Sunday, October 17, 2021

Shaun Berk's 10 Movie Recommendations- 826th Edition and My Own Madness: Women in Horror- Week 3


Welcome to the 826th Edition of my series.  I return again for another edition and for another week of My Own Madness.  I don't really have a lot going on so I'll just get on with my selections.



Friday the 13th (1980):  Sean Cunningham directed this first film in the franchise which was written by Victor Miller.  Camp Crystal Lake is about to be reopened years after a young boy was murdered.  This group of counselors starts to get murdered one by one by an unknown assailant.  Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, Kevin Bacon, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Peter Brouwer, and many others star in this horror film.  I think most people know how this one ends and the killer but I won't spoil it.  The end did kind of remind me of Norman Bates though.  This was the start of a very popular franchise and deserves a look if you are a horror fan.


The House Bunny (2008):  I follow up with this comedy which was directed by Fred Wolf.  Anna Faris stars as Shelley who has been raised as an orphan and ends up finding work at the Playboy mansion but is kicked out at the age of 27 years of age.  As she tries to find work, she ends up being the house mother for a struggling sorority of misfits who are about to lose their home due to lack of pledges.  She sets out to save the house while also battling the rival sorority house.  Emma Stone, Colin Hanks, Kat Dennings, Christopher McDonald, Beverly D'Angelo, Katherine McPhee, Rumer Willis, Kiely Williams, and many others co-star in this comedy.  Hugh Hefner makes a cameo as himself as well as a few other celebrities out there.  This is a pretty fun sorority comedy and behind it all has a good message about sticking together.  This can be very enjoyable if not taken too seriously.


The Monster Squad (1987):  Fred Dekker directed this monster comedy that is perfect for the season.  Andre Gower stars as Sean who leads a monster club of kids but soon must lead them as he learns that Dracula, played by Duncan Regehr, is alive.  Dracula recruits some other legends like Frankenstein's monster, played by Tom Noonan, the Wolfman, played by Carl Thibault, Gillman, played by Tom Woodruff Jr., and the Mummy, played by Michael Reid Mackay. Stephen Macht, Ryan Lambert, Ashley Bank, Mary Ellen Trainor, Leonard Cimino, Jon Gries, Stan Shaw, Lisa Fuller, Jason Hervey, Jack Gwillim, David Proval, Daryl Anderson, Robert Lesser, and many others co-star in this film.  This is a rather underrated '80s horror comedy and is quite a bit of fun.  This is also one the family can watch together.


A Dip in the Pool (1958):  Like last week, this is another episode of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS.  Keenan Wynn stars as compulsive gambler William Botibol who is on a cruise and believes he has the inside information available to win a huge bet.  Fay Wray, Philip Bourneuf, Louise Platt, Doreen Lang, Doris Lloyd, and many others co-star in this episode.  Very entertaining episode that shows the price of compulsive gambling with a fun intro from Alfred Hitchcock.


A Day at the Races (1937):  Sam Wood directed this Marx Brothers comedy that would star Groucho, Harpo, and Chico Marx.  Groucho stars as Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush who is a veterinarian posing as a doctor.  Along with Tony and Stuffy, played by Chico and Harpo, they must win a horse race with a misfit horse to save a sanitarium.  Allan Jones, Maureen O'Sullivan, Margaret Dumont, Douglas Dumbrille, Esther Muir, Sig Ruman, and many others co-star in this comedy.  This is the longest of the Marx Brothers movie at an hour and fifty minutes.  This also has less musical numbers than the others I have seen.  Other than that, this has the usual Marx Brothers humor.  I also believe Harpo has some of his best gags in this one.


The Great Waldo Pepper (1975):  George Roy Hill directed and co-wrote this screenplay.  Robert Redford stars as Waldo Pepper who works as a stunt pilot after missing out on flying in WWI which is referred to as barnstorming.  Bo Svenson co-stars as fellow pilot Axel Olsson who forms an uneasy partnership with Waldo eventually working for a traveling flying circus and then went into film.  Bo Brundin, Susan Sarandon, Geoffrey Lewis, Edward Herrman, Philip Bruns, Kelly Jean Peters, Margot Kidder, Scott Newman, and many others co-star in this film.  This is the third of what we could call the Robert Redford/George Roy Hill trilogy which is preceded by BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID and THE STING.  This was a passion project for Hill who he himself was a fighter pilot.  This takes a good look into the early days of aviation before more regulations were made.


