Video Game Violence: The Early Years

I recently downloaded a great deal (or shitload, if you will) of Fangoria back issues and found these awesome ads in issues 24 and 25. I was considering posting some issues on the site, but since I've actually had a few of my posts (not just the links, the actual posts) taken down by Blogger recently, I'm trying to be a bit cautious for now. I might still post some of them soon though.

Anyway, the ads promise "a new way to take out your frustrations" with "violent video games" that let you "know the pleasure of total destruction". Or course, actual gameplay may vary:

My question, who is the dude in the Poliziotteschi getup shooting at Bubba on the TCM cover?

No!!!! Dan O'Bannon - September 30th, 1946 - December 16th, 2009

Dan O'Bannon - September 30th, 1946 - December 16th, 2009

From Matt Goldberg @ Collider:

"A legendary screenwriter of science fiction and horror, Dan O’Bannon, best known for writing Alien, passed away today at the age of 63. Bannon broke out back in 1974 with the lo-budget sci-fi flick Dark Star, which was director John Carpenter’s first major film. O’Bannon not only wrote the script for Dark Star, he also edited, art designed, acted in, and handled the special effects on the film.

Then he wrote Alien, which would be his biggest film both critically and commercially. But oddly enough, O’Bannon’s most ardent fans, while they unabashedly love Alien, seem to support the guy more for his smaller cult movies like Dark Star, Dead & Buried, Blue Thunder, his segment “B-17″ in Heavy Metal, and for The Return of the Living Dead, a film he also directed."

Return of the Living Dead has been my favorite movie since about 1987 when I first saw it, so I'm especially saddened by this one. I actually yelled "No!!!" out loud a few times when I heard the news a few moments ago, despite the fact that it's currently about 2:50 in the morning.

I will honor him with a Alien/Dead & Buried/ROTLD/Dark Star/The Resurrected/Total Recall marathon this weekend.

Robot Sleeperhold Or: Who The Fuck Is Parson Brown? - A Christmas Album

Christmas music sucks. Oh, I'm sure most people out there would disagree with me. I'm sure there are people out there right now, genuinely enjoying the overwhelming onslaught of nauseating yuletide melodies pummeling them over the head during every waking moment between October 26th and December 25th.

Not me. Christmas music doesn't fill me with joy. It fills me with dread. Dread, coupled with the desire to hit someone in the skull with a stool. Or a toilet lid. Or a blender. Or any kind of household property I might be able to lift and swing towards someone, really.

So I've putting together my own demented brand of Christmas compilation featuring some Christmas hits, some Christmas misses and even a few tracks that have nothing to do with Christmas, but do have the word Christmas in the title. This album is for those of you who feel that hearing Blue Christmas one more time - just once - just might be the thing that finally sends you over the edge.

I call it Robot Sleeperhold Or: Who The Fuck is Parson Brown? Because seriously, who is Parson Brown?

I went a little overboard here, there's about 30 songs total and it clocks in at around 1:49:42. Grab this one while you can, it might not stay up too long.

1. King Diamond - No Presents For Christmas
2. Count Floyd & The Pink Floyds - Reggae Christmas Eve in Transylvania
3. Shonen Knife - Space Christmas
4. Halford - What Child Is This
5. Bootsy Collins - Dis Christmiss
6. August Burns Red - Carol of the Bells
7. Bobby 'Boris' Pickett - Monster's Holiday
8. Wham! - Last Christmas
9. Jet Boys - Merry Christmas, Fuck You
10. Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis
11. Los Straitjackets - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
12. Manic Street Preachers - Christmas Ghost
13. Greg Lake (minus Emerson or Palmer) - I Believe In Father Christmas
14. Mojo Nixon - Christmas Christmas
15. The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight)
16. Pretty Maids - In Santa's Claws
17. Joel Robinson, Thomas Servo, Crow "Theodore" Robot & The Satellite of Love Orchestra - (Let's Have) A Patrick Swayze Christmas
18. The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song
19. Spinal Tap - Christmas With The Devil
20. Mogwai - Christmas Song
21. London After Midnight - The Christmas Song
22. Chinese Kids Choir - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
23. Wizzard featuring vocal backing by The Suedettes plus The Stockland Green Bilateral School First Year Choir with additional noises by Miss Snob & Class 3C - I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday
24. Gregorian - In The Bleak Midwinter
25. Universal Robot Band - Disco Christmas
26. Tankard - Fuck Christmas
27. Monty Python - Christmas in Heaven
28. Tom Waits - Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis
29. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
30. Type O Negative - Red Water (Christmas Mourning)

Goddamn ye, merry gentlemen (Part 1)
I'm chilling and coolin just like a snowman (Part 2)

Note: I know it kinda looks like it says I Robot Sleeperhold. It doesn't. Sorry for any confussion.

Chuck Me, Chuck You, Chuck Everybody

Chuck's third season is premiering with a 2-hour long episode at 8PM on January 10th, then resuming it's usual time slot of Mondays at 8 on January 11th. Here's an awesome preview of the upcoming season. Spoiler warning for those not having seen Season 2.

