13 CLASSIC REASONS TO WATCH "MONSTERS" (1988-1991)

 

I've got a Wild Wednesday for you this week, thirteen classic reasons to watch the "Monsters" TV show that was on from 1988 to 1990. This picture of the cover of Famous Monsters Of Filmland #66 has nothing to do with it except it sets the scene nicely!

 

Every one of these episodes has an actress in it who was a pop cultural icon at some time in the 60's, 70's, or 80's, at least in my mind, so we'll start with Episode 10 from Season One titled "Pillow Talk" that starred one of our very favorites, Mary (Death Race 2000) Woronov as Viki.

In the 11th episode titled "Rouse Him Not," Lovely Laraine Newman plays Linda McGuire. The always hilarious Laraine was a core cast member on SNL from 1975 to 1980.

Episode 21 featured Adrienne Barbeau as Fiona Flynn. Adrienne was Carol Traynor for 125 episodes of "Maude" from 1972 to 1978. She then went on to be in "Escape From New York," "Swamp Thing," and "Creepshow," just to name a couple, and she is still working today!

Linda Blair was in Episode 24 titled "La Strega" as Lia. If you have ever seen "The Exorcist," then Linda sure doesn't need any further introduction!

 

Season 2, Episode 9 was titled "Reaper," and it had everybody's favorite Mom, Barbara (June Cleaver) Billingsley in it as a caregiver named Sheila. Barbara was still looking good at 74 when then was made. She lived to be 94, and passed away in 2010.
 

Melba Moore was a four-time Grammy Award nominee, and performed on countless TV variety shows. In Season 2, Episode 10 titled "The Mandrake Root," she plays a woman named Angela Lyle.

Judy Geeson has been in everything from "To Sir, With Love," to "Berzerk," and that was just in 1967. In Season 2, Episode 21  of "Monsters" titled "Refugee," she plays a woman named Anna.

 

 

The normally sweet and demure Carol Lynley is Dr. Elizabeth Porter in the first Episode of Season 3 called "Stressed Environment." From "Blue Denim" to "Beware: The Blob," Carol was always awesome!

 

In Episode 7, we get to see the real Valley Girl Julie Brown as Wendy in a story called "Small Blessings." Julie will be known forever for her notorious 1984 song, "Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun."
 

She might be a little bit older, but if you watched any TV from 1969 to 1974, it's hard to not recognize Karen Valentine from her role as Alice Johnson in "Room 222." In Season 3, Episode 9 she had a rather different roll as Victoria in "The Young And The Headless."

Episode 18 of Season 3 is the one that started all this, because of my desire to see Debbie Harry in "Desirable Alien" as the slutty Dr. Moss. Debbie only has a small part in this episode but still manages to steal the show. Marilyn Monroe was the blonde icon of the 50's, and Debbie was the the blonde icon of the 70's, and she's still got it going.

 Pop music icon Laura Branigan is in Episode 19 titled "A Face For Radio" as Amanda Smith-Jones. Laura is well known for her music in "Flashdance," and she also had a song on the "Ghostbusters" soundtrack!

 Laura died way too young at the age of 52 in 2004.

What do you want me to tell you about Pam Grier? I think Foxy Brown, Coffy, and Jackie Brown says it all!

 In Episode 22 called "Hostile Takeover," Pam plays smokin' hot Matilde!

There are a total of 72 shows in this whole series, so these 13 are just the tip of the iceberg!

I know they stream on Prime with ads, and I'm sure you can also find them on one of the many other streaming services that are out there.

And that's what I'd do if I were you!

13 GHOSTS / William Castle's 3-D Movie - 1960

Here's a small treat for us, here at the Dungeon. We realized we never did a full post of this classic movie from William Castle, so, what it is Dr. Bro! Eegah!! and I saw this fun movie in 1960 and had great time with the free 3-D glasses, which we saved for years until we sold them a few years back. This is a movie we really liked.

