Category Archives: Creature Features

Remembering Tobe Hooper’s TV Version of ‘The Funhouse’

Image January 25, 2022 Patti PaulterGeist Leave a comment

Remember back in the day when you relied on a boxed TV with rabbit ears for entertainment purposes? You know, the kind where you had to adjust the antennas for that perfect reception with the smallest amount of static? With just the right amount of ominous static and bonus scenes that I never saw again until twenty years later; this, my nostalgic nuggets, is how I first viewed The Funhouse.

It was an early rainy Saturday afternoon in 1988. After a glorious morning filled with two bowls of Yummy Mummy cereal and Super Mario 2 on my highly coveted Nintendo Entertainment System, the combination of 8-bit eyes and a sugar crash began to settle in. Hence, along with the pitter-patter of the rain hitting the rooftop, it seemed like a good time to settle in with a little basic TV.

Grabbing the TV Guide, I skimmed up at the clock to see it was almost 1:00 PM and that meant Saturday afternoon movies on Vegas 33, who were pretty notorious for showcasing horror films on the weekend for us young genre aficionados. Low and behold, according to the Holy Bible of TV programming, I was just in time for a little film called The Funhouse, which I had never seen prior.

PERFECTION.

Knowing nothing other than the brief synopsis from Mr. TV Guide, it didn’t matter one bit as I was immediately suckered in through those glorious opening credits. Hypothetically speaking, the rest of the movie could have been 100% trash and I would still love it as much I do today based alone on that creepy as shit opener filled with animatronic nightmares.

Hooper’s Funhouse has become one of my top go-to comfort films. As the saying goes, “You always remember your first kiss.” Well, I remember my first time seeing Gunther; and it was creature feature love at first sight.

TV runnings of certain films tend to differ from theatrical versions with either an addition or subtraction of scenes to accommodate time slots. For example, the televised version of John Carpenter’s Halloween usually had axed or alternate scenes from the theatrical cut included in an airing. While they don’t necessarily add anything prominent to the feature, it’s still pretty fun to view an alternative variant of one of your favorite movies. Such as with The Funhouse, as I had actually seen this full-blown, yet edited for violence gem from Hooper first.

Uploaded courtesy of Goremeister100, the clip shown below offers fifteen glorious minutes of what was seen in Hooper’s cult classic during a televised showing. Both alternate and deleted scenes are included offering a different look for Funhouse fans. One of my personal favorite little bits may be trivial but I actually kind of prefer the televised scene of Gunther strangling the slutty fortune teller. Instead of focusing on the kill, the camera keeps panning away to those again, creepy Funhouse animatronic terrors that line the walls of the terror ride.

So now enjoy The Funhouse as I once did over 30 years ago!

Creature Features, Retro Reviews

Forgotten Playthings: 30 Years of “Dolly Dearest”

Image November 12, 2021 Patti PaulterGeist Leave a comment

I was nine years old scouring our local Mom and Pop video rental store with a friend after devouring a Personal Pan Pizza from Pizza Hut next door when I first laid my eyeballs on Dolly Dearest. Of course, I was intrigued right away as killer dolls were certainly high on my personal interests list; yeah I was a twisted kid. The late 80s’ and early 90s’ brought terrifying playthings front and center in the horror genre with films like Stuart Gordon’s DOLLS, Puppet Master, and the massively successful Child’s Play. However, this one looked different from the rest. Not only was the antagonistic toy shown as a female, but it featured mainly a female led-cast as well; also to note it has a female director as well- Maria Lease but of course you’re not looking at these things as a kid. Being a young girl, this hit all the right horror notes for me and I immediately rented this sucker to see what this was all about.

Needless to say, my 3-day rental turned into a week-long bender on this Sanzia devil doll because I couldn’t get enough of this fuckin’ movie.

The story goes, a well-to-do picture-perfect family of four moves from Los Angeles down to Mexico where dear ol’ Dad seizes an opportunity with an empty doll factory in an effort to start up a successful business. Young daughter Jessica (Candice Hutson) is undoubtedly upset about this up and sudden move but has a change of heart when she and her father discover a plethora of “beautiful” (I think they’re rather creepy) dolls inside their families’ newly acquired factory that seemed to be never released to the masses. Father Elliot (Sam Bottoms) allows Jessica to take one and that’s when the fun begins as they leave the factory and stroll right on past an underground Mayan tomb of Sanzia, (Satan on Earth) where prior to the family’s arrival, an archeologist accidentally released the malevolent spirit of Sanzia; a devil child spirit that, SPOILER ALERT, possesses these dolls.

Now we got a movie!