Batman:  Hush (2019):  This is my animated superhero movie for the week which was directed by Justin Copeland and based on the comic by Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb.  Batman, voiced by Jason O'Mara, is targeted by a villain named Hush who is using Batman's friends and rivals and targeting him and his loved ones so Batman must uncover Hush's secret.  Batman/Bruce Wayne also has a really good dynamic with Selina Kyle/Catwoman, voiced by Jennifer Morrison, in this movie.  Stuart Allan, Chris Cox, James Garrett, Adam Gifford, Peyton List, Sean Maher, Jerry O'Connell, Peyton List, Rebecca Romijn, Jason Spisak, Maury Sterling, Tara Strong, Bruce Thomas, Hynden Walch, Vanessa Williams, and Rainn Wilson provide their voices.  Yes, you are looking at that correctly, there are two actresses named Peyton List with one voicing Batgirl and the other one voicing Poison Ivy.  There are a lot of other cameos from the Batman universe that play into Hush's deadly game.  This is a pretty violent and action packed superhero movie.  


The Atomic Submarine (1959):  Spencer Gordon Bennet directed this sci-fi movie.  This takes place in the near future where ships and submarines being sent across the North Pole are disappearing.  A crew goes to investigate the disappearances and to recover if they can but the life form encountered proves to be very powerful.  Arthur Franz, Dick Foran, Brett Halsey, Tom Conway, Paul Dubov, Bob Steele, Victor Varconi, Joi Lansing, Jack Mulhall, and many others co-star in this sci-fi movie.  This is a pretty decent b-movie with a creepy feel to it.  It also has a pretty good cast and makes for a watchable sci-fi film.  


Blue Hawaii (1961):  This is my musical for the week which was directed by Norman Taurog.  Elvis Presley, who while mainly an actor was known to sing from time to time, stars as returning soldier Chad Gates who just wants to surf, be with his buddies and his girlfriend Maile, played by Joan Blackman.  His parents, played by Roland Winters and Angela Lansbury, are trying to get him to join the family business like any proper son would do but he is resistant.  Nancy Walters, John Archer, Howard McNear, Steve Brodie, Iris Adrian, Jenny Maxwell, Pamela Austin, Darlene Tompkins, Lani Kai, Jose De Vega, and many others co-star in this musical.  This is a fun musical which has quite the soundtrack with quite a few familiar songs from Elvis and is at a place I'm sure we would all like to be.  


Hobgoblins (1988):  Rick Sloane wrote and directed this incredible B-movie.  A group of creatures are making people's dreams come true before killing them and it is up to a young security guard to stop them.  Paige Sullivan, Tamara Clatterbuck, Duane Whitaker, Jeffrey Culver, Kevin Kildow, Ken Abraham, Don Barrett, and many others co-star in this movie.  These are some really bad looking puppets and it was riffed by both MST3K and Rifftrax more recently so need I say more?  Just watch this for what it is, a bad movie but enjoyable with friends or with the riff commentary.

Well, that is it for this week but continue on for this week's My Own Madness.  Tell me what you like and dislike and stay tuned for next week which so far includes Christopher Lloyd, Myrna Loy, Chloe Grace Moretz, Peter Cushing, Anya Taylor-Joy, and many others.


MY OWN MADNESS:  WOMEN IN HORROR- WEEK 3

This is week three of a five-part series.  As I have said, I decided to do this when the Madness decided to go a different route this year and have a format not requiring summaries.  This is something I like putting together so I just could not stop and to avoid a copyright violation lawsuit with our head hauntress Elizabeth, I came up with the name "My Own Madness".  I also decided to make the category be women in horror even though it's really just women in horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.  I used all the past wild cards of women from the previous years to use anything I please.  Next year, if we either don't have the madness or stay in the format, I will put a little more thought into it and have more conventional wild cards for "Women in Horror".


ADRIENNE BARBEAU

Adrienne is a wild card so giving her a category again.

Batman:  The Animated Series:  Catscratch Fever S1, E33 (1992):  Batman and Catwoman must stop a group of people from infecting animals in a scheme to spread a virus.

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ANGELA LANSBURY

Angela is a wild card this year and will be featured each week.  

Beauty and the Beast:  The Enchanted Christmas (1997):  This was a straight to video "midquel" where Angela reprises her role of Mrs. Potts.  This movie takes place in a time where the prince is still the Beast, yes he does become human which I think everyone knows by now, where Belle tries to get him into the Christmas spirit.  We meet the talking piano Forte, voiced by Tim Curry, who is not so excited about the idea of turning human and tries to keep Belle and the unnamed Beast apart.  Paul Reubens, Bernadette Peters, and Haley Joel Osment join this cast.  This could be worth a watch during the Christmas season and while not great, I thought was pretty harmless.


Blue Hawaii (1961):  Angela gets to play the mother of Elvis in this musical that counts in My Own Madness due to Angela.

