The Crimson Cage TPB

 

TITLE-The Crimson Cage

SOURCE-AWA Upshot TPB

I  love horror,I love comix and I love pro wrestling. Put all three together and you get The Crimson Cage. The online comic shop I use charges pretty much one  flat shipping fee,which means at times I will grab stuff like "Random lot of 30  horror comics for 10 bucks" deals. Got issue one of The Crimson  Cage. Looked at the cover,same one up at the top which is also the TPB cover. Saw AWA and wondered for a second if Rambo Greg Gagne was publishing comics. Read the issue and saw it was cheaper to get this TPB,was 9 bucks shipped,versus ordering the issues I needed. 

Chuck  Frenzy is a wrestler in the mid 80s working  steady in the south Louisiana territory. The fed  he works for is pretty much the Mid South Wrestling  in this comic's world. He has a best friend that works a face painted monster gimmick. Lots of time is spent in the car those two traveling the LA backroads with Chuck's girlfriend. 

Then late one night coming back from a wrestling event they meet some old witches. Who tell Chuck his future. How he will never lose inside the ropes if there is a roof over the ring. And guess what Chuck starts getting attention from this world's version of the NWA. 

Chuck gets a title shot against Vandal Emerald,Think Ric Flair. Gets promised one thing and gets fucked over. And this is where Chuck's bloody rise up the ranks of pro wrestling starts.

Yea this is Macbeth but put into 1984/1985 pro wrestling in the USA. Filled with wild bloody art. A creative team that either grew up as fans in the  80s era or did a pile of research. I was enjoying this so much that I limited myself to one issue  out of the TPB each night after dinner.

No clue if anything  else from  AWA Upshot is good but The Crimson Cage is a solid A-.

27 years of this WOW

 Yea I didn't realize until halfway  through the month  this marks the 27th year I  have gotten at least one  horror/Halloween thing reviewed each  day in  Oct,minus one year where I missed the last  10 days of the month.

Now all the years before  this blog started the reviews were on an old AOL site I made,and also on a usenet  group. The AOL site is LONG GONE.  The usenet group the posts still might be up no clue. I have a list of what  all I covered  those years. Not sure if I should do them again since they really didn't get  that much  exposure or just  keep focusing on stuff I  haven't covered.

This year I focused more on stuff outta  my  collection. Only streaming a handful  of  films. And of  course every year there are films I watch  in October I  don't review. Like as I write this  Prom Night remake is playing. Might do it  next year might  not.

Thank  you to all that have been here since the start.Bubbleboy,Aero The Jobber,Lord Fanboy and many others. Thanks to the Walrus for alerting me  that  one year Google had decided to take the blog down  thx  to  a nipple showing on a movie  poster?!!!?

31 films watched. Most of them off  DVD/Blu Ray or  4k from my personal collection. 6 of  the  films I streamed. With  2 of those  being  on Youtube. Best film was Sinners,just a well made horror film that kept my attention from start to finish. Worst was Legend of Boggy Creek. Yea I  know for the  generation before me it is a childhood favorite. And if I had seen it as a kid I would have  loved it.  Nah  I saw it  as a grownup that has seen  1000s of horror movies. And  Boggy Creek was just dull.

Out of the  31 films

7 of the films  I know  for sure I have seen  before. 1 I  think I might  have  seen back when  it hit home video in the  VHS days,but when I watched it this month I remembered nothing. 23 were new to me.

I have already got  one film picked out for next year. And there is a few I was gonna cover last year or  this  year that might  get covered next year.

I never do a theme. Just cause I would get tired of just one type of horror film every day for the month. Mostly last few years use October as a way to work through my large NEEDS TO BE WATCHED pile.

Everyone be safe. Have fun. 

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 31 Obsession

 

TITLE-Obsession

SOURCE-Universal Blu Ray

Having grown up about 15 minutes west of Mobile AL when I heard a filmaker from the area had a horror film coming out I wanted to see it. Obsession hits theaters and gets highly praised. Grabbed the  Blu Ray the day it came  out. Then  it sat unwatched for a long time. Got it watched now and  yea....

