31 Days of Horror 2015 EXTRA 04 Spider Baby

Sure it isn't the best looking version of the film. But the above video is the full film.

Spider Baby was released in 1968. Directed by Jack Hill.It's two biggest names are a young Sid Haig,and a very old Lon Chaney Jr.

This came out the same year as the horror game changer Night of the Living Dead. And in many ways this film,that was completed a number of years before it was released,pushes the envelope as much as NotLD does in the horror quota.

Chaney Jr is the guardian and driver of what is left of the Merrye family. Which is 3 "kids". Who all look to be mid 20s. They suffer from a rare affliction where once they hit the age of 10 they mentally regress. With Sid Haig being pretty much feral in this movie.

31 Days of Horror 2015 Day 021 Trip with Teacher

Trip with Teacher
Source-Gorehouse Greats Collection DVD from Mill Creek

This is part of the handful of rape/revenge horror/thriller movies that came out in the 70s. Coming out in 1975 this is one sleazy ass film.A teacher and a handful of her female students are on a field trip. Going to see some Navajo ruins. On their way their bus breaks down and some bikers offer to help tow the bus.

The bus get towed to an old house and this is when the sleaze begins.Two of the bikers,Al and Pete,start off by raping the the teacher in front of the students. Pete is played by a young Zalman King. Who because of his choice of sunglasses looks like Beautiful Day era Bono from U2.

Trip with Teacher looks like a movie that would be the last film on a triple feature at a late 70s drive in. Sure it is low budget and the script isn't amazing. But it knows what it is. And never strays from that.

Before buying this set I had never even heard of Trip with the Teacher. After watching it,well it isn't anything special. It feels like the only reason this is remembered is because of Zalman King's role as Pete.It is the perfect sleazy drive in film. There is plenty of trashy dialogue. And piles of nudity.

Trip with the Teacher gets a C-.

31 Days of Horror 2015 Day 020 Stanley

Stanley
Source-Millcreek Gorehouse Greats Collection DVD

In the 70s there was lots of nature run amok films. Stuff like Grizzly,Jaws and the film I am talking about today.

Our lead is a Native American Nam vet.After coming back from the war he moved into the Florida Everglades and starts training snakes to obey his commands. He also uses the snakes to help the local hospital get anti venom.

So once two poachers start coming into the Everglades,who are also connected to the man our lead suspects of killing his father the shit hits the fan. One of my favorite scenes is when both the poachers are stuck in some quicksand and our lead sends in Stanley to kill them. Stanley  is his favorite snake. And in lots of ways their relationship reminds me of the original Willard film.

I am a bit surprised this film isn't a bigger cult hit. It is full of wacky stuff that normally help  film gain cult status. Just for the scenes of a stripper biting the heads off huge snakes I would think this movie would have a pretty big following.

Before this set came out from Mill Creek,BCI Eclipse released an extras packed version of Stanley.The same print of the film is used for this set. But all the extras are gone. But this was a 12 film set that normally was selling for 5 to 7 bucks.

Stanley gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2015 Day 19 The Pit and the Pendulum

The Pit and the Pendulum
Source-Echo Bridge Midnight Horror DVD

When I was still fairly young I saw the AIP made Vincent Price Pit and the Pendulum film. And I loved it. So when in 90 or 91 I started hearing thru Fangoria magazine that Stuart Gordon was remaking it I wanted to see it. I got lucky and the local video store got in the unrated VHS.I watched it and was very impressed.

Skip ahead now to 2004. I caught a edited for TV airing of the movie on Sci Fi Channel and wanted to get it on DVD. The DVD was out of print. And selling for a bit more than I wanted to pay. I figured one day Full Moon would re-release the DVD.

Skip ahead about 8 more years,I am in my local Walmart waiting for my meds to be filled.So to pass the 30 minutes I had to wait I started digging in the $5 bin. I almost skipped this set. Mostly cause the last few Echo Bridge Midnight Horror sets I had bought were nothing but 2000s era DTV tripe. Then on the bottom of the cover I saw a smaller version of the poster at the top of this post. Thinking there was no way this would be the Stuart Gordon film,I flipped the DVD over and saw that yes it is the Stuart Gordon directed film,but sadly it is the R rated cut. No matter I wanted to see the film bad enough that I was willing to drop $5 for the set.

The plot is fairly simple the town baker's wife is falsely accused of being a witch by Lance Henrikson who plays Torquemada.So she get tortured and her husband seeks revenge. From what I can remember it seems the more sexualized violence is what got the most cuts in this R rated version. Even though with the cuts the film still pushes what you could get away with in an R rated film in the early 90s.

