#carl zittrer

[fatstoner]

I POSTED BOTH SILENT NIGHT AND EVIL NIGHT (Carl Zittrer) ON SOUNDCLOUD !!!

for my black christmas mutuals and friends who use SoundCloud !!

https://on.soundcloud.com/59FSD

https://on.soundcloud.com/LesrZ

#black christmas #black christmas 1974 #carl zittrer #🍃|| billy willy silly nilly #billy lenz #billy lenz black christmas #the moaner

[downtowncannibal]

My Black Christmas Informational Masterlist(?):

Every now and then I get asked for links or sources to some of the things I post and/or reference. This serves to be easy access to anyone interested in more info regarding the film, Bob Clark, or Billy in general. I'm sure I will expand with more links or info at some point, but here are the basics.

Docs and Commentaries:

Commentary featuring Nick Mancuso reprising his role as Billy. If you're not entirely interested in seeing Billy be represented as something beyond the figure in the movie or are looking to gain more knowledge on the creation of Black Christmas, this probably isn't for you.

Just as the title says, this is a Mini-Documentary that explores Black Christmas, its legacy, and a look into it's production. If your here for more info on Billy I HIGHLY recommend this as Nick has some incredibly interesting insight. Includes Lynne Griffin, John Saxon, along with Carl Zitter. Also includes some older clips of Albert J (Black Christmas's Camera Man), Bob Clark, Olivia Hussey, and Margot Kidder.

Closest thing to an ACTUAL documentary on Black Christmas I've seen. Goes good into detail about the production and creation of Black Christmas going from "The Babysitter" to "Stop Me".

There are a TON more extra's from the special release in 2015. Here is a playlist which compiles all that are publicly available. This does not include Bob Clarks actual commentary, nor Keir and John's. I own those on DVD, and I'll see what I can do about converting them onto my laptop, but I majorly recommend purchasing the 4k re-release from last year if you're looking for them. It's def worth your money and time if you're interested.

Tv Spots, Radio, etc:

Actual Documents:

2nd stage of the Black Christmas screenplays. Tread VERY lightly with this if you are sensitive to topics such as CSA and Child abuse, if you catch my drift. Has some problems with pages being turned upside down, but that's nothing I can fix at the moment.

The novelization based off of the "Stop Me" Screenplay. Questionable canonical status, but that's up to you. As it is based off "Stop Me" I am once again warning you to tread lightly and take care of yourself as the same warnings previous very much apply here.

ETC:

Not sure what to categorize this as, but I frequently see this slip under the radar of many people.

If you're looking at this masterlist because all of a sudden you've gained a fascination with this stupid fucking misogynist like I did, YOU WANT TO HEAR THIS! It is from Billy's POV and it gives a great insight into his mind and uses audio from the film, which if you rewatch the film after listening to this oh my god you will not be able to stop hearing shit. (Such as the fact I did not notice the music and wind in the beginning of the film when Billy enters the attic is literally just a bunch of people whispering his name.) Give it a listen, but again, tread lightly, if you, once again, catch my drift.

#Black Christmas #Black Christmas 1974 #might add some about the other versions too... #we'll see #billy lenz

[2ndaryprotocol]

‘Billy’ / ‘Black Christmas’

Artist: Michael Arsin 🖤

#Billy #Agnes #black christmas #art #Spotify

[byneddiedingo]

Jamie Lee Curtis and Casey Stevens in Prom Night (Paul Lynch, 1980)

Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Stevens, Anne-Marie Martin, Michael Tough, Mary Beth Rubens, Joy Thompson, Antoinette Bower, Robert A. Silverman, Pita Oliver, David Mucci, George Touliatos, Sheldon Rybowski, Debbie Greenfield, Brock Simpson, Leslie Scott, Dean Bosacki, Joyce Kite, Karen Forbes. Screenplay: William Gray, Robert Guza Jr. Cinematography: Robert C. New. Art direction: Reuben Freed. Film editing: Brian Ravok. Music: Paul Zaza, Carl Zittrer. 

