Tag Archives: cheesy horror movies

Words, Work, What to Do?

So I did not make my Non-Sequitur Thursday post on Thursday.  Judge me if you like, I shall not explain, because explanations are tiresome.  I am sitting at my laptop with coffee at 4:30 in the morning (which is actually a normal time for me to be out of bed on a workday), and I’m going to type a few words and hit publish.  Then on to my last day of work before two weeks off, yes.

Here is a Freudian typo:  when I went to put “workday” just now, my fingers first typed “word.”  Since I want to be a writer (technically I am a writer, but I dream of finishing longer things than blog posts and murder mysteries), I find that appropriate.  Next Freudian typo:  I typed “wend” instead of “went.” This implies that I am wending my way through this post. Quite appropriate for a Non-Sequitur Thursday.

“Ah, about that…”

I thought I would throw in a picture of Nosferatu, just because.  On the one hand, I feel that makes this more of a non-sequitur post.  On the other hand, if you actually say you are making a non-sequitur, I think it makes it less of a non-sequitur.  And now I veer into half-baked philosophy, the purview (I love that word, purview) of Lame Post Friday.  And since it is, in fact, actually Friday, now I am veering back into sequitur territory.  What is a blogger to do?

Which is not the same thing as “I saw what you did there.”

When in doubt, throw in another picture.  I loves me some William Castle.

Incidentally, this is what I felt like yesterday, when I missed posting.

I just grabbed the next picture I saw in my Media Library (“Media Library” should be said in snooty tones), because I want to finish this up.  I am over 300 words, which is a little long for a foolish post, especially a late one.  If only I could think of a silly headline, my life would be perfect.  Late Happy Thursday and Early Happy Friday, folks!

 

Monsters on Monday, What’s Not to Like?

I had a couple of authentic Mohawk Valley adventures I was going to write about,  but I’m tired.  Sorry, folks, I’ve had a rough weekend and a tough Monday — oh, I KNOW other people work much harder than I do and have a much harder time.  I’ll stop whining, I really will.  My point is, as I was idly scrolling down Facebook, trying to work up some ambition, I came across an awesome still from The Invisible Man, and, well, you know me and monster movies.  We are having another Monstrous Monday.

“But, Darling, I never loved you for your looks!”

Claude Rains and Gloria Stuart, what’s not to like?  Naturally I kept scrolling to see if I could get lucky and find a couple of more pictures.

They don’t do newspaper ads like this any more!

I LOOOOVE The Raven!  I only recently saw it for the first time, having DVR’d it from TCM.  I feel certain my husband will give me the DVD for my birthday or Christmas sometime.  Maybe on a boxed set of Roger Corman movies.  I like Roger Corman almost as much as I like William Castle.

I think this also works as a depiction of the popular conception of Monday.

This is one out of my Media Library.  Since I mentioned William Castle, I just had to include a picture of House on Haunted Hill (the 1959 original, of course), one of our go-to movies.  So entertaining!

Alas, one cannot enjoy Percepto while watching this on DVD!

Oh, how silly of me.  I went looking in my Library for William Castle, completely forgetting that I had just downloaded a movie poster from one of his flicks!  It just goes to show how truly tired I am.  I’m leaving the other picture in, though, because who couldn’t like to see a scary ghost and a screaming woman on Monstrous Monday?  No promises, but I’ll try not to be so tired on Tuesday.

 

George Zucco on Monstrous Monday

I had vague hopes (not high hopes, as you see) of making a real post, perhaps writing it while on break at work.  I also had what I thought were firm plans to exercise after work.  I should have known better.  Now here I am, in a monstrous mood, typing off the top of my head and hoping for a Monstrous Monday post.  I do like monsters.

“Y’see, dock, it hurts right about here…”

Here is George Zucco and… a friend (I bet you thought I was going to say his mummy) (you know who you are).  I had seen a picture of George Zucco and a gorilla in one of my movie groups earlier and thought I might download it.  I went back to Facebook and searched “Geroge Zucco.”  There it was!  At the last minute I thought, what if it belongs to somebody and I was supposed to get permission?  So I changed my search to “George Zucco public photos.”  I kind of like the mummy better anyways.  It is more monstrous.

I was introduced to George Zucco (it just feels right to use his entire name every time) in our 50 Horror Classics DVD collection.  He is described as “marvelously theatrical.”  I’m sure I’ve written blog posts about some of his movies.  I really must start doing movie write-ups again.  They are such fun.  For me, at least.

Spoiler alert: they do more than just walk in this flick.

I think this is one of the movies I wrote about.   If I was better about tagging, I could probably find it and link back to it.  And here we come to the ugly truth about me.

I still don’t know why the monster was so mad.

I actually do not remember if I saw this one or not, but I thought it would be nice to include another picture with George Zucco.  My new ambition for the week:  to watch a movie featuring George Zucco and write about it.  It is good to make a big plan on a Monday.

 

Monday Movie Meditation?

So there I was, sitting on the couch with my laptop and telling myself I could NOT again post the picture of Frankenstein’s monster saying, “No like Monday!”  I looked through my monster groups on Facebook for a new picture. Do you suppose I could find anything?  Then I saw this movie poster, which has nothing to do with Mondays and is actually a kind of a disappointing monster, but I downloaded it anyways, and here it is.

He is rather intimidating on the poster, I suppose.

I’ve seen Curse of the Demon a couple of times, DVR’d from TCM.  According to pre-movie commentary by Ben Mankiewicz, producer Val Lewton did not want to show the monster right away but was overruled by the studio.  I agree that it would have been much scarier to see the first victim looking utterly horrified by… what?  But these were pre-Jaws days.

For the uninitiated, in the first Jaws movie, we don’t see the shark until well into the movie.  This was actually making a virtue of necessity, because they had a lot of trouble with that mechanical shark, but it turned out to be SO effective.  Who knew?  Val Lewton, apparently, but nobody believed him.  Come to think of it, some post-Jaws movies could be a little more circumspect, too, but that’s a whole other blog post.

What a messy eater!

And here is the Jaws shark.  I feel he is a monster worth waiting for.  I’m afraid this was not a blog post worth waiting for, but what do you want from me on a Monday?

 

Holiday for Slashers?

Hello and welcome to my Lame Friday the 13th Post.  I always feel as if Friday the 13th should be a holiday, but I have hardly done anything to celebrate today.  I am doing a few of my favorite things, though:  sitting on the couch in comfy clothes, husband nearby, glass of wine at hand, Snapped on the television, and I will go back to crocheting as soon as I make this blog post.

Not even close to mine.

I thought an illustration would pep things up, because my mind is in a strictly non-peppy mode right now.  I say once again that it is flatly amazing to me how I sit down, stare at a blank screen, feel I have less than nothing to say, and yet I type in words.  Good words?  Interesting words?  Let’s not ask for miracles, especially on Lame Post Friday, and Friday the 13th.

“It’s OUR holiday!”

This is the Friday the 13th guy, right?  I’m not as up on my ’70’s slasher flicks as some.  I’m more of a black-and-white horror chick, heavy on the cheese, with a little Hammer thrown in on occasion.  But when it is Friday the 13th, one likes to give Jason a nod (I just quickly used Google to check that his name is really Jason, which is not the same thing as doing real research, but I am only a silly blogger after all).

Speaking of Hammer Horror…

And it is Lame Post Friday, after all.  I wish one and all a Happy Weekend.  Don’t walk under any ladders or let a black cat cross your path.

 

I’m in a Monstrous Mood

A depiction of my mood today, only without the smile.

Folks, it is time for another Bad Attituesday, because sometimes it is better to bitch than to whine.  Only I don’t really want to do either.  I just want to make a fast blog post and relax for the rest of the evening.  As for what is causing my bad attitude,  to explain would involve either bitching or whining, and anyways, explanations are tiresome.  As I type, my mood lightens somewhat.  I bet if I shared a few more monster pictures, I’d feel better yet.  Maybe I could find a couple new ones.

A depiction of me before going on the South Beach Diet.

There’s a movie monster I’ve never shared pictures of.  I wrote one blog post mentioning the movie once.  I probably can’t find it, though, since that was back in the days before I knew about categories and tags.  Ooh, I found it: Real Screams?

He was ready for his close-up.

I thought I would share another picture, without the title obscuring the monster.  Notice Bela Lugosi listed on the marquis behind the Blob.  I find that to be a nice touch.

So thinking about monsters has cheered me up, and I see that I am over 200 words.  That is a respectable post.  I’ll just add one more picture for good measure.

“I’m a happy monster now!”

 

 

A Vampire Bit My Computer

We’re having computer issues this week, so I am posting from my Tablet.  That is, one stinking letter at a time.   I had thought to make this a Wordless Week,  only right now I can’t think of anything handy to take a picture of.   Maybe my Media Library can once again come to my rescue.

He’s not singing Here comes The Sun.

I just used this picture, but we are currently watching the sequel, Scream, Blackula, Scream.  I confess, it’s pretty dull, which is why I started on the blog post.

 

I seem to have developed a taste for vampires.

I might as well make it a vampire post.  You know I have plenty of monster pictures in the Library.  Some feel Christopher Lee is the quintessential Dracula.  I am more of a classicist myself.

Vat do you mean you put Lee in ahead of me?

You knew I had Bela Lugosi in here somewhere, and regular readers are no doubt waiting breathlessly for…

Your favorite and mine. Well, mine, anyways.

I try to get my blog posts up to 200 words.  Well, at least I got close.  Right now I’ve got to rescue Steven from this movie, which he seems not to be enjoying much.  Happy Monday, everyone.

Ooh, 200 words, yes!

 

Wrist to Forehead Sunday: Oscar Edition

Like I know anything about the Oscars.  My husband, Steven, has always been a big Oscar fan and is quite knowledgeable about The Academy.  As regular readers know, I am more enamored of old cheesy horror movies.  Oh, I like some Oscar movies.  In fact, of recent movies, I certainly like Oscar movies better than huge, effects-heavy actioners or superhero movies, or asinine comedies replete with toilet humor.  I can’t say I’m a snob, given my love of William Castle and Roger Corman.  Let’s say my tastes are.. not mainstream.

All that said, when we had a chance to see all or most of the main Oscar nominees, we did.  Ever since we returned to the Mohawk Valley, however, it has not been so easy.  Sometimes it just seems such an effort to get to the area cinemas, even when they show the films we want to see.  Munson Williams shows movies, but even getting to Utica can be problematic, especially given Steven’s work hours.

Oh, don’t accuse me of whining. I suppose I am whining, but I don’t mean to be. After all, one does not whine on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  One swoons, in a dramatic fashion, the back of one’s wrist against one’s forehead, because life has become too much to be borne.  Alas!  Alack the day! You call that whining?  I call that an honest, if slightly exaggerated, response to the trauma of life.

So, on the brighter side, I get to stay up and watch the Oscars, because I have tomorrow off.  Normally I go to bed early on Sunday, to recruit my energies for the week ahead.  Additionally, I have taken two short naps today.  I feel in fine, TV-viewing fettle.  On the dimmer side, I have not seen any of the moves nominated, and I don’t even know most of the stars, especially since we let our subscription to Entertainment Weekly lapse (we found ourselves increasingly less entertained by it).

Back on the brighter side, I hear Steven washing the dishes, so I don’t have to do it.  That’s pretty nice of him on his Fabulous Four-Day Birthday Weekend.  That’s more on the brighter side than on the dimmer.  Maybe I should peel my wrist off my forehead and get back to enjoying my Sunday.  In the meantime, how about an Oscar nomination for that swoon?

 

Oh, Snap! No Movies to Watch!

Who, me? Write a blog post?

I had the distinct urge to open with a picture of Nosferatu.  It is Wrist to Forehead Sunday, and this post is going to be foolish, short on substance, but possibly long on monster movie pictures.  I offer no excuse for my perfidy (isn’t that a nice word?) but will drive on with the post.

“You don’t like my Wrist to Forehead Sunday post?”

This is blurrier than the picture of Joan Crawford with an ax that I usually post.  However, this one does not have the silly caption about giving Mommy the candy.  Sometimes when I watch a movie like Straitjacket, that I love to pop in periodically, I feel a little sad, because I have to wait a certain amount of time before I watch it again.  I’m in the mood lately that I only want to watch all my old favorite movies.  It is fortunate that I have a lot of old, favorite movies.  However, the selection is not infinite.

Now there’s a photo montage!

It is not yet time to watch House on Haunted Hill either.  I stole the above from a group I recently joined about William Castle, one of my most admired people.  I do not have nearly enough William Castle movies in my collection.

Most probably I will end the day, as I end many Sunday, by watching Snapped. And that is not bad for a Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  Hope to see you all on Middle-aged Musings Monday.

When I snap, it usually means something else. Just saying.