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Post by loverofbeers on Mar 27, 2013 22:54:14 GMT -5
Just watched The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman (1971). I have seen it before as Noche de los Walpurgis or maybe Walpurgis Night. This was a much better but still not stellar print, but that made my enjoyment of this movie more tolerable.... barely.
I don't love this movie but I do like the creature make-up especially the Lycanthrope surrounded by darkness but teeth and eyes showing, and how creepy and evil the Vampire Hellspawn Vamps acted, moved, and looked. The romantic plot killed this movie for me. Plus the cinematography and special effects were prehistoric in their own time.
This movie is known by many names: Noche de Walpurgis, Nacht der Vampire, Blood Moon, Werewolf Shadow, etc. Paul Naschy plays the werewolf Count Waldemar Daninsky, in this, his fifth "Waldemar" movie. The Mighty Wikipedia says, "Naschy's twelve "Hombre Lobo" movies are not a series in the strictest sense. They seem to be a collection of unrelated plotlines, but all of which involve a werewolf named Waldemar Daninsky. Both La Furia del Hombre Lobo (1970) and La Maldicion de la Bestia (1975) refer to an origin involving Waldemar's being bitten by a Yeti (and there is a brief Yeti reference in La Noche de Walpurgis (1970) as well), but the other films presented him with entirely different origin stories. The fact that these films have also been retitled by the various film distributors many times over the years only adds to the confusion. Despite the numerous plot inconsistencies and convoluted flashbacks, however, Naschy's Wolf Man series as a whole is still considered his most famous work by most of his many fans.
Only eleven of the 12 "Hombre Lobo" films actually exist today. All traces of Las Noches del Hombre Lobo (1968) apparently vanished before the film was ever shown anywhere (not even Naschy has seen it!), and it remains a mystery to this day whether or not the film ever really existed at all in completed form. (The French producer of the film (Rene Govar) is said to have died in a car accident in Paris a week after the film was completed, and no one ever picked up the lab bill that was outstanding. Hence it is thought that the lab may have confiscated the film negative and years later they probably just discarded it. Naschy claimed he only became aware decades later that the film had never been released anywhere.) Some Naschy fans think the film was scrapped in 1968 and the script may have been later rewritten to become the 4th film in the series, La Furia del Hombre Lobo (1970). This is possible since Naschy himself vaguely remembered both films as having virtually the same plot!".
Drinking a Texas Hill Country-cold Real Ale Full Moon Pale Rye. A-wooooooooooooooo!
LOB-30
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Post by loverofbeers on Mar 27, 2013 23:05:55 GMT -5
Oh yeah, for some inexplicable (to me) reason, The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman had a cameo of a Zombie in a Cathedral or monastery in a monk's robes. Pretty bad skeletal Zombie, in my opinion. 'Nuff said about this movie, time for another Wolf-Man, this one British, and I'm excited. A Full Moon Pale Rye Cheers! to that.
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Post by loverofbeers on Mar 28, 2013 0:06:52 GMT -5
Sorry for the personal and possibly boring post. I have mentioned The Paramount Theater a few times. Allow me to gush. The first time I saw movies from The Maltese Falcon, Spartacus, Felini's Stratacato (spelling error, guaranteed and I am proud-avoid this sexually deviant art film), National Velvet, Chinatown, Peeping Tom, Polanski's Revulsion, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Zombieland, Survival of the Dead, and Before Sunrise, was at The Paramount in all it's glory. I have watched the Austin institution Dazed and Confused there. I have seen so many other movies I love, again for the first time, on that wondrous silver screen. These include Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, An American Werewolf in London, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Sergio Leone's "Man with No Name" trilogy, Slap Shots (the crowd was rowdy whiskey and beer drunk with many, MANY, audience members in hockey garb and it was followed by a Q&A with two of the Hanson Brothers and Oggie Oglethorp-My best movie going experience ever), Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, 2001 a Space Odyssey, Universal's Frankenstein with Boris Karloff, Akira Kurosawa films, Dirty Harry, Gone with the Wind, Planet of the Apes, Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, and so many more. So to continue my gushing, here is a bit from Wikipedia about this landmark's history: The Paramount Theatre is a live theatre venue/movie theatre located in Downtown Austin, Texas, United States of America. The classical revival style structure was built in 1915. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on June 23, 1976.
In the Paramount's 90-year history, it has played host to a wide variety of acts ranging from vaudeville legends The Marx Brothers, to the premieres of such films as 1966's Batman and 2005's Sin City.
