Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker

This aired on TCM Underground last night. Unlike most of what they run on there, I hadn't heard of it before.

It starts with a couple leaving their young son, Billy, with his Aunt Cheryl before they take a road trip. This is the last they see of each other because his parents soon die in a freak accident.

Fourteen years later, Billy's a high school senior with a girlfriend and he's a great basketball player with a chance to earn an athletic scholarship. He's also still living with Aunt Cheryl, who isn't handling Billy growing up well at all.

There isn't anything Aunt Cheryl won't do to keep Billy under her roof, including commit murder. I actually thought she might try to fuck him at one point, due to both her words and actions, but things never go that far.

Aunt Cheryl is portrayed by Susan Tyrrell. Not an actress I'm familiar with, but it sounds like she had some interesting roles over the years.

Bo Svenson is an unlikable detective who tries to make Billy's life hell after the first murder. Another actor I'm not too familiar with, although I've wanted to see his "Walking Tall" sequels for a while.

Then there's Britt Leach as another cop. Not a name that rings a bell? He's the toy store owner in "Silent Night, Deadly Night". He's also apparently the guy in "The Great Outdoors" who was struck by lightning sixty-six times (in the head!).

And last but sure as fuck not least is Bill Paxton in a small role as another basketball player and Billy's main rival at school. This was his first horror film.

I just realized that this is a video nasty. In terms of violence, it's one of the weaker video nasties I've seen. Still, it's pretty good. 7/10

The Devil's Rejects

Just finished watching this movie for the billionth time and wow! This is my favorite Rob Zombie movie ever! Watching this makes me super excited for "3 from hell". My boyfriend and I were discussing how it would've made sense for them to make another movie, but after rewatching it I can see how they pulled it off.. plus I just saw the teaser for the new movie & it makes sense!

To me there's never a dull or boring moment.. The brother gives me Charles Manson vibes! I wonder if they did that on purpose? Who knows!

I felt bad for the police officer at the end though..(I won't say anything for the people who haven't seen it😬)

Sheri Moon Zombie is an amazing actress! I love that he puts his wife in his movies! She does a great job at being psycho lol.

I don't know if anyone's posted about this movie, but I wanted to share my thoughts and see what everyone's opinions were as well!

Anyone else excited for "3 From Hell"?

A different kind of Child's Play

Most of you are probably aware of the drama going on between the original Child's Play series versus the remake, which was made without the consent or blessing of the original team. Don Mancini wrote every damn one of those movies, and even directed the latest installments.

Chucky is his baby, and it means a lot of him, and Brad Dourif, and everyone else who's been a part of it, because like 'em or not, they were all probably very fun movies to make, and it's become it's own mythology. Chucky is often included in the ranks of Freddy, Jason, Michael, etc and he's become a big deal in pop culture, even if he is pretty stupid. I think Brad Dourif is pretty awesome though, and he's the reason why Chucky is kind of bad-ass at the same time.

Suffice to say, the concept of a remake while the original creator is still continuing his own saga is pretty damn disrepectful, but it had to happen sometime, right? Be it sooner or later, and it's already happened to most franchises. Several known horror series have had remakes before reverting to the original series, and it's nothing new. I guess some guy wanted a quick paycheck, and we got a Child's Play movie out of it. Okay then... This movie ought to be trash.



So the setting is the same urban type circa Christmas, and our mom and her son Andy get tangled up in the malfunctioned Buddi doll/robot. No more voodoo shit. No fantasy elements at all, with a more sci-fi approach because this robot can connect to other devices.

It's a huge genre shift in that sense, because our killer isn't a living soul trapped in a doll's body, but rather an AI whose interpretations yield dramatic results. If you're up for the change, the movie itself... is surprisingly not too bad.

We've got a few good kills, a decent story progression, and fuckin' Luke Skywalker voicing our friendly antagonist. At the very least, this ought to be somewhat entertaining.

This movie could have easily been tweaked into something else. Just call the movie "Buddi" and change the doll's look and bam. It could have been its own thing. Instead, Chucky was shoehorned into another type of movie and we got a loose remake. I wonder if we'll see Buddi fight the original Chucky in Mancini's upcoming show. Chucky is known for breaking the fourth wall, so he can probably do it.


