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I hope you are all having a great Halloween. I have been busily running to and fro, and haven't had as much time to yammer on here as usual. I DID get a chance to pick up my beloved Fresh Market pumpkin coffee, which is to die for. I'm sure it's politically incorrect as hell, not bird-friendly and blah blah blah, but... I love it!
(((shakes head in embarrassment over this admission))))
Yall KNOW I sell all manner of politically correct, organic stuff for a living, right? Shhh! No telling.
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Decided on another Halloween horror movie thread, as I did last year. Below, trailers from some of my favorite horror movies. Once again, I heartily advise SESSION 9 (below) for the brave and courageous viewer.
DON'T GO TO SLEEP!
Please add your own! I have seen most of the films that were kindly recommended here last year. Last night, JEEPERS CREEPERS (2001) robbed me of sleep. Tonight, looking for more thrills and chills. (Check out Rob Zombie's FEAR FEST on American Movie Classics!)
First we start with some vintage punk jams. My favorite Halloween song: HUMAN FLY by the Cramps. And I say BZZZZ, yes I say BZZZZ.
And did he really drink beer out of a tennis shoe? (These were the REAL PUNKS, people!)
The Cramps - Human Fly
[via FoxyTunes / The Cramps]
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Once again, the fabulous SESSION 9 (2001)
Canadian psycho-director David Cronenberg (meant totally as a compliment) titled this film SHIVERS (1975) in Canada, but Roger Corman changed it to THEY CAME FROM WITHIN for USA distribution. Well, of course he did! (I confess I love the Corman title best.)
The ending is one of the all-time great horror movie endings, much copied.
Cronenberg's THE BROOD (1979) is widely considered a sexist movie, although I beg to differ. (What would Freud say?) I think it illustrates how utterly terrified men are of women's childbearing capacities. Cronenberg once said he was going through a divorce and attendant custody-battle when he made the movie, and brother, it seriously shows!
And in Cronenberg's RABID (1977), men desiring to bed the beautiful, legendary porn star Marilyn Chambers end up, well, sick as the very devil. Talk about your sexually transmitted diseases!
As a tyke, I was haunted by THE SCREAMING SKULL (1958), which was originally marketed to audiences with a certificate promising free burial services to anyone who dies of fright while seeing the movie.
I admit, I liked that it was a woman haunting a man for a change. He deserved it!
Francis Ford Coppola's DEMENTIA 13 (1963) similarly spooked me as a child, and I refused to go near ponds situated way out in deserted areas or woods ever again, even in the daytime ... no matter how sweet and bucolic the setting. Something might... be...floating... in it... (AIYEE!!! What's THAT?!)
Not ashamed of my overly cautious ways either--I'm HERE to tell the tale, yes?
Note: This may be the first-ever trailer that starts off with a psychiatrist!
And one of the veritable Cadillacs of the genre, from which we get the standby DON'T GO TO SLEEP!!!!
The original hair-raising ending of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956) had Kevin McCarthy (brother of Mary!) ranting and hollering on the highway: YOU'RE NEXT! But unhappy endings weren't allowed in the 50s, so the studio wasn't having it. They quickly tacked-on an ending in which authorities discover a suspicious truck hauling weird giant pods from Santa Mira. (whew!) The ending of this trailer was actually the original ending of the film, before studio meddling.
One legacy of this movie is that the town of "Santa Mira" is featured in lots of horror movies, possibly second only to Bodega Bay (from Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS). You may also notice the first scream in this trailer is delivered by none other than Carolyn Jones, who would go on to distinguish herself as TV's Morticia Addams.
Such an amazing Cadillac it is, the remake in 1978 was also fantastic. The introduction of psychology and new age blather was a brilliant innovation, making me think that every generation might actually update this movie for themselves. (Although the third remake, by Abel Ferrara, left a lot to be desired.)
Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum and dazzling movie diva Veronica Cartwright (big favorite here at DEAD AIR!) have a great exchange in this movie that bears repeating:
Elizabeth: I have seen these flowers all over. They are growing like parasites on other plants. All of a sudden. Where are they coming from?
Nancy: Outer space?
Jack: What are you talking about? A space flower?
Nancy: Well why not a space flower? Why do we always expect metal ships?
Jack: I've never expected metal ships.
Only Jeff Goldblum can deliver a line like that and make you laugh when you are simultaneously scared out of your wits.
Also, a Christian aside for those attuned to such minutiae: when (notably Jewish, in this context) Goldblum offers himself to the pod-people mob to save his friends, he stretches his arms out just like Jesus. (No greater love than this, and even a horror movie takes a second to remind us. For emphasis, this scene is featured in the trailer accompanied by AMAZING GRACE, on bagpipes no less, at 1:55.)
Unfortunately, I couldn't locate a trailer for the old Stella Stevens/Shelley Winters shocker, THE MAD ROOM (1969), and too bad. If you find it anywhere, have a look, great fun it is.
Have a great Halloween, everyone!
