Horror Scenes That I Love: Dick Miller In The Howling

Posted on October 12, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

A true scene stealer, the character actor Dick Miller was a Navy veteran who earned a Phd in psychology, even while he was already appearing on stage. His 1952 move from New York to California was originally so that he could pursue a career as a writer. Instead, he ended up becoming one of the most beloved members of Roger Corman’s stock company. (Famously, in 1952’s Apache Woman, he played both a Native American and the townsperson who shot him.) Many of the directors who started their careers under Roger Corman continued to cast Dick Miller in their own films, keeping Miller busy as a character actor. Miller worked with everyone from Martin Scorsese to Joe Dante to James Cameron to Steven Spielberg to Jim Wynorski. Miller often played characters named Walter Paisley, a reference to his first starring role in Corman’s A Bucket of Blood.

In this scene from 1981’s The Howling, Dick Miller lets two reporters know what’s truly going on with the werewolves.

October True Crime: Karla (dir by Joel Bender)

Posted on October 12, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

When it comes to true crime cases, few are as disturbing as the story of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.

Paul and Karla were a young, married couple who lived in Ontario. They were both attractive. They were both popular. They were both superficially charming, in the style of someone who you might have taken a class with but the only thing you can really remember about them is their smile. And they were both killers. Paul Bernardo, a wannabe rapper who had previously made his money by smuggling cigarettes and who was also a serial rapist, murdered at the least three teenage girls, including Karla’s sister, Tammy. When Paul was arrested, Karla told prosecutors that she had helped Paul with his murders but only because he threatened and abused her. Prosecutors, perhaps moved by a picture that Karla’s friend took of her bruised face after one of Paul’s beatings, made a deal with her for her testimony. In return for testifying against Paul Bernardo, Karla was convicted only of manslaughter and given a 12-year prison sentence. (She was 23 at the time and would only be 35 when released from prison, assuming that she served the full sentence.) However, during the trial, video tapes of the murders were uncovered and showed that Karla had been a far more active participant in the murders than she had originally admitted. That included the murder of her sister, Tammy.

There were calls to rescind Karla’s plea bargain and to try her for murder but since her plea bargain had only required her to provide enough evidence to convict Paul, it was ruled that she had upheld her end of the bargain. While Paul Bernardo is currently serving his life sentence, Karla Homolka is now free and living somewhere in Canada.

Needless to say, the case drew international attention, both due to the circumstances of Karla’s plea bargain and also to Paul and Karla’s image of being the “Ken and Barbie Of Serial Killers.” It’s a case that continue to haunt Canada, an example of how the accused was ultimately treated with more respect than the victims. For her part, Karla continues to claim that it was all Paul and that she was forced into helping. Paul claims that he and Karla were equal partners and that the actual murders were all committed by Karla. Personally, I think they’re both lying.

2006’s Karla stars Laura Prepon as Karla Homolka. The film opens with her already in prison and being interviewed by a psychiatrist (Patrick Bauchau) who has been assigned to determine if there’s a risk of her reoffending. As Karla tells her story, we see flashbacks of Karla’s life with Paul (Misha Collins). Prepon and Collins are both chillingly believable as the soulless Paul and Karla. Laura Prepon plays Karla as being a narcissistic sociopath who is incapable of understand that she’s not the victim in this story. I imagine that Prepon’s performance probably captures the essence of the real Karla, even if Prepon doesn’t really look like her.

That said, the film itself is largely a surface level exploration of the case. The film’s script attempts to maintain some ambiguity as to whether or not Karla Homolka was a voluntarily participant in the murders or if she actually was just too scared of Bernardo to stop him. Prepon plays her as being a sociopath but the script still tries to play both sides of the debate and, as a result, the film falls flat. The film may be called Karla but it doesn’t really get into her head and, as a result, it has all the depth of an Investigative Discovery special. In the end, the film feels like it’s trying to exploit the notoriety around a famous case without taking a firm position on the case’s biggest controversy. When it comes to the crimes of Karla Homolka, that’s not an option.

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films: 1950s Part One

Posted on October 12, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 look at the start of the 1950s.

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films

The Strange Door (1951, dir by Joseph Pevney)

The Black Castle (1952, dir by Nathan H. Juran)

The Maze (1953, dir by William Cameron Meznies)

House of Wax (1953, dir by Andre De Toth)

Horror On The Lens: Teenage Caveman (dir by Roger Corman)

Posted on October 12, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Future serious actor Robert Vaughn made his film debut in 1958’s Teenage Caveman. Directed by Roger Corman, Teenage Caveman tells the story of a rebellious young man (that’s Robert Vaughn) who chooses to defy his father’s warnings and venture beyond the caves and into “the forbidden zone.” He’s told that monsters roam in the forbidden zone and indeed, at least one of them does. However, neither the Teenage Caveman nor his father are prepared for what lies at the heart of the forbidden zone.