I'm already taking January 10th and 11th off of work to prepare. Everyone be sure to watch, tell everyone you know to watch and hopefully Chuck'll become a hit and Chuck fans won't have to start petitions to keep it on another season this time.

Video Today's Guide to Horror Video - 1986

This is Video Today's Guide to Horror Video from 1986. This was a 32-page supplemental magazine covering the Top 100 Horror tapes available in 1986. From Angel of Vengeance (Ms. 45) to Zombie Creeping Flesh. It also includes a look back at some of cinema's finest scream queens and a brief overview of the "big 4" movie monsters, Dracula, The Mummy, The Werewolf and Frankenstein's Monster (incidentally, I'm currently wearing a shirt with the big 4 on it).

Obviously at 32 pages, this isn't covering a ton of ground, but it's still pretty cool for anyone who enjoys stuff like Videohound, or The Essential Monster Movie Guide.

Video...Today!

The Complete Night of the Living Dead Filmbook

The last book post was pretty popular, so here's another, also snagged from Cinemaggedon. This is John Russo's Complete Night of the Living Dead Filmbook from 1985.

From the back cover:

"Here is the exciting in-depth story of a horror classic - told by an insider!

The Complete Night of the Living Dead Filmbook is a gold mine full of entertaining, enlightening anecdotes. It includes numerous photographs, many of which have never been published before. Film fans and budding film-makers will enjoy and appreciate this comprehensive, insightful look into the creation of one of the best horror films ever made."

Credit to the original scanner/uploader.

Get It

Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Werewolves - A Manchester Morgue Compilation

It's been brought to my attention that my last compilation Young Monsters In Love violated the DMA, so that post has been removed (not by me). So apologies for anyone who didn't have a chance to download it, but I'm just going to keep it down to stay out of trouble.

Hopefully this new compilation I'm posting today makes it for more than 2 weeks. This compilation is comprised of rare, or unreleased music featured in films (like the first few compilations I did). I call it Rock 'em Sock 'em Werewolves. This is kind of a B-Side to the last compilation like this called Vampire Tickle Fight, as I ripped/gathered a lot of the songs at the same time I was working on that one.

The title was inspired by a discussion with a friend over why they didn't have any other Rock 'em Sock 'ems. Why only robots? The conversation actually went on for several minutes, this compilation could've been called a number of things - Rock 'em Sock 'em Frankensteins, Rock 'em Sock 'em C.H.U.D.s, Rock 'em Sock 'em Golems - but I had just downloaded some Werewolf by Nights from The Comic Vault and there was an issue with Werewolf by Night fighting some other werewolf, so Werewolves it is.

The colors of the cover were actually a bit garish, a purple werewolf on blue background was a bit of an eyesore. So I tried something a little different for this one. Still a bit of an eyesore, but I think it's decent enough. I know, it's a bit dark, but I'll lighten it up later on.

The audio quality on these varies wildly, but on most of these it's not my fault.

The tracklist:

1. Leif Garret & Fat White Guy - Cheerleader Rap from Cheerleader Camp
2. Peter Yellen and The Breakers - Fall Break from The Mutilator
3. Toxic Avenger Part II theme
4. Dan Skye - Toxic Avenger Part III theme
5. Calamari Wrestler - DVD music video
6. Cynthia Zirow - Into The Black from Ozone aka Street Zombies.
7. Billy Barber - Beat of the Heart from Scared Stiff
8. Bill Marx/Marilynn Lovell - Torment from Scream Blacula Scream
9. Cry No More - Recipe for Romance from Bloody New Year
10. Lisa Edwards - Playing With Fire from Dead-End Drive-In
11. Dirt Bike Annie - Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things from Die and Let Live
12. Karaoke Terror End Credits
13. Drunk Horse - National Lust from Murder Party
14. Didus & The Fabulous Mascarenes - So and So from There's Nothing Out There
15. Maestro Fresh Wes - She's Gonna Freak You from Prom Night III
16. Kit Fuller - Love Me Deadly from Love Me Deadly
17. Shandi - Living on the Edge from Making the Grade
18. Shayna Zaid - Among the Dead from Flight of the Living Dead
19. Marilynn Lovell - My Dream from Terror at Red Wolf Inn
20. Doug Riley - Cannibal Girls End Credit Theme
21. L.A. Posse - Lost in Time from Waxwork II
22. Ted "Rhyme Throwah" Raimi - Bustin' Brains from The Man With The Screaming Brain
23. The McCain Brothers - The Legend of Guandi from My Name is Bruce

And now, some notes on select tracks:

Leif Garret & Fat White Guy - Cheerleader Rap from Cheerleader Camp. What's better than a fat white guy rapping? Leif Garret rapping with said fat white guy.

Peter Yellen and The Breakers - Fall Break from The Mutilator.

