This Poster is Not Happening
Although I’m looking forward to “The Happening” I’m really not overly thrilled with this poster for it.
Although I’m looking forward to “The Happening” I’m really not overly thrilled with this poster for it.
Although I’m looking forward to “The Happening” I’m really not overly thrilled with this poster for it.
The Brute Man
I recently watched “The Brute Man” as the second part of the double feature dvd “M is for Madman”. “M is for Madman” is the third in Bill Blacks’ Crypt of Horror series which takes us back to the days when drive-in movies and late night horror hosts were two of the things that made weekends so much fun. “M is for Madman” features “The Man Who Turned to Stone” and “The Brute Man” hosted by Lon Madnight. Lon Madnight is our horror host. He appears before and after each film to provide insightful trivia about the movie to be seen and later leave us with some final thoughts and a chuckle or two. He’s exactly what’s needed in a horror host. The production values on the dvd are top notch. The films are crisp and clear with excellent sound. The movies can be seen without the Lon Madnight openings and closings, but they’re so much fun, who’d want to miss them? Priced at less than twenty bucks for two remastered movies and Lon Midnight — you’d be hard pressed to find a cheaper evening of family fun.
I reviewed “The Man Who Turned to Stone” here, so let’s take a look at “The Brute Man”…
The Pitch: “Frankenstein” meets “The Dark Man” set in the 1940s. A star high school football player is left disfigured by a practical joke and years later comes back for revenge.
The Good: The movie moves at a brisk pace. All of the cliches of the genre can be found here: spinning newspapers with headlines updating us on what we’ve just seen, the blind girl who doesn’t know she’s harboring the killer, a huge disfigured monster who walks the streets at night and easily escapes the cops after each murder… and there’s even some comic relief with the chief of police and city commissioners. And let’s not forget Rondo Hattan.
The Bad: How The Creeper kills his victims – he breaks their backs!
The Ugly: The Creeper.
The Summary: There are a couple of things that will make this a must own dvd for fans of the genre:
1] It was produced by Universal Pictures, so completists will want it for their collection to place along side “Frankenstein,” “Dracula,” etc.
2] It stars Rondo Hatton as the monster. Hattan suffered from acromegaly, a disease which caused abnormal growth of his hands, feet, and face. Because of the disfigurement caused by the disease, makeup wasn’t needed for Hattan. Most reports attribute the onset of this disease to Hattan’s exposure to mustard gas in World War I. Hattan is somewhat of a legend among horror buffs and even has a horror award named after him!
Trivia: Janelle Johson had a supporting role in the film. Her biggest claim to fame is probably that she is the mother of Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees!
If you’d like to see a clip of the first three minutes of “The Brute Man” click HERE.
Never Knew Hitler Could Sing
I knew he was a failed artist, but I never knew Hitler could sing! [And a hearty “Danka” to Brandon Peterson for the link.]
We Have a Winner!
I visit a lot of blogs daily. Rod Lott’s Bookgasm is one of them. I enjoy his reviews – he’s turned me on to some very good books. He also runs contests and I enter the ones that have prizes that I think I’d enjoy. Guess who was just named the winner of a copy of Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide? Yep. Big ole me.
You’ll have a chance at the next contest if you start reading his site… not that I want the competition.
“Hellboy II” Poster a Hit
ComingSoon.net has a Hellboy II poster that I can get behind.
What ‘Cha Watching?
I just read today that “Back to You” the FOX comedy starring Kelsey Grammer was cancelled. My guess is that most of you never caught an episode since low ratings killed it. I thought it was one of the funniest shows on and was surprised to find that it wouldn’t be brought back. It was really well written with an ensemble cast that meshed. I guess I should have posted about “Back to You” when it might have helped.I was happy to see that “Boston Legal” and “Medium” have both been given the greenlight for new seasons. I’ve yet to see an episode of either show that let me down. “Til Death” is another show that I don’t miss. I can’t recommend it as unconditionally as “Boston Legal” or “Medium” but it does have it’s moments.
Of course my wife and I still watch “Survivor” [yeah, I think I WILL GIVE UP THE IMMUNITY NECKLACE!] and “American Idol” [which David will win? — my guess is Archuleta]. I’m still in front of the set each week when “The Ultimate Fighter” airs, but I think this season lacks a bit of the drama. Maybe it’s because they have two fights each episode and we don’t get to know enough about the fighters’ backgrounds. My newest favorite show is “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” which comes to us from the FOOD NETWORK. And you just know that I still dvr episodes of “The Wild, Wild West” off of RTN.
So, what am I missing?
