Old School Flix: Dead of Night (1945)

 A Film so good, they made it twice.  Well, kind of.
I'll get to that later.

This is Dead of Night, a 1945 British Horror Film with a dash or two of Comedy sprinkled in. 
For somewhat obvious reasons, Horror Films were discouraged in the UK during WWII.  This was supposedly one of the first ones allowed to be made after the War (there) ended.

The Plot involves a confused man in a familiar situation.  Why does he remember these people he's 'never met?'  Will their Stories clear things up?

To find out, read on...

As an Anthology Film, it has multiple Directors for the Framing Device and separate Stories.

Of note, Mr. Crichton ended his career by Directing 'A Fish Called Wanda.'  Neat.

A man arrives at a Cabin way out in the Woods where he meets a bunch of people.

He seems to know them but doesn't know why.  They don't know him either.

He also speaks vaguely of something dire...

The first tale involves a Young Racecar Driver (this is pre-NASCAR) who nearly dies.
He has a dream/vision of a hearse, and the Driver says that 'There is room for one more.'

The next day, he is about to get on a Bus, but the Driver is the same one he saw and says the line.

He doesn't get on the Bus, and it crashes.

The next tale involves a young lady at a Christmas party.  Topical...ly late!

She plays a form of Hide & Seek, but gets separated after a guy tells her the tale of a kid killed there years before.  Christmas!

She finds a child and puts him to bed...only to find out that he was the Ghost of that kid.

The kid does nothing btw.

In the next Story, a woman gets a mirror as a gift for Husband.
No issue there, right?

Well, it apparently was owned by a man who went crazy and killed his (not really) cheating wife.

It seems to possess the Husband...until she breaks him free.

Another Guest tells a tale that is clearly designed to lighten the mood (both in and out of story)...

A pair of Golfers agree to decide who can romance a woman with a Golf Game.  The winner seems to cheat, so the loser drowns himself in a lake!

Yep, this is the Comedy one.

Said man is now a Ghost who makes his old friend unable to enjoy life.  They settle things, but now the Ghost can't 'disappear.'

In the stress of teaching him how, the living man...disappears...somehow and the Ghost gets the girl.

******

The next Story- and the final one- is the most famous of the Film.

A Ventriloquist has a sardonic dummy that makes him thinks that he'll leave him for another Ventriloquist.

When said man finds the dummy missing and in that guy's room, he shoots him (but not fatally).

The Therapist- who was skeptical the whole tie- tells of how the man eventually smashed the dummy...and then began to speak in his voice.

Back in the Framing Device, the lights go out and the group splits up.

Our Hero kills the Therapist and escapes...into the settings of the previous Stories.

He wakes up and tells his wife about his vivid dream...before the phone rings.

He's invited to help out a man at his Cabin and that's...the guy from the beginning (with the Golf Story)!

Time Loop?  Hell?  White Bear?
Dunno.  

The End.

A good, if dated, Film that has some good Stories to share.  There's certainly no confusing Dead of Night with a modern Horror Film in any way, shape or form.  Is that a bad thing though?

The Film doesn't necessarily feel stodgy or outdated- just of its era.  There's no blood.  There's no guts.  There's really not much that's graphic or anything.  The worst you get is the Mirror Story or the creepiness of the Ventriloquist's Story.

Oddly, for me, the most unsettling thing was the casual nature of how the one guy just walked into the Lake to die and nobody stopped him.  At a certain point, what did you think he was doing?  Why didn't you help him?!?

If you're looking for true Horror, the Stories are mixed bag. 
The first one with the Racecar Driver is ominous, while the Christmas Ghost is harmless. 
The Golf Story- casual and avoidable suicide aside- is intentionally Comedic. 
The Mirror Story has a nice slow burn, just not the payoff you might expect as a modern viewer.
The Ventriloquist Story is the most famous one for a reason.  While there's still no actual death, it is the most Horror of them all.

The wrap-up is intentionally vague, but interesting.  I have to imagine that David Lynch was inspired by it.

Dead of Night is a Classic bit of unique Horror- just know what you're getting into.  Don't be caught off-guard like this little guy, which is a small animal reacting to the Golfer's slow-motion suicide.  No, really.

Next up, I might as well watch the follow-up (in name only) Film next.  Will 30 years change the tone?  Stay tuned...

The Best, Worst and Most Disappointing of Tubi Thursday in 2022

 Tubi still hasn't paid me for all of this free advertising I give them.
Eh...I'll keep doing it still.

Doing Tubi Thursday helped keep me on Schedule- in one instance- and exposed me to much I might not have seen this Year.

