The Return of Torgo and Wooley's September Excite-o-rama!

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My favorite kind of vibe.


If this were from a real game, I'd buy it immediately. The artist is Dom Jordan.


The artist is Larry Macdougall.


The artist is Michael Cooper.



Victim of The Night

Oh yeah. It's The Green Slime, bitches!

A wonderful thing happened one night in the early 1980s, when Young Wooley was a wee lad of, say, eleven. He turned on his TV one night, about two years after his parents had given up on silly notions like "bed-times" and "age-appropriateness", and there was a pale, curvaceous, awkward, funny, cleavage-spilling vamp pouring out of the TV and into his nascent sexuality and young Horror and Fantasy-afflicted mind.
Elvira had arrived.
And young Wooley was transfixed and forever changed.
And as he sat glued to the television that night and watched, stunned, as this siren faded to black with the words, "Unpleasant dreams...", he was assaulted by this:


... and another wonder was forever burned into his soul.
I believe I liked the movie, I certainly never forgot it, but I can tell you that I was still able to sing the theme song 20, 30, almost 40 years later. And I think I re-watched it even, like 15 years ago or something, though after revisiting it the other night, I cannot swear that that had actually ever happened.
Could The Green Slime hold up? Gather' round I will tell you now of my experience.

First of all, what is The Green Slime? Well, imagine if Armageddon and Aliens were the offspring (conjoined twins?) of an hermaphrodite that is half each of those films. Which is to say that an asteroid is hurtling toward Earth and a crew is sent up to land on the asteroid and blow it up with a nuclear bomb. No joke, that is the plot of this movie, 30 years before Armageddon. But also the whole ship gets infiltrated by unstoppable aliens who creep around the ducts and kill people. Of course, they start out as... well, Green Slime, but quickly build up into huge invincible alien-monsters who, silly as they may look, are also cool in my extremely stoned opinion...


This movie opens with some of the most obvious, hilarious miniatures in science fiction history. Here are some comments I made in my notes about them...

"Holy shit, some of these wide shots look like a picture of a child’s erector set on Christmas morning after dad spent the whole night putting it together."
"I would swear there were just Legos on the screen a moment ago."
"I am literally watching children’s toys fly and roll around on the screen."
"The “air tanks” slightly out of focus in the foreground are actually the nitrous oxide cartridges better known as Whippets."


... and yet… I’m not mad about it. There’s something really enjoyable about 1960s ultra-low-budget sci-fi aesthetic and, as cheap as this is, it’s just got some odd charm that I found endearing. Perhaps this would not be true if the movie were worse, but... there's actually a lot to like here. And I mean a lot. I think if you only watched the indoor/on-set scenes of this movie, you would think it was actually a pretty good movie.
For starters, the two main characters (male) are just way more interesting than they ought to or need to be. One of them I will simply refer to as The Jaw. Like this was the conversation:
Director to Casting Director: “Go out and get me a JAW!”
But The Jaw is actually kinda convincing.
And I was really digging this very adult, mature behavior and complex personal relationship between the two male leads... until it totally devolves into alpha-male dominance and beta-male failure, which I thought was actually a pretty neat subversion of my expectations, but also totally how it probably happens in real-life instead of the movies. The Jaw seems kinda heroic and selfless and maybe even misunderstood early on when there's a setup that there's some reason people actually don't want him for this mission. And it turns out, as the movie unfolds, that it's because The Jaw is just a straight-up alpha-male dick. The more pressure put on, the more he reverts to being a domineering jerk. But then his sort of second-in-command-by-default seems like a guy who has gotten an unfair rap as a beta-male and will obviously end up being heroic and shine and save the day in the end... except that he doesn't he goes into total beta-male fail. He even loses the girl and gets himself killed!
I found all of this rather clever honestly. The writers obviously never saw Pretty In Pink. And It is so obvious that the actors, at least the two leads, think they’re making a much better movie than they are… so they do.
A few other notes:
I resent that the Scientist is the stupidest person in this movie. This motherf*cker insists on playing with the damn Green Slime on the asteroid and he inadvertently brings it back onto the ship... but worst of all, he's one of these no-don't-kill-it-we-must-study-it idiots that ends up getting himself and everybody else killed. I mean, I am a scientist and I was not mad when this scientist got demolished by The Green Slime.


