BEWITCHED - "The Witches Are Out" (1964)

This week's Countdown To Halloween Saturday Night Special is from season one of the classic bewitching TV show "Bewitched."

This was episode seven titled "The Witches Are Out," and it aired on October 29, 1964.

In this episode, Samantha and her lovely witch friends are having a little tea time together! 

This is Reta (The Ghost And Mrs. Muir) Shaw as Bertha.

Another of Sam's friends is Mary played by Madge Blake. Madge was Mrs. Cooper/Aunt Harriet on 96 episodes of the "Batman" TV show.

Last but not least is the befuddled but lovable Aunt Clara as played by Marion (Mr. Peepers) Lorne.

The brilliant comedian Shelley Berman plays a man named Mr. Brinkman who has some new Halloween candy that he wants Darrin to create an ad campaign for.

What Mr. Brinkman wants is an image of a witch, a really ugly witch with a long nose and warts.

 

Never giving it a second thought, this is the witch image that Darrin creates for the new ads.

Unfortunately, this is the very subject that the ladies were discussing at their meeting, how witches are always portrayed in an unfavorable, unfair and totally discriminatory manner.

So when Darrin brings his work home and Samantha sees what he's doing, they have a conversation about how witches are constantly discriminated against. Darrin brings up the fact that why does it matter since nobody believes in witches anyway, which is a pretty good point, but he doesn't get very far with that logic!

After their conversation, Darrin tears up his artwork, and tells Samantha he's going to approach his client with a different perspective.

These are the sexy witches that Darrin has come up with. Looks like a good idea to me!

But Brinkman, being the jerk that he is, doesn't like the concept, even after Darrin tries to explain to him that he shouldn't stereotype all witches as ugly old hags.

 Brinkman says no, and so Darrin quits the project!

That night, Samantha and her friends decide to pay Mr. Brinkman a visit!

Most guys probably wouldn't mind if Samantha showed up in their bedroom in the middle of the night, but if Bertha, Mary, and Aunt Clara showed up, that's a different story!

The ladies give Mr. Brinkman a pretty good scare!

The pièce de résistance is when they turn Brinkman into an old hag with a long nose and warts!

 

Mr. Brinkman is now more than ready to talk about a different type of witch image!

You can thank the Wizard of the Airwaves for this one!

THE WEREWOLF / The Trailer - 1956

I saw THE WERWOLF along with TARANTULA in 1956 as a double feature, a real roller coaster ride for an 8 year old. TARANTULA freaked me out the most, watching Leo G. Carroll melt before the Tarantula gets him! But I digress... So, THE WEREWOLF had great transformation scenes, some of the best. And yes, we do see it happen before our very eyes with this special Punkin Stuffer, just for you!

Yeesh, those hairy hands with sharp lookin' finger nails!

And............ EEK!! Is That Teeth?!

That's right, two atom-age scientists are responsible for this man-made thing from Hell.

They turn a measly Man into a deadly snarling BEAST...

Making the 10,000-year-old-werewolf-horror-legend come true! What more could you want? You just gotta see this movie, c'mon!

In case you were wondering...

With Dan Megowan?? Dude, his name in Don Megowan, not Dan! Don played the Gill Man in THE CREATURE WALKS AMOMG US the same year.

Joyce Holden also starred in one of my favorite movies, TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000, saw it with Eegah!! in 1960 at the theater. BTW, Joyce died in January of this year at age 91.

Steven Ritch worked in TV mostly with 48 acting credits from 1950 to 1962.

Without a doubt, the scene in the jail cell with the two evil doctors scared the bejesus out of me, it is still super creepy even today!

Well, if you come see the movie, you'll see the most exciting hunt...

That ever tracked down Man... Or Beast! You see, sometimes he's just a man, sometimes he's a freaking Werewoof Beast!!

Don't miss it, coming to a theater near you in 1956! GFL with that one! There you go, a special Punkin Stuffer for a Friday.

JACK ATTACK - "A Halloween Tale" (2013)

 

Tonight's Weird Wednesday Countdown To Halloween is a short film made in 2013 titled "Jack Attack."

This film is only eight minutes long, and that's plenty long enough!

The story concerns a babysitter and her ward carving a jack-o-lantern, and what can happen if everything goes horribly wrong!

I cannot recommend this film because it breaks what used to be a cardinal unwritten law of film making, and that is you don't kill kids, and if you do, you don't do it onscreen.

Obviously that law has been broken many times in the last few decades as filmmakers push the limits of extremism in art, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with it, and I don't!

First thing is they should never have ingested any of the evil seeds dwelling in this pumpkin!

That was a bad idea, and now this little boy is becoming seriously ill.

Starting to get gross, the babysitter tries to cut out the offending seed.

 

And then the horror focuses in on her!

It's blood and guts from here on out!

One thing anyway, it IS a Halloween film!!

ED, EDD n EDDY'S BOO HAW HAW / The Spider Scene - 2005

Cartoon Network has had many great series, like good old ED, EDD n EDDY, which had some especially wild n weird episodes like their Halloween special where they trek to Spook-E-Ville for some spooky Halloween treats.

Of course, Ed, with his overly vivid imagination, is hallucinating like a mofo and is leading the charge to get to Spook-E-Ville. On the way, Ed sees a big spider on a tree...

It getting closer and closer!

The creepy giant spider lands on the ground in front of the gang.

In reality, it's just their friend Jonny who has dropped down from a tree limb on a rope. Ed though, is still seeing Jonny as a big spider preventing them from passing through its territory on their way to Spook-E-Ville.

Jonny asks Double D if he's supposed to be throw up. His answer is... Yes. Eddy's dressed up as an Elvis type character.

Ed thinks that he needs to appease the monster to get its permission to pass. You have to admit, Ed has a pretty good imagination, Jonny is gruesome as a giant spider!!

Then, Ed sees Jonny's candy bag still in the tree.

He grabs it...

And spills the candy on the ground for the imaginary thing.

After the spider gobbles al the candy down, Ed asks it for permission to pass.

Jonny says, sure!

So, the Ed Gang continues down the path to Spook-E-Ville!

They pass through a swamp, they're getting closer and closer to their destination!

Eddy can't wait for all that candy, while Double D has some doubts about if they're on the right path, remember, Ed's leading the way.

Then suddenly, Double D sees something.

This is no hallucination, there's a giant shadow of someone with a big pig! It's actually their pal Rolf and his pet pig casting the shadow.

But that's too much for Ed, he grabs Double D and Eddy and gets them the heck outta Dodge! There you go, a Halloween treat for us all.