I have two spooky pieces of entertainment to share with you guys! One is a book my friend Melody sent me and another is a movie composed of four short stories. You'll get chills while reading or watching these, but both will also linger on in your mind some time later.
Starting with the book: In the Dark of the Night by John Saul:
I could think of a handful of reasons right off the bat why Melody sent me this! The story takes place in Northern Wisconsin in an area I'm well familiar with. So it's easy for me to picture the setting. I don't think I'm giving too much away here to say that it involves some crime stories that would be very familiar to those in my state. So between the familiar setting, the true crime that is still fairly fresh, and feeling like I know some of these characters, it was easy for me to get into the book.
I think any of you would like this, though. If you're in the general Midwest area it's probably going to resonate with you more, but I'm sure it would be a scary story to anyone. I'm trying to think how I could encourage you guys to read this without giving away the many surprises and twists... OK, I can give a general idea of some themes. There's some realistic family, friend, and teen romance drama going on. There's a murder mystery or two which are centered around an old piece of property and the person who used to live there. And there's a theme that I say would fall loosely between a haunting and a possession.
You'll be left thinking about the power of previously owned objects, and the very real feeling I'm sure any of us could have around the ones in this story. I'm sure all of us have felt some kind of emotion around an object in a museum or antique store or maybe you've had a feeling in a place where an emotional event occurred. Think of that feeling but in an extreme way and you'll understand a major theme in this book. I hope that's enough to intrigue you guys because In the Dark of the Night is very worth reading! This was a book I couldn't put down and I haven't experienced that in some time. I will probably be seeking out more John Saul books in the near future.
I was hoping to find one of those book trailers for this on YouTube, but I couldn't find one. I did, however find this neat video featuring the author:
Now, on the surface this would appear to be a video about an amazing RV, but it's actually a lot more fun than that. I mean, this is the best RV I've ever seen but I wouldn't share a video solely about it. You'll get to see some of the author's personality here, which I really liked. I want to take a road trip with these guys!
Now onto The House that Dripped Blood!
What a title and what a cover. Not that the image necessarily makes sense for those who've watched this; it kind of halfway does. Now, as I read one online reviewer say, the house does not literally drip blood. So if you're looking for that kind of entertainment for whatever reason, well you won't get that here. But what you will get is a pretty darn good series of stories revolving around a spooky old mansion. Much like what I wrote about the book, the house is defined somewhere between haunted and possessed. It's a great old house. The interior reminded me of Disney's Haunted Mansion. Each story is about a tenant who briefly lived there.
The House that Dripped Blood is very much in the vein of Hammer horror movies, but better. And I'm a Hammer fan. Christopher Lee is in one of these, as is Peter Cushing. And they have that dark, 1970s, British thing going on. But the acting, the timing, the writing, everything is so much better than Hammer. I love Hammer for its cheesiness. But you're not going to see any of that orangey-red Hammer blood gushing around here or tons of cleavage. The House that Dripped Blood is actually rated PG and I think that's fair. The violence is implied, there's no sexuality, strong language, etc. I think an older kid could watch this, depending on the kid. I could have, anyway. A good comparison to this is Tales from the Crypt. You know, the way they got morality in there a bit. Yeah, it's like Tales from the Crypt writing with Hammer settings, actors, and visuals.
Again, without giving much away... The stories involve a homicidal maniac (OK actually a few of those), some Voodoo or "Witchcraft" as they call it, and vampires. The stories have a sort of brief narration/are introduced by the police who are investigating one of these cases. The stories range from scary to comical. I actually thought to look up The House that Dripped Blood at our local library because of seeing a picture from it on Tumblr. This picture:
I mean, how could I not look for it after seeing that? :)
So, if you're looking for some scary or fun (depending on your opinion) popcorn movie viewing, I recommend this one! And good news! I just found the whole thing on YouTube:
Any Night Stalker fans out there? As in Kolchak: The Night Stalker. I'm new to the TV series and movies, and I'm feeling like the last one to the Kolchak party. :)
A handful of you have recommended Kolchak: The Night Stalker to me. I tried to find the old show at the library, to no avail. I wanted to binge watch through it. So imagine my happiness to hear that a local TV station, MeTV had decided to show Kolchak this season! What great timing. So far, I've watched a couple episodes and the movie The Night Stalker. The library did have that! Actually, it was a double feature DVD, including The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler.
