Hallow-Wax Watch: Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

Watched:  10/30/2021

Format:  I am not sure?  DVR

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1930's

Director:  Michael Curtiz

So, this movie, Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), is the one that the 1953 Vincent Price film, House of Wax, is based upon.   The plots are somewhat similar, certainly the set pieces and locations.  I think this movie, in turn, is based on a story and stageplay.  

Two fascinating things here, tho:  

1)  I've never watched a whole film in the two strip technicolor process.  It's weird as hell.  Perfect for horror, I think, but I imagine this gives me an idea how some color-blind people see the world, but in a weird inverse.  This is all reds and greens.

2)  It's mid-career work by Michael Curtiz!  Maybe one of the most versatile directors I can name, it's interesting to see him doing 30's horror and doing it so well

This movie differs in many ways from House of Wax, including a very 1930's woman reporter who is really the catalyst for most of the action, and I adored her (played by Glenda Farrell).  The great beauty that the crazed sculptor pursues is no less than Fay Wray, so... understandable, despite your murderous, psychopathic ways, sir.

The movie refuses to take itself too seriously, but does a great job of a grand guignol-type horror but with a fast-talking news woman anchoring the whole thing.  

I'd love to re-watch this one at some point, especially with other folks.  It has some terrific stuff the 1950's one eschewed for a more solid plot, but this one is equally entertaining in its own, incredibly 1930's pulpy fun way.  

Aviation Hallo-Watch: Shadow in the Cloud (2020)

if this scene seems unlikely, I have some big news for you about this film

Watched:  10/29/2021

Format:  Hulu

Viewing:  First

Decade:  2020's

Director:  Roseanne Liang

This movie is a mess, and I don't really get why it has "generally favorable" reviews on metacritic, other than that it twists itself in a pretzel to be a #metoo movie of the moment, dressed up in WWII and made by people who don't seem to know or care very much about the reality grounding the fantastic elements of their set-up.  

Moretz is a fine actor and it's great to see someone who was a kid actor show they can do this in a grown up role.  She looks the right age to be in the place she's at for 1943 or whatever this is.  But.  I think she needs to talk to her managers and agents.

It's WWII, and for some reason an all-Allies flight crew exists, which... fine.  Aussies, Scotsmen, Americans.  Flying a B-17.  A mysterious woman (Chloë Grace Moretz) with a mysterious package gets on board a flight as its about to taxi, headed out from New Zealand to Somoa.  She says she's operating under orders from the local Major, a real hard ass, and *she's classified*.

Upon take-off, the airmen all begin piling on an entire year's worth of the worst, most tasteless conversation likely to occur, all while Moretz is on the comms.  Oh, and for some reason, the only place they have for her to sit is the underbelly turret of the B-17.  

Zombie Watch: Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993)

Watched:  10/29/2021

Format:  HBOmax

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1990's

Director:  Brian Yuzna

I enjoyed this movie just fine, but I don't know how much and at what point the movie was kidding.  Maybe writ-large?  But it also seemed like it was being serious?  It sure wanted to do a doomed lovers plotline that, sure... why not?

But, yeah, it's a movie about the son of the military guy still mucking about with zombies and Trioxide which makes zombies - who is dating out of his league.  An accident occurs and his girlfriend is killed, so he exposes her to zombie-gas because he believes that the heart will go on, I guess.

Aside from zombie piercing fetish stuff, the movie is also an excuse for some Hollywood FX folks to flex, and, boy, do they ever.  Mostly that's bookending the movie, but when it shows up, it's really solid work.  

The name actor in this, as far as this blog is concerned, is Sara Douglas, who plays a very Sarah Douglas military officer.  But Melinda "Mindy" Clarke is... really good in this?  Like, she's asked to do A LOT under less than ideal conditions, and she does it all as the formerly alive girlfriend, Julie.  Anyway - she's still very much working and I guess I've seen her in things, but I did not watch The OC, so I missed out on that adventure.  

But, yeah... the movie feels like it's kidding, or at least not taking it as seriously as Romero takes his zombies, and it's probably a decent tone.  But it's also the 90's, so it's got a weird layer of anti-Hispanic racism which, you know, was incredibly common at the time.  So, maybe not "weird", but...  at least super clunky.

