For those of you in the Nashville, TN area that are fans of bad movies, VHS, and exploitation flicks (who isn't?) listen up! The Belcourt theater, Nashville's arthouse cinema of all things sinister has had a series going for a while now that I've been meaning to tell ya'll about. It's called WEEKNIGHT REWIND, and it's a genius idea.
Host Zach Hall brings three VHS tapes to the theater - that's right, I said VHS - and reads the back of each box, showing a clip from each of the evening's contestants in this analog battle-royale. Then it's up to you, as the audience votes, by applause-o-meter, on which epic will screen that night, projected off of glorious VHS tape!
It is too much fun, and must be seen to be believed. Come join us Tuesday, May 26th for the next entry in this insane series! I'll be there, so come say hi! Did I mention they serve beer, and wine, and mixed drinks there, too? As well as coffee for us old geezers who need help staying awake!
TUESDAY, MAY 26th at 10PM
The Belcourt Theater,
Nashville, TN
By the way, here's the last film I saw during the Weeknight Rewind series - tell me this doesn't look like something you gotta see!
For my column for Issue #96 of Scary Monsters Magazine, it was my pleasure to welcome my good friend Frank Dietz into the lab for a chat.
I've known Frank since sometime in the early 2000s, and probably first met him at a Wonderfest convention in Louisville - although it might have been at Monster Bash in Pittsburgh. Monster memory is hazy, but it's always great to get the chance to hang out at shows when opportunity permits. I began hosting an annual live event at Wonderfest shortly thereafter, and it became tradition to involve Frank - at first he generously offered to donate artwork to give away to the crowd, and later he even took part in the fun, hopping onstage with myself, Bob Burns, Nurse Moan-eek, John Goodwin, Beau Kaelin, Ethan Black, and others. Always a fun time.
The clip below is from one of the Live Shows, 2007 - where we showed The Monster on the Campus. Frank came onstage as Dr. Clete Ferguson, a scientist from the Oceanic Institute, to help me study, and dissect, the coelacanth we discovered. Fun stuff.
Also present in the experiment were Bob Burns, John Goodwin, Nurse Moan-eek as well as the band The Exotic Ones (The coelacanth was built by Ethan Black).
The Scary Monsters Interview is posted below. Click the pages to enlarge and read. To find out more about Frank visit:
www.sketchythingsart.com
I've been a big fan of Midnight Syndicate since I first listened to their CDs sometime back in the early 2000s. They started up right around the same time I did, in 1999. and we found each other shortly thereafter, emailing back and forth over the years, even working on a few things together.
I finally got a chance to meet founding member Ed Douglas face to face in 2013 at the Horror Hound convention, after years of corresponding back and forth. Such a cool guy, as friendly in person as he is online. Below is the press release for their upcoming album, events and more. Great stuff, these guys are a machine, I tell ya, a machine! Long live Midnight Syndicate!!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2015
CLEVELAND,
Ohio, May 12, 2015 - Midnight Syndicate has announced that their
eighteenth album will have a Christmas and Winter Solstice theme. “I
think there's a rule that after a band's been around for ‘x’ years they
are required to produce a Christmas album. So, that's how we got here,”
joked Edward Douglas. “In all seriousness though, a Yuletide-themed
Midnight Syndicate album is something our fans have been asking us for
since we began; this album will not disappoint them.”
“I will say
that this album has been particularly challenging because we're taking
songs that are SO familiar and that have been treated in so many
different ways throughout the years and trying to make them uniquely our
own,” added Gavin Goszka. “We don't want to make yet another Christmas
album - we really want it to stand on its own as something truly
original. We hope that it will evoke the spirit of the Yuletide season
while also reflecting our ongoing musical style and vision.”
Content-wise,
the album will be a mix of new material and twists on classics. “I'd
describe most of the covers on the album as being reinvented, rather
than simply adapted,” said Goszka. “I've found myself approaching this
material with a very wide palette and a limited sense of allegiance to
convention. That being said, it still has to make sense in some way and
stay grounded in the familiar. I think we're stretching our creative
wings more than ever here, but there's still a consistency and overall
purpose to it.” “The original songs have been a lot of fun to work on,”
added Douglas. “I think the fans are in for a lot of pleasant
surprises.”
Fans will not
have to wait until Christmas for this present. Midnight Syndicate will
be exhibiting at DragonCon in Atlanta this year on Labor Day weekend
(September 4-7) and plans to have the CD available at the show.
Midnight Syndicate Live! update: In October of 2014, Midnight Syndicate Live! debuted
at Cedar Point’s HalloWeekends event. From the audience response to
the critical reception to record-breaking attendance numbers, the show
was an overwhelming success. Although the band will be using 2015 to
focus on the new album, plans for a return of Midnight Syndicate Live! in 2016 are already underway. “The success of the inaugural run of Midnight Syndicate Live! has ensured that live Midnight Syndicate shows will be a permanent part of our plans going forward,” said Douglas.
Composers Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka have been delighting fans of instrumental gothic music, Halloween, roleplaying games, and classic horror for almost two decades. As the first recording act to produce seasonal atmosphere for professional haunts and amusement parks, their signature blend of dark orchestral "soundtracks to imaginary films" and sound effects have remained a staple of that industry in addition to weaving their way into the musical tapestry of the Halloween season and beyond. Every October, their music can be heard setting atmosphere on television and radio shows, restaurants, stores, and homes worldwide.
So I had one of those moments of Zen recently, where things just sort of all seem to fall into place, a serendipity of sort, if you will. I had just listened to the amazing seven hour podcast – that’s right, I said SEVEN HOUR long podcast – on Conan the Barbarian by the always entertaining PROJECTION BOOTH podcast.
