Written by Mugo del Jefe
Musgo should know better. When you ask for companies to empty their vaults, sometimes you get just what you asked for. The Warner Archives Collection may be one of the more wonderful things that a company has done for the movie lovers in the past decade. Instead of milking some of their more obscure releases for anniversary editions or part of holiday promotions, they've made no-frills editions of the movies available online as made-to-order DVDs. This has been a boon to those of us who have scoured used VHS racks for previously out-of-print films. This collection has given us Brewster McCloud, Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark, Bad Ronald, Slither, and Americathon. These films wouldn't survive on the shelves at a major retailer but they find their homes on the Internet.
The same company that has released Goober & The Ghost Chasers and Funky Phantom collections has recently released two episodes of a lost show from the Seventies - Legends Of The SuperHeroes. For those of us old enough to remember - the name is a way that NBC tried to link these two live action episodes back to the Super Friends cartoons airing on Saturday mornings. In January 1979 when these episodes aired the Super Friends was an hour long Saturday morning show featuring Challenge Of The Super Friends as the second half hour - still one of the most entertaining of the incarnations. At the same time, the early Seventies creations of Sid and Marty Krofft including H.R. Pufnstuf, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, and Land Of The Lost were still finding audiences on daytime and Saturday morning television through syndication. Out of this odd mixture of influences came two specials - The Challenge and The Roast.
The specials aired on consecutive Thursday nights on NBC in January of 1979. As an 11-year-old, young Musgo immediately found the ads for these shows in his TV Guide. They promised live-action versions of superheroes that I hadn't seen except in comics or cartoons. At the time, there were repeats of the Batman live-action series and there was Wonder Woman. That was the beginning and end of DC characters I could see in "person" on TV. And my big screen Superman was still a year or two away.
The Challenge is an hour-long traditional comic book story. The Justice League of America consisting of Batman, Robin, Flash, Captain Marvel, Green Lantern, Black Canary and Huntress are gathered to celebrate the retired Scarlet Cyclone's birthday (a great bit on Superman). At the same time, the Legion Of Doom (Mordru, Solomon Grundy, Riddler, Weather Wizard, Dr. Sivana, Giganta and a funny moustached Sinestro) unleash a deadly bomb that will blow up the Earth in one hour. The plot has our heroes spreading out to find the bombs, losing their powers, having a chase on cool '70s-era jet skis, and trying to disarm the bombs with seconds to spare.
The Roast is a gathering of the superheroes at a celebrity roast hosted by Ed McMahon. There are several side skits that have little to do with the roast including an entertainment-style report by Rhoda Rooter, a song by Mordru, and a stand-up routine by Ghetto Man.
Both specials are shot on videotape with a very obvious laugh track to simulate a live audience. The special effects are largely done with a green screen and sound effects. They have the same feel as the ones being used on the Krofft shows of the day including Wonderbug, Bigfoot and Wildboy, and Dr. Shrinker. Green Lantern and Sinestro's rays from their rings could be right out of an episode of Magic Mongo. The look of videotape does not go well with the stylized world of comic book heroes. It's disconcerting to see Batman and Robin battling Solomon Grundy at a gas station while cars pass by and onlookers from the Italian place across the street look on.
The acting is another interesting combination. There are familiar faces from the Batman series - Adam West and Burt Ward play Batman and Robin again, as does Frank Gorshin as a very disinterested Riddler (check out his belly as he lounges in his chair in The Challenge). And then there's the odd casting like Charlie Callas as Sinestro. I never imagined Sinestro with a Wise Guys Brooklyn accent. The best casting might be Howard Morris as Dr. Sivana. The character usually battles Captain Marvel as an evil genius. But here Howard, best known as Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show plays him completely over the top in a way that only would be matched by an early Robin Williams.
