THE FOG

I watched THE FOG this weekend (the original - which surprises me to note. I'd forgotten there was a remake.) I had seen it once before, ages ago.

Then, I watched it again with Carpenter (and Debra Hill's) commentary track. (blu ray)

Fun movie! It reminded me how much fun a Carpenter movie can be. Easter egg references to "Whately Point" and "Arkham Reef." (though, this is a ghost story, not Lovecraftian.) SHOUT! Factory were in the middle of a Carpenter birthday sale, coincidentally. I bought a handful.

On my writer's bucket list, some day I'd like to write a horror/scifi. Put THE THING ("Who Goes There?",) Quatermass, "The Colour Out of Space," and a host of other tales through my personal mental blender and see what comes out.

The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

 

Introduced my son to THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1992.) One of the finest historical adventure movies ever made.

I own the blu ray. I re-watched last night with Michael Mann's commentary (not sure what year) and it is excellent. Highly recommended. Lots of history and background for the story. Well worth your time.

The "Making of" documentary is also stellar. Daniel-Day Lewis' immersion into Hawkeye is fascinating.

Worth acquiring, or borrowing from your local library.

recent read; Sinbad, The New Voyages (Vol. 1)

Sinbad - The New Voyages (Volume One)

I like what Ron Fortier and Rob Davis produce over at Airship 27. I've enjoyed what I've read (listened to) and they have many more titles intriguing me.

Inspired by the Ray Harryhausen SINBAD movies, they have arranged a new set of adventures for Sinbad and set him loose on the world, again. Sinbad sails the Seven Seas with a core international crew--first mate, Omar; a Gaul archer, Henri; a hulking Viking, Ralf; and even a woman samurai, Tishimi.

This volume contains three rousing novellas by Nancy Hansen, I. A. Watson, and Derrick Ferguson. Rest assured this is a cinematic, pulp Sinbad--though echoes of the original classic tales still remain.

I'd even argue these are sword-&-sorcery tales. Yes, they have a bit more levity which might impress a feeling of "(high) fantasy" but Sinbad is a rogue. While loyal to his crew and friends, he's often out for himself--seeking new lands to explore and searching for treasure.

I enjoyed these stories, and I'll be getting to the other volumes in the near future.

Back to the Valley of Gold

TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF GOLD

Publicity still. (the movie is in color.)

I've been revisiting the late 1950s through 1960s TARZAN movies with my son. Yesterday we watched TARZAN AND THE VALLEY OF GOLD. (which I've touched on before)

It's a crazy mix of modern world Tarzan, James Bond pastiche, Tarzan pastiche. On the 007 side, the main baddie is pure Bond villain. Tarzan first appears in a suit, fighting assassins in Mexico City. The jazzy soundtrack. For Tarzan moments, we see Tarzan suiting 'down' to the loincloth and requesting a knife and a length of rope. His use of the animals (leopard as tracker, chimpanzee as scout, lion as his army) has echoes of original Tarzan novels (Beasts of Tarzan, Tarzan the Untamed.)

The sum of the parts never really adds up. The story's scope & vision far exceed its budget. The climax drags on too long.

But it's a favorite. Maybe because Mike Henry is a physical cast perfect for Tarzan--and Nancy Kovack is quite fetching. Or maybe I just enjoy the audacity of what they were trying to pull off.

I think it's a fun way to spend a ninety-minute weekend matinee.

The Fritz Leiber novelization was recently re-released. It takes the story where it could have gone and adds a lot to it. Maybe not worth the current collectible hardcover price for casual fans but when it comes out in paperback or ebook, you might give it a read, if you're a pulp / action adventure fan.

The TRUE GRIT experiment

I'd never seen the movie, TRUE GRIT. Neither the first version with John Wayne (1969) nor the newer version from the Coen brothers (2010.)  And I had never read the novel.

During my vacation, I decided to consume and compare all three. I listened to the audiobook and then watched both films.

