Coronavirus Mortality Updates: 2020 - 2023 |
JULY 16 |
THE FLY is 67
Imagine being author James Clavell. You's a former World War II POW. During your time in one of the worst Japanese prisons, and after the war, you immerse yourself in Asian history. You write one best selling historical novel after the next, brimming with fascinating historical accuracy and human drama so realistic it nearly sweats. Hollywood comes calling, offering you more money for a 90 page script than your publisher has paid you for writing whole novels that sell in the millions.
So Hollywood looks at your remarkable output and your new fanbase and what do they offer you?
Small Studio Suit: "Hey James, write us a script about a man who turns into a fly!"
J.C.: "You mean like a modern Franz Kafka allegory?"
Small Studio Suit: "A what? Look, I read a story in Playboy magazine and I wanna make a movie out of it. Now do you want a paycheck or not?"
That may or may not be how THE FLY came into existence.
And -
AMITYVILLE 1992 is 34
On the plus side, this movie is directed by Tony Randel (HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II, THE DOUBLE BORN), meaning he carries over his apparent Lovecraft / Barker inspiration. Pair Tony up with good writers and good producers and he'll spin gold. If you don't, well, you get AMITYVILLE 1992.
Plus -
I, ROBOT is 22
It's over 2 decades later and the future is nearly here.
Well, another 10 years anyway.
Released on this day in the USA, it would take nearly three weeks to reach UK shores. Don't call it Isaac Asimov's I, ROBOT, though. Asimov's collection of short stories has about as much to do with this movie as THE LAWNMOWER MAN had to do with Stephen King's short story.
However, in 2004 this movie was a turning point for Will Smith. One he began (and may have left behind) with 1997's MEN IN BLACK, where he would act and interact with creatures, in this case "robots", that weren't there. And it wouldn't be one or two, there'd be mobs of cgi, hundreds of characters, months away from completion, and Will had to act, not against some mere background that wasn't there, but an entire cast that wasn't there, and all of them interacting, even fighting with him.
This is how I, ROBOT turned out.
Also -
HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Actor Tenika Davis (SAW VI, WRONG TURN 4, DEBUG, JUPITER'S LEGACY [TV], PERPETUAL MOTION, BEACON 23) is 41.
Writer, Producer, Director Scott Derrickson (URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT, HELLRAISER: INFERNO, THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL [2008], SINISTER, DEVIL'S KNOT, DELIVER US FROM EVIL, SINISTER 2, DOCTOR STRANGE [all], SNOWPIERCER [TV], BERMUDA, THE BLACK PHONE, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, THE GORGE, THE BLACK PHONE 2) is 60.
Actor Corey Feldman (TIME AFTER TIME, FRIDAY THE 13th PART IV: THE FINAL CHAPTER, GREMLINS, FRIDAY THE 13th PART V: A NEW BEGINNING, THE GOONIES, STAND BY ME, THE LOST BOYS, THE 'BURBS, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES [1990], STEPMONSTER, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES III, LIPSTICK CAMERA, A DANGEROUS PLACE, VOODOO [1995], TALES FROM THE CRYPT: BORDELLO OF BLOOD, EVIL OBSESSION, BORN BAD, LEGION [1998], STORM TROOPER [1998], CITIZEN TOXIE: THE TOXIC AVENGER IV, SEANCE, LOST BOYS: THE TRIBE, TERROR INSIDE, SPLATTER, LOST BOYS: THE THIRST, 6 DEGREES OF HELL, EXPOSURE, THE ZOMBIE KING, ZOMBEX, BODY HIGH, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES [TV - 2012 - 2017], THE SUNDAY NIGHT SLAUGHTER, AGE OF STONE AND SKY: THE SORCERER BEAST, 13 FANBOY, SUICIDE FOR BEGINNERS, GOING VIRAL) is 55.
Corey shares a July birthday with TALES FROM THE CRYPT: BORDELLO OF BLOOD alumni, Producer Joel Silver.
Look for Corey's upcoming 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 (?) Horror Thriller, TALES FROM THE DEAD ZONE.
