If you watched Horror of Party Beach earlier today, you’ll definitely remember this song, which was performed by a Patterson, New Jersey band called The Del-Aires!
Everybody’s doing the zombie stomp!
Tag Archives: review
Horror On The Lens: Horror of Party Beach (dir by Del Tenney)
Everybody’s doing the zombie stomp….
For today’s horror on the lens, take a trip tot eh beach and dance to the sounds of the Del-Aires! And definitely, be weary of the hot dog monsters!
Enjoy 1964’s The Horror of Party Beach!
Horror Song of the Day: Theme From Jaws by John Williams
I’m in a beach-y kind of mood today and today’s song of the day reflects that! From 1975’s Jaws, here’s a piece of music that everyone should instantly recognize, whether they’ve seen the film or not.
Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 3.13 “Making Whopee”
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989! The series can be streamed on YouTube!
This week, it’s an Arthur episode! …. really?
Episode 3.13 “Making Whopee”
(Dir by Eleanore Lindo, originally aired on February 27th, 1989)
With all of the season three drama surrounding Wheels, Shane, Spike, Joey, and Caitlin, it can be easy to forget that Degrassi Junior High started out as a show about a nerdy but well-meaning kid named Arthur trying to navigate his way through a brand new world. Indeed, almost the entire first season revolved around Arthur and his friend, Yick. By the time the third season rolled around, neither character was particularly prominent in the show’s ensemble. I think one reason why Arthur and Yick went from being the main characters just being in the background is because their storylines never presented as much potential for excitement as the stuff going on with everyone else. While Spike dealt with being a mother at 14 and Caitlin dealt with epilepsy and Wheels struggled with depression, Arthur and Yick were just average kids with average kid problems.
That’s why its a little bit jarring — after all of last week’s drama — to suddenly be presented with an Arthur episode. In this episode, Arthur struggles to accept the fact that his dad has a girlfriend and that he would rather hang out with her than watch Space Cadets with his son. When Arthur wakes up one morning to discover that his father’s new girlfriend has slept over, Arthur is stunned. Later, when Arthur’s Dad comes to the Degrassi open house with his girlfriend, Arthur loses it and says that he’s sick of her coming between him and his father. The end result is that Arthur’s father ends up single and depressed. Arthur begs his Dad to watch television with him. Arthur’s Dad sobs on the couch.
Damn, what a sad ending! Of course, sad endings are a bit of a Degrassi trademark. I’ve lost track of how many episodes of this show ended with someone in tears.
As for the B-plots, Luke continues to feel guilty over giving Shane that hit of LSD and the fact that everyone in school blames him for Shane’s accident certainly doesn’t help matters. (Shane, for his part, is still in a coma.) Meanwhile, Melanie finds herself competing for Snake’s attention with a snooty ninth-grader named Allison (Sara Holmes). Melanie has nothing to worry about. Allison may be older but Melanie is still the one who Snake asks to the graduation dance. In fact, not only does Melanie get a date but she also gets her best friend back. Kathleen forgives Melanie for reading her diary and also announces that she is now in therapy for her eating disorder!
Yay! A happy ending for some….
And a totally tragic ending for others!
That’s Degrassi for you.
As for this episode, I’m a child of divorce so I could relate to a certain extent to what Arthur was going through. I always hated it whenever my Mom dated anyone new and I will admit that I could be a bit of a brat about it. That said, I never reduced her to crying on the couch. I mean …. seriously, Arthur, what the Hell? I preferred Melanie’s story because it had a happy ending and it was another storyline to which I could relate. Talking to your crush and not realizing you have lipstick on your teeth? Hey, we’ve all been there!
Horror On TV: One Step Beyond 3.5 “If You See Sally” (dir by John Newland)
On tonight’s epiosde of One Step Beyond, we visit the legend of the ghostly hitchhiker.
Will Sally ever make it home?
This episode originally aired on October 18th, 1960!
Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life on Street 1.3 “Night of the Dead Living”
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sundays, I will be reviewing Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC! It can be viewed on Peacock.
This week, the Homicide Squad works the night shift on the hottest night of the year.
Episode 1.3 “Night of the Dead Living”
(Dir by Michael Lehmann, originally aired on March 31st, 1993)
On the hottest night of the year, Giardello’s homicide squad works the night shift. Everyone comes in grumpy. Munch has just broken up with his girlfriend. Bolander is trying to work up the courage to call Dr. Blythe. Bayliss is still obsessing on the Adeena Watson case and he and Pembleton are still trying to figure out how to work together. Kay’s sister is having trouble at home. Felton’s wife hates him. Crosetti worries about his teenage daughter and her boyfriend. Giardello tries to figure out why the air conditioner is only blowing out hot air on what Lewis claims is the hottest night in history.
Despite the heat and the statistics that show that most homicide occur at night, no calls come in. Bayliss is convinced he’s cracked the Watson case when he discovers that the fingerprints on Adeena’s library book belongs to someone named James. He sends Thorson out to arrest James. James turns out to be a seventh grader who thinks he’s being arrested by not paying a library fine. (James did check out the book, when he was in the fifth grade.)
A drunk man dressed as Santa Claus is brought in and later falls through the ceiling when he attempts to escape custody. A baby is found in the station’s basement but it turns out to the cleaning lady’s baby. She brings him to work with her to protect him from the rats that live in their apartment building. Eventually, Bolander works up the courage to call Blythe and Bayliss and Pembleton figure out that Adeena’s body was found where it was because her killer brought the body down a fire escape. At the end of the shift, Giardello assembles his detectives on the roof and joyfully sprays them with the water hose.