The roast is where the show really can't find its mark. It runs more like another Krofft product - The Donny & Marie Show or other variety shows of the day - more than it resembles a Dean Martin Roast. Ed McMahon is a perfect straight man but in many of the skits it's clear that no one in the cast is up to the level of Johnny Carson to take advantage of his skills. There's a skit with William Schallert as the Scarlet Cyclone. It's one of the more cleverly written skits on the show and even with Schallert's talents it just screams for Johnny Carson or a Jonathan Winters to play this elderly character.
It's not surprising that these two episodes never turned into anything more. The ratings were horrendous and it disappeared quickly. But as with most things related to superheroes - especially the big names like Batman, the show became a thing of legend. Copies of it from really bad VHS copies circulated at comic conventions for years. People were curious to see what they had missed and people who were 11 years old at the time remembered it fondly 20 years later. But in its DVD glory here - the memories become too real. What looked presentable on a grainy, fourth-generation VHS copy - looks just as grainy and bad on DVD. The show hasn't aged well, even as a cult item, there's little to recommend. There's a tiny excerpt of a deleted scene and outtakes and even that feels accidentally left on the disc.
But play on Warners. This is what we asked for. Warts and all. If every one of Legends Of The SuperHeroes helps to unearth more classics like Macabre and the upcoming Classic TV Christmas Collection then bring it on. And now Musgo must fly away like Ghetto Man . . . "Kareem!".
Available only at the WarnerArchive.com
Article first published as DVD Review: Legends of the Superheroes on Blogcritics
Showing posts with label Warner Archive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warner Archive. Show all posts
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Thursday, September 24, 2009
DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK
Written by Musgo Del Jefe
This review really starts over 30 years ago. On a cold, wet Friday night in the mid-'70s, ABC reaired their 1973 made-for-TV horror film entitled Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark. LIttle Musgo had yet to see Jaws and he was years away from The Exorcist. Little Musgo had only been exposed to the Universal Horror films like Dracula and Frankenstein on his parent's newly acquired cable television. This movie telecast freaked out little Musgo to no end - he would have his grandparent's change the channel each commercial break, vowing never to watch it again. But before each set of ads were done, he'd be back on the channel until its terrifying conclusion.
I've blamed lots of sources for my continued interest in horror films and literature. Certainly my completely random and default purchase of two Stephen King paperbacks The Shining and The Stand at the Little Professor Bookshop in Southland Mall on an expiring gift certificate were partially to blame. So too was the continuous airing of Universal Horror films on Ch. 41 out of Battle Creek every Friday night. But this particular film also stands tall.
For years, I never forgot the film and I scoured video shelves to prove that it wasn't part of my imagination - this film was truly scary. The longer I couldn't find it, the more obsessed I became with it. The movie became kind of a Holy Grail of my video searches. I knew it was out there and in the days before eBay, Amazon and BitTorrents - I would find a listing for a 16mm version of the film or an elusive European VHS release. It wasn't until the late '90s that I obtained a tape of one of the TV airings complete with commercials. At that time, it was amazing how clear my memory of the movie was 20 years after its release.
Now, thanks to the wonderful folks at The Warner Brothers Archive Collection, the movie is available to order online only. I knew this day was not too far away when I first read word of a remake being produced by Guillermo del Toro and starring Katie Holmes. And timing it to be available to a whole new couple of generations in time for Halloween is just good business.
Seeing the film for the first time in almost a decade, and finally seeing it in pristine shape - I wondered how critically I could view the film or if I'd still be a seven-year-old in my grandfather's chair watching the show. I'm happy to say that the film holds up pretty well.
The pedigree of the film isn't promising but respectable. The film is directed by longtime TV episodic director John Newland and stars Kim Darby as Sally. Kim is best known for her debut role in John Wayne's True Grit and my generation may best remember her as John Cusack's mother from Better Off Dead. Sally's husband is played by Jim Hutton who's probably best known as Timothy Hutton's father. The only other main character in the film is William Demarest as Mr. Harris, the fix-it man. William is best known to the world as Uncle Charley from My Three Sons.
