Paramount Home Video released Puppet Master on 12 October 1989. It was one of the earliest Full Moon Features releases. At that time, they weren’t distributing films. But they would soon.

I’ll be honest. I’m not a huge fan of the original Puppet Master. Puppet Master II is better. The third film, Toulon’s Revenge, is the best. And it created a franchise of 15 films — every one of them at least watchable. I know of no other franchise that is so dependable. But Full Moon is good at that. The reason I’m not fond of most of their other franchises is that I don’t much care for the bases of them. That would include Evil Bong and The Gingerdead Man.

But Puppet Master does a great job of setting up the base characters: the puppets. Blade, Jester, Pinhead, and Leech Woman are iconic. The only really memorable one who wasn’t in the first film is Six Shooter (who appeared in the third film).

The problem with Puppet Master is that they kill off André Toulon (William Hickey) at the beginning of the film. Unfortunately, he’s a great character. And the franchise has spent a great deal of energy to bring him back from the dead — either by creating prequels or through metaphysics.

The plot of the film is pretty simple. It is basically an Old Dark House film. People come to a remote place and start dying. (I know that isn’t what happens in the original or remake, but it’s what the format has become.) And all the murders are done by adorable puppets. What’s not to like?!

So let’s celebrate the first film of this amazing film franchise by watching it! After that, watch the third film. Then watch the seventh film. And you’ll be golden!

---

Puppet Master poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

Bryanston Distributing Company released The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in the United States on 11 October 1974.

This was unfortunate for the filmmakers, Bryanston, mostly due to incompetence, squandered the vast majority of profits. As I recall, Gunnar Hansen only ended up with a couple of thousand dollars. But such is the business of filmmaking. It ain’t pretty.

The film went on to spawn at least 8 other films. Most of them marginally successful. But they really don’t make a lot of sense. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre wasn’t great because of the amazing characters and backstory. In fact, I find these relatively weak. I’ve spent decades trying to figure out just why the film works so well.

I still don’t really know. There are two things that I return to.

1. The production design is fantastic. The house alone is creepy in the extreme. It really couldn’t be better.
2. Leatherface is a wonderful character because of his consternation. People keep coming to his house and he has to deal with it. Imagine a butcher who has random cows coming into his house and you get the idea. His behavior later in the film is far less interesting but that section has a lot of dramatic momentum.

At this point, I don’t watch the film. I’ve seen it a lot. See my article, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre vs The Happening: Comparison of Two Scenes. But now? I still love Tobe Hooper. But if I’m in the mood, I’ll watch The Funhouse or Spontaneous Combustion. And sometimes Eaten Alive. (I sometimes think Eaten Alive is his best film. There are times when nothing else but it satisfies.)

My point is that there are far too many derivative works. And not enough people have seen the original. And if you have managed not to see it on its 51st birthday, now is the time!

---

Texas Chain Saw Massacre poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

United Artists released Dr No in the United Kingdon on 10 October 1962.

Dr No made a ton of money. And to be honest, I have no idea why. I don’t mind the film. But it’s hardly great. It seems more like a spoof than a serious effort.

Part of the appeal seems to be Sean Connery. But again: I don’t get it. He really isn’t that attractive. And that’s doubly so when he takes his shirt off. But most important, he moves through the film breezily like none of the action is real.

But I could say that of all the Bond films Connery was in. Dr No is in one way better than the rest. It at least starts as a grounded spy film. It’s really only when he gets to the island (and then especially after capture) that it descends into parody.

But parody of what?! It’s the first James Bond film!

People often point to the ridiculous surfing scene from Die Another Day as the point when Bond was just silly. But I think that was true from the beginning.

But don’t get me wrong. If you like these films, great for you! I wish I did!

The big problem is that Bond films take themselves too seriously at the same time that they don’t. And it rarely gels. No one takes the 1960s Batman TV series seriously. Yet it makes just as much sense as any Bond film. Similarly, Dr No’s island is no less believable than Dreyfus’ Bavarian castle in The Pink Panther Strikes Again. And the villains in The President’s Analyst are way better.

The whole thing is fun enough, though. I can definitely think of films that are harder to sit through. But it is galling that so many people promote this film as great (while dismissing far better films) when this is based on nothing more than nostalgia.

But I’m willing to watch it again. Here:

---

Dr No poster via Amazon under Fair Use.

Guillermo del Toro is 61. He was born on 9 October 1964.

Del Toro is more than a psychotronic icon. I don’t have a word for it. He even makes great superhero films! I will admit that he picks good superheroes, though. Even his powers may falter under the weight of Thor.

In addition to writing and directing, del Toro has done a magnificent job supporting other artists. My favorite is Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Every episode of it is great and “Autopsy” is one of the best things I’ve ever seen.

When I first heard that del Toro was making a filmed version of Frankenstein, I was skeptical. But then I saw the trailer. And I felt a bit silly to have ever doubted.

