tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post6561317516491057116..comments2024-03-08T18:49:51.289-05:00Comments on Classic Film and TV Café: Chamber of Horrors: The Fear Flasher and the Horror Horn!Rick29http://www.blogger.com/profile/08358116647815569722noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-50575951033030526132019-04-02T18:19:52.118-04:002019-04-02T18:19:52.118-04:00This is a very good film that many people never ha...This is a very good film that many people never have heard of. It has an interesting story and boasts a strong performance by O’Neal. The gimmick is fun, too. Great post, Rick!toto2https://www.blogger.com/profile/09652682900471649463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-30672821569154242882019-03-18T18:17:16.358-04:002019-03-18T18:17:16.358-04:00Thanks for reviewing this modest but still unfairl...Thanks for reviewing this modest but still unfairly overlooked gem. I never saw it until I picked up the DVD a few years ago. I remember the drive inn theater my family frequented handing out promotional barf bags for the film heralding its upcoming release. It gave all of us a good laugh at the time. It's worth noting that just a few years prior to this pilot's production Rod Serling tried selling a "Rod Serling's Wax Museum" horror anthology series to NBC. They passed on it at the time but when he repackaged the idea a few years later, now dubbed "Night Gallery" and featuring paintings instead of wax dummies, they bought the show.<br />"Dark Intruder", the work of future "Night Gallery" producer Jack Laird, is also a nifty little film worth catching. It never quite lives up to its potential but is a fun watch.BLBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10970118310200009269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-62904995427667912662019-03-08T16:13:17.526-05:002019-03-08T16:13:17.526-05:00Thanks for this great write-up on a most enjoyable...Thanks for this great write-up on a most enjoyable film. I hadn't seen the movie in a long time, and recently caught it again on TCM. Your review is right on target, and Patrick O'Neal is deliciously evil as the villain. It would have been interesting to see how this played out as a series, especially if they did use the "Fear Flasher" and "Horror Horn" every week, as Mike notes in his comments. By the way, nice shout out to "Dark Intruder" as well!John Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01663676176398174024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-13391547111514410062019-03-07T20:12:22.359-05:002019-03-07T20:12:22.359-05:00Interesting, Mike. Honestly, I can't imagine H...Interesting, Mike. Honestly, I can't imagine HOUSE OF WAX getting past the network censors given the dialogue and some of the situations. Although its running time was expanded, it never feels padded. Averback keeps it moving at a quick pace and his scene transitions are pretty clever. BTW, I have several of Tom Weaver's books written for McFarland (my publisher, too).Rick29https://www.blogger.com/profile/08358116647815569722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-76610129184605279752019-03-07T17:11:18.271-05:002019-03-07T17:11:18.271-05:00The real reason that House Of Wax the series lost ...The real reason that <i>House Of Wax the series</i> lost its spot on ABC's Fall 1966 schedule (Fridays at 10/9 Central):<br /><br />The network had swung a huge ad buy deal with (in the version I read) Bristol-Myers of Big Pharma renown (that term wasn't in use then, but you get the idea).<br />It was an across-the-board buy, with Bufferin & Co. taking minutes all over the ABC slate; the conventional wisdom was that <i>Batman</i> was going to be the breakthrough for ABC, combined with the full conversion to color in prime time.<br />What happened was that Bristol's ad boss, a guy named Marvin Koslow, got a look at the ABC schedule - and disliked a whole lot of what he saw.<br />ABC allowed Koslow to rearrange the slate to his own liking, and several shows were scuttled aborning: <i>House Of Wax</i> was one; another was <i>Sedgewick Hawk-Styles, Prince Of Danger</i>, a Sherlock Holmes spoof with Paul Lynde (some maintain that this last was the funniest pilot that never sold, and Lynde maintained to the end of his days that it was the best thing he ever did - but that's <i>another</i> story …).<br />Back to <i>House/Chamber</i>: Because Warner Bros didn't like to let things go to waste, they ordered up the extra scenes (read <i>padding</i>) to bring the show up to B-theatrical length (Tony Curtis's cameo was one of the add-ons).<br />The director was Hy Averback, was mainly a comedy specialist (his most recent previous credit was the final season of <i>The Real McCoys</i>)(No kidding).<br /> The writer was Stephen Kandel, who would have been headwriter had the series gone on; He tells the whole story in one of Tom Weaver's interview books (<i>Earth Vs. The Sci-Fi Filmmakers</i>; find it if you can).<br />One of Kandel's revelations: the Fear Flasher and the Horror Horn were going to be a weekly feature on the series!<br />I'm guessing that this may be one reason that Bristol-Myers's man withheld consent on the series (how'd you like to see the Fear Flasher, then the Horror Horn, and then a spot for Bufferin?).<br />So anyway, <i>House</i> gets featurized into <i>Chamber</i>, Hy Averback goes back to sitcoms, and Steve Kandel winds up writing for <i>Batman</i>.<br />Such is life.<br />Mike Doranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14427528138598549103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-76725264665277896882019-03-07T08:50:16.538-05:002019-03-07T08:50:16.538-05:00This sounds like fun. I am going to have to find o...This sounds like fun. I am going to have to find opportunities in my day-to-day to use the phrases "Fear Flasher" and "Horror Horn." I've already thought of appropriate instances and am giggling insanely.Caftan Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05936895555808823221noreply@blogger.com