Burt Gummer for President

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972)

I just saw this On Demand, yesterday. It was free, I hope, unless I screwed something up. Anyway, it's not bad!

It's the story of a group of people in their 20s who are working in a theatrical troupe. The troupe is run by one character, Alan, who is such a complete asshole right from the beginning that it actually makes the movie a little hard to stick with, at times. Seriously, I don't think he even takes five seconds off, from being a jerk to everyone. He reminds me of the character who keeps saying "Resplendent!" in the Witches of East Arlen episode of King of the Hill.

So, Alan is in charge of the troupe. Everyone else works for him, and he keeps them in line by threats of firing them. That's probably a quarter of the movie right there, people wanting to leave and Alan knowing that they are all too scared of losing their jobs, etc. They seemed a little TOO scared of losing their jobs, to me. Maybe I missed something that would have explained it.

Anyway, there is a really long, slow buildup, in which you grow to hate Alan more and more and more. He takes them all to a deserted island cemetery off the coast of Miami somewhere, (that happens right at the beginning, they arrive on the island on a boat in the first couple of minutes). On the island, Alan makes them take part in a mock ceremony to raise the dead, and get Satan involved.... it is a little unclear how much Alan thinks this to be a genuine ceremony. He seems to enjoy the theatricality of the ceremony, but he might think it is the real deal too. Hard to sort out. One thing that does seem clear is that he was interested in forming a gay necrophiliac relationship with the corpse they had dug up, sooooooooo that's fun. Seriously, you just hate that guy so much, watching the movie, that hatng him almost appears to be the entire point of the movie.


I'm talking about Alan too much. There are other characters, who are all given at least some amount of personality. There is one girl who I thought would probably be the final girl. I will simply say that there wasn't really much of a tradition of having a final girl in the early 70s, and just leave it at that.

After they do their little raising of the dead, calling out to Satan ceremony, nothing seems to be happening, so they all go to a little caretaker's cottage together. Alan starts to get comfortable with the corpse... don't worry, they don't go too far with that, but there is definitely disgustingness implied.

By now we are pretty far into the movie, and it has been a slow burn. You can imagine more or less what happens once they lock themselves in the cottage, surrounded by a fairly good sized cemetery. I will just say that the make up is really good, on the "characters" that we meet in the remaining few minutes of the film, and that there is a lot of tension and brutality.

If it just seems too much to sit still for the very sloooowww first three quarters of the movie, two choices you could have would be one, to try to get ot know the various characters, some of whom are actually kind of interesting, or two, just skip ahead to the carnage and mayhem toward the end.

This movie probably laid some of the groundwork for Zombi 2 (1979), by Lucio Fulci. So, you might want to see it for that reason. It is also interesting to see it as part of a continuum, lying chronologically partway between Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Equinox (1970) on one hand, and Zombi 2 (1979) and Evil Dead (1981) on the other.

Overlord - 2018

I don't have anything lined up for this month. I'm just watching whatever is available on streaming, and this one popped up. I remember being unenthused by the trailers that presented this as an action extravaganza war flick, but I bit the bullet and gave it a shot... and was pleasantly surprised.

This movie begins with a group of WW2 soldiers getting dropped into a shit show for a mission to blow a Nazi tower, but what they stumble across is a lot more than they expected. Wyatt Russell leads the group into what turns out to be a Nazi laboratory of twisted super soldier experiments, and that's what this movie is all about.

The war aspects are pretty legit, but this movie takes a different direction and focuses on those weird experiments. There's some solid tension and crazy monster shennanigans that kept me invested from the beginning. I think Wyatt Russell has what it takes to play a bad-ass. If they ever remake Escape from New York, he's the only one qualified to play Snake Plissken, that's for damn sure.

And on a completely unrelated note, here's Black Label Society's music video for their song "Overlord":

2020 October Challenge - Discussion Thread



Any questions, suggestions, requests for recommendations, non-political discussions you wish to have can go right here...

About retro wrestling

Well since Box went into nostalgia mood here is one from me.


