Cool As Ice - Oct 18, 1991

Vanilla Ice gifted the world with his acting 20 years ago. His movie, Cool as Ice, debuted in Oct 1991.  And the world would never be the same.

Check out the trailer:

Double Feature Friday: Dracula spoofs

Check out AWESOME-tober-fest at my other blog for a Halloween celebration. This year I'm reviewing all things Dracula!

This is an ad for a parody of Dracula starring George Hamilton as the Count. This ad is from May 1979.

This is an ad for a 1995 spoof by Mel Brooks starring Leslie Nielsen. Needless to say, it was not as successful as Young Frankenstein.

See the trailer for Love at First Bite:


See the trailer for Dracula Dead and Loving It:

Bram Stoker's Dracula - Nov 20, 1992

Check out AWESOME-tober-fest at my other blog for a Halloween celebration. This year I'm reviewing all things Dracula!

Here's an ad for Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel. Gary Oldman starred as Vlad Dracula.  It's from Nov 1992.

See the trailer:

Dracula - Dec 22, 1952

This is a newspaper ad for a 1952 stage production of Dracula.  This particular stage production was the same adaptation of Stoker's novel that Bela Lugosi was starring in around 1927 before he was cast as Dracula for the 1931 movie.

This is an ad for a double featuring of Universal's Frankenstein and Dracula. The ad is from 1956. I would have loved to have seen this double feature.

Check out AWESOME-tober-fest at my other blog for a Halloween celebration. This year I'm reviewing all things Dracula!

Howard the Duck - Aug 1, 1986

Howard the Duck was released 25 years ago today on Aug 1, 1986. Infamously, it bombed at the box office and is widely considered one of the worst movies of the 80s.

Also turning 25 years old today is:

Friday the 13th VI: Jason Lives. Arguably one of the best movies in the Jason Vorhees series.



See the Howard the Duck trailer:


See the Jason Lives trailer here:

Double Feature Friday: Cannonball Run II and Speed Zone

Cannonball Run turned 30 years old this week. So for Double Feature Friday, here are ads for the sequels.

Here's the first sequel to Cannonball Run from 1984. Nearly all the main characters returned plus tons of other new celebrity cameos were added.

Here's the unofficial second sequel to Cannonball Run, Speed Zone from 1989. The original title was Cannonball Run III, but it was changed at the last minute.  The only character to return in this movie from the first two is The Sheik played by Jamie Farr.

Here's the trailer for Cannonball Run II:


Here's the trailer for Speed Zone:

The Gumball Rally - Aug 13, 1976

Looking at movies about illegal cross country road races...

Here's an ad for The Gumball Rally.

Cannonball! - Nov 5, 1976

I'm looking at cross country road race movies this week.

Here's an ad for Cannonball! from 1976. David Carradine plays an ex-con who signs up for an illegal outlaw road race that starts in Santa Monica, CA and ends in a garage in New York City. Along the way he must deal with other outlaw drivers and the mafia who are out to stop him from winning.  Carradine's brother, Robert, also stars in the film.

Notice in the ad that the 55 speed limit sign is used in the middle.  This would be done again in the ad for
The Cannonball Run four years later.

See the trailer:

Fireball 500 - Aug 4, 1966

The Cannonball Run turned 30 years old this week.  So I'm looking at ads for other "cross country race" movies this week.

Here's an ad for the Frankie and Annette feature, Fireball 500. The movie also starred teen idol Fabian. Moonshiners finagle stock car driver Dave Owens (Frankie) into a cross country road race. Dave is helped by Jane (Annette) and Leander (Fabian). Dave and Leander begin a friendly rivalry for Jane.

The Fireball 500 of the title was a heavily customized 1966 Plymouth Barracuda.

See the trailer:

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Cannonball Run turned 30 years old this week, so I'm looking at ads for movies about cross country car races.

Here's an ad for It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World from 1963. This was an all-star comedy featuring Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney, Phil Silvers, Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman and Johnathan Winters.

