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 take a look at the first half of the 1920s.
4 Shots From 4 Horror Films
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, dir by Robert Wiene)
1980’s Alligator begins in 1968. While on vacation in Florida, a teenage girl named Marisa Kendall purchases a baby alligator named Ramon. When she returns home to Chicago, her jerk of a father flushes Ramon down the toilet.
12 years pass. Marisa (Robin Riker) becomes a herpetologist. As for Ramon, he actually survives being flushed down the toilet and thrives in the sewer. He eats the carcasses of animals that had been a part of an experiment involving a growth serum. The serum had the desired effect of making the animals bigger but it also increased their metabolism to the extent that they became aggressive and had to eat constantly. Evil industrialist Slade (Dean Jagger) is convinced that, by tossing the carcasses in the sewer, he’s ensured that no one will ever find out about the experiments. Instead, he’s turned Ramon into a giant alligator who is always hungry. Soon, the super-intelligent alligator is ambushing and eating sewer workers.
Burned-out Detective Dave Madison (Robert Forster) teams up with Marisa to solve the mystery of why so many body parts are turning up in the sewers. It’s not easy. No one wants to admit that there might be a giant alligator living under the city. Everyone wants to believe that’s just an urban legend. But, after a tabloid reporter (Bart Braverman) manages to snap a few photographs of Ramon before being devoured, the police are forced to deal with the fact that they’ve got an alligator on their hands. As Slade continues to try to cover up his involvement, big game hunter Colonel Brock (Henry Silva) comes to town and announces that he will be capturing the alligator.
Directed by Lewis Teague and written by John Sayles, Alligator is a dark comedy disguised as a horror film. While numerous people get eaten and the film ends on a properly ominous note, Alligator is obviously not meant to be taken seriously. The cast is full of good actors who send up their own images. That’s especially true in the case of Henry Silva, who appears to be having a blast as the hyper macho Colonel Brock. Robert Forster, meanwhile, delivers his lines with a self-aware weariness that seems a bit more appropriate for a noir hero than a film about a detective investigating a giant alligator. One reason why the film works is because Forster, Silva, and the rest of the cast understood exactly what type of film they were appearing in and they delivered their overheated lines with just enough wit to let the viewer know that the film was in on the joke. The big and somewhat stiff-looking alligator may not look entirely real and it may move somewhat awkwardly but ultimately, it’s the most likable character in the movie. It just wants to relax in the sewers but, every few minutes, someone else is bugging him.
When first released, Alligator struggled at the box office but it has since gone on to become a cult favorite. Quentin Tarantino is a self-described fan and he had said he was inspired to cast Robert Forster as Max Cherry in Jackie Brown after seeing him as Dave Madison in this film. That’s not bad for a movie about a giant alligator!
Sometimes, you’ll come across something that simply defies easy description. It’s something that actually has to be seen to be believed. I could describe to you the monster at the center of 1957’s From Hell It Came but I don’t know that, even with my extensive vocabulary, I really have the capability to capture just how absurd and weird this thing is.
In this case, a picture says more than a thousand words ever could:
The monster in From Hell it Came is a walking tree that has a rather angry (not to mention immobile) face. After Prince Kimo is framed for the murder of his father, the chief of a tribe that lives on a South Sea island, he is sentenced to execution. He announces that he will seek revenge on everyone who framed him. He’s then stabbed in the heart and encased in the trunk of a hollow tree. (Apparently, the knife is left in his heart which seems kind of unnecessary but who am I to argue?) Later, Kimo comes back as a walking tree who tosses his enemies into quicksand. The knife is still sticking out of the tree, which would suggest that Kimo was physically transformed. However, the native insist that Kimo has actually become one of their legendary monsters, the fearsome Tabanga.
Along with the natives, there is also a group of American doctors on the island. They’ve been sent to conduct research and to also give the natives medicine to help them deal with an outbreak of the plague. The natives don’t trust the medicine. They trust the magic of their medicine men. Since this film came out in 1957, the doctors react to this by rolling their eyes and talking down to everyone. If there’s one thing that has remained consistent over the decades, it’s that the worst way to get people to do anything is to talk down to them.
The doctors are the first to discover the tree stump that will eventually become the Tobanga. They take the stump back to their laboratory, where they discover that the stump is radioactive due to some nearby atomic tests. The next day, the stump comes to life and leaves the laboratory. One of the most interesting things about this film is that the scientists are skeptical about the natives claim that the tree stump is one of their legendary monsters come to life but they are willing to accept that radiation created a walking stump. Radiation bringing a tree stump to walking life actually makes even less sense than magic doing it.