High school prom is scary enough without letting a killer loose at one: It's a nexus of adolescent anxieties about sex, style, and status. But of course that makes it a natural locus for the overkill of a horror movie like the classic Carrie (Brian De Palma, 1976). It would be nice to say that Paul Lynch's Prom Night is a classic of that order, but I really can't. It has a promising setup: A group of grade-school kids terrifies another kid into a fatal fall from the window of a spooky old building and, led by the snottiest girl in the group, cover up the fact that they witnessed and partly caused the accident. Six years later, they become the target for threatening phone calls, threats planted in their school lockers, and eventual murders at the prom. The identity of the murderer is slyly withheld until the very end -- although if you've seen enough of these movies you know how to eliminate the obvious suspects and maybe to catch the clues to whodunit. There are a couple of well-staged and suspenseful scenes as the victims get offed. But the film is loaded with too many dance-floor scenes that remind one of how nobody mourned when disco died. The top billing for the film goes to Leslie Nielsen, who plays the principal of the school and the father of the little girl who died, as well as her siblings Kim (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Alex (Michael Tough). But Nielsen has only a few scenes in the movie, and the role is a kind of valedictory to his career in "serious" parts: Airplane! (David Zucker, Jerry Zucker) came out the same year as Prom Night and launched him into the most memorable part of his career, as a deadpan comic actor. Though it was a big success in its day, Prom Night is more artifact than art, valuable mostly as a picture of its era. 

#Prom Night #Paul Lynch #Jamie Lee Curtis

[snowflakesonchristmas]

197 days until Christmas 🎄🎄🎄

#days until christmas #christmas music #christmas countdown #christmas #holiday #merry christmas #happy #christmas songs #december #snow #carl zittrer #a christmas story #Spotify

[genevieveetguy]

- You seem a little anxious, Wendy. By the way, who are going with tonight? - It's not who you go with, honey. It's who takes you home.

Prom Night, Paul Lynch (1980)

#Paul Lynch #William Gray #Leslie Nielsen #Jamie Lee Curtis #Casey Stevens #Anne Marie Martin #Antoinette Bower #Michael Tough #Robert A. Silverman #David Mucci #Jeff Wincott #Mary Beth Rubens #Robert C. New #Paul Zaza #Carl Zittrer #Brian Ravok #1980

[lookwhatbeewrote]

btw, do you know who played billy from the original black christmas? he sounds and looks hot af.

The voice of Billy is a composite of around five different actors. Nick Mancuso laid down the majority of the vocal tracks while Bob Clark sang Agnes’ Lullaby and a female actress (literally nobody remembers her name) recorded additional vocals for Agnes & Billy’s Mother. Carl Zittrer, the composer, added a few minor vocals too.

In terms of Billy’s ‘shadow’, it was once again a collection of people. Bob Clark did some of the work and Bert Dunk, the camera operator who did the POV shots with a makeshift steadycam, was also in some scenes where Billy was in the room with the girls.

So all in all, Billy was no-one in particular and that’s so fitting for the character.

#Black Christmas (1974) #nick mancuso #bob clark #carl zittrer #bert dunk #billy lenz #billy the moaner

[differenthead]

Volume 225

Listen to Different Head, Vol. 225: "Nightmusic" (Sep. 24, 2022) byDifferent Head on hearthis.at

Download

0:00:00 — "You Belong to the City" by Glenn Frey (1985)

0:05:45 — DJ

0:09:43 — "Beach Flashback" by Paul Zaza & Carl Zittrer (1980)

0:10:49 — "What Goes Around" by Shadowfax (1986)

0:15:01 — "Another Country" by Shadowfax (1984)

0:19:07 — "Somewhere Near Japan" by The Beach Boys (1989)

0:23:46 — DJ

0:28:02 — "Nothing Has Been Proved" (12" Mix) by Dusty Springfield (1989)

0:33:38 — "Maybe You Can Fly" by The Cat's Meow (198?)

