It has recently come to my attention that a British company called Big Finish Productions has re-released an audio drama called UNIT: The Coup as a free download on their website. From what I can tell from its Wikipedia entry, it was originally released on a CD given away with an issue of Doctor Who Magazine in order to promote an upcoming spin-off of their Doctor Who audio plays.
For those not in the know, Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction television series about the adventures of a time-traveling alien who saves the Earth (and other planets) from monsters and alien invasions. The Doctor sometimes aids (or is aided by) the British branch of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT for short), an organization dedicated to combating unusual threats to global security. There's a note here that UNIT was originally called the "United Nations Intelligence Taskforce," but the producers had to remove the reference to the UN from the name in 2008.
I'm afraid I can't comment about the quality of the audio play, as I'm not a fan of Doctor Who and didn't bother listening to it. I only know that it involves a race of reptile-people from prehistoric times called the Silurians. However, I thought that both fans of the series and monster fans in general might be interested in such a freebie. Enjoy!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Free D&D
So I was looking for information about an old horror comic book when I stumbled across the Wikipedia page for Tomb of Horrors (link contains spoilers). Instead of containing information about a comic book, it was devoted to a Dungeons and Dragons adventure. Said adventure is apparently infamous the its sheer number of deadly traps and reputation as a player-killer. Despite its apparent lack of monsters, I thought that some readers might be interested to know that Wizards of the Coast has put up a version (revised for 3.5th Edition rules) as a free download.
After poking around Wikipedia some more, I managed to find two other monster-related free downloads: a never-published supplement for the horror-themed Ravenloft campaign setting and the monster-filled adventure, White Plume Mountain (also revised for 3.5th Edition rules). I should note that I personally haven't downloaded or opened any of these. As is the case with all links to downloadable content, open them at your own discretion.
After poking around Wikipedia some more, I managed to find two other monster-related free downloads: a never-published supplement for the horror-themed Ravenloft campaign setting and the monster-filled adventure, White Plume Mountain (also revised for 3.5th Edition rules). I should note that I personally haven't downloaded or opened any of these. As is the case with all links to downloadable content, open them at your own discretion.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Deep(ly odd) thoughts
So I was watching From Dusk 'til Dawn recently and was surprised to see that the staked vampires in the movie stayed dead even when their stakes were removed. Having been raised on movies where removing a stake meant a vampire would rise again, I was initially against the idea, but further consideration had me rethinking my position. Think about it, if rupturing the heart of a vampire killed it, then it wouldn't matter if the stake was removed or not. On the other hand, if the material the stake is made of is what kills the vampire, then removing it could potentially let a vampire "live" again. After all, a vampire theoretically wouldn't need organs to function and something that would permanently kill a human being might not work the same way for them. There's also the issue of how, in the original folklore, driving a stake through a vampire's chest only pinned them in their coffins so they couldn't escape. Do we factor that in and make the whole argument moot or do we ignore like most depictions of vampires in popular culture?
This actually reminds me of a conversation Strange Jason and I once had. For some reason, he had started thinking about vampires having a divorce and how the process would work. The big question on his mind was whether or not alimony and/or child support have to be paid for all eternity, while I wondered if being undead would create any loopholes. If a couple is married "'til death do [them]" part, does it mean the marriage is invalid if both parties are undead?
Speaking of bizarre monster-related conversations I've had, one of my cousins came up with an interesting series of questions about zombies: Do they simply eat until their stomachs rupture or are they able to somehow digest the flesh they consume. If they do digest their "food," then would they poop? If they do, would they just soil themselves or would they have a basic memory about things like using a toilet or going behind a bush?
Come to think of it, would vampires have to urinate after they've digested blood (assuming that's what they do with it) or would they have really bad diarrhea?
This actually reminds me of a conversation Strange Jason and I once had. For some reason, he had started thinking about vampires having a divorce and how the process would work. The big question on his mind was whether or not alimony and/or child support have to be paid for all eternity, while I wondered if being undead would create any loopholes. If a couple is married "'til death do [them]" part, does it mean the marriage is invalid if both parties are undead?
Speaking of bizarre monster-related conversations I've had, one of my cousins came up with an interesting series of questions about zombies: Do they simply eat until their stomachs rupture or are they able to somehow digest the flesh they consume. If they do digest their "food," then would they poop? If they do, would they just soil themselves or would they have a basic memory about things like using a toilet or going behind a bush?
Come to think of it, would vampires have to urinate after they've digested blood (assuming that's what they do with it) or would they have really bad diarrhea?
Saturday, August 8, 2009
The (Vincent) Price is right
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Onion AV Club recently posted an article devoted to Vincent Price, and the films starring him that were most likely to make viewers devoted fans. I link to this both because I agree with the movie choices they list and because the users comments offer a wealth of trivia about the man. For example, I learned that he made a cameo in the movie Beach Party for the sole purpose of plugging The Pit and the Pendulum and that he provided vocal work on Alice Cooper's album, Welcome to My Nightmare (long before Price did his "rap" for Thriller). Price also appeared in Cooper's TV special, Alice Cooper: The Nightmare. Said special's VHS release has some hilariously cheesy (albeit intentionally so) cover art that I doubt anyone would try doing nowadays.
Inspired by these discoveries, I decided to visit his Wikipedia entry. My favorite factoid has to be this quote:
"In an often-repeated anecdote from the set of Batman, Price, after a take was printed, started throwing eggs at series stars Adam West and Burt Ward, and when asked to stop replied, "With a full artillery? Not a chance!", causing an eggfight to erupt on the soundstage."
How can you not love that man?
Saving the best for last, check out vincentprice.org for a treasure trove of Vincent Price-related trivia, pictures, sound files and much more. Trust me, you'll be glad you visited.
UPDATE: The Price may be right, but it turns out that Beach Party trivia was incorrect. Although Vincent Price did appear in the movie and made a The Pit and the Pendulum joke, his appearance was done to plug The Haunted Palace. Had I bothered to look up the release dates prior to making this post, I would have realized that The Pit and the Pendulum was made long before Beach Party went into production.
Inspired by these discoveries, I decided to visit his Wikipedia entry. My favorite factoid has to be this quote:
"In an often-repeated anecdote from the set of Batman, Price, after a take was printed, started throwing eggs at series stars Adam West and Burt Ward, and when asked to stop replied, "With a full artillery? Not a chance!", causing an eggfight to erupt on the soundstage."
How can you not love that man?
Saving the best for last, check out vincentprice.org for a treasure trove of Vincent Price-related trivia, pictures, sound files and much more. Trust me, you'll be glad you visited.
UPDATE: The Price may be right, but it turns out that Beach Party trivia was incorrect. Although Vincent Price did appear in the movie and made a The Pit and the Pendulum joke, his appearance was done to plug The Haunted Palace. Had I bothered to look up the release dates prior to making this post, I would have realized that The Pit and the Pendulum was made long before Beach Party went into production.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
It came from Wikipedia
Even Wikipedia isn't the most accurate source of information in the world, I still find myself browsing through when I'm bored and need to kill a little time online. I checked the information found in the links below using other resources and can guarantee that they're all true.