I loved the novel. Straightforward and harrowing at the same time. The audio narration by Donna Tartt is stellar.

1969
First thing that hit me was the score. It is dated and unflattering. The sweeping strings just seem out-of-place in a post-spaghetti Western. On top of that, it starts with a theme song with embarrassingly bad lyrics.

Until the end, the movie followed the novel plot points almost exactly. The dialog was nearly exact from the novel, too. The denouement ending was invented around a point at the ending of the novel and was not in the novel.

It's still a grand, fun Western and a Wayne classic for a reason.

2010
The first thing that hit me was how much better the soundtrack was.

This version had a fair number of minor changes in the plot that kept me guessing. Ironically though, I think the tone and characters were closer to the novel. The ending adheres to the novel, too.

I think I prefer the 2010 version.

It was fun experiment. Fortunately, each movie and the novel all had more highlights than lowlights.

I want to do more of this. I've seen both versions of 3:10 TO YUMA but I still need to read the story. And I've seen SHANE but I still need to read the novel.

movie; River Queen

I've been doing research on the Maori wars of the mid-1800s. These were the battles fought between Maori New Zealand natives and the British colonizing forces. It all sounds far too familiar - forcing people off their lands to appease settlers, miners and other greedy people. Maori fought Maori, too, as some tribes considered allying with the British as their best option.

Thanks to Jim Cornelius' review of River Queen, I thought it would be a good way to get some feel for the era.

You should read Jim's review, it's short and to the point.

As with many such movies, it is not about the war specifically, but about the people caught in the middle. But there are combat and battle scenes, and those alone are worth a viewing if you are a military history buff and you don't know much about these conflicts.

My take away; it had great visuals, and excellent battle scenes. It especially highlights the rugged NZ forests that made the fighting a hard slog.

On the other hand, the main narrative was all over the place and got worse near the end of the movie. It felt like scenes were strung one after another without a polish to pull them all together. I felt like some scenes were almost out of order, and quickly reworked to fit the new order. More and more characters started vying for the story's attention, too.

There was too much use of voice over. Never a good sign. On top of that, the sound was muddy. I finally turned on captions, though I am usually all right discerning accented dialog.

River Queen is a decent historical drama with some nice visuals and battles, but it's a bit of a jumble. It's one of those movies I wish I could like a bit more than I did.

movie; Northwest Passage

Growing up, more than once my mother mentioned the classic movie, Northwest Passage. At some point I finally did see it via broadcast television. I had it on VHS tape at one point. It was one of the movies I waited forever to come to DVD. It was finally released via the Warner Archive. The Archive features no-frills transfers of older, less-than-big-hits. The films aren't cleaned up, feature no or very little bonus material.

The movie follows the exploits of Rogers' Rangers during the French & Indian War. Specifically, it focuses on the Saint Francis Raid - an expedition deep into hostile French and Abenaki territory to destroy a base of operations the Abenakis used for raids deep into English colonial territory.

I finally sat down and gave it a re-watch this week.

As with many things through rosy glasses, it's not nearly as good the second time around.

Not surprisingly for 1940s Hollywood, the "Indian" portrayals are weak. The first indian we meet is drunk. The Abenaki village Roberts' Rangers assault and destroy just happens to be overpopulated by males. There is a token appearance of kids & women to be spared. And, if they don't look Mohawk, then they look Apache. There is much told of "innocent" settler folks being butchered by Natives, and nothing said of things from the Natives' viewpoint.

Speaking of the Abenaki village, that's the only combat action in the entire movie. The rest of the action centers around the Rangers arduous journey to make the attack in surprise. Boats hauled over hills, swamps, rain, creating a human chain across a fast running river, discord among the troops and their Native allies.

