When Disney Did Dark: Seven Films from Disney's Dark Age (1979 to 1985)

The Black Hole (1979)

     Disney's first PG rated movie - the beginning of the end. With a production budget of $20 million, plus another $6 million for advertising, The Black Hole was (at the time) the most expensive picture ever produced by Disney. It received mixed reviews from critics and ultimately grossed only $38.5 million at the domestic box office - not a disaster, but not the Star Wars size hit Disney was hoping for, either. Despite the somewhat disappointing box office, The Black Hole did receive nominations for two Academy Awards (Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects), though it won neither. 

     Director Gary Nelson had made the decision to omit the Disney logo from the film and use the "Buena Vista Productions" logo instead, illustrating the growing disconnect between Disney's desire to create more adult-oriented and mainstream films and its squeaky clean image. This schism eventually led to the creation of Disney's Touchstone Pictures, a label under which Disney could release films considered too mature for their Walt Disney label. 

     Bonus Trivia: The Black Hole was one of the last mainstream Hollywood films to have an overture at the start of the film.

The Watcher in the Woods (1980)

      "Walt Disney Productions ushers in a new decade of motion picture entertainment with the following invitation to spend ninety minutes on the edge of your seat."  - Title card at the beginning of the trailer for The Watcher in the Woods

     Disney makes a horror movie. The Watcher in the Woods had its premiere in New York City on April 17, 1980, but was pulled from release after ten days. Future screenings were canceled by the studio in response to the overwhelmingly negative response from critics and audiences. Changes were made thereafter, including the removal of a pre-credits sequence, as well as the filming of an entirely new ending directed by Vincent McEveety without the input of original director John Hough. Disney re-released the revised cut of the film on October 9, 1981, and it grossed only $5 million against a $9 million budget. It remains unavailable to stream on Disney+.

Condorman (1981)

     Disney makes a superhero comedy before the superhero genre is really a thing. Condorman was slightly more racy than the movies Disney normally produced, as evidenced by Disney's then-president Ron Miller saying that Barbara Carrera's character was "the sexiest in Disney's history". It's worth noting, as well, that Oliver Reed as villain Krokov gives a performance that seems way too intense for the movie that surrounds it, perhaps another example of the movie's somewhat atypical approach. Did it work? Well... not really.

     Condorman was heavily panned by critics when it premiered, and it performed poorly at the box office. Disney reportedly lost $9.5 million on the picture against a budget of $14 million. It's currently unavailable to stream on Disney+.

Dragonslayer (1981) 

     Despite disappointing box office, Dragonslayer is arguably the most wholly successful movie of Disney's Dark Age. It was a Disney/Paramount co-production, which is probably why it's the only one of these movies to have a 4K release. It was the second joint production between Paramount and Disney after Popeye (1980), and it's more mature than most contemporary Disney films, boasting violence, adult themes and brief full-frontal male nudity (a Disney first). The film received generally positive reviews from critics, but it performed poorly at the box office, grossing $14.1 million worldwide against a production budget of $18 million. 

     Dragonslayer was nominated for the 1981 Academy Award for Best Original Score, which it lost to Chariots of Fire. It was also nominated for that year's Best Visual Effects Oscar in recognition of the groundbreaking work of Industrial Light and Magic in bringing the movie's dragon, Vermithrax Pejorative, to life. It was the first time ILM was utilized outside of a Lucasfilm production. Amusingly, Dragonslayer ultimately lost the Best Visual Effects Oscar to Raiders of the Lost Ark, another ILM production. Regardless, Vermithrax Pejorative remains one of the most convincing realizations of a dragon ever committed to film, even decades after Dragonslayer's initial release. Dragonslayer is yet another Dark Age movie unavailable on Disney+.

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)

   Something Wicked This Way Comes had a troubled production. First, director Jack Clayton had a falling out with screenwriter Ray Bradbury over an uncredited script rewrite. After test screenings of the director's cut failed to meet the studio's expectations, Disney sidelined Clayton, fired the original editor, and scrapped the original score. The studio spent $4 million and a great deal of time and effort re-shooting, re-editing, and re-scoring, delaying the film's release by five months.

     Ultimately, Something Wicked This Way Comes won two 1984 Saturn Awards (Best Fantasy Film and Best Writing) and was nominated for five others. It also garnered generally favorable reviews. Accolades notwithstanding, it grossed only $8.4 million at the domestic box office against its $20 million budget. Bradbury referred to the film's final cut as "not a great film, no, but a decently nice one", which seems a fairly accurate assessment. It remains noticeably absent from streaming on Disney+.

Return to Oz (1985)

     Having missed out on the film rights to L. Frank Baum's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz over a decade prior, Walt Disney Productions later made the decision to purchase the film rights to all of the rest of Baum's Oz books in 1954. After several unrealized attempts to make use of the properties over the ensuing decades, Disney found themselves in danger of losing those film rights in 1980. Enter director Walter Murch, who innocently suggested making another Oz film just as Disney was about to lose the rights, and Murch's Oz pitch - the pitch that would become Return to Oz - was greenlit. 

     Thing is, Baum's Oz books were significantly darker and weirder than MGM's The Wizard of Oz, the version of Oz with which filmgoers were most familiar. Then the project fell behind schedule during production, and following a management change at Disney, Murch was briefly fired. He was subsequently reinstated to finish the picture only after high-profile director pals George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola lent their support to Murch's discussions with the studio.