0:40:26 — "Shadow of a Woman" (Edit) by Midnight Smoke (2021)

0:45:15 — "Nightmusic" by Mark-Almond (1996)

0:51:35 — DJ

0:55:45 — "Deep Forest" by Deep Forest (1992)

1:01:10 — "Triad" by Mountain Tune (1985)

1:04:44 — "Then Emancipation" by Berbel Nobodius (1989)

1:12:37 — "シーラカンスの夢" by Joe Hisaishi (1984)

1:17:17 — DJ

1:21:50 — "Talk About Me and You" by Cool Waters (1993)

#glenn frey #paul zaza #carl zittrer #shadowfax #the beach boys #dusty springfield #the cat's meow #midnight smoke #mark-almond #deep forest #mountain tune #berbel nobodius #joe hisaishi #cool waters

[serialcomposer]

Carl Zittrer is a really interesting composer

Really varied career

#for later #mine

[brokehorrorfan]

Black Christmas will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on December 6 via Scream Factory. The 1974 horror classic is directed by Bob Clark (A Christmas Story).

Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Marian Waldman, Andrea Martin, and Art Hindle star. Roy Moore penned the script.

Black Christmas has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision HDR and newly restored mono and 5.1 audio. Special features for the 3-disc set are listed below.

Disc 1 - 4K UHD:

Feature film

Disc 2 - Blu-ray

Feature film

Audio commentary by director Bob Clark

Audio commentary by actors John Saxon And Keir Dullea

Audio commentary by “Billy” (actor Nick Mancuso)

Audio interview with director Bob Clark

Disc 3 - Blu-ray:

Feature film - 2006 Critical Mass HD master

Interview with actor Art Hindle

Interview with actress Lynne Griffin

Black Christmas Legacy featurette

On Screen: Black Christmas featurette

12 Days of Black Christmas featurette

Black Christmas Revisited featurette

Archival interviews with director Bob Clark and actors Olivia Hussey, Art Hindle, Margot Kidder, and John Saxon

FanExpo 2014 panel with actors John Saxon, Art Hindle, Lynne Griffin & Nick Mancuso

Midnight Screening Q&A with director Bob Clark, actor John Saxon, and composer Carl Zittrer

2 scenes with a new vocal soundtrack

Theatrical trailers (English and French)

TV spots

Radio spots

Alternate title sequence

Still gallery

The college town of Bedford is receiving an unwelcome guest this Christmas. As the residents of sorority house Pi Kappa Sigma prepare for the festive season, a stranger begins to stalk the house. A series of obscene phone calls start to plague the sorority and it becomes clear that a psychopath has more than merriment on his mind. As the police try to trace the phone calls, they discover that nothing is as it seems during this Black Christmas.

Pre-order Black Christmas.

#black christmas #bob clark #olivia hussey #horror #70s horror #1970s horror #scream factory #dvd #gift #keir dullea #margot kidder #john saxon #art hindle #70s movies #1970s movies

[clemsfilmdiary]

The Best of May 2021

Best Discovery: Nightmare Alley

           Close Second: Expired

           Runners Up: About Endlessness, Broadway Danny Rose, The Day After, Early Summer, Life During Wartime, Malina, Only Yesterday, Strapless, Under the Sun of Satan

Best Rewatch: Eraserhead

           Runners Up: The Big Lebowski, Whore

Most Enjoyable Fluff: Queen Bee

           Runners Up: At Home in Mitford, Closer, Death al Dente: A Gourmet Detective Mystery, Just Add Romance, Red Sonja

Best Male Performance: Jason Patric in Expired

           Runners Up: Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski, Daniel Craig and Rhys Ifan in Enduring Love, Gérard Depardieu in Under the Sun of Satan, Robert Duvall in The Great Santini, Jack Nance in Eraserhead, Al Pacino in Serpico, Tyrone Power in Nightmare Alley

Best Female Performance: Michelle Pfeiffer in French Exit

           Runners Up: Sandrine Bonnaire in Under the Sun of Satan, Blair Brown in Strapless, Mia Farrow in Broadway Danny Rose, Setsuko Hara in Early Summer, Isabelle Huppert in Malina, Samantha Morton in Expired

Best Supporting Performance or Cameo: Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Big Lebowski

           Runners Up: Teri Garr in Expired, Julianne Moore in The Big Lebowski, Allison Janney and Ally Sheedy in Life During Wartime, Allen Joseph and Charlotte Stewart in Eraserhead, Haruko Sugimura in Early Summer