I have long lost interest in American wrestling. I guess 1991 must have been the last year I followed it fanatically; But I believe at that moment it wasn't shown frequently any more on the European channels (like Eurosport) and I got other interests. I mean trained of guys putting on a fake wrestling match where the winner was already decided before the start... However all respect to these guys as they had to workout like 5 hours a day to become fit, strong and pull of those impressive moves. But it must have been 1989-1990 that I tried to watch as much as I could. It was called WWF back in that day. What is it called now? I know it changed to WWE later on. Oh yeah on occasion I saw wrestling shows from other federations which even had the occasional female match-ups. They didn't have the appeal of the WWF show.


Just want to know which of the guys/girls you still remember. Did you have any favorites or wrestlers you disliked. I never got that good guys/bad guys thing. It often caused me to root for the bad guys when I thought the supposed good one was a wanker. Besides the good guys were not always fair either.

From the top of my head I remember


Ultimate Warrior: was the reigning champ at that moment until he lost out to SGT Slaughter because the Macho Man intervened, he was spectacular but also a show off; He was like the guy everyone loved but I had other favorites.


Hulk Hogan: I remember he had a long title fight with the above guy lost and than took the title away from SGT Slaughter, I never was a fan sorry Zed

SGT Slaughter: I wonder if anyone actually liked his character, however him being an all American GIJoe it was hard for him to play the guy supporting the Middle East. I think he must have been a really likable guy in real.

Earthquake: I guess he was the fist one I saw in a match against some jobber. He was the guy nobody could get down. Loved him haha. And yeah he had a long feud with Hogan but in real they went along very well I heard.

Dino Bravo: yeah he was a show off banging on his chest like a gorilla. However being good mates with Earthquake made him cool anyway.

Jimmy the Superfly: was he the one making the jungle sounds, I always liked that tiger leotard.

Jake the Snake: Well the snake thing was cool but I somehow found him boring

Macho Man: his arrival was always grotesque even though my eyes were mostly on his manager Cher

Big Boss Man: I think he must have been the only guy at that point to make a policeman look cool.

Koko B Ware: as a fighter not much to shout about but yeah the parrot was cool

Barbarian: strong guy but seemed to lack personality

Texas Tornado: won intercontinental fight against Mr Perfect. always seemed like a lesser version of Ultimate Warrior to me

Mr Perfect: well he had that thing where he spit and tried to hit it with his hand. Complained a lot but somehow liked him.


Tugboat: I really found him a buffoon. That Toooot thing argh. Was first good mates with the Hulk. Later on formed a Tag team wih former rival Earthquake, the Natural Disasters as Typhoon but I lost interest by that time.

Hacksaw Jim Duggan: oh dear I loved that guy. He was my favorite. His entrance yelling Hoooooo and the plank. He was an entertainer who knew how to engage the audience.


The Undertaker: well I did not experience him becoming champion but yeah he definitely didn't seem like the guy to mess with. He was cool except for Bobby the Brain being his manager. Worthy champion later on I think.


The Warlord: cool costume but just like Barbarian didn't seem to have much personality

Akeem: I believe he was the one playing the Africa theme even though he was a white guy. Didn't see much of him, seemed fun.

Tito Santana: well seemed popular playing the Italian guy but he always struck me as king of the jobbers at best together with Koko.

Jumping Jim Brunzel: was played out as jobber but apparently was pretty popular before. I liked that he actually showed great resistance against the established fighters.

Million Dollar Man: hard to like but inventing an own belt because you cannot win a real championship, genius. The guy you love to hate and has to be there to spice things up.

Virgil: former manager of Million Dollar Man until they fell out and became a wrestler himself under the wings of Roddy Rowdy Piper. I would be surprised he would have had a long career.

Roddy Rowdy Piper: I never actually saw him wrestle unless the fight in They Live counts. The Scottish thing was kinda weird but OK.

The British Bull Dog: the coming man at the time. I believe he was in the running to fight Mr Perfect for the intercontinental title.

Brooklyn Brawler: mostly a jobber, seemed like a dude having escaped from the videogame Final Fight

Andre the Giant: too bad I never saw him fight. Made for a very likable character in the Princess Bride. I imagine he would have made a great asset to a movie like Freaks.

Saba Simba: played the African tribesman. Saw him once, he was ok.