While the tree is killing its enemies, the American doctors deal with their own drama. For instance, Dr. Terry Mason (Tina Carver), is a woman and that greatly disturbs her male colleagues, all of whom can’t understand why she’s not currently married and raising a family. Meanwhile, Mrs. Mae Kilgore (Linda Watkins, an American actress who played the role with an amazingly bad British accent) owns the local trading post and is not happy about having a killer tree wandering around the island. Mrs. Kilgore is prone to saying things like, “I saw the bloomin’ thing!”
In the end, the Americans finally figure out how to deal with the murderous tree. “Your American magic is better,” the current chief of the natives says. “Hell yeah!” I shout in response, “AMERICA!” From Hell It Came is a thoroughly ludicrous movie but, once you watch it, you’ll never forget that tree.
It’s the Halloween season and what better time is there to apply for a job as the governess at an isolated mansion or to learn the secrets of a prominent but mysterious family? This is the season to chase voices in the night and stand outside in the rain while a dark, shadowy structure looms behind you.
Need help getting in the mood for your gothic explorations? Don’t worry! I’ve got your back with these covers!
Who wouldn’t love to see a movie where a youngish Jack Nicholson played a French soldier who, while searching for a mysterious woman, comes across a castle that’s inhabited by both Dick Miller and Boris Karloff?
In Roger Corman’s 1963 film The Terror, New Jersey-accented Jack Nicholson is the least believable 19th century French soldier ever. However, it’s still interesting to watch him before he became a cinematic icon. His performance here is rather earnest, with little of the sarcasm that would later become his trademark. Boris Karloff is, as usual, great and familiar Corman actor Dick Miller gets a much larger role than usual. Pay attention to the actress playing the mysterious woman. That’s Sandra Knight who, at the time of filming, was married to Jack Nicholson.
Reportedly, The Terror was one of those films that Corman made because he still had the sets from his much more acclaimed film version of The Raven. The script was never finished, the story was made up as filming moved alone, and no less than five directors shot different parts of this 81 minute movie. Boris Karloff’s scenes were filmed first, with the other actors performing in front of a body double during their scenes. Among the many directors who filmed bits and pieces of TheTerror: Roger Corman, Jack Hill, Monte Hellman, Francis Ford Coppola, Coppola’s roommate Dennis Jakob, and even Jack Nicholson himself! (Despite this number of directors involved, Corman received the sole directorial credit.) Perhaps not surprisingly, the final film is a total mess but it does have a definite historical value.
(In typical Corman fashion, scenes from The Terror were later used in the 1968 film, Targets. In that film, Karloff plays a version of himself, an aging horror actor who watches The Terror and dismisses it as being “terrible.”)
“He was brought across in 1228. Prayed on humans for their blood. Now, he wants to be mortal again. To repay society for his sins. To emerge from his World of Darkness. From his endless Forever Night.”
I stumbled onto Forever Knight late one early pre-dawn Sunday Morning, which would show up on a special “Crimetime After Primetime”. Although the cast was different (save for John Kapelos, still playing Don Schanke), it still had the flavor of the 1989 TV Film. It also ended up trading the streets of Los Angeles for Toronto, Canada, which meant that the production also had to include Canadian talent. The two part pilot, which aired in May of 1992, was just a beat for beat revamp of the TV film’s story. I’ll try to find a way to not make these so long as this progresses.
In the prologue, we open in Paris in the year 1288. A young woman welcomes a man to the rest of his unlife, letting him know that while he’s now as eternal as the city, he must kill. This trio of vampires are our hero, Nicholas (Geraint Wyn Davies, Airwolf), his maker LaCroix (Nigel Bennett, HBO’s Gotti), and Janette (Deborah Duchene, TV’s Street Legal). Moving to the present day, the night watchman of a museum is murdered, and a jade cup stolen.
At the crime scene, Schanke is still going wild with the camera, assisting the forensic crew. He and Nick have a few words before Nick interviews the assistant curator, Dr. Alyce Hunter (Christine Reeves) about the missing cup. Alyce seems somewhat fascinated about Knight’s knowledge of the history and the use of the jade cup in blood drinking rituals. There’s a moment of quiet between them as they consider what that could mean.
