GHOST STORY - Episode 01 - "The New Home" (1972)

Tonight's Saturday Night Special is a 70's TV show produced by the amazing William Castle called "Ghost Story."

I'm still not sure why they changed the title to "Circle Of Fear," because it sure didn't make it any more popular!

 

The great Sebastian Cabot is the host! An elegant man like Orson Welles or Alfred Hitchcock, you just feel comfortable about Sebastian even if he is in a house of ghosts!

As host, he was referred to as Winston Essex! When they stupidly changed the name of the show to "Circle Of Fear" in the beginning of 1973, Sebastians's services were deemed to be no longer needed!

Sebastian was the narrator in many a "Winnie The Pooh" tale, and was also in the "Twilight Zone" episode titled "Mr. Pip."

Here's a happy couple John and Eileen Travis as played by David (Officer Frank Serpico) Birney and Barbara Parkins! She's pregnant, and they've had a beautiful new house built in the country. There's one small problem, it's severely haunted because it's a location on a hill where they used to hang people years and years earlier!

Why do these guys look like military instead of policemen!

If I brought this hideous statue home, it would be an immediate reason to get a divorce!

I still haven't figured out how a German guy can seemingly know more about American film culture than me, but I'm not here to complain! He's really helped keep this site in tune like a fine running Porsche! Please do yourself a favor and check out his radio show, I guaran-darn-tee you'll like it!

 KWFT, Radio Marabu, and more!

Barbara Parkins has long been considered one of the most beautiful women of the 20th century. Her last acting gig was in 1998, but she's still around, thank goodness! Barbara was Betty Anderson Harrington who was one of the main characters in "Peyton Place," and even though she wasn't in every episode, she does get credits on every episode!

As a Father of three, I have to say being around a pregnant woman is tough enough without the house you're living in being haunted too!

One of those hanged was an innocent young spitfire of a woman, and as it turns out, she's still hanging around in more ways than one!

She can feel the noose tightening around her neck!

One of  the other big films Barbara was in was "Valley Of The Dolls" with co-stars Patty Duke, and Sharon Tate! Close friends, Barbara was even the Maid of Honor in the marriage of Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski!

This is Caitlin Wyles as Thomasina Barros, the dead girl in question. Her first role ever was as Marlene Standing Rattle in a film I'm completely not familiar with, a 1968 Elvis movie titled "Stay Away Joe," where The Big E played Joe Lightcloud, a mixed race rodeo cowboy!

So even though this is a TV show, it was still produced by the Master of Macabre, which I think makes it a lot more special. These two shots just remind me of the dead old lady on rollers in "House On Haunted Hill," except Caitlin's a lot better looking!

Why do we think William Castle is so great? Here's 13 reasons: MACABRE, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, THE TINGLER, 13 GHOSTS, HOMICIDAL, MR. SARDONICUS, ZOTZ!, 13 FRIGHTENED GIRLS, THE OLD DARK HOUSE, STRAIT-JACKET, THE NIGHT WALKER, THE SPIRIT IS WILLING, and ROSEMARY'S BABY, and Sebastian Cabot's not too bad himself! I'm looking forward to watching some more episodes of this show for sure!

LAS LOBAS DEL RING / She-Wolves Of The Ring - 1965

Time to go south o' the border and check out this tale of wrestling babes from 1965. I had the plot translated into English and this is what it said... Intimate problems and the evils of their friends solve them in the ring! ...Nuf' said?

This one stars the fabulous Lorena Velázquez, here's a small list of movies she appeared in... THE SHIP OF MONSTERS, SANTO CONTRA LOS ZOMBIES, SANTO vs. THE VAMPIRE WOMEN, DOCTOR OF DOOM, WRESTLING WOMEN vs. THE AZTEC MUMMY, PLANET OF THE FEMALE INVADERS, ATACAN LAS BRUJAS, LAS MOMIAS DE SAN ANGEL and more, in fact, she's still working today!!

