12 Hours of Terror 2016 Recap

The 12 Hours of Terror marathon at the Belcourt theater was this past Saturday night (October 22nd, 2016) and was a frightful good time for all in attendance! The lineup this year was a fun and eclectic mix of films, and there were plenty of shenanigans from the Belcourt staff to keep the mood lightened and crowd entertained, too.






The festivities kicked off with a short set from THE BOO DUDES, a horror rock band made up of a Vampire guitarist, mummy bassist, headless horseman drummer, vampire keyboard player and alien guitarist. They were great and entertaining and had the crowd chanting "Booooo" lovingly between songs to cheer them along.

The first film of the night was the Joe Dante classic, THE HOWLING. I'd never seen this one on the big screen, and the print was a blood-red tinged 35 mm print. Great start to the evening.

Next up the Boo Dudes played a super short set, followed by the second film of the night, the insane MYSTICS OF BALI.

During the movie, in the section where the woman's possessed head and organs separate from her body and fly in search of victims (yes you have to see it to believe it if you've never experienced Mystics in Bali) the Belcourt staff ran up and down the aisles dangling a head and organ prop over the crowd to their delight! William Castle would have been proud.


The next film was the 1980s film SOLE SURVIVOR. I'd never seen this one before, and it was probably my favorite film of the night. Final destination definitely lifted a thing or two from this one.

HENRY, PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER was next, in a beautiful 4k transfer.





I had the honor of introducing this one, and brought up three contestants from the crowd to do a quick sketch portrait of Henry before the movie, with prizes to the winner.

The Belcourt staff had once again transformed the lobby into a haunted house during the movie, and did a great job!

The next film was a first for the 12 Hour marathons - a 3D movie! THE 1960s film THE MASK was next, and the print was gorgeous!





I handed out a stack of paperback books to the audience before this one, a tradition started by the late Jim Ridley, and one I very much intend to keep alive.

THE PIT was next up, another film I'd not seen before. This 80s gem is really fun!





The evening was rounded out with FROM BEYOND, the splatertastic Lovecraftian Stuart Gordon classic.





As we all emerged into the daylight at 10 the following morning the survivors gathered for a group photo. The 12 Hours of Terror has become a Nashville tradition, and one that is not to be missed by horror movie aficionados. I want to thank everyone who came out to the event - the show was sold out - and I'd also like to thank The Belcourt for inviting me to participate as well. I'm already looking forward to next year's show! It's just a shame we have to wait 365 days for it to get here!!


BTW, I swiped these pics everywhere I could, so thank you to all who shot these photos. If you wish to be credited please let me know, and again, thank you for coming out to the event!

Jim Ridley Honored at this Year's Nashville Film Festival

Sam Adams at INDIEWIRE.com posted the news yesterday that the Nashville Film Festival will hold an empty seat in every theater "from now on." Sounds like they mean not only this year but every year going forward, from that statement, which is a remarkable tribute to an equally remarkable man.

Jim's passing continues to stun and sadden me. Jim was always such a great friend and ally to all of us here, a true champion for all of Dr. Gangrene's creative ventures. He was so excited back when I first started my TV show, I remember him telling me how great it was that Nashville had a horror host again. He made mention of my events time and again in those early days of cable access zaniness.



 

I remember a couple years back I ran into him in Nashville one day shortly after I'd started my Fantastic Films of Vincent Price series. He was so excited to hear about it and told me one of his favorite Price films was HIS KIND OF WOMAN, starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, and of course Vincent Price. It is a great film; zany, unusual, quirky and energetic - much like Jim himself. Makes total sense he'd love that one!

