Ok Documentary Month is over early

Thanks to being sick,computer issues,car trouble and the upcoming holidays I am ending Documentary month. Sorry about that. Most likely I won't have a new post up until after X-mas. But hope every one has a happy end of year.

Sorry folks

Been sick as shit the past 2 days. So haven't been watching much stuff. Tried to watch Devil times Five this morning but my cold meds knocked me out before I made it more than 20 minutes into the film.

Documentary month Day 15 film 15 Ramones:RAW

Ramones Raw
2004


Back in the mid 2000s we got 2 documentaries about my favorite band of all time. This one is made up of all kinds of video footage that was shot by Marky Ramone while he was in the band. So we get to see lots of behind the scenes stuff covering a pretty big era in the band's history. Sadly the footage is mostly the guys goofing off and bullshitting. And this stuff is boring to even a huge Ramones fan like me. I have never really like Marky,personally or his drumming abilities. So that I think is one of the reasons I don't really care for this documentary. Ramones Raw gets a C+.

Documentary month Day 14 film 14 Perversion for profit

Perversion for Profit
1950s
Bootleg DVD

This is a 50's era documentary about how the "evil" pornography is treating the American way of life. Full of made up "facts" and other bullshit. We have a host who introduces us to 4 different types of porn magazines that are infesting the newstands. They are straight up porn mags,Nudist magazines,Muscle magazines and the men's action/adventure story magazines.

The host informs us how while the straight up porn mags are the most obvious the other types are just as evil. We are told how the Nudist mags are causing young males to go out and rape people. How the muscle magazines are converting our young boys over to the homosexual way of life. And how the men's action/adventure story mags are corrupting all kinds of minds.

While it isn't meant to be this is actually pretty funny and worth watching once for a laugh. Perversion for Profit gets a C.

Documentary month Day 13 film 13 Shock Cinema 1 and 2

Shock Cinema 1 and 2
1990
Brentwood DVD

Hosted by Brinke Stevens,this is a documentary that seems to have been filmed at various horror conventions. Brinke goes around and interviews the following people.Charle "Puppet Master" Band,Fred "Evil toons" Olen Ray,Jeff "Leatherface:TCM III" Burr,Scott "Intruder" Spiegel,David "Nightmare Sisters" DeCoteau,J.R. "Tempe" Bookwalter,Forest J "Famous Monsters of Filmland" Ackerman,Melissa "Angelfist" Moore and about 14 more people. Most of the interviews are interesting. But the suffer cause of how short they are.Brinke does a decent job as the host,but doesn't have the skills to really coax interesting info outta some of the people. Also another negative is each volume is about an hour long. Which for how many people are talked to,isn't enough time to really get much done. Shock Cinema 1 and 2 gets a D.

Documentary month Day 12 film 12 Slam School

Slam School
2002
BCI DVD

This DVD was made in conjunction with the California based Empire Wrestling Federation. In it we have two guys,one of whom was the original Black Ranger on Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers,who go to learn how to become pro wrestlers.

The school is run by Jesse Hernandez. Who is better known as a referee in WWF and a jobber in AWA. Him and one of the wrestlers from the EWF take the two guys and step by step teach them some of the basic wrestling moves. Then we get to see each guy attempt to do these moves.

Sadly this is a pretty boring documentary. The moves they teach are mainly things that anyone  who has watched pro wrestling for more than a few years should already know how to do. Neither Jesse or the other trainer have much charisma. I really have no idea who the target audience for this documentary is. Wrestling fans would be bored to tear with in the first 10 minutes. The only thing that kind of makes it stand out is it does have the original Black Power Ranger in it. Slam School gets a F.

Documentary month Day 11 film11 A night at the Movies:Stephen King

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A night at the movies:Stephen King
2011
TCM TV airing

A night at the movies is a regular series of specials on the amazing Turner Classic Movies channel. And this October they did one with Stephen King. Running right at an hour long it is a must see for any fan of Mr King's work.

We get Mr King sitting down and telling us all about the various horror cinema he loves. Starting with the stuff he saw as a kid at Saturday morning double features,then at the drive-in,and finally up to modern day. He divides it up in segments like Vampires,supernatural,etc. In some ways this comes off as a update/follow up to his great non-fiction book Danse Macabre. Mr King is great at getting to the root of why certain things scare most people. And that part is my favorite thing in the documentary.

I have no idea when this will be aired again. I bet next year in October TCM will show it again. A night at the movies:Stephen King gets a B-.

Documentary month Day 10 film10 End of the Century The story of the Ramones

End of the Century The Story of the Ramones
2005
Rhino DVD

I have been a huge fan of the Ramones for over 30 years now. And was lucky enough to see them 3 times before they broke up. Well a few years back 2 different documentaries about the band came out. The first one I saw was "Ramones:Raw" which was made up of behind the scenes footage Marky "Monkey boy" Ramone filmed during the years he was touring with the band. I found this one very disappointing and kind of worthless. Then there is End of the Century. Which is almost perfect.

We get a great history of how and why the band was formed. Turns out most of the core members all grew up together and formed the band cause well they really had nothing else to do. There is plenty of interviews with people who knew the guys before they became famous. And we get to know the Ramone's real personalities.

The next section of the DVD deals with them starting to tour and the recording of their first album. And WOW this section had info that I had never heard before. Which is strange cause I have done a pile of research of the Ramones.

Next up we get all kinds of interviews with the surviving members. Sadly before this was done Joey had died. But at least we got interviews with Johnny and Dee Dee. Now I had always heard that Johnny is kind of a right wing asshole,and his interviews proves this. Dee Dee sounds and looks like a drugged out Carol Channing. Which always makes me laugh.

One part I really enjoyed is the interviews with all the people that were part of the band for short periods of time. Like Richie,Elvis and CJ. The interview with Richie confirms the stories I have always heard about why he left the band. It seems he wasn't getting his fair share of the money they made off the t-shirt sales. This really sucks,cause he was IMHO the best drummer they ever had.

The DVD has a plethora of extras. Mostly parts of interviews that got cut from the final film. But the best part is a part where Tommy Ramone sits down and tells us who wrote what on the first 3 albums. End of the Century The Story of the Ramones gets an A.

Documentary month Day 09 film 09 His Name was Jason

His name was Jason
2009
Anchor Bay entertainment DVD

This is a  2 DVD documentary about the series of films
that Jason Voorhies has appeared in. Hosted by Tom
Savini,it has interviews with some of the cast. Plus a whole
bunch of people that have nothing at all to do with the Friday
the 13th series. Plus the DVD release came with a coupon to
$7 off a ticket to go see the remake. Well since at the time a
ticket at the local theater was only $7 I got to see the
remake for free.

We get a virtual tour through out the history of the Friday
franchise. Sadly there is so much more this documentary
could have done. There is so many people that were in the
Friday films they could have tracked down and interviewed.
But instead we get segments with one of the guys from
Psych and Adam Green.

Weirdly the second disc which contains stuff that was taken
out of the documentary is better than the actual
documentary. I get the feeling that with some good editing
there is a great documentary here.
Overall unless you find this cheap,like say 5 bucks or under
avoid it. His name was Jason gets a D-.

Documentary month Day 08 film 08 Beyond the Mat-ringside edition

Beyond the Mat-Ringside Edition
1999
lionsgate DVD

When I first heard about this documentary back in 1998 I was super excited for it. So I ended up driving to Houston to see it when it hit theaters. Then bought the dvd as soon as it came out. Well then in 2003 I found this newer version.

Beyond the Mat is a documentary that follows around a handful of pro wrestlers and gives us a idea of what goes on outside the ring. The main people it follows are Mick "Mankind/Cactus Jack" Foley and Jake the Snake Roberts. Foley is at a pivitol moment in his career. He knows cause of injuries his career is almost over. But he has finally made it to the big leagues and wants to make as much money as he can before he retires. We get to see his infamous fall off and then through the cage at a Hell in the Cell match. This is still one of the most shocking moments in wrestling.Then we get to see how his I quit match with The Rock effects his kids and wife. Who are at ringside. Foley takes 20+ chairshots to the head,and you can tell this causes much pain for his family.

