New Rob Zombie Video

Rob has been a busy feller - new movie opened this week and his new CD hits stores soon. Here's the video for his first release - "Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown." Break dancing skeletons, hot chicks, a muscle bound yeti and more await - dig it!

Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave #1

I ran into Kerry Gammill at Wonderfest a few weeks ago and got to talking about the new Bela Lugosi book.  I knew it was a horror anthology and that Bela was the host presenting all new short horror stories, but hadn't had a chance to look at it until then. So after going through it a couple of times I thought I'd review it here on the blog.

Now, in full disclosure I have to admit that I'm friends with several of the creators involved with this comic, which can sometimes make things a bit awkward when reviewing work. But despite that fact I am going to give an honest review.

Priced at $4.99 it is a little pricey, but you get 48 full color pages for that price. Not bad. Two of those pages feature an article by Gary Rhodes called "Lugosi and Dracula: How they Re-Created Each Other" which is really well written and informative and is a nice addition to the comic book content. Kind of makes it a little more magazine-ish, in a way.

There have been other comics with horror actors as the host - Boris Karloff had a series of comic books through Gold Key that ran from the 60s through the 70s called Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery. Karloff appeared on the covers and briefly inside but it was pretty much standard comic fare otherwise. Much like the short story paperback collections he put his name on, Boris really had little to do with the comic otherwise. Since 2008 Blue Water Comics has published Vincent Price Presents, a comic series with Vincent as the host - but I have never actually read an issue of it. Of the big three horror icons - Boris, Bela and Vincent - Bela Lugosi in my mind may be best suited as host of a horror anthology. While I'm fans of all three there is a natural creepiness and coolness to Bela that just sort of sets him apart.

Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave is published by Monsterverse Entertainment. It is dated October 2010 but I think it might have actually come out a bit later than that.

Kerry Gammill is the Publisher, Kez Wilson the Art Director and Sam Park the Marketing Director. All three share editing duties.

The first issue sports a handsome Basil Gogos painting of Bela. Now, if you want to get a painter for a horror book there is none finer than Basil Gogos. They guys really did it right there and this is a great painting, the original of which is owned by none other than Rob Zombie, who gave Monsterverse permission to use the piece for this issue. Way to go Rob!

The book begins with an introduction page where we meet our central characters - Nosferina, Hugo, and Bela himself. The art for these pages, as well as the first story, is done by Kerry Gammill. Kerry is such a great artist I'd really love to see him draw the entire book. I have been a fan of his since back in his Marvel days, and Kerry definitely has the Mighty Marvel sensibility to his work. Kerry's story is written by Sam Park and is a "Frankenstein-esque" tale called UNPLEASANT SIDE EFFECTS about a scientist working on a chemical to revitalize dead cells. Good story, one of the highlights of the book.

The final story in the book features another terrific one page intro, again drawn by Kerry Gammill. The art for the final story, called THE MIDNIGHT MUSEUM,  is done by Terry Beatty, probably best known in convention circles for the covers he paints for Scary Monsters Magazine. It is written by Martin Powell, and is slightly "House of Waxish" in theme. It stars a villain who looks suspiciously like Bela himself. Another really good tale, both in story and art. They definitely opened and closed the book with their strongest stories.

The rest of the stories in the book vary in quality of both art and story. Most are pretty good and feature Bela in the intro and wrap of the stories. The exception is THE GOOD DOCTOR, by John Cassady - Bela is nowhere to be seen in the story, the characters look like something out of a kids cartoon and the story is a comedy that misses the mark. Out of place with the rest of the book, and it's the only story not in color - although the MARK OF THE ZOMBIE by Rob Brown is sepia colored.

The book is rounded out with illustrations and caricatures of Bela by Frank Dietz, Paul Garner, Kim Loh and Jeff Preston. The Jeff Preston piece in particular is really striking - fully painted, reproduced in Black and White - good stuff.

