Title: Boris Karloff: Frontier Psychiatrist
Author: Jetpack Monkey
Song: The Avalanches - Frontier Psychatrist
Fandom: Classic horror movies

Summary: Starting with The Man They Could Not Hang, Columbia released four mad scientist films starring Boris Karloff in an eighteen-month period between 1939 and 1941. The other films in the series were The Man with Nine Lives, Before I Hang, and The Devil Commands. As a tribute, I created a short video to illustrate the general shared tone of the films and their similarities in structure, casting, theme, and direction.

The song I chose, The Avalanches' Frontier Psychiatrist, is constructed from audio clips and samples from previously recorded materials. I picked this song in particular because it calls attention to the fact that the Columbia Mad Scientist series was itself constructed from "used" parts, taking elements from Karloff's past successes in films like The Man Who Changed His Mind, The Invisible Ray, and even The Walking Dead.

Direct Youtube Link


Notes: This vid was created as Classic-Horror.com's contribution to the Boris Karloff Blogathon over at Frankensteinia, which is why my real name appears in the vid's opening credits.

That was fucking amazing. Sweet and disturbing and beautiful and wrong and just... my jaw was dropped most of the film, either from verklempt or horror. If it's playing in your area, go see it. I'm not telling you a damn thing, except that it's the sweetest romance this side of WALL*E and EVE and it has some of the best moments of horror I've seen this year.

Seriously. GO.

Title: Ever the Same
Song: Rob Thomas - Ever the Same
Fandom: Universal Monsters
Summary: For all that changes, the monster movies produced by Universal between 1931 and 1954 remain the same, constant cinematic companions. This is my tiny little tribute to them.

Films Featured: Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939), The Wolf Man (1941), Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943), Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

Details: Quicktime .MOV file, 26MB (finally figured out how to get a small file size)

Where: File (right-click and "save as") or Youtube.

Comments and feedback are welcome and encouraged.

I've had to put my How I Met Your Mother vid aside for a moment -- I think it's a little outside of my scope as a vidder and I'm having trouble putting together appropriate clips, despite having extensive notes. I'm going to take some time away and let my subconscious work out the various obstacles.

However, this has let me move on to the vid I'm really excited about -- my Universal monsters video. I've told a few people what song I'm using and they've accused me of not sharing the crack. Sorry?

Originally this was going to have a much broader scope, encompassing the whole of Universal's output from the 1920s-early 1950s, but I've since narrowed it down to the six main monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon) for a number of reasons. The main one is that there are five choruses and one bridge in the song, so I can devote each to a specific monster (my Mummy chorus is freakin' wicked). There's a few other areas in the song that sync up with the number six, so I decided to take it as a sign (I didn't know this before I picked the song) and I've focused the vid on only movies featuring the main monsters.

So far I have three of the six monsters completed (although I'm not completely happy with the Wolf Man section).

This is going to rock.

Let's face it -- the combination of musical and horror was what brought me to Buffy. It's what intrigued me about Sweeney Todd.

So I really shouldn't be surprised that I'm so excited by Repo! The Genetic Opera! (Trailer #1, brand new Trailer #2).

(oddly enough, Buffy, Sweeney, and Repo! all feature Anthony Stewart Head)

Knowing that, at any moment, I can watch Joe Dante's Piranha in anamorphic widescreen because the DVD player on my media server is region-free.

Boo ya.

Made a slight tweak to my layout to add a little old school classiness to it. Classic horror films for the win.

Following up on the suggestions received from my post about scary television, I received a metric ton of X-Files suggestions. Which eps are the scariest? I'll probably take the top 4-5 and watch them to research my article.

Poll #1183726
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 15

Scariest X-Files Episode?

Also, I still need suggestions for scary Supernatural episodes. People seemed to be drawing a blank on 'em last time.

The cast, crew, and distributors of the direct-to-video "horror"-"comedy" The Cook are on notice. All of them. Except maybe the guy who played the title character, but mostly because he didn't say much and had a knack for slapstick.

The cinematographer, in particular, should be taxidermied with a light meter jammed in his eye sockets, then placed in a prominent location as a warning to others.

Do not be fooled by the synopsis, which makes the film sound so bad it's good. This one qualifies as masochism.

I will not be reviewing this film for Classic-Horror. It's not worth the effort to write.

So. Mario Bava Retrospective at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. Who can resist? Not me. That's why I'm arriving in Los Angeles (Burbank) on Friday, March 21st at 5:05PM, in time for the Eli Roth-hosted double feature of Bay of Blood and Four Times That Night.

Then I'll continue to be in fabulous Los Angeles Saturday March 22nd, attending the Whip and the Body and Kill Baby Kill double feature that evening. These are two of my very favorite Bava films, all resplendent in suggestive horrors. Which is why I bought two spare tickets and may yet buy more for any Los Angelinos interested.

Sunday I'll be attending the TRIPLE feature The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Hatchet for the Honeymoon, and Caltiki the Immortal Monster (not available on domestic DVD), before leaving Monday morning (from Burbank again) at 9:40 AM.

As per usual, I look cutely at the LA area residents to provide me with their couches and camaraderie whilst I'm in their city. Comment or email (nate AT monkeyswithjetpacks DOT com).

If it's possible to have a blogger crush, I think I just developed one on Stacie Ponder, aka the Final Girl. Serious, hardcore horror geekdom (with a generous helping of snark), plus a cheerful appreciation of all the really awful things in the genre.