The film succeeds because it understands how to tell a good horror story on a budget and it doesn't try to become something it isn't. The plot is simple - young couple moves into old family house after wife's grandmother passes away. While redecorating the house, Sally insists on opening a bricked-off fireplace against Mr. Harris' warnings. Eventually she starts hearing voices and seeing figures in the dark. Sally is slowly driven to a nervous breakdown by these figures while husband Alex doubts her stories. By the time Alex finds the real reason why the fireplace was bricked up, it might be too late.
The film brought to mind a couple of influences. The first is Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story The Yellow Wallpaper. This 1892 story about a woman descending into madness is also read as a woman's struggle against an oppressive marriage. The relationship between Sally and her husband, Alex is strained at best. He's an up-and-coming professional and spends more and more time away from the house. He continues through the film to deny her stories and blame them on external causes or her mental state. This frustration of hers really helps ratchet up the tension as she continues to breakdown. That same scenario of a young woman unsure of her surroundings and unable to convince the people around her that something is wrong is a major theme of Rosemary's Baby from 1967.
The low budget did not stop the director and crew from putting together a great package that suits the film. A majority of the film takes place in the dark. There are very few daylight or well-lit scenes. When they are lit, the film stock looks like old pictures I have in photo albums from 1973. But in the dark, a lot is left for the viewer to just hear. The sound design is wonderful. The score is worthy of a much larger film and the design of the whispers that Sally hears in the dark is about the creepiest thing about the film. The little monsters are always hidden in shadow or only viewed in very short glimpses as they run away from light. It's a very effective technique that keeps the viewer guessing and making a much scarier monster in their head than is on screen.
The made-for-television format isn't kind to films. As a director, you either make a 75-minute film that feels like it loses momentum every 15 minutes or you cater your story to the end of an emotional beat every 15 minutes. In particular, one of the most effective made-for-television films of all-time is Steven Spielberg's Duel because he understands how to use the breaks to his advantage. Instead of having to fill a few minutes with dialog to build suspense, he uses the advertisements to let little seven-year-olds twist the dial and eventually come back for more. This DVD version of the film is only lacking in that you don't have to wait for the commercials between scenes.
Does it hold up? Yeah, for the most part. It's a fun exercise in how you tell a scary story on a small budget. We're jaded consumers now and expect bigger bangs and explosions. This film tells its story in brevity and with imagination. The story is simple but has some much larger undertones when viewed through the modern eye. I'm glad that the people at Warner Brothers Archive Collection brought this back for me to share with my friends. Because the minute the lights go off in the house during the stormy night, I know it's coming but for a split second I'm seven all over again and very few movies can claim to do that.
This review really starts over 30 years ago. On a cold, wet Friday night in the mid-'70s, ABC reaired their 1973 made-for-TV horror film entitled Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark. LIttle Musgo had yet to see Jaws and he was years away from The Exorcist. Little Musgo had only been exposed to the Universal Horror films like Dracula and Frankenstein on his parent's newly acquired cable television. This movie telecast freaked out little Musgo to no end - he would have his grandparent's change the channel each commercial break, vowing never to watch it again. But before each set of ads were done, he'd be back on the channel until its terrifying conclusion.
I've blamed lots of sources for my continued interest in horror films and literature. Certainly my completely random and default purchase of two Stephen King paperbacks The Shining and The Stand at the Little Professor Bookshop in Southland Mall on an expiring gift certificate were partially to blame. So too was the continuous airing of Universal Horror films on Ch. 41 out of Battle Creek every Friday night. But this particular film also stands tall.
For years, I never forgot the film and I scoured video shelves to prove that it wasn't part of my imagination - this film was truly scary. The longer I couldn't find it, the more obsessed I became with it. The movie became kind of a Holy Grail of my video searches. I knew it was out there and in the days before eBay, Amazon and BitTorrents - I would find a listing for a 16mm version of the film or an elusive European VHS release. It wasn't until the late '90s that I obtained a tape of one of the TV airings complete with commercials. At that time, it was amazing how clear my memory of the movie was 20 years after its release.
