DAILY CALL SHEET: JANUARY 12, 2025

The Relic (1997) Something is beheading people at the the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and removing their hypothalami. With the help of some cantankerous cops, it's up to the institution's evolutionary biologists to determine what's going on, that is if they can literally keep their heads about them long enough to solve the mystery before the night of the museum's annual fundraising gala. With solid acting from the likes of Tom Sizemore and Penelope Ann Miller, not to mention a pretty nifty monster design, this is the kind of dependable B-level creature feature one could often find in cinemas before the millennium changed.

TIL: The act of placing a relic (a piece of a Saint's body) underneath the altar stone of a Catholic Church goes all the way back to Christianity's beginning when, by necessity, Christians assembled in the Catacombs. A letter from the 2nd Century mentions holding mass over the remains of St. Polycarp, noting, "we took up his bones, more valuable to us than precious stones and finer than refined gold. We laid them in a suitable place, where the Lord will permit us to gather ourselves together, as we are able, in gladness and joy.” The practice is not strictly required these days (there's only so many parts of Saints to go around), but it's still strongly encouraged.

The Night Stalker (1972) A number of bloodless corpses turn up along the Las Vegas Strip, leading investigative reporter Carl Kolchak to suspect a vampire is involved. Both his boss and the authorities tell him to back off the story, even after a man breaks into a blood bank and runs off after being shot multiple times. However, undeterred, Kolchak continues to pursue the story in the name of truth. The script is fairly boilerplate for an ABC movie of the week, but Darren McGavin's portrayal of the beatdown, gruff journalist is an instant classic and makes the movie a must watch. No wonder people clamored  for more.

TIL: Apologetics, meaning to give a reason or defense of an action, comes from the Greek word 'apologian'. That's the word which appears in the original texts of 1 Peter wherein the apostle encouraged Christians to, much like Kolchak, stand up for the truth no matter what. As he put it, we should "always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence; and keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame."

DAILY CALL SHEET: JANUARY 9, 205

The Mutilator (1984) As a child, poor little Ed Jr. accidentally discharges a shotgun into his mother, causing his father Big Ed to have a violent psychotic break. Years later, Ed Jr. and his college buddies head to his family's beach condo for Fall Break (huh?), but someone with a lot of sharp implements lying around isn't happy about their arrival. Could it be Big Ed? Okay, so the Mutilator isn't big on mystery. What it does have, though, is a ludicrously happy opening theme song extolling Fall Break (is that a thing?) and a handful of brutal set pieces guaranteed to please readers of Fangoria.

TIL: Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons (i.e. cutting off a gangrened limb), the Church considers intentional amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations performed on innocent persons to be a violation against a moral understanding of bodily integrity This pretty much nixes anything from lopping off the hands of thieves to gender reassignment surgery. The only exception granted is for non-therapeutic circumcision. Parents can choose that for their child if they wish since the procedure was established by God himself as a sign of the Old Covenant, and therefore by definition cannot be immoral.

Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) Ten years following Dracula's dusting at the hands and cross of Van Helsing, two English couples touring the Carpathian Mountains get talked into staying at the Count's castle. After one of the men is sacrificed to resurrect Dracula, it's up to the tough-talking gun-toting Father Sandor to make sure things don't get out of hand. Christopher Lee's second time around as the titular lord of vampires is Hammer at its artistic peak. Lee actually never says a single word during the entire runtime and yet that somehow makes him all the more regal and menacing. Good stuff.

TIL: Prior to Dracula and Ozzy Osbourne laying claim to the title, the Prince of Darkness was one of the many monikers bestowed upon Satan. It doesn't appear in Scripture, though. The nomenclature first appears in John Milton's poem Paradise Lost published in 1667 where, despite the sinister implications of his sobriquet, the devil is portrayed in a way many interpreted as sympathetic. Don't believe it, though, said C. S. Lewis. In his forward to the 1941 edition of Milton's work, Lewis insists Milton "uses all his skill to make us regard Satan as a despicable human being" by focusing on his egotism and monomaniac concern with himself.

DAILY CALL SHEET: JANUARY 4, 2025

An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe (1970) Vincent Price sits alone on a handful of dimly lit gothic looking stage sets and recites four Edgar Allan Poe stories: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Sphinx, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Pit and the Pendulum. Les Baxter adds a little music here and there. That's all there is to this televised one-man show and that's all you need. Say what you want to about Price's particular acting style (though it better be said with respect around these parts), but his technique couldn't work more perfectly than it does here as the beloved thespian appears to have been born to interpret the master's works.

