31 Days of Horror 2016 Film 02 The Curse

Title-The Curse
Source-VHS rip

I remember hearing bits and pieces about this film when it came out. But I never saw it for rent at any video store I belonged to. After a few years of hoping one of the local rental places would get it in I just gave up.  It wasn't until last fall that I tracked down a copy. Sure it was  a VHS rip,but it looked decent and I wasn't about to shell out the price of a DVD when I had no clue if I would enjoy the film.

The plot is pretty much a modernization of the HP Lovecraft story The Colour out of Space.At a farm owned by Sheriff Lobo from BJ & the Bear a meteor lands. And it quickly disappears and ends up draining down into the water supply.

At first this seems to be a good thing. All the fruit and vegetables on the farm are huge. But Lobo's stepkids keep talking about how the water taste funny. And then the mother starts acting strange. Like when she is darning a sock and ends up sewing the sock to her hand.

The FX work in the film is pretty good. The acting is damn good. And earlier this year Curse  and Curse II came out on a nice looking Blu Ray from Scream Factory.

The Curse gets a B.

31 Days of Horror 2016 Film 01 Transylvania Twist

TITLE-Transylvania Twist
SOURCE-VHS

I use to always get this horror/comedy mixed up with the horror/comedy Transylvania 6500.With the passing of Angus Scrimm I have been trying to watch every film he was in. And managed to track down a copy of this movie.

What we get is a parody film in the style of Airplane or Naked Gun. Not in the style of the Scary Movie series. So the humor doesn't rely way too much on the audience going "Oh yea I remember that film."

The cast is what saves this film from being just another small release late 80s horror movie. You got Teri Copley as the lead. Angus Scrimm playing the Tall Man again. And in a nice touch Boris Karloff shows up. Using footage from what I assume is the Terror.

I have no idea how hard finding a copy of this film would be. But I wouldn't pay more than $5 for it. While it is funny. It is nothing that you should make a huge effort to get a copy of.

Transylvania Twist gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2016 Intro

Hi everyone. As long time readers of this blog know,pretty much every year I watch 31 horror movies/tv shows in October and post a review each day. Most years I start planning out what films/tv shows I am going to watch as early as spring.

But this year ...well around that time a friend of mine passed. Brandon "Fucker from Hell" Lee was his name. No this isn't Bruce Lee's son. Brandon AKA Fucker was a person I met 6 years ago on a horror forum. At first all of us there figured he as mid 20s. Mostly based on the films he watched liked. It wasn't until he posted a link to a video on Youtube that we learned that Fucker,his name on the forum was The Fucker from Hell,was at the oldest 16.

Unlike most people his age he had a passion for horror. And he wasn't satisfied by the stuff coming out at the time to the theaters. He was going back and watching older stuff. Which is rare for someone his age.

Over the next 6 years I got to know Brandon fairly well. Like myself ,he was also up all night. So many times at 3am him and I would be chatting about whatever we had saw recently.

A few years ago he started doing his own version of 31 days of horror. But instead of written reviews he did them as videos. Fucker wasn't afraid to go against what most horror fans thought. Plus his passion for cinema of any genre kept growing.

The last time I talked to him,we were suggesting films for the other to do during the 31 Days of Horror. He seemed to be really excited to do more video reviews and was in the middle of trying to watch 900 movies in the year 2016.

About a week later I had just gotten home. Was out on my porch eating dinner and checking my email. When I saw a message from a mutual friend of Brandon and I. It seems that the day after I talked to Brandon he died. He was 21 or 22. I still do not know the cause of death. All I have been told was it was sudden and unexpected.

When Brandon died the online horror fan community lost a great person.Sure he was a bit odd. But I gotta admire him for many reasons.Like how he refused to illegally download or stream a movie. In his mind doing that was being disrespectful to everyone that worked on that film. Think about it how many people in their early 20s have never watched an illegally obtained film? I am betting it is a tiny number. As I mentioned before Brandon sometimes had views on horror that went against the horror hivemind. Like how he didn't get why people hated the remake of Psycho. "It is a shot for shot remake of the original. So why would anyone love the original and not also at least like the remake?" Then there was his love of Dimension films. One of Brandon's favorite horror films was Dracula 2000. He loved all three films in that series. But the first one was his favorite of the three. Or how he was one of the few people I know that enjoyed Halloween Resurrection.Not to long after Brandon had passed I was talking to his mother. And she mentioned how he loved that movie so much he kept a poster of it hanging over his bed. So it was the first thing he saw each morning.

This years 31 Days of Horror is my tribute to Brandon. Every year since I have known him he would read each review as it appeared online. Then would talk to me about it. Debating on various things in each film. And I looked forward to seeing what he had to say about the films I watched.I am gonna miss not hearing his thoughts on whatever films/tv shows I review this year.

RIP Brandon "The Fucker from Hell" Lee,I hope that where ever you are you got a steady supply of new films to watch. You were truly one of a kind sir. And anyone that got to know you feels the loss of you not being around anymore.

2016 Comic Challenge 251 Alien Encounters #04

TITLE-Alien Encounters #04
PUBLISHER-Eclipse comics

I love anthology comics. And this is one of the best 80s Sci Fi anthology titles. Originally it was published by Pacific Comics. Until the name Alien Worlds.When Pacific went under Eclipse brought it back under a new name.

This issue has 3 stories. And they are a nice blend of various sub genres of Science Fiction. You get a serious story,followed by a comedy story,followed by a story that would have fit perfectly in Weird Science from EC.

