Twilight Zones first episode aired October 2, 1959.

The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode (156 in the original series) is a mixture of self-contained fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to serious science fiction and abstract ideas through television and also through a wide variety of Twilight Zone literature. The program followed in the tradition of earlier radio programs such as The Weird Circle and X Minus One and the radio work of Serling’s hero, dramatist Norman Corwin.

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The success of the original series led to the creation of two revival series: a cult hit series that ran for several seasons on CBS and in syndication in the 1980s, and a short-lived UPN series that ran from 2002 to 2003. It would also lead to a feature film, a radio series, a comic book, a magazine and various other spin-offs that would span five decades.

Aside from Serling himself, who crafted nearly two-thirds of the series’ total episodes, writers for The Twilight Zone included leading genre authorities such as Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Jerry Sohl, George Clayton Johnson, Earl Hamner, Jr., Reginald Rose, Harlan Ellison and Ray Bradbury. Many episodes also featured adaptations of classic stories by such writers as Ambrose Bierce, Lewis Padgett, Jerome Bixby and Damon Knight.

Twilight Zone Creator Rod Serling

The term “twilight zone” predates the television program, and originally meant simply a “gray area.” (Intelligence analysts in the early Cold War labeled a country a twilight zone if there was no definite U.S. policy on whether to intervene militarily to defend it.) Rod Serling himself chose the title of the series, and said that only after the series aired did he discover that the “twilight zone” was also a term applied by the US Air Force to the terminator, the imaginary border between “night” and “day” on a planetary body.

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CBS purchased a teleplay in 1958 that writer Rod Serling hoped to produce as the pilot of a weekly anthology series. The Twilight Zone episode “The Time Element” marked Serling’s first entry in the field of science fiction.

The story is a time travel fantasy of sorts, involving a man named Peter Jenson (William Bendix) visiting a psychoanalyst, Dr. Gillespie (Martin Balsam), with complaints of a recurring dream in which he imagines waking up in Honolulu just prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. “I wake up in a hotel room in Honolulu, and it’s 1941, but I mean I really wake up and it’s really 1941,” he explains, concluding that these are not mere dreams; he actually is travelling through time. However, Dr. Gillespie insists that time travel is impossible given the nature of temporal paradoxes. During his

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dream, taking advantage of the situation, he bets on all the winning horses, all the right teams and, eventually, tries unsuccessfully to warn others — the newspaper, the military, anyone — that the Japanese are planning a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. His warnings are seen as crazed ravings, and are either ignored or met with physical violence, as he is punched out by an engineer who works on the USS Arizona, after insisting that it will be sunk on December 7. Jenson’s dream always ends as the Japanese bombers fly overhead on the morning of December 7, prompting him to yell out “I told you! Why wouldn’t anybody listen to me?”. Jenson finally discloses to Dr. Gillespie that he was actually in Honolulu on December 7, 1941. While on the couch, Jenson falls asleep once again, only this time, Japanese planes flying overhead shoot inside the windows of his room and he is killed. When the camera cuts back to the doctor’s office, the couch Jenson was lying on is now empty, and Dr. Gillespie looks around, confused. Although Jenson had smoked earlier, the ashtray is empty. He looks in his appointment book and finds he had no appointments scheduled for this day. Gillespie goes to a bar and finds Jenson’s picture on the wall. The bartender said that Jenson tended bar there, but was killed in Pearl Harbor.

William Shatner in ''Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.''

With this script, Serling drafted the fundamental elements that would distinguish the series still to come: a science-fiction/fantasy theme, opening and closing narration, and an ending with a twist. But what would prove popular with audiences and critics in 1959 did not meet network standards in 1957. “The Time Element” was purchased only to be shelved indefinitely, and talks of making The Twilight Zone a television series ended.