The greasy janitor chould have been played by Jack Black. As far as remakes go, this isn't the worst. I look forward to the show. Cult left too many things unresolved, because they knew the show was coming to wrap them up. Everything gets a tv show at some point, right? I guess this movie is doing well enough that it might get a sequel too. I find it hard to care either way. Okay movie. Sequel not necessary. The only sequels I need are Halloween 2³ Part 2 or whatever it's going to be called, Three From Hell, and Terrifier 2.

Horror fonts experts?

Is anyone here knowledgeable about horror fonts? I have been looking for one that I saw somewhere once, and can't remember exactly where. It might have been in a horror short film on Youtube, possible a Fewdio... but, I have been looking through the Fewdios, and haven't seen it.

I'm thinking of a specific fancy, elegant, ornate, old-fashioned font, with lots of funky little curlicues sticking out in all directions. It was complex, but not so complex that it was irritating. I think elegant is a good word for it. It might have been in a steampunky sort of sepia brown, but I'm not sure of that. Also, although it had curlicues, it also had some long straight lines. Like, say, the top horizontal line in a capital E might stick out abnormally far, for some random reason. It reminds me a little of Edward Gorey cartoons, but more complicated than them.

Does this ring a bell for anybody?? I have been googling all the words in the last paragraph, but I can't find it.

Movies with good buddy-banter?

I didn't say that the way I mean it, I don't know how to say this right. I have U.S. Marshals on TV right now, on the AMC channel. Tommy Lee Jones's gang of deputy underlings crack me up, the way they interact with each other and with Tommy Lee. I started thinking, that was kind of a trend in the 90s and maybe the late 80s, to have a lot of banter between buddies in a group of people who somehow assist the main character. Think about it. There was U.S. Marshals, The Fugitive, Twister, Dante's Peak, Lethal Weapon 1 + 2... probably others. Try to remember the repartee between those secondary characters in any of those movies, and maybe you'll get reminded of others.

OK, now that I have typed all this out, maybe this is a really weak idea for a thread.... Box, just delete this if it's too stupid. I don't know, I just got thinking about this somehow. I'm just trying to think of any movies with a group of scientists, cops, or other professionals who act as a team working for the main good guy, or someone who we think is the main good guy, etc.

What movies did you watch or buy this week? (6-24)

I'll try to get this posted on Sunday from now on.

I have so little time for movies anymore but I managed to revisit Baba Yaga (1973) a few nights ago. I had it on DVD but decided to replace it with the Blu-ray. It was worth it - the colors look a little richer and you can see more in the dark scenes than before. I don't remember if this movie ever got mentioned on the old board but I always liked it. It's a little different than anything else I've ever seen, possibly due to the unusual source material (an Italian erotic comic strip). It had a troubled production history and the director was furious with the final product which omitted 20 minutes of footage he shot. He also wasn't completely satisfied with Carroll Baker in the title role, and chose her against better judgment after the original actress walked off the project. She did okay but I would agree she maybe wasn't physically right for the role. The Baba Yaga of Russian folklore is an old hag who lives in a house that stands on giant chicken legs, but this movie isn't about Russian folklore. This Baba Yaga is an older predatory lesbian seductress, and Carroll Baker is maybe not quite imposing enough for that. A modern remake could probably do well with someone like Shohreh Aghdashloo.

SHAFT

WOW! So I got the chance to see Shaft this past weekend! I took my family for Father's Day, and WOW! I loved every second of it! Samuel L Jackson is one of my favorite actors and he did not disappoint! The story line was pretty good! The set up of it was good. I didn't think there were any slow moments! Lots of funny parts, so you'll always be laughing throughout the movie! Regina Hall made an appearance and that girl is beyond gorgeous!!

Anyways, I think there's gonna be another one made! So I'm super excited!!

Sorry, it's my first post and I'm kind of awkward lol but I just wanted to share that if any of y'all were thinking of watching it, GO SEE IT!!

Ogroff (1983)

When this movie first came across my radar some years ago I immediately sought it out being an obsessive fan of all things terrible, '80s, and slasher. So, this being a terrible '80s slasher it was right up my alley, but I came away disappointed. Watched it again last night, and found a new level of appreciation for it.

