Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Some mood music

Here's a jukebox that will open in another session. If you have any additional song requests applicable to the mood, please leave a comment on this post and I'll see what I can do.

The jukebox is also available near the top of this blog, below my profile link, so you won't have to look for this post in the future.

Monday, September 29, 2008

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour


The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ran from 1962-1965 for 93 hour-long episodes. It was a continuation of the dramatic anthology series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1962), hosted by the master of suspense and mystery. When the series was revived in 1962, episodes were extended to a full hour instead of 30 minutes and the name was changed, but the format stayed fairly true to the original. In each episode, viewers would be strung along with the story, never knowing which way the final twist would turn.

You can view full episodes of the series here.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

SCREAMTOWN

Now at it's new permanent home in Chaska, MN, SCREAMTOWN offers 4 Haunted Attractions for 12 Horrifying Nights in October.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Fear(s) of the Dark

Click to enlarge
Opening October 24, Fear(s) of the Dark is a wildly inventive and visually dazzling collection of fearful tales by six of the world's most renowned comic and graphic artists - Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, and Richard McGuire. From a besotted student whose girlfriend is weirdly ardent in her affections, to a Japanese schoolgirl menaced by a long-dead samurai, and a pack of hounds on a bloodthirsty rampage, FEAR(S) has a story strand to trouble every sleep - not to mention a stunning range of animation styles. Shot in shimmering black and white, the six intertwined tales create an unprecedented epic where phobias and nightmares come to life and reveal Fear at its most naked and intense.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Jason-Michael-Freddy compilation

Here's a compilation video of these icons of horror. Created by AJ Johnson of AJ's Music Videos, it features "Enter Sandman" by Metallica.

WARNING - CONTAINS SCENES OF GRAPHIC VIOLENCE

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The Halloween Tree

Purchase from Barnes & Noble
A fine tale for upcoming October nights is The Halloween Tree, by Ray Bradbury.

A group of eight boys set out to go trick-or-treating on Halloween, only to discover that a ninth friend, Pipkin, has been whisked away on a journey that could determine whether he lives or dies. Through the help of a mysterious character named Moundshroud, they pursue their friend across time and space through ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures, Celtic Druidism, Notre Dame Cathedral in Medieval Paris, and The Day of the Dead in Mexico. Along the way, they learn the origins of the holiday that they celebrate, and the role that the fear of death has played in shaping civilization.

The story was made into an animated film in 1993.


Ray Bradbury's original painting for his classic book.

I Held Her in My Arms, Tightly



I held her in my arms, tightly.
Kissed her lips, ever lightly.
Twas my routine, nightly.
She was my love, so rare.

She’d be mine, forever.
Always I would have her.
Even though a cadaver.
Dead eyes, vacant stare.

__________________________________

Come now, darling, I’m feeling a bit randy.
Prop you up next to me, nice and handy.
Would you like a piece of candy?

Well that was cruel of me, what
With your lips sewn shut.
Pennies not for your thoughts,
But for your eyes
Since your demise.

__________________________________

You haven’t said a word
Since our latest tiff.
Though your body language is
Quite cold and stiff.

And we’ll have to do something about your hair,
And your complexion is much too fair,
(At least you no longer whine and yell)
And we’ll have to do something about that smell.

__________________________________

Copyright © 2008 by Bill Brewer, All Rights Reserved

Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella


Back when I was a kid in the 70's, those were the comic mags we read whenever we needed a quick horror fix . You can check out some of the artwork at the Warren Magazine Collection, an online repository of Warren comic and magazine covers.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Memento mori

Memento mori is a Latin phrase that may be translated as "Remember that you are mortal," "Remember you will die," "Remember that you must die," or "Remember your death". It names a genre of artistic creations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose, which is to remind people of their own mortality.


Still Life With a Skull
Artist: Philippe de Champaigne
France
circa 1671

Quint's USS Indianapolis Speech from Jaws

As I'm sure most of you know, Quint's (Robert Shaw) speech about the USS Indianapolis was based on an actual event.

