Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 7: Grave Robber "Zombieland"

Get your daily dose of "Whoah"s courtesy of Indiana's Grave Robber with their song "Zombieland".

 

 

31 Days of Halloween Day 7: A Reenvisioned Classic Comes Off as Cartoonish in 'Night of the Animated Dead'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

When George A. Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was released in 1968, the distributors inadvertently released it without a copyright notice. This allowed the movie to slip into the public domain. The most obvious ramifications of this situation are that basically anyone can release a copy of the film on home video. But beyond that, it allows for various remakes and spinoffs to use the film’s plot and title, very rarely with satisfying results.

 

The latest film to appropriate Romero’s classic is the aptly titled NIGHT OF THE ANIMATED DEAD, a nearly line for line, shot for shot cartoon version of John Russo’s script directed by Jason Axinn. And honestly, it isn’t a completely horrible idea. As much of a classic as the original is, and as much as I love it, there are aspects that could be improved. Notably, the cast ranges from excellent (Duane Jones in the lead role of Ben) to… not so excellent (Judith Ridley as Judy). And while I personally like the black and white cinematography and minimalist gore and effects, having more modern looking zombies and more blood and gore isn’t necessarily a bad idea.

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 6: "Iron Boingo" covers "Dead Man's Party"

Members of Protest the Hero, Dethklok, and the usual Two Minutes to Late Night folks take a stab at Oingo Boingo's "Dead Man's Party" in the style of Iron Maiden. I dig it. Hope you do, too.

31 Days of Halloween Day 6: It's Revenge of the Mushroom People in 'Gaia' and 'In The Earth'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

Louie Schwarzberg’s 2019 documentary FANTASTIC FUNGI walked (or perhaps more accurately, blurred) the line between science and new age woo in its exploration of earth’s fungal lifeforms, and the theory that they may have some sort of interconnected intelligence. Similarly, the late Terrence McKenna wrote several books on his belief that mushrooms and other plant-based hallucinogens were a way to communicate with a metaphysical intelligence he referred to as “the other”.

 

Perhaps that same intelligence reached out to filmmakers Ben Wheatley and Jaco Bouwer, who independently of one another made IN THE EARTH (Wheatley) and GAIA (Bouwer, from a screenplay by Tertius Kapp). Both films deal with the fungal kingdom interacting with humans. But rather than benevolent enlightenment, the protagonists wind up taking decidedly bad trips more akin to Ishiro Honda’s MATANGO, known to American aficionados of psychotronic cinema as ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE.

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 5: Blue Oyster Cult "Tainted Blood"

As big of a Blue Oyster Cult fan as I am, I didn't care much for last year's 'The Symbol Remains' album. One of the highlights, though, was this song by relatively new member Richie Castellano. It's not the first time the band has done a song about vampires, and it's not their best (for me that would be "Nosferatu" from their 'Spectres' album), but this is still a pretty solid number.

 

 

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 5: The Rural Horrors of 'Honeydew'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

The setup for HONEYDEW is so familiar, one almost can’t help but feel its main characters deserve whatever horrors befall them. Like, haven’t you guys ever watched THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE? Writer/director Devereux Milburn obviously has.

 

A young metropolitan couple – actor/waiter Sam (Sawyer Spielberg, yes, son of that Spielberg and Kate Capshaw) and botanist Rylie (Malin Barr) – are so busy showing us how much they shouldn’t be together that they miss all the obvious red flags letting them know they’ve stumbled into a hicksploitation horror film.

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 4: Jeremiah Sand "Message From the Mountain"

After playing cult leader Jeremiah Sand in 2018's cult horror film MANDY, Linus Roche decided to further explore his character by recording an album's worth of music in that persona. It's every bit as weird and wonderful as the movie that inspired it, and while it stands on its own just fine, it also complements the film.

