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 Exorcist (1973)

 

Sometimes it's difficult to define why a film or book remains a permanent icon of its field. There are plenty that I've seen or read which don't quite click for me, and some over time become so terribly dated that they become reflections of a time instead of pure entertainment. The Exorcist is not one of those films or books. This week, I re-watched it on the big screen in an empty theater late in the evening. I may have had an early shift in the morning, but it was so worth the exhaustion.

It seems most stories involving demons, exorcisms, ghosts, ouija boards - - any and all of the above - - are always on a quest to recapture the simple effectiveness of The Exorcist. It's not just the story of good vs. evil, but each major character has their own struggles. The mother. Father Merrin. Father Karras. It adds something important to the struggle at the heart of this story. Dread sort of sneaks up on you as it builds up to the final battle, and if you haven't yet seen this one (somehow) I highly encourage you to finally watch it. If not tonight, then definitely on Halloween. You won't regret it.

October 8th: Art Sherpa Inspired Painting

 Revisiting one of my favorite art teachers of the Youtube-sphere, the Art Sherpa, today I'm sharing the progress pictures and a link to her delightful video (which is far more expertly done than my own attempt). I can't recommend this lady enough if you're just looking for some fun at home and have way too many acrylics wasting away in the back of your closet.

Vintage Comics: Beware, Issue #8, Lost Souls, When Witches Summon (Cover - pg. 15)

 Returning with some more long-awaited vintage comics, this year I've got a fun one for you. An evil witch, a ghostly treasure, headless men and undead crusaders. I can't help but wonder why a music professor was so dedicated to his craft that he'd seek out a dead witch party to find a forgotten song.

Book of the Week: Strangely Enough by C. B. Colby / Happy Halloween

First of all, happy Halloween! Second, the book of the week is once more brought to you by nostalgia. One of my fondest memories as a kid was going to places like Goodwill or huge library book sales where you could pay 5-10 bucks for a large brown bag to fill with books to your heart's content. This was one of many finds I had that was decommissioned after a long and honorable service (1959 actually). With most of the stories being fairly easy to read, generally no more than 2-3 pages, it's such a great book to burn through and read to kids. Not to mention, it's not so morbid or dark that you'd have to deal with too many nightmares afterwards.

Vintage Magazine: Famous Monsters of Filmland, Vol. 1, No. 1 (64 - End)

Not a terribly long entry today, just wrapping up the last of the magazine issue before I get to work on finishing up edits for tomorrow's podcast episode. Really wish I had 2 physical copies of this one, just to have one for archiving and one to take out that awesome monster poster towards the end. Is it a crab? Is it a grasshopper? Who knows?!

Book of the Week: Who's Been Sleeping in my Grave? (Ghosts of Fear Street #2) by R. L. Stine

Fueled by fond library memories of my childhood perusing the shelves and grabbing the most intensely-shaded books with the brightest titles, I was thinking about the Ghosts of Fear Street series this morning. I read all of R. L. Stine's stuff throughout my childhood, stopping with a Nightmare Room book before I finally felt I'd outgrown his stuff. Goosebumps, Fear Street, Ghosts of Fear Street - - I loved them all. Why? Because they were mostly kids books that rarely had a happy ending, and it just felt scarier that way.

Some day I might revisit all of his books, though it'd be a monumental task. Whether they're easy 1-day reads or not, there are a lot of them. However, this one was one of my favorites. A kid has a creepy substitute teacher who has a particular fondness for him. Nostalgia is the main operator here, because I don't remember much. Except the chills that ran down my spine whenever the substitute teacher was described, and when her true identity was revealed in all it's - - gory. (Get it? Gory? Glory?)

Vintage Magazine: Famous Monsters of Filmland, Vol. 1, No. 1 (50 - 63)

Not much to say this issue except - I wonder how that voodoo snake ring works? It's gotta be a good deal at only $1...unless they cut off right before '+ shipping and soul handling'.

Movie Monster Cocktails

As I just love a fun themed cocktail and I spend a lot of time promising myself I will eventually use that chemistry cocktail set my friends gave me three years ago, I couldn't help but wonder - - are there other horror fans out there who've already done the legwork for me so that when I pull out my Friday the 13th set or my Ash Vs. Evil dead collection I've already got a recipe?

That was a stupid question. Of course there are. Below are some videos I've found that seemed to fit the theme best, provided they didn't use Falernum. I hate Falernum, sorry gang. Also, please be sure to check out the other videos these guys have made if you enjoyed them. They've got some pretty cool stuff. Incidentally, a note of advice about flavored whipped creams if you're struggling to find them, use 1/2 - 1 tsp of a flavored extract and blend it with heavy whipping cream. It'll save you the legwork. If you want it sweeter, use a coffee syrup instead. Torani and Da Vinci are two of my preferred brands thanks to their sugar free options.

Vintage Magazine: Famous Monsters of Filmland, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Pg. 14 - 30)

Continuing from where we left off with Famous Monsters, this section contains some stories and more cool film info. Later today I'll be sharing our latest podcast episode too, hopefully. Provided I can finish the editing in time!