     Return to Oz was released in theaters on June 21, 1985, and it performed poorly at the box office, grossing only $11.1 million domestically against a $28 million budget. It received mixed reviews, with critics praising the visual style, special effects and faithfulness to the books, while taking the film to task for its terrifying imagery, deemed too intense for what was ostensibly a children's film. 

     While Return to Oz is available to stream on Disney+, it has only seen HD home media release once, way back in 2015. That Blu-ray edition is long OOP, bears absolutely no special features, was only ever available through the Disney Movie Club and now goes for upwards of $250 on eBay. Smells like cult, huh?

The Black Cauldron (1985)

    The Black Cauldron was Disney's first animated film to receive a PG rating. Based upon a test screening, several scenes, particularly the film's climax, were deemed too disturbing for children. Newly appointed Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg ordered the scenes be removed, which resulted in a delayed 1985 release. Ultimately, twelve minutes were cut. 

    The Black Cauldron cost $44 million to produce, making it the most expensive animated film ever made at the time. It grossed only $21.3 million domestically, putting the future of the animation department in jeopardy and earning it the nickname "the film that almost killed Disney". It never received a home media release until thirteen years after its theatrical release, and unlike most animated Disney features, it was not re-released to theaters every seven years. You can, however, stream this one on Disney+ (presumably because Disney is still trying to recoup their investment).

I'm Still Calling It the Pre'Ween Picture Show, Calendar Be Damned

    So it's not really Pre'Ween if it happens in November, right?  Owing to a couple of prior obligations, it just wasn't possible to schedule Pre'Ween in October this year.  Regardless, I refuse to create yet another sub-heading in the Movies At Dog Farm universe, so Pre'Ween Picture Show it shall remain, calendar be damned.

Here's one for the old coots... In The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), three astronauts venture into space and only one returns.  The one who returns is infected, and he begins to mutate into whatever the fuck that is in the picture above.  Not coincidentally, the release of  The Quatermass Xperiment  also marked the moment that Hammer Studios first began mutating into the purveyors of science fiction and horror we all know and love.  And no, I didn't misspell the title multiple times - Hammer removed the "E" in "Experiment" to play up the adults only "X" certificate awarded to the movie by the British Board of Film Censors.  Hammer felt it would enhance the movie's fortunes at the box office, and they were right.

The Quatermass Xperiment screens on Saturday, November 2nd.

Laid to Rest (2009) is a slasher movie that isn't afraid to go all in on the kills.  Director Robert Green Hall got his start in the business as a make-up effects artist, so it only makes sense.  Good new, though - over the top make-up effects aren't the only things Laid to Rest has going for it.  Performances across the board are better than this kind of material generally demands, and the killer is suitably iconic and mysterious.  We never know Chromeskull's motivations, but that's for the best.  The sequel went overboard in that regard, much to its detriment.  Regardless of how the sequel turned out though, Laid to Rest is a brutal and engaging slasher movie for the new millennium.

Laid to Rest screens Saturday, November 2nd.

What can I say about The Convent (2000) that hasn't already been said (here)?  I've wanted to share this movie with the Dog Farm since these events began, but I kept holding out for a Blu ray release.  We're going on two decades now, and it hasn't happened - so DVD it is!  I fully expect Scream Factory to announce a special Collector's Edition Blu ray release tomorrow.

The Convent (2000) screens Saturday, November 2nd.

I've also heaped praise on The Banshee Chapter (2013) before (here), and it's one of those rare movies - much like my beloved Pontypool (2008) - that seems to always get a positive response when I share it with others.  It's also one of those rare movies that plays better when you don't know what to expect going in, so that's all I have to say about it for the time being.

The Banshee Chapter screens Saturday, November 2nd.

   
                         Saturday, 11/2/19     The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)
                                                                  Laid to Rest (2009)
                                                                  The Convent (2000)
                                                                  The Banshee Chapter (2013)

     Screenings will begin around dusk and continue until we're out of movies.  Obviously, we'll be inside for this event.  Happy Post Pre'Ween!

It's Movies at Dog Farm VIII ('Cause I'm Keeping Track of This Shit Now)

     Yep, Movies At Dog Farm VIII is on the horizon.  Per my resolution in the previously posted Movies At Dog Farm timeline, I'm going to start making a point of recording the dates and titles here to better keep track of the event's history. 

Real spiders are real creepy.  I can already guarantee that the inevitable remake of Arachnophobia (1990) - which will almost certainly be chock full of the finest CGI spiders a bloated budget can buy - won't be a patch on the ass of the original.  Keep in mind that we'll be watching this outdoors, surrounded by literally millions of the little beasties.  What's that you feel crawling up your leg? 

Arachnophobia screens on Friday, August 9th.

Real Haitian zombies, conjured and controlled by voodoo, in the first and last American feature film actually shot on location in Haiti.  The late, great director Wes Craven literally almost died filming The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988).  This one absolutely oozes atmosphere.  You will squirm, and your nightmares will be haunted.  Being buried alive is a primal fear, and Craven expertly exploits that fear like the master he was.

The Serpent and the Rainbow screens on Friday, August 9th.

And now for something completely different... Trey Parker and Matt Stone (South Park) apply their irreverent brand of comedy to the most awe-inspiring big budget puppet show you'll ever see with Team America: World Police (2004).  The only thing not funny about this movie is that its satire is just as relevant now as it was in 2004.  I don't care what anybody says - these guys are geniuses.

