Why We Need to See Films in the Theater

Last night, I ventured into Chicago to the Music Box Theatre for The Creepshow, a Stephen King film festival, where they had a bunch of King movies being screened over 3 days. Friday night, they were screening the original The Shining (1980) and Doctor Sleep (2019), which I had originally planned to go but didn’t make it. Which kind of worked out for the best, since I heard it sold out early in the day. But I did go last night because they were screening Creepshow (1982), which happens to be one of my favorite films of all time. They were also screening 1408 (2007), and Christine (1983), which we planned on staying for as well.

When we (myself and my partner-in-crime for the evening, Brian Martinez) drove up to the theater, we could already see a huge line outside the theater. I lucked out in finding a parking space right in front of the theater. Any locals know just how lucky you are when that happens. In fact, we were so excited, I completely forgot to pay the parking meter. So, after over 30 years of coming into the city for movies and such, I ended up getting my first parking ticket! But back to the real story.

Joe Turkel – Rest in Peace

The real power of an actor can be one single role, one performance, even if it is for only a minute or two onscreen that will make movie-goers remember them forever. Joe Turkel, and actor who had over a 140 acting credits to his name, did that twice in his career. They were on the later part of his career, but they are still as an effective performance now and they were some 40 years ago today.

The first and probably best known, is that of Lloyd the bartender in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980). His underplayed and subdued characterization sells the roles even more. But then two years later, he appeared in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, as Dr. Eldon Tyrell, the creator of the replicants that Harrison Ford’s character is out to capture. Again, not a huge role and not a lot of screen time, but Turkel made an impact with it.

Scary Movie Mondays at the Starlite Drive-In!

It seems more and more of these drive-ins are holding events that keep tempting me to take more road trips! Once I hit the lotto, that is exactly what I’ll be doing, in between hitting on these old book stores!

Anyway, starting next Monday, the Starlite Drive-In, located in Wichita, KS, they will be having double and triple features  each week through most of October, with some really choice titles. If there is anyway I could get down there to see Godzilla vs Megalon on the big screen, I would definitely be there. You can see all the features below on the ad, or you can head over to their Facebook Events page HERE. If you’re in the area and can make it, I will be very envious of you!

Halloween Favorites

Horror scholar David J. Skal has a new book coming out this fall, just in time for Halloween, entitled Fright Favorites: 31 Movies to Haunt Your Halloween and Beyond. Presented by Turner Classic Movies, Skal takes on 31 films ranging from the silent era, hitting a few titles from each decade through the ’80s, and a few beyond that. Most of these everyone will agree are classics, with a few comedies listed in the later day titles. The description in Amazon says they are “family-friendly” but not sure The Exorcist (1973) and The Thing (1982) are ones I would be screening for 8-year old Timmy!

Book Review: The Haunted House on Film

The Haunted House on Film: An Historical Analysis
Published by McFarland, 2019. 222 pages
By Paul Meehan

The haunted house film is one of my favorite sub-genres so I was very excited to dig into this title when it finally came out. I was hoping to add a multitude to titles to my “Crap! I haven’t seen that yet” list, which is exactly what I did. Even before we get into the thick of this review, anytime a book has you seeking out different titles, that is always a good thing!

The introduction gives a great overview of the not only haunted house in cinema, but in fiction as well, giving the reader a nice background as to where all of this really started. When you consider that the very first haunted house film, Georges Méliès 1986 film Le Chateau Hante (aka The Haunted Castle), was also the very first horror film, makes this sub-genre really the oldest in the horror film category. But we also have early titles discussed such as D.W. Griffith’s One Exciting Night (1922) and Roland West’s The Bat (1926). Meehan covers the early “old dark house” films that really were a combination of mystery/thriller/comedies, giving a good explanation as to why these are really different than what one would normally define as a haunted house film. On many of the movies discussed, where there is a mystery killer, the author leaves it up to the reader to find the movie and watch it to find out who that might be. Since many authors will give away any surprises, which really is a letdown going into the film if you know the ending, it’s nice to know those secrets were left hidden.

Soundtrack Review: The Shining (1997)

The Shining (1997)
Released by Varèse Sarabande Records, 2017
3 Discs – 64 Tracks with a Total Running time of 2 hr. 29 min.
Music by Nicholas Pike

Being released for the first time, Varèse Sarabande has unleashed Nicholas Pike’s epic score for the 1997 mini-series version of Stephen King’s The Shining. It’s common knowledge that King wasn’t particularly fond of the movie version of his novel, so with him writing the screenplay and directed by long time King collaborator, director Mick Garris, they made a version that he would be happy with. Pike was in charge of bringing the sense of dread in musical form for the mini-series. And he does a fine job with it too.

Stephen King CD Collection!

If you’re a fan of Stephen King and love soundtracks, then you are probably going to love this bit of news. Varèse Sarabande Records has announced an 8-CD set that has the soundtracks for four of King’s films. They are:

Dreamcatcher (2003) – Composer James Newton Howard’s score on 2-CDs
Firestarter (1984) – Tangerine Dream
The Stand (1994) – Composer W.G. Snuffy Walden’s score on 2-CDs
The Shining (1997) – Composer Nicholas Pike’s score on 3-CDs