10/18/2007

Have you seen some of the elaborate lawn decorations people put up around their houses for Halloween? You’d think it was Christmas, with the huge displays some people have- but I like seeing it! I recall going to a big Victorian house in one neighborhood that had very elaborate displays every year- if you looked under the wooden front porch, there were dozens of small “E.T.” (the extra-terrestrial- not the celebrity gossip show) statues under there, with all their ‘heart lights” lit- and one big attraction was a pay phone on a huge tree in the front yard- it would begin to ring, and then- a gargantuan snake would slowly drop down from the top of the tree to the phone- which would always stop ringing just as the snake got there (probably a good thing- how could the snake answer it with no hands?!) The yearly display ended when the folks moved away- but I always liked it because the owners did it for fun, and never asked for anything in return. Lately, I’ve seen some houses that have big displays that actually ask people to DONATE to them to offset the cost. It’s one thing to try to get community or business sponsorship for your neighborhood display- but to try and “guilt” people who come to look into giving you money? That kind of takes some of the fun out of it- if you can’t afford to do it- don’t do it!

With Halloween a lucky thirteen days away, let’s make today’s pick of a monstrous movie – and you can’t go wrong with the original “Puppet Master”-the 1989 shocker that started a whole series built around a group of murderous living puppets! A haunted hotel turns out to be the home of some horrific Howdy Doodys- including the muscle-bound Pinhead, Blade , the Tunneler and the Leech Woman- all of whom demonstrate their deadly abilities in ways some people may not want to watch! Inspired by the Charles Band chiller “Dolls”- this is NOT for people who are spooked by movies with deadly dolls and killer toys that come to life! Watch this flick, and you’ll never look at a puppet show the same way again!