Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Horror Scenes That I Love: The Hospital Battle from Zombi 2

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this scene from 1979’s Zombi 2, a group of humans try to destroy the zombies that are invading a small hospital on an isolated island.  Director Lucio Fulci later pointed out, in many interviews, that he used the same clips of Al Cliver throwing a Molotov cocktail and firing a shotgun multiple times in the scene.

Two things to note about this scene:

First off, it captures what is truly scary about zombies.  They are relentless.  They do not stop coming.  No matter how many you destroy, there’s always another one following behind it.

Secondly, Italian zombies actually looked like decaying walking corpses that are on the verge of falling apart.  That was one huge difference between the Italian zombie films and many of the ones that were made in America.

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films: October 23rd

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films: October 23rd

The Evil Dead (1981, dir by Sam Raimi, DP: Tim Philo)

Army of Darkness (1992, dir by Sam Raimi, DP: Bill Pope)

The Gift (2000, dir by Sam Raimi, DP: Jamie Anderson)

Drag Me To Hell (2009, dir by Sam Raimi, DP: Peter Deming)

October Positivity: Reggie’s Prayer (dir by Paul McKellips)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’ve often written about how, whenever you’re watching a film or television show about sports, you can always tell when a professional athlete has been cast in a role because they inevitably give the worst performance out of the entire cast. Now, admittedly, that might be a case of me being overly glib. Certainly, there are a few professional athletes who have gone on to become good actors. For instance .… well, I can’t really think of any right now, but I know they’re out there. Remember when Trainwreck came out and we all pretended like LeBron James was a good actor? I mean, I’m sure it’s happened a few times. Did George Clooney play minor league baseball? I can’t remember, but let’s just pretend that he did and move on. The fact of the matter is that, with a few notable exceptions, most athletes are more impressive on the field than in front of the camera.

As proof, let’s consider the 1996 film Reggie’s Prayer. Reggie’s Prayer stars Reggie White, a former player for the Green Bay Packers who became a preacher, as Reggie Knox, a former player for the Green Bay Packers who becomes a high school football coach. See, the film could have just had Reggie Knox become a preacher, but instead, it challenged White by having him return to high school to coach football. Unfortunately, Reggie wasn’t really up to the challenge. In this film, Reggie White is big and intimidating, and he seems to be really happy whenever he’s in uniform or talking back to the sports press, all of whom want to know why he’s abandoning the game to be a high school coach. However, when Reggie has to stand in front of a classroom and pretend to be a history teacher or when he’s having to make jokes about how the team’s only white player is the “white sheep” of the team, he comes across as being awkward and not particularly sure where he should be looking.

The film features Reggie trying to get through to Tyler (Emmanuel Brown), a player who has tremendous potential but who is haunted by the suicide of his younger brother and who finds himself being tempted to become a part of the local drug-running operation. When Tyler drops his bag and a gun goes off, another player ends up in a coma. Tyler runs off and ends up getting held prisoner in the woods by a drug dealer, and it’s up to Reggie Knox to save him. It leads to a climax on the football field where a previously crippled player suddenly stands up from his wheelchair and walks around. Such is the power of Reggie’s prayers!

It’s all pretty silly. In fact, it’s so silly that it’s not really a surprise when Pat Morita shows up as the high school principal. He assures Reggie that he will always have his back. Now, if you’re expecting some Pat Morita karate moves, you’re going to be disappointed. Still, he’s Pat Morita and he acts circles around Reggie White.

Incidentally, Reggie White is not the only athlete in this film. Brett Favre plays a janitor who tries to interest Reggie in a play that he designed. Reggie is amused.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Hunter 2.7 “Rape and Revenge: Part Two”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Hunter, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1991.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

This week, Hunter and McCall are in South America.

Episode 2.7 “Rape and Revenge: Part Two”

(Dir by Richard A. Colla and Gary Winter, originally aired on November 9th, 1985)

Picking up where last week’s episode ended, Hunter, with the help of an orphaned street urchin named Iggy (Dan Ponce), has managed to track down where Raoul Mariano lives in Curaguay.  He’s also learned that the country is controlled by the brutal secret police and that Mariano is the son of a feared general (Michael Ansara).  Hunter has also arranged for a burned-out American named Jimmy Crackin (Larry Hankin) to fly him over the border to the safety of Bolivia.  Of course, Hunter won’t be leaving until after he’s killed Mariano….

What Hunter did not count on was McCall suddenly showing up and asking him not to assassinate Mariano on her behalf.  Even after Hunter points out that Mariano is going to get away with all of his crimes otherwise, McCall argues that Hunter should not put his life in danger to kill him.

Hunter disagrees.  However, he doesn’t assassinate Mariano.  Instead, when he confronts Mariano, Hunter gives Mariano a gun to keep things fair.  When Mariano opens fire, Hunter shoots back in self-defense and kills him.  Essentially, this was all so Hunter could avoid being portrayed as a cold-blooded killer.  If this episode were made today, Hunter would have no hesitation about shooting Mariano, whether he had a gun or not.

