HAXAN: Witchcraft Through The Ages / Aljosha Production Company, Svensk Filmindustri - 1922

So, like, Happy Halloween Everbloody!! We'll end our October adventure with this amazing bit of Swedish/Danish silent film making from 1922! This story is part history lesson followed by re-enactments with actors depicting the history of witchcraft from its earliest days through to the present day. The result is this documentary-like film that's among the first to use re-enactments as a visual and narrative tool. From pagan worship to satanic rites to hysteria, the film takes us on a journey through the ages of witchcraft with very effective visual imagery...

Images in the movie include witches kissing the ass of Satan, boiling non-baptized babies and giving birth to demons, not to mention getting a full tour of the state-of-the-art in medieval torture devices, none of that is shown here though!

Nymphs were considered witches because they liked to run around naked in nature with their little animal friends surrounding them!

Stocks were a useful device to subdue witches while trying to figure out what the Hell to do with them!

Even the church has its problems, no place is safe from witches and even the devil hisself!

Oh boy, it's time for all the little (and big) demons to come out and play! These scenes have such a magical, surreal quality to them!

Here's the amazing entrance to the devilish underground play land where all the demons can go have a ball...

In order to get in, one must get past the greeter pigs!

Okay, so like... Let the freak show begin!!

First up is this fine piece of... err.. tail, for all the demons to drool over!

Here's the devil's platter, large enough to accommodate a nice, succulent, naked female body!.. Dinner is served!!

Oh, what the Hell.. Let's dance!!

Anyway, the scenes are all devilishly appealing, making for one very interesting flicker. The original movie was 122 minutes long! So, kids, that's all of our Halloween Countdown 2016! We're back on the regular track on Wednesday, see you then!

R.I.P. JOHN ZACHERLE - September 26, 1918 - October 27, 2016

Well, I don't usually do things like this, but I just found out from the WFMU Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban blog that the Babe Ruth, the Jim Morrison, of horror hosts, John Zacherle just passed away at the age of 98 three days ago on October 27th!

When I was a kid, we didn't get Zacherley's show on TV, but the fact that out of all the cool monsters in the world, they chose to put Zacherley on the cover of Famous Monsters Of Filmland twice out of 15 issues, you just knew he was THE best! In retrospect, when I finally saw his work, it didn't change my opinion! Just like Forrest J. Ackerman, or Vincent Price, or Boris Karloff, some people will just never ever be duplicated, and John Zacherle was one of a kind!

If you know who he was, then this is a sad moment, and if you don't, then it's even sadder!

THE MUMMY'S TOMB - "Buried Fury" (1942)

So, this is my last post of this year's "Countdown To Halloween," and I couldn't figure out if I wanted to use the "Shindig Halloween Special" from 1965, "The Paul Lynde Halloween Special" from 1976, or the last of the Gossamer trilogy starring Duck Dodgers, but then I decided to do something classy and just go all out classic for a change!

For a good 40 years or so, Horror movies were dominated by a mere handful of creatures! 

The whole Frankenstein family, Vampires, Werewolves, Invisible People, Jekyll and Hyde characters, and Mummies! Of them all, it's obvious that Vampires have stayed at the top of the game, but they are eternal creatures, so what more would you expect, but the Mummies, except for a couple of exceptions, have finally ran out of Tana leaves, and are a dying breed, literally, and figuratively!!

 On the right is the legendary George (The Flying Serpent, The House Of Frankenstein, The Mummy's Ghost, The Mad Ghoul, The Mad Monster, The Monster And The Girl) Zucco as the Mummy's keeper, Andoheb!

 "The Mummy's Tomb" is a revenge movie! The Westerners violate the ancient Egyptian tombs and are sentenced to death! It's no wonder the U.S.A. still pays millions of dollars to Egypt year after year!

 But the life force of the Mummy is this potion of Tana leaves that just got spilled on the floor! Set him on fire, and the world is free of the Mummy's revenge forever! (Almost!)

The Mummy didn't die in that horrific scene, because, well, dead people can't die!

So the Mummy gets a new owner, and he's shipped off to America!

The always entertaining Turhan (The Mad Ghoul, The Climax, The Amazing Mr. X) Bey as Mehemet Bey is the new Boss of the Mummy, and just like any good Boy Scout, he pledges to have the Mummy do his job, and kill all of the family of anybody that had anything to do with desecrating their holy resting place!

Cool Police lab, figuring out shit the good old fashioned way!

When he said get rid of ALL the family members, he meant it! 

Mary (The Bride Of Frankenstein, The Body Snnatcher, The Invisible Man Returns) Gordon was one of those kind of people that movies would be lost without! Largely uncredited, she was in over 300 films as a housekeeper or a cleaning woman, etc!

I love shots of newspapers! 

Oh, sure, they'll figure it out now with all these journalists on the case!

The star of the show is Lon Chaney Jr. as the Mummy! Kharis is his name! The dichotomy is that he is slower than a five some of mole asses, but, if he catches you, your goose is cooked, it's over!

Elyse Knox is Isobel Evans. She's planning on marrying into a family that doesn't have much future!

I like her outfit, but I swear she wears it for about 3 days! In this movie Dick Foran is Stephen Banning, and in "The Mummy's Hand" he plays Steve Banning!

Finally, it's time to change!!

Elyse was also in "Free, Blonde and 21," and she had the recurring role of Anne Howe in six Joe Palooka movies!

 Kharis is not happy with Mr. Bey when he is told to go and kidnap the girl because he wants to marry her! That just wasn't part of the program, and Kharis knows it!

But since he just won the employee of the week award, he goes out to do his job! Believe it or not, even though she looks like she is in her 20's, Isobel's Mom just tucked her in!

Let the marriage ceremony begin!

Some things just aren't meant to be, and Kharis goes up in flames again!

She's still wearing that same top!

I hope you had a good time, and thanx again to all the good folks who make the Countdown happen! 

HAPPY HELL ON EARTH YA'LL!!!

LOONEY TUNES / 'Kitty Kornered' - 1946

It's Friday the 28th, so, time to take a look at a favorite Clampett cartoon, one of the last ones he did before leaving Warner Bros. In this hilarious tale, Porky puts his four cats out in the snow for misbehaving, but, then they throw him outside and have a party to celebrate. After expelling them again, Porky goes to bed, only to be terrorized by the felines' mock Martian invasion!.. Laughs abound!!

After being thrown out, the kitties gang up on Porky and give him a little of his own medicine!

The cats immediately break out the booze, cigars and snacks, and, the party is on! It becomes a drunken celebration and the kitties are having a grand old time.

Everything about this pic is a freakin' crack up!..

Then, a mysterious dog shows up and starts barking at the drunken felines! They quickly scatter into another room as...

Porky, now in from the cold, has used his pet shadow dog to his advantage.

The kitties laugh it off until Porky loses it and starts chasing the little jerks! Notice how insane these pics are! Damn, Clampett was so good at expressing exaggerated chaos. Love that guy!

After being ejected from the house yet once again, Sylvester gives the boys a pep talk! Then, he comes up with a clever idea to get back in...

Porky has hit the sack, everything is great until a bulletin comes over his radio about a Martian invasion! The voice on the radio is actually one of the kitties, part of the plan!

Porky then notices some cute little pals in bed with him. That's fine until he puts two and two together, and, realizes that they are the Martians!!

Anywho, they all end up back outside, in the snow, wondering what the Hell just happened! Check this cartoon out when you get the chance, it's one of the best!!.. Okay, be back tomorrow as we close in on the end of Halloween Countdown 2016!!