The YouTube Channel is Up

There are no videos up right now but keep an eye out for some upcoming video reviews of figures, prop replicas and other horror memorabilia. Stay tuned. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialGFMLBlog

8-Bit Terror

For those of us who grew up in the 80's chances are you owned a NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) console which was released in 1985. The NES was directly responsible for me having spent countless wasted hours sitting in front of an old television developing thick calluses on my thumbs....ah....good times....good times.

In the 80's horror flicks were very popular with younger audiences and the NES was the most popular video game console in America. So to capitalize on that fact the toy company LJN produced 3 horror related games for the NES "Jaws", "Friday the 13th" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street". I'll cover these games in 3 different blog entries.
 

 

First up was "Jaws" released in 1987 only 3 months after the release of one of the worst films ever made "Jaws: The Revenge".  Although I don't consider the "Jaws" to be a horror film it sometimes does get lumped into that category. The game is pretty much based on "Jaws: The Revenge". When you pop the game into the NES you are met with a cool looking title screen and of course the theme from "Jaws". A trend you'll notice in these entries is that these 3 games had great title screens/sequences....but as you'll find out they seemed to be the only elements of the game the makers put any time or thought into.
 

The Game's Cool Looking Title Screen

The premise of this hastily thrown together game kind of mirrors the the movie "Jaws: The Revenge" and it goes like something like this: You are a diver somewhere in the tropics and you must kill the shark. To do this you have to travel back and forth between 2 different ports on the map screen to power-up.
 

Ports #1 and #2

Power-Up Screen

To power-up you must collect conch shells that you receive in random fight sequences that happen as you travel between ports. The phrase "You've Hit Something" signals you that you are going to the fight sequence where you have to kill squids, rays, and little sharks. As you kill them you not only collect shells but, you also collect golden stars for points and gold crabs that make you swim faster (I promise I'm not making this up).

One of the Game's Random Fight Screens

Before you can power-up to level 2, the first port you come to will give you a tracking device that will beep whenever the shark is near.

HOORAY !!!!

Be careful because if get hit by one of these enemies just once, you'll die and lose a level of power. As the game progresses the number of shells you need increases as you go from port to port. These fight scenes are obnoxious and frequent but necessary to kill the shark. As you are trying to get to level 4, you'll encounter Bonus Scene where you have a chance to gather more conch shells by bombing jellyfish that swim in different patterns from an airplane....yep, bombing jellyfish....from an airplane.
 

Honestly ?!

If you play the game long enough you'll have the good fortune to obtain the mini-sub. The mini-sub fires torpedoes and bombs. If you are hit by an enemy once you lose it and return to being the diver.

The Mini-Sub

Now let's go kill the shark. To kill the shark fairly easily you need to power-up to at least 4. Once you get to power level 4 it's time to kill "Jaws". To do this just sit in place on the map screen and let the shark hit you. Avoid being hit by the shark in the shallows. You won't because it's a bit more difficult with less room to avoid enemies.When your going to fight the shark you got to the familiar random fight screen with the normal enemies but, there is one difference...."Jaws". If your looking for a cool looking shark....you will be sorely disappointed.

Bombs Away

All you need to do is shoot the shark with your harpoon gun and avoid enemies and you go to the final showdown with "Jaws". You'll start out droping bombs on the shark from a boat. Once the shark hits you the harpoon gun is your only weapon. Once you get the sharks power down you'll go to a final battle screen where the shark's fin comes towards you and with a well timed you can use the boat to stab and kill the shark. To get the shark to jump out of the water you use an electrical charge from the tracking device. You get 3 chances to get it right...if you don't you have to back and fight the shark all over again.

DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH

Take That !!!...Stupid Anti-Climatic Game !!!

After stabbing the shark....it's over....after all you've done to get to this point....the pay off ?...the shark sinks to the bottom of the ocean....looking like a grey turd sinking to the bottom of a toilet.

The Sinking Turd

Now what should you do ? .... fly off into the sunset, you fuckin' hero !!!

Good Job, Hoagie !

Although it was widely panned by people for being too difficult or just being lame I LOVED this game when I was a kid....and I still do. Today, instead of playing it on the NES I play it on an emulator. Years before the internet, there were few choices for horror fans to connect to the world of horror films. Fangoria magazine was one of them and a there were a few books that existed as well but for the most part there wasn't much. As a young horror fan I would clamor for anything related to my favorite movies. Sure, the game was as stupid but that doesn't matter when your a kid....at least to me it didn't. Spending hours fighting "Jaws" ?.... and getting to stab him with the front of a boat....it didn't get much cooler than that.