Jake the Snake is a sad case. At one time he was one of the biggest names in pro wrestling. But drug problems have now effected him a bunch. He is stuck doing small shows for $50 a pop in tiny towns. There is a scene in which he goes to see his daughter,and you can tell they really can connect. Then later on we get to see a scene that was filmed right after Jake has smoked some crack. And this scene is chilling.

Beyond the Mat ringside edition is a loaded down DVD. We get a neat feature that has Mick Foley and Jesse Ventura watching the film and doing commentary. Plus it ports over the older commentary that has the ring legend Terry Funk. Beyond the mat ringside edition gets a A.

Documentary month Day 07 film 07 Clive Barker Art of Horror

Clive Barker the Art of Horror
1992
Paramount VHS

I had actually forgotten about this short documentary until last October when someone mentioned watching it. This was a promo tape. When you rented Hellraiser III and sent in your receipt to Paramount you got this tape. Some where over the years I lost my copy. So  I was pretty happy when I got a new one.

This is a very short,a little over 30 minutes,interview with Clive Barker. He talks about his thoughts on horror and where he thinks it is headed. We get lots of clips from the various films based off Barker's stories. Sadly pretty much everything in this documentary is stuff that I had heard before in various interviews with Mr Barker.

While this is a interesting piece of horror history,mainly cause of how it was distributed. It is overall disappointing. Clive Barker the Art of Horror gets a D+.

Documentary month Day 06 film 06 Stan Lee's Mutants,Monsters and Marvels

Stan Lee's Mutants,Monsters and Marvels
2002
Columbia Tristar DVD

This DVD is made up of two short documentaries. The first one is titled "Creating Spider-Man" and the second is "Here comes the Heroes". Both of them have Stan Lee sitting down in a comic shop and being interviewed by Kevin Smith. Now quite a few years ago I had picked up both of these documentaries on VHS and loved them. So when I found the DVD at Biglots a year or so ago I knew I had to get it.

The Spider-man centric documentary is up first. And Stan talks about what inspired him to create what I believe to be the first teenage super hero. Plus we get information about Spidey's original artist. Smith of course ask the one question that is on lots of the comic fans mind. Is Mary Jane Watson named after "Mary Jane"? Stan claims he had no idea at the time that Mary Jane was slang for pot. And I do believe Stan on this. One thing I would have liked is more info about how it was for Stan to be working with my favorite Silver Age comic artist Steve Ditko. But overall this is a nice source of info on the early years of the Spidey comic.

Next is another documentary,again with Stan Lee and Kevin Smith. This one about some of the other big name heroes that Stan co-created in the Silver Age. We get lots of great stories about how the famed "Mighty Marvel Bullpen" worked. Plus Stan tells stories about what caused him to create heroes like the Fantastic Four,Thor,Hulk,etc. My only real complaint about this segment is I wish it was longer. But still it is a entertaining watch.

Now the DVD has some extras that weren't on the VHS release. The main one,to me at least,is Stan telling his side of the story about the never released Roger Corman Fantastic Four film. It somewhat contradicts what I have heard from other sources,but is still pretty good. Stan Lee's Mutants,Monsters and Marvels gets a B-.

Documentary month Day 05 film 05 Not Quite Hollywood

Not Quite Hollywood
2009
Magnet DVD

Now before watching this I really didn't know shit about the Australian exploitation film industry. Sure I had seen the Mad Max films and Dead end Drive In. But didn't know how many great films had come outta Australia in the 70's and 80's.

We start off with a quick history of the Australian film industry. And how for many years there was almost no real homegrown directors. But then in the 70's there was an explosion of well done drive in cinema. It started off with mostly sex comedies. But then morphed into every other genre.

What made most of these films stand out was the amazing stunt work. The stunt men down under are fucking insane. We get lots of behind the scenes footage of the stunts being performed. I am surprised more of these stuntmen didn't die doing these crazy stunts.

Well the DVD is loaded with extras. We get a great commentary that has lots of the directors that are talked about in the film. There is a Quentin Tarentino interview with Brian Trenchard-Smith. Plus lots of other fun stuff. Not Quite Hollywood gets a A.

Documentary month Day 04 film 04 Decline of Western Civilization 3

Decline of Western Civilization 3
1997

Been wanting to see this documentary for years now. But since it has never been released I figured I would never get a chance to see it. But thanks to someone I managed to get a copy.

Decline 3 is about the punk rock kids that are homeless in 1997 LA. We get to see their daily lives. Which seems to mainly be begging for change and drinking as much beer as they can afford. Most of these kids come from abusive backgrounds and left home at an very early age.

We also get some footage of LA punk bands of that era. And really none of them appeal to me at all. They all have lots of energy on the stage,but the music and lyrics don't connect with me at all.

Overall this documentary isn't near as good as the first one,but as good if not better than part 2. I would love to find out why it has never gotten any kind of real release. The one rumor I keep hearing is music rights issues. But anyway Decline part 3 gets a B-.

The poll is over and we got a winner

Thanks to everyone that voted. The winner is Devil times five. Will try to get it watched sometime this upcoming week.

Documentary month Day 03 film 03 King of Kong

King of Kong
2007


Who would have thought that a documentary about 2 guys trying to set the world record on Donkey Kong would be so much fun. This is the story of two men. Steve Wiebe,an out of work family man. And Billy Mitchell,a rich man who owns a a hot sauce company. Billy has had the world record on Donkey Kong for decades.

Through out the film Wiebe keeps trying to get Mitchell to play him head to head in Donkey Kong,and Mitchell never does. Even when He is about 10 minutes away. This makes Michell come off as a total asshat. And after reading up on him it seems this is pretty accurate.

We are also introduced to the other "big" names in the world record scene for classic arcade games. And it is loaded with lots of very oddball people. Like the one guy who has set the world record for playing Crystal Castle with his foot.

The DVD comes loaded with hours of extras. There is 2 commentaries that are both fun to listen too. Plus a few updates and deleted scenes. King of Kong gets a A-.

Documentary month Day 02 film 02 Jefftowne

Jefftowne
1998
Troma DVD

Jeff Towne is a 40 year old man with Down's Syndrome. He lives with his invalid mother. And he has three things he loves more than anything else. Beer,Porn and pro wrestling. This documentary was made by Daniel Kraus. Who worked at a movie theater that Jeff hung out at all the time. We get taken on a tour of Jeff's day to day life. Which is him mainly watching TV,3 Stooges shorts and pro wrestling being his favorite shows. Eating piles of food. Drinking a bunch of beer. And looking at cheap porn mags.

Jeff usually spends most of his day hanging around the cineplex in the local mall. He is there so much that the manager gave Jeff a uniform to wear. Jeff does help out some,by cleaning up the lobby and stuff like that. When he isn't hanging out at the theater he is busy getting drunk at the bar in the mall. Or getting porn magazines for free from a local gas station.

The documentary really shows that most of the people at the movie theater really care for Jeff and are worried about what will happen to him when his mother dies. Both Jeff and his Mom are in bad shape. It seems his mom hasn't left their home in over 20 years.

We also get to meet a few former and current theater employees that Jeff has had crushes on. Daniel even shows us a love note that Jeff wrote to one of the former employees. It is typed out in red ink and seems to be just Jeff copying the words written below the pictures in the various porn magazines he has.

One thing I love about the film is how through out the entire thing no one is ever trying to make fun of Jeff or take advantage of him in anyway. Matter of fact the theater owner gets Jeff started improving his life. He gets Jeff into a assisted living apartment. Gives Jeff a real job at the theater and by the end of the film it seems like Jeff is well on his way to being an independent adult.

Since this is a Troma DVD it is loaded with extras. We get 2 or 3 commentaries. One of which has Jeff on it. It is great listening to Jeff commentate on the film. Plus we also get a short sequel to Jefftowne. Where we find out that Jeff is doing great. He is living on his own and still working at the movie theater. Jefftowne gets a A-.

