Last weekend was Thanksgiving for us Canucks and it was nice to have 3 days off but we were busy. We didn't have Turkey but a nice roast beef and invited my mom's best friend, Brigitte, over as she seemed to be lonely. She is 86 yrs young and wants to go on a Viking cruise next year provided Covid stops being a bitch. We also had very bad news, not us directly, but still family and we hope all will be OK.
You know, Wandering Through The Shelves picked another great theme this week which is all about the last girl. I know I have seen plenty of old 50s horror shlock but my brain went pffft so I went with the famous, well, the last 2 anyway. Here are my 3...
1. HOUSE OF WAX-1953
This is one of the first films to try the new 3D style to bring people back into the theatre and away from their black and white TVs. It stars Vincent Price, starting his horror acting adventure as a gifted man who could make realistic figures out of wax. The girl, Phyllis Thaxter, believes there is more to it than meets the eye when her friend disappears. What will happen to this lass? Will she make it? This is a remake of an earlier film starring Fay Wray but I have not seen that movie...yet.
2. HALLOWEEN-1978
I finally watched the original movie last year. All the years before, I found it just too scary. We all know the premise, psycho Mike Myers ( not the Canadian comedian... ooh behave!) has escaped the mental ward and wants to kill his sister, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. Hot on his trail is his doctor, played by one of my favourite actors, Donald Pleasance. Good ole Mikey decides to kill a few people before being stopped...well, he isn't as the many, many sequels can attest. Speaking of Neverending sequels, here is my next gal...
3. ALIEN- 1979
Yeah, so I still have not seen the whole movie. I make it to where John Hurt has an upset stomach and out pops cute little Alien baby freaking everyone out before the little thing scurries off to find mamma. I turn the channel to something sweet instead like FBI or the Simpsons. Sigourney Weaver plays that character that keeps coming back for more as every one on that space pod ends up dinner for that freaky alien...except the pussy cat. I just can't watch it...too scary.
What can you come up with?
Hi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteIt was nice of you to invite your mother's best friend over for a roast beef Thanksgiving dinner. I am sorry to learn that you received some very bad news about a family member. Like you, I am hoping everything will be AOK.
I wish it were Halloween season all year round, because I love to discuss scary films. House of Wax was one of the first movies I saw as a young boy. I was age four when the film was released in April, 1953, and my folks took me to see it at a theater that summer. The 3-D effects wowed everyone in the audience, and it was my first exposure to Vincent Price who instantly became my favorite horror movie actor. As you might know, a few years later, the female lead actress, Phyllis Kirk, landed the role of Nora Charles opposite Peter Lawford's "Nick" in the TV series The Thin Man.
The original Halloween film isn't very scary compared to its sequels and other films about relentless killers and slashers. I just watched The Collection (2012), the sequel to the 2009 film The Collector. Whoa, daddy! I believe The Collection is more intense and gory that any other movie I've seen, and that's saying a lot. Getting back to Halloween, Jamie's final appearance in the role of Laurie Strode comes in the latest sequel, Halloween Ends, which is set for wide release in the U.S. tomorrow. The film is supposed to bring the Michael Myers saga to an end, but money talks, and if H-ween Ends does well at the box office (it's projected to gross $50–60 million from 3,800 theaters in its opening weekend), then you can bet your bippy that Michael will rise from the ashes yet again.
Hey, Mikey!
I saw Alien many years ago and enjoyed, but the alien in the belly routine did not scare me away, it whet my appetite for more. I found a similar scene in John Carpenter's 1982 bleak remake of The Thing which I highly recommend along with the 1951 original.
I could name so many "final girl" or "last girl" pictures, but I will select a few that immediately come to mind, beginning with the film I recently told you about, Curve, the 2015 horror-thriller that stars dazzling dancer Julianne Hough in the story of a young woman's valiant struggle for survival following a car crash.
Next there's one of my favorite scream queens, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, starring in 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) along with John Goodman, the story of a girl held against her will in an underground bunker.
Finally, I can recommend 1BR (One Bedroom), the 2019 horror movie that stars Nicole Brydon Bloom as Sarah, a girl fresh off the bus in LA and looking for a place to rent. Unfortunately, she winds up in a creepy pad in a creepy complex with a creepy landlord and in a fight for her life. She shoulda checked first with Brad Bellflower.
Enjoy the rest of your week and have a safe and happy weekend, dear friend BB!
Alien - go pick.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the bad news.
Hope Brigitte gets her Viking cruise - it sounds cool. Life has to go on and here, for the most part, it has.
Alien is the go to pick for sure. The news was bad but let's keep our fingers crossed. Brigitte will get her cruise.
DeleteNice picks! I haven't seen the original House of Wax, but I loved the 2005 remake. It's a nostalgic one for me.
ReplyDeleteI have not seen the recent remake and unsure I will.
DeleteHi Birgit, I have seen House of Wax, I do like Vincent Price, and of course Halloween, which scared me out of my wits.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you've had bad news, and it would be marvellous for your friend to go on a Viking cruise, I hope she does, they are supposed to be fabulous, take care, Kate x
House of Wax was/is great. She went on a cruise before with Viking and loved it. She was going to go again bit Covid intervened.
DeleteWonderful suggestions. I shall add it to my list.
ReplyDeleteHope you like them
DeleteHouse of Wax is one of the few horror movies I've seen (not a favourite genre) and I enjoyed it. Vincent Price was the master! ♥ How sweet of you to invite your mother's friend to dinner. I hope she gets to go on that cruise! Sorry you're dealing with bad news! :(
ReplyDeleteIt's a good movie and she will go on her cruise. She did it before and loved it.
DeleteI've seen all three of your picks as well as the earlier version of House of Wax. Off hand I can't think of anything with a last girl. I can think of many with a last guy. I'm sure I've seen some with this last girl theme, but can't think of any of them right now.
ReplyDeleteWith Halloween season upon us I'm sure I'll be watching some scary films, but it will probably be on weekends when my wife is gone. She doesn't really care for horror films all that much.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
I bout the Trilogy of Terror starring Karen Black! I will be watching this before Halloween and it scared the hell out of me. I don't like gory or shock movies but prefer films like 1963's The Haunting.
DeleteI wonder if I ever saw the House of Wax all the way through. As a kid, I came across the movie often, and would stop on it. I don’t know why. Vincent Price always creeped me out in this role.
ReplyDeleteVincent Price had that thin long face and that great voice. He was actually a very kind man who loved art and cooking and actually wrote a couple of cook books.
DeleteI don't understand the question. What is a last girl? But that being said, I definitely haven't seen your picks. I don't do horror movies. I'm too much of a wuss.
ReplyDeleteIt means the last survivor of something and, I have seen plenty of shlock horror flicks where the last person always seems to be the girl who runs in the middle of the road in her high heels who trips and falls.
DeleteThe only one I’ve seen fully is Halloween. Seen a bit of Alien, though not sure which one from the franchise and have only seen the House of Wax remake.
ReplyDeleteWe match! I have to see the newer version of House of Wax
DeleteVincent Price, the king of spook.
ReplyDeleteHope you're having a great one. Hugs
He was king. I'm doing well and wish you the same.
DeleteI haven't (yet) seen the OG House of Wax movie, but I love your other two picks - absolute classics
ReplyDelete