Prometheus International Trailer

The three minute International Trailer for Prometheus is out now!  With every new bit of information they release on this film, the more excited I get.  I am a huge fan of Ridley Scott's brand of sci-fi....from the bio-mechanical xenomorph of the original Alien to the hostile dystopian future represented in Blade Runner, Scott's brand of "hard" sci-fi is something truly special, I think.  The worlds he creates really and truly seem to take on a life of their own.  I can't wait to see what he's dreamed up for us in Prometheus.

Prometheus is being released on June 8th.....and I can't wait!

The Twilight Zone - One For The Angels

Streets.  Summer.  The Present.
A man on the sidewalk named Lew Bookman.  Age sixty-ish.  Occupation:  Pitchman.
Lew Bookman, a fixture of the summer, another minor component to a hot July.
A nondescript, commonplace little man who's life is a treadmill built out of sidewalks.
In just a moment, Lew Bookman will have to concern himself with survival,
because as of three o'clock this hot July afternoon, he'll be stalked by Mr. Death.

This is one of those episodes that has completely ingrained itself in my memory.  I've lost count of how many times I've seen it and I can only imagine how many more.

Lew and the children 

Starring Ed Wynn (Uncle Albert in Mary Poppins!) as Lew Bookman and Murray Hamilton (Larry Vaughn, Mayor of Amity Island in Jaws!!) as Mr Death.  Lew is a pitchman who loves (and is loved) by the children in his neighborhood.  On hot July afternoon, Death appears to him and informs him that he will be "departing" that night at midnight and he needs to put his final business in order.  Lew, strikes a bargain with Death that he can have an extension on life until he makes a big pitch.  "One for the Angels" as he says.  Death agrees, only to find that Lew is trying to trick death and essentially grant himself all the time he wants, by swearing off pitching.
Death, not one to be trifled with, makes arraignments for another soul to accompany him that night.

Mr. Death!!!

This is essentially another retelling of W. Sommerset Maugham's The Appointment in Samarra, which in turn is a retelling of an old Babylonian myth.  The story tells of a servant of a merchant who bumps into death at the market in town.  Death makes a threatening gesture (or beckons to him depending on what version you hear) toward him.  The servant races back to his master and begs him to lend him a horse (or car...or wagon...you get the picture) and he races off to Samarra (or whatever town) to escape his fate.  The Merchant goes to town and finds Death.  He asks "Why did you frighten my servant?"  and Death replies "I did not mean to.  I was very surprised to see him here....see I have an appointment with him in Samarra (your town here....) tonight!"

Try to outsmart death and look what happens.  Nothing good.  I mean, jeez, look at what happens to all those poor bastards in the Final Destination movies!  That's The Appointment kicked up to eleven!

Discussing the finer points of Lew's "Departure"

This is one of those episodes that I see every single year when Syfy runs their Twilight Zone Marathons (usually 4th of July....but sometimes they do it on other holidays).  Never fails...when I turn on the TV....BANG....this episode never fails to appear.  I like the fact that it ends on an up beat....it's a nice contrast to the many disturbing episodes that would keep me up long into the night in my childhood.

A pitch so big that the sky opened up....one for the Angels.

Lewis J. Bookman.  Age:  sixty-ish.  Occupation:  Pitchman.
Formerly, a fixture of the summer.
Formerly, a rather minor component to a hot July.
But throughout his life, a man beloved by the children
and therefore a most important man.
Couldn't happen, you say?
Well, we're not in most places;
but it DID happen....in The Twilight Zone.

The Twilight Zone - Where is Everybody?

You're traveling through another dimension.
A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind.
A journey into a wondrous land;
who's boundaries are that of imagination.
There's a signpost up ahead
Your next stop:
The Twilight Zone

Rod introduces us to the series

When you hear those words, you know that for the next thirty minutes, everything you know is wrong.  This, the most popular and probably most well known of the Twilight Zone intros, coupled with the iconic theme song would send shivers down my spine when I was a kid.
 

A little theatrics never hurt....