Quarantine

Quarantine opens in theaters October 10. Here's the red band trailer.

Monday, September 22, 2008

My Favorite Book of ABC's - The Gashlycrumb Tinies

Purchase from Barnes & Noble
"A is for Amy who fell down the stairs. B is for Basil assaulted by bears. C is for Clara who wasted away. D is for Desmond thrown out of a sleigh... "

The Gashlycrumb Tinies (1963) was written and illustrated by Edward Gorey.

You can read an online edition of this delightfully macabre book (with the illustrations) here.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Man Overboard! was wrtten by...


... none other than Winston Churchill.
Man Overboard! (1898) was his first published work of fiction.

The Scream

Click to enlarge
The Scream (Skrik, 1893-1910) is a seminal series of expressionist paintings by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, depicting an agonised figure against a blood red sky. The landscape in the background is Oslofjord, viewed from the hill of Ekeberg, in Oslo (then Kristiania), Norway.

Munch created several versions of The Scream in various media. The National Gallery of Norway holds one of two painted versions (1893, shown above). Munch Museum holds the other painted version (1910, shown below) and one pastel. A fourth version, in pastel, is owned by Norwegian billionaire Petter Olsen. Munch also created a lithograph (1895, shown below) of the image.

Click to enlarge Click to enlarge

In a page in his diary headed Nice 22.01.1892, Munch described his inspiration for the image thus:

"I was walking along a path with two friends—the sun was setting—suddenly the sky turned blood red—I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence—there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city—my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety—and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.”

The reddish sky in the background was possibly caused by the aftermath of the powerful volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. The ash that was ejected from the volcano left the sky tinted red in much of eastern United States and most of Europe and Asia from November 1883 to February 1884.

The Host

From South Korean director Joon-ho Bong comes The Host (2006).

The film revolves around Park Hee-bong, a man in his late 60s. Park runs a small snack bar on the banks of the Han River and lives with his two sons, one daughter, and one granddaughter. The Parks seem to lead a quite ordinary and peaceful life, but maybe a bit poorer than the average Seoulite. Hee-bong's elder son Gang-du is an immature and incompetent man in his 40s, whose wife left home long ago. Nam-il is the youngest son, an unemployed grumbler, and daughter Nam-joo is an archery medalist and member of the national team. One day, an unidentified monster suddenly appears from the depths of the Han River and spreads panic and death, and Gang-du's daughter Hyun-seo is carried off by the monster and disappears. All the family members are in a great agony because they lost someone very dear to them. But when they find out she is still alive, they resolve to save her.

Skeletons Warming Themselves

Click to enlarge
Skeletons Warming Themselves
Artist: James Ensor
Belgium
1889

Saturday, September 20, 2008

The Exorcist (Unreleased Theatrical Trailer)


Thus I Refute Beelzy

Purchase from Barnes & NobleOne of the first horror stories I ever read was Thus I Refute Beelzy, by John Collier. In this tale, a father refuses to believe his six-year-old son's story that he has a secret friend named Mr. Beelzy, who won't let anybody hurt him ("He said he'd come like a lion, with wings on, and eat them up").

It's included in his book of short stories, Fancies and Goodnights, along with other delights.

You can read it online here.

Obligatory commercial (Lexus). Please view.

Friday, September 19, 2008

The Last House on the Left

To avoid fainting, keep repeating "It's only a movie...It's only a movie..."


From 1972, The Last House on the Left was Wes Craven's directorial debut.

The ORIGINAL Scary 'Mary Poppins' Recut Trailer

I never realized how frightening that movie was until I saw this!
Made by Chris Rule, with assistance by Nick Eckert.

National Talk Like a Pirate Day

Avast, matey! It be National Talk Like a Pirate Day! Arrr!

Here be a fine trailer fer ye, fittin' fer the day:

Thursday, September 18, 2008

The Lottery

One of my favorites, "The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published in the June 26, 1948 issue of The New Yorker.

