Here is the parody ad we did of those Pistachio Nuts commercials.
We sent it to the ad company that made the nut commercial, and strangely enough they haven't gotten back to us.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!!!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Roxsy Tyler VS Basement Boy
Okay, this fight between Roxsy Tyler of Roxsy Tyler's Carnival of Horrors and Atomic Age Cinema's Basement Boy is heating up and folks are taking sides. There is a Team Basement VS Team Roxsy facebook page now.
Here is Roxsy's video:
Not one to miss out on bloodshed, I'm offering my services as a fight promoter:
Not matter who wins, WE LOSE!!!
Happy Fangs-Giving, and...
Stay Insane!
Here is Roxsy's video:
Not one to miss out on bloodshed, I'm offering my services as a fight promoter:
Not matter who wins, WE LOSE!!!
Happy Fangs-Giving, and...
Stay Insane!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Bela Lugosi's Tales From The Grave Comic
If you were to ask me what my favorite comics were growing up, I'd name "Vampirella", the entire Curtis line (Marvel's black and white comic magazines like "Vampire Tales", "Dracula Lives!" and so forth), and the reprints of the EC horror comics. They don't make comics like this anymore. Modern comic creators either get too explicit with the gore and sex that it turns me off, or the stories are just plain bad retreads. I'm not a reader of modern comic books, if I go to a comic store I'm most likely buying back issues or a collection of something 30 years old.
That's why I wasn't too excited by Monsterverse putting out "Bela Lugosi's Tales From The Grave". Being a huge Lugosi fan I didn't want my hero's image cheapened by smacking his name on some inferior product. I wasn't going to buy it at first, but when I went to Chiller Theatre at the end of October Bela Lugosi Jr. (who is a really nice guy) had it for sale on his table. The Basil Gogos cover was so beautiful I had to get one. I actually didn't crack it open until after we got home, and boy was I surprised.
Each story in this anthology, from writing to art, is wonderfully done. I have to stand up and applaud publisher and editor-in-chief Kerry Gammill for putting together so much great talent.
Bela Lugosi serves as host, narrator and, in one story, star of the tales presented. One of my favorites from the issue was the "Lost Lugosi Film Theater", the conceit being these stories are films Lugosi did, but were too horrific to show back in the 1940s. The first entry, "The Midnight Museum" by Martin Powell and Terry Beatty, is a great shocker in the EC tradition but also retains the feel that a Lugosi film of that era.
Another favorite, "Mark of The Zombie" by Rob E. Brown harkens back to "White Zombie" in a tale of zombies in Haiti. Not being a current comic fan, I hadn't heard of Rob E. Brown before but I'm a new fan.
I could do a paragraph or two on each story, but I want you to go out and enjoy the issue without it being spoiled. Diamond, who distributes the book to comic shops, will fill all back orders so there is not reason for your local shop to be sold out. If you're a fan of Lugosi like I am I'm sure you'll enjoy this book.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!!!
(Here is the review from our November 14th show)
That's why I wasn't too excited by Monsterverse putting out "Bela Lugosi's Tales From The Grave". Being a huge Lugosi fan I didn't want my hero's image cheapened by smacking his name on some inferior product. I wasn't going to buy it at first, but when I went to Chiller Theatre at the end of October Bela Lugosi Jr. (who is a really nice guy) had it for sale on his table. The Basil Gogos cover was so beautiful I had to get one. I actually didn't crack it open until after we got home, and boy was I surprised.
Each story in this anthology, from writing to art, is wonderfully done. I have to stand up and applaud publisher and editor-in-chief Kerry Gammill for putting together so much great talent.
Bela Lugosi serves as host, narrator and, in one story, star of the tales presented. One of my favorites from the issue was the "Lost Lugosi Film Theater", the conceit being these stories are films Lugosi did, but were too horrific to show back in the 1940s. The first entry, "The Midnight Museum" by Martin Powell and Terry Beatty, is a great shocker in the EC tradition but also retains the feel that a Lugosi film of that era.
Another favorite, "Mark of The Zombie" by Rob E. Brown harkens back to "White Zombie" in a tale of zombies in Haiti. Not being a current comic fan, I hadn't heard of Rob E. Brown before but I'm a new fan.
I could do a paragraph or two on each story, but I want you to go out and enjoy the issue without it being spoiled. Diamond, who distributes the book to comic shops, will fill all back orders so there is not reason for your local shop to be sold out. If you're a fan of Lugosi like I am I'm sure you'll enjoy this book.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!!!
(Here is the review from our November 14th show)
Monday, November 15, 2010
"Jack and the Beanstalk" (1952) Part Two
In this episode Ormsby reviews "Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave" comic book and dabbles in turkey DNA.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!!!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!!!
Cinema Insane "Jack and the Beanstalk" Part Two from Ormsby on Vimeo.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
The Cinema Insane Halloween Mini Show 2010
Yeah....we tried to do a Halloween special and this happened...
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Cinema Insane "House on Haunted Hill" Part Four
In this episode: Part Four of "House on Haunted Hill" (1959).
Can Ormsby save Clone 13? Will Ormsby go on a cable talk show and defend Halloween? What will our November Fearsome Feature be?
Find out in this new exciting episode!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Can Ormsby save Clone 13? Will Ormsby go on a cable talk show and defend Halloween? What will our November Fearsome Feature be?
Find out in this new exciting episode!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Cinema Insane "House on Haunted Hill" Part Four from Ormsby on Vimeo.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Cinema Insane "House on Haunted Hill" Part Three
In this episode: Part Three of "House on Haunted Hill" (1959), Clone 13 gets even smaller and Ormsby calls a meeting of the clones.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Cinema Insane "House on Haunted Hill" Part Three from Ormsby on Vimeo.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Cinema Insane "House on Haunted Hill" Part Two
In this episode of Cinema Insane, Clone #13 is still still small, and Ormsby gets a special phone call from...
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Cinema Insane "House on Haunted Hill" Part Two from Ormsby on Vimeo.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Cinema Insane "House On Haunted Hill" Part One
A new month brings a new movie. Our Fearsome Feature for October 2010 is "House On Haunted Hill" (1959) starring Vincent Price and directed by William Castle.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Cinema Insane "The Terror" Part Four
We show the fourth and final part of our Fearsome Feature, "The Terror" from 1963 starring Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson.
Will the Clones find the 13th ghost? Will the Lighthouse retain it's haunted status? And what happened to Skippy? All those questions are answered in this episode.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Will the Clones find the 13th ghost? Will the Lighthouse retain it's haunted status? And what happened to Skippy? All those questions are answered in this episode.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Cinema Insane "The Terror" Part Three
We show part three of our Fearsome Feature, "The Terror" from 1963 starring Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson. The Clones count up how many ghosts we have and Ormsby makes a decision about Skippy the Bad Intern.
And can you spot Dr. Sigmund Zoid of Alternative Realities (alternativerealities.tv/) in this episode?
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
And can you spot Dr. Sigmund Zoid of Alternative Realities (alternativerealities.tv/) in this episode?
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Cinema Insane "The Terror" Part Two
In this installment of Cinema Insane, we show part two of "The Terror". We also review "Every Other Day Is Halloween", a documentary about Count Gore De Vol. If you have a quick eye you might catch a glimpse of Roxsy Tyler of Roxsy Tyler's Carnival of Horrors.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Friday, September 10, 2010
The Terror - Trailer
This is the trailer for "The Terror", the Fearsome Feature we're showing this month.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Cinema Insane "The Terror" Part One
Our showing of "The Terror" (1963) starts a new chapter in Cinema Insane.
First, we've changed the interior of the lighthouse (and the exterior only slightly). Second, we're going weekly, showing part of our Fearsome Feature each week. We hope you enjoy the new format.
You can check out the show at our web site, http://www.cinemainsane.com. Below is the host segments only from Youtube.
First, we've changed the interior of the lighthouse (and the exterior only slightly). Second, we're going weekly, showing part of our Fearsome Feature each week. We hope you enjoy the new format.
You can check out the show at our web site, http://www.cinemainsane.com. Below is the host segments only from Youtube.
Monday, August 30, 2010
September Promo
Cinema Insane returns this Saturday September 4th on computer screens everywhere.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Man Made Monster (1941)
Man Made Monster -1943
Directed by George Waggner
This is an under appreciated classic from Universal. It was based on this film that Universal decided to crown Lon Chaney Jr. their new horror star, leading to him getting his most famous role of all-Larry Talbot The Wolfman.
Chaney plays Dan "Dynamo Dan" McCormick, a man who makes his living in side shows electrocuting himself (which he says is mostly fake). He's on a bus that crashes into an electric pole, which electrocutes everyone on board but him. This brings him to the attention of Dr. Lawrence, a scientist who happens to employs a mad scientist (don't they all). Of course the mad Dr. Rigas played by Lionel Atwill makes Dan a monster, which leads to disaster.
Lon Chaney Jr.'s decay due to the repeated electrical experiments starts off subtle and gets progressively worse. He goes from a pale makeup with soft graying hair to a mummy-esque emaciated wrinkled skin supplied by Jack Pierce. John P. Fulton's wonderful special effects show a charged up Chaney glowing, as does his victims when he touches them.
Trivia Time: When the film was reissued it went through some name changes, like "Electric Man" and "The Mysterious Dr. R". In the 1950s Realart renamed it "The Atomic Monster" and put it back in theaters. Unfortunately, that title was already used by Alex Gordon for one of his films. He sent his lawyer, Samuel Z. Arkoff, to talk to Realart about changing the title and he met James H. Nicholson who was working there at the time. Because of this meeting Arkoff, Gordon and Nicholson would go on to create American International Pictures.
This film is currently hard to find, since it was only issued on VHS and has not made it to DVD yet.
UPDATE-8/8/2010: I stand corrected. It IS available on DVD, in the Universal Horror Classic Movie Archive, along with "The Black Cat" (1941), "Horror Island" (1941), "Night Monster" (1942) and "Captive Wild Woman" (1943).
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Directed by George Waggner
This is an under appreciated classic from Universal. It was based on this film that Universal decided to crown Lon Chaney Jr. their new horror star, leading to him getting his most famous role of all-Larry Talbot The Wolfman.
