New sticker art for Hello! This is the Doomed Show: sandwich girl from Nightmare Weekend!
Nightmare weekend
Posts tagged movies
Holidays in the Movies: April 21st
Sometimes movies aren’t just a way of celebrating a holiday, they are a reason to have one: a movie holiday of sorts.
John Carpenter’s 1980 The Fog takes place very plainly on April 21st, so April 21st is the day we watch The Fog to celebrate the anniversary of Antonio Bay.
Holidays in the Movies: Spring Break
We embrace the academic calendar milestones as defining moments in our year, so why haven’t we celebrated spring break with Holidays in the Movies? During our most recent celebration of the start of the school year we noticed that two movies on that list were set during spring; spring breakish even. So we have grabbed them from schools-in and will be doing a spring break watching:
- PCU (1994) – “We’re not gonna protest!” But maybe we should protest this being a school starts movie. This is spring time, near end of term.
- Girl Happy (1965) – seriously, how have we not included an Elvis movie in our watching yet. I may not have talked about our Elvis collection too much here, but it is fully featured in Doomed Moviethon.
- Crocodile (2000) – Tobe Hooper’s direct to video spring break adventure.
- Nightmare beach (1989) – what’s scarier and surer to ruin spring break than a crocodile? A motorcyclist, obviously.
- Where the Boys Are (1960) – despite the tonal shift, which was actually buffered by the sequence of events so as to not be too jarring, this is a lovely film. It is both a girl’s fantasy of spring break and a depressing warning that the danger of spring break is that girls get assaulted. Sex is the only thing boys want.
- Palm Springs Weekend (1963) – with the same initial feeling as Girl Happy and Where the Boys Are, this also echoes the warnings to girls that sex is the only thing boys want.
- Spring Break (1983) – on to a boy’s dream of spring break, 80’s style, where girls are over-sexed objects on giggle juice and don’t even become near to characters until the end, but fun none the less.
We’ve gone on the hunt for more to fill the week, at least until St. Patrick’s Day. If we are lucky, we might get our hands on a few more:
- The Beach Girls (1982)
- Spring Breakdown (2009)
- Malibu Bikini Shop (1986)
Holidays in the Movies: President’s Day
For Holidays in the Movies, no holiday is too little acknowledged for us to celebrate with a movie. The only real challenge is finding the movies that definitely place themselves on a holiday of some kind, especially those that don’t have large cultural celebrations attached. Well, lucky for you I noticed when Coraline’s mother, in the 2009 movie Coraline, said that it was President’s day. So, for President’s day, until I find more, I will watch Coraline.
Of course there are plenty of thematic lists to rely on as well if you want to go that route as we have for Earth Day and the like. If you are feeling the theme you will not be spoiled for choices of movies about presidents.
Holiday’s in the movies: Lunar New Year
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Lunar New Year, based on the lunisolar calendar, is fabulously visible in the multi-cultural city we live in. To mark its passing, the way we do with every holiday, we have identified a couple of movies to help us celebrate:
- Way of the Dragon (1972): Bruce Lee’s only complete directorial film, and Chuck Norris’ debut role will surely put us in the right spirit.
- Fight Back to School III (1993): As Richard says, no excuse is needed to re-watch any Fight Back to School movie.
To Cast a Deadly Spell & Witch Hunt
There are a few movies that I included in my Ultimate Witch Movies List that deserve some special rumination. Of course, I already mentioned Cast a Deadly Spell, and Witch Hunt when I announced the list, but I didn’t really say enough.
Both movies are HBO originals from what I remember as the heyday of HBO, when Home Box Office meant movies all the time. The main character in these films, Private Detective Phil Lovecraft isn’t the only reference to science fiction storytellers.
Detective Morris Bradbury plays the essential role of police officer foil to Lovecraft, referencing their long relationship including from when Lovecraft worked for the police as well. This relationship is cliche to so many murder mystery sleuths and yet I find its predictability completely amusing in these movies. Also on police payroll is Detective Otto Grimaldi. Could this be a reference to Hugo Grimaldi, producer of sci-fi moves in the early 60s?
There is obvious Lovecraft influence in the movies (though don’t expect Detective Lovecraft to be anything like the real man). These influences are explored in a thorough play by play of the movie on tor.com along with commentary that draws connections between thematic elements, Lovecraft reality, and the true history of the time the movies are set within.
I wonder if the naming of the three detective characters is indicating primary influences, in which case, I will be checking into the movies produced by Grimaldi and revisiting Bradbury to look for the other connections.
My favorite Christmas Carol
Much like our Halloween watching, our Christmas watching is such that it is getting its own zine at some point in the near (I hope) future. In lieu of a Holidays in the Movies post for Christmas, I just want to spotlight An American Christmas Carol.
Henry Winkler plays the stingiest man in town in this version of a Christmas Carol. His name is different; but the beats of his story are the same. Though, perhaps he modernizes the cruelty of Scrooge in a way that makes him seem an even worse person. Which makes his redemption even more effective. The acting in this TV movie is comfortable with a few shining moments. Unique is that, instead of being a specter of death, Dorian Harwood’s ghost of Christmas future walks into the scene with costume, music, and demeanor of someone decades ahead of the story line. This too, makes this interpretation very incisive.
Holidays in the Movies: Hanukkah
Weird that we haven’t already covered Hanukkah in our movie watching. This year we will be taking some first steps toward addressing this.
- Lamb Chop’s Special Chanukah (1995) : I may have been born just a little too late for lamb chop, but it has the comforting television special feel that I grew up with.
- Hanukkah (2019) : a horror movie unseen by us so far, we shall see.
The Ultimate Witch Movies List
Allow me to start with a confession. I adore witches: from historically persecuted innocents, to fairy tale and horror movie villains. Many people who self identify as witches today may argue that the historically persecuted innocents were just that: the innocent victims of jealousy and fear. And the villains: an unfortunate demonization of a social outcast, a scape-goat. Knowing the truth behind the stories doesn’t take away the intrinsic mystery and fascination to all popular depictions of the witch. The truth does not remove the beguiling power of a woman (usually) exercising amazing powers that would never be allowed to her by the society around her. It doesn’t explain what exactly is so threatening about any one person that entire manuals would be created to identify, vilify, and punish them. This mystery and power is what I love.
A cursory internet search for witch movies will turn up the same lists of movies, like the Harry Potter series, Hocus Pocus, Practical Magic, The Witches, The VVitch, The Blair Witch, The Witches of Eastwick, The Craft, etc. All great movies, of course! However, there were never enough to fill the needs of a ‘fan of the witch,’ aka me. I had seen them all and was still left wanting.
In trying to find more ‘witch’ movies to satisfy my cravings, I was inspired to seek out all the ‘witch’ movies I could. And, because I couldn’t find a pre-made list to help me, I’ve created one of my own: the Ultimate Witch List. It is not exhaustive. It couldn’t possibly be, but it is much more in depth than anything I had found before. And, yes, I have watched each and every one of them.
The Conjure Wife
While compiling this list I dug up mention of several films that were supposedly based on the novel The Conjure Wife by Fritz Lieber. My husband picked this book up on a whim from a used book store. It’s cover was interesting and gothic. Later, in our library/dining room I was looking for something to read and picked it up. I could not put it down. I have foisted it on my best friend and I frequently remind my husband that he picked it and still hasn’t read it. I love it. I was so excited to find a movie, then two, then three, that were based on the Conjure Wife, that I developed a passing obsession to find them all.
Cast a Deadly Spell and Witch hunt
I want to take a moment here for an HBO original movie, To Cast a Deadly Spell, and its sequel, Witch Hunt. Both follow Private Detective Phil Lovecraft working in a Hollywood that has fallen in love with and been saturated by magic. Witches are licensed and insured in this world, everyone does magic, except our hero. I carried vague and persistent memories of these movies from childhood without actually remembering what they were. It was only after talking with my husband about these memories and doing some intensive searching for magic movies that I finally found the titles and was able to revisit them. These movies are all the cooky, scary, fantasy of my dreams.
Holidays in the Movies: Mardi Gras
- Mardi Gras Massacre (1978) : a serial killer roams the streets of Mardi Gras to make sacrifices to a Peruvian god
- Dracula 2000 (2000) : yes, we have previously lumped this in with our Halloween watching, but we are trying to make it right
- Mardi Gras (1958) : as yet unseen by us musical with Pat Boone
- Interview with a Vampire (1994) : so natural and yet it almost slipped my mind
- Flesh and Fantasy (1943) : provided we can get a hold of it, this occult anthology seems right up our alley at the Schmidt house
- A Woman’s Secret (1992) – Italian thriller with Margeaux Hemingway.
- Hatchet (2006) – gory slasher!
- Death Spa (1988) – gory supernatural thrillery thing. Why does everyone keep going to this place?
Holidays in Movies: Labor Day
Labor Day is one of those holidays for which it is especially difficult to build a comfortable, celebratory, collection of watching. It is very close to the end of summer/back to school celebration, and also lacking in a dearth of movies taking place during or about the holiday.
- 9 to 5 (1980) : this is more thematic than actually aligned with the holiday, but sometimes that is just how things have to be
- Humongous (1982) : labor day weekend vacationers being stalked by a slasher/monster
- Dirty Dancing (1987) : tells the tale of an entire summer adventure, but does actually culminate on Labor Day
What’s Old is New: from the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
Holidays in the Movies: April fools
For most of my life, April Fools day would pass me by and I wouldn’t even notice. But, there is always a cause for celebration when you are celebrating with movies, and on April 1st we watch April Fool’s Day (1986). April Fool’s Day is a wonderful little mystery slasher featuring Deborah Foreman of Valley Girl, Real Genius, and a cart load of other films from my 80s childhood. Happy April Fools!
At the last minute we remembered that Killer Party (1986) should also join our celebration. Killer Party was originally going to be called either Fool’s Night or April Fool but was changed when April Fool’s Day was released by Paramount Pictures. Happy April Fools!
April 1st is also when we have estimated Spasmo’s birthday to be. So, Happy Birthday Spasmo!
I made a thing
This is another piece that I drew to someone else’s specifications (though they didn’t know it until they got it for Christmas). Long ago I thought I would hate to be an artist for hire and avoided all requests for drawing, but I find drawing something out of my norm to be very invigorating. Granted, my most recent experiences did not involve negotiated changes to the art. This is something I saw in my Father’s industry that steered me away from an art career of any kind.
Anyway, the picture is of Tyra Banks’ character Nora in Halloween Resurrection (wiki) enjoying a latte while her coworker is murdered on a screen just outside her eye-line. I had to composite a few different angles from the movie as the two images do not appear quite like I needed them to in the movie as I’ve seen it.
Holidays in the Movies: Back to School
It may be far from a holiday, especially for kids who would rather have another month of summer, but ‘back to school’ is a seasonal marker for many people, including those that work in the academic industries as I do. I’ve probably already intimated that summer can be a little tiring here in Florida. To me, the start of fall classes means fall is here even if the weather won’t change for months.
- Real Genius (1985) – The movie for all those brilliant maladjusted youngins who enter college in their mid teens and find out that the world only wants to use their genius for profit, pollution, and evil. I may not be one of them, but I have loved this movie for ever.
PCU (1994) – “We’re not gonna protest!” But maybe we should protest this being a school starts movie. This is more a spring time, near end of term.Moved to spring break.- Grease (1978) and Grease II (1982) – “The Board of Education took away my parole. We’re gonna go back, back, back to school again.” They both may encapsulate an entire year, but the back-to-school moment is so so extra.
- Jawbreaker (1999) – “I killed Liz. I killed the teen dream. Deal with it.”
Heathers (1989) – While it might not be about the beginning of school specifically, it is essential. And now that we’ve rewatched it for the thousandth time, it is more a spring movie.Moved to spring break.- It Was a Short Summer Charlie Brown (1969) – until this year (2023) we were missing a Charlie Brown special for this holiday. This one may reminisce about the whole of the summer, but it is firmly placed during the first week of school.
Of course, if you live within the world of college and university campuses, then rush week comes quickly on the heels of the start of the year. Not being devotees to Greek calendars, we have a selection of rush/hell week movies to fill out the watching.
- The Initiation (1984) – young pledges locked up in a mall with a slasher.
- Killer Party (1986) – we watched this for April fools earlier in the year thinking the party was more spring themed. It does sorta begin with a music video for a song called April fool. Though there are plenty of pranks, this is all hell week.
- Initiation of Sarah (1978) – this is also going on the ultimate witch list I am curating.
- Sorority Babes and the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988) – sorority pledges stay overnight in a bowling alley and unleash an evil imp.
If you are feeling like celebrating through movies like I do, check out the other Holidays in the Movies posts.
updated 8/24/2023