I don't get how zombies work in this, and I don't care.  It's fine.  

One thing I do know:  someone had a very specific kink and managed to work it into a feature film.  And for that, I applaud them.  

And I am all for a movie where the leads die in an incinerator in a loving embrace in the final shot.  Slow clap, movie.

Hammer Watch: The Scars of Dracula (1970)

Watched:  10/28/2021

Format:  YouTubeTV

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1970's

Director:  Roy Ward Baker

Christopher Lee played Dracula 10 times on film, 7 times for Hammer, this being the 5th outing for Hammer.  This Dracula film is one of 9 movies Christopher Lee starred in during the year 1970, when he was still sort of doing lines as Drac, and not just standing there or growling.  

Anyway, the man was supernaturally prolific.  

HALLOWEEN PODCAST: "The Fly II" (1989) - Halloween 2021 - Horror Sequels w/ SimonUK and Ryan

Watched:  09/12/2021

Format:  DVD

Viewing:  Second or third

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Chris Walas

For more ways to listen

SimonUK and Ryan see what all the buzz is about as they check out the sequel to the famous Cronenberg remake. This time, it's a wee baby insect man and Daphne Zuniga against the world and spooky corporate interests! Join us as we take a swat at a film that was one I think everyone saw on cable.

The Signal Watch PodCast · 167: "The Fly II" (1989) - Halloween 2021 - Horror Sequels w/ SimonUK and Ryan

Music:

Fly II Main Theme - Christopher Young

Halloween 2021 Playlist

The Signal Watch PodCast · Halloween 2021 - Horror Sequels

Hallow-Dead Watch: Evil Dead II - Dead by Dawn (1987)

Watched:  10/27/2021

Format:  BluRay

Viewing:  ha

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Sam Raimi

One day I want to do a podcast on the Evil Dead movies, so I'll save some comments for that time.  But.  Evil Dead II (1987) never disappoints.  

Also - this was Jamie's Halloween watch selection.  So, you know, I feel I married well.

Hallow-Spooky Watch: Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)

man, Bob Peak's art is never less than amazing

Watched:  10/25/2021

Format:  BluRay

Viewing:  Unknown

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Jack Clayton

We podcasted this film way, way back when the podcast was getting started.  

Further back, the Ray Bradbury book upon which the film is based was assigned reading for me in 7th grade.  I cannot imagine such a thing in schools now, but this was the go-go 1980's, and we were even given assignments to come up with a short story about how Mr. Dark would prey upon our insecurities.  I vaguely remember something about being turned into what I realize now is the Incredible Hulk.  

Special thanks to Stuart, who belongs to Disney Insiders and landed me a copy of this club-only release of Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) BluRay.  Lovely presentation.

Anyway, this is such a strange little movie, one that I don't recall getting any promotion at the time of its release, nor had I seen it on the shelf at the video store.  Possibly, because of the Disney label on the tape, it had been shelved with kiddie movies.  Which is an interesting problem, because it's not one the book has.  It just gets shelved with Ray Bradbury books.  But as a film... 

Muad'Dib Watch: Dune (2021)

Watched:  10/24/2021

Format:  HBOmax

Viewing:  First

Decade:  2020's

Director:  Denis Villeneuve

Well, whatever opinion I have will be wrong, by everyone who watched this movie.  And, especially, if you read the book.

I've only read Dune once, years ago, at the recommendation of RHPT and StevenH (and probably Lauren, if Steven was pitching it).  That said, I thought it was a singular reading experience.  My inability to return to the book has much more to do with life being short and me doing other things rather than my lack of love for what I read.

I think people who read and grok Dune are changed a little after, maybe in tiny ways, but a bit.  I cannot imagine approaching a Dune movie without having read the book - I know watching Lynch's version without having read the book led to me giving up 20 minutes in.  But after reading it, I was like "oh, yeah, this is maybe not the best way to do this, but ok."  Similarly, before reading the book, I could only follow the SyFy Channel TV mini-series version of Dune so far before I was like "y'all are on your own".

So - I have no idea what those who didn't read the book took away from the movie currently in theaters and running on HBOmax.  

