From Zombos' Closet

Halloween 2012: Michaels Store Display

Here's my first sighting of Halloween 2012 at a Michaels Store. An aisle's worth of shelves was being cleared to make way for more gruesome goodies, but they had started on the endcaps. Can you smell the candy corn?

 

 

Theater Standee: Hotel Transylvania (2012)

I found this  theater standee for Hotel Transylvania oddly enhanced by being next to The Odd Life of Timothy Green.   I know which one I'd want for my Halloween party.

Movie Pressbook: Atragon (1963)

This neat pressbook for Toho Studios Atragon is 11 x 17 inches, printed in landscape orientation. I'm a sucker for movies with super technological vehicles and Atragon is one of my favorites. Besides, you've got that unique Toho Touch for concise special effects and storyline (see Famed Special Effects Team Give Atragon Top Thrills article).

One page sheet has been neatly cut from the pressbook. The seller I purchased this from said all the copies of this pressbook he has seen have that same page-sheet removed. So there you have a mystery! I'm open to any solutions you may have. Sorry for clipping the last sentence on one page, and the pages do not appear in their correct order.

Remembering the Saturday Afternoon Spook Shows

Professor Kinema remembers...

The recent announcement of the closure of a movie theater I regularly attended as a kid invoked many memories. The Saturday afternoon kiddie-matinee (a term I always took exception to, even as a kid) often consisted of a kid-friendly feature film, a few cartoons, and even a chapter of a resurrected serial.

Inside the theater the pervading atmosphere was one of chaos. Similar scenes have been well depicted in such films as Stoogemania, Tim Burton’s Ed Wood, and to a lesser degree in Joe Dante’s Matinee. Like the Josh Mostel character as a boy, Howard F. Howard of Stoogemania, I believed I was the only kid in this feral audience who was truly interested in watching what was happening on screen. To add to the madness, this theater offered what select theaters across the country were offering during this era: a Live Spook Show.

When the movie ended (like anyone would even notice) a business-suited man stepped out on the stage in front of the screen. Bathed in the glow of a harsh spotlight, he attempted to restore some order to the mayhem.

Once he got at least the minimal semblance of attention, he announced the theater was surrounded by spooks, and even more, a mad scientist would appear on this very stage and make a monster! Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, and a few assorted other creatures were likely to make appearances. Suddenly from the rear of the theater could be heard a blood curdling scream. All heads turned to catch the sight of a hapless female being pursued by a madman wielding a meat cleaver. The girl ran, still screaming, down one aisle, across the front and then back up the other aisle. The madman always managed to stay a few steps behind her, waving the weapon at the audience as well.

On stage, the announcer hastily departed. In his place came a shabby looking mad doctor and a few odd (very odd) assistants wheeling out what appeared to be a makeshift operating table. On the table was a large humanoid figure covered with a blood stained sheet, ugly feet protruding. A few, tinkered together, electrical devices where then set in place.

As the electricity flowed, the sheet stirred and whatever was underneath sat up, with the sheet falling off to reveal a monster!  It didn't resemble the Frankenstein monster in the least, but it was assuredly a monster. Immediately, this monster became  out of control and was set upon by the mad doctor and his assistants. All were quickly knocked to the ground. The monster turned to the audience, threateningly, but from stage left appeared … the Wolf Man! A battle ensued.

Dust was churned up and the lights dimmed. While growling and snarling, the unholy duo disappeared off stage. To this day I can’t recall who was the victor.

The live, monsters-in-your-face era of Saturday afternoon entertainment reached through the 1960s, embodied by Ray Dennis Steckler with his Hallucinogenic Hypnovision, and incorporated the mad slasher chasing hapless female scenario in such classics as Incredibly Strange Zombies, who Stopped Living and Became Crazy Mixed Up Zombies. Reportedly, he took his innovation one step further by accomodating outdoor drive-ins.

I got a strong feeling of community with these long gone live stage shows. During this Saturday afternoon melee, the cleaver wielding madman and his intended female victim managed one last dash through the theater. Upon closer examination of both of them, they bore a striking resemblance to a guy and his girlfriend who were in a grade or two ahead of me in school. I wonder what they're up to today?

--Jim K/Prof K

 

Ashcan Comics Article From Pure Images Magazine (1986)

Professor Kinema sends along this interesting article on ashcan comics from Greg Theakston's defunct Pure Images magazine, circa 1986. (For more on Greg, see his website, Pure Imagination.)

Movie Pressbook: Chamber of Horrors (1966)

Here's a terrific pressbook for Chamber of Horrors, filled with lurid illustrations and nifty theater giveaways like horror rings and a herald. Also noteworthy are the gimmicks to get butts in seats like the Fear Flasher and the Horror Horn. (I had to break the centerfold spread into three scans due to its size, and the pages are not in exact sequence.) The pressbook size is 11 inches by 17 inches.

Movie Review: The Amazing Spiderman (2012) Good, But Very Different

Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is different, his alter ego Spider-Man is different, and the playbook Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man movie uses--a franchise reboot that wasn't, artistically speaking, necessary--seem's more suited to the morose Batman than the spunkier red, white, and blue teenage nerd who gets bitten by a unique spider.

This time around the spider has been genetically engineered by his scientist father, who leaves young Peter with Aunt May (Sally Field) and Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) whenOscorp Industries gets rough concerning his father's research into cross-species regeneration and decay rate algorithms.