Our lead is in  his 20s and in  love with a co worker. But  she  just sees him as a good friend. He learns she lost  her crystal necklace so goes to the nearby hippie store,New Age store,and  gets her a necklace and sees One Wish Willows. A willow branch that you break and make a wish and it is granted. Our lead breaks  the branch and wishes the lady was in  love with him. And  the shit starts.

At first she just seems odd.  She is obvious obsessed with  our  lead,but there is times it appears her old  personality comes through. Putting  out lead through hell.

They end up at a party playing a game. The  male lead  has to kiss whoever is on his left and his now obsessed GF gets up pulls the  chair of  the lady to our leads  leftback and stands to his  left. But that is nothing  compared to  the best kill in  the film. And  oddly for an almost 2  hour film there isn't many kills.

The best kill...our male lead is  out in a car talking to a female coworker. When his obsessed Gf comes out breaks the window and slams  the coworkers face into the  steering wheel over  and over and over again. Bloody as fuck and  a great kill.

The lead goes back to the hippiestore and learns sure he  can buy another One  Wish  Willow but you only  get  that one  wish. So his plan  is to buy one and get a friend to make a wish that counteracts the wish he made. This backfires cause his best friend breaks the willow and wishes for 1  billion dollars.

Not spoiling the ending cause it ain't  bad. Didn't go the  way  I figured it  would.

Every few years feels like  a horror  film comes out gets lots of hype and  most of the time I watch it and end up disappointed. For example about  4 years ago Skinamarink was that film. I watched it and hated it. Last year it was Late Night with the Devil and In a Violent Nature,and I  loved  both. Obsession...  it has flaws. One flaw is it is way too long. Lots of modern  horror films have this issue. They  got enough story for a good 30 minute to hour long short film,and then  pad it out to  be  feature length.  Makes me wish some streaming service would  have a Horror Anthology series. Cause cut the fat and  Obsession would be a good short film.

Obsession gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 30 Slumber Party Massacre II

 

TITLE-Slumber Party Massacre II

SOURCE-Shout Factory DVD

1987  or 1988 I'm in the  best video store I had seen,Phar-moore Video in Tillman's Corner Alabama. They had a great deal old stuff was 6 movies for 4 bucks for 3 days. New stuff was a buck for 3 days. Same price on video games. We had 3 accounts cause they had a limit of 12 rentals at a time.

Walking the horror aisle and I see Slumber Party Massacre II. See Crystal Bernard is in it and had to rent it. I got a horror/comedy/musical/slasher and not at all what I was expecting. I hated it mostly.

Skip ahead decades I want the first film on DVD. Shout Factory puts out the DVD collection pictured at the top an I order it. On this more recent watching of SPMII I got it. This is the Elm Street Dream Warriors of this franchise. An all girl rock band heads up to a suburbs area that is being built. They can stay in the mmodel homefor the weekend and practice on their songs. 

But one member is the younger sister from the first film,this time played by Crystal Bernard from It's a Living and Wings. And she keeps having horrible nightmares and hallucinations.

And then you got the killer. A rockabilly looking dude with a guitar with a drill bit on the end. Which he uses to drill folks. While making cheesy on-liners.

Decent gore,decent acting and just an odd feel makes this worth seeing. But it seems this dvd and the blu ray release are long out of print.

Slumber Party Massacre II gets a B.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 29 Hellmaster

TITLE-Hellmaster

SOURCE-Kings of Horror Youtube Channel

Ahh Kings of Horror  thanks to them  I got people to watch Vampeggedon. Hellmaster is one  I saw the  VHS in the  genre mags for sale. Sure I saw  it at a few video stores to rent and skipped it. Was looking for something to watch  remembered Kings of Horror and saw they added this in October this year. And it is the long THEM cut,about 5 minutes  longer than  the cut titled Hellmaster.

A prof at KIT has changed a pile of the students into demonic looking creatures. This prof is played by the late great John Saxon. Who does a lot with what little he was given  in the film. 

