Classic Horror: Friday The 13th (1980)

They were warned….

Today’s Classic Horror features the first film in one of the most successful horror franchises of all time, 1980’s Friday The 13th. The film turned forty years old on May 9th of this year, so it’s fitting that I should highlight the movie that started it all for Jason Voorhees even though he isn’t the central character nor the primary villain in this film.

L to R: Jeannine Taylor, Kevin Bacon, Mark Nelson, Adrienne King, Laurie Bartram, and Harry Crosby III.

Just in case you are wondering, there are spoilers ahead!

The film is actually a pretty generic slasher flick. A group of attractive young people arrive at Camp Crystal Lake in order to help its current owner, Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer), refurbish and clean up the grounds in order to open up for summer camp. Unfortunately for the group, the locals in the nearby town believe that the camp is cursed. They warn the youngsters about “Camp Blood” and all of the horrible things that happened there ever since a young boy drowned and a young couple was murdered the following year. Despite the warnings, the group moves ahead with their work. One by one, they are picked off by a murderer who is never shown on camera. When there’s only one person left, the villain is finally revealed to be the mother of Jason Voorhees, the young boy who drowned in the lake many years before.

Betsy Palmer starred as the insane Pamela Voorhees, driven to murder by the voice of her son. Adrienne King portrayed Alice Hardy, the final girl in the film and the one who faces off with Mrs. Voorhees. She also gets a spooky surprise during a dream sequence at the end of the film. It introduces the world to Jason Voorhees (Ari Lehman) sans the hockey mask that would make him famous. The film also starred Kevin Bacon in one of his earliest roles, Harry Crosby III, son of Bing Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Jeannine Taylor, and Mark Nelson. Also appearing briefly in the film as a camp counselor who is murdered on her way to the camp is Robbi Morgan as Annie Phillips.

Robbi Morgan as Annie Phillips.

The film was criticized by the MPAA for its violence which, by today’s standards, is actually pretty tame. The movie was also criticized for exploiting the young cast by having them run around in underwear and shirtless at points and a brief scene involving nudity. Again, by today’s standards, especially when compared to more modern slasher films, this movie is very tame. Critics of the time panned the film for numerous reasons, some that were actually warranted. As I already mentioned, the film was a fairly basic slasher film. The acting wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad either. What really gets me is how many critics were angered and/or couldn’t believe that an elderly woman could pull off all of the murders in the film. Many critics didn’t like the fact that a woman was the killer, either.

Betsy Palmer as Pamela Voorhees.

The movie would go on to produce a seemingly endless chain of sequels, one that even happens in the future aboard a spaceship (Jason X, 2002). In 2003, much to the delight of horror fans, Jason faced off against A Nightmare on Elm Street‘s Freddy Krueger in Freddy Vs. Jason. The franchise was rebooted in 2009 but there has yet to be a sequel to that film. A television show was released in 1987 and ran for three seasons. It followed two cousins who ran an antique store and collected cursed items to safely store away. It had no connection with the film series despite being called Friday The 13th: The Series. There have been books, video games, action figures, and much, much more paraphernalia that has been released over the last forty years as well. The franchise has shown to be one of the most profitable horror properties in history. It is second only to the Halloween franchise and only gave up the top spot in 2018.

Of the cast, only Kevin Bacon went on to have a massively successful career. Many of the actors went on to have minor roles in film and television and a few have had solid voice acting careers. Adrienne King became the focus of a stalker and, as a result, left the United States to study art and dance. She eventually returned and began doing voice work, afraid to show her face on camera. She has slowly returned to acting on screen in small roles.

Adrienne King as Alice Hardy.

If you’ve never watched any of the Friday the 13th films, give this one a look. It’s a standard slasher film but it’s still worth checking out because of the films and franchise growth that would follow.

Thanks for taking a trip to Camp Crystal Lake with me today. I plan on taking a look at a couple of other films in the franchise in my Classic Horror series.

Throwback Thursday: The Legend of the Lone Ranger Toys (1981)

Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!

Yes, I know that some folks will claim that “Hi-Yo” is wrong and that it should be “Hi-Ho,” but Clayton Moore, the man best known for portraying the Lone Ranger on television for most of the 1950’s, has stated in interviews that it’s “Hi-Yo, Silver.” I don’t argue with the Lone Ranger. That being said, 1981’s The Legend of the Lone Ranger did not include Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger. Instead, it starred Klinton Spilsbury as the masked man (with lines dubbed by James Keach) and Michael Horse as his ally, Tonto. The film also starred Christopher Lloyd as Butch Cavendish, Jason Robards as President Ulysses S. Grant, Richard Farnsworth as Wild Bill Hickok, and a number of popular supporting actors featured in western films such as Buck Taylor, Tom Laughlin, and John Hart.

