TERROR TEE-VEE: A Countdown to Halloween (Day 6)

Your Basil Gogos Painting of the Night

MONSTERS

Cheese.
Everything from the theremin theme music that hums like a mosquito in your ears as the monstrous family that gets ready to sit down to an evening of television screams that this show isn’t afraid to cheese it up.  And it often does.  Being the little brother of Tales from the Darkside, it is a natural thing—as natural as a good sharp wedge of cheddar.

But, like Tales from the Darkside, it took the minuscule budget it was allowed and sometimes offered up a genuine fright.  This show ran for three seasons and featured such talents as Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller, Linda Blair, Deborah Harry, Pam Grier, Wil Wheaton and Meat Loaf in stories by writers such as Stephen King, Robert Bloch, Tom Noonan, Dan Simmons, Gahan Wilson, Paul Dini, Michael McDowell, Lisa Tuttle, David Odell, F. Paul Wilson, Michael Reaves, David Morrell, Gerry Conway and Edithe Swensen.

The series shows the diminishing interest of the syndication market in the genre by this point.  Years after Creepshow and the horror anthology craze of the early eighties.  Still, there's some meat on those bones...

These are my quick pick Top 3 episodes

of MONSTERS (in no particular order)

“Bug House”

is a sheer messy monster mash as one sister, with her new lover, visits the other at their former family home.  The visiting sister is pregnant and due soon and is having severe abdominal pains.  In the meantime, the boyfriend has eyes the other sister and, as they say, the rest is history…

“Reaper”

involves an elderly man, played by George Wallace, as he awaits the terrifying arrival of death in his final days, who desperately makes a deal with the Grim Reaper to provide more souls, so that his own life can become extended.  Of course, it gets trickier when the man falls for his elderly nurse, played by Barbara Billingsley.

“The Legacy”

by Bloch is the story of a writer who, in his research, comes across a mysterious and legendary horror actor’s infamous make-up kit.  The writer becomes dangerously obsessed with the kit and puts it to use for himself.  A little hokey around the edges, but this tale has it’s heart in the right place and pays some small tribute to the great Lon Chaney.

Finally, here are some sites worthy of review if one is interested in more about MONSTERS...

Scary for Kids

XPLOITING

Cinema Crazed

TERROR TEE-VEE: A Countdown to Halloween (Day 3)

Today's Featured Basil Gogos Art.

AMERICAN GOTHIC

“Someone’s at the door!”

The phrase "Someone's at the door!" was a mantra in the ads for the show and the series itself.  It is a simple line repeated to hypnotic effect by the disturbed young woman traumatized by what happened to her mother.  And a foreboding line when that evil returns.

Cross The Andy Griffith Show with The Devil and Daniel Webster and throw in a heaping helping of The Omen and you have American Gothic. Shaun Cassidy and Sam Raimi’s mid-90’s story of terror ruling a tiny town.

Lasting only a single season, it is the story of Trinity, South Carolina and young Caleb Temple (played smartly by Lucas Black), a supernaturally gifted boy whose young life is full of tragedy.  The antagonist in this tale is the sheriff, Lucas Buck (portrayed brilliantly by Gary Cole) who has either made a very favorable deal with the devil or may even be the devil himself.

Sheriff Buck runs his little town with an iron fist and having raped Caleb’s mother, may be the boy’s father.  He is also responsible for the murder of the boy’s sister, Merlyn (played by Sarah Paulson) and the suicide of his parents.  Buck plays, pulls and manipulates the people in his town like puppets with blackmail, manipulation and just sheer threats.

The show becomes more and more about Caleb’s potential for both good and evil and, generally, a battle for the boy’s soul as Buck tries to corrupt him and those good people in his life try to turn him from the darkness.

All 22 episodes are available on Amazon and Vudu and there is a box set of the first season—and the DVD side of Netflix still offers it for rental. If one doesn’t mind the lower quality play, it can be found on Yahoo! View for free—a service I was, until recently, unaware of...

YAHHOO! VIEW: American Gothic 1995

The series was meddled with by the network once ratings slipped and so it probably didn’t go quite where it wanted to originally go, nevertheless it was a big ol’ slice of apple pie that was surprisingly dark for primetime on CBS in those days.

The top episodes of the show were probably the “Pilot”, “Damned if You Don’t” and “To Hell and Back”… well worth looking into if you’re up for a deep dive into good, greasy, cheesy American darkness.

Here's the original episode:

"PILOT"

This is the 4th episode:

"Damned if You Don't"

And finally, here is the 14th episode:

"To Hell and Back"

Here are a few articles on the show that are of note:

Classic Horror

Entertainment Weekly

Mysterious Universe

TV TROPES

TERROR TEE-VEE: Countdown to Halloween (Day 2)

The Basil Gogos painting of the night.

TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE

“Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality.

But…there is, unseen by most, an underworld, a place that is just as real,

but not as brighty lit … a dark side.”

Spinning out of the success of George Romero’s CREEPSHOW, those involved looked to weekly television as an outlet for more.  A syndicated show, this anthology series had a very limited budget, so the frights came cheap.  However, the writing was sometimes notable, with talents like Harlan Ellison, Clive Barker, Robert Bloch, Frederik Pohl and Stephen King behind some of the dark tales in question.  Perhaps that’s why it was able to last for four seasons, running from 1984 through 1988.

