The Horror At Gallery Kay

I saw this film a while back and sat with it for a long while...pondering. Then, I had to send my computer away (long story) and thought about it some more while waiting for a new computer to arrive. Lots and lots of thinking. I enjoyed this film and truly think others will like it as well, but I'm not sure many people will give it a fair shake.


There are artistic horror films like THE PASSION OF PAUL ROSS and THE MOOSE HEAD OVER THE MANTEL that I really enjoyed, but that might not play well with a wide audience due to the vision being presented. This is a total shame. THE HORROR AT GALLERY KAY is one of those films for sure and I believe the only fix is to get it into the right people's hands. Maybe this somewhat long winded review will help to do so.





I'm a huge fan of The Night Gallery. Like...massive. I also love Lovecraft and Richard Matheson. Horror at Gallery Kay feels like Lovecraft and Matheson getting together and writing a Night Gallery feature film. Like some of Night Gallery's offerings, the film makers choose to let much of the visuals play in the viewers imagination instead of trying to work up a visual with a small budget that would completely take away from the film. Let me envision something - when it's done properly, it's WAY better than showing me some silly, low rent visual effects that will just come off as silly and sad.

We have several stages of story here that leads the viewer along a fun, odd little tale. Petra and Olive are having relationship issues. Things are rocky and rough and it seems like only one of them cares to try to make it work - the other opting for more of a "oh well, we gave it a go" attitude. Dr. Bozill is kind enough to work with their schedules and fits them into an evening counseling session to see if he might be the bridge to saving their relationship. This is phase one of the tale.



Phase two has us breaking away from Bozill's office and venturing out into the world to see just what is going on at Gallery Kay.

And Phase Three...is off the rails in wild, Lovecraft-like glory.





I had seen the trailer for the film, but didn't read up on it or research before seeing it. I didn't want things to be spoiled. As the film unfolded, I let myself get caught up in the character arcs and storylines. The play between the couple and therapist was wonderful and I found myself getting very caught up in things. I even had a few giggles at well placed humor bits here and there. I let things go, thinking that I might have misunderstood what I was going to be seeing, but I was ok with it because I was having such a good time viewing it.

When the "second phase" kicked in, I smiled a wide smile and thought, "Oh...here we go. I see what you did there. Nice!"  The storytelling and writing really made this for me. Like a great play, I was swept up into the story in a wondrous way. Things go from 30 mph to around 240mph and I enjoyed every moment of the ride.

I think many people will be put off by the "first phase". It really is a relationship story and sets up our characters is great detail with some fantastic performances and camera moves. However, it's not horror or horrifying. The more ADD of viewers will be bouncing in their seats and growling at the screen. However, I found it fascinating. The three actors in the scene are playing their roles to perfection and the kinetic and interesting camera moves help to tell the tale as well. I loved this - letting my idea of horror slip around a bit as I waited for things to play out.

That's what all of these more artistic ventures into horror tend to do for me. They take the genre and weave it in a little different way.  You can even see it in classic genre films like The Iron Rose by Jean Rollin. There are no chainsaw waving, masked madmen. No monsters. No ghosts. But, the ideas and worlds created send shivers up the spine and get the mind working. While I love my maniacs, creatures, and ghosties, I also love a film that gets me thinking and involved in what's going on. Gallery Kay did just that.

The team up of Abe Goldfarb and Mac Rogers was fantastic. I hope that they continue to
work together and get higher and higher budgets to play with. I'd love to se this film play out with a real heavy hitter amount of cash behind it. I loved it at this level and seeing more bells and whistles added into the mix would be a ton of fun.

This is a "thinking person's" horror film.  It's meant to be thought about and if you are not wanting to do that, don't bother with The Horror At Gallery Kay - you won't enjoy it. However, if you like really diving into a film with both feet and your brain on, I believe you'll have a blast with this film.

WELL worth a viddy! 






Abe Goldfarb - Director
Mac Rogers - Writer
Bryan Enk - Producer
Maine Anders - “Petra”
Rosebud - “Olive”
Brian Silliman - “Bozill”
Kristen Vaughan - “The Receptionist ”

Website: https://www.thehorroratgallerykay.com/


The Horror at Gallery Kay (2018) - Official Teaser from Third Lows Productions on Vimeo.

Secret Dungeon

Oh wow.