The magazine and Jackson herself were surprised by the highly negative reader response. Many readers cancelled their subscriptions, and hate mail continued to arrive throughout the summer. In South Africa the story was banned. Since then, it has been accepted as a classic American short story, subject to many critical interpretations and media adaptations.

Larry Yust's short film, The Lottery (1969), produced as part of Encyclopædia Britannica's "Short Story Showcase" series, was ranked by the Academic Film Archive "as one of the two bestselling educational films ever". It features the film debut of Ed Begley, Jr.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Saw V

On October 24th Saw V opens in theaters.

Here's the new 'Pendulum' clip.

The Child Molester (1964)

Produced by the Highway Safety Foundation in 1964, The Child Molester is a shocking film that deals with a subject quite taboo
for its time. The short serves as a dramatized warning,
ending with graphic case studies. Unlike the driver's education
films produced by the same company, this film was apparently
issued for only a short time before being withdrawn.
I think I was in the fourth or fifth grade, around 1969, when I saw it during an assembly in the school cafeteria.
It terrified us.

CONTENT ADVISORY: Graphic crime scene footage at end

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

25th Anniversary of Thriller

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of Michael Jackson's Thriller, directed by John Landis.
I remember the anticipation leading up to it's premier on MTV.

An American Werewolf in London Transformation Scene

Here's the full transformation scene from the 1981 movie An American Werewolf in London, directed by John Landis and starring David Naughton. The film won an Oscar for Best Makeup at the 1982 Academy Awards.


Dark Shadows

"My name is Victoria Winters... my journey is just beginning..."

On 27 June 1966, those words began the journey of a young governess to the remote coastal town of Collinsport, Maine, which for the next five years would be the home of the assorted supernatural forces inhabiting the world of ABC-TV's Dark Shadows, the first gothic soap opera.

Created by Dan Curtis, this show ran for 1245 episodes. As a kid in the 60's, I'd hurry home after school so I wouldn't miss the beginning. The show featured vampires, witches, werewolves - everything that kept me glued wide-eyed in front of the set.

Here's a scene in which Willy Loomis, handyman, discovers a secret room in the Collins Mausoleum.

Zombie vs. Shark

Italian director Lucio Fulci used a real Tiger Shark in this famous scene from his 1979 movie Zombie 2 (known in the USA as Zombie and in the UK as Zombie Flesh Eaters).

Dr. Paul Bearer

When I was a kid in the 70's in St. Petersburg, FL, Saturday morning cartoons were followed by Creature Features, on WTOG Channel 44.

The horror host was Dr. Paul Bearer, the longest running host of a horror movie program in television history.










Monday, September 15, 2008

THE Definitive Zombie Movie Guide

Purchase from Barnes & Noble
An invaluable reference I picked up a couple of weeks ago is
Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide, by Glenn Kay.

As stated on the back cover:

Zombie Movies is an essential purchase for all those who love (or fear) horror cinema's most popular and terrifying creation. This thorough and authorative yet uproarious guide


  • Reviews and rates nearly 300 zombie films - from Bela Lugosi's White Zombie (1932) to George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead (2008)

  • Traces the evolution of the zombie over the decades, from voodoo slave to brain-eating undead to raging infected

  • Lays out what makes a zombie, as opposed to a ghost, ghoul, vampire, mummy, pod person, rabid sicko, or Frankenstein's monster

  • Includes a detailed and chilling journal from the filming of Land of the Dead

  • Lists the oldest and most gruesome things ever seen in undead cinema

  • Covers not only mainstream American movies but also small independent productions, Spanish and Italian exploitation pictures, and bizarre offerings from Japan and Hong Kong

  • Provides a detailed rundown of the 25 greatest zombie films ever made

  • Features in-depth interviews with actors, directors, makeup effects wizards, and other zombie experts

For serious fans and casual moviegoers alike, Zombie Movies will provide plenty of informative and entertaining brain food.


Karen Black - Burnt Offerings and Trilogy of Terror

I was terrified by these movies from the 70's starring Karen Black.

