31 Days of Horror 2020 Day 18 Candyman

 

TITLE-Candyman

SOURCE-Scream Factory Blu Ray

I'm surprised I haven't cover this film before. Been a fan of it since it came out and also love the short story it is based on. So when I saw the Blu Ray cheap at the local Walmart I grabbed it.

Virgina Madson and a friend are investigating a urban  legend at the Cabrini Green projects in Chicago,Cabrini Green is also when the 70s show Good Times was set. Seems if you look in a mirror and say Candyman 3 times he will appear and kill you.

There is so much to love about this film. The acting is great. Madson is really good as the lead. Then you got the Tony Todd. He just IS Candyman. Every appearance of Candyman make my skin crawl.

Yep this is one of the few horror films made after the 70s that actually scares me some. It think it is cause of how well the film is made. The score plus the acting and the way the film is shot just gets under my skin.

This blu is loaded with extras. You get two cuts of the film. The theatrical cut we have all seen for decades. Then a slightly longer uncut version. Add in a few commentaries and a pile of extras and you get a hell of a deal on this Blu Ray.

Candyman gets a A.

2016 Comic Challenge 253 Clive Barker's Nightbreed vol 01

TITLE-Clive Barker's Nightbreed vol 01
PUBLISHER-Boom Studios

This collection of the first 4 issues of Boom's Nightbreed series turned out way better than I expected. The art is damn good and the writing is well done.

The head of Mideon is giving Boone a tour and history lesson. Through this we learn the backstory of Peloquin,the porcupine lady and a handful of others.

I only read an issue or 2 of the old Epic published Nightbreed series. And really it wasn't that good. This series seems to be more connected to the film and novella than the old series .

Clive Barker's Nightbreed Vol #01 gets a buy.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 090 Clive Barker's Books of Blood 1

TITLE-Clive Barker's Books of Blood 1
AUTHOR-Clive Barker
FORMAT-Hardcover
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-Free,was a gift.

I have owned at least 5 copies of this book. From the various US published paperback editions. To at one time a very nice UK published hardback that contained every volume of the Books of Blood. Well I lost them all over the years. So last year for X-mas I got this UK hardcover as a gift. I love how Barker did the dust jacket artwork.

After an introduction from Ramsey Campbell,we get the first story.

The Book of Blood,where a fake psychic gets attacked by spirits and has a bunch of stories carved into his skin. This is fairly short. And in the final Book of Blood we get a sequel to it. And these 2 stories were the inspiration for a halfway decent film adaptation a few years back.

The Midnight Meat Train,When I first read this story back in the mid 80s I was shocked. It feels like Barker wanted to write a splatterpunk style story. And he wrote a damn good one. Quite a few years ago this story was adapted into a damn good movie.

The Yattering and Jack,Set around X-mas. This is one of Barker's mixtures of horror and comedy. A lower level demon has been assigned to torment Jack. But keeps failing. Pretty sure this was made into an episode of Tales from the Darkside.

Pig Blood Blues,is a fun story set at a bordering school. Which reminds me a bit of Evilspeak.

Sex,Death and Starshine,goes back to Barker's theater roots. And has a nice EC style twist at the ending.

In the Hills,The Cities-My second favorite story in the books of blood. A couple is off in Eastern Europe. They get lost and stumble upon two warring villages. But instead of normal modern warface,the villagers strap themselves into 2 giants.That fight each other.

Clive Barker's Books of Blood 1 gets an A.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 045 Clive Barker's Great and Secret Show

TITLE-Clive Barker's Great and Secret Show Hardcover
AUTHOR-Chris Ryall adapting the Clive Barker Novel
FORMAT-trade paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
COST-$8.50

Last year the Sci Fi Book club was clearing out a bunch of comic book hardcover and trades. I waited until they had a site wide sale going on and grabbed right at 100 bucks worth of comics for about 30 bucks with shipping. I had always heard good things about the comic adaptation of The Great and Secret show. Which is my favorite of Barker's full length novels.

