Hollywood, as well as fans of vintage science fiction film, suffered a loss yesterday as Patricia Neal, star of the 1951 classic THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, died of lung cancer at the age of 84. Although she starred in many films over the years including such titles as THE FOUNTAINHEAD, BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S and IN HARMS WAY – genre fans will remember her most for her portrayal of “Helen” in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL.
Slinking down a dark corridor, illuminated only by the glow of soft candles and dry ice, Maila Nurmi makes her grand entrance. In the unlikely event that her seductive gaze failed in seizing your immediate attention, there is no doubt that her skin tight black dress, accenting the quintessential “wasp” waist, certainly would.
Last March, I attended my first (but definitely not last) Horrorhound Convention. As mentioned in my previous post, Horrorhound Magazine definitely ranks as one of my favorites. Like FANGORIA, they sponsor their own conventions too – attracting some very impressive guests! For the past few years, Horrorhound has done two conventions annually; one in Indianapolis (March) and another in Cincinnati (November).
Back in the summer of 2007, a very successful viral campaign showing a teaser trailer for a film called CLOVERFIELD swept the Internet. It threw hard core Japanese monster fans into a frenzy anticipating the possibility that Godzilla, who was in cinematic retirement, might finally be making his illustrious return.
When asked to list their favorite slashers, most folks will immediately list the classics; HALLOWEEN, FRIDAY THE 13th, and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. There is no question that these movies are horror masterpieces and the superstars of the slasher world (as illustrated by the number of sequels they spawned). There are, however, many more obscure ones worth checking out also. Often they are rip-offs of the aforementioned films, sometimes unique, and usually lots of fun. During the past 20 years, I’ve searched for as many slashers from the “golden age” that I could find. This era, most all fans of the genre will agree, lasted from the mid to late 1970’s on through the mid 1980’s. At this date, I have counted close to 140 slashers from this period.
It’s hard to imagine what my life would have been like had I not had the honor of growing up with Svengoolie. The “1970’s world” I was raised in was devoid of VCR/DVD’s and DVR cable. Consequently, watching monster movies at your own convenience was simply not the option that it is today. I suppose this is the “you kids don’t know how good you have it” story that my generation gets to tell in place of “having to walk six miles to school in the freezing cold.” All kidding aside, however, you really did have to be home at the right time to catch a rare showing of what interested you. During this era, many of us “scary movie” kids depended on our local horror hosts to reliably deliver those goods.
Terror from Beyond the Dave 