Purchase from Barnes & Noble
Burnt Offerings (1976), directed by Dan Curtis, has Oliver Reed and Karen Black as summer caretakers moving into a gothic house with their young son. The catch? The house rejuvenates a part of itself with each death that occurs on its premises. The scenes with the creepy chauffeur were very, creepy is a good word, and the ending is terrifying.

Purchase from Barnes & Noble
Trilogy of Terror (1975), also directed by Dan Curtis, is three horror anthology stories featuring Karen Black in four different roles playing tormented women. In the first story, Julie Eldridgex (Karen Black) is a sexually repressed high school teacher who is blackmailed by one of her students for a past indiscretion which she played an unwilling part. But the student is unaware that Julie plots to turn the tables on him the first chance she gets. In the second story, Millicent Larimore (Karen Black) is a plain-looking, almost reclusive woman whom lives with her amoral twin sister Therese (also Karen Black) whom delights in tormenting her. However, only their doctor whom visits from time to time knows the real thing behind the scene. In the final story, Amelia (Karen Black... again) in a solo horror story monologue plays a mother-dominated woman who buys an African Zuni doll for her latest boyfriend in which the doll comes to life and terrorizes her in her own apartment. The final scene of this third story is unforgettable!

Here's a clip with the doll:

Bad Ronald

The Wilby place is haunted... by a ghost who isn't dead!

The Wood family doesn't know it. But the old house they've just bought is already occupied...
by a psychopathic killer.

Does anyone remember the TV movie from 1974, Bad Ronald, starring Scott Jacoby?


Scott Jacoby, a nerdy high school youth, accidently kills a neighbor's young daughter. Panicking mother, Kim Hunter, fears the police will not believe that it was an accident. She moves her son into a bathroom that she turned into a secret hiding place. After her death, a new family moves in. In the mean time, Ronald has gotten lost in a fantasy world created in his own head from being hidden away for so long.




Later addendum: The full length movie can be viewed from this post.

Crypticon Minneapolis 2008


The Third Annual Crypticon 2008 is just a month away!

November 14, 15, and 16 2008
at the Radisson in Roseville, Minnesota

Guests so far include Special FX/Makeup Genius Tom Savini, Tony Moran (the original Michael Myers in Halloween I and II), PJ Soles, Charlotte Kemp, Michael Baily Smith, and Doug Jones.

The reason for the name of this blog


I remember watching The Blob, starring Steve McQueen, on TV when I was a kid in the 60's. It was one of the first horror movies I ever saw, and I fell in love with the genre.




Later addendum: The full length movie can be viewed from this post.

Introductory Remarks


BREWERBLOB is a general horror blog, containing movie clips and trailers, Friday Night Frights, literature, music, art, and more.

Features:
  • Friday Night Frights - each Friday a full length horror/sci-fi movie is featured. Many of these movies will open in a separate window when you click on the lighted FEATURE PRESENTATION sign. Some (not all) movies are from Hulu.com, and may not be viewable if you're outside the United States. If this is your situation, please see this link. (Note - additional full length movies are occasionally posted on other days as well)
  • Horror Music - the popout player opens in another window, to a jukebox of horror music.
  • CATEGORIES - click on any category to see all applicable posts. Categories of note include videos, which will display all posts with videos (including all full length movies); lists; Friday Night Frights; This Week in Horror; literature
  • Links - click on any link to go to that site
  • Archive - newest posts are at the top. You can drop down by month to see previous entries.
  • Recent Visitor Map - located at the bottom of the page, this world map displays the locations of recent visitors. Click on the map to see additional visitors.
  • Guestbook - please feel free to leave any comments/suggestions for this site, or just say hello. All comments will be viewable by all guests.

You can search all posts by using the search box located at the top of the blog.

Please note that all videos are hosted and provided by third party servers. No videos are hosted on this site. I check the links frequently for reliability , but if you come across one that is disabled, please leave a comment in the post and I'll try to find a replacement host. Thanks!

Thanks for visiting! I hope you find something frighteningly entertaining! I'll be posting regularly, so check back often for updates.

- Bill Brewer Show all posts