Matthew Skelly Oh please let his date be the first one to get it!
Happy Halloween!
No special post today. Go watch your favorite horror movie, go trick or treating with the kids and have yourself a happy Halloween!
Clint Howard
It’s hard to pick a favorite role for Ron Howard’s brother….I was tempted to try and get him to sign an Ice Cream Man poster, but really, Star Trek is one of my first loves, and the fact that he was on it is just amazing to me.
Knott Dead Yet
We’re celebrating the rturn of the Walking dead with a little piece I did on the behalf of James T Quirk over at Cap’n Quirk’s Nerd Emporium. The idea is what if the Walking Dead happened in Mayberry? It’s dound south enough – actually not that far from Georgia…
We think it would go a bit like this…..
Better make that one bullet count Barney….
John Kasier
Working at the Kreepy Kastle, you guys already know I’m a horror Host fan, but really, the Cryptkeeper just trancends that – he’s a personality all his own!
How strange that he was also the voice of buster Bunny in Tiny Toons?
I eat your Skin
When it comes to old time voodoo zombies, I’m a fan. From White Zombie to films like this… Although I’ve got to wonder, of all the public domain ones out there why they chose this one? I think i’d actually have liked Mantan moorlands “king of the zombies” netter. I mean, if you’re going to kinda cheat on a box set like this and stick in some public domain stuff, I personally want to go at the best… Maybe it’s the name, the name is quite shocking although I’ve personally always wanted to see this done in a double feature with “I drink your blood ”
Still, this one is nice pick… It’s typical of 50’s B-movie schlock ( i know it was made in the 60’s but it really LOOKS 50’s) and the ping-pong ball eyes are a classic favourite of mine. The story is fairly simple. White man accidentally creates the formula for zombies from snake venom and a dash of voodoo and things go downhill from there. In the end, this is not a film that I generally seek out, but at the same time I’m not likely to turn it off if it’s going to show up being hosted by my favourite horror hosts. Let’s face it, this one was included on the set for padding and not much else.
Cleveland Comic Con 2017
It’s very strange, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a convention shrink in the way Cleveland Comic Con has. Still, it may have been just what it needed – a new tweak to the formula that finally makes this convention work.
Cleveland Comic con has had a bumpy road – with growing pains exacerbated by disorganisation and a grander scope then they can facilitate. I think they tried too much too soon and it has constantly dogged the quality of this convention and kept me away quite a bit. This year was different, everything moved smoothly. It feels like the convention dialed back some of that scope and is able to better accommodate the type of crowd it receives. That doesn’t preclude growing in the future, but they’re not ready yet – and the 
smaller two building-one stage set up they had running here suits them very nicely.
They gone out of their way to bring in some interesting guests as well – Sam Jones was there, overcharging for his Flash Gordon autograph. They brought in some minor characters from the Walking Dead as well. Vincent Ward and Santiago Cirillo are both actors I’ve already got on my walking dead poster… Santiago did Concoction a year ago and was just as much fun this time around – even with a lot of the same stories… I wandered into his panel, and he stopped dead pointed at me and yelled “yes! Slime me!”
That’s right, Cleveland comic con was finally the big reveal for my slimer costume.
Slimer was actually a big hit with everybody – freaking out some of the venders and drawing laughter and applause from Jones over at his Flash Gordon table.One young man 
stopped by me and asked “is it worth it? . I admit, it was hotter than expected, but absolutely. He is a remarkably fun character and you can get really silly with the body language – the people at the ghostbusters booth lost their minds over me!
I actually really dig the way they handled this costume contest – with prejudging around one, and everybody lined up for that. It would’ve been nicer however, if they had made the instructions about this clearer – I honestly just stumbled into the correct line and had I arrived much later I would’ve been excluded.
But all in all, I like prejudging – they give you a chance to really connect with the judges and explain what you have done and how you’ve done it without being under the pressure or time crunch of a costume parade. A couple hours later we are all lined up and doing our thing on stage which once again, a great deal of fun… It didn’t occur to them to let me speak or take a microphone, so everything was non-verbal – everything was expression and body language in this suit. It’s an interesting challenge, and I think I like it.