Some was good.
Some was bad (very bad!)
Some was just disappointing.

Let's discuss some, shall we?

Best: Hurricane Smith- While not a great Film, it's all relative, no?

I had fun with this never-discussed much Film with 'Apollo' in Australia.
Fun is what I'm looking for with a Film with this Cast and Plot.

Worst: Queen Crab- It was worse than expected in one major way: lack of fun.

The Film used Stop-Motion in place of CGI which takes away some of the silly charm from these things.  The CGI is bad.  This Stop Motion was...alright, but the Plot was so self-serious and drab.

Most Disappointing: Primal Scream- This one sounded like dumb fun, but just put me to sleep.

It has this weird Sci-Fi Noir thing it is going for but was just so cheap (you can almost see the hand moving their spaceship in one shot) and uninteresting.  That's the biggest crime, really.

Best: Swamp Thing- Admittedly, I've seen the Film before.  Even so, it is a great bit of schlocky fun.  It's so serious, which makes it all the better.

Worst: Land Shark (2017)- On a whim, I did the 2 Films called 'Land Shark.'

One was a cheesy Chinese Monster Film (which wasn't technically part of this Series) and then this one...well, really sucked.

It seriously has the worst Special Effects I've seen in a while and was just bad.

Most Disappointing: Curse of the Kraken- This Chinese Monster Film promises way more than it can deliver.

The premise- random folks vs a killer Kraken.
The Film- a Kraken attacks at the beginning and is gone until the last 5-10 minutes.  In its place, 'mutants' jumping around and people fighting in the dirt.

Not even a random 2-headed Shark cameo can save this.  Boo.

Curious to see what else has been covered?  

Just search for 'Tubi' on the Site.

Holiday Tubi: Terror Train 2 (2022)

 So, someone remade Terror Train this Year.  That same someone made a Sequel...also this Year.

The Sequel, unlike that last one, is actually set on New Year's Eve.
Let's check it out...

The original Remake was, for some reason, set on Halloween.

I guess that explains the Magician and the Costumes better, but still.
Next year, Movie- your time will come.

It's been a Year since the last Film and nobody is super happy about being back on THE SAME TRAIN.
They also never caught the killer.

This trip is set up as a challenge to 'wipe the slate clean' by some and, well, just a job for others.

Not David Copperfield here is the latter.

Another killer is on board and, wow, they sure aren't going to blend in, aren't they?

Incidentally, they embrace the Title quite literally, making this basically a Haunted House...but on a Train.  That's...not a great idea, right?

To give the Movie some praise, they introduce an annoying know-it-all Character and then abruptly kill him.

Our Final Girl- who is literally called this by many people, despite others surviving- is there for her Therapy, since she can't even train in Medicine without freaking out.

She's a real Drama Queen about this whole 'saw my friends die' thing, right?

Unlike the other Jamie Lee Curtis Remake/Sequel, Ms. Curtis is not involved in this one in any way.

I wonder if they even bothered to ask.

Would she have said yes?

Since it literally just came out on the 30th, no SPOILERS here.  To see what happens, stream it now.

------

It's...alright.  I can't say much more about it quality-wise though, if I'm being honest.

There are no Continuity Errors or anything.  The Acting is alright, even quite bi-polar at times.

It is a pretty by-the-numbers Modern Slasher with a few decent Characters and a bunch of assholes.  People sure do love to make fake jump scares and act just as dumb as they did in 1980.

For all of the advances in technology our Society has made, our Horny Teens are still dumb as bricks.  No offense, bricks.

Speaking of technology, CGI Blood strikes again.  It's just for quick bursts, so it is better than the Puppet Master Film using it in place of squibs.  They use 'real' blood enough here to make it a minor quibble.

For better or worse, it is a pretty soulless, but inoffensive Slasher.  Of course, using Google to find Images for this gives me weird hits like this...

You now have 2 choices as to which Slasher Film set on a Train during New Year's Eve to watch.  What a World, eh?

Compendium: The 'Puppet Master' Series

 There's A LOT of these Films!

I didn't do them all at once either.

