31 Days of Horror: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

texas chainsaw massacre dark sky selects

One of the fun things about being a physical media collector is getting to display your stuff. Digital collections are great, but all you have to show for it is a hard drive (yes I know it is the actual art – the music, the films, the writing – that truly matters not the physical objects, but still…).

I love Steelbooks, collector’s editions, and Blu-rays with fun artwork. Sometimes the releases come with collectibles. Sometimes they come with really cool collectibles. The new Dark Sky 4K UHD edition of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has a lifesized plastic chainsaw! How cool is that?

The movie is great, too. An all-time horror classic.

You can read my full film review and the set over at Cinema Sentries.

Bring Out the Perverts: In The Folds of the Flesh (1970)

in the folds of the flesh poster

This is the only film in the collection which I had not previously watched. It also happens to be the worst of the bunch, and I’d hardly call it a Giallo at all.

I’ve talked before about how most Gialli don’t make all that much logical sense. They often have plot inconsistencies and characters will behave in a nonsensical manner. But In the Folds of the Flesh is on a whole new level of nonsense. Honestly, I’m not sure I could describe everything that goes on in this film, or how any of it fits into the plot.

But I’ll try.

A convict escapes from a mental hospital. He comes across a woman who has just killed her husband and is burying him in her yard. But before he can do anything he is captured by the police. Many years later a long-lost cousin shows up to the house and is promptly murdered. Then an old friend comes to the house and he gets his head sliced off. Then the convict finds his way back to the house, tries to blackmail the family, and finds himself in an acid bath.

I think there is a police investigation and there are definitely flashbacks to a Nazi concentration camp, and probably a bunch of other stuff too. I really can’t remember. It all happens so haphazardly it was difficult to keep up. Or to care.

It is shot with psychedelic glee. There are a lot of flash zooms and kaleidoscope-y split screens. The kills (which feature quite a few decapitations) are pretty fun. And goofy.

It is overwrought and trashy. And a little bit of fun. But not enough to make me recommend it.

31 Days of Horror: The Blob (1988)

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As I wrote in this week’s Pick of the Week, I love 1950s-era science fiction/horror films. They are oh-so-very cheesy, but often they are made by good craftsmen and they can be quite enjoyable to watch.

The 1980s saw a string of those old movies being remade. John Carpenter turned The Thing From Another World (1951), an actually pretty great Cold War metaphor into his masterpiece, The Thing (1982). David Cronenberg turned the wonderfully silly The Fly (1958) into one of the all-time great body horror films. (We could also mention Phillip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but that would bring us back to 1978 and I want to stick to the 1980s.)

In 1988 Chuck Russell got into the game and remade the goofy The Blob into a goopy, gnarly little horror film. It is my least favorite of these films, but it is still pretty great.

One of my favorite things about the film is that it introduces several characters in the beginning, people who give off Main Character Energy whom you figure will make it to the end of the film, and then it brutally murders them within the first half hour. It gives the movie that Game of Thrones feeling where nobody is really safe.

A meteorite lands just outside of a small town in California. Inside it is some gelatinous goo that feeds on human flesh and grows bigger every time it does.

The film takes time with its characters. It gives us some nice beats letting us understand them a little bit, even when it kills them soon after. This gives the movie the feeling of something more than just a big glob of goo murdering everyone.

Those kills are pretty sweet though. The special effects crew do a great job of making the blob look, well not realistic in any way, but effectively cool. The kills are varied and violent and bloody.

The plot gets pretty silly – there is a whole thing about a government agency swooping in to keep the blob safe in order to use it as a biological weapon (or did they invent it in the first place?), and the acting (led by Kevin Dillon and Shawnee Smith) is less than stellar. But mostly it is a lot of fun.

31 Days of Horror: 2024

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This will be the third year in a row for me writing about horror movies in October. I’ve been watching horror movies in October for a lot longer than that, and I did a hashtag on Twitter (when I still posted to Twitter) for a couple of years before I started blogging it. This was one of the first themes I did when I started doing non-music posts again at The Midnight Cafe and it remains one of my favorites.