This is where things stood when Bert Granet, the new producer for Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, discovered “The Time Element” in CBS’ vaults while searching for an original Serling script to add prestige to his show. “The Time Element” (introduced by Desi Arnaz) debuted on November 24, 1958, to an overwhelmingly delighted audience of television viewers and critics alike. “The humor and sincerity of Mr. Serling’s dialogue made ‘The Time Element’ consistently entertaining,” offered Jack Gould of The New York Times. Over six thousand letters of praise flooded Granet’s offices. Convinced that a series based on such stories could succeed, CBS again began talks with Serling about the possibilities of producing The Twilight Zone. “Where Is Everybody?” was accepted as the pilot episode and the project was officially announced to the public in early 1959. “The Time Element” is rarely aired on television and it was only available in an Italian DVD box set titled “Ai confini della realtà — I tesori perduti” until it was shown as part of an all night sneak preview of the new cable channel TVLand.

Throughout the 1950s, Rod Serling had established himself as one of the hottest names in television, equally famous for his success in writing televised drama as he was for criticizing the medium’s limitations. His most vocal complaints concerned the censorship frequently practiced by sponsors and networks. “I was not permitted to have my Senators discuss any current or pressing problem,” he said of his 1957 production The Arena, intended to be an involving look into contemporary politics. “To talk of tariff was to align oneself with the Republicans; to talk of labor was to suggest control by the Democrats. To say a single thing germane to the current political scene was absolutely prohibited.”

Twilight Zone’s writers frequently used science fiction as a vehicle for social comment; networks and sponsors who had infamously censored all potentially “inflammatory” material from the then predominant live dramas were ignorant of the methods developed by writers such as Ray Bradbury for dealing with important issues through seemingly innocuous fantasy. Frequent themes include nuclear war, mass hysteria, and McCarthyism, subjects that were strictly forbidden on more “serious” prime-time drama. Episodes such as “The Shelter” or “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” offered specific commentary on current events. Other stories, such as “The Masks” or “The Howling Man,” operated around a central allegory, parable, or fable that reflected the characters’ moral or philosophical choices.

Despite his esteem in the writing community, Serling found The Twilight Zone difficult to sell. Few critics felt that science fiction could transcend empty escapism and enter the realm of adult drama. In a September 22, 1959, interview with Serling, Mike Wallace asked a question illustrative of the times: “…[Y]ou’re going to be, obviously, working so hard on The Twilight Zone that, in essence, for the time being and for the foreseeable future, you’ve given up on writing anything important for television, right?” While Serling’s appearances on the show became one of its most distinctive features, with his clipped delivery still widely imitated today, he was reportedly nervous about it and had to be persuaded to appear on camera. Serling often steps into the middle of the action and the characters remain seemingly oblivious to him, but on one notable occasion they are aware he’s there: In the episode “A World of His Own,” a writer with the power to alter his reality objects to Serling’s unflattering narration, and promptly erases Serling from the show.

The original series contained 156 episodes. Seasons 1, 2, 3, 5 were half hour shows. The fourth season (1962-1963) contained one-hour episodes……Source(s) Wikipedia

Warlock was a 1989 horror film produced by New World Pictures and distributed by Trimark Pictures. It was directed by Steve Miner, written by David Twohy, and produced by Roger Corman. The cast includes Julian Sands, Lori Singer, and Richard E. Grant. The sound track was by Jerry Goldsmith.

The film runs for 103 minutes in color with Dolby sound and in the English language. It received an MPAA rating of R (under-17 restricted). There was a 1993 sequel to this movie called Warlock: The Armageddon and a third film in 1999 called Warlock III: The End of Innocence. Acclaim Entertainment released a video game based on the films for the Super NES and Sega Genesis in 1995. Bluewater Productions also began a Warlock comic book series in 2009.

Trivia:

• Scene in the theatrical previews indicating that the Warlock was the satanic Messiah was cut some time before video distribution.
• The film was originally completed in late 1988 and was one of the last films completed by distributor New World Pictures when they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The film’s trailer was actually shown before early 1989 theatrical releases. Instead of going direct to video, Warlock was picked up and released in theatres by Trimark Pictures in 1991. It’s box office success lead to a sequel, “Warlock: The Armageddon” in which Trimark also released theatrically.

