Talking TV at the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies: The Films

For those of you interested in what I discussed whilst I was in London last week attempting to sound scholarly (see how I used "whilst"... I've become so British!), or if you came and were interested in checking out some of the titles I mentioned, here is a list of what I discussed, or screened, along with the topic I placed them under (some titles linked to my reviews or episodes of podcasts where we featured that title):

Topic: TV Movies as an Event

Opening Bumper Reel:
Deliver Us From Evil
KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park
Trackdown: Finding the Goodbar Killer
Midnight Hour

Topic: An Overview of the History of the TV Movie
Maybe I’ll Come Home in the Spring
Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
See How they Run
Seven in Darkness

Topic: Popularity of the TV Movie (Nielsens)
Dr. Cook's Garden
Crowhaven Farm
The Girl Most Likely To...
Cry in the Wilderness

Topic: Important Filmmakers:
Dan Curtis
Richard Matheson
John Llewellyn Moxey
Aaron Spelling

Movies discussed (very briefly):
Duel
Satan’s School for Girls
Trilogy of Terror
The Night Stalker

Topic: Marketing the Horror Telefilm
Savages
Look What Happened to Rosemary’s Baby

Promo clip reel:
Born Innocent
Deadly Lessons
The Intruder Within
Someone’s Watching Me!
Invitation to Hell
Bad Seed
Look What Happened to Rosemary’s Baby

TV Guide Section:
The Babysitter
Fantasies
Dying Room Only
This House Possessed
Bridge Across Time (aka Terror at London Bridge)
Midnight Hour
No Place to Hide
Are You in the House Alone?

Topic: So Many Subgenres!
Invitation to Hell (Satanic Panic)
Legend of Lizzie Borden (True Crime)
The Stranger Within (Sci-Fi)
Five Desperate Women (proto-slasher)
Ants! (Nature Runs Amok)
Bad Ronald (Evil Kids)
Mazes and Monsters (Propaganda)
Killjoy (Thriller)

Topic: Popular Subgenre - Supernatural
Subtopic: The Haunted House/Ghost Story Telefilm, and the Intimacy of Grief:
Fear No Evil
Daughter of the Mind
The House that Would Not Die
Don’t Go to Sleep
This House Possessed
She Waits
(*all of the above had companion clips, with the exception of The House that Wouldn't Die)

 
Subtopic: The Paranormal TVM and Second Wave Feminism
The Spell
Midnight Offerings (included clip)
Initiation of Sarah
Night Cries

Subtopic: Tiny Monsters and the Domestic Space

Tiny Monster reel:
Dead of Night segment: Bobby
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell
The Intruder Within
Trilogy of Terror

A clip reel I didn't get to show: Big Monsters!

Conclusion: The TV Horror Film from 1985 to Present:
Kicks (revamp of ABC Movie of the Week)
Bad Seed (revamp of ABC Movie of the Week)
The Haunting of Sarah Hardy (USA Original)
Murder by Night (USA Original)
Tainted Blood (USA Original)
The Haunted (included clip)
Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive
Mark of the Devil (re-purposed Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense)
Spring Break Shark Attack (revival of the horror movie of the week)
Locusts (revivial of the horror movie of the week)
Rosemary's Baby miniseries remake (the telefilm as an "event" continues)

The End!

I'd like to thank Kier-La Janisse and Jennifer Wallis, as well as my publisher, David Kerekes of Headpress, and the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies for hosting such an incredible event (the folks at the Horse Hospital were pretty great too). We almost sold out of the book I edited, Are You in the House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium: 1964-1999 (which is now available through Amazon), and I've had some wonderful feedback. Also, two new real life friends, Tom Elliot from The Strange and Deadly Show and Chris Brown from The Last Horror Podcast (along with his gorgeous wife) made the trek from Liverpool to ensure the whole thing was even more memorable. I am so grateful for the last few months, and I hope you continue to join me on this little small screen adventure!

Happy Horror at 37,000 Feet Day! Here are Ten of my Favorite OMG TV Movie Moments! (MAJOR SPOILERS)

Yes, the day has finally arrived! You can pick up your copy of Horror at 37,000 Feet on DVD here! And, since I dubbed the whole event an official Made for TV Mayhem Holiday, I thought I’d celebrate with some of my favorite OMG TV Movie Moments!

