For today’s On Stage On The Lens, we have an excellent 2014 production of a Halloween classic, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. This production features not only the New York Philharmonic Orchestra but also Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson in the lead roles.
These two dolls are named Jake and Max. My mom found them for sell at a garage sale, back when I was very little. Jake had shoes. Max did not.
My mom paid a little over ten dollars for both of them. After she left them to me, I discovered they are both worth much more. I don’t think I could ever sell them, though. They were mom’s favorite dolls and I’ll always give them a home.
A friend of mine once looked at Jake and said, “Burn it! Burn it with fire!” How could anyone find Jake or Max to be creepy?
They’re as innocent as can be.
Previous Moments:
In a base hidden away in the desert, a group of government scientists reanimate the corpse of a recent suicide victim with radiation. They bring Thor (Dan Blom) back to life but it turns out that Thor just wants to kill all of them.
Mind-numbingly dull, Mind Ripper is the same as a hundred other horror films with the same plot. Lance Henriksen plays the lead scientist and it’s always a pleasure to see him in even the worst movies but Mind Ripper underutilizes him in favor of Giovanni Ribisi, of all people.
Mind Ripper was executive produced by Wes Craven and sold in some markets as Wes Craven Presents Mind Ripper. Wes’s son, Jonathan Craven, did write the script and the movie was originally planned as being the third Hills Have Eyes movie. Wes Craven’s name undoubtedly helped this film get into production but the thing to remember is that Craven may have been the executive producer and his son may have written but Wes Craven did not direct the movie and that makes all the difference. Maybe Wes Craven could have done something with the limp story and the uninteresting characters. My guess is that Wes Craven was smart enough not to even try.
Don’t let this movie rip your mind. It’s not worth it.
AGCK!
This is from the original 1987 Hellraiser. The Cenobites were probably never scarier than they were in their very first appearance. They are all the more horrifying because, rather than being stereotypically good or evil, they’re actually neutral. They’re doing their job and, if you don’t want to see them, don’t mess around with the puzzle box. Doug Bradley was brilliant in the role of the head Cenobite (who, of course, would later be known as Pinhead).
When he died in 1988, Phillip Hutchinson was only 24 years old.
Born in Virginia, Phillip Hutchinson served in the U.S. Marines before he was discharged for desertion. He went on to become a career criminal and a violent one at that. By the time he was 24, he already had a long criminal record. In Texas, he was convicted of aggravated assault and ended up with a life sentence. He escaped from prison by stealing a truck. (It was his third escape attempt.) Fleeing Texas, he eventually ended up in Denver. He is alleged to have robbed four banks in Denver before holding up the Rio Grande Operating Credit Union. The 18 year-old teller was able to set off a silent alarm and Hutchinson ended up leading police on a chase through Denver. Following Hutchinson in the air was a news helicopter. At one point, Hutchinson crashed into an unmarked police car, killing Detective Bob Wallis.
After crashing his own car, Hutchinson continued to run on foot. Eventually, he reached a trailer park. He took John Laurienti as a hostage and forced the 73 year-old man to drive him past the police in his pick-up truck. When the men in the news helicopter realized that the police didn’t realize that Hutchinson was in the truck, they dived down and blocked the truck from moving forward. The cops, realizing their mistake, surrounded the truck and opened fire, killing Hutchinson while the cameraman in the helicopter continued to film. John Laurienti escaped from the truck, uninjured.
Phillip Hutchinson really had no one but himself to be blame. If he hadn’t robbed the credit union, he would have had the cops chasing him to begin with. If he hadn’t rammed into the unmarked car and killed Bob Wallis, it’s possible that the police would have been more willing to negotiate before opening fire on him. You can wonder what led to someone, by the age of 24, becoming a hardened criminal and that is something that should always be investigated. In the end, actions do have consequences.
Phillip Hutchinson is one of those criminals who would probably be forgotten today if not for the fact that his death was not only captured on camera but also broadcast across the television airwaves. Hutchinson has gone on to have a significant afterlife in various “documentaries.” Remember World’s Wildest Police Videos? (I’ve also read that the shoot-out is a popular video on various “forbidden” and “dark” websites but I’m not going to look to find out.)
