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3 episodes with Slaughter High
2 episodes with Slaughter High
2 episodes with Slaughter High
2 episodes with Slaughter High
2 episodes with Slaughter High
2 episodes with Slaughter High
2 episodes with Slaughter High
2 episodes with Slaughter High
2 episodes with Slaughter High
Send us a textWhen New York actor Paul Cole is beaten and left for dead in 1950s Ohio, he loses his memory and the only way he can reclaim what he's lost is by listening to stories about his life from a vulgar radio show. On Episode 665 of Trick or Treat Radio we discuss the film The Actor from director Duke Johnson! We also talk about all the ways you can eat an Uncrustable, the realization that you're not who you were supposed to be, and everything we have planned for the upcoming momentous 666th episode! So grab your VHS of My Demon Lover, write down all your thoughts so you don't forget them, and strap on for the world's most dangerous podcast!Stuff we talk about: Felissa Rose, Sleepaway Camp, The Last Sleepover, Lisa Wilcox, Slaughter High, Sam Adams, Spanish version of Dracula, Cannibal Ferox, My Demon Lover, Scream 2, Creepshow 3, David Hess, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Eric Balfour, Melinda Clark, Return of the Living Dead Part III, Peter Jason, Ghosts of Mars, Arachnophobia, Planet Terror, Red State, Richard Donner, Goonies, The Omen, Alejandro Cruz, Blue Demon, William Castle, The Tingler, House on Haunted Hill, Rosemary's Baby, all the ways you can eat an Uncrustable, Scott Valentine, McCormick Spices, Christina Applegate, House II: The Second Story, RIP Lar Park-Lincoln, Highway to Heaven, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Shawn Lewis, Grindhouse Releasing, 7 Doors of Death, Fabio Frizzi, Rotten Cotton, Chunkblow Apocalypse, Zombi, Eibon Press, The Actor, Duke Johnson, Andre Holland, amnesia, Memento, movies shot on a soundstage, dream logic, self-awareness, learning you're not who you're supposed to be, Total Recall, Anything Goes, Cole Porter, Memory, Geddy Lee, William Shakespeare, the new album from Knowman, Alienated, The Wicker Man, May Day, Episode 666, The Number of the Beast, Retroactivate, Total Unrecall, and Thesplaining Your Life.Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/trickortreatradioJoin our Discord Community: discord.trickortreatradio.comSend Email/Voicemail: mailto:podcast@trickortreatradio.comVisit our website: http://trickortreatradio.comStart your own podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=386Use our Amazon link: http://amzn.to/2CTdZzKFB Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/trickortreatradioTwitter: http://twitter.com/TrickTreatRadioFacebook: http://facebook.com/TrickOrTreatRadioYouTube: http://youtube.com/TrickOrTreatRadioInstagram: http://instagram.com/TrickorTreatRadioSupport the show
Happy April Fools! While Fae is out for surgery, Wicked and the boys hang out and watch this April Foolsy 80's slasher. Queue up the movie, grab some popcorn, and join us!Support us on Patreon at patreon.com/GORE13Check out our website created by Baumbie GOREpodcast.comFollow the show on Bluesky @GOREpodcast.bsky.social Email the show at GOREpodcast13@gmail.com
Send us a textWARNING: FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY. UNDER 17 REQUIRES ADULT SUPERVISION.This week we have an 80's mean-girl movie called Slaughter High (1986)! We almost have too much fun talking about this one, so we really hope you enjoy this episode! OH! And we also talk a little bit about our Halloween, too... It was wild. You don't wanna miss this episode, we promise! Stay tuned & stay NASTY! Instagram: @queensofnc17Music: @tobaxxo
Horror Month rolls along this week with a low budget tale of revenge, as we discuss the 1980s flick, Slaughter High. Join us as we discuss hiding British accents, high schoolers being played by people in their 30s, and similarities to the classic, The Toxic Avenger. Find us on Twitter and Instagram @TCTAMPod and on TikTok @theycalledthisamovie.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN Gabbers! Join Gayson and Guestie Bestie Sarah (and so many F-bombs) as they gab about trying the new Coke flavored Oreo cookies, discuss some LGBTQ+ horror books, discuss the movie "Slaughter High," hear some movie reviews from Listener Gary and so much more!! Get ready for a good ole fashioned Halloween gabfest! Leave us a voicemail with your comments, questions and episode requests at (636) 400-3732! Show Notes: Alice Cooper - (He's Back) The Man Behind the Mask Halloween at Aunt Ethel's - Official 2019 Trailer Slaughter High Trailer 1986 Dr. Odyssey Trailer All Things Gayson: Gayson's Amazon Wishlist Keeping the Yuletide Gay Podcast THE GABBING WITH GAYSON PRIDE PLAYLIST!!! Gabbing with Gayson's Website Gab with Gayson on Facebook! Become a Patreon Pal! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gabbingwithgayson/support
The guys needed a week off to prepare -- Halloween season is here, which means horror movie reviews are back! This time, Brad goes first, choosing the seminal slasher classic "Slaughter High." It's a complicated tale showing the long-term effects of bullying, drug use, premarital sex, and faking American accents like John Wayne. But we can't go any deeper here -- listen to the review yourself and start the season right. --- #comedypodcast #humorpodcast #funnypodcast #darkhumor #podernfamily #slaughterhigh #slasherfilms #80sslasher #spookyseason #jestershoes #electricbed www.needlesstosaypodcast.com www.ntspodcastgear.com
Check out the show notes at Signal Horizon
What's up, Rotters. We're back. And class is in session. For the first epsiode of Season 5 - Vicious Varsity, I'm joined once again by the incredible multi-hyphenate Michael Varrati In this lesson, we discuss the 1986 prank-gone-wrong slasher SLAUGHTER HIGH
Hello Students! We're going back to school with Slaughter High, another classic Class Reunion turned murderfest. We also discuss lawn darts, chronic flatulence, and British slang. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mother's Day (1980), Madman (1981), Pieces (1982), and Evil Dead Trap (1988) When you're talking about horror films with most non-horror fans, they usually are thinking about the slashers which they seem to encapsule all of that genre. But when us fans start to dig into that sub-genre, that's when the questions arise, parameters seemed like they have to set, even though plenty of the films go out of their way to beyond said parameters. As if any were meant to stay between the lines! Then you start to delve into when the sub-genre started, which can then start another round of questions and discussions. To help get those arguments . . . we mean discussions started, in this episode we're going to cover 4 different slasher films, granted, of varying types, but we feel still fits into the category of slasher films. And to help with this, we've invited Aaron Crowell, Managing Editor of HorrorHound Magazine back to join in the conversation. Movies mentioned in this episode: Amsterdamned (1988), Angel Guts: High School Coed (1978), The Bad Seed (1956), Beyond the Darkness (1979), Black Christmas (1974), Blood Song (1982), Candyman (1992), Don't Go in the House (1979), Don't Go to Sleep (1982), Evil Dead Trap (1988), Evil Dead Trap 2 (1992), The Exorcist (1973), Final Exam (1981), Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (1974), Friday the 13th (1980), Frightmare (1974), The Girl in Room 2A (1974), The Girl Next Door (2007), Halloween (1978), Hatchet (2006), House on Sorority Row (1982), The Incubus (1982), It Follows (1914), Killer Party (1986), Lady Frankenstein (1971), The Leopard Man (1943), Living Doll (1990), The Lost (2006), Madman (1981), Maniac (1980), Mother's Day (1980), Mother's Day (2010), My Bloody Valentine (1981), Offspring (2009), Paranormal Activity (2007), Peeping Tom (1960), Pieces (1982), Psycho (1960), Rape Man (2008)The Rift (1990), Satan's Blood (1978), Scream (1996), Slaughter High (1986), The Slayer (1982), Sleepaway Camp (1983), Slugs (1988), Sting of Death (1965), Supersonic Man (1979), Superstition (1982), Terrifier (2016), Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Thanksgiving (2023), The Thing (1982), Thirteen Women (1932), Tourist Trap (1979), The Woman (2011), You're Next (2011)
This week we watched Slaughter High. We talked about the unsafe lab, not breaking into closed school for reunion, school bathtub and bed, and that strange ending --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/matt-mike-john-bubba/support
It's week three of “Oh My Gotttttthhhhhh” where we explore the nooks and crannies of gothic horror. We leave behind the bloodsuckers and their castles for ghosts and their need to make children… kissy(?)... as we explore Jack Clayton's seminal 1961 masterpiece, THE INNOCENTS. As always you kind find more of the stuff you love at our PATREON! Join up at the link below and you can unlock the ability to tell us why Twisters rules on our Discord! https://www.patreon.com/shudcast 00:00 - 9:00ish - Intros: We try to swat a fly and end up swatting Lucas instead, and we talk about Australian stuff because we're not qualified. 09:00ish - 1:09:00ish - The other stuff we watched this time! Cody - Jaws, MaXXXine, Deadpool, Deadpool 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Longlegs, Night of the Eagle aka Burn Witch Burn, Slaughter High, Night of the Comet, Happy Birthday To Me, Satan's Blood, The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein, Lucifer's Satanic Daughter, Twisters, Oddity, The Ninth Gate, Race With the Devil, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Austin - Twisters, Arcadian, Nope, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Manhunter, Hail Satan?, Speak No Evil, and I Am: Celine Dion Curtis - MaXXXine, Deadpool, Deadpool 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Longlegs, Twisters (x2), Oddity, Manhunter, Tarot, Frogman, Thief, Encanto, Don't Look Now, Run Lola Run, Dead End Drive-In, Miami Vice, Blackhat, Carnival of Souls, Mortuary, Top Gun: Maverick, The Ward, The Black Demon, Bringing Out the Dead, Lumberjack the Monster, Conquest, Signs, Trap, Twister, and Bound Lucas - Deadpool & Wolverine, Longlegs, Twisters (x2), Jodorowsky's Dune, The Fanatic, Blackberry, Zero Charisma, Men, Anyone But You, The Dead Don't Hurt, Instructions Not Included, Killers of the Flower Moon, Babylon, Bedazzled, What We Do in the Shadows, Legend of the Swordman aka Swordman 2, Embrace of the Serpent, Showgirls, Lords of Chaos, Bound, Jupiter Ascending, Trap, The Iron Claw, and Kneecap 1:09:00ish - 1:51:00ish - THE INNOCENTS - SHUDdown and discussion! 1:51:00ish - End - Our next and LAST movie in our “Oh My Gotttthhhh!” series!
