Burning Man

Anyone here ever go to Burning Man? My brother and his wife have been there for the last week or so. They go every year. It sounds so insane to me... I could probably take it for a couple of days, but a whole week would drive me out of my mind. Has anyone here ever been to one??

Shot-On-Shiteo: Dream On



I went camping once, a long time ago. I never knew whether or not it would turn out to be something I enjoy, and to this day, I still don't. Let me explain. The one time I went camping, I was deathly hungover. The kind of hangover that keeps you uncomfortable for a better part of the day. I wanted no part of this camping trip, but my friends made the day's plan out to be far cooler than it was. It turned out to be a disastrous, humid as fuck, Florida day, despite several rides on a white pony, which cured the hangover, and to be honest, was what got me out of bed in the first place. Although this still did nothing to enhance my camping experience. Quite the opposite, once bastard pony kicked me off for the night. A tense, pointless night which included awkward silence, lots of sweating, with no smores or sleep in sight. I'm pretty sure that's not how camping goes.

God, I hate ponies! And sure! I still don't know much about camping, but I do know my SOVs! And today, we're going to explore what I feel is one of the all around best shot-on-video Horrors of the original era. Cannibal Campout. As it would turn out, this is the movie that originally got me to see these things in a different light. Before Cannibal Campout, I wanted very little to do with these movies, just like the other 99.9% of the world. Maybe it was the sweet 80's vibe that drew me in. Maybe it was the always delightful Jon McBride. Or maybe I just appreciate Jon's version of what camping is like. Yeah. Maybe this is how it's done... minus the obvious.

Two College couples head out to the woods for a relaxing weekend amongst nature. The girls aren't bad looking, and one of the guys is Jon McBride, himself. The other one has an unusually round head. He makes a joke about dead babies, which puts his pregnant girlfriend in a mood. Well, I thought it was funny. Jon probably did too. The awkwardness is forgotten when they come across an ornery clan of cannibals who the guys seem ready to take down after provoked, but they puss out pretty quick. The couples lose the bad Deliverance stereotypes and make their way into a nice spot for the weekend. They probably should have turned back. Well, definitely, but damned if that's not some lovely scenery!

The backwoods cannibal family consists of three guys. One of which is obviously the leader, with a loudmouth spaz and masked mute, who the other two call "retard". These three brothers have a mother that's never seen on camera, who has sent her boys out to hunt for food. They're obviously experienced at this, as they stalk for most of the movie, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. And once they do, it all turns into quite the gore-fest. In between, we're treated to some damn fine 80's schlock, and then some. Oh, and how could I forget? That repetitive keyboard tune that sounds like it's trying to play Aerosmoth's Dream On, but is too shy to get started. A somber-sounding little tune that makes me think of Autumn. To me, that's what camping should always sound like.

This was Jon McBride's first SOV feature, and in my opinion, his finest moment. Filmed in the woods of New Jersey, Cannibal Campout makes it easy to forget exactly what quality of movie you're watching, as it's more worth a watch than most SOVs before it or since. Much like McBride's next film, Woodchipper Massacre, there is a certain aura of fun and relaxation to it all, as if they had all the time in the world to wrap it up. It's believable that everyone involved had a blast with this one. Unfortunately, Jon McBride's solo-directing career would end the next year after he released his own shitcom, as mentioned above. McBride would give up filmmaking for several years until he finally joined forces with the mighty Polonia twins, come the mid-90's. Another SOV story for another SOV day. I've liked everything I've seen that McBride was involved with, but trust me. Cannibal Campout, alone, is enough to cement the man's legacy. However, for me, it's more than just a fantastic 80's SOV. Cannibal Campout, above all, is a reminder of how much more I enjoy camping movies than camping, itself. 6/10



#Review

R.I.P. Tobe Hooper

God dammit! George Romero a month ago, and now Tobe Hooper. Not many of the big ones left

Six Degrees of a horror actor (or actress)

You know, like the Kevin Bacon game. I recently noticed that Elsa Lanchester, who was the Bride of Frankenstein (1935), starred on several episodes of a TV show called Nanny and the Professor, back in 1971. Kim Richards was on that show, on those same episodes, I think. She was just a little kid at the time, like 6 or 7 years old. And, of course, she is Kyle Richards sister, so that connects Elsa Lanchester to Halloween (1978). Kim Richards is also Paris Hilton's aunt, so I guess that connects Elsa to House of Wax (2005).

I thought that was a cool chain of connections. Anyone have any good ones that you have noticed?

Gore Films

Troma and I had a discussion recently on what qualifies a movie to be a gore film. I realize that the overall definition is a splatter film or gore film that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence.

But can movies that show only a few scenes of gore be considered a gore film? Or are they just gory? Is there even a difference? Does the gore have to be the main element of the movie for you to consider it a gore film?

Mayweather vs. McGregor



As an Irishman, I am bound by patriotism, to support McGregor, even thou he is the underdog. I can't wait for this fight - it is considered the Fight of the Century by some. I don't consider myself an aficionado of boxing, or even MMA, for that matter. McGregor talks a good game, he is a tremendous trash talker, and he didn't get to where he is without being intelligent or astute - McGregor is expected to earn $75 million from the fight. He was on beneifts, here in Ireland, before he entered the world of MMA!

