The
Coolidge Corner Theater
in Brookline, MA is an independent movie house that's been operating since
1933. While they get first run movies, they also offer special programing year
round. In addition to the 23rd annual 24 hour horror-thon, this year they also
featured
Schlock and Awe
spotlighting the films of William Castle.
I discovered Castle from his movies with Vincent Price and ever since then,
experiencing one his films as audiences did in the 50s and 60s has been a top
time machine wish list destination.
Castle mostly made B movies but his genius was in providing some sort of
gimmick in the theater. House on Haunted Hill was filmed in Emergo where a
skeleton would "come out" of the screen and float above the audience. For 13
Ghosts, filmed in Illusion-O, audiences were provided a
ghost viewer
that gave you the option of not seeing the ghosts if you were too
terrified.
You can see the movies offered on the poster above. Joe Dante's movie Matinee
features John Goodman playing a William Castle type film maker. House on
Haunted Hill is one of my favorite Price movies but I was more interested in
experiencing The Tingler in
Percepto!.
There was quite a turnout for the movie which made me really happy knowing
there are so many other Price fans out there. I mean, I know there are but how
often do you get to see one of his movies with an audience? And of course, I brought my Vincent Price action figure with me!
In the early 70s, Vincent Price recorded four spoken word albums for Caedmon
Records.
Thanks to the
Official Vincent Price Youtube Channel, you can enjoy the dulcet tones of Mr. Vincent Price reading a variety of
tales, recipes, and rituals. Not only is the content a perfect Halloween evening accompaniment, but you just can't beat Vincent Price.
Tales of Witches, Ghosts, and Goblins
A Coven of Witches Tales
A Hornbook for Witches
A Graveyard of Ghost Tales
Be sure to check out the list of Countdown bloggers by clicking below.
Back in October, I bought a
Vincent Price Trick or Treat Memorabilia grab bag
on eBay. It wasn't particularly spooky so I didn't post it in October. It's
actually a fun way to kick of the new year due to the story that came out of
it.
The grab bag was put together by his estate/daughter and contains all sorts of
random things you might find if you were going through his desk at different
points in time. It was a priority flat rate envelope packed with all sorts of
ephemera.
This is just a small sampling of what was included. There were a couple of
photos, several things relating to the art world such as gallery opening
invites, holiday cards, random newspaper clippings, wedding invites, and even
a children's birthday party invite.
Here's another round of ads to kick of the final full week before Halloween!
I don't remember where I found these but I'd guess Famous Monsters of Filmland. Each mail away kit send you the secrets of transforming a human into a creature of the night. Plus fangs and six wallet photos of film famous monsters. You cannot beat that for a buck!
Now this is a pretty cool ad! You can get a Spider-Man or Hulk costume with mask. If you're more about the monsters, they have you covered too. I am curious why the Wolfman mask is about x3 the cost of the other masks. Maybe it's got real hair.
This one's almost too weird for words! These Unknown Creatures are 5.5" plastic models with no real names and what even are they? And who can even imagine what The Thing in a Bag actually is? "It's whatever you may think it is"
We'll round out this batch with a pair of ad featuring Vincent Price. I always wanted to get this Shrunken Head kit just because he endorsed it.
Everyone knows Flintstones because they were so widely advertised but I don't think I remember Monster vitamins. Do you?
Be sure to Trick or Treat at the participating Countdown blogs by clicking below!
What would Halloween be without a visit from Vincent Price?
Before we go any further, I have to stop for a sec to talk about this amazing album cover. It looks like something right out of a D&D manual.
Turn up the volume. And turn down the lights - If you dare!
Suspense-master
Vincent Price presents a hair-raising, bone-chilling collection of
classic horror tales featuring a ghastly brew of witches, ghosts and
goblins. Edgar Allan Poe's eerie Dreamland, John Collier's offbeat Thus I
Refute Beezly, and Mariažs Leech's practical but frightful How to See
Ghosts or Surely Bring Them to You, are just a few of the tales stirring
up fear in this chilling concoction of horror. These stories, sounds,
spells, and incantations will send shivers up you spine
This album features four poems from the original work, A Hornbook for Witches: Poems of Fantasy, that was released in 1950. It is likely the rarest book published by Arkham House as only 553 copies were printed and 300 of those went to the author!