Toxic Avenger Part II theme - Can't find out who plays this one, so I'll just have to assume the band was comprised of: Toxie on Vocals and rythym guitar, Lloyd Kaufman on Lead Guitar, Ike & Addley sharing Bass duties, and The Fat Guy Who Went Nutzoid in Fat Guy Goes Nutzoid on Drums.

Dan Skye - Toxic Avenger Part III theme

Calamari Wrestler - Not sure the artist or song title here. It's listed as "Music Video" on the DVD. And if you go to the Pathfinder DVD site, they don't even mention there being a "music video" on the DVD at all.

Dirt Bike Annie - Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things from Die and Let Live. Zombie comedy/ Sandlot homage. Seriously, there are at least half a dozen references to the movie The Sandlot. Characters named Bennie and Squints, PT Flyers scene, "You're killing me Smalls!"...that's only 3 but I haven't seen this is like 2 years, so I'm a bit unsure on the rest.

Karaoke Terror End Credits. The credits to this were surprisingly Japanese. What this means is that I have no idea what this song is called or who is singing it. I'm hoping someone out there can fill me in.

Drunk Horse - National Lust from Murder Party. On the last comp I posted a 2Tite song from Murder Party, but I'm not as big on this one so I left it for this one. Too much "Whoo, whoo" for me, reminds me of Forty Licks. I hate that song.

Didus & The Fabulous Mascarenes - So and So from There's Nothing Out There. Best band name ever? These guys sound like what I think a band of schizophrenic clowns would sound like.

Maestro Fresh Wes - She's Gonna Freak You from Prom Night III. I have no idea why, but this was my favorite Prom Night. Not the best - in fact, probably the worst overall - but still the most entertaining for me. For the curious:

Prom Night III

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2

Prom Night IV

Prom Night

Kit Fuller - Love Me Deadly from Love Me Deadly. Hands down the creepiest song I've posted in some time. It's a ballad, really, but something about it is just eerie. Maybe it's the light necrophilia taking place while this is playing in the film.

Shandi - Living on the Edge from Making the Grade. This was a failed attempt at starting up a Judd Nelson trilogy. Turns out you need a hit on your hands before you can make a second and third movie to complete a trilogy.

Shayna Zaid - Among the Dead from Flight of the Living Dead. The song is only as long as the opening credits to the movie, a more complete version of the song was never recorded. This is actully nothing like any of her other music at all. She plays a kind of...ugh...Indie Folk in her day to day. Blah.

Marilynn Lovell - My Dream from Terror at Red Wolf Inn. This is actually Marilynn's second item on this compilation. She wrote the music for Torment from Scream Blacula Scream.

Doug Riley - Cannibal Girls End Credit Theme. This is a "lost" Canadian film starring Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin, and directed by this guy called Ivan Reitman. I don't know him, I think his son directed Juno or something. This one probably has the roughest quality of the bunch, being that it was ripped from a super old VHS tape.

Ted "Rhyme Throwah" Raimi - Bustin' Brains from The Man With The Screaming Brain. For anyone wondering what Ted "Theodore" Raimi would sound like rapping with a goofy accent, wonder no more.

The McCain Brothers - The Legend of Guandi from My Name is Bruce. I'm in the minority as I really enjoyed Bruce's performance as Bruce in Bruce. Sure it was on the corny side, and it could've been more gruesome, and a pair of unclothed hooters could've made an appearance, but I like it just the way it is.

Sock 'Em

Free Download of Michael Giacchinos UP Score - Today Only on Amplified.com

Today only (12/03) Amplified.com is offering up a free download of Michael Giacchino's score from Disney Pixar's Up. I figure this might be a nice change of pace for visitors of this site, something on the beaten path for once.

Nothing to sign up for or anything, just click here and enter the code latimesdisney

Blood & Black Lace - The Definitive Guide to Italian Sex and Horror Movies

A while ago I downloaded a ton of horror fanzine/books over at Cinemaggedon and this was one of the better things I got. Dark Side magazine's Blood & Black Lace - The Definitive Guide to Italian Sex and Horror Movies. This 164 page guide covers practically every Giallo ever filmed, complete with tons of fantastic artwork and sexy and/or gruesome stills.

A few sample pages:

Chainsaw Massacres - Texas Style

Here are a few lesser seen Texas Chainsaw posters. Or Chain Saw as it's for some reason spelled on the first movie. I mean, I know it can be spelled with a space or without, but come on, it should be one or the other. Not both. I'm voting for chainsaw - no space. What do you guys think?

Chainsaw or Chain Saw? Chainsaw Chain Saw Results

I'd never seen this first poster before a few minutes ago, but I adore it. The artwork is great and I love the Giallo-like font used for the title. One day I'd like to go through and make a font or two from several of these posters. I've found that locating good vintage horror poster style fonts (that don't suck) is pretty tricky. Of course, I'm pretty lazy (for a variety of reasons, depending on what you're asking me to do) so I could see this Giallo font project taking me quite some time to get around to doing.

Jacinto Molina (Paul Naschy) September 6, 1934 - December 1, 2009

Rest in Peace Waldemar