BLOG ENTRY # 22 ---- Supernatural Theater showcases --- THE BIRDS, SHE DEMONS, and PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE !!! Two Golden Turkeys and one Golden Classic!
You may ask, why am I writing about these three films?
Way back when, at 9 years old, these literally "scared the crap out of me" !!!
Way back when, at 9 years old, these literally "scared the crap out of me" !!!
Two I saw on the infamous Saturday night show from Channel 11 in New York ----
Chiller Theater. And one while munching popcorn as a kid in the balcony of a local theater.
Goosebumps and shivers still lurk deep in the catacombs of my brain.
Chiller Theater. And one while munching popcorn as a kid in the balcony of a local theater.
Goosebumps and shivers still lurk deep in the catacombs of my brain.
My parents and I would settle in with black & white TV with popcorn and Pepsi’s,
to watch greatness in horror and sci-fi (yeah right, She Demons, & Plan 9 were greatness?).
But Vampira & Tor Johnson in the graveyard, and the rubber masked She Demons sent shivers through my 9 year old spine. After a stern talk from my Navy Chief father, and my Mom playing She Demon by putting on a left over Halloween rubber monster mask & fangs, I quickly learned to thoroughly enjoy make believe and scary films and still love them today. ---- 50 years later. (omg, times flies)
But Vampira & Tor Johnson in the graveyard, and the rubber masked She Demons sent shivers through my 9 year old spine. After a stern talk from my Navy Chief father, and my Mom playing She Demon by putting on a left over Halloween rubber monster mask & fangs, I quickly learned to thoroughly enjoy make believe and scary films and still love them today. ---- 50 years later. (omg, times flies)
On the other hand, today if I see a flock of birds perched on wires --- the shivers come back.
The Birds is still a powerful film.
The Birds is still a powerful film.
Way back in 1963, a bunch of us little rascals snuck in the exit of the balcony of the Carlton Theater in Red Bank, NJ. to see this Hitchcock hit, now a classic.
This was a big shocker in 1963, with people actually freaking out, scared in the theater.
The next time that happened, was in 1968 with George Romero's zombie munchfest,
Night of the Living Dead, that I saw at 14 in the same theater.
With Night, Barf bags were handed to all the patrons as a gag. Get it, a gag. lol.
This was a big shocker in 1963, with people actually freaking out, scared in the theater.
The next time that happened, was in 1968 with George Romero's zombie munchfest,
Night of the Living Dead, that I saw at 14 in the same theater.
With Night, Barf bags were handed to all the patrons as a gag. Get it, a gag. lol.
Up first in the pecking order --------
THE BIRDS
Directed by ALFRED HITCHCOCK
Starring ROD TAYLOR
With Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, Veronica Cartwright
Hitchcock was a genius on many levels, but a big talent of his was scaring us in everyday situations and settings. The places we feel safe in, or the tim es we feel most comfortable.
A seemingly safe apartment house (Rear Window), your Mom’s apartment as a child (Marnie), a small innocent restful looking motel (Psycho), and here by the sea in Bodega Bay , California
It’s a pureAmericana
It’s a pure
Beautiful rich socialite Melanie Daniels meets lawyer Mitch Brenner in San Francisco.
He plays a slight practical joke on her in a pet shop. She plays the same.
Melanie (Tippi Hedren) has luxury but no purpose, no real life, but lots of glitter.
He plays a slight practical joke on her in a pet shop. She plays the same.
Melanie (Tippi Hedren) has luxury but no purpose, no real life, but lots of glitter.
Very beautiful, but feels empty on the inside.
Mitch is a good, old fashioned handsome man (Rod Taylor), with confidence, and purpose. Quite different than the type Melanie knows. Since his Dad's death, he cares for his mother Lydia, and his very young sister Cathy. He is a man that has loved women superficially, but never had a woman become part of his heart, as his sister and Mom have. ---- Now he meets Melanie.
Melanie learns that he lives up on the Pacific Coast in Bodega Bay.
He stays on weekends to see his Mom (Jessica Tandy) and Cathy (Veronica Cartwright).
Melanie drives to Bodega Bay bringing two lovebirds, and finds out Mitch lives across the bay.
She rents a small boat to save tim e, and is attacked by a seagull on route.
She thinks it's just a random occurrence.
Melanie arrives in time for Cathy's birthday. She stays with Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette) the young school teacher in town. Melanie finds out that she was a former girlfriend of Mitch, that his mother did not approve of. Annie still has lots of feelings for him.
And she sees Melanie's attraction to Mitch.
