Buddha Man's Tricks and Treats!

Good stuff!

Horror of Dracula (Hammer Studios, 1958) Hammer Studios had been making various potboilers and British film noir crime flicks for several years when they decided to do a new version of Bram Stoker's oft-filmed epistolary concoction and struck filmic gold. The script (by Jimmy Sangster) makes some large, but fairly comfortable changes to Stoker's story in the interests of compression and budget. We start off as usual with ol' Jonathan Harker travelling to Dracula's castle, but it seems a bit closer to Germany than Transylvania if you go by the local villagers. Dracula is very tall and not very Romanian, as he's played by Christopher Lee here; but all is forgiven because he's played by Christopher Lee here. And this time, Harker turns out not to be the Count's real estate agent and pawn, but a vampire hunter (!) employed by Van Helsing and well aware just where he's temporarily hanging his hat. He's all ready to lay down some serious stakage, however, he's no match for the Big D, and soon the Big Fanghuna has settled in near Jonathan's hometown in England, the better to put the bite on his fiance. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) shows up searching for Harker, hangs out a bit with Harker's pal Arthur (Michael Gough), and soon is in for the fight of his life with the Grand Poohbah of Vampires.

While Dracula avoids working on his tan, Van Helsing suggests some
decorating touches that are not well received.

This is a tasty little horror treat, done to a turn by the fine folks at Hammer. The cast is impeccable, the direction tight, the production atmospheric and there are some solid scares to be had. Both Cushing and Lee play their parts very well, and this was the first time of several for each (though they each took at least one picture off featuring the other before coming back together for the last couple 15 years later). Titled simply Dracula in its native land before coming here to have Horror of added to avoid the ire of Universal Studios, this had some scandalous onscreen blood and bosomy cleavage (though no nudity) for the 1950's, but obviously those aspects come off a little more tame more than 50 years later. If you have ever or have never enjoyed any of the various Dracula movies, you should really check this one out, you'll be glad you did!










Horror of Party Beach (Iselin-Tenney Productions, 1964) Okay, thanks to those idiotic Medved bothers (no, I didn't forget the R) and whichever of their "books" it was featured in, this movie is ranked down near the bottom of the barrel. But looking at it again recently, it's actually a tongue-in-cheek romp that throws in several disparate elements to see what might stick on the entertainment wall. It ends up being a mix of a beach movie, a musical, an enviromental treehugger flick, and a monster movie - who exactly thought this was meant to be taken seriously? Probably the biggest misstep was the attempts at gore in the monster attack scenes, but they're not much either, mostly stage blood smeared on the victim. You know, the silly jokes, cornball slapstick, and goofy appearance of the monsters (with their oft-mentioned "mouthful of sausages") might have been a tip off. But noooo.

Getcha dogs heah!

Everyone acts like the filmmakers were trying for Gone with the Wind II: Prissy's Revenge and failing. I personally think they succeeded admirably in making pretty much a one of a kind movie. The music is catchy, the acting is mostly non-existent, the monster suits are elaborate even if they are giggle inducing and if you're like me and enjoy your movies a little out there, by all means check this one out!







Thank you Buddha Man! Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

Maniacal Movie Poster Monday #184!

Night Monster  (Universal Studios, 1942)

In addition to the monster rally movies they were releasing in the 1940's - Universal also turned out some other B movie horror programmers. This is definitely worth a watch, especially with those two stars - though Lugosi is again wasted as the butler.















Autopsy  (After Dark Films, 2009)

That's a good poster - I haven't seen the movie. It has Robert Patrick in it - so I might check it out. If you've seen it - would it rate a recommendation for this year's Crazy Movie Weekend: Halloween Horrorfest 4?

















Voodoo Woman  (American International Pictures, 1957)

I saw this one way back in the day - I think it was on a local channel in Northern Indiana when I lived there 1990-1991. However, I remember almost nothing about it - so I wouldn't mind seeing it again one of these days.











Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

The Video Vault of Mora Tau 10/5/14!

I really love digging up old horror movie promos - let's see if I can find some good ones...oh yeah, how about one from each of the major TV networks from my childhood?