So we get these ghoulish creatures chasing students. And  who do the students have helping them? David Emge as  a  kind of odd monster hunter armed with a crossbow.

The makeup work on the creatures is nnice. Nothing super fancy but it stands out as at least a bit original looking.  The acting outside of Saxon and  Emgee is  ok at best and "Wow who owed who a favor" level.

Really what  makes this stand out from all the other DTV horror of the early 90s  is the  sound and light. There is always spooky ambient noise  in the background. Like  a constant howling wind. The lighting reminds me of the Italian  horror I would rent  in  the  80s.  Stuff like Demons.

Not sure this is worth  the 30 bucks or so I am sure VinSyn  wants for the blu ray.  Might track down  a DVD if it has one.

Hellmaster gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 28 The Curse of Humpty Dumpty

 

TITLE-The  Curse of Humpty Dumpty

SOURCE-Scream Factory DVD

Might have been 2 years ago I watched what I found out later was the 2nd part of this UK based horror trilogy. It wasn't amazing but it also wasn't total shit. Found this triple feature,where they cram 3 films on  one side of a dvd...

Two sisters learn their mother has dementia. So they take her back to the old family house out in the country to care for her. Once there they get settled in. See how hard it is to deal with a loved one with dementia. A doll that looks like the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty is found and that is when shit starts to happen.

Over the past 5 or so years there has been  a flood of cheap horror movies made in the woods of the UK. Some are good,some are bad. Having seen 2 of the 3 Humpty Dumpty films I can  say this franchise so far leans towards the good side.

The acting from  the 3 leads is good. The two sisters feel like real sisters. Arguing but still being there for their mom. The mother is great. She really appears to  be  suffering from dementia. The rest of the cast isn't as good.

Humpty Dumpty looks creepy. Decent  practical fx worked used to make him  appear to be alive,along with some guy in a suit shots.

I know at one time this trilogy was on Peacock. Betting Tubi has them all. Go give the first  one a try.

The Curse of Humpty Dumpty gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 27 Piranhaconda

 

TITLE-Piranhaconda

SOURCE-Prime Video

Around 14 years ago I watched when  it debuted on  the SYFY Channel. Back  then  every other month I would drive to  the coast to help out with  my  grandpa. I was over  at my cousin's house hanging out,her and her  family were  going  to see some nieces band concert.I elected  to stay at  their place.  Saw Piranhaconda was debuting put it on expecting to see  at most an  hour  before they got  back.  The concert went on  for  4 hours and by the time they got  home  I  was crashed out on the couch.

Down in Hawaii we got a film crew making a slasher  film,while a group lead by scientist  Michael Madson  is looking for eggs from a mythic creature. The mother that laid that  egg  is  out  to get her  baby back.

Directed by Jim Wynorski and produced by Roger Corman  this is a modern creature feature.  One that  decades  ago would have played drive ins on  double and triple  features for years. With  drive  ins sadly almost dead  the  new venue for  these  types of films back in 2012 was SYFY channel. Now  they just appear  on TUBI.

The creature of course  is  CGI and ok  looking  CGI. The cast is  made up  of  people you  are like I know them  but have no clue what their name is. Being filmed in Hawaii the scenery looks great.

Having seen  Sharktopus,by Roger Corman,I knew  going in what to expect.  And got what I expected.So kills. Lots of  shots of  women  in bikinis.  And a  decent way to pass 2 hours.

Piranhaconda gets a C-

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 26 Frankie Freako

 

TITLE-Frankie Freako

SOURCE-Prime Video

A tribute to all those  80s Lil creature films,stuff like  Ghoulies/Munchies/etc,Frankie Freako is another hit from Ashtron 6.  A group of Canadians that make lower budget horror/comedy films.

Our lead works at a advertising agency.  He is  left in charge of the  home he shares with his girlfriend. Is  up late  at  night watching  tv  and sees an  ad  for a  party line. For  those that weren't around in  the 80s it was a number you  called and talked to other people and  usually cost ya say 2 bucks a minute. Frankie Freako is the party line and when called Frankie and  2 other  freaks  appear.

