Now that it’s time to share a scene that I love, I figure why not continue to pay tribute to Tobe Hooper? The scene below is from Hooper’s unjustly neglected 1981 film, The Funhouse. It doesn’t really advance the plot in any way but it’s still a scene that I really enjoy. It shows Hooper being a bit more playful than usual and it does introduce one the film’s key themes: not everything at the carnival is what it seems. Later on in the film, the same people who made fun of this magician will discover that the magician is not the only person at the carnival who is more clever than they thought.
102 years ago today, the great actor Donald Pleasence was born.
Pleasence is, of course, best-known for playing Dr. Loomis in Halloween. He’s so identified with that franchise that it’s always seemed appropriate that he celebrated his birthday in October. And usually, to celebrate his birthday, we would share a scene of Dr. Loomis yelling at or shooting Michael Myers.
This year, though, I’m going to do something a little different and share a scene from a different type of horror movie, 1971’s Wake in Fright. In this Australian film, Donald Pleasence plays Doc Tydon, an alcoholic doctor who lives in the Australian outback and who befriends John Grant (Gary Bond), a naïve school teacher who has become stranded in a town full of people who don’t have much respect for Grant’s intellectual pursuits. Actually, befriends is perhaps the wrong word. Tydon allows Grant to stay with him but it soon become apparent that Tydon, like almost everyone else in this movie, might have a less-than-friendly agenda of his own.
Wake In Fright features what may be Pleasence’s best performance. In the scene below, Tydon and Grant meet for the first time and Pleasence shows that he was capable of far more than just playing Blofeld and Dr. Loomis.
In this scene from the 1970 film House of Dark Shadows, young David Collins explores around the old pool on the Collins estate and runs into his cousin, Carolyn. The only problem, of course, is that Carolyn died a few days ago so why is she now wandering around the estate? Could she be a …. VAMPIRE!?
There’s a lot of atmosphere in this scene. That dilapidated pool is frightening on its own. Add a vampire and …. AGCK! In the role of Carolyn, Nancy Barrett does a great job of portraying her new vampiric nature. Run, David, run!
Of course, back in the dining hall, no one believes him. A refusal to believe is a vampire’s best friend. (Personally, I don’t believe in vampires so I’ll probably be in trouble if I ever meet one.)
Every film about the Son of Sam and his reign of terror in New York City inevitably faces one huge question.
What to do about the dog?
Before he started blaming Satanists, David Berkowitz claimed that a dog told him to kill. Most people who have made films about the Son of Sam have been content to just have a dog barking in the distance. Spike Lee, however, had the guts to actually have a dog trot into Berkowtiz’s apartment and start yelling at him.
From 1999’s Summer of Sam:
The dog is voiced by John Turturro. I have to say that, for such an evil creature, it really is a cute dog.
Since today is Claudio Fragasso’s birthday, my first instinct was to select the famous “OH MY GAAAAAAAWWWD!” scene from Troll 2 as today’s horror scene that I love. However, I then remembered that I’ve already shared that scene a few times on this site.
So, instead, here’s a different scene from Troll 2. In this scene, Drew visits the town of Niblog and stops by the general store, where he’s pressured into drinking the poisonous Niblog milk. The milk will eventually turn Drew into a plant so that he can then be eaten by the town’s goblins. The goblins are all vegetarians but apparently, it’s okay to eat meat that’s been transformed by evil magic. It’s kind of weird. Personally, I think the Goblins are kind of hypocritical. They remind me of this girl I went college with who we’ll call Bree. Bree was vegan and would never hesitate to tell you that she was better than you. And yet, she still wore leather shoes. So, screw her, screw her pathetic attempts to steal everyone’s boyfriend, and screw the goblins.
Anyway, there’s two ways of looking at this scene. On the one hand, it’s an oddly acted and oddly paced scene in a film that was full of odd performances and odd directorial choices. On the other hand, it’s so strange and off-center that it contributes to the film’s dream-like atmosphere. Since today is Fragasso’s birthday and I tend to always assume the most positive explanation to be the correct one, I’m going to go with the second possibility.
Today’s horror scene that I love (and the inaugural entry in this year’s collection of Horrothon scenes) comes from the 2010 film, Sharktopus! And here it is:
A lot of people have made fun of this scene over the years but put yourself in the shoes of this unfortunate painter. Here you are. You’re just doing your job. You’re painting the side of a boat. It’s not glamorous work. It probably doesn’t pay very well. But you’re doing your best and you’re collecting a paycheck and you’re taking care of your family. It hasn’t always been easy. When you first got out of prison, you never thought you’d be able to find a job. Everyone wanted to do a background check. Your parole officer kept busting your ass. You were tempted to go back into a life of crime. You kept thinking about the old crew and wondering if they were still hanging out on the street corners, murking and doing time. But then the boat painting people said, “We know you’ve had some problems. But you’re damn good with a paint brush.”
And then suddenly, this happens. You wanted to die surrounded by your family. You want your last words to be, “I did okay, didn’t I?” Instead, you’re getting grabbed by an shark/octopus hybrid. Who wants to die that way? “Oh no! Not like this!” is one of the most honest lines in the history of horror cinema. It perfectly captures the existential dread that one undoubtedly feels while being pulled into the ocean by a sharktopus.