Team American: World Police screens Saturday, August 10th.

I swear the political subtext present in Saturday's movies was unintentional.  Thrill to the experience of French director Alexander Aja (High Tension) telling you just exactly what he thinks is wrong with America in his superior remake of  The Hills Have Eyes (2006).  You can count all the horror remakes that surpass the originals on one hand and have fingers left over.  This is one of them.

The Hills Have Eyes screens Saturday, August 10th.

It's relatively new, it was distributed by Troma, and it would have been right at home playing a Times Square grindhouse in the early eighties.  I'm expecting walkouts.  Those that steel their resolves and stick it out will be treated to a truly singular viewing experience.

Undisclosed "Midnight Movie" (2011) screens Saturday, August 10th.

           Friday, 8/9/19      Arachnophobia (1999)                                             
                                              The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

     Saturday, 8/10/19     Team America: World Police (2004)
                                              The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
                                              Undisclosed "Midnight Movie" (2011)

     The title of that mysterious "Midnight Movie" will be added in after the event.  I don't want to take the chance that someone might Google the title beforehand, thereby preparing themselves for the trauma.  It may well become the first outright bomb ever screened at Phil's.  You heard it here first.


     EDIT, Post Event:  For anyone that didn't get it, the Undisclosed "Midnight Movie" was Father's Day from film-making collective Astron 6.   It was not an outright bomb.  For point of information, we ended up not watching The Hills Have Eyes (2006).  Scheduling difficulties.  Consequently, The Hills Have Eyes (2006) will likely turn up again at a future event.  All movies (with the possible exception of Father's Day for some) were well received.  If I had to call it, I'd say The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) was the best received of this bunch.  Most of the audience hadn't seen it before, and it's just a great fucking movie.  Onward to Pre'Ween!

Movies at Dog Farm Events Timeline - The First Seven Years (And 50 Movies)

Old MADF Facebook Group Page Header featuring the final image from Lucio Fulci's The Beyond (1981). We still haven't watched this movie at a Dog Farm Event.  Go figure.

     I'm shocked!  Shocked, I tell you!  The Movies At Dog Farm Events that initially spawned this website are creeping up on their seventh anniversary in May, and Movies At Dog Farm VII will see It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987) become the fiftieth movie we've shown.  That count excludes the second screenings of the three titles that have screened twice, of course.  For the record, those titles were: Suspiria (1977), Pontypool (2008), and Trick R' Treat (2007).  I'm not one hundred percent certain all the dates in this timeline are correct, but I'm pretty sure I haven't missed any titles.  The Summer One Nighters are the most likely to be a little off since they were more haphazardly scheduled and thus more poorly documented.


Movies At Dog Farm -- 2012

         Friday, 5/2/12      Pieces (1982)

    Saturday, 5/3/12      Cemetery Man (1994)
                                            Suspiria (1977)


Summer One Nighter -- 2012
          
    Tuesday, 6/12/12      Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
                                            Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)


Movies At Dog Farm II -- 2012  (First Pre'Ween Picture Show)

     Friday, 10/19/12      Dawn of the Dead (2004)
                                            House of 1000 Corpses (2003)

Saturday, 10/20/12      Shaun of the Dead (2004)
                                            Attack the Block (2011)
                                            Pontypool (2008)
                                            The Descent (2005)
                                            Trick R' Treat (2007)
                                            High Tension (2003)


Movies At Dog Farm III -- 2014

       Friday, 5/23/14       Starship Troopers (1997)
                                             Saturn 3 (1980)

  Saturday, 5/24/14       Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
                                             The Sentinel (1977)


Movies At Dog Farm IV -- 2015

       Friday, 5/22/15       The Manitou (1978)
                                             Alone in the Dark (1982)

   Saturday, 5/23/15      Vanishing Point (1971)
                                             The Thing (1982)


Movies At Dog Farm V -- 2017

        Friday, 5/26/17       The Beast Within (1982)
                                              The Funhouse (1981)

    Saturday, 5/27/17       Private Parts (1972)
                                              The Blob (1988)
                                              The Howling (1981)


Summer One Nighter II -- 2017
      
  Wednesday, 6/7/17       The Big Doll House (1971)
                                               Videodrome (1983)


Pre'Ween Picture Show II -- 2017
  
    Saturday, 10/28/17       Halloween II (1981)
                                                 From Beyond (1986)
                                                 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)


New Year's Eve -- 2017

      Sunday, 12/31/17        The Redeemer - Son of Satan (1978)
                                                Suspiria (1977) redux


Movies At Dog Farm VI -- 2018

           Friday, 6/1/18         Ed Wood (1994)
                                                Phenomena (1985)

       Saturday, 6/2/18       The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
                                                The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
                                                Altered States (1980)
                                                Humanoids From the Deep (1980)


Summer One Nighter III -- 2018

        Sunday, 7/22/18         May (2002)
                                                 Fear No Evil (1981)
                                                 Of Unknown Origin (1983)


Summer One Nighter IV -- 2018

       Saturday, 8/18/18       The Final Girls (2015)


Pre'Ween Picture Show III -- 2018

         Friday, 10/26/18        What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
                                                   [REC] (2007)

     Saturday, 10/27/18       The Fog (1980)
                                                  Trick R' Treat (2007) redux
                                                  Ginger Snaps (2000)


New Year's Eve II -- 2018

      Monday, 12/31/18        Curtains (1983) 
                                                  The Brood (1979)
                                                  Pontypool (2008) redux


Movies At Dog Farm VII -- 2019

           Friday, 4/26/18        Demon Seed (1977)
                                                  It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987)  * 50th Movie! *

       Saturday, 4/27/18       Boogie Nights (1997)
                                                  Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)


__________________________________________


    I couldn't resist crunching the numbers a bit after compiling the timeline...