1991’s The Chase was a made-for-television movie about Phillip Hutchinson and his final ride. Casey Siemaszko plays Phillip Hutchinson as being a psycho redneck, which is probably not the far from the truth. Siemaszko gives a good performance as Hutchinson but the majority of the film deals with the people who came into contact with Hutchinson on the final day of his life. Ricki Lake plays the teller who set off the silent alarm. Ben Johnson gives a moving performance as the old man who Hutchinson took hostage. Barry Corbin plays Bob Wallis. Megan Follows plays a drug addict who narrowly escapes Hutchinson. Robert Beltran plays the man in the helicopter. They all give good performances. At the same time, for a film called The Chase, the Chase itself doesn’t actually start until we’re 70 minutes into the movie and it’s over pretty quickly. If you’re watching this film for the action, you’ll probably be disappointed.
This film was written by Guerdon Trueblood, who also directed one of my favorite grindhouse films, The Candy Snatchers. Trueblood’s script follows the standard disaster formula, in that there are a lot of subplots and filler leading up to the big event. In other words, The Chase isn’t a film for everyone. I’ll admit, though, that I teared up a little at the end. Phillip Hutchinson may have been a violent criminal but his death brought a community together.
“Even in a blue world filled with sorrow, the heart continues to seek love, light, and meaning beyond the darkness.”
Robert R. McCammon’s Blue World is a captivating collection of short stories that showcases his mastery of horror, while also exploring themes that go beyond the usual genre boundaries. Originally published in 1990 and recently reissued by Subterranean Press, this collection serves as a natural companion to Stephen King’s Night Shift. Both authors start with classic horror ideas but make them their own through distinctive voices. For readers who enjoy stories that combine suspense and psychological depth with moments of quiet reflection, Blue World is a deeply rewarding read.
The collection features a wide range of stories that feel connected by McCammon’s strong sense of character and place. In many tales, ordinary settings—such as small towns and suburban streets—become stages for hidden dangers. For example, “He’ll Come Knocking at Your Door” starts off with a familiar neighborhood atmosphere that slowly reveals an undercurrent of menace. McCammon’s ability to turn the everyday into a place of suspense taps into a universal fear: that the safe and known can quickly become threatening.
Themes of change, survival, and the strain on the human mind surface in stories like “Strange Candy” and “I Scream Man!” His characters often face challenges that test not just their bodies, but their minds and morals. McCammon skillfully combines moments of fast-paced action with quieter, thoughtful passages, which make the terror hit deeper because we connect with the characters on an emotional level.
“Night Calls the Green Falcon” stands out for its creative blend of horror and nostalgia. It tells the story of a down-on-his-luck actor caught in the pursuit of a serial killer, echoing the style of old adventure serials with cliffhanger scenes. This story reveals McCammon’s talent for mixing different genres in fresh ways without losing emotional depth.
The most distinct story in the collection is the title novella, “Blue World.” Unlike the other stories, it steps away from supernatural horror and focuses on a very human and emotional tale. It follows a priest who falls in love with a porn star, and both become targets of an obsessed fan. McCammon uses this story to explore themes of love, faith, and redemption, diving into moral and emotional complexities rather than scares or ghosts.
This change in tone creates a thoughtful space within the collection, inviting readers to reflect on themes that contrast with the fear and darkness in other tales. While most stories rely on supernatural or psychological horror, “Blue World” confronts the dangers and redemption found in real human relationships, showing a different but equally compelling side of McCammon’s storytelling.
McCammon’s writing throughout is vivid and sensory, pulling readers into each story’s environment. Whether describing the sweaty tension of summer in “Yellowjacket Summer” or the bleak landscapes of “Something Passed By,” the settings are tangible and emotionally charged. This helps both the horror and the personal stories feel authentic and immediate.
Across the collection, McCammon’s characters stand out because they are fully realized people rather than simple victims or villains. They grapple with their fears and flaws in ways that feel realistic and relatable. Their struggles add psychological weight to the stories, making themes of loss, survival, and redemption more powerful.
Ultimately, Blue World is more than just a collection of horror stories—it is a showcase of Robert McCammon’s storytelling skill and emotional range. Much like King’s Night Shift, it offers a variety of stories from suspenseful shocks to deep, character-focused explorations. The inclusion of the novella “Blue World,” which steps outside the typical horror mold, adds richness to the collection and highlights McCammon’s ability to write compelling stories about human resilience and complexity.
For readers who enjoy a mix of supernatural thrills, strong characters, and thoughtful moments, Blue World provides a memorable journey through fear and hope, darkness and light. It stands as a significant work in modern horror literature and beyond, inviting readers to feel deeply as well as be scared. This collection proves that the craft of horror can encompass more than just fright—it can tell stories about the very heart of human experience.
Watching Suburban Sasquatch last night and then reviewing it today reminded me of how much more I enjoyed Birdemic. Suburban Sasquatch would have been improved by a dance scene.