The screenplay was adapted from a 1930s popular novel by Kenneth Roberts. It's out-of-print, and I'm surprised it hasn't been given the ebook treatment. Part of me still wants to read it. But if the movie followed it closely, it might not be my cup of tea. It does appear to have had a longer story than the movie, going beyond the Saint Francis Raid.

If you like old Hollywood frontier movies, you should probably watch this one at least once. I don't know about repeated viewings, though.

Historical note; while Rogers and his Rangers were heroes of the French & Indian War, in the end, Rogers washed out and sold out.

recent read; The Monster Club

One of my favorite horror movies filed under "far from a classic - campy - but I like it anyway" is the anthology flick, The Monster Club. Despite its goofy tongue-in-cheek framing device, it contains one of my favorite all-time creepy tales. The story involves a stranger driving into a lost village which he eventually comes to realize is populated by ghouls.

I finally read the book by R. Chetwynd-Hayes. As with collections spawned movies, only two tales from The Monster Club book (and the framing device) were used in the movie. Other material came from other Chetwynd-Hayes tales from other sources. Fortunately, the ghouls story was one of the stories included in The Monster Club collection. It goes by the title "The Humgoo" which is unfortunate - it is much better than the title. The title comes from the half-breed girl in the story, a human/ghoul. In fact, all the stories in The Monster Club deal with cross-bred monsters and their strange powers.

R. Chetwynd-Hayes includes more than a bit of humor in his tales, and some of his stories are played for laughs. Some are played straight with humorous moments. Either way, he still manages to convey some good chills even in the more humorous stories.

Thanks to yet another informative introduction by Stephen Jones, I now know that there is another movie of Chetwynd-Hayes tales, From Beyond the Grave. I'll be seeking it out, along with more Chetwynd-Hayes story collections. Right now, the only two in print are The Monster Club and Looking for Something to Suck (I just ordered the last Amazon print copy yesterday!) R. Chetwynd-Hayes appears in a few (or more) Mammoth Book of horror anthologies, too.

latest consumptions; The Quatermass Xperiment & Wolf in Shadow

I finally got around to watching the movie version of The Quatermass Xperiment. I was disappointed that it is rather ordinary. I don't know that casting an American as Quatermass was necessarily a problem, but the character was extremely stiff. Brian Donlevy didn't play with any nuance, and seemed barely there except when he needed to butt heads. It felt flat, like a simple B alien monster movie rather than something deeper.

The story involves a rocket experiment that goes wrong. Three astronauts go up, only one comes back, and his behavior is unhealthy and strange. I will say my favorite thing about this adaptation was Richard Wordsworth's portrayal of the afflicted astronaut. He goes full "Frankenstein's Monster," with no dialog. But he conveys a lot with body language and physical acting. There is even an homage (in my mind) to the infamous monster and girl at the pond scene from Frankenstein.

On the BluRay, there is an interesting interview with John Carpenter, and he does make some good points about the film's impact - particularly on him.

It had been a while since my last Gemmell read. I grabbed this one. Originally entitled The Jerusalem Man (a title I still prefer,) it serves as both the opening to one trilogy (tales of Jon Shannow, the Jerusalem Man,) and the third entry in a longer series about the Stones of Power.

Wolf in Shadow is an apocalyptic Western. The nature of the disaster that ended the world is revealed as the story progresses. Jon Shannow is a wandering hero. A man in search of the fabled city of Jerusalem. Along the way, he fights the good fight. But now he faces his biggest challenge - an organized army of satanists, spreading across the land. No mere brigand bands, this army attacks the very core of what Shannow holds true and dear.

I like the character of Shannow a lot. He's smart and resourceful but not without flaws. He is a "Christian" and a "Bible man."  There is an honesty to his faith. He sees the same conflicts between Bible passages as anyone else - and he has no priest or mentor to help him understand. He stands up for the oppressed and gives evil no excuses.

I was less interested as the book reached its crescendo. Lots of side characters were getting focused on, and I am far more interested in Shannow's story. Even though the setups were valid, I felt too much Deus ex Machina, too.

