Monster-Mania March 2024

This past weekend marked the latest edition of Monster-Mania in March. My friend, Freddie, went on Saturday, March 9. 2024. And, while there was the looming threat of a rain storm in the afternoon and for our return home (spoiler alert: it hit us), we still had a total blast!

John Philbin, who was there as part of the Children of the Corn reuion, was the first guest we met. He was so incredibly nice in person! I met him for The Return of the Living Dead, which is one of my personal favorite movies. He got a kick out of the fact that Jewel Shepard wrote the "I never did like you" quote on my DVD (you can see towards the end of this article). He also talked to us about how much he loved working on movies like Point Break, cause of his love for surfing.

Speaking of that Children of the Corn reunion, both of us together, met Isaac, himself, John Franklin. He was also incredibly nice, being personable and very friendly with us.

The coolest, most awesome, and nicest celeb we met, I think, had to be Lou Taylor Pucci. He talked to us for a bit, as we discussed how awesome Evil Dead (2013) is, how he got the role in Fanboys, how much he liked my patches, especially the Elvira one, as he too, had a childhood crush on her, and more. He was so friendly and personable, and was one of the coolest guests ever!

The last celeb that I went up to was the one, I was most excited to meet, one of our Horror Crush inductees, the lovely Jane Levy of Evil Dead (2013), Don't Breathe, etc. She was mostly quite in person, but thanked me when I told her about my love for Evil Dead. She also told me that she liked my patches and was all smiles. I know she cancelled on Sunday, so we lucked out on meeting her when we did.

Here are some cool cosplays and stuff, that I saw on this day:

Without a shadow of a doubt, this Opera cosplay was my favorite of the day, and honestly, one of the coolest I have ever seen! She was very grateful and flattered that I knew and liked her cosplay. But, you guys already know my love for Italian horror don't you? I mean, I was wearing a Lucio Fulci's Zombie Fright-Rags long sleeve on this day!

The two things of mine that I got autographed are:

-The Return of the Living Dead by John Philbin
-Evil Dead (2013) by Lou Taylor Pucci

If you're curious why I didn't get Levy to sign my Blu-ray of it, it's cause her autograph was too expensive.

The only swag that I bought were movies. For what it is worth, of these three, I've only seen is Existenz before. Anywho, they are:
- David Cronenberg's Existenz 4K at Vinegar Syndrome 

- Lucio Fulci's Contraband (Cauldron Films, slipcover edition) at Diabolik DVD 

- Dracula Vs. Frankenstein (limited edition, slipcover with bonus movie also from director Al Adamson: Brain of Blood) at Severin Films

About the only complaint we had was the shuttle that we had to take after parking at a school. This is a new thing that they have started for Monster-Mania. While we lucked out both times, we think that they need to run more than fucking one at a time! The ride back home sucked having to drive in the rain storm with heavy traffic. That has nothing to do with the con, itself, though, and we simply had a blast. We already look forward to the August edition!

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The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1985

Right off the bat, I have to say that 1985 is one of the best years for horror releases ever. Pound for pound it is the best year I have done so far, and honestly it'll be hard to beat (though 1986, I know to be a great year as well). The quality of the movies listed here is incredibly high with everything from the seventh ranked movie and beyond being of excellent quality or greater! And, as you will see from the top three movies, 1985 is also THE definitive year for zombie movies.

Honorable Mention:
Night Train to Terror

10. Cats Eye- This is an entertaining anthology based on Stephen King (who also wrote the screenplay) short stories and directed by Lewis (Cujo) Teague, that is extremely fun and easy to like. The second story, "The Ledge", is the best one, at least in my humble opinion.

9. The Stuff- Who would've ever thought that a movie about living, killer yogurt could be so good? Then again, it is from Larry Cohen! This flick of his maybe cheesy and fun flick, but it's also a smart commentary on consumerism. One that also happens to be funny, slimy, messy, and well acted.

8. Naked Vengeance- There is no doubt in my mind that this movie borrows elements from I Spit on Your Grave, but it, nonetheless, manages to add its own twist one the rape/ revenge sub-genre. The film is fast paced, engaging, bloody, and will have you cheering for the heroine. A highly underrated and under-seen movie, it is highly worthy of rediscovery on the now sadly out of print Scream Factory Blu-ray.

7. Lifeforce- Tobe Hooper's exciting, imaginative, erotic, sexy, and wild sci-fi/ horror epic has garnered a well deserved cult following in the years since its release. The FX, the score, the absolutely kick ass climax, crazy ass plot, great cast, and Matilda May's glorious and amazing full frontal nudity makes this a classic that only gets better with age. The amazing director's cut is an even better viewing experience.

6. Phenomena (AKA Creepers)- This is the first Dario Argento movie, I ever saw with knowledge of who he was (albeit in its butchered American version of Creepers). As such, it holds a very special place in my heart. It is a film that has aged wonderfully, on top of being a wild and incredibly original mix of supernatural horror and giallo. The film is stunning looking film and complemented by the natural beauty of Jennifer Connelly. In it she play Jennifer Corvino, a girl that can talk to and control insects. I had a childhood crush on her because of this flick, which also drips with style and gore. The amazing soundtrack features Claudio Simonetti and metal gods Motorhead and Iron Maiden. Beyond all of this, it also has a heroic chimp with a razor, Donald Pleasance, Dario Nicoldi, and more awesome shit that I don't spoil for those who never saw it. 

5. Demons- This motherfucker is one rollicking cinematic experience. It has every single thing I could ask for in a movie: graphic gore, unrelenting action, kick ass heavy metal and hard rock music, demonic monsters, and gorgeous Italian women. Directed by Lamberto Bava and produced by Dario Argento (they both also co-wrote the movie along with Franco Ferrini and Dardano Sacchetti), this is one of the true classics among Italian horror. 

