1978’s Damien: Omen II is a perfectly ludicrous film that mixes soapy melodrama with apocalyptic horror. It’s a fascinating mismash that doesn’t really work and often, the most dramatic scenes are also the ones most likely to draw a chuckle from the viewer. That said, there are a few good moments.
For instance, I’ve always liked this scene where young Damien (Jonathan Scott-Taylor) shows up one of his teachers. It’s a good thing that Lance Henriksen stepped in when he did!
Today’s scene comes from 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein. The villagers want to execute the Monster (Boris Karloff). The Monster has other ideas.
This scene epitomizes what made the first two Karloff Frankenstein films so effective. As scary and as destructive as the Monster may be, he’s nowhere near as bad or deliberately sadistic as the humans around him. He’s a monster who is definitely more of a victim than a victimizer, someone who has been cruelly tossed into a world that he doesn’t understand and who has been persecuted nonstop since the moment he was created. It’s hard not to feel sorry for Karloff’s Monster, no matter what he does. And it’s hard not to cheer a little when he escapes, even though it does inevitably lead to more tragedy and heartbreak.
I can’t let this Horrorthon pass without sharing a scene featuring one of my favorite horror movie characters, the Whishmater (Andrew Divoff)!
In the scene, from 1999’s Wishmaster 2, our favorite literal-minded Djinn grants another wish to someone who did not choose his words carefully. Andrew Divoff really makes this scene work. That smile is a thing of terrifying wonders.
Yesterday was the 105th anniversary of the birth of the great actor Donald Pleasence.
(I know that may sound like a wordy way to say “birthday” but I always find it awkward to refer to those who are no longer with us as having a birthday.)
We can’t let October pass without paying tribute to Pleasence. Here is in 1978’s Halloween, playing the role for which he was best-known amongst horror fans.
Christopher Lee often went on record about how much he disliked most of the Hammer films in which he played Dracula, feeling that Hammer didn’t really understand the character of Bram Stoker’s famous vampire. In fact, when Lee agreed to appear in 1966’s Dracula: Prince of Darkness, he did so with the requirement that he would not have any dialogue.
While it’s possible that Lee may have been hoping that his demand would force Hammer to release him from his contract, his requirement actually works to the film’s advantage. In the scene below, Lee shows that he didn’t need dialogue to make Dracula into a terrifying and malevolent force. Lee’s otherworldly and dangerous charisma and Dracula’s feral and vicious nature come through without him saying a word.
You have to feel a bit bad for Anthony Perkins, who was an Oscar-nominated star of film and Broadway and something of a teen idol before he was cast as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 masterpiece, Psycho. Perkins was so convincing in the role that he pretty much spent the majority of his career either playing variations of the character or appearing in small roles where his macabre screen image would not be too much of a problem. Perkins gave one of the best film performances of all time and his career never really recovered from it.
Unfortunately, there’s a tendency to overlook just how good Anthony Perkins was in this first Psycho. People look at his later, less-compelling performances and they make the mistake of thinking those performance were the best that Perkins was capable of giving. Perkins was a fine actor and never better than when he played Norman. The scene below highlight how Perkins managed to make Norman Bates both poignant and creepy at the same time.
Today’s scene that I love comes from Luigi Cozzi’s 1983 epic, Hercules!
In this scene, Hercules (Lou Ferrigno, making up for his lack of range with nonstop and likable sincerity) shows us the proper way to deal with a rampaging bear. There have been a lot of film versions of Hercules, some good and some bad. But none were quite as cheerfully weird as the Hercules that was given to us by Lou Ferrigno and Luigi Cozzi.
Today’s horror scene that I love comes from Lucio Fulci’s 1981 masterpiece, The Beyond.
In this memorably gruesome scene, Joe the Plumber (Tonino Pulci) comes back to life. Having previously lost an eye in the basement of the film’s haunted hotel, he proceeds to claim an eye for himself. I’ll tell you right now that if I ever stepped into a house or a hotel or anywhere that had a sink that looked like that, I would quickly leave and never come back.
Since we’ve been talking a lot about the original Little Shop of Horrors today, I thought I would only be appropriate to share a scene from the remake for today’s scene of the day.
From 1986’s Little Shop of Horrors, here is Steve Martin performing Dentist! Because there’s nothing scarier than going to the dentist, right?
(Yes, I nearly picked Mean Green Mother From Outer Space but …. I don’t know. It bothers me that the film remake changes the dark ending of both the original film and the stage production.)
Rest in peace, Kris Kristofferson.
Today’s scene of the day comes from 1979’s Convoy and it features Kristofferson as the greatest trucker of all time, Rubber Duck. In this scene, Rubber Duck rescues a fellow trucker from jail and lets the authorities know what they can do with their law.
Through the Shattered Lens 