R.I.P. Eric Woolfson

Just found out that Eric Woolfson, one of the lead singers and co-founders of the Alan Parsons Project, died of cancer on December 2nd. For those who don't know Woolfson, here's a bit of biography from Wikipedia

Woolfson was born in the Charing Cross area of Glasgow and raised in the Pollokshields area.

He started composing music in his early teens. He moved to London where he found work as a session pianist, at the age of 18. The record producer for the Rolling Stones, Andrew Oldham, signed him up as a songwriter. During the following years, Woolfson wrote songs for such artists as Marianne Faithfull, Frank Ifield, Joe Dassin, The Tremeloes, Marmalade, Dave Berry, and Peter Noone. His songs were recorded by over 100 artists both in Europe and America. During the '60s he worked with two then-unknown writers, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice...

In 1975, Woolfson joined forces with record producer Alan Parsons who was a recording engineer on many Beatles and Paul McCartney albums as well as having engineered Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon.

Eric and Alan formed a new kind of collaboration that would allow Parsons' engineering skills to be used to the fullest extent while allowing Woolfson to exploit his talents as a songwriter and lyricist. The Alan Parsons Project was born, the name originally being intended as a working title for their collaborative project. From 1976 to 1987, Woolfson and Parsons collaborated on the conception and lyrics for all ten albums by The Alan Parsons Project, which have achieved world-wide sales in excess of 40 million.

On every Project album, Woolfson would sing a guide vocal track for each song, which the album's eventual lead vocalists would use as a reference. Some of these tracks can be heard on the new remastered editions of various Project albums released in 2007. Woolfson himself was the actual singer on many of the Project's biggest hits, such as "Time", "Don't Answer Me" and the band's signature tune "Eye in the Sky", which spent several weeks in the Top 3 of Billboard's Hot 100 in 1982.

Here are a couple of Eric's Alan Parsons Songs...

An American Trial

Steven Grant, in his Permanent Damage column this week, lays out the reasons why the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad in Manhattan is as much a trial of U.S. ideals as of the man himself, and I think he does it as well as can be said:

Aspiring Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee started rattling sabers at Barack Obama recently, and is trying to get Republicans to pay more attention to him than to Sarah Palin, by warning that the DoJ's decision to put accused 9-11 terrorists Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and cohorts on trial in Manhattan will destroy Obama's re-election chances if things don't go "as expected." An editorial in the local conservative paper, THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, this past Monday, denounces the whole idea that "dangerous foreign terrorists who seek to destroy the United States now get the same constitutional protections afforded American citizens" and the usual pundits are all leaping on the same bandwagon. Not that they haven't been there before, through the history of Guantanamo Base as terrorist prison camp.

Admittedly, there are some reasons for concern. Assuming, though it has always been something of a jump, that al-Qaeda or sympathetic terror groups even have the capability, the trial makes Manhattan courts a viable target for a new attack. Trials potentially give Khalid etc. a forum to express noxious views. On the other side of the coin, can 9-11 terrorists already convicted in everything but name even get a fair trial in Manhattan, only a few blocks from the remains of the World Trade Center.

But it strikes me as weird both that the Right Wing is taking this particular tack on this issue and that no one is bothering to explain the real reason why, yes, even terrorists deserve the protections of the Constitution. So allow me.

Basically, if you don't think the terrorists deserve a trial, you're not a real American.

Obviously, there's a lot more and I urge you to go and read the full column.

The dead will Rise... and promote Trojans

Ok, I'm gonna go ahead and embed the Chris Farley Direct TV commercial below, but only in case there's someone out there who may not have seen it or who is in dire need for incentive to cut their eyes out with a spoon.



Now, understand, my objection here isn't because I'm particularly a Chris Farley fan. In some ways I find the commercial fitting because it shows about as much inventiveness and humor as most of Farley's movies. Plus it has the advantage of being much much shorter.

No, the objection really comes in the use of dead people to sell things that they never endorsed. It's a trend that began a while back, nor is it Direct TV's first offense, and while initially it did lead to some amusing and creative commercials, once one moved beyond that to actually think about what was going on, that the image of a dead person was being used to sell an item that they may not have even known about in their day, that words were being put in their mouth promoting items and ideas that they might not agree with or believe in. I mean just because they have the word "ranch" in the name do we really know that Roy Rogers would have liked the taste of Cool Ranch Doritos? No. But thanks to a little tricky camera work and creative computer editing, I'm sure that by the time you're reading this someone could have devised a video of Roy and Dale singing an ode to the snack chip. With Trigger providing beatbox.

I've even heard that Farley's family approved the ad as if that somehow validates the concept. "Hey, honey, just because we don't have any talent of our own is no reason not to take this money from the satellite company, now is it? I'm sure it's what Uncle Chris would have wanted us to do." "Yes, sweetie - I'm sure that when he said 'I'd rather die than endorse them' he had no idea he could do both."

Which, of course, leads to the question of where will it all end. Who will be the next zombie to be raised by Direct TV's loa to pitch their product? Well, LandlineTV has an idea:



Y'know, I take it all back. Maybe if it brings us creativity and humor like that the Direct TV ad campaign is worth it. Too bad it's just not the actual commercials that are showing it.