Every once in a while a movie will come along and make you wonder to yourself, "How in the hell did this get made?!" Ogroff, AKA Mad Mutilator, is one such film.

Shot on Super 8, without sound, a plot, or anything semi professional or even normal that one expects in a movie, this is a true "No budget" atrocity in every sense of the word. The title character Ogroff owns a patch of woodland and anyone who passes through the area gets chopped up with his axe. Ogroff's mask is clearly inspired by the previous year's Friday the 13th III where Jason finally gets the hockey mask. Ogroff also has a shack in the woods, ripped straight from Friday 2, except the interior is decorated to give it a bit of a Texas Chain Saw Massacre feel.

Anyway, endless chase scenes ensue, cue creepy electronic music soundtrack, some intentional comedy - my favorite bit was, while said creepy electronic music plays, Ogroff steps on and crushes a music recorder that belonged to some dead teens, and the music stops! The scene made it seem as if the music was the score to the film, not emerging from the recorder! Pretty hilarious. Another great bit of comedy comes after Ogroff decides to start hacking away at a car with his axe where one of his potential victims was hiding. The thing is though, he killed the girl but had so much pent up aggression (I guess) we watch him continue to swing his axe at the car for an additional five long minutes!

Later in the film, Ogroff's dozens and dozens of victims randomly come back from the dead and it's up to Ogroff and another female victim to ward them off. The zombies actually look kinda neat in an almost Burial Ground kinda way. During the last five minutes of the movie, somehow Eurocult star Howard Vernon shows up and the movie switches gears yet again into a vampire film! Oh yeah, did I mention there's probably only about 20-25 words of dialogue spoken in the whole thing?? Amazing!

This movie MUST be seen to be believed. It honestly plays out like someone's nightmare.

Anyone else like this loveable piece of dreck?

What movies did youwatch or buy this week? (6-17)

I haven't had time to do this in so long that I guess we can include the last several weeks.

Offerings (Blu-ray)
Phantom Lady (Blu-ray)
The Chosen (Blu-ray)
Witchboard (Blu-ray)
Lords of Chaos (Blu-ray)
A Simple Favor (Blu-ray)
The Iguana With the Tongue of Fire (Blu-ray)
First Born
Sweet Body of Bianca
Black Candles
Death Steps in the Dark
Kalifornia

Paul McCartney Concert 6/14/2019

I don't even know where to start. First of all, the Beatles are by far my favorite band. I listen to their XM Radio station every day. I know all of the words to 90% of their songs, including each of their solo careers. I bought @Box and his mom, my mother-in-law, these tickets back in January. I've never looked forward to something as much in my life. When I had my heart failure issues I used to joke and say as long as I make it until June 14th. Anyway, enough preamble let's talk about the concert.

He started off by walking onto the stage to the really wonky transition in 'A Day in the Life'. The crowd, as expected went absolutely nuts. As soon as thing quieted down just a bit he jumped right into 'A Hard Day's Night'. You could tell right from the start that he is no old man. His vocal quality was amazing still and he immediately brought a fantastic energy to the arena, which for the record was Globe Life Park, formally the Rangers Stadium. There were 41K people there, all screaming. Of course, he started on his 4-string bass, the big one. After 'A Hard Day's Night' he jumped into one of my favorite Wings songs, Junior's Farm. There's not much to say about the song other than it's fun and upbeat.


After that we got our first aside from Sir McCartney, he talked a bit and said hi and introduced the following song as the first song they played on the Ed Sullivan Show at Studio 50 back in 1964, that of course was ''Can't Buy Me Love'. A time less classic. A part of me was transported back to the 60's. I've grown up watching that recording and seeing all the screaming girls, but last night I got to be one of them. Afterwards he did the typical "Hello [insert city here]" and "Who's from around here?!". The stadium of course erupted again; us Texans are pretty proud of being Texans. That being said what he was really doing was giving the hidden musicians in the crowd time to get their instruments ready for the next song.



