May 1, 2006

WELCOME TO THE VAULT OF THE FORGOTTEN AND OBSCURE!!!

ALTHOUGH THESE OVERLOOKED FOOTNOTES OF MOVIEDOM HAVE BEEN LOST IN THE ANNULS OF FILM HISTORY, THEY STILL EXIST IN THE MEMORY OF OUR CINEMATIC SUBCONCIOUS!

THESE ARE THE FILMS YOU DONT REMEMBER THE NAMES OF, BUT ARE SURE YOU SAW THEM!

THESE ARE THE FILMS WHO’S TV SPOTS SCARED YOU WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD!

THESE ARE THE FILMS THAT WERE MADE IN A TIME WHEN MOST OF THE COUNTRY WAS COKED UP!

SOME ARE HITS. MOST ARE MISSES. BUT EVEN THE FAILURES ARE SO SPECTACULAR, THEY CANNOT BE DENIED!

DO YOU DARE ENTER THE VAULT OF THE FORGOTTEN AND OBSCURE??? READ ON, AT YOUR OWN PERIL! -JSYN.

DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW /1981 (TV)/ d: Frank De Felitta

Wow. What a fucked up made for tv movie! Larry Drake (of Dr. Giggles & Darkman fame) stars as a retarded man, who is unjustly accused of killing his best friend, 12 year old little Marylee (Tonya Crowe). He hides out in the cornfields dressed as a scarecrow and is gunned down by a group of hick vigilantes. And it’s not until after they shoot him that they realize it’s all a big mistake and the little girl is fine. These hick bastards get away with the murder, but later end up being stalked one by one by a mysterious scarecrow seeking vengeance! There are so many recognizable faces in this flick. Postal worker and head of the posse Otis is played by Charles Durning (When A Stranger Calls, Sharky’s Machine, Tootsie, tv’s Rescue Me). Lane Smith (My Cousin Vinny) is also one of the vigilante crew and I’m sure you’ll recognize a number of the cast from dozens of movies. I know a lot of people remember catching this on TV as a kid, but I have to thank Chris Garetano for introducing me to this lost & forgotten gem. It’s not “officially” on DVD yet, but you can easily find it on line or at a convention.

FRIGHT FACT! Dark Night Of The Scarecrow was directed by Frank De Felitta, who also wrote the novels ‘THE ENTITY’ and ‘AUDREY ROSE’, both of which were also adapted into feature films! –robg. -5/06

THE GATE 2 /1992/ d: Tibor Takacs

A lot of people might consider the original GATE to be a VAULT pick, but quite frankly, I think the little-seen sequel deserves the title of “forgotten & obscure”. It’s not really that good of a horror film, but I remember rushing to see this in theaters. If you’re a die-hard fan of the original, then as a completist, you owe it to yourself to see this at least once. Louis Tripp returns as Terry from the original GATE and decides to start conducting some rituals to help improve his troubled home life, since his father’s jobless and his buddy Glen moved out of town. (Hell, the little guy’s lonely). He discovers though that by capturing a demon, he can conjure up wishes, only his granted wishes eventually turn to shit. Literally! The flick also stars Pamela Adlon (Segall, also from ‘Say Anything’) as Liz, the gal Terry pines for. THE GATE 2: RETURN TO THE NIGHTMARE or THE GATE 2: TRESPASSERS is available on DVD everywhere except the US. (FIGURES!) I got my copy from Canada at www.dv-depot.com. I’ve seen it on Amazon.com as well. Happy hunting.

FRIGHT FACT! Director Tibor Takacs also directed I MADMAN which starred Jenny Wright, whom most genre fans recognize from the cult classic NEAR DARK and The Lawnmower Man! –robg. -5/06