Elvira Special Watch: City of the Dead (1960)

Watched:  10/24/2021

Format:  Shudder Elvira Special

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1960's

Director:  John Llewellyn Moxey

I am unfamiliar with this studio, Vulcan Productions, but it's out of Britain.  That said, in theory the movie takes place in Massachusetts, and is a witchy story about a small town where there's still witchy business afoot 400 years later.  

The movie stars a whole bunch of people I didn't know, and I think English people playing Americans, which would explain at least one guy's voice.  But it's got Christopher Lee!  So, super double bonus points.

The movie isn't bad!  It's mostly thriller as young people first try to do some research for a college course, and secondly when others go to look for the first person.  The sets, acting, etc... are all good stuff.  I particularly liked Patricia Jessel as a creepy inn owner.  

Anyway, I mostly watched it as past of Elvira's 4 movie hosting gig on Shudder, and she's terrific!  Good bits in there and what I believe to be a true story of her running into Christopher Lee in a window that I believe would have had to have been pre-Elvira.  Anyway, she has a kicky song at the end I very much enjoyed.

Hallow-Scream Watch Party: The Wolf Man (1941)

Watched:  10/22/2021

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  Unknown

Decade:  1940's

Director:  George Waggner

Well, I've seen this one a lot, and we talked about it last year on the podcast.  

What I noticed this time was that Maleva, the gypsy woman, has a speech of her own as she bids farewell to first Bela, and then Larry after they've been killed and freed from the curse.  

The way you walked was thorny, through no fault of your own, but as the rain enters the soil, the river enters the sea, so tears run to a predestined end.

It's funny - I've seen this movie a lot, and I've listened to a bit about it on commentary tracks and read about it online, and I don't recall anyone calling this out.  Maybe they did.  Everyone gets hung up on the usual rhyme,* but folks tend not to focus on Maleva's farewell, bridging worlds for the cursed and absolving them, I suppose.

One wonders exactly how many werewolves she's had to deal with.

Here's last year's podcast.

The Signal Watch PodCast · 122: "The Wolf Man" (1941) "Curse of the Werewolf" (1961) Halloween 2020 w/ SimonUK & Ryan

*A few times in the film, we hear:  

Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.

PODCAST: "Son of Frankenstein" (1939) and "Son of Dracula" (1943) - Halloween 2021 - Horror Sequels w/ SimonUK and Ryan

Watched:  09/06/2021

Format:  BluRay

Viewing:  a whole lot

Decade:  1930's and 1940's

Director:  Rowland V. Lee and Robert Siodmak (I KNOW)

For more ways to listen

We check in on the boys and see what the kids are up to! One back in the old family villa and the other heading to Louisiana for some jambalaya, we assume. Two franchises rise yet again, stitched together from ideas new and old as we look at the third in the series for each, and sink their teeth into familiar tropes as well as all new stories and characters!

The Signal Watch PodCast · 166: "Son of Frankenstein" (1939) & "Son of Dracula" (1943) - Halloween 2021 - w/ SimonUK & Ryan

Music:

Son of Dracula Theme - Hans J. Salter Orchestra

Son of Frankenstein Theme - Frank Skinner

Halloween 2021

The Signal Watch PodCast · Halloween 2021 - Horror Sequels

Japan Horror Halloween Watch: Hausu/ House (1977)

Watched:  10/22/2021

Format:  HBOmax

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1970's

Director:  Nobuhiko Ôbayashi

Uh.

I don't know what I just watched, but it was maybe the best thing ever? 

I mean, truly, I could not look away.  This movie is batshit, and I love batshit.  Like, it starts out batshit and just keeps going, changing and getting better.  I can truly say, I did not know what was going to happen next.  

Anyway, any attempt to describe the movie is a fool's errand, so I will not.  But I will definitely be rotating this into my scary movie faves.