Documentary month Day 01 film 01 Into the Pit:the shocking story of Deadpit,com

I discovered the Deadpit Radio podcast some time back in 2009. And after hearing a few episodes I went and downloaded a bunch of their older shows. While listening to these episodes I kept hearing them talking about some crew of filmmakers making a documentary about Deadpit Radio and the two guys behind it. Well finally this year after making everyone wait for at least 1 1/2 years the documentary was released straight to DVD. So I quickly went and ordered me a copy.

Deadpit Radio was started back in the mid 2000s by two life long horror fans. Wes "Creepy Kentuckian" Vance is the loader and more outspoken of the two. And Aaron "Uncle Bill" Frye is the quieter more intellectual of the duo. They have been friends for many years and it shows. Now I figured the documentary would be about their lives and how  and why they started up the podcast. And while it is ,it is also about how much it sucks to grow up and live in a small southern town when you aren't part of normal society. Neither Wes or Aaron like the stuff that most men in small southern towns like. Instead they have a huge passion for metal music and horror movies. Through out the film we get to see the town they live in. Which is a slowly dying town that is mainly made up of Christian conservatives.

But about halfway through the documentary I started noticing something that was lying underneath the surface. To Wes the podcast seems to be the most important thing in his life. His passion for it really shows and is part of the appeal of the podcast. But for Aaron Deadpit Radio is just a hobby. We see him going to college to get his degree. It seems he wants to become a drug counselor. There is even a part were Wes is mad cause Aaron had to miss part of the podcast,cause Aaron is busy taking his college exit exams. It also seems that Aaron has doubts about how much longer he will be doing the podcast. Now since this documentary was filmed a few years back we do know that Aaron finished college and got the job he wanted. And while he has settled down and had a kid is still doing the show.

Also in the documentary we get interviews with fans of the show and various people involved in the horror film industry. We also get to see lots of footage of the duo are various horror cons. And seeing all this makes me wish there was a good Horror convention with-in driving distance of my house.

Now I gotta say I really enjoyed the documentary. Not sure how much of that is because I am a fan of the podcast. But there is some flaws with this product. There is a few spelling mistakes on the DVD menus and I think on the back cover of the actual DVD. But my biggest complaint is about the price. After making the fans wait so long for it to come out,Rusty Robot production charged $19.95 for the DVD. Which isn't a bad price for a niche market DVD that is suppose to have a very limited print run. But what got me is they wanted 10 bucks for shipping and handling. So to get the DVD it is almost 30 bucks. Well I ordered one and it took about 7 days to get to me. When it got here it was in a plain mailer,not even one with the bubble packing material inside. Plus it had been shipped the cheapest way possible. There is no way the cheap mail and shipping the DVD cost more than 4 bucks. As far as I know there is still copies for sale. If you are interested go to www.intothepitthemovie.com/ . Into the pit:the shocking story of Deadpit Radio gets a B-.

December is Documentary month at Double T's Blog of Reviews

First off thanks to everyone how came and read some of my reviews back in October. That was the biggest month for this blog so far. So I was thinking about doing some other theme months. I could do the norm and review nothing but X-mas movies in December. But two things. 1 everyone will be doing that and 2 there isn't many X-mas movies I really like. So instead I will be focusing on documentaries. Now I don't know if I will be watching a documentary everyday. But I will do my best to get at least 20 or so watched this month. Hope yall enjoy.

Pick what I watch next

Got a handfull of stuff I have never seen from archive.org. So I figured let the 3 people reading this pick what I will watch next.

Slashed dreams AKA Sunburst-1975-Robert Englund

http://www.archive.org/details/SlashedDreams_658

The rats are coming! the werewolves are here!-1972-Andy Milligan

http://www.archive.org/details/TheRatsAreComingTheWerewolvesAreHere

The werewolf of washington-1973-Dean Stockwell


http://www.archive.org/details/WerewolfOfWashington

Devil times Five-1974-Leif Garrett

http://www.archive.org/details/DevilTimesFive_977

Scream Bloody Murder-1973-Slasher

http://www.archive.org/details/ScreamBloodyMurder

The Galaxy Invader-1985-Don Dohler

http://www.archive.org/details/GalaxyInvaderMPEG2

The Astral Factor AKA Invisible Strangler-1976-slasher

http://www.archive.org/details/astralfactorrr

The Vault of horror-1973-comic book

http://www.archive.org/details/CountSchlockulasShockShowVolume12

Drive In massacre-1976-slasher

http://www.archive.org/details/ShockerInternetDriveIn-Week12MassacreDoubleFeature

Land of the Lost Season 01

I was a little too young to see or enjoy this show during it's original run on NBC Saturday morning. But by the early 80's it was syndicated. Airing every Sunday morning on this great independent UHF channel. I would make it a point to get up at 5am just so I could watch it. Well then it stopped airing and I never got to learn if Marshall,Will and Holly ever escaped from the Land of the Lost. Sure CBS reran it for a short while in 1985,where it replaced the short lives but brilliant Pryor's Place. But it seemed like they only showed the first season that time. Well I had almost completely forgotten about the show,till the Sci Fi Channel did a marathon. I recorded about 4 hours of the marathon and had a blast watching the show for the first time in over 20 years. So when earlier this month I found the Universal first season release at a local Fred's store for $5 I couldn't pass it up.

During the opening credits we find out how our lead trio enter the Land of the Lost. And we get a super catchy theme song that will stick in your head for days. After 5 episodes introducing us to the land and some of it's perils,we get a great episode that helps add to the mythology of the show. We are introduced to Enik who is a non-savage version of the show's lead villains the Sleestaks. We learn that the various glowing crystals we have been seeing around the place have many different uses. One of which is opening portals to various dimensions and time frames. This is built on even more in episode 15. Holly meets an older woman that helps her save Marshall and Will. But it isn't until the end that we find out that the older lady is actually Holly from the future. Stuff like this wasn't very common on mid 70's Saturday morning TV shows. Then there is the final episode of season 1. Titled "Circle" it is a well done show,that easily could be the finale of the entire series. But we ended up getting two more seasons. I know I have seen most of season 2,but don't think I have seen more than 2 or 3 episodes of the last season.

This DVD set is bare bones. We get all 17 episodes,but no extras at all. But still the picture and sound look better than I have ever seen them. Land of the Lost Season 01 gets  B-.

Hey Vern It's Ernest the Complete series

By 1988 Jim Varney had done "Ernest goes to camp" some DTV stuff and a shit pile of commercials. So he was given his own live action Saturday Morning kid's TV show. I remember seeing a few episodes and really enjoying it. But by the time "Hey Vern It's Ernest" hit the airwaves I was more interested in sleeping in on Saturday than watching a TV show. But a few weeks back I saw that the entire first,and only,season had been released to DVD. Plus it was priced at $5. And now over the past few weeks I have watched all 13 episodes.

Hey Vern It's Ernest the  complete series
1988
Mill Creek Entertainment DVD set

We start off with a great cover that is very much in the spirit of the show's opening credits. The set has 2 DVDs. Each has around 2 1/2 hours of this somewhat forgotten classic kid's show. I would have liked if they included subtitles or closed captions. But that is a very very minor complaint that isn't  a big deal since the set has such a low price.

Each episode has a main focus,IE Outer Space,Scary Things,Movies,etc. And in most episodes Jim Varney plays at least 4 other non-Ernest characters. Plus we get some other people that were all in the first few Ernest films.

What really surprised me is how the show has held up. I was in my mid teens when it first aired and I did find it funny,but not nearly as funny as I find it now. And I am mid 30's now. I would love to find out why this only lasted one season.Also why that season is only 13 episodes. I thought that most Saturday morning shows of the late 80's did at least 17 episodes per season.

The picture and sound are great. Before this release all you could find was some old VHS releases that didn't look near as good as these DVDs. I am pretty sure that not all the episodes got a VHS release. Hey Vern It's Ernest gets  a B.

Spokanarchy!

