SICKO-PSYCHOTIC

50's Funnies (1980; Kitchen Sink Press)

2012-02-27T21:25:00.002-08:00

50'S FUNNIES

Kitchen Sink Press, 1980

Editor: Larry Shell

Front Cover: Bill Stout

Writers: George Erling, Dave Hunt, Bill Kelley, Will Meugniot, Scott Shaw, Larry Shell

Artists: Alfredo P. Alcala, Steve Bissette, George Erling, Dave Hunt, Tom Marnick,

Will Meugniot, Ernie Pasanen, Joe Ragusa, Scott Shaw, John Totleben,

Rick Veitch, Tom Yeates

Kitchen Sink Press was one of the first and better known publishers of the underground comix scene that was all the rage from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s. The ambitious company was founded by Dennis Kitchen in 1970 and showcased quality work contributed by many unknown and/or controversial artists and writers who were allowed freedom of expression without the constraints of censorship that dominated mainstream comic book companies due to their compliance with the Comics Code Authority. Forbidden and taboo subjects involving sex, drugs, and violence filled the pages of these publications, such as Grateful Dead Comix, The Crow, Omaha the Cat Dancer, and Gay Comix, to name a few. But despite the usually strong subject matter, these naughty rags had a particularly strong appeal for the hippie counterculture who appreciated the satirical presentation of the music scene, politics, and social commentary that were ever present within the context of the stories and artwork. Readers were not only amused and entertained by underground comix, they also found themselves relating to the subject matter, more so than any other comic book genre being sold in newsstands.

50's Funnies was a one-shot title that was published long after the height of the underground comix popularity, but kept true to the form and goal of its predecessors. The front cover, by multiple awards winner Bill Stout (Coven 13; The Dinosaurs: A Fantastic New View of a Lost Era), parodies the fluffy and cheesy romance comics of long ago with a more realistic portrayal of teenage relationship issues. Instead of a heartbroken sweetie sobbing dramatically over being stood up on prom night, we have a young couple making out under the stars. The girl is afraid she will get pregnant, but her reassuring date promises to "pull out before" he shoots! Below that, a banner reads: "MORE LIES INSIDE!" Yup, the cover pretty much establishes the tone of what to expect from the stories that follow. Ah, but there is so much more! The montage of goodies by various writers and artists seem to have no bounds.

The inside front cover art is by Tom Yeates and Steve Bissette, and features a wonderfully illustrated tribute to the King of Rock 'n' Roll -- Elvis Presley! Yeates also contributes a music-themed centerfold in the comic. If his name seems familiar, you might have seen his work in Conan (Dark Horse), Tarzan (Malibu & Dark Horse), or even in the backup feature 'Claw the Unconquered' from DC's Warlord series. Bissette fans are equally treated to more of his art filling the inside back cover. Most notable in the horror comic book genre, Bissette's credits include Bog Swamp Demon (Hall of Heroes), Deadtime Stories (New Comics Group), Gore Shriek (FantaCo), and Tales of Terror (Eclipse).

'I Sold My Soul for Rock 'n' Roll!' by Larry Shell and Scott Shaw is the comic's first story. It's a retelling of the old Oscar Wilde classic about a man who sells his soul to the Devil. This time, however, the demon happens to be a rebellious teenage delinquent named Hot Soxx -- a parody of the popular Harvey Comics character Hot Stuff -- who's driving all the old fork-tailed folks in Hell bonkers with his rock 'n' roll ruckus and flashy motorbike. His aunt Burnia forces the little daredevil to go out into the mortal world and make something of himself. From here on, the tale takes on the familiar elements associated with The Picture of Dorian Gray, while also parodying Dick Clark and American Bandstand! 50's Funnies editor Larry Shell wrote the story for this humorous and fast-paced feature. Shell's first self-publishing endeavor began in 1975, in which he first worked with many of the artists and writers showcased in this rare comic book. Multi-talented Scott Shaw did the art, lettering, and even co-scripted alongside Shell. Quite impressive is Shaw's body of work in various media outlets, whose comic book credits include Archie Sonic the Hedgehog, The Flintstones, and The Simpsons. Shaw has also been seen utilizing his artistic talents in television cartoon shows, like The Fantastic Four, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, The Smurfs, and in animated movies for Disney.

'Bullet for a Doll,' by writer Bill Kelley and artist Tom Yeates, is the next segment. It's a noir-like piece that takes us back to the days when pulp fiction detectives were saddled with fixed fedoras and permanent, non-removable wife-beaters. The token cigarette dangling from the dick's non-existent lips and trusty .38 pistol by his side are also evident. The scenario plays out with typical narration as the staple femme fatale attempts to seduce this emotionally constipated man. However, the twist at the end is quite bizarre and disturbing. So much so, that readers may find themselves pondering what the hell it all meant? We have the talented writer Bill Kelley to thank for messing with our heads. More of his fine work can be found in DC Comics' lineup of guilty pleasures, such as Elvira's House of Mystery, Sgt. Rock, Unknown Soldier, Weird War Tales, and in the horror anthology series called Unexpected. Tom Yeates' artwork captures the tone of the narration brilliantly and adds further dimensions to the oddity of the piece. Quite unsettling, indeed.

'Beat-Out' is a satirical commentary on society's obsession with quick self-improvement ads that littered the magazines and comic books of the time -- in particular, those earn-your-school-diploma-at-home advertisements and the infamous Charles Atlas Plan! Among all this is a story about... boy wants girl... other boy wants girl... girl gets around! This little treat is brought to us by the hard working and controversial George Erling, whose interesting list of credits include titles like Beastiality, Heebie Jeebie, and Weird Rip-Offs.

'Forgotten Fears of the Fifties' is a sick and twisted look at the Atomic Age of yesteryear, when TV horror hosts invaded households like bed bugs, teenagers made good use of the handy zipper, and numerous B sci-fi and horror flicks paraded across the Drive-In movie screens. Editor Larry Shell appears in the drawings as the host "in various disguises," impersonating the likes of Rod Serling, Alfred Hitchcock, John Zacherley, and other iconic personalities. It's a true classic, featuring the astounding artwork of Rick Veitch (Fearbook), Joe Ragusa (Manticore), Tom Marnick (CARtoons), John Totleben (Taboo), and Ernie Pasanen (Parade of Gore)! Perhaps, out of the names mentioned, the most recognizable in the comic book industry are those of Veitch and Totleben, who have both done work on the popular titles Heavy Metal and Swamp Thing, and much of their contributions appear extensively in DC and Marvel Comics. Titles Veitch is known for include Captain America, Ghost in the Machine, Hellblazer, Jonah Hex, Mystery in Space, Nightmare Theater, and, especially, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series. Totleben's resumé is as equally impressive, having taken on such titles as Batman, Bizarre Adventures, From Hell, Miracleman, The Sandman, Tales of the Vampires, Twisted Tales, X-Men Unlimited, etc.

'Momma's Bwah!' by Bill Kelley and Rick Veitch again, is a deliciously demented and perverse parody on classic comic strip characters and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre! Bazooka Joe and His Gang are lifted right out of those mini-comics found inside the wrapper of every Topps Bazooka chewing gum and are now aged into horny teenage delinquents, who play a nasty joke on infamous serial killer and cannibal Ed Gein. Unfortunately for Joe and his friends, however, Mr. Gein likes to hunt down and kill naughty teenagers. Other famous comic characters make cameo appearance, these include Nancy, Archie, Popeye, etc. Extremely offensive, it's doubtful this historical gem of underground comix will ever be republished during our age of politically correct suppression. But fear not, fellow sickies... SP has posted more of this feature at the end of the SPew. Enjoy!

'Spaced Rat-Pol,' by writer and artist Dave Hunt and inker Alfredo P. Alcala, is next up and enters sci-fi territory with a parody of the original 1950's television series Space Patrol. The story is much more tame compared to the two previous horror entries it follows, but the talented Mr. Hunt and the ink work of legendary artist Alcala keep things entertaining and engaging with non-stop action and eye-catching visuals. Of course, the parody's true strength shines through if one is familiar with the old television show. Dave Hunt fans will especially enjoy this rare and daring excursion from the man who's endless reign of contributions include Adventures on the Planet of the Apes, Amazing Adventures, The Amazing Spider-Man, Astonishing Tales, The Transformers, as well as horror titles, like The Barn of Fear, Book of the Dead, Chamber of Chills, Creatures on the Loose, The Man-Thing, The Monster of Frankenstein, Strange Tales, and Werewolf by Night. Alfredo P. Alcala first achieved fame with his 1963 creation of Voltar by CRAF Publications. Such prestige earned him work on countless titles, such as Conan the Barbarian, Doctor Strange, Freddy Krueger's Nightmare on Elm Street, House of Secrets, Plop!, Tales of the Zombie, Witching Hour, and Warren Magazine favorites -- Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella!

'Turf!,' by Will Meugniot, raps up the collection with this strange and final entry. It's a social commentary on the useless existence of being a member of a street gang. The lead character, who narrates the tale, is an aging gang leader with no future and time is running out. The ending, however, has a supernatural twist that is quite disturbing and is enhanced even further by the perturbing illustrations. Meugniot's work has appeared in The DNAgents, Exotic Fantasy, Howard the Duck, Marvel Chillers, Marvel Team-Up, Vanity, and has branched off into the the television and video entertainment industry as both a director and producer for such projects as G.I. Joe: Valor vs. Venom, Jem, Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters, Spider-Man Unlimited, Stargate: Infinity, and X-Men.

Deliverance (1972)

2012-02-20T18:25:00.000-08:00

DELIVERANCE

Warner Bros., 1972

Producer/Director: John Boorman

Script: James Dickey, John Boorman

Based on the novel by James Dickey

Cast: Jon Voight (Ed Gentry), Burt Reynolds (Lewis Medlock),
Ned Beatty (Bobby Trippe), Ronny Cox (Drew Ballinger),
James Dickey (Sheriff Bullard), Bill McKinney (Mountain Man),

Herbert 'Cowboy' Coward (Toothless Man), Seamon Glass (First Griner)

Restless for adventure, Lewis Medlock (Reynolds) heads to the wilds of rural Georgia to ride the dangerous rapids of the Cahulawasse River before it becomes flooded out by the construction of a dam. Although, hoping for an incredible and memorable weekend excursion, Lewis and his three city companions are unprepared for a deadly confrontation with hostile residents, who lurk hidden among the wilderness on either side of the river. Their chance of surviving the experience grows slim when the four comrades discover that they are being hunted!

Based on the 1970 best selling novel by James Dickey, Deliverance is a potent thriller that remains shocking to this day. It is regarded as a landmark motion picture and has received high critical praise even long after its initial release. Deliverance was nominated for several awards -- including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, etc. -- by both the Academy and Golden Globe Awards and can be attributed to launching the careers of its then not-so-well-known cast, including Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy; Anaconda) who found himself nominated for a Golden Globe under the category of Best Actor in a Drama.

Voight's co-star, Burt Reynolds (The Maddening; Frankenstein and Me), was relatively familiar to television audiences. But it wasn't until Reynolds landed the role of Lewis Medlock that he gained considerable prestige in Hollywood. The actor insisted on doing his own stunts in the film and even took it upon himself to be creative and come up with a gory effect for one of his scenes. He broke the bone of a lamb leg and shoved it into his torn pants. After having fake blood poured over it, the effect was a gruesome sight, which gave the illusion that part of his leg bone was exposed due to a canoeing accident.

Deliverance marks the film debut of Ned Beatty (Superman; The Incredible Shrinking Woman), who immediately became a working actor in both film and television. His star status would continue to grow with every passing year. In Deliverance, Beatty plays a prominent role in one of the most unforgettable and disturbing scenes in major motion picture history.

Originally, Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin were offered leading roles, but both actors turned down the project due to the hazards of unavoidable shooting on the Chattooga River, located in the Appalachian Mountains. Author and screenwriter James Dickey himself was cast in the movie as the no-nonsense, tough-as-nails Sheriff Bullard. Reportedly, Dickey was very enthusiastic over the experience.

Actor Ronny Cox (Who Is the Black Dahlia?; The Car) was also well suited for the role of Drew Ballinger. During a crucial moment in the film, Drew's body falls from the boat and is sent crashing against the rocks. When we next see Drew's broken body, it looks very convincing because Cox actually had the ability to contort his arm into an extreme and unnatural position. However, Cox's shining moment occurs early on in the film during the famous "Dueling Banjos" scene, when he and a young local boy (Billy Redden) square off in an instrumental showdown that actually earned the film a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song. Credit for the performance, however, goes to musicians Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel. A soundtrack album was released in 1973 by Warner Records (BS 2683). Bit it wasn't until 1974 that "Dueling Banjos" ultimately won a Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental.

Of course, the most talked about moment in Deliverance is the infamous rape scene. The disturbing depiction of women being raped on the big screen was not so unusual during the early 1970s. But for many male audiences, Deliverance was the first time they were forced into identifying with their female counterparts and experiencing the same feelings of degradation, revulsion, and horror from watching men commit (and/or attempt to...) brutal acts of sexual violence on other men. The film's most often quoted line, "squeal like a piggy," is spoken during this scene.

The line did not originate in Dickey's novel. Instead, the author used a series of stronger and more colorful language in the pages of his book and in the script. The inspiration for substituting the original text varies considerably. Producer-director John Boorman (Exorcist II: The Heretic; Excalibur) has claimed that the dialog was changed to help preserve the scene without having to re-shoot or re-edit for television showings. In the 1998 book Summer of Deliverance: A Memoir of Father and Son (Simon and Schuster; 0-684-84202-5), James Dickey's son, Christopher Dickey, attributes the origin of the line to one of the tech crew who felt it would enhance the horror of the situation more effectively. Ned Beatty has also taken credit for it, explaining that it developed from improvising the scenario with actor Bill McKinney (She Freak; The Strange and Deadly Occurrence), who plays the menacing antagonist quite convincingly.

