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Thursday, February 9, 2023

Fun Time, Girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, What Did Everyone Think Of Last Week's "Svengoolie/Sventoonie" Broadcast?????????????????


                           "The Creature From The Black Lagoon" was certainly not "The African Queen," darlings, but who knew it had so much subliminal homosexuality?  This certainly went way over my head, when I was a child.



                              With Julia Adams on board what had to be the smallest boat on water since "The African Queen," and the only woman, to boot, along with the two Richards (Carlson and Denning) showing more male pulchritude than Julia in the female division, this had to be the most testosterone fueled boat in the history of movies!


                                And those two Richards--always stripping down and fighting with each other over something.  Come on, guys, why didn't you just kiss and make up and screw your brains out?  I mean, that is clearly what you both wanted to do.


                                 I felt sorry for both the Creature and Julie.  Both are the only ones in their environment, which bespeaks of a kind of loneliness.  No wonder the Creature wanted to carry her to his cave.  And, let's face it, once there, Julia never seemed as tense as she was on board that ship.  The Creature gave he a chance to relax.


                                  I also could not help noticing how similar this was too "King Kong."  A group of sailors journeying to unknown territory, the monster drawn to the female, who really did not want his environment invaded, and the one Richard (Denning) wanting to capture it alive and bring it back to the States.  I guess monsters may vary, but the tropes often don't!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


                                   Still, the last shot of the Creature floating dead made me feel sorry for it, just like when Kong falls off the Empire State Building.


                                    But, girls, wouldn't we all want to look like Julia in that bathing suit??????????


                                    Let's start those diets, now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                   Now, "Sventoonie's" deconstruction of 1976's "Drive-In Massacre" should have been fun, but it was really unsatisfying, because, at the end, the killer goes unrevealed!  Instead, a written afterword hints to be careful attending drive-ins, as there may be more psychos out there!



                  Not that the filmmaker doesn't have a point, but this earlier slasher did not click and help define the genre; that was not until John Carpenter's "Halloween" in 1978, which was a better made film.


                  Shot on a strictly low budget, the production had to resort to some illegal tactics.  An evening shot at an amusement park was done without a permit.  The actors in the film all had to make name changes to protect their identities, as they were not members of the Screen Actors Guild.


                     I know this moment looks great, and it is, but really my favorite moment was when this guy goes to the concession stand to get his girlfriend a soda.  He returns, gives her the soda, then goes back to movie watching, not noticing, for several minutes, that she is not only talking--she has no head, as she has been decapitated!  Scream!  Too bad for this guy, because now he won't get any.  Head, that is!!!!!!!!!!   Which the film makes abundantly clear is why patrons come to the drive-in--for sex!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


                     Well, I was a good girl, darlings, I went to the drive-in with my parents, as a child.  It was a big treat, with the novelty of being outside, and being able to play on a playground.  As I got older, I lost interest in drive-ins, which should have told me something about me.  But I did not have a clue, back then.



                      Neither did these filmmakers, who went nowhere, and I think made the whole thing up as they went along.  Still, the headless girlfriend scene was worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


                        Wonder what "Svengoolie" and "Sventoonie" have in store for us, this Saturday?

1 comment:

Victoria said...

Oh my goodness we too had the local drive-in, growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania!!
What a special treat it was!!!
Precious memories