Curtains is a Canadian horror/suspense film that began production in 1980, but due to problems (tensions between producer and director perhaps chief among these difficulties) did not premiere in the United States until early 1983. The vibes were so bad that upon completion of the film, director Richard
Ciupka had his credit changed to Jonathan Stryker, the name of the
director in Curtains.
The movie did not find much of an audience theatrically but gained a second life through cable showings and video rentals, which is where I found it on a video store shelf around 1984.
Samantha Eggar stars as Samantha Sherwood, an incredibly committed actress who has herself thusly committed to a mental institution as method preparation for the title role in director Jonathan Stryker's (played by ham handed favorite John Vernon) newest film Audra. When Samantha finds out that Stryker has tapped several actresses to audition for Audra at a secluded estate; she breaks out angry and with revenge on her mind.
Curtains makes great use of the wintry setting and creates an increasingly chilly atmosphere with highlights being a creepy doll and a mask wearing murderer, wielding a nasty sickle.
01. Hamlet (Pow Pow Pow)
02. The Six Strings That Drew Blood
03. Deep In The Woods
04. Dead Joe
05. Swampland
06. Fears Of Gun
07. Wild World
08. Big Jesus Trash Can
09. Sonny's Burning
10. She's Hit
11. 6" Gold Blade
12. Pleasure Avalanche
The 1983 film Strange Invaders, from writer/director Michael Laughlin, was originally intended to be the second of a "Strange" trilogy with 1981s Strange Behavior as the first in the series. Unfortunately, this movie failed to find an audience and poor ticket sales meant the third film was not to be.
I was introduced to Strange Invaders from a split review on Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's At the Movies television show. Couldn't locate it in theaters, but rented it as soon as it appeared in my local video stores new release section.
The plot is a tribute of sorts to 1950s science fiction films, especially Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Aliens land in a rural Illinois town in the late fifties, replacing all the residents, while they slowly study the Earth in order to see what their next move will be. Fast forward to the 1980s as Paul Le Mat's wife, played by Diana Scarwid, has not returned from a trip to that rural town for her mother's funeral. Thing's escalate quickly after Paul Le Mat's harrowing trip to that town results in him uncovering the aliens secret but few others take his claims seriously.
Italian favorite Antonio Margheriti (The Ark of the Sun God, Hunters of the Golden Cobra,Cannibal Apocalypse, Take a Hard Ride) directed this odd mash up of prehistoric action, apocalyptic scifi, and sword & sorcery which was distributed in the United States by Columbia Pictures.
- 1982 :
Think Twice - Spy
- 1983 :
Cult Band - Last One
- April 1983 :
Jailhouse Rock - Police Brewtality N.Y. State
- 1988 :
Hangover
Heart Attack - The Temple - Short Fuse - Laughing Boy - Typical - My
Dinner With - Poison Idea - Lifestyles - Thorn In My Side - Push The
Button - AA - Getting The Fear - Made To Be Broken - Motorhead
- 1989 :
We Got The Beat
Written and directed by Douglas McKeown, The Deadly Spawn aka Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn (1983) has always been a favorite of mine since I first checked it out on vhs back in the mid 80s. Fangoria magazine had done several articles highlighting the film, so I immediately snagged it for an evenings rental when I located a copy in a local video store.
The special effects in this tale of alien invasion are quite well done considering the low budget of this filmed in New Jersey independent feature. According to IMDb.com trivia for the film, the enthusiasm and quality of the production garnered enough attention that Paramount almost selected it for theatrical distribution.
Prolific exploitation director Greydon Clark (Black Shampoo 1976, Satan's Cheerleaders 1977, Without Warning 1980, Final Justice 1985, among others) took personal inspiration from the sight of young folks waiting to enter a video arcade and in 1983 he directed the video game themed comedy Joysticks.
The four part horror anthology Nightmares (1983) was originally produced for the ABC series Darkroom. Universal decided they were too intense for broadcast television and instead repackaged these episodes as a theatrical release.
It was directed by Joseph Sargent, a prolific television director who also helmed some notable films, such as 1974s The Taking of Pelham One Two Three or the 1973 Burt Reynolds vehicle White Lightning.
As with any anthology, the different segments are somewhat uneven. The first, "Terror in Topanga," is my favorite. It details a woman's late night cigarette run while a serial killer is loose in the area. Watch for appearances from William Sanderson and Lee Ving in this segment. The second story, "Bishop of Battle" often gets the most attention, with Emilio Estevez as a teen who gets sucked into a video game. While playing, he often cranks up his Walkman with music from FEAR, Negative Trend, and Black Flag. Next "The Benediction" features Lance Henriksen as a priest who's faith is tested in a Duel style confrontation. The final story "Night of the Rat" details a man versus rat battle.
At the time of its release, I was already a fan of the Darkroom series so when I read in Fangoria about this film's connection I was curious. Don't remember it playing theatrically, but I rented the vhs as soon as it showed up in the new release section.
Dig on this footage of a truncated 1983 Black Flag show in an unconventional venue. Here's the description that was posted with the video:
"This is all the video available from this incredible BLACK FLAG performance at a garage party in 1983. The clip begins with a few moments from the song MY RULES then goes into DEPRESSION, SCREAM, NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, THIRSTY AND MISERABLE, and just the intro to SIX PACK.