Watch 'DELIVERANCE' Trailer

Giant Robo (a.k.a. Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama)

2012-02-17T11:08:00.000-08:00

He flew; he delivered mega-punches; sported a flame-thrower inside his mouth; and had an array of destructive arsenal at his disposal... including shooting missiles from his metallic fingertips. He was GIANT ROBO! and he was built to resemble the great pharaohs of ancient Egypt. This super-bot aided young Daisaku Kusama (Johnny Sokko in the U.S. version) in battling giant monsters unleashed by an organization of alien invaders called Big Fire (or the Gargoyle Gang in the U.S.) in every episode of the Japanese TV series Jaianto robo (1967-1968). Giant Robo made his debut in a popular comic strip before he got his own TV show. By 1970, several episodes were compiled into a feature length film called Voyage Into Space, which in turn, motivated the U.S. to re-release the original TV series in syndication. The show was now called Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot and several editing changes were made for the American audience who warmly embraced this fantastic creation. Today, Giant Robo has become a cult-favorite franchise, with toys, comic books, and animated cartoons in high demand from long adoring fans. The origin and background stories of Giant Robo continue to evolve, but his unique appearance remains unmistakable. Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama had the honors of playing Giant Robo in the TV series. He immediately went on to appear in several action films until the mid-1970s. Here, Sicko-Psychotic has listed his and Giant Robo's credits, including comic book appearances. I welcome and encourage GR fans to help add onto this list, either now or in the following years.

Weekly Shonen Sunday: "Giant Robo" (1967) -- magazine featured comic strip by Mitsuteru Yokoyama
Jaianto robo (1967-1968; a.k.a. Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot) -- TV series, featuring Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama as Giant Robo
Shôwa zankyô-den: Karajishi jingi (1969; a.k.a. Chivalrous Tales of the Shôwa Era: The Duty of a Lion; Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5) -- featuring Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama
Shôwa zankyô-den: Shinde moraimasu (1970; a.k.a. Chivalrous Tales of the Shôwa Era: Hell Is Man's Destiny) -- featuring Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama
Yakuza deka (1970; a.k.a. Gangster Cop) -- featuring Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama
Voyage Into Space (1970) -- movie made from compilation of JAIANTO ROBO TV series episodes
Joshuu sasori: Kemono-beya (1973; a.k.a. Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable) -- featuring Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama
Onna hissatsu ken (1974; a.k.a. Sister Street Fighter; Female Fighting Fist in Danger) -- featuring Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama
Onna hissatsu ken: kiki ippatsu (1974; a.k.a. Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread) -- featuring Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama
Shinkansen daibakuha (1975; a.k.a. Super-Express 109; Bullet Train) -- featuring Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama
Shôrinji kenpô (1976; a.k.a. The Killing Machine) -- featuring Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama
Jaianto robo: Animeshon (1992-1998; a.k.a. Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still) -- video series featuring Giant Robo
Giant Robo: Chikyuu no Moetsukiru Hi (1992-1993) -- comic book series by Yasuhiro Imagawa
Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1993) -- novelization by Hiroshi Yamaguchi
Screwed (2000) -- features scenes from VOYAGE INTO SPACE
Jaianto Robo - Tanjō-hen (2002 ; a.k.a. Giant Robo: The Beginning) -- 3-issue comic book series
Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Burned (2006) -- manga comic book series
GR: Giant Robo (2007; a.k.a. Giant Robo 40th Anniversary) -- animated TV series featuring Giant Robo

Le cauchemar (1896)

2012-02-16T13:53:00.000-08:00

LE CAUCHEMAR (a.k.a. A Nightmare)

Star Film, French 1896

Producer/Director/Script: Georges Méliès

Cast: Georges Méliès (Dreamer)

Regardless of the bright and cheerful room he's in, a man (Méliès) tosses and turns restlessly in his sleep and dreams he is inside a medieval castle with a voluptuous woman sitting at the edge of his bed. Lusting for her, the dreamer reaches out to kiss the beautiful stranger passionately, but the woman is suddenly replaced by an insufferable dancing minstrel, who in turn, transforms into a clown. After the offending clown makes his escape, a grinning moon enters the room from the balcony and bites the dreamer's hand. In pain, the gentleman strikes back and sends the moon back into the night sky. But the nightmare isn't over... the clown, the minstrel, and the seductress, all return to cause more mischief until the hapless dreamer awakens in his modest, little room.

It was the beginning of the filmmaking excursion and the few who possessed a prototype of the movie camera, were all dedicated to shooting documentaries and allowing a fortunate, but limited, audience the opportunity to witness with their very eyes, glimpses at what the rest of the world was really like. Master magician Georges Méliès (Escamotage d'une dame au théâtre Robert Houdin; Le manoir du diable), however, did something none of his current colleagues had ever done before -- he made movies that were mostly in the realm of fantasy and magic tricks with an intent to bring wonder and smiles to his theater audiences. It is not surprising, considering Méliès' background, that he would deliberately search for ways to captivate his viewers. This of course, led to him being the first to discover many possibilities of what the camera could do utilizing special camera effects. Le cauchemar is a prime example of Méliès' wonderful imagination at work as well as showcasing his craft at theatrics and early use of cuts to allow characters and images to mysteriously appear and disappear. Inevitably, it wouldn't be long before other ambitious filmmakers would follow in his footsteps.

Peter Lorre: Film & TV List

2012-02-16T11:11:00.000-08:00

Although he didn't howl during a full moon, couldn't turn himself into a nocturnal bat, nor did he sport a pair of metal bolts on the side of his neck, Peter Lorre, nonetheless, became one of the greatest and most recognizable horror icons of all time. His unique voice, physical appearance, and strange sense of humor landed him many roles of a predatory and villainous nature in countless movies -- especially film noir and other sub-genre thrillers. So convincing was Lorre's antagonistic portrayals that, out of fear, people would literally try to avoid him on the streets. However, movie audiences were eventually treated to other entertaining and enjoyable aspects of the talented actor's capabilities once he was finally allowed to display his impressive range during the Mr. Moto film series and later projects within the realm of comedy and drama. Possessing great comic timing, gifted with improvisational skills, and disciplined in method acting, Peter Lorre certainly could hold his own when working beside some of Hollywood's biggest stars. Like many of his fellow co-stars, Lorre received most of his training from performing in a substantial number of theatrical stage productions long before he began a career in motion pictures. Lorre especially enjoyed roles that challenged him and were far different from other characters he had already played, but his claim to fame were the vile and sinister roles that rattled and unnerved millions. Many have imitated and even mimicked him, but no one could ever duplicate the power he displayed behind each of his performances, no matter how small the role or how bad the script. A true professional of the highest degree.

Die verschwundene Frau (1929)
Der weisse Dämon (1930)
Bomben auf Monte Carlo (1931)
Die Koffer des Herrn O.F. (1931)
M (1931)
A Man's a Man (1931)
Dope (1932)
F.P.1 antwortet nicht (1932)
Fünf von der Jazzband (1932)
Schuß im Morgengrauen (1932)
Stupéfiants (1932)
Du haut en bas (1933)
Les requins du Pétrole (1933)
Unsichtbare Gegner (1933)
Was Frauen träumen (1933)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Crime and Punishment (1935)
Mad Love (1935)
Crack-Up (1936)
Secret Agent (1936)
Lancer Spy (1937)
Nancy Steele Is Missing! (1937)
Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)
Think Fast, Mr. Moto (1937)
I'll Give a Million (1938)
Mr. Moto Takes a Chance (1938)
Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938)
Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938)
Mr. Moto in Danger Island (1939)
Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939)
Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1939)
I Was an Adventuress (1940)
Island of Doomed Men (1940)
Strange Cargo (1940)
Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
You'll Find Out (1940)
All Through the Night (1941)
The Face Behind the Mask (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Mr. District Attorney (1941)
They Met in Bombay (1941)
The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)
Casablanca (1942)
Invisible Agent (1942)
Background to Danger (1943)
The Constant Nymph (1943)
The Cross of Lorraine (1943)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
The Conspirators (1944)
Hollywood Canteen (1944)
The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
Passage to Marseille (1944)
Confidential Agent (1945)
Hotel Berlin (1945)
The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)
Black Angel (1946)
The Chase (1946)
Three Strangers (1946)
The Verdict (1946)
My Favorite Brunette (1947)
Casbah (1948)
The Arrow Show: "Babysitter Sketch" (1949) -- TV series episode
Cavalcade of Stars: "The Tell-Tale Heart/Mad Doctor Sketch" (1949) -- TV series episode
Rope of Sand (1949)
Texaco Star Theater: "The Man with the Head of Glass/Cabinet of Dr. X" (1949) -- TV series episode
Variety: "The Man with the Head of Glass" (1949) -- TV series episode
We, the People: "Peter Lorre/Spyros Skouras" (1949) -- TV series episode
Double Confession (1950)
Quicksand (1950)
Der Verlorene (1951)
Celebrity Time: "March 23" (1952) -- TV series episode
Ford Festival: "Room for Two" (1952) -- TV series episode
Four Star Revue: "January 17" (1952; a.k.a. All Star Revue) -- TV series episode, with Boris Karloff & Martha Raye
Lux Video Theatre: "The Taste" (1952) -- TV series episode
Suspense!: "The Tortured Hand" (1952) -- TV series episode
Texaco Star Theater: "March 18" (1952) -- TV series episode
What's My Line?: "May 4" (1952) -- TV game-show episode
Beat the Devil (1953)
The Dave Garroway Show: "Episode #1.2" (1953) -- TV series episode
The Jackie Gleason Show: "May 6" (1953) -- TV series episode
The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show: "Epionage Sketch" (1953) -- TV series episode
The United States Steel Hour: "The Vanishing Point" (1953) -- TV series episode
The Betty White Show: "October 7" (1954) -- TV series episode
Climax!: "Casino Royale" (1954) -- TV series episode
Disneyland: "The Disneyland Story" (1954) -- TV series episode
The Red Skelton Show: "Mad Scientist" (1954) -- TV series episode, with Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., & Vampira
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars: "The Pipe" (1954) -- TV series episode
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
The Best of Broadway: "Arsenic and Old Lace" (1955) -- TV series episode, with Boris Karloff
Climax!: "A Promise to Murder" (1955) -- TV series episode
Disneyland: "Monsters of the Deep" (1955) -- TV series episode
Disneyland: "The Pre-Opening Report from Disneyland/A Tribute to Mickey Mouse" (1955) -- TV series episode
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents: "The Blue Landscape" (1955) -- TV series episode
The Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater: "The Sure Cure" (1955) -- TV series episode
The George Gobel Show: "Episode #1.29" (1955) -- TV series episode
Hollywood's Best: "April 22" (1955) -- TV series episode
I've Got a Secret: "January 5" (1955) -- TV game-show episode
Producers' Showcase: "Reunion in Vienna" (1955) -- TV series episode
The Red Skelton Show: "Honeymooner's Spoof" (1955) -- TV series episode, with Maila Nurmi
The Red Skelton Show: "Phantom of the Ballet" (1955) -- TV series episode
The Rheingold Theatre: "The Blue Landscape" (1955) -- TV series episode
The Star and the Story: "The Blue Landscape" (1955) -- TV series episode
Star Time Playhouse: "The Pipe" (1955) -- TV series episode
Studio 57: "Young Couples Only" (1955) -- TV series episode
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
The Bob Hope Show: "November 11" (1956) -- TV series episode
Climax!: "The Fifth Wheel" (1956) -- TV series episode
Climax!: "The Man Who Lost His Head" (1956) -- TV series episode
Congo Crossing (1956)
The Ed Sullivan Show: "The John Huston Story" (1956) -- TV series episode, with Vincent Price
Encore Theater: "Queen's Bracelet" (1956) -- TV series episode
The Jackie Gleason Show: "September 29" (1956) -- TV series episode
Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)
Playhouse 90: "Massacre at Sand Creek" (1956) -- TV series episode
Playhouse 90: "Sizeman and Son" (1956) -- TV series episode
Screen Directors Playhouse: "No. 5 Checked Out" (1956) -- TV series episode
Studio 57: "The Finishers" (1956) -- TV series episode
Studio 57: "The Queen's Bracelet" (1956) -- TV series episode
The 20th Century-Fox Hour: "Operation Cicero" (1956) -- TV series episode, with Alan Napier
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "The Diplomatic Corpse" (1957) -- TV series episode
The Buster Keaton Story (1957)
Climax!: "A Taste for Crime" (1957) -- TV series episode
Collector's Item: "The Left Fist of David" (1957) -- TV series pilot episode, with Vincent Price
Collector's Item: "Appraise the Lady" (1957) -- TV series 2nd pilot episode, with Vincent Price
Hell Ship Mutiny (1957)
Playhouse 90: "The Fabulous Irishman" (1957) -- TV series episode
Playhouse 90: "The Jet-Propelled Couch" (1957) -- TV series episode, with Maila Nurmi
Playhouse 90: "The Last Tycoon" (1957) -- TV series episode, with Jack Palance
The Red Skelton Show: "Appleby's Patio" (1957) -- TV series episode
The Red Skelton Show: "Clem Strikes Oil" (1957) -- TV series episode
The Sad Sack (1957)
Silk Stockings (1957)
The Story of Mankind (1957)
Collector's Item: "The Left Fist of David" (1958) -- unaired TV series pilot, with Vincent Price
The Milton Berle Show: "Episode #1.11" (1958) -- TV series episode
Playhouse 90: "Turn Left at Mount Everest" (1958) -- TV series episode
The Red Skelton Show: "Episode #7.19" (1958) -- TV series episode
The Big Circus (1959)
Five Fingers: "Thin Ice" (1959) -- TV series episode, with Alan Napier
The Red Skelton Show: "Appleby the Weatherman" (1959) -- TV series episode
The Red Skelton Show: "Rapid Growth" (1959) -- TV series episode
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Man from the South" (1960) -- TV series episode
I've Got a Secret: "February 17" (1960) -- TV game-show episode, with Betsy Palmer
Mike Wallace Interviews: "March 8" (1960) -- TV series episode
Playhouse 90: "The Cruel Day" (1960) -- TV series episode
Rawhide: "Incident of the Slavemaster" (1960) -- TV series episode
The Red Skelton Show: "Clem and the Beanstalk" (1960) -- TV series episode
Scent of Mystery (1960)
The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar: "February 15" (1960) -- TV series episode
Wagon Train: "The Alexander Portlass Story" (1960) -- TV series episode
What's My Line?: "February 14" (1960) -- TV game-show episode
The Best of the Post: "The Baron Loved His Wife" (1961) -- TV series episode
Checkmate: "The Human Touch" (1961) -- TV series episode
The Gertrude Berg Show: "First Test" (1961) -- TV series episode, with Mary Wickes
The Gertrude Berg Show: "The Trouble with Crayton" (1961) -- TV series episode
Here's Hollywood: "July 21" (1961) -- TV series episode
Mrs. G. Goes to College: "First Test" (1961) -- TV series episode
Mrs. G. Goes to College: "The Trouble with Crayton" (1961) -- TV series episode, with Mary Wickes
Peter Lorre Playhouse: "June" (1961) -- TV series pilot episode
The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar: "November 16" (1961) -- TV series episode
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)
Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962)
The Jack Paar Tonight Show: "February 23" (1962) -- TV series episode
Route 66: "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing" (1962) -- TV series episode, with Boris Karloff & Lon Chaney Jr.
Tales of Terror (1962)
Tell It to Groucho: "May 3" (1962) -- TV series episode
The Comedy of Terrors (1963)
The DuPont Show of the Week: "Diamond Fever" (1963) -- TV series episode
The Hy Gardner Show: "March 3" (1963) -- TV series episode, with Boris Karloff
The Jack Benny Program: "January 22" (1963) -- TV series episode
Kraft Suspense Theatre: "The End of the World, Baby" (1963) -- TV series episode
The Merv Griffin Show: "Episode #1.79" (1963) -- TV series episode
The Merv Griffin Show: "Episode #1.106" (1963) -- TV series episode
The Raven (1963)
77 Sunset Strip: "5: Parts 1-5" (1963) -- TV series episodes, with Burgess Meredith & Victor Buono
The Steve Allen Show: "January 14" (1963) -- TV series episode
The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show: "February 20" (1963) -- TV series episode
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: "January 25" (1963) -- TV series episode
Hollywood and the Stars: "Monsters We've Known and Loved" (1964) -- TV series episode, with Boris Karloff
Muscle Beach Party (1964)
The Patsy (1954)

