Horror Crush: Amy Hargreaves

We got two inductions for Horror Crushes in one month! That has to be cause for celebration, right? Today, that lovely inductee is the gorgeous Amy Hargreaves!

Hargreaves was born in Rockville, NY on January 27, 1970. She has a recurring role on Homeland, but I best know her from film debut, Brainscan (1994).

Braincan is a sci-fi/ horror flick about Michael Brower (Edward Furlong) a latchkey teen who lost his mom in an accident, as a kid, and whose dad is always away. He is a fan of horror movies and games and metal music. He also spends his free time ogling, photographing, and videotaping his hottie teen neighbor Kimberly (Hargreaves).  His best friend tells him about a new, realistic horror game advertised in Fangoria (the one with Total Recall on the cover, no less!) called Brainscan. He orders it and gets the first disc. It is a first person augmented reality game where you become a killer. Turns out, though, that you kill people for really (bummer!), something Michael is, obviously not cool with. A charismatic entity known as the Trickster (T. Ryder Smith) tries to continuously convince to kill more.

I guess she is a HUGE Aerosmith fan! Well, at least "Get a Grip" was a decent album, more than I can say for what would follow it...

I recently picked up the excellent Blu-ray put out by Scream Factory put out for this movie last year, and this flick is even better than I remember it being! Aside, from the awesome metal and hard alternative music, it also has a great score George S. Clinton. The acting is good, well expect for Furlong who is uneven. But, as an someone who grew up an outcast who loved horror movies, Fango, metal music, and cute girls, it is easy to connect to him (well, OK, not the whole videotaping his hottie neighbor, but I digress). It loses some points at the end, but the final shot is fun. Still, this is not enough to ruin the film by any stretch of the word.

Hargreaves is really good in her role, coming off sweet and likable, as well as being a total babe! I had a big crush on her. In fact, along with the use of Fangoria and the metal music, she was one of the most endearing memories of I have of this movie. She has a blink it and miss it topless scene, which will be easier to spot on the aforementioned Blu-ray, of course!

She would not return to the horror genre until 2009's Offspring. She plays the wife and mom in a family, whose baby is wanted by a cannibal family. Jack Ketchum wrote the script based on his book of the same name. While, there is no denying that he is a great writer, this movie is dumb and largely forgettable. I caught it on Chiller ages ago, and don't remember shit about it, other than it was gory and sucked hard. But, Hargreaves certainly looked great!

Her last film to have a horror connection is Super Dark Times (2017), a movie that until this article had never heard about. She apparently plays the mom of some kid named Zach. I am curious to see this one. Any of you have seen it and can you tell me about it? Please, do so in the comments section!

Amy Hargreaves is still gorgeous, and, even more awesome, she clearly has a love for dogs! Seriously, she finished winning my heart after seeing the video in the following link: https://people.com/pets/amy-hargreaves-rescue-dog-fred/ Gorgeous, sweet, and a damn good actress, I have had a crush on her since high school. And so, she very deservedly gets added to Horror Crushes!

 

Read More

Horror Crush: Maria Thayer

It is time to induct a new entry into Horror Crushes. this one being the first inductee of 2019! It is the beautiful Maria Thayer! This redheaded hottie is also significant because she is the first comedian to be inducted. Wait, a comedian you ask in Horror Crushes? Why yes, indeed, it is all thanks to her performance in the very enjoyable Night of the Living Deb!

Thayer was born in Portland, Oregon on October 30, 1975. She is an actress and comedian, who first gained recognition on Stranger with Candy. I am not a fan of comedy, so honest to God, I had never heard of her until I saw her in her one and, thus far, only genre film.

That would be the aforementioned Night of the Living Deb (2015). In it she plays the title character of Debbie Clarington, an awkward girl who spots a good looking dude Ryan Waverly (Michael Cassidy) at a bar. They drunkingly hook up. But, the next day he is desperate to get rid of her. That turns out to no be possible, as they discover that the zombie apocalypse has seemingly occurred. They head to his rich dad's house (Ray Wise), where his brother and finance (the gorgeous Syd Wilder) are also holed up, in hopes of escaping the flesh eating horrors outside. All the while, the silly and weird Deb has fallen in love with the way too pretty and spoiled Ryan, who mostly acts like he is annoyed by her. But, you can figure out the rest if you have ever seen even one rom-com.

NOTLDeb does a fun job of mixing the zombie horror movie with a romantic comedy. While, it doesn't work 100% of the time, it actually mostly does. Funny and entertaining, it is very easy to like. The acting is great, especially from the two leads, who have great chemistry. The horror aspect is well done with some surprising moments of gore including bloody bullet hits, an exploding head, dismemberment, and gut munching. Some of it is CGI gore, but these days this is the norm, sadly.

