Horror Flick of the Week: Madhouse (1974)

I'm on a Vincent Price kick lately. It's a bit nostalgia, and a bit surprise when I watch and re-visit and discover his films/shorts. The man really was a multi-faceted individual. Years ago, I even wrote a post about him. After Danny Kaye, Vincent Price is one of my favorite performers and artists of all time. Looking for camp? He's got a catalog. Looking for dark, twisted horror? He's got some of those too. Melodrama? Film Noir? Radio horror or detective schlock? Poetry? Cookbooks? Art critiques? Yep. All of the above. This intro paragraph was just an excuse to talk about how much I love Vincent Price, but I guess I should get to the meat of the post. My featured horror flick of the week, which I feel is an unappreciated but interesting film. It came out towards the later period of his career, and the plot itself is a bit tragic and camp. He had a lot of films in that particular category, but I feel like this one leaned more tragedy than any of the others. Madhouse.

Typically, if you know the vibe of a crazy/revenge plot with Mr. Price (Theatre of Blood, Doctor Phibes, House of Wax, etc.) you know without a shadow of a doubt that the twist is always that Vincent Price is definitely the serial killing maniac. Not so much in Madhouse, and that's part of why I love it. His performance, and the underlying sadness of the whole story. A man committed for the murder of his partner which he may or may not have been responsible for. A mystery. A melodrama. A horror film that actually kept me guessing until the end, and felt like a truly satisfying twilight film of Mr. Price's wonderful career.

If you love Vincent Price, and if you haven't seen Madhouse, please...PLEASE give this one a watch. You will not regret it. (Then give Dragonywyck a shot too, while you're at it. That one rocks too).

Horror Flick of the Week: The Invisible Man (2020)

 

Shocking as it may be, this week I am featuring a film that is younger than twenty years old. For once. I didn't think there was a remote chance I'd enjoy this 4th remake (if you count the many sequels, then even more) of a film I'd only ever really enjoyed in its first incarnation. Especially given that in the trailers they seemed to be taking more of a Hollow Man approach - - and I was not a fan of that one, despite my love of Kevin Bacon. I was completely wrong, however, and this movie was far more delightful. The Invisible Man really became the monster of the piece, while the victim's point of view came to the forefront. It lent far more of a mystery element in some ways to a film that had never really had that before. It's sort of crazy realizing that a film about an invisible man had never really been much of a mystery before. For the most part the audience always knew where he was, save for a few sequences at the climax of Hollow Man.

Please, give this movie a chance as soon as possible. The atmosphere is perfect. The message in the story is relevant. The acting is superb. It's a film worthy of the Universal Monster universe, and even better is that it's in conjunction with Blumhause - - which has has very quickly seemed to become the king company of horror films these days.

Horror Flick of the Week: The Ritual

Yet again Netflix brought another unexpected excellent horror film to the table that I sat down and watched on pain of death. That means my mom made me watch it, but I was pleasantly surprised. A young man is traumatized after his friend is murdered and goes on a vacation about a year later with their remaining group, haunted by more than just bad memories. What I loved about this film is that at the end there were so many things to discuss and figure out, scenes to reflect on. My favorite type of movie, horror or otherwise.

Book of the Week: Goosebumps 25th Anniversary Collection by R. L. Stine

Goosebumps is close to my heart. Funny how you can read a book that you love so much, even reading another copy with a different cover just doesn't seem like an option. Don't get me wrong, the redesigns are cute, and it sort of revives the series in a way for a younger generation. Yet I love the old art here. It's very 90s, and very much a slice of my childhood.

I've always love reading, but when I was 6, learning to actively put a sentence together was hard. I'll save you the whole story of how it suddenly 'clicked' one day, and I could read just about anything. Suffice it to say, the first year I could go to that Scholastics book fair with money in hand and the knowledge that I could read whatever I bought without any help was magical. So I got a VHS of The Haunted Mask (which I still have), and a goosebumps book with a pumpkin book light. I'm not going to lie, the book light was what sold it. I think I bought Welcome to Dead House. It was '97, and Goosebumps was the series that all the kids were reading. The show had just launched, too, and I remember rushing home every day to watch it. There's not usually a huge scare in the Goosebumps books. Most of them have ambiguously an happy ending (yes, the day is saved...but you're a monster, or that sponge is going to wreak havoc when it gets wet again, or your dad might be one of the hundreds of plants in the front yard.) The next dark step up from Goosebumps was Ghosts of Fear Street, and then Fear Street when you were really ready for something 'darker and more mature'. Something for the teenagers.

My point is that I got this collection as a gift, it's amazing, and I'm pretty sure it could all be easily read in the course of a day by anyone of any age, and still feel just as magical as it did to me that day at the book fair when I bought my first Goosebumps.

Drive-in Trailers: Under The Sea

I think we can all agree that the world is a dangerous place, and anyone who steps foot out of their home for anything other than absolute necessities (food, water, bullets, Dolly Parton's latest album) is a fool. That being said, let us make our way back to the topic at hand: oceanic horror. The spooky, the dark, and the non-shark related horror waiting in your swimming pool, bathtub, and not-so-friendly local beach.

Horror Flick of the Week: Salem's Lot (1979)

My friends, this is one of the greatest vampire movies of all time. It is one of the greatest Stephen King films. It is also one of the greatest made for TV movies. Not because of phenomenal effects (though they're pretty solid and simple), but because of acting, writing, and story. It's the perfect horror film.

Make no mistake, it's pretty 70s as far as movies go, which isn't a bad thing. It suits the Stephen King setting quite well (small Maine-esque town, quaint locals, stranger rolling in a la Something Wicked This Way Comes, and the gradual corruption/death of everyone he encounters). What's more, who doesn't love a good old-fashioned Nosferatu? I know I sure do! Do yourself a favor if you haven't watched Salem's Lot yet--which I can't even begin to understand--you won't regret it.

