Horror 2020 Countdown: Monkey Shines (1988)

 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?

Horror 2020 Countdown: Dead Ringers (1988)

 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

Horror 2020 Countdown: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

 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.

Horror 2020 Countdown: Chiller (1985)

 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. 

Horror 2020 Countdown: Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

 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.

Horror 2020 Countdown: Small Soldiers (1998)

 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?

Horror 2020 Countdown: War of the Satellites (1958)

 War of the Satellites (1958) dir. Roger Corman, Santa Cruz Productions 

 Leave it to Corman to rush out a feature on Sputnik. Yeah, supposedly Corman told Allied Artists they needed to get in on the space race and lo three months later he finishes this.

Horror 2020 Countdown: 13 Frightened Girls (1963)

 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?

Horror 2020 Countdown: Suspicion (1941)

 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. 

Horror 2020 Countdown: The Black Sleep (1956)

 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. 

Horror 2020 Countdown: Indestructible Man (1956)

 Indestructible Man (1956) dir. Jack Pollexfen, C.G.K. Productions 

By now Lon Chaney was a solid B-movie actor, although he did manage score a bit parts in bigger A productions. This isn't one of them.

Horror 2020 Countdown: The Black Castle (1952)

 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.

Horror 2020 Countdown: Bride of the Gorilla (1951)

 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.

Horror 2020 Countdown: Dead Man's Eyes (1944)

 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. 

Horror 2020 Countdown: Weird Woman (1944)

 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. 

Horror 2020 Countdown: Calling Dr. Death (1943)

 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.  

Horror 2020 Countdown: The Howling: Reborn (2011)

 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?

Horror 2020 Countdown: Leatherface (2017)

 Leatherface (2017) dirs. Julien Murray and Alexandre Bustillo, Campbell Grobman Films/Mainline Pictures/Millennium Films

 And here is the final, so far, entry in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. We've seen horror and high camp. How would the series end?

Horror 2020 Countdown: Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

 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?

Horror 2020 Countdown: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

 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?

Horror 2020 Countdown: Straight On 'til Morning (1972)

 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. 

Horror 2020 Countdown: The Damned (1963)

 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. 

Horror 2020 Countdown: The Witches (1966)

 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.

Horror 2020 Countdown: The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

 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.

Horror Host 2020 Retrospective: Evilun

 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. 

Horror 2020 Countdown: The Mummy Returns (2001)

 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.

Horror Host 2020 Retrospective: Dr. Von Shock

 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. 

Horror 2020 Countdown: Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

 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.

Horror Host 2020 Retrospective: Dr. Shock

 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.   

Horror 2020 Countdown: Captive Wild Woman (1943)

 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?

Horror Host 2020 Retrospective: Dr. Brain

 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

Horror 2020 Countdown: Night Monster (1942)

 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? 

Horror Host 2020 Retrospective: Count Macabre

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. 

Fan site

Horror 2020 Countdown: The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1942)

 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.

Horror Host 2020 Retrospective: George Byram

Real name: George Byram 

 Years active: 1958-1959 

 And here we end Colorado's scant few hosts. Yeah, seems the mile high area didn't exactly have an overabundance of hosts. Hosting the local Shock package on KBTV-Channel 9 out of Denver, George hosted under his own name.

Seemed a bit ghoulish, as one reviewer recalled Byram hosting as a disembodied head. A severed head would be a first.   

Horror 2020 Countdown: The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942)

 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. 

Horror Host 2020 Retrospective: Dr. Igor

 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. 

Horror 2020 Countdown: Abbot and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)

 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.