I finally got around to replacing my copy of Diane Carey’s Final Frontier – the one that I gave to my best friends ex-girlfriend. I always figured I just grab another one off the shelf of the local used bookstore, and hadn’t come across one since! Next to it in the paperback bin was an interesting looking copy of the Exorcist. I topped off my bag with a copy of the Art of Atari. I’ve been jonesing for this book since they announced it, and gem city had its usual excellent prices!
I’m really happy about what Cleveland comic con has become. It’s actually morphed into exactly the sort of show that I really enjoy – and I think now, it’ll have a better chance at growing organically… and that is something I deafinately want to see!
The Green Hornet
My personal definitive way of drawing iconic characters
A quickie here of another of my pulp favorites. The Green Hornet.
I suppose this is more of a classic look, based somewhat on the serials. Dynamite has gone to a look like this as well with it’s classic Green Hornet comics, but No one ever makes the mask into more of a cowl like this, and that’s what I’ve always wanted to see- very Batman influenced.
Spies, Lies, and Naked Thighs
I’ve always been a huge Night Court fan. IT was enough of an influence that I followed Harry Anderson over to Dave’s World, and sought out his early appearances, particuarly on Cheers.
I discovered this movie on the rack at a Dollar store and had never heard of it. But still, Harry Anderson and Ed Begly jr, directed by the guy who did the Mupper Movie, I’m in.
a short synopsis from IMBD;
In this spoof of spy films, Alan, a U.N. translator, and his kindergarten teacher wife, Beverly, get roped into helping foil a presidential assassination plot by an unlikely G-man-who just so happens to look like Alan’s old college buddy, Freddie. But before “Freddie” can finger the real hired-gun-a cold-hearted killer with a penchant for using kitchen tools to do the deed-he, Alan, and Beverly must first rule out some strange and unusual suspects!
How did this go wrong?
I think the fundamental disappointment here is that Harry is out of his element. Anderson is funniest with his particular type of schtick. It dosen’t have to involve magic, but he does had a specific brand of humor and this isn’t it, it feels like they tried too hard to shoehorn him into a role he wasn’t right for.
To be fair, Begly gives an uninspired preformance as well so Anderson has nothing to really play off of, but the entire thing just feels flat and drags on too long.
With only a couple of cute set pieces, this one is actually a pass. You can find the best bits on Youtube, but even that may be too much trouble…
Angel Lite commission
All I can say here is she kind of reminds me of Madame Masque in X-Men. I believe it’s a purpleish color scheme….
Stephen Ouimette
Beetlejuice was one of my favorite cartoons when I was younger. The thing is, the actor who voiced him lives in Canada. Even though it’s not far, sending postage out of the country and getting somethign back is difficult. But I suddenly discovered a workaround!
Ouimette was doing a play in Chicago! I sent this to the theatre and JUST made it in before the show closed!
Cult of Chucky
I have a very casual relationship with the Chucky films – I didn’t even see the first one until perhaps five years ago. It’s probably got everything to do with the conceit that I don’t find the whole scary doll thing intimidating. I think I watch two and skipped three, or perhaps it was the other way around… Either way those sequels didn’t make much of an impression on me… I thought Seed was just too weird, really liked Bride. I think that’s the whole ambivalence towards the scary doll thing talking again… The tonal shift really appealed to me as the films became a little more self-aware around then. Not quite an all out comedy, but very much a comic book type of film – and the addition of Jennifer Tilly to the series was actually a boost.
When Curse of Chucky was announced a couple of years ago, I found myself interested in the soft reboot. I wasn’t sure how this would work, going back to a more serious tone but all of the early reviews came in very positive. Once I finally caught it, I enjoyed the modern style and more serious tone. They played it straight without taking the material to seriously – it was a perfect balance, and they still acknowledged the continuity! This is something that has always impressed me about the Chucky franchise, particularly now that we are into some much later sequelsspread across the decades. They have never abandoned the continuity or gone for a complete revamp. In this day of remakes and relaunchs, that’s a brave and impressive and remarkable feat.
