Chadwick H. Saxelid's Blog: Ghoulies, Ghosties, and Long-Leggedy Beasties, page 25

Visiting Hours (1982) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - May 26, 1982
Here we have an ad hyping the upcoming release of a cheesy slice of slasher Canuxploitation. One that stars Lee Grant and William Shatner, of all people. Third-billed Michael Ironside plays the misogynistic killer. Fourth-billed Linda Purl is a sympathetic nurse, and single mother, that distracts the killer in order to pad out the film's runtime.

While this did screen at Alameda's Southshore Cinema, I was unable to see it on the big screen. This was a home video rental or an HBO watch for me.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Trading Card #52

Losing It
"Help... somebody help us!!!" Mike bellowed into the early evening sky, while an equally despondent Josh lowered his head, all energy spent. "This isn't the way to get out of here," Heather responded in a half-hearted voice. A short time later they set up the tent again and prepared for their fourth harrowing night in the woods. 

Poltergeist II The Other Side (1986) - San Francisco Examiner - May 23, 1986

San Francisco Examiner - May 23, 1986
Things I liked about this movie: Will Sampson, Jerry Goldsmith's score, H.R. Geiger's creature design(s), and Julian Beck's creepy to the point of being terrifying visit to the Freeling house. "You're going to die in there!" 

Things I did not like about this movie: everything else, pretty much.

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #49

 

The 'Burbs (1989) - Soundtrack

1989 was a great year for Jerry Goldsmith music, at least for me. I have never, ever gotten tired of listening to this scores for Leviathan, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, or, the subject of today's post, The 'Burbs.

The first two, which will be the subjects of catalogue posts of their own when I alphabetically get to them, benefited from having official soundtrack releases, back in the day. The 'Burbs did not.
It took about three years for Varèse Sarabande to release a limited edition soundtrack. That release contained a paltry 30 or so minutes, though. Goldsmith's complete score hovers around an hour or so of music. I made do, because having 30 minutes to listen to was better than having nothing at all.
The opportunity to upgrade came when La-La Land Records issued this remastered Expanded Edition of the complete score in 2022. Jeff Bond's liner notes describe Goldsmith's energetic work as "a busy, leitmotivic score." Sounds about right.

Alien 3 (1992) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - May 22, 1992
More often than not, if you have a solid story, then you are going to have a solid movie. Both Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) serve as excellent examples of this truism. Alien 3 does not.

Oh, they had concepts of a story, for certain. But that story was never locked and ironed out. Couple that with David Fincher not having a substantiative amount of support or creative control and, well, it is no wonder the movie, regardless of the cut you watch, plays as a collection of interesting set-pieces stitched together in a manner that kind of resembles a story.
There is a lot of stuff I like in this movie, and I was even a staunch and vocal defender of its infamous autopsy scene for a time, but that does not distract or cover for the obvious and impossible to ignore deficiencies in the unfocused and underdeveloped script that was ultimately cobbled together. So it goes.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Trading Card #51

Heather's Journal 10.25.94 Part 2
"We have to get out of here. As much as I would like to know what it is that's following us around, I think we have enough footage - certainly more bizarre (material) than we anticipated. I just want us all to be home safe. The scarecrows' voodoo dolls, whatever they were today, were disturbing. I got them all on both 16 and video plus, I cut one down. I probably shouldn't have, the guys freaked out a bit when I did it, but I want to be able to look at it objectively when we get out of here. We will all laugh about this someday... Good night. Please, God, or whatever, get us out of here... 

Poltergeist (1982) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - May 21, 1982
How can it be that I gave Poltergeist a pass during its big screen release? There was even a controversy about the PG rated film being far too graphic and scary for its rating. This was my kind of movie, to be sure. So, why give it a pass?

Because Poltergeist fell victim to my habit of reading the novelization before seeing the film. I did not much care for the novelization, so I figured the movie would be underwhelming. I was wrong, of course. Poltergeist became a cultural touchstone for a countless number of Gen X kids. But for me, it was not to be. So it goes.

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #48

Beneath the immense alien spaceship lies an unusual chamber. With little hesitation, Kane descends the strangely-textured shaft which leads to the subterranean chamber... 

Bullitt (1968) - Soundtrack

This was first digital download I ever purchased. While not as memorably iconic as Schifrin's score for Dirty Harry (and three of its sequels), nonetheless this offers a refreshing blast of 'cool' to a listener's ears and is worth having for Shifting Gears alone.