How'd he figure it out? It was Sheer Luck

Ok, so Warners has released a new, two-minute plus trailer for the upcoming Robert Downey / Jude Law Sherlock Holmes movie, and I have to say that it may not be the complete abomination I'd initially feared. Ok, I still think Downey is too young to play Holmes, and I think the attempt to turn Holmes into a Bourne-style action hero is completely misguided (at least they're not yet fitting him for a G.I Joe style steam-powered amplifier suit - after all, they've got to save something for the sequel) but it seems this new trailer downplays that aspect a bit and focuses on the movie having an actual storyline, so maybe there's hope for it yet... Have a look for yourself and lemme know what you think:

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Nonetheless, I'm still not convinced that this isn't going to be one of those "in name only" movies that really should have been called something else, but is using the Holmes name to sell a few extra tickets and to justify it being a period piece. Still, I'm willing to (for now) give it the benefit of the doubt, and I suspect I'll be there sometime opening week.

Eenie Meenie Miney... Police Row

Three quick and somewhat related stories:

First off, I think it's fairly safe to call it a bad day when you're picked up for drunk driving wearing a breathalyzer costume...

According to a police report, 18-year-old James N. P. Miller, of Cincinnati, was seen driving the wrong way out of the entrance to a one-way street at East Park Place in Oxford.

Officers executed a traffic stop and found that Miller was wearing a breathalyzer costume. After investigation, police said, Miller was found to be operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Inside his car, officers allegedly found an open container of Bud Light in the center console.

Officers also found what was left of a case of Bud Light in the passenger side front seat and in the trunk.

He was arrested and transported to the police station, where he consented to take a blood-alcohol-content test. His results were a .158 percent BAC.

Second, I think we can also say that this guy's issue goes way beyond a bad hat/hair day:

Cesar Lopez, a 29-year-old Lebanon, Pa., man, was busted Saturday when he walked up to a police officer with a small bag of marijuana stuck to his forehead, according to Lebanon police.

Police said the officer went into a Turkey Hill convenience store on Lehman Street at 3:25 a.m. Saturday and saw Lopez holding a baseball cap and peering inside it. When Lopez approached the officer, he looked up, and the officer said he saw a small plastic bag stuck to Lopez's forehead. The bag appeared to contain marijuana, police said.

The officer retrieved the bag from Lopez’s forehead and said, “Is this what you are looking for?,” according to the police report. Lopez was charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Finally, for those of you who don't get enough Americana cruising the People of WalMart site, here's another for your list - Bank Notes is exactly what it purports to be: a site that posts actual notes used by bank robbers when they're asking for the money. Some of them are scary, some of them are funny ("Thanks a bunch"? Really? Well, i guess there's no reason not to be polite about it.), some of them are just plain sad.

I have a gun in my bag.
Give me $5,000 please.
Thanks a bunch.

Need $300 or I’ll kill you.
I’m serious.

When possible, the site also provides pictures from the security cameras and details of the robbbery. And while you're checking it out, remember- somewhere, somehow, somebody's having a worse day than you are...

Could We Have A Little Less Fear Please?

Finally, Lenore Skenazy at the Huffington Post provides a little sense and perspective:

Forget all the guys in Bernie Madoff masks and tutus. If you want to see something really scary on Halloween, come to my apartment around 9 p.m.I'm letting my kids eat unwrapped candy.

They can eat any homemade goodies they get, too, and that unholy of unholies: candy where the wrapper is slightly torn. And on the very off chance they get an apple, they can gnaw it to the core, so long as there's not a razor-sized, dripping gash on the side.

Which always seemed like it would be a kind of give-away that something was amiss.

It's not that I'm cavalier about safety. I'm just a sucker -- so to speak -- for the facts. And the fact is: No child has been poisoned by a stranger's goodies on Halloween, ever, as far as we can determine. Joel Best, a sociology professor at the University of Delaware, studied November newspapers from 1958 to the present, scouring them for any accounts of kids felled by felonious candy. And...he didn't find any. He did find one account of a boy poisoned by a Pixie Stix his father gave him. Dad did it for the insurance money and, Best says, he probably figured that so many kids are poisoned on Halloween, no one would notice one more.

Well, they did and dad was executed. That's Texas for you.

Go to the site. Read the rest of the article. Especially if you have children or grandchildren. Then take a deep breath.

Oh, and if you're someone i know personally with children or grandchildren (or are ever around children or have ever touched a child) expect a copy of the author's book in your stocking this year...

And next he'll play an Indian Chief...

from reuters:

Popular British actor David Tennant, best known for playing the title role in the BBC's long-running sci-fi series "Doctor Who," is set to make his American television debut as the title character in NBC's hour-long pilot "Rex Is Not Your Lawyer."

The comedic legal drama centers on a top Chicago litigator (Tennant) who begins suffering panic attacks and takes up coaching clients to represent themselves in court.