Spokanarchy!
2011
Carnage & Rouge DVD

I have always enjoyed documentaries about music scenes. So when I received this DVD and it's soundtrack I was excited to watch it. Spokanarchy! is about the 80s era Spokane Washington punk rock scene. Before seeing this film I had seen the documentary "Hype" which was about the Seattle 90s era music scene. And I had no idea that during the 80s that eastern Washington had such a thriving and great punk rock scene.

We get interviews with at least 15 different bands. And through them we are told the history of the punk scene in that era. It seems that Spokane was a forgotten city. No big concerts came to the city. So the kids started up their own clubs to play music at. One of the places that most of the bands played was an old auto body shop called Moes. But sadly the place ended up getting closed down by some conservative forces.

Through out the film,we get to see all kinds of live footage. Which captures the raw emotion and power of the music. Two bands that stood out to me are Sweet Madness and Terror Couple. Sweet Madness has a very pop sound,but without the cleaned up sound that most pop bands have. And Terror Couple has a more standard 80's era punk rock sound. From the various interviews we learn that Sweet Madness is the band that really started the whole scene in Spokane. And I can see why,they have a infectious energy that makes me want to sing along.

But the documentary isn't all happiness. We get to see how heroin infected the scene and almost killed it. We get a chilling scene where one guy is shown shooting up. And you get to see the scars and track marks all over his body. Now I have always had a major fear of needles,and seeing him shoot up into his scared up and damaged foot freaked me out.

The DVD also has a great slide show that has plenty of zines and flyers from that era. It was lots of fun to see these. I have always had a love for DIY zines and flyers and these didn't disappoint. There is also a trailer,a short film plus the Spokane reunion that took place a few years ago.

This documentary easily is in my top 10 music based documentaries of all time. It is a great time capsule of a music scene that I doubt most people outside that area knew much about. After watching it,I ran to my computer ripped the soundtrack and put it on my MP3 player. The soundtrack has 16 tracks from 13 bands. The standout tracks are. Sweet Madness-I need Electricity,Terror Couple-This is Spokane,Fuck LA,S&M-Overdose OK,TFL-Sharon Tate and Sweet Madness Concrete River. The rest of the songs on the soundtrack are OK. But the above mentioned ones are what caught my attention.

So to sum it all up,If you are a fan of documentaries,punk rock music or just music in general this is a DVD you need to see. Spokanarchy! gets a A-.

Deathmate Black

Deathmate Black

This was the other Deathmate book done by the Image crew. And it seems that Jim Lee and Mark Silvestri's studios did most of the work. Set in what seems to be a few years in the future. This shows a world that reminds me of the world from Battle Angel Alita. You get a team made up of members of Cyberforce,Wildcats,X-O Manowar and Turok. And what made this book stand out for years,you get the first apperence of most of the Gen 13 teens. While this has great artwork and a pretty interesting story,it has almost no ties to the other 7 Deathmate books. But this is still my favorite of all teh Deathmate books and the only one I have read more than 4 times. I liked how they updated Turok and the various changes done to the other Valiant heroes appearing. I know for some time after this came out it was the only of the Deathmate books that you had to pay over cover price to get. Mainly based on how hot Gen 13 was for a time. But now it is found in the cheap bins along with the rest of this series. If you feel the need to read Deathmate and don't know where to start pick this up. There is really no need to read the rest of the series to understand what is going on. Deathmate Black gets a B+.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 31 twelveth film

Now I have been a huge fan of the Ernest character for years. So recently I got a DVD that had "Ernest goes to camp","Ernest goes to Jail" and "Ernest scared stupid". I haven't seen any of these three films in over a decade.

In this film Ernest is a garbage man in a small town. We find out that the town has a legend about a troll. Well Ernest is helping his younger friends to build a tree house way out in the woods. Well this tree is in the town witch's backyard. She finds out and tells Ernest that he is descended from a troll hunter. Who captured the evil troll Trantor and placed him into the tree the tree house is built in. She warns Ernest that if he places his hand on the tree and says "Yeah I call thee forth, Trantor!" the troll will be released. Well of course Ernest being the idiot he is he does this. And the troll is released.

Well the rest of the film is Ernest and the kids fighting off the troll. They discover that the troll one main weakness is milk. So we get plenty of water balloons and super soakers filled with milk. Then finally at the end Ernest manages to defeat the troll and everyone is happy.

It amazes me how well this film holds up today. I know I saw it in theaters. And pretty sure I saw it a few times on VHS. Ernest Scared Stupid gets a A.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 31 eleventh film

From dusk to dawn
1996
Dimension Collector's Series DVD

We start off with a Texas ranger heading into a liquor store. He talks to the clerk for a few minutes then heads back to use the bathroom.Then we see the Geko brothers running up and confronting the clerk. They hear that the cop is coming back out,so they hide again. Well the Gekos come back out and shot the ranger. Then also killed the clerk. And on their way out they set the place on fire.

We find out that the younger brother had just helped the older brother escape from prison. They have robbed a bank and are now on their way to Mexico. They end up kidnapping an minister and his 2 kids. So they make the minister drive his RV to Mexico. They arrive at the place they are suppose to meet up with their contact. It is a huge bar called the Titty Twister. The older brother says everyone is gonna go inside and have some drinks. While they wait till dawn for their contact to show up.

A little while after they are inside,they discover that everyone working in the bar is a vampire. And we get close to a hour of our "heroes" versus the vampires. We get plenty of great kills. Plus an almost naked Selma Hayek. Finally it is dawn and only the older Geko brother and the daughter are still alive.

Now this DVD set is packed with plenty of extras. The film has a great commentary with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarrentino. Then the second DVD has  the "Full Tilt Boogie" documentary that was made while the filming was happening.Sadly this edition is out of print. And the only version that is in print is the new re-release from Echo Bridge. This version has no extras at all. From Dusk to Dawn gets  a B+.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 31 tenth film

American Psycho
2000
Lionsgate Killer Collection edition DVD

Based on the controversial book,American Psycho is a film that tries to push the envelope. I misses this when it came out in theaters. So I rushed out and rented the DVD the day it came out. Having had read the book years ago I really enjoyed the film.

Patrick Bateman is a upper class yuppie. He works for a business that his father owns. He seems semi-normal,but we quickly realize that he is a sociopath. He has no problem with killing people that bother him. Patrick gets pissed off when someone has a better business card than he does. So he leaves and goes out and kills a bum and a dog.

Later on  Patrick meets up at a party with Paul. Patrick invites him back to his apartment. He puts on some music and comes up behind Paul and kills him with an ax. So Patrick disposes of the body. And then starts taking hookers back to the Paul's apartment. We get a great scene with Patrick buck naked chasing a hooker around the apartment complex with a chainsaw.

After killing a bunch of people.Patrick calls his lawyer to confess to all the killing he has done. He goes back to the dead guy's apartment. Where he has been storing most of the dead bodies. But when he gets there the apartment is cleaned up and a Realtor is showing it to some people interested in renting it. The next day Patrick runs into his lawyer at a bar. The lawyer seems to think that Patrick's phone call was a joke. And the lawyer claims that he saw Paul 10 days ago. So we are left wondering if Patrick has really been killing people,or was it all in his head.

Now the film is very different from the book. But the film is still pretty damn good.The acting is amazing. And all of the kills are well done. American Psycho gets a A-.

31 days of horror Year 3 Halloween Night extra

Halloween series overview

Released in 1978,the original Halloween was for many many years the biggest independent money making film.It is considered by some fans to be the first film in the slasher genre. But I don't think it is. You had films like Black Christmas,Texas Chain Saw Massacre,and all the Italian giallos that came before this one. Bob Clark,the creator of Black Christmas,has said that he had an idea for a Black X-mas sequel set at Halloween. And that he had told John Carpenter this idea.

Halloween-For a slasher film this has very little gore. And is way more stylish than most slasher films.We get a decent killer in Michael Myers. And Jamie Lee Curtis who is called the original scream queen. Now I do enjoy the film ,but think it is somewhat over-rated by most horror fans.B-.

