Today I thought I'd share with you an episode of a short-lived interview series I did called THE METAL MORGUE, recorded in 2011. This originally ran in the podcast 6ftplus, but I have since added video and photos to go along with the interview. It features an interview with actor/musician/body builder Jon Mikl Thor talking about filming the 1980's heavy metal classic ROCK N ROLL NIGHTMARE, behind the scenes stories from that shoot, his music career, and more. Recorded in 2011.
To find out more about Thor visit his official website at thorcentral.net, and tell him Dr. Gangrene sent ya!
Tuesday, January 26
Friday, January 22
Shackle Island Slammed by Snow
Not sure what I did to piss Old Man Winter off, but he struck with a vengeance today...
Letter to Vincent Price from actor Mark Damon
OK here is something really cool. This sold on auction back in 2007 for just under $400. It is a letter to Vincent Price from his costar Mark Damon. The two actors appeared together in HOUSE OF USHER in 1960. He thanks Vincent for his kindness and professionalism. Very neat letter, glad that it was preserved for posterity. Click to enlarge and read it...
Wednesday, January 20
More Crazy Coincidences
Okay, so check this out. The other day I was watching an episode of THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR entitled "Monkey's Paw - A Retelling." It starred Leif Erickson and a very young Lee Majors. Pretty decent story, a basic retelling of the classic Monkey's Paw story by W.W. Jacobs, updated to (then) modern times.
Well, that was cool - but here's the crazy part. I finished watching it, switched back from my DVR to regular television, and was flipping through the channels when I landed on an old episode of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN which starred - I kid you not - none other than Leif Erickson! What were the odds I'd run across that very episode at that very moment? Pretty cool - the episode was part two of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SOLID GOLD KIDNAPPING, which was actually a made for TV movie from 1973. The Hitchcock episode was from 1965, so here the two actors were reunited 8 years later. And I caught both performances in the same evening 42 years later. Pretty crazy cool, if you ask me!
Well, that was cool - but here's the crazy part. I finished watching it, switched back from my DVR to regular television, and was flipping through the channels when I landed on an old episode of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN which starred - I kid you not - none other than Leif Erickson! What were the odds I'd run across that very episode at that very moment? Pretty cool - the episode was part two of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SOLID GOLD KIDNAPPING, which was actually a made for TV movie from 1973. The Hitchcock episode was from 1965, so here the two actors were reunited 8 years later. And I caught both performances in the same evening 42 years later. Pretty crazy cool, if you ask me!
Monday, January 11
R.I.P. Angus Scrimm
Word surfaced this weekend that veteran actor Angus Scrimm passed away. Angus, best known as The Tall Man in the excellent PHANTASM series, actually got his start in the music business, where he worked writing liner notes for a variety of musicians, even winning a Grammy in 1974 for his notes for “Korngold: The Classic Erich Wolfgang Korngold."
His first couple of film roles were in horror pictures - SWEET KILL (1972) and SCREAM BLOODY MURDER (1973). Three years later he would work with Don Coscarelli on the film JIM THE WORLD'S GREATEST. The two would reunite in 1979, when Coscarelli wrote the role of The Tall Man for Scrimm.
In 2015 Coscarelli filmed the fifth and probably final installment of the Phantasm series, PHANTASM RAVAGER. The previous installments were PHANTASM (1979), PHANTASM II (1988), PHANTASM III: LORD OF THE DEAD (1994), and PHANTASM IV: OBLIVION (1998). Ravager is scheduled to premiere this year.
His first couple of film roles were in horror pictures - SWEET KILL (1972) and SCREAM BLOODY MURDER (1973). Three years later he would work with Don Coscarelli on the film JIM THE WORLD'S GREATEST. The two would reunite in 1979, when Coscarelli wrote the role of The Tall Man for Scrimm.
In 2015 Coscarelli filmed the fifth and probably final installment of the Phantasm series, PHANTASM RAVAGER. The previous installments were PHANTASM (1979), PHANTASM II (1988), PHANTASM III: LORD OF THE DEAD (1994), and PHANTASM IV: OBLIVION (1998). Ravager is scheduled to premiere this year.
I remember showing these films to my kids when they were younger, and how much they loved them just as I did. I think I'll be revisiting them sometime soon, for sure...
Friday, January 8
Further Tales from the Crypt developments...