So far, the big difference between the TV series and the first movie is the seriousness. I found the TV episodes more funny and the movie very intense. Watching the movie made me see the connection everyone's been telling me about between Kolchak and The X-Files. The shows have in common a supernatural element, but also the very strong message that there are powers-that-be that want our characters to keep their mouths shut about all they discover.
OK, so briefly for those who aren't familiar with the Carl Kolchak character, he's played by Darren McGavin. In my mind Darren McGavin is Kolchak. No one else gets to play him, nope. It's just one of those times when an actor becomes the character they're portraying.
So, Kolchak is a reporter who somehow keeps finding his way into the middle of murder, mayhem, and the supernatural. He's a real go-getter. It seems the minute there's a murder or a car wreck, there's Kolchak snapping away with his camera and running his tape recorder. He's always first to the scene. There's something strange nowadays about seeing anyone who isn't the police just show up to a crime scene and take up-close pictures of a body without being told to stop. That doesn't happen now, does it? For that matter, was this happening in the 70s?
Kolchak is always making waves. He's the one speaking out at press conferences and whipping zingers at his cranky boss. Kolchak's boss could have been hanging out with Clark Kent's boss, Perry White. But then, they might have clawed each other's eyes out. I'm just saying he's in that same school of the constantly yelling, ready to explode, newspaper bosses you see in old TV shows and movies. He tries to hold Kolchak back, but no one is going to hold Kolchak back.
Cranky boss man
It's inspirational really, watching Kolchak bounce back from every encounter with someone who tells him to go away, keep quiet, come up with a different news report, etc. I was struck watching the Night Stalker movie with how current it felt. A lot of people are giving the news media a hard time today, and boy does Kolchak get a hard time. I thought the scariest thing in The Night Stalker wasn't the vampire, but the district attorney and sheriff who are trying to keep Kolchak from sharing the truth by any means necessary. Man, were those guys hatable.
I could understand the frustration of Kolchak's boss, though. He needed to take a deep breath, but still. He was up against this catch 22 of either telling the community that there's a vampire on the loose and causing mass chaos or possibly endangering them more by hiding the truth.
Look into my eyes...
So about that vampire... I'm not spoiling too much here. I think most viewers could put 2 + 2 together when there are blood drained bodies showing up. This vampire wasn't too scary. He was in that kind of Hammer school of the tall, silent guy who stands there with his red eyes. Except, he isn't intimidating like Christopher Lee. I really wasn't scared by the parts of the movie he was in. The scariest parts of this for me are when the women are walking alone at night down an alley, etc. Because that's scary for real. I didn't see this as much of a horror movie so much as social commentary.
As for the TV show, as I said before, it's a lot more funny. I can tell Darren McGavin is just having fun being himself there. I can tell that a lot of what we're seeing there is actually him. Here, I thought he'd made up his character in A Christmas Story! But now I see that as Kolchak or "The Old Man" in A Christmas Story, we're seeing an awful lot of the real deal. Speaking of A Christmas Story, it goes to show how many times I've seen it, that I could feel like Darren McGavin was cheating on his wife from that movie with his girlfriend in The Night Stalker. I found myself being irritated with him for having that girlfriend and then I remembered how often I'd seen him with his movie wife in A Christmas Story.
"You were jealous! Jealous I won!"
Remember that? And here he is messing with my mind as Kolchak with his new girlfriend:
He's looking miserable with both women, and they with him, in these photos, but that's all I could find.
As for the sequel movie, The Night Strangler, it's much like The Night Stalker. It give some closure to those who were left with an uneasy feeling after watching the first movie. A few pieces of the first plot are dealt with and some aren't. There's a new supernatural problem, that seems a lot like the vampire in the first movie, but not quite. You'll just have to see. Kolchak has a new girlfriend in this one and I've noticed there's a romantic interest in some of the TV episodes I've seen. So I'll just have to get over him not being married to Melinda Dillon from A Christmas Story.
Back to the TV show, so far my favorite episode of the four I've watched has been "The Spanish Moss Murders" which I'll share here:
This episode had the most creative plot of those I've watched. It felt very X-Files in that way where it seemed almost realistic. Like, even though the thought of this creature is somewhat outlandish, it's presented in a way where you think "There may be something to this..." You know, the way The X-Files could make you feel like there was some scientific basis to something that you don't even believe in!
