Supernatural TV Pilot

 

 (imdb)

THE GHOST OF SIERRA DE COBRE-1964-Architect/psychic investigator Nelson Orlon (Martin Landau) is called in by Vivia Mandore (Diane Baker in Hitchcock's MARNIE and Castle's STRAITJACKET the same year), wife of Henry Mandore (Tim Simcox), a wealthy blind man who's getting strange phone calls from his dead mother. After Paulina sees a horrifying ghost, Orlon investigates. Their new housekeeper, the spooky Paulina (Dame Judith Anderson) hangs around and doesn't like Orlon because he called the ghost of her town a fake. Things are not as they seem. Leonard Stone as Mandore's business partner and Nellie Britt as another housekeeper are skeptical. 

Alternatively spooky and talky, this is a failed TV pilot turned into a full-length movie by writer Joseph Stefano (who did the screenplay for PYSCHO (1960) and many OUTER LIMITS episodes).  He took over directing (his only time as a director) when original director Robert Stevens fell ill. Future Academy Award winner Landau was in an episode of "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits" the same year. 

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for reading!

Real or Not Real?

THE MYSTERIOUS MONSTERS-1976-Pseudo-documentary from Sunn Classics. Hands on narrator Peter Graves is your host for this examination of the Bigfoot phenomenon. He visits sites where the creatures have been sighted, interviews eye witnesses and skeptics. Many locals testify to their experiences and other stories and photos are used but (except for the controversial Roger Patterson film) all the Bigfoot action is reenacted. (a note at the end of the credits says: Portions of this film taken from “Land of The Yeti”....) 

There's a rather lengthy segment on The Loch Ness Monster and psychic celebrity Peter Hurkos convinces Graves that Bigfoot is real. Hypno-tism and lie detector tests are also used to confirm the legend's ex-istence. It's outdated, far fetched and not as entertaining as other ones of it's genre (or pseudo-genre?).

Although writer/director Robert Guenette (who died in 2008) also made MONSTERS! MYSTERIES OR MYTHS?  and THE WORLD OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENON he also tackled more serious projects like segments of TV's HEROES OF THE GAME, cable's CRAZY ABOUT THE MOVIES and the excellent documentary ORSON WELLES :WHAT WENT WRONG?  

Not very important note: Though always referred to as The Mysterious Monsters, the film is actually titled BIGFOOT:THE MYSTERIOUS MONSTER. At least the version I saw was (it was taken from a 16 mm print). 

Thanks for reading!

Puppetmaster

PUPPETMASTER-1989-A prologue set in Nazi Germany reveals that an old puppet maker named Toulon (William Hickey) hides some interesting looking puppets (one walks around in a trench coat with a hook and knife for hands) from The Gestapo and kills himself. 

Years later, group of psychics investigate the death of a guy named Neil Gallagher (Jimmie Skaggs) who killed himself. His wife Meghan seems to think he's dead but not so “dream psychic” Alex (Paul LeMat) who has dreams of Gallagher acting nutty. The group is terrorized by the resurrected puppets including the hook hand trench coat guy and his pals: one with a very small head but huge human hands, one with a drill for a head, a female that upchucks leeches, a kind of jester with a spinning face). After three of the psychics are killed Alex and Meghan discover the truth. It turns out Gallagher did kill himself but came back to life by using Toulon's secret Egyptian rites of the afterlife and wants to live forever. But after he's mean to the puppets they revolt and kill him good. 

This fun (although a little slow story wise) low budget horror movie from Charles Band's Empire Pictures spawned several sequels and even a crossover with another series (DEMONIC TOYS) but I like this one the best. 

Director David Schmoeller had already made two whacked out features: TOURIST TRAP (with Chuck Connors as a psycho) and CRAWLSPACE (with Klaus Kinski as a psycho).

Thanks for reading!

I Saw Insidious

INSIDIOUS-2010-This is just a POLTERGEIST/THE EXORCIST/AMITYVILLE HORROR rip-off that critics made a big about because the director of SAW, James Wan made it.

A family seems to be terrorized in their house by some unknown force after their young son goes into a coma He's really possessed by a demon in a place called "the further" and the further I go with this review the further I can think of bad things to say about this derivative nonsense. I've read comments calling it the scariest horror movie ever but it's just talky shit with some loud noises thrown in. Parts of it, especially when 3 psychic researchers appear seem unintentionally funny.

I will give director Wan credit though. He tries using suspense and shock rather than the usual blood and gore associated with most modern horror films. Maybe I'm just a jaded old foggie but for me it didn’t live up to it’s hype!

Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne are the parents and Barbara Hershey (apparently with a new face) is his mother. Lin Shaye is the main psychic and screenwriter Leigh Whannell has a role.

Thanks for reading! Happy Fourth of July!