Mariano is killed early on in the episode.  The rest of the running time is taken up with Hunter, McCall, and Iggy trying to get to the helicopter in time to make their escape.  Fortunately,  it turns out that the Curaguayan army is no match for a determined Los Angeles homicide detective in a big car.  The episode ends with the helicopter flying towards Bolivia, taking Hunter, McCall, and even little Iggy to freedom.

(To be honest, it still seems like this would all lead to an international incident of some sort but whatever.)

Compared to Part One, the second part of “Rape and Revenge” is pretty much just a straight-out action story.  It was satisfying to watch Mariano meet his fate.  That said, I could have done without Iggy the talkative urchin.  I think he was mostly included to soften the fact that this episode was basically about Hunter trying to murder someone.

Next week, Hunter and McCall will be back in Los Angeles!

Horror On TV: Thriller 1.28 — Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper (dir by Ray Milland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s excursion into televised horror should is based on a Robert Bloch story about Jack the Ripper!

Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper is a classic episode of the 60s anthology series, Thiller.  This episode aired on April 11th, 1961 and it was directed by the Oscar-winning actor, Ray Milland.  As always, the great Boris Karloff is on hand to serve as our host.

 

Retro Television Review: Twin Detectives (dir by Robert Day)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  This Thursday, I will be reviewing Twin Detectives, which was produced for ABC in 1990.  The show can be found on YouTube!

Twin Detectives

(Dir by Robert Day, Originally aired on May 1st, 1976)

Tony (Jim Hager) and Shep Thomas (Jon Hager) are identical twins who long ago gave up on other people ever being able to tell them apart. Instead, they just pretend to be one person. They own a detective agency. Their clients think that they’re hiring one detective, but little do they know that they’re actually hiring two detectives who look exactly alike! I’m not sure exactly why the Thomas brothers have decided this is a good idea, other than the fact that I guess they each only have to work half a day. It does lead to some complications, like when one of the brothers gets into debt to some gangsters and the other brother ends up getting beaten up. To be honest, I’m not sure whether Tony was the irresponsible one or if it was Shep. All I know is that both of them spent this entire made-for-TV movie getting into trouble because of the decisions made by the other sibling.

As for why I’m reviewing this in October, there actually is a supernatural angle here. Leonard (Patrick O’Neal) and Sheila Rainier (Barbara Rhoades) are running an institute that claims to study psychic phenomena. The elderly and rich Billy Jo Haskins (Lillian Gish) has been funding the Rainiers and is convinced that they can communicate with her dead husband. Billy Jo’s attorney, Marvin Telford (David White), hires the brothers to investigate the institute. At first, it seems like Leonard’s assistant (Lynda Day George) is on the verge of revealing the truth about the scam, but then she’s murdered. The Thomas brothers have to solve the murder and also resolve the question of whether the Rainiers are truly talking to the dead.

Twin Detectives was obviously meant to be a pilot for a weekly show. The Hager brothers were so bereft of charisma and acting ability that I actually felt the need to do some research to try to discover why they were given a pilot in the first place. Apparently, the Hagers were country music performers who had appeared on several variety shows and had a following in middle America. This pilot was obviously designed to appeal to the older folks in the audience, but it didn’t work because, again, the Hagers weren’t very good actors and the whole idea of them pretending to be one person just didn’t make much sense.

Sadly, the film wastes its guest stars. Lillian Gish was one of the first film stars, but she’s not given much to do as Billy Jo Haskins. Wherever D. W. Griffith may have been, he wasn’t watching.

Bonus Horror on the Lens: The Horror at 37,000 Feet (dir by David Lowell Rich)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1973 made-for-TV movie, The Horror at 37,000 Feet, starts off like a typical disaster film, with a collection of familiar celebrities catching a flight from Heathrow Airport.    What they don’t know is that celebrity is not the only thing flying across the ocean!  There’s a sacrificial altar sitting in the baggage hold and soon, all sorts of strange things are happening!  Truly, it’s a horror at 37,000 feet!

This film is silly and perhaps even a little bit dumb but it’s also definitely a lot of fun.  To be honest, when you’ve got William Shatner playing an ex-priest who is wondering what happened to his faith, how can you go wrong?  Along with Shatner, keep an eye out for Chuck Conners, Buddy Ebsen, Roy Thinnes, Paul Winfield, Tammy Grimes, and France Nuyen.  Basically, every TV actor who needed a job in 1973 boarded The Horror at 37,000 Feet. 

And we’re all the better for it!

Horror On The Lens: Baffled! (dir by Philip Leacock)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

 

This is a film that I share every year for Horrorthon and can you blame me?  Check out this pitch: Leonard Nimoy is a race car driver who can see into the future and who uses his powers to solve crimes!