Even though I'm not a fan of the Saw franchise, I'm fascinated by the licensing decisions surrounding it. Not only does the soundtrack for the European version of Saw III has a Dethklok song in it, but there are also an amusement park ride and video game based on the series.
Speaking of odd choices for video games, it turns out that there was a Plan 9 from Outer Space computer game! What's even weirder is that the game is about recovering the film's reels (stolen by Bela Lugosi's double) rather than it being a playable adaptation of the game.
I find it odd that, despite J. J. Abrams' claim of coming up with the idea for Cloverfield out of a desire to create an American monster, there's a (currently) Japan-only manga prequel.
You might know John Agar from movies like The Brain from Planet Arous or Tarantula, but I bet you didn't know that he started a theme park called "Land of Kong" that featured a forty foot tall King Kong statue Sadly, the park (which had since changed its name to "Dinosaur World") closed in 2005. As noted on in these blogs, the massive King Kong statue's blinking red eyes and roaring sound effects (along with the now-outdated dinosaur statues) couldn't compete with the thrill-rides and realistic animatronic effects that can be found in modern theme parks.
It's a rare treat to get some insight the creation of the horror movie posters of yesteryear. The late Tom Chantrell, who designed the posters for Star Wars and many Hammer horror films, apparently only used a basic plot description and a few publicity stills (along with pictures of himself and others posing) in order to create his masterpieces.
Japan's first giant monster movie might have been a lost 1938 film called King Kong Appears in Edo. I say "might have" because there are some allegations that the film is a hoax and it's been theorized that the film was actually called King Kong and the "Appears in Edo" was merely the tagline. You can find an alleged publicity picture here.
When I first read that Viras (and other monsters from the Gamera franchise) had an animated cameo on the children's television series Franklin, I was convinced it was just a joke. Then I saw a screenshot...
Speaking of giant monsters, I was surprised to learn that the 1977 novelization of The Creature from the Black Lagoon changed the Gill-man into a thirty ton, hermaphroditic monster.
Finally, Poltergay. I honestly don't know what else to say about this.
Even though I'm not a fan of the Saw franchise, I'm fascinated by the licensing decisions surrounding it. Not only does the soundtrack for the European version of Saw III has a Dethklok song in it, but there are also an amusement park ride and video game based on the series.
Speaking of odd choices for video games, it turns out that there was a Plan 9 from Outer Space computer game! What's even weirder is that the game is about recovering the film's reels (stolen by Bela Lugosi's double) rather than it being a playable adaptation of the game.
I find it odd that, despite J. J. Abrams' claim of coming up with the idea for Cloverfield out of a desire to create an American monster, there's a (currently) Japan-only manga prequel.
You might know John Agar from movies like The Brain from Planet Arous or Tarantula, but I bet you didn't know that he started a theme park called "Land of Kong" that featured a forty foot tall King Kong statue Sadly, the park (which had since changed its name to "Dinosaur World") closed in 2005. As noted on in these blogs, the massive King Kong statue's blinking red eyes and roaring sound effects (along with the now-outdated dinosaur statues) couldn't compete with the thrill-rides and realistic animatronic effects that can be found in modern theme parks.
It's a rare treat to get some insight the creation of the horror movie posters of yesteryear. The late Tom Chantrell, who designed the posters for Star Wars and many Hammer horror films, apparently only used a basic plot description and a few publicity stills (along with pictures of himself and others posing) in order to create his masterpieces.
Japan's first giant monster movie might have been a lost 1938 film called King Kong Appears in Edo. I say "might have" because there are some allegations that the film is a hoax and it's been theorized that the film was actually called King Kong and the "Appears in Edo" was merely the tagline. You can find an alleged publicity picture here.
When I first read that Viras (and other monsters from the Gamera franchise) had an animated cameo on the children's television series Franklin, I was convinced it was just a joke. Then I saw a screenshot...
Speaking of giant monsters, I was surprised to learn that the 1977 novelization of The Creature from the Black Lagoon changed the Gill-man into a thirty ton, hermaphroditic monster.
Finally, Poltergay. I honestly don't know what else to say about this.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Christmassacre in July
Despite my lack of understanding about the whole "Christmas in July" concept, I figured that I'd hop on the bandwagon anyway. Anyway, here are several hilarious (and NSFW) clips from Silent Night, Deadly Night II:
Monday, July 20, 2009
You're curiously attractive for a fish-man...
A discussion with a friend of mine regarding Monster Force led to us talking about Darkstalkers. Not to be confused with the Japanese OVA series Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge, (although both were based on the same Capcom fighting game) Darkstalkers was an American animated series infamous for its poor quality and unintentional comedy. To learn more about it, check out the Random Action Hour's episode reviews, complete with screenshots and humorous sound files.
If you're wondering about the title of this entry, watch this:
Come to think of it, the werewolf character in the show kind of ties into the the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing...
If you're wondering about the title of this entry, watch this:
Come to think of it, the werewolf character in the show kind of ties into the the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing...
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Happy 4th of July!
Since it's Independence Day, I thought I'd share an interesting fact I learned. It turns out that the movie Independence Dayhad an audio sidequel about Britain's response to the alien invasion called Independence Day UK (aka ID4UK). From what I can tell, the play starts off sounding like a real radio program about UFOs (complete with British celebrities playing themselves) and then segues into a standard audio drama after the aliens attack. You can read more about it here.
But while that ties into the holiday, it wouldn't feel right to do a 4th of July entry without something 100% American. Since the word "force" kinda sounds like "fourth, I thought now would be as good a time as any to share the following news:
The Abominable N. Oremac informed me that Monster Force is getting a DVD release on September 15, 2009. Not unlike Van Helsing, this 1994 animated series was an attempt to make the Universal Monsters appeal to the youth of the day. In it, the titular Monster Force (whose members included Frankenstein's Monster and a descendant of the Wolf Man) protected the world from Dracula and his team of evil monsters. Judging from the Wikipedia entry, the show made some rather bizarre choices for some of the monsters' powers, such as the Mummy having freeze breath or the Creature from the Black Lagoon having a sonic scream-type attack. Come to think of it, could the Creature really be considered evil? It's just an incredibly sexually frustrated animal (being the last of your kind tends to do that). In my opinion, the only reason he went after Julie Adams in the first movie was since he desperate enough to consider pursuing a (by his species' standards) ugly, scaleless freak. I'm not saying what he tried to do was right, but wild animals aren't exactly the best representatives of ethical or moral thinking.
Getting back on topic, the short-lived cartoon also resulted in a line of action figures. You can learn more about them at this Monster Force fansite. It should also be noted that the cartoon has no relation to the video game of the same name.
Finally, I'd like to wish a belated Happy Canada Day to all our readers up north. In celebration, here's a link to my favorite Canadian horror movie-related site: Canuxploitation.