I first read the novel back in 90 or 91. I was in my mid teens and I devoured the book in less than 4 days. By the second chapter I was hooked. And I would stay up until 2 am each night reading,which meant I ended up at school with 3 hours sleep.Hell during our daily 15 minute break between the first and second classes of the day I would sit out in the courtyard reading. Same with lunch. Which is why I am puzzled I waited so long to read this comic.

Chris Ryall does a really good job adapting the long and somewhat confusing book. It has been 4 or 5 years since I read the novel,but I didn't notice any major parts of it missing from the comic. Gabriel Rodriguez does something I haven't seen in many adaptations of novels into comics. He makes the various characters appear on the page very similar as they appeared in my head.

So what is the story. A postal worker gets assigned to the dead letter office in a central hub for the US Postal Service. His boss tells him to remove any money or jewelry from the packages and burn the rest. Jaffe,the postal worker,starts reading some of the letters and discovers a hidden society. Who practice what is called The Art. Using this they hope to break into the dream sea. Where all ideas and really every thing comes from. We learn that you will swim in the dream sea at least 2 times in your life. The first night you are alive,which of course you don't remember. And your final night alive. But there is a chance at a third visit. The first time you sleep beside your first true love you will visit it. Jaffe becomes consumed with using the Art to visit the dream sea Quiddity.

Thanks to a scientist,Jaffe manages to create a serum that evolves someone to godhood. Jaffe and Fletcher,the scientist,both evolve. And wage a decade long war. With Jaffe representing the dark side of humanity. And Fletcher representing the dreams and hopes of humanity.

Through a fairly involved sequence of events Jaffe and Fletcher end up having kids with some unsuspecting teens. Jaffe has a set of twins and Fletcher has a son.

By the time the kids are in their late teens,Fletcher's son comes to the town were he was conceived and this starts a chain reaction. Which might destroy all of existence.

I can't really say much more without spoiling a lot of the ending.I love how Barker leaves clues early on in the novel,that if you catch them will tell you vital information long before he straight up reveals it.

In the novels this is the first of "the Books of the Art" series. The second book came out in 94  or 95 and is titled Everville. But since then we haven't gotten another book. Both novels so far while leaving a few things left hanging,do have proper endings. I haven't even heard Barker talk about the Art series in a long time. When I met him almost 20 years ago I spaced out and didn't ask him about this series. I was just so happy that I was getting to meet one of my favorite authors.

Clive Barker's Great and Secret Show gets a 4.32 outta 5.

31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 12

Echo Bridge Entertainment gets shit on a bunch by online horror fans. They are well know for their packs of 8 films spread out onto two DVDs. Usually these packs can be found for $5. I keep hearing how the picture quality is shit. Well I have a pretty good TV and my cousin has an amazing huge LCD TV. I have watched lots of these Echo Bridge packs on both TVs and the picture looks pretty good. Plus you are usually getting 8 movies for $5. Which means you are paying around 63 cents per film. So I figured I would do some quick reviews of all the horror related Echo Bridge sets I have.

 The Midnight Horror Collection Volume 01
Pretty sure this is the first one I got. I had heard it was out and in the Walmart $5 bin. I wanted it so I could finally have a non-DVD-r copy of Meridian. But I looked for weeks and never could find it. Finally ordered it off Dvdempire paying $8. Then later that day went to Walmart and I saw a copy sitting on top the bin. So I grabbed that copy. Then canceled my order when I got home. The films on this one are.
The Legend of Sorrow Creek-Still haven't watched this one,but it is a 2007 DTV film.
Prom Night-This is a 1980 slasher with Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielson. Not a fan of the film.
Below-2002 WWII horror film produced by Darren Aronofsky. Haven't watched it yet.
I am Omega-A 2007 mockbuster of "I am Legend" from the Asylum. Fun time waster.
Charles Band's Evil Bong-Full Moon studios film from 2006. Funny but nothing amazing.
Meridian-Review of this is here. Meridian review from last years 31 days of horror.
Demonic Toys-1992 film from Full Moon Studios. Really funny and well done.
Decadent Evil-2005 Full Moon Studios vampire film. Not horrible,but I doubt I watch it again.