I like shows that make me feel like a wild scenario has some basis in reality. I like to feel that at least in a TV or movie environment, these things are possible. We've all seen those shows that leave you saying "They wouldn't say or do that!" What I'm trying to say is that there are unbelievable things happening in a very believable environment here, and I appreciate that.
So, for those of you who aren't familiar with Kolchak, I recommend getting a hold of one of his movies or checking out the old episodes of the TV show on MeTV. Although, I've started to feel like the last person on earth to find out about him. So, for all of you who are familiar with him already, go enjoy some reruns! If you get MeTV, the show is on Sunday evenings at 9:00 PM (Central Time).
And for all you Kolchak fans, MeTV put together some trivia about the show:
So I finally got around to watching John Carpenter's The Fog after finding out about it in 2011! I noticed it had taken me six years to see it after linking my recent fog themed blog post to one I wrote in 2011. In that older blog post, I mentioned seeing a trailer for The Fog. To my surprise, I said back then that the trailer looked lame. I say I'm surprised because since then I got it in my mind that I wanted to see The Fog. Who knows. Sometimes a movie can appeal to you when it didn't before. Anyway, I'm glad I gave The Fog a chance, because it ended up being a pretty good old ghost movie.
I'm going to give a short review with my thoughts on the movie, and I'll try to keep it spoiler-free. That shouldn't be too difficult since The Fog rotates around a pretty basic theme. This is a classic ghost story of shadowy figures that have come back from the grave to exact revenge.
In fact, this movie so fits that classic format that it actually starts with a man telling a ghost story to a group of children around a campfire. John Houseman plays the older, man-of-the-sea type and he's perfect for the role. You get the whole premise of why there would be ghosts laid out right away and in that dramatic, campfire manner.
This is one of those movies that has several side plots going at once. So you get to know separate characters and every few minutes you see what they're going through. All the plots relate to events that are happening at the same time.
This movie was made in 1979 and you can see it. There are phones with cords, actual records being played, and radio is a big deal. Also there are situations that while not impossible today, just wouldn't be that common. Like the little boy wandering around on the beach by himself or the casual hitchhiking.
The Fog isn't predictable as far as who the ghosts go after. Well, they're going after everyone, but I mean who they manage to get. Several of the victims were people I liked, while a few annoying characters got through the movie just fine. So it was seemingly random enough in that way.
The Fog isn't going to keep you up at night or give you nightmares, but it's a good, spooky film. John Carpenter says on the commentary that it isn't all that scary by today's standards, but he got lots of letters back in the day telling him not to make scary movies like this. He also mentions that he was asked to make the movie more scary after a preview screening, so pretty much all the jump scares or ghost attacks were added in last minute. I think that might lend to why some of them don't make sense, but that's OK. The Fog is bizarrely enough Rated R. I have no idea why! There's no drugs, sex, swearing, or anything R-worthy. What violence is there is mostly done in silhouette form in the fog. So I can only guess it was Rated R for being scary? (Scary for its day, in someone's opinion)
I just checked and The Exorcist came out in 1973. That was a million times more scary than this! So, it's not like people didn't know what scary was in the 70s. I don't know... The R Rating is as mysterious as this fog.
Anyway, I do recommend The Fog. It has that classic ghost story feel, and some pretty cool special effects for back in the day. I appreciate those special effects, because I know everything took a lot more work and creative thinking before computers. I watched on the DVD's special features how people were walking around on the set with fog machines, shooting this stuff around. And they had lots of backlit dry ice going, drifting around black plastic. The plastic looked like a landscape. It works!
There are some big names in this movie. Jamie Lee Curtis, her mother Janet Leigh, Adrienne Barbeau, and Hal Halbrook. Jamie Lee Curtis is the casual hitchhiker who has the bad luck of hitchhiking through this town. Although, she does get a boyfriend instantly. So I guess her luck isn't 100% bad.
Janet Leigh is some sort of public official in town. Funny enough in the commentary, they couldn't seem to remember if she was the town mayor or a real estate agent! But she's important enough to be giving a speech for the town's 100th anniversary.
Adrienne Barbeau has the cool looking job of being a radio disc jockey for the night owls. Her show broadcasts from a lighthouse that's in a very remote location. She says groovy things like "Ahoy mateys" in her sultry radio voice.