But while that ties into the holiday, it wouldn't feel right to do a 4th of July entry without something 100% American. Since the word "force" kinda sounds like "fourth, I thought now would be as good a time as any to share the following news:
The Abominable N. Oremac informed me that Monster Force is getting a DVD release on September 15, 2009. Not unlike Van Helsing, this 1994 animated series was an attempt to make the Universal Monsters appeal to the youth of the day. In it, the titular Monster Force (whose members included Frankenstein's Monster and a descendant of the Wolf Man) protected the world from Dracula and his team of evil monsters. Judging from the Wikipedia entry, the show made some rather bizarre choices for some of the monsters' powers, such as the Mummy having freeze breath or the Creature from the Black Lagoon having a sonic scream-type attack. Come to think of it, could the Creature really be considered evil? It's just an incredibly sexually frustrated animal (being the last of your kind tends to do that). In my opinion, the only reason he went after Julie Adams in the first movie was since he desperate enough to consider pursuing a (by his species' standards) ugly, scaleless freak. I'm not saying what he tried to do was right, but wild animals aren't exactly the best representatives of ethical or moral thinking.
Getting back on topic, the short-lived cartoon also resulted in a line of action figures. You can learn more about them at this Monster Force fansite. It should also be noted that the cartoon has no relation to the video game of the same name.
Finally, I'd like to wish a belated Happy Canada Day to all our readers up north. In celebration, here's a link to my favorite Canadian horror movie-related site: Canuxploitation.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Cool cover art
I love looking at the cover art on old horror movie VHS tapes. From lurid paintings to goofy staged photographs, they have a unique style that today's DVD covers rarely match. So you can imagine my delight to discover Critical Condition Online's cover art gallery. Not only does it have tons of cover scans, but it also lists the various home video companies of the 80's/90's, provides company histories and even includes scans of vintage promotional material!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Happy Father's Day!
Watching television with one's father is a time-honored family tradition. So on Father's Day, why not relive those moments with your father by heading over to Youtube?
Both MGM and Lionsgate have uploaded several full-length movies and television shows onto their Youtube accounts. GdL readers should be interested in Amityville II: The Possession, Dark Fields, Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot, Parents, The Outer Limits and The Addams Family. And if the old man isn't a horror fan, then there's plenty of other types of movies and shows to watch. It may not sound like the most glamorous way to spend Father's Day, but I'm sure dad will like it more than getting yet another tie.
Both MGM and Lionsgate have uploaded several full-length movies and television shows onto their Youtube accounts. GdL readers should be interested in Amityville II: The Possession, Dark Fields, Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot, Parents, The Outer Limits and The Addams Family. And if the old man isn't a horror fan, then there's plenty of other types of movies and shows to watch. It may not sound like the most glamorous way to spend Father's Day, but I'm sure dad will like it more than getting yet another tie.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Grandpa and the Midnight Mutants
In 1990, Atari and Radioactive Software released an interesting action game for the Atari 7800 system called Midnight Mutants. The game dealt with a young boy's quest to save his grandfather, who has been turned into a pumpkin by Dr. Evil. What's really interesting about the game is that, as you can see from the screenshots from the game shown here, the grandfather in question is Grandpa Munster! Or is he?
You see, the game technically wasn't related to The Munsters. Apparently, only the use of Al Lewis' likeness was licensed. But, thanks to his appearance being so strongly linked to his portrayal of "Grandpa" from the series and since he was used to represent the captured grandfather of the game's protagonist, many assumed that the game involved Grandpa Munster. If the rights holders for The Munsters had attempted any legal action, I'd assume that Radioactive Software and Atari would've pointed out that since the main character was named Jimmy Harkman, then it would mean that his grandfather would be named "Grandpa Harkman" and wasn't related to character from The Munsters in any way. I'm not saying that it would necessarily hold up in court, but I'm sure they'd make that sort of argument. Although the character from the TV series is informally referred to as "Grandpa Munster" by many, he was actually referred to as "Count Dracula" in a few episodes of the show. This is because he was only the father-in-law of Herman Munster.
This unusual licensing strategy was also used on other occasions. Lewis hosted horror movies on TBS as "Grandpa" during the 80's and also hosted a series of VHS tapes from Vintage Video (aka AmVest Video). Notice that, although the Amazon listings refer to him as "Grandpa Munster," he is merely called "Grandpa" on the packaging. In these appearances, he did not wear the same makeup design used in The Munsters television series or films.
I have to wonder why they chose to use "Grandpa" in that game. Were reruns of The Munsters really all that popular with the youth of the time? Perhaps they were inspired by a similar game for the NES called Fester's Quest, which featured characters from The Addams Family. However, unlike Midnight Mutants, this game had licensed the characters. But even if that was the case, one has to wonder why they thought that children of the 80's would want to buy a game about a character from a 60's sitcom battling aliens.
You see, the game technically wasn't related to The Munsters. Apparently, only the use of Al Lewis' likeness was licensed. But, thanks to his appearance being so strongly linked to his portrayal of "Grandpa" from the series and since he was used to represent the captured grandfather of the game's protagonist, many assumed that the game involved Grandpa Munster. If the rights holders for The Munsters had attempted any legal action, I'd assume that Radioactive Software and Atari would've pointed out that since the main character was named Jimmy Harkman, then it would mean that his grandfather would be named "Grandpa Harkman" and wasn't related to character from The Munsters in any way. I'm not saying that it would necessarily hold up in court, but I'm sure they'd make that sort of argument. Although the character from the TV series is informally referred to as "Grandpa Munster" by many, he was actually referred to as "Count Dracula" in a few episodes of the show. This is because he was only the father-in-law of Herman Munster.
This unusual licensing strategy was also used on other occasions. Lewis hosted horror movies on TBS as "Grandpa" during the 80's and also hosted a series of VHS tapes from Vintage Video (aka AmVest Video). Notice that, although the Amazon listings refer to him as "Grandpa Munster," he is merely called "Grandpa" on the packaging. In these appearances, he did not wear the same makeup design used in The Munsters television series or films.
I have to wonder why they chose to use "Grandpa" in that game. Were reruns of The Munsters really all that popular with the youth of the time? Perhaps they were inspired by a similar game for the NES called Fester's Quest, which featured characters from The Addams Family. However, unlike Midnight Mutants, this game had licensed the characters. But even if that was the case, one has to wonder why they thought that children of the 80's would want to buy a game about a character from a 60's sitcom battling aliens.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Is this the end of civilization as we know it?
MGM/Comcast's "Impact" OnDemand channel is now offering the 1986 post-apocalyptic trash classic Robot Holocaust for free. Yes, as in the one that appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Although the film's print is very good and has all the footage that was cut from the MST3K version, those who remember Wizard Video's claim that it was "too gory for the silver screen" are going to be disappointed. Although it does have its fair share of severed limbs, it isn't very gory and the tagline was only putting a positive spin the fact that it was a direct-to-video movie. On the plus side, it's chock full of killer robots, mutants, buck-toothed worms and other bizarre creatures!
