Friday Amazon Watch Party: Elvira - Mistress of the Dark! (1988)

Where:  Amazon Watch Party
Day:  Friday, 08/21/2020
Time:  8:30 PM Central time

This Friday, we're doing something unthinkable and watching a movie I genuinely really like!  Normally, I watch this film annually around Halloween, but I'm not taking the risk they're pulling it from Prime between now and October 1.  So we're doing it now, friendos!

It's 1988's Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, a goofy supernatural comedy featuring a lead with two terrific things going for her:  acting chops and a terrific sense of comedy.

In the 1980's, Elvira started with a local show in LA hosting creature feature movies, made some appearances on Carson, and went national.  I am 90% sure we never got Movie Macabre in the Austin market, but by 1987 or so, she was in beer commercials, guest starring on TV shows and generally everywhere.  By 1988, she released a movie, and maybe it didn't do so great at the box office?  But over the years, folks have found the movie and watching it now, in a way, it was just ahead of its time.

It's a classic fish-out-of-water story, a journey of self-discovery and has some truly quotable lines (and visuals).  If ever you doubted the power of Elvira, this may be your game changer.  And you're really gonna want to hang in there for the final sequence.  You are not prepared.

 

Friday - Amazon Watch Party: GREASE 2

Day:  08/14/2020
Time:  8:30 PM Central
Amazon Watch Party Link is here

No movie with Michelle Pfeiffer is all that bad.  But Grease 2 isn't all that good, either.

If you were looking for the further adventures of Danny and Sandy and how things worked out for them - well, tough nuts.  Laura says they died.  So, instead, we get a different group of kids a year or so later at dear old Rydell High!  Want to see Rizzo and Kanicki?  TOUGH.  We have... Goose and... I dunno.

But the movie has Christopher McDonald and Adrian Zmed!

It's all of the rough plot of Grease with none of the music you liked, a lot you won't, and a lot of returning teachers and principals.

Forewarning: we will cut you if you say anything negative about Eve Arden.

Watch Party Watch: Cherry 2000 (1980-something)

Watched:  08/07/2020
Format:  Amazon Watch Party
Viewing:  Second
Decade:  1980's
Director:  Steve De Jarnatt

Ugh.

Amazon Watch Party this Friday: Cherry 2000

betting that is not the shirt or physique we see in the film

Day:  08/07/2020
Time:  8:30 Central/ 6:30 Pacific
Amazon Watch Party Link HERE

Jamie has been on about this movie for the near-26 years I've been with her.  So we're watching it, because I did see it was a kid, believing it would have some boobs.  It doesn't.  And that's mostly all I remember:  Premium cable sadness.

Anyway, get ready for some 1980's post-apocalyptic nonsense starring Melanie Griffith, who never had those shoulders in the poster. Nor do those shoulders make any sense in relation to the hips of same Melanie Griffith in that poster.

We're blaming Jamie for this one.

Watch Party Watch: Psychomania (1973)

Watched:  07/31/2020
Format:  Amazon Watch Party
Viewing:  Second
Decade: 1970's
Director: Don Sharp

SimonUK and I already did this one as a PodCast.  Check it out.

The Signal Watch PodCast · 023: "Psychomania" - Halloween 2018 Ep. 1 w/ SimonUK and Ryan

Friday Amazon Watch Party: PSYCHOMANIA

I've suffered through this movie, and now you should too.

It's "Psychomania" - a movie British people love and Americans will find baffling.

The leader of a biker gang in a small, British municipality makes a deal with the devil for power or immortality or both (I can't remember) and returns to life to wreak havoc.  And by havoc, I mean - kind of upsetting old ladies and people on ladders.

The final film of famed actor George Sanders, this one plays with life, death, and life again.  And frogs.  and motorcycles.  And very, very bad music.