Friday the 13th - The Series: Season 1 (1987-1988)

2012-02-10T16:18:00.000-08:00

FRIDAY THE 13TH - THE SERIES: SEASON 1

Lexicon Productions, Triumph, 1987-1988

Producers: Iain Paterson, Frank Mancuso Jr., J. Miles Dale

Cast: John D. Le May (Ryan Dallion), Robey (Micki Foster),

Chris Wiggins (Jack Marshak)

Curious Goods is an unusual antique shop and home to three individuals who dedicate themselves to searching for and retrieving objects that have been cursed by satanic forces. Friday the 13th the Series was a surprise hit that has now become a cult-television favorite with its mature themes and guaranteed thrills. It's an excursion into a world where dark forces are let loose unto the unsuspecting public and a climactic battle between good and evil is inevitable at the end of each episode... but good doesn't always prevail.

1. The Inheritance Distant cousins by marriage, Ryan Dallion and Micki Foster, have the misfortune of inheriting their uncle Lewis Vendredi's antique shop of exotic curios. It isn't long before they discover that the place holds a sinister secret.... Apparently, Uncle Lewis had made an unholy pack with the Devil, and the demon eventually appeared to claim the old man's soul. Moreover, every object in the place is cursed, including the items that have already been sold off. With the help of Jack Marshak -- an old friend and supplier of Vendredi's -- Ryan and Micki begin their quest to locate and retrieve all the items listed in a manifest of sold goods and contain them in a special vault hidden in the depths of the shop's basement. Their first mission involves an evil living doll that urges a little girl to murder those around her. Featuring: R. G. Armstrong (Lewis Vendredi), Sarah Polley (Mary), Lynne Cormack (Mrs. Irene Simms), Michael Fletcher (Mr. Simms), Barclay Hope (Lloyd), Gordon Woolvett (Boy #2); Director: William Fruet; Teleplay: William Taub. NOTES: Micki is introduced with a British accent. Several episodes later, the accent is dropped completely; This episode is also the first of the reoccurring appearances by Uncle Lewis.

2. The Poison Pen When a mad monk uses a cursed quill pen to commit a series of heinous murders, Ryan, Micki, and Jack go undercover to an ancient monastery and try to get back the dangerous object. Featuring: Colin Fox (Le Croix), Larry Reynolds (Brother Currie), Alar Aedma (Brother Drake), Lewis Gordon (Abbot Capilano), Gillie Fenwick (Brother Arrupe), Ron Gabriel (Marvin Green); Director: Timothy Bond; Teleplay: Durnford King

3. Cupid's Quiver Ryan, Micki, and Jack attempt to track down a grotesque statue of Cupid. Those unfortunate to be struck by the cursed item are made to fall deeply in love with whoever is in possession of it. The catch is... once the victims profess their love, they suffer a cruel death! Featuring: Denis Forest (Eddie Monroe), Carolyn Dunn (Laurie Warren), Kirsten Kieferle (Bar Girl), Ross Fraser (Hastings), Kevin Lund (Bowser), Joy Boushel (Redhead); Director: Atom Egoyan; Teleplay: Stephen Katz

4. A Cup of Time Birdie, an elderly social worker smitten by an unresponsive Jack, informs the three antique dealers about a rash of murders -- all the victims appear to be homeless. When it becomes apparent that the deaths were caused by strangulation from vines, Ryan, Micki, and Jack discover the source is a cursed teacup that gives the murderer eternal youth. Featuring: Hilary Shepard (Lady Die), Maxine Miller (Birdie), Lubomir Mykytiuk (Langley), Lisa Jakub (Kristen), Richard Fitzpatrick (Lt. Fishbein), Brian Young (Drifter); Director: F. Harvey Frost; Teleplay: Barbara Sachs. NOTE: A copy of "Tales from the Crypt" comic book appears in one of the scenes.

5. Hellowe'en It's Halloween and Lewis Vendredi's restless spirit returns from the depths of Hell to play the ultimate trick on Jack, Micki, and Ryan. Attempting, once again, to cheat the Devil of his soul, Uncle Lewis suffers no qualms about murdering his friend, niece, and nephew if they try to prevent him from completing an occult ritual that would allow him to switch places with an innocent victim. Featuring: R. G. Armstrong (Lewis Vendredi), Adrian Pocock (Greta), Victoria Deslaurier (Evil Greta), David Matheson (Larry), Braun McAsh (B.T.), Tom Melissis (Erik); Director: Timothy Bond; Teleplay: William Taub. NOTES: Two cursed objects -- a crystal ball and an unlucky pendant -- are the source of mayhem in this episode; After having survived Halloween night, the gang come to the dreadful realization that the unluckiest day of the year -- Friday the 13th -- will soon be upon them.

6. The Great Montarro Jack's former occupation as a stage magician comes in handy when he, Ryan, and Micki try to track down a cursed sarcophagus that brings fame to a stage magician... while taking the life of others. But is the Great Montarro really a coldblooded murderer or does someone else have a reason to kill? Featuring: Graeme Campbell (Montarro), Lesleh Donaldson (Lyla), August Schellenberg (Fahteem), Martin Neufeld (Robert), Murray Westgate (Monte), Jefferson Mappin (Tommy); Director: Richard Friedman; Teleplay: Durnford King. NOTE: This episode not only features a mad magician, but also throws in a whodunit into the mix. Mystery fans and magic aficionados alike should enjoy this one... we also learn a little more about Jack's fascinating background.

7. Doctor Jack Another murderer is on the loose and Ryan, Micki, and Jack are forced to confront a celebrated surgeon who has in his possession an antique scalpel that may have once belonged to the notorious Jack the Ripper. Featuring: Cliff Gorman (Dr. Vincent Howlett), Elva Mai Hoover (Jean Flappen), Doris Petrie (Dr. Price), Michael Copeman (Jim Bronson), Alan Rosenthal (Anaesthetist), Hal Eisen (Code Blue Doctor); Director: Richard Friedman; Teleplay: Marc Scott Zicree

8. Shadow Boxer A down-and-out loser comes into possession of a pair of cursed boxing gloves that Ryan, Micki, and Jack are searching for. The gloves allow the wearer to gain victory in the ring while his shadow goes on a killing spree, exacting revenge on all those who had previously scorned him. Featuring: David Ferry (Tommy Dunn), Jack Duffy (Manny King), Patricia Hamilton (Sadie King), Gerry Quigley (Doorman), Dennis Christensen (Pepper Boliski), David Bortolucci (Shadow); Director: Timothy Bond; Teleplay: Joshua Daniel Miller

9. Root of All Evil Ryan's feelings for his distant cousin surface when Micki's fiance, Lloyd, arrives to take her back to the city with him. Unfortunately, before Micki can leave, she and Lloyd have a close encounter with a killer who's been disposing the bodies of his victims through an old mulcher. Featuring: Rico Colantoni (Adrian), Barclay Hope (Lloyd), Jack Mather (Smitty), Ian White (Charles), Kay Tremblay (Amanda), Thomas Hauff (Harley O'Connor); Director: Allan King; Teleplay: Robert Hedden. NOTE: This is Loyd's second and final appearance in the series. However, actor Barclay Hope returns in season 3 as a different character.

10. Tales of the Undead A cursed comic book leaves a trail of blood and Ryan -- himself a fan of the series and its creator -- attempts to retrieve the item that has taken so many lives. Featuring: Ray Walston (Jay Star), David Hewlett (Cal), Michelle George (Mrs. Forbes), David Clement (Carmine), Anthony Bekenn (Mr. Briggs), Jennifer Griffin (Linda); Director: Lyndon Chubbuck; Teleplay: William Taub, Marc Scott Zicree; Story: Alfred Sole, Paul Monette. NOTE: Clever use of illustrations allow scenes from comic book to come to life and enter our realm of existence.

11. Scarecrow While Jack is away in search of another cursed object, Micki and Ryan head out on their own and travel the countryside looking for a scarecrow listed in the manifest. What they encounter upon their arrival is a rural community caught in the grip of terror caused by a living scarecrow that's been slaughtering and decapitating the town's residents. Featuring: Patricia Phillips (Marge Longacre), Ted Hanlan (Scarecrow), Steve Pernie (Sheriff Comins), Nicholas Van Bureck (Jordy Meeno), Andrew Martin Thompson (Dave Meeno), James B. Douglas (Charlie Cobean); Director: William Fruet; Teleplay: Marc Scott Zicree; Story: Larry B. Williams, Marc Scott Zicree. NOTE: In 2007, television viewers of the cabel channel CHILLER, nominated this episode as their top favorite out of all three seasons combined.

12. Faith Healer After being exposed as a fraud, a celebrity faith healer stumbles upon a cursed glove with actual healing powers. Unfortunately, the glove also takes a life for every miracle it performs. On his quest to retrieve the malicious article, Jack's own life falls into jeopardy when an old acquaintance of his also seeks it out in hopes of curing himself from a disease that is slowly killing him. Featuring: Miguel Fernandes (Stewart Fishoff), Robert Silverman (Jerry Scott), Lynne Gorman (Sylvia), David Robertson (Cop), Catherine Gallant (Woman with Dog), Robert King (Faith Healer); Director: David Cronenberg; Teleplay: Christine Cornish

13. The Baron's Bride In their strangest case yet, the search for a mysterious cape with a diamond clasp leads the trio of antique dealers into discovering the secret existence of vampires. Making matters worse, Micki and Ryan become trapped in the distant past -- 1875, London! Featuring: Tom McCamus (Frank Edwards), Kevin Bundy (Abraham), Susannah Hoffmann (Caitlin), Diana Barrington (Marie Simmons), John Shepherd (Constable), Emma Richler (Tart); Director: Bradford May; Teleplay: Larry Gaynor. NOTES: Scenes that take place in 1875 are shown in B&W; Episode pays tribute to Bram Stoker's "DRACULA." Actor Kevin Bundy gives a fictionalized portrayal of the famous author and what inspired him to write his chilling novel.