The Horror of Party Beach (working title Invasion of the Zombies) is a 1964 horror film in the beach party genre, directed by B-movie maven Del Tenney, which Tenney himself describes as “a take-off on beach parties and musicals”.  A small U.S. East Coast beach town experiences a wave of attacks from water plants and dead human tissue mutated from radioactive waste. They coalesce into humanoid form by attaching themselves to skeletons in a shipwreck and immediately proceed to hunt down and kill mostly young women, as is common in the horror films of this era. Despite the murders committed by the monsters, young women in large numbers keep returning to the area and having, for instance, slumber parties, much to the monster’s convenience. Trying to stop the monsters are scientist Dr. Gavin, his young-adult daughter Elaine, and her boyfriend (and his employee) Hank Green, with some unexpected assistance from housekeeper Eulabelle and metallic sodium.

Movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured Horror in one of its season-8 episodes in 1997.

Trivia:

A promotional sign was posted at every theater showing this film which stated: “FOR YOUR PROTECTION! We will not permit you to see these shockers unless you agree to release the theatre of all responsibility for death by fright!” Moviegoers actually had to sign a “Fright Release” before they entered the theater.

Assistant director Wayne Tippit plays one of the two drunks killed by the monster.

Horror author Stephen King cites this as one of his favorite films.

Del Tenney shot this film back-to-back with his film The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964). It was released on double feature with The Horror of Party Beach.

Director Del Tenney was apprehensive about the films combination of the teen beach movie genre and the monster horror genre, not knowing how it would go over with an audience. Tenney said he was admittedly surprised by the films success.

The ‘underwater’ transformation scene of the monsters was actually shot on a stage with images of fish in an aquarium superimposed over the dissolving stage shots.

Most of the secondary characters in the film were locals of Stamford, Connecticut that were cast on location.

Director Del Tenney said he kept the monster suits from this film for years afterward and wore them at parties for laughs.

Chocolate syrup was used for blood during the monster attack scenes.

According to director Del Tenney, there were only two complete monster heads created for the film, which is why in most shots of multiple monsters you don’t see their heads clearly. For the climatic scene at Fingle’s Quarry the shot of the horde of monsters running through the woods was created by superimposing different takes of the complete monsters together.

Shot in three weeks.

Cinematographer/co-writer Richard Hilliard cameos as the father watching the news report of the monster attacks on TV. Del Tenney’s young son and daughter play the children in the same scene.

Alice Lyon’s voice is dubbed throughout the entire film.

Director Del Tenney played the monster that attempts to get the two girls that leave the drug store.

Because of the film’s low-budget, the ‘car crash’ between the two drunks was faked by sound effects and placing the cars at an angle to make them appear to be touching.

For a meeting in which Del Tenney was going to show the film to executives from Twentieth Century Fox to see if they would pick it up, Tenney brought in some folks to wear the monster suits for promotion. One of the monsters just happened to be in the restroom when an executive from Twentieth Century came in. The gentleman freaked out at the sight of the monster Tenney recalled. Everyone had a good laugh about it and Twentieth Century Fox released the film.

One of the films included in “The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (and how they got that way)” by Harry Medved and Randy Lowell.

Sleepwalkers (also known as Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers) is a 1992 American horror film based on an unpublished Stephen King novel and adapted by Mick Garris.

Trivia:

The house of the Sleepwalkers is the same one used in the TV series “The Waltons” (1972).

The actors who play Tanya’s mom and dad, Cindy Pickett and Lyman Ward were also the mom and dad in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986); in real life they are married to each other.

Cameo: [Mark Hamill] One of the police officers who enters the house at the beginning.

Several different famous horror directors make cameo appearances in this movie:

Cameo: [John Landis] Lab technician.

Cameo: [Stephen King] The graveyard caretaker.

Cameo: [Joe Dante] Lab assistant.

Cameo: [Tobe Hooper] Forensic technician.

Cameo: ['Clive Barker'] Forensic technician.

Based on an unpublished Stephen King story.

In the graveyard scene, one of the tombstones reads “Jenny Hicks”. Jenny Hicks was the assistant to the director of the movie.

Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British horror comedy directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather. At the same time he has to cope with an apocalyptic uprising of zombies.

The film is the first of what Pegg and Wright call their “Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy” with Hot Fuzz as the second and upcoming The World’s End as the third.

The film became a surprising critical and commercial success in the UK, and particularly in the US, receiving a very positive response and developing a very devoted cult following soon after its theatrical release.

