The world was a brighter place on 8 August 1910 because that was the day Sylvia Sidney was born.

I know her primarily from two films she made at the end of her life. The first was Beetlejuice. She played the Maitlands’ caseworker, Juno. You will remember her as smoking with the smoke coming out of her cut throat. Sadly, she was a lifelong smoker who eventually died from it — although at the ripe age of 88.

I also knew of Sylvia Sidney from Mars Attacks! In it, she plays Lukas Haas’ sweet grandmother, Florence Norris, who appears to have dementia but is actually spry and insightful. The two of them are the heroes of the film. It is a totally different role from Juno.

But these films capped an incredible career for Sidney. In addition to her numerous film and TV roles, she did a lot of stage work. The Internet Broadway Database (which is incomplete) lists 16 plays she was in from 1927 through 1977. She worked primarily on stage during the 1920s. She was under contract with Paramount Pictures for the first half of the 1930s.

In 1935, Paramount loaned her to Walter Wanger for a crime drama, Mary Burns, Fugitive. She liked the experience and independence. So when her contract was up, she left.

Both with Paramount and without, Sylvia Sidney did very well. She made William Wyler’s Dead End with Joel McCrea and Humphrey Bogart; Fritz Lang’s Fury with Spencer Tracy and You Only Live Once with Henry Fonda (she was in one other Lang film); Marion Gering’s films Madame Butterfly and Thirty-Day Princess, both with Cary Grant; City Streets with Gary Cooper; and Dorothy Arzner’s Merrily We Go to Hell with Fredric March. She was also in the excellent Hitchcock film, Sabotage. Sidney got top billing in almost all of these films.

She got an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams. In it, she plays a similar role to the one she later did in Beetlejuice. She’s wonderful with Joanne Woodward. But she lost to 10-year-old Tatum O’Neal, who was amazing in all those long single-shots Peter Bogdanovich used.

You can find pretty much all of these films for free online, and I recommend doing so. But since I find her so adorable in Mars Attacks! I’m going to embed it here:

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Sylvia Sidney publicity photo via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.

The Devil’s Rain premiered in New York on 7 August 1975. It premiered in Los Angeles the following week. It must have gone into wide release soon after, considering the cast it had. Leslie Halliwell called it an exploitation film but I don’t think that’s right. Yes, it’s horror. And they shot in Mexico. But Robert Fuest directed it after his successes with The Abominable Dr Phibes and Dr Phibes Rises Again. And it featured an experienced, professional crew.

Of course, Louis Peraino (as James V Cullen) produced the film. As such, Bryanston Distributing Company distributed it. You may know of it for distributing films like Flesh for Frankenstein, Dark Star, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Of course, Chain Saw was beset by all kinds of distribution problems. They ended up screwing over most of the cast and crew.

Oh, Bryanston was also a porn distributor. In fact, they first distributed Deep Throat. Two things about that. First, porn of that time had a certain cachet and producers at least thought they were doing something more than just sex on film. Second, they also messed up the distribution of that film too — but that was mostly due to organized crime and maybe we shouldn’t blame Bryanston.

I like The Devil’s Rain a lot. But even I will admit that it is one of those films with a beginning, muddle, and end. But what an end! I fear that many people stop watching before it gets really good. The middle is a bit slow. In my capsule review, I wrote, “The first 20 minutes are quite good. The next 40 minutes are hard going. And the last 20 minutes make it all worthwhile…”

You can watch a good print of The Devil’s Rain for free right now on YouTube.

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The Devil’s Rain (1975) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

The world gifted us Paul Bartel on 6 August 1938. But it didn’t pay off for several decades.

Like most people, I know him more as an actor than a director. That’s simply because he shows up in so many psychotronic delights. But he was a great director. He put his own stamp of films despite rarely writing them.

Today, we mostly remember Bartel for directing Eating Raoul. He also stars in it with frequent collaborator and friend Mary Woronov. The film is basically a play on film but thanks to the direction and acting, it doesn’t feel like it. Just the same, I am not inclined to watch it again and again. But it is obvious why the film is iconic. The title alone would make it so.

I’m more a fan of Lust in the Dust. With Tab Hunter and Devine, it seems like it would be a John Waters film. In fact, Waters was offered the film but he turned it down. I tend to think it is better for Bartel manning the shoot. Hard to say.

My favorite Paul Bartel film is Private Parts. But it is my kind of film. First, it’s horror. And it is seedy. And the comedy is often very uncomfortable. What’s not to like?!

Here is a very good print to watch for free:

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Private Parts (1972) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

Name two things that link Bob Clark and John Saxon. First, they were both important parts of the classic 1974 horror film Black Christmas. Second, they were both born on 5 August — Clark in 1939 and Saxon in 1936.

Bob Clark should be far better known than he is. He wrote and directed many iconic films. A personal favorite is Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things. Sadly, even the best release of that film doesn’t look great. But that is doubtless due to the low budget and the fact that it all takes place at night. But all horror fans should see it.

