Author - Widge

32 Days of Halloween XI, Day 28: Macabre!

4 months ago
Widge
32 Days of Halloween

Macabre (1958)

First, it’s time for some more old-time radio with Boris Karloff in the 1941 episode of Inner Sanctum called “Fog.” If you’re on a time budget, at least listen to the announcer and his intro. Sanctum had one of the best openings. Mmmmm?

Next, here’s an insane cast for you. It’s from the 80s classic series Faerie Tale Theatre, hosted by Shelley Duvall. “The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers” has Peter MacNicol as the titular boy, plus Christopher Lee, Dana Hill, David Warner, Frank Zappa, and Vincent Price as the Narrator. Just damn.

Now we come to our feature film: Macabre from 1958, another William Castle classic. This was his entry into sensationalist promotional gimmicks: attending the film would get you an official certificate from Lloyds of London, insuring you for $1000 if the film caused you to die of fright. Fantastic.

32 Days of Halloween XI, Day 27: The Monsters of Terror!

4 months ago
Widge
32 Days of Halloween

The Monsters of Terror (Assignment Terror)

First, let’s get a classic trailer going. Dom sent me this earlier with the comment that they just don’t make trailers like this anymore. Damn right they don’t. Which is a shame. It’s the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Next, we go to David McCallum and an excellent reading of “The Dunwich Horror.” Because it’s high time we had some Lovecraft in here.

For tonight’s feature, let’s not focus on the fact that it’s got an English language title card smacked onto it as elegantly as a swan, long since taxidermied and falling off a high shelf. Let’s not even dwell on the fact that it’s Michael Rennie’s final film. Instead, ponder this first sentence from the Wikipedia (which is always right) synopsis: Aliens, running a traveling circus as a cover, revive a vampire, a werewolf, a mummy and Frankenstein’s monster with a plan to use them to take over the world.

Who the hell isn’t on board after that? Enjoy.

32 Days of Halloween XI, Day 24: The Spider Woman Strikes Back!

4 months ago
Widge
32 Days of Halloween

Spider Woman Strikes Back

For tonight’s revelries, let’s start off by sending you elsewhere. There’s no real way to embed an episode of Desert Island Discs, but since this is a unique and excellent interview with Vincent Price, it’s certainly worth going to check out.

Next, I recently heard the classic short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl read by Catherine O’Hara. The story is sort of like “The Tell-Tale Heart” if it had been written by…well, Roald Dahl. I couldn’t find that exactly, but here’s the next best thing: the 1958 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that adapted the story. And yes, that is a quite young Barbara Bel Geddes as Mary.

Update: Crap. Well, that didn’t take long. It’s been taken down, so I hereby replace it with “And So Died Riabouchinska,” which is probably the only place where Hitchcock, Ray Bradbury (story), Claude Rains and Charles Bronson all meet.

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32 Days of Halloween XI, Day 20: Devil Doll!

5 months ago
Widge
32 Days of Halloween

Devil Doll (1964)

Before we get to the 1964 film Devil Doll (and yes, I have to specify which one because…well, you didn’t think there could just be one film with that title, did you?) let’s hit a couple other old-time radio favorites, shall we? First we go to Quiet Please, a radio show from the late 1940s and the episode “Tanglefoot.” I’ve written a story myself about messing around with making what are essentially designer insects. It never goes the way you intend, you know.

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