October is upon us and it is still warm outside and we have yet to put the heat on! Hubby is done with his surgeries and mine is coming this Tuesday right after our Canadian Thanksgiving. To be honest I am glad September is over and done with.
To me, school has always been horrifying:) I never liked school because of being severely bullied but I was never an A student. I still shudder when I see Back To School commercials or hear about tests...blecch. It is not beyond reason that many horror movies were made at school, with many, too stupid to watch. We all know the teens that all get together in one form or another only to be picked off one by one. The horny cheerleader and her football dumbnut, having sex somewhere, get it first followed by a goof you can't wait to get bludgeoned. You have the nerd who often dies as well followed by the token African American. This leaves sensible girl and guy, who is a nice guy, to survive. Sometimes the guy bites the dust before the girl flees and runs, on the main road, crying and screaming and tripping. The murderer wears some mask and is so slow that a turtle can fly past him but not the gal. Oh I do go on....anyway, Wandering Through The Shelves is the host of this weekly series and you should check it out and see all the other choices. Here are my 3...
1. I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF-1957
I tried to find a regular clip using blog youtube but I only found the clip above. It's still pretty cool and shows Michael Landon before Bonanza and Little House On The Prairie. This is a fun flick, one of many done in the 1950s and a bit better than many. I found the special effects pretty cool and those teeth! Michael Landon plays a misunderstood teen (a la James Dean) who gets more than he bargained for when he is bitten by a werewolf and now he becomes one himself. He terrorizes the school but not before you see him in class, gym and listening to the hip songs.
2. SATAN'S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS-1973
I couldn't upload a video and there are not that many I could find anyway. I haven't seen this since I was a young girl of 10 or so. There were some good and some campy movies that came out back in the day and this is a good, campy film that also stars Kate Jackson and Cheryl Ladd who were on Charlie's Angels. The actual star is Pamela Franklin who does not believe her sister committed suicide and wants to get to the bottom of this. She finds out her sister's sorority is not the squeaky clean image it portrays to be but no one seems to believe her not even the super nice teacher. It is creepy to say the least and I have to watch this again one day.
3. FRIGHT NIGHT-1985
This is a great comedy horror film and much better than the remake. Of course, most of these actors belong to "What the hell happened to them" spot but they are great in their roles. William Ragsdale is a high school student who loves his girlfriend, played by Amanda Bearse(she was on Married With Children) or would love to get into her pants. He also loves watching the campy horror show "Fright Night" with its host, Peter Vincent, introducing the campy movies. Vincent is played hilariously by the great Roddy McDowell who must have watched a few Roger Corman horror films plus the Dracula flicks starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing so he could get his part done just right. Well, good ole Charley Brewster (Ragsdale)gets sidetracked by what he sees next door. He soon learns that all is not right when Jerry Dandridge, played by the sexy Chris Sarandon, and his manservant move in and seem to be moving bodies out. When Charley notices fangs on Jerry who is ready to sink his teeth into a girl, Charley knows he is facing trouble. With Amy and his nerdy sidekick Eddy, he tries to prove Jerry is a vampire even bringing Peter Vincent into his scheme. They go along with him but Peter has a change of heart when he notices Jerry casts no reflection. Very funny but also scary with some great make-up that stands the test of time. It truly is worthy to see.
So which Halloween school flicks would you choose?
Hi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the continued updates on you and your hubby. Better days are just ahead, dear friend, so hang in there. We are all pulling for you. I also thank you for your candor regarding your school experience. Mine wasn't much better. I never liked school. I was told I should, but I just didn't, and was always delighted to have snow days off or stay home because of regularly scheduled teacher conferences.
Yvonne Lime, who played the role of Joyce Martin in High School Hellcats and is now a DJ/presenter on my SPMM radio station hosting the show Joyce Martin's a Gold Digger, appears as Michael Landon's sympathetic girlfriend in Teenage Werewolf. I will be posting something about this film next Halloween at Shady's Place, so stay tuned.
I don't remember watching Satan's School for Girls, but it looks like a good one. I have seen Pamela Franklin in The Legend of Hell House (1973), and I like Cheryl Ladd. Can you believe Cheryl is 70 now? Stop the dang clock! Shucks, Jordan Ladd, her actress daughter, is now age 46! I saw Jordan in her genre classic Cabin Fever (2002) and have her TV movie The Deadly Look of Love (2000) on DVD.
Fright Night is indeed a very well done comedy horror flick. I have seen it several times. I love Roddy and it was a hoot to see Amanda Bearse from Married... With Rugrats transforming into a vampiric creature. The rock soundtrack on this one is tops.
Probably my favorite of all in this genre is another horror comedy film with a college campus setting, a cult classic I often mention entitled Night of the Creeps (1986). 1980s "it girl" Jill Whitlow is the object of desire in this one. Jill will soon be 58. No way! The scene stealer in Creeps is scream king Tom Atkins who was also great in Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) co-starring with the luscious Stacey Nelkin. Creeps has all the elements I like. Plenty of sick humor, rock references and drunken bully frat brothers who get what's coming to them.
Take care, dear friend BB. Enjoy the rest of your week. I hope to see you soon!
Well, this is not a genre I have any interest in, so I am a total loss. Have not seen any of the pics you mentioned. Take care and good luck with your surgery next week.