The Projection Booth is hosted by Mike White, and for this show he had guest hosts El Goro and Josh Hadley, along with a plethora of special guests to discuss not only the original CONAN THE BARBARIAN film (one of my all-time favorite films by director John Milius) but also the entire CONAN franchise, from the pulp roots of writer Robert Howard all the way through the sequels, TV series, cartoon, and remake.
Mike White is usually joined on his show by fellow host Rob St. Mary. They launched the show in 2011, and tackle a new movie each week – each episode usually includes interviews with people involved directly or indirectly with the movie, often times writers, directors, or even stars of the films. The Projection Booth was nominated for a Rondo Award, and is definitely one of the better shows out there, as they go above and beyond in the effort to create a quality program.
Well, getting back to my story – That same week on my own ongoing program, THE FANTASTIC FILMS OF VINCENT PRICE, I was tackling a film called HIS KIND OF WOMAN.
Made in 1951 by RKO Pictures, it was directed by John Farrow and features a truly star-studded cast, including Price, Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Raymond Burr, and Jim Backus. It is a fun little story, an unusual film-noir of sorts that takes place mainly in an island hotel, full of quirky characters. The thing that rung a familiar bell was the fact that Producer Howard Hughes had brought in a second director to shoot additional scenes once shooting was wrapped, to include more comedy - and more Vincent Price, who Hughes adored. Price gives a performance that starts off fairly normal and ramps up in intensity throughout the picture, culminating in a Shakespeare-spouting campy performance that is terrific fun to watch. That second director brought onboard was Richard Fleischer.
I was sure I had heard that name mentioned recently. A quick look through Fleischer’s filmography showed that, sure enough – he was the director of the Conan sequel, CONAN THE DESTROYER!
Fleischer is the son of Max Fleischer, who was the head of FLEISCHER STUDIOS, the animation studio that created Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor, as well as the excellent SUPERMAN animated series in the 1940s. He directed some truly iconic films, including 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (which is interesting to consider Disney hired the son of their competitor to direct their film), THE VIKINGS with Kirk Douglas, Fantastic Voyage, Soylent Green and many more.
Truly one of those aha moments that made me smile.
That evening I dug out my Conan DVD and gave The Destroyer a re-watch. My memories of it held up pretty well over time. It looks pretty, with a couple of nice special effects sequences – not a HORRIBLE film, but a big step down from the first. Overall I’d say it has enough good things going for it to make it worth watching, at least once.
Not really a ringing endorsement though, is it? The dorky humor throughout the film is the main detraction for me, and unfortunately, it seems Fleischer is the one responsible for the shift in tone from the first Conan film. But then he had been brought on to add humor to the Vincent Price film, hadn’t he? It all somehow kinda makes sense now…
In issue #95 of Scary Monsters Magazine it was my pleasure to interview artist extraordinaire Mark Maddox. As mentioned in the article, I first met Mark at a smaller one-day comic book show in Nashville and was blown away at the quality of work he had displayed there. To top it off, he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. I decided to invite him into the lab for a chat, to talk about his work, influences, and more!
I'd like to extend an extra special congratulations to my good friend Derek Koch for winning a Rondo Award in the Best Multimedia category for his outstanding podcast, Monster Kid Radio. Derek has been podcasting for a number of years, and works super hard on his program, putting out two episodes a week. MKR is a show that features conversations with fans and industry creators talking about their favorite horror movies and memories of them. It's a really unique show and one I look forward to listening to every week.
The trailer was released today for a new upcoming horror anthology from the Godfather of Gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis, called HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS' BLOODMANIA.
Not to be confused with the 1970 film BLOOD MANIA, or the 1986 film BLOOD MANIAC, HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS' BLOODMANIA (official title) is a new horror anthology being released in 2015.
It appears there are three or four different directors on this one, but I'm not quite sure - Herschell Gordon Lewis, Kevin Littlefoot, and Melanie Reinboldt, are listed on IMDB and the trailer, although the poster below also lists Benjamin Ross Hayden. The website, however, only lists Herschell Gordon lewis and Kevin Littlefoot. There are supposedly four segments in total, and according to the website HGL co-wrote one segment, and will direct two of them.
I'm a big fan of the portmanteau film genre, so I am always interested in a new horror anthology. This one is being released by Diabolique Films, a division of Diabolique Magazine. It is always great to see HGL back in action though, and love his appearance in the trailer. 86 years young - attaboy Herschell - keep slayin' em!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE! Friday, May 1st, 2015
NEWS BREAK! Diabolique Films and HGB Entertainment Ltd. proudly present the theatrical trailer for their upcoming motion picture, Herschell Gordon Lewis' BloodMania.
The legendary cult director who brought you such classics as "Blood Feast," The Gruesome Twosome," "Something Weird," "The Wizard Of Gore," "Two Thousand Maniacs!," "She Devils on Wheels" "The Gore Gore Girls," and many others returns to the genre he is officially acknowledged for creating.
BloodMania is a horror anthology comprised of four distinct segments that feature a raucous combination of satirical humor, horror, and enough surprises to satiate the appetites of a broad range of film enthusiasts and horror fans alike. Mr. Dave Trainor, the person in charge of special effects is also the genius responsible for the SFX on the two popular television series "Fargo" and "Hell On Wheels."
Diabolique Films is a division of Diabolique Magazine, the premiere horror genre publication. The production company HGB Entertainment Ltd spearheaded by Mr. James Saito, shot the entire film in Calgary, Alberta Canada with a talented cast and crew largely from that city.
