A remake, an adaptation, and the most successful independent film of all time… and they’re all traumatizing!

As of today I’m moving this interaction treat to my blog. I’m also slowing down the releases a little, to a couple a week. Feel free to comment on whatever social media platform you saw the post from, I’ll see them and interact. Having this on my blog only makes sense in the grand scheme of things. My social activism on Facebook has gotten my muted from the platform too often lately.

The further we climb the years, the harder and harder it becomes to nail down three movies. And 1978’s movies are nearly as tough to pick as 1977’s. After all, ‘78 gave us the box office disaster known as HEAVEN CAN WAIT. EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE showed us Clint Eastwood the comedian, and started an American love affair with Orangutans. MAGIC ruined Jeff Foxworthy for me, SGT PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND was a Bee Gee disaster. THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL made Nazis even scarier and terrified us all of the dentist. DEVIL DOG frightened me, THE EYES OF LAURA MARS stared at me, and THE SWARM gave us the Killer Bee long before Murder Hornets. THE WIZ gave us a diverse L. Frank Baum adaptation, and the double entendre of GREASE filled our hearts and eyes with catchy songs and dancing. THE DEER HUNTER taught us Russian Roulette and MIDNIGHT EXPRESS made us all scared of Turkish prisons. FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE had Han fucking Solo in it, plus Robert Shaw’s last role, and SUPERMAN THE MOVIE showed a man could fly, but put the man of Steel against a bad Supervillain. My 3 favorite movies from 1978 are:

3 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS – I love this classic remake. The exchange in the kitchen always makes me burst out laughing. “These are rat turds!” “No, they are capers!”  “No, they’re rat turds!”  This film enthralled me. The special effects are amazing and sometimes quite body horror gross. Plus it had Mr. Spock, Brooke Adams looking fine, and Donald Sutherland pointing fingers and screeching. I had both the novelization and photo graphic novel of the film.

2 “If they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you.” WATERSHIP DOWN – Richard Adams’ book and this film are part of my being. I love this film, and was as traumatized by the violence as you might expect. But the story of Hazel-Ra and his companions, and it’s message of hope, has endured with me for five decades now. My first stand alone novella, Good Boy, is my love letter to this film.

1 I cannot stand slasher killer films. With that being said, John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN is one of my favorite movies of all time. The bar was raised so high with this piece of art (and that’s what HALLOWEEN is, a piece of audio-visual art!), nothing else has come close to matching it since, at least in my perception. I love HALLOWEEN II and III, as well. And please, save us the bullshit regarding Rob Zombie’s inferior remake. It’s Carpenter. My book The Death List is an homage to HALLOWEEN.