During the birthday party, a flock of birds briefly attack the children.
The adults wonder why.
Lydia goes to visit an old friend at his farm, to find him brutally killed by a bird attack.
She enters his farm house to find his body ripped apart, and eyes pecked out.
She runs past his unknowing farm hands, races back home to collapse with Mitch.
For a mainstream film in 1963, this scene was hugely shocking. Audiences gasped.
Melanie comforts Lydia, since Mitch left to talk to the local police investigating the murder.
The women begin to understand each other in terms of relating to Mitch, and gaining some
common friendship to each other. Lydia is nervous worrying about Cathy at school.
Melanie agrees to go and bring her home.
She waits outside for class to end, relaxing to have a cigarette.
The children begin singing a song, and Melanie finally begins to calm down.
Behind her an empty playground Jungle Jim (aka Monkey Bars).
A blackbird flies overhead past Melanie.
One by one, the birds come to perch on the Jungle Jim. Melanie is unaware.
By the end of the song, Melanie turns to see a lethal amount of birds all over the playground, and rooftops. She quietly enters the school to alert Annie, who makes the decision to get the children back home walking down the street.
The audience just knows that's a big mistake. The birds attack as they run down the street,
pecking at anything they can peck at. They make it to the end of the block into the main part
of town. Cathy goes with Annie. Mitch goes to the police. Melanie calls her father for
opinions and information.
The locals are shocked and bewildered with the attack.
A fisherman says his boat was also attacked.
They ask for advice from old Mrs. Bundy (Ethel Griffies), the resident ornithologist, who defends the birds, disputes the idea of attacks, and explains some science facts to all of us.
An overly frightened mother (Doreen Lang) accuses them of frightening her children.
A drunk fisherman (Karl Swenson) keeps saying ---- It's the end of the world!
Mrs. Bundy's wrong, because the swarming birds come back to attack!
I just love this sequence.
Pecking at the gas station attendant, he drops the flowing gas hose.
The gasoline trails down to a salesman's car, as he walks up to it, and lights a cigarette.
A deadly explosion occurs, and we see the fire from high up, from the birds point of view.
Melanie attempts escape to be forced into a phone booth to get away from birds attacking her.
They keeps attacking, smashing the glass in the booth.
Mitch gets her out in time.
Back in the diner, the crazy mom screams and blames her for the attacks. That she is evil.
Melanie slaps her.
Melanie, and Mitch want to return home, so they go to get Cathy at Annie's home.
The birds were there. Annie is dead on her front sidewalk. Melanie cries out, where is Cathy?
Mitch sees her crying from the living room window. Many birds are still there.
They escape to go home. Choked up, Cathy explains how Annie saved her from the birds.
The first 45 minutes of the film was certainly not horrific, just establishing the characters.
From the farm murder scene onwards the excitement starts, the frights begin, and it doesn't let up.
The school scene when Melanie waiting is my favorite in the film. One by one the birds fly in, building tension.To this day, when I see any large group of birds, I think of it. --- And get a chill up my spine. 50 years later. ---- Ah, the power of filmmaking.
The attack at the home for the finale and the frenzied attack to Melanie in the attic, people
still talk about today. The ending when theyleave the house and slowly drive off through the extreme volume of birds, left audiences then and now unnerved.
The End, but is it The End?
Perfect for a great Hitchcock film.
Two storyboard drawings of the unfilmed alternative ending.
What many do not know, the original planned ending was not filmed. Drawings above.
After driving off from their home, they ride through town, only to see total death and destruction. Bloodied bodies and carnage, and birds everywhere.
Then outside of town, the convertible is attacked. Birds ripping at the top.
They barely escape by speeding up to go on to the next town.
What will they find?
Is this an isolated occurrence or is it the end of mankind???
A publicity shot with the beautiful and talented Tippi Hedren.
The electronic sound effects of the birds by Oscar Sala, was wayyyyy before it's time.
His synthesizer is shown above.
Makeup test shot for Hedren before filming.
Huge lines for theater tickets for this film. NYC pictured here.
Please note how people dressed up to go the the movies back then. Even ties & hats.
Makeup test shot for Hedren before filming.
An old high school buddy Greg lives in Napa, and told me Bodega Bay is still a cool old town, and that the Birds school still exists. --- Well I found a picture & here it is nowadays.
Huge lines for theater tickets for this film. NYC pictured here.
Please note how people dressed up to go the the movies back then. Even ties & hats.
This is what a 16mm film print looks like. The film on three 1600 ft. reels, with storage box.