Day:  Friday 07/31/2020
Time:  8:30 Central
Amazon Watch Party (link here)

Next Up - Amazon Watch Party - "Barbarella" 1968

The outerspace equivalent of Seinfeld's "Rochelle, Rochelle" - Barbarella is a young girl's strange, erotic journey from one dopey planet to another.

It's really pitched as being sexy, and maybe this does it for someone out there, but aside from giving us the name of a great 1980's band and containing a series of WTF moments and an electric organ with quite the bonus features, Barbarella is kind of like a movie that promises you the sexy and then lifts the hem of her skirt to show you some ankle whilst smiling coyly.

Anyway, it IS batshit crazy, so we're going to watch it.  It co-stars John Phillip Law, which makes me wish Danger: Diabolik were available.  But it is not.

Day:  Friday 07/24/2020
Time:  8:30 PM Central
Format:  Amazon Watch Party streaming

Amazon Watch Party: The Stepford Wives (1975)

Join us this Friday as we check out the 1975 classic, The Stepford Wives!  I've never seen it, but I bet it'll be a good model for Jamie to watch so she can be a better wife and I can be a better husband.


Day:  Friday - 07/17/2020
Time:  8:30 PM Central

Amazon Watch Party Link

We really liked Amazon Watch Party last time we gave it a go, and we think you'd like it, too!

So, join us, chatter along, and we'll talk about the movie as it unfolds!

Tweet-a-Long? Nope. Amazon Watch Party Try Out! "Cat-Women of the Moon"! (1953)

We've been coming out at you via twitter for a few months, but we're going to give Amazon's Watch Party a try out!

Join us for B-movie classic Cat-Women of the Moon starring one of my favorite actresses (full-stop and non-ironically), Marie Windsor!

Here's how it works:

• Day:  Friday, 07/10/2020
• Time:  8:30 PM Central
• You click on this link (you do need an Amazon Prime subscription to make it work)

We're picking a short movie because, honestly, we don't know how this is going to work.  Plus, Marie Windsor!

I'll be sharing the link again on Friday.

I'll be looking for feedback on whether this was a good experience or not.  I'm already anticipating a half-dozen reasons this may not be ideal.

Tweetalong Watch: (Spawn of) Slithis (1978)

Watched:  06/26/2020
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1970's
Director:  Stephen Traxler

Literally nothing happens for 97% of the movie.  I hated everyone in it but the woman named "Jeff".  Well, I also liked the monster. 

But it is a movie named not after a monster, but after radioactive mud.  Which.  Come on, guys.

Friday Tweet-a-Long: Slithis (1978)

Movie:  (Spawn of the) Slithis - 1978
Watch Movie at:  Amazon Streaming
Day: 06/26/2020
Time: 8:30 PM

hashtag: #slithis

Let's pause it right at the beginning and wait for the cue at the hashtag.  We usually get going right at 8:32 or so.

This looks super good.  Nuclear waste!  Swamp creature!  Southern California sun-dappled beach town and mayhem and murder!  And very, very good acting.  Plus, it looks like they're kinda riffin' on Jaws, too.

Friday night!  Prepare your own beverage of nuclear waste, fire up your twitter machine and join us as we ponder SLITHIS.  Or SPAWN of the SLITHIS.  Or whatever they called this thing.

Tweet-a-Long Watch - "Basket Case" (1982)

Watched:  06/19/2020
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1980's
Director:  Frank Henenlotter

We've been taking suggestions from the peanut gallery for Friday night Tweet-a-Long, and Lauren brought this one.

Horror isn't really my thing, but sometimes the movies hit me just right, and that was the case with Basket Case (1982).  A no-budget film that relies on a strong concept, some non-Henson-inspired puppetry and a go at stop-motion that would do Gumby proud, it's just simply way better than it seems like it should be. They go with less-is-more approach to our friend in the basket, and make sure a heaping helping of the horror is the descent our lead is on, acting out of love and Stockholm Syndrome.

