Mad God And The Tingler
Mad God
Welcome back to Every Thursday is Halloween! Tonight the first movie of our double feature is a suggestion from Zwak! He brought this up a long time ago, it sat on the list for a long time. Then lo and behold, October rolls around and this movie goes out on free streaming. This is a stop motion film for fans of surreal horror, made by Phil Tippett. It took Phil over to 30 years to make this film. That’s a true labor of love.
But is it any good? And what is it about? Tonight I turn to the review by Hey_Sweden for answers:
Written & directed by Phil Tippett, a veteran movie special effects guy who’s worked on franchises such as “Star Wars” and “Jurassic Park”, this is a walk on a truly wild side. It’s a stop-motion animated odyssey into a bizarre and freaky netherworld, as a character called “The Assassin” descends into the depths of Hell, clearly with an agenda in mind, as they work from a rapidly deteriorating map.
Even on his worst nights, Tim Burton probably didn’t have nightmares quite like this. I’ll say right now that this visually oriented picture is not for all tastes. Some people may feel that the “story” (such as it is) lets them down, with not much to engage them other than the grotesqueries on display. It’s definitely an animation film for adults – it’s dark, twisted, and very violent at times. It also tells this “story” through a succession of images rather than a conventional narrative. The viewers will notice that there’s no real dialogue (as we understand it) to speak of.
This magnum opus for Tippett was many years in the making – he began it in 1987, and finally finished it in 2020. While I personally wouldn’t call it a great film, it’s so interesting and provocative to look at that it did hold my attention. That said, it’s good that this has a relatively brief run time of just over 84 minutes.
I enjoyed it, and would recommend it to people looking for something way out of the ordinary.
Thank you, Hey Sweden! I think Zwak made a great film choice for October. Due to the short running time, it is also a great choice for a double feature!
The Tingler
Sometimes, you just want a classic. The Tingler with Vincent Price is one of the better efforts by William Castle, and it has a rubber bug monster that has become immortalized over time. I had a friend who had a replica of it. You can still buy it. I feel like everyone has seen this, so maybe it is an odd choice. I love it though, and it just isn’t October without watching some Vincent Price films.
Just in case you need a brief plot wrap-up, here is a summary from The_Void:
The Tingler marks the second teaming for horror’s greatest actor – Vincent Price, and horror’s greatest showman – William Castle. This film was released later in the same year that their first venture – House on Haunted Hill – was unleashed upon audiences across the world, and the film sees the two men deliver more of what they did with their first feature. House on Haunted Hill was much loved then – and now – for it’s ludicrous plot line and hammy performances, and The Tingler marks another successful fusion of these elements. The plot line is even sillier this time round, and it follows Vincent Price’s scientist as he conducts his experiments into fear. He discovers that when we get frightened, a thing, which he called ‘the tingler’, manifests itself on the spinal column and the only way to rid oneself of this ‘tingler’ is to scream. Deaf mute’s cant scream, however, and soon after discovering that his friend’s wife suffers from that condition, and has an acute fear of blood, Price gets to work on attempting to isolate and remove the tingler.
Thank you, The Void!
Trivia! William Castle loved his gimmicks. During this film, you will notice a blackout scene where Vincent Price starts shouting “It’s loose! The tingler is loose in the theater!” At that point, there were randomly placed heavy buzzers in the theater what would go off, hopefully making people scream. Now when you see that blackout scene, you will know what was going on. It’s not a video error. I don’t need to attribute this to IMDB, it is one of the facts in my amazing green brain.
I have talked and quoted enough tonight, so you enjoy this double feature as we move towards actual Halloween.
So watch! Or don’t! Everything is voluntary! Next week is the last week of Every Thursday is Halloween, and we conclude with All Hallow’s Eve and another to be announced feature!
How much to turn off the political ads?
Is there a tubi premium? If you watch it on a computer, uBlock Origin will block the adds.
On Brave it blocks as part of the browser, no add ons needed.
I have Brave installed but rarely use it.
It used to be my #1 browser but it got so glitchy that Firefox was an upgrade.
If you believe the ads, every candidate is a crook, gleefully doing the bidding of evil men, screwing the people, chortling over rising prices, and mongering war. And, you know, I believe them.
My tits are girded and my loins are flappy.
That sounds backwards.
There are some distended monster stop motion tits and loins in “Mad God.”
“I don’t need to attribute this to IMDB, it is one of the facts in my amazing green brain.”