As editor, Jim was naturally the one who gave the go-ahead for a Dr. Gangrene cover on the Nashville Scene. I remember he had me come in for a photo shoot to accompany the article (written by Randy Fox), but instructed friends at the Scene (like Randy) to keep the fact I was going to be on the cover quiet, so it would be a surprise for me. And quite the pleasant surprise it was!! Time and time again he would write reviews or mentions of events we were hosting over the years, from live shows to movies, events and more -  and he'd even work humorous mentions of Dr. Gangrene into other folks' events, such as the following from Jan 22nd 2016, during a blurb for a Creeping Cruds show:

The Independents w/The Creeping Cruds & The Lonesome Town Drifters 

When: Fri., Jan. 22, 9 p.m. 2016
Price: $12

To non-fans, “horror ska” is redundant, but South Carolina’s The Independents are still skankin’ to wake the dead after almost a quarter-century of shock rock. Managed for a few years by the late Joey Ramone, an ardent admirer, founders Evil Presly and Willy B. have moved farther from the band’s early ska elements toward a punk sound that’s not as garage-y as, say, The Cramps, but still laden with references to black angels, corpses in the rain, and even the much-missed Rudy Ray Moore. Joining them are Nashville’s own psychotronic rockers The Creeping Cruds. If you plan your evenings around the chance of spotting horror host Dr. Gangrene, here’s a pretty safe bet. JIM RIDLEY

Too funny! That one I stumbled across totally out of the blue. But that's how Jim worked, making kind gestures like that without a second thought or expecting anything in return. He got a kick out of it, and I would have thanked him next time I saw him - to which he would naturally have shrugged it off as if it were nothing.

At last year's 12 HOURS OF TERROR festival Jim handed out stacks of paperbacks to the crowd for free.  He gave me one called THE SCREAM by John Skipp and Craig Spectre, which is a heavy metal horror (a favorive sub-sub genre of mine) novel. Jim raved about how much he loved Skipp and Spectre's writing. The book is fantastic, I need to do a proper review of it.

I'll leave you today with this shot of Jim from last year's 12 HOURS OF TERROR fest, where he  introduced THE EVIL SPAWN. Thank you again for your friendship and everything you did for us over the years, Jim. You rock, my friend.

Farewell Jim Ridley

It is with great sadness that I bid farewell to Nashville Scene Editor and friend Jim Ridley. I first met Jim in college at MTSU, and we stayed in touch over the years. He was always super-supportive of my horror host gig, and always more than happy to provide coverage for Dr. Gangrene events, and even allowing Dr. Gangrene to grace the cover of the Scene Halloween 2011. Over the past couple of years it seemed I kept running into him around town, at The Belcourt theater, some random event, or McKay Books, and Jim always had a huge smile on his face and wanted to know what I'd been up to lately. One of the friendliest, kindest and funny fellas you could ever hope to meet. Farewell Jim, you will be missed my friend.

This picture was taken by my son Luke at last year's 12 Hours of Terror film fest at the Belcourt theater. Pictured here is Jim (pointing at me), myself and Belcourt film guru Jason Shawhan. This was taken the morning after the fest, all of us celebrating having survived the overnight terrors. Jim was ALWAYS excited about the 12 hour festival, and always hand-picked a zany film to screen at the festival. If you looked at the lineup and there was one entry that was uber-bizarre and wacky, chances are it was a Ridley contribution to the lineup. I will always remember him enthusiastically pelting the crowd with candy midway through the event. I HATE that he won't be able to see the Belcourt theater in all its restored glory this summer. I know he would have loved and sung its praises in THE SCENE. This year's 12 Hours of Terror will not be the same without you. Farewell buddy.




BTW, there is a Jim Ridley memorial fund to help pay medical and funeral expenses and support his family in their time of need. Our thoughts go out to his wife and kids.

12 hours of Terror Recap

The 5th Annual 12 Hours of Terror festival at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville was a smashing success! Over 200 people crammed into the historic 1966 Hall for twelve straight hours of fright and fun. The movies were an interesting mix this year, ranging from sci-fi to horror and schlock. My son Luke and I arrived early and a line quickly formed outside the theater that wound down the building and around the corner.

