Monday, March 31, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Psychotronic Movie of the Week: Skidoo (1968)
A preview of our coming attraction,...
1968 - Paramount Pictures - D: Otto Preminger S: Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing, Alexandra Hay, Groucho Marx, Frankie Avalon, Fred Clark, Michael Constantine, Frank Gorshin, John Phillip Law, Peter Lawford, Burgess Meredith, George Raft, Caesar Romero, Mickey Rooney, Arnold Stang, Slim Pickens, Richard Kiel, Harry Nilsson.
Now here's something completely different. And by different, I mean different compared to,... well, just about anything I've ever seen. Long left stashed in the Paramount vaults and only wondered about by those who missed it in its initial run, this is Otto Preminger's misguided attempt at one of those "generation gap" films that were becoming more and more prevalent around 1968. The plot is comedic mash-up of hippiesploitation and a gangster movie. Jackie Gleason is a retired mobster living a legit life with his wife (Carol Channing) and their hippie daughter. One day, a mob boss (named "God" and played by Groucho Marx!) sends a couple of guys over to pull Jackie out of retirement for one last hit on a snitch (played by Mickey Rooney). Resistant at first, he eventually relents and gets put in the same prison as Mickey so he can do the hit. But before that can happen, someone slips "the Great One" some LSD, Gleason trips balls, and his whole worldview is blown away. In a sense, it almost becomes a PRO-drug movie if you can believe it! While he's in the slammer, his house becomes a playground for his daughter's hippie friends, and eventually Carol Channing, dressed in full pirate regalia leads the kids in a siege of God's boat. Oh, and did I mention there's musical numbers? Or that it was endorsed by Timothy Leary? Yeah, this is one strange piece of celluloid - worth watching for its jaw-dropping absurdity, the parade of famous Hollywood actors who somehow signed on for this, and its time-capsule quality, but mostly because the scene where Jackie Gleason trips in his prison cell is positively epic.
And now, our feature presentation!
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Hey, Buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-bay-bee
Hey, remember when they used to make dopey records about speech impediments? No? Pretty sure I don't either, but here's proof. I have more.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Psychotronic Movie of the Week: At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964)
A preview of our coming attraction,...
1964 - Industria Cinematografica Apolo (Brazil) - D/S: Jose Mojica Marins
Today's selection marks the occasion of its creator's 78th birthday. Jose Mojica Marins, better known to the world as Coffin Joe, was born on March 13, 1936, and is still alive and kicking, frequently seen on tv in his native Brazil. He created the Coffin Joe character in 1963, for this film, possibly his greatest work, At Midnight I Will Take Your Soul. Marins described the conception of Coffin Joe in a 2006 interview:
"In a dream saw a figure dragging me to a cemetery. Soon he left me in front of a headstone, there were two dates, of my birth and my death. People at home were very frightened, called a Priest because they thought I was possessed. I woke up screaming, and at that time decided to do a movie unlike anything I had done. He was born at that moment, the character would become a legend: Coffin Joe. The character began to take shape in my mind and in my life."This was the first Coffin Joe film. It was followed by This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967), and, forty years later, Embodiment of Evil (2008), completing what is known as the Coffin Joe Trilogy. He revived Coffin Joe many times over the years, though not always as the central character, in films including Awakening of the Beast (1970), The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe (1974), and Hallucinations of a Deranged Mind (1978).
And now, our feature presentation.
Special bonus feature, Damned: The Strange World of Jose Mojica Marins (2001 documentary)
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Milt Dickey On Westport & The Story Of A Love Lost To Technology
In what might be the first (and only?) record label established solely to promote the musical stylings of children, Westport Records existed in Kansas City, Mo. from 1955 - 1962.
Westport put out a handful of great hillbilly, rockabilly, and r&b records, by artists such as Milt Dickey, Alvis Wayne, & Big Bob Dougherty.
photo courtesy of Al Turner
Read more about the Westport label here:
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Nipsey & The Strippers
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
The Super Volcanic Lloyd Price
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Psychotronic Movie of the Week: Werewolves on Wheels (1971)
A preview of the coming attraction,...