The FX work all looks to be practical FX work. And it is really well done practical FX work. For a Full Moon produced film this has a damn good cast. You got Lance as the lead villain. Plus Jeffery Combs and the late Tom Towels as supporting cast.

Besides it being the R rated cut the only other drawback is this version is full frame. Pretty sure by 91 Full Moon had either ended it relationship with Paramont or it was about to end.I doubt this played more than 20 theaters. And I have no idea what it's OAR is suppose to be. But this full frame version doesn't look like it is framed wrong or missing any major picture info.

The Pit and the Pendulum gets a B.

31 Days of Horror 2015 Day 018 Office Killer

Office Killer
Source-Echo Bridge Midnight Horror DVD

This is a mid 90s Miramax thriller/horror film. Carol Kane has worked in this one office since she was in her late teens. Jeanne Tripplehorn is her boss and Molly Ringwald is one of her co-workers. To save money the company installs a computer in Kane's home and she can now work from home. But all isn't right. Kane's father died when she was young. In a car accident that also paralyzed her mother.

As the film goes we get to see Kane progressively get crazier and crazier. And also learn that she was the cause of the car wreck that killed her dad.

I have always liked Carol Kane since first seeing her on Taxi. Jeanne Tripplehorn to me is a very under rated actress who does really good at dramatic roles. And while I was never big into the John Hughs 80s movies with Molly Ringwald,I have found her post Hughs work to be really good. She is great as the bitchy co worker that trashes everyone behind their backs.

There is a bit of gore in some of the kills. And the film really feels like part of the early 90s "Fill in the blank from hell" IE  The Hand that Rocks the cradle is the nanny from hell. Single White Female is the Roommate from hell. And Office Killer is the Co-worker from hell.

Since this pack is 8 films spread over 2 dvds for $5 it is worth paying that much just for Office Killer. And there is at least 2 other good movies in this pack.

Office Killer gets a C.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 089 Great Monsters of the Movies

TITLE-Great Monsters of the Movies
AUTHOR-Robert K Davidson
FORMAT-Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
PRICE-25 cents

Back when I was in elementary school I looked forward to the book fairs each year. And almost every year they would have a new book similar to this one. Small paperback book that covered various horror/monster films from the pre-70s era. This book is from 1978.And I found it at one of the local libraries booksales.

After a decent introduction Mr Davidson has 4 chapters. Each about a different type of monster. Up first is a 20 odd page chapter on the Frankenstein Monster.With half those pages being made up of pretty decent pictures. He covers all the Universal Frankenstein movies plus a few of the non-Universal ones.

Chapter 2 is titled Creatures of the Night. Which of course means vampires,but also includes mummies and zombies. Once again half the pages are for pictures.

The third chapter is men that change into monsters. So we get Dr Jekyll,Phantom of the Opera,Dr Phibes,Werewolves,The Fly and final the beastmen from Island of lost souls.And again half of the chapter is pictures.

Our final chapter is all about aliens and creatures from another world. Which on the first page of the chapter it contradicts cause it is talking about King Kong.From there we get the original The thing,lots of alien based films and even the Creature from the Black lagoon.

Back when I was a kid books like this were some of my favorites. I must have had at least 10 of them. But now thanks to the internet and other changes they are just a quaint antiquity of the past.

With the book only being 130 pages it was a very quick read. And I mostly grabbed it cause of the memories it brought back.

Great Monsters of the Movies gets a 2.97 outta 5.

31 Days of Horror 2015 EXTRA 03 Gore Shriek comic book series

 Ahh Gore Shriek the comic book that every reader of Fangoria in the mid to late 80s wanted to read. I use to stare for hours at the ads for this b/w indy horror anthology comic from FantaCo. But being a young teen and having to be 18 or older to order the book,well I never got to get a copy back then.

Every con I would hit I would look for copies but no one would have them for sale. Then the summer after I graduated high school a record/used cd store opened up 2 towns over.Besides all the music stuff the owner had 8 short boxes of random comics. They were 2 bucks each or 15 for $10.While waiting on someone to figure out which "import" White Zombie CD they were gonna buy,the store had a huge selection of bootleg concert CDs. All labeled as imports,and all of them being $30 a pop.I started digging thru the longboxes.Seeinng if I could find 15 comics I wanted.It was the oddest selection of titles. You would have like 10 issues of Peter David's then current Hulk run,followed by an issue of Alan Moore's Miracleman,followed by a mid 70s Whitman/Gold Key Super Goof. Well so far all I had found that I wanted was 2 issues of V for Vendetta,and one of those colorized Judge Dredd reprints from Eagle.Then I saw the below cover.

