31 days of horror year 3 comics 02

Foul Play is one of the most infamous stories in the history of EC comics. Back in the 90s a company was reprinting lots of the EC stuff. Each issue would reprint one of the horror comics and also either one of the crime comics or sci fi stuff. I was picking up almost everyone of these. Cause I love all the EC stuff. Well one day in Chemistry class I saw that someone had left a comic in my desk. I look down and it is a issue of the reprint line of Tales from the crypt.

We start off at a baseball game.The score is tied. And a runner while sliding into the base spikes the guy on the base with his cleats. Well the next inning the spiked player gets up to bat and dies. Turns out he has been poisoned. Well the team figures out what has happened and invited the player that poisoned the other one to a special night at the ball park. They attack him and kill him. Then we get to some of the most gruesome panels in a comic that has ever been printed and given a major release. They use the dead players various bodyparts for the game. His arms and legs are the bats. His intestines are the baselines. And his head is the ball.

This story is one of the reasons Frederic Wortham started his crusade against comics. Some people say that with this story EC went too far. And it is pretty graphic for a comic that was out on the newstands at that time. Sure now we get stuff that is even more graphic,but that stuff only goes to comic shops and the owners known in advance about it. When I first read this I didn't know anything about it and was mildly shocked by it.Foul Play to this day is one of my favorite horror comic stories ever. Foul Play gets a A+.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 22

Murder Party
2007
Magnet DVD

This is another of the films that I got when Movie Gallery was going out of business. A good friend of mine had just told me that he thought I would enjoy it. So I added it to my Netflix rental queue. But the last day Movie Gallery was open, and old DVDs were only 50 cents each, I found Murder Party in the horror section. So I figured for 50 cents I couldn’t go wrong.

It is the Halloween night and in Brooklyn NYC some loser finds a invitation to a costume party. So he rushes home and makes a medieval knight costume using pieces of brown cardboard and heads out to the party.

He arrives and discovers that it is a trap. A group of art students left the invitation laying out in the street. That way someone they didn’t know would show up. They plan on killing this person and filming it. The cardboard knight is knocked out . Each of the art students has on  a great costume. And the art students argue over how they are going to kill him. But they are waiting on someone to show it. One of the students is accidentally killed by ingesting acid,this death is so well done and very gory.It is this mega douche bag guy, who seems to be the alpha male of this social group.

Well through some various mistakes the cardboard knight manages to escape. And the rest of the film is the various art students chasing him through the city as they try to kill him. We get to see the art students die some gruesome deaths. Plus some well done dark comedy.

The DVD has a nice selection of extras. We get a entertaining commentary with the director. A making of feature. Some outtakes and bloopers that are actually very funny. Then my favorite two extras. One shows you how to make your own cardboard knight outfit. And the other is a how to make pumpkin bread feature. This is a great film for anyone that loves dark comedy. Murder Party gets a B.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 21

Evil Toons
1990
Retromedia 20th anniversary edition

Back in the early 90’s I discovered this great video store about 20 minutes from my house. It was 50 cents for a week for old stuff, and a buck for video games and new releases. So usually every weekend I would got and rent 8 things. This place had a limit of 8 rentals per account. Well I worked my way through the horror section. Saw this movie titled Evil Toons. The cover made it out to be a combo of Roger Rabbit and a slasher movie. Well I brought home and loved it. So I made a copy and for years held onto that videotape. Sometime before I moved out to Texas I lost the tape and forgot about the film. Then in 2003 when I finally got high speed internet I started searching for the film.I saw that it was out on DVD, but of course that DVD was out of print. Then on a torrent site I found a laserdisc rip of it. So I downloaded it and made a DVD. But then a few years later that DVD-R died. Well my cousin kept wanting to rewatch the movie. So I was searching for a decently priced used copy. But found out that a 20th Anniversary edition was coming out soon. So I preordered it.