1971 - A South Street Production - D: Michael Levesque - S: Stephen Oliver, D.J. Anderson, Duece Berry, Billy Gray, Barry McGuire, Severn Darden
The Psychotronic Movie the Week is back and this time I've got a real doozy for 'ya, a one of a kind classic brought to you by the king of the biker flicks, Joe Solomon. A biker gang called The Devil's Advocates come across a cult of Satanic monks in the California desert. One of the gang's "mamas" is cast under a spell in her sleep and led into an occult ritual that weds her to the Devil. When she returns to the Advocates she bites her old man and turns him into a werewolf who rips apart another gang member and his woman who had split from camp to go get it on. The gang buries the dead the next morning and move on, but every night more grisly attacks follow. This one drags a bit in the middle, but the first and final acts are pure psychotronic bliss and it features a great guitar soundtrack by Don Gere, enjoy!
And now, our feature presentation.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Thinking About Billy Strange And A Few Nice Things
Billy Strange played guitar on a million of my favorite songs, but here's one I didn't know.
The Fencemen - Sour Grapes (1962)
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Too Many Mini-Skirts
Too many mini-skirts? Well, let's not get all carried away. Further study on the topic of country music and mini-skirts awaits you over on the main WFMU blog.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
My Ferrari GTO
Revells - My Ferrari GTO (2:13)
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Thinking About The Mighty Hannibal And A Few Nice Things
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| Photo: Debbie D |
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Rest In Peace Mighty Hannibal
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| via http://atlantatimemachine.com/ |
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Monday, January 27, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Psychotronic Movie of the Week: The Sadist (1963)
Your preview of the coming attraction:
1963 - Fairway International Pictures - D: James Landis - S: Arch Hall, Jr., Richard Walden, Marilyn Manning, Don Russell, Helen Hovey
Arch Hall, Jr. only appeared in a handful of films in the early 1960s, all produced by his father, Arch Hall, Sr., but his star will shine forever in the psychotronic universe for his turns in The Choppers, Eegah!, Wild Guitar, and this, perhaps his greatest moment. He plays the sadist of the title, Charlie Tibbs, who, along with his mute girlfriend Judy, terrorize a trio of teachers who stall out in the desert on their way to a ballgame at Dodger Stadium. Hall is a man possessed in this film - a sneering psycho ready to snap at any moment. If you notice some sharp camera work while you're watching, there's good reason for that, as the cinematographer was none other than a young Vilmos Zsigmond, who had previously worked on Ray Dennis Steckler's The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, but would go on to do award winning work on films such as McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Close Encouters of the Third Kind, Blow Out, and The Deer Hunter.
And now, our feature presentation,...
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| Cast and crew on the set |
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
The Ball State University Singers, 1966
Monday, January 13, 2014
WSB is on the air
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Psychotronic Movie of the Week: Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster (1965)
Your preview of the coming attraction:
1965 - Allied Artists - D: Robert Gaffney - S: Marilyn Hanold, James Karen, Lou Cutell
In The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, Michael Weldon's review of Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster said it all in the first two sentences: "Don't miss. It's the worst." The plot is about a Martian princess and her flamboyant dwarf assistant coming to Earth in search of women to help repopulate their planet. They both have hilariously un-subtle homoerotic undertones. There's an android astronaut named Frank (the "Frankenstein" of the title), who ends up fighting the Martians' giant monster they keep chained up in their spaceship (played by an uncredited Bruce Glover). There's also some groovy soundtrack music, including "That's the Way It's Got to Be" by the Poets. And that's pretty much it. All in all, a mindless but fun flick that cruises along and delivers plenty of laughs. This was Gaffney's only credit as a director, but he later showed up as the DP on Superfly T.N.T. in 1973. Enjoy!
And now, our feature presentation,....
Thursday, January 9, 2014
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