The opening protective leader film also tells info, like Part 1 of 3. It weighs about 15 pounds.
The opening protective leader film also tells info, like Part 1 of 3. It weighs about 15 pounds.
An Eiki 16mm projector shown below. ----- See my blog entry about 16mm film projection.
My Rating ------ A Plus (Plus the fact it still gets to me).
The Birds goes into the "What if this happened to me?" category of film stories.
I thought that when I was a young kid at the theater, and still do today.
For 50 years, this film still having a power to chill me, and to make me think.
When I can still slightly react to seeing birds along a wire, or in a resting flock.
The photography and the building of scenes are amazing. Each shot is well designed.
Hitchcock was a master at his craft.
Early Coppertone Ad, and glamour shot with Tippi Hedren.
She combined grace, beauty, and talent.
She combined grace, beauty, and talent.
Publicity still for Marnie, Hedren's next Hitchcock film, with Sean "007" Connery.
Above, proving she's a champion for wild animal rights, even the big cats at her Shambala ranch. Her Birds sense of humor shines with her school jungle jim.
More recent glamour shots below.
Varied pinups and glamour shots of talented Suzanne Pleshette through the years.
She proved that the American girl next door could also be very sexy.
She proved that the American girl next door could also be very sexy.
Of course she was a TV comedy favorite as Emily on The Bob Newhart Show from the 1970's.
Hitchcock's dry sense of humor shows with reading a bird book, in showing his history with film cans, and his cameos in every one of his films. He walks out of the pet shop in this film.
A great newspaper ad below. Big films would run full page ads.
Now newspapers are almost extinct.
Posters from France and Italy. 
Up next, here at Supernatural Theater --- the opposite end of the scale --- The ultimate
Golden Turkey !!! --- Gobble, Gobble!
PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE
GRAVE ROBBERS FROM OUTER SPACE
Starring Bela Lugosi, Vampira (Maila Nurmi), Lyle Talbot, Tor Johnson,
Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Duke Moore and Criswell
Written and Directed by the immortal --- Edward D. Wood Jr.
USA --- 1959
Criswell, with a dip in his hair, seriously warns us -----
Perhaps on your way home, someone will pass you in the dark, and you will never know it.....
for they will be from outer space!!!!
If you are not aware that Plan Nine is probably the most Golden of all Golden Turkey
of alltim e, then you’ve been living under a boulder.
of all
I watched this as a young kid on Chiller Theater too. It scared this boy, big tim e.
My parents were cool, but a month later I realized how really dumb I was.
I caught it on afternoon TV when I was home sick from school.
I caught it on afternoon TV when I was home sick from school.
It must have been Vampira’s figure that snapped me into reality and then actually liking it..
I mean the plot and lines are totally worthless, so she just had to help me out.
They look like Californians themselves, and the cardboard interior of their spacecraft is just nifty.
Earthlings are too close to having weapons that can damage the galaxy.
So these smarties must stop us. Oh no!
We meet poor old Bela Lugosi. In the movie his wife just died, and he is very sad.
He gets killed by an oncoming car. Bam! A local police officer is killed too (big Tor Johnson).
Well those aliens brought them back from the dead, along with Lugosi’s wife (Vampira
aka. Maila Nurmi) to wreck havoc.
Well those aliens brought them back from the dead, along with Lugosi’s wife (Vampira
aka. Maila Nurmi) to wreck havoc.
Vampira's coming to get you! --- Dig those longggg kinky fingernails.
Mayhem begins. People scared. People attack. Monsters and aliens conquered.
This dumb plot has stood the test of tim e.
Edward Wood goes in the film history books as probably the worst director of all tim e.
He wanted to be famous for film making. And he is.
He wanted to be famous for film making. And he is.
This $60,000 film is still being shown and his biography was made into a great film by Tim Burton.
Ed is smiling down at us. ---- Film immortality!
Help! Help! We saw bright lights, and then it flew by --- an unidentified flying thermos plug!
My Rating ----- Grade Z
It's the pits, but we love it. Part of our Baby Boomer childhoods. Better than Disney.
Maila Nurmi, aka. Vampira was no stranger to the camera.
Striking model shots & pinups below.
Striking model shots & pinups below.
Nurmi's real life Barbie measurements still amaze. Her hourglass figure with an 18" waist helped her gain fame. Vampira's spooky looks paved the way for Carolyn Jones'
Morticia Addams, and Cassandra Petersen's Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
The infamous Ed Wood himself, and Dolores Fuller in another
Turkey classic--- Glen or Glenda.