You can read the book online if you wish.
If you prefer portable audio, click on the album cover to drop it in your treat bag.
Alternatively, you can listen to it on YouTube.
If you're asking yourself what exactly a Hornbook is, click here and feel good about yourself for learning something new (and useless) today!
Be sure to Trick or Treat at the participating Countdown blogs by clicking below!
Over the past few months, Ebay user 3dogreiner has been putting up auctions from the Vincent Price estate. There have been quite the variety of items from personal and professional photos to random bits of paper with drawing and/or notes made by Price. There was even a handwritten letter from Christopher Lee to Price which sold for $400!
Every time a new batch of auctions went up, I would find a few interesting items with his signature or handwriting on them to watch. Most of them were autographed photos and they usually ended up going for over $100.
Persistence paid off and I was able to finally acquire a piece of Vincent Price!
So to speak...
It comes with a letter certifying that this is a piece from Price's family estate which is signed by his daughter, Victoria Price. I've met her on two different occasions (read about them here and here) and she is a wonderful person and an amazing speaker.
What I ended up with is a signed Christmas card. It's not an autographed photo and isn't horror related but I am totally fine with that. People that know Price know he was quite the renaissance man who was also into cooking and art collecting among other thing.
I think this is a pretty cool piece of memorabilia that shows a different side of Price.
Here's a close up of the card. It's worth clicking on for a better look at the little statues on the left side of the staircase.
I'm definitely going to keep scouting any new auctions to see what else turns up. Even if I don't get anything else, I am beyond thrilled to finally have a Vincent Price autograph!
Hey folks! It's been a few weeks but I'm still here after an unplanned break. Don't worry, everything's fine here, just had a hard time getting back to the blog after vacation and then the holidays. You know how it is.
I got an email from Victoria Price (ok, I'm on her mailing list) with some exciting news! She's going to be producing a series of monthly videos where she talks about her dad and shares things like family photos. Having seen her speak twice (you can read about those events here and here), I'm pretty confident this something even casual Vincent Price fans will want to check out. Not only is Victoria a great speaker but her dad was a really amazing member of the human race.
I'll let her explain it all for you...
Over the years, so many of you have asked whether I can come speak about my dad in your hometown. This year, I finally have an answer for you.
I have created a way to bring you the photos, videos, and stories that I have shared all over the world -- along with even more unpublished material. These are images, videos and ideas that you cannot see or hear anywhere else -- and they will stream straight to your computer, tablet or smartphone. You will get one 10-15 minute video presentation each month for 12 months, starting on January 27 and continuing through December 27, 2018.
Each month will be a different download, so be sure to sign up for the January installment, so that you don't miss a single month of these amazing insights into the life of Vincent Price -- family man, art lover, foodie, actor, world traveler, husband, father, horror icon, Yale graduate, and more!
To get a taste of what we will be offering, please see the video below.
To sign up now, please click HERE to join our monthly subscription and receive all 12 presentations. (You can cancel your subscription at any time!)
Everyone who signs up for this subscription series will also be eligible for some unique opportunities for events and products not available to anyone else! I am so excited about this series, and I want you to feel like you are getting an up-close-and-personal glimpse at Vincent Price that very few people will be able to get.
I hope you are as thrilled about this as we are. Please feel free to email me HERE with any questions you may have about the series. We look forward to sharing 2018 with you.
As ever, thank you SO much for all of the ways you continue to keep Vincent Price so close to your hearts.
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!
See you in 2018.
All my best, Victoria
This October, Count Orlock's Nightmare Gallery in Salem MA brought back Victoria Price for another visit. She was first here two years ago to talk about her father's career and launching the Vincent Price line of wines.
While this was in October, the night was focused in a non-horror related direction which is why I didn't include it during the Countdown to Halloween. This time she talked about living her father's legacy and the power of saying yes. It was also the launch of the second cookbook, Mary and Vincent Price's Come into the Kitchen Cook Book. So naturally this was a better fit leading up to Thanksgiving and given the state of out post-election country, I think we can all do with some inspirational words.