For some reason, I always try to write about horror movies in October every single day of the month. With all my other themes I only write about them a couple of times a week at best. I guess because it is “31” Days of Horror my brain tells me I need to write 31 articles. I probably will miss a few, but be ready for lots of horror talk. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

The Movie Journal: September 2024

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I watched 39 movies in September. 27 of them were new to me. 17 were made before I was born. 6 of them were released in 2024, which has to be some kind of record for me. Or at least it has been unusual for me to watch new movies over the last several years.

There was no theme this month, though I did start the Giallo on Criterion series which will continue into October. I’d like to do more series like that, but I’ll be doing so many horror movies this month that may have to wait.

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The actor’s list contains no surprises. The Doctor Who crew has moved into first place with 10 films. Maureen O’Brien has entered into the list, tied at five films with several other folks. She plays Vicky, the new companion on Doctor Who after Susan left.

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The director’s list has gotten a bit more interesting. Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci have both entered with three films each. No doubt this is due to me watching all those Gialli. Richard Martin has also entered the race with three films (all Doctor Who stories) and Michael Curtiz enters that tie with three films.

Here’s the list:

Cop (1988) ****
Single White Female (1992) ***1/2
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992) ****
Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie (2023) ***1/2
Subservience (2024) **1/2
In the Folds of the Flesh (1970) ***
Doctor Who: The Chase (1965) ****
Hard Times (1975) ****
Challenge of the Masters (1976) ***
Flamingo Road (1949) ****
Greedy People (2024) ***1/2
The Last of Sheila (1973) ****
Flight 7500 (2014) ***
Trap (2024) ***
Tenebre (1982) ****
Colorado Territory (1949) ***1/2
Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972) ***1/2
Thelma (2024) ****
The Mighty Peking Man (1977) ***
Doctor Who: Death to the Daleks (1974) ***1/2
Rebel Ridge (2024) ****1/2
Deep Red (1975) ****1/2
Tremors (1990) ***1/2
Werewolves Within (2021) ****
An American Werewolf in London (1981) ****
A Man on His Knees (1979) ****1/2
Doctor Who: The Space Museum (1965) ***
Time Without Pity (1957) ****
Drive-Away Dolls (2024) ***1/2
Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) ****
Bright Leaf (1950) ***
Longlegs (2024) ***1/2
Death Walks at Midnight (1972) ***1/2
Blood and Black Lace (1964) ****
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) ****1/2
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991) ***1/2
Apocalypse Now (1979) *****
Hold Your Man (1933) ***1/2
The Crime Is Mine (2023) ***1/2

The Blob (1988) is the New Blu-ray Pick of the Week

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October 1, is the start of spooky season, or as I like to call it 31 Days of Horror. I’ll talk more about that in another post, but for now, I get to be excited about all the horror movies that will be released this month. I haven’t looked ahead but in the weeks to come I suspect we will see a great many cool horror sets get released on home video.

For now we get a pretty great remake of a pretty silly 1950s monster movie. I’m talking about The Blob. I wrote my pick of the week for Cinema Sentries yesterday (which you can read here) and that led me to watch The Blob this afternoon (sorry just the streaming version I won’t be reviewing the Steelbook).

I am happy to say it is as much fun as I remembered.

Single White Female (1992)

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One of the things I enjoy about not having a movie theme on some months is that it allows me to follow random rabbit holes for a little while. Friday night I watched Subservience a film in which Megan Fox plays a sexy robot maid who wreaks havoc on a traditional suburban home.

Numerous people noted that its plot was similar to The Hand that Rocks the Cradle in which Rebecca DeMornay plays a sexy nanny who wreaks havoc on a traditional suburban home.

This in turn led me to Single White Female in which Jennifer Jason Leigh plays a sexy roommate who wreaks havoc on an almost traditional New York City home.

It is by far the trashiest of the three films and the most fun.

