Hey, Trash Epics-ians! I Got a Good One For Ya!



It's only a half hour long and there's some gnarly gore in it. That's all ya need to know.

Assorted Horrors: Stephen King's "Night Shift" (1978)

Last month's Stephen King Challenge put me in the mood to read some Stephen King. Because I don't always enjoy his novels, I decided to go with one of his short story collections, his first of several released over the last forty-one years, "Night Shift".

The book kicks off with "Jerusalem's Lot", a prequel to "'Salem's Lot". It's told through letters and journal entries from 1850, a time when (Jeru)salem's Lot was a deserted village the people of neighboring towns avoided. Near the end of the book is a second related story, "One for the Road". It's set two years after the events of "'Salem's Lot", involving a family of three who take a wrong turn while traveling during a blizzard.

There are a few stories anyone more familiar with the feature film adaptations rather than the writing of Stephen King might recognize based on the titles alone: "Graveyard Shift", "The Mangler", "Sometimes They Come Back", and "Children of the Corn".

I can't speak for "The Mangler" or "Sometimes They Come Back", but the other two are moderately faithful adaptations. Being short stories, the movies had to expand their plots some, but "Graveyard Shift" is still about workers clearing out the basement of a rat-infested textile mill and "Children of the Corn" is still about a couple discovering a town surrounded by corn and full of demented children.

Then there's "Trucks", which served as the basis for "Maximum Overdrive". The main thing "Trucks" and "Maximum Overdrive" share is the basic plot of people trapped in a truck stop while the trucks drive themselves, mercilessly running down any humans who dare to step out into the open. None of the characters are the same, although some of the characters in "Trucks" share certain traits with the characters in "Maximum Overdrive", most notably the (Bible) Salesman. A few lines of dialogue from "Trucks" are also spoken word for word in "Maximum Overdrive".

I would include "The Lawnmower Man" with the above titles, but the controversy surrounding the 1992 adaptation is well-known. And if you don't know, the producers put Stephen King's name on the movie, but it turned out to have nothing to do with his story other than a man mowing lawns. King didn't appreciate that and sued them into removing his name. I'm one of those weird people who think the movie's good and in fact, I prefer it over the story, but who can blame him for suing?

"Night Surf" is worth mentioning, if for nothing more than that King recycled the idea for his other 1978 book, "The Stand". The two stories are only alike in that they're about a virus nicknamed Captain Trips killing off most of humanity. The characters are different and the problems they face in the aftermath of the virus's devastation are different. Still, it's interesting to see where one of King's most renowned novels got its start.

Possibly my number one favorite story is "Battleground", the tale of a hitman versus a box of toys sent to him by the mother of his most recent victim, a toy-maker. Toy soldiers to be exact, which are somehow alive, and their miniature guns are just as real. It might sound like a silly concept, but the story is as brutal as you can expect from Stephen King.

Other favorites include: "I Am the Doorway" (an astronaut returns to Earth with some thing), "Gray Matter" (a bad beer leads to bad things), and "Quitters, Inc." (a man endures unusual treatment to help him stop smoking). There's also "The Ledge", where a man caught having an affair with another man's wife is forced into circumnavigating the thin ledge of a high-rise's penthouse if he wishes to continue leading a happy life.

While I enjoyed "The Ledge" despite it being more of a thriller than horror, it reminded me of the "Creepshow" segment "Something to Tide You Over". Specifically, the husband getting revenge on the man banging his wife by putting him in a situation he likely won't survive. The endings are slightly similar as well. Since "Something to Tide You Over" isn't based on any of Stephen King's stories, I'm thinking "The Ledge" crossed his mind once or twice while writing the screenplay. A few years after "Creepshow", "The Ledge" along with "Quitters, Inc." appeared in the movie "Cat's Eye", another screenplay written by King.

Many of the stories in "Night Shift", including some I didn't mention, have been made into short films, sometimes more than once. This is thanks to King's Dollar Baby arrangement, where he allows students and aspiring filmmakers to adapt his short stories into short films for just $1. As cluttered as all those short film credits have made his IMDb page, it's impossible to criticize that level of generosity.

As a whole, I really liked "Night Shift". There were only a few stories I didn't care much about and none I outright disliked. The great thing about a short story collection is, like any other form of anthology, if you aren't enjoying one story, it'll be over soon enough and there's a chance the next one will be better.

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?