Trivia:

Many of the Zombie extras are fans of the TV series “Spaced” (1999), which also starred Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and was also directed by Edgar Wright. They were recruited through the Spaced Out fan web site to be in the film.

The phrase “fried gold” originated behind the scenes of Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes and Edgar Wright’s sitcom “Spaced” (1999) and was mentioned several times on the DVD commentaries for that series. It makes several fan-pleasing appearances in the film.

Frequent references are made to Big Al’s claim that dogs can’t look up. This is a reference to the commentary to the second series of “Spaced” (1999) in which Simon Pegg (Shaun) and Edgar Wright talk about Nick Frost (Ed)’s claim that the difficulty in shooting a scene with a dog was due to the fact that dogs can’t look up.

When Shaun, Liz, David, Dianne, Barbara and Ed run into the alternative ‘gang’ as they make their way to the Winchester, there are quite a few comedy partnerships brought together again. Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes – Tim and Daisy from “Spaced” (1999). Lucy Davis and Martin Freeman – Dawn and Tim from “The Office” (2001). Dylan Moran and Tamsin Greig – Bernard and Fran from “Black Books” (2000). Julia Deakin and Nick Frost are, of course, in Spaced too, as Marsha and Mike respectively.

The zombie that Shaun (Simon Pegg) and Ed (Nick Frost) find in their garden is Mary, the checkout girl from the film’s credit montage. A short story detailing her transformation into one of the undead was featured in issue 1384 of the classic British sci-fi comic 2000AD. The issue went on sale 7 April 2004. The strip was called “There’s Something About Mary” and was written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (the film’s co-writers) with art by Frazer Irving.

The game that Ed (Nick Frost) is playing throughout the movie is Timesplitters 2 (2002) (VG).

Shaun (Simon Pegg) complains that Ed (Nick Frost) isn’t his boyfriend, then says, “Thanks, babe.” In season one of “Spaced” (1999), a conversation begins in a similar manner between the two actors (“All right, babe?”). This was, however, a total mistake. The writers used the same joke again, forgetting they had used it in Spaced.

Because of the timing and the indisputable similarity of the names, the distributors were forced to hold the film back until two weeks after Dawn of the Dead (2004) was released in the UK.

In the beginning of the film, when Shaun is riding the bus, the young man in front of him is listening to music. The song that can be heard is the dance club classic “Kernkraft 400″ by Zombie Nation, which itself is a track from the 1984 Commodore 64 game “Lazy Jones”.

When Shaun and the group are running out of Liz’s flat they are all carrying weapons of some kind, but only Shaun actually hits any zombies. This was because only the cricket bat that Shaun was carrying was a padded fake, all the other items were real and would have hurt the extras playing zombies if they had been hit with them.

John and Bernie run the Winchester. These are the real names of the landlord and landlady who used to run Simon Pegg’s local pub, the Shepherds in Highgate. John used to make toasted sandwiches for regulars, hence the reference to “the Breville out back.” Pegg and Nick Frost were regular attendees of the Shepherd’s Thursday night quiz, hence the line “we do the quiz” when Shaun is knocking on the Winchester’s door. Chris Martin of Coldplay, who plays a zombie in the film, also used to attend quiz night.

The “pyjama zombie” had his voiced dubbed over by Simon Pegg.

When Shaun’s girlfriend objects to going out to the Winchester he suggest a few other pubs, one of which is the Shepherds, which actually used to be Simon Pegg’s local pub in Highgate until it was closed and reopened as a themed bar.

Shaun berates Ed for calling the creatures zombies (which they are, of course). This may be referring to the fact that many zombie movies (including Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Resident Evil (2002)) never mention the word “zombie” at all. More likely this is a reference to Danny Boyle, director of 28 Days Later… (2002), and his insistence that it isn’t a zombie movie.

At one point, a zombie can be glimpsed wearing a yellow cycling helmet and lycra shorts. He’s played by comedian Michael Smiley, who made appearances in “Spaced” (1999) as a bicycle courier named Tyres.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) director George A. Romero was given a private viewing of the film near his home in Florida. During the scene in which Ed (Nick Frost) yells into the phone, “We’re coming to get you, Barbara,” Romero was oblivious to the fact it was a direct lift from his film Night of the Living Dead (1968) and only found out later after a phone conversation with director Edgar Wright.

