Double Feature Time: Gremlins/Silent Night Deadly Night

Here's another article idea I had for the much-missed Agony Booth! As this is the holiday season, I thought it would be appropriate to look at 2 films from 1984 which take place during Christmas-& both of which became quite controversial.

Gremlins took people a bit off guard upon its inital release. This may have been because Steven Spielberg's name was above the title, even though Joe Dante is the one who directed it. Indeed, Gizmo, like E.T., is a sweet little guy & the ending scene where he and Billy bid farewell may lead to a shed tear or two. But the title creatures made this much scarier than people were expecting. The subsequent criticism of the film for this, along with that of Spielberg's own Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom which was released weeks earlier, led to the creation of the PG-13 rating. The good news is that Gremlins itself, like Temple of Doom, is wonderfully entertaining and became a deserved success. Ironically, Silent Night Deadly Night faced criticism even though everyone knew it was going to be a slasher film. This criticism came because, as the video below explains, some genius thought it would be a good idea to run a TV spot for the film during prime time, when children were still up and about. Not surprisingly, children were upset upon seeing a commercial with Santa killing people and parents were quick to make sure that the movie was all but put in the proverbial trash bin. But the film itself doesn't do any damage to the holiday season. Indeed, I can say that, like the Friday the 13th films, it's dumb fun if you are ever in the mood for that sort of thing. Despite this controversy, the film, like Gremlins, was successful enough to spawn sequels, with Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) arguably being even more enjoyable than it's predecessor.

Double Feature time: Return of the Jedi/Halloween III: Season of the Witch

It seemed only fair to have a double feature entry featuring the last entry of the original Star Wars trilogy since I did entries with the previous two films.

I was estatic when I learned Jedi was entered into the National Film Registry a couple of years ago, as the original Star Wars & The Empire Strikes Back were already in that illustrious lineup. Like it's two predecessors, Jedi's release came within a year of that of an entry in the Halloween series. But whereas Jedi would go onto join its 2 predecessors as one of the biggest moneymaking films ever, Halloween III was a flop when it was released mainly due to the absence of its serial killer, Micheal Myers. When all the subsequent entries in the series had Michael, this film deserves credit for trying something different, unlike many of the slasher film series that were dominant in the 80s. Happily, the film has gotten a bit more appreciation over the years, although I doubt that this stop the next Halloween film (whenever that's released) from having Michael in it.

Double Feature time: The Empire Strikes Back/Halloween II

With the recent passing of the legendary James Earl Jones, I thought I'd take a look at a film where he has one of his most famous lines-and how it is similar to a slasher sequel which came out the following year.

Like their respective originals, the respective second entries in the Star Wars and Halloween series premiered in a year of each other. Both of these also introduced elements to their storylines which would influence their respective franchises for years to come. These aspects are, in another coincidence, family oriented. Who can forget the way James Earl Jones told Luke "I am your father!!!" Likewise, Halloween II would reveal that Michael Myers is Laurie's brother. Of these two, it was Halloween's that would end up having a more detrimental effect on its series, as it takes away from the mystery of Michael's character. Jamie Lee Curtis eventualy agreed as the plot twist was erased when she returned for the original's 40th anniversay film with Halloween (2018).

Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror (1994)

"We who created that world add a touch of immortality to them. And you who share that world over the years can revisit it as you recall a favorite fairy tale, secure that, in the end, good will always triumph over evil!" "That is, until the next sequel!" -Peter Cushing, OBE & Sir Christopher Lee.

This delightful documentary discusses how Hammer Films rose to become one of the U.K.'s finest studios throughout the 1950s-70s. Narrated by Hammer's 2 most famous associates, Sir Christpher Lee & Peter Cushing, Flesh and Blood nicely illustrates how this legendary duo were just two of the many talented individuals who assured Hammer's place in the history books. From the company's begninings to its great heights putting out its historic Frankenstein, Dracula, and Mummy films, this documentary has is very informative. This is also, significantly, the last project Lee and Cushing worked on together, as Cushing died mere months after its completion. But both are clearly enjoying reminiscing about this time in their lives. Lee's voice was always commanding and Cushing, despite his weakening voice, is also clearly having fun. I especially liked when he referred to his swan song performance as Victor in Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1974) as 'the Baron's last hurrah, so far!"

Clownhouse (1989)

This is actually not a review, as I have never seen this film in its entriety. Rather, it's a commentary on the horrible behind the scenes story of it and how, in recent years, similar horrific tales have been getting more exposure.