For over 90 years, The Paramount Theatre has been home to vaudeville, silent movies and "talkies," music, dance, and Broadway shows. Through the years, a cast of superstars has graced its stage; from Houdini, the Marx Brothers, Helen Hayes, Orson Welles, Sarah Bernhardt, the Ziegfeld Follies, the Metropolitan Opera, Lillian Russell, John Philip Sousa, the Barrymores, Lillian Gish, and George M. Cohan to such modern-day favorites as Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Sarah Vaughan, Lyle Lovett, Gregory Hines, and Mandy Patinkin.
On October 11, 1915, The Paramount Theatre, then called The Majestic Theatre, opened its doors to the public in what would become a legacy of theatrical service to Austin and its surrounding communities. Built by Ernest Nalle in only eight months for a cost of $150,000, The Paramount was designed by John Eberson of Chicago, who was one of the most respected theatre architects in the United States. Eberson built approximately 1,200 theatres during his career, but today The Paramount is one of less than 25 in existence across the country. Architecturally handsome and acoustically excellent, The Paramount is described by today's architects as part Classical, Revival (1915) in style, and part Baroque-Revival (1930s glamorization). However you describe it, the Theatre means something different to each of its patrons.
In the years following, the Theatre saw the demise of vaudeville and the rise of silent, and then talking pictures. In 1930, the Interstate Theatre Circuit, owned by Karl Hoblitzelle, engaged in a major remodeling of the Majestic, adding wall-to-wall carpeting, replacing the wooden seats with upholstered chairs, and adding a state-of-the-art sound system, all of which cost almost as much as the original building. Once the extensive and ornate art deco remodeling was completed, the Theatre was renamed as the "Paramount" after its new owners, Paramount Pictures.The Paramount Theatre was very active during the war years of the 1940s. Hoblitzelle's Interstate Theatre's slogan was "dedicated to community service." The Paramount was a big promoter of war bonds - it sold $8.4 million in war bonds from the first drive in 1942 to the victory campaign in 1945. The United States Treasury War Finance Committee recognized it with citations and awards and the manager, Louis Novy, with a war finance silver medal. The Theatre even ran Army training and recruiting films, such as Paris Under Ground, The Story of G.I. Joe, and Pride of the Marines, along with the usual entertainment.Under various managements, The Paramount experienced several decades of successful seasons playing top-rated films. By the 1950s, The Paramount was almost exclusively used as a movie house. However, the invention of television and a move to the suburban movie houses began to threaten The Paramount in the 1960s.By the early 1970s, The Paramount Theatre was in disrepair and operating as a "B" movie house when John M. Bernardoni, Charles Eckerman, and Stephen L. Scott rescued the Theatre from obscurity. Bernardoni wanted to get back into Theatre work; Scott and Eckerman were ready for a challenge. In 1973, the three formed a corporation with the hope of acquiring a lease on the Theatre, which was slated for demolition, and of bringing in first class live entertainment for local audiences. In the beginning, Bernardoni, Eckerman, and Scott had no money and no connections, and initially they did not get much encouragement about their dreams for the Theatre. At the time, downtown Austin had acquired a bad reputation, and nay-sayers insisted that no one would go downtown at night, that there was no parking, and that the building was too far gone.
Nevertheless, on February 2, 1975, The Paramount had its first live show in years, a concert with Dave Brubeck, and on April 15, 1975, Bernardoni, Eckerman, and Scott acquired The Paramount lease. One of Bernardoni's fondest memories of The Paramount was the night before that momentous date. It was around midnight, and he and his partners were cleaning up the Theatre. It was filthy and they had the border lights on, and Bernardoni started lowering a drop. "It was the first time we had seen the painted asbestos curtain. No one knew it was there. It was an emblem of what the Theatre was all about - a piece of history." The curtain was the original dramatically crafted curtain from 1915, and it is still there today. Under its new management, The Paramount began showing classic films such as Top Hat, Citizen Kane, and An American in Paris for 50 cents a ticket. Then the stage of The Paramount once again felt legitimate theatre return to its wooden floor after a 20-year absence when Center Stage and Austin Theatre Company produced the musical, Carnival, in June of '75. On May 6, 1977, The Paramount was the scene of a state historical marker dedication. Not long afterwards, on July 8, 1977, the Theatre earned its place in the national register of historic places, which qualified it for federal restoration funds. Raising the money for the renovation was a constant struggle.Since its reorganization and 1980 restoration, the Theatre has served more than 1.5 million patrons in Austin and the surrounding central Texas communities. Major events have included the national touring companies of such shows as A Chorus Line, My Fair Lady, and Evita, the dance companies of Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and Paul Taylor, comedians Lily Tomlin, Rodney Dangerfield, and George Carlin, and musical groups of every possible type, ranging from the Texas Opera Theatre to Tibetan Monks who performed a program of sacred music and dance. The Theatre still shows movies, too. In June 1992, the Paramount was chosen as one of the Theatres to rerun the alltime favorite Casablanca in celebration of the movie's 50-year anniversary. The Paramount is one of the few Theatres left which showed Casablanca when it was originally released. The Theatre has even hosted glitzy Hollywood movie premieres - including the extravagant world premiere of the film version of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, with Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, and Jim Nabors along with country music stars Mel Tillis and Jerry Reed.More for the curious, if any, here: www.austintheatre.org/site/PageServer?pagename=HomeA Full Moon Pale Rye Cheers! to that wonderful old building, long may you stand and bring happiness!