Heading over to the morgue, we’re introduced to Natalie (Catherine Disher, who voiced Jean Grey in Fox’s X-Men and Val Cooper in Disney Plus’ X-Men ’97). She offers Nick some tea that he can’t quite stomach, but he’s making some progress in staying away from blood. The victim from the museum is one of three, all with large blood loss and some tell-tale puncture marks on their necks. “Nick, Is this something I should worry about?” she asks. Nick doesn’t have an answer. Back at the Precinct, the Captain (Gary Farmer, Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight) is nervous about these murders and wants some results. A food order comes in, giving Nick three hamburgers that the Captain snarks over. “Skinny guy. Eats like a pig.” The Captain pairs Knight with Schanke, to Don’s delight and Nick’s aggravation.
The 2 elderly hobos from the film are now 3 people. Dr. Dave (George Buza, the voice of Beast in both Fox’s X-Men and in X-Men ’97), Topper (Zack Ward, Transformers) and Jeannie (Deep Space Nine’s Nicole De Boer). Nick warns the three to spend their nights inside with the murders going around. Jeannie lets Nick know they’ll be careful.
Nick heads home for the day, turning on the window shutters for the coming dawn. His fridge is stocked with bottles of the good stuff. He pours himself two glasses full of blood and drinks heartily. It’s been a long night, indeed.
Knight regroups with Schanke the following night. Schanke asks about Nick’s Cadillac and Nick explains that it has some incredible trunk space (for daytime sleeping, though he doesn’t share that tidbit). While on patrol, Nick hears some commotion in a building and detours the car. When they arrive at a nearby building, a woman informs Nick in Mandarin that her daughter’s inside and someone has an Uzi. Running inside, Nick and Schanke stack up on the door to the perp’s room, kicking the door open. The response is a blaze of gunfire. Thankfully, Knight’s vision clearly picks up the enemy with the hostage and has Schanke hold in place while he heads around to the back. Nick floats up to the window and pulls the gunman through it, quickly dispatching him outside of Schanke’s view.
Relaxing in a dark alley, Topper and Jeannie are arguing over what to do for the evening. Topper suggests that they could go to Nick’s Garage, where it’s much warmer, but Jeannie won’t want to have to owe him anything. Dr. Dave is no where to be found, but someone approaches the pair from the dark, attacking Topper causing Jeannie to scream.
Nick takes flight, paying Alyce a late night visit. Just before he shows up, however, Alyce finds a picture of Nick in an old book on archeology. Unlike the film, this doesn’t bring any kind of questioning or curiosity about why he was in the picture. What we do get is a nice flirtatious moment between Nick and Alyce. She loves the dark, and he’s all about the dark. Nick gets a little too close with a kiss, nearly losing control of himself. He pulls away and leaves Alyce be, just in time for a guard to show up. The romance will have to wait for another night. At the same time, Schanke debriefs the Captain, relaying that the captured perp claimed a vampire attacked him. The Captain relays a legend about how burning scorpions attaches other ones from miles around, which spooks Schanke. The Captain reminds him it’s just a legend, like vampires, and he should focus on the real world.
With Nick failing to check in the following morning, Natalie borrows his Caddy from the precinct and visits him at home. She finds him in a blood drunken self pitying stupor. With no fear of who or what she is, she lays into him for falling off the wagon. “You don’t want help, hey, I’m a dot on the horizon.”, she says. Their argument is interrupted by Alyce’s voice message, asking Nick to “talk about last night.” Nat, a little shaken by this, inquires what happened. Nick confesses that he kissed Alyce and then nearly killed her. Nat softens and asks him about the other vampires. Nick shares that the jade cup is part of a pair that could possibly cure vampirism. LaCroix has been keeping Nick away from both cup to ensure he stays immortal. Could he be the source of the current killings?
The next day, Topper’s body is discovered in a barrel. According to Nat, he was hit by a blunt object and then had the neck incision done. Nick becomes livid that he lost Topper on his watch and that Jeannie is missing, though we get a major clue in that there was a blood mobile that recently visited the area. Nick snaps at Schanke and pays a visit to Jeanette to find LaCroix. She’s adjusted to modern times pretty well, owning her own vampire nightclub. They share a quick discussion in French, with Jeanette informing Nick that LaCroix is indeed very much around and is keeping his eyes on him. As he leaves the nightclub and drives away, we find Alyce trailing behind him.
We end the episode with Nick turning on the car radio, hearing the voice of the Nightcrawler (LaCroix) who laments being in town and not having heard from his friend. The music station is still Metal, and yet the show still decides to play something different, this time a violin. “I am waiting.” LaCroix says to the microphone.
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, Deanna Dawn will be hosting #ScarySocial! The movie? The Descent Part 2!
If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
This song is from Unprocessed’s 2019 album, Artificial Void. I respect any band that put out an official video where they just play and let the music speak for itself.