And I kept having a specific disconnect.;

In nearly every gunfight, Gemmell referred to "shells" whizzing around instead of "slugs" or "bullets." It threw me out of the story. I kept thinking someone called in artillery!

It's a surprising inaccuracy because there is more than a bit of cap & ball, cartridge, repeating weapon, flintlock, musket delineation throughout the story. I'm surprised this one detail was inaccurate.

All in all though, it is a good post-apocalypse tale with an interesting central hero. I will be finishing out the trilogy, for certain. And I will probably read the other books in the Stones of Power series.

Quatermass

On a whim, I decided to educate myself on the roots of Doctor Who, by watching some original Quatermass stories. If readers of this blog (outside the UK) know Quatermass at all, it is probably from the Hammer movie, Quatermass and the Pit - which was originally released in the US with the title, Five Million Years to Earth. (see above photo)  Before this week, it was the only Quatermass I'd ever seen, too.

But, Bernard Quatermass featured in four stories total. Like Doctor Who, he started out on television, and three of the original television serials were adapted into Hammer movies. Like the Doctor and James Bond, many different actors have played the role, even though there were only a total of four television serials and three theatrical movies. Rather than repeat a lot of data, I refer you to the wiki page.

Quatermass Wikipedia Page.

In a nutshell, Quatermass is a scientist who heads the British Experimental Rocket Group. In the first story, The Quatermass Experiment, three astronauts are sent into orbit, but only one returns. The returned astronaut behaves in very peculiar manners. Did he murder the rest of the crew? Or, did something even more sinister occur in the depths of outer space?

In the second tale, Quatermass's new atomic rocket has exploded just after launch in Australia. Struggling with failure and the loss of life, Quatermass has no time to idle as he discovers an alien invasion underway. Strange meteorites are falling, government officials are behaving oddly, and an entire English village has been razed to make way for a "food processing plant."

Quatermass is a large influence on British scifi, certainly television scifi at least. Nearly any alien invasion/conspiracy tale probably has some roots back to Quatermass. It certainly influenced Doctor Who - particularly the early Jon Pertwee years when the Doctor was exiled to Earth and constantly fought off alien incursions.

Like Doctor Who, Quatermass suffers from a loss of episodes. The first serial, The Quatermass Experiment, only has two available episode - parts 1 & 2 - of the six-part serial.

I went ahead and watched them, anyway. It held promise, and it is a shame the rest is lost.

Then I went on and finished up Quatermass II last night. It holds up very well, I think. I found it suspenseful and intriguing, though the new lead needed an episode to warm up to the role. The fifth and six parts suffered a bit of sag, but overall it kept my interest all the way through.

I am looking forward to getting through more Quatermass stories this year; the remaining television serials and the movie adaptations - especially the original Quatermass and the Pit television serial.

p.s. - for your convenience, my Quatermass YouTube playlist of the first three 1950s serials.

p.p.s. - coincidence would have it;

1.) The first Hammer Quatermass movie, The Quatermass Xperiment, finally became available on blu-ray in December. (For the North American market - it's been available in the UK.) Here's hoping the other two get the blu-ray treatment - especially Quatermass and the Pit.

2.) Spectral Press are planning on a book about the creator of Quatermass, Nigel Kneale.

Further haunts of October

Well, I'll be busy tomorrow and I'm not sure what other haunts I'll get to before Halloween and October are officially over.  So, here's one more blast of scary tales consumed this month.

