On tonight’s episode of Ghost Story, Carolyn Jones and Steve Forrest play a couple who spend their summers in a vacation home that appears to be haunted as well. This was one of Carolyn Jones’s final roles.
This episode originally aired on October 13th, 1972. Director Leo Penn is perhaps best known as the father of actors Sean and Chris Penn.
4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More 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!
This October, I’m going to be doing something a little bit different with my contribution to 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films. I’m going to be taking a little chronological tour of the history of horror cinema, moving from decade to decade.
Today, we take a look at the late 50s!
8 Shots From 8 Horror Films: The Late 50s
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957, dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Jack Asher)
Plan 9 From Outer Space (1957, dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr., DP: William C. Thompson)
Not Of This Earth (1957, dir by Roger Corman DP: John J. Mescall)
Horror of Dracula (1958, starring Christopher Lee as the Count, Dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Jack Asher)
Night of the Ghouls (1959, dir by Edward D Wood, Jr. DP: William C. Thompson)
War of the Colossal Beast (1958, dir by Bert I. Gordon, DP: Jack A. Marta)
House on Haunted Hill (1959, dir by William Castle, DP: Carl E. Guthrie)
The Mummy (1959, dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Jack Asher)
On tonight’s episode of Ghost Story, Karen Black plays a widow who starts to get mysterious phone calls from a man who sounds just like her late husband. Black later expressed some regret that she ended up getting typecast a horror actress but she definitely did a good job in these roles.
This episode was co-written by Richard Matheson and originally aired on October 6th, 1972.
On tonight’s episode of Ghost Story, James Franciscus plays a father who discovers that trying to change the future isn’t as cut-and-dried as it seems. When Paul (Franciscus) dreams that his daughter is going to be murdered 20 years in the future, he moves to the town from his dream to try to prevent it. He ends up falling in love with Julie (Meg Foster), who happens to be engaged to man named Ed (Karl Swenson) who looks just like the man who Paul dreamt was going to murder his daughter!
This episode originally aired on September 29th, 1972.
In the 2nd episode of Ghost Story, an important lesson is learned. If you’re going to bury a sea captain, do not bury him in concrete because his spirit belongs to the ocean. Upset his spirit and he’ll basically ruin whatever hopes you have of bringing tourists to the seashore!
This episode stars Gena Rowlands and Stuart Whitman and it was directed by none other than Richard Donner. Donner, of course, would go on to direct such films as The Omen, Superman, and Lethal Weapon.
Enjoy!
(Despite the weird thumbnail, this video should work if you click play.)
During the month of October, we like to share classic episodes of horror-themed television. That was easier to do when we first started doing our annual October horrorthon here at the Shattered Lens because every single episode of the original, black-and-white Twilight Zone was available on YouTube. Sadly, that’s no longer the case.
However, there is some good news! Twilight Zone may be gone but there are other horror shows on YouTube! For instance, I’ve discovered that, in 1972, there was a horror anthology series that was originally called Ghost Story. It was produced by William Castle and each episode featured a different guest star having to deal with the supernatural.
The show made its debut on September 15th, 1972. In this episode, Sebastian Cabot (playing the role of the mysterious Winston Essex) introduces a story about the mortality and technology. Jason Robards and Stella Stevens are a married couple who discover that their television cannot only predict the future but that also one of them is going to die!
Enjoy the first episode of Ghost Story!
The original The House on Haunted Hill is a classic and one that we make it a point to share every Halloween. And since October is nearly over, now seems like the perfect time to do so!
Be sure to check out Gary’s review by clicking here!
Enjoy Vincent Price at his best!
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!
I woke up today to discover that Vincent Price was trending on Twitter. He was specifically trending because someone did a thread about Price’s political activism. This was something that I already knew about but most people on Twitter are stunned to discover that people actually did good things before the creation of social media.