New month means new theme with this month's theme being, "I'm just messing with you" where I will be focusing on April Fools themed horror movies. Starting April off with the cult classic, 1986's "Slaughter High." The Mistress of the Menagerie discusses bullying, when one is pushed too far, and is revenge justified? Come check it out!
You are Cordially invited to attend episode #34 of The Slumber Party Massacre Podcast! In our girl talk segment, Lacy, Heather, Rebecca, and Carly chat about some BAD purchases. Then for pillow fight they dissect some horror comedies! Films debated are Cocaine Bear, Cabin in the Woods, What We Do in the Shadows, and Young Frankenstein! Then finally for feature presentation the ladies review the crazy film that is Slaughter High! So grab your acid filled beer and pop the top and chug along with us! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lacy-williams1/support
Originally titled April Fool's Day (though not to be confused with several other horror films of the same name), Slaughter High is the story of a high school reunion gone awry when a bullied classmate takes his revenge on his tormentors. Join Juliet and Theresa to talk about this classic 80s slasher and its extraordinary kills, the benefits of back to school season for Virgos, and why it's probably not the best idea to bathe in an abandoned building. Content warnings: conversations about bullying throughout, a brief mention of self harmSupport us on Patreon!Theme music: "Book of Shadows" by Houseghost (Rad Girlfriend Records) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Some guys just can't take a joke
Subscribe to our podcast! Rebecca Rinehart hosts this episode of one of the kookiest but fun slashers of the 80s. Slaughter High. Jonathan Moody co hosts. Follow us on social media: @80shorrorfilms @indiefilmcafe Websites: http://sickflickproductions.com http://indiefilmcafe.reviews http://indiefilmcafe.podbean.com http://patreon.com/indiefilmcafe
Slasher movies make a welcome return as Adam and Jared cover all 90 minutes of 1986's Slaughter High. Jared asks why a flaming bag of dog shit isn't considered a worthwhile prank and Adam ponders the age old question - should I be having a bath at school? They also throw in some extra bloat with a list of what they have both been watching.
Follow Caleb @Kempmiilkbone17 Brandon @Gorekeeper on Letterboxd! Send in your questions or suggestions at StonedToDeathPodcast@gmail.com
Join hosts, Aleece and Tony for a "PREGUT" trailer review! In this mini episode we look at the trailer for Slaughter High (1986).Even horror fans have those few 80s slashers that have somehow evaded the viewing queue. Our's is Slaughter High! Our friends at Manic Movie Monday podcast convinced us to give this one a shot! Find out if the trailer GRADUATES this movie to the top of our queue or FLUNKS it off the list completely...LISTEN TO THE MANIC MOVIE MONDAY PODCAST FOR A FULL MOVIE REVIEW: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6TrKXY9LSJ8zyizvPU2wVO?si=9155f939caec49ecFollow Manic Movie Monday Podcast on IG: https://www.instagram.com/manicmoviemondaypodcast/
It's April Fool's Day in June… until 12 pm? Listen, the 1986 Euro-slasher SLAUGHTER HIGH has a lot of rules, and it likes to switch ‘em up as it goes, but Kill By Kill is up to the test. Along the way, we openly regret our Stockard Channing slander, struggle to remember which character is who, enjoy a solid skeleton scream, sleep it off in a brown velvet spaceship bed, celebrate an automotive #GetBunked, and take a real hot high school bath!! All this, plus an AP course-level edition of Choose Your Own Deathventure, and we declare one cast member a “Secret Mario!” It's a reunion to dismember - so join us, won't you? This episode of the Kill By Kill podcast is brought to you in part by the new Quiver Distribution film, THE WRATH OF BECKY! That's right - two years after escaping a savage attack on her family, Becky is attempting to rebuild her life. But when a brutish group called the Noble Men breaks into her new home and snatches her beloved dog Diego, she returns to her old ways to protect herself and get revenge. The Austin Chronicle declares it's “Literally a bloody good time!” The Wrath of Becky, starring Lulu Wilson and Seann William Scott is now playing in theaters!! Our TeePublic shop for killer merch is right here: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/kill-by-kill-podcast?utm_campaign=18042&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=Kill%2BBy%2BKill%2Bpodcast%2B Have something to say? Find us on Twitter @KillByKillPod Join the conversation about any episode on the Facebook Group! Follow us on IG @killbykillpodcast Check out the films we've covered & what might come soon on Letterboxd! Get even more episodes exclusively on Patreon! Follow our station on vurbl: https://vurbl.com/station/2bdTISeI3X/ Artwork by Josh Hollis: joshhollis.com Kill By Kill theme by Revenge Body. For the full-length version and more great music, head to revengebodymemphis.bandcamp.com today!
Prepare to have your spine tingled by The WacArnold's Brothers! David and Jared sit down every episode to talk and laugh through some low-key horror movie classics. This episode we hang dong with the whole gang at Slaughter High from the year 1986. Like/Follow/Share @oldheartradio (iTunes, Spotify, Instagram) Follow on Twitter @oldheartinspace GET IT ON!
We level up with The Super Mario Bros. Movie and also talk Slaughter High, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Inland Empire and Willow Creek. Follow the show on Twitter: @thecinemaspeak Follow the show on Instagram: cinemaspeakpodcast Subscribe on Youtube: Cinema Speak Intro: 0:00 - 4:39 Review - The Super Mario Bros. Movie: 4:39 - 50:32 Movie Roulette - Slaughter High: 50:32 - 1:24:04 Micro-Reviews - Inland Empire, John Wick Franchise, Shivers, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Willow Creek: 1:24:04 - 1:51:22 This week in new releases/Outro: 1:51:22 - 1:54:30
As has become our semi-tradition for April Fools Day our guest this week is the always lovely and talented Kristy Adams from Nightmare Toys & Nightmare Cafe (in Las Vegas) . . Producer: Nina Yarrington Logo & Art by: Clark Felix . --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thedollsofhorror/support
It's the 40th episode of Filmed Obscura. Hell yeah!!! The boys are super excited to bring you this fun-filled episode full of random phone calls, 80s slasher tropes, Busch beer, Star Trek and more tangents than you asked for. It's the second episode of Season 6 and Chris picked the flawed, yet entertaining Slaughter High. The movie didn't reinvent the slasher film, or turn the world on it's head, but it has some solid kills. As always, grab your beverage and enjoy the second film offering in March. Justin and Chris will be back to the normal monthly schedule in April. Cheers!We are on social media...and based on my Twitter comments, we're still bad at it.Filmed Obscura: @FilmedObscura on TwitterJustin: @rustyman_51 on Twitter and IGChris: @chrisherdter on IGTheme song composed by artist Zagi2 courtesy of Freesound.org. :)
Welcome back, horror fans! Today we're gonna talk about Slaughter High, a movie that takes the typical 80s slasher formula and throws in some wacky pranks and over-the-top gore. Does it work? Not really, but that doesn't mean it's not worth revisiting for the nostalgia factor. So grab your favorite neon-colored outfit and join us as we dissect this forgotten gem (or is it a turd?) of 80s horror cinema.Let us know what movies we should cover! https://www.instagram.com/trashferbrains https://www.facebook.com/Trashferbrains Tell us your home town urban legends or let us know what spooky creatures or tales you want covered next in Fear'fer Brains. trashferbrains@gmail.com MERCH https://www.teepublic.com/user/trash-fer-brains
This week on MMM Erin and Hillary review the cult trashicc film Slaughter High (1986). It's acid baths, male nudity and the strangest American accents ever! An April Fools' prank returns to haunt Doddsville High's alumni when they attend a reunion at their abandoned school. Staring Simon Scuddamore, Caroline Munro, Carmine Iannaccone, and Donna Yeager.