 

The American Broadcasting System brings us the premiere of a horror flick from a few years previously...

The Columbia Broadcasting System gives us a late night flick from just a couple of years before...

 

 

And the National Broadcasting Company brings the premiere of one of my favorite horror movies of all time - yes, this one has been featured here before - but it's really cool - and I was right there glued to the screen watching this that night...

Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

Saturday Night at the Movies 10/4/14!

Who cares what picture we see?



Dick Warlock would - because that's the kind of guy he is. So let's make our first All-Horror Month choice this one...

After the second Halloween movie made money - producers John Carpenter and Debra Hill were approached to create a third entry in the series. Neither felt there was any more story to tell about Michael Myers - so they came back with a counter offer - how about turning the franchise into an anthology?


Each year they would produce a new horror movie with different writers and directors that had no connection to any other movie in the series. Everyone agreed this seemed like a workable idea - so they came up with a wild story - a demented mask maker puts a diabolical plan in motion - a store owner discovers his plan and is injured - then murdered in the hospital. The doctor at the hospital teams up with the store owner's daughter to investigate...


However, with no internet to get people prepared for a Michael Myers-less Halloween movie - people were not prepared for a Michael Myers-less Halloween movie.


Halloween III tanked.



It also sent the franchise into a coma for six long years - until they gave in and brought Michael Myers back - five more times!


I liked Halloween III from the first time I saw it in theaters - and really liking only one of those five subsequent sequels - I really wouldn't have minded if Carpenter and Hill's anthology idea had been successful.


Halloween III is in the video vault in a spiffy Blu-Ray edition that can be in the player in moments - if you felt like venturing out in the dark to come watch it with me, that is...








Until next post - you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

Random Stew 10/3/14!

Let's have a little Vincent Price in this Blog Horrorfest!

Look at this - time with one of the greatest actors of all time - and a tasty recipe too!

These ads were in nearly every comic book I read back in the day. I never had or knew anybody who had the product though. I wonder if the apple heads eventually started to stink or rotted into something awful?

I vaguely remember a TV commercial for this game with the Man starring...never owned this game. Neither did any of my friends. Would love to find one in decent shape at a flea market or yard sale...











Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

Nice doggy...CHOMP!

Rottweiler  (aka Dogs of Hell)  (EO Corporation, 1982)




The poster LIES. It's 10 dogs loose - not 12. Nice inaccurate hyperbole, poster dudes.

Before the Camera:


Earl Owensby  (Buckstone County Prison)
Bill Gribble  (Cannibal Apocalypse)
Robert Bloodworth  (Brainstorm)
Ed Lillard  (The Hudsucker Proxy)
Regan Forman  (TV's American Gothic)
Kathy Hasty  (only film!)
and
Jerry Rushing  (The Georgia Peaches)
as
Carl




Behind the Camera:


Directed by Worth Keeter

Produced by Earl Owensby

Written by Thom McIntyre



    By 1982 North Carolina entrepeneur Earl Owensby had been in the movie business for eight years. He'd produced nine movies that were mostly shown at drive-ins in the Southeast, though a couple of his movies did get some play north of the Mason/Dixon Line. He decided to branch out in his filmmaking that year and got ahold of a 3-D camera system. His first offering with the third dimension attached - directed by Worth Keeter - was this thriller.
     The military, in its infinite wisdom in movies like this, develops a new super soldier for the ongoing war effort against the world's villains: genetically enhanced Rottweiler dogs - bred to be smarter, stronger, faster, and meaner than the average dog - or the average soldier. Ten dogs have been modified, and they are ready to be moved to a new training area. Their transport is a tractor trailer, and their route takes them through scenic North Carolina - and the fictional resort are of Lake Lure.



Crappy cellphone pic of producer/star Earl Owensby.