Let's make this easier for everyone, shall we?
(Oh, and I'm going in Film Release Order)

1) Puppet Master- MONDO BIZARRO: Pull the Strings!: Puppet Master (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

2) Puppet Master 2- MONDO BIZARRO: Pull the Strings!: Puppet Master II (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

3) Puppet Master 3: Toulon's Revenge- MONDO BIZARRO: Pull The Strings!: Puppet Master III (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

4) Puppet Master 4- MONDO BIZARRO: Pull the Strings!: Puppet Master IV- The Demon (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

5) Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter- MONDO BIZARRO: Pull the Strings!: Puppet Master V (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

* Pause for laughter *

6) Curse of the Puppet Master- MONDO BIZARRO: Pull the Strings!: Curse of the Puppet Master (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

7) Retro Puppet Master- MONDO BIZARRO: Pull The Strings!: Retro Puppet Master (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

8) Puppet Master: The Legacy (the Stock Footage one)- MONDO BIZARRO: Great Moments in Stock Footage: Puppet Master- The Legacy (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

9) Puppet Master: Axis of Evil- MONDO BIZARRO: Pull the Strings!: Puppet Master- Axis of Evil (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

10) Puppet Master: Axis Rising- MONDO BIZARRO: Moon Over Miami: Puppet Master X- Axis Rising (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

11) Puppet Master: Axis Termination- MONDO BIZARRO: Tubi Thursday: Puppet Master- Axis Termination (2017) (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

12) Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich- COMING SOON (Maybe)

13) Puppet Master: Doktor Death- COMING SOON (probably)

Bonus Content

1) The 'Puppet Master' Timeline (to a point)- MONDO BIZARRO: The *Comprehensive* Puppet Master Timeline (mondobizarrocinema.blogspot.com)

2) Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys (2004)- N/A

3) Blade: The Iron Cross- COMING SOON 

Tubi Thursday: Puppet Master- Axis Termination (2017)

 After a long, long break, I'm back with Full Moon's most famous Series. 

To be fair, this one didn't come out until 2 years after my last Review (of the 2012 Film), so we're kind of even.

Will this be a welcome return with...

The 2012 Film Axis Rising ended with our 2 Heroes escaping with the Dolls, but the bad guys got some of the fluid to make their own.

Well, unlike Commenters thought, this ending is paid off.

Our Heroes are immediately shot by a Nazi spy...who is immediately shot by The Guy From Ballistica.

You couldn't have shot the bad guy like 20 seconds earlier?!?

The Nazis are still at it, but this time it is all about the magic.

It's vague and 'glowy,' with pretty much the same effects from Retro Puppet Master...a Film they made 18 years earlier.

All you need to know is that there's an evil lady and a dude, plus a random French Psychic.

A short man's...er poor man's Peter Dinklage is an Occult Expert who has to work with Logan on the case.

I could repeat my 'I smell a Sitcom' joke, but this Film was released as Episodes originally, so....

With magic and dark Science on their side, the Nazis seem hard to stop.

Can our Heroes save the day?

Can the sometimes important, but often neglected Puppets help them out?

Well, I'm pretty sure I know how the end of WWII happened, but to find out, stream the Film now.

Could I have gone another 7 years without watching one of these?  Well, it wasn't nearly that bad.

To be honest, the issue with these Films is that they are just so damn cheap looking and feeling.  I know that Full Moon isn't Marvel Studios.  Hell, it isn't even one of those Studios that makes Mumblecore Films.  Even so, it is just so...cheap looking.

A plus- they used CGI and people in suits to actually show you the Puppets moving in full frame.
A negative- they use CGI blood all of the time and I hate it.

To compensate, they put in lots of low-budget gore involving blood spray and the like.  I don't mind it, but some of the uses are weird.  They do this prolonged bit where a random Nazi Guard is mutilated, while a main Villain is just punched out and choked.  Huh?!?

At this point the Timeline of these- especially with the Comics too- is Swiss Cheese, but credit where credit is due for trying to wrap things up.  It's like putting a band aid on Hans Gruber after he falls from the Nakatomi Plaza (gotta work those Christmas jokes in now!), of course.

On the plus side, they kept the Werewolf Puppet and ditched the guy on the right.

At this point, it's probably better to just finish these Films off, right?  Well, unless someone famous died today...

Forgotten Prequels: Dominion- Prequel to the Exorcist

 You can put off reviewing an Exorcist Film, but don't put off an actual Exorcism!

This is Dominion- Prequel to the Exorcist, the 2005 Film with a past that is a bit confusing.  If you know the story I shared in my Exorcist: The Beginning Review, see it.  If not, here's the simplest version...

WB wanted an Exorcist Prequel and hired a Director.
That Director quit and they got John Frankenheimer.
He died and then they got Paul Schrader.
$30 million later and they got this Film...which they hated.
After two Cuts for the Studio, they decided to spend another $50 million on Renny Harlin's Version with a new(ish) Script.

