Category Archives: TV Show

Horror on TV: Thriller 2.19 “A Wig for Miss Devore” (dir by John Brahm)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s televised horror, we have yet another classic episode of the Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series, Thriller!

In the Wig for Miss Devore, Sheila Devore (Patricia Barry) is an actress looking to make a comeback.  She’s recently been cast in a film about a real-life witch who was executed centuries ago.  Sheila’s so determined to make the part her own that she’s even willing to wear a wig that once belonged to the dead witch.

Needless to say, that proves to be a mistake for her.

However, it’s enjoyable for us!

Stranger Things 2: S2 E1, Madmax, ALT Title: Something Mediocre This Way Comes

Posted on by casewright

ST2

The Hiatus is Over…. Yes, your Proto Millennial has returned to bring you all the incisiv…..Oh, you wanted to read about the next season of Stranger Things….Fine!

Stranger Things season 1 tapped into the essence of predatory thrills that exist in humankind deep within the recesses of our genes like when a lion roars at the zoo and modern people freeze in their tracks.  What could have been a better way to terrify a modern audience?  Nosferatu!!! Yes, read my previous reviews.  I’m right and other reviewers are wrong.

This season The Duffer Brothers try to hook us with the same sophomore slump method that JJ Abrams employed with The Force Awakens- Let’s just throw in another lady and make the monster….bigger.

Stranger Things wasn’t horribly boring, but we’re in for solid C quality.  Buckle up and prepare to be Mildly Entertained.

We open in Hawkins… NOPE…. Pittsburgh.  Sorry, Pittsburgh sucks on it’s best day.

We see a group of punk teens robbing an…apartment building?!  Fine.  Cops give chase one of the more stolid thieves uses her Mojo to make a cop think a bridge collapsed.  So her power is Being David Copperfield *bored clap*. She then gets bloody nose and we’re supposed to give a shit- we don’t.  She also, has a tatto of 008 in her arm; I’ll call her Crazy Eight because Eight Ball is too cool for this opening.

We return to the suburbs.  Mike and all the boys head to the arcade and lament that “Madmax” now has the Dig Dug highscore. This goes on for a while and we’re supposed to care that the Madmax is girl- We Don’t.  We see that now Will’s back. During the High Score concern, Will goes outside and sees the Upside Down, but this time there’s a storm and a big spider beast coming to the town that inspires mild interest.  Will’s performance is emblematic of the season itself- not bad, not great- just meh.

Bearded Crank is waiting for Hop at the police station.  Bearded Crank re-caps about El sorta and is a paranormal investigator or some such shit.  We learn later that he’s soaking Barb’s Parents to pay for him to search for their daughter.   Hop gets a call to investigate rotten pumpkins and boy are they rotten.  That’s about it.

Winona has found love again with a porky Sean Aston.  He’s boring and cute- that covers it.

Mike has to get rid of two boxes of his toys because he’s been rebelling.  Really?! What is he wearing a paisley sweater vest?! Hey Mike, a note from your very young Uncle.  The toys should probably go.  Also, try to date a girl who can’t disintegrate you when you cheat on her with her with the waaaaay hot Graduate School R.A. down the hall in college.  Trust me.

We learn that Will has been seeing Paul Reiser a quasi-nice therapist at the Castl… I mean Evil Government Building. Will expositions that the upside down has a really big bad coming to kill everyone.  *Shrugs* After he leaves, we return to the basement where they are pruning the upside down portal with a flame thrower- Better Government Facilities and Gardens.

The episode ends with Hop having dinner with El!!! Yay, El’s alive and Hop has a daughter again!

This episode wasn’t great, but I guess if you’re at the gym and have 47 minutes to kill… Watch “Longmire” – it’s really awesome! It’s got it all!

As always, Retweet! Repost! Tell Lisa Marie Bowman that I’m worth keeping around.

 

 

 

TV Review: The Walking Dead 8.2 “The Damned” (dir by Rosemary Rodriguez)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I want to make one thing absolutely clear: I tried.

Seriously, I tried to get emotionally involved in this episode but there’s really only so much time that I can spend watching people shoot at each other before I get bored.  It’s kinda funny, to be honest.  I spent all last season complaining about Rick not doing anything.  Then, this episode comes along and it’s basically 45 minutes of Rick and the members of his militia kicking Savior ass.  Rick is finally doing something.  This entire episode was all about Rick doing something.  And I was bored out of my mind.

Basically, this episode followed several different groups as they all launched concurrent attacks on different Savior compounds.  A few minor members of Rick’s militia died but the majority of the victims were Saviors.  For all of their fearsome reputation, it’s pretty obvious that the only really strong savior is Negan.  The rest of them are just bullies and sycophants.  Unless Negan is physically there to tell them what to do, they’re easily defeated.  Over the course of the episode, a few of the dead reanimated and started eating anyone they could get their hands on.  That was good.  The show is called The Walking Dead, afterall.

