31 Days of Halloween - Day 9 - Movie 2

I haven't seen "The Deadly Mantis" (1957) since I was a kid, and was really looking forward to seeing it again. Happily, I enjoyed it. Again, this is not the cream of the crop in giant bug movies, and despite a generic cast, this movie managed to be pretty entertaining. Plus, you get to learn a lot about the radar defense system of the 1950s.

The plot structure is very similar to "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms," only instead of a dinosaur being awakened from suspended animation in the arctic and making its way south, it's a giant preying mantis. The mantis, which looks really good when it's walking around on the ground, and not so great when it's flying leaves a trail of destruction as the military tries to catch up with it, assisted by a paleontologist and a reporter for the magazine of the Museum of Natural History. The Mantis is finally cornered in a car tunnel leading into Manhattan, and for once, the scientist does not end up with the girl; the Colonel does. That's not a spoiler. This is not "The Philadelphia Story," it's a big bug movie.

Unlike other movies of this type, where suspense is attempted by not showing the creature for a good portion of the movie, here it's actually effective. Those first two attacks are really well orchestrated. The mantis' reveal is not so memorable. There is a pretty humorous scene that leads into the main characters' first sighting of the mantis, though, which makes up for it.

William Alland who came up with the story, and served as producer, also produced most of Universal's other science fiction films of the 1950s, including the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" trilogy. The director, Nathan Juran, has a similarly impressive list of credits from this same period, having directed movies such as "20 Million Miles to Earth," "The Brain from Planet Arous," "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman," and "7th Voyage of Sinbad."

31 Days of Halloween - Day 9 - Movie 1

Tonight I watched a double dose of giant bug movies. While neither were of the same caliber of "Them" or "Tarantula," they both were mostly fun to watch. "The Black Scorpion" (1957) featured a whole mess of giant scorpions released from a large cavern, much like the cut spider pit scene in "King Kong" (1933), in the earth because of volcanic activity. This same volcanic activity has played geological havoc on a nearby village, making its citizens and their cattle easy prey for the nocturnal scorpions. It takes two geologists (Richard Denning and Carlos Rivas) with some help from the military to stop the scorpions who manage to wreck buildings, trucks, a train, a descent cage, a tractor, tanks, and a helicopter before going down for good.

The stop motion animation effects by "King Kong" (1933) animator Willis O'Brien, and Pete Peterson are good considering the limited resources, as are the close-up shots of a larger scale model of the scorpion's head. The only flaw with the effects is the terrible, transparent, superimposed scorpion used in a few shots. This movie also reuses it's footage almost as much as a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, particularly in regards to a miniature train which passes the same cave at least 4-5 times in succession. They might as well have been taking a trip across "The Flintstones'" living room.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 9 - Riddle

Where did the goblin carry the football?






Answer to yesterday's riddle: Broommates!



Again, Shawn, the riddle master, was correct!

31 Days of Halloween - Day 9

I don't usually get to dress up for Halloween, as much as I'd like to. I don't put up any of our outdoor decorations until Halloween day, after all the kids in the neighborhood have left for school, and it usually takes me up until the first trick-or-treaters are stepping out of their houses before I'm done. This doesn't allow for much time to dress up.

I don't anticipate things being different this year, but I've found a solution in this great Teenage Frankenstein mask.




If you've seen the 1957 movie "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein" then you know that the costume is pretty much a normal male (well, a normal male, who lifts weights) in a t-shirt and jeans with a really messed up face and a neck brace.

So, I can just remain dressed as I normally do, and then throw this on at the last minute and instant kid repellant!





Of course, I discovered from these photos I discovered on our digital camera, taken by my children--who did not have permission to play with daddy's mask--that the mask is much more disturbing on a child-sized person.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 8 - Movie

While I've never found it particularly scary, I've always really liked "Phantasm" (1979). This movie is a lot of fun, and for the most part doesn't bother to explain anything, which for me was always part of the appeal. It was also really cool; the orphans who never seemed to have homework and could stay out at all hours, responsibly brandishing firearms while zipping around in a really cool car; that great maneuver for getting out of a locked bedroom; the older brother, who still reminds me of a "Star Wars" era Harrison Ford; the metal sphere; the rabid jawas; the menacing tall man played by Angus Scrimm; the great music; the simple title card at the beginning of the movie plus so much other great stuff I don't want to mention because I don't want to wreck it for anyone who hasn't seen it.