Horror is one of the first scary movies I was able to watch, and through the years, after a lot of these wonderful TV movies stopped re-airing, I never forgot Horror's freaky deaky ending. It wasn’t just jaw dropping in its unexpectedness, it…. Well, I don’t want to ruin the end, but it made me think about the impact, if you will, of that landing!

TV movies are cool that way.

They might not be able to get all gory and sexy, but they often pushed the envelope while playing within the rules. As a kid who didn’t have access to the big screen scares, I found my love of genre films in my very own living room, and Horror was one of the first to indoctrinate me into the wonderful world of the unknown. I salute you, Mr. 37,000 Feet!

Here's  my list (Reader Beware: there are definitely a few spoilers):

 How Awful about Allan (ABC, 9/22/1970) - Blind Guy Drives a Car:

Why is a blind guy driving? I dunno, but he sucks at it.

A Taste of Evil (ABC, 10/12/1971)
Home for the Holidays (ABC, 11/28/1972)
No Place to Hide (CBS, 3/4/1981)
The Ending(s):

Three different films with one director and one distinct ending. If you’ve seen any of these, you know how the others play out. But don’t be fooled, despite the signature #MoxeyTwist, all three films are excellent and stand on their own two creepy feet! Of the three, I have probably watched No Place to Hide the most, but that might come from my girl crush for the adorable Kathleen Beller. Two of the films (Taste and Hide) were written by the great Jimmy Sangster, while Joseph Stefano (yes, the screenwriter of Psycho) lends his impressive skills to Holidays. If you want to see how director John Llewellyn Moxey uses other similar elements in Taste and the ultra-awesome The Strange and Deadly Occurrence, you can read my comparison/contrast review here.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (ABC, 10/10/73) - The Ending: 
There are plenty of hair raising moments in Dark, but it’s the gut-punch of a downbeat ending that made this movie one of the most traumatic of my childhood. Poor Sally. (Check out my week long tribute to Dark here)

Legend of Lizzie Borden - The Murders (ABC, 2/10/1975):

Lizzie Borden took an axe 
And gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one. 

Need I say more?

Trilogy of Terror (ABC, 3/4/1975) - The Ending:

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I remember one bright and lovely Saturday afternoon when I came in the house for lunch. My parents’ eyes were transfixed on the television screen. From the doorway, I could only see their expressions and had no idea what they were watching. I slowly walked over to our living room table and turned towards the television. What I saw was beyond words. All I knew was that some tiny little creature was chasing a woman around her apartment. Instant fear! I was not prepared for the ending, which featured a very primitive looking Karen Black exposing a grotesque maw full of sharp, rotting teeth. Egads. The stuff of nightmares.

 Night Terror (NBC, 2/7/1977) - Cop Shot By Creepy Man in Front of Helpless Housewife:

Taking a long road trip, Valerie Harper runs into all kinds of freaky trouble when she accidentally witnesses Richard Romanus killing a police officer. This triggers (no pun intended) a taut chase across the desolate desert. A bone chilling start to a great TVM!

A Vacation in Hell (ABC, 5/21/1979) - Love Interest Goes Down The Tubes, err, A Waterfall:  

A Vacation in Hell is one whacky movie. I love it for so many reasons, one being that it throws you for a loop every so often. If it isn’t Maureen McCormick dancing provocatively for a Vaseline smeared camera lens, then it’s a twist or turn you weren’t expecting. Losing hopeless but adorable Michael Brandon part way through the film was a shocker! And I love the film for going there (and there and there too. Seriously, this film is insane).

The Possessed (NBC, 5/1/1977) - Diana Scarwid is Flammable:

Underneath the ivy and school girl uniforms, The Possessed is really all about sexual repression. So, it doesn’t seem all that strange that a young student finds herself engulfed in the fires of suppressed passion (literally). It’s all the more sexual and telling that only a young Harrison Ford can extinguish her flames!