14. Bedazzled With Jack and Ryan out of town and on their way to attend an astrology convention, Micki is left alone in the shop to babysit her friend's mischievous son Richie. However, Micki and her young companion are soon terrorized by a couple of homicidal maniacs wanting to get their hands on a cursed lantern that is being stored inside the hidden vault. Featuring: Alan Jordan (Jonah), Gavin Magrath (Richie), David Mucci (Tom), Paula Barrett (Jenny), Timothy Webber (Telephone Lineman), J. J. Makaro (David Jones); Director: Alexander Singer; Teleplay: Paul Monette, Alfred Sole

15. Vanity's Mirror With less than 20% of the cursed objects recovered and secured inside the vault, Micki, Ryan, and Jack continue on with their efforts. This time they are after a compact mirror that has fallen into the hands of an angry and bitter young student. Nicknamed "Ugly Helen" by cruel campus jocks, the distressed girl uses the mirror to make her tormentors fall head-over-heels in love with her before she sends them to their deaths. Jealous of her kind and pretty older sister, Helen attempts to steal her boyfriend and have her sibling killed as well. Featuring: Ingrid Veninger (Helen Mackie), David Orth (Scott Thomas), Gwendolyn Pacey (Joanne Mackie), Zack Ward (Greg Mazzey), James Loxley (Charles Meniger), Simon Reynolds (Russel Weigan); Director: William Fruet; Teleplay: Roy Sallows; Story: Roy Sallows, Ira Levant. NOTES: The cursed compact mirror turns up again to cause more harm in season 2; The Egyptian mystic Rashid is mentioned but doesn't actually appear until the season finale.

16. Tattoo A troubled young man with a gambling addiction, turns to a black box containing cursed tattoo needles to help him improve his streak of bad luck. But in order to win, someone must die. Featuring: Keye Luke (Lum Chen), Leonard Chow (Tommy Chen), Meung Ling (Linda Chen), Dennis Akiyama (Hai Kwan), Von Flores (A. J.), Susan Jay (Opium Girl); Director: Lyndon Chubbuck; Teleplay: Dan DiStefano, Stephen Katz. NOTE: Tattoos come to life (via animation) and then solidify into their deadly forms.

17. The Electrocutioner An innocent man once sentenced to death by electrocution, and having barely survived the ordeal, gains possession of a cursed electric chair and seeks vengeance upon all his accusers. Featuring: Angelo Rizacos (Eli Pittman), Frank Adamson (Warden Hobbs), Marcia Bennett (Peggy Hobbs), John Winston Carroll (Judge Miller), Ron Hartman (Mr. Downing), Michael Tait (Daniial Kendricks); Director/Teleplay: Rob Hedden. NOTE: Flashback sequences are shown in B&W.

18. Brain Drain Jack, Micki, and Ryan visits the Natural Museum of Science and Natural History in search of a crude 19th century medical device that was once used to drain the brain and spinal fluids out of patients. Jack, however, becomes distracted when he runs into medical researcher Dr. Viola Rhodes, whom he was to marry twenty years ago. As the reunited couple rekindle their love for one another, they are both unaware that Viola's life is in terrible danger. At the museum, a test subject with an I.Q. below 60, has been using the cursed antique to murder others and transfer their knowledge onto himself. Featuring: Carrie Snodgress (Dr. Viola Rhodes), Denis Forest (Stewart Pangborn), Brian Paul (Dr. Verner), François Klanfer (Dr. Robeson), David Walden (Dr. Maxwell), Andrew Massingham (Guard); Director: Lyndon Chubbuck; Teleplay: Joshua Daniel Miller

19. The Quilt of Hathor A patchwork quilt that was sewn together by Salem women practicing the occult, ends up in the hands of a religious sect. Micki and Ryan infiltrate the secluded colony but are helpless to put an end to the series of mysterious deaths. Meanwhile, Ryan wins the hand of the Reverend's daughter, whom he has fallen in love with. Micki is devastated when Ryan informs her that he has decided to convert and become a permanent member of the community. Feeling hurt and resentful, and having finally acquired the deadly quilt, Micki leaves Ryan behind and delivers the terrible news to Jack. Featuring: Scott Paulin (Reverend Josiah), Kate Trotter (Effie Stokes), Diego Matmoros (Matthew), Rebecca Lamb (Dlana Rowland), Helen Carscallen (Sarah Good), Carolyn Dunn (Laura Grange); Director: Timothy Bond; Teleplay: Janet MacLean. NOTE: This is a two-part episode with a great cast of guest-stars.

20. The Quilt of Hathor: The Awakening Jack and Micki race back to the religious sect when they discover that the quilt they have is a fake. But Ryan has already figured it out on his own when the mysterious deaths continue to occur and he learns that the entire community suspects him of murder and witchcraft. Upon learning the truth about the quilt's diabolical powers, the Reverend steals it for himself and uses the quilt to commit further murders. When Jack and Micki finally arrive, they witness Ryan about to be burned alive at the stake. Featuring: Scott Paulin (Reverend Josiah), Kate Trotter (Effie Stokes), Bernard Behrens (Inquisitor Holmes), Diego Matmoros (Matthew), David Brown (Elder Fraser), Araby Lockhart (Elder Florence); Director: Timothy Bond; Teleplay: Janet MacLean

21. Double Exposure A serial killer is prowling the streets and Ryan becomes the only eyewitness to identify him. The problem is that the killer happens to be a news anchor, who is always on the air live during the killings. When Ryan's girlfriend accidentally discovers how the anchorman is able to pull off the murders, she becomes the madman's latest victim. Featuring: Gary Frank (Winston Knight), Catherine Disher (Cathy Steiner), Tony De Santis (Detective Duncan), Dennis O'Connor (Phil Benedetto), Fran Gebhard (Marlene), Deborah Tennant (Eleanor); Director: Neill Fearnley; Teleplay: Durnford King

22. The Pirate's Promise The search for a cursed foghorn lead Micki and Ryan to Whaler's Point, a seaside village up the coast, where several women have been reported as missing. During their investigation, Micki and Ryan discover that a lighthouse keeper has been sacrificing people to the spectral figure of a long deceased pirate that materializes at night on a small boat near the beach. Featuring: Cedric Smith (Joe Fenton), Thomas Hauff (Dewey), Bernard Behrens (Barney), Kirsten Kieferle (Marie), Susan Markle (Kim); Director: Bill Corcoran; Teleplay: Carl Binder

23. Badge of Honor Tim Ayres, an ex-boyfriend of Micki's, pays her a surprise visit. Ryan, still harboring feelings for his distant cousin, becomes instantly jealous and suspicious of the man. When it turns out that Tim has indeed been lying and keeping secrets, Ryan and Micki suspect him of being involved in criminal activities. Further complications arise when Ryan and Micki pursue a rogue cop using a cursed badge to exact vengeance on a crime lord that murdered his wife... and Tim gets caught in the crossfire. Featuring: Val Avery (Russ Sharko), David Proval (Victor Haas), John Stockwell (Tim Ayres), Lloyd Adams (Solly), Shane Cardwell (Lou), Bill Lake (News Commentator); Director: Michelle Manning; Teleplay: Roy Sallows, Jim Henshaw; Story: Roy Sallows

24. Pipe Dream When Ryan reluctantly reunites with his estranged father, the outcome turns deadly. Mr. Ray Dallion has been using an unusual ornate pipe -- given to him years ago by the late Lewis Vendredi -- and has been utilizing it as a murder weapon to achieve success. Featuring: Michael Constantine (Ray Dallion), Frank Canino (Esposito), David Christoffel (Nathan Fielding), Marion Gilsenan (Connie), James Kidnie (John York), Nick Nichols (Buck Clemens); Director: Zale Dalen; Teleplay: Marc Scott Zicree

25. What a Mother Wouldn't Do A married couple must commit seven acts of murder to keep their baby daughter alive. Jack, Micki, and Ryan face their toughest dilemma yet, because if they remove the helpless baby from the cursed crib before the final murder is complete, the child would surly die. Featuring: Lynne Cormack (Leslie Kent), Michael Countryman (Martin Kent), Robyn Stevan (Debbie), Janet Bailey (Nurse Soames), Jack Jessop (Mr. Johnson), John Kozak (Dr. Green); Director: Neill Fearnley; Teleplay: Bruce Martin. NOTES: The character of Leslie Kent is seen reading the novel "Rosemary's Baby" on a park bench while stalking her latest victim; Actress Robey (Micki Foster) once dated Roman Polanski who directed and wrote the screenplay version of the novel.

26. Bottle of Dreams A mysterious stranger drops off an ancient Egyptian urn used to preserve the intestines of mummies. While Micki and Ryan secure the object inside the vault, it releases a green vapor that causes them to pass out and relive their most horrifying experiences. With Micki and Ryan trapped inside the vault, Jack seeks help from Rashid, an old friend and master practitioner of the occult. Meanwhile, Lewis Vendredi's evil spirit repeatedly attempts to disrupt Jack and Rashid's rescue plan. The only solution to rescuing Micki and Ryan would be to enter their dreams and bring them back out before their hearts explode. Lewis reminds Jack that his 12-year-old son, Peter Marshak, died years ago attempting such a dangerous task and offers Jack a trade off. Featuring: R. G. Armstrong (Lewis Vendredi), Elias Zarou (Rashid), Lazar Rockwood (The Messenger), Keram Malicki-Sánchez (Peter Marshak); Director: Mac Bradden; Teleplay: Roy Sallows. NOTES: Rashid finally makes an appearance in the series and becomes very popular with the fans. He returns in season 2; Scenes from previous episodes are shown in flashback as Micki and Ryan are made to relive their most terrifying moments: these episodes include "The Inheritance," "Cupid's Quiver," "Doctor Jack," "Tales of the Undead," "Scarecrow," and "The Baron's Bride".

Malevolent spirits, cursed mirrors and deadly objects, satanic rituals, and homicidal maniacs -- these are the ingredients of bad luck that plague three antique dealers throughout season 1 of the popular American-Canadian television program Friday the 13th the Series. However, the daring and ambitious show itself was anything but unlucky. Friday premiered on October 3, 1987 and became a hit series practically overnight, earning it a more accessible timeslot from late-night to prime-time despite its gratuitous and graphic visuals of gore and violence. Friday also found itself nominated twice for an Emmy Award and twelve times by the Gemini Awards in Canada.

Friday the 13th the Series creators Larry B. Williams (Alien Nation TV series) and Frank Mancuso, Jr. (April Fool's Day) really believed in the project's potential and worked hard to convince various production and broadcasting companies of this as well. Originally, The 13th Hour was the intended title for the show, but Mancuso felt it would attract far more attention if they borrowed the 'Friday the 13th' name to capitalize on the highly successful slasher movie franchise of that time. Fans of the Friday the 13th films were already familiar with Mancuso's name, who had helped produce Parts 2 - 5 prior. Admittedly, Mancuso has stated that "there was talk about having a hockey mask figuring prominently in one of the regular sets, but from the beginning, it was everybody's intention to totally cut the Jason thing off from this show," (Fangoria #84; July 1989). Ultimately, Mancuso ended up discarding the hockey mask idea, feeling it would have given viewing audiences false expectations and would have distracted from the show's capability of sustaining itself.

In addition to Mancuso, other production members of the TV series also had associations with the Friday the 13th films. They include first assistant director David M. Robertson (Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning), story editor Tom McLoughlin (Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI), music composer Fred Mollin (Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood; Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan), second assistant director Francis R. Mahony III (Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood; Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday), and wardrobe coordinator Maxyne Baker (Jason X).

One notable guest star of season 1 was John Shepherd (One Dark Night; Sometimes They Come Back), who appeared in the 13th episode 'The Baron's Bride.' Earlier, in 1985, Shepherd was cast in Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning as an adult Tommy Jarvis -- Jason's first arch nemesis!

Out of the three actors that make up the main cast of the first season, John D. Le May (The New Kids; Freeway Maniac) was the only one to have appeared in and encountered the machete-wielding Jason Voorhees in a Friday the 13th film. Loyal fans of both the TV series and the Friday movies were especially receptive to find Le May -- although as a different character -- dash and bash Jason in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993). Le May's fan base is not at all surprising considering that, of the three main characters, his role as Ryan Dallion in Friday the 13th the Series is easily the most relatable to television viewers. Ryan is an average guy bequeathed with various faults: he's naive, unsure about his future, addicted to comic books, resentful and disgruntled towards his family, and at times... highly jealous. But for all his shortcomings, Ryan is extremely loyal, courageous, has a great sense of humor, follows his heart, and has a strong fascination and appreciation for life. Sadly, but understandably so, Ryan's persona becomes less quirky and much darker in later episodes of season 1. His sly and innocently mischievous comments are gradually replaced by cynicism. The tole of having his heart broken repeatedly, and the death of loved ones begin to bear heavily down on him, although he never loses sight of his bravery and devotion.

Beautiful, porcelain-skinned actress Robey (The Money Pit; Play Nice) definitely caught the attention of many admiring male viewers who tuned in to the hour-long show to watch this flame-haired damsel in distress on a weekly bases. Robey played Micki Foster, an upstate prude from a wealthy family, who could scream and run with the best of the horror heroines. It is Micki who must adapt the most drastically to the modest profession of running an antique shop and the dangerous lifestyle that has bonded her, Ryan, and Jack with the burden of dealing with evil supernatural forces. Micki turns her back on the safety and comfort of the world she was accustomed to and even sacrifices her engagement in order to accept responsibility of saving innocent lives. Faced with extreme life or death situations, Micki gradually discovers qualities about herself she didn't know she possessed and puts her ingenuity to work when fighting off attackers and harmful entities.

Free-spirited and full of life, Robey was the perfect choice for the role of Micki Foster, which often called for the character to get down and dirty and uglying herself -- especially in the later seasons. Although, a far cry from the thrill-a-minute existence that Micki leads, Robey's own background is quite an interesting one. Robey grew up as a military brat before she went on to study dance; while living in France, she became a model and dated the legendary actor/director Roman Polanski (Rosemary's Baby; Chinatown); formed a rock band called 'Louise and the Creeps'; had a hit single with her version of 'One Night in Bangkok'; and released a two-part anthology collection, which features her music from 1979-2009. Although not a fan of the horror genre, Robey enjoyed working on Friday the 13th the Series and promoted the show every chance she got.