I hope that it gets a DVD release under MGM's Midnite Movies line sometime soon, if only to see what movie it would be paired with. My best guess would be the similarly-themed Mutant Hunt. I love the original VHS box art for that movie; not only does it make promises it can't keep regarding the film's quality, but it also appears to show a half-naked Inspector Gadget going on a rampage.
Also, the big switch from analog broadcasting to digital is scheduled for midnight tonight! It also seems that even those who have converter boxes or cable might experience a little trouble. From what I could glean from the news today, you might have to press your remote's menu button and hit any option that has the word "Scan" in it if you are unable to get certain channels. You can find more information on the matter by looking around here.
I'm sure that some of you readers have fiddled with a TV antenna trying to get some horror movie to tune in a little clearer or settled with a snowy TV signal from a distant station since they were airing something you desperately wanted to see. Although the switchover will make that impossible for modern viewers, some will surely miss the ability to do that sort of thing. If you have any memories like this which you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment.
Although the film's print is very good and has all the footage that was cut from the MST3K version, those who remember Wizard Video's claim that it was "too gory for the silver screen" are going to be disappointed. Although it does have its fair share of severed limbs, it isn't very gory and the tagline was only putting a positive spin the fact that it was a direct-to-video movie. On the plus side, it's chock full of killer robots, mutants, buck-toothed worms and other bizarre creatures!
I hope that it gets a DVD release under MGM's Midnite Movies line sometime soon, if only to see what movie it would be paired with. My best guess would be the similarly-themed Mutant Hunt. I love the original VHS box art for that movie; not only does it make promises it can't keep regarding the film's quality, but it also appears to show a half-naked Inspector Gadget going on a rampage.
Also, the big switch from analog broadcasting to digital is scheduled for midnight tonight! It also seems that even those who have converter boxes or cable might experience a little trouble. From what I could glean from the news today, you might have to press your remote's menu button and hit any option that has the word "Scan" in it if you are unable to get certain channels. You can find more information on the matter by looking around here.
I'm sure that some of you readers have fiddled with a TV antenna trying to get some horror movie to tune in a little clearer or settled with a snowy TV signal from a distant station since they were airing something you desperately wanted to see. Although the switchover will make that impossible for modern viewers, some will surely miss the ability to do that sort of thing. If you have any memories like this which you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Linger longer II: The Legend of Jimmy's Gold
Opie and Anthony fans are well acquainted with Jim Norton's multi-talented character, "Ted Sheckler." In this installment, Ted looks back on his career as a ghost hunter. First we have the full-length (audio only) version uploaded by Yarsh29:
For those of you with slower connections, here's the animated "best of" version by cokelogic (uploaded by foresaken797):
As with most great Youtube videos, neither of these are "work safe." By way, am I the only one who's noticed that all the ghost hunters on television basically act like Ted? Despite going to places for the sole purpose of looking for evidence of the paranormal, they run away screaming bloody murder if anything actually happens!
For those of you with slower connections, here's the animated "best of" version by cokelogic (uploaded by foresaken797):
As with most great Youtube videos, neither of these are "work safe." By way, am I the only one who's noticed that all the ghost hunters on television basically act like Ted? Despite going to places for the sole purpose of looking for evidence of the paranormal, they run away screaming bloody murder if anything actually happens!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Oh May! George Takei and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
I recently discovered that May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Seeing as the GdL strives to be all-inclusive, I haven chosen to celebrate by devoting this entry to the famous Japanese-American named George Takei. Although most people think of him as "Lt. Hikaru Sulu" from Star Trek or the funny guy who joked about raping Tim Hardaway, Mr. Takei has done so much more than that in the world of horror/sci-fi.
George Hosato Takei (now George Hosato Takei Altman)was born in Los Angeles, California during the year 1937. He began his Hollywood career doing uncredited dubbing work for the American versions of Rodan (1957-US version) and Gigantis the Fire Monster (1959-US version) (aka Godzilla Raids Again). Decades later, Takei would reveal the rationale for the bizarre (and out-of-date) "banana oil" line during an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Another noteworthy event in his early acting career was his appearance on a controversial (and somewhat supernatural) episode of The Twilight Zone called "The Encounter" in 1964. Perhaps drawing upon the time when his family and he were forced to live in internment camps during World War II, Takei played a young Japanese-American and the tension he faces with a racist WWII veteran.
In 1966, he got a part on a show that made him famous: Star Trek (1966-1969). Not surprisingly, he also appeared in the animated series (1973-1974), the various Star Trek movies (1979-1991) and an appearance on Star Trek: Voyager (1996). His fame from the Trek franchise (and his talent) also led to appearances in other genre films and television shows, such as his appearances in the sci-fi western films Oblivion (1994) and Oblivion II: Backlash (1996). This was followed by an appearance on the television series Space Cases (1997) and a part in the movie Bug Buster (1998). More recently, he has appeared in AI Assault (2006), the short film Showdown of the Godz (2008), an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2009) and a role in the animated movie Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword (2009). Personally, I find his role in Showdown of the Godz to be particularly interesting, as be plays the fictional owner of the real-life Monster Sushi restaurant.
For those who want to read about the non sci-fi/horror aspects of George Takei's life and career (including his work in politics), I recommend visiting the following:
The Official George Takei website
George Takei's IMDB profile
George Takei's Wikipedia entry
George Hosato Takei (now George Hosato Takei Altman)was born in Los Angeles, California during the year 1937. He began his Hollywood career doing uncredited dubbing work for the American versions of Rodan (1957-US version) and Gigantis the Fire Monster (1959-US version) (aka Godzilla Raids Again). Decades later, Takei would reveal the rationale for the bizarre (and out-of-date) "banana oil" line during an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Another noteworthy event in his early acting career was his appearance on a controversial (and somewhat supernatural) episode of The Twilight Zone called "The Encounter" in 1964. Perhaps drawing upon the time when his family and he were forced to live in internment camps during World War II, Takei played a young Japanese-American and the tension he faces with a racist WWII veteran.
In 1966, he got a part on a show that made him famous: Star Trek (1966-1969). Not surprisingly, he also appeared in the animated series (1973-1974), the various Star Trek movies (1979-1991) and an appearance on Star Trek: Voyager (1996). His fame from the Trek franchise (and his talent) also led to appearances in other genre films and television shows, such as his appearances in the sci-fi western films Oblivion (1994) and Oblivion II: Backlash (1996). This was followed by an appearance on the television series Space Cases (1997) and a part in the movie Bug Buster (1998). More recently, he has appeared in AI Assault (2006), the short film Showdown of the Godz (2008), an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2009) and a role in the animated movie Scooby-Doo and the Samurai Sword (2009). Personally, I find his role in Showdown of the Godz to be particularly interesting, as be plays the fictional owner of the real-life Monster Sushi restaurant.
