Friday, October 20, 2023

Favorite Pic of the Day for October October 21st

Above:

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Thespian Torsos

'For the Lutz family, it was the find of a lifetime. Until they discovered the house has a history they can't escape.'

I was going to do a larger post on the 2005 re-make of The Amityville Horror, but I decided these promotional shots of Ryan Reynolds were more than enough.  Sadly, no tighty whitie scene in the re-make, but Ryan's abs make up for it, and are what most visualize when thinking about the film.

Allen Cutler in Amityville Dollhouse

'A children's doll house, which is a miniature of the infamous haunted Long Island house, is given to a young girl where the demonic evil soon comes out to cause more terror. 


It wasn't just my love of haunted houses that inspired my Amityville themed posts, it was also the cuteness of actor Allen Cutler.  Recently on FH, I've done a few posts on some of the hotties who guest starred on Murder She Wrote.  After recently seeing the season 12 episode, Shooting in Rome, I started searching for Allen who appeared in the episode. 


Sadly, I didn't find any nude scenes, but I did discover his shirtless basketball scene in 1996's Amityville Dollhouse.  The film was the eighth in the Amityville series of films, and one of the least well known.  The movie never actually had a theatrical release, but went straight to a VHS release.


Cutler in The Halfback of Notre Dame (1996)

The film also didn't get the greatest of reviews, with critic Steve Miller adding it to his list of 150 Movies You Should Die Before You See.  TV Guide gave it two stars saying that although it has it's moments,  it adds little to the Amityville franchise.

Amityville Dollhouse

Some of those moments certainly include Cutler who has several shirtless scenes in the film.  Although there is a love scene, nothing is really shown.  The hottest scene featuring Cutler to me, is definitely the basketball scene.


Cutler had a busy career in the 1990's appearing in several films and television shows.  In addition to his appearance on Murder She Wrote, Cutler appeared in episodes of; Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, Sisters, The Pretender, Step by Step, Charmed, The X-Files and JAG.   The actors career seemed to sputter out in the 2000's.  Although he still appeared on a few TV show, (The Closer, Cold Case) the roles were fewer and far between.  Cutler's last credited role was in 2011 when he appeared on two episodes of the show Justified

Dean Cochran in Amityville 1992: It's About Time

'An architect brings home a mysterious old clock, not knowing that it's haunted by the demonic presence of the Amityville house. Soon, the clock begins to alter time and space and starts to possess members of the household.'


Like so many of the sequels and follow-ups to the original, Amityville 1992: It's About Time wasn't a huge success.  Like some of the other films in the franchise, it didn't appear in theatres, but a direct to video release in July of 1992.  The film did however, try to create something unique, with a 'timeless' theme.


Jacob, (Stephen Macht) tells his family, that  Amityville wants his company to develop a new neighborhood with a timeless concept. Jacob has also brought home an old mantle clock that he found in the remains of an old house in Amityville. Jacob puts it on the fireplace mantle, and tells his family that the clock is just what the house was  missing.


Once the clock is on the mantle, things begin to get strange. The clock's ticking is loud; it can be heard upstairs. The clock then mysteriously attaches itself to the mantle, preventing it from being moved. When daughter Rusty (Darmon Martin) goes downstairs in the middle of the night and turns on the living room light switch, the living room is replaced with an ancient-looking torture chamber. This happens until the lightbulb finally burns out.


For fans of the male form, the film does have a scene that comes close to rivaling James Brolin's tighty whitie scene in the original film.  This time, the white briefs are worn by actor Dean Cochran, who plays Rusty's boyfriend Andy in the film.  Sadly we don't see a lot of Andy, or his hot body, as once in the basement, and stripped of his clothes, he melts into the floor. 


Cochran began his professional career in1989 with guest appearances on shows including; Sweet Justice, Step by Step, California Dreams, Beverly Hills 90210 and Silk Stalkings.  On film, in addition to Amityville 1992: It's About Time Cochran appeared in small roles Batman and Robin and Phone Booth.  Like so many young actors from the 80's and 90's, Cochran appears to have left the business with his last official acting credit being an appearance in The Protector back in 2011.

Cameron Monaghan in Amityville: The Awakening

'A desperate single mother moves with her three children into the notorious, supposedly haunted, real-life Amityville house to try and use its dark powers to cure her comatose son. Things go horribly wrong.'


When I was researching movies from the Amityville series, I was shocked how many movies were actually made based on the book and original film.  Many I'd never heard of, Amityville: The Awakening being one of them.  The 2017 film has a great cast including; Cameron Monaghan, Kurtwood Smith, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jennifer Morrison and Bella Thorne. 


Originally made in 2014, the film's release date kept getting pushed back due to the response from audiences during it's many test screenings.  It finally made it's debut in select theatres in 2017, and then quickly released on DVD and Blu-ray.


Monaghan plays Jason in the film, who is brain dead at the beginning of the story.  Thanks to Dr. Milton, with an assist from the supernatural, James is able to communicate with his family through a computer system. James sister Belle, (Thorne) suspects someone is inhabiting his body, and he confirms this, asking her to kill him.

Behind the Scenes

Belle turns off his breathing machine, but instead of killing him, James begins breathing on his own.  The demonic energy within James then takes over,  This ends with an extended scene with James in his underwear, but unliked the original, it's a pesky pair of boxers.  It's also shot very dark, so there's not really much to see.  Thankfully, many of the promotional shots from the film are much lighter than the scene itself.


I really like Monaghan as an actor, and keep meaning to go back and watch Shameless from the start.  The actor had plenty of nude scenes in the series, but I really couldn't get into the show went it first aired.  Maybe one of these days I'll give it another go.