The Super-Horror-Rama shows have now moved to the Sideshow Gelato for screenings on the last 3 Wednesday nights in July! Each of the films that will be shown do have some sort of connection to ice cream, even if it might be a little twisted!
Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, July 17th, they will be screening Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm (1979), where we have the all-time, coolest guitar-playing, dwarf-killing ice cream man around, the one and only Reggie Bannister! There is a reason this film is still regarded as a classic.
I know I posted something earlier in the year about Chicago’s Flashback Weekend, taking place Aug. 2nd-4th in Rosemont, IL, where they’re having a reunion for John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), with almost all the remaining cast attending. They had announced 6 of the cast, Keith David, Richard Masur, David Clennon, Thomas G. Waites, Joel Polis, and Peter Maloney, but now have recently announced Adrienne Barbeau. Sure, she may not physically appear in the film, remember that she did provide the voice for the computer chess game!
They had also announced a huge reunion for the cult film The Warriors (1979), with Michael Beck, James Remar, Dorsey Wright, Brian Tyler, David Harris, Terry Michos, and Thomas G. Waites doing double duty.
Splinter (2008), Thanatomorphose (2012), and Contracted (2013)
When discussing films that deal with body horror, David Cronenberg and his work usually come up in the conversation. How can he not, when so many of his earlier films all dealt with some sort of body horror, mutations, and transformations? But there are plenty of films that go above and beyond (and even below) Cronenberg’s impressive genre efforts… sometimes even making us wonder why we’re watching them in the first place! Could it be that we just want to see how much grossness we can stomach? Or is there more to it?
Body horror is one of the most horrific of horror’s subgenres, tossing heaping handfuls of disgust into the usual bag of scares. And maybe it’s the hangover from the recent global pandemic, maybe it’s the fact that by a certain age all of us have watched someone close to us fight a serious illness, or maybe it’s just built into us by Mother Nature, but there’s something especially horrific about body horror from infection. But what do we get from watching it? Disgust, discomfort, and maybe a deeper understanding of human experience and anxieties? We can for sure guarantee the first two- so let’s dig in!
Disclaimer: by the end of the episode, you will be forgiven if you catch yourself looking at your body in a full-length mirror thinking “well, at least no maggots fell out of there.”
It’s pretty much standard knowledge that John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) is one of the greatest horror films ever made. If you disagree, well, you’re just wrong. Just kidding. Well . . .
Yes, we all our entitled to our opinion but I think you’d be hard pressed, in this day and age, to find a horror fan that doesn’t enjoy this incredible, not to mention more accurate version of John W. Campbell’s 1938 novella Who Goes There? The special makeup effects by the 23-year-old madman, Rob Bottin are not only ground-breaking, mind-blowing, and truly original and amazing, but that they still hold up today, even under the scrutiny in a 4k presentation. But even beyond the makeup effects, Carpenter weaves a beautiful tale of paranoia that makes everyone think Who Goes There?
This last Saturday, we ventured back to the Indianapolis area, twice in the last two weeks, for this year’s Super Monster Movie Fest at the Skyline Drive-In in Shelbyville, IN. Normally, we are there for both nights of fun, but due to some work issues, we couldn’t make it for the Friday night screenings, but did come out for Saturday. We got to see The Invisible Man (1933), John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), 30 Days of Night (2007), Dead Snow (2009), and The Crawling Eye (1958).
Now is your chance to see 4 classic horror films on the big screen, like they were meant to be! Not to mention seeing them in the company of other like-minded crazy horror fans! Next Saturday, on Sept. 24th, at the Midway Drive-in, located in Sterling, IL, they will be holding their annual Horrorfest, featuring some incredible titles: John Carpenter’s They Live (1988), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), Pieces (1982), and Doctor. Butcher M.D. (1980)! Plus, the first 500 people that get there will get a free Doctor. Butcher M.D. Barf Bag, thanks to sponsor Severin Films!
I know everyone (or most everyone) reading this has seen the original Halloween (1978) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) before. Many times, before, I’m guessing. But have you seen it projected on a screen 90 feet across? Then now is your chance because next weekend, June 24th & 25th, they will be having a special double feature screening both of these classic horror films that were game changers for the genre.
(2004) Directed by Chip Selby Starring John Carpenter, Jack Davis, Digby Diehl, Al Feldstein, William M. Gaines, George Romero, Bernie Wrightson
I grew up in the late 60’s / early 70’s, so the horror comics that I remembered reading in my youth were titles like Creepy and Eerie. The moniker Tales from The Crypt was from a movie as far as I knew. Once I started really getting into horror, I kept coming across references to these comic books from the ‘50s. Eventually, I would learn a little more about what EC comics had done a good 10 years before I was born. Then when the reprints started to come out, I was able to see and enjoy these wonderfully created images and stories that caused such a roar back in the mid 50’s.
While we all wait for news of this year’s Music Box of Horrors, Chicago’s best 24-hour horror movie marathon, there are more than a few interesting screenings coming up there that might peak the interests of local fans!
This Wednesday, at 9:15pm, they are screening the 1982 epic Boardinghouse, one of the earlier shot-on-video films that actually did play theaters. I know this for a fact because it played at the theater I worked at and was both confused and blown aways by it! Plenty of nudity and gore, as well as a lot of W-T-F moments, it is definitely like nothing else you’ve seen. And getting to see it on the big screen is a whole other experience! There will be an introduction to the film by author and film critic Preston Fassel, author of the book Landis: The Story of a Real Man on 42nd Street, the first ever biography of Sleazoid Express found Bill Landis. There will also be a post screening conversation as well.
The Thing (Re-Release) Released in 2011 by BuySoundtrax Records 16 Tracks with a total running time of 61 min. Music by Ennio Morricone & John Carpenter
I can’t believe I had never reviewed this score here! Next to Carpenter’s score for The Fog, this has been my favorite of his work. Yes, this is a collaboration between him and Ennio Morricone, but since I’m not sure either of them came out and said specifically who did each of the bits of music, I’m going to concentrate this review on the score as a whole. Though, I will say that when I first bought the LB soundtrack to this, listening to it over and over again, I do remember thinking “damn . . . there are some parts in here that sound a LOT like something Carpenter would have done!”
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