You move into a place only to find a door in the floor...that leads to a secret dungeon?!?!?!?!  Ok, who's writing the treatment? James Wan, right? :)

So....question. What would you do? Embrace the creepy underworld you are now living over - inviting friends over for whiskey and cigar gatherings or movie nights down below? Or, would you nail the door shut and hope that whatever is down there...under the bricks.....or in the walls...doesn't have enough strength to push the door open for a visit. That is, if it needs to use doors at all....



Moved into new apartment. [Warning: Secret Dungeon]
http://imgur.com/a/vRp3R#zB7s9zc

"Yesterday I moved into my studio apartment. It's in an old English monastery conversion, dates back to the 19th century I reckon, and now has about 30 apartments. I have a tiny room on the ground floor. Got a great deal on the rent, and didn't realise how much value I got until I moved in and found an area worthy of any movie-grade exploration."

The door....in the floor.

"The builders have been down here when the place was being renovated a few years ago, but it seems completely uninhabited since. No mention in the lease. This appears to be the only staircase to the dungeon. I'm debating my next move. More exploration needs to be done, but it's very scary living above it alone."

Rod Serling

I was sitting here watching television when a commercial came on for THE TWILIGHT ZONE. My wife, mother-in-law and I talked about how great the show was and how amazing Rod Serling was as a creator and innovator of the television medium.

Writer, producer, novelist, actor and more, Serling was a fantastic influence on television and the art of storytelling.A paratrooper in the Philippians in the 40s, Serling lived through the war and survived to move on to radio and slid into the ground floor of television. He carved out a little spot for himself in Kraft Television Theater and onward and upward from there.

In 1959, Serling spearheaded THE TWILIGHT ZONE. His first series was a success and went on for five seasons. Science Fiction and Fantasy filled the ZONE with fantastic flights of fancy from some of the best writers in the industry at the time including Serling himself. Eventually, he ended up selling the series to CBS due to the fact that he wasn't able to consistently make money on the project. He wanted his own studio and production company and was willing to give up THE TWILIGHT ZONE to get it.

In 1969, THE NIGHT GALLERY was born. Evidently, he gave up much of the creative control to Jack Laird and regretted it later. However, it was worth it. The Night Gallery was a fantastic dive into a darker realm than the Twilight Zone lived in. The Night Gallery was creepy, full of shadows and scary. Again, Serling penned over a third of the stories himself, but also had the cream of the crop writing for him as well.

Serling returned to radio in 1973 to host The Zero Hour - a radio drama program that featured tales of mystery, suspense and adventure.  He even wrote some of the scripts. You can still listen to the show in podcast form, though the quality is a bit dodgy. 


Serling was involved in a lot more than writing and feature creation. He was an activist and a go getter. He was anti-war and pro racial equality. But, you can look all of that up on the WIKI.

Serling was an amazing thinker who was ahead of his time in many ways. People aim for innovative television series' like The Twilight Zone and The Night Gallery today and, while there are some great shows being produced, they don't break ground like Serling broke in the 50s, 60s and 70s. If death did not take him at age 50, he might have gone on to produce more amazing work in the 80s and 90s. Sadly, we'll never know.

I would have loved a paring of Serling and King or Serling and Clive Barker somehow. Something deep and dark and hard hitting.

Today's J.J Abrams types are fantastic, but much of the ground that they walk on is pathed by the likes of the genius, talent and exploration of Mr. Rod Serling.

Rod Serling. December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975.

Happy Birthday!






Twilight Zone - Time Enough at Last Part One

Night Gallery: The Cemetery

If you have not seen the NIGHT GALLERY series and you're a horror fan, you need to make a viewing happen at once. Start with THE CEMETERY from the pilot episode. It's brilliant and diabolical with some grand storytelling.

The wondrous Rod Serling was behind this effort after the TWILIGHT ZONE and ran from 1969–1973. During that time, a equally wondrous assortment of players graced the show including Vincent Price, Burgess Meredith, Leslie Nielsen, Lindsay Wagner, Agnes Moorehead and many more. Other greats like Steven Spielberg and Richard Matheson were also involved with the production. The stories ranged from witty and comical dark humor to the most horrid and evil nightmares you could imagine. Serling himself acted as host and walked you through the gallery and to the night's painting selection which, in turn, would lead you into the story.

THE NIGHT GALLERY was a major part of my childhood. I loved it with a passion. So good. 

THE CEMETERY

George Macready, Ossie Davis and Roddy McDowall