 So now I had to find 11 more books. But finally after 5 or 6 years I had gotten an issue of Gore Shriek.I quickly grabbed enough comics to get the 15 for $10 deal. Went to the counter paid for my stuff. Then asked the owner if it was OK if while waiting on my ride to finish getting stuff if I could sit on the floor near the front and read my new comics. He had no probem with this.I quickly took the tape off the flap of the bag,for me unless it is a comic worth more than 100 bucks and one I am not gonna be reading often I never put a piece of tape to hold the flap of the bag down,and started to read Gore Shriek volume 1 issue 3.

 And what a nice gory treat it was. I got a front cover and a back cover from Chas Balun. Who not only ran one of the best horror magazines ever,Deep Red,but was a good artist and writer.He also wrote and drew the story Hell to Pay. And there was 3 other stories. Mall Rats written by Bill Townsend and art by Greg Capullo,this had to be the first time I had seen Capullo's work.Rain which was written and drawn by Rolf Stark.And the final story Idle Hands which has Bruce Spaulding Fuller handling the story and art.

 Months later I turned 18 and could now order issues straight from Fantaco. But I also joined the Army and kind of got out of reading comics for a bit.So issue 3 was the only one I had.

 Years pass.I was at my local mall,oddly enough waiting on the guy from the used CD store,but this time he was trying to figure out which Pantera shirt he wanted. I see they are having a general antique/collectibles show going on in the mall. Various booths are set up  and I notice one guy has at least 40 longboxes of comics.I start looking thru one box,noticing that nothing is priced and I see no sign saying prices,and ask him what he is charging. "Well depends on how many you want to buy. They are a quarter each,but spend at least 10 bucks and I can knock it down to 10 cents each.After scanning 3 longboxes I saw I could find more than enough to hit 10 bucks worth. By the time my buddy had picked out his shirt,I had talked the guy into selling me a longbox of comics for $40.And I don't know about yall but I can stuff 500 or so comics into a longbox. One of the  many comics I got was the above pictured issue. Gore Shriek Vol 2 #1.

 But enough on how I found 2 issues of this kind of now obscure comic. How about some history of it. Fantaco was a company that sold posters,vhs,and anything else horror related.The story I have heard if Chas Balum after he had started the Deep Red magazine,which was a huge seller for Fantaco,talked them into doing a b/w comic book. Now Gore Shriek never really had a set schedule. As in it didn't come out say every 2 months or whatever. Issues came out at random. With sometimes a long wait between them.

There was two series of Gore Shriek. The first that started in 1986,lasted 6 regular issues and a limited 6.5 issue,and ended in 1989 with the aforementioned 6.5 issue. The long waits I mentioned mostly happened in this series. Issue 1 came out in 86 and issue 2 wasn't on stands until 1988. Series 2 started in 1990 and we got 3 issues,an annual and a 2.5 issue.

Since finding that issue at the used CD store I have always been on the look out for issues at comic shops and other stores. Call me weird but with certain comics I want to find them "in the wild".Instead of just going on Ebay and getting them.Part of it is I like to support mom and pop stores. And comic shops and flea markets are mom and pop as you can be. Another part of it is I like the thrill of the hunt. And finally I like keeping a list of uncommon comics,stuff that odds are decent I might find copies in a comic shop.I have an almost complete run of Gore Shriek. From the first series I am only missing 6.5.Which you could only buy direct from Fantaco or if you ran into one of the artist featured in the issue at a con or a comic shop signing. At two different comic shops I have left my number with the owners in case someone comes in wanting to sell a copy of this issue.

 With series 2 of Gore Shriek.All I have ever found is issue 1 and Annual 1.I hear that this series had much smaller print runs. I have seen an old ad where issue 2.4 was selling for $20.

So if anyone reading this has any of the issues I mentioned I do not own. Wants to sell them,and doesn't want stupid prices for them please leave a comment.

 The series,well the issues I have read,is damn good. If you like gory horror and don't mind b/w artwork this is the series for you. Plus starting with issue 3 or so of the original series each issue you get 1 or 2 fairly long essays on various horror topics. Like the history of horror in the underground comix written by Rick Veitch. Or this really good piece on the history of the horror/monster magazine. So there is stuff for both the gorehound and the horror historian.

So next time you are in your local comic shop look and see if they have any copies of Gore Shriek. If so and they aren't wanting stupid prices for them,I wouldn't pay more than 5 for most issues and maybe 10 for a few,buy them.

