Welcome everbloody, to our last post of 2010, and, if I'd had half a brain, that's what the post should have been...
2010! How perfect
that would be! But, as we all know, Tabonga doesn't live in a perfect world.
Here's an interesting coincidence, it's also our
1,111th post!!! So, go blow a big old blowout for us, iffin' ya gots one!
In the sleepy coastal town of Potters Bluff, Rhode Island, there are strange murders where people passing through are killed by mobs of townspeople. The Sherrif seems to be the only person who doesn't have a clue. The local undertaker is involved in reanimating the dead, and, as it turns out, the Sherrif's wife is also involved. Saw this one when it came out, because of the hype about this being the next offering by the makers of ALIEN. Pretty good hype! I love the Japanese title... ZONGERIA!
Music is by Joe Renzetti, Joe had 28 composing and 5 soundtrack credits starting in 1978 with THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY! A few other films he worked on are FATSO, THE EXTERMINATOR, POLTERGEIST III, CHILD'S PLAY, BASKET CASE 2 and FRANKENHOOKER, not too bad!!
It's time to bring in our little Dungeon helper, Ralphie The Tarantula, as he'll be pushing the last button of the year, the big red 'GO' button that starts our last Eariffic Earclip of 2010, for...
DEAD & BURIED!!
Strange, gruesome murders by local residents against visiting tourists are beginning to take place in the small coastal village of Potters Bluff in Rhode Island (Mendocino, CA).
Alright then, who's hungry?!.. Light or dark meat?
James Farentino plays Sheriff Dan Gillis, he's in charge of solving the mystery. This was a rare role for James, being outside his life on TV.
This is especially horrific as the nurse explains in detail to this patient exactly what she plans on doing with this oversized hypodermic needle!!..
It was pretty much this image that was the bane of fifties pre-code horror comics and led to the comics code in 1954, which then pronounced the death of a multitude of uncensored comic titles like ADVENTURES INTO DARKNESS, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, STRANGE WORLDS, LOST WORLDS, WEIRD SCIENCE, WEIRD FANTASY, MISTER MYSTERY, TALES OF HORROR, WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE, HAUNTED THRILLS, WEIRD CHILLS, SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES, JOURNEY INTO FEAR, VAULT OF HORROR, TOMB OF TERROR, THE BEYOND, BEWARE!, THE UNSEEN, THE THING!, HORRIFIC, VOODOO, OUT OF THE SHADOWS, WORLDS OF FEAR, CHAMBER OF CHILLS, BLACK CAT, WEIRD TERROR, GHOSTLY WEIRD COMICS and many, many more, all the good stuff. I mean, after you've had heroin, why in the Hell would you want a glass of milk? Try to make horror homogenized? MAD Magazine was the rare example of a publisher making the crossover to success. Magazines were excluded from the code... Genius!
Love this shot of the goons, out and about... After people die there, they are later seen holding local jobs or just walking around, and all love beating up or killing out-of-towners and documenting it on film.
Here's Robert Englund as Harry, playing with his model plane while retrieving a Thunderbird from the ocean with his tow truck. In three years he scores big as Freddy in NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. After this film, Robert's next role would be in GALAXY OF TERROR.
Well, back to the fun!
Stan Winston was probably impressed with EYES WITHOUT A FACE and wanted to try his hand with a similar scene. Here's Jack Albertson, as town undertaker and monster maker, William G. Dobbs, as he works on another of his creations.
Now for the final touch... Eyeballs!
This is a weird part, Dan digs up a coffin and finds a beating heart inside!
Dan decides to pay a visit to undertaker Dobbs and get some answers to his questions, but becomes hypnotized by the images on the screen. They are images from some of the murders, still 2 shows his wife stabbing an unknown lover for the camera. Then, you see good old William G. Dobbs there, having a little too much fun!
Dan's mind swirls in horror and pain as he watches and tries to grasp the mindbending implications.
He shoots Dobbs, but Dobbs is reanimated himself, and cannot really die. You can see, he was operating on himself!