I was first introduced to The Twilight Zone by my aunt.  When I was young, I would spend a weekend over my her house.  She'd pick me up on a Saturday and we'd go to the store and pick stuff up for dinner and nighttime snacks.  Then we'd head back to her house for a night of vintage TV and movies.  I think I can probably attribute my collecting bug to her as well.  Aunt Patty had a HUGE collection of movies and TV shows on VHS.  Star Trek, Dark Shadows, The Outer Limits and of course The Twilight Zone were among many of the shows that I was exposed to at a young age.  Her collection of classic sci-fi and horror movies rivaled that of Video Paradise....our local Mom & Pop video store.

How did I get here????

Even cooler....she had her collection numerically organized in a series of cassette holders and she made up a printed list of what each VHS cassette contained.  She made me a copy of the list so that I could peruse over it and decide what I wanted to watch and she'd let me borrow tapes to watch at home as well.

I have many a memory of sitting in her kitchen while she made dinner and mulling over her video list, asking her to tell me about different movies and TV Shows.  After dinner, it was time to settle in with a glass of Kool-Aid and watch some videos.  This is where I watched many of my first episodes of The Twilight
Zone.  I was absolutely hooked.  Some of the episodes absolutely terrified me and gave me some pretty intense nightmares.  I can still feel that palpable tension after witnessing Nightmare at 20,000 feet for the first time.  I can still feel the uneasiness of seeing my sister's dolls after witnessing Talky Tina kill Erich Streator.

Lonely....I'm Mr. Lonely.....

It is with these memories in mind that I have decided to embark on a journey into the land of both shadow and substance and watch each of the 156 episodes of The Twilight Zone in order.  Of course I will write up a review for each one,  perhaps with bits of memories and recollections of watching these in my youth.



Today we start with the pilot episode, Where is Everybody?

This episode was written by Rod Serling and stars Earl Holliman as an amnesiac who finds himself walking down a dusty road.  He comes across a cafe with a jukebox playing loud.  Problem is there's no one in the cafe, though the coffee is on the stove and hot.  It first aired on October 2nd, 1959.

Not even an operator....

He wanders into town only to discover that there is no one there either.  No cars on the roads, no one in any of the shops.  He thinks that he see's a woman in a truck, but it turns out that she is a mannequin and the truck belongs to a dept store mannequin service.  A phone in a phone booth starts to ring and he runs to answer it, but alas there is no one there.  His attempts to reach an operator only yield a recording.

Who turned on the lights?

Other bits of eeriness include a drugstore where the ice cream is still cold and all the books on the bookstand are copies of The Last Man on Earth (the novelization of the movie that was made from Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend.  Whew!).  Everywhere he turns there seem to be signs that someone was just there.    In a police station, he finds a cigar burning and water running in a jail cell sink.  A movie theater lights up and starts to project a film called Battle Hymn.  Our amnesiac remembers that he was in the air force....but still nothing more.  The twist ending was quite unexpected for me.

Not exactly a wide selection.....

Many of the shots in this episode are very atmospheric...

I will not reveal the twists in any of the episodes because I don't want to ruin it for those who have not seen them.  It is through this little project born of nostalgia that I hope to regain a little of that old magic again.  So many episodes that I haven't seen in such a long time, I am sure that it will be like watching them again for the first time....and perhaps if someone out there discovers the wonders of The Twilight Zone through it, all the better!

Death O'Lantern

From the evil minds at Warlock Home Video comes Death O'Lantern,  a SOV horror flick that plays like a hybrid of Nightmare on Elm Street and Jack-O.  Right off the bat I could see a huge difference between this film and Die-B-Que in both acting and tone.  This really feels like it was shot in 1986 and is loaded with 80's pop culture references.

Well that can't be a good thing.....

Four friends are trying to get to the bottom of the killings that have been taking place around their hometown of Sleepy Hollow Heights.  Phoebe, Patrick and Lucas are all horror fans and have a horror club, while Adrianne (Phoebe's best friend) is your typical prude.  When teens start dying in their town, the horror kids think it's kinda cool and speculate on the horrible ways that kids are dying.  As the bodycount grows, they become more concerned and start looking into the towns past.  That is when they discover the legend of Stingy Jack!  

Stingy Jack!!!!!!

