Chadwick H. Saxelid's Blog: Ghoulies, Ghosties, and Long-Leggedy Beasties, page 10

Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - August 11, 1971
Growing up I was somewhat of a staunch contemporist when it came to my viewing preferences. I preferred watching movies that featured indoor plumbing, paved roads, automobiles, and electricity.

Which means that, for a short period of time, my favorite entries in the first Planet of the Apes saga were Escape from the Planet of the Apes and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. No desert vistas. No sweaty, stanky people in loin cloths. No horses. Just the beloved and familiar creature comforts of the world I was oh so lucky enough to enjoy, and take for granted, as a child.

After destroying the world, at Charlton Heston's request, in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, there was only one way for the franchise to go... back to when it began.

It amazes me at just how well this movie pulls off its ludicrous storyline and the insane levels of mythology-building necessitated to have these events start the ball rolling toward the what, where, and when of the first and second films.

The whole affair is strange, silly, and satirical... until, all of a sudden, it turns dead serious and sticks a downbeat ending that works. Making Escape from the Planet of the Apes, arguably, the best of the four sequels to the original film.

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #78

The Alien - awesome, nightmarish has been hiding in the Narcissus shuttlecraft all along! Instantly, Ripley whirls into the spacesuit storage container as the relentless Creature peers through the locker window...! 

Weapons (2025) - Review

Having been surprised and delighted at being so thoroughly thrown for a loop by Barbarian, I walked into the earliest matinee showing of Zach Cregger's follow up feature, Weapons, with high expectations. I walked out of that matinee showing satisfied with what I had just experienced, even if it had not thrown me for as big a loop as Barbarian had. So it goes.

If you have read the ad copy on the poster, or seen one of the trailers for the film, then you will know every bit as much as I did going in. Which might be for the best, as this movie, for the most part, is structured as a mystery focusing on finding out the why, what, and where regarding the disappearance of Mrs. Gandy's class.
Why did they run out of their homes at 2:17 in the morning? What made them do so?  Where on earth did they go?
The manner in which Cregger answers those questions might try the patience of some viewers and leave others a bit confused. Because, just as he had done in Barbarian, Cregger takes a non-linear approach to his story. 
Breaking the narrative into character titled chapters can and does result in shifts in point of view, motivation, pacing and even tone. While the tonal shifts in Weapons are nowhere near as jarring as the first one in Barbarian was, they still occur. 
The changing of the narrative point of view, coupled with the need to start over every twenty or so minutes, necessitates the repeating of several scenes from a different perspective. These moments shed no light or nuance on the mystery. They exist so the viewer gets a narrative grounding point for where and when in the timeline these intermingled storylines and characters intersect in the Big Picture.
Whether or not the film actually needed these chapter breaks and shifting points of view at all will no doubt be the subject of many an online argument or critical discussion. As messy as they were, they made a rather outlandish concept feel more grounded and human than it otherwise would have.
Weapons may have fallen a tad shy of reaching my too high expectations. But it still managed to hold my interest, keep me in suspense, and even scare me a time or two, right up until its cathartic, albeit a tad too abrupt, ending...

The Fury by John Farris - Newspaper Ad

I saw the film adaptation of The Fury long before I managed to crack open its source material and make it all the way through to the end. No slight to author John Farris, but the film's source material was rather lengthy, convoluted and dense. Far too advanced for an eleven or twelve year-old with an undiagnosed form of what, in 1978 or '79, would have been called attention deficit disorder. 

While the movie is fun for what it is, the novel is so much better. I have never gotten around to reading the sequels to it that Farris wrote. Although I have read his books All Heads Turn As the Hunt Goes By, Son of the Endless Night, Wildwood, and The Axman Cometh.

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #8

Both having wandered the various worlds and realms of reality, Lady Death and the skull-faced Bedlam found they had much in common. And considering the power each had at their disposal, may the gods help anyone in their way. 

Cat People (1982) - Soundtrack

Although I was somewhat familiar with Giorgio Moroder's work via its radio play, thanks to the ubiquity of Donna Summer's I Feel Love on our local radio stations in the late 1970s, as well as The Chase from Midnight Express making the occasional appearance. It was not until 1982's Cat People that I became familiar with his name.

I think this soundtrack also served as my first introduction to David Bowie, who sang the film's longing and lust fueled song of a love doomed to be denied for all eternity. Of course my teenaged and hormone addled heart and brain vibed with it. How could it not?

Although it has been several decades since I have watched Cat People from start to finish, listening to the pop song interpretations presented on this soundtrack bring the film's sumptuous images to vivid life in my mind.

Track 2, The Autopsy, pulls forth the memory of that bloodied arm raising out of the guts of the dead leopard carcass. 

The opening of Track 4, Night Rabbit, got a lot of play, if only because, if I wish casted hard enough, I could pretend it was the opening beats to the electronic version of Ennio Morricone's theme to The Thing (1982). Because I did not have access to the soundtrack to the latter, yet.

Track 5, Leopard Tree Dream, brings forth the image of a shirtless Malcolm McDowell striding across a desert dreamscape to deliver necessary exposition regarding the sexual curse of the cat people. 

Track 6, Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase), calls forth the low angle image of McDowell sashaying up a flight of stairs and/or Annette O' Toole jogging through a park.

Track 7, The Myth, served as the film's main title and oozes and throbs with sultry energy. That energy builds and builds until it gets a gorgeous and vibrant release. Perfection.

Tracks 8, To The Bridge, is a wonderful pop expansion of a cue the underplays John Heard's driving to a bridge.

Track 9, Transformation Seduction, underplays Nastassja Kinski's character's first, and therefore quite traumatic, transformation into a leopard.

Track 10, Bring the Pod, is another expansion on music that underplays what was one of the most vivid and memorable scenes in the movie. Listening to it can still make me clutch at my shoulder in empathetic dread. Ouch.

It is a great soundtrack for a great movie. One that I really should give another look. Looks like it might be time to finally add that Cat People blu-ray from Scream Factory to my collection.

Raising Cain (1992) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - August 7, 1992
As much as I would have liked to have been able to see Raising Cain on the big screen, it was not to be. It was a home video viewing for me. 

When I did catch up with it, I found it a delirious and chaotic mess of an entertaining movie. One that, just like Body Double, walked the line separating self-awareness and self-parody. All of De Palma's movies have elements of black comedy and camp to them. Some are more restrained than others.

I remember Raising Cain as being utterly unrestrained. De Palma just wanting to have fun with his tropes and obsessions. I had fun watching him do so.

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #77

With Jones locked in her cat box, Ripley races to the escape craft Narcissus and locks the door behind her. Can she, the last member of the Nostromo team, escape the cruel fate of her companions? 

Destroy All Monsters [Kaijû Sôshingeki (1968)] - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - August 6, 1969
While the entirety of 2019's Godzilla King of the Monsters had me grinning ear-to-ear from near the very beginning of that marvelous monster mash. Seeing a protestor waving a sign declaring "DESTROY ALL MONSTERS" pulled a good-natured chuckle out of me. One that I punctuated with a small fist pump of approval.

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #7

Allies
Together with Cremator and her sister Vandala, the mortal Lady Death let nothing stand against her, including those who saw her mortal nature as a weakness. As Cremator and Vandala found out, she was stronger than ever!