Most Popular Decade:                  The 1980s, with 21 movies
2nd Most Popular Decade:         The 2000s, with 12 movies
3rd Most Popular Decade:          The 1970s, with 11 movies
Most Popular Year(s):                  1977, 1980, 1981, and 1982, with 4 movies each

     Somehow, I've yet to screen any movies from the sixties.  So yeah, we'll be watching some movies from the sixties soon.

     Sussing out this timeline from Facebook group pages, Facebook message strings, the MADF website, and the largely hazy recollections of attendees was more of an undertaking than I initially expected.  Going forward I'll document the events more thoroughly.  If anyone has hard empirical evidence of errors or omissions, please let me know.  It's hard to fathom how many movies we've watched together, and I look forward to another fifty or so as long as interest remains.  Thanks to all who've attended over the years for helping to build these goofy little movie nights into the long running enterprise they've become!

     Incidentally, this would be a great opportunity to leave a comment sharing your favorite memories...

UPDATED

Movies at Dog Farm VIII -- 2019

                 Friday, 8/9/19      Arachnophobia (1999)                                             

                                                   The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

         Saturday, 8/10/19     Team America: World Police (2004)
                                                  Father's Day (2011)

New Year's Eve III --2019

          Tuesday, 12/31/19     Hereditary (2018)

                                                   Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Winter One Nighter -- 2020

             Sunday, 1/12/20     Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

                                                  Happy Birthday to Me (1980)

Summer One Nighter IV -- 2020

           Saturday, 9/12/20    The Void (2016) -- unfinished -- equipment failure

Pre'Ween Picture Show IV -- 2020

             Sunday, 11/1/20     Horror Express (1972)

                                                  An American Werewolf in London (1981)

New Year's Eve IV -- 2020

        Thursday, 12/31/20     City of the Living Dead (1981)

                                                    Nightbreed Director's Cut (1990)

Spring One Nighter -- 2021

             Saturday, 3/6/21     Matinee (1993)

Summer One Nighter V -- 2021

           Saturday, 6/12/21      The Stuff (1985)

Summer One Nighter VI -- 2021

           Saturday, 7/24/21      Road Games (1981)

                                                     Splinter (2008)

Pre'Ween Picture Show V -- 2021

         Saturday, 10/30/21      Eyeball (1975)

                                                     Nightmare Beach (1989)

Summer One Nighter VII - 2022

          Saturday, 07/09/22     The Skull (1965)

Summer One Nighter VIII - 2023

           Saturday, 6/17/23       Private Parts (1972)

John Carpenter's The Fog (1980) Rolls in To Launch the Movies at Dog Farm Pre'Ween Picture Show 2018

John Carpenter's The Fog (1980)

     "It was terrible.  I had a movie that didn't work, and I knew it in my heart."
John Carpenter on The Fog (1980)

     So yeah. That's how I like to kick off a weekend of horror movies...with a title that the movie's own director had such a low opinion of upon viewing the rough cut that he felt obliged to do a major overhaul just to whip it into a releasable form.  I must defer to Mr. Carpenter's assessment.  He was surely better equipped than anyone to judge the relative merit of his own work.  Truly, then, Carpenter must be a master filmmaker, because the rejiggered version of The Fog (1980) he ultimately released to the world after extensive re-shoots and re-editing is one of the finest atmosphere laden spook shows out there.

     I believe many still think of The Fog as second tier Carpenter, and it's honestly not too hard to see why.  Even when originally released it was out of step with the prevailing tone of the nascent slasher boom - ironically, a boom Carpenter's own Halloween (1978) was largely responsible for precipitating.  The Fog was an old fashioned ghost story born of the oral tradition. The elder generations pass down the local folklore to the younger ones.  As the years pass, the origins of those tales become murky, and the particulars of those tales are sometimes distorted by the storyteller.

     Carpenter plainly lays out this theme in The Fog's opening scene (created during re-shoots) by having grizzled, stately old John Houseman telling a version of the story we're about to see to a group of wide-eyed children around a campfire on the beach.  It's a beautifully vetted scene that invites the viewer to be actively involved in the storytelling tradition by virtue of the simple intimacy with which it's related.  It could have been told in flashback, with the specifics writ large in a more traditionally cinematic fashion, but that wouldn't have been nearly as affecting as putting us right there with those kids, hanging on every word just as they are.

     The Fog may be one of Carpenter's most subdued movies, but the patient, atmospheric delivery does exactly what it intends.  Who doesn't want to hear a spooky old ghost story by the fire at Halloween?  This, I believe, is why The Fog is an ideal candidate to kick off this year's Pre'Ween Picture Show.

     It will be followed by What We Do In The Shadows (2014) and [REC] (2007) on the evening of October 26th.  Ginger Snaps (2000), Trick 'r Treat (2007), and [REC] 2 (2009) will round out the festivities on the 27th.  If you're anywhere in the vicinity of Timberville, Virginia and would like to join us, contact me care of Movies At Dog Farm.  There's always room around the fire for one more.