It's time for one of those massive episodes. Well, it's a four parter anyways. 1986 was yet another massive year for horror movies. As well as containing those huge studio movies, exploitation cinema & indie horror was breaking through to little me, I could source all this thanks to the VHS rental shop. The underground was still rich at this point in time . But what do I think was the very greatest horror movie that came out during '86? Well, here we have the top 10. The worst 10. A slew of also rans. Some awesome mates. Some special guests. Several pints of beer and a 7+ hour running time split over 4 episodes. This is the 1986, A Year In Horror.It's a truly long journey this one, part 1 of 4 in fact. I am going to give you the time codes below so if you don't want spoilers then, please, avert your eyes.You can now support A Year in Horror via the Patreon.Theme Music by Max Newton& Lucy Foster.Email the podcast at ayearinhorror@gmail.comDon't bother following the podcast on Facebook. But feel free to...Follow me on Twitter.Follow me on Instagram.Follow me on Letterboxd.Below are the timecodes for all the different segments and my guest links. Feel free to let me know where you think I got it wrong or right and of course stay safe out there & I'll see you next month.0.00 - Intro14.55 - The Worst 10 Horror Movies of 198625.19 - Also Rans: Part 132.07 - Gothic (w/ Miranda Corcoran)1.03.43 - Sci-Fi Corner1.14.16 - Highlander (w/ Paul Chanter)
The first of a two-part series on the short-lived 80s American distribution company responsible for Dirty Dancing. ----more---- The movies covered on this episode: Alpine (1987, Fredi M. Murer) Anna (1987, Yurek Bogayevicz) Billy Galvin (1986, John Grey) Blood Diner (1987, Jackie Kong) China Girl (1987, Abel Ferrera) The Dead (1987, John Huston) Dirty Dancing (1987, Emile Ardolino) Malcolm (1986, Nadia Tess) Personal Services (1987, Terry Jones) Slaughter High (1986, Mark Ezra and Peter Litten and George Dugdale) Steel Dawn (1987, Lance Hook) Street Trash (1987, Jim Muro) TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today. Have you ever thought “I should do this thing” but then you never get around to it, until something completely random happens that reminds you that you were going to do this thing a long time ago? For this week's episode, that kick in the keister was a post on Twitter from someone I don't follow being retweeted by the great film critic and essayist Walter Chaw, someone I do follow, that showed a Blu-ray cover of the 1987 Walter Hill film Extreme Prejudice. You see, Walter Chaw has recently released a book about the life and career of Walter Hill, and this other person was showing off their new purchase. That in and of itself wasn't the kick in the butt. That was the logo of the disc's distributor. Vestron Video. A company that went out of business more than thirty years before, that unbeknownst to me had been resurrected by the current owner of the trademark, Lionsgate Films, as a specialty label for a certain kind of film like Ken Russell's Gothic, Beyond Re-Animator, CHUD 2, and, for some reason, Walter Hill's Neo-Western featuring Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe and Rip Torn. For those of you from the 80s, you remember at least one of Vestron Pictures' movies. I guarantee it. But before we get there, we, as always, must go back a little further back in time. The year is 1981. Time Magazine is amongst the most popular magazines in the world, while their sister publication, Life, was renowned for their stunning photographs printed on glossy color paper of a larger size than most magazines. In the late 1970s, Time-Life added a video production and distribution company to ever-growing media empire that also included television stations, cable channels, book clubs, and compilation record box sets. But Time Life Home Video didn't quite take off the way the company had expected, and they decided to concentrate its lucrative cable businesses like HBO. The company would move Austin Furst, an executive from HBO, over to dismantle the assets of Time-Life Films. And while Furst would sell off the production and distribution parts of the company to Fox, and the television department to Columbia Pictures, he couldn't find a party interested in the home video department. Recognizing that home video was an emerging market that would need a visionary like himself willing to take big risks for the chance to have big rewards, Furst purchased the home video rights to the film and video library for himself, starting up his home entertainment company. But what to call the company? It would be his daughter that would come up with Vestron, a portmanteau of combining the name of the Roman goddess of the heart, Vesta, with Tron, the Greek word for instrument. Remember, the movie Tron would not be released for another year at this point. At first, there were only two employees at Vestron: Furst himself, and Jon Pesinger, a fellow executive at Time-Life who, not unlike Dorothy Boyd in Jerry Maguire, was the only person who saw Furst's long-term vision for the future. Outside of the titles they brought with them from Time-Life, Vestron's initial release of home video titles comprised of two mid-range movie hits where they were able to snag the home video rights instead of the companies that released the movies in theatres, either because those companies did not have a home video operation yet, or did not negotiate for home video rights when making the movie deal with the producers. Fort Apache, The Bronx, a crime drama with Paul Newman and Ed Asner, and Loving Couples, a Shirley MacLaine/James Coburn romantic comedy that was neither romantic nor comedic, were Time-Life productions, while the Burt Reynolds/Dom DeLuise comedy The Cannonball Run, was a pickup from the Hong Kong production company Golden Harvest, which financed the comedy to help break their local star, Jackie Chan, into the American market. They'd also make a deal with several Canadian production companies to get the American home video rights to titles like the Jack Lemmon drama Tribute and the George C. Scott horror film The Changeling. The advantage that Vestron had over the major studios was their outlook on the mom and pop rental stores that were popping up in every city and town in the United States. The major studios hated the idea that they could sell a videotape for, say, $99.99, and then see someone else make a major profit by renting that tape out fifty or a hundred times at $4 or $5 per night. Of course, they would eventually see the light, but in 1982, they weren't there yet. Now, let me sidetrack for a moment, as I am wont to do, to talk about mom and pop video stores in the early 1980s. If you're younger than, say, forty, you probably only know Blockbuster and/or Hollywood Video as your local video rental store, but in the early 80s, there were no national video store chains yet. The first Blockbuster wouldn't open until October 1985, in Dallas, and your neighborhood likely didn't get one until the late 1980s or early 1990s. The first video store I ever encountered, Telford Home Video in Belmont Shores, Long Beach in 1981, was operated by Bob Telford, an actor best known for playing the Station Master in both the original 1974 version of Where the Red Fern Grows and its 2003 remake. Bob was really cool, and I don't think it was just because the space for the video store was just below my dad's office in the real estate company that had built and operated the building. He genuinely took interest in this weird thirteen year old kid who had an encyclopedic knowledge of films and wanted to learn more. I wanted to watch every movie he had in the store that I hadn't seen yet, but there was one problem: we had a VHS machine, and most of Bob's inventory was RCA SelectaVision, a disc-based playback system using a special stylus and a groove-covered disc much like an LP record. After school each day, I'd hightail it over to Telford Home Video, and Bob and I would watch a movie while we waited for customers to come rent something. It was with Bob that I would watch Ordinary People and The Magnificent Seven, The Elephant Man and The Last Waltz, Bus Stop and Rebel Without a Cause and The French Connection and The Man Who Fell to Earth and a bunch of other movies that weren't yet available on VHS, and it was great. Like many teenagers in the early 1980s, I spent some time working at a mom and pop video store, Seacliff Home Video in Aptos, CA. I worked on the weekends, it was a third of a mile walk from home, and even though I was only 16 years old at the time, my bosses would, every week, solicit my opinion about which upcoming videos we should acquire. Because, like Telford Home Video and Village Home Video, where my friends Dick and Michelle worked about two miles away, and most every video store at the time, space was extremely limited and there was only space for so many titles. Telford Home Video was about 500 square feet and had maybe 500 titles. Seacliff was about 750 square feet and around 800 titles, including about 50 in the tiny, curtained off room created to hold the porn. And the first location for Village Home Video had only 300 square feet of space and only 250 titles. The owner, Leone Keller, confirmed to me that until they moved into a larger location across from the original store, they were able to rent out every movie in the store every night. For many, a store owner had to be very careful about what they ordered and what they replaced. But Vestron Home Video always seemed to have some of the better movies. Because of a spat between Warner Brothers and Orion Pictures, Vestron would end up with most of Orion's 1983 through 1985 theatrical releases, including Rodney Dangerfield's Easy Money, the Nick Nolte political thriller Under Fire, the William Hurt mystery Gorky Park, and Gene Wilder's The Woman in Red. They'd also make a deal with Roger Corman's old American Independent Pictures outfit, which