 

 

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 4: The Unedited Horror of 'Censor'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

CENSOR

 

For British horror fans in the 1980s, it was the best and worst of times. That’s when home video companies took advantage of loopholes in the law to release previously banned or heavily censored horror movies in uncut form on home video.

 

At least for a while.

 

Once the British tabloid press realized what was going on, they bestowed the mantle of “Video Nasties” on these lurid films. And of course, they tried to blame all manner of real life crimes on their influence. All without any evidence. But when has that ever got in the way of a good moral panic?

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 3: Lucifer "Wild Hearses"

Johanna and Nicke Andersson embrace their love of the macabre and each other with their latest, "Wild Hearses".

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 3: 'Psycho Goreman' is an E.T. Gone Bad

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

If E.T. was an unstoppable killing machine and Eliot was a sociopathic little girl, you might wind up with something like PSYCHO GOREMAN. Proudly wearing its influences on its sleeve, PSYCHO GOREMAN captures the vibe of low budget eighties schlock better than any recent film this side of TURBO KID, basking in nostalgia while at the same time managing to feel fresh and original despite all the classic tropes and retro imagery it trots out.

 

The plot is set in motion when Siblings Mimi (Nita-Josee Hanna) and Luke (Owen Myre) dig up a glowing space artifact in their back yard that gives them control over the alien monster buried just a little further down. The alien (Matthew Ninaber), who Mimi has dubbed Psycho Goreman, or “PG” for short, promises to kill the kids the moment he is free of their control. Luke is understandably concerned, but Mimi let’s her dark side run wild, reveling in the power of having her own personal alien enforcer.

 

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 2: Taking a Stroll Down 'Fear Street'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

5 ½ hours is no small amount of time to invest in a trilogy of horror films based on a series of teen oriented horror novels by R. L. Stine if, like me, you were already well past the target demographic when the books came out, and are a full on cranky old man now. But there was a fair amount of buzz surrounding the FEAR STREET films on Netflix, so I figured I’d give the first movie a shot.

 

By the time I’d reached the half hour mark of FEAR STREET: 1994, I’d had enough. It wasn’t just the jumbled and overstuffed YA ‘American Horror Story’ vibe of the thing, although that was a big part of it. No, the straw that broke this camel’s back was the obnoxious “greatest hits of the 90s” as DJed by someone with ADHD soundtrack. Here, enjoy a few seconds of Radiohead’s “Creep”. Ok, enough of that. Here’s a bit of “Sour Times” by Portishead. OR how about some Nine Inch Nails, or a little Cypress Hill? Do you feel like you’re in the nineties yet?  Ugh.

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 2: John Carpenter "Alive After Death"

Horror film director John Carpenter has long down the soundtracks for his own films. These days he's largely skipped making the movies and just does the music with his series of 'Lost Themes' albums. The latest, 'Lost Themes III', came out this year featuring this typically atmospheric number, "Alive After Death"

 

 

31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 1: The Joyous Lunacy of 'Malignant'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

The setup for MALIGNANT will likely have horror savvy viewers expecting writer/director James Wan to revisit similar territory to his INSIDIOUS and THE CONJURING films. Once it gets into gear and starts throwing one insane twist after another at the audience, however, it becomes clear that this is a very different animal altogether.

Sure, the big budget slickness and Wan’s style are there, but at its heart MALIGNANT is an over the top, go for broke, just plain crazy horror film that has more in common with such gooey, goofy eighties fare as BASKET CASE and THE EVIL DEAD 2 than it does with the usual Blumhouse type fare. There’s also a heavy dollop of giallo style in the fashion of Dario Argento (DEEP RED, TENEBRAE), and a dash of seventies psychic horror ala CARRIE, thrown in for good measure. I’d say there’s even a little bit of THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES in this film’s DNA, although not quite as pronounced as it was in Wan’s SAW. 