NBC green lighted the project in August, about two years after it was first developed, and had been trying to find a lead actor for several months until Tennant came along and nailed the part. Tennant, a theater and TV actor, rose to fame playing the mysterious alien time-traveler at the center of "Doctor Who" for the past five years. His performance as the Doctor has been often rated as the top in the franchise's 46-year history.

Well, the good news about this is that we Americans will have an easier time getting our fix of the wonderful actor that is David Tennant. For at least four weeks. Yes, I know it's being touted as a new ongoing series, but considering some of the other decisions the peacock bosses have made lately... (of course, by the time this show airs NBC will be owned by Comcast anyway which means there'll be a completely new set of decision making idiots who not only will be looking to turn a profit but to do it quickly so they can justify their expenditures to the new corporate overlords. Assuming the show makes it beyond the pilot stage to begin with.)

Post Halloween...

So as we begin to pull out of the sugar-induced coma, I suppose it's time to do a little catching up. There's been a lot of things cross the desk lately, and I don't know how many we'll actually get to today, but we're gonna give it a good shot today and tomorrow then probably round things off on Friday with a junkyard. That's if everything goes according to plan. And let's be honest, how often does that actually happen?

So, first thing, how about writing off the Halloween season with a couple of items that really fit into the season but we just never got around to.

Hmm... let's set the wayback machine for 62 (yes, really, 62) years ago. 1946 saw the introduction of one of the truly scariest monsters ever created. And I'm not necessarily talking about the furry red guy:



fun schtuff, hunh? ok, now let's head back even further to Halloween 1939. Orson W - wait a second! What's happening? it seems we're caught in some kind of temporal/dimensional crossover! Look, over there! Is that a martian, or a guy with pointy ears?

Actually it may be both. LA Theater Works is a group dedicated to carrying on the traditions of Old Time Radio, presenting both original works and recreations of old radio shows. Recently they gathered together a collection of stars from the Star Trek TV shows, including Leonard Nimoy and John DeLancey, to recreate the 1939 Orson Wells classic The War of the Worlds. The results are definitely interesting and well worth a listen. The show, presented in two parts below, also includes an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World which was actually adapted for radio by the aforementioned John DeLancey . And be sure to check out the L.A. Theater Works website for more great audio plays.

Click play for part one:

Click play for part two:


Ok, so in looking at all the trailers for our classic horror trailer roundup laast month, I of course ran across a whole bunch that looked interesting but didn't really fit the format. Worry not, though, because you'll be seeing them pop up here and there for awhile, I'm sure. The first of these is for a little movie which is actually out on video now (and available on Netflix's watch now) called Boy Eats Girl. Let's just say it appears to be Ireland's entry into the zombie apocalypse comedy race. And though more low-key than Shaun of the Dead, it's still pretty funny. Here's the preview:



BTW, you may remember a while back we linked to a story about a correlation between republicans being in power and a rise in the number of zombie movies, and a corresponding rise in interest in vampires when the Democrats are in power. How then to explain this year, where Twilight is sharing the multiplex screens and box office dollars with Zombieland? That's when it struck me that even such usually reliable predictors are completely confused by the fact that Barack Obama, a Democrat who ran on a platform of change is acting more and more like his Republican predecessor....

Ok, enough of that for now. Let's move on, shall we?

Classic Horror Trailer #31

Well, here we are. Today's the big day, and of course we've saved a special trailer for last. From 1978, it's the John Carpenter original, the movie named for the day, it's Halloween



And we've got a special bonus for you today. One of the all-time great horror stars performs a work by one of the all-time great horror writers: here's Vincent Price performing Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven



Happy Halloween, Everyone!

Classic Horror Trailer #30

The movie set frightened theater-goers out of their skins upon its original releases, yet they lined up around the block to see it. It's first trailer (the one below) was pulled from theaters. It spawned any number of sequels and imitators. It was even re-released years later with additional footage as "The Version You've Never Seen". We're talking of course about today's feature, The Exorcist



And really, if we're talking Exorcist, could there be any other bonus?



Yeah, it's unfortunately incomplete. Why? Ask NBC. Apparently even with the advertising they're afraid actually giving viewers what they want will somehow take away some opportunity to "monetize" their 30 odd year old product. But really, that's a rant for another day. Instead, how's about we just take the opportunity to sit back and enjoy another SNL clip (this time in it's entirety) starring Richard Pryor and Chevy Chase...

Classic Horror Trailer #29

Shirley Jackson's classic story The Haunting of Hill House has inspired a number of movies, but the Robert Wise original remains the best of the lot...



Our bonus takes us from the sublime to the ridiculous... From 2001, Dumpsterpiece Theater brings you 1967's Hilbillies In a Haunted House starring Ferlin Husky, Joi Lansing, John Carradine, and Lon Chaney Jr.

Everbody has those days...

even him..

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

"I'll analyze it... with science."

Classic Horror Trailer #28

Yeah, I know, it was followed up by an outrageous number of incredibly inane and disconnected sequels (marsupial werewolves in Australia? really?) But the original definitely qualifies as a classic...



And let's face it, if we're talking werewolves, there's really only one bonus to goo with 'em...

You ladies can use the extra hour to thank me for this...