TIL: It's a shame Price didn't read Poe's "Catholic Hymn", originally published as part of the story Morella. It goes like this: Sancta Maria! turn thine eyes - Upon the sinner’s sacrifice - Of fervent prayer, and humble love, - From thy holy throne above. - At morn, at noon, at twilight dim, - Maria! thou hast heard my hymn, - In joy and wo, in good and ill, - Mother of God! be with me still. - When my hours flew gently by, - And no storms were in the sky, - My soul, lest it should truant be, - Thy love did guide to thine and thee. - Now, when clouds of Fate o’ercast - All my Present, and my Past, - Let my Future radiant shine - With sweet hopes of thee and thine.

Satan's Satellites (1958) Realizing Mars is too far from the sun to grow crops, Martians decide that rather than wasting time conquering the Earth or, you know, simply asking for help, they'll use a hydrogen bomb to move our planet out of the way so Mars can be scooted closer to Sol. It's up to cut-rate Commander Cody stand-in Larry Martin to foil their plans. This is just the Republic serial Zombies of the Stratosphere trimmed of all its cock-a-doodie cliffhanger nonsense to make it suitable for quick and easy viewing. Notable mostly for a young Leonard Nimoy showing up in Martian makeup.

TIL: Based on comments in Aquinas and Augustine, there are a number of folks who believe UFOs/UAPs are not from another planet, but from another plain of existence. Angels and demons, the Saints noted, are pure intelligence with no corporeal bodies, but they can assume physical bodies. And though they can't do miracles, they can affect things in the physical world by using certain material elements. Given this, some believe the unexplained phenomena in our skies are spiritual beings engaged in cosmic warfare. Some might be friendly while others could be... Satan's satellites. Well, it's a theory anyway.

DAILY CALL SHEET: DECEMBER 30, 2024

I HAVE SOME NOTES: Well, thanks to the leap year, I'm reaching the end of the line one day early. This little experiment in jotting down notes/sketches during my daily listen along to the podcast The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) was meant to see if it would make me pay more attention and... I think it worked. This was my fourth year using the podcast (and sixth year through a daily readthrough of Scripture) and I still noticed things I hadn't before. Plus, it was fun. I highly recommend finding your own similar thing to help focus. Doesn't have to be sketching, just whatever works. Thanks to those who tagged along.

DAILY CALL SHEET: DECEMBER 27, 2024

Season of the Witch (1972) After her inattentive butthead of a husband gets abusive, Joan starts hanging out with the new witch in town. In no time, Joan is learning how to cast spells which allow her to seduce the neighborhood hunk. As you might expect, the outlook for Joan's husband becomes bleak. Word has it the film's producers wanted Romero to churn out a Skinemax (or worse) type of flick about frustrated wives who smoke pot and become whores, but the director had more feminist ideas in mind. Mostly forgotten in favor of Romero's better movies, it's managed to develop a cult following amongst the witchcraft is female empowerment crowd.

TIL: As author Noelle Kaiser explains, interpreting the witchcraft of the past as some feminist empowerment fantasy does not align with historical evidence. Those accused were not proto-women's rights activists, but rather healers, midwives, and the occasional oddball unfairly scapegoated during periods of fear and instability. Worse, she notes, "these claims not only misrepresent history but also pose a spiritual danger... The focus on personal spiritual power, pagan rituals, and occult practices distracts from the true wisdom found in Christ and the teachings of the Church." In short, the belief in witchcraft as a feminist power grab most often leads to anger, narcissism, and spiritual collapse.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: One more week of hastily scribbled notes on my daily Scripture readings.

DAILY CALL SHEET: DECEMBER 24, 2024

#OnThisDay in 1932 audiences discovered the Island of Lost Souls. Castaway Edward Parker finds himself stranded on an island where the megalomaniacal Dr. Moreau is creating a race of man-beasts to lord over. Sensing an opportunity to further his foul experiments, the mad doctor plots to mate his panther-woman with Parker. These plans go awry, however, when Moreau's subjects break the holy law imposed on them and rise up against their creator. Though it could use an actual soundtrack, this earliest adaptation of H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau is probably still the best, thanks in no small part to Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi chewing the scenery.

TIL: The movie actually tones down the anti-religious themes in Wells' novel. The film ends with false god Moreau and all his worshipers dying in flames whereas the book has the protagonist convincing the enraged beast people that although Moreau has physically died, his spirit has risen to the sky to watch over them, basically insinuating that the story of Christ’s ascension to heaven was a bald faced lie to control the easily duped. Close to his death, Wells would write Crux Ansata in which he made the "completely rational" demand to bomb Rome to destroy the Catholic Church. Given time, anti-theism always descends to madness, violence, or both.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: Almost done with a year of jotting down notes on my daily Scripture readings.

DAILY CALL SHEET: DECEMBER 21, 2024

Scorsese's 'Saints' show director's ongoing search. My latest for Aleteia takes a look at the famous filmmaker's most recent foray into religious territory as it reaches its midpoint.

I HAVE SOME NOTES: Still dashing out random thoughts on my daily Scripture readings.