Kiddie-Horror Watch: Return to Oz (1985)

noticing the poster makers realized they needed to not tell everyone their favorites aren't really in the movie

Watched:  10/21/2021

Format:  Disney+

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1980's

Director:  Walter Murch

I am categorizing this movie as a kid's horror movie, because (a) that's how Jamie, who has seen it, pitched it to me, and (b) this is a horror movie.  Starring and for kids.  I don't know if that's what anyone set out to make, but that's what it is.  Dorothy returns to a post-apocalyptic Oz where everyone is "dead", and she's pursued relentlessly by murderous creatures.  This is AFTER she's almost given experimental shock treatment to make her forget Oz.  There's a headless woman and her cabinetry of de-capitated heads she can wear who is going to enslave Dorothy for future decapitation.  Dorothy's then put into some weirdo Saw type situation and has to outmaneuver the guy playing with her life.  

All of which would be fine - kids can take a lot - except that the movie is joyless and a slog.

Hallow-Scream Watch: Killer Workout/ Aerobicide (1987)

Watched:  10/21/2021

Format:  BluRay

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1980's (so, so 1980's)

Director:  

A few weeks ago, tweeter Dr. PopCulture BGSU posted a picture or two from a movie of which I'd never before heard discussed, Killer Workout (1987), and I vowed to watch this movie at some point.  Well, our own JimD decided, YES, we would both see this movie, and so a copy showed up in the mail.  

I am genuinely supportive of the genre film preservation going on in weird little corners.  There's basically no reason anyone should work to preserve and distribute Killer Workout.  It's a very low-budget film with no bankable stars, bad cinematography, as wobbly a plot as you're going to find, and zero logic.  Sort of.  But.  Movies like this were an important part of the cinema world for a long time, and they've mostly disappeared as VHS players and tapes have headed to the bin.  It's weird that we may lose a lot of movies because of dedication to a format.

Olive Films is a newer but growing distribution company doing good work out there, bringing a wide range of film types to the market - from respectable classic film to.... Killer Workout.  They seem really cool and I need to spend more time reviewing their catalog.  I would LOVE to know more about their efforts to preserve and distribute films - but I have a lot of questions about their presentation of Killer Workout.  It *seems* like they had an idea to not just get the movie out there, but retain some of the VHS experience.  

JLC Hallow-Watch: Halloween Kills (2021)

Watched:  10/20/2021

Format:  Peacock

Viewing:  First

Decade:  2020's

Director:  David Gordon Greene

SPOILERS

So, this isn't a movie, it's the second act of a three part film about Michael Myers and the residents of Haddonfield.  Maybe the third part of a 4 part film, if you want to think of the 1978 film as the prelude.  

I haven't read anything about the movie as I was trying to avoid spoilers, but it's got a very low reviewer rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which... fair enough.  Horror sequels usually stand alone, using some of the same characters.  But, much like Halloween 2 from the 1980's (now erased in this continuity), this chapter acts more as an extension of the prior film.  Halloween 2 picked up as Laurie Strode was whisked away to a hospital and Myers tracked her down.  This one does similar - picking up from the end moments of Halloween 2018 on the same truck ride where we left the Strode women.

Doc Watch: 15 Minutes of Shame (2021)

Watched:  10/19/2021

Format:  HBOmax

Viewing:  First

Decade:  2020's

Director:  Max Joseph

There's something weirdly "student film"-ish about this documentary.  From the "let's start this with a quote" business to a third act diversion that isn't actually on topic, as interesting as it is.  It's the sort of "this is too good not to rationalize its inclusion" stuff I found myself doing when working on docs in college.  It also locks into a political POV that I think keeps the film from reaching a necessary and broader audience, undermining its impact.

But - the overall premise and most of the talking heads are great.

Co-Produced and narrated by Monica Lewinsky, the film looks into how the internet has weaponized shaming/ cancel culture, but really how you can wake up one morning and your whole life is now public and awful, and you have absolutely no say in how it plays out.  

Noir Watch: The Dark Past (1948)

Watched:  10/18/2021

Format:  TCM Noir Alley

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1940's

Director:  Rudolph Mate

Ellen Corby - domestic

A mash-up of two kinds of mid-20th century films, this one is quasi-noir, I guess, mostly because it echoes other films which are definitely noir.  But it's one part "trapped in a location with a criminal and his organization" which you'll know from The Petrified Forest to Key Largo, and one part "hey, kids: psychology!" - which pervaded any number of movies in this era, from Nightmare Alley to Miracle on 34th Street to Highwall. 

