Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Finally, I have some new events to share!


It's been a while since I last worked on the Horror/Sci Fi/Fantasy Calendar, and it was probably for the best.  With the lockdown, changes at work and the shear amount of events being postponed or cancelled, it made for a pretty depressing, challenging couple of month.

Me, wilting under all the stress caused by the pandemic,
or melting in the current heat wave in Portland?
Actually, it works either way. 

And, while I hate to admit we might have more disappointments coming our way in 2020, at least this edition of the Weekly Update has some bright spots.  Chris Walas' film, Gremlins: A Puppet Story, is streaming through Thursday thanks to the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, OR.  The 99W Drive-In in Newburg, OR, is showing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Raiders of the Lost Ark this weekend, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show in September.  Finally, Movies at Marymoor Park in Redmond, WA, has some great films on their drive-in schedule.

Of course, several events have been rescheduled, and you can check out the 2021 section of the calendar for all the updates.  I expect more are coming, and I'll keep the Cancellations/Rescheduled Events section updated as I get word on any changes.

I'll do my best to keep up on all the events, both in person and streaming, but I could use your help.  If you are hosting an event, or know of one, email me at shadowoverportland@live.com with the details and promotional artwork, and I'll get it on the calendar as soon as possible.  I don't want anything slipping through the cracks, even as venues are changing how they get the word out to people.

You can also Message me on Facebook (my current page is Chris McMillan, and you'll notice I'm a BIG Creature from the Black Lagoon fan if you check out my page), but I plan to create a The Shadow Over Portland page later this summer. 

That said, I'm back, I'll do my best to get back to posting updates every Wednesday, and hope every one is safe and healthy.  Take care, Pacific Northwest Horror/Sci Fi/Fantasy Fans, and I'll see you next week!

Until then, wear a mask, keep up social distancing, wash your hands and LET'S MAKE HALLOWEEN HAPPEN!!

From Ashland, OR, to Vancouver, BC, The Shadow Over Portland has you covered.


Now Showing/Streaming

Gremlins: A Puppet Story streams through Thursday, July 23, thanks to the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, OR.  Narrated by Chris Walas, Oscar winning special effects master, this is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Joe Dante's classic film Gremlins, and includes incredibly rare photos and videos from Walas' personal archive.  For more details and ticket sales, visit The Hollywood Theatre website

Cancellations/Rescheduled Events


Rose City Comic Con 2020 has been cancelled.  The event return to Portland on September 10 in 2021.  If you have tickets, visit the official website for information on refunds or transferring your ticket to next year's event. 

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The Emerald City Comic Con, scheduled for August 21 to 23, has been cancelled.  The next ECCC will take place March 4 to 7, 2021.  Keep checking back here for more details, at ECCC Facebook Page or the ECCC website.

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Crypticon Seattle has been cancelled for this year.  The con will be back April 30 to May 2 of 2021.  But the con plans some online content this year, and an outdoor festival screening around the weekend of September 18.  For more details on these events, visit the Crypticon Seattle Facebook Page, or the official website.

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The Vampire's Masquerade Ball has been rescheduled from July 25 to Saturday, May 29, 2021.  The event will take place for 9 pm to 2 am at the Portland Art Museum (1119 SW Park Ave in Portland, OR).  For all the details on the rescheduling, visit the Vampire's Masquerade Ball PDX Facebook Page.

Film Submissions

Submissions are being accepted for the 2020 H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, OR, and the third biennial H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Providence, RI.  And the stars have aligned for you, as you only need to click this FilmFreeway link for all the details on submitting your Lovecraftian short or feature film to BOTH festivals.  Final submission date is July 28, 2020.

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From the people who created the HUMP film festival comes SLAY, a chance for you to make a short horror film (up to 8 minutes in length) and possibly win some cash!  Your film can be terrifying or funny, gory or campy, animated, or whatever your twisted mind can think of.  Prizes will be awarded for the Goriest, Funniest and Scariest film, along with a Best in Show award.  The submission date is Friday, August 7, 2020 at 5 pm PST, and the films will be screened in Portland and Seattle on October 17, 2020.  For more details, visit the SLAY Film Fest website.