Now, thanks to the wonderful folks at The Warner Brothers Archive Collection, the movie is available to order online only. I knew this day was not too far away when I first read word of a remake being produced by Guillermo del Toro and starring Katie Holmes. And timing it to be available to a whole new couple of generations in time for Halloween is just good business.
Seeing the film for the first time in almost a decade, and finally seeing it in pristine shape - I wondered how critically I could view the film or if I'd still be a seven-year-old in my grandfather's chair watching the show. I'm happy to say that the film holds up pretty well.
The pedigree of the film isn't promising but respectable. The film is directed by longtime TV episodic director John Newland and stars Kim Darby as Sally. Kim is best known for her debut role in John Wayne's True Grit and my generation may best remember her as John Cusack's mother from Better Off Dead. Sally's husband is played by Jim Hutton who's probably best known as Timothy Hutton's father. The only other main character in the film is William Demarest as Mr. Harris, the fix-it man. William is best known to the world as Uncle Charley from My Three Sons.
The film succeeds because it understands how to tell a good horror story on a budget and it doesn't try to become something it isn't. The plot is simple - young couple moves into old family house after wife's grandmother passes away. While redecorating the house, Sally insists on opening a bricked-off fireplace against Mr. Harris' warnings. Eventually she starts hearing voices and seeing figures in the dark. Sally is slowly driven to a nervous breakdown by these figures while husband Alex doubts her stories. By the time Alex finds the real reason why the fireplace was bricked up, it might be too late.
The film brought to mind a couple of influences. The first is Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story The Yellow Wallpaper. This 1892 story about a woman descending into madness is also read as a woman's struggle against an oppressive marriage. The relationship between Sally and her husband, Alex is strained at best. He's an up-and-coming professional and spends more and more time away from the house. He continues through the film to deny her stories and blame them on external causes or her mental state. This frustration of hers really helps ratchet up the tension as she continues to breakdown. That same scenario of a young woman unsure of her surroundings and unable to convince the people around her that something is wrong is a major theme of Rosemary's Baby from 1967.
The low budget did not stop the director and crew from putting together a great package that suits the film. A majority of the film takes place in the dark. There are very few daylight or well-lit scenes. When they are lit, the film stock looks like old pictures I have in photo albums from 1973. But in the dark, a lot is left for the viewer to just hear. The sound design is wonderful. The score is worthy of a much larger film and the design of the whispers that Sally hears in the dark is about the creepiest thing about the film. The little monsters are always hidden in shadow or only viewed in very short glimpses as they run away from light. It's a very effective technique that keeps the viewer guessing and making a much scarier monster in their head than is on screen.
The made-for-television format isn't kind to films. As a director, you either make a 75-minute film that feels like it loses momentum every 15 minutes or you cater your story to the end of an emotional beat every 15 minutes. In particular, one of the most effective made-for-television films of all-time is Steven Spielberg's Duel because he understands how to use the breaks to his advantage. Instead of having to fill a few minutes with dialog to build suspense, he uses the advertisements to let little seven-year-olds twist the dial and eventually come back for more. This DVD version of the film is only lacking in that you don't have to wait for the commercials between scenes.
Does it hold up? Yeah, for the most part. It's a fun exercise in how you tell a scary story on a small budget. We're jaded consumers now and expect bigger bangs and explosions. This film tells its story in brevity and with imagination. The story is simple but has some much larger undertones when viewed through the modern eye. I'm glad that the people at Warner Brothers Archive Collection brought this back for me to share with my friends. Because the minute the lights go off in the house during the stormy night, I know it's coming but for a split second I'm seven all over again and very few movies can claim to do that.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
BAD RONALD
Written by Hombre Divertido
In 1987 Patrick Dempsey plays a curly brown-haired, nerdy outcast, high school student by the name of Ronald who pays the head cheerleader to date him, in hopes of becoming popular, in the classic ‘80s teen comedy Can’t Buy Me Love.