would reap an unexpected bounty when George Miller's second Mad Max movie, The Road Warrior, became a surprise hit in 1982, and Vestron was holding the video rights to the first Mad Max movie. And they'd also find themselves with the laserdisc rights to several Brian DePalma movies including Dressed to Kill and Blow Out. And after Polygram Films decided to leave the movie business in 1984, they would sell the home video rights to An American Werewolf in London and Endless Love to Vestron. They were doing pretty good. And in 1984, Vestron ended up changing the home video industry forever. When Michael Jackson and John Landis had trouble with Jackson's record company, Epic, getting their idea for a 14 minute short film built around the title song to Jackson's monster album Thriller financed, Vestron would put up a good portion of the nearly million dollar budget in order to release the movie on home video, after it played for a few weeks on MTV. In February 1984, Vestron would release a one-hour tape, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, that included the mini-movie and a 45 minute Making of featurette. At $29.99, it would be one of the first sell-through titles released on home video. It would become the second home videotape to sell a million copies, after Star Wars. Suddenly, Vestron was flush with more cash than it knew what to do with. In 1985, they would decide to expand their entertainment footprint by opening Vestron Pictures, which would finance a number of movies that could be exploited across a number of platforms, including theatrical, home video, cable and syndicated TV. In early January 1986, Vestron would announce they were pursuing projects with three producers, Steve Tisch, Larry Turman, and Gene Kirkwood, but no details on any specific titles or even a timeframe when any of those movies would be made. Tisch, the son of Loews Entertainment co-owner Bob Tisch, had started producing films in 1977 with the Peter Fonda music drama Outlaw Blues, and had a big hit in 1983 with Risky Business. Turman, the Oscar-nominated producer of Mike Nichols' The Graduate, and Kirkwood, the producer of The Keep and The Pope of Greenwich Village, had seen better days as producers by 1986 but their names still carried a certain cache in Hollywood, and the announcement would certainly let the industry know Vestron was serious about making quality movies. Well, maybe not all quality movies. They would also launch a sub-label for Vestron Pictures called Lightning Pictures, which would be utilized on B-movies and schlock that maybe wouldn't fit in the Vestron Pictures brand name they were trying to build. But it costs money to build a movie production and theatrical distribution company. Lots of money. Thanks to the ever-growing roster of video titles and the success of releases like Thriller, Vestron would go public in the spring of 1985, selling enough shares on the first day of trading to bring in $440m to the company, $140m than they thought they would sell that day. It would take them a while, but in 1986, they would start production on their first slate of films, as well as acquire several foreign titles for American distribution. Vestron Pictures officially entered the theatrical distribution game on July 18th, 1986, when they released the Australian comedy Malcolm at the Cinema 2 on the Upper East Side of New York City. A modern attempt to create the Aussie version of a Jacques Tati-like absurdist comedy about modern life and our dependance on gadgetry, Malcolm follows, as one character describes him a 100 percent not there individual who is tricked into using some of his remote control inventions to pull of a bank robbery. While the film would be a minor hit in Australia, winning all eight of the Australian Film Institute Awards it was nominated for including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and three acting awards, the film would only play for five weeks in New York, grossing less than $35,000, and would not open in Los Angeles until November 5th, where in its first week at the Cineplex Beverly Center and Samuel Goldwyn Pavilion Cinemas, it would gross a combined $37,000. Go figure. Malcolm would open in a few more major markets, but Vestron would close the film at the end of the year with a gross under $200,000. Their next film, Slaughter High, was a rather odd bird. A co-production between American and British-based production companies, the film followed a group of adults responsible for a prank gone wrong on April Fool's Day who are invited to a reunion at their defunct high school where a masked killer awaits inside. And although the movie takes place in America, the film was shot in London and nearby Virginia Water, Surrey, in late 1984, under the title April Fool's Day. But even with Caroline Munro, the British sex symbol who had become a cult favorite with her appearances in a series of sci-fi and Hammer horror films with Peter Cushing and/or Christopher Lee, as well as her work in the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, April Fool's Day would sit on the proverbial shelf for nearly two years, until Vestron picked it up and changed its title, since Paramount Pictures had released their own horror film called April Fools Day earlier in the year. Vestron would open Slaughter High on nine screens in Detroit on November 14th, 1986, but Vestron would not report grosses. Then they would open it on six screen in St. Louis on February 13th, 1987. At least this time they reported a gross. $12,400. Variety would simply call that number “grim.” They'd give the film one final rush on April 24th, sending it out to 38 screens in in New York City, where it would gross $90,000. There'd be no second week, as practically every theatre would replace it with Creepshow 2. The third and final Vestron Pictures release for 1986 was Billy Galvin, a little remembered family drama featuring Karl Malden and Lenny von Dohlen, originally produced for the PBS anthology series American Playhouse but bumped up to a feature film as part of coordinated effort to promote the show by occasionally releasing feature films bearing the American Playhouse banner. The film would open at the Cineplex Beverly Center on December 31st, not only the last day of the calendar year but the last day a film can be released into theatres in Los Angeles to have been considered for Academy Awards. The film would not get any major awards, from the Academy or anyone else, nor much attention from audiences, grossing just $4,000 in its first five days. They'd give the film a chance in New York on February 20th, at the 23rd Street West Triplex, but a $2,000 opening weekend gross would doom the film from ever opening in another theatre again. In early 1987, Vestron announced eighteen films they would release during the year, and a partnership with AMC Theatres and General Cinema to have their films featured in those two companies' pilot specialized film programs in major markets like Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston and San Francisco. Alpine Fire would be the first of those films, arriving at the Cinema Studio 1 in New York City on February 20th. A Swiss drama about a young deaf and mentally challenged teenager who gets his older sister pregnant, was that country's entry into the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar race. While the film would win the Golden Leopard Award at the 1985 Locarno Film Festival, the Academy would not select the film for a nomination, and the film would quickly disappear from theatres after a $2,000 opening weekend gross. Personal Services, the first film to be directed by Terry Jones outside of his services with Monty Python, would arrive in American theatres on May 15th. The only Jones-directed film to not feature any other Python in the cast, Personal Services was a thinly-disguised telling of a 1970s—era London waitress who was running a brothel in her flat in order to make ends meet, and featured a standout performance by Julie Walters as the waitress turned madame. In England, Personal Services would be the second highest-grossing film of the year, behind The Living Daylights, the first Bond film featuring new 007 Timothy Dalton. In America, the film wouldn't be quite as successful, grossing $1.75m after 33 weeks in theatres, despite never playing on more than 31 screens in any given week. It would be another three months before Vestron would release their second movie of the year, but it would be the one they'd become famous for. Dirty Dancing. Based in large part on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein's own childhood, the screenplay would be written after the producers of the 1980 Michael Douglas/Jill Clayburgh dramedy It's My Turn asked the writer to remove a scene from the screenplay that involved an erotic dance sequence. She would take that scene and use it as a jumping off point for a new story about a Jewish teenager in the early 1960s who participated in secret “Dirty Dancing” competitions while she vacationed with her doctor father and stay-at-home mother while they vacationed in the Catskill Mountains. Baby, the young woman at the center of the story, would not only resemble the screenwriter as a character but share her childhood nickname. Bergstein would pitch the story to every studio in Hollywood in 1984, and only get a nibble from MGM Pictures, whose name was synonymous with big-budget musicals decades before. They would option the screenplay and assign producer Linda Gottlieb, a veteran television producer making her first major foray into feature films, to the project. With Gottlieb, Bergstein would head back to the Catskills for the first time in two decades, as research for the script. It was while on this trip that the pair would meet Michael Terrace, a former Broadway dancer who had spent summers in the early 1960s teaching tourists how to mambo in the Catskills. Terrace and Bergstein didn't remember each other if they had met