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Post by ripper on May 26, 2020 19:20:39 GMT
Very true, Mr C. She was a very busy actress in the 60s to early 80s, with some great film roles and guest spots on popular TV series, then in 1981 she seems to have retired from acting. A shame not to have had her grace our screens for longer, but good luck to her and she left us with many great memories. Indeed she did Rip. There's a great interview with her in a 90s issue of Femme Fatales in which, as I recall, she reflected that acting came to bore her having done it non stop for 20 years. Apparantly it still does as she's never returned. Considering her cv she'd do very well on the celebrity nostalgia circuit but so far as I'm aware she's never succumbed to the infernal temptations of that route either. Remember her looking uber cute on an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man. But here's a promo pic from Hell House. Isn't she delightful. Yep, she looked mighty fine in that film. A bit of trivia regarding the film. According to the Gauntlet edition of Hell House, Matheson envisaged Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom to play the parapsychologist and his wife, and for Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor to play the two psychics. With all due respect to those concerned with the film, I have serious doubts that such a modestly-budgeted production could have afforded the salaries of Burton et al, so I suspect that was a non-starter.
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Post by ripper on May 26, 2020 19:28:24 GMT
Without checking I confused her with Pamela Sue Martin, I have to confess. But sure, Hell House. Great movie. I always wondered how this movie may have been if produced a few years later, maybe a Belasco orgy flashback in the flesh instead of invisible ghosts? Another confession. I can't stand series like Hart to Hart any longer. I watched most of the American productions of the time, and HtH is still on Pay TV. I tried an episode and thought it so unbelievable fake and stupid. This was weird, as I still can watch Murder She Wrote or Diagnosis Murder if the mood strikes - both shows are also on eternal re-runs in Germany - and both are equally dumb. Maybe it is Wagner and Powers who always seem to be Pod People from Hell.
Pamela Sue played Nancy Drew in the 70s TV series. She's another actress who had a busy time with TV movies and guest spots. Oh, I fully agree that Hart to Hart is pure fluff, and not particularly good fluff at that, but there's something about the show that I used to like--maybe Miss Powers, who is certainly easy on the eye. I have yet to seriously sit down and watch a string of episodes, so will be interested to find out if I still find the show entertaining. I suspect it will still strike a chord.
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Post by cromagnonman on May 26, 2020 19:36:57 GMT
I never heard that. The moral Matheson took from this presumably being aim big and be grateful for what you end up with.
Its quite amusing actually to think that Roddy McDowell is substituting for Burton.
Regarding Burton and his salary: I was watching The Medusa Touch last year and it was patently obvious that the budget stretched to having Burton available for no more than a week or so. And that all his scenes were shot in a block on the same set mostly [no location footage of him as I recall]. Then whatever money was left over was used to make the remainder of the film around that. And against all the odds it works.
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Post by ripper on May 26, 2020 19:43:45 GMT
Bravo repeated the series in the mid-late 1990s and I am not aware of it being broadcast since then. Three other episodes stand out for me. One about a girl trapped in a closed library and being stalked by a killer, one in which a group of blind people have to foil a terrorist plot, and one about a sexual assault victim being menaced. Can't remember the titles, but the last one might be Screamer. For some reason, quite a few were re-titled for their US screenings. Just looking at its Wikipedia entry, Donna Mills starred in at least 3 episodes and Pamela Franklin in at least 2, not that I am complaining as I had a crush on both actresses at the time. Ten of the stories including the library one, File It Under Fear, were novelised by something called Ted Hart as Thriller and More Stories from Thriller, for Fontana in 1975. Sadly, no Screamer. That one was real nasty. File it under Fear, yep that rings a bell now. All I could remember is the girl being stalked. I may have had one of the Thriller anthos but it has been so long ago I can't be sure. I wish ITV2, ITV3 or ITV4 would repeat the series, presuming they still hold the rights to it.
