Chadwick H. Saxelid's Blog: Ghoulies, Ghosties, and Long-Leggedy Beasties, page 31

Fulci - A 1000 Piece Puzzle by Messed Up Puzzles

Color Me Blood Red (1965) / Two Thousand Maniacs (1964) / Blood Feast (1963) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - April 21, 1967
I have seen two of the three Herschell Gordon Lewis movies in this gore-laden triple-bill. Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs. No idea if I will ever watch Color Me Blood Red, though. Who knows.

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #38

 

The Dark Half (1993) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - April 18, 1993
I was super excited at being able to see The Dark Half  at a 'sneak preview' screening held at the Alexandria Theater in San Francisco. But the muted and indifferent reaction of the packed house proved to be a dire foreshadowing of the film's lackluster performance at the box office.

Which was too bad, as I liked the film and hoped it would be successful. Not to be, though. So it goes.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Trading Card #40

Heather's Journal 10.23.94 Part 1
Everyone freaked out today, I am sure I know where the car is, it's just taking longer than I thought... The hardest thing about directing is dealing with people, it almost seems as if the smaller the number of people, the harder it is, because you're with them all the time. I truly like these guys. Mike has turned out to be incredibly cool, and Josh, well, Josh, he's always a surprise. Then again, he always works hard, as well as being hard to work with on occasion... 

Body Parts (1991) - Soundtrack

Writer-director Eric Red wrote the liner notes for this soundtrack to his 1991 film Body Parts, wherein he described his film as "a psychological thriller with horror and action elements." Well... okay, then.

Another thing he did that I find artistically suspect is cast considerable shade on synthesizer music. He wanted, "A full orchestral score with all the colors, weight and muscle that only a 107-piece acoustical symphony can deliver."

Well, Loek Dikker certainly delivered a score filled with weight and muscle for the film. Red highlighted two artistic flourishes that make Dikker's score distinctive. One is having a saw played with a bow, which creates a wailing and chilling sound. The other is the use of 'col legno battuto', which is when the string section of the orchestra is directed to beat the sticks of their bows against the strings of their instruments.

The end result is a score that delights every bit as much as it unsettles.

Brainscan (1994) - Newspaper Promo

San Francisco Examiner - April 17, 1994
I just so happened to go and see Brainscan at the Alexandra Theater on its opening weekend. My reason for doing so was rooted in the film having been directed by John Flynn, who was a journeyman director that excelled at making lean and entertaining thrillers. Brainscan turned out to be neither and it quickly vanished from theaters. So it goes.

One note of trivia worth pointing out, co-screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker would go on to pen the more successful films Se7en and Sleepy Hollow.

Alien (1979) - Trading Card #37

 

Psycho (1960) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - April 16, 1969
Wednesday, April 16, 1969 saw a re-release of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho hit San Francisco Bay Area theaters and drive-ins. Coupled with this re-release was Strategy of Terror, a film created by editing together a two-parter episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre into a single feature.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - Trading Card #39

Primal Fears
As Heather and Josh surveyed the area around their campsite, Mike remained inside the tent, disturbed by the weird, distant thrashing sounds that awakened them. "What bugs me out is that we're so damned deep in the woods (and maybe) people are gonna try and come here and mess with us," Mike admitted the next morning. "(That means) they gotta gave something wrong with them and I'm not gonna play with that."