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"How can you put on a meaningful drama when, every fifteen minutes, proceedings are interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits with toilet paper?" Rod Serling talking about television.

Hello kiddies. It's your old friend Halloween Jack. MrHalloweenJack@gmail.com

As I hear the crickets singing their song outside of the Haunted Theatre, it brings my mind to an ending and what lies ahead.

No this is not going to be another long diatribe about summer, but about movies. Not just movies on TV, the ones that we drooled over when we saw them featured in the weekly TV Guide, those movies that were basically shown during the weekends.

And not the ones like the "4:30 movie" aired. The show that featured "themes" such as Vincent Price week. Sword and Sandal week...etc. The true stand out was "Godzilla" week. As a matter of fact, the first color television we had, arrived at my house on a Wednesday afternoon, right smack in the middle of a week's worth of the Big G. The first epic that I was able to view in my own home, in living color, was "Godzilla vs The Sea Monster. I was in kaiju heaven.

Wait. What was I talking about? Godzilla always makes me lose my train of thought.

Oh yeah. What I'm getting at here is not the established films that made their way from the big screen to the small screen, but the ones that were made specifically for the small screen. I am of course talking about the "made-for TV-movie."

Now all the major networks had them, but ABC was the pioneer and actually had the "other two" stand up and take notice, causing them to produce films specifically for the television market.

ABC always seemed to run far behind CBS and NBC in the ratings. They were referred to as "that third" or "other network." Yes this was long before Fox came around and took that "other" title. But the "Movie Of The Week" turned that all around for them. Their knack for using up-and-coming as well as older established talent, filming on low budgets, and presenting quality over quantity, made for some very interesting film fare. Ok, not all of them were masterpieces and some bordered on the melodramatic, but there were many diamonds among the coal.

The show aired on Tuesday nights at 8:30 and ran for 90 minutes. There was a Saturday version that often repeated the same films, for those less fortunate and of lesser age who could not stay up during the week. It seemed that the more interesting of the films ran in the fall/winter months and ran far too late for the smaller viewing audience.

There were many off beat stories and premises that made for original TV viewing. At the time, television was changing and becoming more daring. Producers were taking more risks. The age of the mindless sitcom was disappearing (well maybe not disappearing. Good things like that never go away) and nothing better reflected that than the ABC Movie of the Week, or MOW as I will refer to it from here on in just to save my typing fingers.

One of these whacked out tales was entitled "Shirts/Skins" which boasted a television all star cast including Bill Bixby, Ron Glass, McLean Stevenson, his M*A*S*H co-star, Loretta Swit and John Karlen of "Dark Shadows" fame. A group of friends, all business men, who meet up to play B Ball once a week, decide to up the ante and hide two basketballs in the city, in plain sight. Simply, the first team to find the opposing team's ball, wins. Without giving anything away, let's just say that it doesn't turn out to be quite that simple.

MOW was also the launching pad for many a TV series. For those of the computer age that may not know, a "pilot" was a movie put together to gauge if the subject matter was good enough to carry it as a show. If the ratings warranted, the show would be "picked up." If not, it didn't go any farther than that and was dropped like a lead balloon. Some of the ones that did pass the bar...

"The Six Million Dollar Man" which became a very popular series and spawned another, "The Bionic Woman."

"Toma" which starred Tony Musante ("The Bird With The Crystal Plumage") as real life New Jersey (yea) Detective "David Toma." It went on to become a series but after one season, Musante decided he didn't want to be tied down, so he quit. Robert Blake was approached to replace him, but Blake wanted a name change, thus "Baretta" was born.

"The Immortal" which was about a man, played by Christopher George" who because of a rare blood type was just that, immortal. A dying billionaire gets wind of it and decides he wants George's blood to keep himself alive. This became a series, but it strayed so far away from the original concept that it only lasted 15 episodes.

"Starsky & Hutch" which was the epitome of the cop "buddy" show.

"Wonder Woman" which starred Kathy Lee Crosby as a blonde(?) super heroine, that had very little to do with the original character. Thankfully, this was not picked up as a series and was finally done right by CBS two years later.

"Marcus Welby MD" which co-starred a young, pre "Amityville Horror" James Brolin, portraying "Welby's" assistant, who made house calls on his motorcycle. This was so successful, it lasted for seven years.

OK, I know, the banner on the marquee says Horror History. I'm getting to that.

MOW's strong point was it's horror based movies. Some of them were really out there! Here I have included just the notable ones and a few of my personal favorites. Just so I have room for what we are really here for, I'll keep this brief, or as brief as I am capable of. You all know how I like to run off at the fingers.

