Never Trust the Doorman.

Well, another year. Another attempt to keep a regular VHS post schedule. We'll see how this shakes out, maybe I'll even get back to the Horror Movie Guide watch-through. Anyhoops, the next VHS off the pile was Tony Lo Bianco's lone kick at the can, 1984's Too Scared To Scream.

Tenants at a Manhattan high-rise are turning up dead and the gentlemanly doorman (Ian McShane) seems to be at the center of it.

Shot in 1982, but not released until a few years later, Too Scared to Scream was originally intended to be a TV movie, but never ended up finding a network. It was then that some new footage was shot (read: tits and gore) and it was sent out into the video market. I could tell Lo Bianco was trying to ape Hitchcock here, but any strength of this piece is not in the filmmaking or the story, but in the cast.

Ian McShane as Vincent in Too Scared To Scream.

In addition to the younger McShane, who still commands his usual presence and reminded me a little of peak Oliver Reed, there are many other notables here. Mike Connors of Mannix fame does the cop duties, the original Tarzan's Jane Maureen O'Sullivan shows up as McShane's wheelchair-bound mother and a young John Heard is a guy named “Steve”. Even Creepshow's Carrie Nye shows up as a fashion designer.

Tops in my mind though, is Anne Archer as Connors' partner, Kate. She is a real charmer, right on the cusp of stardom before such memorable thrillers as Fatal Attraction, Narrow Margin and (to an admittedly lesser degree) Body of Evidence. Val Avery also appears as the coroner and his one-liners are gold Jerry! Gold!

 

Too Scared To Scream is for the most part pretty standard, but the dialogue is what kept me engaged. I can't tell how much was scripted or improvised, but I have to admit it did have me chuckling quite often. Like when soon to be murdered Cynthia (Victoria Bass) addresses her pet bird, “you better shut up or I'm going to get arrested for molesting a Mina.” Like I said. GOLD! 

At the very least, this is one of those films that gives us plenty of Midtown Manhattan during the early eighties and I'll never get tired of that. I wanted to climb in the TV and go see that screening of The Burning being advertised on one of the marquees.

Back From The Grave!

Best of 2024

Hello all. Though we endured a lot of shit world-wise this year, I have to say that 2024 was an exceptional year for horror. Not only was there a high quantity of releases to choose from, but the overall quality was of a level I haven't seen for quite some time. Usually I can cobble five memorable titles together at this time, but this year it was closer to 20. In the interest of time and attention span, here are my top ten.

Dec 30th Horror Trivia Screening Guide.

To all those who came here from the event or Storm Crow's FB page, welcome! I am Jay, one half of the horror trivia quizmasters and this is my humble blog. Here's a selected list of titles mentioned at the last event. Click on the titles to be redirected to their Imdb listing. Horror Trivia Night happens at Storm Crow Manor in Toronto. If you're in the area, come on down! Register here.

Infested (2023)

V/H/S Beyond (2024)

Ginger Snaps (2000)

Woman of the Hour (2023)

Creep (2014)

The Faculty (1998)

Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999)

Urban Legend (1998)

Subservience (2024)

Silent Night, Deadly Night 3 (1989)

Cuckoo (2024)

Deep Rising (1998)

Blood Feast (1963)

2000 Maniacs (1964)

Color Me Blood Red (1965)

The Wizard of Gore (1970)

Howl (2015)

Hell's Creatures (1968)

Wolfcop (2014)

The Wolf Man (1941)

The Company of Wolves (1984)

Dog Soldiers (2002)

13: Fear Is Real (2009)

A Ghost Story For Christmas (1971-present)

R.I.P. Olivia Hussey 1951-2024

I was saddened to hear about the passing of actress Olivia Hussey. She was 73. Though she was most known for her striking performance as Juliet in the 1968 version of Romeo & Juliet, to me, she will forever be the first Final Girl Jess Bradford in 1974's seminal slasher Black Christmas. Iconic.

Olivia Hussey 1951-2024

Hussey also appeared in such genre films Psycho 4, Turkey Shoot and Ice Cream Man and later in her career excelled at voice acting in franchises such as Batman and Star Wars. Sadly, Hussey was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and battled it intermittently until her death on December 27th. Rest in peace, Olivia. 

13 for 2024 Revisited.

Yes I know... I'm neglecting my duties here, but inspiration these days is fleeting and the urge to just lay on the couch watching YouTube reaction videos is just too great. However, I did promise to watch 13 movies this year and feel obligated to at least update you on that.

