Horror Flick of the Week: Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

The 70s. Glamour and glitz, a decade with perhaps the most experimentation in materials, colors, and style fashion has ever really seen. Drugs, discos, sequins, furs, scandals, decadence...yes, the 70s had it all in a way the burning-out 80s didn't quite recapture in quite the same way. Perhaps that was why this movie worked so well.

It's easy to overlook this movie with a glance, a quick perusal of the description, just a story about a glamorous photographer and a murderer who seems to be copying pose-for-pose every single element of her almost gruesome works. If I had to pick an American movie that really nailed the essence of giallo's style, it would be this one. Please, do yourself a favor and watch this movie as soon as possible. It will stick with you forever. Plus, there's a very young Brad Dourif making an appearance in it as well, and who doesn't love Brad Dourif? Did I mention John Carpenter wrote the initial story-line and early script?

Horror Flick of the Week: They Live (1988)

Often, when I want to judge whether or not someone would be the perfect movie buddy, I ask them how to finish this line: 'I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass...' If their immediate response is not 'and I'm all out of bubblegum', then we've got some serious issues and they've got some serious self-reflection to do.

Namely, they should ask themselves why the HELL they haven't seen one of the campiest of the campy classics, 'They Live'?!

In order to perhaps prevent others from an awkward moment such as this in the future, when seeking movie buddies for horror nights, I suggest anybody who hasn't seen 'They Live' to immediately buy a pair of sunglasses and a copy of this movie. Also, any fan of classic wrestling I guess...because Rowdy Roddy Piper.

I guess I might as well give you a quick summary too, because it can't all be gushing and criticism towards the unwashed masses, you've got to know what you're walking in to. So, straight from IMDB, here's the basic story: A drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over the Earth.

Simple, fun, and oh so deliciously campy...

The political subtext behind this film about poverty and brainwashing of the masses is so thick, it frankly isn't subtext at all. But when you talk to other people about it, as with any pretentious horror buff, you've got to bring up the 'subtext.' You just have to. Not to mention...greatest street fight scene of all time? I think so.