"Daughter Of The Mind" which aired December 9 1969. It starred Ray Milland as a "Professor" who believes his dead daughter is communicating with him from beyond the grave This was the first MOW I had ever seen and I remember it creeping me out immensely. Something I did not expect from a TV movie.

"The House On Green Apple Road" January 11 1970. Even though this was more of a murder mystery than a horror flick, the opening scene grabbed me. A little girl (played by Eve Plumb of "The Brady Bunch") comes home from school, and has her yells of "Mom" go unanswered. She heads to the kitchen for a snack, oblivious to the blood strewn room. This film starred Janet Leigh, Edward Asner, Julie Harris, Lynda Day George and once again, Christopher George (Lynda's real life husband) who played "Lieutenant Dan August." The character received his own show, this time played by Burt Reynolds, but this too lasted for only one season. Wonder if it would have made it further with Christopher George kept on as the lead.

"How Awful About Allan" September 22 1970. This one starred everyone's favorite psycho, Anthony Perkins, as "Allan." He accidentally sets a fire that kills his father and scars his sister. He develops hysterical blindness and goes to a mental institution. After coming home to live with his sister, he is able to see blurry images. Couple that with a mysterious tenant who rents a room from his sister, a tenant that speaks in whispers because of a throat condition and...well, you'll just have to see it. It has shown up on a few DVD compilations.

"Night Slaves" September 29 1970. This stars James Franciscus and Lee Grant as a husband and wife who become stranded in a small town. At night, the residents all rise in a somnambulistic state (now including his wife) and head to the edge of town. All except him. Why? Well, if you have not seen this film, then you'll have to, just to discover the answers. It is worth hunting it down.

"Five Desperate Women" September 28 1971. Ok, you think they couldn't get much out of a story where there are only five women (five potential victims) stranded on an island with just two guys (almost sounds like the makings of a porn flick), one of whom is a psycho killer, but this film really does work. Plus one of the potential nuts was Robert Conard who starred on one of my all time fave shows, "The Wild Wild West." Worked for me.

"Duel." November 13 1971. ahhhh...I don't think any other film actually had me on the edge of my seat, breaking out in a cold sweat, biting my nails as this one did. It was based on a short story by Richard Matheson and was directed by Steven Spielberg, who up to this point had done a few shorts and some TV episodes. Carey Loftin who played the psychotic truck driver, was one of the best Hollywood stunt drivers of all time. This movie was chilling enough, but something I had discovered later made it all the more so. The license plates on the front of the truck were other drivers that our lunatic 18 wheeler had killed. He wanted to kill a driver in each state. Brrrr. And speaking of Matheson, we come to the granddaddy of them all....

"The Night Stalker" January 11 1972. Again, what can I say about this that already hasn't been said? It was the record holder of the biggest audience for a TV movie of it's time and is still one of the highest rated television movies ever made. Even the preview that I had seen the week before it aired scared the hell outta me.

"Satan's School For Girls." September 19 1973. A guilty pleasure if I had ever seen one. Plus it had Kate Jackson in it. Nuff said. They remade this in 2000 with Shannon Doherty but she was basically sleepwalking through the role. Or was that an episode of "Scare Tatics?"

"Isn't It Shocking" October 2 1973. Another of my all time favorites. A slice of Americana is rattled to it's core when a killer shows up in a sleepy small town. Alan Alda does a great job as the small town sheriff of said small town, who is thrown into a tumult, dealing with something the likes he has never seen. He does a wonderful job in separating the character of "Sheriff Dan Barnes" from that of "Hawkeye Pierce." But kudos go to Louise Lasser of "Mary Hartman" fame, who plays "Blanche, " the Sheriff's right hand woman, secretary and voice of reason.

"Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark." October 10 1973. Kim Darby and Jim Hutton are a couple who inherit a home from her grandmother. They find the fireplace bricked up and she decides she wants it open. Can't say that I blame her. BUT, she is warned to leave well enough alone. She unleashes these small creatures that seem to want to make her their bride? Well, who knows what they wanted, they just wanted her. The worse part? No one believes her about the whispers she hears or the things she sees darting around out of the corner of her eye. Not til it's too late.

"Bad Ronald" October 23 1974. Have you called your exterminator lately? You never know what could be living behind your walls. Roaches, mice, rats, a teenage boy. Huh? Scott Jacoby plays "Ronald," a disturbed youth who kills a neighborhood child and then is hidden by his mother in a secret room in their house. Problem is, his mother dies and he is left on his own...until another family buys the house. After spending all this time alone, you can imagine how much further into insanity "Ronald" has gone. Another one of those MOW best seen with the lights on.