Bloody Disgusting is reporting today that the upcoming TALES FROM THE CRYPT series reported yesterday from M. Night Shyamalan will NOT feature the Crypt Keeper.
They are sadly not citing sources, saying only it is from a "trustworthy insider" - so I don't know how much credence to put in this report - but if I had to guess, I'd say they're probably spot on, regardless of the dubious sources. This entire project is starting to stink, and not from good old fashioned EC-style shambling corpses, mind you, but the rot of a half-baked idea drug out into the light.
This is actually starting to sound closer to the aborted 2011 reboot that fell through. That version would have had little to do with the original series and was not an anthology format. This new series - again according to Bloody Disgusting - is not going to be an anthology style series either.
Whoever is actually behind this new series - whether it be Shyamalan or someone else - please use some common sense. NO ONE thinks a series called TALES FROM THE CRYPT without the Crypt Keeper is a good idea. No one. And if HBO does own the character and design from the popular Tales series, then you need to reconsider this, because any version besides that damn puppet and John Kassir's voice will be a DISASTER.
What everyone really wants is a relaunch of the Tales anthology series, plain and simple. If you can't deliver that, then name it something else. There were plenty of other titles at EC, you know. HAUNT OF FEAR, VAULT OF HORROR, SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES, WEIRD SCIENCE, WEIRD FANTASY, CRIME SUSPENSTORIES - just license one of those titles.
There were also other hosts - The Old Witch and the Vault Keeper. Either of those would be perfect to use. And for Cryptsakes make this an anthology series! THAT is what the fans want! Why try to reinvent the torture wheel? You have a built in audience that is hungry for a new anthology series. Fans of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, TWILIGHT ZONE, MONSTERS, TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE - we haven't had a good series since MASTERS OF HORROR. It is time.
Which is why people got so excited about the news yesterday. And why the backlash is so severe today. People care about that series. The Crypt Keeper is a star. If you can't deliver a proper followup to the amazing HBO series then just leave the Tales brand alone.
They are sadly not citing sources, saying only it is from a "trustworthy insider" - so I don't know how much credence to put in this report - but if I had to guess, I'd say they're probably spot on, regardless of the dubious sources. This entire project is starting to stink, and not from good old fashioned EC-style shambling corpses, mind you, but the rot of a half-baked idea drug out into the light.
This is actually starting to sound closer to the aborted 2011 reboot that fell through. That version would have had little to do with the original series and was not an anthology format. This new series - again according to Bloody Disgusting - is not going to be an anthology style series either.
Whoever is actually behind this new series - whether it be Shyamalan or someone else - please use some common sense. NO ONE thinks a series called TALES FROM THE CRYPT without the Crypt Keeper is a good idea. No one. And if HBO does own the character and design from the popular Tales series, then you need to reconsider this, because any version besides that damn puppet and John Kassir's voice will be a DISASTER.
What everyone really wants is a relaunch of the Tales anthology series, plain and simple. If you can't deliver that, then name it something else. There were plenty of other titles at EC, you know. HAUNT OF FEAR, VAULT OF HORROR, SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES, WEIRD SCIENCE, WEIRD FANTASY, CRIME SUSPENSTORIES - just license one of those titles.
There were also other hosts - The Old Witch and the Vault Keeper. Either of those would be perfect to use. And for Cryptsakes make this an anthology series! THAT is what the fans want! Why try to reinvent the torture wheel? You have a built in audience that is hungry for a new anthology series. Fans of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, TWILIGHT ZONE, MONSTERS, TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE - we haven't had a good series since MASTERS OF HORROR. It is time.
Which is why people got so excited about the news yesterday. And why the backlash is so severe today. People care about that series. The Crypt Keeper is a star. If you can't deliver a proper followup to the amazing HBO series then just leave the Tales brand alone.
Thursday, January 7
TALES FROM THE CRYPT resurrected for 2016
TNT announced today it is reviving the classic TALES FROM THE CRYPT TV series with none other than M. Night Shyamalan at the helm! The series is set to debut this Fall on TNT, but in a slightly different format.
The series will be a 2-hour block titled TALES FROM THE CRYPT. Within that block will be a variety of content 'curated' by Shyamalan. Sound confusing? Yeah, that's what I thought too. In a report here TNT reports that the new show will actually be an umbrella for a number of shows under the TALES FROM THE CRYPT banner.
