TICKS / First Look Pictures - 1993

Welcome to Friday Night Drive-In with Tabonga, here at The Dungeon!.. Tonite's feature is a decent little creepfest filmed at Big Bear Lake and Big Bear Valley in the San Bernardino National Forest. Some of the actors are Ami Dolenz, Seth Green, Alfonso Ribeiro, Peter Scolari and Ron Howard's dad and bro, Rance and Clint!

The music's by Daniel Licht and Christopher L. Stone. Daniel has worked on CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT, SEVERED TIES, INSIDE OUT II, CHILDREN OF THE CORN: THE FINAL SACRIFICE, HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE and the TV movie HENDRIX. Christopher worked on FOREVER AND BEYOND, COVERGIRL, SWORD OF HEAVEN, PHANTASM II and FELIX THE CAT: THE MOVIE. Get this, in 1965 Christopher was the youngest member of ASCAP, having written the score for three motion pictures by the age of 12!

Lettuce bring in our littlest helper and button pusher, what else, Rufus The Gnat!.. Hey-yo, Rufus! He's not here to bug us, but rather, to start our show, so, push the big red 'GO' button there right in front of you, now, Rufus! Here's some... TICKS!

A typical story from the early nineties... Problem teens in Los Angeles join an inner-city wilderness project in an attempt to get back in touch with their priorities, but, when they get to the camp, they begin having problems adjusting to the wild. Local marijuana growers using herbal steroids to accelerate plant growth create mutated ticks because of their leaky delivery system! It actually sounds possible. Alternate titles are INFESTED, C2 - KILLERINSECT and PARASITES.

Seth and Alfonso play Tyler and Darrel, Tyler demonstrates how you can ignite a tick! Alfonso shows off his acting chops by playing a tough guy!! I've become a fan of Seth's lately because of ROBOT CHICKEN!

Wanted posters for marijuana (marihuana) growers hang in the general store.

What a wild career Clint Howard has had! I first remember him from the STAR TREK episode where he played the mini space dude, Balok. He went on to be in these fine films... EAT MY DUST, ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL, EVILSPEAK, NIGHT SHIFT, TANGO & CASH, THE ROCKETEER, CARNOSAUR, THE ICE CREAM MAN, BARB WIRE and THE DENTIST 2.

He plays Jarvis, the guy in charge of the 'weed on steroids' project. He's just stepped in his own bear trap and is in an extremely vulnerable position. From there, he notices that some of the oversized tick eggs on the ceiling are starting to drop around him!

After the dog dies of unknown causes, the local vet discovers something quite curious... Tick on a stick!

The thing springs to life and scampers away with the needle still stuck in it!!

Darrel gets infected and rips this one off his chest in disgust!

Here's how the beautiful people deal with things.

Some nice moody blue shots.

I think Jarvis is trying to say... "Crappy new year, everbloody!!"

I just think this is a cool looking scene.

The bad guys join the fun only to get a face full o' tick!

This picture of the living room after the van crashes through the wall would make a teriffic painting!

The electrical wiring starts shorting out, creating a strobe effect, so, I captured the brightest images of Darrel as he splits in half!

Then, it's this dude's turn to get whut's comin' to him! Goodnight, sweet slimeball!..

Leave it up to pretty boy to be the big scardy cat!!

They have to use a Scooby-Doo escape method to get out of the cabin.

There's only one solution, blow the damn thing to HELL!!

Tyler picks up any survivors in the van and heads back to LA... Tune in tomorrow for a 'lost' movie that has been amazingly 'found' by Eegah!!

RIDE THE WILD SURF - Stu Phillips - Jan and Dean - "Who Will Be Crowned King Of The Surf?" (1964)

Well, I've been holding onto this little oyster for a while, and here's what happened. Netflix said "Ride The Wild Surf" was a William Castle film, but I never knew of a William Castle surf movie, so it piqued my interest. Problem is, they got it wrong, William Castle had nothing to do with this movie, but it is quite a bit different from your normal Frankie and (Sorry Bro, no Annette) surf bash and it fits in between X-Mas and New Years as well as anywhere or anything else, so here you go.....