31 Days of Horror EXTRA 02 Friday the 13th the series

Friday the 13th the series

Starting on Oct 3rd 1987 in first run syndication,this was a weekly hour long horror TV series. Our three leads were ,going from left to right in  the above picture,Ryan,Micki and Jack.

Micki and Ryan were distant cousins. Who when their Uncle Louis dies they inherit his antique shop. Wanting nothing really to do with the store. They have a huge sale and are trying to sell off all the odd stuff their Uncle had in the shop.

Then Jack shows up. He is an old friend of their Uncle. And explains to them how their Uncle had made a deal with evil forces.Everyone of the antiques is cursed. So the three of them band together to get back every one of the cursed antiques.

For yall younger folks out there yes I know this sounds a lot like Warehouse 13. The creators of that show talked about how this show inspired them.

Where I grew up this aired Saturday nights at 10:30pm. And I made sure to never miss it. Not only was the stories well done,hell David Cronenberg wrote and directed at least one episode. But the FX work was really good. This was one gory show. I remember a piece in our local paper back then where the Rev Wildmon,the guy that started the letter writing campaign that got The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse cancelled,was ranting about  how "The good God fearing people of Mississippi shouldn't have to put  up with trash like this being on TV."

Now the show really had no connection to the Jason films. I have heard rumors for years that the producers of the show wanted to do an episode where Jason's infamous hockey mask showed up. But that never happened. I keep seeing that when it aired outside of Canada and the States it was called either Curious Goods or Friday's Curse. But no one I know that watched it when it was airing and who lived outside the states saw it with those names. The only connection it has to the Friday the 13th films is the actor that played Ryan was the lead in Jason goes to Hell.

After season 2 the show stopped airing on a channel I got. So I saw maybe 3 or 4 episodes of season 3. Where Ryan ,after being changed into a kid,leaves the show. And a guy that was introduced in season 2 takes his place. This last season while still decent didn't have the feel of the first 2. And that might be why it was the final season. I have heard a few stories on why it got cancelled. The one I hear the most is thanks to pressure from various groups more and more channels had stopped airing it. And it was a very gory for TV show. But compared to what you see on say CSI or shows of it's ilk this show was nothing.

All three seasons have gotten DVD releases. But the cost for them is way too high. Plus they look kind of crappy. About 2 years before those DVDs came out,I got all three seasons on bootleg DVDs.Most of the episodes on my dvds are from airings on some Canadian horror channel. And they look better than the legit releases.

Sometimes Chiller or Syfy channel will do all day long marathons of this show. And it is worth checking out if you have never seen it.

31 Days of Horror 2015 Day 17 Blood Diner

Blood Diner
Source-Lionsgate DVD

Yeah I know the above cover is the German release from Dragon. The same image is used on the menu of the Lionsgate release I own.

Blood Diner is a kind of sequel to Blood Feast. Two nephews of the lead from Blood Feast,with his name and death changed a bit,dig up his body. And by making a feast for Sheetar they can bring the uncle back.

This is one I saw when it hit video years ago,mostly cause of the good reviews it was getting in lots of the horror mags I was reading.And I remember seeing it a bunch syndicated on various local channels late night slots.Kept hearing for years that a "Loaded dvd version with all kinds of extras Boz" was coming out. It so far hasn't. Few years back this quietly at first slipped out on a 6 film pack. No extras,just the film.

That pack at least in my area is still easy to find for $5,so it is worth grabbing for that price. If you love the Hershall Gordon Lewis Gore films this is a must see.

Blood Diner gets a B-.

31 Days of Horror 2015 Day 16 Incident on and off a mountain road

Incident on and off a mountain road(Masters of Horror season 1 episode 01)
Source-Blu Ray

Ok yeah I normally like to post the cover of whatever I watched. But the blu ray cover is ugly as sin. And the DVD copy isn't much better. So I grabbed the ahove pic from somewhere.

Masters of Horror to me was a fun experiment. Give good directors a ok budget and no restrictions. I thankfully got Showtime. The local cable was phasing out all the movie channels to digital only. And we didn't feel like paying the $40 more a month. I then saw Don Coscarelli was directing it from a Joe Lansdale story and I had to see it as it aired.

The phones where set to silent. Everyone knew to not come over for a hour that Saturday. I was as hyped as a rich kid and it is X-mas 1985.And well I got a fun but average almost hour long horror story. Angus Scrim shows up in a great small role. Bree Turner ,above on the right,is good as the lead.To lazy to look it up but her husband,dude on left above,I know for piles of stuff.

Rewatching it again for the first time since that original airing,and this time in HD.Well I like it more. I knew what was gonna happen,mostly. So I saw more background stuff.

Incident on and off a mountain road gets a C+.