I wonder how the birds could possibly want to destroy a civilization that is capable of something like Hanging Out With My Family.
This October, I’m going to be doing something a little bit different with my contribution to 4 Shots From 4 Films. I’m going to be taking a little chronological tour of the history of horror cinema, moving from decade to decade.
Today, we continue the 80s!
4 Shots From 4 Horror Films
The Living Dead Girl (1982, dir by Jean Rollin)
Poltergeist (1982, dir by Tobe Hooper)
Videodrome (1983, dir by David Cronenberg)
Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, dir by Wes Craven)
In 2004’s Suburban Sasquatch, Bigfoot is stalking the suburbs.
Bigfoot appears out of thin air.
Bigfoot vanishes whenever he’s feeling stressed or local Native American badass Talla (Sue Lynn Sanchez) starts shooting arrows at him.
Bigfoot pulls off arms and legs and tosses them in the air.
Bigfoot likes to drag his victims off to a cave where he apparently just leaves them laying around.
Bigfoot has to eat.
Bigfoot has really big tits.
Yes, you read that last one correctly. Groucho Marx once said that he wouldn’t be seeing a movie starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr because, “‘I never go to movies where the hero’s tits are bigger than the heroine’s,” and let’s just say that Victor Mature had nothing on the Suburban Sasquatch. The sasquatch costume itself is covered in coarse, dark fur except for its belly and chest, both of which are left pretty much bare. It makes me wonder where exactly the production purchased the sasquatch costume. The film was apparently shot in Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania seems like it’s a bit too blue collar to be home to an S&M-themed furry community but who knows?
(Maybe the costume was ordered from Austin.)
As for the film, it’s basically just the Suburban Sasquatch killing people. It was obviously made for next to no money and the dialogue is just bad enough to leave you wondering whether or not the director was specifically trying to satirize no-budget, direct-to-video horror films or if he was just trying to do what he could with what he had available. Personally, I couldn’t hep but smile at the fact that no one seemed to be that panicked about a Sasquatch being on the loose. Throughout the film, people continue to wander around outside as their friends and neighbors aren’t getting ripped apart by Bigfoot.
(“Actually, Lisa, it’s not Bigfoot. It’s a Suburban Sasquatch.” I don’t care. Everyone keeps looking at his footprints and gasping. He’s Bigfoot.)
A few other things I liked about Suburban Sasquatch:
The special effects, especially the scenes of blood-spraying, appear to have been done with MS Paint.
There were only two cops in the entire town and they were both useless.
Reporter Rick Harlan (Bill Ushler) kept showing up at the crime scenes and talking about how the people had the right to know about the killings but he didn’t really put much effort into getting the word out there.
Suburban Sasquatch likes to rip off people’s limbs and smash their heads, all in full MS Paint glory. But, somehow, whenever the bodies are found, the limbs have reattached and the heads are no longer smashed.
The character of Talla, assigned by her Native American ancestors to kill the sasquatch, was incredibly badass, even if she was something of a stereotype. Seriously, if I was told that I had to be someone from Suburban Sasquatch, I would want to be Talla because she shows up, shoots her arrows, tells Rick to get lost, and then she goes somewhere else and shoot even more arrows. She’s the one character in the film who is actually actively trying to do something.
Finally, I should not that there’s an online rumor that the late Neil Hope, who played Wheels on Degrassi High, appeared in Suburban Sasquatch but I definitely didn’t see him and, considering that Hope apparently spent his entire post-Degrassi life in Canada, I have a hard time believing that he hopped down to Pennsylvania to appear in a nothing-budget film. One of the first victims does have a Wheels-style mullet but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t Neil Hope as Hope himself was sporting a bald look at the time this film was made. (That said, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, Jimmy, Spinner, Craig, and Marco did play in a band called Downtown Sasquatch and Jimmy and Spinner briefly owned a clothing store called Squatch Wear.)
Suburban Sasquatch came out in 2004 and probably would have been forgotten if not for Joel McHale featuring a clip from it on The Soup. Much like Bigfoot himself, the film lives on.
I know camel spiders are gross, but there wasn’t a title card made for this short; so, I decided to add something scary for them. This short is only 1 minute- YAY.
A woman listens to a tape that ask them to thing about death. The voice has her do some light neck stretches and wham she sees a ghost. I suppose that this is scary.
There is a beginning, middle, and an end. Also, it is just a minute long. Is it better than the Progressive don’t turn into your parents ads? NO! However, it is better than…well…I had a crown put on recently; so, better than that FOR SURE!
Through the Shattered Lens 