Cult of Chucky manages to be both a direct sequel to Curse, while still retaining its place as a general sequel to the childs play series. Again, no mean feat – particuarly since it manages to come up with a reasonably interesting take on the material. It immediately draws you in and gets you on board with the film. There was a little bit of jumping early on, but they managed to get you invested very quickly. Not only is Fiona Doruff back, but also returning is Alex Vincent – the actor from the very first Chucky movie, and with him is a scarred, mutilated Chucky head – still talking it little lips off.
Vincent is actually woefully underused in this film, his appearance comprising at best a “B”storyline that doesn’t quite pay off in the end… But that’s really where the problem lies. This movie is very much the second entry in a trilogy, and while I’m thoroughly entertained by 90% of it, that last 10% left me hanging and unfulfilled. That’s the real disappointment here, there is ways to do a middle entry where it still resolves enough at the end to leave you satisfied – Empire Strikes Back did it. Heck, even Star Trek 3 managed it. With this movie, I’m left hanging without the knowledge of whether or not they’ll be a sequel – and there’s the rub.
Cult of Chucky leaked online about a week and a half early, which is going to affect the performance numbers. This in particular annoys me because the film was literally coming to Netflix a week or two later. I’m not above a little bit of piracy when something is not readily available – not in stores, not on any streaming service, out of print and therefore prohibitively expensive, or is only showing for three nights in one theatre in Albuquerque… That wasn’t the case here. It wasn’t even going to the theatre, not some limited release, it was coming to fricking Netflix (and others!)! This is available to all. Come on guys! You’re ruining it for us all!
Quite frankly, I find myself wishing they had filmed this and the next entry back to back – done in such a way where they can tag a trailer at the end of the film (like Lord of the Rings or Back to the Future part two) to build up anticipation. As it is I find myself sitting here hoping that piracy hasn’t sunk this franchise just as it was getting back on its feet. I don’t want to wait another 14 years for the closing chapter of the story arc, much the way I had to with the Phantasm series.
Still, if you can get past the dangling threads of the ending, this is a fun film – It’s been compared a lot to Nightmare three, a comparison that is well earned in a lot of ways, but don’t expect more than homage from it. Fire up Netflix and give this one a shot – and while you’re at it, if you’re interested in knowing what I thought of the movie as I was watching it, you can keep this transcript handy – where I was jotting my thoughts down as the film rolled!
Matthew Skelly Holy crap. You can’t be keeping the real one in that safe….
Matthew Skelly Okay, you know what? I’m sold.
Matthew Skelly Hmmmm. Shocking.
Matthew Skelly Who exactly is that supposed to be? Surely not the babysitter… Time to hit IMDb
Matthew Skelly I thought she was supposed to be dead from the waist down
Matthew Skelly Oh you have got to be kidding me. As far as bad idea to go, on a scale of 1 to 10 this is about a 3000
Matthew Skelly Is Michael Phelps really retired?
Matthew Skelly Hello, legs.
Matthew Skelly Squeeeee! Jennifer Tilly!
Matthew Skelly How many of those things are out there anyhow?
Matthew Skelly Nooooooooo! What is this, psycho?
Matthew Skelly Wow. That’s an impressive thread work. I would have bet dream sequence
Matthew Skelly Okay now hes just being obnoxious
Matthew Skelly Cool, it wasn’t just a cameo!
Matthew Skelly So we’ve acknowledged the rest of the sequels is Canon.
Matthew Skelly Oh, he’s going to fry your tuchas for that doc.
Matthew Skelly You thought we were away past this, so you thrust the object of her obsession in her face? What kind of an idiot are you?
Matthew Skelly Dude, we’re so far past “bad idea ” that I can’t even see it in the rearview mirror anymore
Matthew Skelly Don’t tell me they’re both cursed.Matthew Skelly WHAT DID YOU JUST DO??????