Chaney plays Dan "Dynamo Dan" McCormick, a man who makes his living in side shows electrocuting himself (which he says is mostly fake). He's on a bus that crashes into an electric pole, which electrocutes everyone on board but him. This brings him to the attention of Dr. Lawrence, a scientist who happens to employs a mad scientist (don't they all). Of course the mad Dr. Rigas played by Lionel Atwill makes Dan a monster, which leads to disaster.
Lon Chaney Jr.'s decay due to the repeated electrical experiments starts off subtle and gets progressively worse. He goes from a pale makeup with soft graying hair to a mummy-esque emaciated wrinkled skin supplied by Jack Pierce. John P. Fulton's wonderful special effects show a charged up Chaney glowing, as does his victims when he touches them.
Trivia Time: When the film was reissued it went through some name changes, like "Electric Man" and "The Mysterious Dr. R". In the 1950s Realart renamed it "The Atomic Monster" and put it back in theaters. Unfortunately, that title was already used by Alex Gordon for one of his films. He sent his lawyer, Samuel Z. Arkoff, to talk to Realart about changing the title and he met James H. Nicholson who was working there at the time. Because of this meeting Arkoff, Gordon and Nicholson would go on to create American International Pictures.
This film is currently hard to find, since it was only issued on VHS and has not made it to DVD yet.
UPDATE-8/8/2010: I stand corrected. It IS available on DVD, in the Universal Horror Classic Movie Archive, along with "The Black Cat" (1941), "Horror Island" (1941), "Night Monster" (1942) and "Captive Wild Woman" (1943).
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Look What Ormsby Found At a Car Show!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Tonight's the Night! 100 Years of Monster Movies
The day is here! Tonight at 8pm est Ormsby will host 100 Years of Monster Movies Monster-Cast LIVE at 100ymm.com. The Double Feature, if you don't already know, is "Dead People" (1971) and "Teenage Zombies" (1958). There will also be a chat-a-long, trivia prizes, trailers and more.
We want to thank at 100 Years of Monster Movies and FearWerx for letting us host.
Below is a trailer for "Teenage Zombies" to wet your appetite.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
We want to thank at 100 Years of Monster Movies and FearWerx for letting us host.
Below is a trailer for "Teenage Zombies" to wet your appetite.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Friday, July 23, 2010
The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula aka The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974)
There are some concepts that sound like a bunch of fans got together and played a game of "what if".
"What if Dracula went to China and had to fight these Kung Fu masters?"
"And Peter Cushing as Van Helsing teams up with them and helps stop Dracula, that would be rad."
Hammer, as it entered the 1970s found itself struggling to stay a float. Gothic horror didn't play for an audience who watched a war televised every night during supper. It was during this period that Hammer added more sex to their films and tried bending the formula a bit. During this time we got "Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde" (1971), "Dracula AD 1972" (1972) and my favorite "The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula" or "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires" from 1974.
Hammer saw the popularity of Kung Fu films in the early 70s and decided to cash in with a co production with Shaw Brothers Studios (one of Hong Kong's biggest maker of martial arts films). They set the film in China of the past, unlike the last two Dracula films that were set in (then) modern London. Hammer director Roy Ward Baker was credited as the director, but Shaw Brothers' top action director Chang Chen also directed part of the film, most likely all the Kung-Fu sequences.
They got Cushing to reprise his role of Van Helsing but Christopher Lee turned down the role (which isn't surprising considering he seem to hate the role going back to the late 1960s). For most of the picture Dracula was disguised in the body of a evil monk, which got around not having Lee. The bookends where Dracula does appear they hired John Forbes-Robertson, who they made up to look like Lee. This would be the only time Hammer hired someone other than Lee to perform Dracula.
I first saw this film in the 1980s played late into the night on a local channel and fell in love with it. Who can't love Kung-Fu and vampires in one film? This is a fun film and I don't think people really give it a chance. I have the Anchor Bay DVD, which has both versions of the film, the uncut European "Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires" and the version that played in American theaters "The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula", which I understand is no longer available.
By the mid-seventies Hammer's output declined sharply, and this would be their last foray into the world of Dracula*.
*Hammer Film had been bought and is making new product, but as of this writing no new Dracula films are in the pipeline.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
"What if Dracula went to China and had to fight these Kung Fu masters?"
"And Peter Cushing as Van Helsing teams up with them and helps stop Dracula, that would be rad."
Hammer, as it entered the 1970s found itself struggling to stay a float. Gothic horror didn't play for an audience who watched a war televised every night during supper. It was during this period that Hammer added more sex to their films and tried bending the formula a bit. During this time we got "Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde" (1971), "Dracula AD 1972" (1972) and my favorite "The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula" or "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires" from 1974.
Hammer saw the popularity of Kung Fu films in the early 70s and decided to cash in with a co production with Shaw Brothers Studios (one of Hong Kong's biggest maker of martial arts films). They set the film in China of the past, unlike the last two Dracula films that were set in (then) modern London. Hammer director Roy Ward Baker was credited as the director, but Shaw Brothers' top action director Chang Chen also directed part of the film, most likely all the Kung-Fu sequences.
They got Cushing to reprise his role of Van Helsing but Christopher Lee turned down the role (which isn't surprising considering he seem to hate the role going back to the late 1960s). For most of the picture Dracula was disguised in the body of a evil monk, which got around not having Lee. The bookends where Dracula does appear they hired John Forbes-Robertson, who they made up to look like Lee. This would be the only time Hammer hired someone other than Lee to perform Dracula.
I first saw this film in the 1980s played late into the night on a local channel and fell in love with it. Who can't love Kung-Fu and vampires in one film? This is a fun film and I don't think people really give it a chance. I have the Anchor Bay DVD, which has both versions of the film, the uncut European "Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires" and the version that played in American theaters "The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula", which I understand is no longer available.
By the mid-seventies Hammer's output declined sharply, and this would be their last foray into the world of Dracula*.
*Hammer Film had been bought and is making new product, but as of this writing no new Dracula films are in the pipeline.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Ormsby to host 100 Years of Monster Movies Double Feature on July 30th
Ormsby will be doing a live webcast from the FearWerx offices in Long Island, hosting the JULY 30 CHAT-ALONG MONSTERCAST featuring a twin bill of "Dead People" and "Teenage Zombies"!
Tune into http://www.100ymm.com/ on July 30th at 8:00pm eastern time for all the monster goodness.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Tune into http://www.100ymm.com/ on July 30th at 8:00pm eastern time for all the monster goodness.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Facebook Event Starts Tonight!
Hello Insaniacs,
Ormsby's Cinema Insane Event on Facebook starts tonight at midnight. What is it? We're showing our Atom Age Vampire episode on Facebook (in easy to view segments), hosting discussions and making special announcements. Log on to Facebook and RSVP to the event, and enjoy.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117627631588825
And if you haven't already, become a fan of Ormsby's Cinema Insane on Facebook. The link is on the right hand side of this page. All the cool ghouls are doing it.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Ormsby's Cinema Insane Event on Facebook starts tonight at midnight. What is it? We're showing our Atom Age Vampire episode on Facebook (in easy to view segments), hosting discussions and making special announcements. Log on to Facebook and RSVP to the event, and enjoy.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117627631588825
And if you haven't already, become a fan of Ormsby's Cinema Insane on Facebook. The link is on the right hand side of this page. All the cool ghouls are doing it.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Episode Four May 2010 - Host Segments
For those people who don't like to sit through the whole movie, we've taken the host segments and "drop ins" from the May 2010 episode and edited them together.
Part One:
Part Two:
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Part One:
Part Two:
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Ormsby's Cinema Insane May 2010 Episode: Atom Age Vampire(1963)
This month's Fearsome Feature is "Atom Age Vampire"(1963).
We're trying something different this month. The first three episodes were stand alone segments separate from the movie. For this episode we have edited the host segments into the movie, just like the old horror hosts on TV were. Let us know if you like it, don't like, don't care, or just want a cookie. Either comment here or send us and email at host@bymagic.com.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
We're trying something different this month. The first three episodes were stand alone segments separate from the movie. For this episode we have edited the host segments into the movie, just like the old horror hosts on TV were. Let us know if you like it, don't like, don't care, or just want a cookie. Either comment here or send us and email at host@bymagic.com.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Ormsby's Cinema Insane Episode Four May 2010 from Ormsby on Vimeo.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
100 Years of Monster Movies Promo
Sorry it's been a while since I last posted, I've been really busy since Ormsby and I got back from Chiller Theatre. We been working on the new episode for Saturday and we hope you like it.
If you don't already know, Ormsby hangs out at http://www.100ymm.com/ every Friday night at 8:00 pm est. time. The 100 Years of Monster Movies gang show a double feature each Friday and host a chat where monster fans can get together to talk about the movie, make fun of the movie, and just hang out. They also have trivia contests where you can win cool prizes. Last Friday Ormsby won a "Planet of the Apes" Mego reproduction action figure of Zira during one of the trivia questions.
He was like a little kid on Christmas when it came in the mail, look at that smile.
If you don't already know, Ormsby hangs out at http://www.100ymm.com/ every Friday night at 8:00 pm est. time. The 100 Years of Monster Movies gang show a double feature each Friday and host a chat where monster fans can get together to talk about the movie, make fun of the movie, and just hang out. They also have trivia contests where you can win cool prizes. Last Friday Ormsby won a "Planet of the Apes" Mego reproduction action figure of Zira during one of the trivia questions.
He was like a little kid on Christmas when it came in the mail, look at that smile. Come join the fun this Friday, when they will be showing "White Zombie" and "King of the Zombies". And don't forget to say hi.
Here is the promo we cut for 100 Years of Monster Movies.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Ormsby Scares the Heck Out of a Hotel Maid
Ormsby and I went to Chiller Theatre Expo this past weekend. It was the best convention I've been to in years. The staff was great and I met a lot of great people. I highly recommend it.We stayed at the hotel where Chiller was held. On Saturday morning I thought it would be funny to take some photos of Ormsby sitting in bed sleeping and wearing sun glasses. After taking the photos I went into the bathroom and a few seconds later I hear the maid come in to clean the room.
"Hello, maid service," she said.
"I'll be right out," I said.
Suddenly I hear her scream. I run out of the bathroom to see her pointing at Ormsby (see photo above), a look of horror on her face. I had to calm her down and explain who Ormsby was. A moment later she was laughing.