But, basically, a very young William Holden plays desperado Al Walker, whose gang just busted him out of prison, killing a couple of guards and a warden en route.  He and his gang (and his girl, played by Adele Jergens) hide out in the home of Lee J Cobb and Lois "Miss Moneypenny, herself" Maxwell, where they're entertaining a few guests.

It becomes a psychological cat and mouse game as Cobb tries to both save his own skin and that of his guests, and maybe cure the insane murderer, so long as he's got a few hours to hang, anyway.  

It's absolutely buckwild how both medicine and therefore psychology were seen in this era as quick miracle cures that could happen overnight.  I guess when the answer is "20 years ago we didn't have penicillin", everything seems possible.  

As a "we're all trapped in here with criminals" movie, you can do much better.  As a "mid-20th Century psychology" movie... it's just under par.  But, Lee J. Cobb makes for a convincing doctor, Adele Jergens is terrific as Holden's girl.  Holden is very good, himself, but he's early here and when you know movies where he's able to do more and with better dialog, this is definitely a less notable role for him.  

I'm fascinated with the gigantic country/ woodland getaway homes of this period.  I've seen dozens of movies with country houses like this, from Christmas in Connecticut to many-a-noir, and the movies always place actors in gigantic, spacious cabin/ houses that read as "set for a play" much more than a dwelling, and always seem bigger than anyone's actual home.

The movie also has Ellen Corby, who played a domestic in a dozen movies I've seen - and does so again here, but she's always around in some capacity as a "regular" person - be it a nurse, whatever.   I need to start an Ellen Corby tracker, because she went uncredited for years and was maybe the hardest working woman in Hollywood for decades. Yet, no one ever talks about her.  But she has 265 IMDB credits.  265!

Vincent Price Watch: The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

Watched:  10/17/2021

Format:  DVD

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1960's

Director:  Roger Corman

It is insane that I've never watched this movie.   With Corman directing, Vincent Price starring and a set-up that would become classic and - as Jamie pointed out - feels positively Bond-ian, it's a fun watch.  

It's a period piece, sometime during the Spanish inquisition (don't ask me when.  They're wearing those frilly collars I think of as 16th Century), and the events are around fallout of the Inquisition.  It's a genuinely screwed up story, maybe more thriller than horror, but there are genuine moments of creepiness and chills here and there, which I frankly wasn't expecting.

PODCAST: "Dawn of the Dead" (1978) & (2004) - Halloween 2021 - Horror Sequels w/ SimonUK and Ryan

 

Watched:  08/25 & 08/31/2021

Format:  YouTube and Amazon

Viewing:  at least second for both

Decade:  1970's and 2000's

Director:  George Romero and Zack Snyder

For more ways to listen

SimonUK and Ryan celebrate Halloween by taking a bite out of the sequel to the zombie movie that started it all, and which some consider the most delicious of the genre. We also discuss the 21st Century reanimation of the same idea. Join us for a Halloween horror discussion fit to wake the dead.

The Signal Watch PodCast · 165: "Dawn Of The Dead" (1978) and (2004) - Halloween 2021 - Horror Sequels w/ SimonUK and Ryan

Music:

L'alba dei morti viventi - Goblin, Dawn of the Dead/ Zombi Soundtrack

What the World Needs Now (Is Love, Sweet Love) - Burt Bacharach

Halloween 2021 Playlist!

The Signal Watch PodCast · Halloween 2021 - Horror Sequels

Hallow-Scream Watch: Gothic (1986)

Watched:  10/16/2021

Format:  Amazon

Viewing:  First

Decade: 1980's

Director:  Ken Russell

Gothic (1986) is one of those movies I remember always seeing on the shelf at movie rental places.  It was always in, but I never pulled the trigger and watched it.  I'm thinking the copy on the box describing the movie was not great, because - I believe - had it been more accurate, I would have rented the movie.

Based loosely on some real-life events (and then deeply fictionalized), the movie imagines about 24 hours of drug-fueled shenanigans in a mansion in Geneva at the turn of the 18th to the 19th Century as Percy Shelley, Mary Godwin (soon to be Mary Shelley) and Mary's step-sister arrive to have a hang with the notorious libertine, Lord Byron - in self-exile from England.