From Sam Flegal
And thus we end 2020 the only way we can, with a small puppet burning everything.
This has been a year that lasted for decades but before we let our guard down and declare it over (only to have it spring up at the last minute) I just wanted to say thank you to those that follow this blog and there will be more content in 2021. We'll have Bring on the Bad Guys, the Summer of Love(craft), the Aroma of Troma, more UWF, and the Horror Countdown all in 2021, so be there.
From Sam Flegal
Continuing with the theme, since 2020 was a year filled with little terrors, we have Pinhead, the tiny bruiser with the big hands.
From Sam Flegal
Puppet Master is one of those series I follow, although I'm baffled as to why. So why not celebrate Christmas with a knife handed killer puppet?
Long time fan of the Rock Man/Mega Man series, so why not a look back at the various characters?
Blues, Break Man, Proto Man, a bunch of names for the first robot made by Doctors Wily and Light.
From Sean Moore
The very first horror host of Tennessee from the incomparable Sean Moore
Well the New Mutants movie finally got released this year, or should I say escaped?
I kid, but seriously if given a chance, how would I have ended the mutant saga?
From Drawing Horse Studios
Count Basil, the short-lived host of Jackson, Tennessee. Taking a break from the Daily Lanterns, but there might be some more next week.
And back again!
Continuing with the Daily Lantern theme, since I had Jon Stewart wearing the Green Lantern ring, who could be the Sinistro in this situation?
Again, a little obvious but it seemed a good fit.
A cheap joke and already dated at this point, but when I commissioned this the Daily Show was hosted by Jon Stewart and yes, the interwebs was filled with Jon/John Stewart mashups. Since everyone else was doing it, why should I ignore the trend?
So, with the the most obvious prompt ever, here's Jon Stewart using the Green Lantern ring.
Art by Frank Salinas, words by me.
This is the end of Pro Wrestling for the moment, but starting tomorrow and for the rest of 2020 we'll have more art.
Given the general insanity we've seen in 2020, why not kick the art jam off earlier this year? So starting now, every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of 2020 will feature some of the artistic treasures I've found/commissioned/suddenly appeared in my crackerbox palace.
So for the first entry we'll finish up what is becoming a Christmas tradition, the world of Pro Wrestling: The Comic.
Art by Frank Salinas
Never Hike Alone (2017) dir. Vincente DiSanti, Womp Stomp Films
It's the last Friday the 13th of the year and the only one for a while. We've see maddened mothers, hockey and sack headed killers, and we've gone to space and reboots. What's next?
Not so much a review as a few rambling thoughts.
Recently I've found the show Who Dunit Theater, mostly on the Retro TV channel. Now I'm not including the show in my usual horror host review since the movies featured are of the mystery type. Each week Spurlock (Leo Barron Hicks) introduces the viewer to a classic mystery, featuring such sleuths as Sherlock Holmes, Dick Tracy, Charlie Chan, and more.
Best way to sum the show up: Bless its heart.
I mean the idea of a mystery film host is different enough to stand out and a thousand kudos for that. That would be the pro. For the con?
Spurlock is credited as Spurlock Holmes in the credits yet in the show? Spurlock Jones. So if he's supposed to be the older brother of Sherlock I figure that makes him not quite two hundred years old. Is he sleeping in honey?
Plus the show is cheap. Aside from the Holmes/Jones snafu Spurlock never actually introduces the film and usually only plug the show's sponsor, so there is a sense that they only shot ten minutes of footage. I've seen YouTube shows with bigger and better production values. The set is also cheap. There's a deerstalker but the rest of the set looks like a morning talk show on a UHF station, plus it looks the same for other show from the same producers. Not saying they should spend a million an episode but couldn't they have made it look like a PI's office? Maybe add a filing cabinet or a door with a name written on it?
Not the worse thing online and it is a treat seeing the old Lugosi thrillers again but if they had just put a bit more polish the show could really have been great.
I hope everyone's Halloween was safe. As for the blog, November is going to be a bit slow. There might be a few reviews but that's about it. December will see the return of the art showcase, this year starting off on Wednesday and running through Friday every week in December. After that we'll be in 2021.
Catch ya later.
The Cyclops (1957) dir. Bert I. Gordon, B & H Productions, Inc.
This one got lost in the shuffle but I didn't want to just delete it, so enjoy an extra review.
Lon Chaney was still working by the late 50's but his staring roles days were now officially over, at least as far A-Films were concerned. Nope, the only way he was getting top billing now was in the B flicks. And when you think B, you think Bert.
Monkey Shines (1988) dir. George Romero, Orion Pictures
So we end this year's countdown with a film from the master himself, George Romero. Romero + monkeys. What would the end result be?
Dead Ringers (1988) dir. David Cronenberg, Morgan Creek Productions/Telefim Canada/Mantle Clinic II
Canadian body horror you say? You came to the right place
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) dir. Tobe Hooper, the Cannon Group, Inc.