If you love cashmere sweaters, this flick is for you. Cause Ed loved them too. I met Dolores three times, and she was a sweet lady that loved her fans. She passed away in 2013
at 88 years old.
Supernatural Theater's Number Three!
Last but not least......oh yeah..... it's least all right.
Sexy exotic island girls with rubber monster masks and plastic fangs round out the group of
"Movies That Scared The Crap Out of Me at 9" !!!
Then my smart Mom put on a rubber monster mask. Since then I loved these dumb movies.
SHE DEMONS
Starring Irish McCalla, Tod Griffin
Victor Sen Yung, Rudolph Anders, Leni Tana
Directed by Richard E. Cunha (The sign of quality)
USA --- 1958
Now this is one perfect turkey of a film. She Demons was a fun scare fest back in 1958.
Perfect for Drive-In theaters. Couples could neck in the car, fog up the windows, and the guys could play macho when their girl got frightened with the horrors unleashed before them.
Perfect for Drive-In theaters. Couples could neck in the car, fog up the windows, and the guys could play macho when their girl got frightened with the horrors unleashed before them.
Of course it also became a hit on TV in the sixties. In the New York
The threadbare plot is this. Four people are shipwrecked in the Pacific on an uncharted island. Boat and radio destroyed, ---- No phones, No motorcars, Not a single luxury…..sorry.
I’m was thinking of Gilligan’sIsland for a second.
I’m was thinking of Gilligan’s
Actually, I was thinking of Mary Ann and Ginger for a second.
When I was 12 & 13, I thought of them quite a lot. ---- Wow!
I prayed to get shipwrecked all alone with them when I was going through puberty.
I prayed to get shipwrecked all alone with them when I was going through puberty.
Picture below --- No wonder I was a distracted youth.
No wonder Gilligan's smiling. Lucky nerd.
No wonder Gilligan's smiling. Lucky nerd.
Anyhow, there are 3 men, and one tall, beautiful Irish McCalla.
Irish was the best thing about this movie.
She could stand there and read the phone book, and men back then would be happy.
TV audiences already knew her as Sheena, Queen of the Jungle in great leopard outfits.
Well, back to the thin plot.
One guy instantly becomes a spear holder. ---- Done. Kaput. Wasted.
The Captain of the so-called ship Fred Maklin (Tod Griffin)----- wants to search the island to find out who or what is the killer. Dumb. Irish plays Jerrie Turner, a spoiled rich brat. And Sammy Ching (Victor Sen Yung) is a crewman that's just scared. Nightfall comes quick, so Jerrie disrobes and sleeps in a blanket, then they start exploring the next morning. Military surveillance planes fly over the island. Uh oh, not a good sign. Fred realizes this is not an uncharted island, but one that will be used for bombing practice.
Their hours and days are numbered if they can’t get off that stupid island.
In their search they find boiling lava, lots of jungle, and some imprisoned, hot dancing native women in skimpy, island style attire. A real nice find. but -----
Their hours and days are numbered if they can’t get off that stupid island.
In their search they find boiling lava, lots of jungle, and some imprisoned, hot dancing native women in skimpy, island style attire. A real nice find. but -----
There’s also a bunch of wacko WWII escaped Nazi Storm Troopers around too.
(Wouldn't you think they would be from the German Navy, not Army?)
That kills the thrill of finding scantily clad island dancing girls.
(Wouldn't you think they would be from the German Navy, not Army?)
That kills the thrill of finding scantily clad island dancing girls.
The troopers love to torture people, and they work for a wacko Nazi doctor, Colonel Karl Osler (Rudolph Anders) that has done way too many horrible experiments. All these guys seem like rejects from Hogan's Heroes. He built a lab, and quarters there.
Plus he harnessed thermal energy from the lava for power.
Plus he harnessed thermal energy from the lava for power.
Pretty good for guys that escaped the end of WWII for a dozen years.
They must have used that cheap island male labor, then bumped them off, keeping the girls.
They must have used that cheap island male labor, then bumped them off, keeping the girls.
The doctor has a horribly disfigured wife named Mona (Leni Tana), that covers up her hideous, scarred face. The psycho doc does experiments on various native girls with special glandular serums to attempt to cure Mona.
But we see that there is one huge side effect of getting these injections ---- the women become
hideous SHE DEMONS !!!!!
But we see that there is one huge side effect of getting these injections ---- the women become
hideous SHE DEMONS !!!!!
Oh, no !!!
The shipwrecked three get captured after witnessing some of the mayhem.