With all that said, it is hard to look beyond Mayweather for the win. He is 49-0! imagine if McGregor knocks him out in the first couple of rounds?!! However unlikely that were to happen.

My brain says Mayweather, but as an Irishman, my heart says McGregor


Anyone here going to watch it? How do you think McGregor will fare?

Horror movies under 4.9/10 rating that you actually liked

I just used the IMDb advanced search of my ratings and these are what I really liked under 4.9 rating. There is quite a lot of them, and I was kinda surprised to see some of them rated really low. Anyway.

In order:

Grave Halloween (2013 TV Movie) (4.2) 8
Hell of the Living Dead (1980) (4.9) 8
Demons 6: De Profundis (1989) (4.4) 8
The Nesting (1981) (4.6) 8
Alien Zone (1978) (4.1) 8
The Corpse (1971) (4.9) 8
Scream Bloody Murder (1973) (4.7) 8
From the Dark (2014) (4.8) 8
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) (4.7) 7
13 Eerie (2013) (4.5) 7
FleshEater (1988) (4.9) 7
Mutant (1984) (4.8) 7
The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009) (4.4) 7
Vampire at Midnight (1988) (4.2) 7
Spontaneous Combustion (1990) (4.5) 7
The Final Patient (2005) (4.2) 7
Night Train to Terror (1985) (3.8) 7
Hellborn (2003) (3.5) 7
Almost Human (2013) (4.6) 7
The Incredible Melting Man (1977) (3.8) 7
ATM (2012) (4.7) 7
Deep Evil (2004 TV Movie) (4.1) 7
Zombi 3 (1988) (4.9) 7
The Hearse (1980) (4.8) 7
Hangman (2015) (4.7) 7
Dream House (1998 TV Movie) (3.8) 7
Garden of the Dead (1972) (4.1) 7
Death Bed: The Bed That Eats (1977) (4.4) 7

That is me.

What about you? What is some horror movies under 4.9/10 rating that you really liked?

Trash Epics Satisfaction Survey

How happy are you with TrashEpics.com? What do you like about this site, and what do you hate? What bothers you about it? What pisses you off? Would you change anything? Are there any things that are unclear about it that you would like some more insight on? Are there enough features and functionality to your liking? Is there anything you'd like to see more of? And most importantly, do you consider yourself a member of the Trash Epics family, or are you a lurker who doesn't care either way? (If that's the case, we'll never know, since you wont respond!)

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As a member myself, as well as a rambling drunk, I'll answer my own questions.

Am I happy with it? Yeah. I think it looks alright, and functions pretty fluidly. I plan on changing the header soon, so it looks more sleak, but the general amount of content is maintainable to me. I'm pretty lazy, but I check the site often to see how it flows, and since we launched, I'm grateful that we've never run into serious issues. I always like to keep busy and add more stuff, even if it's bullshit, because this is a site about trash after all...

What I'd like to improve upon is number of users. If there's enough activity that I can review it all, as one man, then it probably isn't enough. I hate how IMDB2's horror board has as much activity as ours, if not more. Those fuckers don't know what they're missing here! It's hard to compete with conglomerates like Facebook and that other bullshit, but we gotta try, right?

I also wish I could have more original content. This means videos, games, books, or anything. I'd like to film some shitty videos soon, but I've been distracted on another project lately, that I'll reveal in a month or so. Hopefully.



One thing I will say that I enjoy is the monthly challenges. I didn't participate on any from the old boards, besides the October Challenge, but they provide a theme to unite us for a whole month, and I'd like to improve those experiences in any way I can (perhaps styling the site to cater to the challenge with backgrounds, images, etc?) What's the next challenge gonna be? Anybody want to host something for September?

Before you answer any of these questions, drink a beer or two, and then ramble on about it. Get drunk with your ol' pal Renzo Capetto and ramble about anything. I don't give a fuck. 😎

C. Thomas Howell as a serial killer

I'm sitting here watching Criminal Minds reruns on Ion, may the Lord forgive me. Anyway, it reminded me of some episodes from years ago, when C. Thomas Howell played a serial killer. The episodes were in seasons 4 and 5, and one in season 9... I don't know if I ever saw that one. Anyway, as a fan of The Hitcher (1986), I remember it was pretty interesting to see him play the killer, not the good guy. I thought he did a pretty good job, too. He tried to play it for laughs a LITTLE, but was mostly serious about it.

Here, this shows the episodes he was in:
https://criminalminds.wikia.com/wiki/C._Thomas_Howell

Alligator (1980)

A pretty good creature feature.

Although not well known in the public conscious these days it is as far as I can tell pretty well regarded amongst genre fans.

I like that the backstory of the alligator and its gigantic growth sounds plausible enough, eating the hormone injected bodies of test animals illegally discarded in the sewer.

Robert Forster is good on the role, does he remind anyone else of Charles Bronson?