"Spirits" by James A. Moore

"Furious Demon" by Addison Clift

"The Phantom Coach" by Amelia B. Edwards

"The Secret of Kralitz" by Henry Kuttner

"The Eater of Souls" by Henry Kuttner

"The Salem Horror" by Henry Kuttner

"Needle Song" by Charles L. Grant

"Wake-up Call" by David J. Schow

Sabrina #1 (comic)

Ghosts #1 (comic)

"Foet" by F. Paul Wilson

"The Candle in the Skull" by Basil Copper

"The Black Stone" by Robert E. Howard

Blood From the Mummy's Tomb (movie)

Straight On 'Til Morning by Christopher Golden (still reading)

Twice-Told Tales (anthology movie - three stories, I've watched the first, "Doctor Heidegger's Experiment")

More October frights

"Doctor Porthos" by Basil Copper

"Stragella" by Hugh B. Cave

"A Place Where There Is Peace" by James A. Moore

"Human Remains" by Clive Barker

"A Week in the Unlife" by David J. Schow

"The House at Evening" by Frances Garfield

The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (movie)

One Million B.C. (1940) (movie)

The Mummy's Shroud (movie)

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

FYI;
There will be a night of anthology horror movies coming up on TCM, on Oct 28th, not Halloween (oh, they have other horrors for Halloween.) Dead of Night, Twice Told Tales, Kwaidan, The House That Dripped Blood and Torture Garden (screenplay by Robert Bloch.)  I'll be recording them all except ...House.., as I've already seen it.

October Frights So Far

I have no real plans or goals for horror consumption this October. Just reading or watching whatever hits my fancy. Almost at the mid-point of the month. Here's what I've experienced so far.

"Echo From The Abyss", "One Thousand One Nights Unseen", "Curse the Child" by David J. West

"The Calamander Chest" by Joseph Payne Brennan

Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper (graphic novel)

THRILLER (t.v.) - (episode) "The Twisted Image"

"The Music of Eric Zahn" by H. P. Lovecraft

"That Hellbound Train" by Robert Bloch

That Hellbound Train (graphic novel)

"The Witching Tree" by Brian Keene

The Creature from the Black Lagoon (movie)

"Widow House" by Gregory Luce

"The Dwarf" by Ray Bradbury

"The Chemical Vampire" by Lee Francis

"Beyond Any Measure" by Karl Edward Wagner

More loot

I received a pile of loot that I had ordered from Amazon.

Scouring Amazon for various Mammoth titles, I came across The Mammoth Book of Sword and Honor. It occurred to me that aside from Ambrose Bierce's (American) Civil War Stories, I don't think I've really read historical/historical-military fiction in the short form. I was intrigued. I was extra intrigued because The Mammoth Book of Sword and Honor was in the Amazon Bargain Books, and they claimed to only have a few copies left.

So, we came blame most of this on that. ;) I didn't want to pay double the price just to ship it, so I piled on the other stuff to get free shipping.

At first, I wasn't sure about The Mammoth Book of Dracula. I have other vampire anthologies and Mammoth books and wasn't sure about an entire Mammoth book of stories directly related to Dracula. But, the authors in the table-of-contents finally swayed me to put the book on my wishlist. Amazon were down to their last copy, so I added it to my order.

Psycho Mania is a new book and according to the copyright page, not a reissue. But, for all intents & purposes, it is a Mammoth book.  It is edited by Stephen Jones and the layout is the same as a Mammoth tome.  If it had been published ten years ago or earlier, it would have been titled, The Mammoth Book of Psychos.

As a matter of personal taste, I am not one for slasher/demented-murderer horror. There is too much of that in the real world. I prefer my horror to have some supernatural element. But, the cover claims some of these tales do have a supernatural element. It contains the Bloch classic, "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" which I have never read and I have wanted to read for a long time. That is the main reason I bought the book.

Charles Rutledge was kind enough to send me some wilder, early 1960s Sexton Blake stories. (which I sheepishly admit I still need to read.) I thought I should educate myself on some classic Sexton Blake tales. I was surprised how thick this book is! Most of the other Wordsworth Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural are half this thick.

Finally, I wanted to complete my mini Tarzan movie collection with Tarzan the Magnificent. It features Gordon Scott's last outing as the Lord of the Jungle, and his second outing as an articulate, modern Tarzan. Looking forward to watching it soon.