That Film did not do amazing in Theaters- barely recouping the Budget- and the Studio was curious enough to make some money on the still-strong DVD Market with this Film.  $35,000 later (which seems low), they got a 2005 Film that was shot before the 2004-released Film which serves a Prequel to the 1973 Film...while ignoring the Prequel Plot explained in the 1977 Sequel.

Confused?

Basically, this is the original Film with its own Cast.  That Cast was excised- save for Stellan Skarsgard- for the Theatrical Film.  

Which parallel Film is better?  To find out, read on...

In 1944, the Village in which Father Merrin is working is attacked by some Nazis.  They kill many people and make him 'pick the victims' in lieu of them all dying.

In the Harlin Version, this footage is kept in, but spliced into a series of dreams over the course of the Film.  That's much worse, no?

Not Fun Fact: The Actor that plays the Nazi (who was Dutch) died in 2010.
Fun Fact: He did some of the Dutch Dubbing on Total Drama, a Cartoon Network Show.

Three years later, he's in East Africa- no, the Film is not more specific- and working on digging up antiquities for the Church.

He's understandably shaken in his faith by this...so here's a young, idealistic Priest to help him out.

I smell a Sitcom.

Weird stuff is happening in the Area as they dig up an old Church.

For instance, these genuinely-terrible-looking CGI Hyenas.

I mean, I get that you can't go to 'a guy' and hire some Trained Hyenas...but still...

Two Soldiers are killed (off-camera) while trying to loot the place, so it raises the tensions between the Villagers (aka the People whose home this is) and the Soldiers (who just showed up with guns).

This can't end well.

While this is happening, a young man named Cheche (not to be confused with Cheech or Chi-Chi) is taken in by Merrin and a Nurse (who was replaced with a Doctor in The Beginning).

As time goes on, his disfigurement seems to fade away while things get worse.

It all comes to a head when he is fully possessed by Pazuzu (voiced by Schrader's Wife Mary Beth Hurt) and calls himself/itself perfection.

This stands in contrast to The Beginning, where the Doctor is possessed and becomes, well, Regan.
How?  Is the Demon's face just like the girl's or what?

Can Merrin save the young man's soul?
Can he contain Pazuzu?
Will I need a Sequel to this Prequel to cover what happened with Merrin between this and the other Film?

To find out, watch or stream the Film now.  If nothing else, you can see that I did not, in fact, Photoshop this...

A much better experience than Renny Harlin's Film- no question.  Was it necessary? I mean, for all of the bad in The Exorcist 2 (and there was plenty), it basically gave us this Story- albeit in a dumber way.

It is weird that they made 2 parallel Prequels, and BOTH contradict that Film?!?  No summoning of a Locust Swarm or a giant Pazuzu Statue out in the open.  Is Cheche supposed to be a replacement for the (future) James Earl Jones Character?

On its own, the Film is fine.  The direction is nice and most of the Characters get an Arc.  It is one of those Films that doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel, but it tells a far better story in standalone fashion than The Beginning does.

That one was full of 'wink, wink nudge, nudge' moments that just felt too knowing.  This one isn't nearly so blatant about it and is better for it.

So, weird qualifier coming, if you're going to see one Prequel to The Exorcist, make it this one.  Just don't mind the CGI.  It's...something truly evil.

Next up, let's see if I can squeeze one more old Film in before 2023 begins.  I know just the thing.  Stay tuned...

Shudder Sunday: To All A Goodnight (1980)

 How did I miss the first Slasher Film of the '80s for so long? 
This is To All a Goodnight.

While it's less famous than Friday the 13th, it did come out a few weeks first.  Points for you!

Does being first make you the best or the worst though?

The Film was Directed by- get this- David Hess, a man most famous for Acting as a Villain/Creep in Films before and after this.  Why did he only Direct this one Film though?  Dunno- he's been dead for 9 years, so I can't exactly ask him.

The Film's Writer was Alex Rebar, who also Produced the Thanksgiving Slasher Home Sweet Home.  It's a shame he didn't do a Halloween Film and get the Hat Trick.  As a Bonus, Goodnight and Demented- his other 1980 Writing Credit- both feature legendary (?) Porn Actor Harry Reems.  That can't be a coincidence, right?

The Plot involves a masked Santa Killer taking out Sorority Girls based on a previous plight.  Will he/she/they get them all?  To see where alot of the Tropes come from, read on...

The Film's Cold Open shows a girl we don't know being chased by some Sorority Girls and falling off of a small balcony- which is like 8-12 feet from the ground- and dying.

We abruptly see the same School 2 years later (that number is important) and a few Students are staying behind on Campus.

They- of course- invite some guys over and the group pairs off, leaving one girl out of the mix.

Young- check.

