Chadwick H. Saxelid's Blog: Ghoulies, Ghosties, and Long-Leggedy Beasties, page 6

Alien (1979) - Sticker #3

 

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #17

On the run from the FBI, Catherine Bell, a.k.a. "Bad Kitty" fled to New York to begin her life again - only to find herself entrusted with the safety of a young girl whom the forces of Hell itself were chasing. 

Nightmares (1983) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - September 3, 1983
I remember reading a small blurb about a planned TV series titled Nightmares in Fangoria magazine, way back in what had to have been early 1983.  Because my family would be uprooting and moving to Hong Kong in June of that year.

A quick check of Fangoria's archive revealed that blurb appeared in the Monster Invasion section of issue 26. Yet again I waver between being delighted and amazed at just how photographic my recall of something as insignificant as a blurb in a magazine was/is, while entire swaths of my childhood seems that have been forgotten or deleted. 

One hyperbolic quote, attributed to screenwriter-producer Christopher Crowe, and that may or may not have been culled from a press release, promised a show that would "go as far as television propriety will allow." That got me both interested and excited about the series.

Flash forward a few months and the un-aired pilot, which had been deemed 'too intense' for television, was given a theatrical release. Even with a gratuitous insert scene shot so the film could get an R-rating, it was pretty tame TV-level stuff. So I call bullshit on that too intense for TV marketing nonsense.

There is a Fandom Legend that asserts Nightmares was comprised of stories written or pitched for another failed horror anthology series, Darkroom. The reason for this might be that screenwriter-producer Christopher Crowe had worked on Darkroom, penning an adaptation of William F. Nolan's short story The Partnership.

Crowe might be best known to some for creating and writing the long-running series B.J. and the Bear, as well as writing The Last of the Mohicans (1992).

Nightmares was directed by none-other than Joseph Sargent. Two worthy high-points in Sargent's long and storied Hollywood career are the excellent science-fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) and the taunt heist thriller The Taking of Pelham One-Two-Three (1974). Both are worth seeking out.

The most infamous low-point of Sargent's career has to have been directing Jaws the Revenge (1987). Oof. That is NOT worth seeking out.

Oh, and if you had tuned in to watch John Stanley on Creature Features that night, as I would have done if able to do so, the movie being shown was The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975).

ParaNorman (2012) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - September 3, 2012
I was so stoked about this movie and was quite happy that it delivered on all fronts. 

Alien (197) - Sticker #2

 

The Masque of the Red Death (1964) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - September 1, 1964
This might be my favorite of Roger Corman's cycle of Edgar Allan Poe films starring Vincent Price that were released in the early to mid-1960s. Because the titular source material is one of my favorite Poe stories and Corman, Price, and co-screenwriter Charles Beaumont hew pretty darn close to its overall mood and imagery.

The film's fidelity to its core source material is not the only thing about it that I love. Another excellent Poe story, the revenge tale Hop-Frog, is well interpolated into the narrative of The Masque of the Red Death, so that the film has enough story elements to flesh it out into a feature length gothic horror extravaganza.

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #16

Smoldering Seduction
Her life turned upside down by forces beyond her control, and now on the run, Catherine, "Cat" Bell was forced to confront her inner demons and take life on her own terms. Her beauty now acts to hide her very deadly side. 

Up from the Depth (1979) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - August 29, 1979
I remember being freaked out by this artwork for Up from the Depths, but the movie was not booked at any venues I would have been able, much less even allowed, to go to in order to see it on the big screen. If I had even dared to. This ad made the movie look pretty darn scary to me.

The co-hit for the film at the Eastmont Four was Piranha (1978), a far better film than Up from the Depths turned out to be. At the Lux Up from the Depths would be sharing the screen with The Great Train Robbery (1978) and Fast Charlie...the Moonbeam Rider (1979), making this creature feature the cinematic fish out of water of the three. The Nimitz and San Ramon drive-ins would also have Up from the Depths coupled with Piranha, like the Eastmont Four.

Alien (1979) - Sticker #1

 

Prom Night (1980) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - August 28, 1980
I saw Prom Night (1980) on the big screen, on home video, and watched its network television debut. I am also reasonably certain that I even watched it, once or twice, when it aired on HBO. Maybe. Which means that, of all the date-themed cash grabs that were pumped out in the money-making wake of Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980), Prom Night is the one I have watched the most. Go figure.