Horror Trailer: Insidious: Chapter Three

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

An Insidious film without Patrick Wilson!? What’s next — a Paranormal Activity film that doesn’t feature Katie killing Micah?

Then again, it makes sense. As an actor, Patrick Wilson projects a good deal of intelligence. That’s one reason why Wilson makes for a compelling lead in films like The Conjuring and Insidious. But, at the same time, his characters usually come across like they would be too smart to keep getting stuck in the exact same situation.

However, that Micah …. I don’t think people will ever get tired of watching as Katie tosses his limp body around.

But anyway, here’s the trailer for Insidious 3, which appears to be a prequel and does feature Lin Shaye. I loved the first Insidious and I thought the second one was okay. Judging from the trailer, I really don’t have high hopes for the third one but I’ll be there on opening right regardless.

It’s insidious how that works, no?

Horror on the Lens: Carnival of Souls (dir by Herk Harvey)

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Herk Harvey’s 1962 film Carnival of Souls is a film that we’ve shared on the Shattered Lens before but I have no problem sharing it again. After Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) is involved in an auto accident, she is haunted by frightening visions and finds herself followed by mysterious figures. Directed in a dream-like fashion and featuring an impressive performance from Candace Hilligoss, Carnival of Souls is a classic example of independent American cinema and it’s a bit of a Halloween tradition around these parts.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 5.17 “Number 12 Looks Just Like You”

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s horror on TV comes to us from The Twilight Zone. At first glance, Number 12 Looks Just Like You may not seem like a horror story but, by the end of it, it clearly is. Number 12 deals with the horror of being an individual living in a society of conformists.

This episode was originally broadcast on January 24th, 1964.

Horror On The Lens: The Little Shop of Horrors (dir by Roger Corman)

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Little Shop…Little Shop of Horrors…Little Shop…Little Shop of Terrors…

Watching the original 1960 Little Shop of Horrors is another Halloween tradition here at the Shattered Lens. And why not? It’s a lot of fun! Everyone always mentions the fact that Jack Nicholson pops up in an early role but, for me, the entire film is stolen by the great Dick Miller.

Incidentally, when I was 19, I was a dancer in a community theater production of Little Shop of Horrors. I really should have been cast as Audrey.

Just saying.

Horror on TV: Night Gallery 3.5 “Spectre in Tap Shoes”

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s horror on TV is an episode of Night Gallery that was originally broadcast on October 29th, 1972. It’s a ghost story that features dancing so, of course, I like it!

Enjoy Spectre in Tap Shoes!

Horror on The Lens: It Conquered The World (dir by Roger Corman)

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

For today’s horror on the lens, we present a film from the legendary Roger Corman. First released in 1956, It Conquered The World tells the tragic story of what happens when it … well, conquers the world. It, by the way, is one of the most iconic of the 1950 sci-fi monsters. It is kind of a crab-like thing but … well, just watch the film. It’s kind of hard to describe.

The film also features future spaghetti western star Lee Van Cleef as the human scientist who foolishly helps It conquer the world. Van Cleef’s wife is played by one of the greatest B-movie actresses of all time, Beverly Garland. Hoping to thwart It is Peter Graves who spends the majority of the film riding around on a bicycle. Also keep an eye out for Dick Miller and Jonathan Haze, who both play soldiers here and who would later co-star in tomorrow’s horror on the lens.

Horror on TV: Night Gallery 3.13 “Whisper”

Posted on October 20, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s televised horror on the lens, we have another episode of the Night Gallery. In Whisper, a mentally unstable woman played by Sally Field believes that she can talk to ghosts. Her husband, played by Dean Stockwell, spends all of his time driving her to cemeteries and allowing her to commune with the dead. Is he merely humoring her or does he believe as well?

You’ll have to watch to find out!

Whisper was originally broadcast on May 13th, 1973.

Horror On The Lens: Burnt Offerings (dir by Dan Curtis)

Posted on October 20, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

To be honest, I really don’t like Burnt Offerings, a 1976 film about what happens when an odd family moves into an even odder house. I find it to be slow and predictable and, to be honest, the only part that really works are the flashback scenes that feature a skeletal Anthony James playing a sinister chauffeur.

However, I’ve discovered that there’s a lot of people online who disagree with me and who consider this to be one of the best haunted house movies ever! So, in the spirit of agreeing to disagree, here is Burnt Offerings…

(If nothing else, the film is worth it for the chance to see Oliver Reed, Karen Black, Bette Davis, Anthony James, and Burgess Meredith all in one film together.)

Horror on TV: Freakylinks 1.7 “Still I Rise”

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Up until Friday, I had either never heard of a show called Freakylinks. According to Wikipedia, it aired on the Fox Network back in the year 2000 and it deal with a guy named Derek (Ethan Embry) who took over an occult-themed web site after the death of his twin brother Adam. The name of that website: Freakylinks.com. (Incidentally, the real Freakylinks.com is currently for sale if anyone wants to buy the domain name. To be honest, Freakylinks.com sounds like it should be a cheap porn site instead of a paranormal site.) With the help of his friends, Derek would spend each week investigating paranormal stuff and then I guess posting it to his site. I’m assuming that there was no YouTube back in 2000. (And according to Wikipedia, I am correct! YouTube did not start until 2005.)

Anyway, Friday night, I watched an episode of Freakylinks with my friends Janeen, Holly, Ven, Tammy, Elway, Kurt, Amber, Myrna, and Bec over at SyFyDesigns.com. As you might guess from that list, Freakylinks appears to be one of those shows that works better if you watch it as a part of a group. The episode we watched was called Still I Rise and it had a zombie theme to it. Towards the end of the episode, Ethan Embry goes a little crazy.

And you can watch it below!

Horror on the Lens: The Boogie Man Will Get You (dir by Lew Landers)

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s horror on the lens is a short horror comedy from 1942. In The Boogie Man Will Get You, Winnie Slade (Miss Jeff Donnell) buys an old house from Prof. Billings (Boris Karloff) with plans to covert it into a hotel. However, one of the conditions of the sale is that Prof. Billings and his servants be allowed to live on the property. What Winnie doesn’t know is that Prof. Billings had been conducting experiments on traveling salesman. He hopes to turn them into supermen who can then be sent overseas to fight the Nazis. (Kind of like Capt. America, when you think about it…) However, his experiments have yet to be successful and have mostly just resulted into a lot of salesman being buried out in the rose garden…

However, things start to look up for Prof. Billings when he meets Dr. Lorencz (Peter Lorre), who is not only a doctor but also a mayor, sheriff, and dog catcher. Seriously, Dr. Lorencz can do it all….

The Boogie Man Will Get You is a fun little time capsule of the time in which it was made. For horror fans, it is mostly interesting because it features both Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. Both Karloff and Lorre appear to be having a lot of fun parodying their usual screen images.

Enjoy!