Celebrity Endorsement: Jeff Goodwin!

He may not be a household name, but if you're a movie buff of any kind you've definitely seen his work...and he's my pal of nearly twenty years now...so this trip into The Video Vault of Mora Tau involves more kudos for the blog...with a namecheck...I'll let him introduce himself...take it away, Jeff...

And although he might appear to be heading for the hills there at the end...don't worry...he'll be back...Watch This Space...



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

The real terror? Finding sand in crevices three days later...

Terror on the Beach  (20th Century Fox Television, 1973)




Hey, it was a TV movie - they don't usually have theatrical posters...






Before the Camera:


Dennis Weaver  (TV's McCloud himself!)
Estelle Parsons  (Bonnie and Clyde)
Kristoffer Tabori  (Making It)
Susan Dey  (TV's The Partridge Family)
Scott Hylands  (TV's Night Heat)
Henry Olek  (Rollercoaster)
Roberta Collins  (Death Race 2000 - she's Matilda the Hun!)
Jacqueline Giroux  (Drive In Massacre)
and
Walter Beakel  (Little Cigars)
as
The Fisherman



Behind the Camera:

Directed by Paul Wendkos

Produced by Stanley Bass, Walter Beakel, Alan Jay Factor, and David Knapp

Written by Bill Svanoe


Once again we delve in to the glory days of the TV movie. Boy, when they got geared up in the early 70's they started cranking these suckers out like there was no tomorrow. And sadly most of these movies are not much seen anymore, despite a certain level of quality inherent in network broadcast - meaning you're not going to see cinema sludge made by someone's Uncle Joe with a camcorder - which was a very real possibility when renting movies on VHS in the 80's. The TV movies also had a lot of good actors and celebrities in them. Here's one that had a fairly stellar TV cast.
    Three years after he'd starred in the TV movie Duel for director Steven Spielberg, Dennis Weaver was hired to play the same basic role in this teleflick: the button down businessman who can't understand why his staid life is suddenly under attack by an unknown assailant. Eventually, pushed to the limit, he snaps and fights back. Weaver was already well known for his role as TV's McCloud - the laconic cowboy lawman in New York City he'd play for seven seasons; so here was a chance for the actor to cut loose a bit. And unlike Duel, this time he's not alone. This time he's Neil Glynn, who has a wife - Arlene (Parsons); a son - Steve (Tabori), and a daughter - Dee Dee (Dey) (say that three times fast!). They're the typical family - typical for 1973 that is - out for a family vacation on the coast in California. It will be sun and fun and fishing and - arguments. Neil wants Steve to go to college; Steve wants to go out and see the world. Dee Dee wants to explore women's lib; Arlene wants Dee Dee to help her make egg salad. Then they meet up with Jerry (Hylands) and his band of followers. Faster than you can say Manson family, this bunch proves to be fairly psychotic as they begin to methodically terrorize the family. A 1973 lack of cell phones and a little judicious automotive sabotage strands the Glynns there by the beach, and things go from bad to worse. Eventually Neil is going to have to man up, but even with the help of his son, will they be able to survive...Terror on the Beach?



Thankfully the director instructed the cast to amp up their performances after this;
otherwise the title might have been Mild Consternation on the Beach.

















I like watching the old TV movies - they all have a particular feel about them; and sometimes I saw them as a kid and seeing them again brings back vague memories of the first viewing. I'm pretty sure I watched this one as a tyke, as I'd already discovered scary movies thanks to the Universal Studios monsters, and something with the word Terror in the title would be catching my eye as I scanned the TV Guide. I also like Dennis Weaver - a very good actor who found his niche on television and worked across several decades, from Dragnet in the 50's to the ABC Family series Wildfire at the time of his passing in 2006. Here he's surrounded by a very good cast - it's rare for all four actors playing a family in a TV movie from this period to be known quantities - usually one of the kids did a couple of acting jobs in the day and is a chiropractor now or something. All of the actors are at least adequate, and most are pretty good. Admittedly not all that much happens - the bodies are not stacking up like cord wood - but there's some solid tension, and some good creepy moments during the night scenes when the family camp is surrounded by pitch black darkness and the creeps are out there somewhere lurking. Director Paul Wendkos keeps events moving smoothly across the 74 minute running time, so this one ends up with a qualified recommendation. If you enjoy movies that are more about drama and suspense than a body count and gore, you might find enough here to warrant a look. All others need not apply.







Let's Get Out of Here ?

We have a partial winner around the 39:00 minute mark when The Line has "this stuff in the camper and get" added to its middle section. But then we get a clear use closer to 56:00 when the baddies start to have a McCloudy night thanks to Dennis Weaver and family going on the offensive.






Eye Candy ?


Well, though playing younger in the movie, Susan Dey was 21 at the time of filming, and thanks to some judicious use of a red bikini -

 - she makes the list! Guess we can call her Eye Can-dey!

Buddha Man's Capsule Review



Buddha Man says "Terror on the Beach is Dennis Weaver,
delinquents, and dune buggies and will tide you over until
the next flick."

