Tag Archives: Horror

4 Shots From 4 Horror Film: Special Herschell Gordon Lewis Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Today, on what would have been his birthday, the Shattered Lens remembers director Herschell Gordon Lewis.  It’s time for…..

4 Shots From 4 Herschell Gordon Lewis Films

Blood Feast (1963, dir by Herschell Gordon Lewis, DP: Herschell Gordon Lewis)

Color Me Blood Red (1965, dir by Herschell Gordon Lewis, DP: Herschell Gordon Lewis)

Something Weird (1967, dir by Herschell Gordon Lewis, DP: Andy Romanoff)

The Wizard of Gore (1970, dir by Herschell Gordon Lewis, DP: Alex Ameri and Daniel Krogh)

Live Tweet Alert: Watch Tourist Trap With #ScarySocial!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting Tourist Trap!

If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  The film is available on Prime and Tubi!  I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy!

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th: The Series 3.15 “The Long Road Home”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 Friday the 13th: The Series, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The entire series can be found on YouTube!

This week …. ugh.

Episode 3.15 “The Long Road Home”

(Dir by Allan Kroeker, originally aired on February 12th, 1990)

This week’s episode starts where most episodes end.  Micki and Johnny retrieve the cursed antique.  In this case, it’s a yin-yang charm that allows the owner to swap minds with a recently deceased person.  That sounds like a really cool antique and I have to admit that I’m kind of annoyed that this is one of those shows where the antique is recovered early.  I would have enjoyed seeing the entire search.

I certainly would have enjoyed it more than having to spend the next 40-something minutes listening to Micki and Johnny discuss whether or not to start a relationship while, at the same time, being pursued by an inbred redneck and his brother.  This episode goes off the rails as soon as Micki and Johnny step into a roadside diner that is owned by a family of homicidal hillbillies.  In order to save their lives, Johnny had to use the cursed antique himself so that he could enter the body of one of the brothers.  That went against everything that the show previously established about the cursed antiques.  You’re not supposed to use a cursed antique, not even once.  Johnny uses it and everything works out fine for him.  It feels like cheating and it was something that Ryan would never have done.  God, I miss Ryan.

But I want to get back to this relationship nonsense.  Since when is Micki attracted to Johnny?  Johnny’s been hitting on Micki since his first appearance and she’s never been interested in the past.  Now, suddenly, they’re having a relationship talk?  It comes out of nowhere.  In the end, Micki and Johnny agree not to have a relationship as long as there are still cursed antiques that need to be found and that’s a good idea.  Still, the whole thing just felt tacked on.

This episode was dull.  Chris Wiggins wasn’t in it and that’s a shame because this episode needed his steady, no-nonsense presence.

Oh well.  Not every Friday can be a great one!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Friday The 13th Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Admittedly, the Friday the 13th films aren’t exactly known for being the most visually impressive horror films ever made.  That’s especially true of the first 8 films, which were all shot on a low budget and in a hurry.  That said, today is Friday the 13th and there’s no way that I, as a lover of the horror genre, couldn’t use the 4 Shots format to pay a little bit of tribute to one of the most successful and influential horror franchises of all time.

So, with that in mind, here are….

4 Shots From 4 Friday the 13th Films

Friday the 13th (1980, dir by Sean S. Cunningham)

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984, dir by Joseph Zito)

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986, dir by Tom McLoughlin)

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989, dir by Rob Hedden)

Back in 2012, I reviewed every single film in the Friday the 13th film franchise!  It was a lot of fun!

My Friday the 13th reviews:

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Monsters 3.20 “Werewolf of Hollywood”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing Monsters, which aired in syndication from 1988 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on YouTube.

This week, Monsters satirizes the film business.  Well, it’s about time someone did!

