Tag: classic horror actors

Really Awful Movies: Ep 248 – The Tingler

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Part artist, part huckster, William Castle is a name a lot of people know in the horror world. He produced Rosemary’s Baby (and would’ve directed too, were it not for health issues) but he’s best known for the gimmicks he deployed to promote the living heck out of his movies.

The Tingler, starring the legendary Vincent Price (check out our interview with his daughter, Victoria Price) is one such movie. Castle used “percepto” technology, a buzzer installed beneath some theater seats that literally shocked members of the audience!

The cost of this equipment added $250,000 to the film’s budget, which was negligible by comparison. Percepto was used sparingly and in predominantly larger theaters for logistical reasons.

The premise is delicious: Price stars as Dr. Chapin, a prison coroner responsible for doing autopsies on prisoners on death row (this seems like a waste of time and money, but that’s neither here nor there). A side of interest of his: how humans experience fear. He and a lab assistant speculate that there’s a structure on the spinal cord that is associated with fear responses (hence, “spine-tingling” fear).

Dr. Chapin uses his wife as an unwitting participant, scaring her with a starter pistol and doing an examination on her spine.

The Tingler is a fun movie, a corny monster movie / creature feature from the 1950s. And there’s the bonus of Castle himself introducing the film, and warning of the terrors to come. Hilarious!

On this episode of the Podcast:

  • How do we experience fear?
  • What is fear?
  • Are there different things people fear and how does horror exploit this?
  • We talk about hypochondriacs
  • We talk about death-defying experiences
  • We talk about the legacy of William Castle and who modern day exemplars are
  • Castle’s use of prop ghosts and audience shills
  • And finally, we discuss the lasting impact of the incredible icon of horror, the one and only Vincent Price

 

Really Awful Movies: Ep 224 – The House That Dripped Blood

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The House That Dripped Blood is a horror anthology. The word “anthology” is derived from the Greek for “flowers,” (anthos) and “collection” (logia).

And everything’s coming up roses in this Amicus production which co-stars Denholm Elliot, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (each in different segments). It was co-written by Robert Bloch of Psycho fame.

In Method For Murder a writer moves into a house with his wife, and is haunted by visions of his literary creation, a strangler named Dominic.

In Waxworks a retired stockbroker (Peter Cushing) and his pal become fixated with a macabre waxwork museum that appears to contain a model of a lady they both knew.

In Sweets to the Sweet a nanny is disturbed by the cold treatment of a widower (Christopher Lee) towards his young daughter

and in The Cloak, a high-strung actor buys a black cloak and is overcome by its spirits during the production of a B-vampire movie.

The beauty of anthology film-making is that if one segment suffers, another is not far behind. And The House That Dripped Blood is a charmer, complete with Amicus/Hammer trappings, the sprawling creaky home, the giant candelabra, etc.

In this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, we chat about perceptions of the home, the awesome artwork of The House That Dripped Blood, PG-13 horror, the greatest horror actors of all time, and much more.

If you are a fan of obscure genre films and like what you’re listening to, be sure to write up a review of our show on iTunes. We record new episodes weekly and are enthusiast champions of a lot of what’s deemed low-brow fare. Go subscribe to our show, the Really Awful Movies Podcast!

Really Awful Movies: Ep 208 – Black Sabbath

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Mario Bava. Super Mario. Molto Mario. Mario the Magnificent. On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, your genial hosts talk about Black Sabbath, the early 60s horror film anthology that gave Ozzy’s band, Black Sabbath, its name.

Black Sabbath, aka, i tre volti della paura (The Three Faces of Fear) is a three-part flick that’s harmonious, and lush in color. And to introduce the segments, none other than the legendary Boris Karloff himself.

The original Italian language version of Black Sabbath features the installments in this order: The Telephone (a lady of the evening is tormented by threatening calls from a former pimp), The Wurdalak, a vampiric tale of woe set in a remote cottage in 18th century Eastern Europe, and finally, The Drop of Water, in which a nurse purloins jewelry from a deceased old lady, only to be tormented from beyond the grave.

In 1958, the founders of American International Pictures hired Flavio Lucisano (a talent agent) to look for Italian crossover films. In 1963, AIP made a deal to distribute a bunch of Ital co-productions. Black Sabbath was one of them. There was a trend to make anthology films to keep costs down. And Black Sabbath was no exception, a film that was an 8-week shoot.

While not exactly showered with praise upon release, Black Sabbath has certainly found more defenders than detractors. In fact, Quentin Tarantino was influenced by the story structure for his film, Pulp Fiction.

So…tune in to the Really Awful Movies Podcast as we break down each of the segments. While The Telephone is seen as the slightest (probably with good reason) it nonetheless has a lot going for it and should not be overlooked. The Wurkalak, while long, has enough trademark Bava touches to make it memorable…and for us, the standout is the exemplary, timeless, The Drop of Water – a master class in sensory Gothic Horror.