Day Eight: "Son Of Frankenstein" was the final film to feature Boris Karloff in the role of the Frankenstein Monster, and arguably the last great film in the series. The franchise declined with each successive film until the Frankenstein Monster was eventually relegated to little more than set decoration as his role diminished to lying on his back while strapped onto an operating table for the bulk of each film. His swan song was the Abbott & Costello horror comedy "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein", one of the comedy duos best film and a true horror comedy classic. Lon Chaney Jr. succeeded Karloff as the monster in the next film of the series "The Ghost Of Frankenstein" and did an admirable job, followed by Bela Lugosi who didn't fare quite as well in "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man". And for the final films in the Frankenstein franchise ("House Of Frankenstein", "House Of Dracula" and "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein") the role of the Frankenstein Monster went to character actor Glenn Strange, who until donning the Jack Pierce make-up as the monster was known mainly for his role in westerns.
"Son Of Frankenstein" opened in theaters on January 13, 1939, but for the majority of us living today we didn't discover the Universal Classic Monsters until the mid to late 50s' when the films were packaged up for syndication and sold to TV stations under the 'Shock Theater' banner. So by the time we saw "Son Of Frankenstein" for the first time, viewers had come to associate the lead actor with another famous literary character. Basil Rathbone was cast as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein - the son of Frankenstein, yet to most viewers Rathbone was best known as master sleuth Sherlock Holmes. The cast also included Bela Lugosi as the conniving broken-neck hunchback Igor, a cunning and somewhat sinister rogue who befriends the Frankenstein monster. Lugosi will always be remembered for his role as the stylish Transylvanian vampire, Count Dracula - but for my money Igor was his greatest performance. Also on hand was Universal regular character actor Lionell Atwill as the one-armed Inspector Krogh. Atwill would go on to appear in an additional four films in the Frankenstein franchise, playing a different character in each film: Doctor Bohmer in "Ghost Of Frankenstein", the mayor in "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man", "Inspector Arnz in "House Of Frankenstein" and Police Inspector Holtz in "House Of Dracula". "Son Of Frankenstein" is not a perfect film but still highly entertaining so I'll give it 4 1/2 bowls out of 5.
The feature pipe for the day is my Brebbia Calabash, an excellent smoking pipe with a nice deep bowl, allowing for a 30 to 45 minute smoke. And in it I'll be smoking Boswell Cupcake, an exceptional aromatic that should have the room smelling like a bakery.
"Even a man who is pure at heart, and says his prayers by night.
May become a wolf, when the wolfbane blooms,
and the autumn moon is bright".
And so begins the amazing tale of a gypsy curse, bloodstained fangs gleaming in the moonlight, a grisly trail of mutilated corpses, and a legendary creature with the ability to transform from man into wolf during the cycle of the full moon. A tragic tale of lycanthropy and the poor lost soul trapped in a nightmare he can't escape after being attacked by a wolf. Like contracting rabies from the bite of a rabid dog, the accursed infliction is passed on to the victim by the bite of a wolf ... a werewolf. By now you realize the movie I'm describing is the 1941 classic "The Wolf Man", Universal's last great horror creation during the Golden Age of Horror. And one of Jack Pierce's most labor intensive make-up applications.
Although many actors assumed the role of Dracula, The Mummy, the Frankenstein monster, The Invisible Man, and the ape-like Captive Wild Woman in the sequels that followed, no one but Lon Chaney Jr. wore the Wolf Man make-up. It was his signature role in the Universal Cannon Of creatures. He went on to reprise his role as Lawrence Talbot in "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man", "The House Of Frankenstein", "The House Of Dracula" and "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein".
Also featured in the cast were Bela Lugosi as Bela the gypsy, the werewolf responsible for the attack on Talbot. Claude Rains, now visible after playing Universal's "The Invisible Man" is cast as the affluent head of the Talbot clan and Larry's father. Maria Ouspenskaya as the kindly gypsy woman, and mother of Bela, who tries to assist and comfort Talbot as best she can. Evelyn Ankers a familiar face in Universal horror films, appearing in such films as "The Ghost Of Frankenstein", "Captive Wild Woman", "Son Of Dracula", "The Mad Ghoul", "Weird Woman", "Jungle Woman", "The Invisible Man's Revenge", and "The Frozen Ghost", provides a little glamour to the film as the love interest for Talbot. And rounding out the cast is Ralph Bellamy as the local police official and personal friend of the Talbot family. Pipe smokers are well represented in the film with no less than five main characters as well as a bevy of extras in the gypsy camp and at a local carnival puffing away on their pipes throughout the film. "The Wolf Man" is a solid 5 bowls out of 5.
The featured pipe is one of the most beautify pipes in my collection, the Nording Harmony Freehand. A pipe saved for special occasions. Since "The Wolf Man" is a old classic I think I'll be packing it with an old classic blend as well, "Carter Hall".
Day 10: Director Robert Rodriguez 2010 sci-fi action thriller "Predators" was the third Predator film in the franchise - fifth if you include the two "ALIEN vs Predator" films. And normally when a movie finds itself part of a multi-picture franchise the quality takes a downward spiral by the time you're on the third or fourth film in the series. Examples such as "Halloween", "ALIEN", "Species", "Saw", "Friday The 13th", "Nightmare On Elm Street" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" prove my point. Hollywood filmmakers rehash stale old storylines sucking the life out of beloved horror icons like maggots feeding on a bloated corpse. But "Predators" bucks the trend as it actually ups the ante of the 1987 "Predator". In that film Arnold Schwarzenegger and his commando unit are served up as sport for an intergalactic trophy hunter in the South American jungle. In the film "Predators", Earth no longer serves as the hunting ground for these alien big game hunters, as they stalk an even deadlier rogue's gallery of villainy and scoundrels. Our hapless human anti-heroes are literally dropped from the sky in free fall onto the surface of an alien planet where escape is impossible. The cast includes Adrian Brody (American mercenary), Danny Trejo (drug cartel enforcer), Alice Braga (Israel Defense sniper), Walter Goggins (San Quentin death row inmate), Topher Grace (psychopathic), Laurence Fishburne (US Army Sir Calvary soldier), Louis Ozawa Chanchien (Yakuza enforcer), Mahershalahashbaz Ali (African death squad soldier), and Oleg Takarov (Russian commando). And in order to survive on this hostile planet these 'human predators' are forced to ban together with a chained Predator prisoner to defeat a tribe of Super Predators looking to add the skulls from any species to their trophy case. For thrills, chills and testosterone driven macho action this film deserves a strong 4 1/2 bowls out of 5 rating.