Amityville: The Evil Escapes (NBC, 5/12/1989) - Garbage-Disposal-Fu:

OK, OK, OK. Amityville: The Evil Escapes isn’t exactly the scariest movie ever made. In fact, most of the time it is pretty darn silly. But if you will allow me to go back to 1989, when I was a teenager and this was a new horror movie. I’m sure you can image that my excitement clouded any and all problems with the film. And if nothing else, Amityville keeps with the theme of 80s excessiveness in its gleeful over the top moments. Case in point, when the high school jock comes to help the family with their garbage disposal problem, he learns the hard way that good guys don't win. I did not see Amityville again until 2013, and was not surprised that I remembered every single moment of this scene. It still makes me shriek! I hope this kid has another career goal, because I think the football team is just about to drop him!

High Desert Kill (USA, 5/1/1989) - This: 
 

My list went well over ten, and I'm sure I'd be happy to swap some titles with others on any given day. Honorable mentions go to:
 
The Norliss Tapes (NBC, 2/21/1973): Frankenstein/Hulk creature rips off a car door!
Scream, Pretty Peggy (ABC, 11/24/1973): The killer's reveal!
Satan's Triangle (ABC, 1/14/1975): The ending! 
Dead of Night (NBC, 3/29/1977): Bobby!
This House Possessed (ABC, 2/6/1981): Blood shower, anyone?
Don't Go to Sleep (ABC,12/10/1982): The ending!
Nightmare at Bitter Creek (CBS, 5/24/1988): Joanna Cassidy gets her vengeful groove-on! 
... and so many more!

What are some of your favorite small screen OMG moments?

Update Part Deux

Criminy, this semester has really taken me away from all the fun stuff! If I was the Incredible Hulk, I'd start turning green and throwing chairs. Alas, I'm just a undergrad student trying to finish up her last semester. Not as dramatic, but it's all I've got to work with, guys!

I've managed to keep the facebook page hopping. If you aren't over there yet, please stop by because we're doing a Halloween Countdown and looking back at the list I made in 2010. I'm also posting old Halloweeen-centric TV Guide ads when I come across them, TV spots and other retro-tastic small screen treats. I also might have one or two reviews popping up here soon, but for now the life of the party is on facebook.

Oh, and twitter. I'm still live-tweeting along with Me-TV Network's Friday Night Movie of the Week. A couple of people have even stopped by to say hi, making my party of one a bit more fun! Thank you!

You won't like me when I can't blog

But for now, it's really all about how other people are celebrating the small screen! There's lots of fun to be had, so let's get started.

TV Confidential has done a great job paying tribute to some of the best people who made the best television. They have a couple of podcasts I strongly suggest you check out:

I think you all know how much I adore and admire William Link, the co-creator behind Columbo and one of the greatest talents the entertainment world ever saw. I was so excited to see he did this interview and then followed it up with this one.

Rita Lakin is an amazing television writer who worked on everything from Peyton Place to The Rookies to Flamingo Road to Dynasty. She's also a novelist and an overall fascinating woman. Check out her website for more info.

The above podcasts cost 99 cents, and are worth every penny. You can also listen to a gaggle of TV Confidential's other podcasts for free as well. Sample, taste and indulge!

No, no, no. Not when Michael Douglas calls. Just Michael.

And, on October 12th, the Spectacle Theater in Brooklyn is screening When Michael Calls in 16mm. Holy cow, yes, yes and YES! If you can get there, tell 'em Amanda By Night sent ya! Read my review of Michael here. Thank you David from Cinema Duh for letting me in on this event!

And finally, I read that Remington Steele is getting a new life as a half-hour comedy on NBC. This series will be a sequel to the original hour long drama/comedy/romance series and it will revolve around Laura and Remmy's daughter! Craziness.

TV Spot Tuesday and an Announcement: It’s Soapalicious!

 

I wasn’t joking when I said that soap operas were just like their characters – they never truly die. And it looks like All My Children and One Life to Live will be resurrected yet again when they return to television for a limited engagement on Oprah’s OWN cable channel! Beginning July 15th, OWN will air the first 40 episodes of the revived serials. 

I think many soap fans remember how we turned to Oprah when the shows were cancelled and she said financing them was not a feasible option. Well, times and hearts change and it would appear that picking up the shows rather than producing them makes it a much more viable option for OWN. While I was not particularly pleased with Oprah’s original rejection, I have to say this seems like a really smart win-win for both OWN and the shows’ production company Prospect Park. The largest obstacle going against the new shows is that some fans have been extremely resistant when it comes to changing their viewing habits from television to the internet. I hope this draws them in and if they are successful, it is possible some will move over to Hulu or that OWN will continue to air the shows. 