Book of the Week: Monster, by A. Lee Martinez

I have read so many of this man's books. For me, his humorous balance in his story is on par with another favorite author of mine, R. Chetwynd-Hayes. I've already recommended one book by A. Lee Martinez in the past, Gil's All Fright Diner, but honestly? I love this one even more. There was a period of time a few years ago where I was pretty much reading at least one of these books a week, and Monster is one of the best.

The story plays with a concept I rarely see done as well as it should be. There are monsters everywhere, and normal people don't know about them. This one adds your typical Martinez guts and gore along with a succubus here and maybe a yeti destroying a grocery store there. A gland in people's brains that lets them see monsters for what they are, and a sort of supernatural police force doing what they can to at least keep things somewhat normal.

What I love about A. Lee Martinez, is that his protagonists are both very normal and very special in so many creative ways. This book was no exception to the rule, and it is very easily a 3-day read if you put your mind to it. Or don't. Just grab a glass of wine (or coffee) and enjoy.

Vintage Comics - Black Magic, Issue #2: The Cloak, Out of Your Mind (Pg. 18 - 26)

I get the impression this first story might have been influenced by a disgruntled tailor with a fussy customer. People, for the last time, if you turn around and find a store or building that you knew wasn't there the last time you looked--and there's an eery fog surrounding it, complete with appropriately perched blackbirds and wind chimes--do not go in, and do not buy anything. Or at least don't accept packages from mysterious gentlemen with sinister smiles.

Horror Flick of the Week: Vampire Party/Le Dents de la Nuit (2008)

I'm not going to lie. This movie is incredibly silly. It's also quite fun. What could be better than a hodge podge of strangers going to an exclusive late night party on an island out in the middle of nowhere? What if I told you Tchéky Karyo plays an evil vampiric count with the most glorious hair you'll ever see? Still not impressed? How about a magical spell-book that not only binds souls to Hell, but can also conveniently disguise you like a mariachi player or something else equally as ridiculous and fantastical?

Listen, it's just a fun movie. It's great for the Halloween season, and it's dark with enough of a light-hearted twist to leave you with only very mild nightmares at best.

Vintage Comics - Beware, Issue. 15: The Secret of Pitmurkiewood, Make Me Invisible, Right Connections (15 - End)

I know what you're thinking. Where's the podcast episode? I'm still editing it, but just in case there's an emergency--here's an extra comic post. If I finish editing the episode this morning, this'll be a special 2 post day! The final story in this comic struck me as one of the sweetest I've shared so far, and I almost regret not saving it for a Valentines post.

Horror Flick of the Week: The Baby (1973)

I'm not sure exactly how to describe why this is the movie of the week. Sometimes you just have to watch a different category of weird horror altogether, and sometimes - - that comes in the fan of an emotionally and mentally stunted man who was raised for decades as a permanent infant. It's a bit of a thriller and a melodrama with a bizarre twist. Ruth Roman also does an excellent job playing the overprotective (and somewhat demented) mother, which is equally as entertaining as the rest of the movie, if not more.

Book of the Week: The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson

When I was a kid, hands-down Amityville horror was one of those movies that was so dark and creepy, I couldn't really sit through it until I was probably 10 (which, if you've read and heard my ramblings over the last few years, you'll realize was pretty late for me, considering I had watched Dead Alive probably a dozen times at that point.) This is the book that started it all.

I'm not going to say it's based on a true story. I desperately want to, but I think we can all agree that events in this story are highly dramatized. There have been lawsuits. Debates. Fights. I'd like to believe drunken horror nerd brawls, even, about the events in this book based on the horrific ghostly experiences of the Lutz family in 1975. They left the house in just under a month.

For context, in 1974 Ronald DeFreo Jr brutally murdered his family in this house (which, to its credit, looks like a pretty damn creepy house even without the overlay and flames on the modernized book cover above). This book is not about Ronald, but each element of the book sort of comes together very well, and if you haven't had enough of the fictional story, there's so much you can explore after you've read this (from DeFreo to the Warrens, a pair of paranormal investigators whose cases inspired Jay Anson to write this). True or not, it's a great book, a modern classic, and well worth your time on a stormy night or a sunny day.

Vintage Comics: The Beyond #2: Valley of the Scaly Monsters, Bubble of Destruction, The Shrieking Terror (Pg. 16- End)

Running behind on some grad school homework, gang, so I figured I'd share the rest of this comic issue before I hide behind the books. Since I usually take undetermined hiatus after October anyway, I didn't want to leave you waiting either. Tomorrow, for Halloween, I'll be featuring a write-up on a very special actor.

Vintage Comics: The Beyond #2: The Mystery of Lunablanca & The Ghost who Stole a Body (Cover-Pg. 15)

Coming close to Halloween! 2 more days! So why not journey back to one of the first comic series I shared here, 'The Beyond', and continue on into their 2nd issue? I am still fascinated by the glorious colors in this series, and pleased with how the color correction came out this time around. Yes, I do moderate color correction on these comics sometimes when the yellow balance is too high.

Absolutely adore the villain-esque designs of the Countess Sinestra 'transforming' from a bat into a bat...woman...vampire-thing. I have a feeling if this had ever been adapted to the screen, Barbara Steele would have been ideal for the roles of both women.

As for the second story, the ghost art was absolutely stunning, with much heavier ink lines than we normally see in these comics. Perhaps a little dialog heavy, most of them are, but well worth the read just for the gorgeous panels alone.