Matthew Skelly Wait, is he in on it? Or possessed in some way? I think we may be playing with A whole new rule book here…
Matthew Skelly Peekaboo!
Matthew Skelly Please let him take off like a rocket… No… Wow!
Matthew Skelly And now the only person in this film that had any senses dead…
Matthew Skelly How many safes does this guy have, and why is he keeping that in there?
Matthew Skelly Okay, that’s two things aren’t mutually exclusive.
Matthew Skelly So how long is this been going on?
Matthew Skelly But I guess they’re not in cahoots…
Matthew Skelly Our man, did we all of a sudden just go all Rob zombies Halloween 2 here?
Matthew Skelly Man, the drawing is scarier than the doll
Matthew Skelly Well, I think we can all guess where that pencil is going.
Matthew Skelly Um I didn’t know they were equipped for that…
Matthew Skelly I’m pretty sure I already know what the word disembowel means.
Matthew Skelly There’s going to be a burp here isn’t there?
Matthew Skelly OMG, it IS Psycho!
Matthew Skelly Yeah, that doll is not big on forgiveness….
Matthew Skelly Arrived just in time for the third act!
Matthew Skelly Half an hour left, I really like more information on how the whole cult thing works
Matthew Skelly What do you think she’s going to do? Hang herself with the dolls shoelaces? – That nurse better be the next one to get it!
Matthew Skelly Now, aren’t you glad you took the dolls shoe away, instead of doing something useful like – putting a camera in there or something?
Matthew Skelly He’s never going to get that thing back you know…
Matthew Skelly Okay, I understand you’re crippled, but how did Chuckie manage the straitjacket?
Matthew Skelly Didn’t we just do this 20 minutes ago?
Matthew Skelly Bookmarking voodoo for dummies.com
Matthew Skelly Not as much of an explanation as I’d hoped for – but way to earn that hard r rating guys!
Matthew Skelly I so love Jennifer Tilly!
Matthew Skelly This is going to be messy isn’t it? Those shoes are red for a reason I bet…
Matthew Skelly Wait, that’s not how this end is it?
Matthew Skelly Holy crap, I was right! Back at the graveside, I was right!
Matthew Skelly Well, mostly right… These schizophrenics are throwing me off
Matthew Skelly And now back to the “B “storyline
Matthew Skelly So what you’re saying is, it wasn’t possessed one arrived – we watched it happen.
Matthew Skelly Grrrrrr, I’m not sold on the ending – this is obviously the middle chapter of something
Cinema Wasteland fall 2017
It’s amazing how Wasteland can leave me both completely relaxed and yet completely exhausted. You wouldn’t think that hanging out and watching movies all weekend would be such an endurance test.
Of course when you kick things off with a film like TANTRUM 2: PHANTOM OF THE DEMON, it’s already putting both your taste and gag reflex to the test. I actually dug Lucifer’s Cosmonauts from these guys, but they continue to push boundaries a little beyond what I’m comfortable with. Their films are very much platforms to show off their amazing skills at creating gore and torn flesh and various bodily excretions. The gross out volume is up to Troma levels, but lack the cartoonish edge Lloyd gives off. The unflinching earnest focus on shredded tissue and bodily fluids pushes these films to a cringing squirming experience. There’s no story to speak of, and what little there is, is told in a non linear format intercut with dream sequences, leaving you off balance and not quite ever knowing what you are watching. It’s the sort of film that could only be celebrated at Wasteland.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of Gunga Jim’s drive in. There were fewer host segments this time around, but I was still looking forward to his presentation of BLOOD
OF NOSTRADAMUS. Outside of the Santo films, I’ve had a hard time figuring out where to start with Mexican horror and this seemed like a fine candidate a vampire movie with some occult overtones. Apparently it was my night to be confused because the choppy story was all over the place. Fun but a little out there.