Seriously, if that’s not enough to get you to watch the 1973 made-for-TV movie Baffled!, then I don’t know what is.  In the film, Nimoy takes a break from racing so that he and a parapsychologist (played by Susan Hampshire) can solve the mystery of the visions that Nimoy is having of a woman in a mansion.  This movie was meant to serve as a pilot and I guess if the series had been picked up, Nimoy would have had weekly visions.  Of course, the movie didn’t lead to a series but Baffled! is still fun in a 70s television sort of way.  Thanks to use of what I like to call “slo mo of doom,” a few of Nimoy’s visions are creepy and the whole thing ends with the promise of future adventures that were sadly never to be.  And it’s a shame because I’ve always wondered what was going on with that couple at the airport!

Enjoy Baffled!  Can you solve the mystery before Leonard?

 

Lisa Marie Takes A Look At The Amazing Race 39.5 “That’s Honestly On Them”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

One thing about The Amazing Race is that you can always tell when Phil dislikes a team.

As of last night, Matt and Michelle have now finished first for two weeks in a row. Last week, Phil could barely force a smile at the sight of them. This week, he seemed downright indifferent to them. Phil also was clearly not happy when Daisha and Dalton arrived in second place. Their sin was apparently not helping Riley and Ann-Marie at the Detour.

Phil likes the teams that help each other out, and I imagine that he really likes Riley and Ann-Marie. Myself, I’m a little bit tired of Riley and Ann-Marie. I’m sure that they’re nice people, and I was happy that Riley took the time to let Anuar know what he was doing wrong at the first Roadblock. (If she hadn’t, Anuar would have been there all day.) But Riley and Ann-Marie both tend to be a little self-righteous and preachy, and I get a little bit tired of them going on about how important it is that everyone help each other (especially since that usually translates to “everyone needs to help us”).

This leg saw the teams traveling to Albania. This was the first time that the Race went to Albania, and it really did look like a lovely country. Matt and Michelle pretty much spent the entire leg in first place. By being the first to arrive at each Roadblock, they were in “the Driver’s Seat,” which means they got to determine how difficult each Roadblock would be for each team. Needless to say, this didn’t make them popular with the other racers, but seriously, what were Matt and Michelle supposed to do?

At the first Roadblock, teams had to harvest and grind a certain amount of grapes. Matt and Michelle publicly assigned 50 pounds to themselves, Ann-Marie & Riley, and Erin & Javi; 75 pounds to Conner & Garrett, Dafina & Saran, and Daisha & Dalton; and 100 pounds to Ali & Joanna, Anuar & Andrea, and Doug & Dylan. The only thing I really disagree with there is assigning 100 pounds to Doug & Dylan. That did feel mean. I would have assigned 100 pounds to Ann-Marie and Riley because they’re the stronger team.

At the second Roadblock, teams had to roll out dough for a pastry. (I would have sucked at this challenge, but my sister would have kicked its ass!) Matt and Michelle publicly assigned eight pastries to themselves; twelve pastries to Ann-Marie & Riley, Dafina & Saran, and Doug & Dylan; and sixteen pastries to Ali & Joanna, Anuar & Andrea, Conner & Garrett, Daisha & Dalton, and Erin & Javi. Erin struggled with this Roadblock, to the extent that she and Javi probably would have been eliminated if not for Dafina & Saran getting lost on the way to the Pit Stop.

Here’s how everyone finished last night:

1st — Matt and Michelle. Phil and the other teams may not like them, but Matt and Michelle are a strong team. Matt pretends to be goofy, but in his way, he’s just as ruthless as Michelle.

2nd — Daisha and Dalton. They came on strong during this leg of the race. As for them not sticking around to help Ann-Marie and Riley… hey, it’s a race. You don’t get an extra trophy for being nice.

3rd — Conner and Garrett. I never thought that Conner and Garrett would become my favorite team, but they have. They’re good-natured, they work well together, and unlike some people, they can be nice without feeling the need to brag about it.

4th — Ann-Marie and Riley. I’ve said all I need to say about them this week.

5th — Ali and Joanna. The soccer players finally used their Express Pass and still only managed a fifth-place finish. They’re a good example of a team that’s strong but somehow still not as strong as they should be.

6th — Doug and Dylan. Doug and Dylan actually did better than they usually do during this leg. They moved up from 9th to 6th, despite being targeted by Matt and Michelle.

7th — Anuar and Andrea. Anuar and Andrea struggled this week. First, Anuar didn’t understand how to grind the grapes. Then they got lost and ended up arguing with each other. Still, they avoided elimination.

8th — Erin and Javi. Erin and Javi narrowly avoided elimination this week. They’re going to need to pick things up a little because, other than when they use their Express Pass, they’ve struggled in almost every leg.

9th — Dafina and Saran. Dafina and Saran came in ninth and were eliminated. I knew it was going to happen eventually, but I was still sorry to see them go. They were a team that never gave up and worked well together.

Next week, the Race continues in Albania. Conner and Garrett still have their Express Pass, so I imagine they’ll use it at some point during the sixth leg, which is the last leg in which it can be used. Everyone else is going to have to depend on their own skills to make it to the Pit Stop in time to avoid elimination.