Here's one way to remember the fall time change (which actually occurred last week in the UK)

Just call it a Rush Job

Y'know, there's really nothing more satisfying than seeing the self-righteous get hoist by their own petard...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

After seeing all I can think is "Let's hope Rush doesn't see the clip below... or else he'll have all new 'true' material for his show"...

Classic Horror trailer #27

More Val Lewton today, with a description taken from the youtube poster who says it as well as I could...

RKO producer Val Lewton seemed to thrive upon taking the most lurid film titles and coming up with pocket-edition works of art. Saddled with the studio-dictated title I Walked With a Zombie, Lewton, together with scripters Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray, concocted a West Indies variation on Jane Eyre. Trained nurse (Frances Dee) travels to the tropics to care for Christine Gordon, the wife of seemingly abusive Tom Conway. At first, Dee merely believes her patient to be comatose. But as the drums throb and the natives behave restlessly, Dee tries to bring her patient back to life by jungle magic. Conway is racked with guilt, believing himself responsible for his wife's condition; his guilt is stoked by Conway's drunken brother James Ellison, who has always loved Gordon. Utilizing very limited sets and only a handful of extras, director Jacques Tourneur manages to evoke an impression of an expansive tropical island populated at every turn by voodoo worshippers. Many of the sequences, notably Frances Dee's first languid stroll into the midst of the native ceremonies, have an eerie dream-like quality that pervades even the most worn-out, badly processed TV prints of I Walked With Zombie.

For our bonus tie-in today we go back into the archives a bit... when the economy wasn't in such dire srtaits and health care was not the main issue of the day. Instead, then-president Bush seemed to have other things in his mind:

Classic Horror Trailer #26

As we're running through these horror trailers, it occurs to me that the name Val Lewton has been terribly underrepresented. a fixture of 30's horror and suspense, Lewton had a rather unique deal with his studio. They would give him a title and start the marketing campaign, and he was expected to make a movie to fit. Of course, quite often what he turned in wasn't exactly what they were expecting, but his movies were also rarely short of imaginative and suspenseful. Take, for instance, today's offering: The Cat People:



And today's bonus? Well, in 1982, a remake of the movie was made starring Nastassia Kinski in the Simone Simon role. And from the soundtrack of the movie came this great David bowie song - which you may also remember from a different recent remake...

Classic Horror Trailer #25

Is it a classic? Yehah, I think it fits. Certainly if we can include the Friday the 13th movies, we have to include this one, too. True, it may not be 50 60 or 70 years old, but in a lot of ways, this movie was a classic as soon as it came out. Which one are we talking about? Check out the trailer...



Whew... gives me chills even now... But here's a little mashup to make things a bit brighter. Honestly, I'd hoped to give you the original video, but apparenty at the moment it's nowhere to be found...

Classic Horror Trailer #24

Who likes a good haunted house story? We do, of course. So here's one of the most interesting, especially since it's supposedly based on a true story. From 1979, here's The Amityville Horror:



Ok, today's bonus is an investigation into that whole "based on a true story" bit... Produced by the BBC, exploring and explaining not only the events of the haunting, but the killings that took place before, here's The Real Amityville Horror:

There's short, and then there's these...

Taking a cue from Ernest Hemingway who famously wrote a short story in only six words ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn."), Wired Magazine challenged some of their favorite writers to do the same. The full results can be found at the above link, but here are some favorites:

Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?
- Eileen Gunn

Automobile warranty expires. So does engine.
- Stan Lee

Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
- Alan Moore

With bloody hands, I say good-bye.
- Frank Miller

Lie detector eyeglasses perfected: Civilization collapses.
- Richard Powers

Easy. Just touch the match to
- Ursula K. Le Guin

Bush told the truth. Hell froze.
- William Gibson

Three to Iraq. One came back.
- Graeme Gibson

Commas, see, add, like, nada, okay?
- Gregory Maguire

Dorothy: "Fuck it, I'll stay here."
- Steven Meretzky

...and perhaps my favorite of the bunch:

Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood

I'm Dwarfed By The Size of Your Bohemian...

This one's for David... because... well, just because...

Quote of the Week

"Some people sing in the shower, in the shower half an hour. No kids, three minutes is more than enough. I've counted, three minutes, and I don't stink."

- Venezuelan premier Hugo Chavez, speaking during a televised Cabinet meeting about the need to conserve water.

How about a little pie with that soup?

Barry Mitchell wrote this ditty for Soupy Sales'birthday and perfomed it live for him at an appearance at the Friars club. It seems a fitting tribute to a man known for taking over 20,000 pies in the face. Come Pie with Me:



By the way, here's a link to the LA Times Obituary for Mr. Sales...

Classic Horror Trailer #23

It's Friday, so what better way to celebrate than with the character who made Friday not only a day to celebrate, but a day to fear... But today, instead of one or two trailers, we've got something really special - a compilation of all 11 of the original Friday the 13th trailers (let's not even mention last year's remake/reimagining/really cocking things up, shall we?)