And that finally brings me to, last but not least...

"Trilogy Of Terror" March 4 1975. I remember seeing this after coming home from being out that night. I should have stayed out a while longer! I only saw the last story in the trilogy, "Amelia," and not to say the other two weren't good...but damn! I know I didn't sleep that night, or a few more later on. Again, not much I can add to what has been said, but it goes to show that after it's debut in 1969, MOW was still churning out the hits and the chills.

There were many more films of honorable mention like "Scream Of The Wolf," "Moon Of The Wolf ," "Crowhaven Farm," "Scream Pretty Peggy," "Killdozer," but I could never do them justice and I would be here forever if I covered them all. Besides, I was working from memory, so I might not be completely accurate. If you find it hard to believe that the films I just described really do exist, or if you want to get a better idea of what MOW was all about, I suggest you pick up the book "The ABC Movie Of The Week Companion" by Michael Karol. It's available on Amazon.com.

BTW, NBC and CBS both had their share of genre related TV movies, the most note worthy..."Something Evil" with Darren McGavin, "Gargoyles" and "Dark Night Of The Scarecrow" all on CBS and "The Dark Secret Of Harvest Home" on NBC, but no one did the TV Movie like ABC, earning them a dark place in my dark heart and in Horror History.

August 24

births
 
1937 - Playboy playmate Connie Mason, who appeared in the Herschell Gordon Lewis films, "2000 Maniacs" and "Blood Feast," and the film "Black Mamba."

1934 - Kenny Baker who plays R2D2 in the "Star Wars" film series and also appeared in the films "Circus of Horrors" and "Time Bandits."

1923 - Helena Carter, who appeared in the 1953 version of "Invaders From Mars."
 
1923 - Joan Chandler who appeared in the film "How To Make a Monster" and Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope."

1909 - Larry Barton who appeared in the films "Hillbillys In a Haunted House," "Raiders From Beneath the Sea" and "The Human Duplicators."

1908 - Helena Grant who appeared in the films "Werewolf of London" and "The Uninvited."

1900 - Preston Foster who appeared in the films "Doctor X" and "The Time Travelers."

1897 - Richard Bartell who appeared in the 1943 version of "The Phantom of the Opera" and in "Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man."

1895 - Victor Halperin, who directed the films "White Zombie" and "Revolt of the Zombies." 

deaths

1998 - E.G. Marshall who appeared in the films "Creepshow," "Superman II" and "Two Evil Eyes," passed away at the age of 88.

1949 - Rita Carlyle, who appeared in the films "Vampire Bat" and the 1941 version of "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde," passed away at the age of 80.
 

films released on this date
Spook Busters 1946
Fantastic Voyage 1966
Boogey Man II 1983
The Witches 1990
Darkman 1990
Ghosts of Mars 2001
Corpses 2004
Vampz 2004 
 
August 25

births
 
1958 - Director Tim Burton, who directed many of Jack's favorite films like "Batman," "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Ed Wood."

1949 - KISS member, Gene Simmons, who appeared in the films "Runaway," "Trick or Treat" and "KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park."

1939 - Director John Badham, whose film credits include the 1979 screen version of "Dracula," and the "Night Gallery" TV series.

1933 - Tom Skerritt, who appeared in the films, "Alien," "The Devil's Rain" and "The Dead Zone."

1930 - The one and only original "James Bond" himself, Sean Connery. He also starred in such films as "Outland," "Zardoz," "Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade" and "The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen."

1925 - And speaking of "James Bond," Maurice Binder, who did the title designs for the Bond films and other films such as "Barbarella" and "Eye of the Devil."

1917 - Mel Ferrer, who appeared in the films "Blood & Roses," "City of the Walking Dead" and "The Hands of Orlac."

1909 - Michael Rennie who starred in the films "The Day the Earth Stood Still," "Assignment Terror" and the 1960 version of "The Lost World." 

deaths

2006 - Joseph Stefano who wrote the screenplay for the original "Psycho," passed away at the age of 84. He also wrote the scripts for "Psycho IV: The Beginning," "Eye Of The Devil" and for "The Outer Limits" TV show.

2001 - Make-up artist John Chambers, who worked on all five of the "Planet of the Apes" films and "Halloween II," passed away at the age of 77.

1984 - Truman Capote, who wrote the novel "In Cold Blood," passed away at the age of 59.

