Universal Home Entertainment will be introducing a limited edition 100th Anniversary Collector’s Series featuring some of the aforementioned film restorations on Blu-ray in collectible, book-style packaging showcasing rare movie memorabilia and brand new 10-minute video featurettes. In addition, special collections will be released throughout the year, culminating in the highly anticipated Blu-rayTM releases of Universal’s Classic Monster and Alfred Hitchcock series. A selection of movies that have shaped Universal’s legacy will also be released in commemorative packaging, many of them on Blu-rayTM for the first time ever. Some of the films listed are: Dracula Spanish Dracula Frankenstein Bride of Frankenstein All Quiet on the Western Front Out of Africa The Birds Buck Privates Jaws Schindler’s List Out of Africa Pillow Talk The Sting To Kill a Mockingbird
HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL YOU BOILS AND GHOULS! Make sure you celebrate tonight with lots of candy and goodies, and be sure to watch John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN, definitely one of my Halloween night traditions! Also, if you plan on having a Halloween party, be sure to crank up Monster Spookshow Radio's Halloween Spooktacular!
Also, check out the John Carpenter Q&A panel which I had the pleasure of hosting at Spooky Empire's Ultimate Horror Weekend!
I know I posted about this movie last Halloween season, but I honestly can't get enough of it. It is now my second favorite Halloween-themed movie, second only to John Carpenter's Halloween of course! A great movie, featuring cleverly written stories that are woven together by our little friend Sam Hain. Starring Anna Paquin (Miss Sookie Stackhouse herself), Brian Cox, Dylan Baker, and Quinn Lord as little Sam. If you've never seen it, treat yourself to a great film,...if you have seen it, don't deny yourself the pleasure of watching it again!
In keeping with the theme of Spookshows, here are some vintage ads for some Midnite Spook Shows and Horror Shows. This is the kind of stuff I live for, too bad theaters don't do this kind of stuff anymore, I personally think they would go over great!
Moe, Larry and Shemp are moving men assigned to the haunted Smorgasbord Castle. All goes well until a clanking suit of armor inhabited by the ghost of Peeping Tom (voiced by Phil Arnold) instructs the Stooges to leave him be. Shemp, Larry and Moe all take turns trying to move Tom but he spooks the Stooges away. After finally gaining their trust, Tom tells the trio the story of how he is waiting for Lady Godiva. Enjoy!
Ed Wood, Jr., born on October 10, 1924, is no doubt the king of the terribly awful but classic B-Movie. With cult classics such as Plan 9 From Outer Space, Bride Of The Monster and Night Of The Ghouls, Ed has become a legend. Today I offer you the trailer for his most famous film, Plan 9 From Outer Space. If you've never seen it, watch it, it's definitely worth a laugh!
I figured today's treat would be a post of the original trailer for The Creature From The Black Lagoon, in honor of the Q&A I will be hosting today at Spooky Empire's Ultimate Horror Weekend. I have the privilege of hosting a Q&A panel with the one and only Ricou Browning, the actor who portrayed The Creature (in all the underwater scenes) not only in the original film, but it both of the sequels as well. If you've never seen this film (shame on you!), you owe it to yourself to watch it, it's definitely a treat for monster movie fans! And if you have seen it, treat yourself to it again! Check out the fantastic scene where the Creature swims unknowingly below Julie Adams in the famous scene, which clearly influenced Steven Spielberg when he filmed the opening scene from JAWS. Enjoy!!
I usually don't do movie reviews, and I usually keep my opinions of films to myself, since I do realize that everyone has their own tastes, likes and dislikes when it comes to movies, but I thought I'd share this one. I learned long ago that if I were to ever watch a remake, there is no way I could go into it and expect to compare it to the original. I've seen some very bad remakes in my life, and the fact that I compared it to the original film only escalated my dislike for the remake, so now I watch remakes with no expectations and with a fresh approach, as if it were a movie or story I have never seen or heard. With that being said, I watched The Wolfman on Sunday, and I absolutely loved it! Yes, there are many elements of the original 1941 The Wolf Man, starring Lon Chaney Jr. in it, the main story of Lawrence Talbot returning to England, being bitten by a werewolf, and in turn becoming one himself is still intact, but they have added many elements to the story, and the film definitely benefits from it. The movie was beautifully filmed, the cinematography was amazing, and the score written by Danny Elfman (a personal inspiration to me) was fantastic. The cast, Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and the rest, were great and the acting all around was top notch. I have always been a huge fan of Rick Baker's make-up work (look for his cameo in the film), ever since An American Werewolf In London, and his work on The Wolfman is no exception, it was brilliant! I was expecting to see way too much CGI work, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much traditional make-up was used as opposed to CGI work. Of course the transformation scenes were mostly CGI (as you can see in the trailers) but once the transformations are complete, it's pretty much Benicio in full-on Wolfman make-up. I really loved how they kept the make-up true to Universal tradition, having borrowed from the original Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolfman as well as Hammer's The Curse Of The Werewolf. I don't want to give too much away, but I truly enjoyed The Wolfman, so much in fact that I would love to see it again! They did a magnificent job with this film, in every aspect..again, this is my opinion, but I do have to say, if you are a fan of the classic Universal horror films and the Hammer films, then you would most likely enjoy The Wolfman! I will warn the faint of heart, it is quite gruesome and bloody at times, so be prepared!