Hooper's career was always one of hits and misses, and TCM2 just about sums that up.
Chiller (1985) dir. Wes Craven, Frozen Man Productions/J.D. Feigelson Productions/Polar Films
Wes Craven, having created the ultimate boogeyman with Freddy Kruger, was back in a field he knew all too well-Made for TV movies.
Big Trouble in Little China (1986) dir. John Carpenter, 20th Century Fox
A cult film is hard thing to create. A paraphrase: If one million people see a film once, it's a hit. If ten people see the same film a million times, you've got a cult hit.
Small Soldiers (1998) dir. Joe Dante, Amblin Entertainment
Dante, small things that start out harmless and turn deadly plus Robert Picardo. Should be a slam dunk, right?
War of the Satellites (1958) dir. Roger Corman, Santa Cruz Productions
13 Frightened Girls (1963) dir. William Castle, William Castle Productions
When you think Castle, you tend to think gimmicks. We've seen flying skeletons, punishment polls, and fright breaks. How would Castle top those?
Suspicion (1941) dir. Alfred Hitchcock, RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Moving into the director section of our countdown, we begin with Alfred Hitchcock. Admittedly more of a thriller than pure horror, but Hitchcock had been crafting thrills with greater frequency by this point.
The Black Sleep (1956) dir. Reginald Le Borg, Bel-Air Productions
By now Lon Chaney had more or less moved to Westerns and adventure flicks but he still occasionally ventured in horror, and thus we end our lookback at Lon Chaney, Jr. and the last official film Bela Lugosi completed.
Indestructible Man (1956) dir. Jack Pollexfen, C.G.K. Productions
The Black Castle (1952) dir. Nathan H. Juran, Universal Pictures
And so we end Chaney's tenure with Universal Pictures. He would continue on with films, and we'll take a look at some of them tomorrow.
Bride of the Gorilla (1951) dir. Curt Sidomak, Jack Broder Productions Inc.
Here we have the star of the Wolf Man and directed by the writer of the same. Plus gorillas so you know it's quality.
Dead Man's Eyes (1944) dir. Reginald Le Borg, Universal Pictures
By now Lon Chaney (no longer Jr.) was a proper character actor. He was still under contract to Universal and still doing the Inner Sanctum series.
Weird Woman (1944) dir. Reginald Le Borg, Universal Pictures
Continuing with the Inner Sanctum series, this one had the advantage of being based on the book Conjure Wife, as written by Fritz Leiber.
Calling Dr. Death (1943) dir. Reginald LeBorg, Universal Pictures, Inc.
Moving into the special feature section, this year we look at the work of Lon Chaney, Jr. By the mid-40's Universal was using Lon in every horror feature at least once. He is, after all , the only other man to play a vampire, a mummy, the Frankenstein's Monster, and a werewolf besides Paul Naschy.
The Howling: Reborn (2011) dir. Joe Nimziki, Anchor Bay Films/Moonstone Entertainment/Quebec Film and Television Tax Credit/SODEC
The first Howling film since 1995 and the last so far. Did it go out with a howl or a whimper?
Leatherface (2017) dirs. Julien Murray and Alexandre Bustillo, Campbell Grobman Films/Mainline Pictures/Millennium Films
Halloween: Resurrection (2002) dir. Rick Rosenthal, Dimension Films/Nightfall Productions/Trancas International Films
Halloween: H20 may not have been the best in the series, but it did give an ending. Laurie Strobe (Jamie Lee Curtis) finally had her showdown with her brother Michael Myers and cut his head off. Seemed a pretty definitive way to finish a character, right?
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) dir. Samuel Bayer, Platinum Dunes
Moving into the slasher section of the countdown, why should the Man of Your Dreams be except from the reboot crazy that all the rage in the 00's?
Straight On 'til Morning (1972) dir. Peter Collinson, Hammer Studios
This will be the end of our Hammer section and with one of the oddest films Hammer made before they closed their doors.
The Damned (1963) dir. Joseph Losey, Hammer Film Productions
Moving into the science fiction portion of our Hammer lookback, we see Oliver Reed, rockers, and spooky kids.
The Witches (1966) dir. Cyril Frankel, Hammer Film Productions/Seven Arts Productions
Going back to Hammer's glory days, we check out a film that has more to do with voodoo than traditional witchcraft.
The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) dir. Alan Gibson, Hammer Film Productions
By now Hammer was almost in a free fall. Emotionally blackmailing Christopher Lee to keep doing the Count with ever decreasing returns had finally crapped out and this would be the last Hammer Dracula Lee would headline.
Real name: Ruth Sprayberry
Years active: 1963-1965
Here's one that I stumbled over, and as best as I can tell the first female host from Louisiana. Hosting Terror! and Terror II (double feature) on KSLA-Channel 12 in Shreveport. She also hosted the Witching Hour on the same channel for a few months in '65.