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Post by loverofbeers on Mar 28, 2013 3:34:21 GMT -5
What is this footage from? Find out tomorrow or Thursday. WARNING! BOOBIES!!! Not for the kids. Hello the Land of Wood. Just watched The Curse of the Werewolf from Hammer Films. A very ironic situation and watch for me, and I believe I got the concept of "irony" nailed here. I have wanted to watch this movie since I read about it back around 1980-1982, sometime between kindergarten and first grade. I read about it in "The Wolf Man" volume of the for-kids Crestwood Monster series. All the pictures in this book were in glorious black and white, and creepy. This is what this Werewolf looked like to me for over thirty years: And.... I heard on another podcast that this movie was impossible to locate. I found it as a great deal in "The Hammer Horror Series" DVD film collection along with seven other films on Ebay. I just watched it. It was visually beautiful and one of Hammer's best in terms of cinematography. The plot was great and so was the acting and the great period sets. The effects, makeup, blood, and lone squib kill were top-notch for their time, revolutionary, and the era's best in my opinion (was that really a squib? I do remember similar squib effects in Hammer's The Mummy, a really good and ahead of it's time special effect). The ladies were buxom classical European, supposedly Spanish, beauties. This film was made so very well. This print was incredible. The beginning credits begin with a close-up of this monster's eyes, which don't blink for one minute, and the image is so clear that you can see the glass contact lenses that Oliver Reed wore as a Lycanthrope. And the whole time he doesn't blink, his eyes water continuously, as they dart left to right. Like a weeping and conflicted beast. That was awesome! My first problem with this movie though was that the full monster make-up reveal took nearly 125 minutes to be shown in it's entirety. My second problem is that the movie WAS in color. My third was that I HAVE seen this movie before, but obviously IN color, and I had no idea what it was. That is irony, and instead of the creepy black and white Werewolf of my childhood memories, I got this less satisfying Wolf Man, though very good Wolf Man: Still a great classic from Hammer, so a Full Moon Cheers! to the Limeys but not for their weak and stale ales, but for their cheeses and Hammer Films. A-woooooo, crumpet eaters. LOB-32
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Post by loverofbeers on Mar 28, 2013 6:47:44 GMT -5
I just watched The Howling (1981). This and An American Werewolf in London are my favorite Werewolf movies. Both use the special effects of Rick Baker (The Howling also uses the great skills of Rob Botin). Both films have my favorite Werewolf transformations, Werewolf make-up, and Werewolf movie plots. To me AAWIL only beats this movie hands down in the soundtrack department. I first saw this movie a year or two after it came out with my older brother. This was my first Lycanthrope flick, and one of the first Horror films I ever watched. And it is one of the earliest reasons I became a Horror fan. For that, a Real Ale Full Moon Pale Rye Cheers! for the director, Joe Dante and a Cheers! to Real Ale's Brewmaster Tim Schwartz. LOB-34
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Post by loverofbeers on Mar 28, 2013 6:49:54 GMT -5
My night of things Wolfish is coming to an end. The sun rises in an hour. A Cheers! to my brother Wulf and the wolves we have loved.
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Post by loverofbeers on Mar 29, 2013 14:09:39 GMT -5
So I am settling on my favorite Romero Zombie film, my new favorite Zombie film, and [EDIT Begins] a new addition to my all-time favorite Horror films, up wthere with The Shining, TTCSM, Psycho, and The Thing [EDIT Ends]. That good and so surprisingly new to me.
