Monthly Archives: September 2022

Friday night at the home drive-in: Earth vs the Spider (1958)

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Poster for Earth vs the Spider (1958)Earth vs the Spider AKA The Spider AKA Earth vs the Giant Spider (1958) by #BertIGordon w/#EdKemmer #JuneKenney #EugenePersson

Teenagers & their high school science teacher join forces to battle a giant mutant spider.

“50 TONS OF CREEPING BLACK HORROR!”

“Bullets Won’t Kill It! Flames Can’t Hurt It! Nothing Can Stop It!

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I seem to be in a real 1958 mood lately. My home drive-in has been screening movies from that year, or thereabouts, for a couple of months now. Perhaps it’s an attempt to teleport back to an earlier, more innocent, time of my life. Not that I was alive in 1958. That would make me about as old as I feel. No, but I watched a lot of movies from 1958, or thereabouts, in the 1980s on my favourite weekly television event – Not Quite Classic Theatre. Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: She Demons (1958)

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Poster for She Demons (1958)She Demons (1958) by #RichardECunha w/#IrishMcCalla #VictorSenYung
& The Diane Nellis Dancers!

Survivors of a shipwreck, including an heiress and an explorer, land on an island inhabited by strange creatures and an ex-Nazi mad scientist who keeps women in bamboo cages and allows his men to whip them.

“Horrific Nazi Experiments Gone Awry!”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

When I took a trip to Orlando, Florida, a few years back, I somehow wound up in an interesting shop owned and run by a local artist. He was an older gentleman, who regaled his customers with stories of his experiences restoring attractions at Disney World and his former career as a circus clown. His store was full of interesting stuff that really appealed to me.

In fact, my travelling companion and innamorata – knowing my taste and keen eye for quality art – crossed the street to tell me about it.

“There’s a Sorority Sluts clock in there, ” she said to me, as I carefully continued to sift through a bin of records. Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)

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Poster for The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959) by #EdwardLCahn

w/#EduardFranz #ValerieFrench #GrantRichards

A family fights against a voodoo curse that marks each member for death.

“A Terrifying Case of SKULL-DUGGERY!”

“Your money NOT refunded if you faint!”

#Horror
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959) is a film in which you expect to see Boris Karloff, or some other aging icon of horror. The image on the poster almost looks like Vincent Price if you squint at it just right. But I didn’t recognize any of the major players the first time I watched this film (or even the last time, truth be told).  Continue reading →

Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: I Bury the Living (1958)

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Poster for I Bury the Living (1958)I Bury the Living (1958) by #AlbertBand
w/#RichardBoone #TheodoreBikel #PeggyMaurer

“SHOCKS THAT CHALLENGE THE IMAGINATION!!!”

“THE MOST SPINE-CHILLING CRY THAT EVER FROZE THE BLOOD!…”

”Out of a time-rotted tomb crawls an unspeakable horror!”

#Horror #NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

I remember telling a friend sometime back in the ‘90s that I had watched I Bury the Living (1958).

“That’s a good one,” he said.

”Yes, it is,” I agreed.

That simple exchange really sums up this movie well. My friend and I are both fans of “bad movies”, as we sometimes call them. And the really bad ones can sometimes be some of our favourites. But every once in while, while scouring the bargain bins for obscure B-movie delights, we stumble upon a movie that transcends the “bad movie” moniker and proves itself to be actually deserving of praise. I Bury the Living is one such movie. Continue reading →