All you really know is that it's about the weird goings on at the Morningside Funeral Home, and a group of friends who try and unravel the mystery.

The DVD has a whole mess of extras that I can't wait to watch. Maybe one of them will explain whether director Don Coscarelli has a portrait tucked away that ages for him. He does not look like a man who started directing movies over thirty years ago.

31 Days of Halloween - Contest Reminder!

It occurred to me that a lot of people tend to visit other people's blogs and so forth when they are at work, and not during their own valuable free time on the weekends, so posting a contest at midnight on a Friday night, may not have been the best time to do so, especially since I've posted at least seven new posts since then.

Anyway, I've got a fun contest going on with a cool treat for a prize. Details can be found here.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 8 - Riddle

What do you call two witches living together?








Answer to yesterday's riddle: He has a bat temper.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 8

Here's a story I wrote for issue #17 of the "Dexter's Laboratory" comic book. It has a January 2001 cover date, which means it hit stores in October 2000, just in time for Halloween.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 7 - Movie

I've had "Moon of the Wolf" (1972) sitting on my shelf for at least three years, and finally felt compelled to watch it. This made for tv movie wasn't too bad to start with. The initial murder mystery is pretty nicely set-up as is the cast of suspects along with the soap opera trappings of secret pregnancies, and social prejudices. Unfortunately, you know the killer is a werewolf, and it's even pretty obvious who it is that turns into the werewolf as soon as the character is first introduced. There's nothing more tiring about a mystery than waiting for the sheriff, played by David Janssen, investigating the case to catch up with the viewer. He spends much of the movie, in a French speaking region of Louisiana trying to find someone who can tell him what a loup garou is. Maybe in 1972, a tv audience would have been just as in the dark, but it is called "Moon of the Wolf" after all.

Once the werewolf is finally revealed, he's defeated in the most anticlimatic way possible, and the sheriff isn't even present when it happens. The build up to this point wasn't too bad, a little suspense and maybe throwing one of the characters in jeapordy might have turned this into a nice little tv movie.

Much of the second half of this movie is set up so that you're waiting for the big reveal of what the werewolf looks like. Well, look at the top of this post. there he is. The make-up was done by William Tuttle who also did the make-up for "Mark of the Vampire," George Pal's "The Time Machine" and "The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao," and "Young Frankenstein," so you have to assume that there wasn't a lot of time set asside for applying a complex make-up (no transformation scene either), which is why this well groomed werewolf's minor amount of facial hair stops at the neckline.

Even so, I'll take this over crappy fake looking CGI werewolves any day.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 7 - Riddle

Why doesn't anyone like Dracula?







Answer to yesterday's riddle: Throw it up in the air--it will come down SQUASH!


Nice job, Max!

31 Days of Halloween - Day 7

For well over a decade now, if you wanted to find a magazine with some do it yourself halloween craft projects that weren't those nauseatingly safe-cute preschool, and grandma, type crafts featured in "Women's Day," and "Family Circle," the only option was "Martha Stewart Living." There's nothing wrong with this. There's usually some pretty great looking stuff in there. Even so, I've yet to actually want to construct any of it for my own house.

I think David J. Skal nailed the reason why perfectly in his fantastic 2002 book "Death Makes a Holiday." In an era when everyone from conservative Christians to mavens of political correctness are trying to tame the holiday into something "nice," Martha completely tames the holiday. "For Stewart, everything about Halloween is Perfectly Under Control." The chaotic spirit of the holiday does not have its presence felt in her orderly, decorated version of it.

For those of us who want to make some Halloween decorations, costumes, and so forth with a bit more bite and grue to them, then look no further than the special Halloween issue of "Make". It's worth buying just for the cover and interior illustrations by Seth, but there's a lot of great stuff in there, from nauseating looking cakes, to a fantastic decapitated Marie Antoinette costume, to a jack o'lantern carved to look like a cylon, complete with scanning red eye and sound effects, to an easy to build, inexpensive way to turn your store bought fog machine into a turbo charged deluxe fogger. If I actually had the time to do it this year, this project I would tundertake.

