Continuing today’s Atlantis theme, here’s a song about the lost continent from Donovan.
It’s kind of a silly song. I mean, just listen to Donovan’s opening monologue. But that chorus is next to impossible to get out of your head and, even more importantly, the song is iconic due to its use in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. Try to listen to this without thinking about Billy Batts and that night at the club.
Known as both Atlantis Interceptors and Raiders of Atlantis, Ruggere Deodato’s 1983 film imagines what would happen if the lost continent of Atlantis rose from the ocean in the vicinity of Florida.
In today’s scene that I love, the Atlanteans make their first appearance and they turn out to be a bunch of refugees from Mad Max. Seriously, why would an underwater civilization need that many motorcycles? And who knew that punk rock was so big in Atlantis?
That said, the guy with skull mask is definitely menacing.
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 lets the visuals do the talking!
As our song of the day may have revealed, today’s director is the great Italian filmmaker, Ruggero Deodato!
4 Shots From 4 Ruggero Deodato Films
The House On The Edge of the Park (1980, dir by Ruggero Deodato, DP: Sergio D’Offizi)
Raiders of Atlantis (1983, dir by Ruggero Deodato, DP: Robert D’Ettore Piazzoli)
Body Count (1986, dir by Ruggero Deodato, DP: Emilio Loffredo)
Phantom of Death (1988, dir by Ruggero Deodato, DP: Giorgio Di Battista)
For today’s horror on the lens, we have 1973’s The Night Strangler.
This is the sequel to The Night Stalker and it features journalist Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) in Seattle. (After all the stuff that happened during the previous movie, Kolchak was kicked out of Las Vegas.) When Kolchak investigates yet another series of murders, he discovers that paranormal murders don’t just occur in Las Vegas and aren’t just committed by vampires.
I actually prefer this movie to The Night Stalker. The Night Strangler features a truly creepy villain, as well as a trip down to an “underground city.” It’s full of ominous atmosphere and, as always, Darren McGavin is a lot of fun to watch in the role in Kolchak.
Enjoy!
One of the great oddities of the horror genre and the world of grindhouse films is that 1980’s Cannibal Holocaust has got one of the most beautiful soundtracks ever recorded. Composed by Riz Ortolani, here is the amazing Main Theme From Cannibal Holocaust.
The dead! Are after me!
The 1986 film, Raiders of the Living Dead, features what may be the greatest song ever written about zombies. For your listening pleasure, here is George Edward Lott’s The Dead Are After Me!
For today’s scene that I love, here is the classic scene from 1980’s Inferno, Dario Argento’s follow-up to Suspiria. In this scene, Irene Miracle takes a fateful swim. I’ve seen this film several times and this sequence still creeps me out! Not only does it remind me of my own very strong fear of drowning but I also wish someone had been there to say, “Don’t do that, you’re going to ruin that pretty dress!”
This scene is Argento at his most dream-like and frightening.
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.
As you might have just guessed, today’s director is Dario Argento. And these are 8 shots from 8 films!
8 Shots From 8 Dario Argento Films
The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Vittorio Storaro)
Deep Red (1975, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Luigi Kuveiller)
Suspiria (1977, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Luciano Tovoli)
Inferno (1980, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Romana Albano)
Trauma (1993, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Raffaele Mertes)
The Stendhal Syndrome (1996, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Giuseppe Rotunno)
Sleepless (2001, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Ronnie Taylor)
Dracula 3D (2012, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Luciano Tovoli)
For today’s horror on the lens, we have a real treat! (We’ll get to the tricks later…)
Long before he achieved holiday immortality by playing the father in A Christmas Story, Darren McGavin played journalist Carl Kolchak in the 1972 made-for-TV movie, The Night Stalker. Kolchak is investigating a series of murders in Las Vegas, all of which involve victims being drained of their blood. Kolchak thinks that the murderer might be a vampire. Everyone else thinks that he’s crazy.
When this movie first aired, it was the highest rated made-for-TV movie of all time. Eventually, it led to a weekly TV series in which Kolchak investigated various paranormal happenings. Though the TV series did not last long, it’s still regularly cited as one of the most influential shows ever made.
The Night Stalker is an effective little vampire movie and Darren McGavin gives a great performance as Carl Kolchak.
Enjoy!
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasion ally Mastodon. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We snark our way through it.
After we finish up this week’s #MondayActionMovie on Mastodon, we will be hopping over to twitter where #MondayMuggers will be showing Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell! The film is on Prime and it starts at 10 pm et!
It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in. If you want to join the live tweets, just hop over to twitter at 10 pm et, pull Drag Me To Hell up on Prime, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag!
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens