From my personal collection – post card sized replications of all the famous classic films I love
The middle era horror films, 1960’s to 1980s, plus some non-horror flicks:
1960’s horror, sci fi and other!
1970’s and 1980s horror and sci-fi
My Clint Eastwood poster repros:
The ‘clicking’ of the projector, the strobe-like flashing on the parallel walls, a rectangle of pure white in the dark, and presto! there’s monsters in my bedroom…
When I was a youngster, we didn’t have VHS, DVDs, or On-demand movies. We had to watch and wait, for the 6 or 7 television channels available, to air our favorite films. They would show up maybe once or twice a year. (Sometimes never.) However, that didn’t stop some of us, especially us monster fans, from wanting to take our favorite monsters home with us.
When I was about 13, I had saved up enough money from shoveling snow and handing out flyers for businesses to send away for a Super 8mm projector. I had seen the ad in the back of Famous Monsters of Filmland and got a money order made out to Captain Company. It was about $24 which would probably be like $100 today. The big brown truck delivered the projector and it came with one complimentary film reel.
The films were only 15 minutes in length each, like highlight reels, touching on the main points and action scenes of the movies they were edited from. Some films were even edited into a new simpler story line, rearranged in sequence to support the edited plot. I didn’t care; I was in it for the monster scenes, not the stories.
One of my fave things to do with this new projector…
My neighbor’s house was very close to ours and the side that faced us had only one small bathroom window. The house was all white. I used to aim the projector out the window so it could shine a giant image of Ghidorah onto the house. For some reason that was the only film it would work for, I guess because of the strong contrast of the scene itself. The image was very light, ghost-like, but I thought it was cool and me and my friends would laugh, trying to scare people walking down the street.
Here’s a look at some of the 8mm and Super 8mm films of the time (1960’s – 1970’s). Mine are long gone, but luckily some people had saved these and shared the box covers on the internet. I just collected the images here, so thanks to all you collectors for sharing. Some of these I owned and others I would have eventually purchased if VHS and Cable TV didn’t make their debut in the early 1980’s.
(films 25 years and older)
5) Space Vampire – Lifeforce (1985) – Mathilda May
She’s deadly, but what a way to go. She walks around naked through most of the film.
4) Ellen – It Came from Outer Space (1953) – Barbara Rush
Babara’s innocent, natural beauty struck me even as a young lad.
3) Lisa – Weird Science (1985) – Kelly LeBroch
Two high school nerds create the perfect fantasy woman. What teenage boy didn’t want to be them?
2) Kay – Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) – Julie Adams
Growing up watching all those 50’s sci-fi/horror flicks on TV, this film had to be the first time I noticed a beautiful woman in a bathing suit.
1) Nova – Planet of the Apes/Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1968) – Linda Harrison
Stuck on a planet ruled by apes? Linda Harrison’s, Nova, made it all bearable.
Honorable mention:
Jessica – Logan’s Run (1976) – Jennifer Agutter
Yeah, this film had one of Charlie’s Angels in it, but it was the wide-eyed charm of Jennifer Agutter that kept me watching.
I didn’t include dinosaur or fantasy films; I will have a separate post for that genre.
Andy Serkis
Toby Kebbell
Jason Clarke
Keri Russell
Gary Oldman
Finally a director that gets it. Starting with the traditions of The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, countless Sci-fi films from the 50s, and continuing with Star Trek (original series), 2001: A Space Odyssey, and of course, Planet of the Apes, sci-fi has always been about more than the surface story. There has always been a layer of socio-political commentary underlying any good science fiction story, one that asks tough questions about human existence and society as a whole, one that often leaves us with more questions than answers. To me that is what makes a sci-fi story good (or any story for that matter). It’s what is missing from most of today’s sci-fi and horror films; depth. The first reboot of “…Apes” (2001) had no underlying theme at all. “Rise…” treaded lightly into the theme of animal treatment and testing, but didn’t drive too 
hard on the subject (perhaps afraid to offend future advertisers).
Matt Reeves pulled no punches here, making “Dawn…” worthy of sharing the title namesake of the Pierre Boulle novel and the original series of films. The question here is about the responsibility of a leader sending his people to war, the inherent benefits and problems of compromise, and the question; can a war be avoided once a conflict in interests has arisen? The story covers both sides evenly, diplomacy vs declaration of war, and doesn’t force an opinion to which is better or worse, but it sure does get the conversation going. It is interesting that the film is about the Apes’ story and the humans are almost a secondary plot. Apes living in a delicate harmony must decide how to deal with the encroachment and danger of mankind. Most of the action is in the last half-hour, but the story is engaging and kept my interest from the beginning.
I have to commend the writers, Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver, as much as Reeves for the kind of “Apes” film that I would actually recommend for its cerebral stimulation as much as its visual experience. If this film doesn’t get you thinking about the responsibility of war, then you’re just not the type of person that likes to bother with the bigger questions of the human condition. But that’s what makes a great science-fiction film and this film is one.