Episode 3.20 “Werewolf of Hollywood”

(Dir by Thomas J. Whelan, originally aired on February 10th, 1991)

Screenwriter Buzz Hunkle (Richard Belzer) has been instructed to rewrite a script that was originally written by Leo Tandoski (Shelley Berman).  Leo’s script is about a studio head who is actually a werewolf.  Buzz and his assistant Vicki (Geraldine Leer) read the script and immediately deduce that Leo is attacking executive Billy Mariner (David Leary).  At first, Buzz just assumes that the werewolf angle is a bit of heavy-handed satire but, when Leo turns up dead, Buzz comes to suspect that Billy might actually be a werewolf!  Vicki gives Buzz a gun full of what she claims are silver bullets and she sends him off to investigate.  Of course, it turns out that everyone in this show business tale has a secret or two.

This episode …. well, I liked the idea behind it.  It had potential, I’ll give it that.  And the werewolf effects were certainly effective.  Monsters was a show that almost always featured effective makeup and costuming.  That said, I have to admit that I wanted to like this episode more than I actually did.  Whenever Monsters tries to be intentionally funny, it almost always comes across as if it’s trying too hard and that was certainly the case with this episode.  As an actor, Richard Belzer was always inconsistent.  He did good work as Detective Munch.  In this episode of Monsters, he sleepwalks through the role.  I really wanted this episode to work but it just feel flat for me.

Guess what?  We’ve only got four more episodes of Monsters left!  Overall, I have enjoyed reviewing this show, even if it has been a bit uneven overall.  I’ll miss it when I’m done.

Live Tweet Alert: Watch Horror Of Party Beach With #ScarySocial!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting Horror of Party Beach!

If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  The film is available on Prime and Tubi!  I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy!

 

Live Tweet Alert: Join #ScarySocial for Curse of the Black Widow!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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?  1977’s Curse of the Black Widow!  

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  I’ll be there tweeting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Curse of the Black Widow is available on Prime!

See you there!

Scenes That I Love: Cillian Murphy in 28 Days Later

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, we wish a happy birthday to Cillian Murphy!

A year ago, Murphy won the Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer.  However, before playing the lead role in Christopher Nolan’s epic, Cillian Murphy been an intriguing cinematic presence for over two decades.  I first became aware of him after watching Danny Boyle’s 2002 classic, 28 Days Later.  Here he is, showing what he can do without even uttering a word of dialogue, in a haunting scene from that film.

Live Tweet Alert: Watch Ninja III: The Domination With #ScarySocial!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting 1984’s NINJA III: THE DOMINATION!

If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  The film is available on Prime and Tubi!  I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy!

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th: The Series 3.14 “Repitition”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 Friday the 13th: The Series, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The entire series can be found on YouTube!

This week …. hey, where is everyone?

Episode 3.14 “Repetition”

(Dir by William Fruet, originally aired on February 5th, 1990)

After newspaper columnist Walter Cromwell (David Ferry) accidentally hits and kills a girl with his car, he finds himself consumed with guilt.  He also start to hear the girl’s voice in his head, demanding that he bring her back to life.  Walter just happens to have a cursed amulet, one that allows the owner to bring someone else back to life as long as he kills someone who is wearing the amulet.  Walter’s first victim is his dying mother.  But after he kills her, he starts to hear her voice demanding to be brought back to life.  So, Walter commits another murder, one after the other, trying to bring back to life every one who he kills.

This was an interesting episode because neither Johnny nor Jack were anywhere to be seen.  Instead, it was just Micki and she only appeared at the start and the end of the episode.  The entire episode focused on Walter and his descent into madness and, it must be said, that worked just fine.  This show’s strength has always been its collection of cursed antiques and this episode allowed us to see how one of them actually works.  We saw how the amulet manipulated Walter and how Walter himself became more and more hooked on using the amulet’s power.  I’ve always viewed the antiques as being a bit like drugs and their users being addicts and this episode certainly played into that theory.

This was an intense episode, featuring moody visuals and a strong script from David Lynch’s daughter, the future director Jennifer Lynch.  After last week’s odd episode, it was nice to see an episode this week that actually got to the heart of what this series was always supposed to be about.