How Does It Begin, Clarice?

Porcelain Minnie Castavet and Rosemary Woodhouse

I find it rather hard to believe that Rosemary's Baby has never appeared on any Top Ten list I've ever done. Or has it? If not, it certainly should have been on just about every one of them (maybe not musicals, though I don't think I've done a Top Ten of those, yet). 

Think what you will about Roman Polanski, he's never been shy about delving into the darker sides of life. Based on Ira Levin's novel, the movie was a sensation when it was released in 1968 and rightfully so. Perfectly cast with some of the best actors of the era (and possibly of all time) and both wittily and creepily directed, Rosemary's Baby taps into so many Psycho-Religious-Paranoid-Horrifying things all at once, that it takes multiple viewings to fully appreciate it's brilliance, even 43 years after it was first released. Ruth Gordon rightfully won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as Minnie Castavet, the push,y elderly Satanist with a heart of coal. Mia Farrow got an infamous haircut and divorced Sinatra while making the movie.  And there are some amazing appearances from classic character actors Ralph Bellamy, Maurice Evans, Charles Grodin and Elisha Cook, Jr; as well as uncredited walk-ons/voice-overs from William Castle and Tony Curtis. 

A very amusing, anonymous Facebook friend (once known as Magnolia Thunderpussy but now going by Hilda Swandumper after the geniuses at Facebook realized Maggie T wasn't a real name) posted the photo above to a mutual friend's timeline. And I immediately coveted...

I reposted it, saying that anyone who bought me the Minnie Castavet doll would get me as a slave for one week a year for 10 years or 50 Saturdays, not to exceed two in a row. And I mean it. Yes, I have lots of 'stupid' things. I have both Mulder and Scully action figures; a Locutus action figure; a Frank-N-Furter action figure; a Norman Bates action figure; a remote controlled zombie; a zombie teddy bear and other assorted toys. But I would gladly give up a third of my collection to own a doll modeled after Ruth Gordon as Minnie Castavet. Of course, the two dolls are undoubtedly a set, though I hope the obviously inferior Mia Farrow as Rosemary doll doesn't decrease the value...

The true movie lunatics out there know exactly what I mean.

Genius.

More, anon.
Prospero

You have read this article Classics / Dolls / Genius / Halloween / Hannibal Lecter / Horror / Mia Farrow / Movies / Roman Polanski / Rosemary's Baby / Shocktober / The Antichrist / The Devil / Toys with the title Dolls. You can bookmark this page URL https://tammycross.blogspot.com/2013/10/how-does-it-begin-clarice.html. Thanks!

Karen Black; Mean Pranks; Death and Other Jokes

Karen Black in House of 1000 Corpses

Veteran genre actor Karen Black has passed away at 74 after a long battle with cancer and that makes Uncle P very sad. Ms. Black's career spanned 6 decades and included films such as Easy Rider;  Five Easy Pieces; Airport 75 and The Day of the Locust. But she's probably better known for her genre films which include The Pyx (1973); Burnt Offerings (1976); Invaders from Mars (1986) and House of 1000 Corpses (2003). 

Among those of us who grew up in the era of disco and only one HBO channel, Karen Black is best remembered for an ABC TV Movie of The Week called Trilogy of Terror. As I am sure you've figured out, it was an anthology of three scary stories. No one I know (including myself) remembers anything about the first two stories. Because it was the third story that freaked out everyone who saw it. It was the third story that all my friends were talking about the next Monday at school. And it was the third story that made my sister almost lose her mind (a lot more on that in a bit...). 

As of this writing, she has three films yet to be released. Black, with her wonky eye and unconventional beauty, came to stardom during the Indie Film Renaissance of the 70's (sometimes referred to as the "Second Golden Age') and managed to maintain a very interesting and viable career long after many of her contemporaries didn't. Karen Black was truly One-of-a-Kind.

And so I don't leave on quite a dark note, I'll segue into two real-life events, memories of which were triggered by the news about Ms Black.

My Dad, despite his many faults, was pretty funny and I'm not ashamed to admit that a big part of my sense of humor is directly related to his. He knew a million jokes and he told them well. He often used fairly accurate accents when telling them, which led to my ear for it (which has proven very useful both on and off stage). He loved nonsense and dark humor, and took great joy in pranking my sister and mother. Here are two examples:

When my sister was very young, she would get scared and sneak into my parents' room in the middle of the night. When they started locking their door, she took to coming up into my room, which was basically a loft with no door. I woke up many mornings to find her in my bed.  Trilogy of Terror originally aired on a Friday night. I don't need to tell what Sis did. That Saturday morning, our father got up and started to make breakfast. She heard him rattling around and called out -- "Hello?" Dad snuck out to the living room and made sounds like the Zuni Doll in that clip. Needless to say, Sis crawled back into bed and didn't move or make a sound until I woke up, some time later. Poor kid!

