Shocktober Trailer Theatre
This movie terrified me when I first saw it on HBO back in the day. It still does. I can’t even type out the title — nor watch this:
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Technicolor Dreams 
October 12, 2010 at 1:23 pm
cool shocktober pick. i actually saw this again not that long ago on cable and there is something very unsettling about it; because it’s based closely on a true story, the unique blend of a faux documentary-style film-making and period serial killer/slasher melodrama is quite effective. the screams of the woman in the first attack that opens the movie are some of the most convincing (and chilling) i’ve ever heard, and…
—- spoilers —–
in a horrible way i was relieved when she’s pulled from of the car and those blood-curdling shrieks are silenced. the fact that the killer just disappeared and got away with it makes the movie all the more effective; you can just imagine him leaving the state in the ’40s – before any sophisticated coordinating crime fighting tech designed to help catch serial killers had evolved – and continuing his killing spree somewhere else, perhaps with a different MO, but you know he didn’t stop until he either got caught somewhere else for a differnt crime or died.
also, that white sack tied onto his head is just the stuff of nightmares (shudder)
October 12, 2010 at 1:51 pm
It’s truly one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen, from producer Charles Pierce (THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK; THE EVICTORS) and ahead of its time in terms of slasher films, tho it’s relatively bloodless. The trumpet killing is disturbing, as is the moment he slams the hood of the car and holds up the car’s wires. The freakiest moment is the last scene showing that he is still out there…
October 12, 2010 at 5:12 pm
yes! everyone should watch this on all hallow’s eve in the dark
October 13, 2010 at 10:41 am
Fat chance NZ grrl!
October 14, 2010 at 1:42 am
hey we have the dark here too you know…(?)
October 14, 2010 at 10:24 am
Clearly you have “the dark: there…Ain’t no way I’m watching this alone in the…
October 15, 2010 at 2:08 pm
I remember watching this as a kid at a Drive-in with my family. Classic! Nothing scarier than a “real” crazy guy just randomly going on a killing spree – and targeting horny teens no less! I’m too lazy to check the dates, but could this be the genesis of that genre of “slasher” film (excluding PSYCHO)? I’m sure it pre-dates Halloween which seems the likely candidate.
Interesting to learn that it’s the same producer as LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK, too. (As I was watching the posted trailer, I actually thought to myself “oh man, this was great!…reminds me of LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK around that same time. I should suggest that one to Christian”. HA.
October 15, 2010 at 5:56 pm
The tv ads for BOGGY CREEK were equally scary.
October 13, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Wow, this sounds interesting. Never heard of this one before. I will have to check it out.
October 15, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Oh yes you must.
October 14, 2010 at 12:08 am
Heard a lot about this one, never seen it. Will have to remedy that. Its reputation seems to grow as the years pass.
October 14, 2010 at 1:47 am
frank booth, are you ever gonna tidy up that lippy? just a little dab here and there with a hanky and a hand mirror, and bob’s yer uncle
October 14, 2010 at 2:16 pm
You don’t think it’s pretty pretty?
October 14, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Haven’t been around much lately. Trying to spend more time in that offline world, with a fair degree of success. I’m even actually reading books again. I’ve quit certain blogs — hint: the ones where most of us first met — cold turkey, because they’re literally bad for my soul. (Took me long enough, but I finally got the message.) Others I’ve neglected because I’m busy trying to stay alive and move toward something. No offense intended.
But it’s Shocktober, so what the hell! All work and no play makes Frank a cranky bastard. Wouldn’t wanna start stalking the hallways with an axe. Last time I did that, management said they’d evict me.
I was just reading last year’s thread. SALEM’S LOT, Vincent P, J-horror, Eli Roth, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, the viewing habits of aging horror fans…fun discussion. How did the time pass so quickly? Is it lame to be nostalgic for a year ago?
C, I hope you got around to DON’T LOOK NOW. If not, maybe this is the year for it.
I read the short story for the first time recently — found a du Maurier collection for a buck in a junk shop. The film follows the plot quite closely, but I consider it superior because the ludicrous plot is made swallowable through sheer cinematic skill. Seeing is believing. I’d love to see your take on it.
Been slacking this year. THE BLACK CAT/THE RAVEN/MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (all Lugosi), HOUSE OF THE DEVIL…wow, that’s pretty much it. MAD MEN and THE SOCIAL NETWORK hardly count. I’d better get to it. But TTDS isn’t on my list, thanks to Netflix.