Allie Jones (Bridget Fonda) is a young, hip New Yorker who runs a start-up software company and lives in a swanky rent-controlled apartment with her fiancee Sam (Steven Weber). Late one night the phone rings and it is Sam’s ex-wife. At first, he doesn’t answer the phone letting the answering machine get it. As she starts ranting and raving he answers, but by then the machine has picked her up on speakerphone. When she berates Sam for not answering her calls even after they slept together recently, Allie flips out and kicks him out.

Now she needs a roommate. After a few interviews, she lands on Hedy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who is a bit shy, and quite a bit weird, but she seems nice. At first, they get along quite well and it seems like everything is going to work out. And then, of course, they don’t.

Hedy is a manipulator. She constantly maneuvers situations to turn herself into Allie’s best friend while turning all others against her. At the same time, she is turning herself into an Allie clone. She borrows her clothes and then purchases exact copies. Then she gets a similar haircut. The two actresses look similar enough that there are times when it is difficult to tell them apart.

When Sam reenters the pictures Hedy gets crazy.

This is a film full of crazy. And gratuitous nudity. And a gay best friend. And a sexual assault by Stephen Tobolowsky. And a murder through the eye with a high heel.

It is so trashy and so much fun. It is best watched with a couple of hilarious, drunken friends.

Bruce Springsteen – Philadelphia, PA (11/01/74)

Bruce Springsteen
Spanish Harlem Incident On Philly
Masterpiece, ESB 11174A/B
Tower Theater
Philadelphia, PA, USA
November 01 1974

Original Silver Discs –> EAC (Secure) –> Waw –> Flac Level 8 & Align
EAC Log Files, md5 Files (Flac & Waw), Artwork Included (Front, Back & Discs 300 dpi)

101 – Incident On 57th Street
102 – The She Kissed Me
103 – Spirit In The Night
104 – Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?
105 – The E Street Shuffle
106 – Born To Run
107 – Spanish Harlem
108 – It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City
109 – She’s The One
110 – Jungleland

201 – Kitty’s Back
202 – New York City Serenade
203 – Rosalita
204 – 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
205 – A Love So Fine

Rest In Peace Kris Kristofferson (1936-2024)

I remember the first time I heard “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” I was just a teenager riding with my Dad somewhere. He had just bought a CD of Kristofferson’s Greatest Hits or something and this was the first song that came on.

I was immediately knocked out. I’m sure I’d heard Janis sing “Me and Bobby McGee” at that point and probably Willie cover “Help Me Make It Through the Night” so I knew of his songwriting and how great he was, but hearing “Sunday Morning” was like nothing else.

He died in his home in Hawaii yesterday. Rest in Peace, Mr. Kristofferson. You will be missed.

Edith Head Exhibit In Oklahoma City

Edith Head was an award-winning costume designer who made dresses for a literal who’s who of Hollywood stars during the classic period. She won eight Academy Awards and became something of a celebrity herself. If you’ve seen any of The Incredibles movies, Edna Mode the cantankerous costume designer in that film is based on Edith Head.

I love classic movies, of course, and my wife is a bit of a seamstress and lover of beautiful costumes. There is an exhibition of Edith Head costumes currently happening at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. For my wife’s birthday, we went down and saw it. It was fabulous so I thought I’d share some of the highlights here.

My apologies for the bad formatting on all of these images. WordPress is absolutely awful for this sort of thing.

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The wedding dress Barbara Stanwyck wore in Sorry Wrong Number (1948)

Grace Kelly in Rear Window (1954).

Veronica Lake in This Gun For Hire (1942)

Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray (and my wife) in Double Indenmity (1944).

Kim Novak in Vertigo (1958) and me in my Vertigo shirt (2023).

There were many more costumes at the exhibit and it was so much fun to see them all. My wife was enamored with the style of the costumes, I just kept going “Kim Novak wore that!,” “Grace Kelly wore that!!”

If you are in the area I highly recommend it.