great, eerie moments.

     As campy as the show could be, it still boasted a most impressive cast- one of the most impressive assembled for any American daytime television series.  Besides the aforementioned Joan Bennett, many other Hollywood and Broadway actors and actresses contributed to the show- Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Abe Vigoda, Marsha Mason, Nancy Barrett, Thayer David, Kate Jackson, and Louis Edmonds, just to name a few.  The show was also clearly inspired by the film-noir and Gothic cinema of the 1940's.

     "Dark Shadows" deliberately moved slowly but surely.  Building tension and suspense, the show took its time developing story lines and plot elements.  Relying instead on shadows, fog, candlelight, whispers, and mysteries to weave its hypnotic and addicting spell.  The show was a huge smash, shooting Jonathan Frid and the rest of the cast to instant superstardom.  A merchandising explosion would follow as well, offering up everything from lunchboxes to board games.  The show was truly a phenomenon of the 60's.  And extremely influential, as well.  The supernatural soap has attracted a huge cult following that easily rivals that of "Star Trek", and shows no signs of slowing down.  Beloved by its millions of adoring fans, "Dark Shadows" is truly immortal.  Although one of the most far-fetched television shows of all time, it's also one of the more believable because of its bloopers.  Because in real life, we all flub our lines and knock things over from time to time.  I'm going back, thanks to Netflix, and re-watching every episode of this wonderfully dark and strange show.  Right now, I'm getting deep in to Season Two, and things are really starting to pick up.  This is great stuff, and I highly recommend it.

Kolchak: The Night Stalker/ The Night Strangler

    

        Eccentric and abrasive Las Vegas reporter Carl Kolchak stumbles upon the story of his life as a series of ghastly murders rock the city. It seems a modern-day vampire is preying on young women, and from the startling discovery of a dead girl's body stuffed into a garbage can in the opening scene, "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" enthralled and terrified audiences as it aired on January 11, of 1972.  Legendary Dan Curtis, of "Dark Shadows" fame, produced one of TV's best and most-loved movies, and a memorable slice of 70's horror.  Darren McGavin is fantastic as the impulsive Kolchak- it's arguably one of the most memorable performances of the decade.  It's almost hard to believe it back then,  but ABC's Movie Of the Week was a big deal- and hands down tops of all TV-movies.  And during that time, some of the greatest TV shockers of all time aired- "Don't Be Afraid Of the Dark", "Trilogy Of Terror", and of course, "Kolchak". "The Night Stalker" offers just the right amount of creepy atmosphere and scary moments.  The movie was so popular, a sequel, "Kolchak: The Night Strangler" followed, then a weekly series followed that. 

      Based on science and folklore with a dash of supernatural thrown in, "Kolchak" was a ratings smash.  Since it was produced by Dan Curtis, you can see traces of "Dark Shadows" here and there throughout "The Night Stalker".  (And yes, I love "Dark Shadows"...).   You can also see how influential "Kolchak" would be in the future with "The X-Files".  This is a great vampire flick with a witty and atmospheric script by the great Richard Matheson.  Crackling with tension and paranoia, "The Night Stalker"  is great stuff.  They certainly don't make movies like this anymore.  But thanks to Netflix and DVD's, they can still be enjoyed today.  Often cited as the best TV movie of all time, the original and refreshing story of a modern-day Dracula terrorizing Las Vegas is a groovy, scary time capsule of the funky and weird 70's.  I recommend a "Kolchak" double feature and watch back-to-back with "The Night Strangler".

     Since "The Night Stalker" was such a huge success, ABC commissioned Richard Matheson to produce a follow-up.  Airing January 16 in 1973 and featuring a story about a serial killer stalking underground Seattle this time, "The Night Strangler" found lovable Carl Kolchak investigating a murderer who not only strangles his victims, but then with a syringe removes a tiny bit of blood.  Seems our Kolchak has left Vegas in disgust over the corrupt officials, and gets a job at the Daily Chronicle in Seattle.  Yes, folks, Kolchak is back, and soon stumbles across another wave of mysterious murders.  Even though it follows basically the same plot as the original, what helps the sequel this time around is an interesting and clever backstory to the killer- he's not a vampire this time, but more of a mad scientist,  with something about experiments to extend human life with elixirs made of human blood.  "The Night Strangler" also incorporates more humor into the scary moments this time around, but overall it's a strong and well-made sequel.  The creepy underground Seattle is truly a fantastic location- spooky stuff, to be sure.  The characters seem to be a bit more fleshed out this time around, and of course, how can you go wrong with Darren McGavin's performance in the first place?  He was simply born to play this role.  All in all a good, solid sequel that holds its own against the original.  Supremely entertaining and fun!