Rondo Hatton (1894-1946) — an actor whose facial and bodily features were distorted by a condition called acromegaly — was tastelessly touted in the 1940s as the only movie monster who didn’t need makeup. He typically played characters with names like The Creeper, Moloch the Brute, and Mario the Monster Man. Three decades later, Los …
There was no logical reason that I feared iron lungs as a child. The medical devices were not in wide use during my lifetime; I certainly never knew anyone who used one. Still, I was both repelled and fascinated by the very idea of a machine that did your breathing for you and kept you …
CBS had no shortage of classic prime time comedies in the 1970s. This was the era of All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, and more. For some reason, though, the network just couldn’t get a foothold on Wednesday nights. It became a veritable Bermuda Triangle of comedy, with show after show …
When you’re a kid, movies can get to you in a way that they just can’t when you’re grown up. By the time you’re in elementary school, you know a lot about what’s supposedly “real” and what’s supposedly “unreal,” but the line between those worlds is blurrier. Generally, your imagination is a lot more active …
Well, it’s been a couple of months since I did an Amazon Prime Roulette article. The first entry in this series, a review of the Swedish film Draug (2018), was not exactly a smashing success, largely because I had no idea what was going on in that one. But today, I’m giving myself a chance …
As much as I love a good horror movie, especially a gory one with no socially-redeeming-value whatsoever, I may love a good horror trailer even more. At their best, these brief previews can allow us to enjoy all the most exciting parts of a movie without having to sit though all the extraneous plot and …
If you were a ’70s kid raised on Saturday morning cartoons, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies (1972) might seem like a fever dream you once had years ago and then buried deep within your subconscious. Was there really a made-for-TV movie combining the beloved Looney Tunes characters with the monstrous, but …
Despite their ubiquity in popular culture, the fairy tales collected by German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in the early 1800s have not lost their ability to shock and unnerve readers over the course of two centuries. While these stories have been considerably softened over the years, especially as interpreted by the Walt Disney Company …
Goddamn, what is wrong with me? It’s been over a month since I posted anything to this site. I have all this free time. Shouldn’t the words just be pouring out of me by now? Well, the sad truth is that I’ve simply been out of ideas. Out of inspiration. Out of gas. I’m used …
Let me tell you the earliest recurring nightmare of mine I can remember. I must’ve had this same dream a dozen times when I was around 4 or 5. I can’t even believe I’m typing it up now. This may be the single most personal thing I’ve ever written. In this dream, I’ve been taken …