Diary of a Movie Watchin' Madman Volume III - The Bleeding Edge of Cinematic Prognostication from 1983

     "I'VE SEEN VIDEODROME ABOUT A HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN TIMES, AND IT KEEPS GETTING MORE PRESCIENT EVERY SINGLE TIME I SEE IT..."
     Me paraphrasing Beetlejuice in reference to David Cronenberg's Videodrome (1983)

Barry bubbling over about the Spectacular Optical spring line. 

(10/6) Videodrome (1983)  One of the very first significant posts I ever wrote for this site was an overview of the ten best genre movies directed by Canadian auteur David Cronenberg.  I had the temerity then to proclaim Videodrome (1983) Cronenberg's masterpiece.  Though I suggested in my previous post this month that I'm sometimes wrong, I stand by my prior assessment of Videodrome one hundred percent.  It is, in my opinion, right up there with George Orwell's 1984 as one of the essential texts of the 20th century.  The particulars of the technology represented may now be anachronistic, but in an age when those in power exploit the base instincts of their constituency every single day to insure that they stay in power, the themes of Videodrome have never been more timely.  How did Cronenberg know?

     I'm treading dangerously close to going off on a political rant, and that would be highly inappropriate since Movies At Dog Farm is just a dopey little horror movie blog.  Instead, let me just say this:  if you watch Videodrome and don't see immediately how easily one can swap out Cronenberg's fantastic imaginings circa 1983 for the very real particulars of our daily lives circa 2018, you just might be one of those people being hoodwinked by your overlords.  Videodrome is real now.  Fight back and don't let the cancer take hold.  The television screen (or perhaps more accurately now, the cellphone or tablet screen ) has become the retina of the mind's eye.  Don't believe everything you read or see, because much of it is being manipulated for nefarious purposes by individuals with a vested interest in insuring that their version of the truth is the one you accept as fact.  I shall remain the eternal optimist and hope that most of us are smarter than that.  (Re-watch)

Diary of a Movie Watchin' Madman Volume III - Sometimes I'm Wrong

The Void (2016) - Better the second time...

(10/4) The Void (2016)  I checked out about thirty minutes in the first time I watched The Void (2016), but I'd been troubled by the nagging suspicion that I hadn't given if a fair shake ever since.  Its initial release was greeted with such a deluge of hyperbolic reviews in the genre press that I now believe my first viewing was doomed from the outset.

     When posts start regularly trotting out comparisons to John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) - to name just one cinematic high water mark to which it was frequently compared - it's almost inevitable that the movie in question will underwhelm.  By the end of the first act I was already sufficiently irritated by the poor lighting and unnecessarily bloated cast to  just chalk up the glowing reviews to the horror fans' collective unfed hunger for a new instant classic.  The Void had a fine pedigree, a commendable commitment to practical effects, and a wealth of instantly recognizable tips of the hat to horror greats past, but it seemed to me to pale in comparison to the classics it referenced well before it ever managed to find its own raison d'etre.  It was a sincere and commendable effort hamstrung by its own lofty ambitions.  But at least they were trying, right?

     It turns out that a bit of distance from the fanfare and a bit more effort on the part of the viewer revealed a significantly different experience.  While The Void still falls short of the transcendence to which it clearly aspires, my second viewing left me with a far greater appreciation for the admittedly long list of things it gets right.  I still think the cast was unnecessarily bloated, and such an abundance of thinly drawn characters littered the narrative with subplots that went nowhere.  I still think the clunky and abrupt introduction of the story's "Big Bad" was almost unforgivably ham-fisted.  And I still think the lighting throughout was downright shameful given the obvious attention to detail manifest in The Void's sometimes brilliant practical effects.  (I feel obliged to give an appreciative shout out here to the minion in the basement who had apparently spent years slamming his forehead into a blunt object in a desperate attempt to end his tortured existence.  That was pure nightmare fuel.)

     The Void's final third builds upon its nightmarish imagery with admirable aplomb, and I've never demanded total narrative coherence in the works of Argento and Fulci, so it's unfair to demand such of a newer flick that treads similar ground.  The Void's ad hoc appropriation of Fulci's haunting final image from The Beyond (1981) still works like gangbusters in its new context, and the overall effect of its deployment here more than justifies the blatant cribbing.

     I'm not too proud to admit when my initial assessment of a movie was compromised, and my second trip through The Void was a journey well worth taking.  Like many of the greats it shamelessly emulates, The Void is an undeniably flawed effort that still manages to evolve into something greater than the sum of its stitched together parts.  (Re-watch)

Diary of a Movie Watchin' Madman Volume III - The Long Overdue Reboot

     So...seen any good horror lately?  This is the first time I've kept a viewing diary for Pre'Ween since 2014.  I find myself a bit more enthusiastic about my accelerated Pre'Ween viewing schedule than I've been for many a moon, and the capsulized review format of these entries seemed tailor made for dipping my toe in the bloody pool again after such a long absence.  Please be kind, as it's been a long time since I flexed my withered old writing muscle.

(10/1) Channel Zero - Candle Cove (2016)  As is usually the case with newer offerings, I'm way behind the curve on catching up with Syfy's creepypasta inspired horror anthology series Channel Zero.  Season four is scheduled to debut at the end of this month, and I am only now having my first look at season one.  Thanks, Shudder.

