Tonight’s episode of One Step Beyond originally aired on March 22nd, 1960. The title of this episode?
The Clown.
Scared yet?
You should be. Clowns are creepy!
Watch the episode below and find out just how creepy!
Enjoy!
Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman
The TSL Horror Grindhouse: Delirium (dir by Peter Maris)
1979’s Delirium takes place on the mean streets of St. Louis and the surrounding countryside. Crime is out of control and something has to be done about it! Thanks to Earl Warren and the Carter administration, the police are powerless to stop the criminals. (“Miranda rights my ass!” you can almost hear the film’s screenwriter shouting.) So, the wealthier citizens of St. Louis get together and hire a bald Vietnam vet named Eric Stern (Barron Winchester) to lead a paramilitary group of vigilantes. One of Stern’s men is another vet, Charlie (Nick Panouzis). Charlie suffers from PTSD and it turn out that being a part of a militia is not the best way to deal with war trauma. Who would have guessed?
Charlie snaps. He starts killing people, in both St. Louis and the surrounding farms. One victim is a hitchhiker who is dumb enough to hitch a ride from him and then to taunt him when he refuses to go skinny dipping with her. It turns out that Charlie’s been impotent ever since he came home from the war. He doesn’t respond well to jokes about it.
As Charlie claims more and more victims, both the police and vigilantes search for him. The police want to stop his rampage, The vigilantes don’t want Charlie to accidentally reveal their existence. The whole thing ends in violence, gun fights, and flashbacks in which Vietnam looks a lot like rural Missouri.
Delirium is a film that I first noticed on my list of Tubi recommendations a few months ago. I finally watched it last night and I have to admit that my first reaction was, “What the Hell was that?” Delirium is bizarre mix of slasher horror and vigilante thrills, the type of mishmash that one can only really find in a grindhouse film. That the budget was low is obvious in every shot. The wealthy conspiracy meets in what appears to be a hut. As I previously mentioned, the Vietnam scenes were clearly filmed in Missouri. The acting is largely amateurish, with the exceptions of the intense Nick Panouzis and the absolutely insane performance of Barron Winchester. The film was gory enough to have earned a spot on the infamous Videos Nastys list but, as is so often case, what was shocking in 1979 seems rather tame in 2024. I did like the conspiracy aspects of the film. The idea of a group of wealthy people putting together a vigilante squad without actually bothering to do any background checks on the people they recruited actually has a good deal of potential. The film is a mess but it’s a mess in the oddly fascinating way that many low-budget 70s films were. The mix of ambition and a low budget often led to watchable oddities like Delirium.
The main thing that really stuck with me about Delirium is just how annoyed and angry almost every single character in the film seemed to be. Even the cop trying to stop Charlie seems like he was pissed off about having to actually do his job. I guess St. Louis does that to people.
Retro Television Review: T and T 3.19 “Turner’s Tale”
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing T. and T., a Canadian show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on Tubi!
This week, things get trippy as Mr. T tells a story about a magical forest.
Episode 3.19 “Turner’s Tale”
(Dir by Patrick Loubert, originally aired on May 12th, 1990)
T.S. and Decker discover a little kid named Daniel (Amos Crawley), who is hiding out underneath the boxing ring at Decker’s gym. Figuring that Daniel ran away from home after getting in trouble for something, T.S. tells Daniel a story while Decker tries to track down Daniel’s parents.
As you can guess from the episode of this title, the majority of the episode is a dramatization of the story that Turner tells. (The story is also told in rhyme, just so you know what you’re getting yourself into.) In Turner’s story, Daniel (Sean Roberge) and his sister Terri (Kistina Nicoll) move into a happy forest that is populated by people dressed up as mice, rabbits, and owls. When Daniel enters a forbidden part of the forest and picks a flower, the police show up and Terri is taken away. So, Daniel has to go to the police captain’s castle and admit what he did so that Terri can be set free and the forest can be happy again….
What? No, I’m not kidding. That’s the plot of this episode.
Okay, this is a weird one. For 24 minutes, T and T goes from being a show about Mr. T solving crimes to a show about a teenager walking through a magic forest and trying to return a forbidden flower to the cops. I can’t imagine that anyone really watched T and T for the action but if they did, this episode probably really pissed them off.
But I don’t know. Maybe I’m getting sentimental as I mature but this episode was actually really sweet and kind of cute. Mr. T really got into telling the story and there was a funny moment where Turner suddenly realized that he had no idea how the story was supposed to end. One thing that has always remained consistent about T and T is that Mr. T was always at his most likable when acting opposite kids and trying to teach life lessons. He and David Nerman made for a good team in this episode and watching them play off each other, it was easy to understand why Decker was the only one of the show’s supporting characters to appear in all three seasons of T and T. There’s not really much else to say about this episode. It was clearly made for kids and the lesson is that you should never be scared to tell your parents the truth, even if it means getting punished. It’s pretty simple but the episode had a few funny moments and everyone seemed to be having fun.
Sometimes, that’s enough.
Bonus Horror Song Of The Day: The Lions and the Cucumber by The Vampires’ Sound Incorporation
Today’s bonus horror song of the day comes from the 1971 film, Vampyros Lesbos. The Vampires’ Sound Incorporation was a band specifically formed to do the soundtrack for Jess Franco’s classic portrait of Eurotrash decadence. This song found renewed popularity in the 90s when Quentin Tarantino included it on the Jackie Brown soundtrack.
I like this song. It’s great driving music and it sounds like something that a vampire would actually listen to.