A big part of why it works so fucking well is thanks to Thayer. She is hilarious, likable, ass kicking, and super cute. I crushed hard on her the instant she came on-screen and began to talk. I found her weird character of Deb to be the kind of girl I could easily fall for. Which leads me to this: where the fuck is the bar where weird and hot readheads (or non-redheads, for that matter) hang out and talk to dudes first? Please, let me know in the comments section if you know, where such a place exists!

She hasn't done a horror flick since, but she is perfect for horror comedies! As such, I would love to see her do another one, With her beauty and comedic timing, she is the perfect Deb for the highly enjoyable Night of the Living Deb. Said film is now streaming on Shudder, so get to watching and crushing on Deb (and our latest Horror Crush inductee, Maria Thayer) in turn, already!

Read More

Porn Flashback: Vega

All pictures are from their respective owners.

Former fetish porn performer Vega is absolutely gorgeous and her hotness is nuclear level. I absolutely adore her. However, she is terribly underrated and info on her is mostly nonexistent. But, as I have already shown you guys, I don't ever let that stop me from showing love and paying tribute to past favorite porn stars, of mine, especially one as unmedigatedly sexy as Vega.

Vega only shot for Rodney Moore's Seattle Hairy Girls series. She appeared in a total of 6 entries in the stroke-a-rific fetish DVDs. All of her scenes smolder with unbelievable hotness. And, it's cause Vega dripped sex. She also  came off as always enjoying herself, which added a real level of playfulness in the scenes. These aspects are what made me an instant fan of the dark haired beauty, as soon as I her. 

And, good God, is she ever gorgeous!! She has a great body, with an amazing ass, cute boobs, and a beautiful face. Her large brown eyes are extremely seductive. and I love her black hair (which sometimes had blonde streaks). She also has some tattoos, which is always sexy. And, of course, there is her body hair. Her think and heavy bush is HOT as fuck, her legs are absolutely gorgeous and hairy, and her armpit hair is also sexy and beautiful.

Like I said all of her scenes are hot, but like I mentioned in the top 10 of my list of The 40 Hottest Hairy Girls from Rodneyvision Ever, my two favorite scenes from her (which is saying A LOT) are her solo scene in Seattle Hairy Girls 59&60 and her girl-girl scene with Sandy in Seattle Hairy Girls 69&70. The former has her talk on the phone with her partner (talking on the phone seems to be a favorite trope in her solo scenes) and touches herself. The leg shots alone drive me bonkers in this one!

Her solo stuff is volcanic, but she excels at girl-girl scenes. It is very clear that she loves women. As such her scenes come off as as playful, sexy, dirty, and (duh) hairy! Which is just the way I like them! The prime example of this comes off in the aforementioned pairing with blonde cutie Sandy (which also happens to be the last scene Vega ever shot). Sandy wants to go on a double date with her and two dudes. Vega doesn't want that and seduces Sandy to just stay get banged by her. The set-up and exchange is great and both girls really seem to be into each other, with Vega being a great seducer and sexy talker. 

 The other four Vega scenes include:

Two with lovely, redhead Vera. The first is the hotter of the two, as she and Vera take a shower together. This one really smolders and makes my eyes pop out of their sockets from the moment that it starts!

The second scene has them wanting to munch on sandwiches... and each other! Both of these ladies are sexy and all, but it's my least favorite scene of hers. Mostly, cause of sandwiches. That kinda takes me out of it. Still. I love seeing Vega, especially with another girl, so...

The other girl-girl scene of hers, ranks among her best. It is a great mix of the dirty, fun, and playfulness. But, then she shares the scene with the equally gorgeous and sexy Stacy Stax, so it would impossible to notbe hot!! In it, they are having a sleepover, play spin the bottle, and have hot (and hairy) lesbian sex. As, undoubtedly happens whenever hot girls get together for sleepovers!

Her other solo scene also has her talking on the phone and then, well, enjoys herself. My conclusion is that Vega is the most fun person to ever talk to on the phone! Vega looks gorgeous in lingerie!! But, that is given, I suppose.

And, that is it. Her scenes were all released between 2011 to 2014, and then, she quietly disappeared. For all intents and purposes, it seems fair to say that she is long done with the skin biz. I honestly wish she was still shooting or that, at the very least, there were more scenes available with her. But, those that exist are high quality fetish smut. Vega is gorgeous, sexy, and a natural performer. Whatever she doing now, I hope she is doing well and is happy. We fans will always have her work to enjoy!

Read More

"Terrifier" Star David Howard Thornton Talks to Us at WinterCon 2018

At the 2018 edition of WinterCon, I had the pleasure of talking to actor David Howard Thornton (who was wearing one of the awesome and official shirts made by Terror Threads). He plays the evil Art the Clown in the best slasher movie of last year, the phenomenal and gory Terrifier. We got to talk about the movie and more.

