Saturday, July 27, 2019

HAMMER HOUSE OF MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE - "Black Carrion" (1984)

Believe it or not, Tabonga and I rarely discuss what we're doing here, and work almost completely independent of each other, so the fact that we're discussing birds two posts in a row, and specifically black birds is pretty ironic, a complete coincidence, or maybe some kind of omen, but that's just the way it works!
The bottom line is, it's a Saturday Night Special, so let's rock!!

"Black Carrion" was episode number seven of a 1984 TV series called "Hammer House Of Mystery And Suspense," and I guess that name was just too long, or too easy to get mixed up with "Hammer House Of Horror," so somewhere along the line, they changed it to "Fox Mystery Theater."

To set the time and scene, they opened with some stock footage of kids dancing to show what it looked like in 1963!

I just had to show you this hep cat!

These are The Verne Brother, but instead of reaching the pinnacle of their success, they just up and disappeared in 1963, never to be seen again!

These guys are actually quite good, and the music carries the whole show.
Allan Love is Ray Verne, and his brother Ron is played by Julian Littman! I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who played the music in this show, because there were no real credits or info to be found, but then I noticed that both Allan Love and Julian Littman were actually real musicians, so I'm just figuring they played all this great music themselves, and it rocks consistently through the whole show! Good job guys, "I got the rhythm in my knee bone!"

Another take on Abbey Road revisited!

It's a little hard to see here, but that is a crow or raven design on the yoke of the shirt!

Pathetic young thugs in a diesel truck keep bumping these old people's car until it runs off the road!

All the lost souls end up here somehow!

This village is not only deserted, it's not even on the maps any more, since they built the highway!

Seemingly deserted that is, except for the birds and..................!

So if this was a real record, I'd buy it!
Among other things, Allan Love performed in "The Apple," and later in life opened his own seafood restaurant called "Ruby Tates" and/or "Love's Fish Market" in Brighton. It was featured on "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares" in 2007, because the restaurant was in real turmoil. It looked like it would get turned around, but in the long run, even Gordon Ramsay couldn't save it, and it closed the following year! (I just watched the show on Prime, and it's worth the time if you can find it)
Julian Littman went on to write the big Sheena Easton hit "Strut!"

Interesting shot!

Linda (Baby Love, Taste The Blood Of Dracula, The Blood on Satan's Claw) Hayden is in there too as Ellen!

The Knebworth House, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, UK has been used in over 60 movies over the years, and it's pretty easy to understand why!

The brothers had a disagreement kind of like the Everly Brothers, but worse, while hanging out in this village, and that's where the whole disappearance thing started! There you've got a better look at the bird shirt!

After being totally insulted, the locals are not amused!

 This is a nice timeless shot of Leigh (Hammer House Of Horror) Lawson and Season (Escape From New York)(She was married to Kurt Russell at the time) Hubley that looks like it could have come from a movie decades earlier, and kudos to that! They've been trying to get to the bottom of this story the whole time!

I ain't trying to explain this thing, because it's hard to understand something that doesn't make any sense, like what the birds are all about. You just need to watch it for yourself! Like I said earlier, the music rocks, and it's worth it just for that alone!

Friday, July 26, 2019

BILL AND COO / World Record For The Smallest Film Set - 1948

Hey, welcome to Chirpendale!.. Here's a weird one released eleven days after I was born! In Chirpendale, there's everything, even a bar where bird citizens can drink junebug sundaes and listen to jazzy music! But, the birds are terrorized by an evil raven called "The Black Menace." The circus comes to town, Bill and Coo get box perches and witness wild feats like Cannonball Twitcher on an out of control motorcycle! The Black Menace returns, and Bill jumps into action to save the day.

Bill and Coo are two cute parakeets (like I used to have as a kid) who are drawn together after a series of dangerous events, including being under attack by the evil Black Menace...

Here are a few of the signs in the city, I love the forties style hand painted signs, they have mucho eye appeal.

They even have a 500 berry reward poster for the mean old Black Menace!

In this scene, mama parakeet washes the laundry and then hangs it up on a clothes line.

The Obangi Bros. Circus comes to Chirpendale and all the little birdies head to the fairgrounds. They even have an air balloon to attract some attention!

The whole circus is powered by a rabbit on an exercise wheel, wowzers!

So, the audience is being entertained by numerous death defying acts, like this acrobat doing flips on the rings!

And, next up is.. Iron Jaw!..

But, the Black Menace shows up and does a fly over to assess the situation!

Bill takes off from the circus, he has a plan. He goes to the seed store and finds some crow bait, he puts a bag in his taxi and carts it away...

Bill puts the opened bag inside a special cage constructed for just an occasion. The Black Menace falls for the ploy and goes inside. Bill closes the door and the raven is finally captured, hooray!

All the citizens of Chirpendale go to gaze at the Black Menace, they are all safe now and don't have to worry about any more threats from the mean old bird!

After the dust settles, Bill and Coo get hitched, a perfect ending you must agree... So, check in tomorrow when Eegah!! will definitely have something special, just for you and me!!..

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

BUDDY'S BEER GARDEN - "Beer, Women, and Song" (1933)

 It's Weirdo Wednesday again in The Dungeon, and they don't call 'em "Looney Tunes" for nothing!

 "Buddy's Beer Garden" came out in 1933, and brings up the age old question, are cartoons for kids?
The animation is by only two guys. After doing a bunch of Buddy cartoons, Jack King went to work for Disney and did a bunch of Donald Duck cartoons.
Tish Tash (Frank Tashlin) went on to direct films like "Rock-A-Bye Baby," and "The Girl Can't Help it!"

 I think the correct name should have been "Buddy's Bier Garten," because this looks..... 

 ......And sounds like it's happening in Germany!

 Pretzels on a Dachshund's tail!

 My apologies to any vegetarians who might be offended by this still!

 Good role models for kids, at least everybody's having a good time!

 And it's nice to see beers getting along instead of bickering all the time!

 This whole cartoon is basically nothing but music, so when the Latin beat kicks in, Cookie starts doing a dance in a see through skirt,

 Just in case you're taking notes, so far this cartoon is about booze and sex!

 Even the piano strips!

 Let's not forget about smoking and more sex!

 Buddy introduces the final act of the night!

 A Super exaggerated Mae West character!

 Big loser dude's only got one thing on his feeble mind!

 But wait, everything is not as it seems!

Buddy is like Harry Houdini, and somehow after the introduction, it turns out the singer was him in drag!

Monster Music

Monster Music
AAARRGGHHH!!!! Ya'll Come On Back Now, Y'Hear??