Forgotten Gems: "The Screaming Skull"

 

Free burial service for anyone who dies of fright while watching "The Screaming Skull"  ?.....How could you go wrong by watching a film that promises you that ?
 

Eric and Jenni

Eric (John Hudson) and Jenni (Peggy Webber) are newlyweds who move into a large home Eric shared with his deceased first wife Marion who slipped and fell and as a result "the base of her skull was smashed"....suuuure. Jenni is a troubled and vulnerable woman who spent time in a asylum in an effort to move past the sudden and tragic death of her parents. Oh, BTW....she's rich too....nice !
 

The house and gardens are looked after by Mickey, a strange man-child who was Marion's constant companion. Both spent hours and hours in the gardens planting and tending to the flowers. After Marion's death Mickey continues to keep up the grounds like a shrine to his dead friend. He likes to even bring flowers to her grave which is on the property. Hmm. Shortly after moving in...and by that I mean the next day....the impressionable Jenny begins to hear strange screaming sounds, footsteps, creaking noises, knocking on doors. She also finds lily pads in the house and of course the skull. Scary.


"HOLY LIVING FUCK....AAAHHHH " !!!!!

Suspicion quickly turns to Mickey as the culprit behind all these strange goings on.

The belief is that he trying to scare away the new Mrs. Whitlock. As these strange happenings continue Jenni's already delicate mental state is begining to show cracks. The always reassuring Eric continues to comfort Jenni as he promises to help Jenni realize that she's only hallucinating and there is no skull following her around. To show Jenni she's not as nutty as a squirrel turd Eric decides to burn a painted portrait of Marion as the portrait burns a loud scream is heard and in the ashes....there it is....THE SKULL !!!!

Of course Eric does not see the skull and repeats to Marion that...."there is no skull....there's no skull". After Jenni faints he removes the skull from the fire and hides it nearby and the truth is revealed....Eric has been behind these shenanigans the whole time....trying to drive his wife over the edge so he can get his hands on the money she's got....but is there something coming for him ?
I wont spoil the film's ending. I'll let you see it for yourself here:

http://archive.org/details/TheScreamingSkull1958

"The Screaming Skull" is total B-movie goodness. From cheesy acting and dialouge to the third rate special effects. If your like me and can't resist watching old black and white movies that by today's standards wouldn't scare a 2 year-old kid then you wont be disappointed. If your expecting a riveting storyline and acting that keeps you on the edge of your seat then you need to look elsewhere. I've read several reviews of this movie that pan it for all the bad acting and plot etc. but you have to take it for what it is. Good. Simple. Stupid. Fun.
 

Forgotten Gems: Carnival of Souls

This is the first entry in what will be a regular feature on the blog. It will feature great but forgotten horror films from the past. First up is "Carnival of Souls". The film tells the story of Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) a church organist who along with two other friends was in a car that veered off a bridge and plunged in to a river as the result of a drag race. A short time after the accident she emerges from the river appearing to be the only survivor.

Candace Hilligoss

After the accident a cold,distant and seemingly disconnected Mary takes a job in Utah playing the organ for a church. Along the way from Kansas to Utah Mary passes by an old abandoned carnival which she becomes inexplicably drawn to. At the same time Mary is being stalked by a ghost-faced figure known only as "The Man" which is played by director Herk Harvey.

Herk Harvey 

As the movie goes on Mary's visions of "The Man" continually increase as if he's getting closer and closer. As Mary continues to weave in and out of reality she is eventually driven out of her mind and visits the old pavilion one last time to dance at the carnival of souls.

By now I'm sure you've figured out Mary didn't survive the accident and was all along just a soul floating between the living world and the spirit world. Now the story isn't totally unfamiliar. 3 years prior to it's release the story had been done before as an episode of the Twilight Zone called "The Hitchhiker" and even before that Lucille Fletcher wrote a radio play containing the same storyline also called "The Hitchhiker" that became a Mercury Theater production starring Orson Welles.