The film bombed. The failure of the movie was due in part to a longstanding courtroom battle between Clayton Moore and Jack Wrather, the man who owned the rights to the Lone Ranger character, that spilled over into the public arena. Fans of Moore’s version of the character were angered whenever Wrather obtained a court order that stated Moore could no longer make public appearances as the masked man. As a result, the film took a hit. Spilsbury would never act again and the film would fade into history.

As a young kid in the early 80’s, I wasn’t too concerned with legal battles or the acting abilities of Spilsbury, I just wanted cool toys. I didn’t even see The Legend of the Lone Ranger until it was replayed on television, but when Gabriel toys released a line of action figures based on the film, I made sure that my mom hooked me up with the Lone Ranger and Tonto and their horses, Silver and Scout.

I played with these toys constantly. They primarily aided G.I. Joe and my Star Wars figures in battle since they were the only other 3 3/4″ figures that I had at the time. There were five figures and three horses in the line, but I never did get Butch Cavendish, General Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody, or Smoke (Butch’s horse). I was happy with the Lone Ranger, Tonto, Silver, and Scout.

I broke one of the knee joints on my Tonto figure and had to administer six-year old medical assistance to him by using an old clasp from a bag to allow him to move his knee. Both he and the Lone Ranger could ride their horses. The Lone Ranger came with his two pistols and Tonto came with a pistol and knife.

L to R: Custer, Cody, and Cavendish.

None of the figures looked like their counterparts in the film, but it’s pretty obvious who each character represents. I really wish that I had held on to the figures, as they were a big part of my childhood. There’s a slight chance that I have one or two of them tucked away somewhere, but I’m not sure if I do or don’t. If any of them survived, it’s probably Silver. He doubled as Pegasus whenever I got my Perseus action figure from The Clash of the Titans which also came out in 1981.

Yep, The Legend of the Lone Ranger might not have been a success, but it definitely delivered when it came to the toy line. The characters are still popular to this day, although they are slowly fading into history. Disney attempted to revive interest in the masked man with the release of The Lone Ranger in 2013, but it failed to catch the attention of audiences. I actually enjoyed the movie, but I seriously doubt that the Lone Ranger and Tonto will be hitting the silver screen any time soon.

Thanks for checking out my post.

Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!

The Forgotten Island

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)

Bookended by a beloved classic and a notorious flop, 1977’s The Island of Dr. Moreau is often forgotten by science fiction fans despite being a decent adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel of the same name. 1932’s Island of Lost Souls has become an influential classic despite being disliked by Wells. 1996’s The Island of Dr. Moreau starring Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando was plagued with production issues and in-fighting between cast and crew that damaged the film on many levels. Its chaotic production has become infamous in cinema history.

When the 1977 feature was released, it featured a solid cast including Burt Lancaster, Michael York, Barbara Carrera, and Nigel Davenport, and, at least in my opinion, some pretty good makeup and special effects for the time. It tells the story of Braddock (York), a shipwrecked engineer who ends up on a mysterious island and is restored to health by Dr. Moreau (Lancaster), his warden named Montgomery (Davenport), and a beautiful young woman named Maria (Carrera). In time Braddock learns that Dr. Moreau is doing genetic experiments on animals, creating beings that look and act somewhat human. Braddock eventually comes into contact with a number of the beings that live outside of its walls.

The creatures are guided by the Sayer of the Law (Richard Basehart) who repeatedly recites the three laws taught to him by Moreau. Those laws are 1) No Walking On All Fours, 2) No Eating Of Flesh and 3) No Taking Of Life. Despite knowing the laws, many of the creatures find it hard to resist their natural animalistic instincts and a couple of them give in to their desires. One of them attacks Braddock and is sent to Moreau’s house of pain for treatment. The other one, Bull-Man (Bob Ozman), attacks and kills a tiger. Moreau attempts to have him brought in for treatment, but Bull-Man escapes and is wounded. When Braddock catches up to him, Bull-Man asks Braddock to kill him, ending his miserable existence. Braddock complies and sends the rest of the creatures into a frenzy.

Braddock attempts to escape the island with Maria but is captured by Moreau. Moreau injects him with genetic material that begins to turn Braddock into an animal. Attempting to resist his newfound instincts, Braddock and Maria manage to break free of Moreau’s house of pain and Moreau kills Montgomery whenever the warden stands up to him for injecting Braddock. Chaos ensues and the creatures go on a rampage throughout the compound. Does Moreau pay for breaking his own laws? Do Braddock and Maria escape? What happens to the creatures? You’ll have to watch the film in order to find out!

