It’s no secret that the master of horror John Carpenter is a mega fan of the King of the Monsters. So it seems only fitting to have the man host a full marathon of Godzilla flicks for the upcoming annual Godzilla Day 2022!
I’m fairly certain these videos are the very reason why my generation suffers from crippling anxiety.
The seventies were ripe with PSAs that did way more than warn our youth of the dangers harboring inside society, but they also did a damn good job in ensuring we live on Prozac the rest of our lives. Serving up a full plate of OCD to those who watched these things, mainly in school (go figure), this 1977 short is no exception to the rule of thumb: ALL PSAs MUST GIVE THE KIDS ALL THE ANXIETY!
So I present to you, the 1977 Halloween Safety Video presented by Centron Educational Films!
We begin with what is apparently, the scariest costume of all! This little witch right here.
I mean, the mask is killer with an old-school vintage creep factor, those are always the best, however, what the narrator states here is that the girl’s costume is dangerous with a mask so hard to see through and such dark clothing at night. Which in respect, is right but I still laughed when this kid ate shit and dropped her bag full of PEANUTS in the street.
Leave them there kid. The peanuts are where they belong.
The PSA goes on to suggest alternatives and DIYs to ensure your costume is trick-or-treat in the dark ready, complete with writing your name and address on your sack of candy “just in case there’s an accident”.
Yeah because nothing ever bad came out of strangers knowing exactly where your kid lives. SHEESH.
Also, can we appreciate the look on this girl’s face when her mother throws her cool-ass mask in the trash?
This is why serial killers and hoarders exist folks.
While the information is good and well common sense safety procedures that still apply today, it’s a damn shame that wicked witch costume got shredded into something corny. Aside from that little nitpick, the PSA itself is filled to the brink of nostalgia with wonderful vintage Halloween treasures and Ben Cooper costumes as far as the eye can see.
That in itself is worth a watch. Enjoy an anxiety-inducing Halloween time capsule from 1977 nostalgic nuggets!
Nightmare Nostalgia originally started as an ode to the nightmares of our childhood and lemme tell you growing up in the 80s, I still don’t know how we were spoon-fed things like The Secret of NIMH or The Neverending Story as a family flick. AND LAWD HAVE MERCY DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON E.T. So it only seemed fitting that we revisit this little Disney nightmare I watched quite a bit growing up- Donald Duck and the Gorilla!
Originally released to theaters as part of the cartoon shorts campaign in March of 1944, Donald Duck and the Gorilla played in pretty heavy rotation when I was a kid in the 80s via Disney programming such as Good Morning Mickey! and Donald Duck Presents. Also, was pretty much the best part of Disney’s Halloween Treat (1982) beyond the Sleepy Hollow segment. It quickly became a favorite after a brief stint of this cartoon absolutely scaring the piss out of me as a toddler.
That Gorilla was scary, OK?! He was out for blood man and it gave me some fucked up nightmares.
The gorilla, actually named Ajax, has escaped from the zoo on a stormy night as reported by a radio announcement that Donald and his nephews are listening to. The kids are obviously horrified at the thought of a giant gorilla on the loose, and in true Donald fashion, Uncle Asshole, erm Donald makes a mockery of the situation pranking the ducklings and laughing the whole way. However, the kids prank Donald right back, as hey, Uncle taught them well, by dressing up in a life-like gorilla suit which turns into a scare-fest of terrifying each other- until the real thing shows up at their front door.
Ajax breaks into the house and with Donald still assuming that Ajax is merely his nephews’ fucking around, grabs the giant monkey by the face to try and pull off the “mask” only to discover this is indeed the real goddamn thing. Donald looks the ape straight into the eye, as per the radio announcer in an attempt to subdue the animal, but only sees a tombstone in the eyes of the animal that read, “Here Lies a Dead Duck.”
Chaos ensues as the chase around the house is tense and electrifying and I gotta say it left me on the edge of my seat as a kid. It helps that there’s a transition from the initial jump-scare scenes to you laughing your ass off during the maze-like house chase and ending as a real “tearjerker”.
Also released in 1983 VHS and Laserdisc style, the short was included in the Disney Scary TalesVolume 3 release and is a national treasure if you can ever get a hold of one.
Amazon: Not mine sadly
I have some pretty fond memories of this as a kid, from the nightmares as a young Patti, to the fun of watching this one, especially during Halloween time. Both are equally tangible to me. So let’s revisit this little gem together.