    I probably will not surprise you when I tell you the truck crashes - and all ten dogs survive and are released into the surrounding countryside. Lake Lure Sheriff Hank Willis (Owensby - always producer Owensby's favorite leading man) investigates the crash - but the military hides what escaped the truck in the hopes of recovering the canine corps on their own.
    Epic fail! The dogs promptly make their way to a late night fashion photo shoot out in the woods and eat one of the models. While Sheriff Hank and his pals try to figure out who or what killed the girl, the dogs waste no time splitting up and attacking anyone they see. Shady military scientist Adam Fletcher (Gribble) hangs around town trying to get a line on his precious pooches, but even he can't stop the critters for long. The Dogs of Hell have come to Lake Lure. Who will survive and what will be left of them?




ROTTWEILER!!!

By this time in his production career - nearly ten years in - the films coming out of EO Studios in Shelby, NC were competent low budget flicks. The early movies are much rougher - ragged around the edges and reflecting people learning how to do the job while on the job. That may be part of the reason why the EO movies of the 80's were easier to find on VHS up north - they were simply better made movies. I think Rottweiler was the first of these better made movies (at least of the ones I've seen.)

Mauled...by a ROTTWEILER!!!

Starting off - it's always awesome to watch an 80's 3-D movie - even in 2-D. Sure enough, there are lots of long props stuck into the camera in the first hour or so. The last forty minutes or so use this feature much less, but it's cool while it's happening. The movie is an hour and forty minutes - at least in the widescreen VHS (!) version we watched - and that might normally be a bit long - these movies usually work best in the 80-90 minute range - but it worked out well in the group viewing we had. During the talkier scenes that pad the movie a bit - the group had some great talkbacks to the movie - then everyone was pretty quiet during the dog attack and suspenseful scenes.

Awww....ROTTWEILER?

Director Keeter keeps the action moving pretty well - and while as usual for EO movies there is no nudity or rating affecting profanity - there are some bloody and gory aftermath death scenes. (This blog's buddy - makeup artist Jeff Goodwin - worked on those scenes - some of his very first film work.) There are also some great prosthetic dog heads for the scenes where the humans score against the critters - though Jeff G did not work on those. The acting is usual - some of the actors are a little more polished than others - with lead actor Owensby sticking to his strengths as the laconic sheriff. It's always nice to see Jerry Rushing  - the inspiration for The Dukes of Hazzard TV show - in one of his patented "good ol' boy" performances. It's also funny to see Regan Forman - who later worked on and acted in the TV series American Gothic with me - showing up here briefly at about the age of 9 as Sheriff Willis's smartass daughter.

It's a solid "Nature Runs Amok" flick - or as I like to call them - a solid "Chew 'Em Up and Spit 'Em Out" movie - for those so inclined.



Let's Get Out of Here ?

At roughly 53:50 one of the campers realizes genetically enhanced rottweilers are loose in the camp.





Eye Candy ?


Regan Forman grew up to be a beautiful woman, and would qualify today - but she was only 9 here. Some of the other ladies are cute, but they're not showcased well enough to make the list. Sorry ladies.

Buddha Man Sez:

"Rottweiler is pretty good - definitely not a dog of a movie!"

Thanks Mr. Man! Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

Foto Frenzy: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers!

I was very excited to see this movie when it came out in the fall of 1988. I was
in Florida during that amazing time when I watched 125 movies in 60 days.
This was one of them - viewed at a theater in Winter Haven, Florida the day
it premiered. To be honest - it was underwhelming for me. I added the movie
to the video vault on Blu-Ray a while back and launched Crazy Movie Weekend:
Halloween Horrorfest III with it this past October. I know some people love it -
but it's still underwhelming to me. The positives are Donald Pleasance, Danielle
Harris, and a good October feel. But the movie is not scary, I hate Michael's mask,
and the creative kills get a bit silly. Still, it's a visit to Haddonfield, so that counts
for something.

Dr. Sam Loomis - back on the hunt with new facial scarring from the fiery end of Halloween II.

Laurie Strode's daughter Jamie (guess who she's named for? Wink, wink!)

Michael does indeed return, but he brings along a fairly crappy mask.

At least Kathleen Kinmont shows up in her underwear...

A beefed up kill in a reshoot courtesy makeup guru John Carl Buechler. Thumbs up for this one!

Michael hates his female relatives, no matter how adorable they are.

Come on Dr. Loomis! Stop him!

Until next post - tomorrow! - you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!