FIREBALL FUN - FOR - ALL - June Johnson - "Halloween Queen" (1949)

For this Saturday Night Special segment of the 2013 Halloween Countdown I saved this bit from Johnson and Olsen's 1949 TV variety show called "Fireball Fun - For - All" and this little ditty called "Halloween Queen!"

"There seems to be a slight discrepancy regarding Halloween, there's something oh, so wrong about it, but I can see right through the mystery regarding Halloween! Irving Berlin never wrote a song about it!"

"Jack O lanterns grinnin' and ghosts made of linen, it's Halloween, time for apple dunkin', those old gobblers cluckin', it's Halloween!

 

"Hey Junie, you're the gal we sing blues for!" Junie was June Johnson, Chic Johnson's daughter!

As you'll hear in the sound clip, June does what might be considered a very early precursor to rap! And indeed, she WAS the "Queen Of Halloween!"

Olsen and Johnson were so wacky, I always thought they misnamed this show! It was such a no holds barred affair, it really should have been called "Fireball Free - For - All!" Ok, we're almost halfway to the big day, so don't forget to vote for your own personal Halloween Queen before some zombie makes your mind up for you!

ALIEN FACTOR 2: The Alien Rampage / Don Dohler - 2001

It's Friday Fright with Tabonga, here at The Halloween Countdown Dungeon 2013!.. Firstly, if you remember Don Dohler's THE ALIEN FACTOR from 1978, you'd know what to expect with any of his ten movies. They were all fairly amateurish low budget productions, this one is no exception. At least though, his monsters and stories were interesting enough, Don left Earth in his spaceship in 2006 at age 60.

Eegah!! sent over a cool little soundclip from this flick for our earjoyment, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the invisible killer force field, NOW, Rufus The Gnat! Here's an earfull of... ALIEN FACTOR 2!

At the start of the movie, two FBI agents are following an alien in her Porsche! After she runs into the woods, this agent decides to climb over a fallen tree rather than ducking under it while chasing her!

The agents catch up with her and she goes into, like, hibernation. Then, they find a strange device she has in her possession.

Here's a glance of the rampaging alien... Hmmm, doesn't really look that much like the monster in the poster, does it?

The alien turns on a warping force field that surrounds a large area in the country. Oh yeah, it'll fry you if you're just stupid enough to touch it!

A hippie pad gets invaded by the force field. Flick was filmed in the Baltimore area.

Far out, man!..

I give up, a thermos full of milk?..

At the doctor's office, the female alien communicates by grabbing the throat of the nurse, then, everyone (including the viewer) gets filled in on the skinny! The sheriff is the gal on the right.

The rampaging alien goes into town and deep sixes a big pile o' people! Dude has a silly look on his face for just being shot with a laser blast!

The ship is blown to smithereens by the sheriff with a control unit that was taken out of the ship before take off... Goodnight, sweet rampaging alien!

Happy Halloween Countdown 2013, ya'll..

L'AUBERGE ENSORCELÉE - Georges Méliès - "The Bewitched Inn" (1897)

 Tonight I've got some good old-time Wednesday Weirdness for you on this 9th day of The Halloween Countdown! This silent short is called "L'Auberge Ensorcelée" or in English, "The Bewitched Inn!" I'm sure to all you young whippersnappers, this little film is too crude and corny to take very serious at all, but historically, "The Bewitched Inn" is truly a wonder to behold!

 The maker and star of the movie was the famed illusionist and prestidigitator Georges Méliès. Georges was way ahead of his time, and you have to remember, this was made in 1897, the automobile was just getting rolling, and there hadn't even been a plane in the air yet, but Georges was already messing around with trick photography!

 "L'Auberge Ensorcelée" is only two minutes long, and honestly there's not a whole helluva lot going on! It's a simple tale of a weary traveler who just wants to get a good night's rest but is confounded by a room full of animated objects!

It's really just a platform for Georges to show off his talent in the realm of stop action trick photography!

The various things in the room move around and disappear and reappear and that's about how exciting it gets, but back in 1897, it was mind boggling!

After Georges strips down to his long johns, and finally tries to go to sleep, the whole bed disappears in the big climax!

Just to show you how fanciful Georges got later on in his some 553 productions, here's a beautiful still from his 1907 version of the Jules Verne tale "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!"

 A little less than two years ago, Tabonga did a piece on Georges' "Trip To The Moon" and he said in reference to Georges' work,  "I'll bet those are some tough titles to come by," but the truth is because we live in a such an age of amazing technology,  you can find about 123, if I counted correctly, of Georges' films to view or download for free at the Internet Archive! Now that's pretty cool!!

HORROR HOSPITAL / Noteworthy Films - 1973

It's Murderin' Bloody Monday with Tabonga, here at Halloween Dungeon Countdown 2013!.. Here's a fun little flick starring Dungeon fave Michael Gough as the extra creepy Dr. Storm, maker of computerized Frankenstein monsters, alternate title is COMPUTER KILLERS.

Eegah!! sent over a rockin' soundclip from this flick, sooooo, you can push the big red 'GO' button there next to the atomic powered computer, NOW, Ralphie The Tarantula! Here's our audio offering for... HORROR HOSPITAL!

Robin Askwith plays Jason, a member of a rock group who gets no respect. You can hear the 'Mystic' band in the soundclip that stole his tune, then, proceed to beat him up when he confronts them about it! Robin currently has a project in post-production and was Ray Fay in the wild 'n' weird, QUEEN KONG.

Jason decides he needs a break from the rock scene and signs up for a retreat in the country that caters to young people. On the train there he meets Judy, niece of the aunt who owns the place along with her husband, Dr. Storm, and, who are secretly using the guests for surgical mind-control experiments!

The movie was filmed at the Knebworth House in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, for those who care.

On the way to their room, Jason and Judy get an eyefull when a door is accidently left open!

The two have a room together and take advantage of being young and horny... They have more important things to worry about than those silly old bloody bedsheets!

Jason and Judy have dinner with this group of, apparently, mimes without minds!

There's always plenty of interesting sights to see at the Horror Hospital retreat.

Here's my classic pic of the great Michael Gough in all his glory!

Dr. Storm has a mysterious black sedan with a special blade that can decapitate anyone trying to escape from the place.

Here's a special Halloween Countdown photo for Eegah!!, Dr. Storm's lil' helper's burning one of the creatures with a cigarette to show they're impervious to pain..

What?!.. Can't you see I'm busy?!!

Brainiac orders up a snack!

At the end, Jason destroys the computers which sends Dr. Storm's little monsters into a tizzy!

Then, what else, Dr. Storm becomes a victim of his own devices!!