So outta 8 films there is 3 I know I will watch more than once,2 I haven't seen yet,and 3 I might watch again. Not a bad deal for $5

The Midnight Horror Collection Volume 04
Got this one along with volume 5 earlier this month for $5 total. So that is 16 films for $5. So 32 cents a film.
Now since I have just gotten both of these I haven't seen many of the films on them.
The Last Vampire on Earth-2009 DTV low budget Twilight rip off. Reviews on it are pretty bad.
Night Shadow-1989 werewolf film,the description on the back of the case sounds like "The Howling".
Kraken:Tentacles of the deep-2006 made for Sci Fi channel giant monster on the loose film.
Bloodlock-2008 DTV film about a house with a secret.
Blood Red Moon-2009 DTV Twilight rip off. Really bad. Skip this one.
Howling IV:The Original Nightmare-Fun but slow werewolf film.Adapts the first Howling novel.
Raging Sharks-2005 made for Sci fi creature feature with Corin Nemec and Vanessa Angel.
Vampegeddon-2010 DTV horrible vampire film. Will be reviewed later this month.
Well out of the 4 films I have seen off that pack. Only Howling 4 is worth seeing.

The Midnight Horror Collection volume 05
This is the other one I got with volume 4 for $5 total.
Live Animals-2008 torture porn,really bad skip this one.
Salvage-2006 Australian film,interesting premise that is dragged down by not so good acting.
Memory-2006 psychological thriller with Dennis Hopper and Billy Zane. Looks decent. Will watch it soon.
Wages of Sin-2006 film about an evil preacher. Tried watching this a few times and never make it far.
Roman-2006 psychological thriller. Directed by Angela Bettis. Worth paying $5 just for this film.
Mortuary-2005 film from Tobe Hooper. Not  one of his better films. But worth at least one viewing.
Skeleton Man-Really well done 2004 film. With Michael Rooker and Casper Van Dien. Worth a watch.
Bloody Mary-2006 DTV horror,some OK FX work and the acting isn't horrible.
So 3 bad films,4 great to OK ones,and one I want to watch but haven't seen yet. Worth grabbing for the 4 good ones.

The Midnight Horror Collection Bloody Slashers
This is the one from the Midnight Horror Collection that people look for. Cause it is the only region 1 DVD release of the 80s slasher Curtains.Again this cost $5 so each film was $1.25.
Hoboken Hollow-Dennis Hopper stars in this film. Still haven't watched it.
Secret of the Clown-Watched this one and it is just OK. Worth at least one viewing.
Room 33-Another I haven't seen.
Curtains-Heard about this film for years but could never track down a VHS of it. Well this DVD version looks like they ripped it from an ex-rental VHS. Fun slasher that makes this set worth tracking down.
Curtains is worth the $5. But I wish a better looking and sounding version comes out one day.

The Midnight Horror Collection Blood Predators
As always cost $5 so $1.25 a film.
The Vampire Conspiracy-A weird mix of Vampires and torture porn. Average film at best.
Fist of the Vampire-ECW's Blue Meanie and Darrian Cane star in this bad DTV Vampire flick.
Curse of the Wolf-ECw's Blue Meanie,Leaping Lanny Poffo and Darrian Cane in another bad DTV film.
Bachelor Party in the Bungalow of the Damned-No way the film can live up to that title.
Outta the 3 I have watched only one is worth seeing. Total dud of a pack.