It’s an episode that feels like a play, taking place in one location and featuring a lot of monologuing. Each member of the squad gets a their chance in the spotlight, with the episode revealing that every one of them is a bit more complex than they initially seem. Even Munch, the misanthrope, is shown to light a candle in memory of “all those who have been killed.” It’s one of those episodes that makes you understand why Homicide is considered to be classic while also showing you why it struggled in the ratings. In this episode, Homicide revealed itself to be not a cop show but instead a show about people who happened to be cops. Most shows about detectives end with an arrest. This episode ends with Giardello showing his love for the people who work for him. After spending an hour with everyone sweating and complaining, it’s nice to see them happy on the roof of the station house. Yaphet Kotto’s joy in the final scene is a wonder to behold. And yet, it’s easy to imagine how confused audiences, whose expectations had been set by more traditional crime show, would have been.
This episode was meant to be the third episode of the series. NBC decided that it worked better as the finale of the first season and instead made it the ninth episode. Peacock has this episode placed where it originally belonged and, with this review, that’s what I’m going with as well.
Bonus Horror Song of the Day: Hanging Out With My Family by Damien Carter
Whenever I watch 2010’s Birdemic, I wonder how the birds could possibly want to destroy a civilization that is capable of something like Hanging Out With My Family.
Horror on the Lens: The Lodger (dir by Alfred Hitchcock)
A serial killer known as “The Avenger” is murdering blonde women in London (which, once again, proves that its better to be a redhead). And while nobody knows the identity of the Avenger, they do know that the enigmatic stranger (Ivor Novello), who has just recently rented a room at boarding house, happens to fit his description. They also know that the lodger’s landlord’s daughter happens to be a blonde…
Released in 1927, the silent The Lodger was Alfred Hitchcock’s third film but, according to the director, this was the first true “Hitchcock film.” Certainly it shows that even at the start of his career, Hitchcock’s famous obsessions were already present — the stranger accused of a crime, the blonde victims, and the link between sex and violence.
Also of note, the credited assistant director — Alma Reville — would become Alma Hitchcock shortly before The Lodger was released.
Horror Music Video Video Of The Day: Heads Will Roll by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2009, dir by Richard Ayoaode)
And indeed, heads do roll in this video!
The werewolf pays homage to Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. Ironically, Jackson died just a few days before this video was released. Director Richard Ayoade is the same Richard Ayoade who starred in The IT Crowd and The Watch. (Remember The Watch? It wasn’t that bad.)
By the way, this video is a part of a Halloween playlist put together by our own Patrick!
Enjoy!
Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 2.16 “The Oddest Couple”
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
This week, Viker needs help!
Episode 2.16 “The Oddest Couple”
(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on February 8th, 1987)
Viker has been kicked out by his wife, Mrs. Viker (Laura Henry). Mrs. Viker apparently doesn’t have a first name. Even Viker calls her “Mrs. Viker” whenever he talks to her. Because he has been kicked out of his house, Viker has started sleeping on Howard’s couch.
Howard tells Viker that he can’t sleep on his couch, which just leaves Viker with one other option. He moves in with Howard! Normally, I’d wonder how Edna would feel about this but Edna is not in this episode. In fact, there’s no mention of Howard being involved and his apartment suddenly looks like a tacky bachelor pad. He even has a round bed in the living room.
As you can guess by the episode’s title, Howard and Viker make for an odd couple. It’s not a case of one of them being a neat freak and one of them being a slob. In fact, they’re both pretty neat. It’s just that Viker can be a little weird. He gargles extremely loudly. He takes everything that he hears literally. He spends a lot of time talking about his bunions.
Howard attempts to bring Viker and Mrs. Viker together but, when Mrs. Viker catches Viker teaching Marlene how to dance (more about that in a minute) in the store’s aisles, she declares that she can’t trust Viker. But then Howard invites Mrs. Viker to his apartment, where he has prepared a romantic dinner for the Vikers. That’s all it takes for the Vikers to fall back in love and apparently have sex in Howard’s living room bed while Howard waits in the hallway outside.
Why is Viker teaching Marlene how to dance? Because a good-looking customer named Philip (Richard Hardacre) has asked Marlene to come to his country club! Marlene gets all dressed up, does her hair nicely, and looks forward to her date. But then Richard shows up looking like he’s the bassist in Sex Pistols cover band. Richard says that it’s “punk night” at the country club and he wanted to impress his friends by bringing “an actual punk.” Realizing that she was being used, Marlene tells Richard to get lost and then she, Murray, and Christian go out for pizza. Awww! Since this show usually features those three characters at odds, it’s kind of nice to see them all going out as friends in this episode.
(In real life, Kathleen Laskey, who plays Marlene, is married to Jeff Pustil, who played Christian. Even though their characters are usually rivals, the chemistry between the two performers is obvious.)
This was an okay episode. It made me chuckle a few times. It’s obvious that, after the first half of the second season, the showrunners realized that Don Adams and Gordon Clapp made a great comic team. Check It Out is a show that works best when it embraces absurdity and few characters are more absurd than Gordon Clapp’s Viker.
Through the Shattered Lens 