Wooo! I’m going to watch that one. Love Vincent Price, but never seen this one.
Then I have done my good deed for the day. Enjoy!
I went on a spree this October and watched every Vincent Price movie I could find free streaming. Quite a few I had not seen or did not remember.
Ooh, Tubi has The Jackals.
It’s such a close remake of Yellow Sky that Lamar Trotti gets a screenplay credit even though he’d been dead for something like 15 years.
They’ve also got The Whales of August, in which 75-year-old Vincent Price is the baby of the cast.
I’ll dive into “Mad God”. I’ll save “The Tingler” for later since I need to be up tomorrow.
Love The Tingler.
Opening with an execution was pretty ballsy back then.
It makes an impression.
Did they pass a law everyone has to rip off Bernard Herrman? Two weeks in a row now.
Do you prefer loud synthesizer 80s soundtracks?
Is there anyone who doesn’t?!
I know I do.
I especially like 80s kung fu, where they play loud synth music on the pre-release version, then edit it later so you get choppy choppy music as scenes get cut.
I’m a synth snob, so it depends.
Speaking of editing, did Godfrey Ho ever make a horror flick.
Not in the American sense of horror. He did do Robo Vampire (and sequels) and another vampire series, plus Zombies vs. Ninjas. That’s what I remember offhand.
Yes, the other vampire series includes “The Vampire is Still Alive,” which was an old sark house movie with… Robot Vampires. Hopping about in an English castle. I forgot the name and had to look it up.
Now I want to see Robo Vampire!
Can’t see from here if YT is full movie? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKyhBdQh13g
Also, https://archive.org/details/RoboVampire
Don’t know what else?
Hard to tell because he renamed his movies so much. He called it Counter Destroyer (and at least two other movies) and also at one time it was called Robo Vampire 2 or 3, but then there was a Robo Vampire 2 with a dude in a silver jumpsuit. Roll of the dice if you get the right one.
Fuck if I know, will investigate
“Mad God” asks the question; What if Mel Brooks and Monty Python got really high, wrote a screenplay based loosley off of “The Inferno”, and hired Tim Burton to make it.
I wouldn’t assume those people haven’t got really high.
Tim Burton is way more bright and campy.
I jacked up the quotes on the second movie (Tingler) and had a crap sentence on the opening paragraph. I’m slipping.
I wrote a check the first of the month. Today I found the envelope stuck between the dashboard and windshield.
Tonio will send me a threatening note any moment…
Wow. This is weird. There are a few scenes where I wonder if the “Mad God” movie maker and the artists for Planescape had the same muse.
Or Phil Tippett did art for it, or indirectly inspired it. That is possible.
I poked around the Intertubes. I found no Planescape connection with Phil Tippett. I found an interview with DiTerlizzi about his work on Planescape. I also found this on the art.
Thanks for that. Love Tony’s work.
“The viewers will notice that there’s no real dialogue (as we understand it) to speak of.”
Oooh. That’d make a fun watch with the Cubs on the radio. (<– Thought such, then realized there very probably are *other* noises other than dialogue. STILL! Well. *shrug* Anything can work if you commit to it enough! I have used socks for sale!
Oh! Speaking of: "I had a friend who had a replica of it. You can still buy it." Upset, am I. I was thinking 'Of, course you have friends like that, ' thinking he'd *made* one for himself. So naturally, I clicked, hoping it's been listed since whenever-long ago. Alas, you bastard. Just a damn life-size rubber…. GODDAMMIT. "Tingler,The 1959 Lifesize Creature Prop Replica by Monstarz" Yeah, fuckers, "Approx 20in long."
I was gonna joke about a rubbery-weifu snuggle-pillow, but I can't even do that. Christ. Maybe if I taped it up my junk it'd tingle my balls as I wank it off bunk-time. "Please note this is not a toy, it is a quality collectible designed for display. Bending the Tingler or it's antenna is not recommended."
*throws Ezzie's stuffed dinosaur across the room* That's it. I can't deal with this shit. Call the weekend guy, what do I care?
*Oh, of course
That’s how fed up I am with that. So much autofuck decided to capitalize “fed.” TWICE! They’re watching extra hard.
So how’s the job?
Today went well, though it was a “slow mail day,” even others had little to do. My brief email to boss was a good idea, though I hated doing it, and we’re on the same page, seemingly. Pretty much, stay a bit longer on each rung before I move up.