We got a pretty simple plot. 4 college girls have been paid to spend the weekend in an old house. They have been hired by Dick Miller. He wants them to clean up the house so he can sell it. They arrive there Friday afternoon,  and after some hard work they settle down to eat dinner. There is a knock at the front door. One of the girls answers it and finds a old book. The book is written in some old language, but of course one of the girls, the “nerdy” one who has huge breasts, knows this language. She starts reading parts of it out loud. This creeps the girls out so 3 of them head upstairs to go to sleep. One of them, played by 90s porn star Madison, stays downstairs. She is waiting on her boyfriend to show up. It seems that the parts the nerdy girl read have released a demon from the book. This demon is animated and looks sort of like the Tasmanian Devil. He attacks Madison and assumes her form.

The film continues with the demon killing off all but the nerdy girl. We get plenty of nudity. And lots of cheesy comedy. But for a 90’s era DTV b movie it isn’t bad. There is a few interesting things about the film. It starts off with  David Carradine hanging himself. And this DVD was released not too long after he died. Also there is 5 females in the cast and out of all 5 of them 4 of them either did porn before or after this film. The animated demon only shows up for about 5 minutes of screen time. But it is pretty well done. Also the book that the demon comes from, is well done and looks kind of like the nerconomicon from the Evil Dead series.

Now from what I have read the first DVD and the laserdisc release had no extras besides a trailer. This release has a commentary, a trailer, a making of feature, and an installment of Fred Olen Ray’s Nite Owl Theater. The print looks great, way better than the laserdisc or the VHS looked. And all the extras are fun. Evil Toons gets a B.

31 days of horror year 3 day 20 extra 03

Nightmare on Elm Street series overview


In 1984 a new horror franchise series was started. A small company ,New Line Cinema, put everything they had into this film. And when it became a hit ,New Line changed from being just a distributor of small cult films,into one of the bigger movie companies. This film was the original Nightmare on Elm Street.

Nightmare on Elm Street-Based off some articles Wes Craven had read about some Asian teens who were afraid to go to sleep,this film introduced the world to Freddy Kruger. Even today this original entry has some great FX and amazing set pieces. It is also one of the earliest acting jobs for Heather Langencamp and Johnny Depp. Overall the film is great. And if it wasn't for a really shitty ending it would be almost a perfect slasher film. But the ending,which is one of 3 filmed,is so bad it hurts the rest of the film. B-.

Nightmare on Elm Street 2:Freddy's Revenge-Rushed into production when the first film was such a runaway hit. It is now one of the most hated entries in the series.The writers ignore the rules about Freddy that were set up in the original film. And the acting is just goofy. I don't like the film that much,but don't hate it like most fans do. D+.

Nightmare on Elm Street 3:Dream Warriors-Made 2 years after the last one. This had Wes Craven and Heather Langencamp coming back. Dream Warriors is the first of the series I saw,and it is still my favorite. We get appearances from a young Patricia Arquette and Larry Fishburne.To me at least this one does the most work with the mythology of the film. And progresses the storyline the farthest.A.

Nightmare on Elm Street 4:The Dream Master-Part 3 was a huge hit and helped propel Freddy into the mainstream audience. So New Line quickly got to work on a sequel. While most people hate part 2 the most ,part 4 and 5 are the ones I hate the most. We get some OK FX. But most of the acting is pretty bad. C-.

Nightmare on Elm Street 5:The Dream Child-This was the first of the sequels to not make more money than the previous entry.We get a storyline that is a parable about the abortion debate.The FX is better than part 4 and so is the acting. But they both aren't enough to make this a good film. C+.

Freddy's Dead:The Final Nightmare-This was made 2 years after part 5. It was at the time New Line's final Freddy film . So they went all out.We got some great FX and the final 15 minutes or so of the film were in 3D.This is usually most fans second least favorite entry in the series. I personally enjoy it. Sure Freddy has become a borsh belt comedian. But it is way more fun than either parts 4 or 5.I enjoy how they kill off Freddy for the final time. B-.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare-Made 3 years after what was suppose to be the last Freddy film. But this film is a meta-fiction film. And I believe Wes was inspired by Lucio Fulci's Cat in the brain. We get a redesigned Freddy. And this new look for Freddy is great. He looks super creepy. Heather Langencamp comes back and has really improved her acting skills. This would have been the best way to end the series. A-.

