Tower of Terror
Among great family “horrors” like Hocus Pocus, The Witches, Monster Squad, and others, Tower of Terror (1997), starring Steve Guttenberg and a young Kirsten Dunst, is often forgotten. This is unfortunate because it’s one of the rare family horrors that…
Halloween (1978)
must admit, this is one of my favorite horror films of all time. The unique way that John Carpenter has directed this picture, opening the door to so many mock-genres, it will chill you to the bone whether it is…
Toxic Zombies (1980)
The premise is basic enough to be easily understood on a sort of Urban Legend sort of level: Dumb hippies camping up in the sticks for a summer growing season are waiting to harvest $2 million dollars worth of dope…
The Black Scorpion (1957)
Another stop motion classic from the atomic age. Giant scorpions awakened by volcanoes menace Mexico. You think a swarm of giant scorpions is bad, wait until you see the biggest and baddest of the bunch…The Black Scorpion!! Willis O’Brien (the…
The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)
The early 80’s were a great time for fantasy films and that era produced many of my favorites including, Conan The Barbarian, Clash Of The Titans, Excalibur, The Beastmaster and this film as well. The Sword And The Sorcerer is…
Spookies (1986)
nless I am mistaken in reading what they have posted, SPOOKIES began in 1983/1984 as a film slated to be called TWISTED SOULS — credited to directors Thomas Doran and Brendan Faulkner — about a group of people who travel…
A Spark Of Hope: Stranger Things
There is many of us who are aficionados of cinematic story telling that mourn for the loss of movies and television that we can empathize with. The basis for all good filmmaking is the ability to connect with an audience,…
The Suckling (1990)
Check out the outrageously tasteless premise for The Suckling (AKA Sewage Baby): an aborted fetus, removed by coat hanger in a back street clinic, is flushed down a toilet and winds up in the sewer where toxic sludge mutates it…
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987)
A movie like this only comes around once in a lifetime, and I don’t necessarily mean that in a strictly negative tone, or for that matter a positive one. There’s only one way to describe a movie like The Garbage…
Culture Wars: Ground Zero
Earlier this week I received a call from a Drive-in operator from the Mid West. This operator was helping a group of local high school students start up a small single screen theatre and wanted some input. As our conversation…
Deborah Voorhees Spotlight
Filmmaker Deborah Voorhees got her start in films back in 1980 when she relocated to Hollywood to become an actress. After appearing in a few films and TV shows, she auditioned for an unknown film titled RENDITION…
Bad Taste (1987)
Goofy and ridiculously exaggerated horror-comedy, obviously made by a group of unprofessional movie-lovers and friends. Dig this: big potato-headed aliens slice up an entire little town in order to serve them in an intergalactic chain of fast-food restaurants! Four eccentric…
Guns Girls and Gangsters (1959)
“Guns, Girls, and Gangsters” not only has a great title, but this inexpensively made film works well for lovers of film noir. While it doesn’t have all the great lighting and camera angles of some of the best noir, it…
Invaders from Mars (1953)
An eerie horror/sci-fi that works even better today: great set design (by the director William Cameron Menzies), script, haunting music, and unforgettable images: the hill-top “sinking sand” set, weird marks on victims’ necks, the catacombed alien lair, the tall, green,…
The Savage Bees (1976)
One of the first “Killer Bee” movies to come out in the late 1970’s “The Savage Bees” starts out with this Brazilian banana boat, the Cornila Rios, limping into New Orleans Harbor with everyone on deck being either missing or…
The Fog (1980)
While not John Carepenter’s best movie, “The Fog” is an atmospheric ghost story that delivers a few good chills. We can’t expect our beloved horror movies from the 70’s and 80’s to hold up forever, and “The Fog” has become…
Goliathon (1977)
“The Mighty Peking Man” has it all. This was always an elusive flick for me, until I finally found a poor VHS copy of it under the title of “Goliathon.” Quentin Tarantino had this released on DVD (my very first…
Go have a chat with Keith Coogan
If you ever want to meet a celebrity who genuinely enjoys chatting with fans, then you need to meet Keith Coogan. As if he needs an introduction, but for kicks, Keith has appeared in many TV Series over the decades,…
The Human Tornado (1976)
The Human Tornado is a campy 70’s Blaxploitation movie starring nightclub comedian Rudy Ray Moore in perhaps his most endearing role to date. The movie tells the tale of Dolemite, a bad ass pimpin’ hustler who gets on the wrong…
The 27th Day (1957)
– “The 27th Day”. It’s premise immediately called to mind the plot for the the best film of it’s kind in the genre, “The Day The Earth Stood Still”. However, instead of offering the citizens of Earth an ultimatum as…