I am going to address "Romero Runners", and I am going to settle the question for myself. Just to refresh, in NOTLD the Cemetery Zombie "runs" or shuffles very quickly behind a car. In Dawn of the Dead, two children burst out of a closet and run fast and attack Peter who shoots them. It can be argued that Romero didn't mean for the kids to run. [EDIT] I can't see him scolding at and trying to direct kids, just a simpler "Okay, cut.", and move on to the "Frankenstein head" helicopter kill prop, which was neat but not perfect and a bit hokey. Kids are arguably, usually, bad actors. Back to the movie I watched, the best Zombie movie ever and Horror Gold.
First, I watched Dario Argento's Zombi, his cut of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. The movie was so different in feel and intent that it was definitely a wholly new cinematic experience for me. If Romero's version was comedy heavy and a social commentary and fun times, Argento's was more like a quality seventies action movie with a great soundtrack and much character study, oh yeah... with hungry, creepy Zombies who decimate your friends and family, and society.
JAS, this movie speaks so well on what you said about society co-operating, Stephen, Flyboy himself, even had a bit to say about that in this version, in a restored scene.
First the score. The comedic score is gone as is the terrible "football hero" motif of Peter's as he escapes to the helicopter at the end of the story. Here, it is serious, very effective angry Rock & Roll/early Heavy Metal. All the music was more chilling and serious in scenes with Zombies. The beautiful thing is that this movie removed much of the use of music altogether and focused more on dialogue and expanding scenes for the sake of increasing the conversations between the characters and allowing the four survivors to be much more "fleshed out" as characters instead of Romero's film which focuses on social commentary:
You see Roger tell Peter during the SWAT raid that he could run... and he could run tonight... on a helicopter.... and invites Peter to run and to join his friends' helicopter escape from the city. You hear all four mention who they are leaving behind: There is a reason why Roger is wearing a wedding band. Fran has an ex-husband. Peter is leaving his brothers behind. The friendship between all three guys growing is more showcased, their deaths, all of them including probably his brothers, are why Peter almost commits suicide at the end. Stephen is presented as more integral, capable, and concerned with strangers. Fran is less about political women's lib and more about a weaker character, whether male or female or purple-polka dotted, becoming a strong and more independent individual.
Let me sum it up. Romero's is about two amy type pals, the Flyboy, and the pregnant chick, and Argento's is about four capable survivors becoming an almost successful team and family. Fran is less commentary more obvious human growth in an already capable female character, and she becomes the fourth member of "the boy's club" with the pregnancy downplayed as a burden. She ain't no Barbara. Roger is more impulsive and the foreshadowing of the bite on his leg occurs time and time again but it is more darkly presented with more tension as he slips up more and more. Stephen is more likable and less a victim of social commentary. He becomes a better rounded and stronger character as things progress and you can easily put yourself in his shoes as a human. He is a part of the "boy's club". Peter, a deep character, becomes an even deeper and more likable character, and much less hokey. Many more scenes were expanded on.....
Running Zombie kids? Argento edits the footage he had to work with. It doesn't come out as obvious that the kids were running, and at one point the boy slouching forward was showcased as much as the burst from the closet and the run combined. The magic of editing. These kids were not runners, so to me, "Romero Rules" Zombies are no faster than the Cemetery Zombie. Because Dario Argento said so.
Oh yeah, Argento completely edits out the "Frankenstein head" prop. Smart move, it was hokey by accident of the prop that Savini made becoming distorted in the heat of the day during filming.
Romero, the back story is, was flown to Italy by Argento after NOTLD, and was persuaded to work on a sequel and was put up by Argento while Old George worked on this great story. Argento re-cut what Romero shot for Europe, and that is what Zombi is, Argento's cut of Romero's classic, but far superior.
I will re-watch Romero's version at least one more time to be able to do a better comparison for myself someday, and then I will put it on the shelf and leave it be. It is obsolete to me now. Argento's Dawn is the definitive version, and my number one recommend Zombie introduction to someone who has never seen a Zombie movie. That good, and as good as Horror movies get. Between the two versions, it became obvious to me that it was this film that truly inspired the tension heavy 2005 remake, which you know, I really appreciate. I have a whole new opinion and appreciation for Dario Argento. Oh yeah, Argento and Romero have been close friends since the beginning.
If not for Argento, there would have not been a Romero "trilogy, plus", and movies like Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things would have been as influential as the stand alone NOTLD was to a new developing un-dead genre. How more varied these tales from others would have been, or if the genre itself would have caught on regardless with audiences and society with less of Romero's vision and history, we will never know, but interesting to think about. George is still Da Man to me, but so is Ric Flair. In their time which has continued forwards like it is bound to do.