Freddy VS Jason-Made almost 10 years after the last Freddy film. This is one that the fans had been wanting for years.And really the film is more about Freddy than Jason. We get a nice throwback to the cruel and evil Freddy of the early films. And less one liners. A-.

Nightmare on Elm Street Remake-Wow were do I start. First off for some unknown reason they replaced Robert Englund with Jackie Earle Hailey. Now Hailey is a good actor. And brings a great amount of sleaze and creepiness to Freddy. But when you think of Freddy you think of Robert. Freddy isn't like Jason,Michael,or Leatherface ,in that you can't really change actors.I saw this opening night,and as of now it is the second worst film I have ever seen in theaters. The FX ,which was mostly CGI was shit. The lead actors were horrible. And most of the changes to the story are bad. The remake is the only entry in the series I don't own. And unless it is given to me or I find it for say a buck I doubt I will ever own it. F-.

31 DAYS OF HORROR YEAR 3 DAY 20

Nightmares &and  Dreamscapes

2006
Warner Brothers DVD

This is the DVD collection of the short lived TNT original series. Each episode took a Stephen King short story and made it into a 40 odd minute episode. For some reason I never bothered to watch it when it was originally airing. And really had forgotten about it till this year. At Coast Con there was a dealer who had a nice selection of brand new DVDs for $5 each or 4 for 20. So I picked up this and 3 other DVD.

Episode 1 is based on the story "Battleground". We get William Hurt as a hitman. Who ends up having to fight off a group of green plastic army men. I am pretty sure this story is from the Night Shift collection. And I keep thinking it has been adapted before. Maybe on Tales from the Darkside or as a "Dollar baby".

The second episode is "Crouch End". We get Claire Folani and Eion Bailey as a couple on vacation in London. Who get lost and end up in a neighborhood that is very very Lovecraftian. This was one of my favorite short stories by Mr. King and the adaptation is well done.

Episode 3 is "Umney's Last Case". I am sure I have read the short story before,but didn't remember shit about it. William H. Macy is a writer who swaps places with the hard boiled detective he created. As always the amazing Mr Macy doesn't let me down.

The 4th episode is based on "The end of the whole mess". In which a guy's genius brother discovers something in the water of a small Texas town that makes people more peaceful. He replicates this and releases it onto the whole world. But there is a small side effect he didn't count on. A few things have been changed from the short story but nothing major.

Episode 5 is "The Road virus heads north". A famous author is on his way back home. And stops off at a yard sale and buys a painting. But the painting seems to be evil. This one has great pacing and conveys the emotions that the short story did so well.

Episode 6 is "The Fifth Quarter". Again I am sure I read the short story this is based on. But I don't remember anything about it or this episode.

The 8th episode is "Autopsy room Four". Which is about a man that comes too and realizes he is about to be given an autopsy while he is still alive. But he can't move or speak. Great tension filled episode. Well done and the ending is nice.

The final episode is "You know they got a hell of a band". A bickering couple on a road trip and make a wrong turn. They end up in the town of "Rock n Roll Heaven". Where it seems every dead rock star is still alive and working in the town. This is my favorite episode of the series. And it seems to be a word for word adaptation of the great short story.

As extras on the DVD we get some behind the scenes features. Interviews with various cast members. A few commentaries. And nice featurette on the FX work on Battleground. Outta the 9 episodes only one of them is truly bad. I wish this could have been a continuing series. Cause there is plenty of King short stories that would work great as 40+ minute episodes on basic cable. Nightmares & Dreamscapes gets a A-.

31 days of horror year 3 TV 02

American Horror Story episode 02

Well this actually managed to keep up the momentum from the first episode. We get some more back story on the house. Find out that thanks to the father's affair he has a kid on the way. Plus the whole part with the "murder junkies" invading the house and holding the Mother and daughter captive. Then we get an ending that seems to be hinting that the maid,Jessica Lange and the teenage boy are all connected.

Loved it,if the show can keep this up for the rest of the season I predict it will become a huge hit for FX. Episode 02 gets a A.