Since this weekend is going to see both the release of The Many Saints of Newark and the start of our annual October Horrorthon, I thought that this would be an appropriate time to share a creepy scene that I love from The Sopranos.
The Sopranos was well-known for its dream sequences. For me, this dream from the season 4’s Calling All Cars is one of the best of the series. It’s full of menace and ominous atmosphere, from the minute we see Tony being led to the house by the deceased Ralphie. And then, when that mysterious shadow appears on the staircase — AGCK!
I’ve read online speculation that the woman in the shadows was meant to represent Tony’s mother, who will be played by Vera Farmiga in The Many Saints of Newark. Young Tony Soprano, meanwhile, will be played by Michael Gandolfini, the son of the late (and missed) James Gandolfini.
I look forward to watching (and, hopefully, reviewing) The Many Saints of Newark on October 1st!
I was saddened to learn of the death of French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo earlier today. He was 88 years old and still an international icon of movie star charisma at the time of his death.
Belmondo spent the majority of his career in France, where he was one of the early faces of the New Wave and also a prominent action star, famed for doing his own very dangerous stunts. In America, he was best-known for his starring turn in Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless. In Breathless, Belmondo was the perfect existential outlaw, living life day-by-day and obviously doomed but still so incredibly magnetic and stylish.
In tribute to Belmondo, here is a scene that I love, the final moments of Breathless.
Monday would have been the 90th birthday of Tom Laughlin, the actor who revolutionized independent American cinema through his Billy Jack films.
In four films, Laughlin played Billy Jack, an American Navajo, a former Green Beret, a veteran of the Vietnam War, a hapkido master, and a man who just protects children and other living things. When he first appeared in 1967’s TheBornLosers, he was protecting a woman from bikers. In 1971’s BillyJack, he was protecting the Freedom School from ignorant townspeople. In 1974’s TheTrialofBillyJack, he was …. well, in that film, Billy Jack did a little bit of everything but the National Guard still ended up destroying the Freedom School. Finally, in 1977’s BillyJackGoesToWashington, Billy was appointed to the United Stated Senate because what else are you going to do with someone who has killed a tremendous amount of people over the course of three films?
(Of course, in Senator Jack’s defense, they were all bad people.)
Laughlin not only starred as Billy Jack but he also directed all four of the films and, starting with BillyJack, he also handled the distribution of them. A huge box office hit, BillyJack is considered to be a seminal counter culture film. The other three films are a bit less acclaimed and TrialofBillyJack is often cited as one of the most pretentious and self-indulgent films ever made. But, regardless of their individual artistic merits, all of the Billy Jack films share an appealing mix of sincerity and silliness. Laughlin was a good actor and, visually, he was a stronger director than he was often given credit for. Some of the shots in the original Billy Jack are breath-taking. At a time when even self-styled progressive films still portrayed women in the most condescending and demeaning way possible (check out GettingStraight or R.P.M., if you dare), the BillyJack films were as much about Jean (played by Delores Taylor, Laughlin’s wife and creative partner), the founder of the Freedom School, and her beliefs, as they were about Billy Jack and his struggles to accept pacifism. If nothing else, the Billy Jack films featured actual conversations and debates about actual ideologies and philosophies, as opposed to the usual shallow Hollywood politics. Unfortunately, Laughlin was also a heavy-handed storyteller and a terrible editor. TheTrialofBillyJack goes on for three hours.
And yet, of all the BillyJack films, TheTrialofBillyJack is my favorite. It’s just so weird that it’s hard not to like it. It’s a film that doesn’t really work but, at the same time, you can’t help but appreciate all the effort that was put into it. Whatever else you might be able to say about him and his films, it’s obvious that Tom Laughlin truly did think that the movies could make a difference. There’s an aching sincerity to Laughlin’s work that pretty much cannot be found in the majority of today’s films.
In honor of Laughlin’s birthday and his legacy, here’s a scene that I love from TheTrialofBillyJack. In this scene, Billy goes on a vision quest and experiences the Three Levels. I would be lying if I said I really followed much of the logic in the scene but at least we get to see Billy hit a hippie professor. Billy also smacks Jesus, which isn’t cool but Jesus shows exactly how to handle that type of belligerence and hopefully, he provides a lesson for us all.
Learn about the Three Levels, with Billy Jack. And be sure to spare a thought for the hard work of Tom Laughlin.
Today is an unofficial holiday for everyone who loves a good cult film because the one and only Bruce Campbell is 63 years old today! Whether he’s battling Deadites or making a cameo appearance in a Coen Brothers film or just being himself, it’s impossible not to love Bruce Campbell. In many ways, he epitomizes everything that people love about the movies. He’s a good actor, he’s a good storyteller, and — perhaps most importantly — he’s smart enough not to take himself too seriously.
In honor of Bruce Campbell’s birthday, here’s one of his best moments. From ArmyoftheDead, it’s the Battle of the S-mart. Hail to the king, indeed.
Through the Shattered Lens 