The Black Flag lineup at this time had Ginn, Dukowki, Rollins, Stevenson, and coincedentaly the last performance with Dez Cadena on 2nd guitar. Contarary to even Rollins own memory, this party was not in Mike Muir's garage, but was in the garage of one of the Suicidal Tendencies roadies (Albert, his grandmas actually) in Culver City, West Los Angeles, California. Black Flag played this party in the middle of the day as a favor to then Suicidal manager and often Black Flag photographer Glen E. Friedman. The occasion was to attempt to get as many of the suicidal kids with their hand drawn shirts into one place so they could be photographed for ST's debut LP cover. Black Flag played a tremendous set, Suicidal followed and could barely get through one song due to the insanity of the rabid suicidal followers, it was a nice afternoon."
Hüsker Dü
Love Hall - Philadelphia
16 December 1983
Here's footage from the first half of
this rollicking show...
Something I Learned Today
It's Not Funny Anymore, From the Gut, Wheels,
and Everything Falls Apart
Chartered Trips and Sunshine Superman
Eight Miles High
Broken Home, Broken Heart
SET LIST
01) stay off the P.A.
02) Something I Learned Today
03) It's Not Funny Anymore
04) From The Gut
05) Wheels
06) Everything Falls Apart
07) Chartered Trips
08) Sunshine Superman
09) Eight Miles High
10) Broken Home, Broken Heart
11) Dianne
12) What's Goin On
13) Masochism World
14) Bricklayer
15) What Do I Want?
16) Pride
17) talk & feedback tuning
18) Data Control
19) Punch Drunk
20) Out On A Limb
21) In A Free Land
22) Statues
There are multiple Motörhead records among my all time favorites, but Another Perfect Day is one of the tops.
Their sixth record initially caused some controversy among fans on it's release in 1983. Guitar player "Fast" Eddie Clarke had left the band and been replaced by ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson. This line up change, along with the albums more expansive and melodic style didn't sit well with some folks. I'm a huge fan of the unique sound expressed on this one. "Rock It" even features prominent piano playing from Robertson; who stayed on long enough only to record this one record with the band.
1. "Back at the Funny Farm" – 4:14 2. "Shine" – 3:11 3. "Dancing on Your Grave" – 4:29 4. "Rock It" – 3:55 5. "One Track Mind" – 5:55 6. "Another Perfect Day" – 5:29 7. "Marching Off to War" – 4:11 8. "I Got Mine" – 5:24 9. "Tales of Glory" – 2:56 10. "Die You Bastard" – 4:25 "Turn You Round Again"* – 3:57 * Originally released as the B-side of I Got Mine.
Below are some videos and audio tracks of material from Another Perfect Day.
Jerry Reed (1937 - 2008) maintained a lucrative career as a country musician while also pursuing roles in movies such as Gator, Smokey and the Bandit or The Waterboy. The clips below present Mr. Reed bringing his folksy entertainment to a gig in Toledo, Ohio.
For my tastes Videodrome stands out as one of the more memorable films of 1983 and a personal favorite among the works of David Cronenberg. A further extension of Cronenbergs "body horror" anti-aesthetic narrative, Videodrome melds its transgressive storyline with a suitably manic James Wood performance in concert with then cutting edge special effects from ace Rick Baker.
Curious that Cronenberg includes a character he modeled after fellow Canadian Marshall McLuhan. In the world of Videodrome, as in McLuhan's oft quoted line regarding communication theory the medium is the message.
Collected below: a trailer for the film, Cronenberg briefly addressing a 2009 showing and also a deleted scene that may peek too far behind the curtain and explain a little too much of Videodrome's mystique and background.
David Cronenberg Introduces Videodrome
Toronto - 22 October 2009
In 1979 Robin Guthrie (guitar, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass guitar) met up in Scotland and formed the Cocteau Twins. A short time later they would incorporate Elizabeth Fraser on vocals. The band took their name from a song by fellow Scottish indie rockers Johnny and the Self-Abusers, who would later go on to greater fame and fortune after a name change to Simple Minds. Around 1983 Heggie left. While making contributions to 4AD's This Mortal Coil, Guthrie and Heggie became acquainted with Simon Raymonde and he joined the pair as the band's bassist, more or less remaining in that position until the band broke up in 1997.
Their overall sound is most notable for Ms. Fraser's often indistinct, fragile and airy vocalizing combined with tsunami like cascades of heavily treated guitar fueled arpeggios from Robin Guthrie. I first heard the Cocteau Twins during the mid/late 80s when I was most interested in heavy, fast and weird music - with emphasis on the first two; but it was impossible to dismiss their sonic spectrum of new school psychedelic pop art and I've remained a fan since.
Here's an early television appearance from the Cocteau Twins The Tube - late 1983
a big fan of reading books, all kinds of art, J.G. Ballard, autumn, Dr Pepper, listening to records, women wearing skirts and high heels, exceptionally weird movies, bike riding, diners and other stuff...
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