Oh, by the way... There's one more thing you should
know, Dan... Come, let me fix those for you.
Happy Newk Year, Everbloody!!
So 2010 is "Dead & Buried," BAM!! Just like that, and now it's 01-01-11, and what better film title could you want to begin a year like this with, than "I Start Counting." 
"I Start Counting" is a different film on a number of different levels, starting with the 17 year old star, Jenny(Logan's Run)Agutter as Wynne Kinch! Unlike a lot of others, Jenny is still working today!. Just to show you the diversity of her talent, Jenny also sang backing vocals on the 1990 Prefab Sprout song "Wild Horses." Jenny's real love in life is charity work for The Diabetic Association and NCH Action for Children, a charity that provides homes and other help for homeless children! 
Wynne is adopted and her family is a little strange, there's Billy Russell as Grandpa, Madge Ryan as Mother Kinch, and Gregory Phillips as weirdo brother Len Kinch! Madge was also in "A Clockwork Orange" and Alfred Hitchcock's "Frenzy!"
But the biggest problem is that Wynne is totally infatuated with her much older brother, Bryan Marshall as George Kinch, and George has secrets!!
"I Start Counting" is a saucy little film, and the main guy stirring the sauce on the music was composer and drummer Basil Kirchin! Basil was also co-leader of The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Orchestra, sometimes know as The Kirchin Brothers, even though Ivor was Basil's father!! Basil has some swingin' horror credits to his fine name, like "Mutations," and "The Abominable Dr. Phibes!" 
Wynne's best friend is the not as cute as she thinks she is, Clare(The Best Pair Of Legs In The Business)Sutcliffe, as the obnoxious little trollop Corinne Eldridge! 
I really do miss going to the record store!!
Other songs in the film are "I Start Counting" sung by Lindsey Moore, "Homemade Aeroplane" sung by Jackie Taylor, and "They Want Love" and "Children" sung by Tony Kingston. All the lyrics were written by Pat Ryan!
Every Friday George goes off to build shelves for a neighbor lady, but when Wynne investigates, she finds out that the lady doesn't really have that many shelves at all!
The olde Kinch homestead has it's own stories to tell!
Wynne has quite a vivid dream, not too unlike one I had the other night for some reason!
Wynne tries confession without much results! George is 32 and she's 15, but it's rational in her mind, because they are not really related, since she's adopted, so it's not really incest, and she tries to properly explain that to the priest!
Wynne tells the tart Corinne that she's going on a date to have sex for the first time, and as she leaves on the bus, Corinne yells at her that she's done it seven times already, "Seven Times!!!!!!!"
This composite transition shot tells the whole tale, "Your dress is too short!"
And I really miss going to the record store that had listening booths!
When Wynne goes to George's work to tell him something, she gets a good eyeful of just what a dirty mind he has! Can't get away with that these days!
See it all started when Wynne was spying on George, and she saw some scratches on his back, and then he hid a blood-stained sweater, and there has been a serial killer on the loose, so she hides in his van and spies on him to see where he really goes!!
Well, it turns out George has a secret girl friend, and while he was inside her house knockin' it out, Wynne had nothing to do except drink George's booze. So now, they called out the autorities because Wynne is missing and when she finally sneaks back in her house, The Mother gives Wynne some more booze to calm her down, and we get some great acting by Jenny Agutter!!
Dungeon longtime pal, and writer extraordinaire, Greg Goodsell turned me on to "I Start Counting," saying it had a swinging soundtrack, and Jenny Agutter in knee socks, how could you go wrong, and he was 100% correctite!
Creepy, but way different than anything Hammer was doing around the same time! Stick with it, it takes a while, but it gets pretty dark at the end!
Good horror wrapped up with murder and incest, but don't worry, Jenny will make it, she's still got a long career ahead of her! Long out of print, I do believe I recently saw that "I Start Counting" was available on Netflix, so now it's time for you to start counting too!