Overall TALES FROM THE GRAVE is a great horror anthology with that classic horror feel. It really treats the memory and likeness of Lugosi with respect and is definitely a book worth picking up. Monsterverse just announced a digital release of the book through iverse as well, so you ipad folks out there can pick it up that way too. Good stuff and I look forward to where they go with issue #2!

Wonderfest and The Gruesome Twosome

Hey guys - I've been a bit more sporadic than usual posting here, as it's been a very busy week, but in a good way. Starting last Thursday my band played at the Muse in Nashvile. That show went GREAT!  Turnout was good for a Thursday night, and all the bands that evening were really good. For out set I wore a werewolf mask and a wig the entire night, despite the heat. I'd been wanting to wear that thing for a while now, and finally broke it out Thursday. Looked pretty cool onstage, i have to say.

On Saturday my youngest son, Luke, Cameron McCasland and I headed to Wonderfest. The three of us had a fun little roadtrip, and the convention itself went really well. I met new friends, saw lots of old ones, and hosted IT CONQUERED THE WORLD Saturday night before a packed crowd. It went over really well, and during the show we called Bob Burns on speaker phone. That was my favorite part of the night, and lots of other folks favorite part too, according to all the remarks I got afterwards. We all missed Bob being part of the show, so it was nice to have him there in whatever way we could get him!


Monday was back to work and the usual routine for one day, then on Tuesday Luke and I headed out for another roadtrip to Knoxville, TN to see Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie in concert together. They called it the Gruesome Twosome tour, and there was no way I was going to miss that one. We got there about an hour before the doors opened and wandered around a bit. I was amazed at how many t-shirt bootleggers were working the crowd.

We eventually made our way inside and to the merch table where I sprung for a t-shirt for Luke at the amazingly low price of $35 dollars! Ouch!

When the show started Alice Cooper played first. I figure they must be alternating who opens from show to show. Alice was, in a word, amazing. He looked great, sounded even better, and put on a totally kick ass show from start to finish. He kicked the show off with three classics: School's Out, No More Mr. Nice Guy, and I'm 18, three songs I thought would be closers. It was a triple punch to the forehead that really got the crowd rockin!

His choice of songs was surprising to me. They only played one song off the new album and a variety of songs from older albums like Goes to Hell and From the Inside. All the shock rock antics were in full swing, including beheadings, hangings, decapitations and more. Alice showed these kids how to rock proppa like, and the show was one big theatrical presentation that was so good I had actual tears in my eyes.

Rob came on afterwards and rocked the house in a barrage of sights and sounds that were a near  sensory overload. Constant non-stop movie images, cartoons, pictures and flashing lights accompanied his techno metal music. It was pretty impressive.  I am a big fan of both artists, and it was a treat to see them together on one bill. Alice was especially impressive, and even better then the last time I saw him perform (The Constrictor Tour in 86).

So here's to Alice Cooper, the king of Shock Rock! You still got it, buddy!

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 Review

I finally got my hands on the new Rob Zombie CD. I’ve been looking forward to hearing this one since I saw Rob play live a few months back in Louisville, KY on a mini-tour in support for the upcoming album. They played a couple of the new songs, which went over really well live, so I was looking forward to hearing the rest of the CD.

It’s called Hellbilly Deluxe 2 and was released Feb 2nd 2010. This is a follow-up CD to Rob’s first solo effort, Hellbilly Deluxe, released in 1998. I got my copy from a Barnes and Nobles at a local mall for right around 10 bucks. Not bad at all.

Hellbilly Deluxe was a breakout album for Rob. He had outgrown White Zombie and was ready to branch out on his own. The songs on that one are classics he’ll be playing for years… Superbeast, Living Dead Girl, Dragula, Demonoid Phenomenon,Spookshow Baby - Great stuff that really brought horror movies and comic book subculture to the mainstream public in a way that hadn’t been done since Alice Cooper’s heyday. There are a ton of other bands out there flying the horror banner high, don’t get me wrong, but none that have that massive fan base and a major label behind them, and certainly none getting mainstream airplay like Rob does.