 Thanks as ever, Buddha Man. And til next post here, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!

Maniacal Movie Poster Monday #32!

Hercules in New York  (Trimark Films, 1970)

I'm amazed "Arnold Strong" didn't go on to a long career in movies after this one.

Oh, wait - he did! He just went back to his real name.

Arnold Schwarzenegger.












The Murder Gang  (Independent International Pictures, 1976)

I haven't seen this Al Adamson potboiler - despite its several releases under several different titles...











Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers  (American Independent Productions, 1988)

One of director Fred Olen Ray's best - over-the-top fun!








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

Saturday Night at the Movies! 8/27/11

Who cares what picture we see?


That nasty witch Hurricane Irene sure doesn't, I can tell you! So we're going with this flick, which starts off with stock footage of a hurricane!

Now here's a movie! Low budget filmmaking at its low budgetest! The hurricane at the opening is all stock footage, and it serves to sink the heroes' boat (offscreen) and strand them on the flick's island location. We are told of the sinking by a voiceover news report over the storm shots - make no mistake - that is some minimalist cinema gold right there!



And the movie resides in VHS form, and hosted by Elvira, in the video vault. We could be watching it tonight...if you care to come by...and Irene leaves the power on!



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

Phillip Marlowe? No thanks, I have plenty of wine in my glass...

Welcome once more to

Bookworm's Book Club!

The Big Sleep (Pocket Books, 1958)   Although I've seen several movies based on his books, this was the first Raymond Chandler novel I've ever actually read. It was a lucky start, as I managed to pick up his first novel featuring his famous detective Philip Marlowe. As this introductory adventure gets underway, Marlowe is hired by old rich guy General Sternwood. The general is being blackmailed for shenanigans one of his two daughters is mixed up in, and he wants Marlowe to look into the matter. Marlowe takes the case, and it starts to get complicated pretty quickly as it turns out each of the Sternwood girls is a wild child with plenty of interactions with the seamy side of life in Los Angeles. As more and more people come in to the case through myriad connections to the principal players, Marlowe finds himself working an incredibly complex case. Then, the murders start, and he also realizes it's incredibly dangerous. Can even a smart and tough cookie like Philip Marlowe solve his first case or will he wind up pushing up daisies in an unmarked grave?


Raymond Chandler

This was a very cool read, and I'm not even referring to the story - yet! The paperback I have was printed in 1958 (pictured above) so the book was swaddled in 50+ years of history before you even opened it. The novel itself was written in 1939, but seemed at leasr relatively timeless, which is a very good thing. I was quickly captivated by Chandler's writing. There are a lot of spoofs of hard boiled detective fiction, and it's Chandler's prose they're parodying. But the real words have a quiet poetry to them, with evocative descriptive passages that I would stop and re-read a couple of times because they were so good. The characterizations are solid, if not spectacular, with Marlowe's first person narration obviously providing the most insight to him. The mystery is very complex, and here's where we'll turn the corner and hit the points that haven't held up so well. First off, the mystery is so complex, even Chandler didn't know who committed one murder! And as can be expected for a book written in the 1930's, and though he does a pretty good job of working around it - the limits on the salty language (that he obviously wanted to use) and even the plot points (pornography, homosexuality) work against him a bit. And while we're on the subject, his treatment of homosexuality is not very enlightened either - it's not that he has seedy or perverted characters who are gay - it's that he has characters who are seedy and perverted because they're gay. That was the time. There's not much in the way of "it was the time" racism adding in, at least. But looking past those points - if you can - this is a crackerjack old time detective story full of twists and turns and tough guys and tawdry gals, and you really should check this one out!



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

The Video Vault of Mora Tau! 8/24/11

Would you like to play a game?




Then check out these choice game commercials from back in the day!

And because I will never miss a chance to feature this amazing gentleman - here's another campaign for the same game - with a familiar face, shall we say?

Here's another one burned into my brain by my incessant TV watching as a kid (but I DID play outside a lot too! I really DID!):

"Pretty sneaky, sis" is still a phrase I use in my everyday life! I loved when Atari and Intellivision duked it out in the 80's too! Here's George Plimpton "Plimping" for the Mattel video game and touting their "greatest visual effect ever...destruction of a planet!" I think Transformers 3 stole this effect and used it this past summer. It's that stunning.

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

Maniacal Movie Poster Monday #31!

Almost Human  (Joseph Brenner Associates, 1975)

Boy, that looks like one scary horror movie, doesn't it? Too bad it's really an Italian crime flick, for some reason presented like a scarepic in the American advertising when it was released here a couple of years after it had played the rest of the world...









House on Sorority Row (Artists Releasing Corporation, 1983)

Recently remade as Sorority Row, this slasher was one that passed through my VCR back in the day, but didn't leave much of an impression. I may need to check them both out, again and for the first time.












Batman  (20th Century Fox, 1966)

One of my very favorites - a great piece of pop culture camp - with big studio gloss all over it. Sadly, that big studio gloss did not prevent a typo from appearing on the poster...






While we work that one out, I'll just say until next post you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!