I felt compelled to resume the creepy flavor set by Sally the Zombie Cheerleader's School of Horror's Dan Curtis/Richard Matheson, television movies (The Night Stalker, The Night Strangler, Trilogy of Terror). As such, I disinterred our flesh-feasting host's episode of the 1977 anthology, Dead of Night (not to be confused with the classic, 1945 anthology of the same name, though this, like the famed British entry, is quite well done).
Dead of Night's first story, "Second Chance," was adapted by Matheson from a Jack (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) Finney tale and features Ed Begley Jr. as a young man who receives a 1926 Jordan Playboy from his girlfriend's father, played by E.G. (Magic) Andre, only to find it holds the means to go back in time. Matheson's second story, "No Such Thing as a Vampire," is a chilling, Amicus-styled, revenge-ridden, murder mystery, headlined by Patrick (The Avengers) Macnee, Elisha (House on Haunted Hill) Cook Jr. and Horst (The Magnificent Seven) Buchholtz. Matheson's third yarn, "Bobby," is a "Monkey's Paw"-ish variant that presents a needy brat, played by Lee (Ben/Burnt Offerings) Montgomery, who isn't quite what he appears to be, as Joan (The Terminal Man) Hackett's occult-leaning mother soon discovers. (FYI: A remake of "Bobby" made its way into Trilogy of Terror II.)
Curtis' favorite composer, Bob (Dark Shadows) Cobert, supplies Dead of Night's suspenseful score, and Sally (joined by her sardonic SkeleKat and a smartass, demonic-doll duo) conducts another thorough (wraparound) lesson, climbing a mountain of trivia, with captioned info strung throughout the movie. (BTW: Dead of Night is a concealed sequel to the original Trilogy of Terror. Keep your eyes peeled for recurring cameos from Trilogy's savage Zuni doll during the presentation.)
Sally the Zombie Cheerleader's School of Horror: (Un)Dead of Night is an effective and varied curation that fans of the format will enjoy. (It sure stands as one of my favorites, and Sally's enlightening embellishments give it a nice, educational kick.)
Tune in at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOUY5kABkgI&t=1304s
No comments:
Post a Comment