I love hanging out with friends at Wasteland. I got in early for dinner with Deb, Mark and Brandi, along with her niece who was experiencing CW for the first time. Rhonda (an occasional contributor over here) was drunker than usual this weekend which resulted in me hanging more with her friend Chriss than her! Jen and Chris made it out and finally got to meet our buddy Bruce Wayne. We missed Angelique and Nicole but Halle and I still managed to get into some hijinks with Dirk Manning. I brought Baron Morbid a Jason puppet and he traded me for a copy of Divine Exploitation and a Superman comic with an ending he hated. How can you criticize Jim Starlin anyhow? A 
young woman ran up to Doug and me, requesting a photo – “I was just here to deliver a pizza, but can I get a picture with you?”
I started to nod off during The CANNIBAL CORPSE KILLERS and decided to call it a night, but managed to get back in time the next morning for MICROWAVE MASSACRE. I actually really dig Craig Muckler, and he’s one of those kind of guys I’d never have discovered without Wasteland. He’s a writer, actor, producer…the sort of indie filmmaker who does whatever it takes. He was selling signed photos for $10 (and threw in an extra for me) which is another way of getting my attention. I love the picture with the side by side art for the VHS cover of Microwave Massacre vs the new Blu Ray. He offered the blu ray to the show promoter. Ken replied “This is wasteland. Were lucky to have a DVD player to run it!” With a smile he added “Besides, it was all grainy and pixilated when I first saw it on VHS, why should these guys get it any better?” .
I caught the first half hour of HOBO WITH A TRASH CAN (Chris tells me I need to finish it- it’s apparently really good) before rushing over to hear 
Craig’s panel with Chris Mulkey and Jill Schoelen. I’ve been a fan of Schoelen for her role in my favorite Phantom of the Opera and only recently caught up with Popcorn. Chris Mulkey was the real surprise. Funny, musical and all around a delight to listen to. he sat in on Ghastlee’s show later that night, playing bluesy rockabilly on a borrowed electric guitar.
I later got into a slap fight with a werewolf.
SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA was on the list of screening for later that night and it’s one that’s been on my list of films to see for a while. I’ve just never gotten around to it, but that’s really what Wasteland is for. I never would have thought to par it up with NIGHTMARE SISTERS though. Aside from an overlaping cast and director they don’t have a great deal in common, but they are great time capsules of that VHS era. Both fun horror with a very Charles Band/Full Moon atmosphere, it’s fun to spend some time on screen with Brinke Stevens, Linea Quigley and Michelle Bauer. These are also exactly the kind of films I come away with a far greater appreciation 
for after hearing a panel with the director David DeCoteau talking about them. He’s charming and funny and considering how prolific he is I don’t understand how this guy wasn’t on my radar before now. He was also signing for free. In a world where more and more people are charging $40 or $50 for an autograph (And causing me to walk right on past thier tables), this kind of thing really helps you stand out. It’s how I discovered Adam Green and it’s now what’s got me really exploring David DeCoteau’s filmography. Indeed, the fact that Craig Muckler and Brinke Stevens were both $10 meant I ended up spending my money at more tables and probably dropping a little more than I intended.
I still made it back for a bit on Sunday to catch the short film block and the always excellent intermission reels, but was running out of steam before THE HIDDEN screened. That’s okay, I’ll catch it later. I’m still trying to process TANTRUM…and just might be pondering that right up until wasteland comes back in six long months.
See you there.
Die-ner
Diner is well acted well put together – the only thing that’s missing here is the story. I was surprised by the serious tone here… They’re very much playing it straight and I’m not sure I get it. With a name like die ner (get it?) it seems like the makers of this film had a self referential sense of humour and I thought that would come through in the movie itself . No such luck – this entire thing is played pretty deadly earnest. We have a killer who has already murdered the cook and waitress in the establishment but patrons come in before he can make it to get away. . We’re given no explanation for why the dead walk, but they are standard zombies. Shanbling, flesh eating, nothing to see here. Our killer occasionally pontificates on the meaning of life and our couple is just screamingand freaking out. Like I said, the actors here are all competent – the editing is fine, there’s just no story here. There is no rhyme or reason to anything. It would fit right in with an episode of a Walking Dead anthology series, as part of a bigger world but standing alone,it fails to satisfy.
Argo City Comics 