The show seemed like a big deal at the time, even having a special guest star in the form on Lon Chaney, Jr. Evilun seemed to be taking a page from Vampira, in that she was a ghoul in a slinky black dress. Accompanied by Malicea (Billie Jaradine), a wayward witch who's broom took the wrong turn in the jet stream, the ghouly gals hosted films late on Saturday night.
She passed away in 1995.
The Mummy Returns (2001) dir. Stephan Sommers, Alphaville Films
Moving into the Universal distributed section, we see the return of Stephan Sommers and his Mummy verse.
Real name: Ray Spruell
Years active: 1972-1979
This one is a bit more recent. Hosting Shock Theater WRBT-Channel 33 out of Baton Rouge, Mr. Spruell also acted in a few films that were shot in the area, including the Toy and North and South.
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) dir. Charles Barton, Universal Pictures
This is it, both the last Universal film of the year and the last official film to feature Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, and the Wolf Man; also the first to feature Abbot and Costello teaming up with monsters.
Real name: Unknown
Years active: 1957-1958
The name Dr. Shock has been used from Pennsylvania to Chattanooga and all points in-between. This one might be the first. The show Shock Theatre aired on KTBS-Channel 3 out of Shreveport but I fear that is all I could find about this poor fellow, not even a photo. Can't win them all I guess.
Captive Wild Woman (1943) dir. Edward Dmytryk, Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
We've seen how the saga of Paul Dupree ends, so why not see how it starts?
Real name: Lee Kleinpeter, Jr.
Years active: 1979-1980
A short lived host, Dr. Brain oversaw Theatre of the Mind, airing on KLFY Channel 10 out of Lake Charles and Lafayette. He had the typical hunchbacked assistant, the catch being named Quzi-Boudreaux (and played by local actor John Brockmeyer). I have yet to find any photos or footage of the good doctor
Night Monster (1942) dir. Ford Beebe, Universal Pictures Corporation
A monster movie with just a pinch of old dark house feels and with no comedy?
Real name: Jay Marlborough
Years active: 1964-1969
Moving into the land of bayous, pelicans and Morgus, we first look at Count Macabre. He hosted his self titled show on WBRZ Channel 2 out of Baton Rouge weekday afternoons, a departure from most hosts who tended towards late night/weekends.
Seemed to be your typical vampire, although he did have a non talking skull named Erik.
He passed away in 2000.
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1942) dir. William Nigh, Universal Pictures
More of a thriller, although with Lionel Atwill in the cast you know he's going to carry himself with dignity.
The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942) dir. Joseph H. Lewis, Universal Pictures
By the 1940s, the Universal Monsters had been shoved to the B circuit. The Mad Doctor of Market Street is a perfect example of that.
Real name: Gene Edwards
Years active: 1963-1966
I've seen this host as Dr. Ygor and Dr. Igor, but the IMDB says IGOR, so we'll go with that. Taking a look at the hosts of Colorado, we take a look at Chiller Theater. Hosted by Dr. Igor on KCTO-Channel 2 for about a year, the good doctor actually started in Illinois on WQAD-Channel 8 (still Chiller Theater) in 1963 before heading west in 1965.
From what few photos I've seen he looked like a standard mad scientist.
Abbot and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953) dir. Charles Lamont, Universal-International Pictures
Greetings Boils and Ghouls! Society is crumbling and madness takes its toil, but we still have monsters aplenty. As per tradition we start out this year with another version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Ok, with the Aroma of Troma behind us, September is going to be a bit light on content. Maybe a few reviews, etc., but October? October will again see Horror of all stripes, but all the Centennial and Pelican horror hosts.
November will probably be again be light, but December will see the return of the art showcase. The main difference is that will start on Wednesday and will run WTF every week of December. Expect more Pro Wrestling: The Comic as well as some of the odds and bobs I've gathered over the years.
Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986) dir. Richard W. Haines/Michael Herz/Lloyd Kaufman, Troma Entertainment
And so we end another feature here at Geekademia, at least for another year. We've seen comedy and horror in equal measure so why not end it with a nuclear powered teenage mutants of superhuman size and strength? Then I remembered I already did the Toxic Avenger so let's take a look at the silver medal of the Tromaverse.
When Nature Calls (1985) dir. Charlie Kaufman, Troma Entertainment
And here we have almost the last film from Lloyd's brother. Going back to the well this time with a comedy in the vein of the Zucker/Abrams comedies.
Combat Shock (1986) dir. Buddy Giovinazzo, 2000 A.D. Productions/Troma Entertainment
As you may have guessed I'm not going in strictly chronological order. We've seen comedy, horror, and action. Why not something that combines genres?
Border Cop (1980) dir. Christopher Leitch, Connaught Latham/Donald Langdon Production/Grupo Filmico International/Troma Entrainment
Mother's Day (1980) dir. Charlie Kaufman, Duty Productions/Saga Films/Troma Entertainment
Moving into the 80's, we take a look at Lloyd's brother Charlie