Halloween Rocks 2021 Day 1: Bewitcher - "Valley of the Ravens"

One of my favorite newer metal bands is Bewitcher, who take the old school black metal formula of bands like Venom and give it a bit of a polish and a tightening up. On "Valley of the Ravens" they tell the story of a witch burned at the stake who returns to visit vengeance on her persecutors and their descendants. Great riffs and lyrics, and a surprisingly bluesy guitar solo really make this one stand out.

Back From the Grave for Halloween

Has it really been a year since I last posted anything on this blog? Yes. Yes it has. You would think with the pandemic and all keeping me at home more than usual I'd be more inclined to write, not less, but that seems not to have been the case. In part, I've been spending more time with ebay related stuff. But the main reason is I just haven't felt like writing. That was so much the case this time last year that I didn't even do a 31 Days of Halloween blogathon.

 

Well, I'm not about to let that happen again this year. I don't know if I'll be back to regular posting once October is behind us, but at least for now I feel like writing some horror reviews.

 

I'll mainly be reviewing movies, but I'll toss in the occasional horror related book, comic, series, or music review if I feel so inclined. And while I'll be focusing on newer stuff I haven't seen or read or listened to before, I'm not ruling out the possibility of writing about something older that catches my fancy.

 

That's about all I've got to say at the moment, but starting tomorrow I'll be blathering on about my opinions at much greater length for the next month.  Hopefully you'll feel inclined to read.

 

'The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh' can't even save itself

CONFESSIONS OF A GEN-X PREMIUM CABLE JUNKIE: THE FISH THAT SAVED PITTSBURGH (1979)

 

THE MEMORIES

I’ve never been a sports fan. Never. Not baseball, not football, not basketball. The closest I’ve ever come was a period in my late adolescence through my early twenties when I was a fan of professional wrestling, which really doesn’t count. That said, I’ve always enjoyed sports movies. Go figure.

 

And while I didn’t watch basketball games during the seventies, I nonetheless knew who Julius Erving aka Dr. J. was. Like Lebron James, Michael Jordan, and Magic Johnson, he was the sort of athlete who transcended basketball to become a pop cultural icon. If you were alive in the late seventies, you just knew who he was.

 

Even more than Dr. J., though, I was familiar with Meadowlark Lemon, who played for the Harlem Globetrotters. For those who don’t know, much like the professional wrestling matches I would enjoy in later years, Globetrotters games were staged, with the predetermined outcome that the Globetrotters would always win. Also like professional wrestling, the fact that the games were staged in no way meant that the athletes were not highly skilled. But beyond their playing ability, the Globetrotters were first and foremost entertainers. And thanks to their appearances on Saturday morning TV (on Scooby Doo, and later their own show in which they were superheroes of some sort) I was a fan despite having never seen an actual Globetrotter game.

The Capitol Theatre brings 12 Hours of Terror into your home for 2020

[Press release from Cleveland Cinemas]

 

THE CAPITOL THEATRE’S SIGNATURE HORROR MARATHON ADAPTS FOR 2020

12 Hours of Terror Goes Virtual

(Cleveland, OH) Like most other events that require a large group of people to gather in one place, the Capitol Theatre’s annual 12 Hours of Terror is adapting to an online platform for 2020. The Capitol Theatre has partnered with Kino Marquee to present its first ever VIRTUAL HORROR MARATHON.

This year, patrons will be able to buy a ticket in the Cleveland Cinemas Virtual Screening Room to an all-night horror marathon that includes the following films: Jess Franco’s A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD (1973), Jean Rollin’s THE NUDE VAMPIRE (1970), Mario Bava’s THE HOUSE OF EXORCISM (1976) & Pete Walker’s THE HOUSE OF WHIPCORD.

Explore the secret lives of stewardesses in short film 'Wives of the Skies'

[WIVES OF THE SKIES premieres on Amazon Prime on Tuesday September 29^th.]

