The Ninth Configuration (1980) – William Peter Blatty

William Peter Blatty the author of The Exorcist, wrote and directed this spiritual sequel, now defined as part of the faith trilogy formed by The Exorcist, The Ninth Configuration, and The Exorcist III. It’s a fascinating film, in parts funny, in parts heartbreaking, and in parts horrifying. In a remote part of the Pacific Northwest…

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) – Tommy Lee Wallace

Halloween III surprised audiences when it came along. There was no Micheal Myers, which had already become synonymous with the holiday, and there was a strange combination of the supernatural and science fiction in the third entry in the franchise. A convoluted behind-the-scenes story affected the script and the filming, and with no Micheal, the…

The Equalizer (1987) – Blood & Wine: Part 1, and Part 2

The third season two-part opener of The Equalizer, which was filmed as part of the block at the end of season two, was broadcast on 23 September, 1987 as a feature-length episode. Written by Coleman Luck it featured a few familiar faces alongside Edward Woodward’s portrayal of Robert McCall, Keith Szarabajka shows up as Mickey,…

The Fog (1980) – John Carpenter

The venture into the paranormal continues as I delve into the chapter on ghosts in DK Canada’s very entertaining Monsters in the Movies book. This time, it’s John Carpenter’s take on what plays out as a classic ghost story. The story itself is basic, and in the hands of Carpenter we get a creepy little…

The Rockford Files (1976) – The Italian Bird Fiasco & Where’s Houston?

  Private investigator Jim Rockford (James Garner) tackles a couple of interesting cases in this week’s installment of The Rockford Files. First up we have The Italian Bird Fiasco, which originally aired 13, February 1976, and was directed by film legend Jackie Cooper. It was written by Edward J. Lasko. The phone gag this time…

The Rockford Files (1976) – The No-Cut Contract & A Portrait of Elizabeth

This week private investigator Jim Rockford (James Garner) is in trouble again. The first episode, written by Cannell, himself is a lot of fun. It originally aired 16 January, 1976, and features Wayne Tippit, back as Agent Shore, Becker (Joe Santos), Angel (Stuart Margolin) and Beth (Gretchen Corbett). The phone gag is all in Spanish,…

Trailer Tracks: The Fog (1980) – John Carpenter

  I’m a huge John Carpenter fan, and came to his movies in the late 80s with Big Trouble In Little China and then a severely cut version of The Thing aired on television. I was intrigued, and started hunting down all of his movies at the local video store, Vision Video, and this one…