October 14, 2010 at 5:04 pm
well it’s always good to see you here FB, i know how that pesky life thing can get in the way of blogging! my peeps have come to accept my weird blogging fascination, i often blog to take my mind off stuff when i’m artistically blocked, but i never take it very seriously thank goodness, i feel bad that you had such a negative experience but i’m glad you have other outlets like ‘the dream’ to keep sharing your always interesting (to me anyway) insights.
i’ve also been very slack with expanding my horror viewing of late, i really need to pull my finger out of my backside and get down with some sickness
October 14, 2010 at 5:12 pm
I hear ya in regard to Bad Soul Blogging — but surely this is a positive respite here. Blogs truly do work from the top down and Well’s site proves how the fish rots etc. I like Poland’s, but the new format turns me off and I’m tired of He Who Shall Not Be Named shitting in the middle of every thread. Of course, he’s pissed on every one of his former defenders.
I did indeed finally watch DON’T LOOK NOW and found it a giallo-style scare film with beautiful editing and some freaky moments.
HOUSE OF THE DEVIL I appreciated for its style but once the third act went down, the film lost it completely for me.
No stalking the halls, just hang here with the kool kidz…
October 15, 2010 at 1:54 am
Christian,
This trailer RULES, and this must’ve been like a year or two before I was old enough to have or remember HBO, but AWESOME.
Also looks like FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 ripped off Jason’s look from this!
October 16, 2010 at 3:32 am
Thanks for the positive thoughts, guys.
Poland changed his format? Well, then.
Last few days: THE WOLF MAN/FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN. Boy, was Lugosi ever a lousy Frankenstein’s monster. It’s also pretty clear the Mel Brooks modeled the YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN villagers after this bunch.
(The Universal horrors have great nostalgia value for me — they always seemed to be playing on a Saturday afternoon when I was a kid, and I had all the toys and model kits. But aside from FRANKENSTEIN and BoF, they’re mostly pretty creaky and cardboard. The work of Val Lewton holds up much, much better to my adult eyes.)
Also revisited THE STEPFATHER. It still works, but I also realized why I’ve never considered it quite a first-rung classic — what should be the the subtext is all in your face. Still, O’Quinn is great, Jill’s shower scene is gratuitous in that good old-fashioned Seventies and Eighties manner, and that two-by-four murder is even more brutal than I remembered.
HotD was fun. Perfectly captured the era, and had the patience to hold back. I didn’t mid the explosion of bloody violence — gotta serve some steak with the sizzle and all that — though I did wonder what that hooded mutant thing was supposed to be. But I consider the director worth watching.
October 18, 2010 at 2:50 pm
I LOVE FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN. Bela’s not so hot but boy, MONSTERS FIGHTING! And that make-up by Jack Pierce…
Still never seen THE STEPFATHER. Can you believes it?
I just think HOTD should have held back. The explanation never lives up to your imagination. Love the ambiance tho.
October 16, 2010 at 3:42 am
Oh, also POLTERGEIST. Saw it last week and forgot to mention it. Contrary to popular belief, I do not believe that Steve ghost-directed. (Sorry for that one.) Okay, maybe the big effects scenes and the RAIDERS-rehash stuff with the corpses, and I’m sure he was peering over Tobe’s shoulder most of the time. But forget the suburban trappings and themes and just LOOK at the screen, at the framing and lighting. The former is too rough and loose, the latter too harsh and contrasty. It just has that grungy B-movie look.
October 18, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Well, I think it’s clear they had a tight collaboration. The shot of the racing cars going through hthe spritzing beer cans is pure Spielberg as is the silhouettes of the couple before they enter the closet…
But it’s Hooper definitely when it comes to the clown and the steak and the sense of dread…
NAME DROPPING MOMENT: When I met Hooper at Rob Zombie’s b-day party, we talked about Spielberg hiring him for his INVASION tv series. They’re still clearly friends.
October 18, 2010 at 9:45 am
never saw that tv movie !!! thank you so much… there s a complete version on youtube (for us illiterate foreigners who don t enjoy us syndication)
October 18, 2010 at 2:51 pm
What the fuck! TURN THE LIGHTS ON!
January 30, 2011 at 5:32 am
I finally got around to watching this film and have to thank you for turning me onto to this excellent film! Love the no-nonsense approach and the kill scenes were truly creepy – esp. the trombone one and the scene where the killer comes smashing through the screen door – that image will stay with me for a long, long time. I wonder if Fincher saw this before making ZODIAC as I was getting the same kind of vibe. Interesting. A truly unsettling film. Loved it.
January 10, 2012 at 12:17 pm
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