way back when, but his stories would help inform the lead male character of Johnny Castle. But, as regularly happens in Hollywood, there was a regime change at MGM in late 1985, and one of the projects the new bosses cut loose was Dirty Dancing. Once again, the script would make the rounds in Hollywood, but nobody was biting… until Vestron Pictures got their chance to read it. They loved it, and were ready to make it their first in-house production… but they would make the movie if the budget could be cut from $10m to $4.5m. That would mean some sacrifices. They wouldn't be able to hire a major director, nor bigger name actors, but that would end up being a blessing in disguise. To direct, Gottlieb and Bergstein looked at a lot of up and coming feature directors, but the one person they had the best feeling about was Emile Ardolino, a former actor off-Broadway in the 1960s who began his filmmaking career as a documentarian for PBS in the 1970s. In 1983, Ardolino's documentary about National Dance Institute founder Jacques d'Amboise, He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin', would win both the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Entertainment Special. Although Ardolino had never directed a movie, he would read the script twice in a week while serving on jury duty, and came back to Gottlieb and Bergstein with a number of ideas to help make the movie shine, even at half the budget. For a movie about dancing, with a lot of dancing in it, they would need a creative choreographer to help train the actors and design the sequences. The filmmakers would chose Kenny Ortega, who in addition to choreographing the dance scenes in Pretty in Pink and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, had worked with Gene Kelly on the 1980 musical Xanadu. Well, more specifically, was molded by Gene Kelly to become the lead choreographer for the film. That's some good credentials. Unlike movies like Flashdance, where the filmmakers would hire Jennifer Beals to play Alex and Marine Jahan to perform Alex's dance scenes, Emile Ardolino was insistent that the actors playing the dancers were actors who also dance. Having stand-ins would take extra time to set-up, and would suck up a portion of an already tight budget. Yet the first people he would meet for the lead role of Johnny were non-dancers Benecio del Toro, Val Kilmer, and Billy Zane. Zane would go so far as to do a screen test with one of the actresses being considered for the role of Baby, Jennifer Grey, but after screening the test, they realized Grey was right for Baby but Zane was not right for Johnny. Someone suggested Patrick Swayze, a former dancer for the prestigious Joffrey Ballet who was making his way up the ranks of stardom thanks to his roles in The Outsiders and Grandview U.S.A. But Swayze had suffered a knee injury years before that put his dance career on hold, and there were concerns he would re-aggravate his injury, and there were concerns from Jennifer Grey because she and Swayze had not gotten along very well while working on Red Dawn. But that had been three years earlier, and when they screen tested together here, everyone was convinced this was the pairing that would bring magic to the role. Baby's parents would be played by two Broadway veterans: Jerry Orbach, who is best known today as Detective Lenny Briscoe on Law and Order, and Kelly Bishop, who is best known today as Emily Gilmore from Gilmore Girls but had actually started out as a dancer, singer and actor, winning a Tony Award for her role in the original Broadway production of A Chorus Line. Although Bishop had originally been cast in a different role for the movie, another guest at the Catskills resort with the Housemans, but she would be bumped up when the original Mrs. Houseman, Lynne Lipton, would fall ill during the first week of filming. Filming on Dirty Dancing would begin in North Carolina on September 5th, 1986, at a former Boy Scout camp that had been converted to a private residential community. This is where many of the iconic scenes from the film would be shot, including Baby carrying the watermelon and practicing her dance steps on the stairs, all the interior dance scenes, the log scene, and the golf course scene where Baby would ask her father for $250. It's also where Patrick Swayze almost ended his role in the film, when he would indeed re-injure his knee during the balancing scene on the log. He would be rushed to the hospital to have fluid drained from the swelling. Thankfully, there would be no lingering effects once he was released. After filming in North Carolina was completed, the team would move to Virginia for two more weeks of filming, including the water lift scene, exteriors at Kellerman's Hotel and the Houseman family's cabin, before the film wrapped on October 27th. Ardolino's first cut of the film would be completed in February 1987, and Vestron would begin the process of running a series of test screenings. At the first test screening, nearly 40% of the audience didn't realize there was an abortion subplot in the movie, even after completing the movie. A few weeks later, Vestron executives would screen the film for producer Aaron Russo, who had produced such movies as The Rose and Trading Places. His reaction to the film was to tell the executives to burn the negative and collect the insurance. But, to be fair, one important element of the film was still not set. The music. Eleanor Bergstein had written into her script a number of songs that were popular in the early 1960s, when the movie was set, that she felt the final film needed. Except a number of the songs were a bit more expensive to license than Vestron would have preferred. The company was testing the film with different versions of those songs, other artists' renditions. The writer, with the support of her producer and director, fought back. She made a deal with the Vestron executives. They would play her the master tracks to ten of the songs she wanted, as well as the copycat versions. If she could identify six of the masters, she could have all ten songs in the film. Vestron would spend another half a million dollars licensing the original recording. The writer nailed all ten. But even then, there was still one missing piece of the puzzle. The closing song. While Bergstein wanted another song to close the film, the team at Vestron were insistent on a new song that could be used to anchor a soundtrack album. The writer, producer, director and various members of the production team listened to dozens of submissions from songwriters, but none of them were right, until they got to literally the last submission left, written by Franke Previte, who had written another song that would appear on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, “Hungry Eyes.” Everybody loved the song, called “I've Had the Time of My Life,” and it would take some time to convince Previte that Dirty Dancing was not a porno. They showed him the film and he agreed to give them the song, but the production team and Vestron wanted to get a pair of more famous singers to record the final version. The filmmakers originally approached disco queen Donna Summer and Joe Esposito, whose song “You're the Best” appeared on the Karate Kid soundtrack, but Summer would decline, not liking the title of the movie. They would then approach Daryl Hall from Hall and Oates and Kim Carnes, but they'd both decline, citing concerns about the title of the movie. Then they approached Bill Medley, one-half of The Righteous Brothers, who had enjoyed yet another career resurgence when You Lost That Lovin' Feeling became a hit in 1986 thanks to Top Gun, but at first, he would also decline. Not that he had any concerns about the title of the film, although he did have concerns about the title, but that his wife was about to give birth to their daughter, and he had promised he would be there. While trying to figure who to get to sing the male part of the song, the music supervisor for the film approached Jennifer Warnes, who had sung the duet “Up Where We Belong” from the An Officer and a Gentleman soundtrack, which had won the 1983 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and sang the song “It Goes Like It Goes” from the Norma Rae soundtrack, which had won the 1980 Academy Award for Best Original Song. Warnes wasn't thrilled with the song, but she would be persuaded to record the song for the right price… and if Bill Medley would sing the other part. Medley, flattered that Warnes asked specifically to record with him, said he would do so, after his daughter was born, and if the song was recorded in his studio in Los Angeles. A few weeks later, Medley and Warnes would have their portion of the song completed in only one hour, including additional harmonies and flourishes decided on after finishing with the main vocals. With all the songs added to the movie, audience test scores improved considerably. RCA Records, who had been contracted to handle the release of the soundtrack, would set a July 17th release date for the album, to coincide with the release of the movie on the same day, with the lead single, I've Had the Time of My Life, released one week earlier. But then, Vestron moved the movie back from July 17th to August 21st… and forgot to tell RCA Records about the move. No big deal. The song would quickly rise up the charts, eventually hitting #1 on the Billboard charts. When the movie finally did open in 975 theatres in August 21st, the film would open to fourth place with $3.9m in ticket sales, behind Can't Buy Me Love in third place and in its second week of release, the Cheech Marin comedy Born in East L.A., which opened in second place, and Stakeout, which was enjoying its third week atop the charts. The reviews were okay, but not special. Gene Siskel would give the film a begrudging Thumbs Up, citing Jennifer Grey's performance and her character's arc as the thing that tipped the scale into the positive, while Roger Ebert