With its impressive cast, decent story, and solid effects, you’d think that Moreau would have performed better at the box office. Sadly, the film managed to come out the same year that a certain other little science fiction/fantasy film was released: Star Wars IV: A New Hope. Star Wars dominated the box office for the rest of the year following its May release, and only a few other science fiction and horror films managed to grab a decent amount of attention that year including The Deep and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Couple those films with the fact that there were a ton of other successful films in 1977 including Saturday Night Fever, Smokey and the Bandit, and A Bridge Too Far, and you quickly realize why a middling science fiction flick set on an island might fall between the cracks.

That being said, the film is definitely worth a look. The makeup is always knocked for looking cheap and is often compared to the Planet of the Apes films since Moreau‘s director, Don Taylor, previously directed 1971’s Escape From The Planet of the Apes but I actually like the makeup in the film. The music by Laurence Rosenthal isn’t bad, but it’s not that impressive, either. The cast is solid and the story is interesting but it does move at a somewhat slow pace. All in all, this is a nice flick to check out on a rainy day.

If there are any other forgotten films out there that you’d like me to visit on this page, let me know in the comments. I really enjoy The Island of Dr. Moreau despite its many flaws. Also, my brother had a book about the film that featured numerous photographs of the creatures on the island. As a young kid, the images in the book frightened me and it’s one of my earliest memories of being scared. I guess that means that I have a soft spot in my heart for this film.

Thanks for reading my post. I hope to have a Classic Horror or Throwback Thursday post for you all real soon and if things go according to plan, I’ll be posting an extra special Outpost article this Sunday!

In Defense of Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

Retreat? Hell!

I saw Battle: Los Angeles in the theater way back in 2011. A sleeper hit, the film debuted at number one amidst a bunch of films that just weren’t that great including Red Riding Hood and Mars Needs Moms. Panned by critics and dethroned in its second week by the animated Rango, Battle: LA quickly got lost in the shuffle of alien invasion films and was written off as just another loud, noisy mess.

I beg to differ.

While it’s definitely not a great film and suffers from having a few plot holes and inconsistencies in time, it does a solid job of giving us a war movie with aliens as the antagonist. It takes itself seriously and actually makes you care about the characters, even if most of them are gone by the end of the film.

The film’s plot is pretty basic and has been visited before in both military and science fiction films. There’s an invasion (this time it’s aliens) by an unknown enemy that catches the world off guard. The enemy begins its invasion in major seaside cities. With evacuations complete, Marines are sent in to retrieve any known remaining citizens and bring them back to safety. Marines from Echo Company, 2/5 are sent in to retrieve an unknown amount of civilians from a police station located in West Los Angeles before the US Air Force bombs the area. They are given three hours to complete their mission.

The film becomes an urban warfare/extraction film once the Marines begin their mission. Prior to this, we are given brief characterizations of the members of the platoon. Without spoiling too much, I’ll say that most of these Marines do not survive the film, and in some cases, the time spent developing the characters takes longer than their actual survival time during the extraction.

As the film chugs along, it gives us glimpses at how a real life situation involving aliens (or any other enemy) might take place. The Marines battle personal demons, worry about family and friends, struggle with PTSD, doubt themselves and others, and become wary of the capabilities of themselves and others in their platoon. You don’t see these types of problems dealt with in most science fiction films. Sure, you’ll have an occasional character in a movie with an issue that eventually becomes the reason that they become a hero, but it’s always delivered in a heavy handed fashion. In Battle: LA, these Marines attempt to work around their issues, with some failing and others coming out scarred even more.

It’s this gritty realism woven together with a chaotic camera style that makes the film a wild and emotional ride. Sacrifices are made for the betterment of the group as a whole and losses are noted and then filed away until after the Marines get to safety. Friends and brothers are mourned but the survivors continue to help one another keep it together as mentally and emotionally as possible in the situation.

What I find amazing about the critical reviews of this film is that most of them hammer the movie for being loud, confusing, and over the top. They criticize the camera work while complimenting and praising the exact same style of shooting fight scenes in films such as Gladiator and The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc. They compare it to Independence Day which is, at least in my opinion, as glossy and vanilla as you can get with an alien invasion story. Did I enjoy that film? Yep, but I prefer the realism found in Battle: LA.

Critics also take shots at the cast, in particular Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez, stating that both of them are too good to be in a film such as this one. I actually appreciate the fact that both of these actors are in this movie, as their performances definitely bring the film up a few notches. Both them and the rest of the cast took their roles seriously and this makes the film that much better.