Sammy Terry
Here is a link to about 20 minutes of Sammy Terry from the early 80’s. Of course I started watching Sammy when he premiered in the early 60’s out of Indianapolis when I was but a child. You can imagine how spooky he seemed in black and white. [That’s right youngsters, there was a time when television shows weren’t broadcast in living color.]
I don’t guess you’ll watch the entire clip, but if you do you’ll see ads for used cars, Billy Graham, a brand new $350 VCR, John McEnroe, Cowboy Bob and a bunch of other stuff… but Sammy Terry is the reason to click on the link.
Stoked for QoS
I loved the James Bond reboot, Casino Royale with Daniel Craig as Bond. As I walked out of the theater I was ready, right then, for Craig to do another round as 007. So I was excited when a new Bond film was announced. Then the title and teaser poster were leaked and I was left feeling a bit less excited. IGN.com has posted quite a few pictures from the filming of QoS and I have to admit I’m starting to feel more stoked about it.
Checkin’ in with the Jazzman
It’s been a while since we checked in on my buddy, Ernest “Jazzman” Resendes. Jazz is always working on something involving his creative talents. He’s an artist, musician, actor, director and more. Jazz’s latest video is a spooky, hypnotic combination of all his talents. “Iron Sky” Trailer [2008]
I hadn’t heard anything about Iron Sky until just a few minutes ago. Looks like a fun concept. I hope that the movie turns out to be as good as the teaser.
Indy Now
There’s no movie coming out this summer that I want to see more than Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Check out The Man Who Turned to Stone
Longtime ZONErs know how much I enjoyed watching horror/monster movies as a kid growing up in Indiana… especially those shown by late night horror host Sammy Terry. For years I’ve been saying that someone needs to find a horror host and run a double feature of scary movies late on Saturday night. Although, no major network has stepped up to the plate, my buddy Bill Black has released a series of dvds that fits the bill [as in black].
Last night I watched “M is for Madman” the third in Bill’s Crypt of Horror series. It’s a double feature of “The Man Who Turned to Stone” and “The Brute Man” hosted by Lon Madnight. Madnight [whose name is a play on “London After Midnight” – the lost, silent horror film starring Lon Chaney] maintains the perfect balance of insightful trivia about the movie to be seen and bad puns. He’s just what the doctor [or at least I] ordered. The production values on the dvd are top notch. The films are crisp and clear with excellent sound. The movies can be seen without the Lon Madnight openings and closings, but they’re so much fun, who’d want to miss them? Priced at less than twenty bucks for two remastered movies and Lon Midnight — you’d be hard pressed to find a cheaper evening of family fun.
So let’s take a look at “The Man Who Turned to Stone”…The Pitch: Mad scientists run a woman’s reformatory and drain the “bio-electrical” life force from inmates in order to prolong their unnatural lives.
The Good: The special effects are surprisingly well done for a low-budget film of this era. You’re slowly made to realize that the people in charge of the reformatory aren’t just bad, they’re…
The Bad: This isn’t a classic horror movie — it’s bad in all the right ways. The hero kind of looks like Lee Harvey Oswald.
The Ugly: What happens when Eric doesn’t get enough “bio-electrical” life force.
The Summary: “The Man Who Turned to Stone” isn’t a classic, but it’s better than you’d expect given it’s lack of budget and notoriety. It’s exactly the kind of movie that works when you’re in the mood for an old time horror movie that you haven’t watched a million times. I can’t wait to watch it with friends/family who love scary movies.
Harsh Times = Bad Time
I really, really wanted to like “Harsh Times.” David Ayer directed it. Ayer also wrote it. Okay, you ask, “so who is David Ayer?” He’s the talented writer of such films as “Training Day,” “Dark Blue,” and “The Fast and the Furious” among others. Ayer also directed “Street Kings” which I really enjoyed. So even though “Harsh Times” starred Christian Bale, Freddy Rodriguez, Eva Longoria and Terry Crews [in a small role], it was Ayer who was the major selling point for me.
The Pitch: “Training Day” meets “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” without the comedy and where Ferris is an over-the-edge ex-marine.
The Good: The scene when Bale & Rodriguez attempt to sell a handgun in a Tex-Mex bar. The tension throughout the movie — who’s going to die?
The Bad: There’s a lack of redeeming characters. The movie is dark, dark, dark.
The Ugly: How disappointed I am, that I didn’t like the movie more.
The Summary: “Harsh Times” was too bleak for me. Good director, good cast, but without characters that I could really get behind.
Updated Links
I’ve updated my blog and artist links sections with a bunch of really cool sites. I’m sure that you’ll find at least a couple that you’ll bookmark for return visits. [Hopefully not at the expense of visits here.]