Halloween 2-Made 3 years after the original was such a huge hit. This film isn't nearly as stylish as the original and the gore factor is raised. We get the return of Jamie Lee,who wears an awful wig and Donald Pleasence.I have always hated this entry and find it to be pretty disappointing over all. D+.

Halloween 3:Season of the witch-John Carpenter's original idea was that each year to release a film with the title Halloween ,with each film being a separate film. Kind of a horror anthology ,with each year being a new storyline. When this was first released the fans hated it. Cause it didn't have Michael in it.But we get a great film,that has some good FX. And one of the catchiest jingles I have ever heard.B.

Halloween 4:the return of Michael Myers-5 year after the disastrous showing of Season of the witch,we get a proper sequel to Halloween 2. This is the film that started Danielle Harris's career as a scream queen. And it is a great entry in the series. B.

Halloween 5:the Revenge of Michael Myers-2 years after part 4,we get a new Halloween movie. Sadly it isn't as good as part 4. But we still get a decent slasher film. Besides the crappy ending the overall film is fun to watch. C.

Halloween :The curse of Michael Myers-After the failure of part 5 it was quite a few years before we got the next entry. We get a strange film that tries to hard to explain the origin of Michael. C-.

Halloween 666:the producer's cut-This is only out  there as a bootleg. And is very different from what was officially released. We get a better story. And more explanations to the whole Thorn storyline. Sadly it looks like this cut will never get a legit release. B.

Halloween:H20 twenty years later-This entry ignores parts 3-6 and is a direct sequel to part 2. Too bad it isn't that good. We get a few OK kills. But the storyline isn't that good. C-.

Halloween:Resurrection-This film seems like a quickly made money grab after H20 made a decent amount of money at the box office. We get a super shitty storyline,some bad acting.And the worst of all Busta Rhymes kung fu fighting Michael. The only real highlight to me is a small appearance by Katee Sackhoff.F+.

Halloween remake-After part 8 bombed,we got a remake instead of another sequel.Now this one is the film that divides the fan base. Lots of people hate  it. I am not really sure why. The first half,which deals with Michael's childhood,is entertaining and does a better job explaining why Michael did what he did,than the entire Thorn storyline. The gore FX is well done. And I am sure I will catch shit for this,but I like Scout Taylor Compton better as Laurie than Jamie Lee Curtis. B-.

Halloween 2 remake-This seems to be one of the most hated recent horror films. I have only watched it once,and that time I saw the director's cut. I can see why people don't care for it. But I still think it is better than the original part 2. C-.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 31 ninth film

Deadgirl
2009
Dark Sky films unrated director's cut DVD

Picked this one up at Movie Gallery when it was closing. I had heard some buzz about the film. So when I saw it for 50 cents I had to pick it up.

Rickie and JT are skipping high school. They goto an abandoned hospital. They end up running wild through out the place. And then they find a dark hallway. At the end of it is a girl strapped to a table. Turns out she still seems to be alive.

Well both the boys start fucking the girl a few days later. They realize she seems to be a zombie. So a couple of days later at school one of the guys is bragging to the jocks about this. So of course the jocks want to come bang the zombie chick. But she ends up biting one of them. At first it seems like this has no effect on him. But later that week he is at school in the bathroom and shits all his guts out into the toilet.

The two guys realize that if they get deadgirl to bite another girl they will have another piece of ass. So they are waiting in a parking lot to get this one girl. The get the girl they want. And head back to the abandoned hospital. Deadgirl gets free and Rickie and the new girl try to escape. But they get seperated. Rickie starts searching for her . He finds her but sees that JT has stabbed her in the back with a knife. Plus JT got bit by Deadgirl. So JT begs Rickie to let him bite the girl. We cut away then we see Rickie walking down the hallway and into a room. Where he has the now new zombie girl tied down to a table.

Deadgirl is one of the more original zombie movies to come out in years. It has some great acting and FX work.Deadgirl gets a B+.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 31 eighth film

Christina's House
2001
MGM DVD

Back around this time last year. I was spending some time with my aunt and saw that one of the neighbors was having a garage sale.So I went over to see what all they had for sale. The only thing that caught my eye was they had some used DVDs for 50 cents each. So I picked up about 8 DVDs.This movie was one of the ones I got.

The film starts off with a father and his teenage daughter moving into a new house. Quickly she finds herself a new boyfriend. Well things seem to be doing ok,then people start disappearing.

Now the film leaves all kinds of red herrings as to who is the killer in this film.We get clues pointing to the father,the boyfriend and the handyman. For a horror film this one has very very few kills. The few we get are somewhat gory,but still don't make up for the small amount we get. Then right near the end we get some Saw-like traps. And sadly this is the best thing in the film.

This DVD is barebones. And the film is extremely shitty. The acting is pretty bad. Plus the kills are pretty lame.Christina's House get a F+.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 31 seventh film

Laid to Rest
2009
Anchor Bay unrated director's cut DVD

We start off with a woman waking up inside a coffin. She has no idea who she is. She gets out and starts being chased by a guy wearing a chrome face mask. From this minute to the end of the film we get Chromeface chasing this girl all over the place. She does eventually remember who she is.

This is a film that is known for it's FX stuff and not for the plot. The plot is simply a way to get from one gory practical FX piece to another. The FX stuff is simply great. We get all kinds of nice bloody kills. Now I just heard a interview with the director and he admitted that most of the FX stuff is practical with small touches of CGI. Now I have watched the movie 4 times now and have never spotted the CGI. Laid to Rest gets a C+.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 31 sixth film

My Bloody Valentine
1981
Lionsgate Uncut DVD

I saw this years ago on HBO at my cousin's house. And enjoyed it. But I kept hearing about how much was cut out.So I keep looking for a uncut release. Then in 2009 right before the 3d remake hit theaters,Lionsgate released a uncut version to DVD.

20 years ago there was a cave in ,in the local mine. And 5 guys got trapped. By the time a rescue crew go to them there was only one guy left alive. He had survived by eating his dead co-workers bodys.This all happened on Valentines day. So the town quits celebrating that holiday

Flash forward to the early 80s. This will be the first year that the town celebrates Valentines Day. There is gonna be a huge dance. And most of the mine workers will be there. But someone ,wearing a miner's mask,is out there killing off people in some pretty gruesome ways.

Now that the film is uncut,we finally get to see how gory this film was meant to be. The former cut footage is of lesser quality,but still looks pretty good. We get some great kills. Plus this is one of the few slashers I have seen where most of the cast is 20's and 30's instead of teenagers. My Bloody Valentine gets a B.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 31 fifth film

Leprechaun
1993
Lionsgate four pack DVD

After a short segment at the beginning that tells us how the leprechaun go to the USA. We see a dad and his daughter,Tory played by Jennifer Anniston,are moving into a new house.They meet up with the crew of guys that are painting the house. Which is made up of a guy,a lil kid,and a retarded fat guy. The retarded guy ends up freeing the Leprechaun from it's prison.The retarded guy,Ozzie,sees a rainbow and goes running off to find the end. The lil kid follows him. At the end of the rainbow they find a pot of gold. Ozzie bites a piece of the gold to see if it is real,and ends up swallowing it.

Well from there we end up getting a film that is basically the Leprechaun chasing after Tory and the 3 painters. There is some decent gore fx,but sadly it doesn't make up for how bad most of the acting is. Anniston is really bad in this,she is so annoying you keep hoping for the Leprechaun to kill her. But sadly that never happens. Usually with most horror franchise series the first film is the best. Not so with the Leprechaun series.I have seen 5 of the 6 them have made. And part 1 is one of the worst of those 5. Leprechaun gets a D+.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 31 fourth film

Last house on the left
1972
MGM collector's edition DVD

After hearing about this film for many many years,I finally picked it up when the first DVD came out. This was the first non-documentary,non-porn film from Wes Craven and Sean Cunningham. There are many many stories about how this film shocked the hell out of audiences back during it's original run. Supposedly this DVD has the most complete version of the film. It seems that lots of movie theaters would edit out scenes. Sadly there is a few scenes that are still missing,and some that have been found but have no sound.