Ormsby slept through the whole thing.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Ormsby Meets Alice Cooper at Chiller Theatre April 2010
Ormsby and I had our picture taken with the legendary Alice Cooper at the Chiller Theatre Expo this past Friday night. As you can see, Alice learned not to lay a finger on Ormsby's Butterfinger.
A big thank you to everyone at Chiller Theatre for a wonderful weekend and to Alice Cooper for being so nice.
Sorry about the hand, Alice.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Carry on Screaming (1966) Trailer
I've never seen this movie, but ever since I was a kid I've heard about it. Today, while randomly going through Youtube I came across the trailer. I think I'm going to have to hunt this down now.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Midnite Mausoleum Promo April 2010
This is the promo we cut for one of our favorite programs, Midnite Mausoleum starring Marlena Midnite and Robyn Graves.
It was done towards the end of filming the April 2010 episode and we had about one minute of DVD space left (our camera only takes those mini DVDs). We could only do it in one take, otherwise we'd have to burn one 30 minute disc for a one minute promo and those discs cost money.
Everyone went down to the set, including our cat Forry Cat (named after Forrest J Ackerman) and set up the lights and camera. For this shoot we decided to mike Ormsby, something we never tried before. We roll and Ormsby reads the promo. Right after he says "...Haunted Lighthouse of Mastic..." Forry Cat knocked down a stack of boxes she was standing on. She ran, making more noise in her wake, and everyone behind the camera yelled. Not missing a beat, Ormsby continued the promo as written to the end. A second after "CUT" was called the disc was full.
When we got the shot into the editing software to see what we could salvage and to our shared amazement the mike didn't pick up the cat or the people screaming at the cat. There was a slight crash that was edited out of the audio in post.
Forry Cat is no long invited to tapings of the show, needless to say.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
It was done towards the end of filming the April 2010 episode and we had about one minute of DVD space left (our camera only takes those mini DVDs). We could only do it in one take, otherwise we'd have to burn one 30 minute disc for a one minute promo and those discs cost money.
Everyone went down to the set, including our cat Forry Cat (named after Forrest J Ackerman) and set up the lights and camera. For this shoot we decided to mike Ormsby, something we never tried before. We roll and Ormsby reads the promo. Right after he says "...Haunted Lighthouse of Mastic..." Forry Cat knocked down a stack of boxes she was standing on. She ran, making more noise in her wake, and everyone behind the camera yelled. Not missing a beat, Ormsby continued the promo as written to the end. A second after "CUT" was called the disc was full.
When we got the shot into the editing software to see what we could salvage and to our shared amazement the mike didn't pick up the cat or the people screaming at the cat. There was a slight crash that was edited out of the audio in post.
Forry Cat is no long invited to tapings of the show, needless to say.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
"Island of Lost Souls" (1932) wins Rondo Award...
Got up this morning and the first thing I checked was the list of winners for the Rondo Awards, which came out last night. Some winners I was happy for (go Uncle Forry) and some people I think should have won, but that's okay. What really caught my eye was towards the end with the write in categories. For "FILM MOST IN NEED OF DVD RELEASE OR RESTORATION" the winner was the film we've been championing for DVD release-"Island of Lost Souls" (1932)!
The fact that the Rondo's recognized that this classic gave me a big smile. This means others think like I do (remember this was a write in category) and wrote in to voted for it. I hope this helps let Universal Studios know we want to see this film finally released.
If you haven't already, please sign our petition to have Universal release this film on DVD. The original blog posts on it can be found HERE and HERE. The link to the petition is:
http://www.petitiononline.com/IOLS1932/petition.html
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
The fact that the Rondo's recognized that this classic gave me a big smile. This means others think like I do (remember this was a write in category) and wrote in to voted for it. I hope this helps let Universal Studios know we want to see this film finally released.
If you haven't already, please sign our petition to have Universal release this film on DVD. The original blog posts on it can be found HERE and HERE. The link to the petition is:
http://www.petitiononline.com/IOLS1932/petition.html
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Episode Three is Up...FINALLY!!!
Episode Three of Ormsby's Cinema Insane is up finally after a cascade of failures and technical glitches made a "....we can have the show up in an hour, no problem" into "...get the Red Bull, this is going to be an all night affair". Ormsby was over our shoulders all night telling us to "get that show online, or you'll end up like those Twilight kids", whatever that means.
This month's Fearsome Feature is "Carnival of Souls" (1964), embedded via archive.org and is available for viewing on our show's site HERE. Our video pick is "Call of the Cthulhu" (2005), which we reviewed HERE.
We all hope you enjoy, I'm going to bed.
Until Next Time,
ZZZzzzzzzzz
This month's Fearsome Feature is "Carnival of Souls" (1964), embedded via archive.org and is available for viewing on our show's site HERE. Our video pick is "Call of the Cthulhu" (2005), which we reviewed HERE.
We all hope you enjoy, I'm going to bed.
Until Next Time,
ZZZzzzzzzzz
Ormsby's Cinema Insane Episode 3 April 2010 from Ormsby on Vimeo.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
100 Years of Monster Movies Web Cast
I can't believe we never posted anything about this. You'd think Ormsby would have noticed that we forgot it, but he's been busy in the lab.
As most of you might know, Horror Hound Weekend is March 26-28 in Indianapolis, IN. During the weekend they're also having Mask-Fest, and an all star Tribute to Vampira with some of the biggest names in horror hosting. I have to say that's a lot under one roof, it sounds like it's going to be a scar-tastic weekend.
What? Can't make it to the convention? Yeah, I'm with you, neither can I (thank you day job). For us poor souls stuck at home, 100 Years of Monster Movies (presented by Fear Werx) will be streaming 50 hours of monster movies introduced live (or undead) by some of the biggest names in horror hosting! Chillertv.com will also be simulcasting it too. All this starts at 5:00pm eastern time. Below are the links and the line up for Friday. (Please note, they are saying this is a LIVE broadcast, and they warn things might go differently than planned).
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
100YMM.COM
ChillerTV.com
5:00 PM: MOVIE: "BACTERIUM" (from Alternative Cinema)
Hosted LIVE by Atomic Age Cinema
6:30 PM: MOVIE: "ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS" (classic Gamera flick)
Hosted LIVE by Master Ron Fitzgerald
8:00 PM: MOVIE: "NECROVILLE" (from Alternative Cinema)
Hosted LIVE by Midnite Mausoleum
9:45 PM: MOVIE: "CHAINSAW SALLY" (from Alternative Cinema)
Hosted LIVE by Count Victor Von Scary
11:15 PM: MOVIE: "WHITE ZOMBIE" (Classic Lugosi creeper)
Featuring a special encore recorded intro by Mss. Misery/The Last Doorway
As most of you might know, Horror Hound Weekend is March 26-28 in Indianapolis, IN. During the weekend they're also having Mask-Fest, and an all star Tribute to Vampira with some of the biggest names in horror hosting. I have to say that's a lot under one roof, it sounds like it's going to be a scar-tastic weekend.
What? Can't make it to the convention? Yeah, I'm with you, neither can I (thank you day job). For us poor souls stuck at home, 100 Years of Monster Movies (presented by Fear Werx) will be streaming 50 hours of monster movies introduced live (or undead) by some of the biggest names in horror hosting! Chillertv.com will also be simulcasting it too. All this starts at 5:00pm eastern time. Below are the links and the line up for Friday. (Please note, they are saying this is a LIVE broadcast, and they warn things might go differently than planned).
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
100YMM.COM
ChillerTV.com
5:00 PM: MOVIE: "BACTERIUM" (from Alternative Cinema)
Hosted LIVE by Atomic Age Cinema
6:30 PM: MOVIE: "ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS" (classic Gamera flick)
Hosted LIVE by Master Ron Fitzgerald
8:00 PM: MOVIE: "NECROVILLE" (from Alternative Cinema)
Hosted LIVE by Midnite Mausoleum
9:45 PM: MOVIE: "CHAINSAW SALLY" (from Alternative Cinema)
Hosted LIVE by Count Victor Von Scary
11:15 PM: MOVIE: "WHITE ZOMBIE" (Classic Lugosi creeper)
Featuring a special encore recorded intro by Mss. Misery/The Last Doorway
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Island of Lost Souls Petition Update for 3/23/2010
As you know, we started a petition to let Universal Studios know there are fans who want "Island of Lost Souls" (1932) released on DVD( http://www.petitiononline.com/IOLS1932/petition.html
). Since launching the effort on February 23rd, we've talked about it on Cinema Insane's episode two, posted it to forums and on our Myspace and Facebook pages.
As of today, one month later, we have a grand total of 18 signatures.
I want to personally thank each and every person that signed the petition so far.
Come on, monster kids, we can do better than that!
Please sign today so we can get this classic the respect it deserves.
http://www.petitiononline.com/IOLS1932/petition.html
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
). Since launching the effort on February 23rd, we've talked about it on Cinema Insane's episode two, posted it to forums and on our Myspace and Facebook pages.
As of today, one month later, we have a grand total of 18 signatures.
I want to personally thank each and every person that signed the petition so far.
Come on, monster kids, we can do better than that!
Please sign today so we can get this classic the respect it deserves.
http://www.petitiononline.com/IOLS1932/petition.html
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
The Call of Cthulhu (2005)
Sometimes you hear of a film that "reproduces the look of classic horror films" and your heart will sink. Sink because you know you'll get some badly shot on video fan film, that is only black and white because they took out the color in Adobe Premiere. It will have bad production values, none of the shadow and light contrast a real B&W movie has, and devoid of any entertainment value.
"The Call of Cthulhu" is not that type of film. THIS IS GOOD!
I went in with little enthusiasm, even though I did hear good thing from the 100 Years of Monster Movies Facebook page. It was on Netflix's "Watch It Now" feature, so it wasn't costing me anything extra. What a nice surprise this film was.
First off, this was made by fans of H.P. Lovecraft at The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society(http://www.cthulhulives.org/toc.html), but it was made not only with a love of Lovecraft's work, but with a keen creative eye. Done like a 1920s silent movie, it is shot in a surreal manner that reminds me of the German expressionist films that inspired the Universal classics. The cinematography is beautiful and eerie.
