HALLOWEEN SAFETY IN THE 1970's

And now to continue with a new Moviezzz Blog tradition.

Every year in elementary school, from the late 70's when it was first shown through the mid 80's when my sister attended, the entire school was brought into the auditorium and sat on the floor while we watched the following Halloween safety film. This was before video, and they wheeled out the projector to show it on the big screen.

It got to the point that, by the 5th grade, we could recite it. My sister still quotes it to me.

Thanks to YouTube, we can now watch it year round.





Be safe out there.

KELLI MARONEY: A Talk With the NIGHT OF THE COMET Star

While Catherine Mary Stewart was the lead in NIGHT OF THE COMET, where would the film be without the performance by Kelli Maroney as her sister? She was very funny as the cheerleader who tries to survive in a world of zombies. No word on if she inspired BUFFY.

Kelli got her start on the soap opera RYAN'S HOPE, and appeared in FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH. In 1984 she starred in NIGHT OF THE COMET.

I was able to contact her to ask her a few questions about the film.


How did you get involved with NIGHT OF THE COMET?

I was repped by the producer at the time. I read the script on an airplane and laughed out loud, much to my embarrassment. When I went in to audition, I really wanted to read for Reggie, but the producer said no. Of course, now I get why!


While a low budget film, it has the feel of a big budget film, with the look of a desolated LA. What was the filming like?

The powers that were always boasted that every single penny was up there on the screen. I guess that is true...it sure ain't in my bank account!

Seriously, we filmed at unGodly hours when we hoped no one else would be out and about. I remember one daily screening where the producer, Wayne Crawford, spotted some window washers!?! on a supposedly deserted building. So, it was a hoot.

Another time during the middle of the night, homeless dudes crashed our lunch line thinking it was a soup kitchen. We fed them.


One of the most memorable scenes is the two of you firing Uzis in the middle of the street. Did you go through weapons training for the film?

We did--everyone made fun of me because I always kind of squatted when aiming..but it was a funny character thing.

Later on, I was always the girl with the gun and it was always the same guy who was sent to teach the actors. He would say, "Her again?.....she already knows. Easy day for me."


What was it like to work with Catherine Mary Stewart?

She sucked. LOL No, seriously, it was one of the best experiences I have ever had and I am honored to count her as a friend to this day.


Do you still get feedback from fans of the film?

OMG---like, everyday. It is kind of weird. You never know what you are going to impact people with in terms of hitting an emotional or sociological nerve. We certainly hit it!

A big thank you to Kelli Maroney.

You can read an interview with NIGHT OF THE COMET co-star Catherine Mary Stewart here.

This was written as part of the Films of 1984 Blogathon hosted by This Distracted Globe. You can read more bloggers talking about 1984 here.

NIGHT OF THE COMET is available on DVD from MGM Home Video.

CATHERINE MARY STEWART: A Talk With The Star of THE LAST STARFIGHTER and NIGHT OF THE COMET

Catherine Mary Stewart starred in two of the memorable films of 1984.

In Nick Castle's THE LAST STARFIGHTER, released in July, she played the girlfriend of intergalactic warrior Lance Guest. Recruited by Robert Preston through a video game, he headed to the stars to save the galaxy. A favorite of many, including myself, the film was recently released in a 25th Anniversary edition on DVD and Blu-Ray.

November saw the release of NIGHT OF THE COMET. This low budget end of the world zombie comedy is a film that holds up just as well today as it did 25 years ago. Funny, suspenseful, Catherine Mary Stewart gives a wonderful performance.

My favorite moment of hers from the year, in NIGHT OF THE COMET, her opening complaint to the theatre manager. When she is told to check the theatre, she replies "Oh Mel, they throw things at me...Have you ever been hit with Dots? Milk Duds? Those things hurt!" and her subsequent annoyance at losing a high score on the video game Tempest.

I was able to contact her and ask her thoughts on the making of those two films.


