Well, it was inevitable, but I really wasn't ready for the news that Forrest J. Ackerman just passed away today!! He was our hero as you all know, and an inspiration from the first issue of FM we ever owned right up to today. I have no doubt we'll meet again!! I had already scheduled a two part deal for the next two nights, and now, it is even more fitting as we say good-bye to everybody's friend even if you didn't know him, because I don't think Forrest J. Ackerman ever met a stranger in his life!!! I'm sure Forry would want us to continue writing about these movies, so, tonight's special feature is straight out of La-La Land, because I'm talking about, the 1969 feature
"The Mummy and the Curse of the Jackals!"
Good sport and all around great guy, Anthony Eisley plays the title role of David Barrie to the hilt, despite whatever circumstances prevail, financial or otherwise!!!
Marliza Pons as Princess Akana, or in the vernacular, Connie, is Anthony's love interest in this bizarre desert tale!!
Not a werewolf, No, that would be far too trite for a movie as intelligent as this, No, instead, Anthony is transformed into a jackal, one big mean varmit!!!
Okay, he looks pretty cuddly here, but he's just really getting started!!!
They didn't do a very good job of locking Anthony in like he had requested, so he scales the wall, escapes and ends up in this Las Vegas amusement park, which is pretty damn scary unto itself!!
C'Mon!! Have you seen a better makeup job lately?? I was doing some research, and I read where some idiot said this was a
bad movie!! What planet did he come from?? More like one of the 'seven wonders of the world' unearthed once again from the sands of time like some ancient pyramid, would be a bit more correct!!
Now, you know why it's a two night deal. Hell, we haven't even got to The Mummy yet!! This poor Las Vegas cop just happened to be in the wrong place ad nauseam!!
Talk about your new world order minorities, Wow, have drunks been badly mistreated and stereotyped over the years or what?? Of course, no one cares when they get killed!!!
This is one of the wildest films you'll ever run across if you can possibly find a copy, and the music is.........an out of this world mix of spaghetti western, rollerskating, Inagaddadavida-carousel, jazz-funk, sitar, Zappaesque, bass-driven marimba, Las Vegas, space sleaze, Psych lounge, rockin' madness you'll ever hear in your life, and you can't even find out who is responsible for it!! On the credits it says John See... but the edges are cut off, so you can't even read John's whole last name. There is a John Seely who composed the original theme for the "Donna Reed Show" and some other things, but I don't really think that's him!! Oh, well, whoever he is, he's a freakin' genius of the wildest order with a taste in music as eclectic as my own, and that's pretty weird!! Stay tuned for tomorrow, "The Mummy and the Curse of the Jackals!" Part 02!!
See you on the other side Forry!!! We love you, man!!!
Big bummer about Forry. I first met him in 1970 when he was gracious enough to invite a tourist kid from Tennessee to tour his fabulous Ackermansion. Forry was one of the great guys out there and the world is a sadder place without him and his irrepressible spirit.
ReplyDeleteA sad yet inevitable day. I immediately thought of you guys when I heard the news. The great thing is that Forry's legacy remains, and you guys are helping to keep it alive.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much.
Zilla
I visited the Ackermansion twice and met with Forry many, many times .... the one thing that we have to remember about Forry, however, was that he was a staunch atheist who vehemently eschewed the idea of the afterlife or the survival of the personality past death. He once said that "ten seconds after I die, it will be as if I never lived!" His legacy, however, we live on ..........
ReplyDeleteGreg, it was meant to be a rhetorical statement!
ReplyDeleteVery sad to report that the lovely and legendary Marliza Pons passed away on May 2, 2011. She will be missed by so many people, especially the belly dance community.
ReplyDelete