(What will he find out there, Dr. Zaius?)

Robert Vaughn later said that, out of all the bad films that he made, this was the worst. Personally, I think he was being a bit too hard on the film. It’s not good but it is definitely fun. Along with watching all of the dinosaur stock footage, you get to wonder how a caveman — especially a teenage caveman! — could possibly have such perfect hair. Even more importantly, if you stick with it, this film has a twist ending that has to be seen to be believed.

Here is Teenage Caveman:

October Positivity: Allison’s Choice (dir by Bruce Marchiano)

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 2015’s Alison’s Choice, Chanel Marriott plays Alison.

Alison is a teenager who has a difficult relationship with her father. He holds back his emotions from her. She’s been left feeling insecure as a result and is perhaps a bit too dependent upon validation from other men. For instance, her no-good boyfriend, Rick (Julian Alexander), bullies her into having sex in his tiny car. When Alison later discovers that she’s pregnant, Rick’s response is to tell her to get rid of it. He tells her to go find a clinic and have an abortion and then talk to him later. Rick makes it clear that he will not paying for the procedure. He also leaves it up in the air as to whether or not he’ll even come to the clinic to support Alison.

Classy guy, that Rick.

At the clinic, Alison finds herself having doubts. Does she really want to get an abortion? The clinic’s rather harsh and antiseptic atmosphere doesn’t make things any easier. One nurse (Liz Randall) tries to pressure Alison to go through with her abortion. The doctor (Britt Prentice) confesses that he can’t guarantee that abortion isn’t murder. At the front desk, Ms. Glo (Bunny Gibson) asks Alison is she’s really sure she wants to go through with the procedure. A pushy social worker named Marta (Amy Lydon) assures Alison that it’s not big deal. Lecretia (Alicia Monet Caldwell) makes fun of Alison for being a first-timer.

And, of course, Jesus (Bruce Marchiano) shows up as a janitor and encourages Alison not to get an abortion. Actually, he encourages everyone all over the world not to get an abortion and, whenever anyone does, he starts crying. He says that he’s been working as a janitor since 1973. That, of course, was the year of Roe v Wade.

Bruce Marchiano has played Jesus in a number of films. He played Jesus in The Encounter, which is something of a guilty pleasure of mine. Marchiano has a calm and soothing voice and his eyes tend to radiate kindness, which makes him a good choice to play Jesus. From what I’ve seen of him in various faith-based productions, he’s not a bad actor at all. He can deliver his lines without looking straight at the camera and he’s capable of showing emotion. By the standards of many faith-based films, that makes him almost Brandoesque.

Unfortunately, Alison’s Choice is so heavy-handed and awkwardly acted by everyone else in the cast that Marchiano’s characteristically good and empathetic performance can’t really save it. I’m not going to get into the specifics of whether or not the film is correct about abortion, beyond saying that this is not a film that is going to change anyone’s mind about the issue. It’s a heavy-handed pro-life tract. (Then again, there’s also been more than a few heavy-handed pro-choice tracts.) What I will say is that Alison, as a character, is so indecisive and, quite frankly, annoying that it didn’t take me long to lose interest in her. Even after she becomes convinced that she’s actually talking to Jesus, she still can’t decide whether or not she loves her boyfriend. Girl, Jesus just told you that your boyfriend is no good. I don’t care what anyone thinks about abortion. If Jesus suddenly shows up and tells you to dump your boyfriend, you do it.

Eh. I’m going to go watch The Encounter again.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Bela Lugosi in Bride of the Monster

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Home? I have no home.”

So begins the monologue that serves as the centerpiece of the 1955 Ed Wood film, Bride of the Monster. The monologue is delivered by Bela Lugosi, appearing in one of his final roles.

Far too often, people tend to be snarky about the work that Lugosi did under the direction of Ed Wood. But you know what?

He actually delivers a pretty good performance in Bride of the Monster.

Ignore all of the stuff about atomic supermen and instead, just pay attention to the way Lugosi delivers the lines. Pay attention to the pain in his voice as he says that he has no home. Pay attention and you’ll discover that Lugosi actually gave a good performance in Bride of the Monster. He delivers the lines with such wounded pride that you can’t help but think that maybe we should let him create a race of atomic supermen.

Among the old horror icons, Lugosi has always been the most underrated actor. He got typecast early and he appeared in some unfortunate films but Bela Lugosi had real talent and you can see it in this scene.

October True Crime: Looking for Mr. Goodbar (dir by Richard Brooks)

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 1977’s Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Diane Keaton plays Theresa Dunn.