Walking Dead Season 02 Episode 01

Starting off right after the end of last season. We have our band of survivors almost out of gas and food. They are heading to Fort Benning. When they run into a bunch of cars almost completely blocking the highway. They get out to loot what they can from the cars. When  a herd of zombies shows up. Thankfully they all manage to hide.

Not too long after the herd passes through Rick and Sophie are in the woods and get separated. So for the rest of the episode we get the group trying to find Sophie. After much searching they find a church. They clear out all the zombies and take a much needed break. Rick sends everyone but Shane and Carl back to the vehicles. And as the three of them are out looking for Sophie they see a deer. Before Shane can kill it Carl approaches it. Strangely the deer doesn't run off. Then we hear a gun shot and see both the deer and Carl hit the ground.

Now I have read the first 66 issues of the comic so far. And yes I know Robert Kirkman has said that the show and comic will have differences. So when at the end we get Shane,Rick,and Carl all in the woods I was expecting Shane to get shot and die. Well Sophie and her mom were not in the comic so I really have no idea if either of them will survive. But this was a great way to begin the season. We get some good character development for Andrea and Dale. And Daryl seems to have become more accepting of the group. Walking Dead Season 02 episode 01 gets a A+.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 19

Frankenhooker

1990
Unearthed Films Special Uncut edition DVD

Where I grew up we didn't have access to cable until the end of 1990. But once we got cable I would look through the Showtime guide each month and make it a point to record every horror movie that came on. Well in 91 or 92 late one night they showed Frankenhooker. And with a title like that I knew I had to see it. I was so excited for the movie I stayed up to 3am to watch it. And since I didn't get any sleep that night I faked being sick the next day and didn't go to school. This is another classic film from Frank Henenlotter.One thing that was neat was the VHS release. The box had a sound chip in it and when you pressed a button on it you heard the Frankenhooker say "WANNA DATE!". I would love to get one of them that still works but the prices are way more than I am willing to pay.

We start off at the lead actor's birthday party. He is wanting to show his chubby girlfriend his remote control lawnmower. But something isn't working right and she gets killed by the lawnmower. Well he saves her head and decides to rebuild her body. But he only wants to use the perfect parts.

So he goes around NYC picking up hookers,killing them and taking whatever body part they have that he finds perfect. One great scene has him taking a group of about 10 hookers up to a ratty motel room. The hookers are dancing around and he is checking out their bodies. But see he has created what he calls "SUPER CRACK". And has brought a duffel bag full of it with him. Well the hookers find it and start to smoke the super crack. This causes them to blow up in a matter of minutes. But finally he has all the parts he needs to bring his girlfriend back to life.

He brings her back to life in a scene very similar to the scene in the original Frankenstein when the doctor brings the creature to life. But there is a problem. It seems somehow the various body parts of the hookers have taken over her mind. So she wanders off to the 42nd street area of NYC and starts picking up johns. Which she kills quickly.

The DVD is full of extras. We get a commentary with Frank and Gabe Bartalos. A long interview with Patty "Frankenhooker" Mullen. A featurette showing how they did lots of the FX work.A couple of trailers and some production photos. I know that this has either just come out on Blu Ray or is coming out soon. I think Synapse is the company releasing it. I hope they port over all the extras from this release. FrankenHooker gets a B.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 18

Behind the mask:The rise of Leslie Vernon

2007
Anchor Bay DVD

This is another film I had heard a bunch about but never saw. So last year when Movie Gallery was closing I would go in every few days and get some DVD/blu rays for cheap. Well the last day they were open all catalog DVDs were 50 cents. And I ended up spending close to $75 that day. Since I had heard so much about Behind the mask,I felt safe spending 50 cents on it.

This film is about a world in which all the various slasher icons are real. And a college student film crew is making a documentary about one of the newer slashers. Leslie Vernon is just starting out but already has built up a small legend around himself. We get to meet the man that is training Leslie. And his arch-nemesis,who is played by Robert Englund.