Most Enjoyable Ham: Theresa Russell in Whore

           Runners Up: Joan Crawford in Queen Bee, Faye Dunaway in The Wicked Lady, Andie MacDowell in At Home in Mitford, Luke Macfarlane in Just Add Romance, Dylan Neal in Death al Dente: A Gourmet Detective Mystery, Antonio Fargas in Whore

Best Mise-en-scène: About Endlessness

           Runners Up: Idiots and Angels, Broadway Danny Rose, Early Summer, Eraserhead, Life During Wartime, Malina, Only Yesterday, Under the Sun of Satan

Best Locations: Broadway Danny Rose

           Runners Up: About Endlessness, Deep End, The Story of Piera

Best Score: Eraserhead (David Lynch)

           Runners Up: Deathdream (Carl Zittrer), Early Summer (Senji Itō), Malina (Giacomo Manzoni), Nightmare Alley (Cyril J. Mockridge)

Best Cartoon: Babes in the Woods

           Runners Up: Africa Before Dark, Birds in the Spring, Hungry Hobos, King Neptune,

Best Leading Hunk: Jason Patric in Expired

           Runners Up: Robert Duvall in The Great Santini, Mel Gibson in The Year of Living Dangerously, Rob Mayes in Deep Blue Sea 2

Best Supporting Hunk: Jason Saucier in Whore

           Runners Up: Alain Artur in Under the Sun of Satan, Adrian Collins in Deep Blue Sea 2, Adam Fogerty and Scott Welch in Snatch

Assorted Pleasures:

- Delicate watercolors, misty safflower fields in Only Yesterday

- Foreground miniatures, flamboyant headdresses in Red Sonja

- Nightmarish industrial cityscapes, vividly nauseous biological textures in Eraserhead

- Modernist 18th Century etching aesthetic in David Hockney's splendid sets and costumes for The Rake's Progress

#list #best of the month

[2ndaryprotocol]

‘Black Christmas’

Artist: Alvaro Tapia Hidalgo 🖤

#black christmas #art #Billy #olivia hussey #Spotify

[postpunkindustrial]

Halloween Season: Halloween Mixes

(Evil Nine)