With true classic showmanship he started playing 'Letting Go', a Sax and Brass filled wings song from 1975, written by Paul and Linda, and yes, the band popped up in the 3rd base bleachers. It was magical. I grew up doing musical theatre, and while hidden players can be gimmicky it is very fun when done properly and they nailed it. The band was great. The Sax and Trombone players were especially memorable. (The trombone player actually played harmonica and trumpet as well). 'Letting Go' got everyones mood up just enough the McCartney felt it was time to bring us down a bit and played a new song off of his 2018 album "Egypt Station". It's a song about not bullying and pretty much just state that Paul McCartney cares about everyone. Not the best off his new album, but pretty good. It had a nice video that accompanied it.


Of course, he had to get people screaming again so he launched right into 'Got to Get You Into My Life', off the always great "Revolver" album. Then we got another short monologue from Paul talking about his new album and we got to hear 'Come onto You', probably the best or second-best song on his new album. It's really worth a listen if you haven't heard it. This song and one we will get to later are from "Egypt Station" topping the US Record charts, which established Sir Paul McCartney as the only person ever to have a #1 album in 6 consecutive decades. He claims he has 2 or 3 more albums in his head so if his 2020 album tops the charts that will make it 7. After that song we got a very nice version of 'Let Me Roll In', another Wings classic. Of course, he picked up his 6-string guitar for that one. This song was special though because at the end he played part of 'Foxy Lady' by Jimmy Hendrix.


Then we got to hear a great story about Jimmy. On Sunday June 4th of 1967 Jimmy played a concert in London. If you didn't know, despite being American, Hendrix got his start in England. Anyway, I guess Jimmy started off the concert by playing "Srgt. Pepper's Lonely-Hearts Club Band". Which was great until he overworked his whammy bar and got his only guitar way out of tune. Eric Clapton was in the audience along with George and Paul and Jimmy asked him to come up and tune it for him, but he refused. You can find the video if you search for it. He actually did a great job.

Next up, still on guitar, Paul played 'I've got a Feeling'. Like the rest he played great, sounded great. This song impressed me because it's one of those that will really test your vocal range and stamina, but he knocked it out of the park. He followed it up with my personal favorite Wings song, 'Let 'em In'. I've always liked this song, but to hear it live literally brought tears to my eyes. When I heard to door chimes play, I lost my shit.

He then played 'My Valentine', a song he wrote for his current wife. It's pretty, but I don't have much to say about the song itself, but his wife was there, and he gave a small touching speech to her. However, Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman were on screen doing the sign language to the lyrics. Then we got 'Nineteen-Hundred and Eighty-five', another solid wings song, but it was quickly over shadowed when he jumped into 'Maybe I'm Amazed'. This was the first time in the concert where the crowd just erupted into a sea of phone. There had to be 10 thousand phones out, again there were 41 thousand people there. Personally, though I preferred the next song, one of my all-time favorite songs and one that makes me think of my own wife, 'I've Just Seen a Face'. I was worried he may try to play it slower than it was recorded, but if anything, he played it faster and with more energy.

After that we got a real treat. First, we got another story, one that I knew being a bit of an obsessive fan, but it was still great to hear live. Back in 1959 the now Beatles, were known as the Quarrymen and they recorded a song called 'In spite of All the Danger'. This song was lost for about 30 years because one of the other members left the band and kept it, but later sold it back to Paul at auction for about 7 million dollars. It's the first ever song John, Paul and George recorded, and it was amazing to hear live.


After that we got to here 'From Me to You', a classic, but I don't have too much to say on it. I don't want this post to get too long. However, after that we were treated to a song called "Dance Tonight". It's a really catchy toon off of his 2007 album. The song itself if good, but the fun part was seeing his drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. He's the son of bass player Abe Laboriel, the most used session bass player ever. He is a big half Hispanic goof ball who, since there are hardly any drums in the song, danced most of the time. It was hilarious to be honest and really got the crowd going. That was followed by 'Love Me Do' another classic.

