In the mood for some Italian? Excellent; let’s mangia. Our movie we’re discussing is one I actually thought I hadn’t seen before, though when I got to one of the later scenes, I felt a definite tingle of recollection. See, when I was a kid, I saw a movie with this one scene that really … More Movies: The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971)
You know how sometimes when you’re bored and kinda hung over on a Sunday, and you go poking around YouTube looking for some comforting 1970s horror to watch while you inhale your hearty lunch of homemade Swedish meatballs? And you know how every now and then, you fortuitously stumble across a made-for-TV movie from 1977 … More Movies: The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977)
I chose today to focus on childhood books I loved and that helped to shape my writing identity, books that I still remember fondly decades later. These ten books, among the hundreds I read growing up, have stuck with me for various reasons over the years, and I would recommend any of them unreservedly to … More Favorite Creepy Books from My 70s Childhood
The Haunting of Julia was released in 1981 in the US, but came out in the UK in 1977 under the confusingly generic title Full Circle. It was based on the novel Julia by the phenomenal Peter Straub, who needs more film adaptations of his work, goddammit. It’s a low-key, atmospheric ghost story of the … More Movies: The Haunting of Julia (aka Full Circle) (1977)
Roman Polanski, despite his rather grave personal failings, has made some absolutely champion horror films, his particular genius lying in his portrayal of claustrophobic paranoia and spiraling descents into madness. The Tenant (1976) was the third film in Polanski’s so-called ‘apartment trilogy,’ which also included Repulsion (1965) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968). The reader can check Wikipedia for a complete plot … More Movies: The Tenant (1976)
Today I wanted to tackle one of the weirder American horror flicks from the 1970s, one that I’d seen pop up on a lot of people’s “best underrated 70s horror” lists but had only recently got around to seeing. Larry Cohen is probably best known to horrorphiles as the director of the It’s Alive killer baby series, … More Movies: God Told Me To (1976)
Most people, especially those into horror, are aware of the concept known as the “uncanny valley,” how things that look almost like humans—but not quite—are intensely disturbing to most of us. I think this aspect of human psychology is one reason why horror films featuring dolls, dummies, realistic robots and the like are so common, … More Movies: Tourist Trap (1979)
The Scare Salon 