People today would take short cuts and use computer effects, this group tried to do things as they would in the 1920s as much as possible. Props and clothing, cars, and sets all looked authentic. And instead of a C.G.I. Cthulhu, we get a stop motion creature that's 100 times better than any computer generated dino critter on a made for cable SyFy crap-fest.
If you're a Lovecraft fan, a horror fan or just a film fan you should see this.
You can see it rent it or "Watch It Now" at Netflix, or buy it from The H.P. Lovecraft Histrorical Society's web site at http://www.cthulhulives.org/store/store.lasso .
http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/index.html
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
"The Call of Cthulhu" is not that type of film. THIS IS GOOD!
I went in with little enthusiasm, even though I did hear good thing from the 100 Years of Monster Movies Facebook page. It was on Netflix's "Watch It Now" feature, so it wasn't costing me anything extra. What a nice surprise this film was.
First off, this was made by fans of H.P. Lovecraft at The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society(http://www.cthulhulives.org/toc.html), but it was made not only with a love of Lovecraft's work, but with a keen creative eye. Done like a 1920s silent movie, it is shot in a surreal manner that reminds me of the German expressionist films that inspired the Universal classics. The cinematography is beautiful and eerie.
People today would take short cuts and use computer effects, this group tried to do things as they would in the 1920s as much as possible. Props and clothing, cars, and sets all looked authentic. And instead of a C.G.I. Cthulhu, we get a stop motion creature that's 100 times better than any computer generated dino critter on a made for cable SyFy crap-fest.
If you're a Lovecraft fan, a horror fan or just a film fan you should see this.
You can see it rent it or "Watch It Now" at Netflix, or buy it from The H.P. Lovecraft Histrorical Society's web site at http://www.cthulhulives.org/store/store.lasso .
http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/index.html
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
The Hunchback of the Morgue a.k.a. El jorobado de la Morgue(1973)
The Hunchback of the Morgue a.k.a. El jorobado de la Morgue(1973)
Staring: Paul Naschy, Rossana Yanni, Víctor Alcázar (as Vic Winner)
Written by Javier Aguirre, Alberto S. Insúa (as Alberto S. Insua)
Paul Naschy story and screenplay (as Jacinto Molina)
Directed by Javier Aguirre
How can you pass up a movie with a name like that! I saw it on Netflix and had to put it in my queue. I've heard of the movie but never got a chance to see it before. Last night I popped some corn and sat down in the dark to watch it.
Paul Naschy plays Gotho, an outcast hunchback who works in the morgue cutting up corpses for medical students. He loves Marie, a childhood friend who is dying in the hospital. When she dies, he takes her body to the catacombs under the town to keep her. Wanting her to live again, he asks a research scientist (who turns out to be mad, who knew) to bring her back to life. That's the basic premise.
This isn't a movie that has a big social message that makes you think, this is down and dirty just a fun horror film. You got a hunchback, a mad scientist, a hot blond who like her men deformed, flaming rats, acid baths, a walking corpse-with another corpse strapped to it's back, and a primordial ooze monster to boot!
Did I mention this was a FUN movie?
Paul Naschy, who past away last year, was a true master of 1970s horror. I wish more of his films were available for U.S. viewing (I never see them on Cable, which is a shame). If you have a chance to see this please do, as I said it's available through Netflix or you can get it from Amazon.
The DVD extras consist of:
Trailers
The U.S., German and Italian opening credits
Image gallery of posters and promotional material
Two versions of the love scene between the Gotho and Elke
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Staring: Paul Naschy, Rossana Yanni, Víctor Alcázar (as Vic Winner)
Written by Javier Aguirre, Alberto S. Insúa (as Alberto S. Insua)
Paul Naschy story and screenplay (as Jacinto Molina)
Directed by Javier Aguirre
How can you pass up a movie with a name like that! I saw it on Netflix and had to put it in my queue. I've heard of the movie but never got a chance to see it before. Last night I popped some corn and sat down in the dark to watch it.
Paul Naschy plays Gotho, an outcast hunchback who works in the morgue cutting up corpses for medical students. He loves Marie, a childhood friend who is dying in the hospital. When she dies, he takes her body to the catacombs under the town to keep her. Wanting her to live again, he asks a research scientist (who turns out to be mad, who knew) to bring her back to life. That's the basic premise.
This isn't a movie that has a big social message that makes you think, this is down and dirty just a fun horror film. You got a hunchback, a mad scientist, a hot blond who like her men deformed, flaming rats, acid baths, a walking corpse-with another corpse strapped to it's back, and a primordial ooze monster to boot!
Did I mention this was a FUN movie?
Paul Naschy, who past away last year, was a true master of 1970s horror. I wish more of his films were available for U.S. viewing (I never see them on Cable, which is a shame). If you have a chance to see this please do, as I said it's available through Netflix or you can get it from Amazon.
The DVD extras consist of:
Trailers
The U.S., German and Italian opening credits
Image gallery of posters and promotional material
Two versions of the love scene between the Gotho and Elke
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Ormsby's Cinema Insane Facebook Fan Page
Special message directly from Ormsby at the Haunted Lighthouse of Mastic:
Happy Friday Cinemaniacs,
Some of you have asked about a Facebook Fan Page for our show. Originally I thought a "Facebook" was a book made from a person's face skin, like the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis from the "Evil Dead" films. You can imagine my disappointment at finding out it was a web site.
If you'd like join our fan page, point your Internet to: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ormsbys-Cinema-Insane/409027070019.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Happy Friday Cinemaniacs,
Some of you have asked about a Facebook Fan Page for our show. Originally I thought a "Facebook" was a book made from a person's face skin, like the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis from the "Evil Dead" films. You can imagine my disappointment at finding out it was a web site.
If you'd like join our fan page, point your Internet to: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ormsbys-Cinema-Insane/409027070019.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Universal Monster Army- Join Today!!!
It's no secret that we here at Ormsby's Cinema Insane blog enjoy classic movies, especially the ones from Universal. From "Dracula" (1931) to "The Creature from The Black Lagoon" (1954), these magnificent monsters bring us much joy and thrills.
About three months ago I discovered other like minded people (I'm assuming most of them are people) at http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/, home of the Universal Monster Army or UMA. It's a great forum for fans to gather and discuss the Universal classics, and more. Besides Universal monsters, discussions range from classic monster toys and masks to upcoming events and showings of movies. If not for UMA I would have missed the recent TCM showing of "Shanks" (1974), something I would have regretted. They also have a cool gallery of monster collectibles that you have to see.
There is a real friendly vibe to the UMA, and everyone is welcomed. It's become a daily Internet destination for me.
So what are you waiting for, Join The Universal Monster Army Today!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
About three months ago I discovered other like minded people (I'm assuming most of them are people) at http://www.universalmonsterarmy.com/, home of the Universal Monster Army or UMA. It's a great forum for fans to gather and discuss the Universal classics, and more. Besides Universal monsters, discussions range from classic monster toys and masks to upcoming events and showings of movies. If not for UMA I would have missed the recent TCM showing of "Shanks" (1974), something I would have regretted. They also have a cool gallery of monster collectibles that you have to see.
There is a real friendly vibe to the UMA, and everyone is welcomed. It's become a daily Internet destination for me.
So what are you waiting for, Join The Universal Monster Army Today!
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Shanks (1974)- Part Three
Shanks - 1974
Starring Marcel Marceau, Cindy Eilbacher
Written by Ranald Graham
Directed by William Castle
Released by Paramount Pictures
"Come .... let us shut up the box and the puppets = for our play is played out."-Thackeray quote as it appears at the end of 'Shanks'
I've given you a history of my futile attempts to uncover information about 'Shanks' in Part One, and in Part Two I broke the movie's plot down for you. Now I have to dissect this little oddity and pull it apart for you.
And yes, beware of SPOILERS.
As a whole I thought it was an interesting little movie. Not quite a horror/comedy as the poster would lead you to believe, the film is hard to define and categorize. Which explains it's bad box office and near extinction in the minds of movie fans today.
Castle, although known best for his 1950's horror films, was a well rounded director who made westerns, crime dramas and comedies. So it didn't surprise me that he took on this strange little story. He gave his film a surreal fairy tale like feel (the first title card even says "William Castle Presents A Grim Fairy Tale"), with strange dissolves and sepia tone frame freezes that removes it from the real world. This was Castle's last directorial effort, and he gives himself a nice cameo as a grocer.
I thought Marcel Marceau's silent performance through out the film would be detriment, but it's not. There are whole sections of the film where not one word is uttered, but Marceau's performance transcends dialogue. I loved the parts where he's learning to use the corpse of Old Walker (also played by Marceau) as a puppet, you get the sense that Old Walker's body really is a limp corpse being manipulated by outside forces. The film plays to Marceau's strengths, and it helps that Marceau choreographed the pantomime sequences.
The film makers had a great premise, mute man is able to use the dead like puppets, but they didn't know where to go with it in the end. The biker gang comes out of left field in the third act and feels tact on. Yes, Old Walker rising from the grave to exact revenge on the gang for what they did to Celia was cool, but the rest of the ending doesn't fit with the movie. .
I need to digress for a moment and bring up the relationship between Shanks and Celia. To me it was a little off putting to have a man in his (I'm assuming to be) late forties hanging out with a girl who couldn't be more that sixteen. I'm assuming they were trying to show Shanks' innocent nature, but today it comes off as a little perverted today. Especially when they go to an isolated mansion to play dress up and have a private little birthday party.
Ending the movie back at the puppet show with Celia alive and helping to put away the puppets enforces the surreal quality of the the story, as does Thackeray's quote before the credits. The problem is all fairy tales need to have a moral which I think got lost here. The closest I came up with is "Don't use dead people as puppets", but if that's a lesson you have to teach your child I'd give up on reading them fairy tales and invest in a good psychiatric help.
But did I like it? Yes, I have to say I did. I'm glad after all these years I finally got a chance to see it. In preparing for these blog posts I re watched it two more times and I find it grows on me more and more. I know it won't be everyone's taste, but give it a chance if you can see it. Now that it aired on TCM I don't know when it will be ever showed again. No DVD release is on the horizon, which is a shame. It's the sort of film for a niche audience of movie lovers. If it was more readily available on TV or DVD I'm sure it would garner a small cult following.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Starring Marcel Marceau, Cindy Eilbacher
Written by Ranald Graham
Directed by William Castle
Released by Paramount Pictures
"Come .... let us shut up the box and the puppets = for our play is played out."-Thackeray quote as it appears at the end of 'Shanks'
I've given you a history of my futile attempts to uncover information about 'Shanks' in Part One, and in Part Two I broke the movie's plot down for you. Now I have to dissect this little oddity and pull it apart for you.