would give the film a Thumbs Down, due to its idiot plot and tired and relentlessly predictable story of love between kids from different backgrounds. But then a funny thing happened… Instead of appealing to the teenagers they thought would see the film, the majority of the audience ended up becoming adults. Not just twenty and thirty somethings, but people who were teenagers themselves during the movie's timeframe. They would be drawn in to the film through the newfound sense of boomer nostalgia that helped make Stand By Me an unexpected hit the year before, both as a movie and as a soundtrack. Its second week in theatre would only see the gross drop 6%, and the film would finish in third place. In week three, the four day Labor Day weekend, it would gross nearly $5m, and move up to second place. And it would continue to play and continue to bring audiences in, only dropping out of the top ten once in early November for one weekend, from August to December. Even with all the new movies entering the marketplace for Christmas, Dirty Dancing would be retained by most of the theatres that were playing it. In the first weekend of 1988, Dirty Dancing was still playing in 855 theaters, only 120 fewer than who opened it five months earlier. Once it did started leaving first run theatres, dollar houses were eager to pick it up, and Dirty Dancing would make another $6m in ticket sales as it continued to play until Christmas 1988 at some theatres, finishing its incredible run with $63.5m in ticket sales. Yet, despite its ubiquitousness in American pop culture, despite the soundtrack selling more than ten million copies in its first year, despite the uptick in attendance at dance schools from coast to coast, Dirty Dancing never once was the #1 film in America on any weekend it was in theatres. There would always be at least one other movie that would do just a bit better. When awards season came around, the movie was practically ignored by critics groups. It would pick up an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, and both the movie and Jennifer Grey would be nominated for Golden Globes, but it would be that song, I've Had the Time of My Life, that would be the driver for awards love. It would win the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, and a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The song would anchor a soundtrack that would also include two other hit songs, Eric Carmen's “Hungry Eyes,” and “She's Like the Wind,” recorded for the movie by Patrick Swayze, making him the proto-Hugh Jackman of the 80s. I've seen Hugh Jackman do his one-man show at the Hollywood Bowl, and now I'm wishing Patrick Swayze could have had something like that thirty years ago. On September 25th, they would release Abel Ferrera's Neo-noir romantic thriller China Girl. A modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet written by regular Ferrera writer Nicholas St. John, the setting would be New York City's Lower East Side, when Tony, a teenager from Little Italy, falls for Tye, a teenager from Chinatown, as their older brothers vie for turf in a vicious gang war. While the stars of the film, Richard Panebianco and Sari Chang, would never become known actors, the supporting cast is as good as you'd expect from a post-Ms. .45 Ferrera film, including James Russo, Russell Wong, David Caruso and James Hong. The $3.5m movie would open on 110 screens, including 70 in New York ti-state region and 18 in Los Angeles, grossing $531k. After a second weekend, where the gross dropped to $225k, Vestron would stop tracking the film, with a final reported gross of just $1.26m coming from a stockholder's report in early 1988. Ironically, China Girl would open against another movie that Vestron had a hand in financing, but would not release in America: Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride. While the film would do okay in America, grossing $30m against its $15m, it wouldn't translate so easily to foreign markets. Anna, from first time Polish filmmaker Yurek Bogayevicz, was an oddball little film from the start. The story, co-written with the legendary Polish writer/director Agnieszka Holland, was based on the real-life friendship of Polish actresses Joanna (Yo-ahn-nuh) Pacuła (Pa-tsu-wa) and Elżbieta (Elz-be-et-ah) Czyżewska (Chuh-zef-ska), and would find Czech supermodel Paulina Porizkova making her feature acting debut as Krystyna, an aspiring actress from Czechoslovakia who goes to New York City to find her idol, Anna, who had been imprisoned and then deported for speaking out against the new regime after the 1968 Communist invasion. Nearly twenty years later, the middle-aged Anna struggles to land any acting parts, in films, on television, or on the stage, who relishes the attention of this beautiful young waif who reminds her of herself back then. Sally Kirkland, an American actress who got her start as part of Andy Warhol's Factory in the early 60s but could never break out of playing supporting roles in movies like The Way We Were, The Sting, A Star is Born, and Private Benjamin, would be cast as the faded Czech star whose life seemed to unintentionally mirror the actress's. Future Snakes on a Plane director David R. Ellis would be featured in a small supporting role, as would the then sixteen year old Sofia Coppola. The $1m movie would shoot on location in New York City during the winter of late 1986 and early 1987, and would make its world premiere at the 1987 New York Film Festival in September, before opening at the 68th Street Playhouse on the Upper East Side on October 30th. Critics such as Bruce Williamson of Playboy, Molly Haskell of Vogue and Jami Bernard of the New York Post would sing the praises of the movie, and of Paulina Porizkova, but it would be Sally Kirkland whom practically every critic would gush over. “A performance of depth and clarity and power, easily one of the strongest female roles of the year,” wrote Mike McGrady of Newsday. Janet Maslim wasn't as impressed with the film as most critics, but she would note Ms. Kirkland's immensely dignified presence in the title role. New York audiences responded well to the critical acclaim, buying more than $22,000 worth of tickets, often playing to sell out crowds for the afternoon and evening shows. In its second week, the film would see its gross increase 12%, and another 3% increase in its third week. Meanwhile, on November 13th, the film would open in Los Angeles at the AMC Century City 14, where it would bring in an additional $10,000, thanks in part to Sheila Benson's rave in the Los Angeles Times, calling the film “the best kind of surprise — a small, frequently funny, fine-boned film set in the worlds of the theater and movies which unexpectedly becomes a consummate study of love, alienation and loss,” while praising Kirkland's performance as a “blazing comet.” Kirkland would make the rounds on the awards circuit, winning Best Actress awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Golden Globes, and the Independent Spirit Awards, culminating in an Academy Award nomination, although she would lose to Cher in Moonstruck. But despite all these rave reviews and the early support for the film in New York and Los Angeles, the film got little traction outside these two major cities. Despite playing in theatres for nearly six months, Anna could only round up about $1.2m in ticket sales. Vestron's penultimate new film of 1987 would be a movie that when it was shot in Namibia in late 1986 was titled Peacekeeper, then was changed to Desert Warrior when it was acquired by Jerry Weintraub's eponymously named distribution company, then saw it renamed again to Steel Dawn when Vestron overpaid to acquire the film from Weintraub, because they wanted the next film starring Patrick Swayze for themselves. Swayze plays, and stop me if you've heard this one before, a warrior wandering through a post-apocalyptic desert who comes upon a group of settlers who are being menaced by the leader of a murderous gang who's after the water they control. Lisa Niemi, also known as Mrs. Patrick Swayze, would be his romantic interest in the film, which would also star AnthonY Zerbe, Brian James, and, in one of his very first acting roles, future Mummy co-star Arnold Vosloo. The film would open to horrible reviews, and gross just $312k in 290 theatres. For comparison's sake, Dirty Dancing was in its eleventh week of release, was still playing 878 theatres, and would gross $1.7m. In its second week, Steel Dawn had lost nearly two thirds of its theatres, grossing only $60k from 107 theatres. After its third weekend, Vestron stopped reporting grosses. The film had only earned $562k in ticket sales. And their final release for 1987 would be one of the most prestigious titles they'd ever be involved with. The Dead, based on a short story by James Joyce, would be the 37th and final film to be directed by John Huston. His son Tony would adapt the screenplay, while his daughter Anjelica, whom he had directed to a Best Supporting Actress Oscar two years earlier for Prizzi's Honor, would star as the matriarch of an Irish family circa 1904 whose husband discovers memoirs of a deceased lover of his wife's, an affair that preceded their meeting. Originally scheduled to shoot in Dublin, Ireland, The Dead would end up being shot on soundstages in Valencia, CA, just north of Los Angeles, as the eighty year old filmmaker was in ill health. Huston, who was suffering from severe emphysema due to decades of smoking, would use video playback for the first and only time in his career in order to call the action, whirling around from set to set in a motorized wheelchair with an oxygen tank attached to it. In fact, the company insuring the film required the producers to have a backup director on set, just in case Huston was unable to continue to make the film. That stand-in was Czech-born British filmmaker Karel Reisz, who never once had to stand-in during the entire shoot. One Huston who didn't