Imagine a more demonic looking Garbage Pail Kid and  that is Frankie  Freako. The three freaks wreck  the house. Glue  our leads boss to  the floor of  the basement. Then end  up  taking  the lead to their home  world. Where we me the corrupt leader.. 

The freaks and our lead stumble and  bumble their way to victory against the evil tyrant. Head  back to our world thinking it is all over. Nope the evil tyrant comes through the portal and we get a wild battle.

Evil defeated our lead gets a phone call  his girlfriend is on  her  way back.  He has an  hour to get the  house back to how it was. The Girlfriend gets there and we learn she went to college with  the female  freak. And we end with Xmas music playing as the credits  roll.

Sure the  story isn't  much  new. It  is  the great practical  FX that make this film stand  out. When the lead and the three freaks  first  get to  their  homeworld it is a long sequence  of stop motion miniture  work that looks really good.

Just saw Shout Factory has the full film up  on their Youtube channel

https://youtu.be/dxBAptawFdU?si=2not7njMnwH41uoW

Frankie Freako gets a B-.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 25 RL Stine's Pumpkinhead

 

TITLE-R.L.Stine's Pumpkinhead
SOURCE-TUBI

I heard about this last year and planned on watching  it. Thinking it was connected to  the old Pumpkinhead Franchise,it isn't. Needed a film for 31  Days of Horror and gave  this a shot.

New family moves  to a small farming  town.  Mom and her two  sons,the dad is  dead. The  older brother  tries to  help the younger brother get  over the death  of their  father. The younger brother's new friend tells them about  a farm  where vegetables are given  away in a festival. 

They got and the new  friend,sorry no one in this film's name stuck in my  memory,warns the younger brother to not mess with the  farmer's pumpkin. Being a dumb  kid he of course steals it. 

Of course the farmer notices his prize pumpkin missing and  the younger brother is told  to  bring  it back. Being a good kid the older brother sets  off on  his bike at night to return it. And  just vanishes.

The next day the mother acts  like she only has one  child. And the  friend  tells the younger brother how  kids  just vanish and are forgotten  about. But that the town oddball might know more.

So off into the woods to meet up with a grown man who lives  in a camper.  He tells them  to "Dont  move you are surrounded by landmines" then walks right by them.... Seems he  is sure  the farm is connected to the  missing  kids. And  his living outside  of the area is  why he is the only  adult that remembers the  missing kids.

Plan is made they are gonna get the brother back. Using  fireworks  the farmer  is distracted. We get a twist and  then the gut punch of an ending.

SPOILERS

The older brother and the  missing  kids  are found! But now the mother  and everyone else  it appears has no clue who the  younger brother  is....

Guess that will be resolved in the next film. Which has already been made.Worth  seeing,there is some creepy  scenes. But go  in remembering this is a kids/young  teens horror  film. 

R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 24 Water Park Shark

 

TITLE-Water Park Shark

SOURCE-TUBI

There  is  enough cheap  made  Shark movies I could do 31 in October. And  this one is one  of the better  ones.

A former  football star has returned  to his  hometown. He is  gonna be security at the  local water park. Which is  where his former football coach works. And the  coach  is great has various  COACH TIPS. But  sharks have invaded this water park,seems the park  gets it's water from a source with  sharks. And with interest in  the park  dying  can it survive this attack  of sharks?

Dumb and fun and shockingly better than  I expected. The acting isn't  bad. I was  expecting local  community theater level acting and instead got made  for Lifetime channel level acting. The FX work is decent. And whatever waterpark this was shot at looks great.

The stand out in  the  film is the toothless shark that loves candy,kknown as Gummy. Great little twist that helps add to  how fun this  film is.

Just remember going  in this is gonna be a bit dumb. A big cheap. The kind  of film  back in  the day we would  rent drink a few beer and  watch while cracking  jokes.

Water Park  Shark gets a C.