What? After all that you still want a bonus? Ok, well, since we all know that the Friday movies aren't really about high art or charater development or anything like that, but really they're all about the kills, how about a video that throws together all of the kill scenes from numbers one through ten? How many are there? Well, since there's a running tally at the bottom, just watch and see...

R.I.P. Soupy

Also today came word of the passing of Soupy Sales last night at a hospital in the Bronx. Mr Sales had been in declining health for a number of years. Best known as a television comedian, Soupy was one of the greatest comedians of the early television years and one of the first to truly make television his own.

A bit of biography courtesy of Wikipedia:

Sales was born as Milton Supman in Franklinton in Franklin County in north central North Carolina to Irving and Sadie Supman. The Jewish Irving Supman, a dry goods merchant, had emigrated to America from Hungary in 1894. Soupy Sales had two siblings, Leonard Supman (deceased) and Jack Supman (b. 1921). Sales got his nickname from his family. His older brothers had been nicknamed "Hambone" and "Chicken Bone"; Milton was dubbed "Soup Bone," which was later shortened to "Soupy". When he became a disc jockey, he began using the stage name Soupy Hines. After he became established, it was decided that "Hines" was too close to the Heinz soup company, so he chose the surname Sales, after comedian Chic Sale...

Sales is best known for his daily children's television show, Lunch with Soupy Sales. The show was originally called 12 O'Clock Comics, and was later known as The Soupy Sales Show. Improvised and slapstick in nature, Lunch with Soupy Sales was a rapid-fire stream of comedy sketches, gags, and puns, almost all of which resulted in Sales receiving a pie in the face, which became his trademark. Sales developed pie-throwing into an art form: straight to the face, on top of the head, a pie to both ears from behind, moving into a stationary pie, and countless other variations. He claimed to have been hit by more than 25,000 pies during his career...

In 1964, Sales found a new weekday home at WNEW-TV in New York City. This version was seen locally until September 1966, and 260 episodes were syndicated by Screen Gems to local stations outside the New York market during the 1965-1966 season. This show marked the height of Sales' popularity. It featured guest appearances by stars such as Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., as well as musical groups like the Shangri-Las and The Supremes.

As with his earlier shows, Sales performed musical numbers on the show and his extensive jazz record collection was used in his TV work. "Mumbles" by Oscar Peterson with Clark Terry was Pookie's theme. "Comin' Home Baby" by Herbie Mann was the theme for Sales' "Gunninger the Mentalist" character (a parody of Dunninger the Mentalist).

This was also the period when Sales starred in the movie comedy Birds Do It. During the run of the New York show, actor Frank Nastasi played White Fang, Black Tooth, Pookie, and all the "guy at the door" characters...

One incident from the TV show caused Sales quite a bit of trouble... but lets hear the story from the man himself:



And also for your viewing pleasure, here's a complete show of Soupy's from 1965:



Thanks for the laughs, Soupy... You will be missed...

(for those interested in reading more about Mr. Sales, here's an excellent remembrance by Mark Evanier...)

R.I.P. Vic Mizzy

Time to catch up on a couple of things other than Horror Trailers. Unfortunately our first two updates today relate to the passing of a couple of legendary Television figures. first, composer vic Mizzy. Now Mizzy is not a household name, but his tunes certainly are. Besides composing songs for Doris Day, the Andrews Sisters, and many others, besides composing the scores for various films, including a couple for the recently mentioned William Castle, besides composing various TV themes and scores, there are really three things that I personally (and probably most people) will remember Vic Mizzy for. First, he wrote (and recorded, overdubbing his own voice multiple times) the theme song for The Addams Family:



Second, he also wrote the theme song for Green Acres:



Finally, Mizzy also composed music for a number of Don Knotts films, including The Reluctant Astronaut and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, which contained the following iconic organ theme:



Rest in peace, Mr. Mizzy, and I'll say a small prayer for you tomorrow when the wee one and I are watching Mr. Chicken...

(for those in Nashville, there is a free showing of the movie at the downtown public library tomorrow afternoon which is going to be hosted by local horror host Dr. Gangrene.)

Classic Horror Trailer #22

Keeping with the silent theme, we take a look at an early German import, going all the way back to 1919 for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.



And for our bonus? Yep, once again, here's the full film... enjoy!

Classic Horror Trailer #21

Today our classic trailers go silent. Well, not really, but today we celebrate one of the masters of the silent film era, Mr. Lon Chaney Sr. and perhaps his most famous silent horror, The Phantom of the Opera.



Our bonus? Well, we've got a two-fer for ya again today. First up, once again for those who may never have seen the full original, well, here ya go...



Secondly, perhaps the most horrific tie-in we could think of (with the exception of the 2005 Gerard Butler musical adaptation, that is):

Classic Horror Trailer #20

More William Castle showmanship today as Vincent Price fights the menace of The Tingler:



Today's bonus comes to you live from Wonderfest 2006 where Nasville's own horror host Dr Gangrene had his own encounter with the Tingler...



and then, once the movie was over...

