An auteur of Italian cinema waves his bloody hand goodbye.

Regardless of whether stuffier critics want to admit it or not, Italian director Mario Bava was a pioneer in the film community. He consistently released garish, attention-grabbing shockers such as BLACK SUNDAY (1960) and A BAY OF BLOOD (1971) that laid the template for gothic, slasher, and splatterpunk works for the remainder of the 20th century.

Already in poor health by the time of filming, SHOCK was to be Bava’s last film before his death in April, 1980. For his swan song, Bava isn’t interested in high-concept shocks, or even retreading his earlier blood-n-Technicolor proto-slasher, BLOOD AND BLACK LACE. Instead, he settled on a rather subdued study in losing your marbles.

Recovering from her former hubby’s suicide, a woman opts to spent time in a funny farm getting electro-zapped in an effort to escape her past. This probably isn’t a stellar idea by anyone’s estimation when you have a son still young enough to be in primary school. Yes, like most great 1970s scare films, our plot revolves around a child. When the boy starts skulking around his new home and saying things like “Mama, I have to kill you”, you know the parental figures in his life haven’t hit a home run when it comes to explaining the death of his father. It’s this creepy approach–where the fingers of sculptures reach out from furniture, underwear is mysteriously shredded, and razor blades are found wedged in between the keys of laughing pianos–that stands as the quiet strength of Bava’s approach. Well, until the histrionic, SUSPIRIA-like ending kicks in, including one of the gnarliest jump scares of the year!

And while we’re on the topic, you may notice that the soundtrack sounds a lot like Goblin, the Italian prog-rock group who basically served as Dario Argento’s house band from the mid-70s to the mid-80s. That’s because Libra, the outfit responsible for much of SHOCK’s impact, is made up of former members of Goblin and wisely assumed the better-known group’s playbook after their notable successes in the horror genre. This time around, Libra almost sounds as if they’re test-driving some ideas for Goblin, with passages that hint at motifs later used for DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) and BEYOND THE DARKNESS (1979).

Like every other Italian horror flick of the era, SHOCK sported a strange alias once it debuted in America. Despite its original title being IT’S ALWAYS COLD AT 33 CLOCK STREET, distributors Film Ventures International stapled the curious title BEYOND THE DOOR II to the film ahead of its US debut in the spring of 1979. Sure, it was a lucrative yet slightly immoral move, but other than sharing the same child actor, the film holds absolutely no connection whatsoever to the infamous EXORCIST rip.

Ultimately, Bava bids us arrivederci with a peculiar meditation on drug abuse, regret, and parenthood, blending modern horror cinema anguish with the stylish, old-fashioned creeps from his earliest days of filmmaking. Bava’s son, Lamberto, would soon after assume the mantle of his father, continuing the family tradition with such genre classics as A BLADE IN THE DARK (1983) and DEMONS (1985). 

#unclean&unseen #shock #beyondthedoorii #itsalwayscoldat33clockstreet #blacksunday #bloodandblacklace #abayofblood #demons #abladeinthedark #theexorcist #mariobava #lambertobava #libra #goblin #filmventuresinternational

Ya know, I still don’t know why critics even bother reviewing slasher films. They all hate them and we horror fans have never given two shits about what they say. Case in point is today’s post from when the sequel to Tobe Hooper’s drive-in classic surfaced in theaters courtesy of Cannon Films.

Hell, I’ll be the first to admit that this film doesn’t hold a candle to the original, but is anyone so badly ego formed that they’ll actually put stock into a single movie review? Ultimately, it’s tough to take a critic seriously when they’re hellbent on delivering a ‘serious’ critique dogging the sequel’s amoral, pretentious posturing while still providing chainsaw-related quips every few sentences. Geesh, lighten up Jack Curry. (I would’ve loved to have heard the social commentary he found in HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS!)

This review was taken from some L.A.-area newspaper in the late summer of 1986.

#fearflashbacks #thetexaschainsawmassacrepart2 #tobehooper #cannonfilms #hollywoodchainsawhookers

HEART EYES, the well-reviewed new horror offering serving as the first Valentine’s Day thriller in numerous years, stumbled over the finish line this weekend with a disappointing $8.5 million in receipts. Considering that’s not even half of its reported $18 million budget isn’t reassuring for distributor Sony Pictures Releasing, but hopefully it gains steam when it hits streaming outlets.

Horror fans weren’t the only ones who didn’t turn out to cinemas this weekend. The action-comedy LOVE HURTS got bruised even worse than HEART EYES did, and Universal’s animated DOG MAN took a big shit by losing approximately 62% of its audience in its second week.

Lesson learned: Don’t ever open a movie on Super Bowl weekend.

#horrorhappenings #hearteyes #sonypicturesreleasing #dogman #lovehurts #superbowl

Osgood Perkins, still basking in the $125 million glow of LONGLEGS, is at it again already!

I’m sure you’ve already heard that Perkins will be at the helm of the film adaptation of Stephen King’s short story, “The Monkey”, but just in case you haven’t seen the nasty red-band trailer, get yo’ monkey butt over to to YouTube and check that shit out! It’s cra-zay!