1963 - Director Edward L. Cahn, whose films include "The She Creature," "Creature With the Atom Brain" and "Invasion of the Saucer Men," passed away at the age of 64. 

films released on this date
The Dragon Murder Case 1934
The Wizard of Oz 1939
The Disembodied/From Hell It Came 1957
The Skull 1965
Blacula 1972
Burnt Offerings 1976
Little Monsters 1989
Millennium 1989
Lord of Illusions 1995
Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde 1995
Nadja 1995 filmed in 1994 
 
August 26

births
 
1980 - One of the most famous and richest child star there was, Macaulay Culkin. Beside the "Home Alone" films, he also appeared in "Jacob's Ladder," "The Good Son" and "The Pagemaster."

1941 - Akiko Wakabayashi, who appeared in the films "King Kong vs. Godzilla," "Ghidrah, the Three Headed Monster" and the Bond film (seems to be a running thread here this week) "You Only Live Twice."
 
1939 - The ever beautiful Yvette Vickers who co-starred in the films "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman," "Attack of the Giant Leeches" and the TV movie "The Dead Don't Die."

1909 - Jim Davis, best known for playing "Jock Ewing" on the "Dallas" TV series. He appeared in the films "Frankenstein vs. Dracula," "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" and "Monster From Green Hell." 

deaths

1986 - Ted Knight, best known for playing "Ted Baxter" on the Mary Tyler Moore TV show, passed away at the age of 62. He appeared at the end of the film "Psycho" as one of the officers guarding "Norman Bates" and also did voice over work on many, many cartoon series including "The Superfriends."

1930 - The one and only "Man of a Thousand Faces," Lon Chaney Sr., passed away at the age of 47.
 

films released on this date
War of the Worlds 1953
Natural Born Killers 1994
Voodoo 1995 filmed in 1997
The Brothers Grimm 2005
The Cave 2005
Vampire Diary 2007 
 
August 27

births
 
1962 - Dean Devlin who produced the films "Independence Day," "Stargate" and the American version (yuck) of "Godzilla."

1955 - Diana Scarwid, best known for playing Joan Crawford's daughter in the film "Mommie Dearest." She also appeared in "What Lies Beneath," "Strange Invaders" and "Psycho III."

1950 - The voice of "Roger Rabbit," Charles Fleischer. He has also appeared in the films "Tales From the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight," "A Nightmare On Elm Street," "Deadly Friend" and "Zodiac."

1947 - Barbara Bach (another Bond girl). She appeared in the films "Black Belly of the Tarantula," "Screamers" and "Humanoid."

1925 - Producer Herman Cohen whose film credits include "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla," "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein," "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" and "Trog."

1911 - Johnny Eck who was known in the sideshow circuit as "The Half Boy," and who appeared in Tod Browning's "Freaks."

1896 - Character actor Morris Ankrum, who appeared in such films as "Rocketship X-M," "Invaders From Mars" and "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers." 

deaths

2004 - DJ and newscaster Larry McCormick passed away at the age of 71. He appeared in the films "The Punisher" (1989), "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" and in the TV movie "The Case Of The Hillside Stranglers."

1996 - Greg Morris who played "Barney Collier" on "Mission: Impossible," passed away at the age of 62 . He appeared in episodes of many TV shows such as "Wonder Woman," "Superboy" and "The Twilight Zone."

1996 - Akiji Kobayashi who played "Captain Muramatsu" in the "Ultraman" TV series, and appeared in the films "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah," the 1992 version of "Godzilla vs. Mothra" and "Gamera 2: The Advent of Legion," passed away at the age of 65. 

films released on this date
Doctor X 1932
Phantom of the Opera 1943
The Earth Dies Screaming 1965
The Incubus 1981
Needful Things 1993
The Thirteenth Warrior 1999
The Astronaut's Wife 1999
Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid 2004
Suspect Zero 2004 
 
August 28
 
births
 
1957 - Daniel Stern, who has appeared in the films "Little Monsters," "C.H.U.D,." "Leviathan" and "Otis."

1943 - David Soul, best known for playing "Kenneth Hutchinson" on the TV series "Starsky & Hutch." He also starred in the TV movie "Salem's Lot," and appeared in "The Apple" episode of the original "Star Trek" series.

1917 - Comic artist, the late Jack Kirby, who created Captain America, The Fantastic Four, and many, many other comic characters.

1915 - Simon Oakland, who played Tony Vincenzo on the "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" TV series. He passed away the day after his 68th birthday, on August 29,1983 .