*ponders asking her for guest commentary on Classic-Horror.com* *but for what?* *and how* *why am I speaking in asteriks?* *I'm not quite sure*

( Friday )

( Saturday )

( Sunday )

Now I'm at work and rather bored with it. Can I be back in LA now please?

On July 4th, Michael "Egregious" Gunrow of The Horror Review approached me and let me know he was working on an article in my defense (or at least, in defense of Dead Teenager Movies). He and THR's editor were also compiling Ebert's requested list of the 100 greatest (not great, thankfully) Dead Teenager Movies. I agreed to help with the list.

Well, it's all done and posted today.

The Horror Review's article.

My companion article (and the first time I point out the whole Ebert thing on Classic-Horror).

Most importantly, The List. It's been sent to Ebert as well, per his request.

It's been an excellent experience working with Gunrow on the list and exciting to find a fellow horror fan with the same appreciation for the genre (although he and I disagree quite a lot on Wrong Turn).

It also makes me want to run the Caligari's Cabinet horror poll again in November and December. It's a thought, anyway.

Earlier this week, I sent an email to Roger Ebert taking him to task for denigrating "dead teenager" films in service of the AFI's most recent 100 Best Movies list.

He published it. As the first letter in this week's Movie Answer Man column. I don't like his answer, but dude. Ebert published my letter. Dude.

Also, he left my website URL on at the end.

Okay, I have to finish my bachelor's degree now. Because I am *so* applying to this MA program afterwards. Partially because it's a degree in cult movies (and television), but mostly because it'd give me unfettered access to the Brunel University Cult Film Archive. Also, England is awesome.

Shame they require an honors degree. I'd have to work my rear end off to reverse the damage done my first few years of college. Then again, maybe Classic-Horror.com is qualification enough.

Black Sheep (not to be confused with the Farley-Spade vehicle of the same name) looks completely awesome. The story of what happens when the woolly go wild. Get ready for the violence of the lambs.

Trailer

Just going over the ever-dwindling collection of VHS tapes that are filed with DVD because no DVD equivalent exists, and a thought struck me that may be of interest only to myself.

Universal owns the entire Paramount catalogue from before 1949 (with the exception of anything in the public domain and Preston Sturges' Miracle of Morgan's Creek, which they would not buy as the material was far too racy). While Paramount's never been a big horror studio (something that they've stuck with through multiple changes in ownership), they did produce seven minor, but notable horror films that are not available on DVD in any shape or form. They are:

* Murder by the Clock '31
* Island of Lost Souls '33 (with Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi)
* Murders in the Zoo '33 (with Charles Ruggles, Lionel Atwill, and Randolph Scott)
* Supernatural '33 (with Carole Lombard and Randolph Scott)
* Dr. Cyclops '40 (the first all-Technicolor horror film)
* The Monster and the Girl '41 (with George Zucco)
* The Uninvited (with Ray Milland)

(two more are available on DVD -- The Ghost Breakers, which is a horror/comedy starring Bob Hope, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde '31, which through convoluted circumstances is owned by Warner).

It seems like Universal is sitting on both a treasure trove and a problem. Only three of the films have saleable horror stars, but most of the rest have either historical value or a "normal" star of some kind. However, major Hollywood stars of yesteryear do not tend to sell horror films of yesteryear, unless said stars are specifically linked with the horror genre.

Releasing each film individually would be folly, but there's also no major thematic link or star that brings all the movies together. Releasing a "Paramount Horrors" collection would be confusing (what's Universal doing advertising for Paramount horror films?). A generic "classic horrors" set might work, especially if the tossed in some of the harder-to-classify Universal horrors of the era (like Secret of the Blue Room, Mystery of Edwin Drood, and the 1943 Phantom of the Opera).

Anyway. That's your classic horror geek rambling for the day.

Just saw Ringu for the first time ever. Holy moley. That scared the living... wow. One of those movies that made me wonder if I'm in the wrong line, because I had trouble going to sleep last night. I kept wondering if Sadako was going to come after me...

And now midnightfae wants to watch the other three movies in the Anthology. Oh boy. Sleep was overrated anyway.

(uses an Audition icon just because)

Quickly checking in, saying hi, whatnot. A bit behind on my 500-words-a-day writing goal, but I'm not playing catchup or anything. The point is to write. The point is not to angst about not writing. If I miss a day, I miss a day, and I'll write 500 the next, no big.

I have been working on a review for Robert Wise's The Body Snatcher that is taking on slightly epic proportions, and I'm interested in seeing what it's final format will look like. Definitely going to break 1000 words on this one. I'm such a geek...

Anyway, must hop back to the working world.

Oh, and before I forget -- new icon.

Since I have no idea when else I can use an icon as twisted as this...

Alfred Hitchcock once said the following regarding suspense:

We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let us suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, 'Boom!' There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table, and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware that the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the décor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions this same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene.

There's a gigantic bomb under the table in Audition and there's well over Sir Alfred's 15 minutes of agonizing, teasing suspense, and every last second is completely worth it.

I don't think I'll be dating for a while. I need the time to stare at the screen and babble incoherently.

Remember that goofy-looking zombie comedy Dead & Breakfast from the Anchor Bay presentation at Comic-Con? Yeah, I have a reviewer copy. I'll let you know.

If Oz Perkins stares at me again, though, I might freak.

hjcallipygian requests: The top five under-appreciated horror movies of our time and why I should watch them (I guess this might be more of a rave than a rant, but... eh).

Right you are it's a rave, but I'm easy (and remarkably cheap! With just four short installments of... I'm off-topic)

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Remember, I'm still taking rant requests.