For those with sharp eyes, you’ll notice that this cast is pretty loaded with both established actors (Eckhart, Rodriguez, Michael Pena, and Bridget Moynahan) and a number of other actors who would soon go on to bigger and better things. Lucas Till would go on to star as Havok in the most recent series of X-Men films and eventually land the starring role in the remake of MacGyver. Ne-Yo was already an established R&B/hip hop artist prior to being in this film and continues to be successful as both an actor and musician. Noel Fisher has established himself as a reliable character and voice actor, having appeared as Michelangelo in the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, Vladimir in The Twilight Saga – Breaking Dawn Part 2, Mickey on Shameless, and numerous other roles. Joey King, who portrays one of the civilian children in the film, has starred in numerous film and television productions including Ramona and Beezus, The Conjuring, and The Kissing Booth. Many other members of the cast have continued to have solid careers in supporting roles in film and television.

Look, I understand that this film has plenty of things going against it. The three hour window in the film seemed to be stuck at times and in one particular sequence we go from afternoon to late night to mid morning in a relatively short amount of time. There are definitely flaws with this film, but nothing that I can find that any other, better reviewed film doesn’t have as well. For whatever reason, critics hated this movie. It’s also pretty low with general audiences as well, and I just don’t understand why.

If you haven’t seen Battle: Los Angeles yet, it’s currently available to stream on Netflix. I rewatched it the other night and had forgotten just how solid it really is as both a military story and a science fiction yarn. Check it out and, as always, thanks for reading my post.

May The Fourth Be With You!

It’s Star Wars Day!

I’ve been a Star Wars fan for my entire life, literally. Although I was just a few days away from being one year old when it was released, my family went to the theater to see Star Wars (now known as Star Wars IV: A New Hope). I’ve seen every other Star Wars film in the theater since then with the exception of the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars film. I own many of the soundtracks, still collect many of the toys, and have accumulated numerous other collectible items over the years including autographs, PEZ dispensers, posters, apparel, bobbleheads, and more. Along with Doctor Who and Star Trek, it forms the Holy Trinity of my fandom.

American actors Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford on the set of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope written, directed and produced by Georges Lucas. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

With that in mind, I decided to list a few of my favorite characters from the films and the cartoons. This isn’t a complete list and I’m sure that a quite a few people will disagree with me, but it’s my list. Feel free to comment your own favorites below. I’ll break down this post into four sections: Original Trilogy, Prequel Trilogy, Disney Films, and The Rest of the Galaxy (cartoons, book characters, etc.). I’ll list my top six from each section and I’ll also throw in a few honorable mentions at the end of my post as well.

Original Trilogy

  • Luke Skywalker
  • Princess Leia
  • Han Solo
  • Chewbacca
  • Darth Vader
  • Boba Fett

The films that started it all gave me some of my favorite memories as a child. Han, Leia, Luke, and Chewbacca captivated my young imagination. As a youngster, I wanted to be Luke, but as I got older, I wanted to be Han. Along with this group were two of the greatest villains in all of cinematic history: Darth Vader and Boba Fett. Sure, Fett’s time on the screen was minimal and he didn’t necessarily go out in a blaze of glory, but he was just cool. From the visor to the sinister quiet demeanor, Boba Fett was the man. Vader, of course, was as terrifying as the come, and I seriously doubt that there aren’t a lot of people who don’t know his name.

Prequel Trilogy

  • Obi-Wan Kenobi
  • Darth Maul
  • Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus
  • Jango Fett
  • General Grievous
  • Ki-Adi-Mundi

This list is notably short on heroes, as very few of them impressed me enough to make my list. Nope, in the prequels, the villains took center stage with Darth Maul and Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus leading the way. General Grievous was an amazing villain who I wish would have had more screen time (the same goes for Dooku and Maul), but their characters would be fleshed out more in the animated Clone Wars television series and, at least Maul, in Rebels. Jango Fett was a gunslinger through and through and I wish that his death wouldn’t have been so quick. Ki-Adi-Mundi is on my list, but I could have easily swapped him for Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, or any of the other Jedi from the prequels who had a least a few shining moments. Ki-Adi-Mundi’s death was one of the best one’s in the prequels in my opinion, so he gets the nod on my list.

While most people (including George Lucas) believe that the prequels are Anakin Skywalker’s story, in my opinion they are really the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Not only does his character develop the most over the prequels (seriously, we all knew what would happen to Anakin), Ewan McGregor’s performance is arguably the best in the entire trilogy. For this reason, Kenobi is one of my favorite characters overall in the Star Wars universe.

