Oh, The Horror....!

If you haven't noticed, I basically dropped off the face of the earth this month, blog-wise. It's been a wild ride (and not the fun kind!) I blinked and October was nearly at an end. I'd been chugging away pretty well for a while, but then the wheels came off. I'm not going to dwell on the negative or bore you with the details (a perturbed - and now former - reader once took me to task for complaining too much about my lack of time, which I guess was true. But I felt I needed to explain any large gaps between posts!) After today, I truly can't say when my next entry will be. Just know I haven't given up. I simply cannot post with my usual regularity. I did snatch away a little time, though, to put this up. It's not a representation of all horror movies I enjoy, but more of a small selection of guilty pleasures. Some posters, photos and captions from five scary movies that I happen to like a lot. To all of my loyal Underworld visitors, I wish you a Happy Halloween!

Berserk! (1967)

Doesn't matter how many times... if this is on and I stumble onto it, I'm in for the duration! There arr precious few Joan Crawford movies that I am uninterested in watching multiple times. This one is a colorful, zesty, campy hoot! (Oddly enough, some of the more dull bits are the ones in which we watch lengthy circus acts! But that's the biggest problem on repeat viewings.)

Joan's still got "that face" and is virtually always lit in ways to emphasize it. I like her cruller bun 'do, but the less said about her long fall the better. But then there's humpy Ty Hardin on hand to help perk things up.

Not only that, but the deliciously bitchy and tart-tongued Diana Dors is also around. The two have some fun repartee here and there. The inset has a hysterically juxtaposed image. No way was Joan's character smiling while Diana's gave Ty a try! (In real life, the ladies got along well and Joan was fond of Diana, less so the comparatively ill-prepared Judy Geeson.)

La Crawford was proud of her figure and called upon pal Edith Head to whip up an appropriate ringmistress costume (otherwise, the clothing in the film was her own!) What's really a hoot, though, is seeing the difference between the heels she has on in the costume shot versus the little flat slippers she sports in the inset. (Presumably, this was to be a medium two-shot, but a still photographer caught the moment...)

As seen in this publicity shot, Joan was initially set to costar with arch-rival Bette Davis, but negotiations fell through....! Ha ha!! Relax, I'm just having a little laugh. Anyway, Miss D. shows up in a bit, too.

The Devil Within Her (1975)

It took me years and years to finally see this one. A belated rip-off of Rosemary's Baby (1968), there were many, many like it. Naturally, we gravitate to Miss Joan Collins, however.

Things begin happily enough between Collins and her husband Ralph Bates as they welcome a new bundle of joy into their lives. Note Eileen Atkins on hand as a nun.

It's not long, though, before their bouncing baby boy is wreaking havoc all around.

You really haven't lived until you've seen Collins terrorized by an angry dwarf! And though these particular shots don't emphasize it, she looks lovely throughout, especially in one sequence with a turban-like head-wrap.

I can never forget once reading Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide in which he reviewed this movie. In a backhanded compliment he referred to Collins as "uncharacteristically excellent!" True enough, a fair share of her feature films didn't turn out to be immortal classics, but like most enduring divas, she's usually worth watching nevertheless.

Burnt Offerings (1976)

An update on the venerable haunted house genre, this one features the presence of the aforementioned Bette Davis along with crazy-eyed Karen Black.

I mean, just look at that face! She's not given enough to do in the movie, but (again!) it's rare to watch Bette Davis and not be captivated on some level. I wouldn't dare spoil it for you, but the way she looks towards the end of the movie... well, it's positively curdling! No vanity involved there, anyway!

Another big plus is the presence of Oliver Reed as Black's husband. Trim, tan and handsome, he has a couple of key scenes centered around a pool. (In one of them, he begins tormenting his son horrendously... but the poor kid is so annoying to start with we can only drum up a certain level of sympathy!)

I can recall being thrilled at the prospect of Black from Airport 1975 (1974) and Reed from The Three Musketeers (1973) being paired as husband and wife, though they really don't seem to go together particularly well.

A fun bonus is seeing the home's owners, Eileen Heckart and Burgess Meredith, two talented veteran performers.

The Sentinel (1977)

The '70s were so much about all-star casts and this one has an impressive one, though most of the action centers on comparative newcomer Christina Raines. Raines, a print model by trade, rents a reasonable brownstone only to come upon some seriously out there neighbors.

John Carradine is scary enough. By the time a passel of others show up at the end, it's unforgettably creepy. (And controversial, too. The films director used - or exploited as the case may be - people with actual deformities to help enhance the atmosphere of the finale.)

About as disturbing is the sequence with lovers Beverly D'Angelo and Sylvia Miles in which Raines is greeted with the sight of D'Angelo having fun with herself during the conversation!

It's a great chance not only to "spot the star" from the roster of known names, but also to spot rising stars such as Jeff Goldblum (with his original teeth) and Christopher Walken.

For our money, though, the thrill is a sleek and vaguely mysterious real estate agent played by Miss Ava Gardner. By 1977, so many people considered her "past it," but I've always greatly enjoyed seeing once-breathtaking actresses performing as mature women. (This, of course, being before so many began turning their faces into rubberized, immobile masks with inflated lips. No thanks... Well, okay, I'll still take a little Faye Dunaway now and again! LOL)

Friday the 13th (1980)

I'm gonna bet that not too many of you saw this one coming...! But I can't help it. I love the low-budget, early-'80s atmosphere before action and horror got so polished (and, to me, more fake looking despite "advances" in technology.) I love the unstudied, carefree way characters cavort around with so little regard for what we might see.

I'm quite ashamed, however, that I didn't know until LAST WEEK that the young man on the far right, Harry Crosby...

...was the very same Harry Crosby whose father was the legendary Bing Crosby! This was Bing's second set of children (the four sons from his deceased first wife Dixie reportedly receiving a much harder time of things than the three shown here.) Der Bingle passed away in 1977, so he didn't see Harry in Friday the 13th (nor did he witness Mary Crosby sleeping around on Dallas and eventually shooting ol' J.R. Ewing!)

Even this "contemporary" horror movie has the added bonus of a vintage actress in the mix. Betsy Palmer (who'd costarred with Joan Crawford in the delicious drama Queen Bee, 1955) was a longtime TV panelist on I've Got a Secret. Her usual perky persona was little to be seen in her portrayal of Mrs. Voorhees!

The era of the first few Friday movies was Speedo time, and star-to-be Kevin Bacon trots around in one. (At one point something seems to be stirring in there, lurking... Ha!) Maybe the lakeside setting is what made me go for these more than for the equally enduring Halloween films.

::::: Bonus Posters :::::

Foreign posters are so often far more vivid than those for the U.S or U.K markets. This one is no exception. Thing is, the artwork at the bottom... Um, this is absolutely derived from Die! Die! My Darling! (1965) and is based upon Stefanie Powers and Yootha Joyce in a confrontation scene in that!! So I hope no one was marching up to the ticket counter for a refund when that moment didn't roll around in Berserk!

Lastly, I had to share this striking depiction of Crawford's startled eyes. Someone really put his or her heart into this artwork.

I'll be back as soon as I can be with more movies, TV and stars. Thanks!