Veteran actor Chris Wiggins (The Neptune Factor; Mazes and Monsters) has appeared in numerous television programs since the 1950s and his radio credits average out to over 1,200 appearances. Always keeping himself active, Wiggins branched out into doing voice-over work in cartoon shows -- like The Mighty Thor and Sailor Moon -- and animated movies. But most horror fans best remember him as the wise and often lovable Jack Marshak in Friday the 13th the Series. Jack was a complex character that was immediately established as a teddy bear with teeth in the pilot episode. As caring and jolly as Jack appeared, he would just as easily fall into a serious and concentrated state and exhibit every ounce of his rage and strength when combating murderous men and sinister forces. These human traits seemed very real to fans of the TV show, who were also privy to seeing Jack's vulnerabilities and imperfections surface in certain situations. It's Jack's guilty conscious for introducing his old friend Lewis Vendredi into the unpredictable and dangerous world of the occult, that now has Jack looking after Vendredi's niece and nephew and teaming up with them to contain the cursed objects that Vendredi has unleashed into the world.

Much more information on Friday the 13th the Series will be provided in posts of Season 2 and Season 3... COMING SOON.

Movie Monsters by Alan Ormsby

2012-01-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

MOVIE MONSTERS: MONSTER MAKE-UP & MONSTER SHOWS TO PUT ON

by Alan Ormsby

1975, 1st edition

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

ISBN: Softcover 0590021753

Alan Ormsby's Movie Monsters: Monster Make-Up & Monster Shows to Put On was a treasure trove of nightmare goodies that transformed monster-loving kids of the 1970s into horror film experts overnight with its fun-filled facts on some of the most popular monsters of all time and the actors who played them. Ormsby not only shared Hollywood make-up secrets, he also encouraged youngsters to create their own special effects, put on horror shows, and make their own creature features! All this was packed into a slim, 80-page softcover book that also featured wonderful illustrations done by the author himself.

'A Ghoulery of Monster Greats' This is Part One of the book and displays an impressive collection of horror film stills featuring such greats as Phantom of the Opera, Jekyll & Hyde, King Kong, and Creature from the Black Lagoon. Brief bios of these and other horror icons serve as enticing appetizers to young readers for what is soon to follow in Parts 2 & 3 of the book. However, the focal point throughout the pages of Movie Monsters is consistently about make-up and special effects and, early on, we quickly learn trade secrets of the movies these horror hall-of-famers appeared in.

'How to Make a Monster' Part 2 in the book has the author reminiscing about special times during his childhood when he'd allow his imagination to run wild and create his own monsters -- eventually, he would find others to join in on his escapades. Next, Ormsby encourages his readers to explore and experiment with transforming themselves into monsters! Tips on acting, costumes, and the use of light and shadow to pull off an effective horror persona are motivational preps before Ormsby gets to the good stuff, which are painting scars, creating monster hands, a recipe for blood, and make-up techniques for characters like Dracula, Blacula, Bride of Frankenstein, Wolf Man, and others. Perhaps the greatest and the most fun of Ormsby's make-up tips is the "Brown Bag Frankenstein!" -- Sicko-Psychotic remembers making many of these when he was a little ghoul with much time on his severed hands!!! The end of this section promises more fun yet to come by incorporating all you've learned so far into either a live horror show or by filming a monster flick of your own!

'The Monster of Frankenstein!' The 3rd and final part of Movie Monsters features an entire horror-comedy script. The author continues to entice youngens into using their imagination by altering the script and not limiting themselves to traditional gender roles or ethnic typecasting. Further special-effect stunts are also explained, such as "How to Turn Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde Before Their Very Eyes!", "The Disappearing Ghost", "The Floating Head", and a there's even a special section on "Props". Kids needn't wonder where to locate some of the supplies called for in the book because Ormsby offers many helpful suggestions.

Alan Ormsby's talent in illustration, make-up, and special effects know-how is evident throughout the book, but many horror fans out there might be especially familiar with his work as a screenwriter for both film and television -- Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1973), Cat People (1982), Popcorn (1991), etc. Ormsby has also produced, directed, and worked as an actor and make-up artist in the Industry. Another contribution to fond childhood memories was Ormsby's invention of the 'Hugo: Man of a Thousand Faces' doll. If you never got one of these, you were able to see it on TV's The Uncle Floyd Show (1974) and The Pee-Wee Herman Show (1981). Good stuff.

Terror! Theatre (1957)

2012-01-02T14:17:00.000-08:00

TERROR! THEATRE

KCOP-TV, 1957

Cast: Dan Riss (Dr. Diablo)

Terror! Theatre was a television program that featured old horror-thrillers hosted by a 3000-year-old, dark and sinister-looking character named Dr. Diablo. The show aired every Tuesday night at 8:30 pm from September 3 - December 3 of 1957 on L.A.'s local television station KCOP (Channel 13).

The grim Dr. Diablo was played by hard-working actor Dan Riss (Two Lost Worlds; Ma Barker's Killer Brood), sporting a dark cloak, long moustache and goatee that complimented the diabolical persona. Dr. Diablo's favorite pastime involved poisons and he had a vulture for a pet. Unfortunately, very little else is known about the mysterious host and the obscure show itself since it only ran live on the air and lasted a mere three months.

At the time when Terror! Theatre made its debut, horror movie hosting was a new concept for television, having only been attempted previously with the highly successful Lady of Horrors (a.k.a. The Vampira Show) on KABC (1954-1955) and Vampira Presents on KHJ (1956). Additionally, many of the films -- like Revenge of the Zombies, The Vampire Bat, The Face of Marble, etc. -- that were shown on Terror! had previously been aired as part of the glamour ghoul's own line-up over at KABC and KHJ.

There are many possibilities that could have contributed to the abrupt cancellation of Terror! Theatre and why it quickly ended up as a forgotten piece of television history. For one, the show's date and air time would have best been affective during the weekend and/or at a later time when there would have been little competition from other popular programs. Instead, Terror! was forced to compete with The Big Story, Broken Arrow, City Detective, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Meet McGraw, and The Red Skelton Show. Perhaps the biggest hindrance to Terror! Theatre occurred on October 1, when a competing station, KTLA (Channel 5), debuted its own horror movie program Nightmare! (1957-1958) The rival show's host was the demented but delightful 'Old Woman,' played by Ottola Nesmith (Invisible Ghost; The Wolf Man) and showed a much more popular array of horror pictures like Frankenstein (1931), Dracula (1931), The Invisible Man (1933), and Werewolf of London (1935). Nightmare! also had the advantage of airing an hour later after Terror! Theatre's timeslot. At 9:30 pm, Nightmare! had less competition to worry about and fated Terror! and Dr. Diablo to a hasty demise. Other contributing factors that resulted in Terror! Theatre's cancellation can also be attributed to a poor budget and very little advertising or promoting.

1. King of the Zombies (1941). Dr. Diablo makes his debut with this chilling zombie favorite. "New to (13) is Dr. Diablo, a mystery character who'll introduce horror films of olden days." 9/3/1957

2. The Ape (1940). Story of a country doctor (Boris Karloff) who tries to cure a paralyzed girl (Maris Wrixon) by killing people and tapping their spinal cords. 9/10/1957

3. The Face of Marble (1946). A mad scientist (John Carradine) and his assistant (Robert Shayne) invent electric machine to bring back the dead. 9/17/1957

4. Revenge of the Zombies (1943). Scott Warrington (Mauritz Hugo) and a hired detective (Robert Lowery) investigate the mysterious death of Scott's sister Lila (Veda Ann Borg) and discover that she and many others have been turned into zombies by a mad scientist (John Carradine) working for the Third Reich. The zombies, however, seek revenge against their creator. 9/24/1957

5. Doomed to Die (1940). When shipping magnate Cyrus B. Wentworth (Melvin Lang) is shot dead, the prime suspect turns out to be his daughter's fiance. But famous detective James Lee Wong (Boris Karloff) and meddling reporter Roberta Logan (Marjorie Reynolds) have their doubts as Mr. Wentworth had a lot of enemies. 10/1/1957

6. The Strange Mr. Gregory (1946). Master illusionist, Mr. Gregory (Edmund Lowe), falls for another magician's wife (Jean Rogers). Mr. Gregory fakes his own death and has the young man framed for his murder and places the married woman under his spell. 10/8/1957

7. The Mad Monster (1942). A mad scientist (George Zucco) is discharged from a university when he is caught transferring the blood of wolves into the veins of men. The grotesque creature which results from the experiment roams the countryside killing and bringing terror to all. With Anne Nagel and Glenn Strange. 10/15/1957

8. The Living Ghost (1942). Investigator Nick Trayne (James Dunn), hired to find a lost millionaire (Gus Glassmire), runs into hair-raising adventures on his job. 10/22/1957

9. The Panther's Claw (1942). Police Commissioner Thatcher Colt (Sidney Blackmer) tries to solve weird blackmail case. With Rick Vallin and Lynn Starr. 10/29/1957

10. The Devil Bat (1940). In the village of Klineschloss, people begin to die from what appear to be vampire attacks. Police Inspector Karl Brettschneider (Melvyn Douglas) investigates and seeks the truth behind these mysterious deaths. Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, and Dwight Frye also star. 11/5/1957

11. Voodoo Man (1944). A mad doctor (Bela Lugosi) kidnaps young women and reduces them to a zombie state. With John Carradine and George Zucco. 11/12/1957

12. The Black Doll (1938). A quivering tale deals with the practice of ancient voodoo rites. Donald Woods, Nan Grey, and Doris Lloyd star. 11/19/1957

13. The Vampire Bat (1933). Horror tale centering around a series of strange deaths in a German village where the victims were found with tiny puncture marks in their jugular veins. Starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, and Dwight Frye. 11/26/1957

14. The Phantom Fiend (1932). An account of murders committed by an escaped lunatic (Ivor Novello) whose victims are all women. With Elizabeth Allan and Barbara Everest. 12/3/1957

Les yeux sans visage (1960)

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LES YEUX SANS VISAGE (a.k.a. Eyes Without a Face; The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus)

Champs-Élysées Productions, Lux Film, 1960

Producer: Jules Borkon

Director: Georges Franju

Script: Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Claude Sautet

Based on the novel by Jean Redon

Cast: Pierre Brasseur (Dr. Génessier), Edith Scob (Christiane Génessier),

Alida Valli (Louise), Alexandre Rignault (Inspector Parot),

Juliette Mayniel (Edna Grüber), François Guérin (Jacques Vernon),

Béatrice Altariba (Paulette), Charles Blavette (L'homme de la fourrière)

Inspector Parot investigates a recent series of disappearances involving young women who all have blue eyes and similar facial features. When he suspects brilliant surgeon Dr. Génessier and his loyal assistant Louise are somehow responsible, Parot attempts to set a trap, unaware of the true horrors occurring in the Doctor's secluded estate in the French countryside. Dr. Génessier has been holding his victims captive and performing heterograft surgery, removing their faces to place over his disfigured daughter's.

Eyes Without a Face is regarded as one of the most stylish and influential horror-thrillers ever made. The man responsible for the stunning visual appeal of the film was none other than master cinematographer and Academy Award winner Eugen Schüfftan (The Hustler; The Big Scare). The film was shot in black & white and had an eerie and gothic look that paid homage to German expressionist cinema and old horror pictures. The tone often alternates effectively from drama to suspense, horror, and even humor thanks to the collaborated efforts of Schüfftan, composer Maurice Jarre, writers Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, and, of course, director Georges Franju.

Indeed, Maurice Jarre's (Lawrence of Arabia; Dreamscape) ingenious score is such an integral part of the film viewing experience that it can only be described as the heartbeat of the picture, giving each scene life while effortlessly manipulating the audience's emotions. Sadly, Jarre's wonderful score was never released as a soundtrack album for many years. However, in 2005 the French record label Play-Time finally released it in an album called "Ma Période Francaise" which also includes Jarre's scores for Thérèse Desqueyroux (1962), Les dragueurs (1959), Recours en grâce (1960), Week-end à Zuydcoote (1964), and others.

During the late 1950s, horror films were in vogue again thanks to the U.K.'s Hammer Film Productions, who gave old familiar celluloid terrors a face lift for contemporary audiences. Their film repertoire included Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Horror of Dracula (1958), The Mummy (1959), etc. These were extremely popular with French movie audiences, giving producer Jules Borkon (The Wicked Go to Hell; Spotlight on a Murderer) the inclination that the time was ripe for the French film industry to begin making their own modern horror pictures. Borkon chose visionary director Georges Franju (Thérèse Desqueyroux; Nuits rouges) for the project. Previously, Franju had mostly worked on documentary shorts, but proved to have much potential, especially during the filming of his first feature-length movie Head Against the Wall (1959). Franju also had a strong interest and appreciation for silent-era films of the fantastique, such as those of Georges Méliès (Le manoir du diable; Le voyage dans la lune) and Louis Feuillade (Satan fait la noce; Fantômas: À l'ombre de la guillotine), which would prove quite influential during the making of Eyes Without a Face.

A problem arose when Borkon gave Franju three specific notes on content that needed to be avoided in the film: 1.) Franju was to avoid excessive gore so that it would pass French censorship; 2.) the director was not to show any torturing of animals because this would upset British censors; and 3.) he was to omit any mad scientist character because they were frowned upon and made Germans uncomfortable. This proved quite a challenging obstacle for Franju because Jean Redon's novel, which the film was based on, prominently featured all of these taboos and very little else. But the odd thing about all of this was that Borkon, himself, had chosen the Redon novel to make into a motion picture! Apparently, Franju's solution to the dilemma was to dismiss those silly rules of precaution and have the famous writing team of Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac -- known for their novels Celle qui n'était plus and D'entre les morts that were made into the popular films Diabolique (1955) and Vertigo (1958) -- utilize their talents on the screenplay. The writing duo's sophisticated script kept the controversial elements, but justified them by emphasizing the characters' inner-struggle with themselves.

