Halloween Havoc!: BLACK MOON (Columbia 1934)

Posted on October 12, 2016 by gary loggins

I thought I’d seen, or at least heard of, all the horror films made during the 1930’s. I was wrong. BLACK MOON was new to me when I viewed it recently as part of TCM’S Summer Under the Stars salute to KING KONG’s main squeeze, Fay Wray. It’s a voodoo tale also starring square-jawed Jack Holt and Pre-Code favorite Dorothy Burgess . The director is Roy William Neill, who would later work with genre giants Karloff (THE BLACK ROOM), Lugosi and Chaney (FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN), and helm eleven of the Universal Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone.

The film open with the pounding of jungle drums, and we see Nita Lane (Burgess) is the one pounding them in her luxurious home. Nita grew up on the Caribbean isle of San Christopher, where her parents were murdered during a native uprising. Hubby Stephen (Holt) is against Nita returning to the…

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Halloween Havoc!: QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE (Allied Artists 1958)

Posted on October 11, 2016 by gary loggins

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QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE has quite an interesting pedigree. Screenwriter Charles Beaumont (THE TWILIGHT ZONE) adapted a story by Ben Hecht, of all people, then director Edward Bernds got his frequent Three Stooges/Bowery Boys collaborator Ellwood Ullman to punch things up a little. The resulting mishmash is a huge contender in the “so-bad-it’s-good” sweepstakes, a sci-fi schlockfest featuring goofy special effects, sexism, and Zsa Zsa Gabor!

The movie’s right up there with PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE in its cheesiness, except in glorious Technicolor. Set in a futuristic 1985, space Captain Neil Patterson (Eric Fleming, RAWHIDE’s trail boss) and his intrepid crew (Dave Willock, Patrick Waltz) are assigned to shuttle Professor Konrad (sci-fi stalwart Paul Birch) to Space Station A, where there’re “indications of some trouble up there”. Off they go into the wild blue yonder, where they witness the station being blown to smithereens by a mysterious ray (via cartoon animation)…

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Let Us Now Praise Number 34, Big Papi

Posted on October 11, 2016 by gary loggins

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For many of us, October doesn’t just mean Halloween and all things horror, it also means playoff baseball. Unfortunately, my Boston Red Sox were eliminated last night by the Cleveland Indians. Fenway Park has locked its gates for the winter, but the Boys of Summer will return next April. Only there will be something missing in 2017. There will be no more Big Papi.

David Ortiz has decided to call it a career after nineteen glorious seasons as the best Designated Hitter in baseball. The 40-year-old slugger gave us his all, but the wear and tear on his body told him to make this season his last. And what a tremendous final season it was: .315 Batting Average, 38 Home Runs, 127 RBI, and he led the American League in OPS (1.021), Doubles (48), Slugging Percentage (.620), and Intentional Walks (15). Not bad for an old geezer, and Papi will…

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Halloween Havoc!: THE FLY (20th Century Fox 1958)

Posted on October 10, 2016 by gary loggins

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THE FLY is one of those films you’re probably familiar with if you’re a horror/sci-fi fan. I’ve seen it many times, but was under the impression it was a black & white movie (probably due to early viewings as a young’un, deprived of color TV). So when I rewatched it again in glorious Technicolor, I was pleasantly surprised. This tale of science gone wrong has held up well, and its iconic scene of The Fly’s unmasking still manages to jolt the viewer (even if you know it’s coming!).

The film’s framing device finds us witnessing Helene Delombre murdering her husband Andre by squishing his head and arm under a huge hydraulic press (and it’s a pretty gruesome demise), then calling her brother-in-law Francois to tell him. Francois is stunned, to say the least, and gets ahold of his friend Inspector Charas. They drive over to the Delombre Freres (the movie’s set in Montreal)…

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Halloween Havoc!: THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE (Hallmark Releasing 1974)

Posted on October 9, 2016 by gary loggins

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While doing some background research on actor Arthur Kennedy for my post about DESPERATE JOURNEY back in June, I came across an IMDb entry for a movie titled THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE. It’s description is as follows: “A cop chases two hippies suspected of a series of Manson-family like murders; unbeknownst to him, the real culprits are the living dead, brought to life with a thirst for human flesh by chemical pesticides being used by area farmers”. Sounded right up my alley, and a perfect candidate for this year’s ‘Halloween Havoc!’ horrorthon!