During the attack, we were allowed a glimpse into some of the group dynamics in this new alliance.  Perhaps the most intriguing scenes were the ones that features Jesus (Tom Payne) and Tara (Alanna Masterson) debating whether or not to execute a man who claimed to just be a civilian.  Tara’s approach was significantly more ruthless than Jesus’s.  Even when Jesus had both the opportunity and the justification to kill a savior, he still decided to merely knock the man out.  Jesus said that Maggie would back him up.  Tara replied that Rick’s got her back.

Meanwhile, King Ezekiel, Carol, and the rest of Team Renaissance Faire wandered through the woods, with Ezekiel going on and on with his faux royal posturing.

As for Rick, he ran into a guy named Morales who is now a part of the Saviors.  Apparently, Rick met Morales in Atlanta.  Considering that there’s only a handful of people still alive in the world of The Walking Dead, it’s actually not too shocking that Morales and Rick would run into each other again.  It’s a small world.  If Rick had run into Shane’s brother or maybe Carl (who we saw running away last week), it would be exciting.  But Morales?  Who cares?

Finally, Morgan apparently now feels that he’s achieved some sort of immortality.  I guess that means that Morgan will eventually turn out of the be this season’s surprise sacrifice.

We’ll see what happens.  Maybe this episode will pay off in the future but for now, it’s just forgettable.

 

 

 

Horror on TV: Thriller 2.18 “The Storm” (dir by Herschel Daugherty)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s televised horror, we have another classic episode of the Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series, Thriller!

In this creepy and atmospheric episode, a newlywed (Nancy Kelly) and her cat attempt to get through a stormy night in an isolated house.  But are they really alone?

Watch, find out, and enjoy!

 

Horror on TV: Thriller 2.16 “Waxworks” (dir by Herschel Daugherty)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this episode of the Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series, Thriller, murders are being committed all over Europe.  What do all of the murders have in common?  They have all happened outside of the same traveling wax museum!

Is it a coincidence or are the wax figures coming to life and committing murder?

This episode was written by Robert Bloch of Psycho fame and originally aired on January 8th, 1962.

Horror on TV: Thriller 2.14 “Portrait Without A Face” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s televised horror, we have another episode of the Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series, Thriller!

In Portrait Without A Face, an arrogant painter is murdered.  No one knows who murdered him but don’t worry.  Just because he’s dead, that doesn’t mean the artist has to stop painting!  In fact, his first post-death painting might just be a picture of the person who killed him…

Horror on TV: Thriller 2.12 “The Return of Andrew Bentley” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s televised horror, we have another episode of the Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series, Thriller!

Like many of the Thriller episodes that we’ve shared this month, this episode deals with an inheritance and a possibly haunted house.  Ellis Corbett (John Newland, who also directed) promises his uncle that, after his uncle’s death, Ellis will never leave the family mansion and that he will always check to make sure that the crypt has not been disturbed.  The uncle promptly kills himself and Ellis soon discovers just why exactly he cannot leave the mansion.

This atmospheric episode features a script by Richard Matheson and a frightening performance from Reggie Nalder, who is best known for his roles in both The Man Who Knew Too Much and Salem’s Lot!

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: Thriller 2.5 “God Grante That She Lye Stille” (dir by Herschel Daugherty)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s horror on television, we have an episode from the second season of the Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series, Thriller.

In God Grante That She Lye Stille, Lady Margaret Crewer (Sarah Marshall) returns to her ancestral home, hoping to collect her inheritance.  However, as soon becomes clear, the house is haunted by the spirit of one of her ancestors, a witch who was burned at the stake.

Who doesn’t love a good ghost story of Halloween?

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: Thriller 2.4 “The Weird Tailor” (dir by Herschel Daugherty)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On tonight’s episode of Thriller, we see what happens when an aspiring sorcerer (George MacReady) accidentally kills his son.  In order to brings his son back to life, he has to have a special suit made by the weird tailor of the title (played by Henry Jones).

This is one of the better episode of Thriller.  For once, the use of the word “weird” in the title is not a misnomer!  This one was written by Robert Bloch, who adapted his own short story.  It originally aired on October 16th, 1961.

Horror on TV: Thriller 2.3 “The Premature Burial” (dir by Dougles Heyes)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In tonight’s episode of Thriller, Boris Karloff not only hosts but also stars!

An adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe short story, this episode is about a man (Sidney Blackmer) who has very good reason to fear that he might end up being buried alive!  Karloff appears as his loyal physician, who might be Blackmer’s only hope to avoid being murdered by his wife and her lover.

Enjoy!