I think the girl in the canoe scene was in each of the first two films (it was definitely the end of the first film); in Part II, the makers may have repeated that scene (turning it into a dream?)… anyway, I sort of liked Dead & Buried (though it was very disturbing); Albertson’s undertaker character fascinated me and the “shock” ending was pretty cool too… high budget flick Dead & Buried was indeed… very creepy and atmospheric film but maybe a little too brutal…. I saw Dead & Buried at the Orleans….
I went to Mastbaum High, starting in Fall 1981— all I ever saw was the worthless Burger King; that’s gone now too? How grand the Midway must have been.
I have this theory about slasher “films” and it is related to your theory re: “nature”; adolescents are fascinated with the body…. and body parts. All a producer has to do is throw in some “nature” and then have the participants ripped apart….. it all relates to the adolescents' fasination with the “body”— and body parts…. in a perverse and different way but it seems to me after 40 years that the universe is perverse and different. I’ll always have the Mayfair “grindhouse” to remember. Thanks again for the info. I like monster movies and have never really enjoyed the slasher genre at all. Even when I was 12, watching Friday the 13th for a dollar at The Crest (Rising Sun Ave) I could sense that slasher flicks were made for and by the mentally disturbed.
Since Romero’s Diary of the Dead came out yesterday, it’s a good time to remember the First Run release of Day of the Dead at the Mayfair in 1985(?); I’m pretty sure I went to see that one twice at the Mayfair. I remember a decent, half filled type of opening night for Day of the Dead. Thanks for info on the murals, it’ll be nice to keep a pic and maybe I’ll subscribe for those other pics. I think I saw that awful film Maniac at the recently closed and demolished Budco/ AMC Orleans. Squirm was part of a double bill that also featured Tentacles— a lousy movie about a giant squid or octopus that had some “stars” like Shelley Winters. There was also this weird flick called Starship Invasion starring Robert Vaughn about an alien invasion that featured a suicide plague. I’ll remember more “grindhouse” type of stuff soon…. thanks again.
I heard the place was on the way out here on this site a couple years ago and I called a buddy in NE Philly to inquire and he told me that the theater was still open but now it’s finally gone… the theater wasn’t as nice as it used to be and in the last twenty years there had been at least one murder just outside the theater 13 years ago or so; car thefts were fairly common… still, the Orleans is clearly where I saw the most pictures. Very sad to see it all go so fast….. I’ll have to get back to NE Philly one of these days.
One of my relatives (a great uncle I think) either painted the murals or was on the team of follks who painted the murals… my grandparents lived up the street on Shelmire St and I spent a lot of time there… I saw some great horror flicks at the Mayfair, including Squirm and Phantasm and The Shining…. I also remember seeing the Sword and the Stone and The Phantom Tollbooth there too…. I really loved that place. I think the last flick I saw there was a repeat viewing of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Let me know at : if you can get me some pics of those murals! Thanks again.
The GCC was always a little strange; i thought it was on the verge of closing since I started going there in the early 70s… man, did I see a lot of movies here… snuck into Return of the Jedi on opening day when I was broke in 11th grade…. weird area, crappy mall.. is chucky cheese and that lousy pinball/ pool arace still in that mall? The last flick I saw there was either Event Horizon or The Arrival… I never saw The Town That Dreaded Sundown but I remember the poster hanging outside (creepy poster) in that neat poster display cases they had… me and my buddies used to go see the midnight showings of The Wall or Romero’s zombie movies… it was the second time that I went to see Night of the Living Dead… they were pretty good with the midnight shows in the early 80s… Scarface… I even caught a neato double feature (1976) of War of the Worlds and When Worlds Collide at the ‘ol Gcc Northeast… sad but time marches on…. check out my free weird philly area based fiction: www.lostharvest.com
I think the girl in the canoe scene was in each of the first two films (it was definitely the end of the first film); in Part II, the makers may have repeated that scene (turning it into a dream?)… anyway, I sort of liked Dead & Buried (though it was very disturbing); Albertson’s undertaker character fascinated me and the “shock” ending was pretty cool too… high budget flick Dead & Buried was indeed… very creepy and atmospheric film but maybe a little too brutal…. I saw Dead & Buried at the Orleans….
gerald clough
I went to Mastbaum High, starting in Fall 1981— all I ever saw was the worthless Burger King; that’s gone now too? How grand the Midway must have been.
Gerald Clough
Mastbaum ‘84
I have this theory about slasher “films” and it is related to your theory re: “nature”; adolescents are fascinated with the body…. and body parts. All a producer has to do is throw in some “nature” and then have the participants ripped apart….. it all relates to the adolescents' fasination with the “body”— and body parts…. in a perverse and different way but it seems to me after 40 years that the universe is perverse and different. I’ll always have the Mayfair “grindhouse” to remember. Thanks again for the info. I like monster movies and have never really enjoyed the slasher genre at all. Even when I was 12, watching Friday the 13th for a dollar at The Crest (Rising Sun Ave) I could sense that slasher flicks were made for and by the mentally disturbed.
Gerald
Since Romero’s Diary of the Dead came out yesterday, it’s a good time to remember the First Run release of Day of the Dead at the Mayfair in 1985(?); I’m pretty sure I went to see that one twice at the Mayfair. I remember a decent, half filled type of opening night for Day of the Dead. Thanks for info on the murals, it’ll be nice to keep a pic and maybe I’ll subscribe for those other pics. I think I saw that awful film Maniac at the recently closed and demolished Budco/ AMC Orleans. Squirm was part of a double bill that also featured Tentacles— a lousy movie about a giant squid or octopus that had some “stars” like Shelley Winters. There was also this weird flick called Starship Invasion starring Robert Vaughn about an alien invasion that featured a suicide plague. I’ll remember more “grindhouse” type of stuff soon…. thanks again.
Gerald Clough
I heard the place was on the way out here on this site a couple years ago and I called a buddy in NE Philly to inquire and he told me that the theater was still open but now it’s finally gone… the theater wasn’t as nice as it used to be and in the last twenty years there had been at least one murder just outside the theater 13 years ago or so; car thefts were fairly common… still, the Orleans is clearly where I saw the most pictures. Very sad to see it all go so fast….. I’ll have to get back to NE Philly one of these days.
Gerald Clough
www.savagerun.com
www.lostharvest.com
One of my relatives (a great uncle I think) either painted the murals or was on the team of follks who painted the murals… my grandparents lived up the street on Shelmire St and I spent a lot of time there… I saw some great horror flicks at the Mayfair, including Squirm and Phantasm and The Shining…. I also remember seeing the Sword and the Stone and The Phantom Tollbooth there too…. I really loved that place. I think the last flick I saw there was a repeat viewing of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Let me know at : if you can get me some pics of those murals! Thanks again.
Gerald Clough
www.savagerun.com
The GCC was always a little strange; i thought it was on the verge of closing since I started going there in the early 70s… man, did I see a lot of movies here… snuck into Return of the Jedi on opening day when I was broke in 11th grade…. weird area, crappy mall.. is chucky cheese and that lousy pinball/ pool arace still in that mall? The last flick I saw there was either Event Horizon or The Arrival… I never saw The Town That Dreaded Sundown but I remember the poster hanging outside (creepy poster) in that neat poster display cases they had… me and my buddies used to go see the midnight showings of The Wall or Romero’s zombie movies… it was the second time that I went to see Night of the Living Dead… they were pretty good with the midnight shows in the early 80s… Scarface… I even caught a neato double feature (1976) of War of the Worlds and When Worlds Collide at the ‘ol Gcc Northeast… sad but time marches on…. check out my free weird philly area based fiction: www.lostharvest.com