Clark also directed Deathdream, Porky’s, and, of course, A Christmas Story — a film many have turned against over the years but they all know they loved it then and love it now despite their pretense.

John Saxon was one of those actors who seemed to be everywhere. Of particular interest is his starring role in what is probably the first giallo, Mario Bava’s The Girl Who Knew Too Much. Of course, people know him better from films like Enter the Dragon and A Nightmare on Elm Street.

But today, we talk about perhaps the greatest film either man was involved in: Black Christmas. Like so many great psychotronic films, it didn’t receive the love it deserved. This always annoys me even though I fear people will look back at me and criticize my decision not to watch The Human Centipede films. (It’s not my fault! There are simply some things I cannot face. But I am getting to the point of thinking I might be able to watch the first one.)

But today, let us enjoy this good print of Black Christmas:

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Black Christmas (1974) poster via

Babe is a charming family film released on 4 August 1995.

I love it and its sequel Babe: Pig in the City. But I find it fascinating coming from the man who brought us Mad Max and the “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” remake in Twilight Zone: The Movie. How does that happen?!

To be clear, George Miller didn’t direct Babe. He co-wrote and co-produced it. And the director, Chris Noonan, claimed that Miller tried to take credit for it. Miller denied this, “But when it comes to Babe, the vision was handed to Chris on a plate.” Film is a collaborative art form, so I don’t especially care. And Miller directed the sequel so, whatever.

I was thinking about yesterday’s blog post about John Landis. As Gertrude Stein would have said, “A film is a film is a film.” And this is why I have such a soft spot for Tobe Hooper. He clearly loved horror. And he made it to the end. (See Djinn; it’s great!) So I really shouldn’t be surprised by people like Landis and Miller. But I think it’s cool.

Miller also directed Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two, which most people would consider family films. And he directed the horror-comedy gem The Witches of Eastwick. But he will likely be remembered for the Mad Max films. I’ve only seen the first four. They are all excellent except for the third, which might be due to the untimely death of collaborator Byron Kennedy.

1. Mad Max
2. Mad Max 2
3. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
4. Mad Max: Fury Road

But let’s think about Babe today. Watch it for free!

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Babe (1995) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

John Landis turns 75 today.

He’s a very interesting guy. People mention him when the subject of great horror directors come up. Sure, he isn’t one of the Big Five horror directors (John Carpenter, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg, Tobe Hooper, and George Romero[1]) but he always gets an honorable mention in this field.

But most people think of Landis as a comedy director. He directed (and sometimes co-wrote) many classics including The Kentucky Fried Movie, Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Trading Places, Spies Like Us, Three Amigos, and Coming to America.

He’s also directed a number of horror films: Schlock, An American Werewolf in London, and Twilight Zone: The Movie. There are a couple of things that take the shine off this. One is that the first two of these films are horror comedies. And there aren’t many of them. He certainly seems to be one of those guys who didn’t care about horror once he could choose not to.

But I think creating horror and comedy are similar. Both are visceral. They need to be effective at a deeper level than the cerebral cortex. And part of that is just craft. Setting up a joke is not much different than setting up a scare. But to me, both genres need immediacy. There can be no distractions.

Even better than John Landis is, to me, James Whale. But in many ways, they were the same. But as with the Big Five above, it is no dishonor to be come up short of Whale when it comes to horror — especially when I’d have to give the comedy prize to Landis.

To celebrate John Landis’ birthday, I recommend watching his first film, the horror comedy Schlock. Frankly, it is barely horror. But it is very funny! Archive has a decent print for free without commercials:

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[1] This is just the standard list. Obviously, I’d add Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento. I don’t know who I’d remove. Probably I’d just rename them the Big Seven horror directors.

John Landis by Blather From Brooklyn under CC BY-SA 2.0.

The gods gave us Wes Craven on 2 August 1939. They must have been in a good mood.

Yes, I say gods! Because he got his start as a porn producer. And he could have continued to do that. Hollywood’s Big Red Son generally makes more money than the “legitimate” films that people like me obsess about.

Wes Craven’s first film, The Last House on the Left, was supposed to be pornographic. It is also his most important film even though he made a number of great ones.

Sex is one of the oldest exploitation vehicles in all of film. But I generally find it pretty boring. So adding sex scenes to The Last House on the Left would not have helped it. And it probably would have been that Wes Craven would have spent his career making tons of money on porn and never would have created The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The People Under the Stairs, and Scream.

But I assume you’ve watched all of those and more. An interesting film that most people haven’t seen is Swamp Thing. It is one of most believable superhero films you’ll find. And it all works very well, especially considering its clearly modest budget. Here is an excellent print you can watch without commercials for free:

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Wes Craven image via Bob Bekian under CC BY-SA 2.0.

The producers of Howard the Duck knew they had a problem when they released it on 1 August 1986. I know why.