“The Last Starfighter” was my first movie here in the States. All I can say is that it was a joy from the audition process to the actual filming. I was surrounded by such talent with Nick Castle as the director, Lance Guest as my leading man, Robert Preston and Dan O’Herlihy bumping up the caliber of our little film. Of course the cast of supporting characters were all well established terrific actors. For Chris Hebert who played Louis Rogan, Alex’s little brother, I believe it was his first film and he was fantastic. He was sure he was going to win an Academy Award. Very cute!


It was a tough shoot in that most of my scenes were shot at night so you have to adjust to a nocturnal existence, which is really hard and never (for me) a complete success. But as I said it really was a joy on that set. So upbeat and supportive. Little did I realize it would become the iconic film it did. I was completely oblivious at the time, of the behind the scenes computer technology that was being created from scratch. Only this year did I learn that they were developing ground breaking digital special effects, literally creating programs that had never been created, as we were shooting, scrambling to make a fast approaching deadline. Apparently technicians were in their booths working pretty much 24/7 to uncover “eureka” moments of digital calculations that set the foundation for digital special effects. Incredible!



The impact of this movie on it’s young audience in 1984 only became known to me about 3 years ago. I’ve been living in NY raising my kids and have sort of hovered on the periphery of the business until I decided to get back into it. I was auditioning for something in LA and the casting director was so excited to see me. He explained that as a boy he’d seen “The Last Starfighter” and it had been a pivotal movie for him in his childhood. It seemed to snowball from there and culminated in the 25th Anniversary release of the DVD where many of us involved in the film were interviewed for the DVD, and there was a celebratory screening in Santa Monica. It’s all a little surreal really, but I’m so proud to be involved with this charming movie that touched so many people and sent such a wonderful message while being pretty entertaining at the same time.


“Night of the Comet” was a completely different movie in terms of story and character, but I believe there was an important message that touched lots of young people as well. What was so unique about this film was the strong, young female characters. I think that’s what really attracted me to this role. I could really let the tomboy in me out, shoot uzies, fight zombies, ride motorcycles and be a strong independent rebellious young women where ultimately the “whole burden of civilization has fallen upon us.” Quite a responsibility! So much fun!


This movie was even smaller than “Starfighter” and I remember having to do my own hair and make-up on occasion, but we were all in it together and we were going to make it the best film we could. We had a very strong cast in this as well including Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, Geoffrey Lewis and on and on. As we were shooting there was some debate between the director/writer and the producers as to whether or not this was going to be a serious horror flick or more tongue in cheek. At times we played it both ways so they could choose how it would be finally edited. I’m very pleased it turned out the way it did because I feel it was the perfect combination of funny and scary. I really think “Night of the Comet” is unique in that way.


Both “The Last Starfighter” and “Night of the Comet” seem to have stood the test of time. I think the fact that they were complex movies with young lead characters, is something that you don’t see often, especially now. They both sent strong empowering messages to young people and those messages seem to have stuck with the original audience. Hopefully they will endure.

A big thank you to Catherine Mary Stewart.

You can visit her website, and become a fan on Facebook.

You can read our interview with her NIGHT OF THE COMET co-star Kelli Maroney here.

This was written as part of the Films of 1984 Blogathon hosted by This Distracted Globe. You can read more bloggers talking about 1984 here.

THE LAST STARFIGHTER is available on DVD and Blu-Ray from Universal Home Video. NIGHT OF THE COMET is on DVD from MGM.

FORGOTTEN TV: RUBIK, THE AMAZING CUBE (1983-1984)

INT - TV NETWORK CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY

The time is sometime in the early 80’s. A group of executives are sitting around a table, discussing the upcoming TV season.

EXEC 1: You know what is really popular?

EXEC 2: That band Menudo?

EXEC 3: Oh, I LOVE Menudo.

EXEC 2: Aren’t they great?

EXEC 3: Yeah. They are so talented. "Motorcyle Dreamer"? Great song.

EXEC 2: You know it. So, what were you saying about Menudo?

EXEC 1: Huh? Nothing.