For those who want to read about the non sci-fi/horror aspects of George Takei's life and career (including his work in politics), I recommend visiting the following:
The Official George Takei website
George Takei's IMDB profile
George Takei's Wikipedia entry
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
What better way for Gravedigger's Local 16 to celebrate this fine day than to pay tribute to K. Gordon Murray? Not only was he the son of a funeral parlor director, but he's also responsible for bringing tons of Mexican horror movies to the America. If not for him, many would not have experienced weird and wonderful films like The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy, The Brainiac, Doctor of Doom, and The Vampire's Coffin. He was also the first person to introduce the greatness that is El Santo to English-speaking audiences, albeit renamed as "Samson." To learn more about Mr. Murray and the films he distributed, check out "The Wonder World of K. Gordon Murray" and his Wikipedia entry.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Old news and new news
I was talking with the Abominable N. Oremac recently about the upcoming A Nightmare on Elm Street remake and he informed me that Variety has reported that Jackie Earle Haley is going to be the new Freddy Krueger. Although I'm glad the oft-rumored for the role Billy Bob Thornton didn't get the part, I would have cast Ryan Stiles. I know it's an odd-sounding choice, but the man looks eerily like Robert Englund did in his younger days. Then again, I wouldn't have even greenlit the remake if it were up to me.
Remember that post I did about the "Lost Collection" from Lionsgate? Well, I have some bad news. The Amazon.com reviews for the Slaughter High DVD reveal that the transfer is full frame and poor looking. In fact, it sounds like they just reused the print from the 2007 FEARnet showing. Unless this was truly the only print that was available (including checking for old theatrical prints), this is simply inexcusable. I'm shocked that Lionsgate took such a gigantic step backward.
Speaking of Fearnet, I noticed that the latest updates for the Comcast cable version include Phantasm II and all the Toxic Avenger movies. All I can say is: HELL. YES.
Wait, that's not true. I can also note how this (and the recent showing of the first and fourth Toxic Avenger movies on G4) destroys Lloyd Kaufman's theory of cable channels having some sort of anti-Troma grudge. Personally, I suspect that the reason cable channels weren't trying to play Troma stuff around that time was due to the fact that DirecTV already had the licenses. It's nothing personal against Mr. Kaufman or Troma, but that comment from the interview always bothered me.
While we're on the subject of OnDemand, I recommend also checking the other "Free Movies" sections rather than just sticking to FEARnet. For example, Pumpkinhead and The White Buffalo can be found there, but not in the "FEARnet" section. Also Movieplex (under the "Premium Channels" section) has a bunch of (free) horror and science fiction titles, including the complete Planet of the Apes film series.
IFC has a Friday night (technically early Saturday) "grindhouse" slot at midnight where they play lots of cult films. Although they show recent horror films and non-horror stuff, they also have been known to play oldies but goodies like Goke, Bodysnatcher from Hell. You can check out their grindhouse scheduling information here.
I've noticed that both AMC and the Sci-Fi channel seem to give really inconvenient late night/early morning timeslots (both for the initial showings and repeats) to the sort of older horror/sci-fi films I'm interested in. Sci-Fi is the worst of the two, as it plays those sorts of films at 4:00 am and never does a repeat showing. My guess is that AMC's trying to emulate the late night slots for horror films of the old days while Sci-Fi is burning off titles they've licensed, under the idea that less people would turn in for an "old" movie if they aired it during normal hours. I don't know about you, but I'd rather watch stuff like Frankenstein meets the Space Monster than reruns of Lost or Breaking Bad.
That reminds me, I'm stunned that Sci-Fi's decision to change their name to "SyFy" isn't some sort of April Fools' joke (link provided by N. Oremac). Apparently this is since they can't trademark the term "Sci-Fi" since it's too commonplace (more on that here). I honestly don't see why they consider that such a big deal. After all, they already own the scifi.com domain name and could have trademarked the phrase "The Sci-Fi Channel" instead. They could have taken after the Canadian equivalent of their channel by giving it a one word name, trademarking the name, and then adding "The Sci-Fi Channel" as a subtitle. Or if they wanted to be smartasses, they could've trademarked "sciffy," a nickname often used by people online to make fun of the channel.
But I digress. Getting back on topic, I didn't see any particularly interesting movie listings for Sci-Fi this weekend in my TV listings, but I did find some stuff on AMC tonight:
King Kong (70's remake) 11:30-2:30 am
And Now the Screaming Starts 2:30-4:30 am (early Saturday)
Blood of Dracula 4:30-6:00 am (early Saturday)
For those not in the Eastern/Standard time area, please check your local listings or AMC's website for the times.
Since I'm doing cable TV schedules, here's what's playing on "This TV" tomorrow:
Amityville II: The Possession 8:00-10:00 pm
Amityville 3D 10:00-12:00 am
The Angry Red Planet 12:00-2:00 am (early Sunday)
Attack of the Puppet People 2:00-4:00 am (early Sunday)
Sunday:
The Comedy of Terrors 11:00-1:00 pm
Twice Told Tales 1:00-3:30 pm
Tower of London 3:30-5:00 pm
The Haunted Palace 5:00-7:00 pm
Madhouse 7:00-9:00 pm
The Oblong Box 9:00-11:00 pm
Theater of Blood 11:00-1:00 am
Cry of the Banshee 1:00-3:00 am (early Monday)
I should note that, based on my briefly watching Once Bitten on the channel last month, that there are commercial breaks and some films might be edited for content. As I noted in the AMC listings, all times given are Eastern/Standard and people in other areas should check their local listings or the This TV website for the times.
Remember that post I did about the "Lost Collection" from Lionsgate? Well, I have some bad news. The Amazon.com reviews for the Slaughter High DVD reveal that the transfer is full frame and poor looking. In fact, it sounds like they just reused the print from the 2007 FEARnet showing. Unless this was truly the only print that was available (including checking for old theatrical prints), this is simply inexcusable. I'm shocked that Lionsgate took such a gigantic step backward.
Speaking of Fearnet, I noticed that the latest updates for the Comcast cable version include Phantasm II and all the Toxic Avenger movies. All I can say is: HELL. YES.
Wait, that's not true. I can also note how this (and the recent showing of the first and fourth Toxic Avenger movies on G4) destroys Lloyd Kaufman's theory of cable channels having some sort of anti-Troma grudge. Personally, I suspect that the reason cable channels weren't trying to play Troma stuff around that time was due to the fact that DirecTV already had the licenses. It's nothing personal against Mr. Kaufman or Troma, but that comment from the interview always bothered me.
While we're on the subject of OnDemand, I recommend also checking the other "Free Movies" sections rather than just sticking to FEARnet. For example, Pumpkinhead and The White Buffalo can be found there, but not in the "FEARnet" section. Also Movieplex (under the "Premium Channels" section) has a bunch of (free) horror and science fiction titles, including the complete Planet of the Apes film series.
IFC has a Friday night (technically early Saturday) "grindhouse" slot at midnight where they play lots of cult films. Although they show recent horror films and non-horror stuff, they also have been known to play oldies but goodies like Goke, Bodysnatcher from Hell. You can check out their grindhouse scheduling information here.