Oh yeah, and if you can't wait for next week, you can stream all the episodes for AMC here and OLTL here. Presto. 

All My Children will air Monday-Thursday at 1 PM. and One Life to Live will air Monday-Thursday at 3 PM.

Yes sir, it looks like love has returned to the afternoon, so I thought it might be fun to post some promos from the 80s. I do hope everyone tunes in to this 10 week run. We are proving to be a force, and while this may seem low on some people’s importance scale, it is imperative to note that when you organize yourself and others around something your are passionate about, you really can make a difference. And that's my pep talk for the day!

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get our soap-promo-groove-on!

Here are some great promos for AMC: 

And here are some more for OLTL: 

And here is a double whammy twofer combo batch of awesomeness: 

Me-TV's Summer of Classic TV Blogathon

As a non-cable-renting-retro-TV-loving gal, I adore Me-TV. It is our home's one stop shop for great entertainment. You can imagine my excitement when the folks at the Classic TV Blog Association and Me-TV joined forces for Me-TV's Summer of Classic TV Blogathon, which is coming your way from July 15th - 19th. I'll be talking about Columbo on the 15th, and posting links to the other content as we go along.

The Classic TV Blog Association is looking for other people to join the podcast and they also sent out this press release, so here are all the deets you need to know:

"The Classic TV Blog Association will host Me-TV's Summer of Classic TV Blogathon on July 15-19. The blogathon will consist of blog posts about TV series currently on the Me-TV schedule. A blogathon post may be: an overview of a TV series; a profile of one of the series' stars; an article on the blogger's favorite episode(s), etc. Any blogger may participate, providing that he or she complies with the family-friendly blogging guidelines of the Classic TV Blog Association.

No more than three bloggers can post about the same TV series. All posts will appear on the blogger's web site. Individuals are responsible for the content of their blog posts, to include the use of any photographs, video clips, etc. A master schedule of all blogathon posts will appear on the Classic TV Blog Association's web site. The number of participating bloggers will be limited to 60 and posting dates will be assigned to participants.

Each post will contain the following verbiage at the beginning or end: "This post is part of Me-TV's Summer of Classic TV Blogathon hosted by the Classic TV Blog Association. Click here to view more posts in this blogathon. You can also click here to learn more about Me-TV and view its summer line-up of classic TV shows."

If you're interested in participating, send an e-mail to classic.tv.blog.assoc@gmail.com with the subject line of "Me-TV Blogathon." Be sure your e-mail includes your name, blog's name and web address, and the title of your post about a TV series on Me-TV's summer schedule.

The cut-off date for accepting blogathon entries will be Friday, July 12."

Oh, and one more thing... 

You can also see who is currently participating, what they are writing about, when they are writing it and where you can find them by clicking on this all-purpose link.

Get Ready: Valerie Harper Blogathon Next Week!

Valerie Harper has been a small screen mainstay since the early 1970s. She won our hearts with Rhoda and has remained there through numerous made for TV movies, her series Valerie and several other guest appearances. Always a beautiful and welcome presence, several bloggers are celebrating her life and career from March 19th – 22nd. Please stop every day next week for updates and links and feel free to write something yourself. Just post a link in the comments section, or you can email me your link. Next week is all about Valerie, so put on your favorite headscarf and join in the fun!

Participating Blogs/Websites:

Christmas TV History
Craftypants Carol
Daily Grindhouse
Go Retro 
How Sweet it Was
Kindertrauma 
Michael's TV Tray
Moon in the Gutter 

Alien Lover Screening!

Holie Molie people! It's happened! TV movie insanity is afoot in the form of Kate Mulgrew and an, um, alien lover! The fine folks at LOOP (Lost and Out of Print) in Berkeley are screening Alien Lover along with The Visitor this Saturday, October 13th at The Tannery!

This is a must! I just recently saw Alien Lover for the first time and was pretty blown away by it. And strangely enough, I also saw The Visitor not all that long ago... And again, mind blown. What a tasty double feature. Please stop by LOOP's facebook page and likey the like. Also, you can join their event page if you will be attending this fantastic screening (or just check out their website). And I'd also like to throw out a big thank you to Ralph Razzle Razzle Roullard for turning me onto this event!