On the DVD (at least the region-two and region-one versions), there is a feature that plays an edited version of the scene where Pete yells at Shaun and Ed for playing the music too loud (“I’ve got to go to fucking work in four fucking hours!”) that has been dubbed over for television airings, thus replacing all obscenities. “Fuck” is replaced with “funk,” “prick” becomes “prink.” The feature has the fitting title “Funky Pete” and is found in the alternate bits section.

According to writer-director Edgar Wright in the DVD commentary, when Ed attempts to cheer Shaun up at the Winchester with plans of binge drinking, he is actually summarizing the events of the next day (Z-day) entirely in drinking references.

All of the newsreaders and television presenters are real people portraying themselves.

While flicking through the Yellow Pages, Shaun finds the number for an Italian restaurant named Fulci’s, a reference to Italian horror director Lucio Fulci.

Nick Frost (Ed) allegedly kept his genitals shaved throughout the production to create a genuine need to scratch that the character demanded.

Most of the posters in Shaun’s living room are of artists on the Ninja Tune record label. These include Funki Porcini and the Herbaliser.

The non-featured zombie extras were paid the princely sum of £1 a day for their troubles.

A poster in Shaun’s flat is an image from the Edgar Wright-directed video for Psychosis Safari by the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster. Members of the band feature as zombie extras and a song of theirs, “Mr. Mental”, is featured on the soundtrack album.

When Noel (Rafe Spall) rings Ed (Nick Frost), Ed calls him Noodle, which is the name of one of the teenagers in an episode of “Spaced” (1999). Noel also says, “E-Ball says you’re holding,” which is a reference to director Edgar Wright, whose nickname is E-Ball.

The word “fuck” is used 77 times in this movie.

The Batoru rowaiaru (2000) (Battle Royale) poster in Shaun’s living room is designed by Fred Deakin of Airside, as is the green poster with the flowers and girl in Liz’s flat. Deakin is also a member of the band Lemon Jellÿ, which provides music for the soundtrack.
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George A. Romero, creator of the films that this movie pays homage to and lampoons, was so impressed with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s work that he asked them to appear in Land of the Dead (2005), the fourth part of his Dead series, in cameos as zombies.

Mary, the zombie in Shaun’s backyard, works at Landis Supermarket. This is a nod to John Landis, who directed An American Werewolf in London (1981), and to the British chain of convenience stores named Londis.

Just when Shaun is exiting the Indian-run deli, which is tuned to a radio station playing songs from Indian movies, the song stops and a newscaster begins speaking in Hindi. The content of the news, when translated in English, is, “People are waking up from their graves.”

David Walliams auditioned for the role of David.

When the army shows up outside the pub, Joe Cornish can be glimpsed as a zombie being gunned down, shown in his video diary on the DVD. He’s being shot in the back, facing toward the camera.

When Shaun and his friends are trying to get inside the pub, horror writer and Frightfest organizer Alan Jones can be seen as a zombie walking past the phone box. He’s the bald one in a checkered shirt.

Director Cameo: [Edgar Wright] during the Remembering Z-Day montage, there is a long shot of the zombies walking through a park; Edgar is the one in black who falls over himself.

Among the voices in the news reports you hear on television and radio you hear David Walliams on a TV news broadcast, Mark Gatiss on the radio, Keith Chegwin hosting the “Fun Dead” programme, and Rob Brydon voicing the “Zombies From Hell” show at the end. Also, the voice heard at the end dismissing the infected monkeys being the cause is Edgar Wright.

Almost all bit-part characters can be seen later in the film as zombies

Shaun walks past a road sign for Weston Park which is a street in Crouch End, London, the same locale as “Spaced” (1999) and where Simon Pegg now lives.

One of the zombies seen in the film previously featured in a TV ad for the Mini as a zombie.

When Shaun is on the phone with Fulci’s Italian restaurant, the voice of the host is Edgar Wright doing a terrible Italian accent.