The first three were the most anticipated of the year. 

They Follow did not materialize so either I misread the release year, or it got pushed back. No matter, add it to the growing list of anticipated titles for 2025. MaXXXine was good, but not great and definitely my least favourite of the trilogy. Goth was of course solid, as was the 1980s  aesthetic, but it seemed to have less direction than the other two. Nosferatu, I watched so recently I can still smell the popcorn on my fingers. I enjoyed Eggers' vision, but like Lomglegs I feel the lone weakness was the performance of the title character.

Next up were the festival favourites. Stopmotion was terrific, Robert Morgan blended his signature style with live-action to give us something really unique. Late Night with the Devil is awesomely authentic and surely would have been near the top of my 2023 list had I seen it at TAD. The Man in the White Van was another title that didn't come out (Imdb says it was released last week, but not here so I wait nonetheless).

I'm afraid I biffed on two of these three. I did not find time for The Dead Pit or Xtro, but I did pick up Flowers in the Attic at Vinegar Syndrome. It was aight. Peeps made it sound a lot more disturbing than it actually was, but I know how things hit differently when you watch them as a child. Plus, I'll never say no to Baby K Swanson.

Oh yes, the First Saturday in October movies. I did track down Part V early on the year. I appreciated the gag, but it didn't pull me in enough to seek out the other one. And to be honest, I completely forgot I put Dawn of the Mummy on this list. Oops.

And last, but not least; In A Violent Nature. Well, I saw it four times in a theatre and then another two on Blu-ray so that should give you an idea of how I feel about this one. Chris Nash is just one of the unique voices we heard from this year.

I don't know if I'll do another one of these for 2025, but do check back for a round-up because I thought 2024 was an exceptional year for horror so it's worth a post.

Eighties Stew.

Hello all! I am back with another VHS Friday. This next one on the pile was a title I'd been meaning to get to for a while - Bert L. Dragin's 1988 “sort-of” haunted house flick Twice Dead. Even though I had seen Dragin's other two efforts Summer Camp Nightmare & Suburbia in my youth I missed out on this one. It's a hell of a coverbox and not entirely misleading, as that character does bust out of a mirror, just not in the Die Hard way this picture below would insinuate.

A family moves in to an old mansion that happens to be haunted by Depression-era showbiz star.

Twice Dead is kind of a weird title in that it doesn't really refer to a character as much as the two different plots going on in this movie. Initially, the paranormal aspect is front facing, but it keeps taking a back seat to this secondary storyline about the two siblings Scott (Tom Bresnahan, of The Brain!) and Robin (Jill Whitlow who'll always be my Weird Science perfume counter girl) fighting off neighbourhood punks. It's not only until the climax that these two stories fully intersect.

Though both of these plots are fairly standard, this movie is populated with a ton of welcome faces. The aforementioned Bresnahan is as delightfully snarky and happy-go-lucky as he was in The Brain which put a smile on my face. He must have shot these two movies back-to-back and I wonder if he was aware of the similarities, playing a character who doubly likes pranks, is attacked by tentacles/spectral ropes and finds himself in a car chase. Jill Whitlow is lovely in this, and it was no surprise to me find out that her and Bresnahan were dating during filming. They played siblings here, but some of those bedside scenes had a tension that was a négligée photo shoot away from being Amityville 2.

Jill Whitlow and Tom Bresnahan in Twice Dead.

Also in the cast was Brooke Bundy (Kristin's mom from Nightmare 3), Todd Bridges as the doomed friend and much to the elation of my seventeen-year-old self, Charlie Spradling. A much welcome appearance, even if it was only to rock a jean jacket with no shirt, get nude and then promptly die by STE (Sexually Transmitted Electrocution). What an angel! Oh, and completely unrelated, this movie has a cat named Meow - which of course has Robin walking around calling out “Meow?” - that saw an unnecessarily brutal end. :(

J.C. + C.S.

Other than that, it is just filler between altercations with the aforementioned goons. The house is pretty cool and outfitted with some nooks and crannies (the dumbwaiter specifically being built for the movie) for our bodies to aimlessly search. Twice Dead is another one of those movies that seems to have trouble ending itself, not necessarily because they wanted to do another one, but perhaps there were a few cooks in the kitchen.

Anyway, I was glad to knock this one off and the trio of Bresnahan, Whitlow and Spradling kept me entertained throughout.