As for today's feature pipe what could possibly look better in a Predator's trophy case than a Meerschaum Skull Pipe? No self respecting Predator would be caught smoking anything but a Meerschaum Skull Pipe. And as for tonight's blend I'll be smoking CAO "Moontrance". Should have smoked it last night for "The Wolf Man".
Day Eleven: Tonight's movie is "The Bride Of Chucky". In 1988 Don Mancini came up with an idea that was every kid's nightmare, a doll that comes to life. And not just any doll, but a doll possessed by the evil spirit of a psychotic serial killer. That was the premise for the film "Child's Play", and our introduction to Chucky the 'Good Guy Doll'. Unfortunately by the third film in this long running series the straight horror premise established in the first film was getting pretty stale. In "Child's Play 2 and 3" the horror element was greatly diminished, descending into borderline absurdity and a sense of laziness in the production and writing. The audience reacted to Chucky's predictable on-screen antics with unintentional yuks. So Mancini and director Ronny Yu re-tooled the franchise for the fourth film in the series by intentionally injecting truly macabre dark humor into the developing storyline with witty dialogue and a quirky supporting cast which included the scene stealing sexy and dangerous Jennifer Tily, John Ritter (the victim of Chucky and his Bride in a hilarious death sequence), Katherine Heigl and Nick Stabile. This is clearly the best film in the series. "Bride Of Chucky" strikes the perfect balance between horror and dark humor. The best line is when Chucky and his doll bride Tiffany are getting down and dirty and she asks Chucky before they proceed ... "Have you got a rubber" And Chucky replies, "Have I got a rubber?! Tiff, look at be. I'm all rubber." Not a film for everone so I'll five it a 4 bowl out of 5 rating.
The pipe is my Baraccini Volcano - a great little smoker. And in it will be the blend CAO "Black".
Sorry I accidentally posted the picture and a few lines before I was able to finish writing the complete message. I meant to hit DRAFT but must have selected POST COMMENT before logging off the computer to do other things. I intended to get right back to it but when my wife returned home after shopping and informed me the BRAKE light was once again on our car. After we just spend $1,200. 00 on brake pads, rotors, and calipers two weeks ago. So off we went to the dealership to see what new Hell I was about to experience. And after jacking up the car discovered a leak in the brake line due to excessive rust - and the price to replace the complete brake line was going to be another $1,300.00. The car is a 2007 Hunyadi Sonnata ... and I love the car ... and even though it only has 51,000 actual miles on it the car is starting to nickel and dime me to death. Earlier this year I spend another grand on it for a problem with the steering wheel. So we decided it was time to get a new car ... which we did. Another Sonnata - but this time we took out a three year lease instead of purchasing it outright. Figure at my age planning to pay for something five or six years down the road is way too optimistic. Three years ... maybe. And if I'm feeling lucky in three years when the lease is up ... I'll sign up for another lease on a new car.
The bottom line is - I wasn't planning on buying a car today - all I wanted to do was finish my 31 Days of Halloween ... and I ended up screwing that up as well.
Day Twelve: For several years I was the Owner/Moderator of three different Yahoo Horror Groups, and each Saturday Night all three groups would jointly participate in a week-end movie festival dubbed "Secret Cinema Saturday Night. I'd preside over the event presenting the members a weekly theme from which to select five titles that fit the criterion. Members would respond with their list of titles and from the combined lists of all three groups the movie appearing most often was declared the weekly winner. I'd then create a poster in Photoshop posting Saturday Night's selection on the Home Page of each group. The poster above is of one I created. So as a bit of a change up from my normal photo shoot, I'll instead use the original poster design to announce the movie I plan for Day 12. And as you can see by the title it's another Universal Monster Classic "Dracula's Daughter".
The 1936 follow-up to "Dracula" begins immediately following the conclusion of the original, as a pair of Policemen happen upon the fallen body of the mad Renfield at the foot of the staircase from which he fell. There they find Professor Van Helsing (Edward van Sloan) who leads them to Dracula's body and freely admits to driving a stake through his heart. As you can imagine the professor finds himself in hot water and enlists the aide of psychiatrist, played by Otto Kruger to build a case in his defense. All the while this is going on the female offspring of Dracula retrieves her father's body for a burial rite - hoping his death will free her from her curse as a vampire. No such luck. So appearing under the alias Countess Marya Zaleska she too enlists the aide of Otto Kruger, hoping her problem is a disease of the mind in which he can cure her. Once again, no luck.
It may seem like blasphemy to fans of the old Universal films, but I feel "Dracula's Daughter" is a superior film to "Dracula". No reflection on Bela Lugosi (vampires cast no reflection), his performance is flawless as the Transylvanian Count. The lack of a music soundtrack leaves the film somewhat flat. And years later when the movie was released on home video they tried adding a mind numbing minimalistic score from Phillip Glass that did nothing to enhance the picture. "Dracula's Daughter" has the rousing score a picture like this needs to engage the viewer. And the outstanding performance from Gloria Holden as the mysterious and tragic Countess is superb. This classic film deserves the 5 bowls out of 5 I'm giving it. And highly recommend the movie to fans of the old classics.
Tonight's pipe is a no brainer - my Peterson Dracula Pipe. Today's photo shoot proved to be a breeze since I already had both pictures in my archive. The tobacco blend I'll be smoking tonight is one of Russ' Monthly blends from P&C "Snow Drift".