Northern Irish rock band Ash donated 3 songs used in the film: “Meltdown”, “Orpheus” and “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” featuring Chris Martin. These songs were donated for free as Edgar Wright’s girlfriend, Charlotte Hatherley, played guitar and sang backing vocals for Ash at the time.

The original script called for Shaun to beat Mary and the hulking zombie with a girl’s bicycle.

The garden scenes were originally a lot longer, featuring a hanged man zombie and a woman being eaten by her own dog (The dog was intended to be played by “Spaced” (1999)’s Colin).

The pyjama zombie was originally scripted to walk along the pole it was impaled upon, which is why it is hanging off the end when Diane is doing zombie lessons.

The rifle they use in the Winchester is, naturally, a Winchester model 73, the gun that won the west.

Shaun’s last name is Riley. It can be seen on a poster ad from Shaun’s Disc jockeying days.

Shaun tells Liz that he’s going to take her to “the place that does all the fish”. When he opens the phone book you can see that the restaurant is literally called ‘The Place That Does All the Fish’.

Beetlejuice is a 1988 American comedy horror fantasy film directed by Tim Burton, produced by The Geffen Film Company and distributed by Warner Bros. The plot revolves around a recently dead young couple who become ghosts haunting their former home, a quaint and quiet house on a hill overlooking the fictional town of Winter Rivers located in Connecticut. When a family of metropolitan yuppies from New York City move into the house, the ghosts seek the help of an obnoxious, devious and mischievous “bio-exorcist” named Betelgeuse from the underworld in order to scare the new living inhabitants away permanently. Beetlejuice stars Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jeffrey Jones, Sylvia Sidney and Michael Keaton as the titular Betelgeuse (the film’s title being a phonetic spelling of the character’s name).

After the success of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Burton was sent several scripts and became disheartened by their lack of imagination and originality. When he was sent Michael McDowell’s original script for Beetlejuice, Burton agreed to direct, although Larry Wilson and Warren Skaaren were hired to rewrite it. Beetlejuice was both a financial and critical success, grossing $73.33 million from a budget of $13 million. The film spawned an animated television series that Burton produced, and the unproduced Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian sequel.

Trivia:

• The receptionist in the waiting room is Miss Argentina.
• Tim Burton originally wanted Sammy Davis Jr., a favorite star of his since childhood, to play the role of Betelgeuse but studio executives didn’t like that idea at all.
• Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [music] music by Danny Elfman
• In the wedding scene, Lydia’s dress is a bright red. According to the old rhyme about wedding dress colors, it’s “Married in red, better off dead.”
• During the sequence where Adam and Barbara enter Juno’s office and see her speaking to a recently deceased football team, a movie theater full of ghosts can be seen through Juno’s office window. When the film was first released in theaters, the scene created the illusion that the audience were themselves being watched by the ghosts. Among the ghosts in the audience are a red skeleton and a green skeleton (identical to the ones seen in Tim Burton’s later movie, Mars Attacks! (1996)), a woman with red hair, and two men in suits and Ray-Ban style sunglasses.
• Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [dogs] The Maitland’s deaths are caused by a stray dog wandering around the bridge their car topples over.
• Michael Keaton spent only two weeks filming his part in the film, which lasts 17.5 minutes out of the 92-minute running time. It is Keaton’s favorite film of his own.
• Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [TV commercials] Betelgeuse’s TV commercial.
• Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [stop-motion animation] The sculptures, sandworms, and various effects.
• The original script was a horror film, and featured Beetlejuice as a winged, reptilian demon who transformed into a small Middle Eastern man to interact with the Maitlands and the Deetzes. Lydia was a minor character, with her six year old sister Cathy being the Deetz child able to see the Maitlands. Beetlejuice’s goal was to kill the Maitlands, rather than frighten them away, and included sequences where he mauled Cathy in the form of a rabid squirrel and tried to rape Lydia. Subsequent script rewrites turned the film into a comedy and toned down Beetlejuice’s character into the ghost of an Ebonics-speaking con-artist rather than a demon.
• As the Geffen logo rolls during the intro, soundtrack composer Danny Elfman is heard singing “Day-o, he say day-ay-ay-o.” This was added during post-production and is heard on the released soundtrack.
• The title character of Beetle Juice (1988) is named for a bright red star in the constellation of Orion, Betelgeuse. The studio disliked the title and wanted to call the film “House Ghosts”. As a joke, Tim Burton suggested the name “Scared Sheetless” and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it.
• The only cast member who would initially commit to the project was Geena Davis. Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, and Sylvia Sidney all said no at least once. Producer David Geffen convinced Michael Keaton’s manager to convince Michael to meet with director Tim Burton. Once Michael said yes, Tim Burton personally called Sylvia Sidney and begged her to do the movie, and he flew out to meet with Catherine O’Hara to convince her as well.
• Catherine O’Hara was a replacement for an ill Anjelica Huston as Delia. On the set she met her future husband, production designer Bo Welch.
• The original plan for the dinner party was to have the guests dance to “a song by The Ink Spots,” but Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O’Hara suggested the music be calypso.
• When Adam and Barbra are in the office, a voice on the PA systems announces the arrival of Flight 409 (“Flight 409 is arriving at Gate 3″). On October 6, 1955 United Airlines Flight 409 crashed into a mountain over Wyoming killing all passengers and crew aboard. It was the worst crash in history to that point. To this day, no one knows why it crashed.
• Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [Claymation] The Priest, Fireplace and decomposing versions of Adam and Barbra are all Claymation.
• A toy line was released in conjunction with the film, featuring action figures of most of Beetlejuice’s incarnations, Otho, Adam (whose figure featured him wearing a red baseball cap), and the Shrunken Head Man from the waiting room, whose figure was named “Harry the Haunted Hunter” and came with a detachable head showing what he looked like before death.
• Adam and Barbara are the only spirits that look “normal”, compared to the other deceased in the Netherworld.
• Juliette Lewis auditioned for the role of Lydia. Lori Loughlin, Diane Lane, Sarah Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields, Justine Bateman, Molly Ringwald and Jennifer Connelly all turned down the same role.
• The snake scene had been filmed before Michael Keaton was cast as Betelgeuse, and the animatronic snake used bore no resemblance to the actor. After Keaton had been cast, some additional film was shot for the scene, using a stop-motion snake that looked more like Betelgeuse. This was suggested by the studio to make sure the audience knows the the snake is actually Betelgeuse and not some random monster from the afterlife.
• The number 3 is used ’3′ times: The number of times to say commands (“Betelgeuse”, “home”), the number of times to knock on the door to get to the other side, and the number of first class intersessions allotted.
• Producer Jon Peters thought of casting controversial comedian Sam Kinison as Beetlegeuse, but Kinison’s agent never told him about it.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1920 horror silent film based upon Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and starring actor John Barrymore.

The film was directed by John S. Robertson and co-starred Nita Naldi, and is now in the Public Domain

This story of split personality, has Dr. Jekyll a kind and charitable man who believes that everyone has two sides, one good and one evil. Using a potion, his personalities are split, creating havoc.

Trivia:

• Many adaptations of the Robert Louis Stevenson’s novelette were written as plays and performed; the earliest in the United States by Thomas Russell Sullivan opened in Boston on 9 May 1887 and moved to New York City on 12 May 1887.
• In the short Renaissance flashback memory sequence, where Hyde is explaining to Gina about the poisonous mysteries of his secret ring, set pieces and costumes were brought from “The Jest”. That was a hit play in which John Barrymore had starred with brother Lionel Barrymore on Broadway in 1919 before shooting this picture.
• John Barrymore hauled many of his prized potted plants from his apartment to the set to appear in scenery in the movie.
• This was one of the first major productions filmed in Paramount’s then new Astoria Long Island studios. Opened in 1919 the studios underwent a major soundproofing renovation when talkies arrived in 1929.
• Tallulah Bankhead was originally offered the role of Millicent, which eventually went to Martha Mansfield.

David Cronenberg

David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC (born March 15, 1943)is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people’s fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the psychological is typically intertwined with the physical. In the first half of his career, he explored these themes mostly through horror and science fiction, although his work has since expanded beyond these genres.

Trade Mark:

His films generally involve the horror caused by a mutation, by a parasite, or by particular medical conditions.

Uses dark backgrounds.

Films often include explicit carnage.