I've noticed that both AMC and the Sci-Fi channel seem to give really inconvenient late night/early morning timeslots (both for the initial showings and repeats) to the sort of older horror/sci-fi films I'm interested in. Sci-Fi is the worst of the two, as it plays those sorts of films at 4:00 am and never does a repeat showing. My guess is that AMC's trying to emulate the late night slots for horror films of the old days while Sci-Fi is burning off titles they've licensed, under the idea that less people would turn in for an "old" movie if they aired it during normal hours. I don't know about you, but I'd rather watch stuff like Frankenstein meets the Space Monster than reruns of Lost or Breaking Bad.
That reminds me, I'm stunned that Sci-Fi's decision to change their name to "SyFy" isn't some sort of April Fools' joke (link provided by N. Oremac). Apparently this is since they can't trademark the term "Sci-Fi" since it's too commonplace (more on that here). I honestly don't see why they consider that such a big deal. After all, they already own the scifi.com domain name and could have trademarked the phrase "The Sci-Fi Channel" instead. They could have taken after the Canadian equivalent of their channel by giving it a one word name, trademarking the name, and then adding "The Sci-Fi Channel" as a subtitle. Or if they wanted to be smartasses, they could've trademarked "sciffy," a nickname often used by people online to make fun of the channel.
But I digress. Getting back on topic, I didn't see any particularly interesting movie listings for Sci-Fi this weekend in my TV listings, but I did find some stuff on AMC tonight:
King Kong (70's remake) 11:30-2:30 am
And Now the Screaming Starts 2:30-4:30 am (early Saturday)
Blood of Dracula 4:30-6:00 am (early Saturday)
For those not in the Eastern/Standard time area, please check your local listings or AMC's website for the times.
Since I'm doing cable TV schedules, here's what's playing on "This TV" tomorrow:
Amityville II: The Possession 8:00-10:00 pm
Amityville 3D 10:00-12:00 am
The Angry Red Planet 12:00-2:00 am (early Sunday)
Attack of the Puppet People 2:00-4:00 am (early Sunday)
Sunday:
The Comedy of Terrors 11:00-1:00 pm
Twice Told Tales 1:00-3:30 pm
Tower of London 3:30-5:00 pm
The Haunted Palace 5:00-7:00 pm
Madhouse 7:00-9:00 pm
The Oblong Box 9:00-11:00 pm
Theater of Blood 11:00-1:00 am
Cry of the Banshee 1:00-3:00 am (early Monday)
I should note that, based on my briefly watching Once Bitten on the channel last month, that there are commercial breaks and some films might be edited for content. As I noted in the AMC listings, all times given are Eastern/Standard and people in other areas should check their local listings or the This TV website for the times.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Cat in the Brain
It seems that Lucio Fulci has directed one gory horror movies too many, as hallucinations plague him at every turn. Being offered steak at a restaurant makes him flash back to a man feasting on human flesh and hacking up a corpse with a chainsaw, while seeing a cameraman filming him for a documentary makes him hallucinate about a Nazi orgy and attack the woman interviewing him. To make matters worse, the psychiatrist he visits for help is even crazier than he is! Using hypnosis, he makes the director’s hallucinations worse and makes it so that he’ll think he’s guilty of the murders after hearing a high-pitched noise. That way, he can commit a series of murders and use Fulci as the fall guy. Which madman will ultimately take the blame? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out!
Cat in the Brain, also known as Nightmare Concert, was originally released in Italy as Un Gatto nel cervello in 1990. The film’s biggest claim to fame is the fact that it’s mostly comprised of footage from other films that Fulci or his daughter, Camilla, were involved in. These films include Zombie, Touch of Death (aka When Alice Broke the Mirror), The Ghosts of Sodom, Massacre, The Beyond (music only), Bloody Psycho (aka The Snake House), Escape from Death, Hansel and Gretel, and The Broken Mirror (aka Don’t Be Afraid of Aunt Martha). Sometimes the stock footage is used to represent movies while other instances are supposed to be actual occurrences or madness-induced visions. Due to the clever nature of the editing, it’s often hard to tell whether or not the events playing out onscreen are supposed to be real or not. This, along with the repetition of certain elements (Flashbacks to death scenes, eerie moans, people being slapped and Fulci’s attempts to reassure himself he’s not the killer) in the movie also adds to the effect that the viewer is becoming as mentally unbalanced as the main character.
While not as unintentionally funny as Pieces, Cat in the Brain still has its fair share of laughs. Although the scene of a cat eating some grey matter is an interesting way of demonstrating the protagonist's initial descent into insanity, the cat puppet utilized for the scene is hilariously awful-looking. There’s plenty of over-the-top gore and ludicrous kills, such as a decapitation via storage chest. Lucio Fulci is definitely a better director than he is an actor, as his hammy acting is obvious even when dubbed over. Although the editor made a valiant effort to seamlessly blend all the different footage together, there are times when it’s obvious that the killer isn’t in the same location as the victim. For example, it may be early evening when the psychiatrist is going after a victim in one scene, while scenes featuring the victim will be occurring in broad daylight!
So, why make a movie out of so much stock footage? There are actually several theories on the matter. Some feel that Fulci was getting sick of doing horror films and wanted to do a movie that explained his dissatisfaction to the audience and yet had enough violence and gore to keep his fans happy. Others have volunteered that Fulci wanted to create a movie so gory that it would be impossible for distributors to edit out the gore and still have a feature-length film, as his films were often censored by distributors in other countries. However, the most popular theory seems to be that Fulci was trying to provide social commentary on the public’s response to his work (especially critics). This seems to be the most likely possibility, as the film has Fulci noting that nobody would buy tickets if he made movies about love and the antagonist remarks “[d]oesn’t that stupid old theory say violence onscreen provokes violence” during his plot to frame his patient. “Stupid” is certainly an appropriate term for that theory, since numerous film editors and movie critics would be homicidal maniacs if this were true. This theory also explains the massive use of stock footage. Let’s face it, doing a movie about Lucio Fulci playing himself would seem ridiculous if they didn’t use stuff from his old movies in some way. Also, using stock footage was probably the cheapest way to get a lot of gore scenes (which was probably Fulci’s way of poking fun at people who said his films had too much gore).
Grindhouse Releasing pulled out all the stops for their deluxe, two disc release of Cat in the Brain. In fact, I understand that this release marks the first time the director’s cut was released on DVD in America. This would explain why their release is nine minutes longer than Image Entertainment’s 2002 release. If that wasn’t enough, the extras alone make this a definite upgrade for those who purchased the Image DVD (more on those later). The film is presented in a beautiful anamorphic widescreen transfer with both English and Italian mono tracks. Seeing the original quality of the footage used in the film’s trailer shows just how much work Grindhouse put into remastering it. Both audio tracks are crystal clear and are complimented by removable English subtitles.