@pwkarch Thank for the compliment. I had to repost this after it disappeared - and had to write it from memory. I'm sure there are a lot of things different from the initial post. But the idea and info is pretty much the same. One day I'll learn to leave well enough alone - or at the least copy and paste something I'm working on in Microsoft WORD just for safe keeping, on the outside chance the message gets gobbled up again.
Day Thirteen: In 2001, inspired by the
50's B' sci-fi films from AIP (American International Pictures) Stan
Winston developed a project for Cinemax TV by repackaging titles such
as "Teenage Caveman", "Earth vs The Spider", "How
To Make A Monster", "The Day The World Ended", and
"The She Creature" under the moniker - "Stan Winston's
Creature Features". But rather than remake the films he and his
team would completely re-imagine the stories using nothing from the
original film other than the title. The first in the series was "The
She Creature" staring Rufus Sewell as an unscrupulous sideshow
barker with a tent full of fraudulent costumed freaks, Carla Gugino
his girlfriend and the sideshow's faux mermaid, and Rya Kihistedt a
genuine mermaid they illegally procure from Aubrey Morris, an old sea
captain who has kept the creature shackled and chained in a makeshift
aquarium ever since it killed and ate his wife. When Sewell and
Gugino first encounter the captive creature she is a stunning
bare-breasted beauty half woman/half fish. Sewell tries
unsuccessfully to acquire the mermaid from the captain who refuses
his offer. So in the dead of night Sewell returns with several men
from the Carny and hijack the prize - but not before accidentally
killing the Captain who tries to stop them. Unfortunately as the men
take to the sea to bring their exhibit to America the mermaid turns
the table on the crew, exerting her influence over both Gugino and
the Captain who is driven to change course and return the Mermaid
Queen to her brood of hungry Sirens that lure sailors to their doom
in the shallow reefs. By the films end the beautiful Kihistedt
transforms into the a gruesome man-eating Queen Of The Lair. Stan
Winston and his special effects team pull off an excellent
transformation sequence, and another fantastic creature design. I
give this a solid 4 bowls out of 5.
Today's featured pipe is my Burl King
Thumb hole Pipe (also called a Bridge Pipe). And as the film takes
place on the water I though Captain Black "Black Sea" would
be the appropriate blend to smoke.
@ghostsofpompeii -- Nice job. You da man! If you keep it up for the full 31 days, you'll be in the same league as SWMBO, who is presently engaged in a "30 paintings in 30 days" challenge from her pastels society. (Don't tell her I like your stuff better than her's.)
"Dracula's Daughter" was actually the movie for DAY 12 not 11. I have two titles listed for Day 11 "Bride Of Chucky" and "Dracula's Daughter", and that's because I screwed up the day after having to rewrite the whole thing again after loosing it when I tried to EDIT it. Got me all discombobulated.
@motie2 You better go back in and delete that last message on the outside chance your wife sees it. I don't want to be responsible for breaking up a happy home. Besides, 30 paintings in 30 days is pretty damn impressive. It would take me 30 days for one good painting ... and it would have to be one of those paint by number pictures.
@Woodsman Thanks. It's a lot of fun for me so I don't mind doing it.
Day Fourteen: Today's film is director
Tim Burton's 1999 "Sleepy Hollow", a 'very loose'
adaptation of a Washington Irving short story "The Legend OfSleepy Hollow". So loose in fact that one might put it in the
same category as yesterday's "The She Creature" - part of
"Stan Winston's Creature Features" - where he builds his
films around the title of an older film, keeping only the title, then
completely changes the storyline. Burton selects bits and pieces of
Irving's original tale to weave an altogether different story,
retaining the name of the town, a few characters (but many in
different roles), and of course the headless horseman (but even there
he changes the legend to fit his narrative). But other than that the
film adaptation goes in an altogether different direction from
Irving's tale.
In a nutshell Irving's "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow" was
little more than a tale of a two rivals seeking the attention of a
wealthy farmer's daughter. One - Ichabod Crane, a superstitious and
altogether unattractive schoolmaster from Connecticut, the other -
Abraham ""Brom Bones" Van Brunt, a popular and more
physically appealing town ruffian with a penchant for pranks. After
an evening of dancing and celebration at a Harvest Party, which also
included the telling of ghost stories - including the town legend of
the headless horseman - Ichabod Crane nervously proposes to the
farmer's daughter Katrina Van Tassel, only to be rejected. To
completely understand the reason for her rejection lets go back to
Washington Irving's actual description of Ichabod Crane: "He
was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and
legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might
have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung
together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large
green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a
weather-cock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind
blew." Is it any wonder she
turned himdown?As the dejected Ichabod leaves the party to return home on
horseback through an area of dense forest and a thickly-wooden glen
known as Wiley's Swamp, he finds himself being pursued by the
legendary headless horseman. Ichabod barely escapes with his life as
he safely crosses the bridge, but not before the horseman tosses his
severed head at him, knocking him unconscious. He is never to be
heard from again. Irving's ending is somewhat ambiguous, leaving the
reader to wonder if Crane did happen upon the legendary horseman or
if it was a prank devised by Crane's rival Van Brunt since it's not a
severed head the townspeople find the following day in the spot where
Ichabod fell from his horse- but the scattered remnants of a jack o'
lantern.
"Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow" stars Johnny Depp as
Ichabod Crane, no longer the schoolteacher of Irving's tale but a
Constable sent to the town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate the
gruesome decapitation murder of three residents. Christina Ricci is
cast as Katrina Van Tassel the daughter of a wealthy land owner, and
Casper Van Dien her jealous suitor in the apparent role of Brom Van
Brunt. The cast also includes Miranda Richardson, Jeffery Jones,
Michael Gough, and cameo roles from Christopher Lee, Martin Landau,
and Christopher Walken who is fantastic in his limited time on-screen
as the headless Hessian horseman of Sleepy Hollow. The slightly askew
buildings and set pieces are a Tim Burton trademark, as is the
stunning cinematography. Say what you will about the quirky nature of
Burton's films but the guy sure has an artistic sense of style. And
Johnny Depp plays the role of the reluctant hero to perfection
without injecting too much silliness to the role. The movie is an
entertaining mixture of murder, mayhem, conspiracy, and witchcraft
blended together with equal parts horror and humor. I highly
recommend this film for holiday viewing during this Halloween season
and give it 4 1/5 bowls out of 5.