July, 2020

Thursday, July 23

The 99W Drive-In (on Highway 99W (AKA Portland Rd), Just west of N Springbrook Rd in Newberg, OR) is showing the best films from two different franchises through July 27.  Catch Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Raiders of the Lost Ark this weekend starting around 9:15 pm.  While the drive-in isn't using a reserve system, only 200 vehicles will be able to fit into the lot per night.  Also, the films will not be shown on Saturday night due to a concert film event.  For more details, visit the Facebook Event Page.

Saturday, July 25

Wyrd War (3505 NE Broadway St in Portland, OR) celebrates the one year anniversary of their brick and mortar gallery with Occult Roots of Atavism: Ephemera and Iconography from the Metal Punk Underground today starting at noon.  Only five guest will be admitted into the gallery at a time and masks are required (one will be provided if you don't have one).  For more details on the event, visit the Facebook Event Page.
August, 2020

Wednesday, August 12

Movies at Marymoor Park (6046 W Lake Sammamish Pkway NE in Redmond, WA) presents Raiders of the Lost Art tonight, starting at about 8:30 pm.  Tickets are $25 per carload, but advance purchases are recommended, as space is limited.  For more details, and the official links for ticket sales, visit the Facebook Event Page.

Sunday, August 16


The Meadowlark Comic Con takes place today at the Ramada Medford Hotel and Convention Center (2250 Biddle Rd in Medford, OR).  Guests include Jackey Neyman Jones (Debbie in Manos: The Hands of Fate and Manos Returns, Beyond the Wall of Fear, Dark Zone Thirteen), Eric Roberts (Sharktopus, The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence)) and Eliza Roberts (Schlock, Animal House).  For more details, visit the official website or the Facebook Event Page.

UPDATE: On Monday, July 20, the Meadowlark Comic Con Facebook Page announced a COVID update will be coming soon.   Check the link later in the week for any update.

September, 2020

Friday, September 11

The 99W Drive-In (Hwy 99W (AKA Portland Rd), just west of N Springbrook Rd in Newberg, OR) screens The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with The Denton Delinquents shadow casting the film, tonight and tomorrow.  Due to social distancing, you will have to stay in your car this year.  A second feature has yet to be announced, so keep checking back here, or at the Facebook Event Page, for updates.

 

Monday, July 20, 2020

The Vampire Lovers (1970)


My first viewing of The Vampire Lovers was courtesy of a MGM Movies 4 You Horror pack, including three other films.  I loved the movie, but the audio track sounded like it was recorded in a busy hanger at an airport, with a loud roaring infusing every second (to be fair, the other films didn't have the same issue).  Thankfully, Scream Factory released a superb Blu-ray version several years back, and I couldn't be happier.

Based on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's novella Carmilla, this film kicked off Hammer's Karnstein Trilogy, which included Lust for a Vampire and Twins of Evil.  It's also one of the most faithful adaptation of the novella, complete with Carmilla's victims dreaming of a giant cat.  Seriously.

The film opens in 19th century Styria, as Baron Hortog (Douglas Wilmer, Octopussy, Jason and the Argonauts, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad) is hunting his sister, who has become a vampire.  He's successful, however, you know he didn't complete the job, as the movie jumps several years ahead at the party of General Spielsdorf (Peter FREAKING Cushing).  A Countess (Dawn Addams, The Vault of Horror), who is attending the party, must leave suddenly to aid a sick friend, and asks the general if she might leave her daughter Marcilla (Ingrid FREAKING Pitt) in his care.  The general is happy to be of assistance, and Marcilla becomes friends with his daughter, Laura (Pippa Steel, AKA Pippa Steele, Lust for a Vampire).  Villagers start dying, as well as Laura, while Marcilla disappears.

Oh, I should mention the appearance of a mysterious vampire on horseback (credited as Man in Black), who shows up briefly.  Well, that's all I'm going to say about him, as he doesn't really do much.

Anyway, the Countess meets Roger Morton (George Cole, Fright, Mary Reilly) after he comes across her broken-down carriage.  She has to depart at all haste, asks Morton to watch her daughter (now named Carmilla), who promptly befriends and seduces his daughter Emma (Madeline Smith, Theater of Blood, Live and Let Die, Taste the Blood of Dracula)...

Yeah, you know where this is going.  Vampire mayhem ensues, the General and the Baron get involved and all race to stop Carmilla from taking Emma and continuing the cycle.

 Just lie back and relax.
And just ignore my teeth in your neck.