The Midnight Horror Collection Charles Band Presents Puppet Master Volume 01
This time we get the first 3 Puppet Master films from Full Moon Studios. So 3 films for $5 equals $1.67 a movie. We get the first two films on one side of the DVD and the third film gets the other side all to it's lonesome.
Puppet Master-The original film that started one of the longer running franchises in horror history. Really fun film. With some well done puppet FX work.
Puppet Master 2-Nice sequel that is almost better than the original.
Puppet Master 3:Toulon's Revenge-A prequel this is my favorite of the series. Set in WWII Germany this one tells us the origin of the puppets.
Now I am a fan of this franchise so this set is totally worth the $5 for me.

 The Midnight Horror Collection Charles Band Presents Puppet Master Volume 02
This one has Part 4 on one side of the DVD. With 5 and 6 sharing the reverse side. Again $5 for the set so $1.67 a film.
Puppet Master 4-In this entry we get a new puppet Decapitron. And sadly the puppet FX aren't as good as the previous 3. But still worth watching.
Puppet Master 5-Pretty much part 2 of the 4th film. Fun time waster but not one of the better entries in the series.
Curse of the Puppet Master-The puppets have a new master. Who is a deep woods scientist. The puppets get revenge on their new master and at the end we get a new puppet added to the gang.
While these 3 films aren't nearly as good as the first three at this cheap price this set is worth picking up.

Sharks,Piranhas&Monsters 6 movie pack
Another $5 pack. So 6 films means each one cost 84 cents. 4 of these were made for Sci Fi channel films. While the other 2 are low budget films from the 50s and 70s.
Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus-Asylum made cheese starring Debbie Gibson and Lorenzo Lamas. Really funny in it's so bad it's good way.
30,000 Leagues under the seas-Captain Nemo and friends have some adventures under the seas. Skip it.
Attack of the Giant Leeches-AIP 1959 low budget film. The giant leeches look like people walking around in sleeping bags. Fun but nothing special.
Beneath Loch Ness-Miramax made for Sci Fi channel film. OK watch if you are bored and have nothing else to watch.
Mega Piranha-Made for Sci Fi Channel film with Tiffany,the 80s pop singer. Really bad and really fun.
Piranha-1972 jungle thriller. Skip this garbage the print they use looks really bad.
Besides Mega Shark and Mega Piranha this set is a total let down.

Full Moon Triple Feature
 This set has 3 semi related Full Moon studio films. Again it cost $5,so that works out to $1.67 a film.
Demonic Toys-Fun fast paced film about killer toys. With Tracy Scoggins.
Dollman-Fun Sci fi film with Tim Thomerson. There is some well done forced perspective shots in this.
Dollman VS Demonic Toys-This has people from Dollman,Demonic Toys and Bad Channels. But too bad the film is boring. It is barely over an hour but fells much longer.
Well like Meatloaf said 2 outta 3 ain't bad. Worth grabbing for Demonic Toys and Dollman.

Full Moon Triple Feature
This collects the first 3 of the Subspecies franchise. I know there is a part 4 and another film that is a spin off. I saw the first 2 years ago on Showtime late at night.
Subspecies-Not bad early 90s low budget vampire movie. Good atmosphere.
Bloodstone:Subspecies II-Quickly made follow up,that isn't as good as the original but worth a watch.
Bloodlust:Subspecies III-Horrible film,don't both watching it.
Another pack that was $5 so each film is $1.67. The first 2 are worth that price. But part 3 isn't even worth a buck.

The Prophecy Collection Miramax Classics
This collects all 5 of the Prophecy franchise.Prophecy 1 and 2 share the same side of a DVD. With part 3 getting the other side. The parts 4 and 5 share the same side of a DVD.Now unlike every other Echo Bridge set I have bought,this one cost $7.50. So 5 films at that cost equals out to$1.50 a film.
The Prophecy-Saw this during it's short theatrical run. Had read about it for months in Fangoria when it was known as "God's Army". Walken gives a great performance. So does Eric Stoltz and Virgina Madison.
The Prophecy II-Walken returns and this film also has Jennifer Beals and the late Britney Murphy. Fun film that is almost as good as the original.It also has a small part for Glenn Danzig.
The Prophecy III:The Ascent-Walken is back for a third time. I know I have seen this before,but remember nothing about it.
The Prophecy:Uprising-No Walken this time. But we do get Doug "Pinhead" Bradley and the always lovely Kari Wuhrer. What I remember of the film is decent.
The Prophecy:Forsaken-Kari Wuhrer is back. And we also get Jason Scott Lee and Tony "Candyman Todd. Haven't seen this one so far. But all the reviews claim it is really bad.
This set is worth the price for the first 2 films at least.