Frequent references to the Flesh or the New Flesh.

Frequently uses the music of Howard Shore.

Frequently casts Robert A. Silverman.

Movies about crime families.

Frequently casts Viggo Mortensen.

Trivia:

Costumes in his films are usually designed by his sister Denise Cronenberg.

Was set to direct Total Recall (1990). He even wrote a few drafts of the script before Paul Verhoeven took over.

Brother of costume designer Denise Cronenberg.

Father of Caitlin Cronenberg and Brandon Cronenberg.

Uncle of Aaron Woodley

Is of German / Dutch descent

John Carpenter paid homage to him in Escape from New York (1981). One of the United States Police Force guards is on the line with Hauk, then adds that Cronenberg is on the line for him. Another person paid homage to in the movie was George A. Romero, who had Isaac Hayes’s right-hand man named after him.

President of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999

Directed an episode of “Friday the 13th” (1987), The Services, called Faith Healer. 13 years later, he appeared in the Friday the 13th film (unreleated to the series), Jason X (2001).

Was offered the chance to direct Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) but he declined.

His crew referred to the final Brundlefly monster seen in the climax of The Fly (1986) as the Space Bug.

Father was a bookstore owner and sometime columnist for the Toronto Telegram. Mother was a piano rehearsal accompanist for the National Ballet.

Father died at age 61.

Deferred his own salary to make Spider (2002).

Father of Assistant Director Cassandra Cronenberg.

Cites Winter Kept Us Warm (1965) as his inspiration for becoming a filmmaker. It was screened at the University of Toronto when he was a student.

Has admired bugs and insects since childhood. This fascination has lingered on, and can be felt through many of his films.

At one point, Cronenberg was in line to direct the film “The Singing Detective” (2003), with Al Pacino in the lead.

Turned down the chance to direct “Top Gun” (1986).

Turned down the chance to direct RoboCop.

His regular cinematographer until 1988 was Mark Irwin until Dead Ringers (1988), on which Irwin was unable to work because of his commitment to The Blob (1988). Cronenberg then hired Peter Suschitzky, who became his regular cinematographer, and Cronenberg and Irwin have not worked together since then.

His father was a journalist and his mother played the piano. These roles are reversed in The Fly (1986), in which Jeff Goldblum plays the piano to impress Geena Davis, who plays a journalist.

Has often referred to The Brood (1979) as his own twisted version of Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).

Parasite is a 1982 horror/science fiction film starring Demi Moore in her first major film role.

Plot: In the far future, an atomic disaster has reduced the world to poverty. Instead of a government, America is run by an organization called the Merchants, who exploit the degenerate remains of society. In order to keep control of the populace, the Merchants force Dr. Paul Dean (Robert Glaudini) to create a new life form, a parasite that feeds on its host. Realizing the deadly potential of such a being, Dean escapes the Merchants with the parasite, infecting himself in the process. Now on the run, he travels from town to town, studying the parasite so that he can find a way to destroy it, all the while keeping one step ahead of a Merchant named Wolf (James Davidson) who is hunting for him. While resting in a desert town, he is attacked by a gang of hooligans (Cherie Currie, Freddy Moore, Natalie May, Joanelle Romero, Tom Villard) led by Ricus (Luca Bercovici), a former slave of the Merchants. The gang steals the parasite, not realizing what it is, and it infects one of the members. Meanwhile, Paul befriends a pretty young lemon grower named Patricia Wells (Demi Moore), who promises to help him destroy the escaped parasite. Ricus, trying to save the life of his friend, comes to Paul for help, only to be confronted by Wolf. Patricia, Paul, and Ricus manage to evade Wolf, but when they return, the parasite has spread to another member and grown into a fleshy worm with a mouthful of deadly teeth. After killing the parasite in Paul, the worm attacks Wolf, who is then blown up by Patricia, Paul, and Ricus.

Trivia:

• Originally shown in 3D.
• Demi Moore met first husband-to-be Freddie Moore on this shoot.

The hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin started the tribute by spoofing the film Paranormal Activity. Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner of the Twilight franchise introduced the Horror tribute, pointing out that it has been 37 long years since The Exorcist was recognized at the annual awards show.