So even though the storyline was most certainly lifted to make "Carnival of Souls" the story was retold exquisitely. Using eerie organ music to score the film (composed by Gene Moore) and relying on less special effects but rather using atmosphere and potent visuals to create a chilling film.

Even though you can get it for free online I do recommend getting the Criterion Collection edition which features the theatrical version of the film and the extended version of the film along with tons of other goodies.

The film can be legally be downloaded or watched here:

http://archive.org/details/CarnivalOfSouls1962

"OH GOD, MOTHER....BLOOD....BLOOD ! "



Back in 1960 audiences were terrified and shocked as they sat in their seats to watch a story about a boy and his mother. The film was "Psycho". It's one of those films that has stood the test of time and has retained it’s creep factor. It has and will always remain one of my all-time favorites. If you have never seen it please stop reading this....slowly step away from the computer....and do yourself a favor and check it out. There was at one time some items at Universal Studios "House of Horrors" in Hollywood that had some items on display from the original “Psycho”.  When I went to Los Angeles last year I was hoping to see them but, they were not on display anymore. Besides these items at Universal to my knowledge only 2 other props used in the original film exist today. One of the Items is a prop knife supposedly used in the shower scene and the other was quite an interesting find.

A prop knife claimed to be used during the shower scene.
The knife has a short blade so it could give the impression of a plunged knife.

A few years ago I came across something amazing. After knowing very few props from the original film still existed I stumbled upon something that at least to me and everyone I know in the prop collecting community thought no longer existed. The original screen used head of Mrs. Bates used in the original  "Psycho".  A long time ago I shared the picture I found on the Nightowl Forums. One of the members just happened to be going to Paris where the head currently resides at the Cinémathèque Française Archival Museum. It turns out it was given to the museum by Alfred Hitchcock in 1961. I shared these photos a long time ago to the AWESOME site www.thepsychomovies.com after getting permission from the guy who took them. For whatever  reason the site still hasn't posted the Mrs. Bates pictures I sent. So without further delay the photos taken by Nightowl Forum member "Chainsaw" here they are :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richchard J. Brooker (1954-2013)

While I was setting up this blog sad news hit the the world of horror. I did want to mention it sooner but time did prevent me from doing so. On April 8th Richard J. Brooker passed away. Brooker played Jason in Friday the 13th Part III and has the distinction of being the first Jason to wear the now famous hockey mask. I consider myself quite fortunate to have met him at a Monster-Mania convention in Hartford, Connecticut back in 2009. He was a very nice and polite man. Although our meeting was brief I did get an autographed picture. I will always treasure that autograph and experience. 

Richard Brooker as "Jason Voorhees"

 

Brooker unmasked during the filming of the long lost alternate ending for Friday the 13th Part III. Brooker is also wearing the 1st make-up designed created by Academy Award winning special effects make-up artist Stan Winston. This make-up was used throught the film until the the barn scene reveal when the 2nd make-up design was used. Winston was not credited in the film for his contribution.



Location ! Location ! Location !

In movies things aren't as they appear. I know...I know. Take for example the filming location for "Psycho II". To the casual observer it would seem it was filmed in the same location 22 years after the first film. In fact your a mile or so away from where the original was shot. Here's a map I made of using Google Maps satellite imagery.

It's of the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot illustrating the locations of the motel and house from Psycho I, II and III. "Psycho III" was the last film in the franchise to star Anthony Perkins to be shot at Universal Studios Hollywood. The house from "Psycho III" still remains in the same location to this day. The original set stood on the backlot from 1959 until December 1980. The house looks a bit different as it was used in various t.v. shows and movies after the filming of "Psycho". The picture below shows the house being dismantled.

Copyright Mark Brindle and Ann Cook

The next photo is from 1982.Here we see the house removed from it's original location getting ready to be refurbished and used in "Psycho II".

Copyright Douglas Hill

A screenshot from "Psycho II" illustrating a mix of reality and movie magic

The above photo is the house moved into place and the motel fully rebuilt in 1985 for the filming of "Psycho III". Although the house and motel have remained in place since 1985 it has been slighty altered over the years. The exterior of the motel was altered for the miserable remake of the original. The stairs have also changed. All of the locations had a path at the top of the stairs that ran along the left side of the house as seen in the photo below of the reconstruted house at Universal Studios in Orlando where "Psycho IV: The Beginning" was filmed. Sadly that house or the motel no longer exist.