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.

Thoughts on Cult of Chucky

Has anyone seen this recently? It's on AMC. I just noticed a few likely references to 80s movies that I think I missed in previous viewings.

Toward the end, Nica dresses very similarly to how Chris Sarandon dressed, not in the original Child's Play, but in Fright Night (1985). She has a red scarf on, and a winter coat with a sort of collar that is not identical to, but is similar to, what Chris S wore in FN. Chris S's winter coat was darker in color, but otherwise they are kind of similar.

Also, right at the end they drive off in a car that makes me think of the Freddymobile from the end of the original Nightmare on Elm Street.

Had to share.

Rawhead Rex

Easily the one of the most fun straight forward horror movies. Watch a monster kill some people for an hour and a half.

I heard that Clive Barker retroactively made Rawhead Rex an official part of the Nightbreed. But i'm not sure.

Here's to another Black Christmas

Bob Clark made an ultra-creepy Christmas classic back in 1974. It relied on mood, mystery, and dread, with the perfect amount of humor thrown into the mix. Top notch horror, and with that said... it didn't resonate to the studios for some 32 years. Then, somebody asked Santa for a new Black Christmas, and what did they get?

In 2006, some bastard finally decided to revive pop awareness of the original by directing the remake. Granted, the movie isn't half bad, with a great lighting scheme and some decent violence. However, the Billy backstory didn't really add anything except that we'd have more killer confrontations, but he's a character everyone always used to wonder about in the original, like who he was and where did he come from. I always assumed he came from a looney bin, and I'm more or less correct about that. By remake standards, it's pretty good. By regular standards, it's nothing new.


So after their success with Halloween last year, they move along to Black Christmas. It's good to hear that this company is doing it, because they put forth a proper effort. Still, is it too soon since the last remake? Or is it the perfect time for more Christmas carnage? It's got Imogen Poots, and I like her. How bad can it be?

I think horror fans have grown to accept that their favorite movies will be remade whether they should be or not, but fortunately, there are more and more ways that these older movies are becoming available, so the real thing is always out there if you want it.

As great as Black Christmas was though, it doesn't have a mythology around it like some franchises do. It's basically a few well-written characters getting picked off in a sorority house with a Christmas backdrop. It's the execution of the concept that makes it a wonderful movie, but I feel the story can easily go in one of many directions for this new movie. Hopefully, they try to keep it simple and creepy. That's the best I can hope for.

Unless they make this a direct sequel to the original, 45 years later. Kinda doubt that part though, but sequels to old movies are making a comeback, with Doctor Sleep being an example. I digress...


Do you care what happens to Black Christmas?

Blood Creek (2009)

It's On Demand this month. I'm basically a fan of this movie, although there are probably too many things that you're not supposed to think too hard about.

Dominic Purcell is really good in this, he has such a sense of urgency. He's always charging around with his eyes really wide open, bellowing at the top of his lungs. In this movie, he reminds me a lot of Richard E. Grant in Warlock (1989). He's supposed to be the only one who really understands how much peril everyone is in.. or least, he thinks he is.

In fact, wow, what a cast. Michael Fassbender, Dominic P., and Henry Cavill. And Shea Whigham is always good too, although he doesn't have as huge a role here as in some others of his movies. It was directed by Joel Schumacher, soooo... I don't know if that's good or bad. I like The Lost Boys, so he certainly can do a good job.

I like the beginning, and the basic story they lay out. It's kind of like Hellboy, an old Nazi occult experiment that is still having repercussions in our world today. It's also extremely similar to an episode of Fear Itself called The Sacrifice, starring Rachel Miner. I recommend watching that, if you never have... It also has some common ground with that Ken Foree/Barbara Crampton movie From Beyond, the one with the pineal gland eyeball coming out of people's foreheads.... I also like the idea of old connections between Europe and North America, taking place either before the historical record, or sort of outside it.

Anyway, I would be hard pressed to do a good job explaining what the hell actually happens in this movie, but I like it anyway. It has a few things going for it... the things I have mentioned already, and also a good sense of a group of people besieged at an old farmhouse, and some cool Evil Dead type effects, like zombie horses and dogs,,, I like the ending too.

OK, that's enough. Check it out if you get a chance!

The Slumber Party Massacre, because Why Not?

After the 1981 slasher saturation, things would never be as good as that again. So in 1982, we went out with a bang, because The Slumber Party Massacre is just really fun to watch.

The backstory of our killer Russ Thorn is as generic as it gets, because we don't need a backstory for this guy. We just need a creeper to stalk and kill some gratuitous teens through various great locations.

We start off in a lovely suburb of California. A few popular slashers are set in Cali, and others filmed there. It's got a unique look about it, and we're painted a pretty awesome suburban night of terror here.

We get a good shower scene, followed by a nice chase sequence in the high school. The body count is growing, and there's no point to any of it, really. Our character has no motive, and it works in spades somehow.

This movie doesn't try to hide anything. Our killer isn't even wearing a mask. He's just a regular jackass with a backstory of murdering some 6 people about 15 years back, and for absolutely no reason, he's determined to drill into some high school girls because his dick doesn't work. There's some feminist bullshit going on here, but it's still pretty awesome.

The title comes into play as a handful of teens have a slumber party. Girls only, but the men are perverts and stick around anyway. The body count continues as we're back and forth between two groups of teen girls, and the lady coach who can't catch a break. Some of this movie reminds me of Carrie. The girls and their banter mostly, but also that side coach lady who is only trying to help, but doesn't quite get there. 😵


Our final girl does pretty good as the modelesque shy older sister who just wants to sit back and watch a horror movie on tv. Whatever she was watching looked pretty fucking cool, and I want to watch it. Some Joe Dante movie "Hollywood Boulevard" (1976) which features Dick Miller as "Walter Paisley" for one of several times. I love that gag.

Her little sister hates french kisses, but she's aching for some Stallone porn in that playgirl mag. I don't know why I think that's so amusing, but I do.

The rest of the girls are pretty throwaways, but they don't care, and it works in their favor. They're part of the whole "gratuitous" thing, and they make for some great filler, what with their undressing and whatnot.

I still don't know why that girl girl ate the pizza on that guy though. I would have eaten it far away from him, because that pizza looked pretty damn good. They had to endure a whole chase scene before they even considered the pizza, but still looked melty delicious. No pizza will ever look as delicious as the NY style stuff in TMNT2: Secret of the Ooze. That whole scene makes me salivate.


So while this movie isn't particularly scary, it's got a great vibe to it. I love that doomy gloomy theme, and the movie has a lot of good things going for it. It even has the mega generic cat jumping out of the closet scare. The blood looks good, the killer is determined, and it even features actual animal killings, with the brutal death of a snail. How could they sleep at night, those sadistic bitches... jk. Fuck that snail.


I always thought Slumber Party Massacre was a standout slasher flick, and one of my personal favorites. I've often wondered why it hasn't achieved as high regard as other horror franchises at the time. This movie is great. The sequels are highly watchable, too, and I think a lot of it has to do with the short runtimes. These movies are concentrated and potent balls of 80s(and barely 90s) cheese. Kind of perfect in a way.

Then the series allegedly spins off to the Cheerleader Massacre series, a mere 2-entry series about killers and robots and some other dumb shit, but the tits are great. Those movies are where the trash gets kicked into overdrive.