Second, I re-watched Dario Argento's Zombi, and I was still in awe.
LOB-36
Sorry, did two edits to clean up my thoughts.
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Post by loverofbeers on Mar 31, 2013 13:35:29 GMT -5
I watched two Zombie movies over the last two days.
First , I watched Orgy of the Dead (1965), a personal cult favorite in my days working at a titty bar (The Clinton years). I remember it as my favorite Ed Wood movie but that is kinda of an oxymoron right off the bat.
It is considered an Ed Wood movie, but I have learned that it wasn't directed by him. No wonder that it looks better than his other movies. But it still is a big stinker. Wood wrote the script in let's say his "Glenda" years when he was shifting over to sexploitation and "nudies". That said, the women, most of them, in this film are sixties stripper/burlesque-dancer fit and hot. The plot is lazy, the acting piss poor. It took me two days to watch it 15 minutes at a time. I recommend as a background movie during a house party, kinda like using a Russ Meyer movie, but otherwise avoid. Still, some awesome Boobies.
Pretty much the "plot" consists of hot dead women dancing in a cemetery for the Emperor of the Night, played terribly by Criswell, a Wood regular. There is a Zombie dancer as well as many other character type dead dancers. My favorite parts have the Wolf Man hanging out with The Mummy. The worst part is night shots suddenly being in bright daylight and switching back. I will watch it again, but my opinion of this movie has gotten worst, still better than Plan 9 from Outer Space because you get Boobies! Beware, this is Orgy of the Dead, sad, sad, bad, sad, and barely fun:
Then I watched Dance of the Dead for the umpteenth time and the movie flew by. This is a personal favorite Zombie movie.
It is prom night, and a combination of the local nuclear power plant, toxic sewage under the city, and such cause the dead to rise. These Zombies are kind of in between The Return of the Living Dead and the 2004 version of Dawn of the Dead, yet goofy at times. They burst out of the ground running, a funny take. Oh yeah, I counted three Star Wars nods; a Jedi "robed" character, the first line of dialogue between Luke and Leia aboard the first Death Star is used, and the word "Jedi" scrawled on a wall. A fellow old times, first time Star Wars fan made this fun flick.
The cast and acting, soundtrack (ROCKS!!!), gore, special effects, Zombie make-up and kills, the characters themselves, the lighting.... I just love this movie, it is not good times, it is great times. A big recommend but warning, it is a comedy. Horror laughs and smarts abound.
My favorite character, Kyle Grubbin.
And with that my Zombie dissections are done. I'm putting down the scalpel, and picking up the stakes.
LOB-40
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Post by loverofbeers on Apr 1, 2013 0:14:39 GMT -5
So when I was teenie tiny, years before people could even imagine an "interwebs", or internets if you will, or DVDs, I read about Abbott and Costello meet Meet Frankenstein (1948). Always wanted to see it, for thirty years, and finally did tonight. I loved it and a big recommend.
This was, to me, Bela Lugosi's best performance as Count Dracula and the same for Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man. The Frankenstein Monster was played so well by Glen Strange, but I still wanted Boris Karloff instead, that would have made a great movie even greater. This movie is comedy gold until the end. And I love the effects and the animation.
SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERS The Frankenstein Monster goes on a rampage, and I would call it Horror, towards the end of the movie. He throws the evil female doctor out a window! And then the Wolf Man kills Dracula and himself. My favorite scene, and brought by Youtube next. Fun, fun, fun.
SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERS End
The team of Abbott and Costello were comedy gold. I had no idea. They still are funny as is this movie, one of my new Horror comedy favorites up there with Young Frankenstein and Zombieland. FromWikipedia: The film is considered the swan song for the "Big Three" Universal horror monsters – Count Dracula, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein's monster – although it does not appear to fit within the loose continuity of the earlier films.
In 2001, the United States Library of Congress deemed this film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry, and in September 2007, Readers Digest selected the movie as one of the top 100 funniest films of all time. The 1948 film is recognized by historians as the definitive end point to the American golden age of the monster mash and the classic Universal monster cycle.
With the end of World War II and the beginning of the Atomic Age, Horror shifted to radiation, mutants and mutations, irradiated giant animals, and alien and UFO invasions. This great movie was a worthy end to THE classic Universal Horror era.
LOB-42
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