The story was originally published in Gallery back in 1980 before undergoing a massive redraft for inclusion in King’s 1985 anthology, “Skeleton Crew”. The adaptation looks like it could be another bullseye not just for Perkins but for producer James Wan. We’ll all find out for sure once THE MONKEY hits theaters on February 21st.

#horrorhappenings #themonkey #osgoodperkins #jameswan #stephenking #skeletoncrew #gallery #trailer

After dealing with a lot of fuckery over at CBS in the closing years of THE TWILIGHT ZONE’s run, a burnt-out Rod Serling gave the network one more chance (with the short-lived western series, THE LONER) before he jumped over to NBC for his next endeavor. 

Though NIGHT GALLERY never consistently reached the heights of Serling’s previous classic, it nevertheless provided a few thought-provoking chills during its three-season run. No better example is the segment “Class of ‘99”, found in the second episode of season two.

At his hammy, piercing best, Vincent Price plays a college professor about to give his graduating class their final exam. Unfortunately for his pupils, it turns out to be an oral exam. Soon, Price is dispensing stringent queries randomly to the sea of nervous faces in front of him, sniping and reloading as he moves from one student to another. When one undergraduate is unable to rattle off the precise answer Price’s professor is looking for, we witness a haughty wrath that can only be mustered by educators who’ve gotten to where they are through a routine abuse of trust and power.

However, the Behavior Science portion of the exam is where things truly start to get crazy. Here, the professor goads students into acting out the narrowest of human prejudices. The wealthy are snobbish, the poor uneducated and without distinction. The Blacks are pushy and inferior to Caucasians, who are illogical and bigoted. However, it’s to be understood that Asians are the lowest rung on society’s ladder, a distrustful enemy worthy of death. 

The reasons we find for all of this are horrifying, even more so because of how prescient they seem to be in the 21st century, when the divide between races and classes traverses borderlines, political parties, and even families. If you think all this sounds edgy now, imagine what prime time audiences were thinking in 1971 when this segment originally aired. Serling was never one to shy away from the darker tendencies of mankind, but in just ten jarring minutes “Class of ‘99” undeniably cements its place as the most important episode of NIGHT GALLERY.

#smallscreenscreams #nightgallery #classof99 #thetwilightzone #rodserling #vincentprice #cbs #nbc #theloner #prejudice

I have conflicting emotions about Roman Polanski’s low-pitched, character-driven adaptation of Ira Levin’s genre bestseller, ROSEMARY’S BABY. One thing no self-respecting movie fan can deny is the film’s impact on the next decade of horror cinema. The original ‘satanic panic’ all started here folks, paving the way from everything from blockbusters such as THE EXORCIST (1973) and THE OMEN (1976), as well as veritable deluge of lesser genre efforts such as RACE WITH THE DEVIL (1975) and TO THE DEVIL…A DAUGHTER (1976).

Horror’s green motif for Old Scratch, whether it was Regan MacNeil’s pea-green vomit in THE EXORCIST or the emerald goop in the glass canister highlighting John Carpenter’s PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1987), possibly came from this very poster. It’s a striking jade-tinged image of a baby carriage perched precariously on a jagged precipice while a shorn Mia Farrow softly blends with the backing sky. Not often does a movie’s poster so fittingly telegraph the danger awaiting its audience. This is a masterpiece in simplicity, folks, and there isn’t much better praise than that.

#onesheetwonders #rosemarysbaby #romanpolanski #iralevin #miafarrow #theexorcist #theomen #racewiththedevil #tothedeviladaughter #princeofdarkness #johncarpenter #satanicpanic

Director Tom Holland (CHILD’S PLAY, THE BEAST WITHIN) took a swipe at adapting a Stephen King story with the release of THINNER, which was originally published in 1984 under King’s ‘Richard Bachman’ pseudonym. Here’s one of the film’s original newspaper ads from the greater NYC area dated October 24th, 1996.

#fearflashbacks #thinner #tomholland #stephenking #richardbachman #childsplay #thebeastwithin

Listen up, all you Sawyer family fans! Anchor Bay Entertainment is soon looking to release a new documentary highlighting the life of Leatherface actor, Gunnar Hansen. DINNER WITH LEATHERFACE will drop on February 25th, and you can already pre-order the blu-ray at Amazon.

The documentary will feature interviews with fellow CHAIN SAW alumni, along with a number of Hansen’s friends and industry partners to give a more well-rounded look at the man behind the mask.

For more info, as well as a neat trailer, head over to the original article courtesy of the fine folks at Bloody Disgusting.

#horrorhappenings #dinnerwithleatherface #gunnarhansen #thetexaschainsawmassacre #anchorbayentertainment #documentary

Originally rumored to be castoffs from the short-lived ABC series “Darkroom” that were deemed too violent for television, Universal Pictures actually cobbled together NIGHTMARES during the early 80s horror boom to serve as a TV pilot for a new series. Typical of many anthologies, it’s a hit-and-miss affair, but there are some fun scares to be had while checking out pre-fame screen appearances from the likes of Emilio Estevez and Lance Henriksen.

This was something I kept from an L.A.-area showing, circa 1987.

This is a cute little comic from the strip “Inside Out”, circa 1986.

#killermemes&comics #northpoltergeist #poltergeist #insideout