Classic Horror Trailers #18 and 19

William Castle was in a lot of ways a combination of Alfred Hitchcock and P.t. Barnum. He was not only a film maker, but a master showman who knew how to go the extra mile in selling a film in order to put butts in seats. From "Emergo" to "Ghost Viewers" to ensuring all of his audience members against death by fright, Castle was a master showman. So today in our Classic horror Trailer Double Feature we take a look at two of Castle's most popular flicks. The first starred Vincent Price as a man who lures seven unsuspecting visitors to his home for a most unusual birthday party:



Our second feature is another haunted house story. but this particular house has not one, not two, but a full baker's dozen of ghosts...



And finally, yes, we do have a bonus for you today. here's a three part documentary from the "fearmakers" series that will give you a good introduction to William Castle - both the man and his films:

Classic Horror Trailer #15, 16, and 17

what?! No updates since Wednesday? Nahh, that can't be right, can it? Ok, yeah, due to a number of circumstances, I've fallen a bit behind in posting... but, a triple feature now, a double feature later this afternoon, then back on schedule tomorrow, and we should be caught up, right? At least on the trailers... of course, then we've got a whole bunch of other stuff that's run across the desk here, but... well, let's get on with this part, at least...

So last time we looked at Hammer's entry into the horror field with The Curse of Frankenstein. No, it wasn't really the first horror film that Hammer studios made, but it's the first one that we really think of as a true "Hammer Horror". And it was merely the beginning of many more to come. Today we look at the three movies that rounded out Hammer's cseries of remakes (or reaeely, to use today's terminology, re-imaginings) of the 1930's Universal monster movies. First up, here's the trailer for Hammer's direct follow-up, The Horror of Daracula, or as it was known in the states, simply Dracula.



Then, the next year, Hammer followed on their success with Christopher Lee appearing this time as The Mummy.



Finally, in 1961, Hammer decided to reuse some already standing sets to send an unwary Oliver Reed to 18th Century Spain where he unfortunately contracted The Curse of the Werewolf...



Ok, no bonuses this time around, but check back later as we head into the castle...

Classic Horror Trailer #14

In the late 50's Britain's Hammer studios had the idea to remake the Universal classic monster movies, updated with more blood, and, more importantly, color. The Curse of Frankenstein, released in 1957 was the beginning of something big for the studio:



From there, the studio took off, not only maing many sequels, but opening their pantheon to include Dracula, the Mummy, and more. For our bonus today, how about a look at the studio that churned out some of the best monster movies ever made...

Return of the Revenge of the Son of the Ghost of the Bride of the Junkyard Strikes Again Part 2

Yep, as promised, more recent links that may have fallen through the cracks...

ITEM! Paramount Pictures is trying to judge the amount of Paranormal Activity on the Internet. Of course, you know if this is a success, it's eventually going to lead to the movie dramatising the campaign behind the movie...

ITEM! BTW, that little movie we were just talking about? It actually doupled the cost of making it this past weekend. On each screen it was showing on...

ITEM! Never really been interested in following the ups and down and ins and outs of the stock market? After seeing this, you might be...

ITEM! Advice to parents: If you send your child to school with leftover KFC, be sure not to send along the spork, or they might wind up in detention...

ITEM! 4 month old "Chubby Monkey" is denied health insurance - apparently having a prehensile tail is considered a pre-existing condition...

ITEM! I can't help but wonder how the folks behind yesterday's conservative bible project are going to deal with the fact that apparently the bible doesn't say God created the earth after all...

ITEM! Since most beauty pageant contestants are considered plastic anyway, Hungary decides to make it official...

ITEM! Fortunately (at least for Liverpudlian men), it doesn't look like the women of Liverpool will be needing to enter the Miss Plastic competition anytime soon...

ITEM! Oh, and we understand that passengers at England's Manchester airport are being instantly qualified or disqualified for both of the above competitions...

ITEM! Attention people of Indianapolis: All those people in Crown Hill Cemetery are NOT the dead come back to life - they're just partiers celebrating "Family Fun Day"...

ITEM! While we're on alerts, Attention drivers in Boston: This from Devon England: "Deliberately splashing people by driving through a big puddle could mean that the motorist was driving without reasonable consideration for other road users. People involved in this practice could find themselves prosecuted and points put on their licence." You are all put on notice...

ITEM! Yes, the article actually says that the perpetrator "underwent a police grilling" before being charged with criminal damage to two hamburgers. Fortunately Officer Big Mac is on the case...

ITEM! Is your child still undecided about how to dress up this Halloween? How about as a soon to be eaten lobster, a roast turkey, or a chicken with an alien burstng from its chest? (and yes, there are pics)...

ITEM! Guess who's trying to Ram his way into the NFL?

ITEM! Finally, it's good to know that Amy Winehouse now has her priorities straight "Despite Winehouse’s fear that her breasts might explode, she stopped on her way to the hospital for some chicken."

Classic Horror Trailer #13

In 1968, George Romero broke away from the pack with an extremely low budget film about a diverse group of people trapped in a farmhouse while the rest of the world has been overrun by zombies. From that time, Romero has made his own sequels, remakes have been done, and his then-partners also made their own set of sequels, and "...of the Dead" (or, "...of the Living Dead") has been a part of the horror landscape and lexicon ever since. Here, then, is the trailer for that first ground-breaking flick, Night of the Living Dead:



Our bonus? Well, we've got a twofer today. First up, for those who might not have ever actually seen the original (or might just want to visit it again), here's the entire movie... just for you...



