Chadwick H. Saxelid's Blog: Ghoulies, Ghosties, and Long-Leggedy Beasties, page 14

The Cat O' Nine Tails [Il Gatto A Nove Code (1971)] - Soundtrack

Dario Argento's second film has often been dismissed as one of the writer-director's lesser efforts. Argento himself long considered it to be the worst of his films. However Argento's post-Opera critical and commercial missteps have opened the door for its reevaluation, with opinion of the film and its place in Argento's body of work becoming more favorable over time.
Although Argento and Ennio Morricone were well acquainted with each other on a personal level, neither really understood the other professionally when they first worked together on The Bird with the Crystal Plumage [L'uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo] (1970).

But when they re-teamed for The Cat O' Nine Tails [Il Gatto A Nove Code] Morricone had a much better understanding of what Argento liked and wanted in a film score and thus was able to deliver an impressive piece that was, in Morricone's own words, "bold, dissonant and traumatic."
With the one exception of the title theme, Ninna Nanna in Blu, Morricone eschews melody in favor of a five-note motif for bass guitar accompanied by drums. A motif that is colored and enhanced with strings, woodwinds, piano, tremolo, electronic guitar, and, of course, voices.
Ninna Nanna in Blu is used sparingly in the film, but only for moments that directly involve Lori (Cinzia De Carolis) or her influence. Which accounts for its sounding, again in Morricone's words, "simple [and] nearly childish."
While Morricone's score for The Bird with the Crystal Plumage might get more attention from critics and fans, what he composed for The Cat O' Nine Tails is every bit as good and deserving of an attentive listen.

Creatures World Forgot (1971) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 21, 1971
Hammer Film's fourth and final prehistoric adventure picture saw the return of director Don Chaffey, who launched the short-lived cycle with 1966's One Million Years B.C.

Although child me might have confused this as being part of a cycle of films that included the like-titled The Land That Time Forgot and The People That Time Forgot, that was very much not the case.

Also there are no 'creatures' in this movie, just a bunch of gibberish grunting men and women in animal pelts. Child me would have felt cheated, as the title would have got my hopes up for there being either lizards made to look like dinosaurs or stop motion dinosaur effects. 

Nope. For that you would have to watch either the aforementioned One Million Years B.C. or 1970's When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. The first and third films in the cycle, respectively.

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #1

Battle of Ages
Magic meets technology when Lady Death comes to earth to establish herself as a player in the eternal power struggle. Those already holding the power aren't keen on her intrusion, and muster all the forces at their command against her. 

The Dark by Max Franklin - Review

"It's simply coincidence that a hundred years ago there was a killer similar to this one."

Back in May I posted a newspaper clipping of an ad for 1979's The Dark . In that post I shared how director Tobe Hooper was fired during the first week of filming. The reasons cited for his being sacked were his going over budget and falling behind schedule. John "Bud" Cardos was brought in to complete the film on time and on budget, which he appears to have done.

But a change in directors was not the only unexpected switch that befell The Dark. At some point late in filming producers Dick Clark and Edward L. Montoro decided that the film's undead killer should be an alien from outer space instead. 

The end result of that decision was a jumble of nonsensical dialogue scenes interrupted by an occasional and incomprehensible 'monster' attack.

In that post I also theorized the film's novelization might be an adaptation of the story as it had been originally planned. How I hoped it would contain the supernatural elements that were excised from the film and therefore might make a bit more sense. That if I could find an edition for a reasonable price, I just might give it a read.

Well, after writing that post, I checked on eBay and found an edition I could buy at a reasonable price. Which I did, obviously.

Now, having finished it, I can share that the novelization of The Dark is a tad more comprehensible with an undead killer decapitating and chowing down on the flesh of his victims rather than as an alien that kills by shooting lasers out of its glowing eyeballs. Yet there were still way too many unanswered questions and unexplored theories in whichever draft of Stanford Whitmore's screenplay was being adapted here.

What amazed and amused me about the book was how it both aligned with and deviated from the film version. I could suss out some of the narrative and stylistic embellishments and liberties the author took so the book could reach the required word count in order to qualify as a novel. Yet there were a few plot points and scenes that might have been excised when the monster was changed from an undead serial killer to an alien. But it is impossible for me to be certain.

As amazed and amused as I was, I was even more frustrated when I finished the book. Whether the monster threat was a 100 years dead cannibalistic murderer somehow returned to life or an alien from outer space, the novelization offers no information whatsoever as to how or why these killings are happening.

