PINUP TIME: LINDA HARRISON

 

I SAW THE END OF OAK STREET

The End of Oak Street is a sci-fi, interdimensional opus, written and directed by Robert Taylor (It Follows) Mitchell and coproduced by J.J. Abrams. Its premise is reminiscent of John "Bud" Cardos' The Day Time Ended, Dan Trachtenberg's 10 Cloverfield Lane and NBC's Land of the Lost. It also references such Rod Serling, Twilight Zone fables as "The Odyssey of Flight 33" (which in turn inspired Stephen King's The Langoliers) and (if only due to its suburban peril) "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street." (I suppose Oak Street also harbors a brush of Earl Hamner's TZ offering, "A Stopover in a Quiet Town," in that it deals with displacement, capped by a colossal reveal.) 

In Oak Street's specific case, a 1982, Spielberg-ian neighborhood is transported (via explosions of bright light) into prehistoric times to face dinosaurs, many of which are feathered. (Heck, why not? I should think we all know by now that such colossal beasts evolved into birds.)

Focus falls on one family, the Platts, who consist of Anne Hathaway's Denise and Ewan McGregor's Greg and their children, Maisy Stella's Audrey and Christian Convery's Brian, in addition to their unruly dog, Starbuck. After the dimensional transition, the members are understandably on edge, but the parents do a decent job keeping their s*** together (despite a layering of wishy-washy, marital strife), thwarting and/or evading danger whenever and wherever they can, while still driving the tale's high-stakes, survivalist tension. 

Beyond how the dimensional rift occurred (with all the expected, wormhole theorizing attached), Oak Street isn't all that complicated, leaning on characterization to buffer it. That one cares about the family (and doesn't wish any member devoured) is a testament to its writing and performances. 

Michael Giacchino again supplies an effective score, in this case invoking John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith for its pivotal moments, and Michael Gioulakis' photography is nice and clear (with plenty of daylight scenes), going against the murky grain that mucks up too many modern, dinosaur adventures, whether big-budget or bargain-basement. And as far as the dinosaurs go, Industrial Light & Magic once more knocks it out of the park to deliver a magnificent and memorable, Jurassic-minded menagerie. 

I liked this one quite a bit and will probably like it even more when I revisit it. Its humans-vs-behemoths construction is comparable to the way good ol' giant-monster movies were once made: staged not for some sanctimonious message, but rather for simple, successful thrills.🦖

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

 

SOMETHING TO CONSIDER:

I've written a Knights Templar tale for the upcoming, Eighth Tower, Blind Dead anthology. I explained in my story that the true Knights Templar were virtuous men. Per my fable, it was an evil (imposter) faction that performed the ghastly deeds depicted in Amando de Ossorio's movies. 

The above oath personifies the veritable Knights Templar, who've been too often maligned, but remain an inspiration to those of us in the righteous know. ☩

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

 

FLY HIGH, REGGIE BANNISTER

You made Phantasm's Reggie, the ice-cream man, iconic in the annals of horror-fantasy, having starred in all five chapters of Don Coscarelli's famed franchise, along with co-authoring the novel, Phantasm: SurVIval with your talented and supportive wife, Gigi. 

Some don't realize that you were also a remarkable musician/singer, a member of the noted, 1960s folk group, The Greenwood County Singers, with your catchy tunes featured in three of the Phantasm films. 

You figured even further into Coscarelli's early queue with Jim the World's Greatest and Kenny & Company (two of the best coming-of-age movies ever to emerge), and later with the director's Bubba Ho-Tep (based on a Joe R. Lansdale's tale, where Elvis Presley and "JFK" combat a cowboy-garbed mummy), and we should also keep in mind Coscarelli's ambitious, communal pilot, Survival Quest, which you were more than happy to enliven. 

In addition, you made the rounds in The Ghastly Love of Johnny X; Wishmaster; The Demolitionist; Primitive; The Rage; Last Rites; Cemetery Gates; The Obsidian Curse; Metal Man; Not Another B Movie; Satan Hates You; Sawblade, Carnies; Walking Distance; Up Against Amanda; Little Monster; The Quiet Ones (aka Hush); Small Town Saturday Night; Bloody Bloody Bible Camp; One for the Road (an epilogue to Salem's Lot); Silent Night, Deadly Night IV: Initiation; The Mangler Reborn; The Final Curtain; Fallen Angels; Seasons; Text; and Journeyman. 

I fondly remember meeting you at a Fangoria convention in the early 1990s, where you strolled over and chatted with my friend, Ken, and me. You were down to earth, just the way one would expect you to be, and I might add, a welcome breath of fresh air compared to certain other celebrities who thought it fine to be aloof. 

You meant a lot to me, Mr. Bannister, and I believe that everyone in the horror community would claim the same. Your passing is heartbreaking. After all, gents like you are so few and far between. Indeed, you had a tough time of it during the last few years, but you endured it with courage (no doubt tapped from your Vietnam days). You've now left your pain behind to find your place in Paradise. God bless you, my fearless, fiend-fighting, ice-cream man. Your warmth and incomparable talent shall never fade. In fact, it's destined to fly high forever and a day!

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP COVER: SPIDEY & BOOMERANG