Tag Archives: Scenes I Love

Horror Scenes that I Love: Tor Johnson In The Unearthly

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

We honor the birthday of Tor Johnson with today’s scene of the day.

Even though Tor Johnson is playing a character named Lobo, today’s scene that I love isn’t from Ed Wood’s 1955 film, Bride of the Monster. Instead, it’s from 1957’s The Unearthly. In this film, Lobo is now John Carradine’s servant. (Lobo made quite a career out of working for mad scientists.) The Unearthly was directed by Boris Peftroff, a friend of Wood’s, so it’s not improbable that this film’s Lobo was meant to be the same Lobo as the one who appeared in Bride of the Monster and Night of the Ghouls.

Anyway, in this scene, Tor does his usual Lobo stuff while John Carradine plays the piano. “Time for go to bed,” Lobo says at one point, a much-mocked line but one that is delivered with a bit of gentleness by Tor Johnson. My point is that Tor did the best that he could and bless him for it.

Scenes That I Love: “Help me!” from The Fly

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Fly (1958, D: Kurt Neumann)

One of the great things about the original, 1958 version of The Fly is that, even though it starred Vincent Price, Price didn’t play the Fly.  Instead, for once, Price was allowed to be the voice of reason, the guy who said, “Maybe don’t mess around with the laws of time and space.”

Today’s scene that I love is from the ending of the original Fly.  Supposedly, Price had a hard time filming this scene because whenever he heard the recording of David Hedison crying out, “Help me!,” he would start laughing.  Still, if you know what spiders actually do to the flies that they capture, you can’t help but sympathize with our misdirected scientist in the web.  Destroying him with a rock was probably the most merciful thing that anyone could do.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Swimming With The Creature From The Black Lagoon

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s horror scene that I love comes from one of my favorite films, 1953’s Creature From The Black Lagoon.  In this scene, Julia Adams goes for a swim.  Little does she realize that, under the water, the Creature is following her every move.  Wonderfully directed by Jack Arnold, this creepy yet oddly lovely scene is one of the best of the 50s.

Horror Scenes I Love: The Doll Attacks In Trilogy of Terror

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s horror scene that I love comes from 1975’s Trilogy of Terror, directed by Dan Curtis and starring Karen Black.

In this scene, Karen Black discovers that the doll she recently purchased as a birthday gift has a mind of its own.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Barbara Steele in Black Sunday

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The British-born actress, Barbara Steele, became a star in Italy in the 60s, working with directors from Riccardo Freda to Mario Bava to Federico Fellini.  One of Steele’s defining roles was in Bava’s 1960 film, Black Sunday.

In this scene, Steele’s witch is sentenced to be executed and, since this is a Bava film, it won’t be a quick execution.  What makes this scene stand-out is Steele’s defiance.  It’s hard not to admire her refusal to give those judging her what they want.  You watch this scene and you have no doubt that if you get cursed by Barbara Steele, it’s going to be a curse for life.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Dick Miller In The Howling

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

A true scene stealer, the character actor Dick Miller was a Navy veteran who earned a Phd in psychology, even while he was already appearing on stage.  His 1952 move from New York to California was originally so that he could pursue a career as a writer.  Instead, he ended up becoming one of the most beloved members of Roger Corman’s stock company.  (Famously, in 1952’s Apache Woman, he played both a Native American and the townsperson who shot him.)  Many of the directors who started their careers under Roger Corman continued to cast Dick Miller in their own films, keeping Miller busy as a character actor.  Miller worked with everyone from Martin Scorsese to Joe Dante to James Cameron to Steven Spielberg to Jim Wynorski.  Miller often played characters named Walter Paisley, a reference to his first starring role in Corman’s A Bucket of Blood.

In this scene from 1981’s The Howling, Dick Miller lets two reporters know what’s truly going on with the werewolves.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Bela Lugosi in Bride of the Monster

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Home?  I have no home.”

So begins the monologue that serves as the centerpiece of the 1955 Ed Wood film, Bride of the Monster.  The monologue is delivered by Bela Lugosi, appearing in one of his final roles.

Far too often, people tend to be snarky about the work that Lugosi did under the direction of Ed Wood.  But you know what?

He actually delivers a pretty good performance in Bride of the Monster.

Ignore all of the stuff about atomic supermen and instead, just pay attention to the way Lugosi delivers the lines.  Pay attention to the pain in his voice as he says that he has no home.  Pay attention and you’ll discover that Lugosi actually gave a good performance in Bride of the Monster.  He delivers the lines with such wounded pride that you can’t help but think that maybe we should let him create a race of atomic supermen.

Among the old horror icons, Lugosi has always been the most underrated actor.  He got typecast early and he appeared in some unfortunate films but Bela Lugosi had real talent and you can see it in this scene.

Scenes That I Love: Gregory Walcott in Plan 9 From Outer Space

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Gregory Walcott appeared in a lot of good films over the course of his long career.  He had supporting roles in major blockbusters.  He was a friend and frequent collaborator of Clint Eastwood’s.  In 1979, he played the sheriff in the Oscar-nominated Norma Rae.

That said, he will probably always be most remembered for playing Jeff, the patriotic pilot, in Ed Wood’s 1957 masterpiece, Plan Nine From Outer Space.  Walcott gave probably as good a performance as anyone could in Plan 9, though that didn’t prevent the film from wrong being declared one of the worst ever made.  Walcott, for most of his career, was not a fan of Plan 9 but, in the years before he passed away in 2015, Walcott’s attitude towards the film mellowed considerably.  He even appeared in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood.

In this scene from Plan 9, Walcott shows how to deal with a smug alien.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Crimson Peak

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since it’s Guillermo Del Toro’s birthday, it just seems appropriate that today’s horror scene that I love should be one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite Del Toro movies.

Here’s the opening of 2015’s haunting (and, in my opinion, underrated) Crimson Peak!

Horror Scenes That I Love: Ripley’s Last Stand in Alien

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since today is Sigourney Weaver’s birthday, I think it’s probably a given that today’s scene of the day would feature her defeating an alien.  In this scene from 1979’s Alien, Ripley shows why she is the last human survivor of the Nostromo.

(As cool as Ripley is, she’s still nowhere close to being as much of a badass as Jonesy the Cat.  Jonesy just had to hiss and the alien knew better than to mess with the ship’s cat.)