Horror Scenes I Love: The Hallway Scene From Mario Bava’s Shock
Today’s scene that I love comes from Mario Bava’s 1977 masterpiece, Shock. This, as the title of the YouTube video states, is one of the best jump scares ever.
8 Shots From 8 Films: Special Mario Bava Edition
8 Shots From 8 Films is just what it says it is, 8 shots from 8 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 8 Shots From 8 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.
Today’s director is Mario Bava, the maestro of Italian horror and one of the most influential and important filmakers of all time!
8 Shots From 8 Mario Bava Films
Black Sunday (1960, dir by Mario Bava, DP: Mario Bava)
Black Sabbath (1963, dir by Mario Bava, DP: Ubaldo Terzano and Mario Bava)
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963, dir by Mario Bava, DP: Mario Bava)
Blood and Black Lace (1964, dir by Mario Bava, DP: Ubaldo Terzano)
Planet of the Vampires (1965, dir by Mario Bava, DP: Antonio Rinaldi)
Kill Baby Kill (1966, dir by Mario Bava, DP: Antonio Rinaldi)
Lisa and the Devil (1974, dir by Mario Bava. DP: Cecilio Paniagua)
Shock (1977, dir by Mario Bava, DP: Alberto Spagnoli and Mario Bava)
Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix For The Burbs!
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on Twitter and Mastodon. 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 10 pm et, #FridayNightFlix presents 1989’s The Burbs, starring Tom Hanks!
If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag! It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
The Burbs is available on Prime! See you there!
Horror On The Lens: The Phantom of the Opera (dir by Rupert Julian)
Today’s horror movie on the Shattered Lens is both a classic of silent era and one of the most influential horror films ever made. It’s one that I previously shared in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2108, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 but it’s such a classic that I feel that it is worth sharing a second (or fifth or even a sixth or perhaps an ninth) time.
First released in 1925, The Phantom of the Opera is today best known for both Lon Chaney’s theatrical but empathetic performance as the Phantom and the iconic scene where Mary Philbin unmasks him. However, the film is also a perfect example of early screen spectacle. The Phantom of the Opera was released during that period of time, between Birth of the Nation and the introduction of sound, when audiences expected films to provide a visual feast and Phantom of the Opera certainly accomplishes that. Indeed, after watching this film and reading Gaston Leroux’s original novel, it’s obvious that the musical was inspired more by the opulence of this film than by the book.
This film is also historically significant in that it was one of the first films to be massively reworked as the result of a poor test screening. The film’s ending was originally faithful to the end of the novel. However, audiences demanded something a little more dramatic and that’s what they got.
Music Video of the Day: Little Miss Dangerous by Crazy Lixx (2024, dir by Jens Anderson and Danny Rexon)
This would seem to be appropriate for the season.
Enjoy!
Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 2.21 “The Torch”
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Highway to Heaven, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The entire show is currently streaming on Freevee and several other services!
This week, its the most shocking episode of Highway to Heaven yet!
Episode 2.21 “The Torch”
(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on March 12th, 1986)
Everett Salomon (Herschel Bernardi) is a Holocaust survivor who has become wealthy and successful in the United States. In poor health and in need of a heart transplant, Everett spends most of his time giving speeches about his experiences in the concentration camp. He is disturbed by the rise in Holocaust denialism and has dedicated his remaining years to battling the scourge of Neo-Nazism. In a disturbing scene that brings to mind the horrible images of the October 7 attacks, a Nazi named Cal (Robert O’Reilly) sneaks onto Everett’s property in the middle of the night and murders his dog.
Cal is a follower of Jan Baldt (Paul Koslo), a Neo-Nazi and a Holocaust denier who has turned his basement into a shooting range so that he and his buddies can fire their guns at pictures of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Moshe Dayan. Jan is consumed by hate and he’s teaching that hate to his young son, Rolf (played by a very, very young Mark-Paul Gosselaar). While Jan rants about conspiracies and bankers, Rolf cleans the guns in the basement.
At a Nazi rally, Jan’s speech is interrupted by Everett’s son, Joseph (David Kaufman). Cal proceeds to make his way through the crowd and ends up shooting Joseph dead. When Everett hears the news, he has a heart attack and is rushed to the hospital by two paramedics, Jonathan Smith and Mark Gordon. Meanwhile, while Jan and Cal celebrate in their basement, Rolf picks up a submachine gun and, not realizing it’s loaded, pulls the trigger and guns both men down.
Everett finally gets the heart transplant that he’s needed ever since he was first liberated from the camps. Unfortunately, that heart comes from Jan Baldt. At first, Everett refuses to accept the heart but then the ghosts of his parents and of Joseph appear to him and tell him that he has to continue to live and let people know the truth about what happened in the camps.
Later, Everett leaves the hospital and tells the reporters waiting outside that he will never be silent.
This seems to be one of the episodes of Highway to Heaven that anyone who has ever watched the show remembers. Because the show is usually rather gentle and non-violent, this episode can be a rather jarring viewing experience. The first time I saw it, the only thing that stunned me more than Joseph’s death was the subsequent deaths of Jan and Cal. The episode ends on an uplifting note but I always find myself wondering what happened to Rolf. Without his father around to brainwash him, will Rolf be able to learn something other than hate? Or is it too late for him? Is Rolf damned to follow in his father’s footsteps?
With the current rise of anti-Semitism, this episode still feels incredibly relevant. There’s really not much difference between Jan Baldt’s rants and the stuff currently being spewed by Nick Fuentes, Candace Owens, and Brianna Joy Gray. This episode reminds us that “never again” has to be more than just a catch phrase.
Through the Shattered Lens