Live Tweet Alert: Join #ScarySocial for Pitch Black!

Posted on March 8, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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, Tim Buntley will be hosting #ScarySocial! The movie? Pitch Black!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! I’ll be there tweeting 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.

Pitch Black is available on Prime!

See you there!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th: The Series 3.5 “Stick It In Your Ear”

Posted on March 7, 2025 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 Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th: The Series, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The entire series can be found on YouTube!

This week, a hearing aide turns into a snake and heads explode all over wherever this show is supposed to be taking place. I always assumed this show took place in Canada but some people insist it was set in Chicago. I just know it’s taking place somewhere cold.

Episode 3.5 “Stick In Your Ear”

(Dir by Douglas Jackson, originally aired on October 16th, 1989)

Hack stage mentalist Adam Cole (Wayne Best) has come into possession of a cursed hearing aid that allows him to hear the thoughts of other people. This is great for act! However, the hearing aid also sometimes becomes so full of other people’s thoughts that Adam has to commit murder to keep his head from exploding. Yikes!

This is yet another episode where more time is spent with the person using the cursed object than with Jack, Micki, and ~~Ryan~~ Johnny. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that and Wayne Best does fine in the role of the not-particularly sympathetic Adam Cole. But, watching this episode, I still found myself missing the old days — let’s call them the Ryan days — when the chemistry between the three leads was often just as important as the gore and the horror. As a character, Johnny still often feels a bit half-baked, as if the show’s writers still weren’t quite sure who he was. When he was first introduced, he was cocky and streetwise. Then he went to prison for a murder he didn’t commit! Then, he was revealed to be a baseball fan who liked to build ships in bottles. And now, in this episode, he’s suddenly an aspiring writer who enjoys reading the tabloids. Steven Monarque does what he can but the character is so inconsistent that Johnny still feels a bit out-of-place in the show’s world. At the very least, Ryan had a reason for sticking with the often grisly hunt for the antiques. He wanted to do it with his cousin. (I know, I know …. ewwww! But it was also Ryan’s most defining motivation.) Johnny’s motivations are a bit more opaque.

This episode did feature some Cronenbergian body horror, a nice reminder of Friday the 13th‘s Canadian origins. Not clearing out the hearing aid leads to some exploding head action which is quite graphic even for this show. That said, it bothers me that one person’s head more or less implodes in front of an entire studio audience and you really do have to wonder how exactly that’s going to be explained to the press. I would think an exploding head and a snake-like hearing aid would lead to a lot of people saying, “Hey, maybe there is something out there.”

This was a gory episode, nicely acted and featuring an intriguing antique. That said, I still miss Ryan.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Monsters 3.11 “Sin-Sop”

Posted on March 5, 2025 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 Wednesdays, I will be reviewing Monsters, which aired in syndication from 1988 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on YouTube.

This week, Monsters heads down south. No complaints from me. I like it when things head on down.

Episode 3.11 “Sin-Sop”

(Dir by P.J. Pesce, originally aired on December 9th, 1990)

In the deep South, a young man named Brother Roy (Christopher Shaw) claims that he can literally extract the sin from people, turning it into a black sludge that can then be disposed of. Brother Roy has the corpse of the most evil man in the world in his house. Touching the corpse (ew!) allows for the sin to be extracted. (This is why I prefer going to confession.)

Laura Daniel (Christine Dunford) is a reporter who is hopeful that she’ll be able to expose Brother Roy as being a fraud. Larch Lazaar (Richard Borg) is a sociopathic murderer who shows up at Roy’s place shortly after Laura. Laura and Lazaar are both skeptics but they’re also both about to discover the reality of sin-sop.

This was an atmospheric episode with an intriguing premise. I’m from the South and I’ve heard the stories of the so-called sin eaters, people who would go to the homes of the recently deceased and “eat” all of the dead person’s sins, usually by eating food that had been placed near the corpse. The deceased’s family would get the peace of mind of knowing their loved one was now without sin and the sin-eater usually got to eat a fairly large meal. (That said, I don’t know if I’d want to eat food that had been sitting next to or, in some cases, on a decaying corpse.) This episode makes good use of the sin eater legend and it features appropriately theatrical performances from Richard Borg and Christopher Shaw. This was an entertaining piece of Southern Gothic.

Live Tweet Alert: Watch THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS WARDH With #ScarySocial!

Posted on March 1, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, directed by Sergio Martino!

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!

Scenes That I Love: Meet The Mother Of Tears from Dario Argento’s Inferno

Posted on February 28, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s scene that I love comes from Dario Argento’s 1980 masterpiece, Inferno. In this music scene, a music student in Rome finds himself suddenly being watched by the legendary Mother of Tears (played by Ania Pieroni). Inferno is one of Agento’s best films and this is one the film’s best scenes.

Scenes I Love: Reggie Bannister in Phantasm

Posted on February 26, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I read yesterday that Reggie Bannister, one of the most beloved horror character actors out there, isn’t doing too well. He has gone into hospice care. Those words — “hospice care” — will always bring a tear to my eye. My Dad went into hospice care last year and died a month later, which I was told was longer than most people survive in hospice. Being the naive idiot that I was, I have to admit that, up until the end, I was still expecting my Dad to make a full recovery and just magically get out of bed. Sadly, that’s just not the way these things work. Hospice is end-of-life care and any medical professional who doesn’t make that clear while recommending it is doing a disservice to not only their patients but also their families.