Most who have watched the film in recent times, seem to agree with Georges Franju's choices. However, the majority of public opinion was quite the opposite when Eyes was first released theatrically and producer Borkon's worst nightmare became a reality! The movie did not fair as well as hoped and stirred up much controversy and little enthusiasm. Many audiences turned away in disgust and some even fainted during the realistic heterografting scenes. In rare praise for the film, one critic came close to losing her job when she gave it a positive review. In contrast, Isabel Quigly of England's The Spectator, expressed a more common opinion of the film by referring to it as, "the sickest film since I started film criticism." Other complaints were typical of what you usually come across with most mainstream critiques about horror and art films.

In 1962, Eyes was finally released to American audiences under the exploitation title of The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus. There was very little reaction to the film in the U.S. and it quickly faded into obscurity. This is not surprising considering that the U.S. version of the film was edited down, badly dubbed in English, poorly marketed, and released as a double bill with the extremely inferior film The Manster -- which was as bad as the title itself. Unfortunately, it would take as long as 1983 for Eyes Without a Face to be re-released in the U.S. in its original title and uncut. Since then, Eyes has been highly praised by a new generation of critics and fans alike, and is held in high regards by many star filmmakers.

When cast members Pierre Brasseur, Edith Scob, and Max Montavon began work on Eyes, they were already familiar with Franju's style of filmmaking. All three had appeared in Franju's previous feature film Head Against the Wall. Actor Lucien Hubert had also worked for Franju in the short subject Monsieur et Madame Curie (1956). The most outstanding performances in Eyes, however, are those of Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, and Edith Scob, whom the story revolves around.

Pierre Brasseur (F.P.1 Doesn't Answer; Raspoutine) was a veteran actor who played the complex character of Dr. Génessier. Brasseur's talents were well suited for the role that called for someone capable of portraying traits of intimidating authority, vulnerability, profound guilt, and personal anguish. Dr. Génessier never sees himself as an evil man, instead his actions are motivated by an immoral desperation that a father collapses into in an attempt to save his daughter's life.

Alida Valli (Las momias de Guanajuato; Suspiria) was a fascinating actress that managed to grab the viewers' attention the moment she stepped onto the screen. Here she played Louise, Christiane's caregiver and Dr. Génessier's loyal assistant, who holds a great deal of gratitude toward the surgeon for performing an unethical but successful medical procedure on her. Her character of Louise is both amusing and frightening to watch. Valli, of all the actors in the film, succeed in adapting to the light humor of the picture as well as the darker and horrifying tone of certain scenes. One also gets the impression that Louise is always plotting something throughout the film and we, the audience, never know what to expect from such an unpredictable personality.

Edith Scob (The Burning Court; Une aventure de Sherlock Holmes) is simply amazing as the lonely and confused Christiane Génessier, daughter of Dr. Génessier. A tragic car accident, caused by her own father, has left her face hideously mangled and is now forced to hide behind a white featureless mask that also serves to soften the guilt her father feels when he looks at her. Even behind the mask, the actress manages to win over the audience's sympathy by use of her eyes alone to express an array of emotions that center around despair in a now meaningless existence for Christiane. Moreover, the character has little hope that her father's treatment will ever succeed, and is mortified when she discovers Dr. Génessier's diabolical secrets and the true source for the experiments. In many ways, Christiane is also a victim of Dr. Génessier, having never asked to be subjected to the numerous surgeries. However, in a moment of weakness, Christiane becomes an accessory to her father's deeds when she fails to free a young captive she stumbles upon inside the lab. But guilt overwhelms her to the point where she sacrifices all hope for a normal life again by retaliating against her father. Christiane puts an end to the experiments and destroys the house of horrors right after setting free another captive and all the animals that were being mistreated and used during early experiments.

Immediately after the release of Eyes Without a Face, other filmmakers were inspired to make similar movies, such as Atom Age Vampire (1960) and Corruption (1968). Favorite exploitation film director Jesus Franco was such a fan of Franju's film that he too paid tribute to Eyes with a series of films about a Doctor Orlof -- beginning with The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962). Director John Carpenter has also suggested that the idea for Michael Myers' mask in the Halloween (1978) script, might have been inspired by Eyes. Additionally, rock musician Billy Idol wrote his hit song "Eyes Without a Face" in reference to the 1960 film, which features female backup vocalist Perri Lister singing the French title of the movie -- 'Les yeux sans visage' -- during the chorus. However, the song lyrics takes on a meaning that is far removed from what the film was about.

NOTE: You may be sick and twisted, but not insane... if you don't recognize scenes from some of the promo photos, it's because they never ended up in the movie.

Watch 'THE HORROR CHAMBER OF

DR. FAUSTUS / THE MANSTER' Trailer

The Lesser-Known Poe

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artwork by Abigail Larson

The Lesser-Known Poe

by Christina Sampson

Every year, particularly around Halloween, middle- and high-school students shuffle into English class and are force-fed one or several of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories (and possibly some of his poems.) The students struggle through The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Raven, The Cask of Amantillado or, if their teacher is particularly ambitious, poems such as Lenore or Ulalume or maybe even Annabelle Lee.

Understandably, teachers tend to gravitate towards these selections because they are among the most accessible of Poe’s works to the modern reader.

Poe, despite his deliberately aborted stint at military school, was incredibly intelligent and his personal obsession with classic German philosophical texts and mythology does bleed into many of his literary works. This results in lots of Latin and Greek phrases (often not translated). The footnotes quickly multiply and that, combined with the dated syntax and Poe’s own penchant for using the archaic definition of words, can make reading his works a daunting undertaking.

Even those who love Poe’s writing can find wading through The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade a bit tedious. The effort is rewarded, but one hardly expects the current flock of social-media savvy texters to have that kind of patience during a high-school AP English class.

The students are also told the usual true—but grossly oversimplified—facts, often with the same, trite phrases. Poe "invented" the mystery with Murders in the Rue Morgue (actually, The Purloined Letter makes a better case for that), he was a "master of horror," his writings were renowned for their grotesque and macabre slant, etc. etc.

An admiral overview of the basics, true, but these factoids include none of the most interesting parts of the man’s life or writings.

For example, take the story behind the famous, doe-eyed portrait of him that undoubtedly accompanies his section in grade-school textbooks. This famous and most widely-published portrait of Poe—in which he appears somber, wearing a dark jacket and light scarf--was taken mere days after he attempted suicide by taking laudanum.

One wonders what the person who took him to get the daguerreotype was thinking—"Sorry that didn’t work out, old chap, but let’s get a snapshot taken! Won’t that be fun!"

Sarah Helen Whitman, Poe’s main love interest after the death of his wife Virginia Clemm, called the portrait "Ultima Thule," which essentially means the very outer limits of discovery and travel. Four days later, Poe had another picture taken, which he actually gave to Whitman. She claimed it, too, failed to capture his "noble" good looks, despite his being nearly recovered by that time. (Another interesting side note: the mustache Poe is sporting is a "new" look for him at the time the portrait was taken; although we picture him mustachioed for all his life, in fact, he made it a point to be clean-shaven most of the time).

Many teachers will also undoubtedly fail to mention Poe’s abilities as a literary critic or his efforts as a magazine publisher, magazine editor and painter.

Also unlikely to be mentioned is Poe’s history as a bit of a ladies’ man after Virginia Clemm died, and how he was embroiled in several socially dramatic episodes involving multiple ladies, rumor mongering and the questioning of his honor.

Instead, students are given the idea that Poe had only one great love, his very young cousin, Virginia Clemm.

And while Poe’s struggles with alcoholism are generally taught, the obvious effect it had on his narrative style and many of his first-person protagonists is not (really, comparisons with Hunter S. Thompson wouldn’t be far-fetched to some degree).

That being said, by no means is Poe’s place in the annals of Horror undeserved.

Still, he often gets short shrift during Halloween and it is high time for some of his other horror writings to be highlighted.

There are more ways to send chills up someone’s spine than simply scaring them with beating dead hearts and repetitive ravens, and Poe deftly handled them all, particularly horror along a more subtle, disquieting vein.

So, if you’re as tired of the same old Poe on Halloween as I am, try reading one of the four following short stories. They’re all pretty easy reading and, although in some there are similarities to his more famous works, these tales are no less enjoyable.

All quotes taken from: Poe, Edgar Allan. The Collected Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, Random House Modern Library Edition, 1992, United States and Canada. Editors unlisted.

Biographical information: Since I’ve been reading Poe and all about him since grade school, much of the information was taken off the top of my head, as it were. However, confirmation of facts was conducted using the introduction of the above book as well as one other. It was:

Poe, Harry Lee. Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories, Metro Books, 2008, New York.

The Black Cat

In my opinion, no other story shows Poe’s mastery of conveying a mental instability using a nervous, psychotic-twitch like narrative style than this one. With very few overt signals and no dialogue at all, the reader becomes increasingly aware with each page turned that something is very wrong with the man penning these words…and it’s probably more than alcoholism, too.

The unnamed narrator starts out as an animal lover who animals naturally gravitate towards. His wife is the same way and the two quickly establish a homestead complete with birds, a dog, rabbits, a monkey and a black cat named Pluto.

Pluto, in particular, loves the narrator, who unfortunately falls into a spiral of alcoholism. As his "disease" increases, so does an almost inexplicable distaste for the cat, who piteously follows him around the house like a puppy. One night, in a burst of drunken disgust for the animal when it avoids him, the narrator grabs Pluto and cuts out one of his eyes. This solves the problem of the cat following him around (once healed, Pluto flees in terror from the man), but not the mental instability of the man himself.

At first relieved, and even a little saddened, by the animal’s terror of him, soon the narrator again begins to feel an irrational, burning "perverseness" for Pluto. And so, "in cold blood" the narrator grabs Pluto, puts a noose around his neck and hangs him from a tree in the garden.

That night, the narrator’s house burns down….except for the wall against which the narrator put his bed. And on that wall is the unmistakable bas-relief in char of a giant black cat.

This doesn’t stop the narrator from drinking, however, and one night at a bar he comes across another black cat curled up atop a barrel of alcohol. Upon petting it, he discovers it looks almost exactly like Pluto only it has a splotch of white fur on it’s chest. It follows the narrator home where the new pet and his wife become fast friends.

Yet again, an irrational hatred of the animal arises within the narrator. The cat, however, nearly suffocates the narrator with affection : when he sits, the cat is immediately upon his lap, when he walks, the cat is always underfoot.

The narrator has enough of a conscious to refrain from acting violently towards the new household pet, until one day when it almost trips him while he is going down the cellar steps. He grabs an axe and would’ve succeeded in killing the animal, but his wife interferes. This spurs the man into a rage that leads him to bury the ax in his wife’s brain. She dies instantly.

But of course, this does not mark the end of the tale. The narrator does successfully hide the body, and even the cat disappears, but a happy ending is not be had…

The Premature Burial

This is one of the very rare stories Poe has written that features a happy ending….after, of course, some deeply disturbing events.

Beginning innocuously enough, the narrator begins with what appears to be an academic monograph considering the fact that people really enjoy reading about human tragedies—("…the Plague at London…the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, or the stifling of the hundred and twenty-three prisoners in the Black Hole of Calcutta."). He maintains that these are acceptable to people only because they are true, and that if similar stories were to be told in fiction, well, that would "disgust" the reader.

This brings him to reflect that when it comes to something horrid happening to the individual, there can be nothing more terrible than to be buried alive. Fair enough, but it soon becomes apparent that the author has an unsettling obsession with the idea of mistaken burials.

He even goes on to give us four mini-macabre tales (which honestly, make this story worth reading in and of themselves).

In the first, the wife of a respected Congressman appeared to have been struck dead by an unknown malady and was thus interred in the family vault for three years. When the vault is opened again to receive a sarcophagus, the chaotic remnants in the tomb tell a ghastly story of a fight against a horrific fate.

The woman, awakening in a coffin, apparently manages to break it open by moving around enough that if falls off the shelf it was on and breaks open. An empty lamp on the floor tells us that, for a little while at least, she had some light.

Using a piece of her coffin, the woman apparently struck against the iron door at the top of the vault’s stairs to attract someone’s attention. She died, but instead of falling down the stairs, her shroud catches on some iron work and she instead rots standing up, a grim hostess greeting those who opened the vault’s door.

The second story is a romantic tragedy with a suitably morbid twist but happy ending nonetheless.

In it, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy family rejects the love a poor Parisian journalist, instead marrying a diplomat. The decision results in forcing her to endure several years of a terrible marriage during which her husbands is horrible to her. One day, she appears to die and is buried in the village cemetery.

The Parisian journalist, ever the romantic, journeys to the grave in hopes of exhuming her body and cutting off her hair so he can keep it. While cutting off the "luxuriant tresses," the woman opens her eyes! Using "certain powerful restoratives suggested by no little medical learning," he manages to restore her to full health.

Saving her from dying in an early grave wins the woman’s heart over to the journalist and the two flee to America. Twenty years later, the couple returns to France, thinking the woman will no longer be recognized by anyone they know. Sure enough, her first husband immediately recognizes her and claims her as his. The issue goes to court and the judges decide that enough time has passed that her first husband has neither equitable or legal claim to her.

