Month: July 2021

Queen of Schlock! The B Movies Queens: Mamie Van Doren

Today I discovered that the still sassy and sexy Mamie Van Doren has a Twitter account! That news isn’t the entire blog post, not to worry, though, that revelation is quite a lot! At 90 years old she is still making sure her name is out there. I absolutely love that! How did I discover this? I was googling her, to read up so I could write a blog post about her. We recently watched High School Confidential and the moment I saw she was in the movie, my love of her was sparked again.

If you haven’t seen High School Confidential, I highly… recommend it. The movies is a PSA against smoking pot and taking other drugs in that typical 1950s paranoia, however, the movie itself is really well done AND IT ALSO HAS MAMIE VAN DOREN! (I will include the movie below)

Mamie Van Doren was born February 6, 1931 (in the US) and was originally named Joan Lucille Olander. She covered the entertainment spectrum and was an actress, model, singer, show girl, theatre actress and all around sex symbol. Mamie was not only known for playing edgy women in the movies, she was even more well known for her relationships with some very well known celebrities including being engaged to heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey, and dating Howard Hughes (who claimed to have discovered Mamie when she was crowned Miss Palm Springs). Hughes launched her career by placing her in several RKO films.

Name Trivia: On January 20, 1953, Van Doren signed a contract with Universal Studios. They had big plans for her, hoping she would bring the same kind of success that 20th Century Fox had with Marilyn Monroe. Van Doren, whose signing day coincided with the inauguration of President Eisenhower, was given the first name Mamie for Ike’s wife, Mamie Eisenhower. Other Van Dorens, who were unrelated to Mamie, were a prominent and noted family of American intellectuals; these Van Dorens included two Pulitzer Prize-winning brothers, Carl (biographer) and Mark (poet), and Mark’s wife Dorothy, an academic and historian. {source Wikipedia}

Of course we are here for her movies!

Untamed Youth (1957)

Gun, Girls & Gangsters (1959)

High School Confidential (1958)

Each month I run a b-movie night called Killer B Cinema. Join Lizzie Violet & Zoltan Du Lac for a monthly evening of b-moves from the 1950s to 1990s! Please follow us on Instagram and Facebook!

Redheads Writing In Cafes – Getting Back to Normalish

(except when it’s my bedroom)(I haven’t included any photos or artwork in the post – I want the words to be seen)

Normalish… that’s a word right? Yes. Yes it is and it’s how I am feeling right now.

After what seemed like a century… things are finally easing up, restrictions are being lifted and life is slowly creeping back to a way that actually makes me feel like I’m not walking on eggshells 24/7. Even though vaccinations have helped this along and we still need to take many precautions, I feel like we are finally close to seeing the other side of this. Yes, there will be a few more waves, but hopefully, no more lockdowns here in Ontario. I’m afraid if there is another one, especially after this taste of freedom, it will completely and utterly break many people.

Recently, I have achieved some things that continually felt like they were so far off in the future, that it might not happen. I still continue with baby steps, putting safety first always.

Here are the recently achievements unlocked:

*Had dinner inside someone else’s place and I don’t mean my in-laws.
*Hugged two friends. {Please note that I am not pushing this on anyone and am feeling out when others are comfortable. If you are, please let me know and I will hug you (friends and family only – I’m not going on a hugorama!))
*We’ve started talking about Killer B Cinema and when we can book our first movie night now that things are safer.
*Eaten on restaurant patios and am considering when I will be comfortable eating inside again.
*We’ve had small gatherings in our backyard.
*Ridden on TTC, including a bus.
*Fabric shopping trip with Laurie!

What I’m ready for:

*Visiting my parents. (Waiting for everyone to be fully vaxxed (amongst family))
*Live music! I miss it so, so very much!
*Exploring the city again.
*Hanging out more with friends again.
*Travelling outside of the city. Even if it is a short excursion to Freelton or Niagara Falls.
*Not feeling anxiety every time I see someone without a mask on.
*Not having a conversation that includes talk of Covid.

I don’t expect things to go back to the way they were pre-Covid. In fact, I hope they don’t. There were many lessons learned and I hope most of them stick, especially those regarding the environment. Living in a time of Covid has also awoken the fight in people, the opportunity to speak up against what is wrong (I don’t mean you anti-vaxx, anti-mask, anti-lockdown people – you are a huge part of the reason this is taking longer than it should) in this world. We are in a time of revolution and I hope it continues until we right so many wrongs.