They're also having a contest for DIY projects to be included in the next Halloween Special Issue. You can find the information via their website at the link above.

I'll still pick up "Martha Stewart Living" each October, but "Make: Halloween" is the magazine I'll be looking forward to.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 6 - Movie 2

My second viewing was actually a group of short films put together by Lurker Films, as the first volume in "The Edgar Allan Poe Collection" under the title "Annabel Lee."

"Annabel Lee" uses both stop-motion and marionette puppets to translate Poe's story of loss, and love's ability to overcome loss, even death. Set mostly in a nightmarish world filled with half rats, decay, and various skeleton abominations, "Annabel Lee" is a visually impressive interpretation of Poe's story.

Paul Naschy, the one-man horror film industry of Spain, stars in the next short, a very loose adaptation of "The Tell-Tale Heart." which was filmed mostly in a private library I wish were mine. My only wish is that this film were longer.

A generally excellant adaptation of "The Raven" rounds out the shorts, with perfect voice narration, nice acting, and a really cool raven puppet. This may have been my favorite film on this disc, which also contains numerous bonus features including an interview with Poe expert Paul Clemens, who some of you old readers of Famous Monsters may remember as being the kid who looked a lot like Ernie on "My Three Sons" and who made up Forrest J Ackerman to look like Vincent Price. Clemens was also the star of "The Beast Within" (1982) which was recently released to DVD.

A worthy addition to your DVD library.


You can order directly from Lurker Films. Be sure to tell them I sent you.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 6 - Movie 1

"Tales of Terror" (1962) for some reason has always been my favorite of the Roger Corman directed Edgar Allan Poe movies starring Vincent Price. Why this is, I couldn't tell you. The three stories making up this movie are pretty slight, especially the opening "Morella" which is more about walking through a heavily cobwebbed set than anything else. The final story "The Case of M. Valdemar" is wicked, disturbing fun, with Basil Rathbone as an oily mesmerist who keeps Vincent Price's soul alive inside his dead body, with grisly results.

It's the middle story, "The Black Cat," which I think is solely responsible for my great love of this movie. Peter Lorre plays a dispicable, drunk. Vincent Price, in what may be his hammiest, scenery chewing role, plays a wine connosieur, who meets his match when Lorre challenges him to a wine taste off. Price then becomes involved with Lorre's mistreated wife, until Lorre catches on and carries out a revenge scheme. This is a humorous segment, never funnier than when Lorre and Price are together on screen, a chemistry that would carry over to the humorous "The Raven" (1963), the following year.

Don't miss it.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 6 - Riddle

How can you turn a pumpkin into a squash?








Answer to yesterday's riddle: Shudders!

Shawn guessed correctly!

31 Days of Halloween - Day 6

Last year, as part of the 31 Days of Halloween countdown, I included a post about the classic Disney sound effects album "Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House." It was a record I listened to again, and again, and again as a kid. I still have that record, but alas, I lamented a year ago, no longer had the "Spooky Party Hints" that were printed on the albums inner paper sleeve.

The best treat I received this season came from Neato Ghoulville's Todd Franklin, who found the album at a flea market, with the party hints insert intact, and sent it to me as a gift. Todd, I can't thank you enough.

Since Todd was so generous with me, I'm going to share with the rest of you. Here are the Spooky Party Hints from"Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House" and there are some good ideas there.

To hear the record itself head over here

31 Days of Halloween - Day 5 - Contest!

You've now read all about "Halloween the Happy Haunting of America." Now find out how you can win a copy of your very own. Chuck Williams was kind enough to send me two copies of the DVD, and I'm looking for a trick or treat bucket to drop it into.

So what do you have to do? If you're here, and you're interested in this contest, then you probably love Halloween. Let's see just how much you love it. Email me (use the "contact" link under "links" in the collumn to the right) an image of that great job you did decorating your yard, porch, or interior of your home; or that great prop or decoration that you made; or even your best, or favorite costume that you wore. Just one or two images will suffice, please. It doesn't have to rival Disney's Haunted Mansion or anything. This contest will not be judged on quality. The winner will be chosen randomly from among the entries.