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Post by ripper on May 26, 2020 19:54:43 GMT
I never heard that. The moral Matheson took from this presumably being aim big and be grateful for what you end up with. Its quite amusing actually to think that Roddy McDowell is substituting for Burton. Regarding Burton and his salary: I was watching The Medusa Touch last year and it was patently obvious that the budget stretched to having Burton available for no more than a week or so. And that all his scenes were shot in a block on the same set mostly [no location footage of him as I recall]. Then whatever money was left over was used to make the remainder of the film around that. And against all the odds it works. If it had been a big Hollywood production, I suppose those salaries might have been affordable, but not the modest production that was made. Actually, The Exorcist was filmed the same year and that really made supernatural movies big box-office, so if Legend had been filmed in '74 or '75 maybe more money would have been available to afford a big star or two. In the book, the medium Florence is far older than how she was portrayed in the film by Pamela Franklin, so Elizabeth Taylor would actually have been closer in age.
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Post by helrunar on May 26, 2020 20:42:28 GMT
Richard, for some reason I missed your response about reading Hell House and writing a review of it. I haven't looked at it since the original reading of it circa 1971 (?), and I'd forgotten it was dedicated to his daughters. Wow. Just from what I remember, that's quite a mind, er, trip.
I remember it being one of those books that depicted sexual depravity as the ultimate in sin while glorifying it... which seems typical of exploitation writing during that period.
I have to say I admire your commitment to research in constructing your essays!
cheers, Steve
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Post by cromagnonman on May 26, 2020 22:06:43 GMT
Richard, for some reason I missed your response about reading Hell House and writing a review of it. I haven't looked at it since the original reading of it circa 1971 (?), and I'd forgotten it was dedicated to his daughters. Wow. Just from what I remember, that's quite a mind, er, trip. I remember it being one of those books that depicted sexual depravity as the ultimate in sin while glorifying it... which seems typical of exploitation writing during that period. I have to say I admire your commitment to research in constructing your essays! cheers, Steve Its a tough grim job counting tits Steve, but I do it so others don't have to. Damn this vocation of mine. I tried to rationalise Matheson's leering and lingering fixation on the female characters as an attempt to assign the pov of Belasco's disembodied spirit to the narrative but in the end concluded it was simple straightforward voyeurism.
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Post by andydecker on May 27, 2020 9:44:13 GMT
but in the end concluded it was simple straightforward voyeurism. Not that there's anything wrong with that ...
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Post by Dr Strange on Jun 1, 2020 1:07:04 GMT
I enjoyed The Color Out of Space tremendously on Friday. I liked it too, one of the better Lovecraft efforts on screen. Good to hear there's more in the pipeline. Finally got to watch The Color Out Of Space on DVD and I also enjoyed it a lot, though I thought the first two thirds were better than the final section. Cage is actually very good in this, just about managing to stay on the right side of "bonkers", and very funny at times.
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Post by ripper on Jun 6, 2020 14:07:13 GMT
Still largely confined at home, I thought I would dip into my DVD collection and view a few films I haven't played in many years.
Fright Night (1985) Great fun, really enjoyed this favourite from the mid-80s. Teenage Charley Brewster is a big fan of horror host Peter Vincent's Fright Night creature feature programme. Charley witnesses his new next-door neighbour, Jerry Dandrige, sink his fangs into the neck of a lady of the night. Of course, no-one believes him--not even Peter Vincent himself, until Vincent sees that Dandrige casts no reflection in a broken mirror... Roddy McDowall is very good as the cynical and at first sceptical Vincent, as is Chris Sarandon as the vampire Dandrige. The actor playing Brewster's classmate, "Evil Ed", is, for me, the pick of the younger cast members, though Amanda Bearse as Charley's girlfriend is very appealing. I have not seen the re-make, so can't compare it to the original.
The Crazies (1973) I first saw this when it was shown on one of BBC2's Summer Saturday night horror double-bills in the 70s or early 80s. A small town is sealed off after a virus weapon is accidentally released in the area. Townspeople gradually go mad, committing murders and mutilations. Those unaffected try to flee the town, unaware of why it has been quarantined. Meanwhile, scientists try to find a cure for the virus before it can spread... A cast of largely unknowns do a good job. There are parallels to Romero's earlier Night of the Living Dead. I thought the director built up a good atmosphere of paranoia and a sense of inevitability that the virus could not be contained. Again, I have not seen the re-make.