Tarzan Movies

As I am reading the original Tarzan of the Apes, I also continue to explore some recommended movies.  I had bought this DVD set featuring movies from the 1960s, where Tarzan is played closer to the literary character - articulate and able to adapt and to transition smoothly from civilization to the wild jungle.

Tarzan Goes to India

Tarzan in India, trying to save a herd of elephants from being destroyed when dam engineers flood their valley.  Jock Mahoney's first outing, taking over for Gordon Scott.  Stronger film than its follow-up, and Mahoney looked a lot better than he did in the follow-up - though, he still seemed lanky and he had an awkward gait which did not create a very convincing Tarzan.  It had an enjoyable story, though, with an interesting supporting cast of characters.

Tarzan's Three Challenges (already discussed at this post.)

Tarzan and the Valley of Gold

Tarzan continues his globetrotting, finding himself in Mexico for this adventure.  The producers really upped the ante on this film.  Not only was a younger actor chosen to play Tarzan, they jumped on the James Bond bandwagon, too.  This movie comes complete with a maniacal villain who likes to dispatch people with clever little bombs inside jewelry gifts.  The budget shows, though, when a crashing helicopter hides behind a bush before it explodes, and the villain's private army has only two vehicles.

Not only was Henry a younger actor who looked the part, he also came from professional football.  It might seem an odd thing to note, but compare his Tarzan's motion when running with Jock Mahoney's gait - there is no awkwardness in Henry's dash and speed.

Also, it is worth reading Ryan Harvey's excellent Black Gate posts concerning both the movie and the novelization by Fritz Leiber.

Tarzan and the Great River

Tarzan in Brazil, this time.  He must help a doctor bring medicine upriver while also investigating and halting a violent jungle cult.  This movie suffered from "stock footage"-itis the most.  The mixing of African flora and fauna is one thing.  But, here we see hippos and other African stock footage animals in Brazil.  Worse than that, though, was the extremely lazy use of footage of Africans setting fire to an African village, in the middle of a Mesoamerican attack on a Mesoamerican village.  (All 3rd world people were the same to 1960s Hollywood, I guess?)  It turns out the village footage wasn't stock, but was part of the story in the next movie.  Because they were both filmed back to back in Brazil, actors, sets and footage were reused.

The villain of the piece and Tarzan only meet at the very end, so there is an extreme lack of tension built.  Overall, I found this to be the weakest movie of the set.

Tarzan and the Jungle Boy

Promising first act, second act sag, strong finish.  I think I enjoyed this Henry movie the most.  The James Bond hyperbole of Valley of Gold is gone.  We have a very straight-forward tale of Tarzan and company being swept up in a tribal leadership conflict between two brothers (played by real life brothers.)  Set in Africa (though filmed in Brazil) - the stock footage finally makes things more convincing rather than less convincing.  Tarzan is reflected in the young boy - also a jungle orphan - which is a nice touch.

Overall, I really enjoyed Henry's performances.  Without a doubt, Mike Henry looks the part of Tarzan more than anyone who has undertaken the role.

His acting was a little stiff but not horribly so.  I think the biggest weakness was that sometimes he sounded more like a cinematic cowboy than the king of the jungle.  It's too bad he bowed out before the television series started (which went to Ron Ely, instead.)

The movies are all fun viewing for a rainy Saturday home matinee, if nothing else.

Tarzan's Three Challenges

Trying to add to my Tarzan experiences, I watched Jock Mahoney's second and final outing as the lord of the jungle in Tarzan's Three Challenges (1963).

Following Tarzan Goes to India, this installment again takes Tarzan out of Africa.  This time, Tarzan goes to an unnamed Asian country (portrayed by Thailand.)  There, he must escort a child "chosen one" to safety for his installment as new leader of the nation.  But the current ruler's brother, Khan, is a jealous type.  Tarzan's road will be beset by villains.  But first, he must prove he is Tarzan and worthy to protect the child, and he undergoes three challenges of dexterity, strength and wisdom.