Peter's parents die shortly after leaving him. Years later he's a bright science student but bullied at school, in love from afar with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and soon to meet Dr. Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father's friend and co-researcher. Dr. Connors wants to grow his missing arm back and needs a workable decay rate algorithm. Peter supplies it after finding his father's briefcase containing the needed research information. Mayhem ensues.

The mayhem takes a while to simmer to boiling point, and it isn't Sam Raimi's mayhem, and that old Spidey Sense isn't as finely tuned yet for Peter. He gets beat up a lot and looks like it. I don't recall Tobey Maguire looking this bruised and sore after taking on Doc Ock or the Green Goblin.  Peter also needs more help in this movie, which is supplied by a brave Gwen Stacy, her father the police captain (Denis Leary) and a resourceful construction worker (C. Thomas Howell) who realizes even super heroes need our help sometimes. 

The funniest scene happens with Stan Lee and it gets my vote for the best Stan Lee cameo appearance in a Marvel film. And the best scene doesn't take place with Spider-Man battling the gigantic Lizard; it happens hanging off the traffic-jammed Williamsburgh Bridge, when Spider-Man must save a frightened kid and time's slipping away fast. These scenes sparkle inside a cleanly executed storyline that doesn't share enough of its substance with us: Aunt May and Uncle Ben are here, but they're perfunctory; Peter Parker experiences a life-changer, but he takes it in stride; Dr. Connors nearly get's his wish to send New Yorkers back to the Mesozoic Era, but he's stopped surprisingly quickly just so we can spend more minutes with Peter and Gwen, leaving me hoping Dr. Connor's would pop his lizard tail back in to shake things up one more time. Sadly, he didn't.

If you're keeping a scorecard, I rate this movie "good" and a little better--but just a little--than Raimi's Spider-Man 3. That movie also had too many scripters to tell the story. Garfield is taller and slimmer than Maguire, and he's got a fuller head of hair, but Maguire still shows more nuance even when standing still. Also in this movie, Peter Parker has finally acquired a cell phone, although he needs to use the vibrate button more. He also watches YouTube, which leads to a surprisingly relevant confrontation between him and Captain Stacy over what appears to be the truth in a video concerning Spider-Man. As for The Daily Bugle, it gets brief mention through a newspaper bundle showing a front page, but Peter's photo-taking is not uppermost here.

The 3D renders the movie quite dark for viewing while giving negligible depth to the action. I recommend seeing the 2D version instead.

How Much Longer to Halloween?

So...how much longer to Halloween?

 

Eerie No. 1 Ashcan Edition

While discussing horrible things (movie related, of course) with Professor Kinema one sunny Sunday, he tossed this replica of Eerie No. 1's 24-page ashcan, 1st edition, over to me. While I vaguely knew about it, I had never seen this pocket-sized first issue, which was quickly slapped together in 1965 by Warren Publishing, and distributed briefly to lock in the magazine title's name before a rival used it, or so the story goes.

Here's the entire ashcan for your edification pleasure (although the stories were pulled from Creepy issues). From what I've read on the web, this replica indicates it's from the 1st edition because: on page 18, panel 5, what should be recognized as the back of a bald-headed man in the upper left corner shows only black; and in the margins of certain pages you can see the paste-up instructions. Bootleg copies abound, making it a difficult item to purchase without authenticating it first.  Warren complained about the bootleg copies in Creepy No. 81 (see page at the end).

Movie Pressbook: The Devil Within Her (1975)

This one has my vote for silliest poster artwork in a horror movie. The Devil Within Her movie itself has some unintended, but very silly moments. Joan Collins is a trooper for sure.

Double Bill Pressbook: Nightmare In Wax and Blood of Dracula's Castle

Dr. Morbid's Haunted House and House of Frankenstein In Lake George, NY

I spent Father's Day in Lake George, New York, visiting some old haunts. Not one for the boating pleasures of the Lake, I always have a memorably morbid time every visit paid to House of Frankenstein's Wax Museum. With wife and son (sadly, they aren't horror fans) cowering behind me, we made our way through the dark, narrow passageways. I laughed, they cringed, at the tormented waxwork figures depicting scenes of gruesome cruelty, blood-letting, and monster mayhem. It never gets old for me, even though I've visited House of Frankenstein since way back in the 1970s, when it first opened. The hanging body-bag room really freaked them out, but we eventually made it through with limbs and composure intact.

When they went back to the hotel to splash in the indoor pool, I visited Dr. Morbid's Haunted House for the first time. Same owners as House of Frankenstein, I think, but Dr. Morbid's is a haunt attraction with live performers creeping about. The theme is a haunted waxworks factory, a demented owner, questionable business practices, and some disgruntled--and dismembered--former employees. My ghoulish host was insane, screechy, and acted appropos to the creepy proceedings as she led the way through the scary environs. I was the only visitor for this tour; I hate going it alone, but hell, I'm a horror blogger, damnit, it's my job to be scared! Seasoned pro that I am (and in horror, 'seasoned pro' can take on some interesting meanings), I jumped a few times and slowed cautiously before turning dark corners. Loved it. 

Heading back to the hotel, I couldn't believe my horror fan luck. Next to the indoor pool stood an Addams Family Pinball game! Man, every Father's Day should be this much fun.