Then we got a nice story about the civil rights era. Some people don't know this, but the concept of segregation and racial oppression was somewhat foreign to The Beatles. In fact, on September 11th, 1964 The Beatles were set to play The Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida as part of a US stadium tour. The only catch was, in 1964 segregation was in full swing in Florida. This really bothered the Beatles. Another fun aside, The Beatles always put everything to a vote and would only do something if all 4 members voted yes (even Ringo). So, when they heard about this Paul called a vote to refuse to play and break their contract unless they integrated the concert. All 4 band members voted yes, and they submitted their demands. It didn't go over well with the owner of the venue, but what was he going to do? Not let The Beatles play?! No. So they played the first ever integrated concert in Florida. That concert was also neat because they played while a hurricane raged on just south of them. Of the 55,000 tickets sold, 32,000 didn't show up because they were unable to get to the stadium. Infact Ringo's drums had to be nailed to the stage because they had 45 mph winds. Anyway, after they got back from that tour the civil right movement really started to emerge and inspired Paul to write the next song we heard, 'Blackbird'. A song that is almost impossible to learn on guitar and to sing. In fact, Paul asked the audience who had tried to learn it and when people raised their hands he said, "You played it wrong", which made most people laugh, because truly it is an insanely technical song. I absolutely love that song and to hear the birds tweeting and him singing live was phenomenal and a real high point in my life.


Next, we got another speech from Paul. It really was great how much he talked to us. As soon as he started the crowd got still. He started talking about the late John Lennon. As much troubles as they had, you could tell that he still thinks of him as one of his best friends. It got us all a bit sad and then he played "Here Today". A song he wrote to commemorate John and what he meant to him. The song is very sweet, but a bit of a mood killer. So, he followed it with 'Queenie Eye' which is a great upbeat solo song by Paul. That got everyone bouncing again, but what got my attention was he made his way to the piano afterward. I just about jumped out of my seat when he started playing 'Lady Madonna'. Infact some of you may remember that I picked it in the music draft. There isn't much I can on about that song, but it truly is amazing. Fats Domino even covered it. After that he played 'Eleanor Rigby' another classic followed by another song from his new album titled 'Fuh You', but really, it's just about him wanted to fuck somebody.

Then we got one of the more obscure Beatles songs, from the "Sgt. Pepper" album, 'For the Benefit of Being Mr. Kite'. It's a contemporary circus style song that, honestly, I was surprised to here. I figured if we got another heavy piano song from Paul it may have been 'Rocky Racoon', but no. During the blackout between that song and the next Paul appeared with a ukulele. He talked a little bit about George Harrison, who loved the ukulele and the began to play 'Something', a song written by George Harrison. It was pretty touching at first, but quickly turned fun when he grabbed the electric guitar and really styled the song up. This would be a good time to say that his lead guitar player could really play.


After that Paul grabbed his long neck miniature bass and played a song I cherish from my childhood, 'Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da'. Growing up my parents has this on some of our mixed CDs. Before I knew who, The Beatles were, I knew the Jone's. After that he played the most well-known Wings song, 'Band on the Run'. A crowd favorite to say the least. Then we listened to 'Back in the U.S.S.R.' and 'Let it Be', great songs, but again they've been played to death and I don't have too much to say other than it was really special to hear them live. After that we got my second favorite Wings song, 'Live and Let Die'. The whole band really rocked, and we got one hell of a fireworks show and pyrotechnics display on stage during this one. There was fire and fireworks and even lasers!

To finish up he played 'Hey Jude'. Well I say to finish because after an only half convincing goodbye and a few bows we sat through about 5 seconds of darkness until the lights came back up. Immediately he started talking again and asked the crowd "Who's birthday is today?" a few people yelled, then he asked "What about this month?" which was met with more screams, and then he said well "this one is for anyone who has a birthday this year" which made the crowd laugh as he launched into 'Birthday'. Again, this was pretty neat because his birthday is on Tuesday only 4 days after the concert. (@Box and I also saw Deep Purple on the lead singer's birthday). Then he played 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely-Hearts Club Band (Reprise)'. There were some people in front of us who had come dressed up in the outfits, so that was cool. Then he played 'Helter Skelter', another song I picked for the music draft. It really blew me away that at 76 and after 36 songs he was still able to sing that with no loss in quality. He rocked like he was 20 still. Then he played 'Golden Slumbers' which of course plays right into 'Carry that Weight' and we even got a 45 second version of 'You Never Give Me Your Money' at the end. To close the 7 song encore he played 'The End', so to end this post I will simply remind you all that the love you get is equal to the love you make, and remember everyone peace and love; Beatles forever.