The festivities kicked off with something new this year, a short set from Nashville's own THE BOO DUDES, a costumed band comprised of a werewolf lead singer/guitarist, Dracula on keys, the Headless Horseman on drums, an alien guitarist, and a mad scientist on the mixing board. What's not to love?

 They were fun and funny, entertaining the audience before the first film of the night, John Carpenter's THE THING.

 The Boo Dudes then kept the fun rolling as they returned for a second set. Next up on the film-front was a totally insane foreign film called THE BOXER'S OMEN, introduced by the Nashville Scene's Jim Ridley.

Full of blood, vomit, martial arts and magic, this was the type of gonzo feature I've come to appreciate at these shows.

The third feature I had the pleasure to introduce - from 1979, TOURIST TRAP.

Starring Chuck Connors and Tanya Roberts, this is a pretty surreal movie that, while not as full-out insane as the previous film, is still equally-enjoyable for its own merits. Connors is great as a creepy owner of an abandoned tourist trap called Slauson's Lost Oasis and Western Town. Fun film.

 As we exited the theater after Tourist Trap we found the lobby completely transformed. The Belcourt ghouls had been busy, as the lobby was decorated with bats, blood, black lights and body parts.

The frights continued with a period piece called EYES OF FIRE.  Introduced by the Belcourt's Jason Shawhan, this one featured 1700s witchcraft on the American frontier.

Next up was another new feature - the Belcourt's Zack Hall brought his monthly feature WEEKNIGHT REWIND to the Hellcourt for a special segment they called SHRIEKNIGHT REWIND.

 Zack brought three films - on glorious VHS - and read the back of the box and showed a showed a short clip from each. Then it was up to the audience, as they voted on which film to see.

I was particularly happy, as one of my all-time favorite films won the day, TRICK OR TREAT, the rock n' roll masterpiece featuring music from Fastway. Great eye opener late in the evening/early morning.

This was followed by some 80s low-budget fun, DEADLY SPAWN. Once again introduced by Jim Ridley, I had always wanted to see this creature feature but never had the pleasure. Talk about getting a lot of bang for your buck, that's exactly the case with this film. Low budget, big effects. Big fun.

Last but certainly not least was the remake of THE BLOB from 1988. Definitely one of the more worthy remakes, I had forgotten just how fun this one is.

As the final moments of the splatacular feature played on the screen the Belcourt staff encouraged all those still there to gather in front of the theater for a group photo. As you can see, quite the collection of intrepid film-goers braved the night.

All of the films were on 35mm with the exception of The Blob and The Thing, which were DCP, and Trick or Treat, which was presented on VHS (VHS is Alive!!). A huge thanks to everyone who attended, and especially to the Belcourt staff who worked so hard to put this event together.

My son took this picture of me posing with Jim Ridley and Jason Shawhan after the final film. It was a great event, and I look forward to next year's event!

*Special thanks to Jason Shawhan for the loan of the photos!

Doc Gangrene mentioned in Nashville Scene article

Doc Gangrene was mentioned in the Nashville Scene newspaper today in an article about the Batpoet telethon that took place at the CH19 studio last Saturday evening. The article was written by the one and only Jim Ridley - Doc G. is mentioned several times throughout the article, most especially here:

"If you mention 19 to someone, they go, 'You mean The Bat Poet Channel?', " says Larry Underwood, who, as horror host Dr. Gangrene, is regarded with awe by fellow Channel 19 vets for landing a Saturday-afternoon slot on The CW—the equivalent of a sandlot player getting called to the bigs.

here's the link to the entire story on the Nashville Scene website...

http://www.nashvillescene.com/2008-12-04/news/health-woes-have-the-bat-poet-down-but-he-s-not-forgotten/

By the way, Jim modestly refers to himself here:

the only "civic luminary" the show could dredge up was a visiting drudge from the Scene.

Well, that dredge was Jim himself, who was the highlight of the evening in a rant about why the batpoet should return to the airwaves and what has happened to the streets of Nashville in his absence. Hilarious stuff, Jim!!