Watch the trailer:

Cannonball Run - 1981

Cannonball Run turns 30 years old today. So here's an ad for the first one. All week this week I'll look at ads for movies that were similar to, if not direct inspirations for, Cannonball Run.

I talk about the real life origins of the Cannonball Run movies here.

See the trailer here:


Here are some of the great outtakes from the end credits:

AC/DC: Let There Be Rock - May 1982

Here's a 1982 ad for a re-release of the AC/DC concert film, Let There Be Rock. The movie was originally released in 1980 and featured footage from their concert in Paris in 1979. That 1979 tour would be the last for original lead singer Bon Scott who would die while recording the album Back in Black in late 1979.

This movie was released on DVD today.

Watch the rockin' trailer here:

Double Feature Friday: The Fly and Return of the Fly

It's the Vincentennial.  Vincent Price would have been 100 years old this year.

Here is an ad for one of the movies that made Price famous, The Fly from 1958.

Here's an ad for the sequel to The Fly, Return of the Fly, from 1959.

Watch the trailer for The Fly (narrated by Vincent Price)


Watch the trailer for Return of the Fly

Midnight Madness - Feb 15, 1980

Here's an ad for the teen comedy Midnight Madness from 1980. It stars David Naughton, Stephen Furst and Michael J Fox.

I couldn't find the trailer, but here's a great scene in the movie that takes place within an old, vintage video arcade. You can see a bunch of awesome games machines like Death Race, Indy 800 and Star Fire.

Double Feature Friday: Orca and Up from the Depths

Finishing up underwater disasters this week...

Here's the ad for the 1977 killer whale movie, Orca. I love how they built up the killer whale in advertisements for this movie. Watch the trailer, they pretty much do everything except say, "Killer Whales are better than humans". And they almost kind of say that.

Jaws The Revenge sort of borrowed the animal revenge plot aspects of this movie. A killer whale witnesses Richard Harris kill his mate and child. The whale then goes on a killing rampage in the fisherman's village trying to lure the fisherman into a confrontation.

I also love the text on the ad. The killer whale is one of the most intelligent creatures in the universe?! That's a rather bold statement. And the whale will hunt down that person across time? Is there time travel in this movie?  He he hunting for hundreds of years?  It just sounds hilarious.

Here we have an ad for the 1979 monster flick, Up from the Depths. The movie is very C-grade horror about a heretofore unknown species of shark that is awakened and starts killing people at a beach resort.  I love the picture of that crazy ass looking shark on the ad.  You can see the monster better in the poster.

Check out other underwater movies here.


See the trailer for Orca:


See the trailer for Up from the Depths:

Deepstar Six - 1989

This week's theme continues last week's, underwater movies.

Here's an ad for Deepstar Six. I've always loved the look of this movie's poster, but I've never seen the actual movie. The synopsis is very similar to The Abyss; a group of underwater explorers in a nuclear sub disturb an alien presence on the bottom of the ocean. It stars Greg Evigan, Nia Peeples and Miguel Ferrer.

See other underwater movies here.

See the trailer:

The Abyss - Aug 11, 1989

Continuing my look at underwater movies.

Here's an ad for James Cameron's The Abyss starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrontonio and Michael Biehn.  It's about a group of deep sea divers and oil drillers that discover they aren't the only thing inhabiting the bottom of the ocean.  The effects in this movie, particularly the water tentacle, were done by ILM and were what convinced George Lucas that the tech was there to start development of the Star Wars prequels.

See more underwater movies here.

See the Trailer:

Leviathan - Mar 17, 1989

I'm going to continue my theme from last week of underwater movies.

Here's an ad for 1989's Leviathan.  The story involves underwater divers who discover a wrecked Soviet ship and bring back some cargo to their base on the ocean floor. One by one, the diving team is hunted and killed by something they brought back.

The movie starred Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays, Ernie Hudson and Hector Elizondo.

See more underwater movies here.

See the trailer:

Triple Feature Friday: Pinocchio, Omega Man, Evel Knievel

Chuck Heston week was really last week.  However, last Friday was April Fool's Day so I felt I had to post the April Fool's Day ad.  So, better late than never, here's an awesome triple feature ad featuring another Heston classic, Omega Man. Omega Man was an adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend.