And since pumpkins, squash, and gourds are all members of the
Cucurbitaceae family I thought my Gourd Calabash Pipe would be
perfect as today's featured pipe. And what better blend to smoke in
it then Sutliff Pumpkin Spice.
Day Fifteen: David Fincher's 1992
"ALIEN 3" was both a critical and box office failure, as
well as a major disappointment to the ardent fans of the ALIEN
franchise. This much maligned films deserves many of the barbs tossed
it's way considering two much beloved survivors of the previous film,
Corporal Dwayne Hicks (Michael Biehn) and Rebecca 'Newt' Jordan
(Carrie Henn) are unceremoniously killed off in their sleep chamber
during the opening credits. And moments before the final credits
Sigourney Weaver ends her life by free-falling into a blazing furnace
of molten lead upon discovering the embryo of an ALIEN QUEEN is
gestating inside her. To say this is a downbeat movie is an
understatement. I left the theater depressed and totally exhausted
vowing never to put myself through that ordeal again. Of course as a
rabid fan of the franchise the moment it came out on DVD I bought a
copy and watched it several additional times. And with each
subsequent viewing I began to appreciate the dark nature of the film
as well as Fincher's uncompromising vision. Let's just say - it grew
on me.
Sigourney Weaver reprises her role as
Ellen Ripley, finding herself the sole survivor of a crash landing on
Fiorina 161, a barren penal colony planet comprised of the
worse-of-the-worse Alfa male inmates, now living in a
pseudo-religious sect led by inmate Dillon (Charles S Dutton).
Andrews (Brian Glover) is a hard nosed by-the-book warden who
somehow manages to keeps things under control with the aide of
Dillon. And Clemens (Charles Dance) is the prison doctor with a dark
past, and something of a love interest to Ellen Ripley. Lance
Henriksen makes a cameo appearance as bits and pieces of the original
Bishop from the previous film and a double-role as Bishop II a
Company shill hoping to retrieve both Ripley and the ALIEN QUEEN
embryo inside her for the weapons division of Wayland Industry. And
of course somewhere in this story is one mean-ass ALIEN.
In 2003 the ALIEN QUADRILOGY Box Set
was released which included all four theatrical films as well as
Special Extended Director's Cuts of all four films. Needless to say
the collection is in a place of honor on my shelf alongside several
other versions of the ALIEN films.
The theatrical cut of "ALIEN 3"
had a running time of 114 minutes while the Extended Special Edition
boasts a 138 minute running time. (Recently a 2003 Special Assembly
Cut' surfaced with a running time of 145). And believe it or not the
additional minutes are quite beneficial in character development. And
in contrast to conventional thinking, extending the movie enhanced
the pacing and actually tightened the film into a more cohesive
story. Unlike many extended versions, "ALIEN 3" isn't
loaded with extreme scenes of graphic gore. The main change from the
theatrical cut to the Extended Director's Cut concerns the birth of
the ALIEN. In the theatrical cut the ALIEN's unfortunate host is a
dog, while in the extended cut the ALIEN rips out of the body of an
oxen. And there are a few additional frames of film featuring the
newborn ALIEN scampering about. But other than that those extra
minutes are dedicated to character development and letting scenes run
their course without quick jump cuts and the helter-skelter editing
that made the theatrical version so confusing. By slowing down the
pacing and extending scenes the extended cut gave me a better
appreciation of the film. Elevating it from the trash heap of movie
sequels, where it once resided, to an exciting and compelling
exercise in futility and self-sacrifice. And even though the
flesh-colored design of the creature in "ALIEN 3" varied
from the first two films - the over all concept is still the most
unique design for an alien life-form in motion picture history. After
a rocky start I now give "ALIEN 3" (the Extended Cut) a 4
our of 5 bowl rating.
The featured pipe is a Danish
Frasorteret Freehand and in it I'll be smoking C&D Autumn Evening.
@ghostsofpompeii You are an extremely talented designer with a keen eye for layout and impact. I CAN"T wait as I said before for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I tried to save myself some heart-ache by writing this in Microsoft WORD first and then copy and past it to the site. After so many times in the past, of losing everything when correcting a simple mistake, I figured that might resolve my problem of losing everything and having to start from scratch - and hope I remember what I'd written. But it looks like trying to paste something from WORD was my problem. So I had to print out what I'd written in WORD then re-type it here directly under the picture. I've been working on this since the conclusion of the BEAR/RAVENS game. What a pain.
That Latin phrase made me laugh hysterically. Very often an Architectural Project that is designed needs to go to a local or regional Planning Board for approval. Over the years this has in and of itself often became a total nightmare as each jurisdiction has varying degrees of what needs to be shown for approval. None of those individual Authorities having Jurisdiction require the same things. Some years ago I did a fairly complex design in a nearby city and because the Planning Board was against the project )POLITICS) in general, they kept providing new stumbling blocks at each meeting. Being an appointed board, they only met every month. We finally got to the point after several months (the owner was paying interest on Construction Loans and was threatening to litigate) that they were running out of reasons to deny approval. At the last meeting they finally approved the Site Plan, but required us to list the Latin names of the plantings proposed to be submitted to the Municipality prior to them issuing an official Resolution. Now I have often been a bit of an asshat at times. This project and this process drove us nuts. So I gave the draftsman a list of shrubs and plantings that were on the plan. I looked up the Latin names and had them added to the planting schedule. One of the plants I gave the Latin name "non carborundum bastidium" which I believed was Latin for 'Don't let the Bastards s*&t on you". The funny ending to this story is that sometime shortly thereafter the Municipal Engineer and Planner to that Planning board (after reviewing the revised plan) made a very complimentary comment on our resubmission.