Who's excited? I know I definitely am! I mean, it's another remake, sure, and who knows if it will be any good (as much as everyone hated Van Helsing, I still found it entertaining, as well as Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein) I guess I am a sucker for anything regarding the classic Universal Studios Monsters. Either way, I plan to see this when it comes out, what do you guys think?
The Old Dark House, starring the King of Monsters, Boris Karloff, Charles Laughton, Ernest Thesiger and Gloria Stuart, was released in 1932 by Universal Studios, shortly after the release of the classic Frankenstein. James Whale once again shows his talent for mixing the spooky with the laughs as he did so brilliantly in The Bride of Frankenstein. The Old Dark House centers around a group of travelers, while seeking shelter from a storm, are admitted to a gloomy, foreboding mansion belonging to the extremely strange Femm family. Trying to make the best of it, the guests must deal with their sepulchral host, Horace Femm (wonderfully played by Ernest Thesiger), who claims to be on the run from the police, and his religious, obsessive, malevolent sister, Rebecca (Eva Moore). Things get worse as the brutish mute butler, Morgan (played by Boris Karloff, in a role similar to the Frankenstein monster), gets drunk, runs amok, threatens Margaret Waverton (The Imvisible Man's Gloria Stuart) and releases the long pent-up brother, Saul, a psychotic fantasist and pyromaniac who gleefully tries to destroy the residence by setting it on fire. This movie set the standard for the "old dark house" type of films, such as William Castle's House On Haunted Hill. Below I am posting a link to The Old Dark House on YouTube (embedding is disabled unfortunately), but you can see all 10 parts on YouTube. Watch it, it's definitely an underrated classic! just click the image below and enjoy some spooky fun!
Idle Hands, starring Devon Sawa, Jessica Alba and Seth Green, centers around the main character, Seventeen year old slacker Anton Tobias, who wakes up one Halloween morning to discover that both of his parents have been turned into two headless Halloween decorations. After speaking to his equally irresponsible friends, Mick and Pnub, he discovers that his right hand has a blood-thirsty mind of its own and is hell-bent on wreaking havoc whether he likes it or not. Anton's "hand" goes on a murder spree that climaxes at his high school's Halloween dance. Idle Hands is a great horror/comedy, featuring some great kills, some decent laughs and some cool music. If you haven't seen it, check it out!
The Vault Of Horror was the follow-up film to Amicus Films' Tales From The Crypt, and again, Amicus found source material from EC Comics' The Vault Of Horror comic books. The success of the Tales From The Crypt film motivated Amicus to quickly release this follow-up film. And again, the stories were taken directly from the comic books themselves. The Vault Of Horror wasn't as great as Tales From The Crypt, but it was still a very good film, great talents involved and the always wonderful Amicus feel. Watch it for yourself and tell me what you think!
Since we're on the topic of anthology films, here is another classic, Tales From The Crypt, released in 1972, this film is based on the classic EC comics, featuring stories ripped straight from the pages of the Tales From The Crypt comic books themselves. Starring one of my favorite horror actors Peter Cushing and Ralph Richardson, Tales From The Crypt was one of many "anthology" films released by British film company Amicus Films. If you haven't treated yourself to this film, or any of the Amicus films for that matter, then you are doing yourself a great disservice.
From the twisted minds of George Romero and Stephen King comes Creepshow, a tribute to the old EC comics Tales From The Crypt comic books. Here we have a classic example of an anthology film: 5 different stories, with a wrap-around story to tie them all in. This is one of my favorite Halloween time films to watch, it's got horror, humor and the feel of a good old fashioned horror comic book! Creepshow is a fun film to watch, with a decent cast and great stories!