Also on this advertisement you'll see an ad for Disney's Pinocchio which turned 31 in 1971.  On the bottom you'll see the movie Evel Knievel starring George Hamilton as the titular daredevil.  Evel Knievel was a biographical movie about the daredevil filmed primarily in his hometown of Butte, Montana.  It should not be confused with the unbelievably awesome Viva Knievel! movie from 1977 that starred the real life Evel Knievel.

Here's the Omega Man trailer:


Here's the Evel Knievel trailer:

War Gods of the Deep - Sep 10, 1965

Continuing our theme of underwater mayhem...

Here's an ad for War Gods of the Deep. The movie was alternately titled City in the Sea.  Set in 1903, the film features a group of people discovering an underwater society of smugglers who never age living in a lost underwater city along with their gill-man slaves. Honestly, yes, that sounds awesome, but the movie plods along with lots of scenes of dialog. It's not easy to watch.  It starred Vincent Price and Tab Hunter.  Boris Karloff originally was supposed to play the part of Reverend Ives but was replaced by John Le Mesurier.  Also starring was David Tomlinson who is better known for his Disney roles in Bedknobs & Broomsticks (Emelius Brown) and Mary Poppins (Mr Banks).

As the second feature you can see an ad for Face of Terror, which was released in 1962.  It's a Spanish horror movie about a scientist that creates a cure for scar tissue and mistakenly tests it on the face of a disfigured woman who is also an escaped mental patient.

The third feature is Fun in Acapulco starring Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress.

See the trailer for War Gods of the Deep:


Here's a video for Elvis' song Fun in Acapulco featuring scenes from the movie:

The Deep - Jun 24, 1977

We saw Jaws yesterday. Now let's look at another underwater monster movie...

This movie was ridiculously similar to Jaws. It featured a giant sea creature attacking humans (a moray eel and a bunch of tiger sharks). It starred Robert Shaw (Quint in original Jaws) and Louis Gossett Jr (Bouchard in Jaws 3D). And it was based on a book written by Peter Benchley. Not sure how much more similar you can get.  The movie also starred the gorgeous Jacqueline Bisset and an impossibly young Nick Nolte.

I love the offer of free scuba lessons.  I'm not sure how many people would actually want to go scuba diving after watching this movie.

See the trailer:

Jaws - Jun 20, 1975

Yesterday was Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea featuring a battle with a giant squid.  I'm continuing that theme today with more underwater mayhem.

The original blockbuster. One of the greatest scary movies ever made. The original Jaws. This ad is from opening day, 1975.

See the trailer:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Dec 24, 1954

Here's an ad for Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea starring Kirk Douglas, James Mason and Peter Lorre. It was based on the book by Jules Verne. This was Disney's first feature film to use the new CinemaScope filming process.

You have to love the 50s, here's a 4 minute trailer for the movie:

April Fool's Day - Mar 28, 1986

Happy April Fool's Day! Here's an ad for the 1986 horror movie, April Fool's Day. It stars Deborah Foreman as Muffy St John who invites 8 people to her island mansion to spend the night. At dinner, the attendees discover each other's secrets and suddenly they start dying off one by one.  It's a cross between Clue and Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.

This movie is pretty good. I enjoyed it when it was released on video. I even had the poster on my wall growing up. The star, the adorable Deborah Foreman, has been in a ton of stuff including Valley Girl, Real Genius, Family Ties, My Chauffeur and TJ Hooker. Also in this movie was Griffin O'Neal (The Wraith) and Thomas F Wilson (Biff from Back to the Future).

See the trailer:

Planet of the Apes - Apr 3, 1968

Continuing with our Chuck Heston theme this week, here is arguably his most famous movie, the classic Planet of the Apes. Heston plays Col Taylor who is put into hibernation for a trip deep into space. He awakes to find that his ship has crashed on a planet where apes have evolved to dominate the planet and enslave man.  It also stars Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter.  The original script was written by Rod Serling.