Well Leslie tells the film crew about this girl he is stalking. It seems Leslie only stalks and kills virgins and he is been planning to kill this one girl for a few months now. And the local teens are throwing a party at an old abandoned house soon. That is when Leslie plans on killing her.

Well the film crew has a change of heart and goes to warn this girl. But they realize Leslie has been lying to them and that girl isn't his target.

This is a film that if you have seen all the slasher classics you will love. Leslie explains lots of the various slasher tropes. And the acting and FX are great.Behind the Mask:the rise of Leslie Vernon gets a A-.

31 days of horror year 3 Music 01

The Browns
Greatest Hits volume one
Meter Records

I have always since I was about 10 been a fan of punk rock. And of course I love horror stuff. So bands like The Misfits I have loved. Well about 2 years ago on a horror podcast I use to listen to the host played an acoustic version of a song off this album. I loved it. So I did a quick search and got this album.We get 13 tracks plus a hidden track at the end of the album.

The first track is Lady Stay Dead. Which is one of the few that I can't figure out which horror movie/TV show this is based on. But it is a nice combo of a Ramones style song with horror lyrics.

Second track is Reggiemania. A song about Reggie Banister. The song seems to be coming from Mike from Phantasm's point of view. Great upbeat song that is fun to sing along with.

Track 3 is Emmanuelle. Based on the various Emmanuelle movies,that I used to watch the fuck out of late at night on Showtime. This is a slower song. That isn't bad.

Fourth track is Torso. I must assume this is inspired by the Italian film of the same name. Now I have never seen the movie So I have no idea if the song has much from the movie in it.

Track 5 is Ghoulita. It doesn't seem to be based on any one horror film. But it is about a guy who has a new girlfriend. Nice punk rock love song.

Sixth track is Wolfmobilemania. This is a great fast paced song about a car. Lots of catchy hooks and one I love to blast loudly while I am driving.

Track 7 is American Werewolf in Calgary.This is my favorite song on the entire album. It is about a guy trying to figure out how to explain to his girlfriend that he is a werewolf.

Eighth track is Blood sucking freaks. With lyrics describing the infamous Blood Sucking Freaks movie. One of the fastest songs on the album.

Track 9 is Silent Night Deadly Night.Now I do love this song,but there is a acoustic version that I think is better. This is about how Santa is pissed off that someone didn't leave milk and cookies out for him.

Tenth track is The Corpse Grinders.And is my least favorite songs on the album.The lyrics don't make a bit of sense.

Track 11 is Tura. This is a great tribute song to the late Tura Satanna.The lead singer talks about Tura is dream girl.

12th track is House of Whipcord. Based on the British horror film of the same name. This is a slower song but has a great bass line that will stick in your head.

Track 13 is the last real track on the album. It is titled Last House on the left. It is about a girl inviting a guy over to have sex,and of course she lives in the last house on the left. Amazing song to sing along with.

Then there is the hidden track. It starts up about 10 minutes after track 13 ends.And it is a live recording of Last house on the left with the band interacting with the audience.

Now I have heard that The Browns have broken up. And with them being from Vancouver Canada there was really now way I could have seen them live. I wish I could have. From the research I have done it seems they only put out 2 full length albums. And this was their second one. I would give the album a A-.

31 days of horror Year 3 day 17

Tamara

2005
Lionsgate 4 pack DVD


First off this is a ripoff of Carrie. But thankfully they change enough of it to make it worth watching. I had never heard of this film till I bought this pack. And it turns out it isn't too bad.


Tamara is the homely girl that everyone picks on. She has a massive crush on one of the jocks. So one night they call her and tell her to meet him at some local sleazy motel. She goes there and accidentally is killed. The group of teens bury her body way out in the woods.


Well the next day at school she shows up like nothing has happened. And now she is actually pretty good looking. And it seems she has some supernatural powers. She uses these powers to kill off all the teens that had a hand in her death.


Now Tamara isn't the most original film,shit it is kind of a modern day version of Carrie. The acting overall is OK. The girl playing Tamara is the best of the cast. The kills are all well done. It is a perfect film to rent or catch on Netflix streaming. Tamara gets a C-.