Starting on our 3rd decade of Turkey Day Marathons, with this one being our 10th Turkey Day in May event, there just seems to be no stopping us. There are several things about these events that continue to amaze me. First and foremost, is the number of my friends that are crazy enough to continue to come out and sit through whatever I throw at them. Keep in mind, the titles are never announced until I hit play on the player. But they still come out. Sure, every once in a while, there might be a film where a mutiny is maybe thought about, but it is soon forgotten, and we move on to the next film. It reminds me that cinephiles are a different breed of people, ones that can look at what most people would scoff at, look down at, or even wonder why we’re wasting our title with that particular title. But the people that continue to come out see the real value and entertainment in these pictures. I am honored and so grateful to call them my friends.

Joining this year were a lot of our regular T-day attendees. Aaron Christensen, who has been my co-pilot on these adventures since 2005, and this one was no different. We also had Jason Coffman, Neil Calderone, Brian Fukala, Tim Palace, Bryan Martinez, and Jill & Gregg Olheiser. Of course, probably the main reason that these people keep coming back is the onslaught of pizzas coming out of the kitchen throughout the day from my wife Dawn. But helping her in the kitchen this year was my son Nick, who takes the tastes to the next level. Not sure how many pizzas exactly that we went through, but I know it was somewhere around 15. From a variety of breakfast pizzas, chili dog pizza (my personal favorite), steak with a chimichurri sauce, cauliflower with the same chimichurri sauce, Nashville Hot Chicken, poblano and cheese, crab rangoon, and so many more, nobody left the house hungry. Then again, they never do. Here’s a few pics of the different pizzas, just so everyone else can drool and be jealous!

I had planned on a different ‘50s movie to start with but with the recent passing of Roger Corman, I wanted to do a little bit of a tribute to this man who has given us so many hours of entertainment. We started with one that he directed and ended with one he produced. Let’s get to our movies, shall we?

Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) – Out of Corman’s earlier films of the ‘50s, usually dealing with some sort of monster, this is my absolute favorite. Maybe it’s because they actually built these giant crabs that had to be terrifying for a little kid watching them on the big screen, or maybe now just how different of a storyline that Charles Griffith came up with. I mean, telepathic crabs? That absorb the knowledge of whatever they eat? Gotta love it!

The cast here makes it even more impressive, from Richard Garland, Russell Johnson, Leslie Bradley, to even Mel Welles giving it his all as the Frenchman Jules Deveroux! Hell, even screenwriter Griffith shows up in the beginning as one of the Navy’s finest, who quickly loses his head. Ed Nelson and Beach Dickerson, another couple of Corman regulars, play the navy guys who drop off the scientist on the seemingly deserted island. Nelson dies in a plane explosion, but he actually was in the rest of the film, having to help operate some of the title creatures, along with Dickerson. There is a lot of fun to be had here with this movie. With a budget of only $70k, there’s a lot of things going on to hide the budget, but still makes an entertaining movie.

Voodoo Heartbeat (1975) – Last Turkey Day, we screened Help Me…I’m Possessed (1974), directed by Charles Nizet. I had never heard of that film but had recently gotten it from a triple feature release from Vinegar Syndrome. Well, continuing that trend, with the release of their amazing box set, The Lost Picture Show, it included the feature Nizet made right before Help Me. This film, which had an X-rated version called The Sex Serum of Dr. Blake, was trimmed slightly down for the Voodoo Heatbeat version. Watching this version, it’s still pretty close to X-rated, and especially has the same, sleezy sort of feel to it as well! There were several parts during the movie where it almost because uncomfortable to watch!

The film is about a serum that is stolen away from Africa, only to be stolen again by a foreign country, only to be stolen yet again by an innocent person passing by! I mean, when you see a severed arm handcuffed to a briefcase, you know you have to steal it, right? And even more apparent, is that when you find some drug in there, you have to inject yourself with it! And to no one’s surprise, it turns the man into some sort of vampire creature that craves blood, even though sunlight has no ill effect on him.

Lots of nudity, lots of sex, and a lot of walking, so be prepared. Definitely not one for the kids!

Night of Horror (1981) – This definitely was the least favorite of the day, which I can totally understand why. Very slow paced, no actual “horror” takes place at all, an incredibly long flashback of some Civil War reenactment with a song that goes on FOREVER, not to mention when the ghosts are talking, it … goes … very … slow. After about 2 minutes of this, you start to think that is what the “horror” part is!