And yes, beware of SPOILERS.
As a whole I thought it was an interesting little movie. Not quite a horror/comedy as the poster would lead you to believe, the film is hard to define and categorize. Which explains it's bad box office and near extinction in the minds of movie fans today.
Castle, although known best for his 1950's horror films, was a well rounded director who made westerns, crime dramas and comedies. So it didn't surprise me that he took on this strange little story. He gave his film a surreal fairy tale like feel (the first title card even says "William Castle Presents A Grim Fairy Tale"), with strange dissolves and sepia tone frame freezes that removes it from the real world. This was Castle's last directorial effort, and he gives himself a nice cameo as a grocer.
I thought Marcel Marceau's silent performance through out the film would be detriment, but it's not. There are whole sections of the film where not one word is uttered, but Marceau's performance transcends dialogue. I loved the parts where he's learning to use the corpse of Old Walker (also played by Marceau) as a puppet, you get the sense that Old Walker's body really is a limp corpse being manipulated by outside forces. The film plays to Marceau's strengths, and it helps that Marceau choreographed the pantomime sequences.
The film makers had a great premise, mute man is able to use the dead like puppets, but they didn't know where to go with it in the end. The biker gang comes out of left field in the third act and feels tact on. Yes, Old Walker rising from the grave to exact revenge on the gang for what they did to Celia was cool, but the rest of the ending doesn't fit with the movie. .
I need to digress for a moment and bring up the relationship between Shanks and Celia. To me it was a little off putting to have a man in his (I'm assuming to be) late forties hanging out with a girl who couldn't be more that sixteen. I'm assuming they were trying to show Shanks' innocent nature, but today it comes off as a little perverted today. Especially when they go to an isolated mansion to play dress up and have a private little birthday party.
Ending the movie back at the puppet show with Celia alive and helping to put away the puppets enforces the surreal quality of the the story, as does Thackeray's quote before the credits. The problem is all fairy tales need to have a moral which I think got lost here. The closest I came up with is "Don't use dead people as puppets", but if that's a lesson you have to teach your child I'd give up on reading them fairy tales and invest in a good psychiatric help.
But did I like it? Yes, I have to say I did. I'm glad after all these years I finally got a chance to see it. In preparing for these blog posts I re watched it two more times and I find it grows on me more and more. I know it won't be everyone's taste, but give it a chance if you can see it. Now that it aired on TCM I don't know when it will be ever showed again. No DVD release is on the horizon, which is a shame. It's the sort of film for a niche audience of movie lovers. If it was more readily available on TV or DVD I'm sure it would garner a small cult following.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Shanks (1974)- Part Two (Contains Movie Spoilers)
Shanks - 1974
Starring Marcel Marceau, Cindy Eilbacher
Written by Ranald Graham
Directed by William Castle
Released by Paramount Pictures
In part one we explored the little information I was able to gather before sitting down to finally watch the 'Shanks'. So with popcorn and diet Mountain Dew I prepared to see what had eluded me all these years. For those of you who have not seen the film, here is a synopsis of the plot.
****WARNING-SPOILERS AHEAD****
3
2
1
We start outside a small town grocery store where Shanks (played by Marcel Marceau), a mute puppeteer, is giving a show for the town children with his puppets. He lives with his mean sister in law and her drunken second husband, Mr. Baron (it's alluded to that Shanks' brother may have met a foul end at the hands of the sister in law and new husband). His best friend is a teen (not sure of her age) girl named Celia who loves his puppet plays and asks him to do a show at her birthday party. Old Walker, a rich old scientist (also played by Marcel) enlists Shanks to work for him at his big mansion. The old man has created a way to animate the dead and control them like puppets. Starting with a frog, then a rooster, they get the process to the point it can be done wirelessly with pins inserted into specific points on the body.
One day Shanks goes to the mansion one day and finds Old Walker dead in his lab, apparently having past away in the night. Shanks does what anyone would do, and inserts the pins into the old man's corpse and starts to make it walk around. Mr. Baron, wanting money, comes to the mansion and attacks Shanks. Shanks uses the dead rooster to defend himself, killing Barton. With another fresh body, Shanks reanimates him and takes him for a little walk. Using Baron, he lures the mean sister in law out to the road to be struck and killed by a car. Guess what he does with her body.
He meets up with Celia and puts on a puppet show with the dead Barton and sister in law. Celia thinks it's a little play, until she looks into their eyes and realizes their deceased nature. Scared and crying, she asks Shanks what happened and he mines what happened to them. He shows her how he made them animated, and takes her back to the mansion for a private birthday party. With Barton and sister in law as butler and maid, they are served a dinner and cake (hang on, it's going to get strange now...okay, stranger).
A motorcycle gang ride to the mansion (why I don't know) and invade the private party. Finding the puppet dead people, they take the controls from Shanks and knock him out. Celia is attacked. When Shanks awakens he finds Celia's molested dead body outside as the gang play games with the dead puppet bodies.
Shanks takes control of Old Walker's body and makes him rise from the grave to attack and kill the gang members before having a final confrontation with the gang's lead mano-a-mano at the top of the mansion. The gang leader falls to his death. Shanks then puts the pins in Celia's body and reanimates her, dancing a waltz with her when we freeze on that image and fade to...
...Shanks giving a puppet show for the town kids outside the grocery store. An alive Celia (was the whole movie a macabre puppet show for the little kiddies? ) helping to put puppets away.
I'm going to let you digest that, and in Part Three I'm going to give you my feelings on the film.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Starring Marcel Marceau, Cindy Eilbacher
Written by Ranald Graham
Directed by William Castle
Released by Paramount Pictures
In part one we explored the little information I was able to gather before sitting down to finally watch the 'Shanks'. So with popcorn and diet Mountain Dew I prepared to see what had eluded me all these years. For those of you who have not seen the film, here is a synopsis of the plot.
****WARNING-SPOILERS AHEAD****
3
2
1
We start outside a small town grocery store where Shanks (played by Marcel Marceau), a mute puppeteer, is giving a show for the town children with his puppets. He lives with his mean sister in law and her drunken second husband, Mr. Baron (it's alluded to that Shanks' brother may have met a foul end at the hands of the sister in law and new husband). His best friend is a teen (not sure of her age) girl named Celia who loves his puppet plays and asks him to do a show at her birthday party. Old Walker, a rich old scientist (also played by Marcel) enlists Shanks to work for him at his big mansion. The old man has created a way to animate the dead and control them like puppets. Starting with a frog, then a rooster, they get the process to the point it can be done wirelessly with pins inserted into specific points on the body.
One day Shanks goes to the mansion one day and finds Old Walker dead in his lab, apparently having past away in the night. Shanks does what anyone would do, and inserts the pins into the old man's corpse and starts to make it walk around. Mr. Baron, wanting money, comes to the mansion and attacks Shanks. Shanks uses the dead rooster to defend himself, killing Barton. With another fresh body, Shanks reanimates him and takes him for a little walk. Using Baron, he lures the mean sister in law out to the road to be struck and killed by a car. Guess what he does with her body.
He meets up with Celia and puts on a puppet show with the dead Barton and sister in law. Celia thinks it's a little play, until she looks into their eyes and realizes their deceased nature. Scared and crying, she asks Shanks what happened and he mines what happened to them. He shows her how he made them animated, and takes her back to the mansion for a private birthday party. With Barton and sister in law as butler and maid, they are served a dinner and cake (hang on, it's going to get strange now...okay, stranger).
A motorcycle gang ride to the mansion (why I don't know) and invade the private party. Finding the puppet dead people, they take the controls from Shanks and knock him out. Celia is attacked. When Shanks awakens he finds Celia's molested dead body outside as the gang play games with the dead puppet bodies.
Shanks takes control of Old Walker's body and makes him rise from the grave to attack and kill the gang members before having a final confrontation with the gang's lead mano-a-mano at the top of the mansion. The gang leader falls to his death. Shanks then puts the pins in Celia's body and reanimates her, dancing a waltz with her when we freeze on that image and fade to...
...Shanks giving a puppet show for the town kids outside the grocery store. An alive Celia (was the whole movie a macabre puppet show for the little kiddies? ) helping to put puppets away.
I'm going to let you digest that, and in Part Three I'm going to give you my feelings on the film.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Shanks (1974) -Part One
Shanks - 1974
Starring Marcel Marceau, Cindy Eilbacher
Written by Ranald Graham
Directed by William Castle
Released by Paramount Pictures
William Castle ('The House on Haunted Hill', '13 Ghosts') is best known for his black and white horror efforts in the 1950's-early 1960's. His later works like 'Project X' and 'Let's Kill Uncle' are not as well known, and his last directorial effort is really obscure, 'Shanks'.
Growing up I never heard of this film, either in the horror books or monster magazines I devoured as a youngster. In the late eighties while researching an fanzine article for a friend about William Castle I stumbled upon the name of the film but no information. We couldn't find it on video and no one we knew had a print. Finally I found a piece of information about it in a book on Marcel Marceau, but it only said he made a film by that name and nothing else. Time went by and I forgot all about this little mystery of a film.
This past March 12th, TCM showed a night of mutant monster movies (which I wouldn' have known about if not for a posting in the Universal Monster Army forums) and capped the evening off with two William Castle films, 'Mr. Sardonicus' and the elusive 'Shanks'. I actually had to double check the listing to make sure it was the same film since I didn't' believe it could be the same film. Before that night I did a little research on the movie.
It has never been released on video or DVD, has no Wikipedia entry, and as far as I could find was never shown on TV (I may be wrong on that point, please correct me if I am). I found several reviews from the time (like Roger Ebert's from January of 1975), but decided to forgo reading them so I could watch the movie with an open mind. There were no Youtube trailers either.
The IMDB had move information than anyone, which isn't much. The most unusual fact about the movie I discovered was that Alex North's score for the film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score in 1975, which it didn't win. This was screenwriter Ranald Graham's first credit, and he was active in writing and producing in England until about 1990.