Neat use of reversing the film (several times but always effective) so The Green Slime looks like it’s climbing up.
Rotoscoping! Woot!
I dig that the reaction of the doctors to the threat is to protect their patients. Cuz I went through Katrina AND COVID and that’s what doctors do. I think twice in the movie, the injured in the sick bays are threatened and the doctors refuse to leave and stay by their patients and even get between their patients and The Green Slime. Because that's how we do it.
All of these things are great and I found myself really, really enjoying The Green Slime. At one point I wondered, “Is this going on too long” but then I realized it was kinda perfect. But finally, and most importantly, I had to ask myself, "Does the movie work as a Sci-Fi/Horror Adventure?" Which, if you're high enough, it totally does.

My final position is that The Green Slime may be the best movie ever made.
I recommend everyone watch The Green Slime immediately.




Looks like a must-have for any horrorthon list. Apparently, it was the subject of the original edition of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (even before Tom Servo came along). Tempting, but I'd rather watch it riff-free.





Lisa and the Devil -


Is this fantasy? Is it horror? Some movie databases label it as one of these while others label it as both. Regardless of its actual genre, I think it's a nice way to conclude my half of this thread as we head into October, don't you? After admiring a fresco of the devil, Lisa (Elke Sommer), who is touring Spain, goes off the beaten path and encounters Kojak...ahem, Leandro (Telly Savalas) - well, he also favors lollipops - who sort of resembles the figure in the fresco and who is carrying around a very realistic-looking dummy. While trying to get back to reality, she hitches a ride in a roadster with a wife, husband, and their personal driver, which to their misfortune breaks down in front of a mansion. There, Lisa meets a family who she soon learns has their fair share of skeletons in the closet and whose butler is - you guessed it - Leandro. While on her strange journey, Lisa is frequently visited by a man named Carlos (Espartaco Santoni) with whom she may or may not have a history.

I've seen six of Mario Bava's movie's now and he hasn't let me down yet, but I mention this because even if I had seen all of them except for this one, I doubt they would have prepared me. If you can't make heads or tails of my plot description, it's because I don't want to give too much away and because the movie hardly has a conventional narrative. I'm not sure if I could give a completely accurate description of everything that happens, but it all comes together in a satisfying way; besides, I'm not sure if I would want to because the mystery is the point. The production design accomplishes this as soon as Lisa strays from the group, with the empty alleyways and the mansion seeming like they belong in another dimension. The otherworldliness is at its most satisfying during her dream sequences, some of which resemble Renaissance paintings in motion and explain its fantasy label more than anything. While the movie has a "down the rabbit hole" structure, Lisa is not Alice. That's not to say Sommer never comes across as confused in her performance, but my favorite thing about her performance is that she always seems to know something the audience doesn't. As for Savalas, I wouldn't be surprised if he signed on the dotted line without thinking twice because his part lets Telly be Telly, which is hardly a bad thing. Also, considering there's quite a few moments that made me squirm in my seat, the comic relief he provides is more than welcome.

As is typical of movies with nonconventional narratives like this one, I sometimes felt like I reached a dead end and that it kept going without me. It's better than other ones like it at catching me up, and even if ruminating about it afterwards is nearly as enjoyable as watching it, I still didn't love the moments when what played on screen meant nothing to me. Despite this nitpick, this movie tells a story in one of the strangest and most provocative ways I've seen in a while about how the devil, like his archrival, also works in mysterious ways and that few, if any transgressions evade his watchful eye. Again, if you've seen enough Mario Bava movies that you think you know everything in his bag of tricks, watch this one next. I'd even go so far to recommend it if you're in the mood for something Lynchian.

My rating: 4 mustachioed dummies out of 5

My guy (or gal): Leandro. Who loves ya? This guy!



Victim of The Night


Is this fantasy? Is it horror? Some movie databases label it as one of these while others label it as both. Regardless of its actual genre, I think it's a nice way to conclude my half of this thread as we head into October, don't you? After admiring a fresco of the devil, Lisa (Elke Sommer), who is touring Spain, goes off the beaten path and encounters Kojak...ahem, Leandro (Telly Savalas) - well, he also favors lollipops - who sort of resembles the figure in the fresco and who is carrying around a very realistic-looking dummy. While trying to get back to reality, she hitches a ride in a roadster with a wife, husband, and their personal driver, which to their misfortune breaks down in front of a mansion. There, Lisa meets a family who she soon learns has their fair share of skeletons in the closet and whose butler is - you guessed it - Leandro. While on her strange journey, Lisa is frequently visited by a man named Carlos (Espartaco Santoni) with whom she may or may not have a history.