Essentially the story follows a young man who hits NYC with *something* in a wicker basket - his conjoined twin from whom he was separated at a young age, with the intention the twin would die.  Both have lived, and now seek revenge on the doctors who performed the surgery.

Along the way, the more normal brother begins to get an idea of what it would be to fall in love - which is at odds with his brother for any number of reasons I'll leave it to you to find out.

Anyway - good pick, Lauren!

Friday Tweet-a-Long: Basket Case!

Movie:  Basket Case (1982)
Watch at:  Amazon Streaming
Price:  $2.99 HD, $1.99 SD (it was shot in 16mm, so...)
Day:  Friday 06/19/2020
Time:  8:30 Central

hashtag:  #badhamper

at 8:20, I'll tweet out a screenshot of where we're pausing, so look for the hashtag


This Friday, the movie is no picnic!  It's Basket Case, a 1982 no-budget horror movie made in NYC and selected by our own Lauren (in NYC, natch). 

I've never seen it, but watched a clip that was bananas.  So - get ready for some old school, 16mm Rated-R nuttiness.  I assume, based on the rating, era, what I read of the movie's description, etc... if you're a sensitive sort, this may be one to skip.

But I hope you don't!  This movie is pretty famous and it's worth a gander.  Come and behold one angry puppet.

Friday Night Tweet-a-Long: "Frankenstein's Daughter" (1958)

Movie:  Frankenstein's Daughter
Watch:  Amazon Prime  
Day:  Friday - 06/12/2020
Time:  8:30 PM Central

hashtag:  #fraufranky

At 8:30 - pause the movie here.  We'll give you the signal to sync up!

"dis"astor pictures!

Apparently shot in 6 days and on $65,000 - what could go wrong?  Apparently no one told the make-up artist the monster was to be female so get ready for an accidentally progressive 1950's monster film where we respect the featured creature's pronouns.

I believe this film has 2 monsters, a band and some mad, mad science.

We're going old school!  Join us as we delve into some 1950's monsterriffic mayhem!

Friday Tweet-a-Long: "Beastmaster"

Movie:  The Beastmaster - 1982
Watch:  Streaming on Amazon Prime
Day:  Friday 06/05/2020
Time:  8:30 PM

hashtag:  #tigerdye

Let's pause the movie here and wait on my signal:

the name that means "quality?"

Let's watch a movie about a grown man who walks around like it's okay to keep your ferrets in a duffel bag.*  He also has a large cat and a bird.  And Tanya Roberts!  And many, many muscles.

It's a pre-"V" Mark Singer in a fantasy movie I haven't seen since high school.  This is one that if you ask any dude between the ages of 52 and 40, they will swear this movie is good.  But very few of us have watched it since, say, 1991.  We don't really know.

In fact, aside from Mark Singer wearing a loin-cloth and constantly surrounding himself with animals (get a dog, Mark.  Sheesh.), I don't really remember what the movie is even about.  Probably an evil army that needs defeating.



Understandably, Conan: The Barbarian costs something to watch, so we're not doing it.  I am also furious that Amazon has the balls to actually charge for:

• Krull
• Sheena
• Red Sonja
• Conan: The Destroyer
• Clash of the Titans

and many, many other films that I would immediately watch if they were not $4.  But Beastmaster is free to stream with Prime, so we're doing it.

Seriously, Red Sonja is the bomb.




*I mean, we all knew that guy in college, and he seemed colorful at first and then, eventually, you realized he just kind of sucked.  Ferrets are great, and I loved them when my brother kept a couple of them, but they are not meant to go places with you so you can use them in place of a personality.

