Greetings, my allies in autumnal adulation! It’s that time of year again, when tricks and treats trade beats with greets on the streets....
It’s time for SCARE-A-THON 2023.
Saturday, September 30, 2023
SCARE-A-THON 2023: EVERYBODY LOVES A SEQUEL
Greetings, my allies in autumnal adulation! It’s that time of year again, when tricks and treats trade beats with greets on the streets....
It’s time for SCARE-A-THON 2023.
Friday, September 29, 2023
ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948) TURNS 75!!!
By the late 1940s, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, and Dracula had become more friends than fiends to audiences. In a flash of inspiration, producer Robert Arthur hit upon the idea of pairing his hit comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello with the creepy creatures. Though nobody, especially Abbott and Costello, were enthusiastic about the experiment, the results were astonishing.
Thursday, September 28, 2023
THE FLY (1958) / RETURN OF THE FLY (1959) / CURSE OF THE FLY (1965) Round Table!!
Veteran director Kurt Neumann mostly toiled in mid-tier melodramas, Westerns and Tarzan movies throughout his long career, but had already made a few notable entries in the realm of science fiction cinema with Rocketship X-M (1950) and Kronos (1957). Released two months before his death in August 1958, THE FLY has endured for 65 years as true classic, not losing any of its power to shock and surprise.
TERROR TUESDAYS AT THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY!!
Following last year’s successful October shenanigans, Jon Kitley of Kitley’s Krypt and I will be returning to the Sulzer Regional Library (4455 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago IL 60625) for another installment of TERROR TUESDAYS!
Week #1:
TUESDAY, 10/3 6:30pm
Rule Makers/Rule Breakers: Horror Directors of the 1920s-1960s
Folks like Tod Browning, James Whale, Jack Arnold, Terence Fisher, and George Romero gave us the classics that sparked and defined the genre.
Monday, September 25, 2023
DOG SOLDIERS (2002) ROUND TABLE CELEBRATION
Dispatched to the Scottish Highlands, a half-dozen soldiers find their special training maneuver exercises interrupted by an S.O.S. signal flare. Upon arrival at the distress site, they discover the sole remaining member of a Special Ops team, Captain Ryan, raving and bleeding profusely. Moments later, the team is besieged by mysterious, snarling assailants that decimate one of their number and leave their leader, Sgt. Wells, grievously wounded. Their panicked retreat under the command of Pvt. Cooper leads to a chance encounter with a local woman, Megan, who helps them escape to a secluded cabin in the woods. Low on ammo and facing periodic but increasingly effective attacks, the pinned-down troops must use their every resource to combat the lycanthropic menace until the full moon sets.
Friday, September 15, 2023
THE BLOB (1958) / THE BLOB (1988) - HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!
THE BLOB (1958) d. Irwin J. Yeaworth (USA)BEWARE! THE BLOB (1972) d. Larry Hagman (USA)
THE BLOB (1988) d. Chuck Russell (USA)
By the 1950s, sci-fi had taken Hollywood by storm, with all manner of tales involving Man exploring the galaxy, or various intergalactic neighbors swinging down to our neck of the woods for a visit. Meanwhile, juvenile delinquent pics became all the rage following the 1955 smash Rebel Without a Cause. Misunderstood teenagers already flocking to the drive-ins to see their onscreen counterparts and giant monster flicks, so entrepreneur Jack H. Harris hit upon the idea of combining the two elements. The resulting film, THE BLOB (1958), became an instant sensation, making back its modest budget many times over, as well as generating a Top 40 hit on the radio with its catchy title tune, and launching a young upcoming actor, Steve McQueen to superstardom.
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
MARIO BAVA'S BLACK SABBATH (1963) TURNS 60!!!
Following the success of Roger Corman’s comic exploration of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven in 1963, Boris Karloff found himself in high demand with American International Pictures. In addition to The Terror, notoriously shot in two days on the Raven’s sets, the horror icon appeared in The Comedy of Terrors for Jacques Tourneur (alongside Raven co-stars Vincent Price and Peter Lorre), and tonight’s selection, the masterful anthology Three Faces of Fear, or, as it was better known for its Stateside release, BLACK SABBATH.
Friday, September 1, 2023
BELGIAN HORROR: LEFT BANK (LINKEROEVER) (2008) and CUB (WELP) (2014)
LEFT BANK (aka LINKEROEVER) (2008) d. Pieter Van Hees (Belgium)
CUB (aka WELP) (2014) d. Jonas Govaerts (Belgium)
CUB (aka WELP) (2014) d. Jonas Govaerts (Belgium)
Tonight’s double feature takes us across the ocean to Belgium, a land renowned for lace, beer, chocolate, waffles, and a small but notable number of horror titles, including two films we’re going to be discussing tonight: Pieter Van Hees’ LEFT BANK from 2008 and Jonas Govaerts’ CUB (aka WELP) from 2014.