The first cookbook, A Treasury of Great Recipes, is like a cook book and a travelogue all rolled into one because the recipes were gathered traveling around the world. The new one (left) is all American and covers different eras from our country's history. The great thing about these books is that they're not just reprints, they are reproductions of the original printings so you get wonderful art like this.
There were maybe 20 of us there to see her. She is such a fantastic speaker that it could have been a full auditorium and I still would feel like it was a cozy chat. One of the things she talked about is how she went through all of her possessions, got rid of anything that did not bring her joy and put the rest into a storage unit. She packed a few things and has been living on the road for the past couple years with her dog Allie, who we also got to meet.
She told us all sorts of great stories about traveling with her parents when she was little and shared some family photos. The theme of the evening was "Explore. Savor. Celebrate." Three words which really sum up her dad's way of living life. Quite a bit of what she talked about was from a 2015 blog post she made, which also includes many of the photos we saw.
She also talked about the power of yes as I mentioned earlier. It's something that may be difficult for some people, like me, but easy to explain. It's a little something to bring into your life which is as easy as saying that one word: yes. It could be that thing you've been putting off or it could be an opportunity that comes your way that you'd normally pass on. Do it. Say yes! You never know where it might lead you.
After she finished speaking, she meet with all of us individually at a table where she was selling the cook books and signing autographs. There was a conference room setup showing Price's movies. We caught the end of House on Haunted Hill and the opening of The Abominable Dr Phibes. A local baker had made a few treats from the cookbooks for us to sample. My favorite were definitely the brandy snaps cookies (no actual brandy is used).
By the by, the cook books are available on line from VincentPrice.com.
Order now and you get a free gift!
Here is your first chance to "say yes". Take the 5 or 10 minutes to read Victoria's blog post from last year. The world would be in a lot better shape if we all tried to live our lives like Vincent Price.
Welcome, Foolish Mortal to another Mansion Monday!
I hope your bags are packed because we're going on a little trip to Disneyland
Paris to talk about Phantom Manor.
Unlike the American Haunted Mansions, Paris' Phantom Manor is located in
Frontierland and has an official story that is tied into the area around it.
Because of this, it has a distinct Old West theme.
If you've got an hour or so, check out this great documentary featuring
interviews with some of the Imagineers that had a hand in designing Phantom
Manor and the Haunted Mansion.
Here's a full ridethru video of the attraction.
The original ghost host narration was performed by none other than Vincent
Price! Sadly, this audio was only used for a few short months when the ride
opened in 1992.
You can grab the original Vincent Price narration
here.
I hope I get to visit this incarnation of my favorite Disney attraction some
day!
Today is the 105th anniversary of Vincent Price's birthday, always a cause for celebration around here! Today is also Christopher Lee's birthday (he's 94!) and yesterday was Peter Cushing's birthday. Talk about a trilogy of terror!
Here's a great video of Lee reminiscing about his horror cohorts.
Vincent Price has been getting a lot of love recently in the collectibles market, in no small part to the recent surge of Batman '66 stuff.
All these items are available from Entertainment Earth, just click the pic!
He even got a mini figure as the Inventor in the Edward Scissorhands blind box set
And then there's this, which I am seriously thinking about ordering.
It looks amazing!
If you're a Price fan, I can't recommend enough that you subscribe to his daughter Victoria's blog. She frequently shares family photos and stories about her dad's legacy not just as a horror icon, but also as a human being. It's good, uplifting stuff. Something we all can use more of in the world.
I hope everyone had a great holiday season! I took a week off to celebrate. Some of that time was spent scouring local stores for any new Force Awakens figures after seeing the movie because nothing puts me in a toy buying mood than seeing a new movie!
And Hasbro failed yet again. Seriously, why was there not a big event on opening day to launch the toys we know are only going to get released when the movie comes out? I know they exist and I've spent the last few months seeing the same few figures in almost every store. Oh well.
Anyway, enough griping!
I want to show off some of the amazing gifts I got this year so here we go!
There was a time when your loved ones would be hard pressed to find you some bit of new Star Wars to put under your tree. Man am I glad those days are behind us!
The big thing in the back and the box on the left with Vader peeking out are calendars. I don't think the desk calendar has anything from The Force Awakens in it so it will be interesting to see what's in there every day.
