Movies
Billy the Kid vs. Dracula (1966): Sure, it's campy as you'd expect, but still fun. Dead Man A quirky black and white film starring the world's ONLY talented pritty face, Johnny Dep. If you think of most of the movie as a nightmare scenario, you just might get it. Ghost Town 1988). A modern tale in which the ghost of a sheriff returns to a ghost town that's been disturbed. Grim Prairie Tales (1990). An anthology of Weird Western tales. Only one's really got much Deadlands style horror in it, but it's okay. The Killing Box or The Lost Regiment, Undead Civil War Soldiers. What else do you need? The Quick and the Dead. Sam Raimi directed this instant classic featuring Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, and pritty face Leonardo DiCaprio. This gets the tone of Deadlands dead on. The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956): The first dinosaur western starts off slowly, but the
stop-motion animation allosaurus that shows up at the end is fairly inspired.
Curse of the Undead (1959): The first vampire western. A little slow going, but some nice
atmosphere and history. Eric Fleming, trail boss of TV's Rawhide, plays a priest aligned against the not-unsympathetic bloodsucker. Ghostriders (1987): A gang of old west outlaws are resurrected in the modern day to plague descendants of those who originally brought them to justice. (Direct to video clunker.) Now I could list all kinds of Clint Eastwood/Man With No Name movies on this page (High Plains Drifter,
Pale Rider, Two Mules for Sister Sara, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Hang 'Em High, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Paint Your Waggon, The Beguiled, and that one where the woman AND her daughter both want him and they think he's a preacher and he beats the ever-loving-puss outta this huge guy who was later "Jaws" in various Bond movies who was the insperation for "Mongo" in Blazing Saddles. Which is also a good movie if you're feeling like putting them through a goofy dream sequience really. Oh yeah, Pale Rider. I already said that huh? Silly me.) But that's just too much typing so I'll just leave it to you to deside which movies you wanna watch Clint chew on little cigars and toss sticks of dynomite around.
Speaking of Clint Eastwood and goofyness. . . This was also mentioned . . . not really sure why. Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966): By the Same people who made Billy vs. Drac (See above). Although this one has no John Carradine to save it. Mad at the Moon (1992): I could quote the PEG website here too, but they only go on and on about what a BORING direct to video pseudo-werewolf western is. So I'll just tell you not to waste your time. . . The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao (1964): At the turn of the century Dr. Lao's circus travels to a tiny Arazona town to astonish the residents with such exhibits as medusa, Pan, a Yeti, and the Loch Ness Monster. Lao and most of his exhibits are played by Tony Randall. Considerably more lighthearted then the Charles Finney novel on which it was based. (See the Suggested Reading Section.) Shadow of Chikara (1978): An errie tale of Civil War survivors hunting for diamonds after the war.
Very atmospheric at times, as the party is slowly whittled down by malevolent Indian spirits. (Also known as Wishbone Cutter and Diamond Mountain.) Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1991): Vampires in a modern day desert town are trying to exist on artifical blood. The climax is an extended western free-for-all between the fake-blood guzzlers and the evil ones who want to go back to the old ways. Better then most of Anthony Hickox's films. The Uninvited (1992): Ornery old Jack Elam has a brief role in this otherwise dreary direct to video tale of prospectors dipping into an abandoned gold mine and running afoul of the murderous Indian spirit guarding it. The Valley of Gwangi (1969): Ray Harryhausen (BOW DOWN TO HIM!) 's action-packed dino-western pits cowboys vs. an eohippus, pteranodon, and other prehistoric critters before introducing the awesone allosaurus. The White Buffalo (1977): Mystical tale of the quest of Wild Bill Hickok and Crazy Horse to slay the titular beast, which haunts both their dreams. Nice atmosphere, both as a western and as a near-horror film. (See also the book of the same title in the Suggested Reading Section.) Blind Justice: A gritty tale about a near-blind gunfighter. Wild Wild West is suggested viewing for Pinkerton Players. (And Mad Scientests, and Texas Rangers, and just about everybody/thing else for that matter.) You can catch this 1960's Western Adventure Saturday mornings on TNT. But if you don't get that channel you can alway get the Very 1st Episode on tape. Plus, you can also get More Wild Wild West, and the obligitory reunion episode you usually find with these shows, Wild Wild West Revisited.
The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.. Starring the ever wonderful Bruce Campbell. You can also chatch this show on TNT. (A good channel for western tv and movies.) Lazarus Man: A syndicated show starring Robert Urich. It starts out with Urich, in the title roll, crawling out of his own grave. Legend: I don't know much about this VERY short lived western-y show staring Richard Dean Anderson (? You know, MacGiver). But I've heard there's a gaget-tech-y inventor in it.
Ken Burns' PBS Documentery on the Civil War. You can get the Full Set. Or Part One: The Cause, Part II: A Very Bloody Affair, Part III: Forever Free, Part IV: Simply Murder, Part V: Universe of Battle, Part VI: Valley of Shadow, Part VII: Hallowed Ground, Part VIII: War is Hell, Part IX: Better Anggels. Speaking of PBS Documenterys. There's also America's Historic Trails: With Tom Bodett. (He'll leave the light on for ya.) There's also a companion book that goes along with it. (See Suggested Reading.) The Gunsligner: From the files of Director/Producer, Roger Corman. "When her lawman husband is gunned down, Beverly Garland puts on the tightest slacks she can find and takes over as town marshall. Evil saloon gal Allison Hayes hires John Ireland to gun Garland down - but instead he ends up falling for her." Creature from the Haunted Sea: "Criminal Anthony Carbone offers to help loyalists flee a war-torn Caribbean island. He proceeds to steal their money and killthem - blaming their deaths on a sea monster. The authorities don't buy it until a real monster shows up. Also with Besty Jones-Moreland and Edward Wain." Annother product of the Roger Corman School of Film. (Corman being the guy who made the orrigonal-black-&-white-shot-in-three-days-on-a-left-over-set Little Shop of Horrors which starred a very young Jack Nickleson as a masochistic dental patient.) Big Trouble in Little China. Roll back the clock for a great goose chase around Xian Frian. (Did I spell that right?) A veritable font of ideas for story lines, any Scooby Doo episode (with a little tweaking of course) will provide you with enough ideas for . . . well, for a while I guess. For instance, if you're pesky Possee (and their dog) are hanging out in N'awlines you may want to turn on Scooby Doo on Zombie Island: This time, the monsters are REAL. The Farm. A fair to middling screen version of the Lovecraft short story "Color Outer Space" staring Wil Wheaton. Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead to give you them screaming heebie geebies. Carnival of Souls, think of it as a nightmarescenario. A young couple stop for the night at the house of a satanic mad scientest in The Black Cat. Starring Borris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, how can you go wrong?
Speeking of mad scientests, take a look at The Island of Lost Souls. Which sparked a long string of remakes about the freaky Dr. Moreau and his human/animal experiments on his island. House II: If you like doing that brain hurting, what-the-hell kinda thing to your posse (I haven't seen the first movie so if you've seen it, let me know what you think.) Speaking of wacked out houses . . . The Haunting. Now this is what I'm talkin' 'bout. When you find something and adapt it to your own storyline needs. Take a lesson from a freaky actor (Vincent Price) and his devoted daughter (Diana Rigg) in Theatre of Blood. Where England's top theatre critics are offed in ways inspired by the works of William Shakespeare.
|