     I'm only two episodes in, and I am thus far fairly enamored of what I've seen.  Based upon a creepypasta by cartoonist and author Kris Straub that first surfaced in 2009, the six episode first season seems well poised to expand upon the tale of a fictional children's television series (called Candle Cove, natch) that can only be viewed by a small group of people, usually children.

     Even on ad-free Shudder, I do find myself a little too cognizant of the rhythm of cable programming designed to accommodate commercial breaks (a problem I've always had with TV horror), but Candle Cove already seems to be getting a lot of things right.  The performances, at least the most important ones, are uniformly decent.  Paul Schneider as troubled child psychologist Mike Painter and Fiona Shaw as Mike's less overtly damaged mother Marla Painter have been standouts.  Nothing has quite had me pissing my diddies yet, but my interest is piqued.

     I kicked off this year's Pre'Ween festivities with my initial impression of Candle Cove because I intend to return to it for a more in depth analysis after I've finished viewing.  Just for point of reference, Candle Cove already has a leg up on Hulu's recent Stephen King penned opus Castle Rock.  I barely got through one episode of that, and I had absolutely no interest in going any further.  Did I miss out on anything by jumping ship too soon?

     I should also note that at least initially I believe one of the things Channel Zero has gotten right is limiting its self-contained single season arc to only six episodes.  I gave up on American Horror Story about four seasons ago, at least in part because every season seemed to run out of steam around episode seven or eight on its grim march to an obligatory dozen or so episodes. (First Watch)

The creepiest scene in Oculus (2013) , spoiled by the trailer.

(10/2) Oculus (2013)  "You are entering an area adjacent to a location.  The kind of place where there might be a monster, or some kind of weird mirror.  These are just examples.  It could be something much better.  Prepare to enter... The Scary Door."   Futurama

     Thank you, Futurama, for once again stripping bare the very essence of my nerdified, horror loving existence.  A movie built around the premise of a haunted mirror should have been enough of a red flag to guarantee that I continued to steer clear of director Mike Flanagan's Oculus, but the promise of something much better suckered me in against my better judgement.  Only last week I watched Paco Plaza's Veronica (2017), a movie built around the premise of a haunted Ouija board, and I quite enjoyed it.  I harbor a strongly held belief that there is nothing new under the sun, and the best an inveterate horror fan can reasonably hope for now is a well executed, technically proficient rehash of something he or she has already seen before.  Competency is the new high water mark.

     I was cautiously optimistic about Oculus because I'd been pleasantly surprised by the competency of Flanagan's Hush (2016), itself a competently rendered rehash of Wait Until Dark (1967) with a deaf protagonist subbing for the blind protagonist of its predecessor.  No shame in that.  Flanagan fashioned an undeniably effective thriller from the borrowed nuts and bolts of an undeniably effective cinematic precursor.  Maybe lightning could strike twice?  Sadly, no.  At least, not this time.  Perhaps Flanagan's own rehash of the haunted Ouija board trope entitled Ouija: Origin Of Evil (2016) succeeds where Oculus failed.  I'll likely never know.  I think I've grown weary of watching the snake eat its own tail.

     Oculus is a heartbreaker because it does in fact show promise in the early going.  It seems all the talent involved was striving for something better than the muddled gumbo of horror cliches it ultimately becomes.  Unfortunately, Oculus falls prey to entirely too much rubber reality chaos in the third act by crosscutting between the horrors of the past and the trials of the present, and then it completely screws the pooch by ending with a "twist" that was telegraphed at the end of the first act to any viewer familiar with the concept of Chekov's Gun.  It's definitely not an embarrassing effort, but it's a frustrating one.

     Mike Flanagan is talented.  He can do better than just slapping a fresh coat of paint on rickety old narratives.  That being said, his next high profile venture is The Haunting Of Hill House, which premieres on Netflix on October 12th.  It already has a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  Yeah, I'm gonna watch it.  What do I know?  (First Watch)

     Stay tuned.  There's probably more diary entries to come...

Tachyon Signal Podcast Episode 2 - Trying Desperately to Get to the Point about Political Horror

The Dead Zone (1983)

     Trying to keep myself, Matt, and Carl on topic is like trying to herd sheep without a sheepdog.  Still, I think interesting things happen when we go off topic .  Ostensibly, episode 2 of the Tachyon Signal Podcast is taking a look at politically themed horror movies.  And we do.  Some. And then... SQUIRREL!  We talk a bit about some grade A genre titles inexplicably unavailable on Region A Blu-ray, as well.  Check out the chaos on the Tachyon Signal Podcast - Episode 2.

 A brand new podcast brought to you from the creative minds behind Midnight Cinephile, Movies at Dog Farm, and The Info Zombie.
 
Our aim each episode is to entertain you first and foremost, but also to bring you news and views on the world of entertainment media.
 
As you may (or may not) have surmised by the title of the podcast we will be broadcasting with a heavy horror slant, but we will most definitely be talking about all genres.  Movies, Television, Literature, Music, Video Games, Comics, Art, Live Theater....you name it, we'll more than likely cover it at some point. 

Tachyon Signal will be beaming straight to your brain twice a month.   

.....................this is not a dream.............. 

Listen to the second episode of Tachyon Signal by clicking here!

     You can also keep up to date by checking out the Tachyon Signal Facebook page, the Tachyon Signal blog, or the Tachyon Signal Twitter feed.