Tweet Watch: Hard Ticket To Hawaii

Dr. Freud is doing cartwheels in his grave

Watched:  05/29/2020
Format:  Amazon Streaming on "Full Moon"
Viewing:  Second, as it turns out
Decade:  1980's
Director:  Andy Sidaris

As was said during the viewing, "this movie was actually printed on toxic masculinity".  It's hard to remember how different things actually were in the 1980's, but different they were.  Or, at least, certain held viewpoints were much more in the forefront of popular culture.  And I'm not pretending like Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987) was a popular movie or one most people alive during the era had seen, but it is emblematic of a certain kind of filmmaking that one could now hand over to a film-studies undergrad to get them to *really, really* understand the concept of "the male gaze" in movies.

Friday Night Tweet-A-Long: (I hope you've got $4 for a) HARD TICKET TO HAWAII

Movie:  Hard Ticket to Hawaii
Available at:  (for $4) Amazon Streaming
Day:  Friday - 05/29/2020
Time:  8:30 PM Central/ 3:30 Hawaiian time

Hashtag:  #alohard

Get ready for action, adventure, tropical settings and - I'm assuming - nudity.  It's Hard Ticket to Hawaii!  It's a NSFW foray into a very particular blend of 1980's movie making, merging automatic weapons with vendetta-mad baddies and athletic-wear models in shorts.

I've never seen it - so you cannot hold me personally or legally responsible.  And, yes, it will cost you $4 unless you sign up for "Full Moon" for a free trial, which... hey, maybe Full Moon is amazing?  How am I to say?*

A foretaste of the feast to come:







*looking at their website, it LOOKS like it's amazing

Tweet Watch: Invasion USA (1985)

Watched:  05/22/2020
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  Unknown.  Probably 3rd?
Decade:  Reagan 80's
Director:  Joseph Zito


I am not wasting my time or yours by writing this up or asking you to read about this movie. 

Friday Night Tweet-a-Long: Invasion USA (1985)

Watch at:  Amazon Prime
Day:  Friday 05/22/2020
Start Time:  8:30 Central
Hashtag:  #invadeusa

Pause Video and Wait At:  20 seconds - as soon as the Cannon Logo locks in.

Because:  CANNON - the sign of 80's QUALITY

The 80's were a time of amazing action movies that rarely, if ever, made any sense, but did provide plumes of flame and dudes with automatic weapons taking care of business.  It was also the halcyon days of Chuck Norris before he became a meme.  But how did he become a meme and why?  We're here to find out.

Join us as America works through its paranoia and racism in the form of a land-based invasion force who seems hell-bent on... something.  But apparently a single boatload of guys in camo pants is enough to set Reagan's America on its ear!  You'll wonder how a country need be made great again when you're bad-ass enough to have Chuck Norris around to single-handedly save the nation!

Tweet Watch: Manos Returns (2018)

Watched:  05/08/2020
Format:  Tweet-a-long on Amazon Prime
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's
Director:  Tonjia Atomic

I don't know.  I don't know what I expected.

Somehow a return to "Manos"- The Hands of Fate, the 1966 zero-budget horror indie out of El Paso, TX, which had neither synced sound nor coherent narrative, and arrived in 2018'ish as a shot-on-video-but-not-great-video and featured simply too much dialog - was kinda just right.

Manos Returns (2018) features - and I want to get this out there, because I missed this prior to watching - the original actor who played The Master and the former little girl who played Debbie, now a grown lady-person still playing Debbie!  Take that, David Lynch and your 25 years later!

Much like the original, I don't understand the movie or what it is trying to do.  At times it seems like it wants to be a parody, and at other times, a straight sequel with some enhancements thanks to the power of video editing. There's genuinely more story to this movie, but with similar outcomes.  And more red bras.  Lots of red bras.

I dunno.  I didn't *not* enjoy seeing the movie, and it is definitely a worthy successor to Manos, whatever that means.  But, you know, beware something striving to be a sequel to Manos.

BTW - seeing this also told me there's a mini-market of Manos ancillary media being produced.  Debbie is going on to make a TV series, there's a Rise of Torgo movie out there, too.  And seemingly other things.  Anyway, proceed with due caution.