마의 계단 [Maui gyuedan / The Evil Stairs] (Lee Man-hee, 1964)
Sep
25
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Watched from above, the nurses gather to gossip over lunch. DP: Jeong-min Seo.
ノーライフキング [No raifu kingu / No Life King] (Jun Ichikawa, 1989)
Sep
23
Nintendo – 1889
Makoto and his friends play with their video game console (via). DP: Osame Maruike.
Home video games: Nintendo was founded on this day in 1889.
It's the late 80s and Japan is in the midst of an economic and technological bubble. Like so many kids, Makoto (litt. “truth”) and his friends are obsessed with their game console. In anticipation of the release of the fourth instalment of their favourite game, rumours start doing the rounds. Some cartridges are cursed with the “No Life King”, meaning players who cannot complete the game, will die. The curse appears to spill over into the boys' real world. What if when you die in the game, you really really die…?
“I caused dreams which caused death … this is my crime.”
Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men (David Hinton, 1989)
Sep
14
Patrick Swayze – 2009
Two of the male dancers performing. They're lying on a black-and-white tiled floor. There's a heaviness to their bodies. DP: Nicholas D. Knowland.
Dancing, or Patrick Swayze who passed away on this date in 2009.
– Dennis Nilsen
Dennis Nilsen was a lonesome, closeted gay man in Thatcher's London, whose desperation lead to multiple horrific killings. He'd ritually bathe and dress the bodies, and held on to them for company. Radical dance troupe DV8's interpretation of Nilsen's transgressions explores the horror of the act in suffocating beauty.
海底から来た女 [Kaitei kara kita onna / Woman from the Sea] (Koreyoshi Kurahara, 1959)
Sep
4
The mysterious sea woman (Hisako Tsukuba, who under the name Chako van Leeuwen went on to produce the Jawsploitation franchise Piranha) and a bewitched Toshio (Tamio Kawachi). Note how the boat's sail resembles a shark's dorsal fin. DP: Yoshihiro Yamazaki.
It's this month's Bales Challenges' dad's VaderJaws' birthday! Celebrating with Vader, or sharks, or churches, or Chvrches. Erm… let's stick to sharks.
A strange woman appears in the life of a young man. He falls in love with her, but the fishermen know. She's the wife of a shark killed years ago. And she's out for revenge.
Doing Hooptober parallel to Bales. Expect some contamination of the September/October posts.
“I, I find all kinds of witchcraft slightly nauseating and this I find absolutely disgusting.”
The Plague of the Zombies (John Gilling, 1966)
Aug
20
A rather disgusting looking zombie carrying a young brunette in a flower dress. DP: Arthur Grant.
– Sir James Forbes
“Travel in the country, long-range plans, and upsetting persons around you, could make this a disturbing and unpredictable day. The events in the world are not doing much either to cheer one up.”
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
Aug
18
1973
Cast and crew in the back of their motorhome. From LtR: Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Allen Danziger, Teri McMinn, Tobe Hooper, Dottie Pearl, and William Vail (via). DP: Daniel Pearl.
your August 18 horoscope
Al filo del hacha [Edge of the Axe] (José Ramón Larraz, 1988)
Aug
16
1978
spoiler warning: click to toggle image
spoiler warning: click to read
A computer screen with the admission date of Lillian Nebbs (Christina Marie Lane) in the psychiatric ward on August 16, 1978. Diagnosis: Psycho Amnesia [sic]. There are small pop magazine stickers on the display's bezel. DP: Tote Trenas.
“Eight bones has the carpus, five the metacarpus, fourteen the phlanges, all in all, all in all, twenty-seven all in all. Abracadabra.”
The Beast with Five Fingers (Robert Florey, 1946)
Aug
15
Hilary Cummins (Peter Lorre). DP: Wesley Anderson.
– Donald Arlington
“The city… as if it were unborn. Rising into the sky with fingers of metal, limbs without flesh, girders without stone. Signs hanging without support. Wires dipping and swaying without poles. A city unborn. Flesh dissolved in an acid of light. A city of the dead.”
X [The Man with the X-Ray Eyes] (Roger Corman, 1963)
Aug
14
Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland) performing his mind-reading trick. DP: Floyd Crosby.
– Dr. James Xavier
Nosferato no Brasil [Nosferato in Brazil] (Ivan Cardoso, 1970)
Jun
21
International Surfing Day
Nosferatu enjoys the breeze and fresh coconut water on the beaches of Rio. I could've posted a still of the surfers here but that would have been boring.
Someone surfing or skateboarding for either International Surfing Day or Go Skateboarding Day
José Mojica Marins' protégé Ivan Cardoso dabbled in short form horror movies. This one features a young hippie vampire who, after being defeated in beachy black-and-white Prague, hikes a ride to Super 8 Brazil. Can't help but notice a bit of (Charlie) Mansonsploitation going on, but that may be just me.