Mari and her friend are on their way to see a concert in the city. They want to pick up some pot before they goto the show. So they ask this young guy they see standing outside a house if he knows were to get any. Well he tells them he has some inside. So they follow him inside and get attacked by the guys father and friends.

The next morning both girls are loaded up into the trunk of a car and Krug and his gang head out. The gang are all escaped convicts. So they are trying to make their way outta the state. Well the car breaks down,and none of them can fix it. So they take the girls and head off into the nearby woods.Mari happens to see that they aren't too far from her home.

Once they get deep in the woods Krug and company start to sadistically torture both girls. After some time they gut Mari's friend. Then Krug brutally rapes Mari and then carves his name into her chest. She wanders off into a nearby lake. So Krug shoots her in the head.

The gang goes and washes up at the lake and then changes into clean clothes. They goto the nearest house and pretend to be a group of salesmen who have broken down. Well the house just so happens to be Mari's home. Earlier on,while trying to escape Mari had given a necklace to Krug's son. After dinner that night the father spots this necklace and him and his wife head out into the woods. They find Mari's dead body on the shore of the lake. So they go back home. The dad starts setting various booby traps. What is it with Wes Craven films and booby traps? Then over the rest of the film the mom and dad kill the gang in some very vicious ways.

Now this DVD is packed with extras.We get a commentary with Fred Lincoln,Marc Sheffler and the late David Hess. The documentary Celluloid crime of the century,a few deleted scenes. And then the footage I mentioned before that has no sound. I keep hearing people,mostly the generation after me,talking about how they don't like the film. And how it is so bad and not worth a shit. Well I gotta say the first time I saw it I was shocked. The various torture and rape scenes are extremely brutal for the time they were shot. Plus the film has this look to it that makes it look more like you are watching some one's twisted home movies. Last House on the Left gets a B+.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 31 third film

Rest Stop:dead Ahead
2006
WB Raw Feed Double Feature DVD

Jess and Nicole are on their way to California. Nicole starts complaining about how she needs to piss. So Jess finds a rest stop. But when Nicole comes back out Jess is missing. She looks all around for him. And he isn't there. Then this crazy truck driver passes by and throws out a red cellphone that belonged to Jess. She starts looking around for help,and finally finds an old bet up RV. After knocking on the door she is invited inside by the fucking insane family. But she is quickly thrown out cause she looked at someone they told her not to look at.

Nicole walks back to the rest stop. Inside the bathroom she finds a woman who is cut up and bleeding. This woman warns Nicole about the truck driver. Nicole turns her head to look at something. And when she turns it back the woman and all the blood has disappeared. Nicole keeps away from the crazy guy driving the yellow truck. But then a cop shows up. She thinks her nightmare is over. But the cop ends up getting hit by the yellow truck.

Nicole drags the cop into the restroom. But while she is distracted by him. The trucker locks the door. She goes to see what is going on. She manages to get the door open somewhat,when the trucker appears and bites one of her fingers off. She goes back to the cop,when all of the sudden a camera is throw into the room. She checks it out and sees a video of Jess being tortured by someone. The trucker shoves a hose threw the broken window and starts pumping gas into the bathroom. Nicole notices a hatch on the ceiling. Since the cop is gonna die anyway,he ask her to shot him with his gun. She misses on the first shot. But finally kills him. Nicole barely makes it threw the ceiling hatch and off the top of the restroom,before it blows up.

Nicole sees the man in the yellow truck standing with his back to her. So she sneaks up and knocks him to the ground. When she rolls him over she finds out that it is really Jess. He has his mouth sewed shut.

Nicole breaks into the park ranger's station that is at the rest stop. She finds an old whiskey bottle,and fills it up with gasoline. Once it is dawn she starts walking down the highway. And she hears the yellow truck approaching. Nicole manages to light her makeshift molotav cocktail. She throws it and it sets the truck on fire. Outta nowhere Jess appears beside Nicole. She sees him and then everything fades to black.

We flash forward,and a new girl has stopped at the rest stop. She finds Nicole inside the bathroom bleeding and crying. So the new girl goes to get the park ranger. But when they come back Nicole is gone. They leave and we see Nicole hiding in the maintance closet,where she is vomiting blood.

We cut to some video footage. It is the dad from the RV,and he is burying the man from the yellow truck. We cut away and then see the man in the yellow truck driving his truck down the highway.

Now before seeing this,I hadn't even heard of it. But it was $5 for Rest Stop:Dead Ahead and Rest Stop:Don't look back. The film has this strange vibe too it. Where you really have no idea what is going on most of the time. But that helps make it different from most  of the DTV horror that has come out the past decade. The acting and the FX are all good. Rest Stop:Dead Ahead gets a B-.

31 days of horror year 3 day 31 second film

Diary of the Dead
2007
Dimension Extreme DVD

I missed this during it's short theatrical run. Then didn't bother getting the DVD for years. Now I kept hearing all the fucking time online about how horrible this film was. And how Romero should be embarrassed to have made it. Well I found the DVD cheap last month and said fuck it I will get it.And really enjoyed it.

We start off with some college students way out in the woods filming a low budget mummy horror film. Then it hits the news that the dead are coming back to life. Two of students quickly leave and go back to one of their houses. The rest of the kids pile up in a Winnebago and head off to the University of Pittsburgh. So they can see if the director's girlfriend is OK.

They arrive and the dorm is a ghost town. Quickly they get the girlfriend and head out to try to get every member of their group back to their homes. Along the way they encounter lots of zombies. And run into a group of survivalist. This group hooks them up with some gas,food,and weapons.

Well thru the Internet they get in touch with the two who left them earlier. And they say they are doing great and they should all come and stay with them. It seems the guy has rich parents and has this huge house loaded down with food and stuff.

After some more adventures they finally get there. But it seems something is weird. The host is acting very strange,then they find out that his parents,the house staff,and the girl that left with him are all zombies. And he is keeping them trapped in the heated pool in the backyard. While going out there to see them ,one of the guys notices that the host is bleeding. So they start preparing for him to turn into a zombie. Which of course happens. And we end up getting a great Romero style "WE ARE ALL FUCKED!!!" ending.

The entire film is filmed by two main cameras. The lead guy,Jason, usually is manning one of the cameras. And the other is passed off to many different people. Like I said earlier I kept reading online reviews about how horrible this was. And sure it isn't as good as say Night of the living dead or Dawn of  the dead. But it is a well done new spin on the zombie film and well worth watching. Diary of the Dead gets a B.

31 days of horror year 3 day 31 first film

Ok gonna try to get 12 films watched today. So there should be a new review every 2 hours or so. No idea if I will manage to do it. But I have 4 two liters of Mountain Dew to help make sure I don't fall asleep.

Dolly Dearest
1992
Epix3 airing

This aired this month on the fucking great channel EPIX3. This channel seems to always  be showing stuff that isn' t out on DVD. I really have no idea how many people get it but fuck it rules. Dolly Dearest ,Well I remember seeing the box cover in various video stores for years. But never rented it. But saw that it was airing,so set the DVR and then transferred it to a DVD-r.

This is about a family of four moving down to Mexico. The dad is taking over a old very well respected doll factory. And right off the bat the dad and the two kids go to visit it. Well while there the daughter finds an old doll that she falls in love with. So the dad lets her take it home. The son wanders off and discovers that there is a archeology dig happening right behind the factory. This gets his attention cause he wants to be an archaeologist when he gets older.

Well over the next few days strange things start happening. The daughter starts freaking out anytime the maid is praying. And then one night when the parents go out the doll kills the maid. Well the son the next day sneaks into the dig site and discovers it is an ancient Sanzia tomb. The Sanzia's are Mexican Satanists. Well it is easy to figure out that some kind of evil spirits have possessed the doll/dolls. And fairly quickly the dolls left at the factory start attacking various people. And what really surprised me is how well done the doll effects are done. I am assuming they used midgets in suits for some scenes. But the doll's faces are very expressive and this helps add to the atmosphere of the film.

