Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, was quite familiar with John Carradine’s work. She
featured several of his less prestigious “films” on Movie Macabre (to be
fair, The Monster Club isn’t so bad). Fortunately, he probably never
noticed or cared, whereas Elvira never embarrassed easily. Whether there was
tension or not, they both guest-starred on “October the 31st,” one
of two Halloween episodes of The Fall Guy, which mostly likely will not
be covered in the new movie reboot—but it screens through May 5th at the Paley Center.
In
the “31st,” Seavers and his proteges, Jody Banks and Howie Munson,
are working on a horror movie so schlocky, it even mortifies its star, Elvira. However,
she sees a silver lining in the manly slab of masculinity that is Colt Seavers.
Throughout the episode, she makes it clear she has one thing in mind, with
dialogue so suggestive, it is almost single entendre.
The
production contracted to shoot on-location in the spooky Deauville mansion,
because the old couple desperately needs the money. Nevertheless, grumpy old
Preston Deauville remains adamantly opposed to their presence, because he worries
someone might discover his secret. His opinion does not change, even after his
untimely death. In fact, Munson and Banks worry Deauville is haunting the production
from beyond the grave.
The
”31st” holds the distinction for featuring the only on-camera
appearance of the entire Carradine acting family together in one scene, when the
three Carradine brothers play servants old man Deauville reluctantly lays-off. The
senior Carradine is just as regally hammy as fans would hope playing Deauville.
However,
the Elvira and Colt show is what drives this episode. Frankly, it is surprisingly
they got away with all the wink-wink naughtiness in early 1980s primetime. Of
course, Cassandra Peterson was delighted. Reportedly, she was frustrated when producers
forced her to tone her Elvira persona when she previously guested on network
series. In contrast, creator Glen A. Larson and episode writer Samm Egan let
Elvira be Elvira. That led to Egan getting the gig writing Elvira: Mistress
of the Dark, the 1988 feature, and Elvira returning to The Fall Guy the
next year, in “October the 32nd.”
It
was sort of horror and sometimes science fiction, but The Twilight Zone was
really a genre unto itself. Still, it is somewhat strange to think how few of
the old school horror movie stars turned up in guest-starring roles (of course,
Karloff had his own competing shows at the time, Thriller and The
Veil). However, not only did the great John Carradine take a detour through
the “dimension of sight, sound, and mind,” his episode also happens to be one
of the most gothic of the series. Yet, it remains a perennial fan and critic
favorite. Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, “The Howling
Man” (S2E5) airs this Monday morning on Syfy.
Charles
Beaumont, the third great Zone writer after Rod Serling and Richard Matheson,
adapted “Howling Man” from his own short story—and he has been ripped off
several times since (most notably by I Trapped the Devil). During the
aftermath of WWI, David Ellington commenced a walking tour of southern Europe
in search of meaning. Caught in a freak deluge, he tries to take refuge in an
austere abbey, but the rustic brothers try to turn him away. It is only when he
collapses from weakness that they relent. However, when he comes to, he
confronts Brother Jerome, demanding to know why they imprisoned the bearded man
wailing in a dungeon cell. Of course, the monk tries to convince him that is
not a man, but rather someone much more sinister.
Tightly
helmed by veteran TV director Douglas Heyes, “The Howling Man” has lost none of
its power in sixty years. It is scary, but it is even more disturbing on a
philosophical and metaphysical level. It is easy for viewers to place themselves
in Ellington’s position and imagine the resulting guilt and torment. Technically,
it is also a great TV production, featuring sets worthy of the old Universal
monster movies and cinematographer George T. Clemens’ surprisingly dramatic angles
and framing.