On both Hellbilly Deluxe and the 2001 follow-up, The Sinister Urge, Rob is drawing deeply from that horror well. Like a rock and roll shaman or a musical version of a classic horror host, Rob guides his listeners through song after song of monsters, B-movies, sex and gore. Which is kind of a fitting description, actually, as Rob has even done some horror hosting in his time, hosting a series of movies for none other than AMC TV.

But on the album Educated Horses from 2006, Rob seemed to step away from this shock rock horror host persona a bit. The album seemed a bit more subdued and in fact Rob doesn’t even appear in trademark costume or makeup on that cover. It is more of a rock album and less of the techno-industrial metal sound from the previous two CDs. Perhaps he was going for a more adult sound, or just channeling whatever influences he had going on at that time. But either way, it was a bit disappointing of an effort for me.

But I’m happy to report that on the new CD, Hellbilly Deluxe 2, Rob is back in the horror swing full force. There are 11 tracks on this one, and once again Rob has fully embraced that horror persona that made him so successful. This is Rob Zombie the entertainer, the monster, the horror host.

The full title of the CD is: Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool - which is a fitting title as it summarizes the horror movie and pop-culture influence on this disc. Rob Zombie makes horror cool. Wrapped in danceable techno-tinged head boppin’ riffs, Rob’s music runs the gamut of nerdsville and tells us this is what’s cool, not your plastic, popular, pretty-people but your dirty, grimy, blood spattered b-movies. The songs on this disc cruise through topics as diverse as lyncathropy, witchcraft, slasher films and even a tribute to Lon Chaney Sr.
Werewolf Women of the SS is my favorite track off this disc and I swear it sounds just like it could have come off of those first two CDs. This song is titled after the fake movie trailer Rob did for Quentin Tarintino’s Grindhouse film. Man, I wish Rob would make this movie. What a great exploitation flick this would be. Sexy women, evil Nazis, shape shifting werewolves – man that’s right up Rob’s alley, I’d think. Rob, man, you really should consider making this movie!

While Hellbilly Deluxe 2 may not be as strong of an album as either the original Hellbilly Deluxe or The Sinister Urge, it is nonetheless refreshing to see Rob return to his horror roots. Definitely a worthy addition to the Zombie catalog, and let me tell you – if Rob comes to your town live you should do yourself a favor and go see them. The band has kept the same 4 members over the past few releases and it shows. They are super tight live and John Five is a kick-ass guitarist. Their stage show is a visual assault of flashing lights, horror movie imagery, cartoons and sexy women. If this is juvenile fare then I don’t wanna grow up!

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 track listing:
01. Jesus Frankenstein
02. Sick Bubble-Gun
03. What?
04. Mars Needs Women
05. Werewolf, Baby
06. Virgin Witch
07. Dream Factory
08. Burn
09. Cease to Exist
10. Werewolf Women of the SS
11. The Man Who Laughs

The Devil's Rejects Panel

Back in 2005 I moderated a panel on the Rob Zombie film The Devil's Rejects. This was at the Full Moon Tattoo Festival in Nashville, TN. It was held March 18, 2005, before the movie came out, and features Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, and Ken Foree. Matt McGrory was at the show and supposed to be on the panel as well, but didn't make it to the panel.


Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



Part 4:

Cult Radio a Go Go

My latest radio show is scheduled to play tomorrow on Cult Radio A Go Go - it's part of the horror host block of programming on Cult radio a go go. This is the 4th episode of my show, The Cure For The Common Corpse - here's the ad:

This episode is a special King Kong episode to commemorate
the 75th anniversary of the original movie.

Check it out tomorrow at 4:30 central,
then stick around for all the other hosts:

Count Gore DeVol at 5pm central,
Jebediah Buzzard at 5:30 central,
Dug Graves KDOA at 6:30 central,

THEN
at 7:30 - 10:30 it's CultRadioAGoGo LIVE with these guests:

Gilbert Gottfried and Rhonda Sheer
John Waters
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Rob Zombie!!

WOW!! GREAT Lineup. Click this art to enlarge and check out the details.