It stars Donald Woods as Cyrus Zorba, Rosemary DeCamp as his wife Hilda, Charles Herbert as his son Buck, Jo Morrow as his daughter Medea, Martin Milner as their lawyer Ben, and Margaret (Wicked Witch of the West in THE WIZARD OF OZ) Hamilton as their housekeeper Elaine.

Cyrus gets a telegram late at night by a creepy little messenger, played by David (the Spirit of the Inner Sanctum) Hoffman.

Cyrus is read the will that states the Zorba family will inherit their late uncle's estate, and is handed a mysterious sealed package which he takes with him to their new residence. Inside the package is a special pair of glasses that will allow him to see the ghosts.

Wow, what an interesting house, love these places!

The first night there, they pull out a Ouija board, and find out someone there will die at the hands of the ghosts!

Cyrus puts the glasses on and enters a lab full of ghosts and gets attacked by a swirling ring of fire. And the door is locked!

They ask Elaine to tell them the history of the old mansion, she explains the situation with the ghosts and tells them they are in danger...

Buck tries his luck with the ghosts and puts the glasses on. He sees a big lion and a headless lion tamer, who seems to be looking for his head!

After sliding down the bannister, Buck find two one hundred bills on the floor. Ben just walks in and wants to know all about money, and comes up with a devious plan to find the fortune and keep it for himself. He convinces Buck that they should keep it all a secret between him and himself, they can tell his parents after they find the rest of the money. Buck buys it.

The night the Zorba's are to vacate the residence the next morning (because of their concern of danger) they hold a séance with Elaine to see if they can get some answers from the spirits. They make contact with their uncle, DR. Zorba, who melds himself with Cyrus.

In the meantime, Ben has taken Buck to a special room that has a bed that suffocates the sleeper. Ben puts Buck on the bed and the top starts slowly closing in on the boy.

Suddenly, some smoke  comes through a vent, shocking Ben.

Out of the smoke comes the super creepy Dr. Zorba with murder on his mind

Buck wakes up and runs to a safe spot while Zorba's ghost pulls Ben to the bed and holds him there until the deed is done. The ghost then disappears.

Yes, the family finds the fortune and will stay there for good as Buck tries to scare his mom with Ben's mask of Dr. Zorba. Elaine assures the family that the ghosts have left the house for good!

But then she says... They'll be back!

MONSTERS - "The Moving Finger" (1991)

What the heck? It's time for another Saturday Night Special already? Let's just go with the flow!

 

After three seasons, "The Moving Finger" was the last episode of "Monsters," so I guess they decided to just let it go, because this is one bizarre episode. If this had been the first episode, there would probably never have been a second one, it's that bloody weird!

Being a Stephen King Story is not going to make it any more normal!

What a happy couple! Just by looking, it's obvious they are made for each other.

 

This is damn near a one-man show starring Tom (12 Monkeys) Noonan as Howard Mitla. At 6'5" Tom was used to doing a show all by himself. His wife was played by Alice (The Lost Saucer) Playten. Tom is still around but hasn't had any credits since 2018 (Tall guys are hard to cast and keep in frame) and Alice passed away in 2011.

Gross! 

A finger in the bathroom sink drain. Let's just take a moment to contemplate this subject..

Freakin' Gross!

Maybe it's just a plumbing problem!

Industrial Strength drain cleaner DISSOOLV-O should do the trick!

It appears the problem is a little deeper than that!

Might need to call "Roto-Rooter" or Lord Litter to discuss this mess!

Now it's starting to get serious!

This has gone far enough, now it's time to break out the big guns!

What kind of finger can put up with a hedge trimmer onslaught?

It isn't even the middle finger!

If Howard Mitla ever had a mind, he's totally lost it by this time!

It's the last episode, so might as well let it rip!!

Thank goodness a cop finally arrives to put an end to this madness!

Unfortunately most hands have more than one finger!