The part I’m doing now is already routine, other than troubleshooting, though some of that, even, I can sort. Really, I just took too much at once yesterday, when I shouldn’t have and folk shouldn’t have allowed me to.
I think the cutie is going by “Xander.” Huh. I wonder if she’s going by that, or.. whatever she’s doing. She’s a pretty good ringer for Caitlin Clark, but cuter and more feminine.
The work is complicated but not difficult, and the next steps won’t be difficult, IMO. I *enjoy* it, to an extent. I’m glad I have that trait; things are just interesting, regardless of what ‘it’ is. This also gets me in trouble, cuz if there’s a thing to think, I’ll overthink it. See also: I’m typing maybe too many of my thoughts at once. Meh. Like a sneeze, blast it out in one!
Yes. Slow down the thoughts and concentrate on repetition. Treat it like meditation.
It’s too quick to be meditation, but that in itself is the closest I can get to something similar. I hope tomorrow I have a bunch of shit to do, frankly. When we don’t have anything to do, or more explanatory, when we don’t have shit for me to do in my first-month tier, I spend time doin’ pick-up work in the Vault. It’s kinda fun in there.
We shall see. *big distraction* Woah, ha. Yes, we shall. (Hockey is now on Disney and I have access to it? Goddamit. Confusion AND Excitement, She Wrote. (Some dismay, as well?)
A quick note on those red blood effects in “The Tingler:”
The scene was painted grey and filmed in color with the bright red blood contrasting with the grey painted room. Same trick as “Wizard of Oz.”
Wow, that was something.
Mad God was just wild to watch. Thanks for the suggestion, Zwak, wherever you are tonight!
Thanks Zwak! Thanks RJ!
I’ll get to The Tingler over the weekend.
OT in before Neph probably will have something to say about this tomorrow…
lol
A major game studio – and remember, gaming is more profitable than Hollywood – just folded after… Saudi Arabia?!… took it over.
The developer team before and after pics are something else.
Oh yeah. That was a meme a while back.
I remember the first one or two games that pushed tranny stuff at me – it was jarring to say the least. And I don’t play AAA games, mostly indies. These aren’t games with multi-million dollar budgets like BioWare had. They toss in some pronoun play to show how hip they are. There isn’t any deep character development but the creature in front of me is a “they” so I’m supposed to be impressed with the stunning bravery. Pffft.
Excellent choice with the Tingler. Our youth group watched it on 16mm film. A few of us had a heads up on the breaking the 4th wall moment and took the opportunity to tickle the girls backs.
Much terror ensued.
It was also featured in my film history class in college. Definitely a classic
William Castle was just not appreciated properly. He had made close to 100 movies by the time he went full into horror. And he did it so well.
I have yet to show Mr. Sardonicus or 13 Frightened Girls. I need to do that. Not so many people have seen those.
OT Oddity: I keep getting spam texts to Vote by Mail(!!) for fucking Arizona and Maricopa County. This is the third today. This one is for Blue, I didn’t check the others.
Huh.
I was wondering if this was going to happen:
https://redstate.com/kyle-becker/2026/10/22/nfl-confuses-fans-with-abrupt-cancellation-ahead-of-scheduled-game-in-france-n2208483
I bet the whole game gets cancelled next.
“Saints and Steelers unveil new riot-gear style uniforms ahead of their game in Paris”
lol
This pleases me. (Well. Ya know.) Think on their terms: ‘We’re bringing AWARENESS to the imminent social fuckery ahead!’
Fuck, I hate that term. “Raise Awareness for Homelessness” Yeah. I’m well fucking aware of it, and I’m rarely in Indy proper. How was I not aware of it? What does it mean, other than the whatever fluffery you need it to be to get paid? Ah. Yes.
Did you ever have something bump you out of the reality of a movie?
Well, I was watching a TV show called Shooter earlier. On accident. I thought it was the movie.
It started with an interesting scene, as the hero confronts a couple of poachers in the woods. He is supposed to be a famed former special forces sniper.
In the opening scene he demonstrates his expertise in fighting and in weapons as he takes a rifle from one of them and tells them it is inadequate to the task.
As he does so, he flashes both of them repeatedly.
Taking me right out of the scene.
I am inundated with political ads right now.
Mostly local.
Largely negative.
But what I have noticed is that most candidates are not identifying with a political party. Nothing identifying *Democrat for Congress”.
Just the name.
And that they want to bring down costs. Lots of people want to bring down costs.