A VHS Halloween mix from Evil Nine

Horror tracks and obscure cuts

1. Canon company VHS logo 2. Blast him – Jay Chattaway ( Maniac ) 3. The revelation – Giovanni Cristani ( Lucio Fulci’s 4. Intro Music – Luigi Ceccarelli ( Rats , Night of terror ) 5. Helicopter – Howard Shore ( scanners) 6. Dialogue from the Bell of Hell 7. Elena & Evil Lessons – Goblin & Stelvio Cipriani ( Ring of Darkness ) 8. Out of the heat – Tangerine Dream ( Firestarter ) 9. Main titles – Robert J. Resetar ( White Phantom ) 10. Mark Knopfler Guitar w/ Dialogue ( Rage of a Ninja ) 11. Light Blast montage – Guido & Maurizio De Angelis ( Light Blast ) 12. Subway terror – Jay Chattaway ( Maniac ) 13. Cruel Demon – Claudio Simonetti ( Demons ) 14. A Dive into the past II – Nico Fidenco ( Zombi holocaust ) 15. Dialogue from Mausoleum 16. Willow’s song – Paul Giovanni ( The wicker man ) 17. Or is it ? – Fred Myrow & Malcolm Seagrave ( Phantasm ) 18. Awaiting the Ogre – Simon Boswell ( Demos III : The Ogre ) 19. Dialogue from Mausoleum 20. Corridor – Simon Boswell ( Ghosthouse ) 21. Virus – john Scott ( Insemenoid ) 22. Opening titles – Thomas Chase & Steve Rucker ( 976-Evil ) 23. Gaze ( with dialogue ) – Charles Bernstein ( Daddy’s Deadly Darling (Pigs)) 24. Snooping 2 – John Hodian ( Girl’s school screamers ) 25. Bela Lugosi’s Dead – Bauhaus 26. Dialogue & Fx from Cannibal Hookers 27. Finale – Jerry Moseley ( Bloodtide ) 28. Dialogue from Hands of steel 29. Gorodish – Vladimir cosma ( Diva ) 30. Monika by the sea – Mark Reeder ( Nekromantik ) 31. Roll in the hay with dialogue – Mathew Morse ( Ninja Vengeance ) 32. See anything you like with dialogue – John Carpenter ( Halloween ) 33. Synth 4 ( FX ) – Pino Donaggio ( the Howling ) 34. Madness outside – John Carpenter ( In the mouth of madness ) 35. Dialogue from Chains 36. Opening titles – Claudio Simonetti ( You’ll die at midnight ) 37. Sequence 5 – Fabio Frizzi ( Zombi 2 ) 38. Blood Sabbath with dialogue – Les Baxter ( Blood Sabbath ) 39. Zombie Parade – Nico Fidenco ( Zombi Holocaust ) 40. In the bedroom – David Lynch – Music & Effects By Tractor ( The Grandmother ) 41. Video Violence Main titles – Gordon Ovsiew ( Video Violence ) 42. Nikki’s choice II Theme iv – Simon Boswell ( Graveyard Disturbance ) 43. Opening Titles / Confession Of Mary Lou Maloney (Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II) – Paul Zaza & Carl Zittrer ( Prom night 2 ) 44. Worms on the sand – Claudio Simonetti ( Dial Help ) 45. Looking for Monica “ Breakfast “ – Simon Boswell ( Dinner with a Vampire ) 46. New Shipment – Michael Sahl ( Blood Sucking Freaks ) 47. Finale – Kevin Bassinson ( Chains ) 48. The Valley – Goblin ( Phenomena ) 49. High Wall – The Wailers ( Halloween instrumentals ) 50. Bus Station – Tangerine Dream ( Near Dark ) 51. Robots at the factory – John Carpenter & Alan Howarth ( Halloween III ) 52. Dialogue from Cannibal Hookers 53. Rod Hanged – NIght Stalking – Charles Bernstein ( A Nightmare on Elm Street ) 54. Fire Leap – Paul Giovanni ( The Wicker Man ) 55. Cue w/Dialogue – Mark Snow ( Dolly Dearest ) 56. Dialogue from Panic 57. Halloween 2 – The Splash band 58. The boogie man is coming – Dialogue ( Halloween ) 59. Shop Territory – Tangerine Dream ( Firestarter ) w/ The next episode ( accapella ) – Dr Dre & Snoop 60. Main Titles – Fuzzbee Morse ( Ghoulies II ) 61. Day of the reaper – Sean Ruddy ( Day of the reaper ) 62. Fear 22 – Franco Mannino ( Murder Obsession , Follia Omicida ) 63. Inferno – Keith Emerson ( Inferno ) 64. Impending – Claudio Simonetti ( Opera ) 65. Dialogue from Video Violence 66. The Cat / Rita (with Dialogue) (The Grim Reaper) – Marcello Giombini ( Anthropophagous, The Beast (Antropophagus, Man-Eater, ‘The Grim Reaper’) ) 67. London Dungeon – The Misfits 68. Human Fly – The Cramps 69. Illusions 1 – Paul Osborne 70. Jana Bate’s interview dialogue from The Last Horror Film 71. Zombie Parade 2 – Nico Fidenco ( Zombi Holocaust ) 72. Track 3 ( Excerpt ) – Chuck Cirino ( The Return of the Swamp thing ) 73. Ceremony ( Dialogue & FX ) – Michael Sahl ( Blood Bath ) 74. Main Title ‘Paint Her Mouth’ (from Death Wish) (Within The Woods) – Herbie Hancock ( Death Wish ) 75. House of clocks dialogue & FX – Vince Tempera ( House of Clocks ) 76. End Credits – Vince Tempera ( House of Clocks ) 77. Sea within a sea – The Horrors 78. Dialogue from Halloween 79. End credits w/Dialogue – Stephen Tsang ( Bionic Ninja ) 80. Vestron Pictures Logo

#SoundCloud #music #Evil Nine #Horror #Halloween #Soundtrack #VHS #halloween mix #halloween mixtape #halloween mixes #mix #mixtape #mixes #harror mix

[snowflakesonchristmas]

