2/24/2007

Got some scary fun for you tonight on the show- remember last week, when we gave you a sampling of the first few episodes of HBO’s “Tales from the Crypt”? Tonight you can see how the cable TV show began to morph into full-length feature films, when we bring you the chilling “Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight!” This movie came out in 1995- coincidentally, the first year I was here on WCIU, and, yes, these events are totally not connected- and was intended to be the first in a trilogy of “tales” movies- but, after “Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood”- I don’t think a third entry was ever made. This one is a winner, though- a drifter is on the run from a mysterious guy in a cowboy hat-he ends up at an old hotel that was a church at some point- and, before long, he and the handful of inhabitants on the premises are trapped inside by an army of demons, led by…well, I don’t want to spoil your fun if you’ve never seen it. Lots of fun effects, a good story, and some good characters make this a very worthy “tale.” Oh, sure, you get the Crypt Keeper at the top and bottom of the story- and the usual Sven additions throughout. Keep in mind that this is just one single story, not a few like last week’s offering- but this one is plenty! I’ll be pointing out familiar actors as usual during the show, but, by all means , keep an eye out for a cult favorite- Dick Miller as the booze-loving Uncle Willy. Dick Miller was a Roger Corman film stock actor- he was the nerdy beatnik sculptor Walter Paisley in “A Bucket of Blood”-and was the guy who visited the florist in “Little Shop of Horrors” who ate flowers! He worked for over twenty years with Corman, and his career was revived when directors like Joe Dante, with fond memories of his work, used him in their films. You’d especially remember him as Mr. Futterman in the “Gremlins” films. He once mentioned that, back in the sixties and seventies, when he’d go to other studios looking for work, when he’d mention he worked for Corman and American International films, he’d immediately be told “I don’t think we can use you.” More trivia for you: he was originally in “Pulp Fiction” but his scenes were cut from the final print! Anyway, it’s a fun flick- where what goes on in that little hotel could means the damnation of the entire universe! You get some nasty demons who can only be defeated by being shot directly in the eyes- you get Thomas Haden Church (Lowell from the TV show “Wings” and the Sandman in the upcoming Spider-Man flick) as a surly fellow who doesn’t trust the hero, and you get Chicago’s own Billy Zane as the guy in the cowboy hat- who also brings some humor to the grisly proceedings. Here’s a weird Sven-type connection- Zane worked on a film whose screenplay was originally written by – Ed Wood! Yes, “Plan 9 from Outer Space” creator Ed Wood! It’s called “I Woke Up Early the Day I Died”- and Zane was both producer and star of the tale- involving a mental patient who escapes from an asylum dressed in drag, who then robs a bank and tries to stay ahead of the law! Sounds like “Svensurround” material to me…anyway, join me tonight- for the Crypt Keeper and more on Svengoolie… (yes, I said moron Svengoolie…)