The doc has to tell them all about his genius and shows off his huge.….ego.
The guys are locked away near some of the failed experiments.
A bunch of rubber fanged SHE DEMONS !!!
The doc wants to get his hands on Irish in more ways than one.
He makes a play for her, but she is a good girl of 1958 US of A
She’s a rich American girl, and no wacko Nazi psycho is good enough for her. You go girl!
Osler thinks champagne might loosen her up, and he wants her to stay with him.
Poor Mona. She watches his flirting techniques.
Mona confides in Jerrie, and we have an awwww moment for poor Mona.
But Osler, the Nazi Don Juan ties Jerrie up. Not for fun. But to give her those nasty shots.
Oh no! Will Jerrie become......a She Demon???????
But Osler, the Nazi Don Juan ties Jerrie up. Not for fun. But to give her those nasty shots.
Oh no! Will Jerrie become......a She Demon???????
The bombers fly over to blow up the island. Mona helps them to escape to a small boat they kept. Bombs away. Boom. Boom Boom!
We get to see the unmasked Mona too. Good scary make up job.
The bad boy Nazi’s get killed. Yea!
The boiling lava comes too. And you can figure out the rest. It's not Shakespeare or a good
Who Done It. I mean, it's terribly predictable.
You know ---- Grade ZZZZZ.
A possible cure for insomnia.
Who Done It. I mean, it's terribly predictable.
You know ---- Grade ZZZZZ.
A possible cure for insomnia.
It's something that the serum only effected the girl's faces, hands, and fingernails.
They kept their cute figures, and nice legs. --- Now that's a quality serum!
I just thought of that dumb paper bag joke.
C'mon Irish -- You can make it.
Say one thing for Fred. He is one hell of a shot.
My Rating ----- D for Dumb.
It's in the Grade Z Hall of Fame!
It's in the Grade Z Hall of Fame!
This was one that scared me as a little kid, until my Mom put on a rubber mask to scare me back into reality. Then I thought it was great. A lovable bomb of a movie.
Especially loved Irish McCalla.
As all film geeks should already know, tons of films like this were cranked out from the fifties to seventies. They all wound up on TV for years, until Color TV’s were all in houses everywhere. Black and White TV’s were dumped, and so were all these Black and White films.
Everything had to be COLOR. The IN COLOR was even part of the titles.
Everything had to be COLOR. The IN COLOR was even part of the titles.
Yeah She Demons was in my 16mm film collection too. Got an old, well worn TV print back in the seventies from a company in NYC. It was always a good one for parties.
It’s on home video. Easy to get. It’s on You Tube too.
It is soooo bad ---- You’ll love it.
Various Pin-Ups with Irish McCalla, including her Sheena, Queen of the Jungle TV show.
Even Elvis Presley was amazed by Irish McCalla as Sheena.
THANKS FOR READING
A BIG HELLO GOES OUT TO ALL MY READERS FROM -----
SUPERNATURAL THEATER!
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People that love weird and obscure flicks are from all over the world!
Forget politics and politicians. Let's talk about old, corny movies !!!
People that love weird and obscure flicks are from all over the world!
Forget politics and politicians. Let's talk about old, corny movies !!!
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EMAIL ADDRESS ----- Supernaturaltheater@yahoo.com
for comments, compliments, insults, profanities, questions, or what evers.
for comments, compliments, insults, profanities, questions, or what evers.
YOU CAN READ MY OTHER BLOG ENTRIES IN THE ARCHIVE (to the right).
REMEMBER, TO KEEP AN "EYE" OUT ---- THERE'S MORE
TRIVIAL TRIVIA TO COME.
BLOG ENTRY #20 ----Showcased Anthony Dawson's HORROR CASTLE, and
CASTLE OF BLOOD.
Coming soon! 3 MORE EDGAR WALLACE MYSTERY KRIMI'S showcased here at
SUPERNATURAL THEATER!
Don't 'ya just love them?
"Good evening, this is Edgar Wallace speaking."
The blind killers drive Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Baal, and Eddi Arent crazy in
The DEAD EYES OF LONDON.
Another ghostly killer monk ---- The BLACK ABBOT.
SEE YOU NEXT TIME !!!
SUPERNATURAL THEATER!
Don't 'ya just love them?
"Good evening, this is Edgar Wallace speaking."
The blind killers drive Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Baal, and Eddi Arent crazy in
The DEAD EYES OF LONDON.
Another ghostly killer monk ---- The BLACK ABBOT.
Karin Dor in The FORGER OF LONDON.
