“Who calls me from out of the Pit?!”
Holy Melting Travoltas! A pair of schlock classics from the early ‘70s both involving horned demons in the desert plotting world domination?!? It must be Krampus Movie Night!
The Krampus Research Association of St. Louis will be throwing their first movie night Monday October 13th at The Heavy Anchor (5226 Gravois, St. Louis 63116) with a double feature of GARGOYLES and THE DEVIL’S RAIN. This is a Fundraiser for Saint Louis Krampusnacht 2014. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Show starts at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $5 for admission.
GARGOYLES is one of the seminal TV horror films of my youth. I saw this gem the first time it aired as a Tuesday Movie-of-the-Week in 1972 when I was 9 years old and it’s all the kids talked about at school for a solid week. For 1972, this was one helluva TV movie. The effects, though dated by today’s CGI-laden standards, were spectacular — and the Stan Winston-created gargoyle suits still look good pretty damn today.
GARGOYLES is a surprisingly sober and professional affair considering the subject matter, with an interesting use of slow motion film effects to give an unearthly feel to the early gargoyle attack scenes that is actually mildly disturbing. Though it’s been mostly out of circulation for the past several decades, GARGOYLES is a film that people remember having seen even after over 40 years – no easy feat. Cornel Wilde is convincing as an anthropologist demonology expert who’s handy with a shotgun and Bernie Casey manages to pull off a real performance under all that makeup as the chief Gargoyle. GARGOYLES is a classic!
Anton Levay served as technical adviser on THE DEVIL’S RAIN, which I saw at the long-shuttered Ellisville Cinema back in 1974. It’s always been known as the movie where “everyone melts at the end”, but is actually a pretty spooky and grim little thriller.
If you don’t appreciate THE DEVIL’S RAIN’S incoherent plot (a bunch of jumbled stuff about devil worship), you gotta love it for its cast. It’s John Travolta’s film debut, but it doesn’t end there. Also starring are Ernest Borgnine, Tom Skerritt, Eddie Albert, William Shatner, Ida Lupino, and Keenan Wynn. You read that right: the MARTY Oscar winner, the ALIEN co-star, the king of “Green Acres“, Capt. Kirk, one of Hollywood’s most revered actresses, and DR. STRANGELOVE’s Gen. Bat Guano. Don’t miss it!
If you’re wondering, the Krampus is the anti-Santa Claus, a wicked beast from the folklore of the Alpine countries of Europe who loves to swat children who have misbehaved at Christmas with his bundle of birch sticks and rusty chains before dragging them in baskets to the underworld. Krampus is celebrated on Krampusnacht, which takes place on the eve of St. Nicholas’ Day. In parts of Europe, party-goers masquerade as devils, wild-men, and witches to participate in Krampuslauf (Krampus Run). Intoxicated and bearing torches, costumed devils caper and carouse through the streets terrifying children and adults alike. Krampusnacht is increasingly being celebrated in other parts of Europe as well as in many American cities.
The facebook invite for this event can be found HERE
https://www.facebook.com/events/277791022416591/
For more info about The Krampus Research Association, visit their Facebook pageHERE
www.facebook.com/krampusresearchassociationstl
