Horror

Queen of Schlock! Actual Gothic Horror

Oh Hi! Yes, I’m back. I was going to continue my blogging break until the new year… but, a blog post, listing top 10 Gothic Horror movies, stirred something up. Ticked me off. Confused me.

I’m not going to post the article or any of the others I looked at afterwards {to see if they had similar entries — sadly, they mostly did}. This will only create an angry mob. You know torches, pitchforks, and all that jazz. This happens when you see a list that contains only a few actual Gothic Horror movies. Instead, I am going to list some of my all time favourite Gothic Horror movies.

{I included full movies when possible.}

As I mentioned, I’m confused by the other lists. I’m not an expert by any means, but… there were some very obvious choices that were omitted. How could they have missed most of Barbara Steele’s movies {one list has zero}, not included a single Hammer film… or any Italian, Spanish or Mexican movies? How? It leaves me wondering if they watched any of the movies or were paid to create a list and used what they googled. 😦

Below is a very small list of my all time favourite Gothic Horror movies. If I listed everything, I would need to create 100 parts to this blog post. Maybe in the near future, I will post some more.

Nightmare Castle (1965)

Castle of Blood (1964)

Premature Burial (1962)

Invasion of the Vampires (1963)

The Pit and The Pendulum (1964)

Terror in the Crypt (1964)

The Mask of Red Death (1964) Trailer

Black Sabbath (1963)

EVERY SINGLE HAMMER MOVIE EVER MADE! Not one single Top 10 list I read, had a Hammer movie as an entry! HOW? There are sooooo many of them!

We also can’t forget the original classics such as Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstien, Dracula, The Wolfman, White Zombie, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and The Bat. These should automatically be on everyone’s list. Yes, I know, I know, they can put what ever THEY want on their own lists, but… if you are making a top 10 list of Gothic Horror… maybe have more than three Gothic Horror movies on your list and do a little bit of fact checking.

What are some of your favourite Gothic Horror movies?

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!

Blog Break

Hello all! I hope you are have been enjoying your summer, considering everything going on.

I’ve decided to take a bit of a blog break. I’m taking the rest of the summer off and will be back in time for spooky season! See you all in the Fall!

Gone fishing as it were!

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! Bad Ass Women: They Can Kick Your Ass In Their Own Way!

I love bad ass women! I love when bad ass women are in the movies I love! I am always inspired by them and I hope you are as well. Bad ass women are also why I’m so attracted to Silent Cinema and Pre-code movies.

Emel Tumer

The lead actress in the movie Turkish Madmax aka Last Step to Death (Emel Tumer) is beyond amazing. Though out the movie she shows up the men and can definitely kick ass! Emel herself, was rumoured to be trained in marital arts. It really does show in the movie’s outrageous action scenes. As with many actors in Turkish movies, it is incredibly hard to find information on them. I’ve come across this issue several times when looking for info.

I’ve included our trailer from Killer B Cinema. I’m hoping we show this again in the future.

The Killer B Cinema Trailer:

Every pre-code movie that Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis or Joan Crawford made!

I don’t think I need to say much about these sassy ladies, other than they all had similar upbringings and beginnings in film. All three of them were purely no nonsense women, who knew what they wanted and went for it. Since there is already a lot out there that is written about them, I thought I would share a few of my favourite movies!

Hell House (1932) {This is one of Bette Davis’ earlier movies}

Rain (1932) {Joan Crawford}

Ten Cents A Dance (1931) {Barbara Stanwyck}

The 1970s and its powerful women! Especially Pam Grier!

This list would not be a list of bad ass women if it didn’t include Pam Grier! Most of you will know her from Jackie Brown, but I strongly suggest that you watch as many of her movies as you can. One of my all time favourites is Sheba Baby. A few other amazing actresses to check out are Teresa Graves and Lola Falana

Sheba, Baby (1975) {Pam Grier}

Get Christie Love! (1974) {Teresa Graves}

Lady Cocoa (1975) {Lola Falana}

Silent Film

Heather Babcock introduced me to one of the baddest bad asses in Silent Cinema, Canada’s own Nell Shipman. What a career this woman had! Nell was an actress, author, screenwriter, producer, director, animal rights activist and animal trainer. She was also a Spanish influenza outbreak (1918) survivor!

My all time favourite movie she made is called Back to God’s Country. She is fierce in this movie! If you ever need a bit of motivation to stick to your guns, this is the movie to watch.

