WELCOME AUTUMN 2025 (9/22)

TRACY, MELISSA & BIO-MECHANIK

Featured are my lovely friends and coworkers, Tracy & Melissa, displaying another anthology in which my storytelling appears: Eighth Tower's Dark Fiction edition of Bio-Mechanik: Stories inspired by H.R. Giger's art. 

I sure do appreciate the ladies' support. It means so much to me.💛

BTW: Bio-Mechanik: Stories inspired by H.R. Giger's art is available (in both hardback and paperback) at Amazon, along with a satisfying, audio presentation for those who order: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FFTRCLNM?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

 

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: BATMAN & AQUAMAN (THE BRAVE & THE BOLD)

SALLY THE ZOMBIE CHEERLEADER'S SCHOOL OF HORROR: THE STEPFORD WIVES 1975

I conversed with a fellow at the gym about A.I. movies that were produced before the A.I. label became fashionable. I referenced The Stepford Wives, if only for its android inclusion, which in turn, got me itchin' to rewatch the 1975 original. What should I then come upon during my search? Well, none other than a Sally the Zombie Cheerleader's School of Horror presentation of the famed film. Oh, goodie!

The Stepford Wives, for those not in the loop, is directed by Bryan (Seance on a Wet Afternoon) Forbes and based on Ira (Rosemary's Baby/The Boys From Brazil) Levin's bestseller, adapted by William (Magic/Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) Goldman. It stars Katharine Ross as photographer Joanna Eberhart, who relocates from Manhattan to Stepford, Connecticut with her daughters and husband, Walter, played by Peter Masterson. The move, however, is a ruse, since Mr. Eberhart and his pals plan to replace their wives with subservient, robotic counterparts within the unassuming niche. (Along with Masterson, the complementing cast includes Paula [Saturday the 14th] Prentiss, Patrick [Silent Night, Bloody Night] O'Neal, Tina [Gilligan's Island] Louise, Franklin [The Jeffersons] Cover and William [Spontaneous Combustion] Prince, among other recognizable performers.) 

For the movie's wraparounds, Sally (assisted by her endearing teacher's pet, SkeleKat, and interrupted by her darling, derogatory dolls) is in top-drawer, instructional form as she lectures her fond Fleshies on the production (offering tasty trivia and delicious goofs, with running, behind-the-scenes notes and enviable, "zombot" ambitions), assuring that one and all come away with a zesty A+. 

It's not too late to the join the class (thanks to its enduring documentation), but be warned: At this stage of the technological game, The Stepford Wives may be closer to reality than not!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sisp0Q5BHZs

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

I SAW HAMMER'S DOCTOR JEKYLL

After reading about the latest, Hammer production, Doctor Jekyll in Classic Monsters of the Movies, I pondered how long it might be before I could view it. Thanks to YouTube, the coveted opportunity struck. 

This 2024 variant on Robert Lewis Stevenson's novella, directed by Joseph (Chicken) Stephenson and written by Dan Kelly-Mulhern, is the freshest I've seen in quite a spell: a Jekyll/Hyde sequel more than a redux, which plays upon Hammer's famous turns on the established theme, namely The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (Jekyll's Inferno/House of Fright) and Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, but it also harbors aspects of The Daughter of Dr. Jekyll and The She-wolf of London, as it deals with a woman haunted by a perceived affliction. 

In truth, Eddie Izzard's Nina is a trans woman with unethical, pharmaceutical ties, though such is never emphasized as an overriding part of her duality. Rachel Hyde is more a sporadic, split-personality trait passed down from her grandfather, Henry (Jonathan Hyde, shown via flashback). In fact, Nina doesn't look at all different when Rachel takes over, for the transformation is more insinuated, thanks to Izzard's uncanny ticks and tocks (an award-worthy performance, in my opinion), mounting the differentiation with careful, conniving thrusts, which pull her naive, healthcare assistant, Rob, into an anguished world. 

Rob is played by Scott Chambers (the young mastermind behind Winne the Pooh: Blood and Honey and Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare), who invests substantial sympathy into his portrayal. The lad's past, it appears, is marred by drug abuse and robbery, but with the help of his brother, Ewan (Morgan Watkins), he's gotten his act together. Ewan even pulls a few strings to get him the job with Jekyll, and a job is essential if he's to gain visitation rights for his hospital-bound, infant daughter, Ari. 

Rob's ex, Robyn Cara's Maeve, doesn't make it easy, though, as she does her utmost to revert him back to his old ways. On Jekyll's front, her estate overseer, Lindsay Duncan's Sandra Poole, is nearly as bad, questioning Rob's ability to assist Jekyll and at one point, goes so far as to fire him. Though the combined opposition is strong, Rob perseveres through Jekyll's insistence, or is it rather Hyde's?