Ouch!

Stingy Jack was an old drunk in the 1800's who hated children.  He would play horrible Halloween pranks on the children in town until one year his prank went too far and he killed a child.  He was sentenced to death himself.  While waiting to be executed, it is said that he struck a deal with the devil, which allowed him to return every Halloween to hunt the children of Sleepy Hollow Heights.  The teens set out to try and find a way to destroy the pumpkin headed child killer and recruit the help of Scarlet, a bad ass, leather jacket wearing, switch blade wielding chick.

The gang reads up on Stingy Jack

Lucas and Patrick

Here we come....walking down the street...

The acting in this film is handled much better than in Die-B-Que, with the actors playing their roles straight with touches of camp.  It made the movie much more engaging and enjoyable.  The special effects by DARK MAGICFX are perfectly suited for this film.  I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but the coolest kill and the best gore FX were were done before the title sequence and opening credits!  It certainly reminded me of the SOV videos of the 80's which would go all out on an immediate gore gag and then scale back for the rest of the movie.  I think that might have actually been a tactic that was purposely used......tricking the viewer into thinking that if there was a cool kill and gooey fx right off the bat that surely the rest of the film would deliver as well!  It certainly worked on me!

Pay no attention to the pumpkin headed demon behind you.....

Courtesy of Stingy Jack

Boo!

Death O'Lantern was a really fun one for me and I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel.  Stingy Jack is a pretty cool character and there are plenty of creative Jack O'Lantern/Halloween related deaths that could be had in another film.  Who knows....perhaps Warlock with unearth a sequel or two!

Bwuaaaaa-huaaaa-huaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!   See y'all in Death O'Lantern Part II!!!!!

Die-B-Que

From Warlock Home Video comes....Die-B-Que!

Every now and then, a film such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is branded as an ultra-violent bloodbath, despite the fact that the film is actually nearly bloodless (I am of course speaking of the original, not he '03 redux!).  Sometimes a film manages to ratchet the tension and does such a fantastic job of allowing the audience to imagine the horror for themselves that, after viewing the film, it will seem much more violent and harrowing than what was physically depicted on screen.

Die-B-Que claims that it has been called "!The Most Brutal Film Of All Time!".
Is it?
Nope.
Does it, like TCM, create such an intense experience that it seems more violent?
Nope.  Not even remotely.

The Warlock welcomes you

But you know what?  That is what I love about it.  Warlock perfectly emulates the over-hyped plot synopses that were found on the back of many a VHS box in Mom & Pop video shops around the world.  Low budget movies, especially a lot of the SOV films would hype themselves up with fantastic artwork and overblown plot synopses on the back of the box.  Using phrases like "Many have called this movie...." and "See the film many are saying....." allows the film makers to lay claim to hyperbole such as being "The Most Brutal Film Of  All Time" without actually having to worry about quoting someone.  Quite clever actually.

Lance is ready to Par-TAY!

So what is Die-B-Que?  It's a 35 minute romp of retro fun that, at times, really captures the 80's SOV feel of films such as Cannibal Campout, Video Violence or any number of films by the Polonia Bros.  Being a fan of DIY cinema, I had a lot of fun with this film.  I do have one minor complaint and it is this:  Warlock does a fantastic job of trying to emulate the entire 80's SOV experience.  At the same time, it IS also a satire of the sub-genre and that is fine, but this is where my complaint comes in.  At times, the actors try a little too hard to make it seem amateur and the line delivery is overblown.  Also the characterizations tend to be a tad overtly stereotypical.  Now, again, these are meant to be homages and love letters to the camcorder days of backyard horror, but at the same time they're poking fun at them and I get that.  Sometimes, however, I found myself wishing that it was really a straight laced attempt at emulation.

Hey Dudes!  Welcome to the BBQ!

So having said that, I suppose you would like to know what it's about!

Just.  Ridiculous.

DIE-B-QUE!!!!