Going in I was expecting a low budget Chucky ripoff. And what I got was  a nice medium budget spin on the Chucky films. The acting and FX work are pretty decent and there is a few decent jump scares. Dolly Dearest gets a C+.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 30 comics 05

Curse of the Weird #3

First off I love this cover. The homage to Basil Wolverton caps off what is already an eye catching cover. This issue we get a total of 4 stories. First off is "The Return of the Brain" with pencils and inks by Russ Heath Jr. The brain of  a dead Nazi scientist goes around causing mayhem. Wacky idea that works pretty well. "The Hog" is next,with pencils and inks by the legendary Joe Kubert.Good story about a guy who is a road hog. Really if it wasn't for the Kubert artwork I doubt this story would have been reprinted. But the art is up to Joe usual standards. "Till Death do us part" with pencils and inks by Vic Carrabotta is the next one. Typical husband wants to kill wife story. Sadly nothing really made this stand out,and the artwork is the normal blah stuff from this era. "Where Monsters Dwell" which is written and drawn by the great ,and sadly kinda forgotten,Basil Wolverton. Scientist make a beam that allows them access to another dimension. And it is full of monsters. Lots of great Wolverton artwork that takes what is really a below average story and raises it up a few levels. We get another few pages telling us about the history of these stories and it is a nice piece giving some much needed context. Curse of the Weird #3 gets a A.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 30

Now I have always somewhat enjoyed the various Children of the Corn films. But after part 5 I didn't bother seeing any of them. Well  good friend of mine told me to check out part 666,mainly cause it was a direct sequel to the original. But I never saw it for rental,and never saw the DVD for sale anywhere. Then earlier this month,I found a DVD set that had Children of the Corn 2,3,4,5,666 and 7. And it was priced at $5. So even though I already owned 2-5 I picked it up.

We start off with a young adult girl in her car heading for the town of Gatlin. It seems she was adopted and found out her blood parents were from Gatlin. Well she stops to pick up this old man that is hitchhiking. And he starts acting very strange. Then all of the sudden he disappears and she crashes into a cornfield. The local sheriff shows up and takes her to the local hospital.

While she is there she finds out that Isaac,who was the leader of the corn cult,is still alive. He has been in a coma since the end of the first film. But when she shows up Isaac comes out of his coma. The girl decides to stay the night and goes to the only hotel in the town.

She keeps seeing all kinds of strange hallucinations. And slowly we find out about a  prophecy that she will hook up with Isaac's son and produce the next generation of the Children of the corn. But of course there is a twist

This is ,behind part 4,the best of the Children of the Corn sequels. The acting and story are pretty good. And the kills are fun. I like how they brought back the original Isaac to the series. Children of the Corn 666:Isaac's Return gets a C+.

31 days of horror year 3 day 29 comics 04

Curse of the Weird #4

The final issue of this forgotten mini series. We start off pretty good with a great cover by Tenneyson Smith. This moody cover really stands out. The first story is the never reprinted in color and uncensored classic "Zombie". Written by Stan Lee and with Bill Everett on the art chores this a great slice of pre-code horror. It even was spun off into it's own b/w magazine by Marvel in the 70's. The dark moody artwork must have been a shock to the comic reading public back when this was first published. "The End of the World" is a nice slice of Sci fi. But it not for the great Basil Wolverton artwork it would be just your average story. "Worlds at War" has art by Jack Davis. This funny sci fi story has fun artwork from a guy mainly known for his time working on Mad magazine and his stuff at EC."There'll be some changes made" is the finaly story. And it helps end this issue and the series on a high note. We get stunning artwork from Steve Ditko,and a story that isn't completely predictable. I get the feeling that this mini didn't sell too well. Which is sad cause I would have loved more pre-code reprints of stories. But at the time people seemed more interested in buying gimick covered crap. Curse of the Weird #4 gets a A.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 29

Released in 2001,this film directed by Ernest Dickerson is a tribute to not only Blaxploitation films but Euro horror. I avoided the film,mainly cause I doubted a film with Snoop Dogg as the lead would be worth seeing. But after a bunch of friends told me how much they thought I would like it,I ended up renting it. And really enjoyed it.

Snoop stars as Jimmy Bones. Who was ,back in the 70s,a numbers runner and pot dealer. But he also made sure that his neighborhood was safe. But then his people that worked with him wanted him to start dealing coke,Snoop refused. And so they killed him. Well his ghost started to haunt his home.

We go forward about 20 years. And a group of kids from the nice part of town have just bought Bone's old house. They want to change it into a night club. But Bones comes back and starts killing off people. Bones is after the people who killed him. And we end up getting some great kills. Lots of very interesting camera angles and use of colors. Plus we get Pam Grier as Bone's now middle aged old girlfriend.

When watching the film you can see that Dickerson was inspired by lots of the 60s and 70s euro horror stuff. Mainly the various Mario Bava films. Visually the film is one of the better horror films of the decade of the 2000s. The storyline is OK,sure it has been done before. But at least it is better than lots of other films that get more praise. Bones gets a C+.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 28

Student bodies is a 1981 slasher spoof film. I had not heard about this film till sometime in high school. A guy I knew ,who knew how much I was into horror,loaned me his VHS of it. And I really enjoyed the film. Well I didn't see the film again till at least 10 years later. I saw a divx rip of the film on a torrent site. So I downloaded it and enjoyed it even more this time. So when a few weeks ago I saw that The Movie Channel was airing it,I had to record it. Turns out they aired a nice looking wide screen print.

We start off with a teenage girl who is babysitting some kids. The kids go to bed and the babysitter is waiting on her boyfriend to show up. Well the phone rings and it is someone who keeps breathing super heavy. She hangs up,but the phone rings again. She picks it up and cum starts coming outta the phone. Well she freaks out,but her boyfriend shows up. She sends him off to shower and heads to one of the bedrooms to get ready to have sex with him. Well the killer turns up and we get a great scene of him trying to figure out what weapon he wants to use. He has many many choices but ends up selecting a paperclip.

Well all through out the film we get all kinds of sight gags. Like every time someone is killed we get an onscreen counter to tell us how many people are dead. We also get some onscreen clues as to the various suspects. This film is in some ways like the Naked gun series,in that there is some many gags happening that it takes multiple viewings to see them all.

There is two things about this film that most people remember now. The first one is a short scene about half way in the film. The movie stops and we see an older man sitting behind a desk. He informs us that to get a R rating a film must have graphic violence,graphic nudity or graphic reference to the act of sex. And since it is proven that R rated movies make more money he tells us to "Fuck Off". The other thing that most people remember is Malvert. Who is the strange looking janitor of the school. He seems to be double jointed. In the credits he is said to be played by someone called The Stick. And not much is known about the Stick.

It seems that in the past 15 years we have gotten a shit pile of films spoofing horror films. But none of them are half as good as Student bodies. And just think Student Bodies was made very early on during the slasher cycle of films. Student Bodies gets a C+.

31 days of horror Year 3 TV 04

The Walking Dead Season 02 Episode 02

The show starts with Rick running through a field with Carl in his arms. He is closely followed by Shane and a fat hunter. They are heading to the house the hunter is staying in ,where someone named Hershel is suppose to  be able to get the bullet outta Carl.

Cut to a flashback,it is the day that Rick was shot. And we see Lori waiting for Carl to get out of school. Shane shows up and tells Lori what has happened. Shane says it is his fault. Then Carl comes out of the school and Lori goes and tells him that his father has been shot.

Rick and the rest make it to this house. They tell Hershel that Otis,the fat hunter guy,has sent him. Hershel takes them to a back room and has the women there get all his medical supplies. He ask what blood type Carl is. Rick tells him that him and Carl are the same blood type.So one of the ladies starts to draw some blood from Rick.

Back in the woods Lori,Glen,Daryl,Andrea and the other lady are still looking for Sophie. It will be getting dark soon,so they all agree to head back to the RV.Then the next day they will come back looking for Sophie. Lori is worried cause they heard a gunshot,and they haven't seen Rick,Carl or Shane in sometime.