The First Episode Of New Podcast Tachyon Signal Debuts - Listen Here

Listen to the first episode of Tachyon Signal by clicking here!

A brand new podcast brought to you from the creative minds behind Midnight Cinephile, Movies at Dog Farm, and The Info Zombie.
 
Our aim each episode is to entertain you first and foremost, but also to bring you news and views on the world of entertainment media.
 
As you may (or may not) have surmised by the title of the podcast we will be broadcasting with a heavy horror slant, but we will most definitely be talking about all genres.  Movies, Television, Literature, Music, Video Games, Comics, Art, Live Theater....you name it, we'll more than likely cover it at some point.
 
Tachyon Signal will be beaming straight to your brain twice a month.   

.....................this is not a dream..............


Tachyon Signal Episode 1


      After months of radio silence, we've received a new transmission... Matt St. Cyr of Midnight Cinephile has masterminded the new podcast Tachyon Signal, and he was foolhardy enough to invite myself and Carl Boehm of The Info Zombie to help him out.  I'll be posting links to the new episodes here, but you can also keep up to date by checking out the Tachyon Signal Facebook page, the Tachyon Signal blog, or the Tachyon Signal Twitter feed.

The Final Girls (2015) - Saved from Writing the Dog Farm's Final Post?

     Though horror has been my lifelong genre of choice, I'm tickled shitless when any movie from any genre is as good as I hope it will be.  It doesn't happen as often as I would like.  I'm more likely to find myself relieved when a movie isn't as bad as I fear it could be, and that's a sad commentary.  Whether that's a sad commentary on what a miserable, jaded bastard I've become or on the general state of modern filmmaking is up for debate.

     More specifically, what most often separates the good movies from the bad for me is whether or not the movie makes me feel something - anything, really.  One of the primary reasons I've always been drawn to horror movies is that the best ones make you feel some of the deepest and most primal of human emotions.  The worst ones make one wonder how filmmakers so frequently fail to recognize the importance of those identifiably human emotions to effective storytelling.  This may come as a surprise given the Dog Farm's pedigree (pun intended), but I love a good cinematic tearjerker as much as a good horror movie - and for precisely the same reasons.

     I've been absent from the Dog Farm for a few months, and I now realize it was at least partially because my enthusiasm had been eroded of late by too many hollow spectacles and too few displays of real human emotion.  I don't think I consciously realized that until tonight, when a new release provided me the nourishment my cinematic diet had been lacking for so long.  Color me surprised that the movie in question was director Todd Strauss-Schulson's new comedy The Final Girls (2015), a very meta (and very funny) riff on slasher movie tropes that has more heart than any movie born of such an emotionally shallow sub-genre has a right to.  The Final Girls gets almost everything right, but it's most crucial success lies in the fact that it has the good sense to realize the importance - even in a goofy horror/comedy - of building on a solid foundation of identifiable human emotion.

     The Final Girls is perfectly cast, cleverly written, and beautifully shot, but its biggest triumph is the mother/daughter relationship at its core.  Taissa Farmiga (Amercian Horror Story) and Malin Ackerman (Cottage Country) make that relationship ring true even amidst all the silliness, and having a beating human heart beneath the levity raises the movie's game on all levels.  Delightful.  Truly delightful.

     I'm not going to thoroughly review The Final Girls here because there are already about a gazillion reviews online, and that's not what this post is really about anyway.  What this post is really about is how I lost my enthusiasm for one of the things I love most, and how one low budget horror/comedy done right restored it.  If you become disenchanted with the movies too, hang in there.  A good one will surface sooner or later that restores your faith, reminding you once again why you loved movies in the first place.  And it probably won't be the one you would expect, either.

The Bowman Body Is Back With New Episodes Of Shock Theater On DVD!!!

     Most horror movie fans of a certain age have fond memories of staying up late to watch their favorite local horror host.  In particular, the state of Virginia had a wealth of these hosts, and towering above all others was Bill Bowman, aka the Bowman Body.  The Bowman Body was my host.  Bill Bowman portrayed the character onscreen for over a decade and a half in three different markets, starting way back in 1970 with the debut of what would ultimately become Shock Theater on WXEX TV 8.  Sadly, as was often the case with these locally produced programs, virtually nothing remains of the original Shock Theater save for less than twelve minutes of footage and the fond memories of its fans.  It stands as good news of the highest order then that the Bowman Body is about to make good his return with two all new episodes of Shock Theater to be released on DVD in the fall of this year.

     Documentary filmmaker Sean Kotz of Horse Archer Productions is helping to facilitate the triumphant return of Shock Theater, with plans to film the two new episodes this summer for release in October.  The episodes will feature The House On Haunted Hill (1959) starring Vincent Price and Horror Hotel (1960) starring Christopher Lee, with the beloved Bill Bowman returning as The Bowman Body to host.  Both episodes are already available for pre-order at www.thebowmanbody.com, either individually or as a pair, with all proceeds going toward financing the production.  Fans can also purchase caps, mugs, and posters featuring The Bowman Body at the website's gift shop, as well as DVD copies of Kotz's Hi There Horror Movie Fans! The Bowman Body Documentary and Virginia Creepers: The Horror Host Tradition Of The Old Dominion.