EXEC 2: Then why did you bring them up?

EXEC 1: I didn’t.

EXEC 2: So, what were you talking about as being so popular?

EXEC 1: Oh, I had almost forgotten. Have you seen those things called Rubik’s cubes? Those blocks of plastic with the stickers? That you have to line up?

EXEC 2: Possibly. Is that what Ricky Martin was holding on page 63 of the latest Bop magazine?

EXEC 3: No, it was in this month’s 16 magazine.

EXEC 2: That’s right. Yes, what about them.

EXEC 1: Let’s make a cartoon about them.

EXEC 3: Menudo? That would be awesome!

EXEC 1: No, the Rubik’s cube.

EXEC 3: Hmm, I don’t know.

EXEC 2: Yeah. I don’t think people would be into a cartoon about a plastic toy. The Slinky cartoon didn't exactly catch on. Up and down stairs all day. Kind of dull.

EXEC 3: Maybe if we have a cartoon about the toy, have it grant wishes or something, and, get this, also have a theme song by Menudo!

EXEC 2: Yes!!!!!

EXEC 3: This is going to be the greatest Saturday morning cartoon of all time!!!!!

FADE OUT

That is essentially the only way to explain RUBIK, THE AMAZING CUBE, the ABC Saturday morning cartoon that ran from 1983 to 1984.

The cartoon followed Carlos, Lisa, and Reynaldo Rodriguez, said to be the first Hispanic Saturday morning leads. They find Rubik, a magical Rubik’s cube that, when his sides are lined up, can perform magic powers.

All I remember about the cartoon is the theme song.



Yes, it was by Menudo.



Ron Palillo, aka Horshack, was the voice of Rubik.

Even at that young age, I never could buy the basic premise of the show, and always had a problem with it. I think I would find myself flipping over to other cartoons.

Still, you have to give the network credit for trying. They managed to make a cartoon based on a Rubik's cube.

The FTC And Blogging

The FTC recently announced a set of guidelines, going into effect December 1, that will change the way that bloggers have to post reviews.

Or not.

Honestly, I don't understand it.

You can read the full 81 page PDF here.

In summary, I think it is mainly meant to curb the "Pay Per Post" style blogs, where the blogger is paid to write something positive about a product. A while back, /Film ran into a problem where they wrote an overview of the work of Sam Mendes, only later having to disclose they were paid to write it by the studio to promote his latest film.

Will this effect DVD review copies? It is hard to tell. In some cases, I think it only has to do with with products over a certain amount. I haven't been able to find that amount, and I read (or skimmed through) the full write up.

I think this is getting into tricky ground though. Don't all film critics (at least the majors) get into film screenings for free? Are they going to have to disclose that? What about those invited on interview junkets?

And how many outlets are there that receive DVD review copies? How is this going to impact them?

So, in interest of full disclosure, I should state that I often do receive DVD (and book) review copies for some titles I review here. If I review it before street date, it is normally a review copy. Some are sent by the studios, others by third party PR companies.

Plus, there are other titles I review that I get from Netflix, or on my own. In one upcoming case, I was sent a screener of part of a DVD set for review from the studio and, I liked it so much, I just ordered the full version on my own.

Do I make all reviews of these DVDs positive for the studios? No. I've written quite a few negative reviews of these films.

I have never been paid for a review or a post.

The closest I came to being paid was a while back, in the early blogging days, I remember a third party company asked me to mention a film on my site. It was a major theatrical release that I was going to mention anyway in my then weekly theatrical release listing. I let them know that I was planning on covering it. They said they would send me something for mentioning it. Weeks later, after I had completely forgotten the film and it was out of the theatres, they sent me a copy of the book it was based on and a $10 gift card to see the movie in a certain movie theatre chain. Turns out that the chain wasn't even in my area.

So, other than getting review copies, or commissions if anyone uses my Amazon links to buy anything, I'm not getting paid for anything here.

EDIT: Anne Thompson just wrote a piece about this topic.