The special features for disc one include animated menus and chapter stops, the original Italian trailer, the US trailer created by Grindhouse Releasing, a slideshow made up of various production stills and promotional materials, and a twenty-odd minute Q&A session with Lucio Fulci and his interpreter at the 1996 Fangoria Weekend of Horrors convention. Disc two offers several interviews, biographies/filmographies for Lucio Fulci and Brett Halsey (the cannibal mentioned earlier in this review), and previews. As usual, the filmographies come with interview segments or trailers for films that the biography subject was involved in.
There are two 1995 interviews with Fulci (“Genre Terrorist” and “The Television Years,” both of which are subtitled), a single English-language interview with Brett Halsey from 2005 and a few brief (subtitled) segments under the banner “Memories of Lucio.” These include comments on Fulci by Jeoffrey Kennedy (who played Inspector Gabrielli in Cat in the Brain), Sacha Marsa Darwin (who played the woman in the oven in footage reused for Cat in the Brain), and Malisa Lango (who played the unfaithful wife in Cat in the Brain). These mini-interviews are actually promotional snippets from a DVD called Lucio Fulci Remembered Vol. 1 by Paura Productions, who seem to be connected to Tempe Video in some way. Getting back to the “main” interviews, they clock in around forty-someodd minutes each and cover a variety of topics. Brett Halsey discusses his career, coming to Italy and his thoughts about footage of him being used in Cat in the Brain during his interview, while Fulci discusses his career, television, his dislike of psychiatrists, and the making of the film (among other things).
Rounding things out are the liner notes and two Easter eggs. Although the liner notes by Lucio’s daughter Antonella Fulci, horror novelist David J. Schow and Hostel director Eli Roth are informative and offer some insight on the possible meanings of the film, they're also chock full of spoilers. One Easter egg can be found on disc one by highlighting the Fangoria option on the “Special Features” menu and hitting left. This leads to an icon that, when pressed, plays a clip of Fucli signing autographs at the Fangoria convention. The other egg can be found on disc two by highlighting the “Main Menu” option on the “Interviews” section and hit left to reveal a clip of Lucio Fulci discussing television and the difficulties he had in getting things accepted. Oh, and the first 2,499 DVDs come with a limited edition lenticular cover. Actually, the official number is the first 2,500 DVDs, but since I already got a copy…
Special thanks to Grindhouse Releasing for the review copy!
Cat in the Brain, also known as Nightmare Concert, was originally released in Italy as Un Gatto nel cervello in 1990. The film’s biggest claim to fame is the fact that it’s mostly comprised of footage from other films that Fulci or his daughter, Camilla, were involved in. These films include Zombie, Touch of Death (aka When Alice Broke the Mirror), The Ghosts of Sodom, Massacre, The Beyond (music only), Bloody Psycho (aka The Snake House), Escape from Death, Hansel and Gretel, and The Broken Mirror (aka Don’t Be Afraid of Aunt Martha). Sometimes the stock footage is used to represent movies while other instances are supposed to be actual occurrences or madness-induced visions. Due to the clever nature of the editing, it’s often hard to tell whether or not the events playing out onscreen are supposed to be real or not. This, along with the repetition of certain elements (Flashbacks to death scenes, eerie moans, people being slapped and Fulci’s attempts to reassure himself he’s not the killer) in the movie also adds to the effect that the viewer is becoming as mentally unbalanced as the main character.
While not as unintentionally funny as Pieces, Cat in the Brain still has its fair share of laughs. Although the scene of a cat eating some grey matter is an interesting way of demonstrating the protagonist's initial descent into insanity, the cat puppet utilized for the scene is hilariously awful-looking. There’s plenty of over-the-top gore and ludicrous kills, such as a decapitation via storage chest. Lucio Fulci is definitely a better director than he is an actor, as his hammy acting is obvious even when dubbed over. Although the editor made a valiant effort to seamlessly blend all the different footage together, there are times when it’s obvious that the killer isn’t in the same location as the victim. For example, it may be early evening when the psychiatrist is going after a victim in one scene, while scenes featuring the victim will be occurring in broad daylight!
So, why make a movie out of so much stock footage? There are actually several theories on the matter. Some feel that Fulci was getting sick of doing horror films and wanted to do a movie that explained his dissatisfaction to the audience and yet had enough violence and gore to keep his fans happy. Others have volunteered that Fulci wanted to create a movie so gory that it would be impossible for distributors to edit out the gore and still have a feature-length film, as his films were often censored by distributors in other countries. However, the most popular theory seems to be that Fulci was trying to provide social commentary on the public’s response to his work (especially critics). This seems to be the most likely possibility, as the film has Fulci noting that nobody would buy tickets if he made movies about love and the antagonist remarks “[d]oesn’t that stupid old theory say violence onscreen provokes violence” during his plot to frame his patient. “Stupid” is certainly an appropriate term for that theory, since numerous film editors and movie critics would be homicidal maniacs if this were true. This theory also explains the massive use of stock footage. Let’s face it, doing a movie about Lucio Fulci playing himself would seem ridiculous if they didn’t use stuff from his old movies in some way. Also, using stock footage was probably the cheapest way to get a lot of gore scenes (which was probably Fulci’s way of poking fun at people who said his films had too much gore).
Grindhouse Releasing pulled out all the stops for their deluxe, two disc release of Cat in the Brain. In fact, I understand that this release marks the first time the director’s cut was released on DVD in America. This would explain why their release is nine minutes longer than Image Entertainment’s 2002 release. If that wasn’t enough, the extras alone make this a definite upgrade for those who purchased the Image DVD (more on those later). The film is presented in a beautiful anamorphic widescreen transfer with both English and Italian mono tracks. Seeing the original quality of the footage used in the film’s trailer shows just how much work Grindhouse put into remastering it. Both audio tracks are crystal clear and are complimented by removable English subtitles.
The special features for disc one include animated menus and chapter stops, the original Italian trailer, the US trailer created by Grindhouse Releasing, a slideshow made up of various production stills and promotional materials, and a twenty-odd minute Q&A session with Lucio Fulci and his interpreter at the 1996 Fangoria Weekend of Horrors convention. Disc two offers several interviews, biographies/filmographies for Lucio Fulci and Brett Halsey (the cannibal mentioned earlier in this review), and previews. As usual, the filmographies come with interview segments or trailers for films that the biography subject was involved in.
There are two 1995 interviews with Fulci (“Genre Terrorist” and “The Television Years,” both of which are subtitled), a single English-language interview with Brett Halsey from 2005 and a few brief (subtitled) segments under the banner “Memories of Lucio.” These include comments on Fulci by Jeoffrey Kennedy (who played Inspector Gabrielli in Cat in the Brain), Sacha Marsa Darwin (who played the woman in the oven in footage reused for Cat in the Brain), and Malisa Lango (who played the unfaithful wife in Cat in the Brain). These mini-interviews are actually promotional snippets from a DVD called Lucio Fulci Remembered Vol. 1 by Paura Productions, who seem to be connected to Tempe Video in some way. Getting back to the “main” interviews, they clock in around forty-someodd minutes each and cover a variety of topics. Brett Halsey discusses his career, coming to Italy and his thoughts about footage of him being used in Cat in the Brain during his interview, while Fulci discusses his career, television, his dislike of psychiatrists, and the making of the film (among other things).