This brings forth a number of questions:
Why not just revive TALES? Will the Crypt Keeper still be the host? if so will it still be in animatronic form, and will John Kassir still provide the voice? At this point I couldn't imagine a version of the Crypt Keeper without his trademark performance.
This isn't the first time a revival of TALES has been rumored. In 2011 another version was announced that would have featured a running plotline featuring characters from the TALES universe. Thank goodness that didn't go through, that idea had disaster written all over it from the get-go. TALES has always been an anthology series, from its 1950s roots in EC comics to the 1972 film of the same name, to the successful and ground breaking run on HBO from 1989-96.
I am curious, hesitant and hopeful for this latest incarnation, should it actually crawl out of the crypt and shamble onto TV screens this Fall.Let's keep our cleavers crossed it turns out well.
The series will be a 2-hour block titled TALES FROM THE CRYPT. Within that block will be a variety of content 'curated' by Shyamalan. Sound confusing? Yeah, that's what I thought too. In a report here TNT reports that the new show will actually be an umbrella for a number of shows under the TALES FROM THE CRYPT banner.
This brings forth a number of questions:
Why not just revive TALES? Will the Crypt Keeper still be the host? if so will it still be in animatronic form, and will John Kassir still provide the voice? At this point I couldn't imagine a version of the Crypt Keeper without his trademark performance.
This isn't the first time a revival of TALES has been rumored. In 2011 another version was announced that would have featured a running plotline featuring characters from the TALES universe. Thank goodness that didn't go through, that idea had disaster written all over it from the get-go. TALES has always been an anthology series, from its 1950s roots in EC comics to the 1972 film of the same name, to the successful and ground breaking run on HBO from 1989-96.
I am curious, hesitant and hopeful for this latest incarnation, should it actually crawl out of the crypt and shamble onto TV screens this Fall.Let's keep our cleavers crossed it turns out well.
Tuesday, January 5
Spotlight: Nancy Kovack
This week's episode of the Fantastic Films of Vincent Price was DIARY OF A MADMAN, a fun little film co-starring the gorgeous Nancy Kovack. Well as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I love these moments of serendipity such as occurred last night, as I cued up an episode of THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR and who did I see onscreen but none other than... you guessed it - Nancy Kovack!
THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR is a really underrated show. I've watched a half dozen episodes lately and they always delivered. This particular episode was called "The Second Verdict" and starred Martin Landau and Frank Gorshin.kovack had a minor role as Landau's fiance.
Nancy was an interesting actress who appeared in a number of fan-favorite TV series in the sixties and seventies including BEWITCHED, I DREAM OF JEANNIE, and GET SMART, as well as BATMAN:
According to the IMDB she was a native of Flint, Michigan, who became a student at the University of Michigan at 15, a radio deejay at 16, a college graduate at 19 and the holder of eight beauty titles by 20.
In DIARY OF A MADMAN she played the part of Odette Mallotte, a vain and ambitious model who accepts Price's marriage proposal despite being already married to painter Paul Duclasse (Chris Warfield). However, Price is possessed by an entity from another dimension, and forced to murder her, in a scene that is fairly graphic for its time.
THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR is a really underrated show. I've watched a half dozen episodes lately and they always delivered. This particular episode was called "The Second Verdict" and starred Martin Landau and Frank Gorshin.kovack had a minor role as Landau's fiance.
Nancy was an interesting actress who appeared in a number of fan-favorite TV series in the sixties and seventies including BEWITCHED, I DREAM OF JEANNIE, and GET SMART, as well as BATMAN:
and STAR TREK:
According to the IMDB she was a native of Flint, Michigan, who became a student at the University of Michigan at 15, a radio deejay at 16, a college graduate at 19 and the holder of eight beauty titles by 20.
She also appeared in a number of films including JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS where she played Medea.
DIARY OF A MADMAN was made in 1963, three years after Hitchcock's PSYCHO. The influence is felt clearly in this scene, however, with Price slashing his victim repeatedly in true Norman Bates fashion. Interestingly, Kovack would film the ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR episode just one year later, in 1964. She retired from acting in 1976. Today Nancy is alive and well and married to music conductor Zubin Mehta, director at one time or another of both the Los Angeles and Philadelphia Philharmonic, as well as the Israel Philharmonic orchestra.
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