As soon as this creepo doll is brought home Jessica begins acting strangely. Drawing weird demonic pictures, lashing out, all-around acting like a typical spoiled brat-zo. Which wouldn’t really raise any red flags except the kid starts speaking devil language to the housekeeper in a threatening manner- who is by the way very religious. Well, being as how Dolly Dearest is possessed by a Devil spirit, this doesn’t go over too well with the girl who is rapidly being manipulated by this doll, and she doesn’t last long in the movie. Mom Marilyn played by Pet Sematary’s Denise Crosby, notices these changes right away, most especially after an Omen-like incident with Jessica in the car sensing the house is being blessed by a priest. Elliot is about as blind as a bat to any of this shit and chalks all these outbursts up to tantrums so he is of NO HELP at all in this situation. Soon, Jessica is totally consumed by the spirit of Dolly and Sanzia and it’s pretty much up to Marilyn, older brother Jimmy (Christopher Peter Demetral), and Sanzia Expert Archeologist Karl Resnick (played by Rip Torn) to put a stop to Dolly and the rest of the possessed porcelain freaks in the factory from taking over children’s souls all over the world.

On top of some cool casting, there are some really great behind-the-scenes people attached to the movie. Dolly took a lot of hints from Child’s Play, including using Ed Gale as Dolly for a few of the more difficult scenes that required human-like movement. The doll itself was sculpted by Brian Wade (The Thing) and brought to life by puppeteer Vance Hartwell (Army of Darkness). The unsettling score was composed by Mark Snow, who is probably most famous for his television work on shows like “The X-Files” and “Smallville.”

Dolly Dearest hasn’t gotten quite the love I feel like it deserves over the years; possibly due to the overload of killer doll flicks of the time and it came too little, too late. Grant it, it’s not the greatest movie in the world, however, I feel it has so much charm and is a nostalgic blanket for me personally that warms me to the bone anytime I watch it. It sure as hell doesn’t deserve the sweeping under the rug treatment. Vinegar Syndrome recently released a blu-ray that has been long-overdue and if it’s been a while, or have never seen it, give Dolly a watch (click here) and bask in the peak of 90s’ killer doll flicks.

Creature Features

[Video] RARE Home Videos From The Set Of A “Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master”

Image August 19, 2021 Patti PaulterGeist Leave a comment

The great thing about the A Nightmare On Elm Street franchise is that everyone has a favorite installment; and I think it’s fair to say that while Dream Master is considered an off-beaten track sequel to the three that came before it, it doesn’t exclude the immense popularity this film has with fans. Especially since this chapter in particular blasted Freddy in pop-culture superstardom- and now thanks to Bill Forsche, celebrated special effects guru who worked on the film, we get a rare look at some never-before-seen, behind the scenes home video movies on the set of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master!

Released on August 19, 1988, Nightmare 4 grossed $49.4 million at the domestic box office on a budget of $6.5 million, which made it the highest-grossing film in the franchise in the United States. At least that is until Freddy VS Jason surpassed that mark in 2003. While it would be another year until I myself, first got to see Freddy on the big-screen in the form of The Dream Child, I was already a Freddy Fanatic thanks to the mass marketing campaign Dream Master deployed onto the masses via horror hotlines, toys, lunchboxes, and even a huge MTV special hour presentation dedicated to the Springwood Slasher himself! Not to mention several more music videos made for promotion with the movie played in rotation from the once music-only station. Shortly to follow Dream Master‘s release, the basic cable show of Freddy’s Nightmares took off on the the small screen in a weekly syndicated show giving kids a dose of Krueger without having to go to the theater for it.

What a time to be alive where child serial killers were celebrated with such admiration!

Behind the massive success of Nightmare 4, lies within some of THEE coolest special effects of the franchise alone- including Freddy’s demise at the end thanks to Dream Master Alice. Beyond notable names like Bill Forsche, Kevin Yagher , Screaming Mad George, and John Carl Buechler were a massive team of make-up and effects artists to pull of this innovative spectacle that truly was Dream Master and a big reason why it did so well in theaters. One of my favorites, and I think many others’ as well, being the soul ripping chest from Freddy’s final fight scene where a giant version of Freddy’s chest was made for the shot. Of course, this thing was a pain in the ass for the crew as it was so unsteady and massive, that it was difficult to mount properly and actually fell over during one of their takes. A woman named Michiko supporting the prop from the rafters of the set, came tumbling down when the mighty chest fell over.

But hey, at least we got to see a cameo of Linnea Quigley ripping through the prop, in all her big busted glory. We salute you guys.

Via Bill Forsche’s personal YouTube channel, the special effects master has uploaded some home video shots of behind the scenes action of not only the fore mentioned Freddy’s chest scene, but also some segments of Freddy AND his stunt-double in the make-up chair conversing back and forth before shoots. Also included is Freddy’s scene on the Dream Beach where it is suggested he take on a “Coppertone commercial” for his next project (HEH).

“Very rare and raw footage from the set of “A Nightmare on Elm Street IV: The Dream Master” (1988). The short has some very interesting behind the scenes material, including the makeup trailer where Bill Foertsch aka Forsche work on the makeup for Freddy’s stunt double, while other effects artists goofing around on the set and other events. This short documentary is from Bill Forsche aka Foertsch personal home collection and was made during his employment as special effects technician at Steve Johnson’s XFX, Inc., the company responsible for the most spectacular demise of Freddy that was ever done in the series.”