A neurotic and single woman who has never emotionally recovered from her childhood struggle with scoliosis, Theresa is trying to find herself in the wild and promiscuous world of the 1970s. After losing her virginity to a condescending college professor (Alan Feinstein), Diane goes on to have relationships with a needy social worker (William Atherton) and an hyperactive petty criminal (Richard Gere). During the day, she teaches deaf children and she’s good at her job. She even manages to win over the distrustful brother (Levar Burton) of one of her students. At night, she hits the bars. She buys drugs from the neighborhood dealer (Julius Harris). She tries to read the book that she always carries with her. (Some nights, it’s The Godfather and other nights, it’s something else.) She picks up strange men and takes them to her roach-infested apartment. One of those men, Gary (Tom Berenger), turns out to both be a bit insecure about his masculinity and also totally insane….

Looking for Mr. Goodbar is an adaptation of a novel that was inspired by the real-life murder of a New York school teacher named Roseann Quinn. The book was best seller and, just as he had with a previous best-selling true crime novel, director Richard Brooks bought the rights and both wrote and directed the film. Diane Keaton, who at that point was best-known for playing Kay Adams in The Godfather and for appearing in Woody Allen’s comedies, took on the demanding role of Theresa and, whatever one may think of the film itself, it can’t be denied that Keaton gives a brave performance as the self-destructive Theresa. In fact, I would say it’s one of Keaton’s best performances, outside of her work with Woody Allen and The Godfather Part II. If she had been played by a lesser actress, Roseann could have been unbearable. As played by Diane Keaton, though, she’s everyone’s best friend who just need some time to find herself. The viewer worries about her and wants to protect her as soon as they see her, making her ultimate fate all the more tragic.

As for film itself, I’ve watched Looking For Mr. Goodbar a few times and I’m always a little bit surprised by how bad the movie actually is. The film actually gets off to a strong start. The scenes between Theresa and the professor make for a sensitive portrait of a repressed young woman finally getting in touch with her sexuality and, in the process, discovering that she deserves better than the man she’s with. But once Theresa moves into her apartment and starts hitting the bars at night, the film takes on a hectoring and moralistic tone that leaves the viewer feeling as if the film is blaming Theresa for the tragedy that’s waiting for her at the end of the story. Diane Keaton and Tuesday Weld (who plays her sister) both give excellent performances but everyone else in the film either does too much or too little. This is especially true of Richard Gere, who is very hyperactive but still strangely insubstantial in his role. (Whenever Richard Gere appears on screen, one gets the feeling that they could just walk right through him.) A scene where Gere jumps around the apartment is meant to be disturbing but it’s more likely to inspire laughter than chills.

It’s an overly long film and the moments in which Theresa has dark, sexually-charged fantasies are never quite as powerful as the film obviously meant for them to be. (Brian Dennehy makes his film debut as a doctor who kisses Theresa’s breast during one of her fantasies.) As opposed to the empathy that he brought to In Cold Blood, one gets the feeling that director Richard Brooks didn’t like anyone in this movie and that he was more interested in Theresa as a cautionary tale than as a human being. With this film, Brooks seemed to be standing athwart the Sexual Revolution and shouting, “Stop!” That said, the film’s final moments are genuinely disturbing and difficult to watch. It’s the one moment where Brooks’s lack of subtlety pays off. Those last minutes are about as horrific as anything you could expect to see.

As for Roseann Quinn, her killer was eventually arrested. John Wayne Wilson hung himself in prison, 5 months after murdering her.

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films: The 1940s Part Three

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, we look at the latter half of the 1940s.

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films

Strangler of the Swamp (1946, dir by Frank Wisbar)

House of Horrors (1946, dir by Jean Yarbrough)

She-Wolf of London (1946, dir by Jean Yarbrough)

Scared To Death (1947, dir by Christy Cabanne)

Horror Film Review: Wax Mask (dir by Sergio Stivaletti)

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1997 Italian horror film, Wax Mask, takes place in Rome at the turn of the 20th Century.

The film opens in 1900, with a young girl named Sonia witnessing the murder of her parents by a man with an iron claw and a wax mask. 12 years later, Sonia (Romina Mondello) steps into a Rome’s newest sensation, a wax museum where all of the wax figures appear to either be victims or murderers. The museum is meant to scare people. One man accepted a dare to spend the night in the museum and he was found dead the next morning, frightened to death. Sonia’s not interested in being scared. She just needs a job. Her mother taught her how to make clothes for wax figures. The owner of the museum, Boris (Robert Hossein), hires her.