But I have to give director and co-writer Tony Malanowski and the rest of the crew some credit because of their low budget, and they were doing the best they could. But unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough! Granted, these are the same people that think it will take several hours to repair a muffler.

While it does look a lot better than the old VHS tape, meaning its nowhere near as dark, it is still pretty dark in some parts. Want to take a nap, then put this one in.

Bog (1979) – Nothing better to make a Turkey shine than a love scene between an older couple to get the juicy flowing! But if you’re looking for a monster flick in the same vein of the ’50s, then this is the one! Lot of serious science talk here while the local doctor and scientist try to figure out what is doing all the killings around the bog lake area. Other than an arm or claw, we don’t really get a look at the creature until the very end, and then it’s pretty quick. But it does pay off.

Genre favorite Aldo Ray plays the sheriff, or “Shrff”, as it is pronounced by one of the characters in the film. Ray has no clue what is doing this and is constantly ranting about this fact! Marshall Thompson appeared in a few of the classic sci-fi films of the ’50s, such as It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) and Fiend Without a Face (1958), and while he’s basically slumming here, he still gives it his all. Gloria DeHaven plays the female lead, the scientist trying to figure out what this creature is. She also does double duty by playing the old woman who lives in the woods as well! But really, every cast member that shows up on screen is a treat to watch, from the deputy to the vacationing fisherman, to the locals wanting to buy guns. They all are so much fun.

While it would be great to have seen more of the creature, for what it is, it is still a fun movie and will get plenty of laughs and entertainment for viewers.

The Jar (1984) – I have to admit, this is not a Turkey and really shouldn’t have been in the lineup. I was thinking that maybe because it is so bizarre with pretty much the main actor carrying the entire film, that it would elevate it (or condemn it) to a Turkey. But this film is actually well made, especially when you consider it is a first-time filmmaker. The director, Bruce Toscano, had mentioned that he really liked Argento’s Suspiria (1977), and you can tell in the first few minutes here with the use of color filters and lighting. Just amazing. For such a low budget film, he goes through a lot to show a different sense of style, from the colors, to even going to black and white at times. Very trippy, but very well done. It is definitely a “thinking” film but one that I think most would enjoy.

BUT . . . make sure you get the newly released Blu-ray from Terrorvison. I had been planning to screen this for years, but the only copy I had was a DVD burn from a VHS burn, which was so dark and looked like crap. Plus, the print for the VHS was pan & scanned, where some actors were cut out completely from the frame, who you have one actor talking to the side and we see nobody! Plus, the print on this new Blu-ray looks incredible.

So yes, not a Turkey, but one you definitely want to see, especially if you like really strange cinema.

Srigala (1981) – I had picked this up at a convention because I had read that it was an Indonesian rip-off of Friday the 13th, so I figured it would be perfect. Once I actually sat down to watch it, I had forgotten about that little detail. It was a standard slasher type of film, with some people trying to find some hidden treasure in a lake, while some others are there to camp and swim.

But then near the end, when a woman shows up out of nowhere and starts to explain the whole backstory, you immediately get that flash of Mama Voorhees. Not that there is a deformed son, but why SHE is the one doing all the killing, explaining this all to our final girl. And if that part wasn’t enough of a rip-off, the very end has our final girl in a row bow, waking up in the morning as the police hit the docks, even with her hand in the water before . . . well, you know.

There are a couple of WTF moments that come out of nowhere that is pretty funny, so it definitely fits in the Turkey genre.

Forbidden World (1982) – Ending our day with another tribute to Roger Corman, this time with a film he produced. This is simply a lot of fun. Tons of gore and gooey stuff, nudity galore, including some quick second shots of nudity edited in the middle of other scenes, just in case we forgot about it. I’m sure that had nothing to do with the fact that one of the screenwriters was Jim Wynorski! The film also has a great monster with a huge toothy mouth! What more could you ask for?

Made when sci-fi was still running rampant, but even with the low budget, you had a ton of talented people working behind the camera on the effects which alone makes it worth it. Just the set design alone is pretty impressive for this type of film. You knew Corman was getting every penny out of it, even using sets from other films that he was currently working on. Even the acting, doing what they could with what they had, is pretty good. There’s plenty of laughable moments, from the comments to the situations, making this a perfect way to end our Turkey Day in May.

Another event, another 7 movies, and dozen or so pizzas! But honestly, it really is the comradery that all of us have, a devotion to the “finer” points of cinema, where we can watch what most would call drivel, and yet we are all having a great time. If you’re not one of those kinds of people, I feel sorry for you. If you are, then you have a few titles here that I would suggest you seek out if you don’t own them already!