Disney Films

  • Kylo Ren
  • K-2SO
  • Zorii Bliss
  • General Hux
  • Enfys Nest
  • Director Orson Krennic

Of all of the characters created for the Disney films, Kylo Ren is the best. Yes, he’s a big baby at times, but he is ultimately the one character that makes the Disney trilogy better than it really is in the long run. I actually cared about him in the films and wanted him to redeem himself. The only other characters from the Disney trilogy that I really enjoyed were General Hux and Zorii Bliss. Hux was the perfect sniveling foil every time he appeared on the screen, and he’s also one of the few figures from the Disney trilogy that I actually sought out. Bliss made for a perfect “is this person a hero or a villain” character and injected some much need “grey area” to the trilogy.

As far as the expanded universe films, Rogue One and Solo, are concerned, both were very good films and both added some interesting characters to the Star Wars universe. K-2SO is my favorite of the bunch, with his quick wit and biting tongue a perfect comedic punch to an otherwise serious film. Sharing a spot near the top with him is the main antagonist of Rogue One, Director Krennic. Krennic was a great villain. He was looking out for number one the entire time and was willing to throw everyone under the bus to get to the top in the Empire. Unlucky for him, though, Grand Moff Tarkin was just as ruthless and he had more power within the imperial ranks.

Solo had its own share of excellent characters but Enfys Nest stuck out to me. I loved how the film intertwined her story as a freedom fighter working with and against criminals in order to disrupt the Empire’s routines. Hopefully we’ll get to see the character fleshed out more over the next few years in either a live action film or series or in an animated series.

The Rest Of The Galaxy

  • Kit Fisto
  • Captain Rex
  • Ahsoka Tano
  • Galen Marek
  • Grand Admiral Thrawn
  • Omega Squad

Okay, I might be cheating a bit with this particular list, as Omega Squad is technically five characters, but they are so amazing that they deserve their own spot on this list. For those of you who don’t know, Omega Squad is the creation of Karen Traviss. She wrote the Omega Squad stories based off of the Star Wars: Republic Commando video game. Omega Squad consists of four commandos grouped together who are the only survivors of the previous squads. The original four from the books are Sgt. Niner, Darman, Atin, and Fi. When Fi is thought to be mortally wounded, he is replaced by Corr. If you haven’t checked out Traviss’ Republic Commando novels, I highly recommend them.

Two characters that completely dominated the Clone Wars animated series were Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex. These two characters were amazing and are still developing thanks to the continued series on Disney+. Kit Fisto joins them as another favorite from the animated shows. While he was featured in the live action prequel trilogy, his character benefited from some excellent development in the Clone Wars series.

Grand Admiral Thrawn may be best known to fans of Rebels, but older fans like myself remember him best from the Timothy Zahn penned “Thrawn Trilogy” consisting of Heir To The Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. These three stories were a perfect follow up to the original trilogy of films, giving us a glimpse at the new Republic and the removal of the final remnants of the old Empire. Thrawn was an amazing villain and the stories were so popular that, despite being designated as Legends by Disney, Thrawn was one of the characters brought into the new canon.

Last but not least, one of my other favorites is Galen Marek from the video game series, The Force Unleashed. Those games told a story that was just as exciting as the live action films. Finding young Marek, the son of two Jedi, while eliminating Jedi during the Great Purge, Darth Vader takes the boy under his wing and raises him as a lethal apprentice. In the game, the player is forced to choose between the light and dark side of the Force. The story was brilliant and I’m sad to see it removed from the Star Wars canon, but I highly recommend both the game and the novels base upon it that were written by Sean Williams.

Honorable Mentions

  • Rose Tico – Say what you want about the character, I loved Rose. She injected some much needed life into the Disney Trilogy.
  • Commander Cody – Loyal to a fault, Cody was originally my most hated Clone, but as his character developed in the animated series, he became a quick favorite.
  • R2-D2 and C-3PO – The only characters to appear in all of the trilogy films, how can you not love these guys.
  • Young Han and Lando – I loved Solo and thought that it was a victim of the fallout over The Last Jedi. Both of the actors that portrayed these characters, Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover, took two of the most beloved characters in the franchise and delivered great performances as their younger versions.
  • Lando Calrissian – Billy Dee Williams was amazing as Lando. His development from being an untrustworthy scoundrel to a loyal ally of the Rebellion made him a wonderful character.
  • Wedge Antilles – He survived the original trilogy and returned to finish off the Final Order in The Rise of Skywalker. On top of that, the book series Star Wars: X-Wing, written by Michael Stackpole and Aaron Allston, in which Wedge is the main character, is one of the best Legends series out there.

So, there you have my list of favorites and a few honorable mentions. Thanks for checking it out and……..May The Fourth Be With You!

Throwback Thursday: Ip Man (2008)

“I Wish To Fight Ten Men.”