313 days until Christmas 🎄 ❄️

#christmas #days until christmas #christmas music #christmas countdown #merry christmas #holiday #happy #snow #christmas songs #december #halloween #winter #happy holidays #carl zittrer

[johnnymundano]

Prom Night (2008)

Directed by Nelson McCormick Screenplay by J.S. Cardone Music by Paul Haslinger Country: Canada, United States Running time: 88 minutes CAST Brittany Snow as Donna Keppel Scott Porter as Bobby Jessica Stroup as Claire Davis Dana Davis as Lisa Hines Collins Pennie as Ronnie Heflin Kelly Blatz as Michael Allen James Ransone as Detective Nash Brianne Davis as Crissy Lynn Kellan Lutz as Rick Leland Mary Mara as Mrs. Waters Ming-Na Wen as Dr. Elisha Crowe Johnathon Schaech as Richard Fenton Idris Elba as Detective Winn Jessalyn Gilsig as Aunt Karen Linden Ashby as Uncle Jack

Theft Alert: All images from IMDB

Donna Keppel (Brittany Snow; working hard here, bless) is the only survivor of a family massacre perpetrated by Richard Fenton (Johnathon Schaech; looking very Sean William Scott), a creepy teacher with a boner for her. Tonight Donna’s Prom Night is being held at a swanky hotel,  but tonight is also the night Richard escapes from The Home For Creepy Teachers With Wayward Boners. Everything you expect to happen happens, just a lot less interestingly than you would expect for a slasher movie, certainly for one that cost $20 million. Prom Night (2008) is like an experiment see if it possible to make a slasher flick so inoffensive and dumb it could be screened at tea time on The Disney®©™ Channel. It turns out it is in fact possible to make such a thing, but unfortunately no one would want to watch it. It actually makes you hanker for Prom Night (1980), as low-budget and timeworn as that disco slasher may well be.  

For starters, Prom Night (2008) is not a remake of Prom Night (1980) despite what anyone says. Fuck that noise, someone obviously just wanted to use the title. End. Of. They are both slasher movies which take place on Prom Night, but that’s it. I know this because I watched Prom Night (1980) recently for the first time, and last night I watched Prom Night (2008) for the last time. Prom Night (1980) has a mystery surrounding the identity of the killer, which keeps you awake and which also has a surprisingly strong emotional pay off, whereas in Prom Night (2008) we know who the killer is from the off, which is boring and has no pay off at all. Essentially then, this is the difference between the two, one is a bit amateurish but very entertaining, while the other is slick as snot on a door handle and as dull as ditch water. 

Ultimately only one Prom Night successfully evokes the youthful exuberance of the night in question, which is important as I am 50 and English, so I have no personal experience whatsoever of a Prom Night. Also: get off my lawn! Prom Night (1980) makes it look like a fantastically enjoyable event at which hormonally crazed kids dance enthusiastically to fantastically simplistic disco. Apparently the movie was shot with the cast dancing to real, popular disco hits until the makers realised you have to actually pay to use other people’s music (?!who knew!?). Being a bit strapped for cash they had the soundtrack composer Carl Zittrer cook up some home-made disco beats at roughly the same tempo so the visuals and sound would still gel. Carl Zitterer did an excellent job.  A bit too excellent in fact, since the similarity was still so pronounced a $10 million lawsuit was brought against the movie (and settled for $50,000 – phew!). A small price to pay for one of the most cheerful and fun dance sequences I’ve ever seen, particularly as I didn’t pay it. Prom Night (1980) is a decent slasher flick but the dance floor sequence is just pure joy.  Prom Night (2008) makes Prom Night look like a shit night club where nobody knows anyone else there; seriously, the interaction of the core group with everyone else, who they apparently have known for years, is ridiculously minimal. And the songs are the kind of heatedly sexual nursery rhymes I am generationally disposed to dislike. I just don’t get it, basically. You crazy kids! “Who’s your daddy? And is he rich like me?” isn’t so much a song lyric to me as a reason to call the sex police. And while technically the dancing in Prom Night (2008) is smoother, the dancing in Prom Night (1980) is more realistically ramshackle and energetic. 