Nina wishes to purge Rachel, but can Rob detect when one persona begins and the other ends? From this, Rob and Nina's friendship grows more coerced than mutual, with a dire outcome in wait, wracked by a diabolical twist. 

Doctor Jekyll is really more the story of doubts and fears than of blatant monstrosities, but through the lead characters' emotional swings, the traditional, Stevenson darkness permeates, thus keeping the sequel in spiritual sync with its archetypical source. 

As unique as it is, I can't call Doctor Jekyll a major, redefining moment in the long queue of Jekyll/Hyde adaptations, but it turned out more gripping than I anticipated, due to its character buildup, and though it holds some humor, it's anything but a comedy. 

And as far as neo Hammer goes, this is an honorable step in the right direction: paying homage to the company's legacy by reinventing familiar ingredients in a updated scheme. For that, I'm pleased with the conventional yet innovative aim.  

WISE WORDS:

R.I.P. PAULA SHAW

When Betsy Palmer chose not to return as Pamela Voorhees for Freddy vs Jason, you filled the slot and entered slasher-film history. 

In addition to that brief yet coveted role, you starred in other noted productions, covering horror, action, comedy, Hallmark drama and exploitation efforts that deserve equal acknowledgement. 

They include Witchfire, Night Creep, Chupacabra Terror, Communion, R.L. Stein's The Haunting Hour, Insomnia, Savage Streets, Reindeer Games,  Ignition, Chatterbox, The Centerfold Girls, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, It Was Always You, Coming Home for Christmas, Picture a Perfect Christmas, Five Star Christmas and Debbie Macomber's A Mrs. Miracle Christmas, with special-guest roles on The X-Files, Day of the Dead, Van Helsing (2017), The New Addams Family, Barney Miller, Three's Company, Some Assembly Required, and long-term appearances as Mrs. Young on Mr. Young and as Charlotte Jeffers on Cedar Cove. 

You did what any serious performer should. You worked and delighted audiences, and the fruits of your labor paid off: an ungrudging testament for anyone whose passion is to entertain. 

PINUP TIME: JOEY HEATHERTON, PLAYBOY!

R.I.P. ROBERT REDFORD

For many, it was your team-ups with Paul Newman that granted you lifelong fans, for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting had that extraordinary means to layer on the charm. 

Your additional movies only reinforced the allegiance: Captain America: The Winter Soldier; The Great Gatsby 1974; The Great Waldo Pepper; The Natural; Jeremiah Johnson; Little Fauss and Big Halsy; The Candidate; All the President's Men; All Is Lost; Brubaker; An Unfinished Life; The Clearing; The Hot Rock; A Walk in the Woods; The Discovery; Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here; The Iceman Cometh 1960; Charlotte's Web 2006; Pete's Dragon 2006; Our Souls at Night; The Way We Were; Legal Eagles; Tall Story; Barefoot in the Park; The Electric Horseman; Inside Daisy Clover; Up Close and Personal; The Horse Whisperer; The Old Man and the Gun; War Hunt; Out of Africa; Lions for Lambs; The Clearing; Truth; Havana; The Chase; Downhill Racer; 3 Days of the Condor; A Bridge Too Far; Spy Game; Sneakers; Indecent Proposal; The Last Castle; Situation Hopeless...But Not Serious; and Rod Serling's probing Playhouse 90 melodrama, "In the Presence of My Enemy."  

Your directorial efforts were also impressive, in particular Quiz Show, Ordinary People, The Milagro Beanfield War, The Legend of Bagger Vance and The Conspirator, for which you justly received the highest praise. The same can be said of your Sundance endeavors, which opened the doors for other filmmakers. 

On an earlier, more intimate level, your television appearances were a wise warmup for those achievements to come, especially your effectual (star-in-the-making) spots on Whispering Smith, Tate, The Virginian, The Deputy, Route 66, Dr. Kildare, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. 

For an impassioned group of us, however, it's your Twilight Zone episode that resonates far above the prestigious pack. In this regard, George Clayton Johnson's "Nothing in the Dark" has proven an inspiration to many in times of tremulation and uncertainty. (In light of your passing, the fable now holds double meaning, which those in the know will surely understand.) 

You were, without argument, an important figure, Mr. Redford, one of the last, great Hollywood innovators. It'll be a long time coming (if ever) that another of your sort should cross our path, and for that, we're grateful to have experienced the advent and scope of your talent firsthand.