We are so close to being on the other side, so I beg of you, still take precautions, still wear your mask and for fuck sake, if you haven’t been vaccinated, DO IT. I still have a few friends who haven’t or won’t do it. Some of their reasons are fear or misinformation. Please don’t listen to the conspiracy theories and if you are unsure, speak to a doctor or message me and I will get you in touch with an expert. The vaccine will not hurt you. It will protect you. Unfortunately, due to my own pneumonia damaged lungs and for the safety of my elderly in-laws, if you aren’t vaccinated, I can’t hang around with you. So please, GET VACCINATED!

I’m looking forward to a new Normalish!

Queen of Schlock! Juan Piquer Simón

For me, watching b-movies means more than just 1950s scifi, it means exploring all decades and genres. The world of b-movies has gems that can be found in any given form. On Friday nights we have a watch party and in some cases we have themes (director, era, genre, actor/actress, season) and we had been watching 1950s/1960s monsters on a beach type movies (on YouTube). At the end of the movies suggestions pop up based on what you are watching (normally) and a few Juan Piquer Simón movies popped up, including Slugs and Pieces.

A little more about Juan Piquer Simón. Juan Piquer Simón was a Spanish film director best known for directing two cult classic horror exploitation films, Pieces (1982) and Slugs: The Movie (1988). Juan Piquer Simón also directed two Jules Verne-based films, Where Time Began (1976) and Mystery on Monster Island (1981), as well as The Supersonic Man in 1979, and The Pod People in 1983 (which was featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000). He also directed Cthulhu Mansion and The Rift, both in 1990. {source Wikipedia)

There are quite a few trailers for Juan Piquer Simón’s movies and the only full movies I could find so far are Cthulu Mansion (1992), Pieces (1982) and Slugs (1988) I unfortunately, cannot post them here because they are age restricted for 18+ and you will need to go to YouTube directly to see them, with the exception of Cthulu Mansion (1992) (that isn’t an 18+ movie), you will find it below. I am going to post bunch of trailers as well, so you can get a taste.

I am on a search to find services that stream his movies and when I find them, I will update this blog post.

Supersonic Man (1979)

Mystery of Monster Island (1981)

Pieces (1982)

Slugs (1988)

Cthulu Mansion (1992)(full movie)

Each month I run a b-movie night called Killer B Cinema. Join Lizzie Violet & Zoltan Du Lac for a monthly evening of b-moves from the 1950s to 1990s! Please follow us on Instagram and Facebook!

Queen of Schlock! Bert I. Gordon

Who wants to go down a Bert I. Gordon rabbit hole with me! I see you out there! Raise your hands! That’s better. Here we go!

Bert Ira Gordon is an American filmmaker, producer, writer and visual effects artist. He is best known for writing and directing science fiction and horror B-movies such as King Dinosaur (1955), The Amazing Colossal Man (1957), Earth vs. the Spider (1958), Village of the Giants (1965), and Empire of the Ants (1977). {source Wikipedia} As of posting this, Bert is 98 years old.

Many of the movies he created, whether it be as a producer, writer or creating the special effects, can be found on many streaming services and in most cases are public domain. I’ve seen most of his movies, (and more than once) either on YouTube or from one of the many b-movie box sets I own. I find his movies to be extremely entertaining and I’m never disappointed. We’ve even shown a few at Killer B Cinema and I know we will continue to do so, once it’s safe for us to resume our monthly movie night.

Bert I. Gordon’s style of movie making has inspired many others and you will see him being thanked often in the credits. His movies are also a favourite for programs such as MST3K and Rifftracks. We also have a lot of fun with commentary when watching.

1957 and 1958 seemed to be the year that many movie makers decided to release low budget creature features. Many of these movies included giant bugs. One of my favourite Bert I. Gordon produced movies is The Beginning of the End, which is about monster size, radioactive locust attacking the United States.

I am going to post a few of his movies below, most of these were made in 1957. They are all on YouTube. There are so many more Bert I. Gordon movies out there, these are a few of my all time favourites. What is your favourite Bert I. Gordon movie?

The Beginning of the End (1957)

Cyclops (1957)(trailer)

The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) Trivia: there is a tribute to H.G. Wells. Keep an eye out for it.

War of the Colossal Beast (1958)

Earth vs the Spider (1958)

Attack of the Puppet People (1958)

Each month I run a b-movie night called Killer B Cinema. Join Lizzie Violet & Zoltan Du Lac for a monthly evening of b-moves from the 1950s to 1990s! Please follow us on Instagram and Facebook!