 

I didn’t really expect a film dealing with 1960s stewardesses and Japanese bondage to be simultaneously charming, sexy, and feminist. But that’s exactly the case with the Honey Lauren’s short WIVES OF THE SKIES. Showing an attention to 1960s period detail and filmmaking technique similar to Anna Biller (VIVA, THE LOVE WITCH), Lauren explores the private lives of two young women whose job it is to cater to the needs of airline passengers and look fabulous while doing it. While objectified by many, the reality of who they are is very different than the typical male fantasy.

 

Our window into this world in the film comes via documentary filmmaker Derrick (Drew Brandon Jones). When he decides to interview stewardesses Fran (Rachel Alig) and Marcy (Madisson Bullock) for a documentary on their profession, he does so with a number of preconceptions and expectations. It isn’t long before his expectations are dashed.

 

WIVES OF THE SKIES is a very skillfully conceived and put together film with a winning cast. I’m just not sure there’s enough here to lift it above the level of a good looking, pleasant diversion, even with the feminist subtext and the respectful depiction of Japanese rope bondage (kinbaku). It feels like the first act of a feature film that then tacks on a majorly abbreviated conclusion more than a self-contained vignette. Regardless, the well-crafted visuals, humor, and subtext make this one worth a look. Besides, it’s a safe bet you’ve got 20 minutes to spare. You probably aren’t going to be catching a flight anytime soon.

 

Come on and Join Our 'Convoy'

CONFESSIONS OF A GEN-X PREMIUM CABLE JUNKIE: CONVOY (1978)

THE MEMORIES

I can’t really talk about my nostalgia for Sam Peckinpah’s 1978 film CONVOY without first talking about what, for many Clevelander’s of a certain age, is the definitive film version of C.W. McCall’s 1975 hit country song. I’m talking about the version of “Convoy” made for airing on the Saturday afternoon Cleveland area movie program hosted by Superhost aka Marty Sullivan (you can read my interview with Marty here). The short, silly little music video Supe and his crew came up with for “Convoy” is about as perfect an adaptation of the song as one could hope for.

It was in no small part due to Supe’s version that I wound up watching Peckinpah’s CONVOY when it premiered on Star Channel, most likely sometime in 1979. And while I doubt there was any way it could have topped the Superhost version for my younger self, I do nonetheless remember enjoying the feature for its numerous fight scenes and car crashes.

'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes' Delivers the Groceries

CONFESSIONS OF A GEN-X PREMIUM CABLE JUNKIE: ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES (1978)

Despite this being a little more high profile than most of the movies I’m going to be covering in this series, it was in many ways the definitive “Star Channel” movie for me. So at the risk of ruining a perfectly nice bit of childhood nostalgia, I bought a digital copy and sat down for a trip down memory lane. To add even more pressure, I coerced my 9-year-old son into watching it with me. Would either of us find this seventies artifact, a movie often spoken of as one of the worst films ever made, entertaining in the 21^st century? Let’s find out!

THE MEMORIES

I was 9 or 10 when I first saw ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES, which is just about the perfect age to watch a movie like this. At that age, one is old enough to understand some of the inappropriate jokes and feel like they’re getting away with something, but still young enough to yuck it up at the silly, immature gags that made all the serious, adult critics of the time groan.

But who cares about the critics, especially when you’re a kid? For me, this movie was comedy gold. I made sure to get in a couple of repeat viewings while it was in rotation on Star Channel. I knew the theme song by heart. I drew crayon masterpieces of tomato carnage in art class. I’m pretty sure if it hadn’t been for STAR WARS, I would have told you at the time that ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES was the greatest movie ever made.

But as such things happened in the late seventies, ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES was eventually removed from Star Channel’s schedule. I got older, and saw many other, arguably better films along the way. Eventually I watched the film on VHS and found it to still be reasonably amusing. I also saw the so-called “director’s cut” released in 1995, only this time I wasn’t quite as amused. Mainly that was due to the alterations rubbing me the wrong way.

I haven’t seen the movie since. Until now.