Also, in Prom Night (1980) the killer, whoever they are, is refreshingly human (they slip on the slippery floor at one point, etc) but in Prom Night (2008) the killer is a tediously efficient killer; which is odd because he’s just a school teacher with a creepy boner for one of his female students, which explains none of his killing efficacy. By rights he should just be crying while wanking over the school yearbook, as I imagine most creepy schoolteachers with boners for their female students do. Maybe creepy schoolteachers with boners for their female students find that reductive and a little offensive of me, and that’s a real crying shame there, because the last thing I want to do is offend creepy teachers with boners for their female students. Every school has that one teacher who dates his female students “secretly”, and as the female student ages out of school he replaces her with a new female student. Maybe you are that guy. In which case you need to hear this: Dude, you are creepy. No one is impressed; they are creeped out. Preying on children is not cool. And if they are in school they are children, I don’t care how developed their chest is. A light prison sentence or some intensive therapy are what you need, creepy teacher dude, not high fives and Budweiser with the bros. (I do apologise for the fact I went to school in the 1970s leading to my not acknowledging that creepy schoolteachers can also be female, and the students being creeped on can be both female and male; with any combination of gender being creeper and creeped upon. I guess everyone sex creeping on everyone else, well, that’s progress? Well done, everyone. Personally I would have tried to phase out the whole creepy-schoolteacher-with-a-boner-for-their-student thing but I guess expanding it across the gender spectrum is certainly one way to go.)

In terms of cast Prom Night (1980) only really has Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen as “names” but everyone is okay, and the characters are all quite quirky and sympathetic. Prom Night (2008) might not have many “names” but it has a far more professional level of acting, which is a win for it. But, alas, while there are real actors in Prom Night (2008) and they all try hard with what they are given, what they are given is so lacklustre and generic it is dismaying how much effort they probably had to put in just to make the characters seem as bland as they do. There’s the black couple; he’s good at sports, she’s a bit sassy. There’s the co-dependant bickering couple; he’s controlling and drinks too much, she’s whiny and, well, she’s just whiny. The gym teacher is sparky and enthusiastic like absolutely no gym teacher I’ve ever met in my half a decade existence, but very like every gym teacher in American high school set shows on Nickleodeon. The most interesting character is Detective Nash, and that’s only because James Ransone appears amusingly miscast; unless a cop who resembles Christian Bale if he was a candleblogger is your idea of a movie cop.  Obviously that’s nobody’s idea of a movie cop, luckily though Idris Elba knows what everyone expects from a Movie Cop and delivers it with lightly self-parodic gusto. Of course   Idris Elba is unarguably a charismatic screen presence; I know that because most of the things I’ve seen him in are godawful but he is always a pleasure. Maybe it’s just unfortunate choices on my part and I’m actually missing a string of entertainment pearls starring Idris Elba, even so Prom Night (2008) would come in on the poopy side of the mark sheet. But, again, even in something as poopy as Prom Night (2008) Idris Elba is fun. Here he’s The Big City Cop so he walks like he’s prolapsed and rasps his dialogue like he regularly gargles lava-hot cawfee. The enthusiasm Elba invests in playing this poorly written part makes up a bit for the utter idiocy of the character. Ultimately though nothing could distract from Detective Winn’s stupidity, so colossally boneheaded are his actions in the movie.