work on the film was Danny Huston, who was supposed to shoot some second unit footage for the film in Dublin for his father, who could not make any trips overseas, as well as a documentary about the making of the film, but for whatever reason, Danny Huston would end up not doing either. John Huston would turn in his final cut of the film to Vestron in July 1987, and would pass away in late August, a good four months before the film's scheduled release. He would live to see some of the best reviews of his entire career when the film was released on December 18th. At six theatres in Los Angeles and New York City, The Dead would earn $69k in its first three days during what was an amazing opening weekend for a number of movies. The Dead would open against exclusive runs of Broadcast News, Ironweed, Moonstruck and the newest Woody Allen film, September, as well as wide releases of Eddie Murphy: Raw, Batteries Not Included, Overboard, and the infamous Bill Cosby stinker Leonard Part 6. The film would win the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Picture of the year, John Huston would win the Spirit Award and the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director, Anjelica Huston would win a Spirit Award as well, for Best Supporting Actress, and Tony Huston would be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. But the little $3.5m film would only see modest returns at the box office, grossing just $4.4m after a four month run in theatres. Vestron would also release two movies in 1987 through their genre Lightning Pictures label. The first, Blood Diner, from writer/director Jackie Kong, was meant to be both a tribute and an indirect sequel to the infamous 1965 Herschell Gordon Lewis movie Blood Feast, often considered to be the first splatter slasher film. Released on four screens in Baltimore on July 10th, the film would gross just $6,400 in its one tracked week. The film would get a second chance at life when it opened at the 8th Street Playhouse in New York City on September 4th, but after a $5,000 opening week gross there, the film would have to wait until it was released on home video to become a cult film. The other Lightning Pictures release for 1987, Street Trash, would become one of the most infamous horror comedy films of the year. An expansion of a short student film by then nineteen year old Jim Muro, Street Trash told the twin stories of a Greenpoint, Brooklyn shop owner who sell a case of cheap, long-expired hooch to local hobos, who hideously melt away shortly after drinking it, while two homeless brothers try to deal with their situation as best they can while all this weirdness is going on about them. After playing several weeks of midnight shows at the Waverly Theatre near Washington Square, Street Trash would open for a regular run at the 8th Street Playhouse on September 18th, one week after Blood Diner left the same theatre. However, Street Trash would not replace Blood Diner, which was kicked to the curb after one week, but another long forgotten movie, the Christopher Walken-starrer Deadline. Street Trash would do a bit better than Blood Diner, $9,000 in its first three days, enough to get the film a full two week run at the Playhouse. But its second week gross of $5,000 would not be enough to give it a longer playdate, or get another New York theatre to pick it up. The film would get other playdates, including one in my secondary hometown of Santa Cruz starting, ironically, on Thanksgiving Day, but the film would barely make $100k in its theatrical run. While this would be the only film Jim Muro would direct, he would become an in demand cinematographer and Steadicam operator, working on such films as Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves, Sneakers, L.A. Confidential, the first Fast and Furious movie, and on The Abyss, Terminator 2, True Lies and Titanic for James Cameron. And should you ever watch the film and sit through the credits, yes, it's that Bryan Singer who worked as a grip and production assistant on the film. It would be his very first film credit, which he worked on during a break from going to USC film school. People who know me know I am not the biggest fan of horror films. I may have mentioned it once or twice on this podcast. But I have a soft spot for Troma Films and Troma-like films, and Street Trash is probably the best Troma movie not made or released by Troma. There's a reason why Lloyd Kaufman is not a fan of the movie. A number of people who have seen the movie think it is a Troma movie, not helped by the fact that a number of people who did work on The Toxic Avenger went to work on Street Trash afterwards, and some even tell Lloyd at conventions that Street Trash is their favorite Troma movie. It's looks like a Troma movie. It feels like a Troma movie. And to be honest, at least to me, that's one hell of a compliment. It's one of the reasons I even went to see Street Trash, the favorable comparison to Troma. And while I, for lack of a better word, enjoyed Street Trash when I saw it, as much as one can say they enjoyed a movie where a bunch of bums playing hot potato with a man's severed Johnson is a major set piece, but I've never really felt the need to watch it again over the past thirty-five years. Like several of the movies on this episode, Street Trash is not available for streaming on any service in the United States. And outside of Dirty Dancing, the ones you can stream, China Girl, Personal Services, Slaughter High and Steel Dawn, are mostly available for free with ads on Tubi, which made a huge splash last week with a confounding Super Bowl commercial that sent millions of people to figure what a Tubi was. Now, if you were counting, that was only nine films released in 1987, and not the eighteen they had promised at the start of the year. Despite the fact they had a smash hit in Dirty Dancing, they decided to push most of their planned 1987 movies to 1988. Not necessarily by choice, though. Many of the films just weren't ready in time for a 1987 release, and then the unexpected long term success of Dirty Dancing kept them occupied for most of the rest of the year. But that only meant that 1988 would be a stellar year for them, right? We'll find out next episode, when we continue the Vestron Pictures story. Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again next week. Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about the movies we covered this episode. The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment. Thank you again. Good night.
The IOTR Drive-In Theatre is now open for one last showing before they bulldoze this place into a mega-mall. We got oddball musicals beyond your imagination, nature run amuck, sleazy, sci-fi, comedies sure to titillate, horror to make you laugh, horror to make you scream, and a whole lot more! Don't forget to visit our refreshment stand during intermission. We're so glad you came to visit the IOTR Drive-In Theatre. Drive safe. 00:00:00 Psycho A Go-Go (1965) 00:03:10 Ratings Explained 00:03:50 You Can't Beat A Good Film 70s bumper 00:04:10 Stunt Rock (1978) 00:06:33 Rockula (1990) 00:08:22 The Apple (1980) 00:11:06 Nudist Colony of the Dead (1991) 00:14:45 Ads/intermission 00:16:21 Rats: Night of Terror (1984) 00:18:28 Frogs (1972) 00:19:27 Barracuda (1978) 00:21:26 Night of a Thousand Cats (1972) 00:23:04 Grizzly (1976) 00:26:01 Ads/intermission 00:27:29 Spermula (1976) 00:30:57 Flesh Gordon (1974) 00:33:38 2069: A Sex Odyssey (1974) 00:36:01 Emmanuelle in Space: World of Desire (1994) 00:37:13 Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders (1990) (aka Flesh Gordon 2) 00:39:09 Ads/intermission 00:40:49 Slaughter High (1986) 00:42:26 Student Bodies (1981) 00:45:17 Blood Hook (1986) 00:47:45 Blood Diner (1987) 00:49:48 Bloodbath at the House of Death (1983) 00:52:21 Ads/intermission 00:54:21 Eyes of Fire (1983) 00:56:25 Curtains (1983) 00:57:39 The Nesting (1981) 00:59:22 Scalps (1983) 01:01:12 Horror Express (1972) 01:04:05 Ads/intermission 01:05:33 Wanda, The Wicked Warden (1977) 01:08:02 The Gore Gore Girls (1972) 01:09::25 Human Experiments (1979) 01:12:02 Phantasm II (1988) 01:13:19 Waxwork (1988) 01:15:11 The Drive-In is now closed. Support independent podcasts like ours by telling your friends and family how to find us at places like Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tune In Radio, PodChaser, Amazon Music, Audible, Libsyn, iHeartRadio and all the best podcast providers. Spread the love! Like, share and subscribe! You can also help out the show with a positive review and a 5-star rating over on iTunes. We want to hear from you and your opinions will help shape the future of the show. Your ratings and reviews also help others find the show. Their "earballs" will thank you. Follow us on Twitter: @InvasionRemake Like and share us on Facebook & Instagram: Invasion of the Remake Email us your questions, suggestions, corrections, challenges and comments: invasionoftheremake@gmail.com Buy a cool t-shirt, PPE masks and other Invasion of the Remake swag at our TeePublic Store!
We wrap up our Halloween series with three movies that play with the conventions of the slasher film: NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CLASS REUNION (1982), SLAUGHTER HIGH (1986), and Fred Walton's APRIL FOOL'S DAY (1986).
Chris and Chris Talk Movies Review STARCRASH (1978) This week, we discuss the delightfully bad Italian Star Wars rip-off, STARCRASH, starring Caroline Munro (MANIAC, SLAUGHTER HIGH), Christopher Plummer (THE SOUND OF MUSIC, SOMEWHERE IN TIME), and Marjoe Gortner (EARTHQUAKE, POLICE STORY). Directed by Luigi Cozzi (CONTAMINATION, THE BLACK CAT).What do you think about this campy classic? Tell us at chrisandchristalkmovies@gmail.comFind us online:Instagram: @chrisandchristalkmoviesTwitter: @ChrisCh25428556If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. It helps other listeners to find us, and helps us to grow the audience.Thanks for listening!
