Last Monster/Horror/Sci-Fi Movie/Show You Watched

[Monsters For Sale]

I've been watching a classic monster movie each Friday night with my two daughters who are 7 and 5. Last week was Son of Frankenstein, they absolutely loved it!

Two more monsterkids - and girls!

Don't let them grow up thinking they should literally be princesses.  (Disney has a lot to answer for.)

[long live kong]

Two more monsterkids - and girls!

Don't let them grow up thinking they should literally be princesses.  (Disney has a lot to answer for.)

Don't worry, they're in safe hands!

[Monsters For Sale]

From Hell IT Came - 1957

I usually schedule this one for Arbor Day.  IT helps me overcome any impulse to go around planting trees. 

[Anthony Caranci]

Watching TV in the 50's and 60's was pretty hit and miss. 

The TV stations often bought their own 16mm copies of films that had made the rounds for years to small theaters in small towns where they were mishandled and sometimes censored by local theater owners  (Ever see "Cinema Paradiso"?)  A few theater owners would even fake a "break" to remove a frame or two of desirable images to be copied.  Of course, once a TV station had their own faded, heavily scratched and spliced copies with enlarged sprocket holes, they would play them as often as possible as cheap fillers.

To make matters worse, some TV stations would actually edit down running times to make room for commercials.  Hell, some of them actually allowed the film to run while switching to a commercial and rejoin the movie somewhere down the line.  Stan Laurel learned that this was being done to his films and offered to re-edit them for free - but the stations turned him down.

TV's in those days were usually much smaller, had very limited bright/dark range and sound systems that were only tolerable when watching the show being broadcast.  Widescreen movies were squared up to fit screen dimensions and color films could only be seen in black and white.  Anyone who copied the sound alone was struck by how bad it actually sounded (muddy with LOTS of hiss) when they were not being distracted by a picture. 

The TV's of the time would need tweaking frequently enough that picture adjustment knobs were mounted right on the front of the sets.  Atmospheric conditions would cause "snow" on some days.  Wind would sometimes make the picture jump about a bit.  And birds resting on the forest of spindly antennas (all facing the same way) could make the loveliest zig-zag patterns on the screen.

Add all these conditions together, and what early home viewers saw would seem laughable to today's audiences.  Still, it was good enough to keep rugrats of the day riveted to the boxes that were the focal point of all the living room furniture.

Yeah.  Today's DVD/Blu-Ray discs are an incredible boon to old farts like me.  I am really seeing and hearing some of these films clearly for the first time.  Great time to be a fan.

Son of Frankenstein was a real rarity in those days! A station would have to use a two hour time slot and still hack the film. I grew up in Southern California, and still remember Movies Till Dawn on Channel 5. That channel showed mostly Universal horror films until the birth of the half an hour info commercial.

Wednesday night - still in Hammer's House of Horror:

Brides of Dracula – 1960
The Evil of Frankenstein – 1964
Dracula – Prince of Darkness – 1966

I'll probably need a double-shot of Hammer Horror now that the "real horror show" is over in Las Vegas!

[Anthony Caranci]

Wednesday late night:

Frankenstein Created Woman 1967

Thursday morning:

Dracula Has Risen From the Grave 1969. Director Freddie Francis neglected to put dirt in Dracula's coffin. Still a great film though.

[Anthony Caranci]

Thursday afternoon into the night:

Frankenstein must be Destroyed 1969
Taste the Blood of Dracula 1970
Scars of Dracula 1970
Dracula A.D. 1972 – 1972
The Satanic Rites of Dracula 1973
Frankenstein & the Monster from Hell 1974 - finishing that film right now.

[Mike...In 3-D!]

Little Shop of Horrors (1986) on the big screen...with the original ending! I was not expecting to see the awesome alien invasion-type ending going into it, so it was a nice little surprise.

[Monsters For Sale]

Little Shop of Horrors (1986) on the big screen...with the original ending! I was not expecting to see the awesome alien invasion-type ending going into it, so it was a nice little surprise.

I saw this on the big screen (back in 1986) many times.  I loved this movie then and still do. 

The whole cast was great.  Rick Moranis was perfectly cast, Ellen Greene was SO sweetly vulnerable and Steve Martin was hilarious. 

Fozzie Bear did a beautiful job of directing.  Watch it again sometime with an eye to scenes being composed as if they were being done for an episode of The Muppet Show.  Wonderful use of the frame aspect and depth of field.

At the time, I hoped that this film would revitalize interest in Hollywood musicals, but that never happened.

[Memphremagog]

Amazing Colossal Man(1957)
Cat Girl(1957)
Night Of the Cobra Woman(1972)
Lady Frankenstein(1971)
Screaming Dead(2003)
Monster Of Piedras Blancas(1958)
The Velvet Vampire(1971)
The Mummy's Tomb(1942)
Night Monster(1942)
The Old Dark House(1932)
The Climax(1944)

[Anthony Caranci]

Friday night:

Planet of the Apes 1968
The Valley of Gwangi 1969

[Monsters For Sale]

Just got through watching the played-just-for-laughs 1992 horror, "Death Becomes Her".

I was taken in by a misleading Internet article title that had me thinking one of the stars was no longer with us.  Glad I was mistaken.  Dumb little movie, but fun as hell if you are in the mood.
   

[Monsters For Sale]

End of August At the Hotel Ozone, The - 1966

A Czech film about a small band of women roaming around a post-apocalyptic land.

Lack of any great details about happenings outside the small time-frame presented makes this movie quite flat.  Luckily, there is little dialog, so reading the subtitles does not become tiresome.

For the "After the Bomb Movie" completist.

[Mike...In 3-D!]

Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992)
Der Samurai (2014)
Ginger Snaps (2000)

[Monsters For Sale]

Split Second - 1953

This one is really a crime drama that deals with a small group of people in a ghost town.  I am including it here because it all takes place under the tension of an impending nuclear test.  The action also culminates with a nuclear explosion and some pretty good special effects.

Recommended to fans of 50's nuclear paranoia - even when it is not handled in a sci-fi setting.

[Anthony Caranci]

Just got through watching the played-just-for-laughs 1992 horror, "Death Becomes Her".

I was taken in by a misleading Internet article title that had me thinking one of the stars was no longer with us.  Glad I was mistaken.  Dumb little movie, but fun as hell if you are in the mood.

I remember seeing that film at a very close friends house - with he and his wife. Unfortunately, he is no longer here, but you're right - it is a fun film and pretty funny at that. I enjoyed it, especially at the end when Elvis & all the other dead celebrities show up.  I'm glad you mentioned this film. It brought back a great memory from the past of one of my dearest friends.

Saturday late afternoon  & night:

Straitjacket 1964 - Columbia. I saw this in a walk-in with my older brother, (when they were a new thing). Thankfully he is still here, and I have to say that the film scared the hell out me. I may have been a little too young for it.
Psycho 1960 - Universal. Naturally, upon first viewing (even as an adult) -- this film is very scary.
The Birds - 1963. Another walk-in special with my older brother. I still get "spooked" if a bird flies a little too close to me.