The Mountie: supposed to be the Canadian Big Boss Man, pretty boring

The Viking: I was already losing interest when he made his entrance. I believe he was also called the Berzerker.

The Honky Tonk Man: I only remember him from the tag team Rhytmenblues (spelling?) and forgot his partner's name. I liked the Elvis impression. Never sure he was supposed to be the villain or good guy.

Dusty Rhodes: seemed to have a long rivalry with the Macho Man, I think he was already end of career with his son Dustin taking over.

The Playboy: his name had to be a joke as there is no way women would fal for that fattie boy who despite his weight fought like a wimp in the ring. One of the better jobbers and yeah liked him.

Battlekat: small but quick guy wearing tiger's mask. He was cool but I think his career was short

Rick the Model: ok he wasn't really popular however that spray he had spreading 'arrogance' was awesome. I think he was one of the best wrestlers out there. Just like Million Dollar Man the guy you hate but would miss if he were absent.

Ravishing Rick Rude: remember him from losing a title fight against Ultimate Warrior. Had that hip shaking to seduce the ladies and I belive his own face on the ass part of his pants. Wasn't a fan.

Bad News Brown: Other than being a rival of Jake the Snake I don't remember much of him. Would definitely fit in Bad Boys movies.


From Tag Teams I remember

The Rockers: yeah their music was cool but I wasn't a fan of them. Shawn Michaels went on to become a champion later I heard. Marty Janetti seemed like the guy being there for a quick cash in

Orient Express: Well the guys certainly looked Asian. I remember one having long hair the other a bearded later being replaced with a guy with red mask. Cato, Sanako I guess were their names. Also an Asian Manger Dr. Fuji I believe? Loved their martial art moves.

The Bushwhackers: those guys were extremely popular. If any tag team could make the audience move it were these guys. You could just not hate them. Bush and Luke yeah!

Legion of Doom: my favorite tag team. Even though they were the good guys their names, the way they were dressed and painted you would think otherwise. Hawk and Animal (Spider painted) great.

Demolition: Smash, Crush and Ax the only tag team made of 3 at the time. They were the reigning champs until Heartfoundation beat them in a rather controversial way I believe. Supposedly villains but I think they were actually pretty popular and I liked them.

Heartfoundation: Jim the Anvil seemed always more like a villain to me with that devilish beard. I liked him but his partner Bret the Hitman I found a wimp. I mostly remember for his mirror glasses he gave away to someone in the audience before a match started. I believe later on he formed a tag team with Hercules.

Power of Glory: Hercules was defintely one of the strongest guys out there. Played out as villain first but thankfully he would become a goodie later. His partner Paul Roma seemed more like a poor Rick the Model impersonator.

The Nasty Boys: I forgot the guy's names. I struggle to remember what they looked like too.

The Hounds of Tindalos

Does anyone here have a favorite stories about these critters? I have just been reading a little about them. They sound familiar, but I can't remember where I might have read about them. It is possible I just read a sory that quickly mentioned them.... anyway, the idea of them is kind of interesting. They are mysterious, incomprehensible creatures from beyond time and space, and they are "attracted by time travel." When someone travels through time, they are alerted somehow, and they will track the time traveller down and fuck him up, bigtime.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hounds_of_Tindalos


They were conceived by this guy, Frank Belknap Long. He sound spretty interesting too. Hmm, this says the Hounds of Tindalos are in a Metallica song, and in some novel by Brian Lumley. OK, I should be able to figure out where I have heard of them from this... here, in case anyone is interested, check this out:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Belknap_Long#Influence_on_popular_culture

Any re-watches planned for the october challenge?

I might actually going to re-watch more than doing first time views. Not that I'm running out of options but somehow I want to find a good balance and not have a lot of disappointments.

There is stuff like the Entity, Demon Seed, Humanoids from the Deep. Those are the flicks I'm looking forward to revisit.

On the other hand there is movies I want to give another shot even though they weren't exactly a success last time. 2 in particular, classics and popular movies.

The Thing (1982): even though a movie totally devoid of female input isn't exactly a nice propspect, given it ended up as number 1 on the top 300 horror I hosted on the Dutch movie board I surely need to see what I might have missed the first time.