Obviously, I don’t doubt the brilliance of Guillermo del Toro. But that doesn’t mean I always like his work. I’m not a big fan of dark fantasy. And that includes Pan’s Labyrinth. Not that it’s bad. I don’t think he’s ever done anything that isn’t good. I just don’t connect with it. And frankly, he has stayed away far too long. So I very much welcome Frankenstein.

But I doubt that any film he makes will ever compete with my favorite, The Devil’s Backbone. The film works on so many levels! The truth is, you could take the ghost story out and it would still be an excellent film. Sadly, few people seem to have seen the film. It’s probably because it’s in Spanish.

I highly recommend celebrating Guillermo del Toro’s 61st birthday by watching this film. But make sure you can focus. The film demands and deserves this.

---

Image cropped from Guilliermo Del Toro by LucaFazPhoto under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Kirk Alyn was born on 8 October 1910. He was a successful actor during the early years of the sound film. But we remember him today as being the first live-action Superman.

What I love about Alyn is that he got his start in the chorus of Broadway musicals. And then he became the most badass of superheroes. And it highlights the fact that all this stuff is not very manly. Being a true man is fighting in a war. It isn’t providing harmony for a light opera starlet. And it sure isn’t dressing up in a spandex costume! Maybe this explains why so many modern “real men” are what I will charitably call “whiny bitches.”

This isn’t to take anything away from Kirk Alyn. He was a singer and dancer. And that’s as manly as welding. At least if you ask me. But any reactionary who likes superheroes should seriously consider what their concept of a “real man” is.

Kirk Alyn starred in two Superman serials. The first was Superman (1948). It told a 4-hour story over the course of 15 16-minute parts. Then came Atom Man vs Superman (1950), another 15-part serial. Are they any good? Well, they were TV shows before there was TV. And they are pretty much what you would expect. They’re fine. No worse than anything people are producing now!

Here is the complete second serial. I couldn’t find the first. You can find all the episodes online if you want. But they aren’t in any set location.

---

Kirk Alyn via Kirk Alyn. It is in the public domain.

Dwain Esper was born 7 October 1894. Or 1893. It depends on who you listen to.

And who was Dwain Esper? He was an early exploitation filmmaker. The first films were all what we would consider exploitation. Hollywood had professionalized by the late 1920s. And so there was an opening for men like Esper.

This worked because Esper was a showman. And he only produced films to make a buck. It’s hard not to appreciate such a clear vision. It contrasts so well with the pretense of Hollywood.

He worked closely with his wife, Hildagarde Stadie. They married in 1920 and stayed so through his death in 1982. The couple stopped making films in the 1940s. They were very rich by that time, it would seem.

Today, we know Dwain Esper for a handful of films:

• The Seventh Commandment (1932): A country boy goes to the big city only to find debauchery. But once he decides to leave. he learns he has syphilis. Beware, young men!
• Narcotic (1933): A young medical student gets seduced by drug culture and dies. Beware, medical students!
• Sex Madness (1934): A former burlesque dancer with syphilis wants to be cured so she can go back to her small hometown and marry her sweetheart. Beware, burlesque dancers!
• Maniac (1934): A lab assistant kills his mad scientist boss and walls up the corpse. Then he pretends to be the mad scientist. Eventually, the police find the corpse just like in “The Black Cat.” Beware, mad scientists!
• Marihuana (1936): A young woman and her boyfriend go all the way because of the title drug. She gets pregnant but he is murdered working for drug dealers. Beware, young couples!

Esper ran his business much in the way William Castle did during the late 1950s and early 1960s. He traveled around the country promoting and showing his films. Of course, Castle was a great filmmaker. Esper, well, wasn’t. But I do think people overstate his incompetence. I’ve seen worse films — much worse.

I think everyone should watch Maniac. It is such a bizarre film and Esper uses everything in his arsenal. This even includes a topless woman. It was released after the Hays Code went into effect. But that didn’t really apply to people like Esper who distributed their own films.

---

Sex Maniac (1934) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

Silver Spotlight Films released CarousHELL on 6 October 2016.

Steve Rudzinski is the brilliant young man behind CarousHELL. A few years back, I signed up for OnlyFans to get access to all his work. I had no idea at the time that the site was primarily for porn. This was especially ironic. Rudzinski mostly creates very sweet, often child-appropriate films.

For example, his Meowy series is as sweet as it is silly. They tell the story of Wally Griswold, the most naive and incompetent cop you have ever seen. Luckily, he has a cat and rat who are way smarter. And they normally get him out of his jams.

He reminds me a lot of Chris Seaver, although without the adolescent sex gags. Of course, Seaver has never made a film as good as CarousHELL. (That might be a little strong. I haven’t looked at Seaver’s work in a long time and he, like Rudzinski, makes a lot of films!)

CarousHELL tells the story of Duke, “the prettiest damned unicorn in the world,” who is cursed to go in circles on a carousel. Fed up with the constant abuse from kids, Duke breaks free and goes on a killing spree. In particular, he targets Lunchbox, a little boy who rubbed his boogers in Duke’s eye.