Zero expository light pierces the incomprehensible blackness that is at the very center of The Dark.

Jurassic Park III (2001) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - July 18, 2001
I saw Jurassic Park III opening weekend and had fun with it. While it might not have been a great, or even all that good, movie, Jurassic Park III nonetheless kept me entertained during its somewhat brisk 92 minute running time.

Two memorable moments occurred during that first viewing. 

First was, after the plane had crashed on the island and the assorted characters were climbing out of the wreckage, I leaned over and whispered to my companion, "Just how long do you think the black guy is going to last here?" Only for a dinosaur to come along and eat the poor guy within seconds of my having spoken. I am ashamed to admit we giggled over that lazy (and offensive) trope being played out with such perfunctory speed. Come on, guys. We can and must do and be better than this!

Second was a funny gag involving a ringing cellphone. The sound mix made it sound as if the ringing were coming from somewhere in the auditorium, which had disgruntled audience members grumbling about some damn fool's phone ruining the movie, only for it to be revealed that the cell phone was inside the film's primary dinosaur antagonist. That gag was set-up and paid-off with plenty of b-movie elan and charm.

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #70

Parker and Lambert rush to Ripley's aid as Ash continues his mad attack. Suddenly, Ash's head is ripped from his body, revealing wires and circuits where tissue should be. "My God" gasps Lambert. "He's... an android!"

"It's a robot! Ash is a goddamn robot!" Is what Parker says, after knocking Ash's block off (literally, not figuratively) with a fire extinguisher. It took some close listening, but I could also suss out a muffled line of dialogue, "It's an android!" Spoken, once again, by Parker, just after Ash's head is knocked off. Lambert doesn't say anything.

I know, I know. If I keep picking at these nits they are going to get infected. So be it.

Here is some more compulsive nitpicking, just to be joyously pedantic, the image in this card occurs just before the image used on card 69.

Pointing out and correcting these trivial matters is how an aging man has fun these days, I guess. LOL.

Hauntress by Minetaro Mochizuki - Review

It begins with a simple inquiry that draws attention. Attention that becomes a baffling obsession. An obsession that spirals into nightmare. A nightmare that becomes the stuff of urban legend.

The simple inquiry is when Hiroshi Mori, a young student, hears a woman ringing the doorbell and knocking on the door of his neighbor, Yamamoto. Since it is the middle of the night and the ringing and knocking is loud enough to disturb Hiroshi, he steps out to see what is going on. Big mistake.

Standing at Yamamoto's door is a towering woman with long black hair. She is wearing an overcoat and is carrying two paper bags and a satchel. Hiroshi's short encounter with her is dreamlike, with the woman pointing at the Yamamoto's door and asking if he goes to the same school as, "The person who lives here."

If this were a video that last comment would get punctuated by a clip of Dustin Poynter running around with a giant red flag.

The strange woman's attention turns to Hiroshi, of course, and his life is fast unraveled and tossed to the wind.

I am hesitant to offer any further explanation or exploration of Hauntress, as doing so would only spoil unnerving revelations and incidents that would best be experienced with a set of fresh and unaware eyes.

The ad copy on the back of the edition I have describes it as a "1993 horror classic...credited with introducing the concept of stalking to Japan." That was enough to sell me on the manga and, now having read it, I more or less concur.

Hauntress creeped me out and left me hesitant to the point of being afraid to see who it is that is knocking on a neighbor's door in the dead of night...

Arachnophobia (1990) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - July 17, 1990
Producer Frank Marshall, a longtime collaborator with Steven Spielberg, made his feature film directing debut with this entertaining creepy crawly opus. One that parent company Disney, via its short-lived Hollywood Pictures branch, had a difficult time finding a way to market to the general public. 

I do not know if the term "thrillomedy" was coined for this particular film's release, but the ratio of scares and laughs are very well-balanced. It's a horror-comedy that works because, by and large, the horror aspect is treated dead serious, while the humor comes from how the characters react to said horror.

One thing I do regret is deleting the film's soundtrack album from my collection. That was dumb.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Trading Card #72

Checklist
And the first complete set of trading cards in my collection has reached its end, with no newspaper ads, books, soundtracks, or related ephemera crossing its posting path. Nothing else to add. Besides, thank you for visiting.

Talk Story Bookstore - A 500 Piece Puzzle