Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 31

Happy Halloween!

Per usual, I feel like this month went by in a flash, and I can't believe it's already time to put on those costumes, and go toilet paper some houses!

But if you're the type who prefers treats to tricks, there are pleeeeeeenty of movies to choose from today. And, yes, Turner Classic Movies is choice number one, with a nonstop marathon of great flicks to choose from. Here's the line-up, from 9:15AM on:

9:15AM - The Tingler - Vincent Price meets William Castle.

12:15PM  - Dementia 13 - Francis Ford Coppola's second first movie.

1:45 PM - Carnival of Souls - One of the best low-budget horror movies ever, and probably the best movie ever shot in Utah.



3:15 PM - Repulsion - Roman Polanski directs Catherine Deneuve to insanity.

5:00 PM - Night of the Living Dead - The It's a Wonderful Life of Halloween movies.



7:00 PM - Curse of the Demon - British horror from a master of film noir, Jacques Tourner.

8:45 PM - House Of Wax - Vincent Price meets 3D.

10:30 PM - Poltergeist - I saw this 11 times when it came out in 1982.

12:30 AM - Strait-Jacket - Joan Crawford wields an ax and a charm bracelet.

2:15 AM - Eyes Without a Face - The only movie in this list I've never seen!

Phew! That's enough right? What's missing? Oh yeah---HALLOWEEN, the movie! You have two choice: AMC at 3PM--although they tend to edit their movies, and show them in the wrong aspect ratio--or on Sundance at 10PM--a channel that's a little inconsistent with how they present their movies. But, either is better than nothing?

I want to thank everyone for stopping by this month; it's been great fun! I'd like to tip a hat (on top of a severed head) to all the other blogs that participated, and give a big thanks to the guys at Countdown to Halloween for putting it together again this year.

Have a great Halloween, everyone! See you next year!

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 30

Wow. It's almost Halloween! How time flies when you're writing about creepy movies, trying to get a costume together, and oh yeah, watching your home team win the WORLD SERIES! GIANTS WOOOOO!

Sorry. Had to get that out. And hopefully the couch burning maniacs in town are suffering the worst hangovers of their lives right now.

Speaking of maniacs, the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is on Syfy at 5PM and 11:10PM, PST. I'm not sure if Syfy is going to cut the movie up for broadcast, but if you actually compare it to some of the gore found in Syfy's made-for-TV movies, it's not that graphic, so maybe they won't. In fact, if you compare it to pretty much any torture porn horror movie of late, it looks positively demure. It just feels a lot bloodier than it actually is, because it looks so...grimy. And cheap. And...well, almost like the snuff film a lot of people were convinced it was. But no, it's just a really effective bit of low budget film making.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 29

Come on now. You can't let Halloween go by without watching Psycho! 5PM on--you guessed it!-- TCM.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 28

Horror movie anthologies are the theme tonight on TCM, with five movies in the line-up. But if you consider each little story within those films to be little movies until themselves, well, you're getting over 15 movies!

Here's the line-up (all times PST):

Dead of Night - 5PM - Perhaps the best creepy ventriloquist dummy movie ever.

Twice Told Tales - 7PM - Vincent Price in three stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Kwaidan - 9:15PM - Japanese ghost stories!

The House that Dripped Blood - Midnight - Four stories by Robert Bloch. Staring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Denholm Elliott.

Torture Garden - 2AM - Burgess Meredith as a sideshow mystic who predicts the fates of four patrons. Audience in 1967 were handed packets of "fright seeds" to grow their on Torture Gardens. Hmmmm.....

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 27

Late late late tonight, at 3AM on TCM, watch one of the first horror movies ever made. The classic 1922 version of Nosferatu also features one of the creepiest vampires ever created. He's so creepy that his look has been copied in countless horror movies ever since. That's almost 100 years of flattery in the form of imitation!

It's also a movie in the public domain, so here's a version to check out right here and now!

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 26

The 1941 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, and Lana Turner, is my favorite version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, for one reason only. This scene:



The rest of the movie is pretty good too. Watch it at 5PM, PST, on TCM.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 25

Once again TCM is the place to be. Basically, just turn on the TV right now, and leave it on the channel for the rest of the day. Here's the line-up (all times PST):

Blood From the Mummy's Tomb - 9:15AM - It's about a female mummy. No, not a mommy. Based on a Bram Stoker story.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - 11AM - If you grew up in the 80's and ever watched PBS, it's pretty likely you saw this version of the musical starring Angela Lansbury at leasy ten times.

Mad Love - 1:30PM  -A mad doctor, transplanted knife-thrower hands, and Peter Lorre. That's pretty much all you ever need.

The Birds - 2:45PM - Melanie Daniels makes friends with the locals in Bodega Bay.



The Haunting - 5PM - The best haunted house movie ever made.

Village of the Damned - 7PM - Little blonde kids can be hella creepy. Especially when they have English accents.

The Curse of Frankenstein - 8:30PM - Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. The dynamic horror duo.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 24

When I was a teenager, my favorite comic book was Alan Moore's "Swamp Thing." Naturally, I eventually became a fan of the spin-off, "Hellblazer," about a trench coat-wearing, cigarette-smoking, demon chaser named John Constantine; he also kinda looked like Sting, which was a bonus for this Police-obsessed girl.

Eventually, a terrible movie version was released, starring Keanu Reeves as Constantine. And now we have another version, this time a TV series on NBC, starring an actual Brit. Whether it's good or not, who knows, though buzz hasn't been stellar. I'm gonna watch the hell(blazer) out of it, though.

"Constantine" premieres at 10PM, PST, on NBC.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 23

Yes, I am once again recommending something on TCM. What can I say? When it comes to spooky cinema in October, they're the best bet since their movies are commercial free and (usually) widescreen.

Tonight is ghost story night, and here's the line-up (all times PST).

The Innocents at 5PM, and ultra spooky version of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw.

The Uninvited, about a haunted mansion in coastal England, at 7PM.

The Woman in White, based on Wilkie Collin's book, at 9PM.

Night of Dark Shadows, the second movie based on the TV series "Dark Shadows," at 11PM.

And the Nicole Kidman ghost story The Others, at 1AM.

(Of all of the above, The Innocents is probably the best bet.)

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 22

So, John Carpenter's The Fog is set to air on TCM at 11:15pm, PST, but the last time they aired it, it wasn't a widescreen version, which is a crime against cinema, so I recommend it here with trepidation.



Speaking of crimes against cinema, Night of the Lepus is also on TCM tonight, at 3AM. If you've never heard of Night of the Lepus, I have three words for you: giant killer bunnies.