31 days of horror Day 3

Silent Night Deadly Night II

Source-Out of print Anchor Bay dvd

Ahh Silent Night Deadly Night II,the sequel that is mainly made up of footage from the first film. This one is about the little brother of the lead from part 1. After growing up semi-normal in a adopted family,lil bro finally snaps and proceeds to go on a rampage of violence. IIRC His first kill is in an alleyway in which he impales a guy on an umbrella. Next he hooks a preppy dickhead up to a battery charger,then he walks around the neighborhood randomly shooting people. This part is were the meme "Garbage Day!!!!" comes from. On this dvd there is a commentary from the producer and directer in which they explain that since at the time very very very few people had seen the original,they were told to use a lot of the footage from part 1. Basicly they used almost all the kills from part 1 but these are from an R rated cut so some of the kills are shorter than they should be. This film gets a lot of bad reviews since about half of it is nothing but scenes from the previous film. I actually like it,and don't seem to hate it as much as most people. I would have to give it a C+.

31 days of horror Day 2

The Devils

Source-Bootleg DVD which is a composite of the region 2 dvd with the 2 "Lost" scenes from an airing on BBC4.

Directed by Ken Russell back in the mid 70's,The Devils is a film that stirred up a heap of controversy when first released. It is a tale of a convent in France where alot of the nuns seem to be possessed. Up until a few years ago 2 different scenes that were cut from the film before it was released were thought to have been lost. I recently got a copy of the film with these two scenes reinstated. The most Infamous of the two is the "Rape of Christ" scene. In which a gaggle of nuns strip nude and proceed to pull a giant crucifix down and then start rubbing their nude body's all over the representation of Christ. This scene even to an staunch Atheist like me is still stunning too watch. Hopefully the full cut of this movie will be released on DVD in Region 1. Overall I would have to give this film an A-.

31 days of horror Day 1

It is simple I'm gonna watch one horror movie a night for 31 days.

The Haunted World of El Superbeasto

Source-Anchor Bay dvd

The long talked about Rob Zombie animated movie is here. Based on a comic I have never read,it is a mixture of all kinds of standard horror cliches. The story is simple and basic but works within the framework of the movie. El Superbeasto is a retired luchadore who along with his sister,Suzi X,fight crime in MonsterCity. What can you find wrong in a movie that has Zombie Nazis,Super Smart Ape Servants,and A stripper that uses her breasts as weapons? The animation reminds me alot of the Spumco style,with alot of extreme close ups,and very exaggerated movement. I ended up enjoying it,but wouldn't pay more than $10 for it. Overall it's a B-.

Forgotten Comic gems 01

Hellstorm Prince of lies was a series from Marvel comics that lasted 21 issues. Starting in April 1993 with Rafael Nieves writing and various artists,this series was in my opinion Marvel's attempt at a Vertigoish series. What always puzzled me is even with lots of violence and amoral actions this series still got a CCA seal. Nieves lasted as writer from issue 1 till issue 6. With issue 7 Len Kaminski took over the writing reins. Len lasted a total of 5 issues. The highlight from his run is a storyline where Hellstorm goes to hell and manages to defeat his father,who it turns out isn't Satan but just a high level demon. With this Hellstorm gains control of a region of hell,he is surprised to find souls in this region that to him don't seem to belong. So he takes them on a journey to Heaven. After a couple of adventures they make it to Heaven,where Hellstorm is shocked to learn that once you enter Heaven you loose all individuality and become one with this Borglike ball of light. This makes him realize that maybe Hell isn't as bad as it is made out to be. With issue 12 Warren Ellis takes over the writing chores. IIRC the only other Big 2 work he had did at this time was a stint on Excalibur. He stays on until the final issue,issue 21. Ellis goes balls out and even gives Hellstorm a sidekick of sorts in Cutter Jane. Jane has the ability to change her skin to a nigh-invulnerable state. And carries a gun that can detect and dispose of demons and angels alike. She is also fighting both the agents of Heaven and Hell and does this to keep the world in balance. The book really picks up it's pace under Ellis and you can tell he has a long running storyline running under the surface. Sadly the series was cancelled with issue 21. I assume it was cancelled from low sales. When this series started I was working part-time at a comic shop,and even with all the employees recommending it,it was rare for Hellstorm Prince of lies to sell more than 10 copies each month. And when you consider that this comic shop was the biggest one in a 6 city area that is really sad. Luckily now you can find most of this series in the cheap bins. I managed to put my newest collection,I had had a complete run from when it was first out but a former girlfriend had destroyed it when she burned about 75% of my comic collection,this time I managed to get issues 1-17 for around 99 cents an issue. The last few issues cause of being low ordered cost me more,averaging out at around $1.50 an issue. But even at these prices this series is a great choice for someone who loved vertigo or the 70's Marvel horror stuff. Overall i give the entire run a 8.5 outta 10,it would have scored higher but being it ended early. Also this is a series that had alot of trouble keeping an artist,this also hurt it's rating.

