Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 8

It was a pleasure being in a movie with you. Perhaps one day we'll actually meet.

It's Saturday which means it's Svengoolie night on MeTV. This week he's featuring Black Friday, the Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi movie in which Bela and Boris never actually appear in the same scene together. The plot involves partial brain transplants, gangsters, and hordes of hidden cash. So, not too different from a traditional Black Friday shopping event! (That's the type of humor you can expect from Svengoolie tonight. You've been warned.)

Watch it tonight at 10PM on MeTV, Comcast channel 196, (broadcast channel 20.2), OR you can watch it right here, right now!

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 7

What did you just call me?

Tonight at 5PM, TCM is airing the 1922 version of Nosferatu. I've seen this movie many times, but nothing can top the time I saw it at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, with a live score provided by the Clubfoot Orchestra.

I know there's a recorded version of this out there somewhere, but it has yet to be released on DVD or broadcast in this century. Alas, all I can offer is this clip, which at least encapsulates the general tone of the movie's score.

While I would personally pair this up with Werner Herzog's 1979 version, TCM is going the silent route instead, airing a full night of silent horrors. Here's the complete schedule. All times are PST. 

6:45PM The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1920)

8:15PM Unholy Three (1925)

10:00PM The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

11:45PM Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)

1:45AM The Penalty (1920)

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 6

Ummm.....

OK now this is exciting. Back in April, producer and director J.J. Abrams revealed his studio, Bad Robot, had remastered the 1979 classic horror movie Phantasm with a 4K restoration. This restored version is known as Phantasm: Remastered, and was briefly released in theaters last month.

And now, it's airing on Syfy for a one time showing tonight at 11PM!



This news is almost too good to be true; I'm sure it's either not gonna happen, or it's gonna be so edited for television that the whole "remastered" thing won't really matter. Still, I'm setting that TiVo, and hoping for the best. (And then I'll probably still buy the Bluray, should it ever get released.)

Also, the fifth, and supposedly final Phantasm movie, Phantasm RaVager, is released on VOD tomorrow. It wasn't directed by Don Coscarelli, (and it fact, it's the only film in the series he didn't direct), but he did produce and co-write it, and it does star A. Michael Baldwin, Reggie Bannister, and the late, great, Angus Scrimm, and there is a GIANT silver ball in it, so it can't be all bad.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 5

Quoth the raven, "Nice scarf!'

A remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds has been rumored and threatened for years. I even mentioned it in this very countdown back in 2008, when it was supposed to star George Clooney and Naomi Watts. (HA HA HA, like that would ever happen.) The rumors are still alive, with the movie supposedly being directed by Diederick Van Rooijen.

And then there's this weird and pretty terrible fake trailer for a remake that I don't think actually exists.



Needless to say, a remake is a terrible idea, and should never happen, and blah blah blah. We all know that. Thankfully, as is the case with all remakes, it's not like the original movie will be burned forever so no one will ever see it. Still, it remains irksome to us movie snobs when these remakes come out because we know that there are some in a younger generation who will only ever know a remake, and not the superior original.

Plus, I hear in this remake, all the birds are going to be played be females. THANKS FOR RUINING MY CHILDHOOD!

Today offers us a chance to view the one and only classic The Birds, as it's airing on BBC America at 8PM and 11PM. It's also available for rent via Amazon.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 4

If you think this trailer for Nicholas Roeg's 1973 horror classic Don't Look Now is weird, just you wait; the movie will blow your mind! And I'm not just talking about the famous sex scene between Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie that's in the middle of it. And, in fact, if you watch it on TV today, (12PM on the Movies! Network, which is Comcast cable channel 195, and broadcast channel 2.3 in the Bay Area), you probably won't see that scene at all.

In typical Roeg fashion, the movie plays around with narrative flow, which makes for an uneasy experience. But more than that, it's those flashes you see of a little person in a hooded red coat, roaming the streets of Venice, (especially at the end), that will haunt your dreams.

That ain't Little Red Riding Hood

I don't really recommend watching it on TV today if it's the first time you've seen it, since the station it's on runs commercials and edits its movies. (Sometimes in some crazy ways, too. I was watching an old 1940's noir movie on it the other night, and there was a scene in a museum that featured a statue--and they had blurred the breasts on the statue!!)