You can see it in the video below:

Video shot and edited by Negative Pop

All photography by myself and Negative Pop

Read More

The 20 Best Metal & Hard Rock Albums of 2018

First off, Happy New Year's! Here is hoping 2019 brings us lots of good and awesome things, especially in this case, lots of killer metal and hard rock!

Which is something 2018 definitely did, both from legends and younger bands. As this list will show, it was a great year for death and black metal, as music on the heavier side is highly present. Anywho, let us not waste anymore time and get to the motherfucking headbanging tunes!

Honorable Mentions
Gruesome- Twisted Prayers
Diamante- Coming in Hot
Skinless- Savagery
Nocturnal Graves- Titan

20. Lucifer- Lucifer II- If you love 70s influenced hard rock and metal, boy do I have an album for you. Mixing doom metal elements with a hard rock hooks and the beautiful and ethereal voice of the lovely Sardonis, Lucifer sound almost like a female Dio-era Sabbath, albeit with a slightly more rock sound. Songs like "Dreamer" and "Phoenix" are among some of the coolest rock songs you were likely to hear last year.

19. Torture Squad- Far Beyond Existence- Torture Squad deliver awesome, grooven laden thrash/ death metal on this thier first album with signer Mayra "Unread" Puertas. My full review: https://www.themastergio.com/2018/02/torture-squad-far-beyond-existence.html

18. Terrorizer- Caustic Attack- The best grindcore release of the year, comes from one of the masters of the sub-genre. My full review: https://www.themastergio.com/2018/10/terrorizer-caustic-attack-album-review.html 

17. Terror- Total Retaliation- Groove filled, badass hardcore with metallic riffage, Terror's Total Retalliation was as a badass a release as you were likely to hear last year. An absolute banger of a beatdown this shit will drive even the dead to get up and jump into the pit! It really ranks among the finest Terror albums, and is my pick for the best hardcore album of 2018.

16. At The Gates- To Drink from the Night Itself- A solid effort from the originators of melod-death metal, this isn't on the level of the greatness their previous effort, At War with Reality was. But, it is, nonetheless, a thrashy riff filled slab of music that blows away a great amount of other more boring melodic death metal acts.

  

15. Jungle Rot- Jungle Rot- Death metal fast and groove filled, just the way I like it! My full review: https://www.themastergio.com/2018/07/jungle-rot-jungle-album-review.html

14. Bad Wolves- Disobey- The best debut of 2018 was this catchy and badass anaglam of groove metal, metalcore, and hard rock. Some of the year's most memorable and best songs to sing along can be found here, including winners like "Run for Your Life", "No Masters", and the monstrous"Learn to Live". It also has last year's most popular cover in the form of the killer Cranberries song "Zombie".

13. Behomoth- I Loved You at Your Darkest- Like the latest from At The Gates, this Behemoth album sees a band following up a masterpiece. In this case, this actually follows the band's greatest release, The Satanist, an album I picked as the best of 2014 (a year where said At The Gates album was ranked as well). Still, even though not as great as that modern masterpiece of theirs, this still a dark and demonic assault. Heavy and haunting when it is on, this fucker is filled with thunderous, hell-spawned killers like "God = Dog" (silly title or not), "Eccelesia Diabolica Catholica", and "If Crucifixion Was not Enough".

12. Light The Torch- Revival- I am gonna put this out there. This is the best album that Howard Jones has recorded since leaving Killswitch Engage. His voice sounds amazing and the music is driving and heavy yet melodic and catchy. It also has one of my favorite and most played songs of 2018 in the form of the soaring and killer "Die Alone".

11. Revocation- The Outer Ones- Talk about a grower of an album. Each listening of this complex, technically eviscerating death metal monster gets better. Each and every song gets more exciting as you hear more layers. Somehow, through the brutality there is this oddly listenable hook in the tracks that set it apart from bands who add a shit ton of tech into their death metal. It also bears mentioning that the cover, seemingly inspired by Lovecraftian horrors, is one of my favorites of the year.

  

10. Amarathe- Helix- This is without question one of the most fun albums of 2018. It so perfectly captures the bands various influences. Mixing pop, metalcore, death metal, and, of course, symphonic metal, they sound like no other band. Great to sing along and headbang Helix is one of the listenable, yet utterly kick ass album that you likely to hear to feature multiple signers.