1879 - Character actor E.E. Clive, who appeared in the films "The Invisible Man," "The Bride of Frankenstein" and "Dracula's Daughter." 

deaths

1987 - John Houston who appeared in "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" and "Tentacles," passed away at the age of 81.

1985 - Ruth Gordon who appeared in the films "Rosemary's Baby," "Whatever Happened To Aunt Alice" and "The Voyage of the Rock Aliens," passed away at the age of 88.

1978 - Robert Shaw, who appeared in the films "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad," "The Deep" and of course as "Captain Quint" in the film "Jaws," passed away at the age of 51. Shaw wrote his own monologue for his "S.S. Indianapolis" speech in "Jaws." 

films released on this date
The Loves of Edgar Allen Poe 1942
Rope 1948
The Haunted Palace 1963
The Gruesome Twosome 1967
Hell Night 1981
The Rosary Murders 1987
House II: The Second Story 1987
Pet Semetary II 1992
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me 1992
Frankenstein Reborn 2005 
 
August 29

births
 
1962 - Rebecca De Mornay, who appeared in the films "Identity," "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" and the TV mini-series "The Shining."

1939 - William Friedkin, director of "The Exorcist" and "Bug."

1939 - Joel Schumacher, who directed "The Number 23," "The Lost Boys," "The Phantom Of The Opera" (2004) and "Batman Forever."

1938 - Elliot Gould who appeared in the films "Capricorn One," "The Devil and Max Devlin" and "Silent Partner."

1928 - Charles Gray, who appeared in "The Unknown Terror," "The Devil's Bride," "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and as "Blofeld" in the "James Bond" (there's that name again) film "Diamonds Are Forever."

1923 - Producer/director/actor Richard Attenborough who played "John Hammond" in "Jurassic Park" and in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park."

1908 - George Macready who appeared in "Count Yorga," "The Return of Count Yorga" and "The Alligator People." 

deaths

2002 - Paul Tripp, who starred in the fantasy films "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't" (which was based on his own novel) and "Puss 'N' Boots," passed away at the age of 91.

1985 - Evelyn Ankers who appeared in the Universal classics, "The Wolf Man," "Hold That Ghost" and "The Ghost of Frankenstein," passed away at the age of 67.

1973 - Michael Dunn, best known for playing "Dr. Loveless" on "The Wild Wild West" TV series, passed away at the age of 38. He also appeared in the 1971 version of "Murders In the Rue Morgue," "The Werewolf Of Washington" and "The Mutations." 

films released on this date
The Fly 1958
Toyko Blackout a.k.a.Shuto Shoshitsu 1987
Kull the Conqueror 1997
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation 1997 filmed in 1994 as The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Jeepers Creepers 2 2003
The Curse Of Lizzie Borden 2006
The Zodiac 2006 
 
August 30

births
 
1972 - Cameron Diaz, who appeared in the films "The Mask," "Vanilla Sky" and "Minority Report," (as the woman on the train).

1951 - Timothy Bottoms who appeared in the 1986 remake of "Invaders From Mars," "Uncle Sam" and in the 1991 version of the TV series "Land of the Lost."

1928 - Bill Daily who was best known for playing "Major Roger Healey" on the "I Dream of Jeannie" TV show and appeared in the film "Alligator II: the Mutation."

1797 - Mary Shelley, author of a little novel entitled "Frankenstein." 

deaths

2006 - Glenn Ford, who played "Jonathan 'Pa' Kent," the adoptive father of "Superman," passed away at the age of 90. he also appeared in "Happy Birthday To Me," "The Visitor" and "Virus" (1980).

2003 - Tough guy Charles Bronson passed away at the age of 81. He played "Igor" in the 1953 version of "House Of Wax.

2002 - J. Lee Thompson, who directed the films "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes," "Eye of the Devil" and the 1961 version of "Cape Fear," passed away at the age of 88.

2002 - Craig Kingsbury, who played "Ben Gardner" in "Jaws," passed away at the age of 89. He was the one who taught Robert Shaw how to talk like an old sailor on the set of "Jaws."

1993 - Richard Jordan who appeared in films "Logan's Run," "Dune" and "Solarbabies," passed away at the age of 55. 

films released on this date
Last House On the Left 1972
Deathdream 1974 filmed in 1972 as Dead of Night or The Night Andy Came Home
Relentless 1989
Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time 1991
Child's Play 3 1991
The Crow: City of Angels 1996
FearDotCom 2002
Hood Of The Living Dead 2005
Uchuujin From Outer Space 2007


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