Thankfully, Don't Look Now is available via Amazon and Xfinity OnDemand. So do look now for it there.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 3

The horror pickings on TV today are slim, so here's a little something you can watch right here, right now. It's one of my favorite bits of made-for-TV horror: the Amelia chapter of the 1975 movie Trilogy of Terror, starring Karen Black and a murderous "Zuni fetish doll."



Now, it's not exactly scary. In fact, it's kind of hilarious, (though the ending is genuinely creepy). But the sounds the Zuni doll makes as it's attacking has got to be one of my all-time favorite things ever captured on film.

Enjoy.

Thanks for the present. You really, really shouldn't have....Really.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 2

IMAGE: JOHN KOBAL FOUNDATION/GETTY IMAGES

Isn't this image of the Bride of Frankenstein cast having a tea break while fully costumed just the best?

I know I include the movies every year, but seriously, what is Halloween without a viewing of Frankenstein and/or The Bride of Frankenstein? And today Turner Classic Movies is airing both, plus Son of Frankenstein, the third in Universal's series, and the last to star Boris Karloff.

Sundays are officially Frankenstein Day for the month of October on TCM, so you'll be seeing some more of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster here in the weeks to come.

And it'll come as no surprise that of all the Frankenstein movies, Bride of Frankenstein is my favorite. I mean, isn't it everyone's? And how could it not be, with moments like this?

 

Man, one of these Halloweens I'm going to have to make my Bride of Frankenstein costume dreams come true. What's more comfortable that walking around all night in a muumuu made out of some sheets? The hard part is the hair and makeup, which I'm terrible at. This hair tutorial using a soda bottle kind of blew my mind.

 

The above is actually pretty close to how the original hair was done, at least according to Elsa Lanchester, who said, "It's my own hair. I had it lifted up from my face, all the way around; then they placed a cage on my head and combed my own hair over that cage. Then they put the gray-streak hairpieces in afterwards."

A lot harder than just sticking you finger in a light socket!

Watch TCM's Sunday of Frankenstein flicks starting with the original at 5PM, PST.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 1

Welcome back boils and ghouls, to another Halloween Countdown, Musty TV style! I'm happy to be participating for the ninth year in a row, and hope you enjoy the treats--and possible tricks--I have to offer. And even if you don't, there are plenty of other blogs partaking, so be sure to go knock on their doors too!

My pick today is the Svengoolie show, and his airing of Monolith Monsters, which is on MeTV in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Check their official site to find a channel in your area.)

Svengoolie is not my all-time favorite horror host (that would be Bob Wilkins, who I grew up watching), but he's the only one that's getting any air time in my neck of the woods these days. And while I think his jokes are, well, lame, I do appreciate the large amounts of trivia and horror movie history he includes during his broadcasts. He also tends to air Universal movies, so the films featured aren't the usual bad print, public domain movies a lot of horror movie hosts can get stuck with.

As for the flick, the monolithic monsters of the movie's title are meteor crystals that suck moisture from humans to grow, and then get really big when the rains come. And yeah, sure, giant rocks aren't exactly the most terrifying aliens to ever invade a small town, but you still wouldn't want to be caught underneath one of them, right?

Watch it at 10PM on MeTV, Comcast channel 196, or broadcast channel 20.2

The Return of the Living Dead (Blog)

OMG! It's almost October! And that means this blog is once again coming back from the dead to help you count down the days until Halloween!

This will be the ninth year I've participated in this blog-based Countdown to Halloween, which means I started doing it back when people still actually read blogs! Ah, those were the days, weren't they? When you had to actively choose to read what someone had to say, instead of having it thrust upon you because you just can't seem to avoid checking Facebook every day, no matter how hard you try?

Of course, the main way I'll be getting people to actually read this is via Facebook, but that's neither here nor there.

Per usual, I'll be posting daily, suggesting something spooky you can watch on the teevee, primarily, but will also look for other viewing options when available.

This is the last month before the possible beginning of the end times, so why not amp yourself up for it by watching a bunch of nightmare fodder for 31 days? It couldn't hurt!....

OR COULD IT?

Lindsey! Lindseeeeeey! The boogie man is coming!

Ask a San Francisco Native: Is Fisherman's Wharf The Worst?

In these Troubled San Francisco Times, there is a lot of talk about who was here when, and what that does (or doesn't) mean. In an effort to both assist newcomers and take long-time residents down memory lane, we present to you Ask a San Francisco Native, a column penned by SF native and longtime SFist contributor Rain Jokinen, which is inspired by a similar one on our sister site Gothamist, and is intended to put to rest all those questions only a native of this city can answer. Send yours here!

Dear Rain,

I'm so confused by Fisherman's Wharf! Everyone I know makes fun of it for its tourist shops and shitty restaurants (Hooters! Bubba Gumps!). But isn't the Buena Vista there, and doesn't the entire area have some sort of historic relevance? I thought San Franciscans love history! So what's the deal, is the Wharf a place all the cool people despise, or is there more to it?

Thanks,

Wharf Wary

Dear WW,

I'm going to make a confession: I love Fisherman's Wharf!

Well, perhaps I should clarify that: I love a lot of Fisherman's Wharf.

You are correct that there are tons of tourist shops down there, all selling the same tshirts and plastic crap from China. And there are also a lot of shitty chain restaurants, including Applebee's and Bubba Gump's; (the Hooters shut down a couple years back).

But I have really fond childhood memories of venturing down to Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square every summer when my grandmother would come to town. I was too young back then to have any Irish coffees at the Buena Vista, (I've made up for it since then with plenty of adult visits), but we did have dinner at the Magic Pan restaurant, which had amazing views of the Bay, or we'd buy crabs from the rows of vendors that are working out there at the end of Taylor street. (For a while, it really was the best place to buy fresh crab.)

You are also correct in saying there's a lot of San Francisco history to be found in the Wharf. But I'm not just talking about hearkening back to when it actually was a huge working wharf; I'm talking about being able to see a bit of mid-century modern San Francisco, an era that is surprisingly unpreserved elsewhere in town. I mean, why would any city decide to tear this down and replace it with a Marriott??

At least we still have Fisherman's Grotto no. 9, which has been there in some form since 1935. Parts of it haven't changed since the 1960s. The downstairs restaurant (called the Venetian Coffee Shop) has booths that look like gondolas.

Sabella and La Torre is another great old school restaurant on Taylor Street, with some amazing murals, and menus that talk. (Well, you have to provide the voice, but the menu does have feature a cartoon fish waiter with an animated mouth.)

The Franciscan, which was built in the 1950's (and remodeled recently) is just a drop dead gorgeous building. Photos of movie stars that have probably never been near the place line the stairway leading into it, and the 20 foot windows provide cinematic views of the Bay, (barring any fog, of course).

As you may have noticed, I haven't really talked about the food at any of this restaurants. At one time, Fisherman's Wharf was simply the best place in the City to eat fresh seafood. That's no longer the case. Yes, much of the cuisine offered there is overpriced and mediocre. But sometimes that doesn't matter if it means you can dine in an atmosphere that feels like you've stepped back in time, to an era where tourists wore dresses and suits, and not "Property of Alcatraz" sweatshirts.

The area is also home to Musee Mechanique, the new Gold Dust Lounge, seals, and a Keane Eyes gallery. Fisherman's Wharf is filled with SO many tourists, SO many crappy stores, and a growing number of generic restaurants and buildings that it really is easy to just completely overlook the beautiful and downright cool places that still exist down there.

I love the area so much I'm going to dress up like my grandmother would have in the 1950's and go have dinner at Scoma's tonight. If I wake up with this picture of Albert Scoma (R.I.P) tattooed on my back the next morning, I can call the evening a success.

Plenty of "in the know" San Francisco travel guides will continue to list Fisherman's Wharf as a place to AVOID when visiting the City. And I heartily agree. I'd love the tourists to stop going there, so we locals can take it back.

Rain Jokinen was born and raised in San Francisco and, miraculously, still calls the city home. Her future plans include becoming a millionaire, buying a condo complex, and then tearing it down to replace it with a dive bar. You can ask this native San Franciscan your questions here.