As I say, it looks like a cool job in a cool location, except that it happens to be right where the fog is rolling in. This is the light house, which as Adrienne says in the commentary had 365 stairs leading down to it or something like that. She couldn't remember, but there were a lot. Realistically, if you were out there alone at night, it probably would be scary.
Hal Halbrook plays Father Malone. He did well in his role. I was hanging on everything he said. If I had to give an award for best acting in The Fog, it would go to him.
It turns out there were several trailers and teaser trailers for The Fog. Some of them are not that great, so that might be why I thought it looked lame in 2011. But this one I really like:
Do any of you remember seeing The Fog? I also saw that there was a remake in 2005. I'm not sure if I want to see it since Horror remakes are usually not my thing. I can't think of one good one offhand! I don't mean sequels, but those movies where 30 years later someone redoes it. I just watched a trailer for the 2005 movie, and nope, I'm still not feelin' it.
I'm open to any other classic old ghost movie suggestions you have!
Does anyone remember making mix tapes for friends back in the day? I guess that doesn't happen so much anymore, but I'd love to revive the trend, at least during October. I have a mix of my favorite Halloween songs on my computer and sometimes I make CDs of it for friends. If any of you happen to have made Halloween mixes, or are up for making one, I think it would be fun to have a Halloween mix CD exchange!
All you have to do is send an email to me at contactartgirl@gmail.com with your home address and I'll send you back an email with my home address. Then we can send one another a mix CD full of our personal Halloween favorites! I'm going to surprise you with my mix, but here are some clues. There's a little bit of classic rock, a little bit of lounge, and a little bit of classical music on there.
So, what do you say? Are you up for kicking it old school with a CD exchange? Hey, I'll take a literal mix tape, if you want to kick it really old school! I think it's fun and personal, just like when we used to trade handwritten notes.
Speaking of music, I'm going to leave you with a few songs I recently discovered on YouTube. These are old and strange, but I think you'll get a kick out of them. If you're reading this in email form, you'll have to go to my actual blog to watch the videos. For whatever reason, videos don't come through in email form.
Here we go, let's get started with Cab Calloway's "The Nightmare" (1931) A cute slideshow of retro Halloween photos accompanies the song:
This next one was totally new to me, yet I found many covers of it. Here's what I think is the best version: "Punky Punkin'" by Rosemary Clooney (1950). I know it's a little goofy, but you'll find it stuck in your head for hours. It's sort of like the "Frosty the Snowman" of Halloween! There's a quaint, homey feeling to the video too.
The theme song for "The Bat" which starred Vincent Price and Agnes Moorhead in 1959. This video has more retro Halloween goodness playing as a slideshow:
This one I loved! It's a catchy song with a definite late 1960s/early 70s vibe. "Green Slime":
Another very 1950s goofball song ~ "The Rockin' Ghost" by Archie Bleyer:
This video is filled with fun old comic book images. "Ghost Walk" ~ The Rocking Ghosts (1965)
This one was so fun and unique! A Halloween Doo-Wop song by The Kac Ties ~ "Mr. Were Wolf" (The Kac Ties, get it?)
Here's a cartoon classic set to a sultry "Graveyard Rock" ~ by Tarantula Ghoul and Her Gravediggers:
Last but not least, a surprising disco song titled "Soul Dracula" (Hot Blood) from 1977! You cannot help but laughing during parts of this, or maybe dancing...
So, do you have any new favorite Halloween songs after listening to these? Maybe you remember some of these songs from your past. None of these will be on my mix CD, and I'd probably have trouble even finding a CD to burn them from! They're kind of obscure songs, but they brought a smile to my face.
I hope to be trading CDs with at least a few of you!
Today I watched "Young Frankenstein" (The movie version from 1974) I was excited to see this in its entirety after just seeing the musical. Many of the jokes were the same, they just weren't made into entire songs. Seeing the characters in black and white was completely different than seeing a bright, fast moving musical. I learned from watching some of the DVD extras that Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks were actually aiming for a movie that looked like the old horror movies made in the 1930s. The lighting is so dramatic, like an old Hitchcock movie. The lines were delivered with perfect timing, much better than they were delivered in the musical. So if you've never seen this movie, you should go out and rent it! In the meantime, here's a video clip to hold you over:
