Friday, October 31, 2014
WE WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY HALLOWEEN
AND SO, ALL HALLOW'S EVE HAS COME AT LAST!
The Jack O'Lanterns are flickering and the ghosts try not to get their sheets caught in the autumn tree branches. A Halloween witch flies across the pale moon while the Wobblin' Goblin tries to keep up with her on his own broken broomstick. Black cats prowl and werewolves howl. A vampire bat flaps its wings in the night. And all through the evening, little children dressed in fantastic costumes move from house to house filling their plastic pumpkin pails or pillow cases with candy. My name, of course, is Dr. Adam Spektor and, on behalf of The Land of Cerpts and Honey blog, I would like to thank all of you who visited for our annual Countdown to Halloween. But always remember that Halloween doesn't just end on October 31st. It is this blog's motto that Halloween is 365. There is no time during the entire year when we can't enjoy something spooky; from a classic horror story to a frightening film. The spirit of Halloween will always flourish as long as we keep alive our sense of wonder and imagination. Have yourselves a happy Halloween!
WHEN HALLOWEEN COSTUMES WERE CREEPY PT. 2
HERE'S ANOTHER BATCH OF TRICK OR TREATERS FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF THE 20TH CENTURY WHO REALLY KNEW HOW TO LOOK CREEPY & DOWNRIGHT BEE-ZARRE!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
WOMEN OF HORROR: TIFFANY SHEPIS
THE PRINCESS OF SCREAM.
Ever since her early days with Troma, Tiffany Shepis has been all over the horror genre: from TROMEO & JULIET to this year's SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE and beyond. Her incredible beauty is matched by the force of her one-of-a-kind personality making her that rare movie conundrum -- the gorgeous character actress. Screen Sirens staff writer Jason S. Marsiglia put it this way: "This talent and knack for bringing in such a fierce presence in her films has ranked her among the likes of horror icons such as Barbara Steele and Ingrid Pitt. Women who pioneered that amazing ability to entrance their audience with their stunning beauty, and in the same instance, run a sharp, icy chill down the spine."
Ever since her early days with Troma, Tiffany Shepis has been all over the horror genre: from TROMEO & JULIET to this year's SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE and beyond. Her incredible beauty is matched by the force of her one-of-a-kind personality making her that rare movie conundrum -- the gorgeous character actress. Screen Sirens staff writer Jason S. Marsiglia put it this way: "This talent and knack for bringing in such a fierce presence in her films has ranked her among the likes of horror icons such as Barbara Steele and Ingrid Pitt. Women who pioneered that amazing ability to entrance their audience with their stunning beauty, and in the same instance, run a sharp, icy chill down the spine."
That lil devil
after a hard day's mayhem
Sharknado 2: The Second One
getting a moon tan
TODAY'S "WOMEN OF HALLOWEEN" SONG ON MY AUDIO BLOG "BATHED IN THE LIGHT FROM ANDROMEDA" IS "IT'S HALLOWEEN" BY THE SHAGGS
Thursday, October 30, 2014
76 YEARS AGO TONIGHT
THE INFAMOUS "WAR OF THE WORLDS" BROADCAST OF ORSON WELLES' "MERCURY THEATER OF THE AIR" SUPPOSEDLY PANICKED AMERICA!
On the evening of October 30, 1938, a war-jittery U.S. became the fall guy for one of the most uproarious pranks every committed on them. The Mercury Theater of the Air went on with the opening announcement that they would be presenting a dramatization of the famous H.G. Wells novel "THE WAR OF THE WORLDS" followed by an introductory monologue by show-runner/director/star Orson Welles. After this, the show segued into what sounded like a music broadcast from the Meridian Room of the Park Plaza Hotel with Ramon Rocquello and his Orchestra performing a selection of dance music. Various news bulletins (false ones, of course) began interrupting the programme reporting the appearance of explosions on the surface of the planet Mars and interviews with noted Professor Pearson (played by Orson) about what they could mean. Announcements followed stating strange objects were falling from the sky; most notably (for our purposes ... and Orson's) landing on a farm at Grover's Mill, New Jersey. Reporter Carl Phillips (former SHADOW Frank Readick doing his best Herb Morrison "Hindenburg reporter" impression) did the blow by blow on the scene reporting as Martian cylinders emerged from the crater and fried everyone with heat rays.
Unfortunately for many listeners, they didn't hear the beginning of the programme because . . . well, frankly, Orson's MERCURY THEATER show wasn't very high in the ratings and not a lot of people listened to it. The vast majority of the Sunday night listening audience tuned into THE CHASE AND SANBORN HOUR starring ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy. After Bergen & McCarthy's opening comedy routine, a male singer came on and that's when most everyone switched to another station . . . and caught the already-in-progress WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast with it's faux news flashes. The legend, of course, is that America was so scared they began heading for the hills. In truth, the majority of those listening didn't panic but the phone lines WERE jammed with frantic calls to loved ones as well as calls to beleaguered CBS studios who were putting on the MERCURY THEATER broadcast. Tales of mass panic, car crashes, suicides and accidental deaths caused by the radio broadcast were largely apocryphal; however the media fallout the next morning was considerable for Orson, his Mercury Theater and the CBS network as reporters puffed up the urban legend aspect of death and destruction caused by Welles and his Halloween pranksters. Welles gave a press conference appearing (apparently) contrite looking like an unshaven Christian martyr and parlayed the instant worldwide notoriety into a sweet movie deal from RKO to make CITIZEN KANE. The panic broadcast has gone down in history of probably the most famous radio programme ever broadcast and three quarters of a century later it's still a really fun listen. For perfect Halloween listening, I've provided the entire original radio broadcast in a youtube video below. Also below (for as long as it lasts) is a video of the recent episode of the PBS documentary series AMERICAN EXPERIENCE dealing with the WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast; it can also be viewed (by clicking here) at the actual PBS site.
On the evening of October 30, 1938, a war-jittery U.S. became the fall guy for one of the most uproarious pranks every committed on them. The Mercury Theater of the Air went on with the opening announcement that they would be presenting a dramatization of the famous H.G. Wells novel "THE WAR OF THE WORLDS" followed by an introductory monologue by show-runner/director/star Orson Welles. After this, the show segued into what sounded like a music broadcast from the Meridian Room of the Park Plaza Hotel with Ramon Rocquello and his Orchestra performing a selection of dance music. Various news bulletins (false ones, of course) began interrupting the programme reporting the appearance of explosions on the surface of the planet Mars and interviews with noted Professor Pearson (played by Orson) about what they could mean. Announcements followed stating strange objects were falling from the sky; most notably (for our purposes ... and Orson's) landing on a farm at Grover's Mill, New Jersey. Reporter Carl Phillips (former SHADOW Frank Readick doing his best Herb Morrison "Hindenburg reporter" impression) did the blow by blow on the scene reporting as Martian cylinders emerged from the crater and fried everyone with heat rays.
Unfortunately for many listeners, they didn't hear the beginning of the programme because . . . well, frankly, Orson's MERCURY THEATER show wasn't very high in the ratings and not a lot of people listened to it. The vast majority of the Sunday night listening audience tuned into THE CHASE AND SANBORN HOUR starring ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy. After Bergen & McCarthy's opening comedy routine, a male singer came on and that's when most everyone switched to another station . . . and caught the already-in-progress WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast with it's faux news flashes. The legend, of course, is that America was so scared they began heading for the hills. In truth, the majority of those listening didn't panic but the phone lines WERE jammed with frantic calls to loved ones as well as calls to beleaguered CBS studios who were putting on the MERCURY THEATER broadcast. Tales of mass panic, car crashes, suicides and accidental deaths caused by the radio broadcast were largely apocryphal; however the media fallout the next morning was considerable for Orson, his Mercury Theater and the CBS network as reporters puffed up the urban legend aspect of death and destruction caused by Welles and his Halloween pranksters. Welles gave a press conference appearing (apparently) contrite looking like an unshaven Christian martyr and parlayed the instant worldwide notoriety into a sweet movie deal from RKO to make CITIZEN KANE. The panic broadcast has gone down in history of probably the most famous radio programme ever broadcast and three quarters of a century later it's still a really fun listen. For perfect Halloween listening, I've provided the entire original radio broadcast in a youtube video below. Also below (for as long as it lasts) is a video of the recent episode of the PBS documentary series AMERICAN EXPERIENCE dealing with the WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast; it can also be viewed (by clicking here) at the actual PBS site.
WOMEN OF HORROR: DENICE DUFF
DENICE DUFF ENTERS THE PANTHEON THROUGH THE DARK FORESTS OF TRANSYLVANIA.
With the exception of the first film in the series, Duff portrayed the doomed Michelle in Full Moon's SUBSPECIES movies. I'm rather fond of this series as it takes me back to the video rental days when my friend Cheeks and I would visit the local Knockblister to find the new Full Moon Video on the shelf. We enjoyed all of Full Moon's low-budget, direct-to-video releases because they were a lot of fun; however, I think the SUBSPECIES films are the best quality-wise the company ever put out amongst it's . . . shall we call it uneven output. Vicious vampire Radu (Anders Hove) was a cross between Lord Byron and Graf Orlok and he wanted to make poor Michelle his "fledgling"; in this he somewhat succeeded as Michelle was vampirized. Her struggles with her new vampiric state underscored all the SUBSPECIES films Denice appeared in.
With the exception of the first film in the series, Duff portrayed the doomed Michelle in Full Moon's SUBSPECIES movies. I'm rather fond of this series as it takes me back to the video rental days when my friend Cheeks and I would visit the local Knockblister to find the new Full Moon Video on the shelf. We enjoyed all of Full Moon's low-budget, direct-to-video releases because they were a lot of fun; however, I think the SUBSPECIES films are the best quality-wise the company ever put out amongst it's . . . shall we call it uneven output. Vicious vampire Radu (Anders Hove) was a cross between Lord Byron and Graf Orlok and he wanted to make poor Michelle his "fledgling"; in this he somewhat succeeded as Michelle was vampirized. Her struggles with her new vampiric state underscored all the SUBSPECIES films Denice appeared in.
Poor Michelle! with Anders Hove's Radu
There's a lot at stake for Michelle in this scene
Family portrait with Radu and his beloved "Mummy"
Autographed photo for BLOODSTORM: SUBSPECIES IV
TODAY'S "WOMEN OF HALLOWEEN" TRACK ON MY AUDIO BLOG "BATHED IN THE LIGHT FROM ANDROMEDA" IS "MR. FOX" BY THE FOLKTELLERS
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
THE COUNT
THE ORIGINAL ROBERT ADRAGNA ARTWORK FOR "THE MANY FACES OF CHRISTOPHER LEE" COVER FEATURE OF CALVIN BECK'S CLASSIC MONSTER MAG "CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN #2" IN 1962.
Apparently, the artist was only 19 years old when he made this beautiful evocation of Hammer Horror!
Apparently, the artist was only 19 years old when he made this beautiful evocation of Hammer Horror!
WOMEN OF HORROR: KAREN BLACK
THE VOLUPTUOUS HORROR OF KAREN BLACK!
Surprisingly, for someone whom many people associate with the horror genre, Karen Black didn't do all that much of it. But what she did was so memorable! She had other roles in spooky television and frightening films but it's really for her tour de force four roles in the Dan Curtis TV movie TRILOGY OF TERROR that we induct her into the women of horror pantheon.
Surprisingly, for someone whom many people associate with the horror genre, Karen Black didn't do all that much of it. But what she did was so memorable! She had other roles in spooky television and frightening films but it's really for her tour de force four roles in the Dan Curtis TV movie TRILOGY OF TERROR that we induct her into the women of horror pantheon.
- CIRCLE OF FEAR "Bad Connection" (1972)
- TRILOGY OF TERROR (1975)
- BURNT OFFERINGS (1976)
- FAMILY PLOT (1976)
- CAPRICORN ONE (1977)
- HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES (2003)
taking a call in CIRCLE OF FEAR "BAD CONNECTION"
as "Julie" in TRILOGY OF TERROR
sinister in BURNT OFFERINGS
with Elliot Gould in the paranoid CAPRICORN ONE
with Sheri Moon & Rob Zombie on the set of HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES
assuming the stance in the brilliant final scene of TRILOGY OF TERROR
TODAY'S "WOMEN OF HALLOWEEN" SONG ON MY AUDIO BLOG "BATHED IN THE LIGHT FROM ANDROMEDA" IS "DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE BIKINI MACHINE" BY THE SUPREMES.
A TRICK OR TREAT BAG OF VINTAGE HALLOWEEN MAGAZINE COVERS
AND AS WE REACH INTO OUT PLASTIC PUMPKIN PAIL, WE FIND A WITCHES ASSORTMENT OF TASTY TREATS! To wrap up our vintage Halloween magazine celebration, we have for you a collection of fine frightening artwork from various vintage mags.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
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