Suspiria (1977): I'm not sure what to expect but it was kind slow when I saw it the first time. Sure there is some gory parts but nothing I had not seen in some earlier movies (yup HG Lewis) . Maybe I could try the technique let's just not pay too much attention to plot and characters enjoy the kills and visuals. It worked fine when revisiting Bava's Blood and Black Lace or a bay of Blood.

The Orphanage: Well I'm not quite sure if I am going to revisit it. I remember when I saw it with Del Toro's name attached to it to find something fantasy like. But Del Toro was just the producer to lure people (guilty as charged) and it proved to be some haunted house, mystery type of movie. More of a drama not much of a horror.

Pet Sematary Documentary

I just found this. I have not watched it yet, but it looks pretty good.

The Mamas and the Papas

I almost posted this in the Horror section under John Carpenter's Vampires, for reasons that will become clear momentarily. But, whatever, it makes more sense to post it here.

If you look at the picture of the band in the bathtub here, on their album cover...



I would just like to note that there is a pretty good chance that Denny Doherty, the guy who is sitting near the rear of the tub, the third one in from the left.... is... wait for it... sporting mahogany. That's right. A little mahogany, a little ebony. Maybe even teak. Sorrysorrysorrysorry, I had to say it.

I only say this because I was reading the Wikipedia article about the band, and it says Denny and Michelle Phillips (the babe who is all the way to the right, and basically sitting on Denny Doherty's lap) actually went out clandestinely, or had some kind of illicit relationship, in the year that this picture would have been taken (1965). Here, look at the first paragraph in the section titled 1966: The Mamas and the Papas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mamas_and_the_Papas


By the way, last summer I made up a version of California Dreaming that was renamed Manitoba Dreaming. Its supposed to be about climate change, which I personally do not think is a political topic at all, it's just science. Anyway, here are the lyrics, if anyone wants a little chuckle. It's supposed to match up pretty exactly with the song, including the choruses and everything.

Manitoba Dreamin'
By The Mamas and the Papas and the Mounties
All the leaves are gone... (chorus: All the leaves are gonnnne...)
Storms blew them away... (Storms blew them awaaayyyyy...)
I've been for a walk... (I've been for a waaaalk...)
On a summer's day... (On a summer's daaayyyy...)
I'd be nice and cool... (I'd be nice and coooool......)
If I was in CA... {abbreviation for Canada, just pronounce it C.A.} (If I was in C.Aaaaa......)
Manitoba dreamin'... (Manitoba dreaminnnn....)
On such a summer's daaayyyy...
Stopped in to a church...
I passed along the way...
Well I got down on my knees... (Got down on my kneeees...)
And I began to pray... (I began to praaayyy...)
You know the AC's !?$%&#@ing broke... (AC's !?$%&#@ing broke...)
Some mofo's gonna pay... (Mofo's gonna paaaayyyy...)
Manitoba dreamin'... (Manitoba dreaminnnn...)
On such a summer's daaaayyyyyy...
Flute solo. Take it Clarence!
All the leaves are gone... (All the leaves are gonnnnne...)
Storms blew them away... (Storms blew them awaaayyy...)
I've been for a walk... (I've been for a waaaalk...)
On a summer's day... (On a summer's daaaayyy...)
If I had no mortgage... (If I had no mortgaaaage...)
I could leave today... (I could leave todaaayyyy...)
Manitoba dreamin'... (Manitoba dreaminnnn...)
On such a summer's daaaayyyyyy...
Manitoba dreamin'...
On such a summer's daaaayyyyyy...
Manitoba dreamin'...
On such a summer's daaaayyyyyy...

Movies that make you cry!

So I know a lot of us are completely, or mostly soulless, but I want to hear the movies that make you cry.

So what usually gets me is animals. The first thing I remember crying to was Air Bud. When he had to go back to his original owner, and the heartbreak was obvious in both the dog and child.

Other than that specific movie, animal deaths are the ones that make me cry. But there are some movies, that I cry at the feel of it. Not so much the people dying, but the reaction of the people around them.

Well thanks for reading my stoned thoughts, but seriously, I wanna hear movies that will give you a good cry. Come on guys, don't be shy!