The Children of the Corn Collection Miramax Classics
Collecting Children of the Corn 2,3,4,5,6 and 7. This set was the first time part 2 came out on DVD in region 1. I found it in the Walmart $5. The DVD case is orange and that caught me attention. Now before buying this I had seen parts 2,3,4,5 but had not seen 6 or 7. So 6 films for $5 works out to 84 cents a film.
Children of the Corn II:The Final Sacrifice-I remember enjoying this when I saw it years ago on VHS. But watching it now it fucking sucks. The FX work is pretty shoddy and really there isn't that much of a connection to the first film. I do wish they had explored the corn mold causing craziness angle more.
Children of the Corn III:Urban Harvest-A inner city couple adopts two brothers from that wacky corn cult. So we get killer corn in the city. Good FX work and a inventive plot.
Children of the Corn IV:The Gathering-Children of the Corn IV review from 2010 .
Children of the Corn V:Fields of Terror-6 college kids take a wrong turn and run into those wacky corn cult kids. Strange cast in this one you got Alexis Arquette,Ahmet Zappa,Eva Mendez,Fred Williamson and David Carradine.Better than part 2 but not as good as 3 or 4.
Children of the Corn 666:Isaac's Return-Children of the Corn 666 2011 review
Children of the Corn VII:Revelation-Still haven't watched this one.
So we get 4 good films.One I haven't seen and one stinker. But this is easy to find for $5 so worth getting.

The Hellraiser Collection Miramax Classics
Before this set came out it was hard to get Hellraiser III on DVD. It had been released years ago and had gone out of print. Another $5 bin find. So once again it is 84 cents per movie. Containing Hellraiser 3,4,5,6,7 and 8. I am a huge Hellraiser fan so grabbed this as soon as I saw it. Even though I already owned 3,5,6 and 8 on DVD.
Hellraiser III:Hell on Earth-This film gets unfairly shit on. Sure it isn't as good as the original. But I enjoy it much more than the over praised piece of shit that is Hellraiser II Hellbound.
Hellraiser IV:Bloodline-The last of the series to get a theatrical release it was held up for a long time after filming was finished. With another director coming in and re filming lots of scenes. Horrible film that totally shits on the story set up in the Hellbound Heart novella that spawned this franchise.
Hellraiser V:Inferno-Another one that seems to get shit on by fans. "Pinhead is barely in it!" is why most say they don't like it. Well he gets almost as much screen time in this as he did in the original. Fucking amazing film and my second favorite in the series. It is like a dark,sexy and twisted Twilight Zone episode.
Hellraiser VI:Hellseeker-Hellraiser 6 2010 review
Hellraiser VII:Deader-This one started off as a non-Hellraiser film. Then Dimension films bought the script and had some small parts with the Cenobites added to make it a Hellraiser film. Not that good. But not horrible.
Hellraiser VII:Hellworld-Another entry that didn't start out as a Hellraiser film. But was changed into one when Dimension films bought the script.Slightly better than part 7 but not by much.
This is worth grabbing for parts 3,5 and 6.

Well lets see 13 DVD sets reviewed. 30 good films out of a total of 67 films. Total cost for 67 films is $62.50. So less that a buck a movie. So really these Echo Bridge packs are a decent value.

Sci FI Buzz episode with Clive Barker interview

From 1994 this is an episode of the Sci Fi channels tv show Sci Fi Buzz. It has a fun interview with Clive Barker and Harlan Ellison has his weekly segment that was always fun to watch.

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+.