The movie that started it all...flesh-eating zombies! Yes, zombies have been featured in motion pictures for many years, going back to the 1930s with films such as "White Zombie", but George Romero's classic Night Of The Living Dead started a genre that to this day is continuously imitated and duplicated. And although this film may have been inspired by other films, there had been no other film like it. It definitely broke ground for decades of zombies films to come, it also launched a very successful franchise for George Romero, which include the films Dawn Of The Dead, Day Of The Dead and Land Of The Dead. I had the pleasure of interviewing some of the folks involved in the film 2 weeks ago at Spooky Empire's Ultimate Horror Weekend. I Spoke with Bill Hinzman (cemetery zombie), Russell Streiner (Johnny), George Kasana (the sheriff) and John Russo (screenplay writer), and it was great hearing some of the behind-the-scenes stories they had to share. Night Of The Living Dead is definitely a film you should watch late at night, with a big bowl of popcorn and the lights turned off....if you're brave enough!
One of my favorite films to watch around Halloween time is The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. Ever since I was a kid I've always loved Don Knotts, and this film is my favorite of his. The story centers around Luther Heggs, a jerky, quirky typesetter for the town paper who aspires to move up from his basement office to be a full-fledged reporter. The story follows the Old Simmons House, which is known as a "murder house" around town due to the murder/suicide of Mr. and Mrs. Simmons 20 years earlier. Rumor has it that you can hear the ghost of Mr. Simmons playing the organ at midnight. To boost newspaper sales, Luther is assigned to spend the night in the house on the night of the 20th anniversary of the murders. All is well until midnight, when Luther sees the old organ begin to play by itself and hilarity ensues. His story makes him the town hero until Nicholas Simmons, nephew of the deceased couple, sues Luther for libel. In the courtroom, Luther is made to look the fool, but the judge orders the courtroom to the Simmons House at midnight to allow Luther to prove his story. Nothing happens, of course, but after everyone except Luther leaves, the old organ begins to play again....what happens next will solve the mystery of the old Simmons house! The Ghost and Mr. Chicken definitely a fun movie to watch.
2 weeks ago I had the pleasure of hosting some of the Q&A panels at Spooky Empire's Ultimate Horror Weekend convention in Orlando, Florida. Among the people I interviewed were the cast members of Halloween II. My wife had never really seen the Halloween series, so the interview inspired her to watch them over the past several days. Which brings to mind Halloween III: Season Of The Witch. Now, this of course is the only entry in the Halloween series that does not feature Michael Myers. Instead the film focuses on a large Halloween mask-making company, Silver Shamrock, that has plans to kill millions of American children with deadly masks. An apparent murder-suicide in a hospital emergency room leads to an investigation by the on-call doctor, which reveals a plot by an insane toymaker to kill as many people as possible during Halloween through an ancient Celtic ritual involving a stolen boulder from Stonehenge and Halloween masks.This film is definitely a weird one, but that doesn't mean it's all that bad. In fact, as a stand-alone film, separate from the rest of the series, it's actually not too bad of a film. I definitely enjoy Halloween III: Season Of The Witch , with it's theme of Halloween, the masks, the Silver Shamrock commercials..."15 days til Halloween, Silver Shamrock!"
"The year is 1962. The place is Willowpoint Falls. Nobody talks about what happened in the school cloakroom 10 years ago. Now, in the dead of night, Frankie Scarlatti is going to find out why." Locked in a school closet during Halloween 1962, young Frankie witnesses the ghost of a young girl and the man who murdered her years ago. Shortly afterward he finds himself stalked by the killer and is soon drawn to an old house where a mysterious Lady In White lives. As he discovers the secret of the woman he soon finds that the killer may be someone close to him. Lady In White is a nice little ghost story, which takes place on Halloween, that features Lukas Haas as Frankie, and Mona herself, Katherine Helmond, as the Lady in White. It's not the scariest of ghost stories, but it does bring back a sense of the innocence Halloween used to have. I make it a point to watch Lady In White every October, you should as well!
Howdy, my name is George Van Orsdel, and I started doing my Monster Spookshow Radio podcast in June of 2008 for fun. They originally started as a collection of songs I put together for my own personal enjoyment on my iPod, covering all genres, Punk, Rockabilly, Psychobilly, Surf, Classic Rock and of course all the great novelty stuff from every decade, but my friends kept asking me to share with them, so I decided I'd just start posting them online. Of course this is strictly a non-profit thing, I don't sell my Spookshows nor do I make any kind of money from it, I do it because I enjoy it and also to share some cool music with other folks. I figured since I spend so much time on these blogspots that I would just create a page of my own for my Spookshows. I hope you guys enjoy my Spookshow Radio as much as I enjoy putting them together! These are here for review purposes only, if you hear something you like, a band you've never heard of or a really cool artist, please buy their music!! Support the artists!!
Happy Haunting!
George Van Orsdel