A seriously good sci-fi film with a strong moral and socio-political message, worth watching for those looking for a film with depth.
I give it 5.0 marvelous monkey’s out of 5 on the scale of chattering chimp flicks!
Rise of the Planet of the Apes – (2011)I was truly disappointed with this movie. What, did the apes take a vow of non-violence? Are the apes supposed to be more humane than the humans? Or was this just the best way to get a G-rating? I was expecting an amazing, violent, destructive, uprising – you know – Civil War type stuff. That is what I wanted, that is not what I got.
Not to be morbid, I know it was a horrible incident – but we’ve seen what a full grown chimpanzee is capable of doing. The unfortunate occurrence in Connecticut a few years back should be a strict warning; we should be afraid of wild animals! Not coaxed into the mindset that we can reason with them or that they will have any compassion for us – not even smart ones.
The first part of this movie was interesting enough. A young scientist, (James Franco), saves a baby chimp from his own genetic engineering research project. Watching Caesar, the chimp go through his steep learning curve, accumulating lessons rapidly and responding to these lessons, then, teaching the other primates – made for some interesting film study. Caesar’s expressions and presence were definitely a marvel of CGI combined with the acting/expressions of Andy Serkis. However, after being treated badly from his captures, you couldn’t wait for Caesar and his new found army to bust out of those cages and wreak havoc upon the populous. When it finally happened it was like a G-rated prison riot. The one person that does get killed was by accident. Then they moved out of the complex and decide, we’ll break cars but not people. They caused a big traffic jam on the Golden Gate Bridge – so what?
Are we supposed to believe that more intelligence yields less violence? If mankind is the case study, then the theory does not hold up. Superior intelligence may eventually tell us that the most important survival aspect is to neutralize a potential enemy swiftly and formidably in order to attain self preservation (and by neutralize, I mean kill). In the original 1960’s – 1970’s franchise, you always felt the threat of violence from the apes. They were physically more powerful, and since they were intelligent, as a human, we had lost our only advantage over them. That is what gave the films a stark impact, what made the films thought-provoking, and what created the anxiety and suspense while watching them. However, after watching this film I would put it in the same class as Free Willy – not necessarily bad but not what I would have liked to have seen.
The Remake Scoreboard – Horror movie remakes – the good and bad list. Thumbs up or thumbs down and a few sentences why.
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Remakes: Classic Sci-fi films
War of the Worlds (remake – 2005)
(original 1953)
Only Steven Spielberg could remake this 50’s sci-fi classic and do it justice. Great attention to detail was used in making this film and there is not one moment while I watched that I thought, this looks like CGI. The initial rise from the underground of the first tripod craft was amazing, as well as the Hudson River, Ferry Crossing scene. There was so much I liked about this film, from the look of the crafts, which were closer to the descriptions given in H.G. Wells’ original story, to the sound the tripods made, a sort of battle cry, inducing us humans to run for cover. This is my favorite sci-fi movie since 2000. I own it and watch it often!
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The Blob (remake – 1988)
(original 1958)
This is a very good remake with likable characters played by Kevin Dillon and Shawnee Smith. The film also featured some great special FX, thankfully made before the days of CGI, which portray the agile and quick moving amoeba-like creature, swallowing and digesting its human prey. Great story, excellently paced, a remake worth seeing.
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The Day the Earth Stood Still (remake – 2008)
(original 1951)
This is a near faithful remake in color. That is not necessarily a good thing, the black and white of the original just made everything seem more menacing. The film starts off well enough with interesting events taking place and some great imagery. About a third of the way through, it becomes a chore to watch as the pacing gets bogged down in a tangle of social issues that seem unnecessary. Do yourself a favor, just stick with the original!
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Planet of the Apes (remake – 2001)
(original 1968)
Firstly, there is no touching Charlton Heston’s pinnacle performance as ‘Taylor’ in the original 1968, mind-bomb. The original was laced with a myriad of allegory and thought-provoking social issues. The final scene with the half-submerged, Statue of Liberty is one of the great moments in all film history. The new one had some great looking apes but not much else.
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Godzilla (remake – 1999)
(original 1956)
Most fans were not happy with Roland Emmerich’s version of the Iguana-inspired Godzilla. However, there were a couple of things I did like about the film. Godzilla’s first landfall in NYC at the South-Street Seaport and subsequent march through the NYC streets was impressive, mostly because it was filmed from street level, a person’s POV looking upward, rather than from straight-on as most ‘Zilla films are shot. I also liked the Helicopter chase scene as the fast moving Godzilla dodged and darted missiles and gunfire. But the film is also riddled with Hollywood hokey-ness that makes it difficult to watch. The car chase scene was ridiculous and the hundreds of eggs in MSG were too far-fetched to be believable. You would be much better off, sticking to the original.
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parlor of horror 