Once I got over feeling elitist and superior, I thought to myself that it was actually kind of nice that people still love Vincent Price. He’s definitely one of my favorite actors. He started out as a mainstream studio actor, reading for the role of Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Window and being considered for Mr. Potter in It’s A Wonderful Life. But he found his true stardom as a horror actor, bringing life to films that often would have been dead without his wonderful presence.
There’s no way that we can do Horrorthon without paying tribute to the great Vincent Price. Here are….
4 Shots From 4 Vincent Price Films!
House on Haunted Hill (1959, dir by William Castle, DP: Carl E. Guthrie)
The Masque of the Red Death (1964, dir by Roger Corman, DP: Nicolas Roeg)
Witchfinder General (1968, dir by Michael Reeves, DP: John Coquillon)
Scream and Scream Again (1969, dir by Gordon Hessler, DP: John Coquillon)
The next time that someone gives me a hard time for not being compassionate enough (and believe it or not, it does occasionally happen now that 90% of twitter has gone down the woke rabbit hole), I’m going to point out that I voted to show mercy to Mr. Sardonicus.
Played in villainous fashion by Guy Rolfe, Mr. Sardonicus was the title character of a 1961 film that was produced and directed by William Castle. Castle was known for being the king of the gimmick. His gimmick for Mr. Sardonicus was that, upon entering the theater, members of the audience were given two cards. One card had a thumbs up. One card had a thumbs down. Towards the end of the film, the avuncular Mr. Castle appeared onscreen and announced that it was time for the audience to vote. Should Mr. Sardonicus be punished for his sins or should he be shown mercy? Thumbs up for mercy. Thumbs down for punishment. After taking the vote, Castle said, “Projectionist, play the reel.”
Now, of course, Castle only shot one ending and that was the ending where Mr. Sardonicus was punished. To make sure the audience would vote the right way, Castle made Sardonicus into one of the most loathsome villains around. Mr. Sardonicus — or Baron Sardonicus, as he preferred to be called — lived in a castle in the 1880s. Not only did he torture his servants with leeches but he was also responsible for death of several dogs, all of which were killed as a part of his dastardly experiments. To make it even worse, he wasn’t even a member of the nobility! He stole his title! It turned out that Mr. Sardonicus has once been a simple farmer who allowed his greed to get the better of him. When his father was buried with a lottery ticket, Mr. Sardonicus dug up the old man to retrieve the ticket. The shock of seeing his father’s skull caused Mr. Sardonicus’s face to freeze into a twisted grimace. When the film begins, Mr. Sardonicus wears a mask and desperately wants to be cured of his affliction.
To try to convince Sir Robert Cargrave (Ronald Lewis) to cure his condition, Mr. Sardonicus is holding the woman that Sir Robert loves, Maude (Audrey Dalton), prisoner in a loveless marriage. With the help of his evil servant, Krull (Oskar Homolka), Mr. Sardonicus torments the villagers and anyone else unlucky enough to come near the castle.
And yet, when I watched this movie last night with the Late Night Movie Gang, I voted to show compassion to Mr. Sardonicus because I’m a firm believer both in criminal justice reform and that almost anyone can be rehabilitated. Perhaps Mr. Sardonicus just needed someone to say that they believed he could be a better man. I was willing to do that. However, the rest of the Late Night Movie Gang voted to punish him. I think it was the dead dogs that sealed the deal. So, sorry, Mr. Sardonicus. I tried.
Even before William Castle tells everyone to vote, Mr. Sardonicus is enjoyably over-the-top and silly horror film. It plays out like an extended episode of Twilight Zone, with every action that Mr. Sardonicus takes bringing him closer to karma’s judgment. Guy Rolfe is properly evil and arrogant Sardonicus and Oskar Homolka gets many of the best lines as the servant who may not be as loyal as he seems.
Mr. Sardonicus is currently on YouTube. Watch and vote for yourself!
The original The House on Haunted Hill is a classic and one that we make it a point to share every Halloween. And since October is halfway over, now seems like the perfect time to do so!
Be sure to check out Gary’s review by clicking here!
Enjoy Vincent Price at his best!
Through the Shattered Lens 