I've seen six of Mario Bava's movie's now and he hasn't let me down yet, but I mention this because even if I had seen all of them except for this one, I doubt they would have prepared me. If you can't make heads or tails of my plot description, it's because I don't want to give too much away and because the movie hardly has a conventional narrative. I'm not sure if I could give a completely accurate description of everything that happens, but it all comes together in a satisfying way; besides, I'm not sure if I would want to because the mystery is the point. The production design accomplishes this as soon as Lisa strays from the group, with the empty alleyways and the mansion seeming like they belong in another dimension. The otherworldliness is at its most satisfying during her dream sequences, some of which resemble Renaissance paintings in motion and explain its fantasy label more than anything. While the movie has a "down the rabbit hole" structure, Lisa is not Alice. That's not to say Sommer never comes across as confused in her performance, but my favorite thing about her performance is that she always seems to know something the audience doesn't. As for Savalas, I wouldn't be surprised if he signed on the dotted line without thinking twice because his part lets Telly be Telly, which is hardly a bad thing. Also, considering there's quite a few moments that made me squirm in my seat, the comic relief he provides is more than welcome.

As is typical of movies with nonconventional narratives like this one, I sometimes felt like I reached a dead end and that it kept going without me. It's better than other ones like it at catching me up, and even if ruminating about it afterwards is nearly as enjoyable as watching it, I still didn't love the moments when what played on screen meant nothing to me. Despite this nitpick, this movie tells a story in one of the strangest and most provocative ways I've seen in a while about how the devil, like his archrival, also works in mysterious ways and that few, if any transgressions evade his watchful eye. Again, if you've seen enough Mario Bava movies that you think you know everything in his bag of tricks, watch this one next. I'd even go so far to recommend it if you're in the mood for something Lynchian.

My rating: 4 mustachioed dummies out of 5

My guy (or gal): Leandro. Who loves ya? This guy!
I have been "strongly considering" Lisa and the Devil for years but never pulled the trigger on it for some reason. In part, as you discuss here, I worried that the narrative would be nonsensical as Italian Horror often is. But now I don't so much mind.



Lisa and the Devil is gothic horror. It was my first Bava, because it was reported to be his best, and I have yet to find another Bava that I've liked as much.



In terms of comprehensibility, Lisa and the Devil is somewhere between Un Chien Andalou and Bava's Shock, if that makes sense.

One more batch of art:


Angus McKie


Keith Parkinson


Ian Miller


Alan Lee



I mainline Windex and horse tranquilizer

Oh yeah. It's The Green Slime, bitches!




yeah, baby - you know I'm a fan.


I remember watching this on the local UHF channel for their Saturday afternoon monster of the week flick. Also Attack of the Mushroom People and The Curse of Bigfoot. The 70's were a great time to be alive.
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I knew almost nothing about Lisa and the Devil and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. That ending is really something!
It does sort of play out like a feature-length Italian Twilight Zone episode.
Speaking of, I hope we do another one of those HoF's some day.



I plan on watching Lisa and The Devil this coming month. I think I read there are two versions?
I'm not sure. I watched the 95 minute one on Amazon Prime if that helps. It's also on Shudder, Kanopy and AMC+. Enjoy!



I plan on watching Lisa and The Devil this coming month. I think I read there are two versions?
The original US release had a lot of weird exorcist stuff inserted (and altering the framing device of the plot) to capitalize on the popularity of The Exorcist and was released under the title, The House of Exorcism.


I've not seen it, but I have seen trailers of that version. People have said it's not a good thing.



I'm not sure. I watched the 95 minute one on Amazon Prime if that helps. It's also on Shudder, Kanopy and AMC+. Enjoy!
There's a separate cut known as House of Exorcism and I'm ashamed to say I don't remember which version I watched. It's been years.


You watched the preferred version, that much I know



The trick is not minding
The original US release had a lot of weird exorcist stuff inserted (and altering the framing device of the plot) to capitalize on the popularity of The Exorcist and was released under the title, The House of Exorcism.


I've not seen it, but I have seen trailers of that version. People have said it's not a good thing.
Yes! That refreshed my memory, thank you. I chose it for “religious horror” but I don’t know if that depends on the version I watch or not. Either way, I’ll find out once I sit down and watch it proper like.



Yes! That refreshed my memory, thank you. I chose it for “religious horror” but I don’t know if that depends on the version I watch or not. Either way, I’ll find out once I sit down and watch it proper like.

Lisa and The Devil is one where I'd need someone to define "religious horror" for me to give an opinion of it. i.e. let's say a movie has the devil show up, but there isn't really any religion mentioned outside of its presence, would that constitute as religious horror?

ETA: given the lack of priests or the profession of any religious beliefs amongst the characters, I'm inclined to say, "no."
Now, I just noticed Superstition show up in my library, that'd probably count.
If you want to go a little out of bounds on the horror part, if you haven't seen On the Silver Globe, there's religion in there, and it veers into horror-ish elements, though it is really more sci-fi.