Category: Horror

RIP: Maila "Vampira" Nurmi

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Maila Nurmi, better known as Vampira, passed away yesterday at the age of 86. Although few would recognize Ms. Nurmi’s name, almost everyone knows her “Vampira” character.
Maila Nurmi was born in Finland, but moved to the US with her family while still in her teens. Maila dreamed of stardom on the silver screen and headed for Hollywood.  Although romantically linked to Marlon Brando, Orson Welles and even James Dean, it was a masquerade ball in 1954 that led to her pop culture iconic status. Maila attended dressed as Mortica Addams [from Charles Addams New Yorker cartoons which later became the basis for the popular Addams Family tv series]. Maila won the contest by beating out nearly 2,000 other contestants.
Maila made such an impact that several months later she was offered the role as host of KABC’s late Saturday night horror movies. With a few costume modifications and new name, Vampira was born! Maila and the show were an instant hit and provided the framework for all of the horror hosts that would follow. Vampira was profiled in Life and Newsweek [within a month of each other] and Maila began guesting on nationally syndicated shows. She was even nominated as the “Most Outstanding Female Personality of 1954” by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.Judging by her impact on popular culture, you’d probably think that Vampira’s horror host role lasted years, immediately led to movies, comics, and more — but you’d be wrong. Despite the show being a smash hit,.it lasted just over a year. Some say that Maila was difficult to work with, while others say that the FCC and network blackballed her due to her on-air comments and double entendres.

Maila did make appearances in a few movies after her tv show was cancelled; most notably Ed Wood’s infamous “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” Maila left show business in the early 60’s, but her spirit lived on through the antics of dozens of other horror hosts such as Zacherley, Sammy Terry, and even Elvira [who was later unsuccessfully sued by Maila]. With the growth of the goth movement, the “popularity” of “Plan 9” and Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood” film, Maila enjoyed renewed popularity in her later years.

It appears that Maila died leaving behind no family members. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her friends and many fans.

The "I am Legend" Legacy

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I saw “I am Legend” at the first showing today in a packed theater. After seeing the CGI “vampires” [although they are never called that in the movie] in this trailer, I must admit I went in with a bit of trepidation. But, because the Richard Matheson novel is so strong, and because the previous two movies [The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man] based on the same novel worked on their own levels, I felt that Will Smith and crew could pull off a worthy addition to the “I am Legend” legacy. So did he? Let’s take a look:

The Good: The concept; Will Smith as Robert Neville, Sam; how the virus is created; taking the time needed to show Neville’s isolation; Neville going in to save Sam; stumbling on the standing/sleeping “vampires”; snaring a vampire / being snared; Sam saving Neville; how the final scene tied into the title.

The Bad: Most complaints that I’ve read about the movie are gripes about the shift once the woman and her son arrive. While it’s true that the feel of the movie changes, I think that it works because we now see just how much Neville has lost touch with reality. Pretty bold move if you ask me. Some of the CGI effects.

The Ugly: The vampires.

All-in-all I really enjoyed the movie much more than I thought I would going in. It not only will find a place in my dvd library, but adds nicely to the “I am Legend” legacy.

Just Mist

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Going in, “The Mist” had almost all indications that it was going to be awesome. Frank Darabont [“The Shawshank Redemption“ “The Green Mile“] had written the screenplay and directed Stephen King’s novella of the same name. It was Darabont’s dream project and one of King’s most popular stories. The movie was well cast and early word was positive.

The Good: the story – a mysterious mist containing creatures rolls in to a small town forcing a variety of characters to take refuge in a supermarket; the interplay of the people as they slowly learn what is going on; the ending [which is different than King’s novella — and no, I’m not giving away either]; the meek store clerk, Marcia Gay Harden in her role as Mrs. Carmody.

The Bad: some of the CGI creatures; what happens to some of the characters; the ending [yeah, I know, I listed it under the good as well… more on that in a second]; Ms. Carmody.

The Ugly: what happens to some of the characters and the ending [more in a sec].

As you probably guessed the ending really has an impact. Although different than the novella’s [and praised by Stephen King], it just wasn’t the ending that I wanted. There’s no doubt that it works on one level, and could be justified as logical — but, and here’s the big but, it could just as easily be argued that it wasn’t logical and it doesn’t work. I give credit to Darabont for having the courage to go with his vision and perhaps it will grow on me as time passes.

Although I’m glad that I saw “The Mist” it just missed getting a solid recommendation from me. It definitely has kept me thinking about it. And maybe that’s the best recommendation a movie can get.

Cloverfield Trailer & Questions

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There’s a new high definition trailer available HERE for JJ Abram’s top secret monster movie, “Cloverfield.” Now that we can see the trailer in high def [with the ability to go frame-by-frame] more questions than answers come to mind.