When Sonia leaves the museum, her picture is taken by Andrea (Riccardo Serventi Longhi), a reporter who is investigating the mysterious deaths that have been connected to the museum. Meanwhile, Inspector Lanvin (Aldo Massasso) contacts Sonia to let her know that he’s following up some new leads concerning the still-unsolved deaths of her parents. He seems quite concerned about her working at the museum. When Lanvin later turns up dead, Sonia becomes concerned as well.

You can probably guess where all of this is going. Wax Mask is a remake of House of Wax, with the action moved to Rome and also with a lot more nudity and considerably more gore. The murders are brutal and bloody and the same can be said of what Sonia discovers when she starts to take a closer look at the wax figures in the museum. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this film is the idea that the wax figures are actually suspended in a state between life and death, aware of what is happening but unable to move, speak, or do anything about it. Wax Mask is a frequently diverting throwback to the bloody but atmospheric giallo films of the 70s. Suspense is mixed with special effects, some of which are more effective than others.

Wax Mask was originally meant to be Lucio Fulci’s final film. Dario Argento saw his old cinematic rival, Lucio Fulci, in 1994, by which point Fulci was using a wheelchair and was in frequent pain. Thinking that working on a movie might be good for Fulci’s state-of-mind and overall health, Argento agreed to produce Fulci’s next film. The idea that they came up with was to remake House of Wax. While Argento wanted to concentrate on spectacular death scenes, Fulci wrote a script that emphasized atmosphere over blood. Tragically, Fulci died in 1997 while the film was still in pre-production. Argento replaced Fulci with Sergio Stivaletti, a special effects artist who has worked on several Argento films.

Stivaletti rewrote the script and put the emphasis back on the special effects. (In the end, the killer has as much in common with The Terminator than with a traditional giallo killer.) Stivaletti does a good job directing the film. There are plenty of scary scenes. The film looks good. Even the special effect shots that don’t quite work still have a certain charm to them. That said, it’s hard to watch the film without thinking about what Fucli, at his best, could have done with the material.

In the end, though, Wax Mask is an effective work of late era Italian horror.

Horror Film Review: C.H.U.D. (dir by Douglas Cheek)

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

There’s something living under the streets of New York City.

That’s the basic idea behind 1984’s C.H.U.D., a film that opens with an upper class woman and her little dog being dragged into the sewers by a creature the reaches out of a manhole. People are disappearing all over the city but the authorities obviously aren’t revealing everything that they know. Even after the wife of NYPD Captain Bosch (Christopher Curry) disappears, the city government doesn’t seem to be too eager to dig into what exactly is happening.

Instead, it falls to two activists. Photographer George Cooper (John Heard) specializes in taking picture of the homeless, especially the one who live underground in the New York subways. He’s like a well-groomed version of Larry Clark, I guess. Social activist A.J. “The Reverend” Shepherd (Daniel Stern) runs a homeless shelter and is convinced that something is preying on the most vulnerable citizens of New York. When the police won’t do their job, George and the Reverend step up!

So, what’s living in the sewers? Could it be that there actually are cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers out there? Everyone in New York City has heard the legends but, much like stories of the alligators in the Chicago sewers, most people chose not to believe them. Or could the disappearance have something to do with the cannisters labeled Contamination Hazard Urban Disposal that are being left in the sewers by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission? Wilson (George Martin) of the NRC says that they would never purposefully mutate the people living underground but Wilson works for the government so who in their right mind is going to trust him?

C.H.U.D. is a horror film with a social conscience. It’s very much an 80s films because, while you have Shepherd running around and attacking everyone for not taking care of the most vulnerable members of society, the true villain is ultimately revealed to be the members of a regulatory agency. Instead of finding a safe way to get rid of their nuclear waste, they just found a sneaky way to abandon it all in New York and obviously, they assumed no one would care because …. well, it’s New York. Everyone in the country knows that New York City isn’t safe so who is going to notice a few underground monsters, right?

The idea behind C.H.U.D. has a lot of potential but the execution is a bit lackluster. For every good C.H.U.D. kill, there’s long passages where the story drags. Considering that Heard spent most of his career typecast as the type of authority figure who would dump nuclear waste under New York City, it’s actually kind of interesting to see him playing a sympathetic role here. Daniel Stern, on the other hand, is miscast and rather hyperactive as Shepherd. You really do want someone to tell him to calm down for a few minutes. Watching C.H.U.D., one gets the feeling that it’s a film with an identity crisis. Is it a horror film, an action flick, a work of social commentary, or a dark comedy? There’s no reason why it can’t be all four but C.H.U.D. just never really comes together. It ultimately feels more like a mix of several different films instead of being a film made with one clear and coherent vision.

In the end, Death Line remains the film to see about underground cannibals.