As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, at 9 pm et, Deanna Dawn will be hosting #ScarySocial! The movie? Creature!
If you want to join us this Saturday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Tubi!
This week, it’s Halloween in Springwood!
Episode 2.4 “Photo Finish”
(Dir by Tom DeSimone, originally aired on October 29th, 1989)
This episode starts with Freddy welcoming us to a special Halloween episode of Freddy’s Nightmares. Because it is the season, Freddy actually plays a role in both of this week’s stories and it must be said that they are both rather gruesome, even by the standards of this show.
In the first story, photographer Stoney Adler (Patty McCormack) is commissioned to take some photos for a Halloween spread that will appear in Kink Magazine. Stoney is amazed at how good her models are at pretending to be scared. That’s because they’re all actually terrified because they keep seeing Freddy. Stoney isn’t aware of Freddy’s presence, at least not until Freddy drives a stake through the heart of one of her models. Stoney tries to avoid doing any more horror shoots but she takes on one final assignment. Freddy appears and asks Stoney, “Do you want me to make (the model) scream?” Stoney says yes. Freddy plucks out Stoney’s eyes. That certainly does lead to some screaming.
The second story feature three FBI men trying to figure out why a suburban father shot his wife and daughter the night before Halloween and then apparently slit his own throat. One of the agents — a profiler who owes more than a little to William Petersen’s performance in Manhunter — figures out that Freddy possessed the father. Freddy, however, then possesses another one of the FBI agents and the tragedy plays out a second time. The profiler ends up with his throat slashed, slowly dying while the camera lingers on him. There’s no way this episode didn’t inspire a few nightmares.
This was a good episode. It was scary, it was gory, and it was definitely designed to offend people who weren’t into horror. This episode was exactly what you would want Halloween with Freddy Krueger to be. The second season continues to be a hundred times better than the first.
Today, we celebrate what would have been the 95th birthday of the rugged American actor Christopher George.
George may have gotten his start in westerns and war movies but he is best remembered for a series of horror films in which he appeared in the late 70s and early 80s. One of the best of those was Lucio Fulci’s 1980 classic, City of the Living Dead.
In today’s scene that I love, Christopher George plays a reporter who realizes that psychic Catriona MacColl has been buried alive. He digs her up. Of course, this is a Fulci film, so things nearly go terribly wrong.
Today would have been Peter Fonda’s 86th birthday.
This scene is from Roger Corman’s 1967 film, The Trip. Corman dropped acid himself before filming Peter Fonda doing the same thing in this film. Regardless of how one views Corman’s cinematic recreation of Fonda’s experience with acid, The Trip is considered to be one of the first nuanced drug films. While it doesn’t endorse drug use, it also doesn’t descend into the hysterics of a film like Reefer Madness. Interestingly enough, the script was written by Jack Nicholson.
Here is Peter Fonda, exploring the city on LSD, in The Trip:
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!
Today, we celebrate the 122nd anniversary of the birth of the great British film director, Terence Fisher. Though Fisher worked in all genres, he is best remembered for the horror films that he directed for Hammer Studios. Along with proving that there was still an audience for horror, he also helped to make stars out of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.
It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Terence Fisher Films
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957, dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Jack Asher)
The Horror of Dracula (1958, dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Jack Asher)
The Mummy (1959, dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Jack Asher)
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960, dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Jack Asher)
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasionally Mastodon. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We snark our way through it.
Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1980’s Prom Night, the greatest Canadian film ever! I picked it so you know it’ll be good.
It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in. If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, find the movie on YouTube, Tubi, or Prime hit play at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag! The watch party community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
I should get an academy award for reviewing this film without spoiling it. It is so hard. I won’t post a spoiler review, until the Shattered Lens staff tells me that they’ve seen it.
I know, I know… Case, Weapons came out a while ago! What gives?! In my defense, it’s Oscar nominated; so, I’m not late until April. Take that!
Zach Cregger presents his story through six different perspectives: Justine a teacher/alcoholic, Archer a self-loathing father, Paul an alcholic/cheater cop, James a drug addict, Marcus the school principal who wants to be good, and Alex the crux of the plot. Cregger uses these different perspectives to force you to pay close attention to discern the subtle plot points. One thing that stood out to me was that he told the story through cinematography (showing not telling) to such a degree that the scenes with dialogue could be counted.
The film is clearly rooted in the storytelling of Fulci. There is plot and dialogue, but the vast majority of the story is told visually with unique Americana. Just as The Beyond had to be filmed in New Orleans, Weapons had to be filmed in summertime Suburbia. The setting succeeded in bringing additional tension to the story where the visuals were the storyteller.
He filmed it so that the suburban setting is a character itself. There are scenes where characters are quickly isolated by going from a backyard into the woods. I am certain that this was intentional to show that all normal civilized society is immediately adjacent to an untamed wild forest that can consume us whole. The theme of line crossing both physical and metaphorical is woven throughout the entire story. Lines are crossed that are professional, societal, relationship-based, and actual physical lines. The line crossing is another element that induces a cringe-suspense that ratchets the tension continually.
The score shares the circulatory system with the setting and story so that it is used as a stand-in for dialogue. There are entire scenes without a single word spoken; so, the music and cinematography fill that vacuum, which pulls us in deeper and deeper into Zach Cregger’s world. What makes the story more challenging is that it is a world we know: the suburbs. The music is both congruous and incongruous depending on what part of the story is told.
I believe that I have succeeded in reviewed this film without spoiling it. Normally, I DO NOT CARE, but this film is so well done and rooted in the Fulci storytelling that I can’t do that to the staff and especially not Lisa. I hope that you all watch it soon or we schedule a watch party.
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting 1990’s The First Power!
If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! The film is available on Prime and Tubi! I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy!
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Tubi!
This week, more and more people are coming to Springwood.
Episode 2.3 “Welcome to Springwood”
(Dir by Ken Wiederhorn, originally aired on October 22nd, 1989)
Roxanne (Leah Ayres) and her husband, Doug (Michael Horton). have just moved to a new house in Springwood, Ohio. Doug, a lawyer, has to go to his office and he leaves Roxanne, who is recovering from a mental breakdown, alone with the boxes that the moves have already brought into the house. He tells her not to worry about opening them and promises her that they’ll unpack when he gets home.
Roxanne, however, opens the boxes. And she finds things that clearly don’t belong to her. She calls Doug at work. Doug says that there must have been a mix-up with the moving company and that he’ll call and make sure that their stuff gets delivered as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, at the house, Roxanne starts to see people who may or may not be there….
As surprised as I am to say this, the first segment of this episode of Freddy’s Nightmares was an enjoyably macabre story. Yes, the final twist is one that you’ll see coming but director Ken Wiederhorn does a great job creating and maintaining atmosphere and Ayres, Horton, and Todd Allen all give strong performances.
The second story isn’t close to be anywhere as interesting. Emily Jamison (Dey Young) has moved into a new home and she finds a hidden stack of letters that were written years before. The letters detail a doomed romance and Emily soon starts to see ghosts. The story isn’t terrible but it’s a bit bland.
Still, this was another good episode of Freddy’s Nightmares. So far, at least, the show appears to have found its footing during its second season. It’ll be interesting to see if that continues next week.
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.
Tonight, at 9 pm et, Deanna Dawn will be hosting #ScarySocial! The movie? The original Halloween!
If you want to join us this Saturday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Through the Shattered Lens 