I still laugh at this......and Motie, you made my night.
@ghostsofpompeii -- Yeah, stuff here should be entered in plain text, not formatted text. even though I have been able, on occasion, to paste some kinds of formatted text here.
@ghostsofpompeii I'm enjoying your project, and it's something I look forward to reading each time I log in. I'm not a fan of modern horror stuff (I don't like gore), but I like the reviews you give, as well as the wonderful pictures.
I've seen the original She Creature, but the edition that's on MST3K. While it's not one of my favorite episodes, it's a good one to watch. I just might have to load up my dvd and watch it again.
Comments
Day Eight: "Son Of Frankenstein" was the final film to feature Boris Karloff in the role of the Frankenstein Monster, and arguably the last great film in the series. The franchise declined with each successive film until the Frankenstein Monster was eventually relegated to little more than set decoration as his role diminished to lying on his back while strapped onto an operating table for the bulk of each film. His swan song was the Abbott & Costello horror comedy "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein", one of the comedy duos best film and a true horror comedy classic. Lon Chaney Jr. succeeded Karloff as the monster in the next film of the series "The Ghost Of Frankenstein" and did an admirable job, followed by Bela Lugosi who didn't fare quite as well in "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man". And for the final films in the Frankenstein franchise ("House Of Frankenstein", "House Of Dracula" and "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein") the role of the Frankenstein Monster went to character actor Glenn Strange, who until donning the Jack Pierce make-up as the monster was known mainly for his role in westerns.
"Son Of Frankenstein" opened in theaters on January 13, 1939, but for the majority of us living today we didn't discover the Universal Classic Monsters until the mid to late 50s' when the films were packaged up for syndication and sold to TV stations under the 'Shock Theater' banner. So by the time we saw "Son Of Frankenstein" for the first time, viewers had come to associate the lead actor with another famous literary character. Basil Rathbone was cast as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein - the son of Frankenstein, yet to most viewers Rathbone was best known as master sleuth Sherlock Holmes. The cast also included Bela Lugosi as the conniving broken-neck hunchback Igor, a cunning and somewhat sinister rogue who befriends the Frankenstein monster. Lugosi will always be remembered for his role as the stylish Transylvanian vampire, Count Dracula - but for my money Igor was his greatest performance. Also on hand was Universal regular character actor Lionell Atwill as the one-armed Inspector Krogh. Atwill would go on to appear in an additional four films in the Frankenstein franchise, playing a different character in each film: Doctor Bohmer in "Ghost Of Frankenstein", the mayor in "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man", "Inspector Arnz in "House Of Frankenstein" and Police Inspector Holtz in "House Of Dracula". "Son Of Frankenstein" is not a perfect film but still highly entertaining so I'll give it 4 1/2 bowls out of 5.
The feature pipe for the day is my Brebbia Calabash, an excellent smoking pipe with a nice deep bowl, allowing for a 30 to 45 minute smoke. And in it I'll be smoking Boswell Cupcake, an exceptional aromatic that should have the room smelling like a bakery.
Day Nine:
"Even a man who is pure at heart, and says his prayers by night.
May become a wolf, when the wolfbane blooms,
and the autumn moon is bright".
And so begins the amazing tale of a gypsy curse, bloodstained fangs gleaming in the moonlight, a grisly trail of mutilated corpses, and a legendary creature with the ability to transform from man into wolf during the cycle of the full moon. A tragic tale of lycanthropy and the poor lost soul trapped in a nightmare he can't escape after being attacked by a wolf. Like contracting rabies from the bite of a rabid dog, the accursed infliction is passed on to the victim by the bite of a wolf ... a werewolf. By now you realize the movie I'm describing is the 1941 classic "The Wolf Man", Universal's last great horror creation during the Golden Age of Horror. And one of Jack Pierce's most labor intensive make-up applications.
Although many actors assumed the role of Dracula, The Mummy, the Frankenstein monster, The Invisible Man, and the ape-like Captive Wild Woman in the sequels that followed, no one but Lon Chaney Jr. wore the Wolf Man make-up. It was his signature role in the Universal Cannon Of creatures. He went on to reprise his role as Lawrence Talbot in "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man", "The House Of Frankenstein", "The House Of Dracula" and "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein".
Also featured in the cast were Bela Lugosi as Bela the gypsy, the werewolf responsible for the attack on Talbot. Claude Rains, now visible after playing Universal's "The Invisible Man" is cast as the affluent head of the Talbot clan and Larry's father. Maria Ouspenskaya as the kindly gypsy woman, and mother of Bela, who tries to assist and comfort Talbot as best she can. Evelyn Ankers a familiar face in Universal horror films, appearing in such films as "The Ghost Of Frankenstein", "Captive Wild Woman", "Son Of Dracula", "The Mad Ghoul", "Weird Woman", "Jungle Woman", "The Invisible Man's Revenge", and "The Frozen Ghost", provides a little glamour to the film as the love interest for Talbot. And rounding out the cast is Ralph Bellamy as the local police official and personal friend of the Talbot family. Pipe smokers are well represented in the film with no less than five main characters as well as a bevy of extras in the gypsy camp and at a local carnival puffing away on their pipes throughout the film. "The Wolf Man" is a solid 5 bowls out of 5.
The featured pipe is one of the most beautify pipes in my collection, the Nording Harmony Freehand. A pipe saved for special occasions. Since "The Wolf Man" is a old classic I think I'll be packing it with an old classic blend as well, "Carter Hall".