Armed with that little information I sat down to watch the film, which we will talk about in Part Two...
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Starring Marcel Marceau, Cindy Eilbacher
Written by Ranald Graham
Directed by William Castle
Released by Paramount Pictures
William Castle ('The House on Haunted Hill', '13 Ghosts') is best known for his black and white horror efforts in the 1950's-early 1960's. His later works like 'Project X' and 'Let's Kill Uncle' are not as well known, and his last directorial effort is really obscure, 'Shanks'.
Growing up I never heard of this film, either in the horror books or monster magazines I devoured as a youngster. In the late eighties while researching an fanzine article for a friend about William Castle I stumbled upon the name of the film but no information. We couldn't find it on video and no one we knew had a print. Finally I found a piece of information about it in a book on Marcel Marceau, but it only said he made a film by that name and nothing else. Time went by and I forgot all about this little mystery of a film.
This past March 12th, TCM showed a night of mutant monster movies (which I wouldn' have known about if not for a posting in the Universal Monster Army forums) and capped the evening off with two William Castle films, 'Mr. Sardonicus' and the elusive 'Shanks'. I actually had to double check the listing to make sure it was the same film since I didn't' believe it could be the same film. Before that night I did a little research on the movie.
It has never been released on video or DVD, has no Wikipedia entry, and as far as I could find was never shown on TV (I may be wrong on that point, please correct me if I am). I found several reviews from the time (like Roger Ebert's from January of 1975), but decided to forgo reading them so I could watch the movie with an open mind. There were no Youtube trailers either.
The IMDB had move information than anyone, which isn't much. The most unusual fact about the movie I discovered was that Alex North's score for the film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score in 1975, which it didn't win. This was screenwriter Ranald Graham's first credit, and he was active in writing and producing in England until about 1990.
Armed with that little information I sat down to watch the film, which we will talk about in Part Two...
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Tim Burton's Short Films (Part 1, 1971-1982)
I think this is a nice curiosity for everyone out there. Paste Magazine has a neat article with videos of the early shorts Tim Burton made. I think it's interesting to watch how he developed his talent and artistic eye over time, from making super-8 movies with his friends to Vincent (1982).
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2010/03/salute-your-shorts-tim-burtons-short-films-part-1.html
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2010/03/salute-your-shorts-tim-burtons-short-films-part-1.html
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
TCM Friday Night Marathon for 3/12/2010
I wanted to make sure everyone knew that TCM (Turner Classic Movie) is having a marathon of mutant monsters followed by two William Castle films. The line up starts at 8:00pm and is:
8:00pm-The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
9:30pm-It Came From Beneath The Sea (1955)
11:00pm-The Monster That Challenged The World (1957)
12:30am-Them!
2:30am-Shanks (1974)
4:15am-Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
Get the popcorn, grab the soda pop and be prepared to stay up late.
http://www.tcm.com/schedule/index.jsp?startDate=3/12/2010&timezone=EST&cid=N
(the list is towards the bottom of the page)
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
8:00pm-The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
9:30pm-It Came From Beneath The Sea (1955)
11:00pm-The Monster That Challenged The World (1957)
12:30am-Them!
2:30am-Shanks (1974)
4:15am-Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
Get the popcorn, grab the soda pop and be prepared to stay up late.
http://www.tcm.com/schedule/index.jsp?startDate=3/12/2010&timezone=EST&cid=N
(the list is towards the bottom of the page)
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Ormsby on Twitter
Special message directly from Ormsby at the Haunted Lighthouse of Mastic:
Join me on Twitter, http://twitter.com/CinemaInsane.
We don't have Twitter in Transylvania. The closest we got is a homicidal maniac who yells random stuff at passerbys in Vasaria, don't you know. He's a national treasure.
End of message.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Join me on Twitter, http://twitter.com/CinemaInsane.
We don't have Twitter in Transylvania. The closest we got is a homicidal maniac who yells random stuff at passerbys in Vasaria, don't you know. He's a national treasure.
End of message.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Poor Bela-The Black Sleep (1956)
Bela Lugosi's last real role in a film was The Black Sleep (1956). I don't count Plan Nine From Outer Space as his last role because his contribution to the...let's call it a movie for the sake of argument...consisted of a few short minutes of footage Ed Wood shot for another project.
The Black Sleep stars Basil Rathbone as a surgeon who uses the 'Black Sleep' drug to experiment on live subject in order to save his wife. Bela plays the bit part of Rathbone's butler, who was a test subject and is now mute because of it.
It always makes me sad to see this movie because of Bela. He was such a fine actor with a distinctive voice that having him play a tiny role of a mute seems like a waste of his talent. Don't get me wrong, he does a great job with the little he's given. Still, it's a sad statement about his career, and of how badly Hollywood treated him.
If you wish to see it, it's available through Crackle.com (http://crackle.com/c/The_Black_Sleep/The_Black_Sleep/2479570)
The Black Sleep stars Basil Rathbone as a surgeon who uses the 'Black Sleep' drug to experiment on live subject in order to save his wife. Bela plays the bit part of Rathbone's butler, who was a test subject and is now mute because of it.
It always makes me sad to see this movie because of Bela. He was such a fine actor with a distinctive voice that having him play a tiny role of a mute seems like a waste of his talent. Don't get me wrong, he does a great job with the little he's given. Still, it's a sad statement about his career, and of how badly Hollywood treated him.
If you wish to see it, it's available through Crackle.com (http://crackle.com/c/The_Black_Sleep/The_Black_Sleep/2479570)
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Ormsby's Cinema Insane March Episode!
Ormsby's Cinema Insane Episode 2 for March 2010 is here. This month Ormsby has a problem with clones, reviews The Monster Squad (1987) and introduces this month's Fearsome Feature White Zombie (1932 Starring Starring Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy & Joseph Cawthorn. Directed by Victor Halperin).
Go to http://www.bymagic.com to view the episode and watch White Zombie courtesy of http://www.archive.org/.
Our review of White Zombie will be coming up here on the blog in a few days.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Go to http://www.bymagic.com to view the episode and watch White Zombie courtesy of http://www.archive.org/.
Our review of White Zombie will be coming up here on the blog in a few days.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Horror Host Graveyard Promo
Everyone here at Ormsby's Cinema Insane loves The Horror Host Graveyard at http://www.horrorhostgraveyard.com/. Corpse S. Chris has a great site about horror hosts new and old, from the famous to those that only lasted a few episodes. I'm amazed by some of the rare stuff he finds, like the Zacherley article from a 1959 People Today magazine to a German female horror host on Hilde's Wilde Horror Show. It's one of our daily destinations on the Internet.
Here is the promo we shot for his site. Enjoy.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Here is the promo we shot for his site. Enjoy.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Trick Or Treat (1986)
"You should be loyal to your heroes... they can turn on you."-Sammy Curr
Trick or Treat (1986), directed by Charles Martin Smith, is the story of a bullied metal head (Marc Price, who played Skippy on Family Ties) who brings his rock idol Sammy Curr (Solid Gold Dancer Tony Fields) back to life by playing a record backwards. This movie was panned at the time it came out, even by horror fans, but I always had a soft spot for it. I was a metal nerd in high school so I could relate to Marc Price's Eddie. It also had cameos from Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons, which raised it's cool level for me when I was sixteen years old.
I got the sound track album (on vinyl, it was the 1980's) which had Sammy Curr's songs that were done by the band Fastway for Christmas from my grandmother.
Recently I sat down and watched it again. The movie is very 80's, but still a good scary movie. As I watched it I went online and looked up the people who starred in it. Most of the cast didn't do much of note afterwards.
Lisa Orgolini who played Eddie's love interest Leslie was still acting until 1998, and then nothing. The girl that played Genie (Elise Richards) did one more movie according to IMDB and then dropped off the face of the Earth.
Doug Savant who played the bully went on to be a staple of TV.
Marc Price is a stand up comedian today. Wikipedia's entry on him says he directed the ultra low budget zombie film Colin, but he didn't (and this is why you can't trust Wikipedia).
Glen Morgan who played Eddie's best friend didn't act again, thank God. He went on to be a powerful writer, director, producer in Hollywood. Maybe you know some of his work, X-Files, Final Destination, Space: Above and Beyond. Who knew?
Tony Fields, Sammy Curr himself, a dancer and choreographer, went from Solid Gold and music videos to acting stints on L.A. Law and Murder She Wrote. Sadly he died in 1995.
The film was going to get a cool 20th anniversary DVD release by Anchor Bay, but they couldn't clear all the music rights. It's out on DVD from a no name company that sells mostly to supermarket bargain bins. I think it deserves better.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Trick or Treat (1986), directed by Charles Martin Smith, is the story of a bullied metal head (Marc Price, who played Skippy on Family Ties) who brings his rock idol Sammy Curr (Solid Gold Dancer Tony Fields) back to life by playing a record backwards. This movie was panned at the time it came out, even by horror fans, but I always had a soft spot for it. I was a metal nerd in high school so I could relate to Marc Price's Eddie. It also had cameos from Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons, which raised it's cool level for me when I was sixteen years old.
I got the sound track album (on vinyl, it was the 1980's) which had Sammy Curr's songs that were done by the band Fastway for Christmas from my grandmother.
Recently I sat down and watched it again. The movie is very 80's, but still a good scary movie. As I watched it I went online and looked up the people who starred in it. Most of the cast didn't do much of note afterwards.
Lisa Orgolini who played Eddie's love interest Leslie was still acting until 1998, and then nothing. The girl that played Genie (Elise Richards) did one more movie according to IMDB and then dropped off the face of the Earth.
Doug Savant who played the bully went on to be a staple of TV.
Marc Price is a stand up comedian today. Wikipedia's entry on him says he directed the ultra low budget zombie film Colin, but he didn't (and this is why you can't trust Wikipedia).
Glen Morgan who played Eddie's best friend didn't act again, thank God. He went on to be a powerful writer, director, producer in Hollywood. Maybe you know some of his work, X-Files, Final Destination, Space: Above and Beyond. Who knew?
Tony Fields, Sammy Curr himself, a dancer and choreographer, went from Solid Gold and music videos to acting stints on L.A. Law and Murder She Wrote. Sadly he died in 1995.
