Category Archives: 2025 Scarecrow Psychotronic Challenge

2025 Scarecrow Psychotronic Challenge Day 2: Zuma (1985)

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2. FANGS FOR WATCHING: Charm your senses with an anguine flick.

Zuma is a comic book movie, but no worries if you’re burned out on those. It’s also super weird.

Phillip (Mark Gil) and Isabel (Dang Cecilio) are archaeologists exploring a temple who discover a sarcophagus filled with snakes. Soon, Zuma (Max Laurel) is unleashing, walking the streets with a giant snake on his shoulder. Don’t get the idea that Zuma is the hero here. He’s a servant of the Mayan god Kukulkan — or the Aztec snake god, depending on where you get the information — and loves finding virginal women to defoul, doing things like sending snakes to bite boyfriends to death while enslaving women like Galela (Raquel Montesa). He also has a daughter, Galema (Snooky Serna), who has snakes in her hair instead of on her shoulders like her dad.

This is way too long — over two hours — but I haven’t watched many Filipino horror films. Just for the idea of a snake god that eats hearts and spoils virgins being made into a movie, well, I had to watch it. I’ll watch the sequel,  Zuma II: Hell Serpent, too.

Just look at this Wikipedia entry about Zuma: “After his revival, he goes to the modern world in a killing rage, slaughtering particularly virgin women, whose hearts are ripped out and consumed, which gives Zuma his strength and vigor. Aside from using his two-headed snake as a weapon, Zuma’s powers include invulnerability (specifically, bulletproof) and the ability to control snakes. In later versions, Zuma can heal people. His weakness is the venom from his daughter, Galema, who is also his archenemy. Galema’s mother is a humawhomat Zuma has taken as his bride. Galema grew with foster parents that made her to be a good person. Zuma also beget another child named Dino who has a head of a dinosaur and a body of a human. Dino initially allied with his father, but he later abandoned him because Dino fell in love with a human.”

Never change, the Philippines.

You can download this from the Internet Archive.

2025 Scarecrow Psychotronic Challenge Day 1: The Cry Baby Killer (1958)

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1. INTRODUCING…: A well-known actor’s first movie. Bonus points if it has an “introducing” credit.

“YESTERDAY a Teenage Rebel… TODAY a mad-dog slayer! ”

Jimmy Wallace (Jack Nicholson in his first movie ever) is in love with Carole (Carolyn Mitchell, soon to be the wife of Mickey Rooney; she was murdered by stuntman and actor Milos Milos (also the bodyguard for Alain Delon), who then shot himself. She and Milos had an affair while Rooney was travelling, and the police thought that Milos stabbed her after she wanted to end it.  While Rooney said, “I died when she did,” he quickly married Mitchell’s best friend, Marge Lane, which angers her new man, Manny (Brett Halsey) and his gang, who try to take him out. Jimmy grabs a gun, shoots one of them and goes on the run, taking a cook (Smoki Whitfield), a mother (Barbara Knudson) and her baby hostage to try and get out of the crime.

Directed by Joe Addis and written by Leo Gordon and Melvin Levy, this is one of the few movies thatRogerr Corman claimed he didn’t make a profit on. The TV rights helped, as did playing it as part of a double feature with Hot Car Girl.

According to an interview with co-star Ed Nelson, Nicholson was so mentally overwhelmed by starring in his film debut that he left the entertainment industry to find himself. I guess he did, right?

You can watch this on Tubi.

The 2025 Scarecrow Psychotronic Challenge Is Here!

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Scarecrow Video isn’t just a video store. It’s a landmark for all we love about movies.

Each year, they do a month-long challenge to get people to stretch out and watch some movies they’ve never seen before.

Check out my lists for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

The basic guidelines are:

• Watch at least 1 movie per day during the month of October in whatever order suits you.

• Must fall within the psychotronic definition.

• Have fun and get weird.

• If you see something, say something! Post your watches on social media and make sure to tag them with #SCVpsychochallenge. @scarecrowvideo (Letterboxd, Bluesky) @scarecrow.video.official (instagram) and @scarecrow.video (TikTok)

• Want to be part of B&S About Movies’ Scarecrow entries? Just reply or email me at bandsaboutmovies@gmail.com

Here are the challenges!

1. INTRODUCING…: A well-known actor’s first movie. Bonus points if it has an “introducing” credit.

2. FANGS FOR WATCHING: Charm your senses with an anguine flick.

3. SIMIAN CINEMA: Grab a six-pack of bananas and watch a primate film. Something appeeling.

4. MYTHICAL CREATURES: Though they are hard to capture, you must see one in this feature.

5. SHRIEKS & SQUEALS: This one’s gotta have that sound that makes the hairs on your neck stand up and sends shivers down your spine.

6. SQUEAKY REELS: [whispers] This one came out in 1925. Shhhhh!

7. NOW THAT’S BRASS: Skewer the end of week one with a thrust of metal – be it precious or, better yet, base.

8. HOLY WEDNESDAY: …And on the 8th day the Physical Media God watches a Christploitation flick.

9. MASTER OF DISASTER: Watch any Irwin Allen offering.

10. ESTIMATION…DECIMATION: Today’s forecast is mushroom cloudy with a 100% chance of radiation.

11. DYSTOPIAN FUTURE: Polite society just ain’t what it used to be.

12. MOROSE CODE: Nestle into your favorite dark place to view a Gothic horror piece.

13. HOLLYWOODLAND BACK: Made by an indigenous filmmaker or has featured indigenous cast members.

14. “SHUT THE FACE UP”: Watch a TV edit of an R-rated movie, you fairy godmother.

15. GOES WITHOUT SAYING: Feast your eyes on something with little to no dialogue at all.

16. SEQUELAR SUBTITULAR: You know how sequels sometimes have clever subtitles? Like House II: The Second Story…

17. THE WATCHENING: Today’s film title should end with an -ing.

18. VIDEO STORE DAY: This is the big one. Watch something physically rented or bought from an actual video store. If you live in a place that is unfortunate enough not to have one of these archival treasures, then watch a movie with a video store scene in it at least. #vivaphysicalmedia

19. THE ABANDONED PLACE: This spooky classic trope that must inhabit tonight’s viewing.

20. DANCE DANCE DEVOLUTION: Today’s viewing soiree must be some kind of mutant, freak, or genetic mishappening.

21. TWINNERS CIRCLE: Scientists rejoice! Human cloning has been achieved.

22. WRECK TANGLE: Rubberneck a car crash scene.

23. SURVIVORS?: If anything walks away from a plane crash, the chances of it being healthy are pretty slim.

24. IN YOUR DREAMS: Heavy on the dream sequence, Jack.

25. ELECTRIC SLIP’n’SLIDE: Wriggle your way through a sloppy/goopy good time flick.

26. THAR SHE GLOWS: There be a light house in this plot.

27. TRANCING AND HYPNOTISM: Gold watches ain’t just for retirement.

28. THIS IS JEOPARDY: Ken says you must solve the clues to survive the predicament.

29. “OCCULT”URAL CENTER: This one’s gotta have a supernatural hotspot in it.

30. DEVIL’S NIGHT: Mischief, mayhem or pranks – oh my!

31. I REMEMBER HALLOWEEN: This night, anything goes.

Look for posts starting on October 1.