"Okay seriously...this happened to a friend"

Brody and his girlfriend Moon Beam go to a BBQ thrown by Brody's friends DJ and Rick.  They are joined by their friend Lance and Axe, a girl that he met the night before.  Apparently the BBQ is a two day event.  The first day most of them sit around drinking and playing Suits while Moon Beam and Brody have one of the most hilarious love scenes ever committed to videotape.  I can never listen to Aaron Neville again with a straight face.  They tell some ghost stories and then call it a night.

Carlos Spiceyweirner?

Everybody Wang Chung Tonight!

 Day 2 is BBQ day, which Rick seems to think is going to be the most epic BBQ of all time.  Well, the festivities get underway.....hotdogs and chips are consumed, beer is drank....there's dancing....sorta.....all is fun and games until a crazy diseased little rat invades the party and unbeknownst to everyone, pisses green stuff all over the steak.  Well, you can guess what happens after the steak is consumed.  People die.....and re-animate!

Eeeewwwwww.......

Yer gonna need some TUMS!

I would have liked to see more of the zombie action, as it really only takes place at the end, but still I can't complain!  If you are looking for a fun way to spend a little more than half an hour, there are far worse ways that Die-B-Que!

As far as extra features there's an interview with "Director" Jackson Furley, which is pretty amusing.  There is also some behind the scenes stuff that is fun to watch as well.  The Warlock himself introduces the film and has a few outgoing words as well, which I thought was a nice touch!

He's beyond TUMS

Coming up with be a review of Hack O'Lantern....also from Warlock.....so stay tuned!

Coming Soon from Warlock Home Video....Dingleberries!

Chris Seaver, the mad man behind cult film group Low Budget Pictures has been enjoying great success with his new venture, Warlock Home Video.  Distributing low budget horror flicks as long lost SOV films rescued from obscurity, WHV has some incredibly interesting titles.


I have so far watched Die-B-Que and Death-O-Lantern and I must say I am a fan.  Watch for reviews of both coming around the bend real soon!

Warlock has a new film coming this June, titled The Dingleberry's.  Chris just released this promo DVD/VHS artwork for the film.  Can't wait to see it!

On the Warlock Home Video Facebook page, he has also just announced the following titles as upcoming releases:


Blood From A Minotaur's Skull
Dead Skin
Dead Evil
Heavy Metal Werewolves
Skippy and Leo Save Easter
Ichabod Crane: Man of Action

These are some fantastic titles!  I am especially interested to see what the plot of Blood From A Minotaur's Skull is.  That is a friggin great title and it makes me think of some of the out there Euro releases from the 80's.  Heavy Metal Werewolves sounds like a good time too!

Chris also says that there are two top secret projects in the works so keep your eyes peeled for more info!  Meantime, check out their promo reel!

Sci Fi Channel's Super Nova Movie Explosion

Awesome!

NOT Awesome!

I've mentioned I'm sure a time or two before that I truly miss old school TV.  When every channel had a very unique flavor and you just KNEW what channel you were watching.....channels may have had their logo in the corner of the screen, but it didn't take up a friggin quarter of it.  There weren't any of those annoying ads for other shows running during the show you were watching (which now seem to take up half the damn screen!  Oh how I loath those damn ads.....) and The Sci-Fi Channel hadn't lost it's dignity.  Syfy.  Really?  You know what....I'm just going to let that go for now because you don't really need a 50,000 word essay on why that is so ridiculous.  I'll tackle that when I'm in a grumpy mood and need something to beat on.

Anyway,  as I was talking about my special Easter memory of receiving NOES 3: Dream Warriors as an Easter gift one year,  I was reminded of another happy Easter season.  Not surprisingly, it revolves around horror and sci-fi movies!  Who would've figured, eh?  Here's what happened:

The Sci-Fi Channel ran an incredible special event that it called The Sci Fi Channel Supernova Movie Explosion!  It was amazing.  Oddly enough, I can't find any information on it through internet searches that explicitly state when the Supernova occurred, but looking through past Sci-Fi Channel scheduling grids I believe that it took place in April of 1995.  Running from April 8th through April 16th (the 16th being Easter Sunday) Sci-Fi showed a ton of great movies that, quite frankly, I'm not sure they've shown again since.  I had hoped that the Movie Explosion was going to continue on to be a yearly tradition but sadly there was no such luck.  There was once an attempt at resurrection, which was only a two day affair, and as I recall it was a poor attempt....with crap ass low budget made for cable fare taking the forefront.  I can see that stuff any day.  Ah well.