Actor Rosa Salazar (AMERICAN HORROR STORY, INSURGENT, MAZE RUNNER: SCORCH TRIALS, SUBMERGED, MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE, BIRD BOX, ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, UNDONE [TV], BRAND NEW CHERRY FLAVOR [TV], CHARIOT, PANTHEON [TV], VAMPIRES OF THE VELVET LOUNGE) is 41.
Actor Ann Turkel (THE CASSANDRA CROSSING, GOLDEN RENDEZVOUS, RAVAGERS, DEATH RAY 2000, HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP [1980], MASSARATI AND THE BRAIN, MODESTY BLAISE, DEEP SPACE, THE FEAR, DEJA VU) is 80.
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JULY 15 |
IT CONQUERED THE WORLD Turns 70
As a fan of Horror movies, whether in Science Fiction or Supernatural form, I've watched a lot of sloppy, goofy, absurd movies - often made by major studios.
So read about the sublimely stupid fun Produced and Directed by Roger Corman (DEATH RACE 2000) and starring a young Lee Van Cleef (ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK) when they worked on American International Pictures, IT CONQUERED THE WORLD.
And -
SHOCKWAVES is 49
Peter Cushing was in two feature films in 1977 and felt that the Horror movie, ALMOST HUMAN, and not the SciFi space opera, Star Wars, was the one that was going to kill it at the box office! In the U.S.A the name was changed to SHOCKWAVES.
Plus -
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE is 16
What a predicament! Here you are, one of the most powerful wizards on earth, facing off against hidden wizards nearly as powerful as you, who likely have acolytes skulking among those you feel are allies. You're in the middle of Conspiracies, treason, and must defend the very existence of humanity. Everything hangs in the balance and there's only one person you know who is capable of defeating this hideous, spoiled brat of an enemy that, never-the-less is imbued with a power nearly as great as his weaknesses. And that one person who is able to defeat that evil? Is a child: An innocent child who doesn't deserve to be thrust into such danger, to have such an unbearable weight of responsibility on his young shoulders, yet he is the only one capable of handling the horror!
On top of that, a new and unknown player, with allegiances that are also unknown, has entered the field. Who in the hell is the HALF-BLOOD PRINCE?
Finale -
HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Writer Bill Hussey (THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY, THE ABSENCE) is 42.
Writer Christopher Golden (THIEF OF HEARTS, STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING, PROWLERS, THE BORDERKIND, CRASHING PARADISE, BALTIMORE, SOULLESS, THE FERRYMAN, MIND THE GAP, WILDWOOD ROAD, DEATH'S EXCELLENT VACATION, WAKING NIGHTMARES, STRANGEWOOD, THE SEVEN WHISTLERS, and a lot more) is 59.
Actor Terry O'Quinn (SILVER BULLET, THE STEPFATHER [all], BLACK WIDOW, PIN, THE FORGOTTEN ONE, DELIVER THEM FROM EVIL [TV], THE ROCKETEER, AMITYVILLE: A NEW GENERATION, LIPSTICK CAMERA, SHADOW WARRIORS, SHADOW CONSPIRACY, THE X-FILES, MILLENIUM [TV], HARSH REALM [TV], ALIAS [TV], LOST [TV], 666 PARK AVENUE [TV], FALLING SKIES [TV], CASTLE ROCK [TV], EMERGENCE [TV], RESIDENT ALIEN [TV], PIECES OF HER [TV], and way more) is 74.
Terry shares a July birthday with the man who actually WROTE the STEPFATHER story, the late Donald E. Westlake.
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JULY 14 |
27 Years of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
Never in my life, before or since, has there been anything like the original successful marketing strategy of this movie. A handful of rank amateurs, fresh out of junior college, bested the best marketers of 1999 that George Lucas's Star Wars PHANTOM MENACE and Steven Spielberg's THE HAUNTING, with their cache of monied experts, could buy, and beat them all!