Which led me to this memory of a Halloween in the mid-to late 70's. Trick or Treating was pretty much over for Uncle P for good, but I still went out with Sis and we had some fun times. Of course, in those days we were out for hours (especially on weekends) and would fill pillowcases two or three times. It was safe and there were hundreds of kids and parents out. This particular night, Dad hid a monster mask in the bathroom. I was upstairs, Sis was in her room and Mom was in the kitchen, which is where kids knocked for candy in almost every house in our area, about to go to bed. Dad snuck into the bathroom and put on the mask and a trenchcoat (and nothing else). He snuck out the front door, crept around to the kitchen door and knocked.

Poor Mom, thinking it was last-minute Trick-or-Treater, opened the door. Dad yelled "Trick 'r Treat!" and flashed her, thinking she would recognize him and laugh. Instead, Mom screamed for Dad and slammed the door! Sis and I both came running, only to hear Dad braying like a hyena outside while Mom came to the realization of what had just happened.

Is it any wonder I am the way I am?

Here are some trailers for my favorite Karen Black Horror movies:

More, anon.

Prospero

You have read this article ABC Movie of the Week / Clips / Creepy / Dolls / Evil Jokes / Horror / Karen Black / Memories / Movies / My Father / My Sister / Nonsense / Practical Jokes / RIP / Trailers with the title Dolls. You can bookmark this page URL https://tammycross.blogspot.com/2013/08/karen-black-mean-pranks-death-and-other.html. Thanks!

Beware the Stare of Mary Shaw

The Only Thing Creepier Than a Clown

After the success of Saw, writer Leigh Whannell and director James Wan collaborated on a very different movie, the underrated 2007 ghost story, Dead Silence.

"True Blood" star Ryan Kwanten plays Jamie Ashton, whose wife Ella ("Revenge" alum and Mia Farrow  look-alike Amber Ashton) receives a strange package one day, containing a ventriloquist dummy named Billy. While Jamie is out getting Chinese food, Ella is murdered by the doll and Jamie returns to his hometown of Ravens Fair, famous for a theatre which featured a ventriloquist named Mary Shaw, who was murdered and supposedly buried with all her dummies. Jamie pays a visit to his estranged father Edward ("24" alum Bob Gunton) who is remarried to a hot young blonde named Lisa (They star Laura Regan). Edward offers little comfort and even less explanation for Ella's murder. Meanwhile, police Detective Lipton (Donnie Wahlberg) has followed Jamie, convinced he is responsible for his wife's death.

As Jamie digs deeper into the mystery of Mary Shaw, more and more people turn up dead with their tongues missing. It seems that Jamie's great-uncle called Mary out as a fraud in the 1940's, claiming he saw her lips move. After she showed him up, the boy went missing and was later found murdered with his tongue cut out. The town blamed Mary and killed her, cutting her tongue out, as well. Jamie eventually visits the old theatre where he finds Mary's workshop and a book with the plans to build a perfect puppet. Eventually Jamie and Lipton realize that Mary is possessing her puppets in her efforts to take revenge on the family that caused her to be murdered, and attempt to destroy them. Thinking the nightmare is over (SPOILER ALERT) Jamie returns to his father's house only to discover that Lisa is actually Mary's ghost and that his father has long ago been turned into a corpse puppet and that Mary had planned the whole thing to get to Jamie, the last surviving member of the Ashton family.

While Dead Silence (originally called just Silence) has loads of atmosphere and plenty of creepy visuals, Whannell's overly-complicated plot turned off most critics and audiences, who found the movie confusing. I've seen Dead Silence several times and always enjoy it, often spotting new Easter Eggs every time (one of Mary's dolls is the tricycle-riding puppet - also named "Billy" - from the Saw movies, while another is the famous Charlie McCarthy). It also features one of Whannell's unforeseeable twist endings (he's much better at that Shyamalan ever was) which I just spoiled, above. Of course, Whannell and Wan hit pay-dirt again with 2010's Insidious, yet another ghost movie I'll be covering later this month. If you're looking for atmospheric creepiness in a ghost story, you can't go wrong with Dead Silence. If you've never seen it, give it a chance. If you have and dismissed it, take another look. 

And if you want an even creepier ventriloquism movie, check out 1978's Magic, starring a young Anthony Hopkins and Ann-Margret. While it's not a ghost story, it is plenty creepy!



More, anon.
Prospero

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Christmas Crafts , Early Presents and Ridiculously Hunky Greeks.

I just couldn't wait to give my sweet, sick little Mia her Christmas present this year: the custom 'ZomBarbie' you see to your left. I actually wanted to make this for her for her birthday, but ran out of time. In fact, I was worried I wouldn't have the time to do it for Christmas. But once I got started on it, it went rather quickly. The hardest part was severing Barbie's arm. I used my heavy-duty crafting clippers and it still took several tries from a few different angles to get it, but I think the mangled stump turned out quite well. And the smear on the box's plastic (the result of not-quite-dry paint) was a rather happy accident.