See the trailer:

Soylent Green - May 11, 1973

Another Heston movie that was released on Blu-Ray this week.  Post apocalyptic tale of an Earth in turmoil in 2022.  All natural food sources are extinct.  People must live on water rations and a mysterious food called soylent.  A detective (Heston) investigates the murder of the President of the company that makes soylent and discovers the food's terrifying secret.


See the trailer:

Mother Lode - Nov 19, 1982

This movie is being released on DVD today, so I thought I'd showcase the movie ad. In this movie, Heston plays identical twin prospectors isolated in the Canadian woods searching for hidden gold. A couple show up looking for a lost colleague, stumble upon the brothers, and are mistaken by the crazy twins as claim jumpers trying to steal their gold.  It is Heston's last directorial effort and Kim Basinger's second feature role.

Double Feature Friday: Doc Hollywood and The Frighteners

Over on Strange Kid's Club I talk about some of the DVDs released this week. Included is a compilation of four Michael J Fox comedies. They are all pretty good so I thought I'd finish out the week with ads for all Michael J Fox movies.

Here's an ad for a great little Michael J Fox movie called The Frighteners. It was written and directed by none other than Peter "Lord of the Rings" Jackson. It's much darker than your typical Fox movie. Fox plays an architect whose wife is killed. The trauma leaves him with the ability to see and talk to the dead. He works with three ghosts as a "Psychic Investigator".  Fox sends the ghosts to haunt houses which he then cons people into having him remove the spirits...for a price. Fox's character then discovers that some evil spirit is killing people and only he can see who will be next.

This movie is darkly funny. I really enjoy it. Fox is great in this. There is also a great cameo by R Lee Ermey who pretty much reprises his role from Full Metal Jacket (but as a ghost).  The most fun performance, though, is by "The Reanimator" himself, Jeffrey Combs.  Combs plays Milton Dammers. Dammers is an undercover agent sent to pin the string of killings on Fox's character. However, Dammers just came off an assignment where he was undercover with a cult and his behavior is...erratic, to say the least. This movie is really good. If you haven't seen it, check it out.

Doc Hollywood is more along the lines of your typical Fox movie. I still enjoy it, though. It's got a great cast with Fox like Woody Harrelson, Bridget Fonda, George Hamilton, Julie Warner and Bernard Hughes. Fox plays a doctor on his way to his dream job in California. He crashes his car in Grady, SC and becomes stranded while his car is fixed. "City boy in the country" humor ensues.

See ads for other Michael J Fox movies here.

See The Frighteners trailer here:


See the Doc Hollywood trailer:

Greedy - Mar 4, 1994

Over on Strange Kid's Club I talk about some of the DVDs released this week. Included is a compilation of four Michael J Fox comedies. They are all pretty good so I thought I'd finish out the week with ads for all Michael J Fox movies.

Here is the ad for one of my favorite Michael J Fox movies and one I feel is underrated.

See ads for other Michael J Fox movies here.

See the trailer here:

The Hard Way - Mar 8, 1991

Over on Strange Kid's Club I talk about some of the DVDs released this week. Included is a compilation of four Michael J Fox comedies. They are all pretty good so I thought I'd finish out the week with ads for all Michael J Fox movies.

Here is the ad for The Hard Way starring Michael J Fox and James Woods. Fox plays movie star Nick Lange who wants to branch out into police dramas. He decides to follow around NY police detective John Moss to "learn the ropes". Hijinks ensue.

I love both of these guys. Woods and Fox are both fantastic and I just enjoy watching this movie. Yes it's cliche, but the actors make it work.

See ads for other Michael J Fox movies here.

Watch the trailer:


Fox's character stars in a popular movie, The Smoking Gunn, in which he plays supercop Joe Gunn. Watch the fake in-movie trailer for Smoking Gunn II below:

The Secret of My Success - Apr 5, 1987

Over on Strange Kid's Club I talk about some of the DVDs released today. Included is a compilation of four Michael J Fox comedies. They are all pretty good so I thought I'd finish out the week with ads for all Michael J Fox movies.