As with any success story, the weedy people eventually came crawling out from beneath their rocks to dismiss and disrespect this picture. By the time this movie went into wide release, I personally sat in the audience on said opening weekend. There I couldn't help but notice the row of people in front of me who kept bowing their heads to look at the floor whenever a scary moment came up.
After the movie was over, these same imbeciles all loudly proclaimed to each other that the movie "Wasn't scary!"
Yeah, sure. My only problem with it was the slight nausea I felt from too much shaky cam.
And Hollywood? Hollywood despised the success of this movie. And yet, merely 7 years later, a nobody named Oren Peli mimicked the strategy of this Found Footage movie for his own microscopic indie starring nobodies and hit success with their formula, making PARANORMAL ACTIVITY a huge smash hit.
As for all you folks who've never seen it asking, "Yeah, but what about the movie itself?" Step inside to find out why you want to see THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.
Plus -
26 Years of X-MEN
X-MEN was released this day (or May 15 if you were in the U.K. that year) in 2000. What BLADE proved - that even the minor Marvel Superheroes could have box office clout in the right hands - X-MEN solidified.
With a surprisingly outstanding story shared by first and only time screen writer, Executive Producer Tom DeSanto (APT PUPIL), second feature film script by Director Bryan Singer (APT PUPIL), and first script by David Hayter (THE SCORPION KING, THE WATCHMEN), direction by Bryan Singer, and two old A-List fogies at the top of their game, Patrick Stewart (EXCALIBER, STAR TREK FIRST CONTACT) Leader of the Good Mutants, and Ian McKellan (APT PUPIL, THE LORD OF THE RINGS [all], THE HOBBIT), leader of the No Good Mutants, 2000's X-MEN was nearly a guaranteed winner.
Also -
HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Actor Jackie Earle Haley (DAMNATION ALLEY, GRAVEDALE HIGH [TV], DOLLMAN, MANIAC COP III, NEMESIS, ALL THE KING'S MEN, WATCHMEN, SHUTTER ISLAND, A NIGHTMARE ON ELMSTREET [2010], DARK SHADOWS [2012], PARKLAND, ROBOCOP [2014], THE EVIL WITHIN [VG], PREACHER [TV], THE DARK TOWER, ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, DEATH OF A TELEMARKETER, DEVIL'S PEAK, HYPNOTIC, YOUR HOST) is 64.
Look for Jackie in the 2027 Thriller, FAMILY MOVIE. Also in 2027, THE BLOCK.
Producer Joel Silver (WARRIORS, JEKYLL AND HYDE... TOGETHER AGAIN, LETHAL WEAPON [all], PREDATOR [all], DIE HARD [all], TALES FROM THE CRYPT [TV], DEMOLITION MAN, TALES FROM THE CRYPT: DEMON KNIGHT, CONSPIRACY THEORY, TALES FROM THE CRYPT: BORDELLO OF BLOOD, THE MATRIX [all], THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL [1999], THIR13EN GHOSTS, GHOST SHIP, GOTHIKA, HOUSE OF WAX, V FOR VENDETTA, THE REAPING, THE INVASION, RETURN TO THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, ORPHAN, WHITEOUT, THE HILLS RUN RED, SHERLOCK HOLMES, THE BOOK OF ELI, UNKNOWN, THE FACTORY, SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS, STASH HOUSE, THE APPARITION, THE FACTORY, BULLET TO THE HEAD, NON-STOP, VERONICA MARS [2014], COLLIDE [2016]) is 73.
Look for Joel's upcoming Horror Thriller for 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 DARK MOON.
Actor Chase Williamson (JOHN DIES AT THE END, SPARKS, LACE CRATER, BEYOND THE GATES [2016], SiREN, SEQUENCE BREAK, VICTOR CROWLEY, BAD MATCH, DEAD NIGHT, CABARET OF THE DEAD, ALL THE CREATURES WERE STIRRING, ARTIK, GREENLIGHT, SCARE PACKAGE, LUCKY, THE JESSICA CABIN) who is 37.
Look for Chase in the upcoming 2027 Mystery Thriller, SOUR MINNOWS.
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