Looks like it's time for the wrestler dudes at the gym to let some she-wolves join the club!

So, our she-wolves have dates and are enjoying their night out on the town. Love that bottom pic, the dude is a little shrimp compared to the gorgeous wrestlerette!

Another female wrestler likes to force her man to do her bidding!

Lorena plays Loreta Venus, here she is kicking another gal's butt into submission.

But, henchmen of rivals stalk and capture a wrestling chica and take her to a secret location.

Here are the rivals, plotting to take the crown from Loreta Venus and Golden Rubi. She is also a wrestler and wants the title, Queen of the Ring. Hey, wrestling was a big deal in Mexico back in the day you know!

Another she-wolf and her mom are captured and get tied up at the hidden location.

Love this shadowy hallway at the old wrestling auditorium.

Check out the tiny TV the bad guys have to watch the wrestling match. They are hoping that their she-wolf will beat up Loreta Venus and take her crown!

Had to show these nice vintage cars, a Chevy and a Corvair, used by the henchmen.

Well, wouldn't you know it, the bad guys get their just desserts. Loreta Venus ends up the winner after a tough match, and, dude gets knocked into a power panel and gets his ass toasted but good! Game over, man!!

We get a laugh at the end when the pushy wrestling gal tries to muscle her man, but, he grabs her and conks her over the head with a flower pot! Ahh, sweet revenge!! So, like, tune in tomorrow when Eegah!! tries for another field goal...

THE MASK OF DIIJON - Erich Von Stroheim (1946)

Tonight's Blue Plate Special is a mixture of brown mustard seeds, wine, vinegar, water, and salt, and is quite delectable, or tasty if you want to be crass about it!

"The Mask Of Diijon" is an unsavory story from 1946! The tragedy only adds piquancy to the tale! Don't you just love those eyes?

This is almost a solo serving of Erich Von Stroheim, and what a briny guy he is! As master magician and hypnotist Diijon, he's going to find himself in a real pickle! A couple of times in this movie, he almost smiles!

Want to start off your movie with a little excitement? How about this antique French food chopper?

Pesto-Change-o! It was only a trick, with no fake ketchup blood needed!

This dude looks like he's holding Lord Litter's buddy Mr. Skull in his hand, but it's just a magic prop that came from the Thousand Islands!

Diijon's honey Victoria is played by Jeanne Bates who worked until 2002, and had a very cool career that included parts in "Return of the Vampire," "The Phantom," "The Soul of a Monster," "Back From The Dead," and "Erasehead!" She was also in the "Twilight Zone" episode called "It's a Good Life."

William (Daughter of the Jungle) Wright is Tony, the leader of a Pickled Walnuts and Mushy Peas band that Victoria sings with! William succumbed to cancer at the young age of 38!

I'll just say that Diijon has got some serious problems! He's angry, jealous, possessive, and just not very nice in general, and can be a real sauerkraut of a guy!

Diijon is pretty salty most of the time, but he does show he has at least a little bit of a heart when this two-bit crook tries to rob a local small cafe and he disarms him with his hypnotic powers!

Mean Mr. Mustard reads a mental cookbook!  He is stirring up all kinds of trouble, and is now in the process of hypnotizing people he doesn't like, and making them do horrible things like killing themselves!

Maybe this platter was "Stone Cold Dead In The Market," or another one of these popular tunes from 1946, "The Coffee Song," "Ole Buttermilk Sky," or "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy."

Diijon can't relish the fact that he's losing his wife!

So, he mesmerizes her and turns her into a vegetable, and then makes her try and shoot Tony!

In the end, this cat that is full of piss and vinegar will have a major role in Diijon's destiny!

Is this a great shot, or what?

This was really a picture from the inside not the outside, but I flipped it so you could read it without using a menu or a mirror!

"The Mask Of Diijon" is a spicy little film that's just a little over an hour long, so it's pretty easy to consume, and to make it even easier for you to digest, there's a pretty decent version you can watch on YouTube, and you won't even have to leave a tip!