Now as I recall, each day of the '95 Supernova had a different theme and there were a few folks from the genre that were hosting the event.  The only one I can remember is Roddy McDowall for sure.  Somewhere locked away in my parents house are videotapes with some movies and segments from this, but to be honest I have not had the time to dig and search for them.  Soon, I hope!

Here I have reconstructed the movies shown during that week of Sci-Fi greatness.  There were names for each day, but again, I don't really remember them...so I'll just give a general description of the day's theme!

Sci Fi Channel's Supernova Movie Explosion Movie Line-up

Saturday April 8th

 
Giant Monster Day

Gamera (the Invincible)

Gamera Vs. Barugon (aka War of the Monsters)

Gamera Vs. Gaos    (aka Return of the Giant Monsters)

Gamera Vs. Guiron  (aka Attack of the Monsters)

Gamera Vs. Zigra   (

King Kong Vs. Godzilla

Godzilla On Monster Island (aka Godzilla vs Gigan)

Godzilla Vs. Megalon

Godzilla Vs. The Cosmic Monster (Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla)

Sunday April 9th

Unnatural Killers Day 

Murders In The Rue Morgue

Killdozer

The Raven (1935 Version with Bela Lugosi)

It Came From Outer Space

Things To Come

Fahrenheit 451

Dracula 

Frankenstein 

Rosemary's Baby

The Lost World (The1925 Version)

Monday April 10th 

Classic Monsters and Big Bug Day

The Bride Of Frankenstein

The Brides Of Dracula

Creature From The Black Lagoon

Revenge Of The Creature

The Creature Walks Among Us

Tarantula

The Deadly Mantis

The Evil Of Frankenstein

The Monolith Monsters

Tuesday April 11th 

Killer Offspring Day 

Frankenstein's Daughter

Dracula's Daughter

Son Of Frankenstein

Son Of Dracula

Firestarter

Child Of Darkness, Child Of Light

Child's Play 2

Psycho 2

Psycho 3 

Wednesday April 12th

Menace From Outer Space Day

Zombies Of The Stratosphere

Retik, The Moon Menace

The Crimson Ghost

D-day On Mars

Fire Maidens From Outer Space

The Claw Monsters

The Unknown Terror

The Maze

The Lady And The Monster

Thursday April 13th 

Mummies & Curses Day

The Mummy

The Mummy's Hand

The Mummy's Tomb

The Mummy's Ghost

The Mummy's Curse

Curse Of The Undead

Curse Of The Voodoo

Curse Of The Living Corpse

Curse Of The Werewolf

The Black Cat (1934)

The Black Cat (1990)

Friday April 14th 

Robots Gone Awry Day

Tobor The Great

The Colossus Of New York

Cyborg 2087

Kronos

Colossus: The Forbin Project

Android

Homewrecker

Short Circuit

Crash And Burn

Overdrawn At The Memory Bank

Saturday April 15th  

Mad Science and The Living Dead Day

Fiend Without A Face

The Thing That Couldn't Die

The Brain Eaters

Creature With The Atom Brain

Scanners

Return Of The Living Dead

Night Of The Living Dead

The Evil Dead

Carnival Of Souls 

Sunday April 16th

Sci-Fi Day

Forbidden Planet 

Dune

The Princess Bride

Tremors

Back To The Future Part II

Alien Nation

Darkman

Forbidden Planet 

Movies would start up usually around 9am (except on Saturday's which would

have the movies start at 11am).  Before the movies, you could count on

Sci-Fi's Animation Station to show cartoons like The New Adventures of 

Gigantor, Defenders of the Earth and the Bionic Six!

The last film of the day would usually start somewhere around 2am...which

would then be followed by either infomercials or episodes of One Step Beyond,

Science Fiction Theater or the odd Twilight Zone episode.

