The Black Saint and Doc Rotten are celebrating two years of recording the DECADES OF HORROR 1970s podcast, roughly one per month landing at 30 episodes strong. The show features a variety of films from this wondrous, groovy, gory and influential decade between the years 1970 and 1979, beginning with episode 1 recorded February 2014 featuring THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN (1977). DoH often includes knowledgeable guest hosts such as Bill Mulligan, Ormon Grimsby and many members of the Horror News Radio grue-crew.
Over the next few months, we are looking to see what films you – listeners and fans of the show – would like to see Decades of Horror cover in future episodes. Episode 32 is now out with the feature review of THEATRE OF BLOOD which was selected by the previous survey. Episode 34 is up to you as well!
Here are the films we are currently considering (dates are provided by IMDb):
Click on any name to go to the survey OR scroll to the bottom of the page to complete.
Black Christmas (1974) – Directed by Bob Clark. Written by Roy Moore. Starring Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea.
Suggested by Bill Mulligan. Black Christmas is considered to be the first slasher film of the 70’s. It set the layout for films like Halloween (1978). But director Bob Clark considered it to be more of a psychological thriller than an out and out horror film. It’s also listed at #87 on Bravo’s list of the 100 scariest movie moments. The film follows the members of a sorority house that are being tormented by a stranger making terrifying phone calls and then murdering the the sorority sisters during their Christmas break.
Mark Of The Devil (1970) – Written/Directed by Michael Armstrong & Adrian Hoven. Starring Herbert Lom, Udo Keir and Reggie Nalder.
Suggested by Jeff Larrimore. Mark Of The Devil had a memorable ad campaign in which it was described as “Guaranteed To Make You Sick”. Thousands of vomit bags with the Mark Of The Devil logo were distributed to theaters across the nation. In the film, Udo Kier plays an apprentice witch hunter to Herbert Lom, who slowly comes to realize that the witch trials are nothing more than a sham designed to rob people of their land, money & valuables.
Slithis (aka Spawn Of The Slithis) (1978) – Written/Directed by Stephen Traxler. Starring Alan Blanchard, Judy Motulsky.
Suggested by Joseph Perry. Slithis was a regional hit on its original release, and developed a very robust fan base over the years. It even spawned a very popular fan club that lasted for years after the film’s release. The original Slithis creature suit had no zippers or snaps, so stuntman Wil Condict had to be sewn into the suit every day. In the film, a nuclear leak creates a creature called The Slithis, which proceeds to terrorize the population of Venice, California.
Twins Of Evil (1971) – Directed by John Hough. Written by Tudor Gates. Starring Peter Cushing, Mary Collinson, Madeleine Collinson.
Suggested by Bill Mulligan. Twins Of Evil featured identical twins Mary & Madeleine Collinson as the titular twins. But as they were from Malta, their accents were very thick, so Hammer had all of their dialogue replaced by British actors. It was originally released on a twin bill with the underrated Hands Of The Ripper. The film tells the story of the Gellhorn twins, and their uncle Gustav Weil, who leads a religious sect that hunts down all women suspected of witchcraft.
Bug (1975) – Directed by Jeannot Swarc. Written by William Castle & Thomas Page. Starring Bradford Dillman, Joanna Miles.
Suggested by Doc Rotten. Bug was the last film that legendary producer/director William Castle worked on. Infamous for adding gimmicks to his films, Castle wanted to install brushes onto theater seats to simulate bugs crawling across the legs of theater patrons, but he was turned down. The set for the Parmiter home was the same set (with some slight modifications) that was used as the interior of the Brady home in ABC’s The Brady Bunch. In the film, an earthquake releases a mutant strain of cockroach with the power to start fires. But upon further study by scientist James Parmiter, their true horrifying intent is revealed.
Shanks (1974) – Directed by William Castle. Written by Ranald Graham. Starring Marcel Marceau, Cindy Eilbacher.
Suggested by The Black Saint. Shanks was the last film directed by the legendary William Castle. It was the only film that famed mime Marcel Marceau played the lead in, and accordingly he has no lines in the film. Best described as a twisted fairy tale, it was a box office flop but the score by composer Alex North received an Oscar nomination. He used parts of his rejected score for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) for this score. In the film, a mute puppeteer uses a deceased scientist’s invention to control dead bodies like puppets.