Be sure to include a name and address (which will not be shared) with your entry. All entries must be received by October 14, 2007. All entrants agree to allow me to post their images here on this website. That is all. The winner will be announced a few days after the end of this contest.






Accompanying image from the October 2007 issue of "Country Living." Photography by Ryan Benyi.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 5 - Movie 2

I first encountered "Halloween the Happy Haunting of America" (1997) on VHS in the late, great Creature Features store in Burbank, CA in 1998, and loved it immediately. Produced and directed by Chuck Williams and Daniel Roebuck, and starring Daniel Roebuck and the legendary Bob Burns, "Halloween the Happy Haunting of America" is a fun roadtrip through haunted attractions throught the United States interspersed with reminiscences about the holiday by horror actors such as Robert Englund and Angus Scrimm and Rock Star, Alice Cooper. There's also segments on mask makers such as Don Post, interviews with the living relatives of classic horror legends such as Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, and Henry Hull, and, my favorite part, footage from the amazing Halloween shows that Bob Burns used to put on in his back yard with special effects by Dennis Muren and make-up work by Rick Baker. This is lots of fun.

If this had been all that was featured on the 10th Anniversary DVD, I'd be real happy, but there's more, so much more. The 2-disc set includes a follow-up combination tour of the Magic Castle magicians club in Hollywood interspersed with more haunted attractions. There's also a bunch of photo and art galleries, segments showcasing more than a dozen more haunted attractions, an interview with Rochelle Santopoalo, who edited the now defunct Happy Halloween magazine, a music video, the pilot episode of "Raw Talk" a round table discussion with horror celebrities hosted by Williams and Roebuck (the sound recording is a bit uneven in this segment, on Tony Todd in particular), a blooper reel, and my two favorite features on this disc; a tour of Dan Roebuck's AMAZING collection of monster toys and masks, and Roebuck's Rondo Award winning tribute to Spookshows: Dr. Shocker's Halloween Spooktacular, which is a lot of fun, and had my kids in stitches (my daughter laughing so hard she was snorting like a pig, which I've only ever witnessed one other time). There's a ton of stuff here. It took me a couple of days to get through it all.

I can't recommend this DVD set enough. This show truly captures the spirit of the season, and you can tell that everyone involved really loves Halloween and all things associated with it. You can order one directly from the producers here.

Be sure to tell them I sent you, as Chuck Williams was gracious enough to supply me with a copy to review here.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 5 - Movie 1

The plus side about horror movies made in the 1970s is that they didn't always feel compelled to explain everything, or anything. The negative side is that so many of them look like they were made for tv -- whether they were, or not.

"Let's Scare Jessica To Death" (1971) is one of those movies. Jessica (Zohra Lampert), recently released from a six week stay at a mental institution, moves with her husband, and a close friend of theirs to a secluded home, where in true hippy fashion they plan to return to the land, and grow apples, which they spray with liberal doses of toxic pesticides. When they arrive at the house, they discover a woman squatter already there. Rather than kick her out, they ask her to stay with them, and Jessica's mental state, already precarious before reaching the house, quickly begins to unravel as all sorts of inexplicable events begin to surround her. Dead bodies, beckoning voices, and attacking drowned bodies seem to be a phenomena only she experiences, but a ghostly mute girl, and the unfriendly old men of the town with their starnge wounds and bandages, are seen by the others as well. Everything seems to have something to do with a woman who once lived in the house, and who drowned on her wedding day, but whose body was never found. Is the strange woman who they found already inhabiting the house really the drowned woman, or is Jessica simply having another nervous break down? You decide.

This movie was no nail biter, but did have some odd moments of tension. It's worth a look, but not much of a loss if you don't see it.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 5 - Special Announcement!

This year for the Halloween countdown, I've decided to provide two contests. The first one will begin tonight, so be sure to check back tonight for today's movie. All of the details will be posted then. Good luck!

31 Days of Halloween - Day 5 - Riddle

What do you find on the windows of a haunted house?







Answer to yesterday's riddle: Corpse and Robbers!

A lot of good guesses though.



The above image was created by Daniele Montella. You can see how it was created here.