Back at the RV,Dale and T-dawg are busy getting spare parts and stuff outta all the abandoned cars. Dale ask T-dawg how he is doing. T seems to ignore him,so Dale comes over and confronts him about this. Dale ask to look at T's injured arm. He sees that T has a massive infection and tells him they need to find some antibotics soon. So they start lookin through every car for any kind of antibotic they can find. T is searching in one car's glove box when he discovers a bottle of pills and what I have to assume is a joint. He lights up the joint,then happens to glance into the backseat. He sees a babyseat covered with blood,guts and what looks like brains. This freaks him out and he quickly leaves the car.

Back at the farm house Hershel is busy checking out Carl's wound. It seems the bullet has broke into 6 fragments. He manages to get one out. But he tells Rick that the rest are way deeper plus Carl has some internal bleeding. Plus he doesn't have all the equipment he needs to do what needs to be done to save Carl.Otis says that the FEMA shelter set up at a nearby high school should have everything they need. So Otis and Shane head off to get it. Rick wants to leave to go get Lori,but Hershel tells him he is gonna need to get more blood from Rick for Carl. So one of Hershel's daughters heads off to go find Lori.

Dale walks up to see T-dawg sitting in the shade by the RV. He ask if T found anything,to which T replies that he found a bottle of ibuprofren and the joint. T starts talking about how with him being the only black guy he is sure the group will abandon him soon. Dale goes to feel T's forehead and sees he is burning up with fever.  He gives T some of the pills and tells him to settle down and try to relax.

The group out in the woods is almost back to the RV,when a zombie comes outta nowhere and tackles Andrea to the ground. It looks like she is a goner,but we see someone quickly heading their way on a horse. It is Hershel's daughter who hits the zombie in the head with a baseball bat. She ask which one is Lori and explains to her what has happened. Lori jumps on the horse and is getting ready to head to the farm with her. The daughter tells the rest of them how to get to the farm using the roads. And Lori and her head off.

The rest of the group arrive back at the RV and tell T and Dale what has happened. They all decide to stay the night. They are gonna put up a big sign telling Sophie,if she shows back up there,where they are heading. The group ask Dale how T is doing. Dale tells them that without some antibotics T will die soon. Daryl surprises everyone when he goes to his motorcycle sidebag and pulls out a huge bag of various prescription bottles. It seems this is Merle's stash. He gets out some pain killers and some antibiotics. It seems Merle got the clap a bunch so he always kept some antibiotics around.

Lori gets to the farm house. Goes to see Carl. She starts asking Hershel if he has done a surgery like this before. And he tells her has kind of. Turns out Hershel is  veterinarian. He tells them that Shane and Otis need to come back as quick as they can.

Otis and Shane get to the high school. Only to see that the Fema medical trailer is surrounded by a shitpile of zombies. So Shane thinks of a quick plan. He gets some road flares out of the trunk of a cop car. So the two of them light up the flares and throw them way away from the medical trailer. This causes the zombies to head away from the trailer. So the two guys sneak into it. They find all the stuff they need and are sneaking back out. When the zombie notice them and start chasing them. Shane and Otis get cornered,and Shane uses his shotgun to blow the glass outta two locked doors. They dash inside ,and Shane pulls a secruity gate shut. And we leave the scene with the two of them trapped with only a flimsy looking gate between them and a bunch of angry zombies.

This was a great building up episode. It sets into motion the stuff so that next weeks episode will be jammed packed with action. I liked the flashback,which wasn't in the comic. Plus the ending is a perfect cliffhanger. Making it so you can't wait on next weeks episode. The Walking Dead season 02 episode 02 gets a B+.

31 days of horror year 3 TV 03

American Horror Story Season 01 Episode 03

We start off in 1983. With the hot ass redheaded maid fixing up a bed. A man comes in and starts flirting with her,but she tries to ignore his advances. He gets mad and throws her onto the bed and starts to rape her. When all of the sudden Jessica Lange walks in and catches the two of them. It seems she is in love with the man,and she pulls out a pistol and shots the maid in her right eye. Of course this kills her,then Jessica shots the man 3 times killing him. 

We cut to the mom finding out that thanks to some bad investments,the family is almost broke. And after what happened in the last episode,she wants to sell the house and move into an apartment. But the Dad informs her that they can't afford to do this.

Well the next day or so the mom is out in the front yard cutting some roses and a tour group comes by. It seems the house is one of the stops on the "Eternal Darkness tour". Which takes people around Los Angles showing them different places that people have died. Their home is nicknamed "Murder House". Well the mom decides to go on the tour to see what all the tour guide has to say about the house.

While she is gone ,the woman the father had an affair with shows up. Informing him that she is not going to abort the child. Plus she expects him to pay for her to move out to LA. Finally he agrees to meet with her the next day. Well his next patient comes in and she is so boring his mind starts to wander. He blacks out and wakes up in  the backyard. Laying on the ground and with blood on his hands. He freaks out and runs back inside ,only to see the maid on her hands and knees scrubbing up blood off the floor. She tells him she has already cleaned up his office. He goes into his office to look for the digital recorder he uses during every patients session. But it is missing ,he confronts the maid about it. She denies taking it. And like in previous episodes the maid keeps trying to get the father to fuck her. This upsets him so much he grabs a hold of her and starts to shake the shit outta her. Well this is right when the mother decides to come home and she sees this.

We then cut to the kitchen and the parents are talking about if they should fire the maid. The dad wants her gone. But the maid calmly informs them that if she is fired she will sue them.So they reluctantly keep her. Well the mother has a meeting with the realtor that sold them the house. The realtor is told that she has to sell the house and get what the family has paid for it,and she needs to all she can to sell it quickly.

Well it seems to be the next day,the mom goes off on the Eternal Darkness tour. And while she is gone the father is arguing with the maid. When someone knocks at the front door. It is a detective,who informs them that the boring patient the father saw a few days ago is missing. So now the dad really thinks he has killed the boring woman. Well the ED tour gets to the house. And we learn that the house was built by a doctor who was pretty damn insane. Him and his wife back in the 20's were preforming abortions to pay their bills. Well all of the sudden the mom looks down and the crotch of her pants have this huge blood stain. So her and the father go off to see her doctor. They are informed that nothing is wrong. But that moving is a huge source of stress and they can't chance adding that much more stress to the mom. Or she might have another miscarriage.Later on that day there is a knock at the front door,and the mom goes to answer it. It is someone claiming they are there to see the house. So Connie invites the lady in. And it is the wife of the abortion doctor that first built the house. The wife walks around pointing out various stuff to the mom. They enter the kitchen,and the mom offers the wife a cup of tea. She turns her back to put the tea in the microwave. But when she turns back the wife is gone.

The father goes off jogging and again is confronted by one of the previous owners of the house. This time the burned up man ask for 1000 bucks so he can get some headshots for his next audition. The father of course turns him down. When the dad gets back to the house,the lady he had the affair with shows up and is super pissed. She now wants to tell the mother about the kid she is pregnant with. The dad is escorting her outta the house,when the burned up man pops up and beats the lady to death with a shovel. The dad wants to go call the cops,but the burned up man informs him that this isn't a good idea. So they decide to bury her in the backyard. Well the burned up man starts digging ,and we see that the maid and Jessica Lange are watching from one of the upper windows. Once the man finishes digging he finds a body already buried there. We cut back to the window and the maid is crying. Then Jessica tells her "Well I guess now you will be stuck here forever". So I must assume that this is where Jessica buried the maid's body after she killed her. We get a montage of the dad laying cement over the area and building a gazebo. Then we cut to later on that night they are both in bed. And you see a hand touching the mom's stomach. The camera pulls back and it is the abortion doctor's wife.

This show just keeps getting better and better with each episodes. I like how we find out why in episode two Jessica told the maid "Don't make me kill you again!". Plus we get a bunch more history of the house. American Horror story episode 03 gets a A-.