The four rectangular boxes scattered around is the complete set of Star Wars Google cardboard VR goggles. Hehe, Google goggles. If you haven't seen Google cardboard, it's incredible! It's made of cardboard (surprise!) and you fold it to create a sort of ViewMaster that you insert your phone into to view 3D VR things. The Star Wars app has a few little movies to use with BB-8. It's neat-o to "stand" inside of a Star Wars scene!
Speaking of BB-8, that's one of the Sphero ones on the right! I was like a little kid with a new toy playing with him. He's a lot of fun.
The Vader head is a watch box...
I'm not really a watch guy but maybe the next time (ha, get it?) I have to dress up for an event, I'll break it out. I also got the Topps Star Wars book of original A New Hope cards which
I'll review some time. It's so cool it needs its very own post.
Oh yeah, we also got a Death Star waffle iron!
There was quite a bit of Haunted Mansion goodness to be found, Jack Skellington would be proud! (Not to mention the Halloween table cloth is still on the kitchen table.) On the left is a pair of reversible place-mats. One side has the Mansion wallpaper design and the other has various residents of the Mansion. On the right is a pair of dish towels (the second is folded in the top right) and a pair of coasters (lower right).
You guys...this book is totally amazing! And it's huuuuge!
There's SO much more to the book than the few pages I'm showing off.
If you're a fan of cartoons, I highly recommend this book.
There's so much nostalgia, I can't even.
I can't wait to get into these! And there are two more books in the series so plenty of phun with Phibes to come! Phibes is one of my favorite Vincent Price characters so I'm sure delving into the off screen adventures will be a treat.
Among the rest of the goodies not pictured are: complete Gatchaman series on BluRay (squee!!), some new PJs (Star Wars and Nightmare Before Christmas), Doctor Who bedding, and a handful of new rides for the Halloween Garage which will be featured at some point in the future.
What are some of the favorite things you got this year?
No Countdown to Halloween would be complete without mentioning Mr. Vincent Price. Today marks the 22nd anniversary of his passing. If you want to keep up with all things Price-related, head on over to VincentPrice.com and join the mailing list. You'll get a weekly email from his a daughter Victoria and she always includes some type of family photo.
She also has a blog titled the Daily Practice of Joy where she writes about her experiences traveling and meeting her dad's fans. She has a great piece up today. It's long but absolutely worth the read. The world would be a better place if we all lived life like Vincent Price.
Here's a few clips
Price reads Poe's The Raven.
Kermit hosting the Tonight Show! Not only is Price here but Uncle Deadly makes a cameo. And it's classic Deadly, not the toned down version he is on The Muppets now.
Another winning duo. This clip is more Elvira (also very appropriate!) but Price's reactions also make it worth watching.
A montage of a clean-shaven Price riding roller coasters.
Almost a month ago, I took a trip to NYC. In that post, I mentioned stopping in at Dylan's Candy Bar which is a three floor sweet tooth's ultimate wish. Like most other stores in mid-September, they were already getting their Halloween on.
Those cauldrons and brooms in the front are cookies!
There were at least two more walls like this packed with Halloween inspired treats.
In addition to this assortment box, there was also a "fill your own bag" display with all sorts of mallow creme shapes and quite a few flavors of candy corn.
Aren't you a "sucker" for these cute lollipops?
Found these goodies while waiting to check out. I'm kicking myself for not getting the gum because I haven't seen it since.
But there is one thing that I picked up...
In most instances, I would pass on a novelty like this. In fact, had I not an almost OCD level compulsion to use "Try Me" features on things, this would have gone undiscovered by me. But imagine my surprise when I do try it and hear this...
Yes, boys and girls, that is the Vincent Price laugh from Michael Jackson's Thriller! I have to say, when I tried it in the store I was in a bit of shock and had to immediately do it again because I could not believe my ears.
Before you run off to check out all the Cryptkeepers at Countdown to Halloween, here is today's audio Trick or Treat mix: Dance Floor Death
Hey everyone! Hope you had a great holiday. Things have been...interesting around here the last couple weeks. But overall, I'd say we landed firmly in the plus column!
