MICHAEL F. HOUSEL has authored several novels for Airship 27 Productions, including THE HYDE SEED, MARK JUSTICE'S THE DEAD SHERIFF: PURITY & THE PERSONA TRILOGY, with his short stories appearing in THE PURPLE SCAR, THE PHANTOM DETECTIVE & RAVENWOOD, STEPSON OF MYSTERY. He is also a faithful contributor to Eighth Tower Publications' DARK FICTION series, various popular-culture periodicals and a frequent associate producer for MR. LOBO'S CINEMA INSOMNIA.
You were one of the avant-garde greats, a maestro of the wicked and absurd, all made beautiful through your skillful hands.
Your contributions are staggering, with your creations featured in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors; A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master; Bride of Re-Animator; Beyond Re-Animator; Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation; Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker; Children of the Corn 3: Urban Harvest; Curse 2: The Bite; Big Trouble in Little China; Tales from the Hood; Freaked; Space Truckers; Progeny; Society; Don't Panic; The Abyss; Predator; Arena (1989); Hide and Go Shriek; The Guyver; Faust: Love of the Damned; Tokyo: The Last War;and Boy in the Box, which you cowrote and directed.
Your punk-rock panache and colorful zeal were always a treat to behold, Mr. George. You were unique, talented and beyond debate, an irrefutable king of your kind. As with any great artist who leaves our realm, your loss cuts deep, but your mad dreams shall prevail.
For lovers of the brooding and twisted (i.e. for those who still hold Rod Serling's Night Gallery, The Dark Room and Tales from the Darkside close to their dark hearts), writer/director Ansel (Loon Lake/Todd Tarantula) Faraj and Hollinsworth Productions' Theatre Fantastique is just what the mad doctor ordered. And as one's macabre luck would have it, the entire, grandiose series is now available in one package.
The three seasons consist of many uncanny motifs, with several featuring famed, Dark Shadows actors. Edgar Allan Poe plays a pivotal part in the sinister strand, as well, with his prose and poetry enacted.
Here's a rundown of what the collection entails:
1) The Madness of Roderick Usher: An outstanding rendering of Poe's perennial "Fall of the House of Usher" (and in my estimation, the best adaptation produced of the short story, which is saying a lot, considering how many fine ones there are).
2) Masque of the Red Death: A modernized, hypno-high variation on Prince Prospero's debauchery. (This one captures the spellbinding psychedelia of Spirits of the Dead, in addition to holding a lovely, little Phantom of the Opera nugget.)
3) Descent into a Maelstrom: A powerful reinterpretation of Poe's cataclysmic, seafaring yarn, in this case capped by a startling catch.
4) A Poem of Poe: A compilation of images and excerpts from Poe's legendary queue (rather like a best-of rundown, but the superb execution makes the portions brew as one).
5) Mrs. Hall's Mysterious Guest: An ominous take on H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man, whichUniversal monster fans will enjoy from start to finish.
6) Nosferatu Beyond Death: A passionate, F.W. Murnau homage, where an Orlok-inspired vampire rises from the grave to reconnect with the woman who made him what he is.
7) Werewolf of Venice: A moving masterpiece that takes classic, lycanthrope tropes and aims them in a fresh and unforgettable direction.
8) Screening After Midnight: A "love letter" to all who hope and dream that the Tod Browning/Lon Chaney effort will be found (and in this case, one learns it's in the possession of an evasive collector).
9) The Job Interview: A glorious delight for Dark Shadows fans, for this amusing fable acts not only as a reunion for several of show's stars, but succeeds as a veritable sequel.
10) Hitchcock Blonde: A creepy sojourn featuring an enigmatic director obsessed with Vertigo, who auditions an actress with a desired resemblance to Kim Novak.
11) The Happy Home of the Murderous Mahones: A comedic view of a contentious couple whose dangerous behavior places them in an Eating Raoul conundrum.
12) The Haunted Home of the Murderous Mahones: A ghostly follow-up that mounts further, droll mayhem for the crazed couple as a seance takes center stage.
13) The Family Wolff Christmas: An offbeat, Yuletide romp that invokes the cheeky glee of Frank Capra's You Can't Take it With You, along with the freaky hijinks of The Addams Family and The Munsters.
14) Madame LaSoeur: A renowned clairvoyant (featured in The Haunted Home of the Murderous Mahones) offers her special services to eager guests, but her motive may not be as gracious as it appears.