9.  Monuments- Phronesis- Speaking of catchy and heavy, few bands do that as well as Monuments. And, even fewer albums released in 2018 mixed that seamlessly and impressive as this rolling and hook-filled, metallic rocker. While, d'jent might be over crowded by more and more clones of lesser quality, Monuments remain heads and shoulders above most of them. Their signer Chris Barretto has one of my favorite in modern metal. Songs like "Mirror Image","Ivory", and "Stygian Blue" really best sum up why this is the case. He has so much soul and anger that it is perfect for this progressive metal act.

8. Immortal- Northern Chaos Gods- Immortal are back motherfuckers! It had been nine years since the band's last album, and since then Abbath had left to form his own solo band. Demonaz has now picked up vocal duties. And, any doubt that this wouldn't work gets thrown out with just seconds of listening to the first song on the album, which also happens to be the title track. Featuring a thunderous and cold sound that is perfectly captured on the mix, one that is both low-fi and clearly produced. This destroyer feels like a blizzard that will decimate everything in its fucking site!

7. Bleeding Through- Love Will Kill Us All- 2018 saw the return of many other of my favorites, including Bleeding Through, my all time favorite metalcore act. The last album they had put out was what the dark and face melting Declaration, which might have until that point been their finest work. With this comeback they manage to challenge that album. At times driving and heavy and at others melodic and haunting (many times in the same song) Love Will Kill Us All blew me away. It is always scary when one of the bands one loves comes back after many years of being away, but thank the dark gods Bleeding Through more than delivered the pain filled goods.

6. Halestorm- Vicious- Any year where Halestorm puts out an album is one that makes me a very happy rocker. One of my personal favorite rock bands, they have a very special place in my heart. I don't think they ever put out a stinker and always remains true to their sound. Vicious is no different. It is not only the absolute finest hard rock record of 2018, but it even tops their last release, Into the Wildlife. The title is also very appropriate because when it decides to rock hard, it fucking rips. As always the lovely Lzzy Hale signs her ass off and tracks like "Black Vultures", "Skulls", and "Do Not Disturbed" are among my most played of last year.

5. River of Nihil- Where Owls Know My Name- Call this the surprise album of 2018. Rivers of Nihil, the seemingly eternal opening act, have created an album that is as great, if not better, than the bands they have opened for. The critical acclaim and fan love for this fucker has been huge, and it is with great reason. Where Owls Know My Name blew me the fuck away, and does every time I listen to it. The album has, unquestionably, made Rivers of Nihil headliners. It is a a complete masterpiece with spacious sounds (including some use of a fucking saxophone!!) that adds to the complexity of the music and progieness of it all. The record is heavy and crushing, yet also accessible and approachable without sacrificing the death metal aesthetics, And, as proven by their music video below, they don't take themselves too seriously and know how to have some fun. It makes the music even more likable. 

4. Judas Priest- Firepower- If I had to pick an album that far blew me away far more than I thought it would, then it would be this barn-burner from the metal gods, Judas Priest, themselves. I honestly had thought the last couple of albums from them were OK but wholly forgettable. Firepower, though, is Judas Priest's finest work since Painkiller. And, I mean that in every sense of the word. In fact, I think that it ranks right up there with the best in the band's historical discography. Songs like "Lightning Strikes', "Evil Never Dies", and "Necromancer" are full throttle  killers. Hands down the best pure metal release of 2018.

3. Watain- Trident Wolf Eclipse- Far less experimental than the awesome The Wild Hunt, Trident Wolf Eclipse is more straight forward sounding, classic black metal sounding. And, in some ways it is for the better for that, because while I loved that aforemntioned album, I think this is a better release. Break neck paced and gloriously evil, this is truly savage and righteously Satanic metal. I have been listening to this record since the week it came out and haven't stopped. In my humble opinion it is the best black metal of 2018.

2. Light This City- Terminal Bloom- I pretty screamed in joy when I heard that Light This City would return. And, while I knew they always deliver the goods, I didn't think they would give this near perfect a masterpiece. My full review: https://www.themastergio.com/2018/05/light-this-city-terminal-bloom-album.html

1. Aborted- TerrorVision- Taking the spot is this brutal and eviscerating album. A vicious and merciless release, Aborted have made the best album, thus far of their career, which is saying a lot if you ask me, Shredding riffs, pummeling blast beats, and brutal grooves are accompanied by anger filled guttural vocals and gore drenched lyrics. This fucker blew me right through my office, the first time I heard. It continues to do so every time I hear it. Songs like the title track, "Farewell to the Flesh", and "Deep Red" are among the most savage and ripping tracks you and your soon to be broken neck (from headbanging so fucking hard) were likely to hear. Yet, they are not above slowing shit down and, yet still, mixing it with blast-bearts for a song like "Vespertine Decay" (below) and pummel you straight to fucking hell. As good as modern day death metal can get, this was 2018's soundtrack to pure sonic butchery. Oh, and the horror filled album cover absolutely fucking rules!

Read More