My first introduction to the character was when Howard the Duck #1 showed up at my parents’ 7-11 show. Frank Brunner created the cover. He was one of the first artists who even came close to the wonderful Jack Davis and Graham Ingels work for the EC horror comics that I was obsessed with at that time.

So when the character came to theaters, I was a little excited. Of course, I knew that it would end in tears because I loved the art — not the cynical “alpha male” character.

To all the men out there who don a cigar on the cover of Cigar Aficionado magazine, this is what I think. I don’t think of you as the cool comic book duck. I imagine you as the absurd duck in this movie! Thinking of you Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone. Pretenders all!

The film is fine. The problem with it is the design of Howard the Duck himself. He might as well be from a lost live-action Donald Duck film from the late 1960s. And I just don’t buy the character on the screen.

It’s the same when my beloved EC comics make their way to the screen. On the page, the Crypt Keeper’s lame puns work. On the screen, they’re just silly. I think I know how to fix this though. Make all the hosts scary as hell and make their puns dark as night. But no one does that because everyone (rightly) loves the comics.

As for the film, I don’t think it can be done live action. Maybe Tim Burton could make it work. But mostly, animate it. And not animated in a normal way. Hire someone brilliant to animate it. I’m thinking of the opening of Wizards, which was done by Mike Ploog.

But if you can get past the poor character design, the film works fine. Or…

Maybe you can see everything that is wrong with this film as exactly what it should be. I mean: it’s all absurd. And this is not worse than any other Marvel comic book movie. In which case, honor it!

And if you haven’t seen it before, watch it. This is a good print you can watch without commercials for free. Let me know what you think! But don’t do that if you hate it for the obvious reasons. I already know about that and I’ll just think you’re boring. Love it or hate it — but for new reasons.

Howard the Duck deserves at least that much!

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Howard the Duck (1986) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

On 31 July 1987, Warner Bros released The Lost Boys to the United States public. Today, it is considered a cult classic.

It is enjoyable enough. But it is yet another horror film for people who don’t like horror films. I tend to blame Joel Schumacher, who never made a film that didn’t leave me with the feeling that I should have picked something else. But I fear he is only part of the problem. Producer Harvey Bernhard brought us the tedious The Goonies two years earlier. Whereas that film was aimed at tweens, this one is aimed at teens.

Having said that, I am alone in my low opinion of The Lost Boys. My friends like it. And I fully accept that it is entertaining enough. And if people didn’t gush about the film so much, I’d leave it alone. There is lots to like. The cast is strong and the setting is good. But the writing is a bit of a problem with the two brothers’ stories not working well together.

But I’m really only here talking about it because of the one thing in the film that everyone remembers: “One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach — all the damn vampires!” There are several things wrong with this.

It is the same as “It was all a dream!” endings. So nothing that went before matters. It is all retconned.

Throughout the film we learn that almost no one knows about the vampires. But no, it turns out everyone does! They just don’t bring it up in polite company.

But the film is enjoyable enough. And if you love it, great! What’s more, you can watch it now for free!

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The Lost Boys (1987) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

After a remarkable advertising campaign, the producers put The Blair Witch Project into wide release in the United States on 30 July 1999.

I realize that many people will disagree with me. And those people are wrong. I suspect that when the film was released, those people were part of the overwhelming number of viewers who quite liked it.

But something happened. And I watched that something. It’s summed up by a joke I remember a late-night comedian making. It went something like this, “A new extended cut of The Blair Witch Project has been released with an additional 7 minutes where nothing happens.”

Get it? It’s funny because nothing happens in the film! Except, of course, that lots happens in the film.

Highly Effective Horror

I still remember the visceral terror of the scene where they come out of their tent to piles of rocks around them. It’s true that nothing on screen happened. But it tells a story of this malevolent force that is constantly around them but never seen.

That’s also true of the stick figures scene:

I’ve watched the film again recently just to see if it really is as good as I remember. And even if you ignore all the horror elements of it, it’s still a fascinating look at three young people losing their minds.

Changing Opinions

It would be fascinating to look at the ratings of The Blair Witch Project over time. I think you would find that they go ever downward. That really should happen to all films because over time they lose their context and people can’t see what made them interesting.

Now with so many “found footage” films around, there’s a tendency to blame The Blair Witch Project. I think that’s a shame. For one thing, I rather like the found footage genre. That’s even true when they break the form like in The Last Broadcast or when it is used to muddy the view like in V/H/S.

Like any genre, there are good ones and bad ones. But at their best, they can be very immediate. (Check out Ouija Blood Ritual.) See what Bomberguy and Strucci have to say about The power of VHS.

Watch The Blair Witch Project

You should revisit The Blair Witch Project. I think you will find that you like it in a totally different way than you did the first time. Here it is for free from Archive:

You might also like Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County. It is also available for free on Archive.

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The Blair Witch Project via Amazon under Fair Use.