The final entry for Inktober 2023 was alluded to last week. It’s The X-Files, a science-fiction-horror series inspired by Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Tired of the mundane scripts he was churning out for Walt Disney Productions’ teen market, Chris Carter was hired by the upstart Fox Network to develop new programming. Working with his fondness …
Week 4 of Inktober 2023 sort of picks up where last week’s feature left off. After the demise of Dark Shadows, producer Dan Curtis soldiered on in his mission of bringing the horror genre to television. Working closely with writer Richard Matheson, Dan Curtis purchased the rights to an unpublished novel about a vampiric serial …
It’s the Third Week of Inktober 2023 and just about time for a vampire. On a summer afternoon in 1966, ABC premiered a brand new soap opera. Based on a dream by creator Dan Curtis and fleshed out by TV writer Art Wallace, Dark Shadows hit the airwaves to mediocre reception. It was a stilted …
Last week, I discussed Twilight Zone, the venerable “godfather” of horror anthology television series. While not the first, it paved the way for others in the genre like Outer Limits, Thriller, Tales from the Darkside and Masters of Horror. There were others, too. Many others. Many, many others, including one with which you may not …
Summer is over and October is upon is. The leaves are changing. The hot temperatures of July are yielding to cool breezes that bring a nip to the air. The sun is setting at an earlier time and everything is flavored with pumpkin spice. Well, everything has been flavored with pumpkin spice since the third …
Inktober 2022 comes to a close with the final week’s entry — the 1943 Oscar winner for “Best Art Direction” and “Best Cinematography” It’s the 1943 remake of Gaston Leroux‘s story of unrequited love, The Phantom of the Opera. in 1943, Hollywood took a shot at remaking Lon Chaney‘s classic silent film. With some pretty …
The penultimate week of Inktober 2022 features 1990’s “Best Actress” award winner — Kathy Bates in Misery. After a run of guest roles on episodic TV and a handful of supporting roles in less-than-stellar film, director Rob Reiner cast the always-reliable Kathy Bates as creepy superfan “Annie Wilkes” in the big-screen adaptation of Stephen King‘s …
Week 4 of Inktober 2022 spotlights Oscar’s “Best Art Direction” award for Tim Burton’s 1999 twist on the classic Washington Irving tale “Sleepy Hollow.” Burton cast his favorite muse Johnny Depp in the lead role of “Ichabod Crane.” This time Crane is a New York police constable instead of a squirrelly schoolteacher. He visits the …
My Inktober 2022 entry for Week 3 is the 2010 winner for “Best Actress” – Natalie Portman in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller Black Swan. Natalie Portman’s tour de force and Oscar-winning performance was, unfortunately, missed by a lot of people because of the frightening press Black Swan received prior to its release. Keeping with director …
