Outstanding Watch: RoboVampire (1988)

Watched:  06/07/2019
Format:  Amazon Prime (also on YouTube)
Viewing: First but certainly not the last
Decade:  1980's

So, a couple of weeks back JAL DM'd me and deeply recommended a small film from an overseas production company, and as a patron of independent and international cinema, I leaped at the opportunity to use a free Friday evening to finally watch RoboVampire (1988).

Monster Watch: Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)

Watched:  03/07/2019
Format:  Alamo S. Lamar
Viewing:  Unknown
Decade:  1950's

This evening the Alamo S. Lamar and Birth.Movies.Death's Scott Wampler hosted a screening of Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) along with a Q&A and book-signing with Mallory O'Meara, a film maker who just released a non-fiction book about Milicent Patrick, the original designer of The Creature entitled The Lady From the Black Lagoon.

Actor Julie Adams Merges with The Infinite

Actor Julie Adams (often listed as Julia Adams), most famed for her part as "Kay" in 1954's Creature From the Black Lagoon has passed.

Halloween Watch: Monster Squad (1987)

Watched:  10/31/2018
Format:  Amazon Prime Streaming
Viewing:  6th or 10th
Decade:  1980's

I've written about Monster Squad (1987) before, so I won't cover it again this time around.  But after covering horror movies since about July in order to have PodCasts ready to go and then watching a lot of stuff once we hit October - the mix of classic monsters, scares, jokes, the 1980's and coming of age digging monsters all in one place seemed like a good way to put a button on my Halloween movie watch.

Now get out there and enjoy some perfect Stan Winston make-up and terrific monster performances by catching this movie if you haven't already.

Oh, and apparently this exists:

Halloween Watch: Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Watched:  10/28/2018
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  Unknown - but, a lot
Decade:  1930's

Halloween Watch: Frankenstein (1931)

Watched:  10/28/2018
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  Unknown.  well into double digits
Decade:  1930's

I'm a Frankenstein fan.  Maybe not as much as other people, and I got a late start.  I didn't watch the movie until 1997 when I rented it during a blitz into Universal's horror offerings that, if you know me a little, you know had a deep impact that resonates to this day.

Growing up in the wake of the 70's monster-craze, the Frankenstein monster's image was everywhere, from kid's cartoons (including the Flintstones for some reason), but I don't remember ever seeing Frankenstein offered on TV, nor do I remember tapes available at the local video store.  Austin and Houston didn't have latenight monster movie hosts, so...  the availability was pretty low.

So, yeah, I rented it from the I Love Video near my apartment and gave the 1930's movie a spin, genuinely concerned that after all the hype, I might not like it (I'd seen Dracula in high school at a local cinema, but that's a different story).  While the movie only borrowed from the book, the movie was so much it's own thing, and so weird and creepy and heart breaking, what wouldn't I like about it?

I've written plenty on this movie, and every time I watch it, I'm stunned by the storytelling, the design of sets, creature and sound.  It "transports" me, and I genuinely find the movie electric, so to speak.  There's so much to love in Whale's picture.

I won't belabor it all here - this is a checkmark on my 2018 Halloween movie watching, and I'm on to The Bride of. 

Halloween Watch: The Mummy's Tomb (1942)

Watched:  10/28/2018
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1940's

PODCAST! HALLOWEEN WATCH 2018 FINALE! "The Thing" (1982) w/ Jamie and Ryan

Watched:  09/30/2018
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  Unknown.  Eighth?
Decade:  1980's

After 20 years of avoiding watching The Thing (1982) Jamie decides it's time to watch the movie and then get in front of a microphone. We discuss a modern horror classic, and what it's like to finally see a movie you've heard so much about (and maybe built up a bit in your imagination).



Music:

Bride of Frankenstein Theme - Franz Waxman
The Thing Main Titles - Ennio Morricone
Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft - The Carpenters
Swan Lake - Act 2: No. 10 Scene - Tchaikovsky


Playlists:

Featured:  Signal Watch Halloween 2018

• Amy and Ryan Watch 50 Shades!
• Bond Watch!  James Bond movie discussion
• Avengers Chronological Countdown w/ Jamie and Ryan
• Disney History w/ NathanC and Ryan
• High School Movies w/ Maxwell

Get your audio episodes at:

PODCAST! HALLOWEEN EDITION! "The Night of the Demon" (1957) and "The Haunting" (1963)

Watched:  Curse of the Demon 09/27/2018 & The Haunting 09/28/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming/ BluRay
Decade:  1950's and 1960's
Viewing:  Second/ Seventh or so


SimonUK and Ryan wind up their Halloween movie discussions by taking on two movies about scientists (and friends) coming up against the supernatural - is it all in their minds, somehow? OR is it ghosts and demons?!! It's bone-chilling look into what works in two horror classics, and some discussion of stuff in other movies that's just annoying.