Day 10: Director Robert Rodriguez 2010 sci-fi action thriller "Predators" was the third Predator film in the franchise - fifth if you include the two "ALIEN vs Predator" films. And normally when a movie finds itself part of a multi-picture franchise the quality takes a downward spiral by the time you're on the third or fourth film in the series. Examples such as "Halloween", "ALIEN", "Species", "Saw", "Friday The 13th", "Nightmare On Elm Street" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" prove my point. Hollywood filmmakers rehash stale old storylines sucking the life out of beloved horror icons like maggots feeding on a bloated corpse. But "Predators" bucks the trend as it actually ups the ante of the 1987 "Predator". In that film Arnold Schwarzenegger and his commando unit are served up as sport for an intergalactic trophy hunter in the South American jungle. In the film "Predators", Earth no longer serves as the hunting ground for these alien big game hunters, as they stalk an even deadlier rogue's gallery of villainy and scoundrels. Our hapless human anti-heroes are literally dropped from the sky in free fall onto the surface of an alien planet where escape is impossible. The cast includes Adrian Brody (American mercenary), Danny Trejo (drug cartel enforcer), Alice Braga (Israel Defense sniper), Walter Goggins (San Quentin death row inmate), Topher Grace (psychopathic), Laurence Fishburne (US Army Sir Calvary soldier), Louis Ozawa Chanchien (Yakuza enforcer), Mahershalahashbaz Ali (African death squad soldier), and Oleg Takarov (Russian commando). And in order to survive on this hostile planet these 'human predators' are forced to ban together with a chained Predator prisoner to defeat a tribe of Super Predators looking to add the skulls from any species to their trophy case. For thrills, chills and testosterone driven macho action this film deserves a strong 4 1/2 bowls out of 5 rating.
As for today's feature pipe what could possibly look better in a Predator's trophy case than a Meerschaum Skull Pipe? No self respecting Predator would be caught smoking anything but a Meerschaum Skull Pipe. And as for tonight's blend I'll be smoking CAO "Moontrance". Should have smoked it last night for "The Wolf Man".
Day Eleven: Tonight's movie is "The Bride Of Chucky". In 1988 Don Mancini came up with an idea that was every kid's nightmare, a doll that comes to life. And not just any doll, but a doll possessed by the evil spirit of a psychotic serial killer. That was the premise for the film "Child's Play", and our introduction to Chucky the 'Good Guy Doll'. Unfortunately by the third film in this long running series the straight horror premise established in the first film was getting pretty stale. In "Child's Play 2 and 3" the horror element was greatly diminished, descending into borderline absurdity and a sense of laziness in the production and writing. The audience reacted to Chucky's predictable on-screen antics with unintentional yuks. So Mancini and director Ronny Yu re-tooled the franchise for the fourth film in the series by intentionally injecting truly macabre dark humor into the developing storyline with witty dialogue and a quirky supporting cast which included the scene stealing sexy and dangerous Jennifer Tily, John Ritter (the victim of Chucky and his Bride in a hilarious death sequence), Katherine Heigl and Nick Stabile. This is clearly the best film in the series. "Bride Of Chucky" strikes the perfect balance between horror and dark humor. The best line is when Chucky and his doll bride Tiffany are getting down and dirty and she asks Chucky before they proceed ... "Have you got a rubber" And Chucky replies, "Have I got a rubber?! Tiff, look at be. I'm all rubber." Not a film for everone so I'll five it a 4 bowl out of 5 rating.
The pipe is my Baraccini Volcano - a great little smoker. And in it will be the blend CAO "Black".
Sorry I accidentally posted the picture and a few lines before I was able to finish writing the complete message. I meant to hit DRAFT but must have selected POST COMMENT before logging off the computer to do other things. I intended to get right back to it but when my wife returned home after shopping and informed me the BRAKE light was once again on our car. After we just spend $1,200. 00 on brake pads, rotors, and calipers two weeks ago. So off we went to the dealership to see what new Hell I was about to experience. And after jacking up the car discovered a leak in the brake line due to excessive rust - and the price to replace the complete brake line was going to be another $1,300.00. The car is a 2007 Hunyadi Sonnata ... and I love the car ... and even though it only has 51,000 actual miles on it the car is starting to nickel and dime me to death. Earlier this year I spend another grand on it for a problem with the steering wheel. So we decided it was time to get a new car ... which we did. Another Sonnata - but this time we took out a three year lease instead of purchasing it outright. Figure at my age planning to pay for something five or six years down the road is way too optimistic. Three years ... maybe. And if I'm feeling lucky in three years when the lease is up ... I'll sign up for another lease on a new car.
The bottom line is - I wasn't planning on buying a car today - all I wanted to do was finish my 31 Days of Halloween ... and I ended up screwing that up as well.
Day Twelve: For several years I was the Owner/Moderator of three different Yahoo Horror Groups, and each Saturday Night all three groups would jointly participate in a week-end movie festival dubbed "Secret Cinema Saturday Night. I'd preside over the event presenting the members a weekly theme from which to select five titles that fit the criterion. Members would respond with their list of titles and from the combined lists of all three groups the movie appearing most often was declared the weekly winner. I'd then create a poster in Photoshop posting Saturday Night's selection on the Home Page of each group. The poster above is of one I created. So as a bit of a change up from my normal photo shoot, I'll instead use the original poster design to announce the movie I plan for Day 12. And as you can see by the title it's another Universal Monster Classic "Dracula's Daughter".
The 1936 follow-up to "Dracula" begins immediately following the conclusion of the original, as a pair of Policemen happen upon the fallen body of the mad Renfield at the foot of the staircase from which he fell. There they find Professor Van Helsing (Edward van Sloan) who leads them to Dracula's body and freely admits to driving a stake through his heart. As you can imagine the professor finds himself in hot water and enlists the aide of psychiatrist, played by Otto Kruger to build a case in his defense. All the while this is going on the female offspring of Dracula retrieves her father's body for a burial rite - hoping his death will free her from her curse as a vampire. No such luck. So appearing under the alias Countess Marya Zaleska she too enlists the aide of Otto Kruger, hoping her problem is a disease of the mind in which he can cure her. Once again, no luck.