The main theme for "Ride The Wild Surf" was performed by sidewalk surfers Jan & Dean, and the rest of the music was composed by Stu Phillips, the founder of Colpix Records! If the title song sounds a bit Beach Boysish, it's because Brian Wilson was one of the co-authors along with Jan(Jan & Dean)Berry, and Roger Christian! Stu Phillips also wrote the music for "Hells Angels On Wheels," "Venus In Furs," "Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls, and more, plus the TV series "Gidget" and "The Monkees" too! Somewhere in the movie they also stuck in the classic "Sufer's Stomp" by The Marketts!

These opening intro shots look like picture prefect postcards, vintage 1964!

"Ride The Wild Surf" is chock full of 60's pop icons! We'll start with Barbara "I Dream Of Jeannie" Eden as Augie Poole. We went to school with Augie's second cousin, third removed on her Mother's side, Sandra! Teenager Barbara was 30 years old when this movie was made!

29 year old teenager Peter Brown wasn't usually blonde and is probably best known for his appearances in 60's cowboy TV shows like "Lawman," and "Laredo!" Some of his various western characters were Clay Conover, and Chad Cooper, and his name in this film was Chase Colton! Yeah, I know, Weirdsville!!! His initial meeting with Augie Poole is also little awkward!!

Fabiano Anthony Forte aka Fabian has the role of Jody Wallis. Fabian's a little closer to being a teenager at 22!

Next up is Shelly "192 episodes of The Donna Reed Show" Fabares, as Brie Matthews, another piece of cheese that doesn't look quite right as a blonde! Shelley was 20 when they made this movie! Shelley was also in an episode of "The Twilight Zone" titled "Black Leather Jackets," and in both "Spinout" and "Clambake" with Elvis Presley!

Fabian inquires into how perky Shelley is feeling!

The main story centers around a surfin' competition in Hawaii! Hit the surf!!

And get ready for some of the fakiest green screen footage you're likely to ever see! As you can see, another teen icon is the third member of this mighty trio, Tab Hunter! Teenager Tab's character Steamer Lane was 33 when this film was made! Maybe it is a William Castle film after all!

The girls cheer the guys on! Here's something interesting that doesn't usually happen with these 60's movies, every person written about so far is still alive!!! Must have had something to do with all that pure Hawaiian air!

Susan Hart as Hawaiian girl Lily Kilua has been poppin' up all over the place around here lately, try a Susan Hart search over on the sidebar, and you'll see what I mean! On Susan's right is Catherine McLeod as her Mother! Catherine was all over the TV in the 50's and the 60's and in the same year "Ride The Wild Surf" was made, she was in the "Outer Limits" episode titled "Soldier!" Catherine is the only main cast member no longer living!

As much as this looks like the perfect romantic moment, in real life Susan went on to marry AIP president James H. Nicholson, and in his 2005 memoir titled "Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making Of A Movie Star, Tab revealed to the world that he was gay!

There is also quite a lot of documentary style real surfing footage!

It's really a fairly serious story, but there are some aspects that are pretty silly, not Harvey Lembeck silly, but silly nonetheless!

Another fantastic romantic moment with just the two of them on the beach!

Steamer might have had second thoughts as Lilly puts on one suggestive and seductive dance number! I think somewhere around here, I still have Tab Hunter's 78 single release "Young Love" that was at #1 for six weeks in 1957! "They say for every boy and girl, there's just one love in this old world, and I know I've found mine" - "Young Love" was first recorded by Ric Cartey and The Jiva-Tones" in 1956 without much success. Besides Tab Hunter it was also covered by Sony James, and The Crew-Cuts!

Augie was going to set off that huge fireworks rocket they were carrying, and she's the only one who also scared of getting burned! Good thing it was a dud!

As the action on the waves heats up, the girls start to show their concern!

To give the whole thing an air of authenticity, the news media interviews 'real' professional surfers!!

The guy giving the happy trio the most difficulties out on the waves is the iconic Robert Mitchum's son, James Mitchum! If you think he kind of looks like his Dad, well, you'd be 100% correcto! Jim played his Dad's younger brother in the classic thriller "Thunder Road" made in 1958! The title song "The Ballad Of Thunder Road" was both written and performed by Robert Mitchum. It hit the charts in 1958 and again in 1962, and reached #62 on the top 100!

Still more high quality surfin' footage!

Shelley finds the time to look concerned one more time!

And the sun sets on yet another prefect day! "I just hope you understand, I just want to go back to The Islands!" - Leon Russell