Author Archives: robin
Before They Were Stars: Greg Nicotero in “Day of the Dead”
On Halloween, I decided to re-watch George Romero’s classic zombie film, Day of the Dead, and had completely forgotten that Greg Nicotero, arguably the most prominent make-up effects guy in Hollywood today, played one of the soldiers. Nicotero actually got … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Christopher Walken in “The Mind Snatchers”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2UgwnP6SZ0 Even though Christopher Walken has been acting since he was a kid, he didn’t get his first lead role until 1972 with this obscure horror/sci-fi outing called The Mind Snatchers about soldiers who get experimented on by having microchips … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: “Campfire Tales”
To celebrate Halloween, I’m going to do a “Before They Were Stars” first: I’m just going to flat-out post an entire movie! Campfire Tales is a 1997 anthology horror film which covers multiple stories about scary urban legends. It would … Continue reading
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Before They Were Strs: Mariska Hargitay in “Ghoulies”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6uLe4IzvDM This is probably one of the more notable “Before They Were Stars” appearances in a horror flick as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay made her screen debut with a supporting role in the infamous 1985 horror-comedy, Ghoulies. … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Bruce Campbell in Sam Raimi’s “The Blind Waiter”
It’s always a joy to uncover the short films Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell made together before The Evil Dead. In 1980, Raimi decided to direct a 17-minute screwball comedy called The Blind Waiter, featuring the wacky antics of Bruce … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Sheryl Crow on “Cop Rock”
Man, is this really the first time The Back Row has ever posted a clip from Cop Rock? Time to put an end to this oversight! In 1990, Steven Bochco, the same man responsible for such acclaimed police dramas as Hill … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Keith David on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElS3-62oxyg It’s pretty neat seeing this old episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood where some kid shows Mr. Rogers how to play Donkey Kong at the arcade. But then a handyman named Keith comes over to fix the machine and you … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Triple H with a Terrible French Accent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsMQKOxrJx8 Before Triple H became a huge star in World Wrestling Entertainment, he started off his career with a stint in World Championship Wrestling under his real name, Jean-Paul Levesque. Because of his French-sounding name, Levesque made a brief attempt … Continue reading
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Robin’s Underrated Gems: Basket Case (1982)
If you’ve ever wondered where the term “grindhouse” originated, it came from theatres located on 42nd Street in New York City which used to feature “bump-and-grind” burlesque and striptease shows. Eventually, these same theatres started to screen the sleazy grindhouse … Continue reading
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Before They Were Stars: Sam Rockwell on “The Equalizer”
With the successful release of the surprisingly good Denzel Washington screen adaptation of The Equalizer last month, I decided to go back and do some research into the 1980s TV series and an awful lot of famous actors made guest appearances … Continue reading
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