Secondly, as I mentioned above, Romero is still making sequels to the series. The newest one, scheduled for sometime later this year, is called Survival of the Dead. Here's a peek:

Return of the Revenge of the Son of the Ghost of the Bride of the Junkyard

Yeah, it's been awhile since our last Junkyard, so this one's kinda supersized... Some folks call it "linkblogging", we just call it "The Junkyard"... What is it? Basically an every-once-in-a-while collection of those items I've run across that don't necessarily need a full write-up or maybe just little bits that I find amusing or quirky or.... Anyway, just follow the links in each item for more info... You get the idea... anyway, enough preamble, on with the show...

ITEM! Y'ever feel that the real problem with the Bible is that it's just too gosh-darn liberal? Well, worry no more, because the Conservapedia Bible Project is here to let you help fix it...

ITEM! Are ya a small farmer? Do you like buying locally produced foods? Perhaps bartering eggs for tomatoes? Well, you can forget about it if the Produce Traceability Initiative and the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 which just passed the house aren't severly modified by the senate...

ITEM! Now we know why Nero Wolfe was so paranoid and kept such meticulous records about his orchids... He didn't want SWAT teams invading his house or to spend years in a federal penitentiary...

ITEM! "We're not asking people to spy on their neighbors," [Los Angeles police Cmdr. Joan] McNamara said while exhorting the crowd. "If you see something, say something."

ITEM! What's that? You think the posting of bills online so the public can know what their representatives are actually voting on might be a good thing? Well, fortunately your representatives don't agree with you...

ITEM! Think that 2 can dine for 10.99 deal sounds good? You might want to think again...

ITEM! When you decide it might be fun to beat up on those two girly-men walking down the street, you might want to make sure they're not actually cage fighters on their way to a costume party...

ITEM! Frequent flyers: if you think taking your belt and shoes off before getting on a plane is for sh!t, wait'll you get a load of this: "All Nippon Airways (ANA) claims that empty bladders mean lighter passengers, a lighter aircraft and thus lower fuel use."

ITEM! Of course, some are saying that airport security is one of the reasons Chicago didn't get the olympics...

ITEM! Can you really oppose a bill that "would withhold defense contracts from companies like KBR 'if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court.'"? Apparently 30 Republican senators can...

ITEM! After having to be told "I have been in Jewish cemeteries. There is never a cross on a tombstone of a Jew.", the Supreme Court decides that maybe making no decision is sometimes the best thing they can do...

ITEM! I realise the economy is leading a lot of people to do things you might not expect of them, but does Marge Simpson need the money THAT much?!

ITEM! "HEY! What is that?!" "I think it's tear gas!" "Quick, take off your bra!" (Hey, at least with two cups you can share with your neighbor...)

ITEM! Obviously whoever pulled off this theft was just a concerned citizen scared by the terror threat levels and doing his best to be prepared in case if an imminent gas attack...

ITEM! At first described as resembling "a dignified old man", this parrot soon proved nothing but a horny teen...

ITEM! So if you're a police officer whose partner has just shot a homeowner in the back six times, dragged his bloodied body out of the house in front of his family, put him on the hood of your squad car and then driven down the street with it on top of the car, you might want to make sure the 911 center is not still recording what's going on in the house when you tell him "That's all right. Don't worry about it. I got your back. ... We clear?"

ITEM! A school in Wales has come up with what appears to be an innovative solution to the problem of school children smoking: Hand out the cigarettes to them and build them a smoking shelter...

ITEM! Meanwhile, closer to home, New York city schools have banned bake sales... except, of course, for the one day a month when the PTA can sell dark fudge brownies and lemon bars... oh, and after 6pm on weekdays, anything goes...

ITEM! For those who are intersted in what you're not being told, Project Censored has released their list of the top 25 under- or non- reported stories for 2009/2010...

ITEM! The next minority group likely to be out in the streets demanding their civil rights? Protestants...

ITEM! Can you really improve a lead line like "A gay man tried to poison his lesbian neighbours by putting slug pellets into their curry after he was accused of kidnapping their three-legged cat."? I don't think so...

ITEM! Speaking of lesbians, guess who's being more adversely affected by "Don't ask, don't tell"?

ITEM! And speaking of lead lines, how about "Boy drags flashy man of God to police for terrorising his buttocks with monster whopper"

LAST ITEM! Finally, is she sexy? Yes. Is she the sexiest woman alive? Hmm...

More tomorrow! (Yep, really... more!)

Classic Horror Trailers #11 and 12

Tep, we've got another trailer double feature for ya today since I was taking sort of an internet vacation yesterday... Two interconnected trailers, one from the 50's, and one from the 80's. First up, from 1951, The Thing from Another World.



And the Second part of our double feature is John Carpenter's remake, one of the few which many would say well surpasses the original. Here's Kurt Russell in 1982's The Thing.