Now, before you think we're both completely insane (as if you don't already), one of the things my co-worker and I bonded on immediately was our love of the zombie genre. And my regular readers know how much I loves me some good zombie-related content. And Mia, a lover of Batman comics and Zombie movies, recognized a kindred soul as soon as we met. Of course, our fellow co-workers think we're absolutely bonkers (and perhaps we are), but they understand (or at least pretend to) our special relationship. And honestly, what else do a gay man of a certain age and 20+ years younger straight woman have to bond about? (Don't answer that question, thank you.)

Mia made me the amazing Teddy-Z a few years ago, and has warned me that her forthcoming gift to me may well cement out reputations as the office loonies (I can't wait to see what she's planning), but I don't care.

And honestly, there is something quite cathartic about turning an American Icon into its antithesis. All I really cared about was making a friend happy at Christmas. Mia's exceptionally enthusiastic response (she immediately posted this picture of it on Facebook) to her gift was well worth the effort it took to make it.

And now, on to the completely unrelated second half of this post. 

While I still haven't seen last year's critically reviled remake of Clash of the Titans, I must admit to being quite excited by the trailer for its completely unnecessary sequel Wrath of the Titans. Do Liam Neesom, Ralph Fiennes and Sam Worthintgton really need the money? I neither know nor care, I just want to see how ridiculous this movie might be.

And how many films need to use Marilyn Manson's cover of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" in their trailers? As my friend Megan is wont to say, "Que Queso!"

More, anon.
Prospero

You have read this article Christmas / Co-Workers / Crafts / Dolls / Gifts / Movies / Nonsense / The Day Job / Toys / Trailers / Zombies with the title Dolls. You can bookmark this page URL https://tammycross.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-crafts-early-presents-and.html. Thanks!

Hell Dollies

Dolls have been around almost as long as mankind, and they have always been creepy. Soulless, hollow little humans just ripe for invasion by some horrific entity or other. Before movies about horrid, evil dolls, there were puppet shows, featuring horrid evil characters who beat each other and took great pleasure in each others' pain (what the Germans so lovingly call schadenfruede).

My sister collected dolls when she was a kid (I even got her a REAL Cabbage Patch Doll one year for Christmas) and my mother collected for a while after my sister moved out. I am guilty of still buying one every Christmas for my Godson's sister since she was little (though that may stop soon.. she's in High School! God, I'm old!). And to honest, like any loving older brother, my sister's Barbies went through all kind of hell - her townhouse was the scene of The Towering Inferno and her plane always seemed to land on The Lost Continent.

One of the earliest Horror movies I remember getting to me as a kid was 1936's The Devil Doll, starring Lionel Barrymore as an escapee from Devil's Island who uses miniaturized humans to wreak his revenge on those he blames for framing him. Maureen O'Sullivan is his daughter in this creepy little film directed by Tod Browning (Dracula; Freaks):

The there's the 1959 "Twilight Zone" episode, Living Doll with a not-yet-completely-bald Telly "Kojak" Savalas as the mean father of a little girl whose new doll, Talking Tina, hates him:

Of course, ventriloquists' dummies don't do fare much better. One of the creepiest of those movies is Magic, starring a young Anthony Hopkins as an is-he-or-isn't-he insane ventriloquist trying to renew a romance with his High School crush, played by Ann-Margret. As Corky and Peggy Ann grows closer, Fats becomes more and more jealous. A pre-Gandhi Richard Attenborough directs William Goldman's adaptation of his own novel:

In 2007, Saw writer/ director James Wan brought us a ghostly take on the ventriloquist tale with Dead Silence. Creepy, but renowned ventriloquist Mary Shaw built a town around her theatre. After she cursed the progeny of the town's wealthiest family, she died and had all her dolls buried with her. When one of those dolls shows up at the home of the one family member who managed to get away, killing his wife, he returns to his hometown to get to the bottom of the mystery. Dead Silence is one of those movies that's actually better than you think it's going to be, even if the end is a bit silly:

But it took the 80's to give is the first Killer Doll Franchise, Child's Play:

Chucky's creator David Kirschner went on to write and produce a ton of sequels (each sillier than the last), and in doing so, created two of the funniest camp Horror Movies ever: Bride of Chucky:

Followed by the intentionally hilarious Seed of Chucky:

I'm not sure where to start with that one. "Get a load of Chucky." Seriously? Possibly the lamest tag-line pun, ever. But they do kill Britney and the self-proclaimed King of Bad Taste, John Waters has a cameo, so I suppose it has some things going for it. I also love the "Academy Award Nominee Jennifer Tilly" and "MTV Movie Award Nominee Chucky" blurbs. Shameless. And hilarious.

There is also the 1987 stinker Dolls, about about a group of strangers stranded in a creepy house filled with creepy dolls and toys:

And lets not forget the Direct-to-Video series Puppet Master:

I know there are tons more movies in this category, and as much as I would love to cover them all, frankly, it would take more time than I am willing to devote to the subject (how's that for honesty?). That having been said, what Creepy, Evil Doll movies scare you? Enquiring Minds Want to Know. Leave your comments.

More terrors, anon.
Prospero

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