In between films, they would have little filler spots here and there with clips
from shows like Inside Space, Sci-Fi Buzz or the FTL Newsfeed (FTL stood for

Faster Than Light).  I miss those shows....and perhaps I will write up a piece
them another time.  I seem to remember random little short films and fillers 

popping up here or there during the marathon, but the scheduling grids don't 

confirm that, so I may be meshing different memories together.

There was a fantastic trailer for the Super Nova Movie Explosion that they aired

only a few times....it ran something like 5 minutes, but it was so cool!  As I 

look back at this list of films, I notice that there are a few that I don't 

think I've ever seen before, such as Retik, The Moon Menace and D-Day on Mars. 

They're both serials from the 40's, Retik being a retitling of Radar Men

from The Moon and D-Day is the TV version of The Purple Monster Strikes.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this little stroll through memory lane and I hope 

that you, like me, remember the Movie Explosion as a magical time when The Sci-Fi

Channel was still showing the stuff that fans wanted.  If I had a time machine, 

you bet your sweet batootie that I would be sitting on my parents living room couch

for a week, 17 years ago today watching Gamera & Godzilla beat baddies to a pulp!

A Nightmare on Easter Sunday

Happy Easter!  I hope that the giant, mutated anthropomorphic bunny rabbit that broke into your homes overnight left you some sweet treats and other assorted Easter goodies!  I thought I would share an odd Easter memory that popped into my head today.  I was going to do a piece on the most horrific Easter Bunnies to be found in malls taking photo's with children, but Freddy in Space did such a cool article that I decided to just tell ya to check his out instead!

So instead I thought I would tell you about the greatest Easter gift I ever received.  See, when I was growing up and still believed in the Easter Bunny, I used to get Easter Baskets like any other kid....full of candy and toys and such.  Around the time that I started growing out of the Easter Bunny phase, my younger sister was just getting into it (she's 8 years younger than me).  So my mother decided that since my little sister was getting Easter Baskets, that she'd still supply my older sister and I with a hoard of candy and an Easter Present.  Cause Mom's awesome like that.

 

In 1993, I was 14 years old and I was a ravenous little horror fiend.  I had just started to really get obsessed with the Nightmare on Elm Street series.  I had seen a few of the films in heavily edited form on WPIX's Shocktober run of horror films the previous Halloween season.  I had also just recently struck a deal with my parents that I could watch R rated horror movies so long as they were R rated for Gore and Language and such.....which, quite frankly, I am amazed they agreed to it.  Either they didn't realize that there was a fair amount of nudity in horror films or they preferred that I watched Freddy slash someone up than watch horny teenage antics in films like Hardbodies and Porky's.  Don't get me wrong.....I watched Hardbodies, Porky's and every other teen sex comedy that came my way.....I just didn't let me parents know that I watched them!  I'm pretty sure my Dad knew that I did....but as far as I know he kept it from Mom.  Thanks Pop!

So Easter morning I woke up to discover two Easter baskets on the kitchen table.  One, which was clearly for my younger sister, was filled with colorful candies and toys and all wrapped up in pastel cellophane.  The other basket was an older wicker basket that my mother has had for God knows how long.  There snuggled amongst the Cadbury Eggs, assorted chocolates and cellophane grass was my very own VHS copy of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3:  Dream Warriors.  My older sister had gotten some jewelry or something...to be honest, I don't remember.  I'll tell you what I DO remember though.....chowing down on a peanut butter filled chocolate bunny while watching Freddy fuck up a bunch of teens in a psycho ward! 

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!

Simon Pegg has A Fantastic Fear of Everything

I have been a huge fan of Simon Pegg since he was doing Spaced way back around the turn of the millennium.  Wow.  That still sounds weird to say, doesn't it?  "At the turn of the millennium...."  Sounds like the beginning of an Arthur C. Clarke novel.   Probably is and I'm just forgetting which one.  Anyway....I've been a fan for quite a while.

His latest film, A Fantastic Fear of Everything looks to continue his winning streak of darkly humorous films that tightly balance the scares with the laughs.  The plot revolves around Pegg, who plays a children's author turned crime novelist who becomes paranoid after researching Victorian serial killers, and develops a fear of being murdered.

I haven't found any promotional art for the film yet, but I did find a trailer!