Rudzinski is a great example for young filmmakers. His first few films are almost unwatchable. But he kept making them and they got better and better. And now he pumps out a couple of features per year.

There are three CarousHELL films. I’ve watched them all. But I don’t remember what happens in the later ones. In the second, he gets married to a woman and has a child. No one seems to notice that he is a carousel unicorn. I recall them being good but not as strong as the original.

I can’t embed the three films. But CarousHELL and CarousHELL 2 are on Plex. And CarousHELL 3 is on Tubi. Here is the trailer to the first one. If you do nothing else, watch it:

---

CarousHELL (2016) poster via IMDb under Fair Use.

Clive Barker is 73 today. He was born on 5 October 2025.

Barker is amazing in one way, especially. He makes visually interesting films even though he’s really a novelist. Of course, I think the same about William Peter Blatty.

I’ve never seen a Clive Barker film that I didn’t think wasn’t worth making. Unfortunately, I also rarely enjoy his films. Of course, he has only directed three feature films. It seems like more. That’s branding, I’m afraid.

Barker is able to create a general feeling of dread. He does this in part by creating memorable, grotesque images. Pinhead is a good example of this. But it also highlights why I don’t connect with his films. His images are so outside my experience that I can’t relate.

But I can see why people love his work. And he deserves to be admired. There are a lot of filmmakers I love who make crap. It stands to reason that it would work the other way around.

But now I have a problem. Should I choose Hellraiser, Nightbreed, or Lord of Illusions? The second two are weaker. But hasn’t everyone seen the first?

If I had my druthers, I’d pick Candyman. But he didn’t direct it; he wrote the story it is based on. So I don’t think it matters. I would like to see Hellraiser again. So that’s what we get!

---

Image cropped from Clive Barker by Steven Friederich under CC BY 2.0.

NAI Entertainment released Attack of the Killer Tomatoes on 4 October 1978 in the United States.

When I was in high school, this film was iconic. But no one I knew had seen it. It just had a very memorable title. I assumed it was a cheeky parody of a 1950s science fiction monster movie. And it is. But I was surprised when I finally saw it. It’s much closer to The Kentucky Fried Movie and the later Airplane! than it is The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes will do anything for a laugh. And this gets in the way. It especially gets in the way when the humor is more obscure. And it is often very obscure. But the film keeps its momentum throughout.

But Killer Tomatoes is amazing in one way especially. They made it for $100,000 — maybe less. Some of it shows. The sets are hotel rooms and college multipurpose rooms. But it features amazing crowd scenes. It also features a great scene when the army is attacking the tomatoes.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes features a mostly amateur cast. There are exceptions. Jack Riley has a small role in the film. You will remember him as Elliot Carlin on The Bob Newhart Show. But he was already a very successful TV actor at that time. Eric Christmas is also in the film.

Most of the less experienced actors are fine. And even when the acting is sketchy, it still works. Sharon Taylor is especially weak. Yet she works for the role.

“Critics” didn’t like the film at the time. Even Michael Weldon said that although parts were funny, “it doesn’t really make it as a midnight cult film.” And he was right. It never did become the kind of cult film you would expect. And that probably explains why “critics” today also don’t like it.

But I don’t think there is any doubt. It’s a fun film as long as you get past your predetermined idea of what it ought to be. So let’s watch Attack of the Killer Tomatoes to celebrate its 47th birthday!

---

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

The HP Lovecraft Film Festival premiered The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu on 3 October 2009. Other than film festivals, I don’t think the film ever got a proper theatrical release.

I love this film. It is so much fun. Outlaw Films made it on a shoestring. That is probably why no one has seen it. Most people only watch well-advertised films.

Regardless, The Last Lovecraft brings up an interesting question. Why is Lovecraft’s work the basis for so many great films? It’s similar to Philip K Dick. Both writers had good ideas. Neither was a very interesting writer.

Not that The Last Lovecraft takes that much from the author. Basically, it just grabs the fish-based mythology. And it doesn’t have nearly the budget to do more than putting a silly mast on Star Spawn.

Lovecraft inspired technically better films. In particular, there are Re-Animator and In the Mouth of Madness. But neither of these nor any others are any more fun than The Last Lovecraft.

The film stars Kyle Davis and Devin McGinn. The latter also wrote the script. But the standout here is Barak Hardley. This is the first film I saw him in. But I’ve seen him in much more since. In particular, he has a great section in The Mortuary Collection. He’s also been in a series of commercials. Why? Because he is the perfect uber-nerd. Guys like me identify with him.

The Model II Uber-Nerd, Martin Starr, is also in this film. But he has a small part. He’s also done a lot of commercials.

Anyway, if you like psychotronic film and fun, you need to watch The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu. Unfortunately, I don’t have a commercial-free link to the film. You will need to watch it on Plex. But here’s the trailer:

---

The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.