     Regular readers of the Dog Farm will know that it's unusual for me to actively solicit support for projects, but this one is just too near and dear to my clogged and blackened heart not to do so.  Bill Bowman first appeared to host Shock Theater only two months after I was born, and some of my earliest memories of - well, anything, really - revolve around staying up late at a wildly inappropriate young age to watch the Bowman Body.  Bowman later hosted Cobweb Theater on WVIR in Charlottesville, and it tickles me shitless that one of a very small handful of clips that still exists shows Bowman reading a fan letter from yours truly and then showing a drawing I sent with the letter.  I was all of seven years old at the time.  It was bigger than getting a personal shout out from Santa Claus.

     Pre-orders are funding this project, so order your new Shock Theater episodes now.  If you're unfamiliar with the Bowman Body, you can right that heinous wrong by buying either - or both - of Sean Kotz's documentaries to bring yourself up to speed.  I own both, and they're well worth your time and money.  If you've got youngsters who've never seen a horror host, here's a chance to introduce them to one of the legends.  I guarantee these new episodes of Shock Theater will be the highlight of your family's Pre'Ween viewing this October.  I can hardly wait...

Belatedly Wrapping Up Movies At Dog Farm IV In One Tidy Little Package . . .

The Thing (1982) - You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me, right?

       So how does one gauge the success or failure of a movie program?  Now that the Movies At Dog Farm live events have been around for a while, the success or failure of  these events must surely be relative.  Those of us that have attended from the start wax nostalgic about the best screenings from the past, though I wouldn't characterize any of the prior programs as complete and utter failures.  Additionally, I have to keep in mind that the movies are only one element of a larger event that's actually all about photography.  I'm just the geek show, eating light bulbs and biting the heads off chickens.  If I'm lucky, I get a receptive audience that responds to the show as I anticipated.  If not, well...

     As now seems to be tradition, Herb Miller and I made a trip to Timberville Friday night for beer, food, and cigarettes at roughly the same time the movies should have begun.  We were accompanied by Jai McWhorter, Phil's hired help at the Dog Farm who impressed me mightily be being only twenty years old and name dropping The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1920) on me.  We were only about half way to Timberville when Herb's brake line busted unexpectedly, leaving us unable to make a sharp turn on a country road that then abruptly turned into a plowed field.  No one was hurt, and Herb got the car back on the road and continued on to Timberville sans brakes.  That seemed to make sense at the time.

The Manitou (1978) - The stunted glory of Misquamacas.

     We got back to the Dog Farm intact roughly an hour later, and no one was there except Phil, who was agitated that attendees who were expected earlier hadn't yet arrived.  Ultimately, everyone arrived safely in two separate carloads coming from different directions.  Tricia and Noodle Newnum arrived with event veteran Josh Kamikaze Buckland in tow, followed by Kelli and Jeff Ramirez shortly thereafter.  I think.  Or maybe it was the other way around.  Someone should have been keeping notes.  Our first movie, The Manitou (1978), finally lit up the screen just shy of midnight.  Sounds like everything's been a bit of a cluster fuck thus far, huh?

     Well I couldn't have asked for a more receptive audience.  There's something truly magical about watching a movie with an audience that's perfectly in tune with what's unfolding on the screen.  The Manitou is a movie that begs a lot of MS3TK style interaction, and that's exactly what happened.  Baggy back flesh and boob lasers carried the day.  Phil even treated us to an impersonation of the movie's vertically challenged Native American shaman afterwards.  We at the Dog Farm are nothing if not politically correct.

Alone In The Dark (1982) - Jack Palance saying howdy.

     Owing to how late we got started, we moved on to Alone In The Dark (1982) almost immediately after The Manitou was over.  No brakes, baby.  That seems to have been a theme for the evening.  Everyone was enthusiastic throughout the second feature, as well.  Night one of Movies At Dog Farm IV will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the events' more successful screenings.  We wrapped things up at about three in the morning, at which point I quickly left for home.

     Though other attendees came and went during the day Saturday, the audience for Saturday night's movies ended up being the exact same group of people as Friday night.  That's unusual.  Not at all bad, just unusual.  Generally there's a little more turnover from day to day.  Jeff was good enough to man the grill for us Saturday night, so the movies were improved greatly by the addition of hot dogs and hamburgers served up fresh. Up first for Saturday was Vanishing Point (1971), a movie I'd never seen and didn't select.  Herb had suggested it to me several months ago, so it took the place of the previously announced Rituals (1977).  Truth be told, I had begun to doubt that Rituals would play well to a crowd anyway.

Vanishing Point (1971) - Gratuitous nudity, 70s style.

     Turned out Vanishing Point was pretty damn good, though it didn't really lend itself to the same kind of audience interaction as the previous night's movies.  Still, it did possess the unmistakable vibe of vintage drive-in fodder.  I had threatened to lay the failure of the evening at Herb's feet if Vanishing Point didn't play well to the crowd, so I suppose I'm also obliged to give credit where it's due.  You might get to pick one again some day, Herb.

     Unfortunately, we lost a few viewers to an early bedtime before The Thing (1982) started.  It also began to get almost uncomfortably chilly outside, though that seemed weirdly apropos given The Thing's Antarctic setting.  Those of us that stuck it out enjoyed seeing The Thing on the big screen, but everyone quickly scuttled away to warmth immediately after the movie was over.

     So how does one gauge the success or failure of a movie program?  Relatively speaking, I'd say Movies At Dog Farm IV was a success.  The geek show was rewarded once again with the receptive audience it needs to survive.  The geek thanks you.