The list of films that can completely pull me in and make me forget about the entire world is short, but the film near the top of that list is 2008’s Ip Man. I know what you’re thinking: a kung fu movie? One of those films that features countless fight sequences with amazing and almost always obvious fake moves has that much of an impact on you? Yes, I’d say in reply, absolutely.

Ip Man is no ordinary kung fu film. For starters, it’s loosely based on the real life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art known as Wing Chun. Ip Man influenced and taught many notable practitioners of Wing Chun including Bruce Lee. The film shows a portion of Ip Man’s life in Foshan and how that life goes from one of prosperity to one of despair after the Japanese invasion in 1937 at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Under the oppression of the Japanese forces, the people of Foshan are forced to fight for the entertainment of General Miura (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi). Many of these fights end in the death of the Foshan fighter, but Miura shows respect to many of the fighters who either A) show tenacity and courage or B) are willing to take him on as a challenger.

As the film rolls along it introduces us to a number of characters who, through the brilliant direction of Wilson Yip, the strong performances by the actors, and the excellent writing by Edmond Wong and Chan Tai-Lee, become champions or villains in the viewer’s mind. I quickly became attached to a number of the characters and hoped that a few of them would change sides during the film. Some of them had only brief roles, but their performances were amazing.

Donnie Yen stars as Ip Man and takes the film to another level with his performance. He portrays Ip Man as a likeable and decent person who eventually has to take on General Miura in order to inspire his people. Lynn Hung portrays Ip Man’s wife, Cheung Wing-sing, who loves him deeply but is quick to keep him grounded and lifts him up when needed. Tenma Shibuya portrays Colonel Sato, easily the most hated man in the film. He’s Miura’s second in command and does terrible things to the people of Foshan.

Of special note are the performances of Chen Zhihui as Master Liu and Fan Siu-wong as Kam Shan-chu. These two actors have small but important roles in the film. Zhihui in particular delivers a powerful performance, and despite being somewhat of a villain, I cheered on Kam Shan-chu as well, hoping that he would become a friend and ally of Ip Man.

This film had multiple “Rocky moments” in my opinion. Like the Rocky films, Ip Man inspires the viewer to cheer for the hero and boo the villain. It drums up massive amounts of patriotism as well (and I am not Chinese in any way, shape, or form). Ip Man is a hero that anybody can get behind, and the execution of that role is perfect by Donnie Yen in this film. The only major difference between this film and the Rocky movies is that this one has a real hero in it who actually existed.

The real Ip Man and Bruce Lee.

If you’re in need of an inspiring film that features well developed characters, a solid plot, and wonderful performances all around, check out Ip Man. It triggered multiple emotions inside of me and left me wanting more of Ip Man’s story. Three sequels have been made and I haven’t seen any of them, so look forward to my review of those films in the near future.

Ip Man is also one of the few films that my son sat down and watched with me in its entirety. He never checked his phone or played any of his video games nor did he even talk during the film (although he did cheer a few times). This movie is amazing, and it deserves to be seen.

Thanks for checking out my latest Throwback Thursday post. I plan on having a Classic Horror post this weekend!

Classic Horror: The Black Cat (1934)

New, Dark, Classic

Welcome to the first post in a new series that I’ve decided to take a stab at: Classic Horror. Along with Throwback Thursday, Tunes, and Focus On, this new series will be sporadically laced throughout my normal blog posts. It will focus on classic horror films released prior to the year 2000. What makes the film a classic? For this blog, a “classic” horror film will be whatever films I see as worthy of such a label. In other words, some folks may not see The Evil Dead (1981) as a classic film, but I do. I’ll be visiting that particular film later on in this series, as well as films such as An American Werewolf In London, Alien, and many of the classic Universal Monsters films that I haven’t already covered.

I can see no film more worthy of being the first in my series than The Black Cat (1934). It is the first film to feature two titans of horror, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, facing off against each other. They would share the screen seven more times for a total of eight films.

The film runs just a tad over sixty minutes, but it’s an amazing film nonetheless. While the film is supposedly based on Edgar Allan Poe’s short story of the same name, it bears no resemblance to Poe’s work.

A young newlywed couple, Peter and Joan Allison (David Manners, Julie Bishop), meet up with Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Lugosi), on a train while traveling on their honeymoon. After a terrible accident, all three of them end up in the home of Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff). Dr. Werdegast treats Joan’s injuries and Karloff offers them a room for the evening. As the night crawls on, we learn that Poelzig and Werdegast have a score to settle with one another. They play a literal and psychological game of chess to see who will come out on top.

Meanwhile, Peter realizes that something strange is going on and attempts to find a way out of Poelzig’s massive home along with Joan, who is still under the influence of a powerful sedative that Dr. Werdegast gave her after treating her wounds. Along the way we get to see a room full of dead women, a Satanic ritual, a young woman unknowingly married to her stepfather, multiple failed escape attempts, a massive explosion, and even a human flaying (off screen, but we see a shadow of the act).