Finally, the reader is told about an artillery officer "of gigantic stature and robust health" who is thrown from a horse and fractures his skull. Eventually falling into a coma—despite being bled—he is deemed dead and buried with "indecent haste" in a public cemetery.

A passing villager, insisting that he felt the soil moving beneath him as he sat on the grave, rushes to the village to tell him. Finally, the villagers, persuaded by his insistent terror, dig up his "shamefully shallow" grave and find him alive. He is taken to the hospital and, after recovery, is even able to explain how he heard people walking on his grave and as such tried to make a commotion from within his coffin. (Poe does account for the one hole in this tale, explain that air was admitted to the "loosely filled" grave through the "excessively porous soil."

Ironically, the poor officer is then subjected to the "galvanic battery" (which, from what I can gather from this and other stories, is kind of like the pads used to shock a person’s heart back into beating….only, without either the knowledge, technology, or voltage control we have today), which kills him.

The galvanic battery plays a role in the next mini-horror story, but that one I will leave to be read by you. Trust me, it’s worth it.

Moving on to our narrator, we soon discover he has "catalepsy," a condition which essentially causes him to fall into mini-comas. We also learn that his obsession with being buried alive has taken over his life. He needs to be around people all the time, he thinks of nothing else all day and dreams of it at night. He makes his friends literally swear they will never allow him to be buried until or unless his body has actually begun to decompose.

And then, one day, he awakens to find himself surrounded by a structure on all sides, no more than six inches above his face….surely, a coffin. He either hallucinates in his terror or perhaps really does glimpse the horrors of a Hell in which every grave in the world is simultaneously flung open and millions of souls were buried too early and rustle in misery.

The ending is rather surprising, given that this is a Poe story. However, it is not unwelcome and does nothing to detract from the disquieting thoughts reading this story may lead one to have, the vivid horror imagery, or the signature way in which Poe leads the reader slowly led into the ruffled mind of his narrator.

The Man of the Crowd

Translation of opening quote: "The great misfortune of not being alone." –La Bruyere

Some of Poe’s short stories do little more than simply envision various ways one might experience hell on earth, and this is one of them. There is no real plot arc, or character development as such, but simply the horrid realization of another’s condition.

Don’t let the French, German, and possibly Hebrew—or perhaps ancient Greek or Arabic—sprinkled throughout the beginning of this story scare you away. After all, Poe even translates the German for you (a courtesy not often extended by him to the reader).

The pompous, over-educated narrator of this story is sitting in a hotel café after recovering from an illness. He is reading a paper and smoking a cigar and generally basking in the mere pleasure of being alive (despite some pain) that often follows a serious illness or injury.

As evening falls, he becomes absorbed in watching the throngs of people outside the window, at first just watching them as a group, and then slowly classifying them into classes (clerks, gentry, pickpockets, etc.). Fittingly, as the day grows late, the less genteel, more harsh-featured working class citizens begin to appear while making their way home.

Then, just as a fog envelops the street, the narrator’s attention is arrested by a face of a man so fiendish, so devilish, our friend is immediately captivated by him. So much so, in fact, that he grabs his coat and hat and rushes after him.

He notices the mysterious man is dressed in dirty, but beautiful, clothes and that he is carrying both a diamond and a dagger.

The man goes to a street that is slightly less crowded and seems to aimless cross the street and change direction for no apparent reason, at one time even almost catching the narrator in the act of following him.

After following the man for a while, it becomes apparent that the man prefers to be immersed in a crowd and that; actually, being apart from a throng of people seems to cause him almost physical pain.

Our narrator follows and follows the man, finally realizing that the man literally cannot be left alone. He must be within the midst of people to be spared an agonizing pain. Having realized the horrible, personal, eternal torture of the man, he abandons his quest to follow the man.

The Man That Was Used Up: A Tale of the Late Bugaboo and Kickapoo Campaign

The Corneille quote that begins this story translates to: "Weep, weep, my eyes water and melt you! Half of my life put the other to the grave."

I have a confession to make: this particular tale isn’t all that frightening, or even that disturbing by modern standards. In fact, it can also serve as an example of one of Poe’s more humorous stories, as much of the narrative is decidedly tongue-in-cheek and the action does have a vaguely comic, almost Abbott and Costello feel about it.

Or so I thought, when I first read it in sixth grade. But somehow, I kept thinking back to it, images from the ending lingering in my brain, and the more I thought of it, the more I became aware of being a little disturbed. After all, it was possible, wasn’t it…?

I read it again. I realized that, yes, this was definitely Poe using a very wry sense of humor. It was almost like Mark Twain in the way it poked a bit of fun at the tightly regulated social rules and rituals of the gentry (I didn’t know it in sixth grade, but that makes sense: Poe was a southern gentleman, and took that station very seriously). But the image in my head at the end of book, of that lump by the door….that wasn’t really funny at all when you thought about it. Actually, it was pretty creepy, at least to me.

But I digress.

Our narrator here is named Smith, and, by his own admission, simply can’t stand an unanswered question. One night, while at a party, Smith is introduced to Brevet Brigadier-General John A.B.C. Smith is so struck by the general’s perfect good looks and fine, refined manner that he can’t even remember who introduced them.

The two men enjoy a wonderful conversation during which the general rhapsodizes about the "mechanical age" in which they live and all the convenience machines offer.

But something nags at Smith. He can’t quite put his finger on it, but something is simply different about the general. It’s not his extraordinary good looks, right down to "the most entirely even, and the most brilliantly white of all conceivable teeth." Nor is it the general’s impeccable manners and precise way of moving (if he weren’t so obviously of high breeding, Smith muses, the general’s movements would seem cold; instead, this quality seems to reflect a natural, aristocratic aloofness).

Smith quickly sets about finding the answer the way most gentry would—by seeking out any gossip about the general from his friends. He attempts to whisper with a friend in church but the pastor—Dr. Drummummupp (get it? Drum ‘em up?)— gets so angry he almost breaks the pulpit in half by banging on it.

Smith goes to the theater to ask a couple of girls he knows but, again, is shushed by an actor (whom Smith subsequently beats up after the show). He then attends a party and asks someone who would know, but again is interrupted. He visits a friend, but the friends makes a sarcastic comment causing Smith to stalk off.

Everyone seems to agree on one thing: something positively horrid happened to the general while he was fighting against the Bugaboos and the Kickapoos (who we know only as "Indians"), the general was extraordinarily brave, and for some reason everyone also tends to starts babbling about modern times and technology.

Finally, Smith decides that he’s just going to go and ask the general himself. He is totally and utterly unprepared for who—or what?—greets him there. All his questions are answered without any real explication from the general…at least, not verbal explication.

--- Christina Sampson

SP is proud to have THE Christina Sampson as a guest writer. Because of her wonderful interest in macabre literature and enthusiasm for strange and surreal nostalgia, SP has given her an open and unlimited invitation to drop into the crypt anytime she pleases. (Hopefully, a few venomous spiders and rotting zombies lurking about won't discourage her from returning.) The Daring Damsel has worked as a journalist for the Pahrump Valley Times, Las Vegas Tribune, Courthouse News Service, and numerous other entities. To learn more about Christina Sampson, check out her website at Sampson CopyWrite or on Facebook.

The artwork featured above the article was done by the talented illustrator Abigail Larson. You can view (and purchase) some of her incredible work on her website at Abigail Larson Illustration.

Lon Chaney: Film List

2011-12-01T20:48:00.000-08:00

He was the Man of a Thousand Faces, giving life to an array of deformed and grotesque characters like no other actor or makeup artist before him. So impressive was Lon Chaney at his craft that he not only made spectating movie audiences scream from his shocking and frightening appearances, he also had them sympathizing with the tragic figures that gave those same patrons nightmares! Born on April Fool's Day of 1883 to def and mute parents, Chaney quickly learned to skillfully use his hands, body, and facial expressions to communicate with them. This invaluable tool also served to amplify his ability to reach his audience throughout his career on the theatrical stage and up on the silver screen. Chaney had great respect for those with physical limitations and imperfections, which society usually shunned. Crew members and fellow actors admired and adored him for his kindness and generosity -- including the great Boris Karloff. In fact, the dedicated silent era actor allowed himself to suffer greatly under the extreme body contortions and harsh makeup he applied on himself when playing certain memorable roles. Chaney was additionally blessed with the talents for signing, dancing, comedy, and voices -- the latter of which is evident in The Unholy Three (1930), his last film and the only "talkie" he ever appeared in before his untimely death. Unfortunately, most of Lon Chaney's films are currently lost, but several have managed to resurface with time. Today, we are fortunate to have a few examples of some of his greatest work, including The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera, and West of Zanzibar, to name a few.

Almost an Actress (1913) -- lost film
Back to Life (1913) -- lost film
The Blood Red Tape of Charity (1913) -- lost film
Bloodhounds of the North (1913) -- lost film
An Elephant on His Hands (1913) -- lost film
Poor Jake's Demise (1913)
Red Margaret, Moonshiner (1913; a.k.a. Moonshine Blood) -- lost film
The Restless Spirit (1913) -- lost film
The Sea Urchin (1913) -- lost film
Shon the Piper (1913) -- lost film
Suspense (1913) -- most likely played one of the tramps
The Trap (1913) -- lost film
The Ways of Fate (1913) -- lost film
By the Sun's Rays (1914)
Discord and Harmony (1914) -- lost film
The Embezzler (1914) -- lost film
The End of the Feud (1914) -- lost film
The Forbidden Room (1914) -- lost film
Her Bounty (1914) -- lost film
Her Escape (1914) -- lost film
Her Grave Mistake (1914) -- lost film
Her Life's Story (1914) -- lost film
The Higher Law (1914) -- lost film
The Honor of the Mounted (1914) -- lost film
The Hopes of Blind Alley (1914) -- lost film
The Lamb, the Woman, the Wolf (1914) -- lost film
The Lie (1914) -- lost film
Lights and Shadows (1914) -- lost film
The Lion, the Lamb, the Man (1914) -- lost film
The Menace to Carlotta (1914; a.k.a. Carlotta, the Bead Stringer) -- lost film
A Miner's Romance (1914) -- lost film
A Night of Thrills (1914) -- lost film
The Old Cobbler (1914) -- lost film
The Oubliette (1914)
The Pipes o' Pan (1914) -- lost film
A Ranch Romance (1914) -- lost film
Remember Mary Magdalen (1914) -- lost film
Richelieu (1914) -- lost film
The Tragedy of Whispering Creek (1914) -- lost film
The Unlawful Trade (1914) -- lost film
Virtue Is Its Own Reward (1914) -- lost film
Alas and Alack (1915) -- final minutes of film are missing
All for Peggy (1915) -- lost film
Bound on the Wheel (1915) -- lost film
The Chimney's Secret (1915) -- lost film
The Desert Breed (1915) -- lost film
The Fascination of the Fleur de Lis (1915) -- only a fragment survives
Father and the Boys (1915) -- lost film
For Cash (1915) -- lost film
The Girl of the Night (1915; a.k.a. Her Chance) -- lost film
The Grind (1915; a.k.a. On the Verge of Sin) -- lost film
An Idyll of the Hills (1915) -- lost film
Lon of Lone Mountain (1915) -- lost film
Maid of the Mist (1915) -- lost film
The Measure of a Man (1915) -- lost film
The Millionaire Paupers (1915) -- only a fragment of the film survives
A Mother's Atonement (1915) -- only part of the film survives
Mountain Justice (1915) -- lost film
Outside the Gates (1915) -- lost film
The Oyster Dredger (1915) -- lost film
The Pine's Revenge (1915) -- lost film
Quits (1915) -- lost film
The Sin of Olga Brandt (1915) -- lost film
A Small Town Girl (1915) -- lost film
The Star of the Sea (1915) -- lost film
Steady Company (1915) -- lost film
The Stool Pigeon (1915) -- lost film
The Stronger Mind (1915) -- lost film
Stronger Than Death (1915) -- lost film
Such Is Life (1915) -- lost film
The Threads of Fate (1915) -- lost film
The Trust (1915) -- lost film
Under a Shadow (1915) -- lost film
The Violin Maker (1915) -- lost film
When the Gods Played a Badger Game (1915; a.k.a. The Girl Who Couldn't Go Wrong) -- lost film
Where the Forest Ends (1915) -- lost film
Accusing Evidence (1916) -- re-edited version of earlier film(s)
Bobbie of the Ballet (1916) -- lost film
Dolly's Scoop (1916)
Felix on the Job (1916) -- lost film
The Gilded Spider (1916; a.k.a. The Full Cup) -- lost film
The Grasp of Greed (1916; a.k.a. Mr. Meeson's Will) -- only part of the film survives
The Grip of Jealousy (1916) -- lost film
If My Country Should Call (1916) -- only parts of the film survive
The Mark of Cain (1916; a.k.a. By Fate's Degree) -- lost film
The Place Beyond the Winds (1916) -- most of the film survives
The Price of Silence (1916) -- lost film
Tangled Hearts (1916) -- only a few minutes of footage exist
Anything Once (1917) -- lost film
Bondage (1917) -- lost film
A Doll's House (1917)
The Empty Gun (1917) -- lost film
Fires of Rebellion (1917) -- lost film
The Flashlight (1917; a.k.a. The Flashlight Girl) -- lost film
The Girl in the Checkered Coat (1917) -- lost film
Hell Morgan's Girl (1917) -- lost film
The Mask of Love (1917) -- lost film, retitled & re-release of an unknown earlier film
Pay Me! (1917; a.k.a. Pay Day/The Vengeance of the West) -- lost film
The Piper's Price (1917) -- lost film
The Rescue (1917) -- lost film
The Scarlet Car (1917)
Triumph (1917) -- only part of the film survives
Broadway Love (1918)
A Broadway Scandal (1918) -- lost film
Danger, Go Slow (1918) -- lost film
Fast Company (1918) -- lost film
The Grand Passion (1918) -- lost film
The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin (1918; a.k.a. The Kaiser) -- lost film
Riddle Gawne (1918) -- only part of the film survives
The Talk of the Town (1918) -- lost film
That Devil, Bateese (1918) -- lost film
False Faces (1919)
A Man's Country (1919) -- lost film
The Miracle Man (1919) -- only a fragment of the film survives
Paid in Advance (1919)
Victory (1919)
When Bearcat Went Dry (1919)
The Wicked Darling (1919)
Daredevil Jack (1920) -- only parts of the film survive, 15-chapter serial
The Gift Supreme (1920) -- only part of the film survives
Nomads of the North (1920)
Outside the Law (1920)
The Penalty (1920)
Treasure Island (1920) -- lost film
The Ace of Hearts (1921)
Bits of Life (1921) -- lost film
For Those We Love (1921) -- lost film
Voices of the City (1921; a.k.a. The Night Rose) -- lost film
A Blind Bargain (1922; a.k.a. The Octave of Claudius) -- lost film
Flesh and Blood (1922)
The Light in the Dark (1922; a.k.a. The Light of Faith)
Oliver Twist (1922)
Quincy Adams Sawyer (1922)
Shadows (1922)
The Trap (1922; a.k.a. Heart of a Wolf)
All the Brothers Were Valiant (1923) -- lost film
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
The Shock (1923)
While Paris Sleeps (1923) -- lost film
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
The Next Corner (1924) -- lost film
The Monster (1925)
1925 Studio Tour (1925) -- documentary
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
The Tower of Lies (1925) -- lost film
The Unholy Three (1925)
The Blackbird (1926)
The Road to Mandalay (1926) -- film survives incomplete
Tell It to the Marines (1926)
London After Midnight (1927) -- only a 2002 reconstruction exists
Mockery (1927)
Mr. Wu (1927)
The Unknown (1927)
The Big City (1928) -- lost film
Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
West of Zanzibar (1928)
While the City Sleeps (1928)
Thunder (1929) -- only a small fragment survives
Where East Is East (1929)
The Unholy Three (1930)