Though the description isn’t 100% accurate, THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE is a surprisingly good Italian-Spanish made chiller with elements of giallo movies, as our lead George is traveler who stumbles into murder. His motorcycle (a nice looking vintage Norton) is backed into by Edna on his way to Wyndhamere. She gives him a lift, and…

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Halloween Havoc! Extra: A Centennial Salute to FORREST J ACKERMAN

Posted on October 9, 2016 by gary loggins

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If you’re of a ‘certain age’ (like me), you’ll immediately recognize the gentleman in the above photo. Forrest J Ackerman (affectionately known as Uncle Forry) was the long-time editor of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND, the official magazine for Monster Kids of the 60’s and 70’s. FJA was the world’s #1 science fiction fan (and was given a Hugo Award to prove it!), writer, literary agent, actor, collector, and so much more. He would open his “Ackermansion” to fans who made the pilgrimage to Los Angeles, allowing them access to view his 300,000 piece collection of incredible horror and science fiction movie memorabilia.

Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS (1927)

Ackerman was born in L.A. on November 24, 1916, and remained a life-long resident. He was enthralled by sci-fi (a term he coined) early on, always stating his favorite film was Fritz Lang’s silent epic METROPOLIS. As a young man he worked as a…

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Halloween Havoc!: THE HAUNTING (MGM 1963)

Posted on October 8, 2016 by gary loggins

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“No one will come in the night… in the dark!”

There’s nothing like a good haunted house movie, and 1963’s THE HAUNTING is one of the best ever. Producer/director Robert Wise cut his filmic teeth on Val Lewton shockers like THE BODY SNATCHER and noirs such as BORN TO KILL before graduating to mainstream movies like I WANT TO LIVE! and WEST SIDE STORY. In THE HAUNTING he returns to his dark roots to create a nightmarish vision of Shirley Jackson’s eerie novel The Haunting of Hill House.

“Scandal, murder, insanity, suicide” have plagued Hill House for close to 100 years. The cursed Crain family were its original inhabitants, designed by eccentric Hugh Crain. The house is a darkly foreboding Gothic structure with oddly tilted angles both inside and out. Dr. John Markham, a paranormal investigator, visits proper Bostonian matron Mrs. Sanderson, the house’s current owner, asking to take a lease…

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Halloween TV Havoc!: Lon Chaney Jr in FRANKENSTEIN (Tales of Tomorrow 1952)

Posted on October 8, 2016 by gary loggins

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Early TV science fiction was dominated by kiddie programming like CAPTAIN VIDEO and TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET. In 1951, a more adult oriented fantasy series called TALES OF TOMORROW made it’s debut on ABC. The live broadcast dramatized works by prominent writers like Arthur C. Clarke, Theodore Sturgeon, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells. Big name stars such as Boris Karloff, Leslie Neilson, and Rod Steiger headlined many of the episodes. Lon Chaney Jr. starred in a half-hour adaptation of Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN, with John Newland (later host and director of ONE STEP BEYOND) as the scientist who creates a monster. It’s said Chaney was *ahem* a bit under the weather during this live performance (in other words, drunk as a skunk!). I’ll let you be the judge. The quality of this kinescope-to-video isn’t great, but I hope you’ll enjoy watching Lon Chaney Jr. as the monster of FRANKENSTEIN!

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Halloween Havoc!: Joan Crawford in BERSERK (Columbia 1967)

Posted on October 7, 2016 by gary loggins

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Last year I looked at Joan Crawford’s final film TROG during “Halloween Havoc” month, where she played an anthropologist. This time around, Joan stars in her first movie for schlockmeister Herman Cohen, BERSERK, in which she’s in a more believable role as a circus owner/ringmaster whose big top is plagued by a series of gruesome murders.

The film starts off with the grisly death of high wire artist Gaspar the Great, whose tightrope breaks, causing him to die from hanging. Frank Hawkins, better known as The Magnificent Hawkins, arrives soon after and replaces Gaspar with his own death-defying act, walking the tightrope while blindfolded over a row of steel spikes. Circus owner Monica Rivers loves the publicity from Gaspar’s demise, which turns off her lover/business partner Durando. Soon Monica takes up with Frank, and Durando winds up with a spike driven through his head!

The circus acts think there’s a madman among them…

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Halloween Havoc!: Peter Cushing in CORRUPTION (Columbia 1968)

Posted on October 6, 2016 by gary loggins

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Hammer horror icon Peter Cushing is remembered for his two signature roles with the company, the obsessed Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Van Helsing. The actor made many other films as well, but none as bizarre as CORRUPTION. This sleazy slice of 60’s dementia finds Cushing once again a brilliant surgeon, this time in a contemporary setting, in a gore fest that goes off the deep end with a uniquely wild denouement that will leave viewers in shock.

Sir John Rowan (Cushing), eminent plastic surgeon, is engaged to beautiful young model Lynn Nolan, popular fashion face of the day. Despite being tired, John attends a typical swinging 60’s party with her, and it’s clear he’s not comfortable in this milieu. When the host begins taking sexy pics of Lynn, John’s had enough and wants to leave. The host gets belligerent and a fight breaks out between the men, causing a flood lamp to…

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