Rounding things out are the liner notes and two Easter eggs. Although the liner notes by Lucio’s daughter Antonella Fulci, horror novelist David J. Schow and Hostel director Eli Roth are informative and offer some insight on the possible meanings of the film, they're also chock full of spoilers. One Easter egg can be found on disc one by highlighting the Fangoria option on the “Special Features” menu and hitting left. This leads to an icon that, when pressed, plays a clip of Fucli signing autographs at the Fangoria convention. The other egg can be found on disc two by highlighting the “Main Menu” option on the “Interviews” section and hit left to reveal a clip of Lucio Fulci discussing television and the difficulties he had in getting things accepted. Oh, and the first 2,499 DVDs come with a limited edition lenticular cover. Actually, the official number is the first 2,500 DVDs, but since I already got a copy…
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Record Store Day is coming!
Mark your calendars: Saturday, April 18th is Record Store Day. Much like how Free Comic Book Day lures people to comic stores in the hopes they'll do some impulse shopping, Record Store Day seeks to celebrate and preserve the independent record store business. Sales on used CDs and DVDs, live performances, free refreshments and promotional goodies are all part of the promotional effort (although it varies from store to store).
It may seem odd that a blog devoted to horror stuff is promoting this, but there's actually a method to my madness. Record stores have helped me (and presumably others) get my hands on music and horror DVDs that the big retailers just don't carry, especially titles from independent companies and distributors. I've saved a lot of money over the years by buying used DVDs from record stores and I've lost count of the times I've sold off some DVDs and CDs in order to purchase something I've had my eye on.
Horror fans also might be interested to know that Bruce Springsteen will be releasing a record (yes, as in vinyl) containing the once online-exclusive song "A Night with the Jersey Devil" as part of the RSD celebration.
As download-based distribution of music and movies becomes more and more popular, the survival of indie record stores becomes more and more threatened. Instead of going to their local record store(s) to check out and buy discs, many are opting for the ease of downloading stuff from Amazon, iTunes, and the like. That, combined with competition from big chain stores are driving business away from record stores. And let's face it: you won't be able to resell .mp3s you don't want if you need extra cash, but you can do that with CDs and DVDs at record stores. So let's help keep a good thing going by supporting our local record stores!
To see which stores are participating, check out the official Record Store Day website.
It may seem odd that a blog devoted to horror stuff is promoting this, but there's actually a method to my madness. Record stores have helped me (and presumably others) get my hands on music and horror DVDs that the big retailers just don't carry, especially titles from independent companies and distributors. I've saved a lot of money over the years by buying used DVDs from record stores and I've lost count of the times I've sold off some DVDs and CDs in order to purchase something I've had my eye on.
Horror fans also might be interested to know that Bruce Springsteen will be releasing a record (yes, as in vinyl) containing the once online-exclusive song "A Night with the Jersey Devil" as part of the RSD celebration.
As download-based distribution of music and movies becomes more and more popular, the survival of indie record stores becomes more and more threatened. Instead of going to their local record store(s) to check out and buy discs, many are opting for the ease of downloading stuff from Amazon, iTunes, and the like. That, combined with competition from big chain stores are driving business away from record stores. And let's face it: you won't be able to resell .mp3s you don't want if you need extra cash, but you can do that with CDs and DVDs at record stores. So let's help keep a good thing going by supporting our local record stores!
To see which stores are participating, check out the official Record Store Day website.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Lost and found
Imagine my surprise when I found a reference to Lionsgate Entertainment releasing a "Lost Collection" tomorrow while reading the Wikipedia entry for Repossessed. Searching for "the lost collection" on Amazon yielded the following movies:
My Best Friend's a Vampire
Repossessed
Slaughter High
For the sake of completeness, here are the non-horror titles in the collection:
Hiding Out
Homer and Eddie
Irreconcilable Differences
Morgan Stewart's Coming Home
Night Before
According to the profiles on Amazon.com, the DVDs will include special trivia tracks. However, they also seem to indicate that all the DVD transfers are in the 1.33: 1 aspect ratio (fullscreen). I couldn't find any information about the original aspect ratios for any of the horror titles, but the Internet Movie Database pages for Hiding Out, Homer and Eddie, and Irreconcilable Differences note that those titles have an aspect ratio of 1.85: 1. So unless it's an error on the part of Amazon or the IMDB, this could mean that the transfers were cropped from their original aspect ratios. The only other option I can think of is that the films were shot open matte, which basically means that nothing will be cropped out when the film is presented in fullscreen.
I can only hope that Lionsgate did not choose to use cropped transfers, as it would be a giant step back from their widescreen releases of Alligator and The Monster Squad. If they didn't, then I hope that the next batch of forgotten 80's films includes Blood Diner and Demonwarp.
I also found out that, thanks to a chance reading of Entertainment Weekly at the doctor's office, Warner Brothers is opening a website called warnerarchive.com. The Warner Archive Collection will offer over 100 movies that have previously gone unreleased for sale via DVD and paid downloads. I haven't had the time to go through the list of films, so here's hoping that some horror and sci-fi movies get included in the mix.
My Best Friend's a Vampire
Repossessed
Slaughter High
For the sake of completeness, here are the non-horror titles in the collection:
Hiding Out
Homer and Eddie
Irreconcilable Differences
Morgan Stewart's Coming Home
Night Before
According to the profiles on Amazon.com, the DVDs will include special trivia tracks. However, they also seem to indicate that all the DVD transfers are in the 1.33: 1 aspect ratio (fullscreen). I couldn't find any information about the original aspect ratios for any of the horror titles, but the Internet Movie Database pages for Hiding Out, Homer and Eddie, and Irreconcilable Differences note that those titles have an aspect ratio of 1.85: 1. So unless it's an error on the part of Amazon or the IMDB, this could mean that the transfers were cropped from their original aspect ratios. The only other option I can think of is that the films were shot open matte, which basically means that nothing will be cropped out when the film is presented in fullscreen.
I can only hope that Lionsgate did not choose to use cropped transfers, as it would be a giant step back from their widescreen releases of Alligator and The Monster Squad. If they didn't, then I hope that the next batch of forgotten 80's films includes Blood Diner and Demonwarp.
I also found out that, thanks to a chance reading of Entertainment Weekly at the doctor's office, Warner Brothers is opening a website called warnerarchive.com. The Warner Archive Collection will offer over 100 movies that have previously gone unreleased for sale via DVD and paid downloads. I haven't had the time to go through the list of films, so here's hoping that some horror and sci-fi movies get included in the mix.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Bob Eggleton rules
Who is Bob Eggleton? He's a renowned sci-fi/fantasy/horror artist whose work has appeared on countless book and magazine covers. He's won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist a whopping eight times, along with snagging the Chesley Award for Artistic Achievement. He's even got an asteroid named after him! To see why he's received such honors, check out the artwork at his official website, blog, and samples from The Book of Sea Monsters.
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