2011’s JerusalemCountdown opens with the world on the verge of destruction. Israel and a nuclear-armed Iran are negotiating in Washington and not everyone wants the two countries to be at peace.
In Chicago, Daniel (Carey Scott) watches the news of the summit and then looks out his window as his unfriendly and glowering neighbor comes and goes from his house. Daniel worries that his neighbor is up to something. He could be a member of a terrorist cell! Daniel’s wife (Jaci Velasquez) tells him to stop worrying about things that he can’t control but that’s easier said than done.
FBI agent Eve (Anna Zielinski) is approached by her father (Stacy Keach), a former intelligence agent who warns her that the end times are approaching.
Another intelligence agent, Shane Daughtery (David A.R. White) is contacted by a burned-out arms dealer (Lee Majors), who informs him that a group of terrorists are planning on setting off a series of bombs and plunging the world into war. The arms dealer is assassinated by a man who keeps reciting passages from the Book of Revelations. Meanwhile, CIA bigwig Jack Thompson (a seriously miscast Randy Travis) continually tells Shane that he can’t share too much information with him because it’s all classified….
JerusalemCountdown is a faith-based film that also tries to be an action film. In fact, I would say that far more emphasis is put on action than on faith. Until the final few minutes of the film, there’s really not much focus put on religion, other than Daniel briefly praying when he finds himself trapped in the neighbor’s house and a scene where a librarian scolds Shane and Eve for not knowing about the Ten Commandments. One major commandments, by the way, is Thou Shalt Not Kill but Shane and Eve manage to kill quite a few people in this film. Of course, they were all bad people and Shane and Eve are trying to keep the world from being plunged into a world war so I’m willing to cut them some slack.
The cast, as you may have noticed, has a number of familiar faces in it. It’s largely a nostalgia cast, the type that’s designed to make people over the age of 60 say, “Lee Majors is in this!” With the exception of Randy Travis, none of the “stars” have a particularly large role. One gets the feeling that Stacy Keach filmed his scenes in a handful of hours, collected his paycheck, and then got out of there. It’s amazing to me that Eric Roberts is somehow not in this film.
As for the film itself, it’s competently made and David A.R. White is one of the better actors amongst the Pureflix regulars. (White has even managed to maintain a semblance of dignity through five God’s Not Dead films.) That said, the film itself moves a bit slowly and the low-budget keeps the action from being as memorable as it could be. There’s a cool helicopter crash but otherwise, it’s never as exciting as it obviously wants to be and there’s a lot — and I do mean A LOT — of filler-type scenes of people talking on their phones while driving from one location to another. The plot itself feels a bit muddled and there’s a lot of loose ends left dangling, as if the film was meant to be a set up for a sequel that never came.
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 Freddy’s Nightmares, a horror anthology show which ran in syndication from 1988 to 1990. The entire series can be found on Plex!
This week, there’s a new threat in town!
Episode 1.11 “Do Dreams Bleed?”
(Dir by Dwight H. Little, originally aired on January 8th, 1989)
There’s a new serial killer in Springwood!
We don’t really learn much about the Chopper, other than he attacks people with an axe. When the episode begins, high school football star John Warring (Damon Martin) is dealing with dual trauma of having not only found the Chopper’s latest victim but also being the number one suspect. His grades start to slip. (As was so often the case on this show, his parents are conveniently out-of-town.) He fears that he’s going to lose his girlfriend, Roni (Sarah Buxton). Not even John’s coach, Coach Gacey (Jeff McCarthy), is much help. That’s probably because Coach Gacey actually is the Chopper, not that anyone figures that out. Driven mad by his dreams, John finds himself being taken away to an asylum.
(Really? Coach Gacey? He should have been the number one suspect based on his name alone.)
The second half of the episode follows Ronni as she now starts to have nightmares. She wants to believe that John is innocent but her dreams indicate that she has her doubts. Eventually, John escapes from prison and is able to save Ronni from Coach Gacey. However, when the police arrive, they just assume that Coach Gacey was trying to save Ronni and that John is the Chopper. Ronni is so shaken by the entire experience that she no longer knows what’s true and what’s not.
Wow, that’s dark!
This was actually a pretty good episode. For once the two stories had coherent plots, with Ronni’s story logically building off of John’s. The dream sequences were effectively creepy, director Dwight Little kept the action moving at a good pace, and even the dark ending felt earned as opposed to forced on the narrative. I would have liked to have heard Freddy’s thoughts on Springwood having a new serial killer (instead, during the host segments, Freddy just did his usual bad jokes) but otherwise, this was a surprisingly good episode.
Through the Shattered Lens 