It may seem like blasphemy to fans of the old Universal films, but I feel "Dracula's Daughter" is a superior film to "Dracula". No reflection on Bela Lugosi (vampires cast no reflection), his performance is flawless as the Transylvanian Count. The lack of a music soundtrack leaves the film somewhat flat. And years later when the movie was released on home video they tried adding a mind numbing minimalistic score from Phillip Glass that did nothing to enhance the picture. "Dracula's Daughter" has the rousing score a picture like this needs to engage the viewer. And the outstanding performance from Gloria Holden as the mysterious and tragic Countess is superb. This classic film deserves the 5 bowls out of 5 I'm giving it. And highly recommend the movie to fans of the old classics.
Tonight's pipe is a no brainer - my Peterson Dracula Pipe. Today's photo shoot proved to be a breeze since I already had both pictures in my archive. The tobacco blend I'll be smoking tonight is one of Russ' Monthly blends from P&C "Snow Drift".
Absolutely fabulous creativity.......you are really good at graphic design and photography
Day Thirteen: In 2001, inspired by the 50's B' sci-fi films from AIP (American International Pictures) Stan Winston developed a project for Cinemax TV by repackaging titles such as "Teenage Caveman", "Earth vs The Spider", "How To Make A Monster", "The Day The World Ended", and "The She Creature" under the moniker - "Stan Winston's Creature Features". But rather than remake the films he and his team would completely re-imagine the stories using nothing from the original film other than the title. The first in the series was "The She Creature" staring Rufus Sewell as an unscrupulous sideshow barker with a tent full of fraudulent costumed freaks, Carla Gugino his girlfriend and the sideshow's faux mermaid, and Rya Kihistedt a genuine mermaid they illegally procure from Aubrey Morris, an old sea captain who has kept the creature shackled and chained in a makeshift aquarium ever since it killed and ate his wife. When Sewell and Gugino first encounter the captive creature she is a stunning bare-breasted beauty half woman/half fish. Sewell tries unsuccessfully to acquire the mermaid from the captain who refuses his offer. So in the dead of night Sewell returns with several men from the Carny and hijack the prize - but not before accidentally killing the Captain who tries to stop them. Unfortunately as the men take to the sea to bring their exhibit to America the mermaid turns the table on the crew, exerting her influence over both Gugino and the Captain who is driven to change course and return the Mermaid Queen to her brood of hungry Sirens that lure sailors to their doom in the shallow reefs. By the films end the beautiful Kihistedt transforms into the a gruesome man-eating Queen Of The Lair. Stan Winston and his special effects team pull off an excellent transformation sequence, and another fantastic creature design. I give this a solid 4 bowls out of 5.
Today's featured pipe is my Burl King Thumb hole Pipe (also called a Bridge Pipe). And as the film takes place on the water I though Captain Black "Black Sea" would be the appropriate blend to smoke.
@Woodsman Thanks. It's a lot of fun for me so I don't mind doing it.
Day Fourteen: Today's film is director Tim Burton's 1999 "Sleepy Hollow", a 'very loose' adaptation of a Washington Irving short story "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow". So loose in fact that one might put it in the same category as yesterday's "The She Creature" - part of "Stan Winston's Creature Features" - where he builds his films around the title of an older film, keeping only the title, then completely changes the storyline. Burton selects bits and pieces of Irving's original tale to weave an altogether different story, retaining the name of the town, a few characters (but many in different roles), and of course the headless horseman (but even there he changes the legend to fit his narrative). But other than that the film adaptation goes in an altogether different direction from Irving's tale.
In a nutshell Irving's "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow" was little more than a tale of a two rivals seeking the attention of a wealthy farmer's daughter. One - Ichabod Crane, a superstitious and altogether unattractive schoolmaster from Connecticut, the other - Abraham ""Brom Bones" Van Brunt, a popular and more physically appealing town ruffian with a penchant for pranks. After an evening of dancing and celebration at a Harvest Party, which also included the telling of ghost stories - including the town legend of the headless horseman - Ichabod Crane nervously proposes to the farmer's daughter Katrina Van Tassel, only to be rejected. To completely understand the reason for her rejection lets go back to Washington Irving's actual description of Ichabod Crane: "He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather-cock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind blew." Is it any wonder she turned him down? As the dejected Ichabod leaves the party to return home on horseback through an area of dense forest and a thickly-wooden glen known as Wiley's Swamp, he finds himself being pursued by the legendary headless horseman. Ichabod barely escapes with his life as he safely crosses the bridge, but not before the horseman tosses his severed head at him, knocking him unconscious. He is never to be heard from again. Irving's ending is somewhat ambiguous, leaving the reader to wonder if Crane did happen upon the legendary horseman or if it was a prank devised by Crane's rival Van Brunt since it's not a severed head the townspeople find the following day in the spot where Ichabod fell from his horse- but the scattered remnants of a jack o' lantern.
"Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow" stars Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane, no longer the schoolteacher of Irving's tale but a Constable sent to the town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate the gruesome decapitation murder of three residents. Christina Ricci is cast as Katrina Van Tassel the daughter of a wealthy land owner, and Casper Van Dien her jealous suitor in the apparent role of Brom Van Brunt. The cast also includes Miranda Richardson, Jeffery Jones, Michael Gough, and cameo roles from Christopher Lee, Martin Landau, and Christopher Walken who is fantastic in his limited time on-screen as the headless Hessian horseman of Sleepy Hollow. The slightly askew buildings and set pieces are a Tim Burton trademark, as is the stunning cinematography. Say what you will about the quirky nature of Burton's films but the guy sure has an artistic sense of style. And Johnny Depp plays the role of the reluctant hero to perfection without injecting too much silliness to the role. The movie is an entertaining mixture of murder, mayhem, conspiracy, and witchcraft blended together with equal parts horror and humor. I highly recommend this film for holiday viewing during this Halloween season and give it 4 1/5 bowls out of 5.
