MY WORST HALLOWEEN NIGHTMARE!

 

Yes! It is no secret! I hate Brussels Sprouts!

Phantom of the Covid

THE OVERLOOK HOTEL, 1921

I just realized that the year 2021 will mark the 100th anniversary of the July 4th Ball at the Overlook Hotel, seen at the ending of Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining". 

 I hope I never see a photograph like this one here:

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The original photo from 1980's THE SHINING.

And you can watch the ending from the film here:

FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND

One of the great magazines to reach its biggest peak during the Monster Craze of the mid 1960s was Warren's FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND. Created by Forrest J. Ackerman, the publication began its run back in 1958 as a one shot issue but it went into a second printing due to popular demand and soon enough it turned into a monthly, bi-monthly and annual periodical.

FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND Number One

Every Halloween season, I dust off my small collection of FM magazines and browse through those ancient pages which even now, still appear informative and entertaining.

Only Four Months To Go!

 

                                                                       

Sometimes I feel like all those poor sailors from the 1933 film KING KONG who tried to cross the pit on a log and found themselves at the mercy of the big ape at the other side. There was no way they could escape. They couldn't go back and they couldn't go forward so they just clung to that old log for dear life. 

                          In 2020, we're all just hanging on, waiting to safely reach the new year!

 

                                               And here's the original image I'm talking about!

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944)

I suppose I'm really showing my age when I say Halloween is not officially Halloween for me until I watch the 1944 Cary Grant film "ARSENIC AND OLD LACE".

In the age of Google, where you can find out everything about any movie, it's a bit useless and redundant to give some background info about this film, but anyway, all I can say is that Cary Grant gives the funniest performance of his career here and that Josephine Hull and Jean Adair are just perfect to play Mortimer Brewster's purported aunts Abby and Martha. 

                              

The rest of the cast is excellent, from Raymond Massey's mentally deranged Jonathan Brewster and his assistant Dr. Einstein, played with his usual creepiness by Peter Lorre, to the supporting players, who were familiar and beloved faces from the movies of that time, like Jack Carson, Edward Everett Horton, James Gleason, John Alexander as "Teddy Roosevelt", Ed McNamara, John Ridgely, and Garry Owen among many others.

                                    

And of course, beautiful, young Priscilla Lane as Mortimer's fiancee Elaine Harper is the very picture of innocent beauty, charm and bewilderment at the unexplainable shenanigans unfolding before her.

It is almost impossible to pinpoint exactly who walks away with the picture, since all the performances hit the mark right on the button, but let's just say that Cary Grant especially runs the gamut from romantic boyfriend, to horrified nephew at his aunts' hobby of doing away with lonely old men, to befuddled playwright trying to distract policeman Jack Carson from the crimes around him and terrified victim of his "brother" Jonathan's intentions of getting rid of him by way of torture before murder, for a veritable tour de force of comedic acting.

But of course, it would be unfair to single him out here since the film is more of an ensemble work than a one-man show. 

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE ranks as one of director Frank Capra's better achievements and is regarded as a true classic from the Golden Era of motion pictures.  

So, be glad you're not a Brewster and have a Happy Halloween!

                                  

Enjoy the trailer here:

ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN!

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948) is the first film in which the famous comic duo meet the classic monsters from Universal Pictures' horror films. In my humble opinion it is also the best of them.
Bud and Lou play baggage handlers Chick Young and Wilbur Grey who get involved with Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster when a crate holding the remains of the Count arrives at the railway station in Florida, where Bud and Lou work as baggage clerks, to be delivered at McDougal's House of Horrors, a local wax museum.
The film contains some of Abbott & Costello's best routines and some of the one-liners are true gems, like this one:

The film is also notable because it was the "swan song" for the Big Three of Universal's Monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster and the Werewolf made their last appearances in a Universal film here.

                                         

 Bud and Lou made some other subsequent horror spoofs for Universal: "A & B Meet the Invisible Man" (1951), "A & B Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1953) and "A & B Meet The Mummy" (1955).

                    But their crowning achievement in horror comedies was certainly the first one.

Abbott and Costello have always been among my favorite comedy teams, second only to Laurel & Hardy, but in the 1940s, they were the top box-office draws, remaining there for several years. Their brand of comedy was more suitable to the taste of war and post-war audiences.

They also had a successful run on television with the "Abbot and Costello Show" (1952-1954) and their legion of fans remain adoringly faithful to this day.

Traditionally, I always reserve October for a horror film marathon, with the classic Universal films holding a special place in the line-up.

So, here's to the classic Universal monsters and to Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, who will always keep a special place in my heart.