Thirteen years earlier, an eerily similar looking Scott Jacoby plays Bad Ronald, a curly brown-haired, nerdy outcast, high school student, who accidentally kills a young girl who is mocking him. At the insistence of his mother, Ronald takes refuge in a secret room in the house to avoid authorities, in this made-for-television classic. After his mother leaves home for an operation and dies, Ronald continues to live in his secret room as the house is sold and a new family, with three young daughters, moves in.
Generally considered intense for a television movie in 1974, Bad Ronald is still fun, but quite tame by today’s standards. The main problems with the movie are that it is hard to tell this story in only 71 minutes, thus there is little character development, and the story comes to a conclusion too quickly and conveniently.
More importantly, Bad Ronald is really not that bad. He accidentally kills a young girl, at the beginning of the film, and then follows that up with bad decisions by both he and his mother. The seclusion eventually impacts him negatively, but he is primarily just a Peeping Tom until the nosy neighbor slips and falls after seeing Ronald, so he drags her under the house. As things get more desperate, he attacks a boyfriend of the one of the girls, but does not kill him. The film contains little or no blood or graphic violence.
The performances and overall tone are campy, and Jacoby fails to create any intensity with his portrayal of Ronald. Kim Hunter is creepy as the mother who is somewhat off and it’s fun to see a young Dabney Coleman as the father of the family that moves into Ronald’s house, but his performance is one-dimensional. The movie still looks good after all these years, though certain scenes are reminiscent of an ABC After School Special.
Bad Ronald is part of Warner Brothers Archive Collection and is available at their website. The release contains no bonus material.
Recommendation: If you enjoyed this film in the seventies, it is fun to revisit, but may not be as scary as you remember. If you are not familiar with Bad Ronald, and are looking for some fun family fare for a rainy Saturday night, grab some popcorn, and enjoy some made-for-television camp.
In 1987 Patrick Dempsey plays a curly brown-haired, nerdy outcast, high school student by the name of Ronald who pays the head cheerleader to date him, in hopes of becoming popular, in the classic ‘80s teen comedy Can’t Buy Me Love.
Thirteen years earlier, an eerily similar looking Scott Jacoby plays Bad Ronald, a curly brown-haired, nerdy outcast, high school student, who accidentally kills a young girl who is mocking him. At the insistence of his mother, Ronald takes refuge in a secret room in the house to avoid authorities, in this made-for-television classic. After his mother leaves home for an operation and dies, Ronald continues to live in his secret room as the house is sold and a new family, with three young daughters, moves in.
Generally considered intense for a television movie in 1974, Bad Ronald is still fun, but quite tame by today’s standards. The main problems with the movie are that it is hard to tell this story in only 71 minutes, thus there is little character development, and the story comes to a conclusion too quickly and conveniently.
More importantly, Bad Ronald is really not that bad. He accidentally kills a young girl, at the beginning of the film, and then follows that up with bad decisions by both he and his mother. The seclusion eventually impacts him negatively, but he is primarily just a Peeping Tom until the nosy neighbor slips and falls after seeing Ronald, so he drags her under the house. As things get more desperate, he attacks a boyfriend of the one of the girls, but does not kill him. The film contains little or no blood or graphic violence.
The performances and overall tone are campy, and Jacoby fails to create any intensity with his portrayal of Ronald. Kim Hunter is creepy as the mother who is somewhat off and it’s fun to see a young Dabney Coleman as the father of the family that moves into Ronald’s house, but his performance is one-dimensional. The movie still looks good after all these years, though certain scenes are reminiscent of an ABC After School Special.
Bad Ronald is part of Warner Brothers Archive Collection and is available at their website. The release contains no bonus material.
Recommendation: If you enjoyed this film in the seventies, it is fun to revisit, but may not be as scary as you remember. If you are not familiar with Bad Ronald, and are looking for some fun family fare for a rainy Saturday night, grab some popcorn, and enjoy some made-for-television camp.
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