Cheap Complete runs 02

The last 10 issues of Malibu's Protectors comic show an noticeable improvement in the artwork. And also have the two best story lines in the series short run. After wrapping up the Ms fury storyline in issue 12,the Genesis crossover starts. Genesis was a way for Malibu to create their own universe by connecting 3 different titles. They are Dinosaurs for hire,Ex-Mutants,and Protectors. The crossover shook up the Protectors team,and when it was over they had about 3 new members and had lost a few of their old members. Overall this was the second best storyline in the Protectors run,the only detriment is that you have to get issues of Dinosaurs for hire and Ex-Mutants to really understand what is going on. Sadly even this crossover didn't help increase the sales of the title,so with issue 18 the final storyline is started. Titled "The Beginning of the ending" it ran 3 issues and had the Protectors going up against the biggest threat so far. Some members of the team die and in the last few pages of issue 20 the entire world is destroyed. Insuring that there is a small to nil chance of the Protectors ever coming back. This series is rarely mention now,mainly cause of the bad art. And cause around the midway point Malibu started up the Ultraverse which got all the acclaim. But if you are a fan of Golden age heroes and can enjoy a well written comic that has below average art it is worth picking up. I found most of the issues in cheap bins or for cheap online. But the last three issues had very low print runs so they usually cost a bit more,but with some searching you can find them for around cover price. So if you have read and enjoyed Project Superpowers give The Protectors a chance,you might be surprised. 8 outta 10.

What were they smoking 01

When I received this issue in a lot I bought off E-bay, I had to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. Written by Mike Baron of Badger fame and Alan Smithee of bad movie fame. Art is by Jeff Butler. The art is nice to look at but the story is a serious WTF moment. Barkley is in California doing a personal appearance. Godzilla shows up in the ocean off the coast. Some kid gives Barkley a lucky coin, that for some unknown reason causes Barkley to grow to Godzilla size. Charles leads Godzilla to a military base and proceeds to play basketball with him. No I ain't making this up. Barkley manages to win his game of one on one. Then flash foward some unknown amount of time and it shows Barkley still super sized. Going out into the desert where there is a huge basketball court built. And Godzilla is there waiting to play him again,and this time Zilla has on what looks to be some Air Jordan shoes. I really have no idea who Dark Horse was hoping to attract with what is one of the weirdest crossovers I have ever seen. 6 outta 10

Cheap Complete runs 01

Back in 1992 a indy company named Malibu had managed to raise their profile. They published the first few comics put out by Image. Protectors was a super hero series where most of the heroes were reworkings of public domain golden age heroes. While it never had great artwork,you can say the first 5 or so issues had horrid artwork, the writing was good and interesting. In this universe there hasn't been super heroes around since an incident that destroyed most of Richmond VA. After the evil Mr Monday shows back up,the government decides to form a new government sponsored super team. So the Protectors are born,headquartered on a decommissioned navel ship. The team is lead by Man of war,a semi patriotic hero that is some level of invulnerability and carries a flaming sword. Other stand out members are Gravestone who is Malibu's version of the Specter,and The Ferret who is your basic Wolverine rip off. The first 5 or 6 issues deal with the team forming,and learning to work together. Then bam one of the heroes,Masked Marvel, who is also the president's son is killed by Mr Monday.This happens in an issue that on the cover had a tight close up of Masked Marvel's chest and the hole in his chest goes thru the entire comic. Lame gimmick but it did make this issue stand out when it came out. This causes the team to take a more proactive approach to fighting crime. Next up the team ends up getting transported to another dimension. Where it turns out the city that was thought destroyed is. Here they face a villain that is very Jokerish. After this storyline we meet a new heroine who is called Ms Fury. And that ends the first 10 issues,at another time I will talk about the next ten issues. Every one of these issues can be found cheap,I got a handful of them for free and the rest I never paid more than a buck for.Truthfully if you can handle bad art and have a interest in alot of the lesser known golden age heroes this series can be a fun read. 6 outta 10.

Going on vacation

Going on a kinda short vacation. So no more posts for at least 2 weeks. While on vacation I will be hitting a great comic shop that has tons of cheap back issues. Have a good time while I am gone.

Weird finds for under a buck 01

This was suppose to be a 3 issue limited series. But was switched to 1 issue. Based on the Topps trading card set,which was inspired by the classic "Mars Attacks" card set. Thanks to a scientist messing with time the earth is invaded by a huge amount of dinosaurs. This comic helps flesh out the back story,but sadly only covers about 1/3rd of the cards. Nowadays the card set and this comic are mostly forgotten. And you can get either cheap. I got the comic for a buck from an online retailer,and managed to snag a complete set of the cards plus the stickers,and an unopened waxbox off e-bay for around 10 bucks including postage. If you haven't read the card set I don't see this comic appealing to you,but if you have and loved it this comic is a must buy. 7 outta 10.

Golden age reprints 04

Issue 4 of the Mr Monster Super Duper Special series,this one also is focused on crime stories by Jack Cole."Meet the Split Benny Dickson" is a story written and drawn by Jack Cole. The art makes up for the average story. "Vengeance of the Mounted" is a Mountie crime story. Nice mood and setting,and a bit unusual since most crime stories of this era were set in big cities in the USA. "James Kent" is the final story and again it is written and drawn by the legend Jack Cole. This one has a better story than the first one,and the art is the best I have seen from Cole that isn't a Plastic Man story. Again I paid around $2 for this comic,and it was more than worth it.8 outta 10,would have been higher but the first story wasn't so hot.