ReplyDeleteYep, you just described most slasher flicks.
ReplyDeleteFright Night is a great choice. Carrie is another one. Plus Suspiria.
Hi Birgit..glad to hear hubby’s surgery’s are done and I will be thinking of you on Tuesday….I wish you a speedy recovery….take care xxxxx
ReplyDeleteNot a fan of these types of films Birgit, so not seen any of them.
ReplyDeleteGood news that your hubby is through his surgery, I hope he recovers well. Keeping you in my thoughts for your surgery on Tuesday, hope it all goes smoothly, hugs Kate x
Not a genre that I care for much, but I did have an affinity for such things when I was a kid. That's probably when I saw your first pick. The other two I missed which maybe is just as well.
ReplyDeleteNot much comes to my mind for this genre. Carrie maybe? I guess that might fit the bill. I guess The Blob also had to do with high school students--or young people at least. I did like that film.
But that's it for me for now.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Love your opening description of these kinds of films though you forgot that the last remaining girl who is running away almost always has high heels on!!
ReplyDeleteGreat picks! I'll start with my fave of the three Satan's School for Girls. What a wacky, cheesy, fun TV flick, all it's missing is Shelley Winters though Jo Van Fleet ably stands in for her. Pamela Franklin was a terrific actress who specialized in this sort of scare flick, I just saw her in And Soon the Darkness and she was marvelous in that deeply unsettling film.
This Fright Night is far superior to the misfire of a remake. Roddy is the standout.
The Michael Landon flick is a hoot in its drive-in way.
Not being a horror fan this I had to approach it in a different way though I do have one straight horror among them. I went for more intense, psychological type of horror.
Child’s Play (1972)-Paul Reis (Beau Bridges) returns to St. Charles, the exclusive Catholic prep school he graduated from a decade before to teach. Almost immediately he finds himself caught in a dark power struggle between his former mentor, the popular English teacher Joseph Dobbs (Robert Preston) and the detested autocratic literature teacher Jerome Malley (James Mason). What starts as a cold war of barbed insults between the instructors gradually escalates into cruel mind games that pulls the students into a rash of malicious hazing and ritualistic violence.
Cutting Class (1989)-Freshly sprung from the nuthouse troubled Brian Woods (Donovan Leitch) returns to school where the other kids give him a wide berth. Enamored of fellow student Paula Carson (Jill Schoelen) he attempts to win her away from bad boy Dwight Ingalls (Brad Pitt-looking impossibly young). Their rivalry takes a back seat though when students begin disappearing at an alarming rate with Brian the prime suspect, but is it him? Exploitation junk worth seeing only for baby Brad in one of his first credited roles.
Toy Soldiers (1991)-Seeking to leverage a judge’s son life for the freedom of his drug kingpin father Colombian terrorist Luis Cali (Andrew Divoff) takes the entire campus of the Regis prep school hostage not knowing the boy has been relocated. Since the school is a haven for rebellious students, often expelled from other schools, the main troublemakers-Billy (Sean Astin), Joey (Wil Wheaton), Snuffy (Keith Coogan), Ricardo (George Perez) and Hank (T.E. Russell) find that they are better equipped to deal with the threat than the mostly ineffectual government agencies sent to rescue them. With resourceful Billy as their leader, the students struggle to defeat the terrorists and save the school!! As preposterous as it sounds but still actiony, a little scary at times and fun in a mindless way.
I'm pretty sure I saw Fright Night back in the day. I'm not much of a fan of horror, so I don't have a list. I hope you have a lovely October.
ReplyDeleteToes crossed all goes well Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you.
Hugs
I saw the remake of Fright Night which I really enjoyed, but never saw the original. I haven't seen your first two picks either.
ReplyDeleteFright Night was sure a great movie indeed. I didn't mind the sequel either, But remake, blah.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving, Birgit! I hope you and your hubby are having a lovely, peaceful day. Best wishes for all to go well with your surgery tomorrow. ♥
ReplyDeleteI think I saw the Michael Landon flick many years ago. This is not a genre I'm drawn to in a big way, so I haven't seen the others.Carrie was a good one, or, for laughs, there's "Transylvania 6-5000", starring Jeff Goldblum.
Birgit,
ReplyDeleteI've had you on my mind for days. I know as you read this you're probably recovering from your surgery. I hope all went well. I got tickled with your intro because it's dead on the money how most horror flicks are which I generally do not care too much for. I like scary movies, mostly ghosts, zombies, vampires, and such not real people are evil. It's hard to imagine Michael London as a monster. He was a handsome fella, wasn't he? We've seen both Fright Night productions, original and remake. I think we eve saw the sequel. The first horror movie that takes place in school that comes to mind is Carrie and another would be Buffy the Vampire Slayer (not the series). Take it easy. Hopefully, you'll feel more like yourself again soon, my dear. Saying prayers for you and sending hugs your way!
Rest and take care of yourself.
ReplyDelete"Carrie" was awesome. Of course, as is most often the case, the book is better than the movie.
ReplyDeleteThe ONLY time when I thought the movie was better than the book was "The Searchers." And not just because of John Wayne. Still, John Wayne.
Ah, I've only seen the remake of Fright Night. You've convinced me to watch the original!
ReplyDelete