Here's the ad for The Secret of My Success which is included on the aforementioned DVD collection.  Michael J Fox plays Brantley Foster.  A well educated kid from Kansas who moves to New York to make it big.  When he finds it hard to get a job, he visits his uncle who happens to be CEO of a major corporation.  His uncle gives him a spot in the mail room.  Brantley falls for a beautiful executive and decides to pose as an executive to woo her.  Oh, and while wooing the executive, Brantley starts having sex with his aunt.

This is actually a pretty funny movie.  Michael J Fox is charming as ever and his aunt is ballsy and hilarious.  The movie is also populated with TONS of 80s actors like SuperGirl herself, Helen Slater.  Fox's aunt is played by Margaret Whitton who played the evil Indians owner Rachel Phelps in Major League.  You'll also see Christopher Murney who played Eddie Arcadian in The Last Dragon and Fred Gwynne who was Herman Munster in The Munsters and the judge in My Cousin Vinny.  Finally, in the opening credit sequence you see four models turn their heads rapidly.  Cindy Crawford is the third model to turn her head.

This movie shows up on TNT a lot as a "New Classic".  I watch it whenever I get the chance.  It's still funny and I just enjoy watching Fox at the height of his powers (just two years after Back to the Future and two years before Back to the Future II).

See ads for other Michael J Fox movies here.

See the trailer here:

Go Bots: Battle of the Rock Lords - Mar 21, 1986

The first and only Go Bots movie, Battle of the Rock Lords, opened 25 years ago today on Mar 21, 1986. Although it opened several months before the original Transformers movie (Aug 8), the latter had been in production for the last two years.

I talk a little bit about the 25th anniversary here.

See the trailer for Go Bots: Battle of the Rock Lords:


Here's the intro to the Challenge of the Go Bots TV show:

The Beastmaster II: Through the Portal of Time - Aug 30, 1991

This is the sequel to the 1982 sword and sorcery epic, The Beastmaster. This movie has become infamous for how bad it is. Marc Singer returns as Dar, who is forced to travel through time to present day Earth to stop his evil brother (who he didn't have in the first film) from stealing a nuclear weapon and returning to destroy their native land.

Yes, this movie is every bit as bad as the below trailer would have you believe. It's shocking enough this sequel was greenlit, but they also made a Beastmaster 3. As a TV movie. With Marc Singer.  And it involves another brother we are only now just hearing about.

Watch the Beastmaster 2 trailer:


For grins and giggles, here's 6 minutes of the Beastmaster 3 TV movie:

The Beastmaster - Aug 20, 1982

Here is an ad for the 1982 fantasy classic, The Beatmaster. It starred Marc Singer, Tanya Roberts, John Amos and Rip Torn.

Singer played Dar, the son of a king who is hidden at birth from a bloodthirsty priest who killed the king to usurp the throne. When he is grown, Dar discovers he has the ability to communicate directly with animals and begins a journey to avenge his father's death.

This movie has become a sensation on cable TV. It has produced a "dubious in quality" sequel as well as a "not half bad" TV series focusing on the further exploits of Dar. Marc Singer did appear in the Beastmaster sequel as Dar, as well as make a few guest appearances on the TV show.

See the Beastmaster trailer:

The Shootist - Sep 10, 1976

This is an ad for The Shootist from 1976. It was John Wayne's final role.  The movie also starred, Lauren Bacall, Jimmy Stewart and a very young Ron Howard.

John Wayne plays an aging gunslinger dying of cancer.  He travels to a small town to live out his final days.  His presence in the town, however, stirs up certain residents, including an idolizing small boy.

See the trailer for The Shootist:

Double Feature Friday: Seems Like Old Times and 9 to 5

Here's a 1980 ad for two comedies; Neil Simon's Seems like Old Times and 9 to 5.

The first movie on the left is Seems like Old Times which starred Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, Charles Grodin and Robert Guillaume.  Chase plays Hawn's writer ex-husband who is kidnapped and forced to rob a bank.  He seeks the help of Hawn who is a public defender and the current wife of an attorney.  Hijinks and hilarity ensue.  It is actually a pretty funny movie featuring classic Chevy Chase one liners.