Killer Plants: Film & TV List

2011-11-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

As evident in the numerous films and television programs that they have appeared in, homicidal and carnivorous vegetation have always been a strange fascination for many fantasy, horror, and sci-fi fans. Interest in these wondrous and deadly creatures continue to stay strong and blogs dedicated to them are sprouting like weeds all over the Internet. As part of SP's cryptozoological film & TV listing series, yours gruelly has not only included giant carnivorous plants, but also killer fruits, dangerous fungi, and humanoid plant-creatures, which should satisfy the web-exploring masses looking for a good SPew... or simply, unique ideas for backyard landscaping? So, whithout further adieu, grab your popcorn and green candy vines and check out these botanical nightmares....

ABC Weekend Specials: "The Bunjee Venture" (1984) -- animated TV series episode
The Addams Family (1964-1966) -- TV series, Motricia's carnivorous pet Cleopatra
The Addams Family (1973-1975) -- animated TV series
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2002-2006) -- animated TV series
Aladdin: "Garden of Evil" (1994) -- animated TV series episode
At the Earth's Core (1976)
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1990-1992) -- animated TV series
Attack of the Mushroom People (1963; a.k.a. Matango)
The Avengers: "Man-Eater of Surrey Green" (1965) -- TV series episode
Batman & Robin (1997)
Batman: The Animated Series: "Pretty Poison" (1992) -- animated TV series episode
Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Sidekicks Assemble!" (2010) -- animated TV series episode
Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "The Mask of Matches Malone!" (2010) -- animated TV series episode
Blood (1974) -- starring Hope Stansbury
Body of the Prey (1970; a.k.a. Venus Flytrap)
Body Snatchers (1993)
Creepshow (1982)
Creepshow 2 (1987)
Darkwing Duck (1991) -- animated TV series, recurring villain Bushroot
The Day of the Triffids (1962)
The Day of the Triffids (1981)
The Day of the Triffids (2009)
Die, Monster, Die! (1965)
Dinner for Adela (1978; a.k.a. Adéla jeste nevecerela)
Doctor Who: "The Seeds of Doom, Parts 1-6" (1976) -- TV series episodes
Doctor Who: "The Trial of a Time Lord, Part 9" (1986; a.k.a. "Terror of the Vervoids") -- TV series episode
The Double Garden (1970; a.k.a. The Venus Flytrap)
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)
Emperor's New Grove (2000)
Garfield and Friends: "One Good Fern Deserves Another" (1989) -- animated TV series episode
Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
George of the Jungle (1967-1970) -- animated TV series, closing credits
The Green Slime (1968)
Flash Gordon (1979-1982) -- animated TV series
Friday the 13th the Series: "A Cup of Time" (1987) -- TV series episode
Hank Danger and the Space Mummy's Tomb! (2009) -- animation
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
The Headless Terror (1967; a.k.a. Penanggalan)
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: "title unknown" (2002-2004) -- animated TV series episode
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein (1971) -- TV series
Holocausto Porno (1981) -- porno
H.R. Pufnstuf (1969-1970) -- TV series with poison mushrooms that turn any living creature they touch into fungus
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
It Conquered the World (1956)
Jimmy Two-Shoes (2009-) -- animated TV series
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
Jumanji (1995)
Kaiba: "title unknown" (2008) -- animated TV series episode
Killer Tomatoes Eat France (1991)
Killer Tomatoes Strike Back (1990)
Kim Possible: "title unknown" (2002-2007) -- animated TV series episode
Konga (1961)
The Land Unknown (1957)
Lexx (1997-2002) -- TV series
Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Loonatics Unleashed: "Apocalypso" (2007) -- animated TV series episode
The Lost Continent (1968)
Lost Girl: "(Dis)Members Only" (2010) -- TV series episode
Lost in Space: "Attack of the Monster Plants" (1965) -- TV series episode
The Lost World (1960)
The Lost World: "The Guardians" (2001) -- TV series episode
Luana (1968)
Man Eater of Hydra (1967; a.k.a. Island of the Doomed/La Isla de la Muerte) -- also features a bloodsucking tree!
Milton the Monster: "The Goofy Doctor Goo Fee/From Riches to Rags/The Pot Thickens" (1965) -- animated TV series episode
Milton the Monster: "Throne for a Loss/Missin' Masters/Monster Mutiny" (1965) -- animated TV series episode
Milton the Monster: "Boo to You/Under Waterloo/Kid Stuff" (1965-1967) -- animated TV series episode
Minority Report (2000)
Mortuary (2005)
Mothra (1961)
The Mutations (1973; a.k.a. The Freakmaker)
Mutiny in Outer Space (1965)
Naruto (2002-2007) -- animated TV series
Naruto: Shippûden (2007-) -- animated TV series
The New Addams Family (1998-1999) -- TV series
The New Scooby-Doo Movies: "Wednesday Is Missing" (1972) -- animated TV series episode
Ninja Nonsense: "title unknown" (2004; a.k.a. Ninin ga shinobuden) -- animated TV series episode
The Outer Limits: "Flower Child" (2001) -- TV series episode
Please Don't Eat My Mother! (1973)
Poltergeist Report: Yuu Yuu Hakusho (1992-1995) -- animated TV series
The Quartermass Xperiment (1955; a.k.a. The Creeping Unknown)
Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (1988)
The Revenge of Doctor X (1970)
Rocky and His Friends: "The Pottsylvania Permanent or I've Grown Accustomed to the Place" (1960) -- TV series episode
Rosario to Vampire (2008-2009) -- animated TV series
Rosario to Vampire Capu2 (2008) -- animated TV series
The Ruins (2008)
Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies (1970-1971; a.k.a. The Groovie Goolies and Friends) -- animated TV series
Scary Movie 2 (2001)
Seedpeople (1992)
Seeds of Evil (1974)
The Seven Vampires (1987; a.k.a. As Sete Vampiras)
The Simpsons: "Simpson Safari" (2001) -- animated TV series episode
The Simpsons: "Moe Baby Blues" (2003) -- animated TV series episode
Star Trek - Voyager "Bliss" (1999) -- TV series episode
Swamp Devil (2008)
Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943)
The Thing from Another World (1951)
Toyota ECHO commercial (20??) --- might have premiered in 2003, woman feeds grocery boy to giant Venus flytrap in the back of her vehicle
Transformers: Cybertron (2005) -- animated TV series
Transformers: The Headmasters: "title unknown" (1987-1988) -- animated TV series episode
Tremors: "Flora or Fauna?" (2003) -- TV series episode
Ultraman: "Miroganda no himitsu" (1966) -- TV series episode
The Unknown Terror (1957)
Untamed Women (1952)
Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light (1987) -- animated TV series
Voodoo Island (1957)
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)
The Woman Eater (1958)
The X-Files: "El Mundo Gira" (1997) -- TV series episode
Yog, Monster from Space (1971)
Yû yû hakusho (1993-2006) -- animated TV series

see also film & TV lists of... CRYPTOZOOLOGICAL CREATURES, EVIL TREES, and MOTHER NATURE STRIKES BACK!

The Addams Family (1964-1966)

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)

The Day of the Triffids (1962)

H.R. Pufnstuf (1969-1070)

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Batman: The Animated Series: "Pretty Poison" (1992)

Evil Trees: Film & TV List

2011-11-12T11:38:00.000-08:00

Bloodoak, Ya-te-veo, and the man-eating Madagascar tree -- these and other malicious trees have haunted us throughout the ages in folklore and in the pages of literature. Tales and images of evil trees are especially effective in disturbing the imagination and terrifying many... especially at campfires and on Halloween night. Despite popular interest in them, it is odd that very few films and television programs have placed these nightmare-inducing monsters in the spotlight where they deserve to be. Most often, cinematic evil trees have been displayed as secondary antagonists or reduced to simply being minions of other villains. However, whenever the sentient creatures do appear, they make quite an impact on audiences. Only a handful of films have dared to make these characters the stars of the horror picture, but SP feels there ought to be more and, therefore, dedicates this post to our tree fiends who continue to fascinate and frighten us shitless!!!!

The Adventures of Sinbad: "title unknown" (1996-1998) -- TV series episode
Angkerbatu (2007)
Babes in Toyland (1961)
Ben 10: Alien Force: "title unknown" (2008-2010) -- animated TV series
Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: "title unknown" (2010-) -- animated TV series episode
The Big O: "title unknown" (1999-2003) -- animated TV series episode
Ching nu yu hun (1960; a.k.a. The Enchanting Shadow)
Cthulhu (2007)
Doctor Who: "The Keys of Marinus" (1964) -- TV series episode
DuckTales: "Much Ado About Scrooge" (1987) -- animated TV series
Eden Log (2007)
The Evil Dead (1981)
Evil Dead II (1987)
Family Guy: "Petergeist" (2006) -- animated TV series episode
From Hell It Came (1957)
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: "The Taking Tree" (2005) -- animated TV series episode
The Guardian (1990)
The Happening (2008)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) -- the vicious Whomping Willow first appears in this film
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
H.R. Pufnstuf (1969-1970) -- TV series featuring Evil Trees in haunted forest alongside Poison Mushrooms!
InuYasha: "title unknown" (2000-2005) -- animated TV series episode
Jack Frost (1965; a.k.a. Morozko)
Jimmy Two-Shoes: "title unknown" (2009-) -- animated TV series episode
Kuntilanak (2006)
The Last Unicorn (1982) -- animation
Lidsville: "Show Me the Way to Go Home" (1971) -- TV series episode
The Little Prince (1974) -- opera featuring evil Baobab Trees
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) -- not evil, but impressive
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) -- more heroic trees, but creepy-looking
Lost Girl: "(Dis)Members Only" (2010) -- TV series episode
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: "title unknown" (2004) -- animated TV series episode
The Mighty Boosh: "Fountain of Youth" (2005) -- TV series episode
My Little Pony: The Movie (1986) -- animation
The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966)
Negima!: "title unknown" (????) -- animated TV series episode
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) -- animation
Origin: Spirits of the Past (2006; a.k.a. Gin-iro no kami no Agito) -- animation
Poltergeist (1982)
Pufnstuf (1970) -- film based on live animation TV series
Robot Chicken: "title unknown" (2005-) -- animated TV series episode
Sailor Moon: "title unknown" (????) -- animated TV series episode
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970) -- animation
Saturday Night Live: "The Killer Christmas Tree" (1975) -- TV series episode
Sealab 2021: "Isla de las Chupacabras" (2004) -- animated TV series episode
Shrek 2 (2004)
Shrek the Third (2007)
Sien nui yau wan (1987; a.k.a. A Chinese Ghost Story)
Sien lui yau wan III: Do do do (1991; a.k.a. A Chinese Ghost Story III)
The Simpsons Movie (2007) -- animation
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Trees (2000)
Trees 2: The Root of All Evil (2004)
Treevenge (2008) -- short film, evil Christmas trees
Trollz (2005-2006) -- animated TV series
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Womaneater (1958)
The X-Files: "title unknown" (1993-2002) -- TV series episode
Yû yû hakusho: "title unknown" (????) -- animated TV series episode

Treevenge (2008)

Family Guy

From Hell It Came (1957)

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949)

The Evil Dead (1981)

H.R. Pufnstuf (1969-1970)

The Guardian (1990)

The Whomping Willow

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Poltergeist (1982)

SEE ALSO... Cryptozoological Creatures; Killer Plants; and Mother Nature Strikes Back!