Innocent- check.

Virginal- check.

So... you know where this is going, don't you?

A masked Maniac dressed like Santa Claus stalks and kills a few of the Co-Eds and their dates.

Surprisingly, they don't take them all on one night and instead leave a body to be found in the Morning.

Now they are staying at the House for another night...which kind of makes the passage of time kind of pointless here, no?

It is still another Night Scene for the 2nd Round.

Who will live and who will die?

Well, you can probably guess those.

What you may not guess is that this Film seems to have inspired the Scream Films are as far as its Ending is concerned.  There's 5 Films, so that's barely a SPOILER without clarification, right?

To find out, stream the Film now.

A decent Film, but it is nothing that impressive in the long run.  Bear in mind that this Film came out *before* the flood of Slasher Films, so it should be judged as such.  

These early Films- like Final Exam- have to be judged on their own merits, as opposed to the more advanced and complex Sequels that would come in the rest of the Decade.

That's not to say that the Film gets a free pass for some generally cliche Writing, odd Pacing and not a big delivery on the kills.  The Film has a variety of them, but you really miss the touch of someone like Tom Savini on these.  This is much more of an implied kill kind of Film, at least for the most part.

The Acting is honestly not bad, but it wasn't going to win any Oscars either.  Everyone plays a pretty simple Role and plays it fine.  There's no real nuance to them, other than when the pairings start to change in the Third Act.

The Ending is kind of predictable in many ways, but it does do the Bonus Twist thing, even if that too is pretty obvious.  Credit for trying.

Goodnight is a decent, overlooked Slasher from the Genre's early days.  Completists will need to see, while curious fans of the Genre will probably enjoy the stock nature of it all.  Make a Drinking Game out of it, if you'd like.

Speaking of like, I'm torn on whether I like this- I think- Fan Edit Poster....

A bunch of Santa-based kills from an early Slasher Film.  While you can probably guess every twist and turn, it is still kind of fun.

5 Offbeat Christmas Cartoon Episodes to Watch This Year

 As a fan of the weird and obscure, I like to cover the stuff that is not covered as much.

Most of these are quite recent to boot.

Let's begin with...

This Disney XD Show made during the peak of the MCU's rise.

The team- Hulk, Red Hulk, She-Hulk, Skaar and A-Bomb get their Christmas dream life...but there's a catch.

As a bonus, check out The Guardians of the Galaxy in their Comic form, since this Show was made before their Film in 2014.

Ultimate Spider-Man is another Disney XD Show that had a Christmas Episode...or two.

In the first one, Spidey *also* gets his dream life, but it comes with bad consequences.

This one has a fun aspect where he sees his early adventures done in the style of the 1960's Cartoon (which is also on Disney +).

In the second one, he experiences Christmas alongside a new Hero- Moon Knight.

This Moon Knight is played up like a (more) crazy Batman and is voiced by Brave & The Bold's Deidrich Bader.

Isn't he Jewish though?

In one that I'd forgotten about for a good 25+ years, there's 'We Wish You A Morlock Christmas' from the classic X-Men Show.

In this Holiday Episode, they learn that Leech- one of the Morlocks (Mutants who are too freaky-looking/acting to live on the surface)- is sick.

Storm- who won leadership of the Morlocks but is not around- is guilt-tripped while they find a way to heal the Mutant.

Let's end on a Christmas Episode from last year that I didn't get around to watching until this Year.

It is...

The Plot is bonkers.  When you realize that Dave Jesser and Matt Silverstein- who created Drawn Together- work on this Show, it makes sense.

In one Plot, their Pupa (too long a story) helps a kid on Christmas, while the rest of them...end up in a post-apocalyptic hellscape in the World of Jingle All the Way.

Merry Christmas!

These are all fun and silly in their own way.  All but the X-Men one are pretty balanced out with humor, action and the like.

I should note that the Solar Opposites one is 100% not for kids, so don't share it with the kids unless they like animated blood and jokes about cannibalism.

The X-Men one is very heartwarming and so saccharine (do people still use that word) that it made my teeth hurt.  You get Cyclops trying to sing Christmas songs, Wolverine facing survivor's guilt (hi, kids!) and Storm being berated by the Morlocks (and rightly so).

It all wraps up sweetly with the gang celebrating Christmas...in the Sewers with the Morlocks as the C-Plot is wrapped up.  That one involves Jean Grey and Gambit arguing in the kitchen over cooking Christmas Dinner.  It even almost comes to blows.

So, when you think of Christmas, think of giving, helping others, loving your family and... threatening someone with a head of broccoli.

Ho Ho Ho.