The film was going to get a cool 20th anniversary DVD release by Anchor Bay, but they couldn't clear all the music rights. It's out on DVD from a no name company that sells mostly to supermarket bargain bins. I think it deserves better.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
AMC TV B-Movie Classics
Before we begin I just want to say I haven't changed my mind about AMC TV. I still think they don't show enough classics films, I still don't like the commercial breaks, and I still think original TV shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men have no place on station that was suppose to be about classic movies. I really feel cable channels have lost their individual identities and have become just like every other channel out there. Sometimes I can't tell what channel I'm watching.
With that said, AMCTV.com has take a step in the right direction by showing classic films on their web site. They have a B-Movie Horror section that is showing Asylum (1972), Corridors of Blood (1958) with Boris Karloff and The Horror of Party Beach (1964) and others. The B-Movie Sci-Fi/Fantasy section has The Creation of the Humanoids (1962), Dark Star (1974), and Teenage Caveman (1958) just as an example.
What got me really excited was they are showing Rodger Corman's The Undead (1957), which isn't on DVD right now and I had been wanting to see.
So as long as AMCTV.com is going to be doing the right thing and show classics, I'll support the web site in hopes they add more movies for us to enjoy.
Below I've embedded The Undead for your pleasure.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
With that said, AMCTV.com has take a step in the right direction by showing classic films on their web site. They have a B-Movie Horror section that is showing Asylum (1972), Corridors of Blood (1958) with Boris Karloff and The Horror of Party Beach (1964) and others. The B-Movie Sci-Fi/Fantasy section has The Creation of the Humanoids (1962), Dark Star (1974), and Teenage Caveman (1958) just as an example.
What got me really excited was they are showing Rodger Corman's The Undead (1957), which isn't on DVD right now and I had been wanting to see.
So as long as AMCTV.com is going to be doing the right thing and show classics, I'll support the web site in hopes they add more movies for us to enjoy.
Below I've embedded The Undead for your pleasure.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead Release Dates
George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead comes out on VOD, Amazon, Xbox Live and Playstation April 30 and in theaters on May 28th.
The movie's official web site is http://magnetreleasing.com/survivalofthedead/ .
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Ask Ormsby Anything
Ormsby has opened a formspring.me account, so now you can ask him anything. Go ahead, I dare you.
http://www.formspring.me/ormsby
Be warned, he'll answer back.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
http://www.formspring.me/ormsby
Be warned, he'll answer back.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Island of Lost Souls Petition
I've decided to take the animal-men by the horns and start a petition to let Universal Studios know there are people out there that want to see "Island of Lost Souls" given a restoration and a proper DVD release.
If you feel the same please click the link below and sign my petition. Even if you don't sign the petition. All the cool kids are doing it.
http://www.petitiononline.com/IOLS1932/petition.html
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
If you feel the same please click the link below and sign my petition. Even if you don't sign the petition. All the cool kids are doing it.
http://www.petitiononline.com/IOLS1932/petition.html
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Rondo Hatton Awards-Voting is OPEN!!!
Hello Cinamaniacs,
The 8th Annual Rondo Hatton Awards (http://www.rondoaward.com/rondo/rondos.html) are here and voting is open. Usually I don't tell people who I voted for or throw my support behind any particular nominee, not that anyone would listen to me anyway.
But this year I'd like to suggest a movie for the write in vote of :
24. Classic Most in Need of Restoration
Which classic horror film, either released or unreleased, do you think most deserves a restoration?
For this I'd like to nominate 'Island of Lost Souls' (Paramount 1932), the movie I wrote my last blog post about. This classic, starring Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi, has never been on DVD and is out of print as we speak. It deserves a nice restoration and DVD release with extras.
No matter what your choice is, please remember to vote, you have until April 3rd to email in your vote.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
The 8th Annual Rondo Hatton Awards (http://www.rondoaward.com/rondo/rondos.html) are here and voting is open. Usually I don't tell people who I voted for or throw my support behind any particular nominee, not that anyone would listen to me anyway.
But this year I'd like to suggest a movie for the write in vote of :
24. Classic Most in Need of Restoration
Which classic horror film, either released or unreleased, do you think most deserves a restoration?
For this I'd like to nominate 'Island of Lost Souls' (Paramount 1932), the movie I wrote my last blog post about. This classic, starring Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi, has never been on DVD and is out of print as we speak. It deserves a nice restoration and DVD release with extras.
No matter what your choice is, please remember to vote, you have until April 3rd to email in your vote.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Why is it not on DVD or Blu-Ray? Island of Lost Souls
Every now and then I'll get in the mood to watch some movie I haven't seen in a dog's age, only to find that it's not on DVD. Recently I was amazed that Universal's "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf" (1973) wasn't on DVD, but not surprised since it's Universally (pun intended) panned and not considered a classic.
Then today I found out "The Island Of Lost Souls" (1933) is not on DVD!
This Paramount released thriller, based on "The Island of Doctor Moreau" by H.G. Wells, is a classic. It starred Charles Laughton as the sadistic doctor and an animalistic Bela Lugosi as the Sayer of the Law. Paramount sold the rights to Universal in 1958 for distribution to TV and the property is stilled controlled by Universal. They came out with a VHS version as part of their Universal Classic Collection in 1997, but since then nothing.
I think this is a shame. There is no reason to keep this film under lock and key in this day of DVDs and being able to watch instantly over the Internet. What do you think?
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Then today I found out "The Island Of Lost Souls" (1933) is not on DVD!
This Paramount released thriller, based on "The Island of Doctor Moreau" by H.G. Wells, is a classic. It starred Charles Laughton as the sadistic doctor and an animalistic Bela Lugosi as the Sayer of the Law. Paramount sold the rights to Universal in 1958 for distribution to TV and the property is stilled controlled by Universal. They came out with a VHS version as part of their Universal Classic Collection in 1997, but since then nothing.
I think this is a shame. There is no reason to keep this film under lock and key in this day of DVDs and being able to watch instantly over the Internet. What do you think?
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Screaming Lord Sutch
As much as I love Alice Cooper (my family celebrates his birthday every February 4th by declaring it a holiday called "The Feast Of Alice Cooper", which should be federal day off in my book) I know he wasn't the first horror themed rock act. There was of course Screamin' Jay Hawkins (who will be the subject of a multi part blog post I'm currently working on) and Arthur Brown (who's big song was "Fire"). Today Bernard Sheehan turned me on to another who had slipped past my radar.
Screaming Lord Sutch (real name David Edward Sutch) was a British singer from the 1960's. He had a hit with "Jack The Ripper", and dressed as the infamous slayer for his horror themed concerts. In the 1980's he actually started a political party in England called the "Official Monster Raving Loony Party" that actually got some notice and votes.
Unfortunately Screaming Lord Sutch committed suicide in 1999.
So today, let's remember an innovator of horror rock. Enjoy the youtube clip of him performing "Jack The Ripper".
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Screaming Lord Sutch (real name David Edward Sutch) was a British singer from the 1960's. He had a hit with "Jack The Ripper", and dressed as the infamous slayer for his horror themed concerts. In the 1980's he actually started a political party in England called the "Official Monster Raving Loony Party" that actually got some notice and votes.
Unfortunately Screaming Lord Sutch committed suicide in 1999.
So today, let's remember an innovator of horror rock. Enjoy the youtube clip of him performing "Jack The Ripper".
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Haven't Seen The Wolfman
I haven't seen The Wolfman. It's not that I don't want to, I've just been so sick I can get out to see it. I've been avoiding reviews and blog posts about it so I go in with an open mind.
Once I'm better I'll get down to my local cinema and see it, then I'll write my review for all of you.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane
Once I'm better I'll get down to my local cinema and see it, then I'll write my review for all of you.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Cinema Insane's Werewolf Special
Join Ormsby for his Cinema Insane Werewolf Special, in honor of The Wolfman coming out on February 12th.
Until Next Time, Stay Insane.
Until Next Time, Stay Insane.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
First Episode of Ormsby's Cinema Insane!!!
The first episode of Ormsby's Cinema Insane is finally up at http://www.bymagic.com/.
This month Ormsby shows 'Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory' (1961) and reviews 'Trick 'r Treat' (2008).
In honor of 'The Wolfman' being released on February 12th there will be a 'Cinema Insane Werewolf Special' that night, so have an eye out for it.
Next month, 'White Zombie' (1932).
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
This month Ormsby shows 'Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory' (1961) and reviews 'Trick 'r Treat' (2008).
In honor of 'The Wolfman' being released on February 12th there will be a 'Cinema Insane Werewolf Special' that night, so have an eye out for it.
Next month, 'White Zombie' (1932).
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Runts of the Litter: Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory (1961)
This runt of the litter is from Italy. Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory (aka Lycanthropus) from 1961was one of those movies you always read about but never saw on TV or in the video store. Classics of the Horror Film by William K. Everson had a still in the chapter on werewolves which was more information that I was able to find anywhere else.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Runts of the Litter: They Undying Monster (1942)
I'm in a werewolf kind of mood lately, with The Wolfman coming out February 12th and Saturday's full moon. Of course I pulled out Universal's Legacy Collection of The Wolf Man and watched the classic from 1941 with a bowl of popcorn and nice bottle of diet Mountain Dew (I like it because it looks like Re-Animator fluid). As I watched it with commentary by Tom Weaver, I started think of other werewolf movies. There are some that, for better or worse, are the runt of the werewolf movie litter. So from now until the release of the new Wolf Man film I'm going to list these strays.
First up is The Undying Monster(1942) from 20th Century Fox. Not as famous as Lon Chaney's hairy turn a year earlier, and the werewolf make-up is not my favorite. The werewolf, who you don't get a good look at until the end, is really just a whole lot of hair pasted on the actor's face. What I did like is the final transformation when the werewolf is hanging off a cliff, which was a sort of composite and dissolve effect that for the time looked really cool.
If you love old monster movies, give this one a rent from Netfilx.
Until Next Time, Stay Insane.
First up is The Undying Monster(1942) from 20th Century Fox. Not as famous as Lon Chaney's hairy turn a year earlier, and the werewolf make-up is not my favorite. The werewolf, who you don't get a good look at until the end, is really just a whole lot of hair pasted on the actor's face. What I did like is the final transformation when the werewolf is hanging off a cliff, which was a sort of composite and dissolve effect that for the time looked really cool.