This movie was mostly enjoyable, a few moments over the top and some lingering shots of the exquisite locales of Thailand.  It is good rainy Saturday afternoon adventure matinee fair, if nothing else.

My favorite moment was Tarzan's third challenge; the challenge of wisdom.  I am not sure which martial philosophy it was taken from, but it is a nice little gem.  (Paraphrasing, because I can't find the exact quote online;)

Monk: After a march of a thousand miles, you will face your enemy in the morning.  What is the first thing that you make certain?

Tarzan: I make certain that it is my enemy, not me, who makes the thousand mile march!

The only drawback was, unfortunately, Jock Mahoney's portrayal.  The acting wasn't bad, but the physique and athleticism were wrong.  He was lanky, thin and seemed to have awkward and stiff body motion.

It turns out, that was with reason.  Mahoney contracted fever, dysentery and pneumonia nearly as soon as the production started on location in Thailand.  Co-star Woody Strode attributed the illness to Mahoney's own braggadocio of swimming across the largest river in Thailand - which was also the most polluted.  Mahoney was also, at that time, the oldest man to play Tarzan.  Mahoney lost 45 pounds during the movie, and it shows.

Though eventually he recovered, Mahoney was never quite the same and he was done with Tarzan and many other physical action roles he would have taken in the past.

I acquired this movie through the Warner Brothers Archive collection - on-demand printed DVDs of many movies that weren't available before.  A set of 5 Tarzan movies (2 starring Jock Mahoney and 3 starring Mike Henry) was released earlier this year.  Two weeks ago the price plummeted 45% on Amazon, so I finally grabbed them.  (It is currently still down 40%.)

I look forward to revisiting Mahoney in his first outing, and watching the other Tarzan movies in the near future.

Halloween leftovers

I managed to squeeze in quite a bit of media consumption over the weekend.

I watched Boris Karloff ham it up in The Mask of Fu Manchu, and rewatched it with commentary.  I listened to the commentary on The Mark of the Vampire - the movie itself I had watched last week.

I (re)watched Things That Go Bump in the Night,  a documentary on haunted New England tales & folklore.  (It was produced by the PBS station from western Massachusetts.)  I learned a few new stories, but mostly I'd read about everything they covered.  I do have a large collection of local press New England occult folklore books, so that's not surprising.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

You can watch the entire thing online if you have an hour and are interested.

I finished reading the story, "Children of the Kingdom", by T. E. D. Klein (in his Dark Gods collection.)  Another tale of the lost subterranean race(s), but this time they are moving through the underbelly of NYC.

I also read the Dynamite trade paperback collection of Army of Darkness: Ash vs. the (Classic) Monsters.  I hadn't tried any of the AoD comics and I was disappointed.  They overplayed "Ash is a horndog" and "Ash gets people's names wrong" until it was tedious.  And the Monsters - aside from a thinking Frankenstein monster - didn't feel special or Universal whatsoever.

Finally, I started reading the second Titus Crow novel, The Transition of Titus Crow.  I wasn't expecting to return to Crow so soon, but seeing as how the novel is the second-half of the omnibus, I decided to finish it off.  So far, it's another occult adventure as opposed to atmospheric Mythos horror, but it's a fun romp.

The Transition of Titus Crow

The Halloween Haunted Viewings so far

I've squeezed in a smattering of horror viewings over the past couple of weeks.  Here are some quick thoughts.

Mark of the Vampire

I'd always heard of this one, and finally got around to watching it.  Quirky, at best.  Some good visuals.  Some moments that made little sense.  Lugosi has no dialog until the very end.  And (spoiler) if you didn't know - it all turns out to be non-supernatural; a very elaborate sting operation.  Caroll Borland made for a fine vampire bride, though.  One does wonder if the lost film, London After Midnight (of which Mark of the Vampire is a loose remake) was better executed.