My two big questions are:

1] Why is the actor’s face pixelated out? I’ve posted a screen shot above. We hear his voice, but are not allowed to see his face. Is he a surprise star? I have no clue.

2] Did you notice that one of the women in quarantine seems to blow up? I’ve posted a screen shot below. She is being moved by men in HAZMAT gear and appears to be a normal woman, but suddenly her body starts to expand. Perhaps the monster is able to infect humans and create others like it? PURE speculation on my part… but she does appear to be blowing up.

So watch the trailer and let me know your thoughts.

Living with the Walking Dead XXXombies

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Zombies are in. Nearly forty years after George Romero recreated a horror genre, zombies have never been more popular. Let’s take a look a three currently running zombie comics.

The Walking Dead, which single handedly jump started the genre back to comics continues to go strong. I’ve been talking up this series since the first issue and it continues to be the only comic that I must read as soon as I get it home. Issue 42 [43 is on stands now] has the most surprising double page spread that I’ve seen in any comic in years… then there was an even bigger shock when you turned the page. The original issues are hard to find and pretty expensive when you do. If you’re just coming to the series you might want to seek out the paperback trades [Volume 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8] or spend a bit more for the hardcovers [Book 1 2 3]. However you get the stories, I can guarantee you a great ride thanks to the talents of writer Robert Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard.

Living with the Dead #1 just came out from Dark Horse. Writer Mike Richardson and artist Ben Stenbeck team to bring us a Shaun-of-the-Dead-type zombie series that has just the right mix of humor. Two slackers are making the best of a bad situation. These guys have been best buds for years and if a zombie infestation can’t break up their friendship, surely a cute babe won’t. Right… right?

XXXombies #1 also just hit the stands. Featuring the talents of some of my favorite comic creators [Rick Remender, Tony Moore and Kieron Dwyer] this zombie tale is definitely not for kids [are any zombie tales?] since it follows a group of adult film actors and crew having to deal with, you guessed it, a zombie infestation.

My guess is, if you are a fan of the zombie genre, you’d enjoy any of these comics. If not, then not.

Top 20 Horror Films

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Since tomorrow is Halloween, I thought that I’d find a list of the Top Horror Movies and see how I’d rate ’em. So I went to the Internet Movie Data Base and checked out their list of the Top 50 Horror Movies of All Time [as voted on by users of IMDB].

I have to say that I was surprised by some of the movies that made the grade. I was expecting more classic horror films to appear on the list [Dracula, Wolfman, The Creature from the Black Lagoon] as well as some lesser known, but still very good horror movies like Them! or Frailty.

Ok… we have what we have. Taking their list of the top 50, I whittled it down to my top 20 and here they are in alphabetical order with some comments:

Alien (1979): Saw it on its original theatrical run and enjoyed it. A haunted house in outer space!
Aliens (1986): Even better than Alien… as much a war movie as a horror movie. Love it!
Birds, The (1963): One of the scariest movies I ever saw as a kid. Still a favorite.
Bride of Frankenstein (1935): Even better than Frankenstein. A true classic.
Dawn of the Dead (1978): Saw it in a theater the 2nd time [my date couldn’t take it the 1st time]
Exorcist, The (1973): the scariest movie I ever saw as an adult.
Frankenstein (1931): A classic!
Freaks (1932): It makes the list, but wouldn’t be near the top.
Halloween (1978): Saw it in a drive-in and it was scary without sound! LOL!
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956): Another classic from [before] my childhood.
Invisible Man, The (1933): I didn’t appreciate it until I was an adult!
Jaws (1975): Horror? Okay… it is a fun and scary movie.
King Kong (1933): Another classic.
Night of the Hunter, The (1955): A great film… maybe Mitchum’s best performance ever.
Night of the Living Dead (1968): One of my favorites!
Psycho (1960): Some pretty scary scenes the first time around.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968): I saw it in a drive-in as a kid…. creepy stuff.
Shining, The (1980): redrum…redrum… redrum…
Thing, The (1982): Not as good as the original, but still good. LOL!
Unknown, The (1927): Never cut off your arms for a lover.

Comments?

 

Two Less Than One?

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Usually when I like two things, I like ’em just as much or more when they’re combined. Vampires/Detectives [Joe Pitt novels by Charlie Huston]… M&Ms with peanuts [candy by Mars]… well, you get the idea.

I’m not sure I’m diggin’ the Predien… Aliator?? Whatever they want to call it.

And I was really looking forward to AVP: Requiem.

Dark Shadows Memories

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It’s hard to believe that it’s been 40 years since the addition of Barnabas Collins made “Dark Shadows” THE show for horror fans. I was only 8 years old, but I remember the thrill of tuning in each weekday to see vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and more.The popularity of “Dark Shadows” carried over to comics, novelizations and even a couple of movies. Johnny Depp is gearing up to play Barnabas Collins in a new version of “Dark Shadows” and I’m looking forward to that.