If you love old monster movies, give this one a rent from Netfilx.
Until Next Time, Stay Insane.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Trick 'r Treat, My New Favorite Film
Recently I was lamenting the lost art of the horror anthology movie. I'm a fan of The House That Dripped Blood, Tales From The Crypt, Monster Club, and Creepshow. Unfortunately no one makes good ones anymore. The ones that are made are cheap direct to video crap that was made by people who just don't care about making a good horror movie, much less a good movie. Oh, if only there was a good horror anthology, made by someone who loves horror movies. But alas those days are done.
So I rented Trick 'r Treat (directed by Michael Dougherty) from Netflix without much hope. I had heard of it from sites like Ain't It Cool News and so forth, and they all raved about it. Still, having been burnt before I didn't have much hope. It sat on my table for a week before I decided to watch it so I could dump it back in the mail. So what did I think of it?
Thank you Michael Dougherty, thank you so very much.
This is one of the best horror movies of all time, and I don't say that sort of thing lightly. Michael Dougherty crafted a love letter to every fan out there who has been dying for a film like this. And he does it by building suspense, mood and letting the audience use their imagination (do you hear that Rob Zombie, that's what good directors do).
The usual formula for a horror anthology is there's a wrap around story that ties the different tales together. Each tales plays out one at a time. In Trick 'r Treat the tales zig and zap in and out of one another as we follow people during a Halloween night. The only constant is Sam, a creepy little trick or treater in red pajamas wearing a burlap sack for a mask.
Dougherty, who wrote X2 and Superman Returns for Bryan Singer (who produced this film), shows himself to be a gifted director. Other directors would have killed the movie by letting us see kill in graphic detail and over doing the computer effects. What I liked about this movie is Dougherty held back and let us see just enough for so we can fill in the blanks, which is creepier. Plus, where a lesser director would throw in a lot of digital effects Dougherty uses creative editing for a much better end product.
The other thing that I liked, and this is from a jaded horror fan, was that he didn't go for the easy scare. He'd set shots up so you sit there saying, “Oh, I know what's going to happen,” only to go in a totally new direction.
It's a true shame Warner Bros. sat on this film, not releasing it to theaters and sending it directly to DVD. It deserved a wide release at Halloween, I'm sure it would have been a hit. I hope people find it on DVD, there isn't a lot of quality horror movies like this and it deserves to be seen.
The DVD has the short Season's Greetings that Dougherty did in 1996 and introduced little Sam, which is hand drawn and took him 9 months to do. Other than that, there are no real extras on the disc. I was craving a director's commentary of the film (the short has one) so I looked it up and found out there is one on the Blu-ray, which I will be buying tomorrow.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane.
So I rented Trick 'r Treat (directed by Michael Dougherty) from Netflix without much hope. I had heard of it from sites like Ain't It Cool News and so forth, and they all raved about it. Still, having been burnt before I didn't have much hope. It sat on my table for a week before I decided to watch it so I could dump it back in the mail. So what did I think of it?
Thank you Michael Dougherty, thank you so very much.
This is one of the best horror movies of all time, and I don't say that sort of thing lightly. Michael Dougherty crafted a love letter to every fan out there who has been dying for a film like this. And he does it by building suspense, mood and letting the audience use their imagination (do you hear that Rob Zombie, that's what good directors do).
The usual formula for a horror anthology is there's a wrap around story that ties the different tales together. Each tales plays out one at a time. In Trick 'r Treat the tales zig and zap in and out of one another as we follow people during a Halloween night. The only constant is Sam, a creepy little trick or treater in red pajamas wearing a burlap sack for a mask.
Dougherty, who wrote X2 and Superman Returns for Bryan Singer (who produced this film), shows himself to be a gifted director. Other directors would have killed the movie by letting us see kill in graphic detail and over doing the computer effects. What I liked about this movie is Dougherty held back and let us see just enough for so we can fill in the blanks, which is creepier. Plus, where a lesser director would throw in a lot of digital effects Dougherty uses creative editing for a much better end product.
The other thing that I liked, and this is from a jaded horror fan, was that he didn't go for the easy scare. He'd set shots up so you sit there saying, “Oh, I know what's going to happen,” only to go in a totally new direction.
It's a true shame Warner Bros. sat on this film, not releasing it to theaters and sending it directly to DVD. It deserved a wide release at Halloween, I'm sure it would have been a hit. I hope people find it on DVD, there isn't a lot of quality horror movies like this and it deserves to be seen.
The DVD has the short Season's Greetings that Dougherty did in 1996 and introduced little Sam, which is hand drawn and took him 9 months to do. Other than that, there are no real extras on the disc. I was craving a director's commentary of the film (the short has one) so I looked it up and found out there is one on the Blu-ray, which I will be buying tomorrow.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Plan Nine From Outer Space-RiffTrax
I'm a big Mystery Science Theater 3000 and still harbor a grudge against the old Sci-Fi Channel for canceling it. Oh the nights sitting with friends watching the Joel or Mike and the bots riff on movies while sitting with my fiends, good times. Sure we have some of the episodes (not all because of rights issues, but that's another blog) on DVD, but I always felt there were so many more movies they could riff on that they would never have a chance too.
Fortunately Micheal J. Nelson (who played Mike Nelson on MST3K) had a great idea. Since it was too much money to secure the rights to movies to riff on, he would release the riffs on MP3 for people to play concurrent with the DVD and call it RiffTrax. Sure it's missing the host segments and the silhouette of along the bottom of the screen, but you get Mike, Bill Corbett (Crow T. Robot in later seasons of MST3000), Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo) as the prime crew riffing on movies from Plan Nine From Outer Space to Dark Knight.
(Note: Between MST3K and RiffTrax Mike, Bill and Kevin did The Film Crew, which was release on DVD. They only made four discs before distribution problems and delays killed the project.)
Joel Hodgson does have a direct to DVD project call Cinematic Titanic, which has old MST3K people riffing movies in silhouette.
Just wanted to point these out for those of you who want to look them up.)
Some of the RiffTrax have now been released on DVD, so I picked up their take on Ed Wood's Plan Nine From Outer Space. Now I shouldn't have to tell you how bad this movie is if you're a true blue monster fan. For those who wandered on to the blog by accident (people mistake Ormsby with Rosie O'Donnell quite a bit) I'll tell you, this is a horrible movie full of card board sets, pie pan on a string flying saucers, a ludicrous script and acting that makes amateur porn look like an Oscar worthy performance. It's so bad it's...bad.
And that's the kind of movie I love to be riffed, and the crew didn't let me down. Any attempt at describing how funny the disc was would ruin the jokes for you so I won't do that. I will say that the jokes were dead on and had me and the wife laughing all the way through.
I will admit I was a little hesitant about RiffTrax at first, wondering if it would live up to the memory of MST3K, but I have to say I really liked it and plan on sampling more. I can't wait to see what they did with Dark Knight.
If you loved MST3K like I did you'll love RiffTrax.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane.
Fortunately Micheal J. Nelson (who played Mike Nelson on MST3K) had a great idea. Since it was too much money to secure the rights to movies to riff on, he would release the riffs on MP3 for people to play concurrent with the DVD and call it RiffTrax. Sure it's missing the host segments and the silhouette of along the bottom of the screen, but you get Mike, Bill Corbett (Crow T. Robot in later seasons of MST3000), Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo) as the prime crew riffing on movies from Plan Nine From Outer Space to Dark Knight.
(Note: Between MST3K and RiffTrax Mike, Bill and Kevin did The Film Crew, which was release on DVD. They only made four discs before distribution problems and delays killed the project.)
Joel Hodgson does have a direct to DVD project call Cinematic Titanic, which has old MST3K people riffing movies in silhouette.
Just wanted to point these out for those of you who want to look them up.)
Some of the RiffTrax have now been released on DVD, so I picked up their take on Ed Wood's Plan Nine From Outer Space. Now I shouldn't have to tell you how bad this movie is if you're a true blue monster fan. For those who wandered on to the blog by accident (people mistake Ormsby with Rosie O'Donnell quite a bit) I'll tell you, this is a horrible movie full of card board sets, pie pan on a string flying saucers, a ludicrous script and acting that makes amateur porn look like an Oscar worthy performance. It's so bad it's...bad.
And that's the kind of movie I love to be riffed, and the crew didn't let me down. Any attempt at describing how funny the disc was would ruin the jokes for you so I won't do that. I will say that the jokes were dead on and had me and the wife laughing all the way through.
I will admit I was a little hesitant about RiffTrax at first, wondering if it would live up to the memory of MST3K, but I have to say I really liked it and plan on sampling more. I can't wait to see what they did with Dark Knight.
If you loved MST3K like I did you'll love RiffTrax.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Basil Gogos Paints the New Wolfman!!!
I love the painted covers of Famous Monsters of Filmland by Basil Gogos.
I take that back.
I LOVE the painted covers of Famous Monsters of Filmland by Basil Gogos.
So who better to paint a poster of the new Wolfman movie (coming out on 2/12/2010) than the master of classic monsters. CHUD.com has the image, and a short interview with Gogos about painting the new Wolfman.
Yeah, I'm in geek heaven right now.
Until Next Time,
Stay Insane
Friday, January 1, 2010
Horror Fans Documentary on Youtube
First, Happy New Years.
I came across this great documentary directed by Michael Schwartz on Youtube today about horror fans. Now I tend to be more of a classic monster fan myself but I enjoy a bit of the gore too. Broken into two parts (both parts below) I liked that the makers of the documentary were able to speak to so many horror professionals. Yes, there is the occasional psycho (like the kid who says if it was legal he'd be running around with a chainsaw, can you say creepy?) but other than that a positive light is shown on horror fans.
Enjoy.
Oh, and until next time, Stay Insane.
Part One:
Part Two:
I came across this great documentary directed by Michael Schwartz on Youtube today about horror fans. Now I tend to be more of a classic monster fan myself but I enjoy a bit of the gore too. Broken into two parts (both parts below) I liked that the makers of the documentary were able to speak to so many horror professionals. Yes, there is the occasional psycho (like the kid who says if it was legal he'd be running around with a chainsaw, can you say creepy?) but other than that a positive light is shown on horror fans.
Enjoy.
Oh, and until next time, Stay Insane.
Part One:
Part Two:
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