If there were as many witches in "real" Salem as the Salem in movies and TV, the trials would STILL be going on.
Salem really was an important moment in American History Not the trial itself but as a test of this new country. Personally, I think we would have ended up exactly where we are today, but we would lack some great stories.
Burned at the Stake, also known as "The Comming", covers the Salem trials in the same way a lot of movies do; as background with a lot of mistakes. First off, no one was burned at the stake in Salem. They were either hung or in one case pressed to death and another died in prison.
Ok. That all aside. People died and we can get ghosts that way. Ghosts are what gives us this flick.
The plot is simple. Man from 1692 comes back in the 1980s to take revenge on the descendant of the one that accused his wife and daughter.
I gotta admit despite the subject matter, I found the movie a bit dull.
I will admit I was and am a fan of the original 1976 Edition. I never really got to play it, save for one time, but that was it.
I did, however, spend a lot of time back in 2007 rewriting the Bunnies & Burrows article on Wikipedia. Not only was I and others able to get the article to Good Article status, I had a Furry Advocacy group offer to send me money because of it. I just asked them to donate the money to the Humane Society. I didn't want my edits called into question if I Was doing them for pay. I was doing it to further my own RPG knowledge.
I have not seen this new game yet, but it feels like it stays true to the spirit of the original version. Though in 2018 it is hard to capture the real feel of 1976.
Of course, I backed this. I have kids (although a younger set than what I have is better for this game) and I have bunnies. So this could be fun. I am already planning a "you have been changed into animals" adventure to use this with.
What do you say, Nigel? Is this a good game?
Nigel says yes. And he is a bunny, so he knows this stuff.
Rapey demon goes on a rampage in TorontoGalen, MA. This movie has ties to both Deadly Blessing (incubus as our monster) and Watcher in the Woods (directed by John Hough). This movie was on my list a couple of years ago when I did "Movies I thought I had watched, but never did" for the challenge.
The acting is not bad. Not great mind you, but better than expected in many cases.
There is a twist in the end, and one that should have been expected to be honest, but still fun. Though that is about all that is fun about the movie. Though the movie is true the nature of the Incubus, so I can't fault them there.
Keep your eyes open, near the end Bruce Dickinson shows up (on film) with his then band Samson. So that is fun.
Interestingly enough, both Incubi are depicted here as mostly incorporeal begins that can possess people. Typically succubi have a more physical manifestation. I wonder why? (of course, we all know).
Ah...not Forbidden Planet...but well you get the idea.
I was not going to do an 80's themed October Challenge without getting in a Roger Corman film.
Corman is up to his usual tricks here too, cheap sets, recycled footage, and beautiful women in various stages of undress.
The plot is one so old that even in 82 it felt old. Alien monster created by science gets loose in a lab and kills everyone. But to Corman's credit, he still manages to make this old chestnut entertaining.
Our hero, Mike Colby, is a Federation Marshall sent to deal with the problem. He manages to have sex with every woman on the base and still finds a way to allow everyone to get killed on the base.
Priorities I guess.
Still, if I ever get my Star Trek/White Star/Black Star game going again there will be a shape-shifting alien in the Jefferies Tubes killing people.
Forbidden World also features a Pre-V June Chadwick as Dr. Barbara Glaser, but she might be remembered best as David St. Hubbins' girlfriend Jeanine in "This is Spın̈al Tap". Of course given that this a Corman flick the only way the two women on board can figure out how to communicate with the creature is during a scene where they shower together.
This movie has also been known as "Mutant". The actual creature, as to be expected, looks nothing like the cover art.
Ah, Deadly Blessing. As kids my brothers and sisters LOVED this movie. No kidding. The ads were so damn creepy.
A young Sharon Stone forced to eat a spider by an Incubus? Hell yeah! That's nightmare fuel for decades. And a real spider was dropped into her mouth for this scene. How's that for dedication?
Ok, where to start on this movie? Well, it features a young Sharon Stone in one of her very first roles. It also features Battlestar Galactica's Mara Jensen in her very last role before disappearing from public life. Also appearing is 80s horror mainstay Michael Berryman, TV star Lisa Hartman, and the last film for Susan Buckner before she left public life as well.
The movie features a group of people called the "Hittites" (no relation to the ancient Mesopotamians) who are supposed to be some sort of ultra-Amish.
Our demon-de-hour is an Incubus, but one that decides to possess women. I guess "incubus" sounds cooler than "succubus" in this case.
Anyway. Lots of creepy stuff. Murders happen. Mara Jensen takes a famous bath with a snake. And it a fashion that predicts A Nightmare on Elm Street, we think we have the murderer and everyone goes back home. Except for Martha (Mara Jensen), who pulled into hell by the Incubus in his full demon form.
Ok. Let's be honest. The movie doesn't hold up. In truth, it wasn't that good to start with, but my memories of it are tied up in watching it with my family.
Sharon Stone is great really. You get a feeling for the sort of actress she will become later. Maren Jensen is fine, but I think had she not be diagnosed with Epstein-Barr Syndrome she would have naturally left acting. She was good, but didn't have a lot of range.
Maybe one of the most iconic horror movie posters of all time. Well, at least in the top 10.
A bit under the weather here today and all weekend, but I watched to old favorites.
Working my way to 1981.
Fear No Evil (1981). Loved this stupid little movie as a kid and even more on VHS when I got a copy. Let's be honest, high school IS Hell.
I had that poster on my wall for years.
The Final Conflict (1981). Damien is back and this time he has his devilish eyes on nothing less than the office of the President! Imagine that, a soulless son-of-a-bitch as the President.
Sam Neil was really fun in this movie. The Omen trilogy itself is pretty bad, but this one was fun.
God might only have one son, but Satan's sons are all real underperformers.
There was a time in the late 70s and early 80s when Disney was going through a slump. It roughly corresponds to the time when Walt and Roy Disney died and before the coming of Micheal Eisner. This gave us some very different kinds of movies from the House of Mouse. The Witch Mountain series on the onset and the Black Hole near the end typify of what I think of when I say Dark Disney.
We also got the thriller with multiple choice endings, The Watcher in the Woods.
Now I'll be honest, at age 10 this movie gave me a scare, but I was fascinated with it too. It' doesn't quite hold up to today, but it was still a ton of fun to watch again.
I have to say Bette Davis left a mark on my psyche so deep that I think every old witch I have done is a bit of a reflection of her Mrs. Aylwood. Or maybe that and her role in Disney's earlier Return to Witch Mountain (1978). Both films were directed by John Hough, so that might explain the similar vibe.
The Watcher in the Woods is also part of a string of movies, books, and other media popular at the time (and before) that took the point of view of "it's not supernatural, it's alien!" but never to the extent that Lovecraft took it.
Still, it is interesting to view this movie through the lenses of Lovecraftian cosmic horror. Especially if you stick to the original ending of the movie the alien creature at the end (The Watcher) could very easily be a Mi-Go.
The ending is still a little too happy to be real Lovecraft.