I'm very much looking forward to checking this one out...it seems to have a very Burtonesque feel to it, with it's bits of stop motion and CGI effects.  As of right now, I have only been able to find a release date for the UK of June 8.....no mention of other territories just yet.

Mondo Cabin in the Woods!

Check out the new Mondo poster from Justin Erickson & Phantom City Creative for Cabin in the Woods!

I am very much looking forward to checking out this flick, which comes out on April 13th.  There are those lucky bastards who are getting a sneak peak at the new Alamo Slaughter Lane in Austin, TX, who are being given this poster as a gift!  From what I understand, these posters have already sold out! 

Just in case the poster wasn't enough....here's the trailer for Cabin in the Woods.

Krite Easter Egg Hunt.....of DOOOOM!!!!!

So being me, the first thing that pops into my head around this time of year is a little film called Critters 2.  Why, you might ask, would the Easter Holiday make me think of those evil little furballs called Krites?  Well, it has a scene in it that scared the living shit out of me when I was a kid....and that scene is the one in which some Krite eggs are mistakenly bought and painted up as Easter Eggs to be used in the churches Easter Egg Hunt!

If you've seen the film then I'm sure you are well aware of the scene.  If you haven't, well then I guess you're in luck!  As a little Easter gift.....I give to you.....The Krite Easter Egg Hunt!

Happy Easter From The Midnight Cinephile!

Midnight Cinephile Creeps onto Facebook!

In my shameless quest of self promotion, I've created a Facebook page to supplement the site!  So head on over to http://www.facebook.com/MidnightCinephile and "Like" us!  Who else would bring you stuff like this messed up animated short.....besides FaithLess TQWH who posted it up on YouTube.

Anyway....check it out!  It's friggin creepy!  It's a segment of The Adventures of Mark Twain, a strange stop motion movie that was made in 1986 and directed by Will Vinton (the guy who did The California Raisins!).  This segment is based on Twain's final novel, The Mysterious Stranger.  The novel was worked on for some time by Twain and it is believed that he died before actually completing the novel, as it it ends abruptly in the middle of a scene.

 The film released theatrically in something like seven major cities and then disappeared until 2006 when a DVD was released.  The film, known as Comet Quest in the UK, is about Mark Twain attempting to keep his appointment with Halley's Comet.  There's tons more weirdness in store in this one.  Check it out if you get the chance!

Monster Brawl - 2012

 MONSTER BRAWL!  OOOOOHHHHH YEAH!  

Okay now I've got that out of my system.  When I first heard about this film, I'll be honest I wasn't too sure what to think.  While the kid in me wanted to shriek with joy at the thought of monsters in a Battle Royale for supremacy,  I was afraid it would end up more like Mega Python vs Gatoroid.  Not that I really have anything against MPvsG....it was....er....amusing.

I'm happy to report that Monster Brawl does it right.  It's like someone took any number of monster mash-up films and combined it with late 80's WrestleMania!  Oh hells yeah!  The film plays out exactly like a pay per view wrestling event, with Dave Foley (of Kids in the Hall fame) and Art Hindle (Ted in Porky's and Porky's II!!!) as announcers Buzz Chambers and Sasquatch Sid Tucker.   Oh yeah and Lance Henriksen even came on board to narrate the beginning of the film!  Jimmy Hart and Herb Dean even make appearances!

The event takes place in an ancient cursed graveyard and is set up in five rounds and two different factions, which are also divided into lightweight and heavyweight.  The contestants are Creatures:  Cyclops, Witch Bitch, Werewolf, and Swamp Gut.  Undead: Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy, Zombie Man, and Lady Vampire.  It really is a lot of fun to watch the backstory on each monster and then watch them trash talk their competition before the fight.  My thirteen year old self was loving every second of it!

If you love the old Universal monster mashes and old school Wrestlemania, then you owe it to yourself to check out Monster Brawl!  I'm not going to tell you who wins which match and who the ultimate victor is because that's half the fun of the movie!  Cheer for your favorites!  It could happen!

So pour yourself a nice tall glass of grape Kool-Aid and heat up some pizza rolls cause it's gonna be an action packed night of Monster Brawlin'!