Once the show ended, a movie was released in 1990 with contributions from Stephen King, Deborah Harry, Christian Slater, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore and William Hickey.  Tom Savini is said to have called this movie “The real CREEPSHOW 3”.

Horror writer Joe Hill (Stephen King’s son) was guiding the series to a return in 2014-16, but it seems to have fallen into limbo at the CW as of today.

Picking just a few episodes of this series was tough, but we here at The Goods bit the bullet and got ruthless, pulled out the long knives and began hacking down the list to a manageable three episodes...

“Inside the Closet” is written by Michael McDowell and directed by Tom Savini and features a college student who rents a room from a professor.  In the room, which used to be his daughters, she notices a small door and inquires as to it’s purpose.  It used to be a closet, but is off limits now—she learns.  Youtube happens to have this episode available for your viewing pleasure right now:

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Based on a story by Robert Bloch and adapted by James Houghton, “A Case of the Stubborns” is one of the more comedic episodes of the series.  It tells the tale of an old man, played brilliantly by Eddie Bracken, who dies, but refuses to let a little thing like that get in the way of his way of life. In notable roles, this episode, are Christian Slater and Brent Spiner.  Here it is right now, via Youtube-O-Vision:

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“Seasons of Belief” by Michael McDowell and based on a story by Michael Bishop, is about two children who no longer believe in Santa at home on Christmas Eve who are told about a creature called the Grither (think Krampus) by their parents (E.G. Marshall & Margaret Klenck). A fine monster story told on a dark winter evening or a cool autumn night in early October on Youtube:

“The dark side is always there, waiting for us to enter—waiting to enter us.

Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight.”

TERROR TEE-VEE: The Countdown to Halloween (Day 1)

If you are new to the “Countdown to Halloween”, then here’s how it goes: Each day of the month of October we bloggers participating will blog about the upcoming holiday of horrors.  It can be as big or detailed as the most well researched article in a professional magazine, or it can be a simple piece of art, a song, or anything that takes one another step closer to Halloween.  In short, it’s just a celebration of the season.

For my part this year, I will be counting down the best "TERROR TEE-VEE" ever to cross the airwaves.  Now, I’m not going to go in any particular order, in fact, I may well be mentioning the best horror show in TV history tonight (THRILLER)—but I’m not judging them in order of greatness, just how I happened to order them to keep it interesting.

Also, since we lost so many great horror icons this past year (William Peter Blatty, Bernie Wrightson, Basil Gogos, Tobe Hooper and George A. Romero), we will be featuring them briefly all month long.  For Mr. Gogos that means that I'll be using his art all month long at the top of my blogs.

And so...

Here we go again—

let the “Countdown” begin!

THRILLER

“As sure as my name is Boris Karloff, this is a Thriller!”

Boris Karloff’s Thriller fits comfortably among such pioneering anthology shows as The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.  Where Serling’s Zone focused more on science fiction allegory, Thriller was more concerned with earthly matters of flesh and bone.

With writing by Robert Bloch, Cornell Woolrich, August Derleth, Richard Matheson and Robert E. Howard, one can see that Thriller—at it’s heart—was a televised version of pulp fiction. Stark settings, dire situations, high drama and the twisted plot in the dark are all elements that worked well for the show.

And though, with it’s mix of crime thrillers and supernatural chillers it was an uneven watch for those tuning in every week to watch, it lasted for two seasons.  And it would have continued on, had it not been for an interesting jealous interloper who murdered it in it’s infancy… Alfred Hitchcock.  That’s right, the innocent looking little film maker felt his show threatened enough by Thriller’s success (it had higher ratings) that he used his considerable power at Universal to axe the show.

But we’re not here about the death of this show, we are here to celebrate a few of it’s greatest efforts!  And, in the humble opinion of this viewer,

these are the top three episodes of Thriller…

Nearly every TV critic puts “Pigeons from Hell” at the top of the list for classic television terrors.  Taking the Robert E. Howard short tale about two stranded travelers who, along with a local sheriff, battle an evil force in an abandonded old plantation house on swampy land, Thriller simply told a gem of a horror tale with great atmosphere that ratchets up the suspense.  And, what do you know, it’s here on the Youtubes:

Next up is “The Hungry Glass”, a kind of haunted house story centered on the allegedly cursed mirrors in the house.  A young couple has purchased the home from a friend and are apprehensive after hearing the rumors about the deaths that are associated with the place.  Adapted from a short story by Robert Bloch, it features William Shatner in a fairly restrained performance that, even as he is drawn into the horror of the house, rings very true.

And, thanks to the mighty, mighty Youtube, it is available here:

I would finally offer up “The Incredible Doktor Markesan”, which is a great dread-filled episode starring the great Boris Karloff.  However, since it isn’t offered to the general public on the Youtube for some strange reason, I will offer another equally creepy episode…

“The Return of Andrew Bentley” is adapted by Richard Matheson and Mark Schorer rom an August Derleth story.  It is about a poor couple seeking financial help from an Uncle who soon dies, leaving them the house and all of his possessions if only they stay in the house and oversee the safety of his dead body.  It’s not long after that Andrew Bentley comes calling… looking for the body.

As per custom, here is that very episode:

Here are a few more in depth articles and blogs on the thrilling spook show that is THRILLER:

A.V. CLUB

AWAKE AT MIDNIGHT

WONDERS IN THE DARK

RAVENOUS MONSTER