The story is one of revenge and psychological horror. Unlike other Universal Monster films, The Black Cat‘s monster is one man with a twisted mind and another with his heart set on revenge. It shows the audience how quickly a relatively good person can turn into a vengeful monster.

The film is considered to be one of the earliest psychological horror films. It is also one of the first films to feature a complete musical score. Many critics and fans believe that this film is the best of all of the Lugosi/Karloff pairings as well. It was a massive hit for Universal and continued the company’s successful run with horror films. The movie is also a fun watch for fans of film editing and production, as director Edgar G. Ulmer uses a number of interesting wipes, shadow work, and transition scenes in the film. It was as if Ulmer was excited to play with some new toys and he had a lot of fun using them in this film.

Despite being a big hit for Universal, The Black Cat doesn’t get as much love and respect as all of the big monster films in Universal’s catalogue. It’s an interesting film that pushed boundaries in storytelling and cinema and should be respected for that if nothing else. The cast, music, and cinematography are all superb and the film moves at a very quick pace. The film is available for free viewing on websites like archive.org and is also available for purchase on DVD, Blu-ray, and on a number of streaming services.

I hope that you enjoyed this first edition of Classic Horror. I plan on doing more posts like this one in the near future. Thank you for reading my post and stay safe during this time of quarantine.

Fright Rags Tee Of Mystery!

I dared to open the package….

Last week I decided to order a Tee of Mystery from Fright Rags. It was my first purchase from the company and I figured that the best way to gauge just how good their products were was to buy a shirt on the cheap and check out the quality. The idea behind the Tee of Mystery is that you give them your shirt size and they send you a random shirt from their overstock, retired designs, or out of print shirts. They also had a Pin of Mystery sale going on, so I decided to grab one of those as well. I also noticed that they had a selection of Universal Monsters items and decided to snag a pair of Creature From The Black Lagoon socks. I placed my order and waited patiently for my items to arrive.

Needless to say, when the black bag emblazoned with an old VHS tape on it arrived in the mail, I got a little bit excited. I was even more excited once I opened the bag, as it contained some awesome stuff! Along with the items that I ordered were a collector card featuring Dracula, a piece of Warheads Extreme Sour Candy (not pictured cuz I ate it), and a sticker featuring one of the company’s April Fool’s Day Mash Up prints featuring Home Alone.

The shirt that I received was from Return Of The Living Dead III and featured Melinda Clarke as Julie, the tortured soul brought back to life by her boyfriend who uses pain to prevent her from eating his brains! The image is awesome and the shirt is great. It was only nine bucks, so you won’t hear any complaints from me.

The Pin of Mystery that I received appears to be a mashup pin featuring the xenomorph from Alien and something else that I’m not familiar with or don’t recognize. For three bucks, though, it’s a cool pin. The backing features two studs to secure the pin with on any jacket, hat, bag, etc.

I ordered two pairs of the Creature socks. The top of them features Creech in all of his glory and the foot portion of the sock pays homage to the wonderful swimming scene where Creech follows an unknowing Kay stroke for stroke. That sequence is one of my favorites from classic horror, so I was stoked to see it on the socks!

Fright Rags has recently released their second edition of their Universal Monsters collection. I already purchased the Wolf Man shirt and the Wolf Man socks, and I’m tempted to snag those Mummy socks as well. If you’re interested in checking out these and other products, visit their webpage at this link.

Thanks for checking out my post. I don’t receive any type of compensation or other incentives for sharing my recent purchase. I just loved my items and wanted to share them and Fright Rags with my readers!

Dune 2020 Revealed

Can Chalamet Pull It Off?

With much anticipation, film goers and fans of Frank Herbert’s legendary epic have been waiting for information on the upcoming Dune film. Vanity Fair released new images and an interesting article about the film and you can check it out here.

The movie will star Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides and will feature a massive lineup of stars old and new to fill out the rest of the cast. Some of the heaviest hitters on the current cast list include Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgard, and Charlotte Rampling. The film will also star Rebecca Ferguson, David Dastmalchian, and Stephen McKinley.

I have no issues with this cast excepting Chalamet. I’ve seen him in Lady Bird and Little Women and in neither case did he impress me. I’m sure that his presence in the film will attract demographic groups that aren’t necessarily science fiction fans, but will his performance take away from the film? Hopefully I am wrong and he blows my socks off in the movie, but I’m particularly fond of Herbert’s book and enjoyed the old 1984 flick despite its many flaws. That means that Chalamet and everyone else will have to do a great job. I hope that they do.