Despite not having a camera, I'm going to make due with my iPad for the time being so I can keep posting. I mean, what's the point of blogging without images? Then it's just a bunch of words, who wants to read a bunch of words with no pictures?
Today I'm sharing some of my holiday loot.
Seriously, what more could you want than a LEGO Rocket Raccoon and Groot? Not pictured is a Guardians wall calender which is already hanging to get the most out of the sweet group shot they used for the 2014 months. Remember when calendars only had the months for the upcoming year on them? I also can't wait to get into that Star Wars desk calendar, it looks to be all art instead of film scenes.
Speaking of Star Wars....I may never wear this on any kind of regular basis because it would be warmer than sleeping inside a dead tauntuan, but it's pretty cool. I also got two other sets of sleep wear. I don't think I've gotten this many jammies for Christmas ever! One is Jack Skellington and the other is the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who. Also got a matching set of Angel boxers, which I don't really understand since my wife (who gave them to me) is creeped out by the Angels...
And she also got us this tree topper! I love it because you can pretty much put it out somewhere year round. It's about a foot tall. I guess you can put it anywhere that you want people to never look away from because don't blink.
Lots of geeky reading to do next year! The second book down that appears to be hiding is Haunted Air, a collection of some of the most nightmare inducing vintage Halloween photos you'll ever likely find. Seriously, look at some of these!
Pumpkin Cinema will likely serve as a checklist for my movie viewing. I know I've seen quite a few of the movies but I'm hoping to stumble on some good stuff I never heard of.
The Corman book is absolutely gorgeous. Glossy, full color pages with plenty of movie posters and stills. People give Corman crap for some of his work, but that's why he's called the King of the Bs. He's done some of my favorite Vincent Price films and brought us DeathRace 2000, you can't argue with that pedigree.
I also got a pair of e-books.Star Wars: Jedi Academy, Return of the Padawan, the second book in the series. The first one was a lot of fun, highly recommend it for your younglings. And The Making of The Empire Strikes Back (Enhanced Version). The enhanced versions of these Making Of books are amazing. As someone that's been a Star Wars fan as long as there has been Star Wars, seeing something new regarding the original trilogy is mind blowing. And to get short audio and video clips is just icing on the cake.
I'm listening to the Golden Records Halloween CD as I'm writing this post. It's about the most perfect children's Halloween album I've ever heard. Even if you don't have kids, if you're a Halloween fiend, add this to your collection. You can thank me later. It perfectly nails what I love about Halloween.
And finally, the Price set I've been dying for: The Raven, Comedy of Terrors (one of my favorites), House on Haunted Hill, Last Man on Earth, Dr Phibes Rises Again, and a couple more all in HD. I really hope they keep releasing more of these sets.
So there's some highlights of what I got this year, what cool stuff did you get?
Well, as you might imagine, I watched some horror flicks in October. Although it's not much different than my past few months of watching history, I do try to cram in a few extra and some favorites.
If you're already in a funk because October has left us, just remember: It's only a month until Creepmas! If you joined in the Countdown to Halloween blog-o-thon, be sure to keep your internet dial tuned to Creepmas.com, which will be updating soon.
I don't know if it's because I'm coming off six more or less joyless Children of the Corn movies but I thought this was kinda fun! Despite how stupid it could be, it was still way more entertaining than any Corn movies I sat through. I was a little let down by the ending because there was no final "gotcha" scare.
Cool: Warwick Davis is fun to watch; A few inventive kills
Lame: How much time did we need with the guy in the pawn shop? Why introduce an amulet that's sort of the Lep's kryptonite and not use it at the end to kill him?
Before seeing this, I'd only heard jokes about the series going to space. If you haven't seen it, watch the above trailer. If you ever wanted a movie like Aliens but with a Leprechaun, shoestring budget, and effects that look like they came out of a mid-90s screen saver, you have arrived! Where 3 was guilty pleasure fun, this one is "so bad, it's good" fun.
Cool: The only thing that's good about this one is how bad it is
Lame: After this one, I'm convinced the series is an anthology because there's very little continuity from movie to movie. Did I mention how bad the effects are?