4. Fright Night- This Tom Holland masterpiece is impossibly fun, wild, and highly imaginative, making it one of the greatest vampire movies ever made. The excellent cast all play lively characters, in particular Chris Sarandon as one of cinema's greatest vampire villains. I also love how it pays loving tribute to Hammer horror movies, especially with its Peter Cushing/ Vincent Price inspired character of Peter Vincent played wonderfully by Roddy McDowall. And, it modernizes it, at least, in part, with excellent 80s splatter FX. This is particularly true in the amazing climax, one of the best anywhere. To top it all of, it has a great score by Brad (Terminator) Fidel.

 3. The Return of the Living Dead- This is unquestionably one of the greatest  zombie movies, as well as one of the best horror/ comedies ever made. The film is fast paced, fun, funny, and gory. One of the aspects that really helps the film work so well is that it takes the horror seriously and as a legitimate threat. Yet, it still manages to be funny. Adding to the fun are the cool punk characters and the ass kicking punk rock soundtrack. Plus, it has hot babes, including a naked Linnea Quigley, great acting, and quotable quotes. All of this helps make RotLD a movie that only gets better with age!

2. Day of the Dead- Though it wasn't appreciated at its time of release, George Romero's third entry into what was then his Living Dead Trilogy has deservedly become a classic in its own right. This flick is intelligent and has some of the best characterization, dialogue, and acting of any Romero film. Yet, the movie is also righteously gory, with its chunk-blowing splatter FX ranking among Tom Savini's greatest work. The results make this masterpiece one of the finest genre works of the 80's.

1. Re-Animator- Full disclosure, Stuart Gordon take on HP Lovecraft's Re-Animator is my favorite movie of all time (of any genre). This tale of zombies and mad scientists changed my life forever, made me want to get into film, and is the type of movie that I live for. After all, it is a perfect film, a blood drenched and splatter-filled cinematic gift. Every single thing works to perfection, even the score that rips-off of Psycho works. The acting from the great cast is excellent. They all play memorable characters and many get to deliver quotable quotes. The flick is also funny, fun, and drips with gore that rates on easy 10 on the splatter-meter. The FX done by the late, great John Carl Beuchler are incredible, especially when you take into account that it is quite a low budget flick. I also love that it dares to go where other horror movies would never, in particular in the classic and infamous head scene involving Dr. Hill, his decapitated cranium, and one of the most beautiful women in the world Barbara Crampton  (fully nude, might I add). In all, Re-Animator is an absolute fucking masterpiece.   

What are your favorite horror movies of 1985? Let me know in the comments section below. Also be sure to catch up on the rest of the best horror movies of the 80's by clicking on the links below:

The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1980

The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1981

The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1982

The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1983

The 10 Best Horror Movies of 1984

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RIP For the Last Month of 2009

This last month of the year has had so many sad and tragic deaths (beginning with one of the saddest, Kerri Lee Tucker), that I felt compelled to write this blog. I consider myself a fan of all of the following people. May they all RIP and God bless them.

Dan O'Bannon (September 30, 1946 – December 17, 2009) - O'Bannon was an undeniable talent in the world of horror and sci-fi. The man wrote many great scripts, including the classic Alein, movie whose influence on horror and sci-fi is inarguable. Aside from many other genre scripts, he also wrote the second best Arnie movie ever, in the form of Total Recall, which has just about everything you could ever want in a film. He also directed The Resurrected and one of my personal favorite movies, The Return of the Living Dead , a movie that only gets better with age and viewings. Here is the trailer:


Brittany Murphy (November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009) - The lovely Ms. Murphy's death shocked me to the core, so young, beautiful, and talented. Like many, I first remember her from Clueless. She went on to do lots of other films, but my fav role of hers remains to be her role of a virgin in the reverse (by reverse I mean that it is virgins, who get killed in this one), underrated slasher flick Cherry Falls. It was one of her, if not her, sexiest role. Here is the trailer to it:

My favorite movie she stared in has to be Sin City, one of the finest movies ever to be inspired by a comic book.

James Owen "The Rev" Sullivan (February 10, 1981 – December 28, 2009) - This one made me quite sad, as I am a huge fan of hard rock/ heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. I had the pleasure of seeing them live at an Ozzfest a few years. The fact that he died so young, makes the death that much more tragic. He was a solid, highly talented drummer in a band that is technically sound and plays some of the best rock in the biz, right now. Here is my absolute fav video they ever did:


"Dr. Death" Steven Williams (May 14, 1960 – December 29, 2009) - I only really know him for his short tenures in the WWE, when JR bought him in and WCW when he was with JR parody Oklahoma. Regardless, I did like the guy. He sub came to cancer, sadly. Here is a clip of him and JR on Raw:



Chas. Balun (1948- December 29, 2009) - Out of of these deaths I think this one hit me the hardest. Chas. was important to me growing up. He introduced me, and many other fellow gorehounds, to a lot of the hardcore splatter and gore movies, we so love, including foreign classics, many of which he was the first to champion, like Shogun Assassin, The Beyond, Cannibal Holocaust, and many more. I loved reading his stuff in Fangoria and Gorezone magazines, as well his classic books like the Gore Score and More Gore Score, books that, I still, to this very day, read over and over again. He was funny and highly opinionated. I cannot even begin to tell you how much his style is a direct influential to my own style of reviewing movies. He was also an artist and made the designs for many a rotten cotton T-shirt and wrote linear notes on some DVDs. He had been battling cancer and lost last night. Here is the trailer for one of his favorite movies, The Beyond:


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Now playing: Avenged Sevenfold - M.I.A.
via FoxyTunes

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