As you might expect from Hammer at the time, the film looks gorgeous.  The sets and locations look perfect and the costumes are terrific.  Director Roy Ward Baker (Quatermass and the Pit, The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires) keeps the film aligned with the Gothic look of Hammer films at the time.  But he's no Terence Fisher, so the movie just looks fine and little more.

Hammer co-produced the film with American International, who was looking for more explicit films to bring in the audience.  And my, did Hammer deliver, with several scenes featuring graphic (for the time) nudity.  In the book Hammer Glamour, Smith remembers being told by producer Michael Style that the scenes were intended for the Japanese version, which obviously wasn't the case.  She also claims that, at the time, she was so naive that she didn't know what a lesbian was and had no idea what was happening as the giant cat spread across her while she was in bed.

Pitt is wonderful as the vampire seductress.  She's able to convey the right mix of tenderness and predatory actions that makes you wonder if she was planning to spend an undead life with Emma.  Her performance, and her willingness to disrobe, made her the perfect choice for Hammer's Countess Dracula, which was release the following year.

And, as one would expect, Cushing steals the show whenever he's on screen.  Though his role is limited to the start and the climax of the film, one can't imagine this movie being as well remembered without his presence. 

Don't worry, I'm a professional.
I've done this in countless other films.

Smith is perfect as the wide eyed innocent unaware of the vampire in her bedroom, but her performance seems due to her naivety than any actual acting skill (for a much better performance by Smith, check out Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell).  The rest of the cast is fine, but are dealing with rather bland characters who exist only to move the plot along.  It's no fault of theirs, as the script gives them very little to work with, but they do their best.

I mentioned the giant cat twice now, so let's talk about it.  It works in Le Fanu's story, because he doesn't have to show it.  The film does convey the idea of a cat covering Carmilla's victims, but the cinematic results look more like an oversized fur coat pulled over them.  I assume Hammer used it as a way to avoid having Pitt crawling into her victim's bed and causing further issues with the censors.  And Hammer knew they were pushing the limits, as British Board of Film Censors' John Trevelyan had issues with the script, shown to him before production started.  Fortunately, he backed off when the studio informed him the lesbianism was present in the original work, so what could they do, and the filmmakers using the cat imagery to keep the censors at bay.

As for the lesbianism in the film, I'm sure you can find countless other sources delving into the subject in more scholarly details.  But one thing I found interesting is, in the film, Carmilla has no problem killing men, but they tend to be one bite stands (okay, that was bad, I won't do it again).  As for the women in the film, including Emma's governess Mademoiselle Perrodot (Kate O'Mara), Carmilla's attention lingers, seducing and slowly draining them of blood.  And while Perrodot is dispatched quickly as the film reaches its climax, I found myself wishing the filmmakers took a bit more time with Emma and Carmilla before they attempted to flee the Baron's house.  Such a moment could have cemented the sense I got that Carmilla is bringing Emma with her out of love, rather than lust or revenge, and made for a bit more tragic ending.

Of course, the men have to end Carmilla's undead existence and restore the proper order to society.  But again, that's only implied, as the men around Emma seem to be oblivious to the developing relationship between the two.  Still, as with Le Fanu's novella, the subtext is there, whether you want to see it or not.

I have dreams about this moment.
And no, it's not a nightmare. 

The last film produced by Hammer with US backers, The Vampire Lovers is, in a way, the start of the fabled studio's decline.  The studio tried to recapture their audience, which had grown tired of Gothic horror, by bringing Dracula into 1970s London, mixing vampires with kung fu action, and ample amounts of female nudity.  But those plans failed and in 1979, Hammer closed down for almost three decades. And even now, the studio is struggling to find a way to entice audiences into the theaters.

But if you enjoy watching Hammer's glory days, you should add The Vampire Lovers to your collection.  Scream Factory delivers a gorgeous wide-screen transfer on a disc packed with lots of great extras, including Pitt reading Carmilla and an interview with Smith. Worth a purchase, even if you double dip as I did!

Well, I guess we all know how Hammer tried to sell this film!

If you'd like to buy The Vampire Lovers for your collection, click on the link below and I'll get a few cents from your purchase.  I'm sorry to say, at this time, only the multi-region version is available through Amazon, and it's more expensive than the Region 1 Blu-Ray.  If you want to rent the film instead, visit the second link below.