Ok, I'll admit up front our bonus today doesn't really fit in with our classic horror trailers theme... but if you're as big a fan of those really bad 50's and 60's horror/scifi movies as I am, you'll find a lot to love in The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. Below I've put together a number of trailers and clips both from the original and it's sequel The Lost Skeleton Returns Again...

Classic Horror Trailer #10

Hmmm... some might argue that today's choice is really more sci-fi than horror, but personally I think it's pretty fairly counted in both camps... and a fitting follow-up to yesterday's giant spider. Today we have even scarier radioactive creatures that, as the trailer says, threaten all of mankind. Yes, today we have... Them!



No time for a bonus today, but I'll try to include an extra special one tomorrow...

Quote of the week

You know, I have a pretty good idea of the Republican plan for the next three years - "Don't let Obama do anything". What kills me is, apparently that's the Democrats' plan, too. - Bill Maher, New Rules, 9/25/09

The Runner up, from the same diatribe:

30% interest on credit cards? Are you kidding me? It's a good thing for the banks the Supreme Court legalized sodomy.

You know it's bad when even NPR is reporting on Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize and they can't keep the "REALLY?!" out of their voices. I mean, seriously, I thought the prize was supposed to go to someone who had actually accomplished something. But after nine months in office, we still have prisoners in Gitmo (with Obama neither ruling out more torture nor doing away with the other secret prisons), soldiers in Iraq and Afganistan (with no real hope of them coming home anytime soon), "don't ask don't tell" still prevails in the military, the economy is still in the tank, and many of the more heinous policies of the Bush administration are still being carried on, in both the foreign and domestic arenas. And of course, there's the current health care debacle, which not only is not taking the shape that Obama campaigned on, but is proving an effective distraction from other just as pressing matters. And for those who say (as I've tried to up to this point) that 9 months isn't long enough to judge the president's long-term effectiveness, since it's apparently enough to judge his worthiness for the peace prize, it would seem it's also long enough to judge him on other matters.

Of course, as Maher points out in his above-quoted New Rules segment, it's not just the president and congress that's at fault here, but also "we the people". No, I'm not suggesting that the teabaggers are right in disrupting town hall meetings and showing their racist stripes and comparing Obama to Hitler, but I am suggesting that maybe it's time that we, as Americans, start speaking up again, start standing up for ourselves, and start demanding that a President who has a majority in both houses of congress stop trying to "reach across the aisle" to people who have NO interest in being reached out to, stop trying to build some kind of imaginary coalition with people whose only objective is to tear him down and regain power for themselves (actually, Rush Limbaugh, much as I hate to admit it, may be the most honest conservative out there when he says that he hopes that Obama does fail in his goals - it's obvious that he's far from the only one that feels that way, but he's one of the few who will actually admit it), and instead start using the power of his office and the power of his party's control of congress to actually DO SOMETHING and fulfill those lofty goals and dreams that we elected him on. As Maher also says, "What happened to change? And when did the fierce urgency of 'now' become 'Your call is important to us, please continue to hold'?"

Here's the full video:
(fair warning, this is definitely not family friendly, and not safe for work)

What it is, What it was, What it will be...

So while we've got the wayback machine set for the 50's, let's take a look in on 1953 when Andy Griffith gives us one of the best stand-up bits ever...

Classic Horror Trailers #8 and 9

Yeah, ok, so I missed posting a trailer for yesterday, so how about a double feature today? First up, let's move to 1956 when Dr. Miles Bennel started noticing something... different about the people around him:



And, for a different look at small town terrors from the 50's, how about this film showing a midwest desert town terrorized by a really big creep:



what's that? You want bonuses, too? Ok, first up, how about a look at the Invasion remake from 1978 starring Donald Sutherland?



And, to go with our Tarantula trailer, how about a look at a real version of the giant spider... taking on a snake!

Classic Horror Trailer #7

So yesterday's classic creature swam into theaters, but today's OOZES! Yep, that's right, it's the 1958 classic, and the movie that made Steve McQueen a star (ummm... well...) The Blob!



And for today's bonus feature, we have a special treat. In 1972, Larry hagman both starred in and directed a sequel to the Blob called Beware the Blob, and the good folk at Imgae Entertainment have made the entire movie available online. So, sit back, grab a bowl of red jello, and enjoy:

Classic Horror Trailers #6

Let's move our classic horror spotlight up a couple of decades this time to the year 1954. A time when atomic spawned monsters were beginning to invade our drive-ins, and when 3-D was all the rage. And into the midst of all this horror swam a creature who was actually a throw-back to a prehistoric age, a creature who lived hidden away in a lost lagoon...



Today's bonus takes a look at how the Creature was tied in with another fad. In the late 80's and early 90's there was a resurgence of interest in pinball machines, but this time around they were full of all the bells and whistles that the manufacturers could pack in. And there was ususally some attempt to tie the machines to some other concept, to give each one a "theme". Certainly Universal, who has never been shy about liscensing their monsters was not going to miss out on this windfall, so in 1992, the Creature from the Black Lagoon pinball machine hit the arcade floors, ready to terrorize everyone out of their quarters...