Today I made it all the way up to Mission Point. I drove up to the DeCampos Trail, which begins off a residential street just west of O'Melveny Park, with the intention of hiking up part way, maybe a half mile or so, just to get my legs in shape. I hadn't been there since 2018 and the trail is pretty steep, 2 1/2 miles to the top of the hill, or Mission Point as it is known. It's the second highest "peak" in the Valley, and though at 2900 feet it's not Mt. Everest, it's still a pretty good climb and you're getting a lot of elevation gain.
So I began by just going up a short way, but then I said "what the heck" and kept going, all the way to the top. You inspired me, Elizabeth, with your 20 mile hike. I've been up to the top of Mission Point about five times now, and it's nice to know I've still got it in me. I'll try to do it once a year, and who knows, maybe I'll still be doing it at 70. It's really weird saying that, because I'm sixty now, and i don't even know what that feels like, to "be" sixty. Inside, as a person I feel like I did when I was in my 30s. Try it out as you age, and you'll see what I mean about how weird it is. When you're young, you have this idea about what "old" is, be it 50, or 60 or whatever, but when you get there, it's a lot different than you thought it was, because you're the same person you always were. You've just been around longer, is all.
Well anyhow, here's to Mission Point and to Mr. DeCampos, who founded the trail. It's an awesome hike, you can see the entire bowl of the San Fernando Valley from the top, and on a clear day you can also see Downtown Los Angeles, 25 miles away.
Tonight's Horror Movie was "Don't Go In The House"(1979), yet another highly notorious and twisted flick from the late 70s. There was a "Don't" fad at the time : "Don't Answer The Phone", "Don't Go In The Basement", "Don't Go In The House". Which means that's exactly where you're gonna go when the movie starts, because the filmmakers are gonna take you there. And when they get you in "The Basement" or in "The House" (or on "The Phone"), they are gonna show you some sick stuff, because they know you are a teenager and you won't be offended. You might think it's gross or horrible, but at the end of the day you bought a ticket in order to be shocked, and the director delivered.
I was nineteen when my friends and I went to see "House" in Westwood of all places, the most genteel of movie settings. You wouldn't think such a film would play there, but it did. The thing is (or was), we were all shocked to the max the first time we saw it, because of one especially graphic scene. This scene was over the top, even for a nineteen year old (but still not as dehumanizing as "Midsommer", man I hate that movie).
Anyway, the moral of the story is "Don't See The Movie". We're re-booting the "Don't" theme, and we're doing it to spare you the gawdawful sickness of "Donald", the film's main character (played by the legendary Dan Grimaldi). For extreme shock value, "House" is every bit as vile as I remembered it. But, it was also a little slow. For a DIY production, however, it did have some creative touches that I'd long forgotten, such as a critical disco scene (very hip for 1979), and most importantly, a subtheme of child abuse, which gives the film a redeeming quality, messagewise.
The corpses in the picture are well done, on the same level as those in last night's far superior "Deranged". They are state of the art, and I forgot to note that "Deranged" was co-directed by Allan Ormsby, who created the original state-of the-art Zombies for his masterful "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things", which we reviewed some time ago. So anyway, yeah - the art direction in "Don't Go In The House" is a partial saving grace. The "House" itself is an Old Decaying Mansion in Noo Joysey, and "Donald" fills it up with dead bodies, ala Ed Gein.
But Grimaldi, good as he is, is no Roberts Blossom, and though "House" is better than average creatively speaking, it's still Way Too Sick To See, unless you are one of The Few, The Hardcore Horror Fans who can deal with such stuff in an objective way. I am currently running through several of the Old Favorites, fright flicks I thought were badass when I was young, just to see if they hold up.
So far, they've been exactly what I thought they were the first time, i.e. "pretty good" or "totally scary" or "truly sick".
I'm watching them again so you don't have to. You can thank me later. ///
In other news, how 'bout them Dodgers? Not too shabby to come from a 3-1 deficit to eliminate the Braves and advance to the World Series once again. I must admit though, that I have to take this Series, in 2020, with a grain of salt. The reason being - and I hate to be a spoilsport - that Major League Baseball only had a 60 game season due to the pandemic. That's less than half a regular season, so a World Series win, if the Dodgers get it, will feel diluted. Very diluted, really. And not quite real, to be honest.
So let's win this election, get this MF outta there, then let's destroy the coronavirus so we can Live Life Again, and get away from all this B.S. of the last four years. Then let's have a real baseball season, and everything else too. See you in the morning.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):) love, love and more love.
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