Coffy (1973) One of the baddest and best of the 70s blaxploitationers that flooded the cinemas in the early/mid 70s. Pam Grier is excellent as Coffy, a nurse seeking revenge against the drug pushers and kingpins who hooked her sister on heroin. She disguises herself as a prostitute in order to infiltrate the drug gangs and get close to the bosses. Very violent with Coffy blowing off a pusher's head with a shotgun and putting razor blades in her hair, resulting in some painful wounds for her opponent during a catfight. Very colourful, with some outrageous fashions on display. Good funky soundtrack.
Happy Birthday to Me (1981) I saw this one at the cinema upon its original release. Decent slasher from a time when such films were being released thick and fast. Someone is killing members of the "top ten" clique of students at Crawford Academy. As is usual for the genre, there are a number of red herrings as to who is behind it all, plus some bizarre kills. It features Melissa Sue Anderson as our heroine (she was Mary Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie), and the murders appear to be centred around her. Veteran actor Glenn Ford plays her psychiatrist. It falls apart a bit towards the end, with a rather far-fetched reveal of the killer, but overall it is worth a look. Good, creepy end credits song.
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Post by Swampirella on Jun 6, 2020 15:36:46 GMT
Melissa Sue Anderson as our heroine (she was Mary Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie) Wasn't that "Laura Ingalls"? I remember watching that syrupy series as a kid, mainly to see what self-centred nasty Nellie Olsen was going to do next.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Jun 6, 2020 16:57:06 GMT
Still largely confined at home, I thought I would dip into my DVD collection and view a few films I haven't played in many years. The Crazies (1973) I first saw this when it was shown on one of BBC2's Summer Saturday night horror double-bills in the 70s or early 80s. A small town is sealed off after a virus weapon is accidentally released in the area. Townspeople gradually go mad, committing murders and mutilations. Those unaffected try to flee the town, unaware of why it has been quarantined. Meanwhile, scientists try to find a cure for the virus before it can spread... A cast of largely unknowns do a good job. There are parallels to Romero's earlier Night of the Living Dead. I thought the director built up a good atmosphere of paranoia and a sense of inevitability that the virus could not be contained. Again, I have not seen the re-make. An excellent film. Why do these idiots always have to go for a remake? It's great as it is. Reminds me of those folk who simply must poke a perfectly good fire and they ruin it. Leave it alone. Just don't.
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Post by ripper on Jun 6, 2020 17:41:57 GMT
Melissa Sue Anderson as our heroine (she was Mary Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie) Wasn't that "Laura Ingalls"? I remember watching that syrupy series as a kid, mainly to see what self-centred nasty Nellie Olsen was going to do next. Melissa Sue Anderson played the oldest sister, Mary. Laura, the middle sister was played by Melissa Gilbert. The youngest sister was Carrie, played by Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush. Mary Ingalls was the one who became blind in the later series. Yep, it was always satisfying to see Nellie get her just desserts, which she did regularly, together with her equally obnoxious brother, Willie.
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Post by andydecker on Jun 6, 2020 18:21:16 GMT
This week there was the remake of "The Omen" on tv. The one with Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles and Mia Farrow. I love the original, even if I hate the cast. Gregory Peck and Lee Remick must be couple with the least chemistry in the history of cinema. To describe their acting as wooden is to be polite.
I have seen the remake a couple of years ago and hated it. Wanted to see of my opinion will change. No. Absolutly pointless production. I was especially surprised how bad Mia Farrow was as the nanny from hell. She doesn't even come close to the sheer presence of Billie Whitelaw in the original.
Another point which wasn't a failure of the dull and incredibly flat direction but of the screenplay was how unbelievable Liev Schreiber as the ambassador had become because the character wasn't updated to contemporary times. (Giving him a cell phone is no updating.) I didn't believe for a minute that the ambassador of the United States could come and go just as he pleases, let alone travel without entourage or bodyguards to Italy and then Israel and nobody gives a damn. It made the second half pretty much unbelievable.
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Post by andydecker on Jun 6, 2020 18:30:26 GMT
Melissa Sue Anderson played the oldest sister, Mary. Laura, the middle sister was played by Melissa Gilbert. The youngest sister was Carrie, played by Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush. Mary Ingalls was the one who became blind in the later series. Yep, it was always satisfying to see Nellie get her just desserts, which she did regularly, together with her equally obnoxious brother, Willie. This is being run currently on one of our pay tv channels, TNT Series. The horror, the horror.
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