Music:

Bride of Frankenstein Theme - Franz Waxman
Blue Ghost Blues - Lonnie Johnson
Science Fiction Double Feature - Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack
Hounds of Love - Kate Bush
Stroker Ace - Charlie Daniels Band
Swan Lake - Act 2: No. 10 Scene - Tchaikovsky


Playlists:

Featured:  Signal Watch Halloween 2018

• Amy and Ryan Watch 50 Shades!
• Bond Watch!  James Bond movie discussion
• Avengers Chronological Countdown w/ Jamie and Ryan
• Disney History w/ NathanC and Ryan
• High School Movies w/ Maxwell

Get your audio episodes at:

Hammer Horror Watch: Horror of Dracula (1958)

Watched:  10/20/2018
Format:  Filmstruck Streaming
Viewing:  Unknown.  Second?
Decade:  1950's

Where Wolf? Watch: Wolfen (1981)

Watched:  10/19/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1980's


Well, I finally managed to watch Wolfen (1981) instead of The Howling.

Halloween Watch: Vampire Circus (1972)

Watched:  10/12/2018
Format:  Amazon Prime Streaming in my hotel room
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1970's

Halloween Watch: The Howling (1981)

Watched:  10/05/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming/ Shudder Network Trial
Viewing:  Third
Decade:  1980's

Halloween Watch: Monster House (2006)

Watched:  10/05/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2000's

PODCAST! SIgnal Watch Halloween Horror Watch: Horror Express and Death Line (both 1972)

Watched:  09/08/2018
Format:  BluRay
Viewing:  First
Decade: 1970's

In the spoooookiest of all Halloween themes - SimonUK and Ryan settle on "Christopher Lee + trains + 1972".  Two wildly different takes on the horror genre from the same year, each with a lot to offer, but offering up chills - one featuring a drunk Donald Pleasance as a policeman, and one Telly Savalas as a vodka-swilling Cossack.  But, honestly, both well worth a viewing this Halloween season.




Music:
Bride of Frankenstein Theme by Franz Waxman
Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne
Bound for Hell, Love and Rockets
Swan Lake - Act 2: No. 10 Scene - Tchaikovsky

Playlists:

Featured:  Signal Watch Halloween 2018



More Playlists:

PODCAST! WEREWOLF WATCH! a Signal Wach Halloween! "Late Phases" (2014) and "Dog Soldiers" (2002)

Watched:  08/18/2018
Format:  DVD
Viewing:  First (both)
Decade:  2000's and 2010's

SimonUK and Ryan go to the dogs with two monstrously good films set to make anyone howl.  We talk the werewolf genre and the troubles which ail it, but also what goes right in two movies sure to transform you into the Halloween mood.  It's two modern-era movies doing something a bit different with an age-old idea, and maybe coming out the top of the pack?

And, of course, there's a detour into discussing Sean Connery for absolutely no reason.




Music:
Bride of Frankenstein Theme by Franz Waxman
Hungry Like the Wolf, Duran Duran
Wolves (radio edit), Wu-Tang Clan
Swan Lake - Act 2: No. 10 Scene - Tchaikovsky

Get your audio episodes at:

Spooky Watch: The Vampire Bat (1933)

Watched:  08/07/2018
Format:  TCM on DVR
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1930's

Spooky Watch: Mark of the Vampire (1935)

Watched: 08/06/2018
Format:  TCM on DVR
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1930's

Well, huh

Creature Watch: The Shape of Water (2017)

Watched: 01/28/2018
Format: Drafthouse, S. Lamar
Viewing: First
Decade: 2010's

Halloween Watch 2017: The Mummy

I didn't mean to watch all of The Mummy (1932), but as so often happens, I did.

This Universal monster movie was one that, the first time I watched it, I loved the first ten minutes and then felt waning interest in everything but Zita Johann.  But, the past two or three times I've given those first few minutes a shot (because I love the opening), I've really changed my tune.  And, in fact, have to retract initial statements made about dull camera-work in comparison to the grand, gothic guignol of Dracula or the surrealist landscapes of the first three Frankenstein films.

The lighting, sets, and FX employed are far more deft than I'd originally wanted to give credit, and leave you in a murky place where you know Bey is employing mystical shenanigans, but it's hard to put a finger on what and how.  Add in Karloff's performance, as well as that of Johann, and you've got something that's been aped more in vampire movies than anywhere else the past 85 years.

Karloff is actually terrific as Imhotep/ Ardath Bey, and the overall effect of the picture is not so much horrifying as it is eerie and uncanny.  Unraveling the machinations of what he's up to (ripped off for the past thirty or forty years of Dracula movies), and it's good stuff.

Weirdly, TCM rated the movie TV-14, and for the life of me, I have no idea why.  This is one I'd watch with a kid aged 10 or up.  There's no blood, minimal on-screen violence, a lack of nudity or sexual innuendo...  But Mummies are scary, I guess.