T-Fest Open Thread….

People seemed to like the last Them! candid, so….

The guy, I’m assuming, is director Gordon Douglas. A journeyman helmer (or, if you’re being less generous, a bit of a hack) who made a lot of pictures over the decades, Them! is his best movie. It’s really very, very well directed, probably because the shedding of color and 3-D at the last minute pushed them into a very clean, Dragnet style that really enhanced the film. There’s a shot in the beginning where the camera follows the police spotter plane in the distance, tracking it until it flies behind the suddenly revealed little girl in the foreground of the shot. It’s not Citizen Kane, but it’s a very nice shot.

Douglas’ next film after this was the Liberace picture Sincerely Yours (!), which was the Technocolor ‘A’ picture Them! was originally supposed to be. In direct contrast to his work here, the direction in that film is downright turgid.

Look how Douglas and the crew guy are dressed, and pity Joan Weldon in her tweeds and the actors in their black, fully buttoned-up cop uniforms, or suits and ties. Man, it must have been sweltering.

I’ll see some of you at Sandy’s place. Feel free to use this as an open thread, maybe sharing any Halloween experiences. Have a great week, everyone.

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Rock Baker

Have fun, Ken!
The Rev.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I didn’t get the images to Ken, and I’m not close to done with Tween-Fest 2013’s write-up, and soon I’ll have T-Fest staring at me.

So…..busy…..

Luckily I can look at my bank account tomorrow and be reminded of the upside to all this extra work.

Anyway, I can’t wait for Saturday! Friday night, too, for that matter.
Greenhornet

CAPTION: “I said, ‘the new fan is a lot quieter!'”.
Ericb

Joan Weldon sure it hot!
bgbear_rnh

I am afraid you are not her biggest fan.
Flangepart

I Like the ‘shovel guy’ there.
“Interesting gig, but I still feel like I’m moving kitty litter.”
ghoyle1

Is there a hashtag for tfest? #tfest and #t-fest seem to be taken. Why not #tfest13? Or #kenandsandytortureus
The Rev.

This seems as good a place as any…

Mr. Rational: I finally say Tombs of the Blind Dead last week. I know you were on me to do so, and good on you for it because it’s pretty damn great. The Templars may be my favorite undead monsters ever. If anyone reading this has made the same mistake I did and dragged your heels on this one, rectify that and see it asap.

I have a line on the 2nd one, as well, which I’ll try and watch this weekend. (I know it’s not supposed to be as good, but I definitely need to see all the Blind Dead movies just because the titular monsters are so damn wonderful.) Then I need to hunt up the other two.
Ken_Begg

The film are interesting because each one starts fresh and has an at least slightly different tone. It’s less a series than several variations or riffs on a central concept. Sort of like the Paul Naschy werewolf movies.
The Rev.

That was what I gleaned from reviews of the movies I’ve read.

I watched the 2nd one today, and man, it didn’t hold up too well to the original. The initial Templar attacks are nicely done; the Templars are still fantastic; and the final sequence of the movie is exceptionally tense (although the ending is highly anticlimactic). Unfortunately, none of the characters grabbed me (and also tend to do stupid things); the whole movie spins its wheels in the middle third, to the point I actually got bored; there’s never that aura of pervasive, inescapable doom the original did so well; and the Templars running around stabbing and slashing people to death just doesn’t pack the same visceral punch of them slicing and then exsanguinating their screaming victims. I’ll gladly watch the original again. This one, not so much.