For the record, the only Victor Salva film I have seen is his most famous, Jeepers Creepers (2001), which I saw before knowing how infamous he was. For those who may not know, by the time of that film's release, John Wayne Gacy-lookalike Salva had been a convicted pedophile for his abuse of 12 year old Nathan Forrest Winters, the star of Clownhouse(and possibly his co-star in that film, Brian McHugh, although McHugh has never come forward himself), Salva's first movie. Since learning of this, I've found myself unable to view this or any other of Salva's work, especially in light of how Salva was able to go back to directing after serving only a fraction of the time he was convicted. The fraction he did serve was thanks to Clownhouse's producer Francis Ford Coppola, who would also sue Winters (yes, he sued a 12-year old kid) for having the nerve to turn in someone who was sexually assaulting him. As a result, I can't help but think I'd just be sad if I actually watched Clownhouse knowing what happened during the making of that movie and the aftermath. Indeed, Shout Factory declined the chance to release a special edition blu-ray of the film precisely because of this awful story. Although the below video is a funny look at the film: Lately, I've been doing a little research on Salva and others who share his disgusting tendencies. The recent release of the documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV led me to just post my sympathy for people like Winters, my disgust for people like Salva, and my disappointment for people like Coppola and Dan Schneider, for encouraging scum like Salva. I'm also disappointed in others such as Growing Pains stars Joanna Kerns and the late Alan Thicke as the documentary reveals they were 2 of numerous Hollywood figures who expressed support for Brian Peck(who was a dialogue coach on Growing Pains) after he was convicted of sexually assaulting Nickelodeon star Drake Bell. I do hope ramifications come for those who commit and/or condone such disgusting behavior.

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (1975)

The trilogy of A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1967), and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving are probably the most famous of the Peanuts specials and, thus, ensured the series's longevity, just as The Curse of Frankenstein(1957), Horror of Dracula(1958), and The Mummy (1959) ensured the longevity of Hammer films or Dr. No (1962), From Russia With Love (1963), and Goldfinger (1964) ensured the longevity of the James Bond films. Happily, in the case of all three series, there were still other great entires, as well. This is one memorable Peanuts entry for me. To quickly summarize, Charlie Brown is expecting a lot of Valentines this season, while Linus hopes to win the heart of his teacher, Miss Othmar and Sally thinks Linus's gift for Miss Othmar is really for her. Of course, all three end up heartbroken, although I was especially sad for Charlie Brown as both Linus and Sally presumably got Valentines from their classmates. I was prepared to cry until the unexpectedly hilarious ending in which Violet makes amends for not giving Charlie Brown a Valentine by giving him one of hers. What makes this funny is Schroeder sticking up for Charlie Brown with an impassioned speech-only for Charlie Brown to basically tell him to let bygones be bygones as he happily accepts Violet's Valentine. So, it's not surprising that this is another classic in the Peanuts canon.

From Russia With Love (2005)

I've made no secret of my dislike of Never Say Never Again (1983), Sir Sean Connery's final film as James Bond. The main reason I dislike it is because it is basically a remake of a Bond film Sir Sean already did better-Thunderball (1965). Happily, 2005 saw the release of a video game for PS2 and GameCube which proved a much better Bond swan song for the actor.

From Russia With Love, Sir Sean's 2nd Bond film and his personal favorite, captures the spirit of what made the book and movie so great into a wonderful game in which you are playing Sir Sean's Bond. Having Connery return to provide the voice & likeness of Bond was the icing on the cake. The game takes some liberties with the film. For instance, Robert Shaw's Grant has a bigger role. Due to copyright issues, SPECTRE is replaced with a new terrorist organization called OCTOPUS in the game. Some parts of the film have been wisely cut out. For instance, it was wise not to recreate the moment in which Bond angrily lashes out at Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) for her possible role in the death of his friend Kerim Bey (Pedro Armendariz).

Elements of later Bond films are also incorporated, such as Bond's Aston Martin, which he would get in Goldfinger (1964) and the jet pack which he usse in Thunderball. There are also newer characters, such as Grant's right hand Eva, voiced by Maria Menounos.

She and the rest of the voice cast do a nice job, which was somewhat unavoidable as Sir Sean was one of the few actors from the film who was still with us in 2005. Also unlike Never Say Never, the game was put out by the Broccoli empire, which makes it even more enjoyable. Hence, Sir Sean's true Bond finale is a nice one because it gives you the chance to play him!