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ANNA FARIS

Anna gets to be a wild card this year and found a good loophole for her.

The House Bunny (2008):  Anna is a wild card so this raunchy comedy counts in my madness.

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BETSY PALMER

Betsy is a wild card this year and would be a candidate for a future Women in Horror.

Friday the 13th (1980):  Here is another start of an iconic franchise putting Betsy into horror immortality as Jason's loving mother.

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CHARMED

As I continue to binge this, I decided to make its own category.  I think I will be stopping after season one.

Charmed:  From Fear to Eternity S1, E13 (1999):  A demon named Barbas, played by Billy Drago, feeds on fears of witches and has his sights set on the Charmed ones.


Charmed:  Secrets and Guys S1, E14 (1999):  Prue must help a teen who is a witch and has been kidnapped.  Piper deals with the return of Leo.

Charmed:  Is There a Woogy in the House? S1, E15 (1999):  Phoebe becomes possessed by an evil entity that had been banished by the Halliwells grandmother, played by Jennifer Rhodes whose photo is listed below and would become a recurring character on the series.


Charmed:  Which Prue is it Anyway? S1, E16 (1999):  Prue feels she needs to multiply her strength and the spell backfires and makes three of Prue.  This episode is the start of Phoebe learning martial arts which comes into play a lot throughout the series.

Charmed:  That '70s Episode S1, E17 (1999):  The sisters get send back into the '70s where Prue and Piper are just little kids and their mom was just pregnant for Phoebe.  This episode introduces their late mother Patty, played by Finola Hughes.


Charmed:  When Good Warlocks Go Bad S1, E18 (1999):  Prue befriends a priest named Brenden, played by Michael Weatherly of DARK ANGEL and BULL fame. who is born into a warlock family and is trying to prevent his two brothers from becoming the more evil power of three.


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DUANE WHITAKER

Duane is the exception and is the one male this week to get his own category.  He is likely most known as the pawn shop owner in PULP FICTION.

Feast (2005):  Duane plays who appears to be the bar owner in this movie where a group of people must band together to take on some deadly creatures.  I had never heard of this but appears to be a bit of a franchise and decent and gory creature feature.


Hobgoblins (1988): Duane plays Roadrash in this creature feature that won over the Rifftrax guys recently.

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ELIZABETH BLACKMORE

Elizabeth is not a wild card.  I came across this actress when watching the EVIL DEAD remake and finding that she was in one of my favorite shows.

Evil Dead (2013):  This came about through the Madness so I thought I'd watch this remake which is really good and stay tuned through the credits.  Elizabeth co-stars as Natalie who is on a trip to a cabin with her friends and the discovery of the Book of the Dead leads to some demons being summoned.


The Vampire Diaries:  Day One of Twenty-Two Thousand, Give or Take S7, E1 (2015):  Elizabeth played the role of Valerie Tulle who was one of the Heretics and was introduced in this episode.  

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EMMA CAULFIELD FORD

Emma is a wild card so I decided to feature my Buffy girl.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:  Selfless S7, E5 (2002):  This is an episode from the final season of the show where Emma is possibly most known playing Anya.  She had her vengeance powers back but causes a deadly act of vengeance she comes to regret and forces Buffy to make a difficult decision.  We also get to see Anya in flashbacks where she first becomes the vengeance demon.


Renegade: Teen Angel S3, E11 (1994):  This is one of Emma's earlier roles in this syndicated tv series.  She plays a call girl named Cindy whose employer Reno suspects of murder.


Silk Stalkings:  Champagne on Ice S4, E17 (1995):  This was one of those shows I kind of obsessed over in middle school so I decided to check an episode out when I saw Emma was a guest.  This was a series centered around the Palm Beach police department which centered mostly around partners Chris and Rita, played by Rob Estes and Mitzi Kapture.  This episode centers around a murder of a private investigator.  Emma guest stars as Ray Washburn.  I could not find a photo of Emma so I just put a photo of Chris and Rita.


Timer (2009):  Emma stars as Oona in this romantic fantasy comedy to say the least.  This takes place in a time where they put a clock that counts down to a soul mate.

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FAY WRAY

Fay is a wild card and would be one of my top candidates if I was to do a more conventional "Women in Horror".

Alfred Hitchcock Presents:  A Dip in the Pool S3, E35 (1958):  Last week I featured Fay in her other guest appearance on the anthology series.

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JESSICA LANGE

Jessica is a wild card this year so I took advantage of a loophole.

Sweet Dreams (1985):  Jessica plays the legendary Patsy Cline in this biopic which counts because of her wild card status.

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JOI LANSING

Joi is not a wild card but found she did partake in a lot of b-movies so I decided to include her.