“Made in 1919, Back to God’s Country is a notable “first” in many ways for Canadian cinema. It’s the earliest homegrown feature film to have survived time, thanks to a miraculous rare find of a print in the 1980s. It’s also the most successful Canadian silent film ever, grossing 1.5 million dollars on a $67,000 budget. And it’s the earliest Canadian movie to feature a nude scene. But perhaps what’s most remarkable about Back to God’s Country is that it’s the earliest known Canadian film written by a woman: its star Nell Shipman was a female Canadian cinema pioneer who directed and produced her own films.” {quote from CBC — full article is here}

Heather also wrote a wonderful article about it. You can read it here.

These are just a few of my favourite bad ass women! There are so, so many more out there. Who are your favourites?

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! Friday Night Watch Parties

At the beginning of Covid (2020), I started a Netflix watch party using a browser add-on, that allowed you to watch a program or movie with several other people. (you need a Netflix account to do this) We lasted for a few months, but eventually, our numbers dissipated due to restrictions being lifted and way too many technical glitches. After several months I got the itch again to have a viewing party night. We (my husband and I) were really missing our Killer B Cinema nights and our friends that attended. A couple of us decided it was time to have a regular mini viewing party — Killer B style.

Over the course of the next few months we watched a few doozies and some surprisingly good movies. I thought I would share a few of them here as well. We are hoping to have Killer B Cinema up and running again in a couple of months and hope these help keep you entertained until then!

The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)

Star Pilot (1966)

Robot Monster (1953)

I Was A Teenage Frankenstein (1957)

Terror In The Crypt (1964)

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! 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!

Queen of Schlock! The Beginning of the End

Beginning of the End is a 1957  science fiction film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon. It stars Peter Graves, Peggie Castle, and Morris Ankrum. An agricultural scientist, played by Graves, successfully grows gigantic vegetables using radiation. Unfortunately, the vegetables are eaten by locusts (the swarming phase of short-horned grasshoppers), which quickly grow to a gigantic size and attack the nearby city of Chicago. Beginning of the End is generally known for its “atrocious” special effects, “and yet,” writes reviewer Bill Warren, “there is something almost compellingly watchable about this goofy little movie”. {source Wikipedia}

If you are into 1950s b-movies about giant bugs, this is your movie! It stars two of my favourite b-movie actors Peggy Castle and Peter Graves and has some of the best/worst special effects you could possibly hope for! Many critics suggest that Bert. I. Gordon was taking advantage of the success of Them! (my all time favourite giant bug movie), but I say Pswah to those critics. This movie is a lot of fun! I have seen this movie a few times and love introducing it to other b-movie fans. It’s also a great movie to watch if you need some light, fun entertainment.

The movie gets right into the action in the opening scene. One of my issues with many other creature features is you don’t always see actions this fast, or the creature reveal doesn’t happen until halfway through the movie. If you want to get my attention and keep me engaged, get your creature on the move right from the get go! You don’t necessarily need to show us it’s hideousness in all of its glory immediately, but at least give us a taste.

If you are a fan of really bad special effects, then you honestly need to give this movie a watch. My favourite part is when you see the bugs sliding off of the…. “building”. You will understand when you watch it. My other favourite scene is when the army arrives to fight the giant locust.

The bonus is, you can watch it for free on YouTube! Them! isn’t available there. (though I strongly suggest you seek out a copy)

If you watch and enjoy this movie, I suggest that you get to know Bert I. Gordon a bit better. Here are a few of this other movies that I highly recommend.

The Amazing Colossal Man 1957
Earth vs The Spider 1958
Attack of the Puppet People 1958
Empire of the Ants 1977

What is your favourite giant bug 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! The Summer of Giant Insects

Ah yes! It’s that time of year again. Summer is beginning and so is the invasion of bugs… insects… critters. I thought, what better way to prepare for the many mosquito/black fly bites and invasion of ants, wasps and hornets, is to share some of my giant insect movies with you!

I will have to say if you can only watch one of these, I strongly suggest Them! It is beyond brilliant. If you can squeeze a second one in and need your William Shatner cheese fix, also watch Kingdom of Spiders.

There are so, so many more giant insect movies out there, but these are my all time favourites.

When possible I will post links to full movies.

Them! (1954) trailer

The Beginning of the End (1957)

Monster from Green Hell (1957)

The Deadly Mantis (1957) trailer

The Black Scorpion (1957) trailer

Cosmic Monsters (1958)

Killer Bees (1974)

The Savage Bees (1976)

Empire of the Ants (1977)

Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)

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!