Night Gallery:  The House

An odd tale of a haunted house, dreams and potential madness.  It might have been atmospheric, but the bright California sunshine and color wash out any visual sense of dread on this one.

Night Gallery: Certain Shadows on the Wall

This was the second half of the same episode.  Much better creep factor as three siblings who loathe each other await for the fourth to die.  And when she does, her shadow appears on the wall permanently.

THRILLER: The Watcher

A serial killer is on the loose, and he is a quiet face among his own neighbors in a coastal tourist town.  Perhaps most enjoyable for the sheer irony of Richard Chamberlain not only playing the leading ladies' man, but also for the villain trying to "protect" Chamberlain's character's innocence from the charms of women. (Chamberlain came out of the closet awhile back, but during the 1960s his homosexuality was a well-kept secret.)

THRILLER: The Grim Reaper

A cursed painting is acquired by a fading Hollywood star.  Her nephew tries to warn her of impending personal doom.  Starring William Shatner, screenplay by Robert Bloch (adapted from a Weird Tales story by Harold Lawlor) and music by Jerry Goldsmith.  This was one tour de force of old suspense/horror television!

Halloween Month Plans

Well, it is mid-month.  Mostly, the Halloween plans have gone off the rails.  After last year's triumphant read of 31 horror short stories and novellas, I thought I would switch to the visual medium and try for 31 episodes of horror television.  Night Gallery, THRILLER, Hammer House of Horror and The Outer Limits (original, of course!)

I am way behind on my viewing already.  Plus the Red Sox are in the playoffs, and the further they go, the fewer nights for horror viewing.

Maybe I can do a marathon, but that's a long shot.

Perhaps a combination of reads, shows and movies will do the trick this year.

Not to say the genre is lacking for me this month.  I did read Lumley's The Burrowers Beneath.  I've seen a couple of THRILLER episodes and one Night Gallery episode.  I am half-way through Blind Shadows by Charles R. Rutledge & James A. Moore. (And it is very good, btw.)

I'm still having fun with the Halloween spirit, and that's what counts.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox

As DC meanders in the live-action realm while Marvel takes off into the stratosphere, quite the opposite continues to occur in the direct-to-Media animated movies arena.  Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is another homerun for DC. (Unlike my disappointment with Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore.)

Barry Allen, a.k.a. the Flash, awakens from a desk nap to find the world has completely changed, and most of it not for the better.  His superpower speed is gone, some other heroes don't exist, and those that do are not the same that Allen knew.  The world is on the brink of annihilation as the fabled nations of Atlantis and the Amazons wage all-out war against each other - regardless of human casualties caught in the crossfire.  Can Barry Allen regain his speed and time-travel ability in time to change the alternate timeline before it is too late to save the world?

Like some mythic tale of old, Atlantis and Themyscira are at war over assassinations and lovers' betrayals.  Aquaman and the Atlanteans have already struck a major blow, driving the Amazons from their native island.  This leads to the Amazons conquering England and declaring it New Themyscira.  And now Aquaman threatens to use an ultimate weapon.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox doesn't so much reverse the DC Universe as much as it skews it arse over elbows.  This is not a simple "good guys are bad guys / bad guys are good guys" alternate universe story.  There are a few surprises in that vein, and that's all I'll say to avoid spoilers.

DC are not joking about the PG-13 rating this time around.  There is blood and disturbing violence.  Wonder Woman is a stone cold killer.  (In fact, a friend of mine who received an early review copy texted me immediately and warned me not to show my kids [It's okay, I don't let my kids watch these PG-13 DC movies.])  Older kids might be okay but if you have any very young ladies who admire Wonder Woman's heroics, this is probably not the time to introduce the concept of an alternate reality with a murderous Wonder Woman.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is very dark, very different and very good.