On the right is 9 to 5 starring Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dabney Coleman.  I think everyone knows what this movie is about by now.  Coleman plays the sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot boss and Jane, Lily and Dolly his underlings.  They hatch a scheme to trap Coleman in his house and take over the company.  When they do, productivity and sales soar.  But how long can they keep it up?

See the Seems like Old Times trailer:


See the 9 to 5 trailer:

Deathtrap - Mar 19, 1982

Here's an ad for the thriller Deathtrap starring Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve and Dyan Cannon.  It's directed by Sidney Lumet. Caine plays an aging mystery writer who gets sent a brilliant play by one of his former students (Reeve).  Caine lures the student to his home under the guise of discussing the play but he has every intention of killing the young man and submitting the play as his own.

This is actually a very good movie. Essentially a one set, three act, five character setup with lots of twists and turns. Very fun. And Reeve was at the height of his fame having just finished Superman II and gearing up to film Superman III. He took this job because it had nothing to do with Clark Kent or Superman.

Watch the 1982 Deathtrap trailer:

From the Hip - Feb 13, 1987

Here's the ad for From the Hip starring Judd Nelson, Elizabeth Perkins, John Hurt, Ray Walston and David Allen Grier.  This movie was written by David E Kelly who is famous for creating Ally McBeal, LA Law, The Practice and Doogie Howser, MD.  It was directed by Bob Clark who is famous for directing Porky's and A Christmas Story.

Judd Nelson stars as Robin "Stormy" Weathers, a lawyer that uses over the top theatrics to win cases. His antics get him a promotion at his firm and the job of defending a school teacher accused of murder. Should he he play it by the book or continue his unorthodox behavior to win the case?

Watch the trailer:

Prince Valiant - May 28, 1954

Here's an ad for the 1954 epic spectacular, Prince Valiant starring Robert Wagner, Janet Leigh and James Mason. This was one of the first released Cinescope movies.

Wagner plays Valiant, the son of an exiled king who travels to Camelot to become a Knight of the Round Table.  Along the way he discovers a conspiracy to overthrow Arthur.


See the Prince Valiant trailer here:

Double Feature Friday: Duel in the Sun and Lust in the Dust

Finishing western week with a double feature of movie ads.

Duel in the Sun from 1946 (this ad, however, is from a re-release in 1954) stars Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Walter Huston, Lionel Barrymore, Butterfly McQueen and Harry Carey (not that Harry Carey).  Jennifer Jones plays half-breed Pearl Chavez who moves to a distant relative's ranch in Texas after her father is hanged for killing her unfaithful mother and lover.  At the ranch, Pearl butts heads with the ranch owner and scandalously entertains the attentions of his womanizing younger son, Lewt. The movie garnered the nickname "Lust in the Dust" for it's highly sexualized characterizations of Pearl and Lewt's relationship.

This movie was produced and sometimes directed by David O Selznik.  He envisioned it as a big budget, hugely epic western in the same vein as his previous Gone with the Wind.  He got his way as production delays and the hiring/firing of 7 different directors caused the movie's run time to balloon up to 26 hours and the production cost to reach a then unheard of $6 million.

Lust in the Dust from 1985 was a cheesy comedy western. It starred Tab Hunter, Divine and Cesar Romero.  John Waters was originally asked to direct but he turned it down because he didn't write the script.  The movie took its title from Duel in the Sun's tongue-in-cheek production nickname.  The movie is about a bunch of unscrupulous characters searching for buried treasure in the old west.

Take a look at the hilarious taglines in this ad.  Ninfa: The hooker with the chest of gold.  Hardcase Williams: They called him garbage wrapped in human skin.  I think those get across the tone of the movie quite nicely.

If you look under Lust in the Dust, you'll see also playing is Rustler's Rhapsody, which is another comedy western and one of my favorites. However, I didn't get to that ad this week.  Some other time.

Check out other western movie ads here.

Watch the 1946 trailer for Duel in the Sun


Watch the 1985 trailer for Lust in the Dust