Reggie Bannister is best-known for his appearances in the work of Don Coscarelli. He’s one of those actors who just makes you smile whenever he appears on screen. Anyone who has watched Phantasm loves Reggie, with his ice cream truck and his guitar and his whole laid back vibe. Today’s scene that I love is a simple but wonderfully human moment from 1978’s Phantasm, featuring Bill Thornbury and the great Reggie Bannister.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Terence Fisher Edition

Posted on February 23, 2025 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!

Today, we celebrate the 121st 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 Curse of the Werewolf (1961, dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Arthur Grant)

Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1973, dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Brian Probyn)

Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th: The Series 3.4 “Crippled Inside”

Posted on February 22, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, it’s all up to Johnny Ventura!

By the way, it is true that these reviews usually run on Friday. This week, however, all the cold weather caught up to me and I spent most of yesterday in bed. As a result, this week’s review got preempted to tonight. Now, let’s find out what’s been going on in the world of cursed antiques!

Episode 3.4 “Crippled Inside”

(Dir by Timothy Bond, originally aired on October 21st, 1989)

This week’s episode opens with teenager Rachel Horn (Stephanie Morgenstern) nearly getting gang-raped by a group of jocks. Rachel manages to escape from them but, as she runs away, she’s hit by a car and left a quadriplegic. Feeling that her life is over, things start to look up for Rachel when an old man (John Gilbert) gives her his antique wheelchair, which he suggests will help her regain the ability to move. When Rachel sits in the antique wheelchair, she can send out her astral form. Each time she uses the wheelchair, her body heals just a little bit more. The only catch is that the wheelchair only works if Rachel kills people while in her astral form. Hey, I can think of at least four guys that Rachel might want to kill….

With Jack and Micki in London, it falls to Johnny Ventura to try to get the wheelchair back. I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical when I saw this episode was going to be a solo effort on Johnny’s part. I was like, “Johnny’s only been a regular for two episodes and he’s already working alone?” (I have to admit that my feelings towards the Johnny Ventura character are very much influenced by how much I liked Ryan.) But I have to say that this was a good episode and a lot of that was because Johnny was working alone. Not understanding the true danger of the cursed antiques, Johnny was torn about whether or not to take the wheelchair away from Rachel. Rachel was a very sympathetic character and the people she was targeting truly were terrible. Johnny, not understanding that Rachel was losing her soul to the devil, actually gave the wheelchair back at one point. By the end of the episode, he realized he had made a mistake. Steve Monarque did a wonderful job portraying Johnny’s growing realization that there are no good curses.

This was a good episode. I still miss Ryan but Johnny held his own. The story was emotionally effective and the ending left me feeling genuinely unsettled. Johnny learned the truth about curses and I learned that, even during its final season, Friday the 13th: The Series was capable of producing intelligent and memorable horror.

Live Tweet Alert: Join #ScarySocial for The Grudge!

Posted on February 22, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight, at 9 pm et, Deanna Dawn will be hosting #ScarySocial! The movie? 2004’s The Grudge!

The Grudge is available on Prime!

See you there!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Monsters 3.10 “The Waiting Game”

Posted on February 19, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the survivors of the end of the world discover that they might not as along as they think they are.

Episode 3.10 “The Waiting Game”

(Dir by Bruce Spandello, originally aired on December 9th, 1990)

Following a nuclear war, four survivors are stuck in two different shelters. In one shelter, Lt. Eric Tyler (Doug McKeon) and Captain Stanley Levitt (Stephen Burleigh) wait until it’s safe to go outside. They are in communication, via walkie-talkie, with Lt. Maureen Knox (Carrington Garland) and Capt. Andrew Garza (Leo Garcia). Knox and Garza are not handling things quite as well as Tyler and Levitt. In fact, Garza is convinced that he sees people moving outside of the bunker and he wants to go outside and investigate, despite the fact that the whole world is presumably radioactive now. Tyler and Levitt struggle to keep Garza and later Knox from going outside to look for phantom survivors. Soon, Tyler and Levitt start to realize that they aren’t as alone as they thought they were.

The idea behind this episode of Monsters is an intriguing one. Though a nuclear war has wiped out most of human civilization, it hasn’t destroyed an ancient vampire who is now roaming the world. In fact, the war has just made the vampire even stronger. The nuclear fallout has blocked out the sun, plunging the world into darkness and allowing the vampire to move around freely. Once it becomes obvious that Knox and Garza have both been captured and turned into vampires, Tyler and Levitt are faced with the question of how long they can resist. They may have survived the war but now, it appears that they’re going to be trapped in their bunker for the rest of their lives.

This was a superior episode of Monsters. I don’t know the specifics of what was going on behind-the-scenes but Monsters seems to have really hit its stride during the third season. The production values are noticeably higher than they were during the first two seasons. The guest stars are better-known. In general, the stories themselves are far more interesting and intelligently written. This episode is atmospheric and appropriately claustrophobic and it also features four excellent performances from McKeon, Burleigh, Garland, and Garcia. It’s hard to imagine an episode this good airing during the show’s first or even second season. But it’s definitely an example of the quality that I’ve now come to expect from the third season.

Personally, I would have stayed in that bunker for as long as it took. And I really do think the vampire kind of screwed up. By turning everyone into a vampire, he pretty much guaranteed that he and his new friends are going to run out of food in record time.