Somehow, this one has the highest rating of the series on Rotten Tomatoes: 33%. As a white guy, I was finding this uncomfortable to watch. I've seen Blaxploitation before, this is more like Blaxploitation parody, just not very funny. I'm guessing there was just as much weed smoking behind the camera as in front of it.
Cool: The only thing mildly entertaining is the Leprechaun's rap video at the end and even that is really bad
Lame: I can't recall another horror movie I've seen recently where I've wanted the main characters to die
I thought it was going to be just another one of those "family comes together after someone dies" movies. Turns out, it was really good. Everyone had great performances and there's a good amount of comedy throughout.
Rating: 8/10
Bloody Bloody Bible Camp (2012)
Does a good job of emulating a 70s/80s slasher. There's plenty of kills but they're at the start and end of the movie. My biggest complaint is that it never seems to follow any of the standard "rules" of a slasher. The final girl could have been any character, there's nothing redeemable in any of them. And the killer's identity seems to be shoehorned in. Ultimately it's a decent goofy horror flick.
Cool: It says something about the movie when I say that Ron Jeremy as Jesus had one of the best performances in the movie; Gore effects were decent Lame: It's got all the ingredients you'd want, they're just not in the right amounts Rating: 4/10
*Hocus Pocus (1993)
I only discovered this a couple years ago but it immediately became an October staple. Plus, a fair amount of exterior shooting was done in and around the Salem area. See yesterday's Hocus Pocus-centric post!
Rating: 8/10
Vicious Lips (1986)
Couldn't find a trailer for this so here's the poster. You'd think an R-rated 80s movie with an all girl band in a sci-fi setting would be mind blowingly awesome. I have never been so disappointed in the promise of a poster. The girls have to steal a ship (which happens to hold a killer monster) to get across the galaxy to a gig. The ship crashes and the monster gets loose. At the end, you find out you just wasted 90 minutes watching it.
Cool: Some of the hair rock songs are pretty catchy Lame: Just about the rest of the movie Rating: 4/10
Bad Taste (1987)
This is one of those titles I've seen the cover for a million times but never actually watched. It definitely has a low budget 80s charm to it but overall the pacing up to the finale was too slow. I can see why it's a cult film but I won't be revisiting it.
Rating: 5/10
Hack O'Lantern (1988) aka Halloween Night
I wanted to see this one based on the title because I imagined it would be some type of mutant pumpkin that went on a killing spree. I need to make that movie. This one is about a grandfather that inducts one of his grandsons into a satanic cult. Just about everything in this movie is laughably bad: the acting, the plot, you name it.
Rating: 2/10, strong contender for worst movie of the year! Including that one I had to turn off halfway through.
*The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
I rewatched this the day after I got to meet Victoria Price. I felt it necessary to watch something of his and I just got the BluRay Vol 1 collection. It's not one of my top Price films even though he's fun to watch in it and the set design is fantastic.
Rating: 6/10
Street Trash (1987)
Weird, weird horror comedy with lots of melting hobos. I still feel like I need a shower from watching it.
Rating: 5/10
Housebound (2014)
Recommended to me by Chad Savage and well worth it! I can't really say much about it without giving away the good bits because they worked some great twists into it. Seek it out!
Rating: 8/10
Life After Beth (2014)
Zach's girlfriend dies and then mysteriously shows up at her parents' house a couple days later, seemingly fine. But is she? It's a little bit Fido and a little bit Warm Bodies and I thought it was a great zom rom com.
Cool: Great comedic cast; Fresh take on zombies Lame: Dude, I know she's your girlfriend but stop and think about it for a second... Rating: 8/10
Wicked Wicked (1973)
The only reason I sought this one is is for its gimmick: DuoVision! Most of the movie is presented in split screen. The beginning was interesting, the left side followed the killer and the right his victim. Unfortunately, the script starts to feel like a daytime soap after awhile as the house dick tracks down the murderer that we know the identity of. Although once they do catch up to him at the end, it's a little twisted and there's some morbid humor that feels out of place. It's not horrible, it's just not very engaging but it's probably the only film ever presented this way.
Rating: 4/10
*Trick R Treat (2009)
I can't believe it's been 5 years for this classic already! Love, love, LOVE this movie. 'Nuff said.