15) The City of Dreadful Night: A narrated reflection of James Thompson's acclaimed, Poe-esque poem, which enthralls through stirring sight and sound.
16) Randolph Carter & the Silver Key: A Twilight Zone-ish take on H.P. Lovecraft's spectral tale. This one brims with immense sentimentality, designed to pull at the heartstrings, and it does so with distinguished flair.
As with the best, anthology series, Theatre Fantastique is headlined by a who's who of established, genre names, including Christopher Pennock (to whom an affectionate tribute is included on the release), John Karlen, Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott, David Selby, Jerry Lacy, Sally Kirkland, Kelly Erin Decker, Eric Gorlow, Annie Waterman and Faraj's prevailing leading man, Nathan Wilson, among other superlative performers and contributors who give the curation its permeating tone.
It should be noted that the episodes vary in length, which works to their advantage, since there's no superfluous padding to weigh them down. Each is its own sterling achievement, though all mesh to create a satisfying stream.
Theatre Fantastique is too important to bypass. Its contents are, indeed, that transformative; so do yourself a favor and invest in this exceptional release.
Filmmaker Ansel (The Great Nick D/Todd Tarantula) Faraj's Reel'd In: Impressions of Film is an astonishing, 478-page curation of cinema reflections, where the author takes an unconventional approach to assessing the movies that impacted his life and profession.
A substantial portion of the book is culled from Faraj's "Asylum of the Psychotronic" column, featured in the journal, We Belong Dead. The segmentsinclude ruminations on Dan Curtis' Dark Shadows, Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger's Black Narcissus, Dario Argento's Inferno, Roger Corman's The Trip, Curtis Harrington's Night Tide,William Castle's The Night Walker, Daniel Haller's The Dunwich Horror, Kasi Lemmons' Eve's Bayou, Jack Smight's Frankenstein: The True Story ... and Faraj's own acclaimed production, Loon Lake. These examples are complemented by edifying essays on Universal Monsters, Bela Lugosi's Ygor, Tod Browning's movies, haunted bedrooms, film-noir classics, MGM's Midnite Movies, kaiju wonders and young-adult, monster novellas.
On one level, Faraj's reminiscing is reminiscent of the amicable approach found in Michael Weldon's The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, but on another level, Faraj's sojourns perform as diary excerpts. This gives the combined parts a deeper, contemplative structure, one that's personal and sincere compared to the standard reviewing design, where fact-laden synopses rule the roost, but are often devoid of passion.
Reel'd In is a volume that one will relish and revisit, not only for its down-to-earth insights, but because it's rather like spending time with a dear, perceptive friend, whose perspectives spring from a fountain of infinite wisdom.
If you love movies (and wish to know more about them), Reel'd In: Impressions of Film is required reading and demands a permanent place in your library.
HBO/DC's Lanterns is set to premiere, granting fans a pretty clear view of its melodramatic direction.
Most already know Lanterns is a dual deal, with Kyle Chandler's Hal Jordan showing the ropes to Aaron Pierre's John Stewart. The duo faces inevitable encounters and clashes with Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner, thus linking the show to James Gunn's new Superman franchise, as well as the parallel-tracked Peacemaker. As an added treat, Ulrich Thomsen enters as the sinister Sinestro: yet another bit of feels-right casting for this eight-part event.
We've been told the show will emphasize a "buddy" component, which will place it in the Lethal Weapon/Tango & Cash/Rush Hour category. I've no objection to that, since I do fancy such good-natured, quarrelsome team-ups.
Most recent publicity indicates that the series will keep a traditional, crime-drama motif at its core, which strikes me as unorthodox in regard to Green Lantern lore, but maybe The Batman approach will prove prosperous in this instance. Such, combined with its buddy zeal, might even conjure an blanketing, Streets of San Francisco vibe, albeit with super-tech rings for crime-cracking enhancement.
I've often thought that a television series based on the 1970s, Green Lantern/Green Arrow comics would hit the mark, considering its acclaimed handling of socio-political views, but on the other hand, if rendered at present, it would likely turn out biased, so what would be the point? Even so, if Lanterns is successful, something along those lines could emerge and as such, pave Oliver Queen's long-awaited, live-action return. Ah, dream on, right?
HBO lights its Lanterns this Sunday (August 16 at 9pm), with further episodes dropping weekly. I'll share my reflections when the season is through.
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.🦖
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. ☩