Happy Halloween everyone! This time around join Raven and Nick...and a returning Ryan, as they discuss working at Halloween stores, and is the new Halloween worth watching? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOVIE REVIEW: Rockula (1990) Slaughter High (1986)
Spooky Salutations Gabbers! We've got another Halloween filled episode for you with the in person return of Guestie Bestie Sarah! Join us as we chat about the movie Slaughter High and the human whack-a-mole Stella, sexy Halloween costumes, learn about The Tarot, and more! So grab that Maliboooooooooooo and get ready for a ghoulish gabfest!! Show Notes: Slaughter High Trailer 1-900- Creep Phone All Things Gayson Leave Gayson a Voicemail Gabbing with Gayson's Website Gab with Gayson on Facebook! Become a Patreon Supporter! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gabbingwithgayson/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gabbingwithgayson/support
October is upon us and we here at Cinema Degeneration thought it was time for another Appreciation Month topic! We bring to you a celebration of 'Single Serving Slashers', slasher movies that never got a sequel. There are plenty of chapters in the sagas of Chucky, Jason, and Freddy; however, we wanted to honor those often overlooked slashers that only graced the screen in one thrilling film. For our 5th chapter of chilling killers we further continue the 80's theme with British made "SLAUGHTER HIGH" from 1986. Originally titled April Fools Day, this movie follows our bullied killer Marty as he takes revenge on the classmates that horribly disfigured him a decade later at a class reunion. It's not the greatest but certainly not the worst that the 80's had to offer as far as slasher fare goes. Join our hosts Cameron Scott and Eric Phillips as they take a deep dive into this killer classick and take a trip through the halls of horror. "Can't you take a joke, Marty?"
We continue our month of one and done slashers with this often forgotten gem from 1986
Camp Nightmare kick off a series of episodes on horror movies set in and around the school environment, starting with the 1980's! We look at movies like Prom Night, Slaughter High and Nightmare on Elm Street to see how culture viewed and represented the youth in this decade of high school horror films!
In this "Back to School" double feature - I am joined by my friend Justin of The Movie Wire Podcast to dive into cultworthy classic High School Films: 3 O'CLOCK HIGH and SLAUGHTER HIGH! Check it out!Movie Wire Podcast: https://www.themoviewire.com/
We talk a lot about horror movie franchises. It is hard not to when old favorites keep getting redone. Just this year has seen new entries from Scream and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There has also been a trailer for Halloween Ends who creative team is also working on a trilogy for The Exorcist.Another horror franchise that recently made its return was V/H/S. Combining found footage with the anthology format of the series, V/H/S/94 was a strong return. It was praised by critics and audiences and it is not a surprise that another installment is set to come out. What may catch some off guard is how soon V/H/S/99 will be released. We discuss the new movie in particular and the entire franchise overall.The 1980s are one of the best decades when it comes to horror. This is especially true of slashers and B-horror. Just one look at the amazing poster for Slaughter High will convince someone that this is one of those dumb fun slashers. Things did not work out quite like we expected, but did we end up enjoying it? Did Harry Manfredini actually do a better job here than with Friday the 13th? We also try to figure out what time April Fool's Day actually ends.Resurrection is a heavy movie that has no issues making audiences feel uncomfortable. Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth turn in a pair of amazing performances while the atmospheric film does not allow audiences to turn away. It also has one of the most memorable endings you will see this year. Does it go too far? Will the audience come out feeling entertained our sickened?Adventures in Movies! is a part of the Morbidly Beautiful Podcast Network. Morbidly Beautiful is your one stop shop for all your horror needs. From the latest news and reviews to interviews and old favorites, it can be found at Morbidly Beautiful.Adventures in Movies! is hosted by Nathaniel Muir, Blake, and Danny. You can find Nathaniel on Instagram at nathaninpoortaste. Danny can be found on Twitter @default_player and on Instagram at default_player. Blake can be found on Twitter @foureyedhorror and on Instagram at foureyedhorror. You can reach us personally or on Twitter @AdventuresinMo1.Music in the background from https://www.FesliyanStudios.com
Aaron and Chris revisit the Mayberry High School Class of '45's 18-year reunion and reminisce over some of the most memorable class reunions in pop culture history.
On this episode of the Gore N More podcast we discuss and review 1986's Slaughter High.Part of Project Louderhttps://projectlouder.net/
Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for… The post HORROR BUSINESS Episode 116: Slaughter High and Phantom Of The Mall: Eric's Revenge appeared first on Cinepunx.
Kill the Dead is back and now we are going back 1986's Slaughter High. If you in enjoyed the show, leaving us a review it really helps the show get discovered. Follow Us on Twitter: @killthedeadpod Follow Devin: Instagram and Twitter @ineedyoujeese Follow Grae: Instagram and Twitter @graehimelf Follow Ash: Instagram and Twitter @ashxashes
Marty was the dork of Doddsville High. One day he got mad... then he got even! Join us as we enjoy the British slasher doing its best to be American, Slaughter High. Our guest for this episode is horror historian Dr Johnny Walker, Associate Professor in the Department of Arts at Northumbria University and expert in eighties horror and the VHS rental boom.You can find out more about Johnny's research on his website. You can find details of his current exciting research project 'Raising Hell: British Horror Cinema in the 1980s and 1990s' on the UKRI site. The best way to keep up with his many projects is by following him on Twitter @johnnycwalkerDo get in touch with us via Twitter as well - @secondfeatures - or by email - secondfeaturespod@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you! Please also leave us a rating and a review wherever you listen. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
After a month's (unplanned) hiatus, the show has finally returned with the long (un)awaited episode for the classic genre piece that tore up Dodsville, USA (aka London, England). From 1986, and the producers who brought you masterpieces like Pieces and Don't Open Till Christmas, this week's featured movie review is SLAUGHTER HIGH! Also this week, PostMortem returns with some brief comments about Shudder exclusives THE SEED and HELLBENDER, as well as few words about the Henry Rollins flick, HE NEVER DIED. In addition, a few casting announcements are mentioned, as well as, PostMortem questioning the whole "content creator" idea, and is it really an accurate description? This is no April's Fool gag, kiddies - the show is back (but are we sure it's what the people really want?)......*Check out What Lurks Behind Podcast Zero on social media at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.*All podcast episodes are available through most major podcast streaming apps.*Email: whatlurksbehindpodcastzero@gmail.com
Mike and Jesse discuss the 1986 teen revenge slasher Slaughter High. Starring Caroline Munro, Simon Scuddamore, Carmine Iannaccone, Donna Yeager and Sally Cross. Leave us a message at https://speakpipe.com/cdfpod Get your CDFPod merch at https://cdfpodmerch.com Our theme music was composed by CollinDomo AKA Chunky Krill. Find more of his work at soundcloud.com/chunky-krill Facebook: facebook.com/cdfpod Instagram: instagram.com/cdfpod/
Join Troy, Steven, and Hannah as they discuss the 80's Slasher/Comedy, "Slaughter High." They also discuss the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie.
Think twice before you accept that invitation to your high school reunion. We have a great time reviewing this 1986 slasher classic as we go back and forth about the few things that worked and the catastrophes that took away from this one. Starring Caroline Munro, Simon Scuddamore Carmine Iannaccone, and Donna Yeager. Written and Directed by George Dugdale, Mark Ezra, and Peter Mackenzie Litten. Please share the podcast with your friends on social media to help us grow. Leave us a great review on whatever platform you are listening. Check us out on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Slasher. If you would like to ask us a question or make a suggestion for the show, send us an email at horrorscriptpodcast@gmail.com You can write us or record a voice memo of yourself asking the question and we can play it on the next episodeSupport the show by picking up some Horror Script Podcast merchandise, go to: https://the-horror-script-podcast.creator-spring.comSpecial thanks to John Saccardo and Vince Lipscomb for the amazing music. Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/horrorscript)
Ahhh the infamous holiday of April Fools...Sam Howard swings big with this 80s camp choice - Slaughter High which has the group thinking a very specific way towards it until James comes through with a film fact that breaks the entire conversation open.
Where's the beef? Ask Marty Ranson! It's April Fool's Day and he's assembled a group of high school bullies, whose "innocent" prank left him permanently disfigured. What's on his mind? Bloody vengeance, of course! This IS an '80s slasher, after all! So, pour yourself a soothing acid bath and slip into your jangling jester mask--it's SLAUGHTER HIGH! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/blindragepod/message
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