And since pumpkins, squash, and gourds are all members of the Cucurbitaceae family I thought my Gourd Calabash Pipe would be perfect as today's featured pipe. And what better blend to smoke in it then Sutliff Pumpkin Spice.
Day Fifteen: David Fincher's 1992 "ALIEN 3" was both a critical and box office failure, as well as a major disappointment to the ardent fans of the ALIEN franchise. This much maligned films deserves many of the barbs tossed it's way considering two much beloved survivors of the previous film, Corporal Dwayne Hicks (Michael Biehn) and Rebecca 'Newt' Jordan (Carrie Henn) are unceremoniously killed off in their sleep chamber during the opening credits. And moments before the final credits Sigourney Weaver ends her life by free-falling into a blazing furnace of molten lead upon discovering the embryo of an ALIEN QUEEN is gestating inside her. To say this is a downbeat movie is an understatement. I left the theater depressed and totally exhausted vowing never to put myself through that ordeal again. Of course as a rabid fan of the franchise the moment it came out on DVD I bought a copy and watched it several additional times. And with each subsequent viewing I began to appreciate the dark nature of the film as well as Fincher's uncompromising vision. Let's just say - it grew on me.
Sigourney Weaver reprises her role as Ellen Ripley, finding herself the sole survivor of a crash landing on Fiorina 161, a barren penal colony planet comprised of the worse-of-the-worse Alfa male inmates, now living in a pseudo-religious sect led by inmate Dillon (Charles S Dutton). Andrews (Brian Glover) is a hard nosed by-the-book warden who somehow manages to keeps things under control with the aide of Dillon. And Clemens (Charles Dance) is the prison doctor with a dark past, and something of a love interest to Ellen Ripley. Lance Henriksen makes a cameo appearance as bits and pieces of the original Bishop from the previous film and a double-role as Bishop II a Company shill hoping to retrieve both Ripley and the ALIEN QUEEN embryo inside her for the weapons division of Wayland Industry. And of course somewhere in this story is one mean-ass ALIEN.
In 2003 the ALIEN QUADRILOGY Box Set was released which included all four theatrical films as well as Special Extended Director's Cuts of all four films. Needless to say the collection is in a place of honor on my shelf alongside several other versions of the ALIEN films.
The theatrical cut of "ALIEN 3" had a running time of 114 minutes while the Extended Special Edition boasts a 138 minute running time. (Recently a 2003 Special Assembly Cut' surfaced with a running time of 145). And believe it or not the additional minutes are quite beneficial in character development. And in contrast to conventional thinking, extending the movie enhanced the pacing and actually tightened the film into a more cohesive story. Unlike many extended versions, "ALIEN 3" isn't loaded with extreme scenes of graphic gore. The main change from the theatrical cut to the Extended Director's Cut concerns the birth of the ALIEN. In the theatrical cut the ALIEN's unfortunate host is a dog, while in the extended cut the ALIEN rips out of the body of an oxen. And there are a few additional frames of film featuring the newborn ALIEN scampering about. But other than that those extra minutes are dedicated to character development and letting scenes run their course without quick jump cuts and the helter-skelter editing that made the theatrical version so confusing. By slowing down the pacing and extending scenes the extended cut gave me a better appreciation of the film. Elevating it from the trash heap of movie sequels, where it once resided, to an exciting and compelling exercise in futility and self-sacrifice. And even though the flesh-colored design of the creature in "ALIEN 3" varied from the first two films - the over all concept is still the most unique design for an alien life-form in motion picture history. After a rocky start I now give "ALIEN 3" (the Extended Cut) a 4 our of 5 bowl rating.
The featured pipe is a Danish Frasorteret Freehand and in it I'll be smoking C&D Autumn Evening.
Testing One Two Three
You are an extremely talented designer with a keen eye for layout and impact. I CAN"T wait as I said before for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
(A quasi-Latin aphorism: "Don't let the bastards grind you down.")
Of course, being of Italian (Sicilian?) descent, you knew that....
I tried to save myself some heart-ache by writing this in Microsoft WORD first and then copy and past it to the site. After so many times in the past, of losing everything when correcting a simple mistake, I figured that might resolve my problem of losing everything and having to start from scratch - and hope I remember what I'd written. But it looks like trying to paste something from WORD was my problem. So I had to print out what I'd written in WORD then re-type it here directly under the picture. I've been working on this since the conclusion of the BEAR/RAVENS game. What a pain.
That Latin phrase made me laugh hysterically. Very often an Architectural Project that is designed needs to go to a local or regional Planning Board for approval. Over the years this has in and of itself often became a total nightmare as each jurisdiction has varying degrees of what needs to be shown for approval. None of those individual Authorities having Jurisdiction require the same things. Some years ago I did a fairly complex design in a nearby city and because the Planning Board was against the project )POLITICS) in general, they kept providing new stumbling blocks at each meeting. Being an appointed board, they only met every month. We finally got to the point after several months (the owner was paying interest on Construction Loans and was threatening to litigate) that they were running out of reasons to deny approval. At the last meeting they finally approved the Site Plan, but required us to list the Latin names of the plantings proposed to be submitted to the Municipality prior to them issuing an official Resolution.
Now I have often been a bit of an asshat at times. This project and this process drove us nuts. So I gave the draftsman a list of shrubs and plantings that were on the plan. I looked up the Latin names and had them added to the planting schedule. One of the plants I gave the Latin name "non carborundum bastidium" which I believed was Latin for 'Don't let the Bastards s*&t on you".
The funny ending to this story is that sometime shortly thereafter the Municipal Engineer and Planner to that Planning board (after reviewing the revised plan) made a very complimentary comment on our resubmission.
I still laugh at this......and Motie, you made my night.
@ghostsofpompeii -- Yeah, stuff here should be entered in plain text, not formatted text. even though I have been able, on occasion, to paste some kinds of formatted text here.
I've seen the original She Creature, but the edition that's on MST3K. While it's not one of my favorite episodes, it's a good one to watch. I just might have to load up my dvd and watch it again.