Of course this being an anthology title you never knew from issue to issue how it would be. This issue turned out to be damn good. With the great Gardener Fox writing one of the stories.

Alien Encounters #04 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 250 Hellstorm Prince of Lies #01

TITLE-Hellstorm Prince of Lies #01
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

During the early to mid 90s comic boom lots of odd titles came out. Hellstorm was the one that stood out the most to me. I figured when I heard it was coming out it would be similar to the 70s Son of Satan series. Turns out I was wrong.Instead of the standard superhero stuff Hellstorm felt more like Marvel's attempt to  take a forgotten character and do a Vertigo like series with it.

Hellstorm has his powers back. His wife Patsy Walker is catatonic. And instead of being the hero/anti-hero he was decades ago,he is pretty much pure evil. He has embraced his inner demon.

Rafael Nieves wrote this issue,and the great Michael Bair handles the art chores. Never read much from Nieves,and this is a decent issue. Bair I have loved his art for a long time. But I have always heard he is too slow to do a monthly series.

Since this came from Marvel during the speculator boom of course it has to have a cover gimmick. The gimmick is the cover is made of this odd paper. The solicits referred to it as a parchment cover.I do question the idea of using a gimmick cover on this issue. Mostly cause Damien Hellstorm is a very niche character. Plus there is a segment of the comic fandom that will not read this series because of Damien being the son of Satan.

Another thing that caught my attention was how this issue has the approval of the Comic Code. I seriously doubt they even read the issue. Really this entire series would at least get a PG-13 rating and sometimes going into R rated territory.

Hellstorm Prince of Lies #01 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 249 New Kids on the Block Chillin' #06

TITLE-New Kids on the Block Chillin' #06
PUBLISHER-Harvey Comics

Back in the early 90s NKOTB were hot. So hot that they got at least 2 comic series from Harvey Comics. About a year ago I found the above issue at a junkstore. Paid the buck the guy wanted for it and tossed it into a box.

The first story starts off with all the New Kids out by the pool Chillin'. And they start talking about what it would have been like to live in the Stone age. So we get a story that is a mixture of New Kids plus Flintstones.

The second story has the New Kids over in Russia.Shit happens and they end up performing in the Russian ballet.

The third story has Danny in a comic shop. And he starts imagining what if he was a super hero. Dyno Danny is his hero name and I haven't seen a super hero this lame since the 60s Mighty Crusaders line.

The final story is a two page about Joey going to the library. And of course all the females freak out.But they can't say anything since you are suppose to be quiet in the library.

I know I am not the target audience for this comic. But even then it is super lame. The art is generic. The stories read like stuff Sid&Marty Krofft turned down.

New Kids on the Block Chillin' #06 gets a PASS!

2016 Comic Challenge 248 Sons of Anarchy Redwood Original #02

TITLE-Sons of Anarchy Redwood Original #02
PUBLISHER-Boom Studios

Really this just seems to be a set up issue. We see more of Jax and Opie as kids. Plus the Sons dealing how to get rid of the heroin they were recently given.

Clay goes to check on the guy that gave them the smack,and finds his home ransacked and lots of blood. While at the same time Jax and Opie are getting trashed and hanging with a friend. Jax starts to talk a little bit too much about club business. Then has a violent outburst and beats the fuck out of the friend.

I need to find out if this is going to be a limited series or a ongoing series. It is reading like it is a ongoing.

Sons of Anarchy Redwood Original #02 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 247 Nemesis #01

TITLE-Nemesis #01
PUBLISHER-Icon an imprint of Marvel Comics

I heard about this series when it was coming out. But expecting delays between  issues I waited till it was finished to get it. Then it ended up in the bottom of the stack for a bit.

A guy dressed all in white,Nemesis,is in Japan with some big shot cop hostage. Seems Nemesis loves taking down police.

Back in the States a hero cop from DC gets a note. Saying that he will die soon. And to prove his point Nemesis manages to ,by the air,take control of Air Force One. Then take the President hostage.But we get a few clues as to why Nemesis doesn't like cops. And that maybe this DC hero cop is connected to Nemesis's past.

Mark Millar shows me once again why I have been a fan of his work since his short run on Swamp Thing volume 1. Steve McNiven is a great artist.

Nemesis #01 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 246 Afterlife with Archie #10

TITLE-Afterlife with Archie #10
PUBLISHER-Archie

I knew it would happen,that finally a crappy issue of this series would come out. And what a pile of crap this one is.

Instead of continuing on the main story,the one we are lucky if we get 2 issues of a year,we get what really feels like a fill in issue.

Before the zombie outbreak a reporter is out west interviewing Josie of Josie and the Pussycats. The rest of the issue a 3rd rate hack of the highly over-rated Interview with  the Vampire book from Anne Rice.

The art was great as always,but really there was no need for this issue. Not when we are lucky to get 3 or so a year.

Afterlife with Archie #10 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 245 The Walking Dead #158

TITLE-The Walking Dead #158
PUBLISHER-Image

Part 2 of the Whisperers war is out.Gabriel is on lookout when he falls,loses his rifle and breaks his ankle. So he is left hanging there as a herd of walkers and Whisperers go by. One of the more gruesome deaths in this comic in a long ass time.

Out on the frontlines Dwight has a line of troops ready. Negan is with them but unarmed. Then the herd gets to them. Thanks to some flanking manuevers and Negan's quick thinking most of them manage to escape.

But it looks like this war has just begun. Like pretty much every month Kirkman and Adlard have me gladly forking over right at 4 bucks for my fix.

The Walking Dead #158 gets a buy.