The film is currently in post-production and is looking at a December, 2020 release date.

Thanks for reading. I’ll post more updates as I can get them.

Going Back With “Back To The Future”

Lake Charles, LA, July, 1985

I fondly remember seeing 1985’s wildly successful Back To The Future with my friend, Brent, in Lake Charles, LA when I was kid. The only bit that I’m not sure about is whether I saw the film at the old Prien Lake Mall Cinema I, II, and III, or the old Oak Park VI. I’m leaning towards Oak Park, as that was my favorite theater as a child. In any case, what I remember best was the actual film. I wanted to be Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and I wanted to be Jennifer Parker’s (Claudia Wells) boyfriend. I wanted to drive the DeLorean and I wanted to be friends with Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd). I wanted to travel through time and rock out to Huey Lewis & The News.

Well, I didn’t get to travel through time, date Claudia Wells, or befriend Doc Brown, but I did get to rock along with Huey Lewis & The News. Their album Fore! was the first cassette tape that I ever purchased as a kid. I loved them as a preteen and still do. I also got to take a photo with a DeLorean a few years ago that was traveling the world (but not time) raising money for the Fox Foundation, Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s research group.

Me and the non-time travel edition of the DeLorean.

The film was a perfect storm for me. It featured a hero that was cool, loved rock n’ roll and science, and drove a sweet Toyota truck. It had time travel and all of the wonderful fictional bits and gizmos that such an idea would need to appeal to a preteen kid who loved science fiction. It also featured the 1950’s, which were probably some of the coolest years in American history as far as I was concerned at the time (and now).

The film’s cast was also amazing. Who didn’t want to be Michael J. Fox in the 1980’s? He simply bled cool all of the time. Between his film career, voice acting, and popular run on television with shows such as Family Ties and Spin City, Fox became a household name well into the late 1990’s before Parkinson’s disease slowed him down. Christopher Lloyd nailed the role of Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown. He was the old weird guy that was actually a genius that a wide-eyed kid like myself wanted to stumble upon and go on a great adventure with and discover wonderful things. His career was already well established (including a turn as Commander Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock) when Back To The Future was released, and he has continued to have a prolific career. Lea Thompson was (and still is) a knockout as Marty’s mom. Like Lloyd, Thompson had already featured in a number of films (including All The Right Moves and Red Dawn), and would go on to have a solid career littered with hits such as her series Caroline In The City and a few misses such as Howard The Duck.

Two other key members of the film’s cast, Crispin Glover as George McFly, Marty’s father, and Thomas F. Wilson as Biff, the main antagonist of the film, would also have solid careers. Glover would find his niche in eccentric and oddball characters in films such as Willard and Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland. Wilson would turn to stand-up comedy, voice acting, and recurring and guest starring roles on television.

L to R: Micheal J. Fox, Thomas F. Wilson, Christopher Lloyd, and Lea Thompson in 2018.

Claudia Wells (Marty’s girlfriend, Jennifer) left acting after making Back To The Future due to her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis. She returned to acting in the 2000’s. Other cast members included character actors Marc McClure (Jimmy Olsen in the Christopher Reeve Superman films) and Wendi Jo Sperber (Bosom Buddies, Private Benjamin) as Marty’s brother and sister, Dave and Linda, and James Tolkan (Remington Steele, Masters of the Universe) as Mr. Strickland. The film also featured Billy Zane (The Phantom, Titanic) in his first film role as Match and Casey Siemaszko (Young Guns, The Phantom) in one of his earliest roles as 3-D, both of which were goons in Biff’s gang.

Also of note is Donald Fullilove (Up) as Mayor Goldie Wilson, Courtney Gaines (Children of the Corn) as Dixon, and Jason Hervey (The Wonder Years) as Milton. I actually met Fullilove at a convention a couple of years ago. He was an amazing dude.

Myself with Donald Fullilove, Mayor Goldie Wilson.

The film’s music also hit me. The score by Alan Silvestri (The Avengers, Forrest Gump), whose music almost always lifts a film to another level, did just that with Back To The Future. Despite taking place primarily in the 1950’s, the film sounds like a blockbuster shot in the 80’s with tons of heart that doesn’t take away from the primary setting. The tracks by Huey Lewis & The News also add to the film, reminding everyone that even though Marty was in the 1950’s, he was a child of the 80’s.

I love this film (if you couldn’t already tell) and despite that fact, I only recently picked up the film on Blu-ray. I still have my old VHS copy but I don’t know if it will even work. 2020 will see the film celebrate thirty-five years, so be sure to strap into your favorite recliner at some point this year and watch Back To The Future. When it hits eighty-eight miles per hour, you’re gonna see some serious……awesomeness.

Thanks for reading!