Prom Night (2008) seems to take place in an alternate universe where every authority figure is a moron. In a better slasher flick this might be a genuine attempt at a point, but here it’s just bad writing. Sure, you might think that everyone in authority in the universe we actually inhabit is a moron, and at this point in history you would have a strong case, counsellor. Exhibit one being our current lying coward of a Prime Minister (I write this in the year 2020). But the authority figures in Prom Night (2008) are actually more excessive in their cretinous obliviousness than even that lying shyster. Having (eventually) realised that the killer is loose Idris Elba visits Donna’s guardians, who decide not to bring her home immediately or have her placed in police custody for her own protection, because it might “embarrass her” in front of her friends and put a big downer on this magical night of awful dresses, terrible music and light fingerbanging. Idris Elba, a policeman remember, goes along with this, which is kind of epically dumb, but then he raises the dumbness stakes by going to the Hotel Swank to keep an eye on Donna. Literally. He actually stands by a bit of silver scaffold in the dance hall for hours, and stares at the back of her head, occasionally rubbing the top of his own head and pursing his lips. Incredibly this does nothing to locate and apprehend the killer, who is merrily killing staff and guest alike at his own convenience. Idris Elba even asks at the desk if they have seen the killer, even showing them a picture (which is some amazing police work for Prom Night (2008)). But when asked by the desk clerk if he should be concerned Idris Elba says ”no”. Later when the fact that the killer is in the hotel killing people can’t even be avoided by Idris Elba he pulls the fire alarm and the entire hotel decants chaotically onto the street. Because there’s absolutely no way the killer could get out unnoticed during that, right? Absolutely no way at all. Nu-uh! Essentially most of the people in Prom Night (2008) who die do so because Idris Elba’s character has all the brains of a shoe.

And a lot of people do die in Prom Night (2008), but don’t get too excited slasher flick fans, because it doesn’t really feel like it because the kills are largely inoffensive stuff; which in a slasher movie is kind of offensive in itself. Prom Night (2008)  tries to distract from the lack of splatter with sudden bursts of convulsive editing which just makes it look like the killer is over amorously cuddling people to the floor, or re-enacting his favourite Super Bowl tackles. The only clue that his victims are dead comes later when we get to see the body with some dainty little red marks on their clothes. So averse is Prom Night (2008) to actually getting bloody that one character has their throat slashed and so little claret splashes it’s preposterous. If you were asleep next to somebody with their throat cut you’d wake up sodden in the red stuff, you wouldn’t have to turn them over to discover they were dead. Maybe Prom Night (2008) should have invested some of that $20 million in a medical professional acting as a consultant to tell them that throat wounds tend to, you know, bleed profusely since it’s all the blood inside you coming out of that new hole that kills you. Okay, sometimes it’s the shock of blood loss that offs you but, whatever, there’s a lot of blood involved. There is, I admit, one artfully shot kill where an arc of blood spatters a sheet of plastic but mostly the effects in Prom Night (2008) are less Tom Savini and more Tom and Jerry.

Sadly then, when it comes to this particular Prom Night (2008) you’re better off staying at home and washing your hair.

#Prom Night #Movies #canada #United States #2008 #The 2000s #Slashers #Horror #Nelson McCormick #Brittany Snow #Idris Elba #Creepy teachers #Johnathon Schaech

[spectacletheater]

https://www.mixcloud.com/SpectacleTheater/spectacle-radio-ep45-102719-they-fell-upon-the-men-one-by-one/

Just in time for all your parties tonight, our annual Spectoberween Spectacular!

Pino Donaggio - Mannequins (Tourist Trap) // (Desert Archipelago)Shelby Leverington - They Fell Upon the Men (Death by Invitation) // Bruno Nicolai - A Virgin Among the Living Dead // Brian Eno - Glitterbug 12 // Eyes of Fire // Coil - Hellraiser Theme // Chris Burke - Splatter University Theme // Jonathan Newton - Unhinged // Hussein al-Imam & Moody El Imam - Fangs // Katherine Quittner - They're Playing Our Song (Grave Robbers) // Richard Band and Shirley Walker - Theme from Ghoulies // Meredith Monk - Turtle Dreams (Waltz) // - // Gerhard Heinz - Holiday Feeling (Bloody Moon) // Paul Zaza & Carl Zittrer - Love Me Til I Die (Prom Night) // Hussein al-Imam & Moody El Imam - Fangs // Pico - Malaguena (Knife + Heart) // David Shapiro and Heather Alcantar - I Need a Break (Evil Laugh) // David Halladay - Flashback (Lady Beware) // Modell Doo - Mondo Weirdo // Mark Reeder - Athmospheres (Nekromantik 2) // Thom Yorke - The Jumps (Suspiria) // Franco Campanino - Theme from Cannibal Holocaust II // - // Caleb Sampson and Ken Winokur - Halloween Hoot

#Spectacle Radio #mixtape #halloween #horror #Spectober #film score #soundtrack #horror disco