The Atomic Submarine (1959):  Joi plays the role of Julie in this Sci-Fi thriller where the disappearance of a submarine is investigated.


Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967):  Joi plays the role of Boots Malone who is part of a country music trio that ends up in a haunted house.  The movie was really just an advertisement of country music which includes Merle Haggard that has a little haunted house backstory involving actors Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, and Basil Rathbone.  This was not the brightest moments for these actors and would recommend finding it on Rifftrax if you want to watch this.

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LIN SHAYE

Lin is not a wild card but found she is kind of a sleeper in the world of women in horror.

Buster's Mal Heart (2016):  This has a little bit of fantasy element in it and Lin plays the mother-in-law of the main character Buster, played by Rami Malek.  I could not find a photo so just used a movie poster.


The Running Man (1987):  This also came about on account of the Madness which deals with battles.  Lin has a small role as the propaganda officer in this Dystopian sci-fi film.  This is based on Stephen King's novel and went by his pseudonym Richard Bachman.  This features reality tv before it became really big.  this also has quite the cast obviously including Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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MARGOT KIDDER

Margot is on the wild card list so anything can be featured with her in it.

The Great Waldo Pepper (1975):  This early aviation film counts because of Margot who plays Robert Redford's love interest in this movie.


Halloween II (2009):  Margot has a cameo as Laurie's counselor in Rob Zombie's sequel to his remake.

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MARY ELLEN TRAINOR

Mary is not a wild card but found some qualified work to make her into a category.

Congo (1995):  Mary co-stars as Moira in this adaptation of the Michael Crichton novel more in the beginning of the movie.  


The Monster Squad (1987):  This ensemble monster movie obviously counts for this segment.  Mary Ellen co-stars as Emily.  This is a pretty underrated horror comedy.

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MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN

Maureen is a wild card this year so anything with her in it can be used.

A Day at the Races (1937):  This Marx Brothers film counts on this list thanks to Maureen.  She stars as Lisa who runs a struggling sanitarium and tries to save it with the help of the Marx Brothers.

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MICHELLE BURKE

Michelle is not a wild card but decided to give her a feature with the selections I found after realizing the daughter in CONEHEADS was Claudia in one of my favorite mini-series THE LAST DON.

Coneheads (1993):  This is something that through the years might count on the madness in the years of all sci-fi but I'm allowing myself all sci-fi so the famous SNL sketch bring made into a feature film makes it.  Michelle plays Connie Conehead, the daughter of the alien couple, played by Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin.  This was very funny and has quite the cast.


Tales From the Crypt:  Operation Friendship S6, E4 (1994):  Michelle guest stars in this anthology series as Jane whose neighbor is hitting on her but his imaginary friend is not having it.  

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OLIVIA HUSSEY

Olivia is not a wild card this year but have always had a bit of a crush on her since the 1968 ROMEO AND JULIET so with the below selections I made a category of her.

Psycho IV:  The Beginning (1990):  Olivia plays Norma Bates in the flashback scenes as Norman, played by Anthony Perkins in his last performance in the role, tells the story of what lead him to become the man he did.  Henry Thomas co-stars as the younger Norman Bates.


Turkey Shoot (1982):  This selection came upon our Madness theme of battling to the death.  This takes place in a Dystopian world where deviants are held in a "re-education" camp.  Olivia co-stars as Chris who is sent to this camp and becomes hunted as they rebel against the guards.  I had not heard of this but was pretty interesting.

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PEYTON LIST

Peyton is not a wild card but found enough work and realized she plays Tory on one of my favorite shows COBRA KAI.

Batman:  Hush (2019):  This Peyton List voices Batgirl while the other voices Poison Ivy in this animated superhero movie.


The Thinning (2016):  Peyton stars as Laina who lives in a society where overpopulation is addressed by executing students with the lowest test scores.  A mistake is made with Laina and she sets out to prove that she did not fail.

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RILEY KEOUGH

Riley is not a wild card but found the granddaughter of Elvis worthy of her own category.

It Comes at Night (2017):  Riley co-stars as Kim who takes refuge in a home when an unnatural threat is terrorizing the role.


Mad Max:  Fury Road (2015):  This was a selection for the battle tournament in the Madness and is my favorite of the Mad Max franchise.  Riley co-stars as Capable who is part of a group of females lead by Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron.
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SUPERHEROES

Batman:  The Animated Series:  Beware the Gray Ghost S1, E32 (1992):  Fellow Batman Adam West voices the struggling actor Simon Trent who played Bruce Wayne's idol Gray Ghost when he was a kid.


Legends of Tomorrow:  Bishop's Gambit S6, E6 (2021):  In this episode of the CW series, Mick and Kayla look to find the missing Sara.  

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