The Monster Party

I found this incredible poster in Cracked Monster Party issue #5 from 1989 (credit to the original scanner of this issue). Since it was a poster, you'll notice a line across the middle of the page and some spots where the bat's wings aren't lined up quite right, but it's still pretty decent quality.  

Sure, some of the puns here are so cheap they'd make even Elvira roll her eyes, but I will say that Herman's "Hearse 54" joke isn't bad. Either way, I really love Severin's artwork here and on the companion piece from inside the issue:

Two-Face Frankenstein Plus Sabretooth vs. Kickpuncher - New This Week 5.14

Okay so this is a bit late since all this stuff came out yesterday. I'm currently right in the middle of my terrible 12 hour workday time of year and when I got home yesterday I laid on the floor, fell asleep and never got around to actually posting this thing.

So here goes, some very cool stuff out there this week, starting with the pair of titles Scream was able to license from Code Red:

“Evilspeak is remarkably engaging, imaginative, and well crafted” – TV Guide

Life sucks for Stanley Coppersmith (Clint Howard, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School), a teenage outcast who’s bullied by everyone at a strict military academy. When Stanley discovers the crypt of a 16^th Century Satanist beneath the chapel, he creates a computerized Black Mass that unleashes unholy revenge upon his tormentors. Now, all hell is about to break loose! Co-starring Joseph Cortese (American History X), Charles Tyner (Cool Hand Luke), R.G. Armstrong (Children of the Corn), Don Stark (That ‘70s Show), Lenny Montana (The Godfather), Richard Moll (House) and Haywood Nelson (What’s Happening), Evilspeak is not for the faint of heart.

Prior to its U.S. theatrical release, the distributor of the film requested that the graphic violence be cut to avoid an “X” rating from the MPAA. The film has been completely restored from a newly discovered 35mm inter-positive source including all of its long rumored scenes of bloody carnage. This new edition includes all-new extras including a new commentary by producer/director Eric Weston (Hyenas).
 
Browse more frighteningly fun Scream Factory releases!

Bonus features:

New interviews with actors Richard Moll, Claude Earl Jones, Haywood Nelson, Loren Lester and Lynn Hancock New 2013 1080p High Definition transfer supervised and approved by Eric Weston Audio Commentary with producer/director Eric Weston Interviews with cast members Joseph Cortese, Clint Howard and Don Stark Theatrical Trailer

 Get it at Amazon

At Lanier College, the semester is almost over. Exam week is coming to a close when some upper classmen play a prank by staging a phony terrorist attack. But the next moment of excitement at the school won’t be a prank. And it’s something a lot more final than an exam. Students are falling prey to a knife-wielding maniac stalking the school, bent on making sure that for some, school is out…forever!

Browse more frighteningly fun Scream Factory releases!

Bonus features:

New High Definition transfer From The Original Camera Negative Audio Commentary With Cast Members Joel Rice, Cecile Bagdadi And Sherry Willis-Burch Interviews With Cast Members Joel Rice, Cecile Bagdadi And Sherry Willis-Burch Theatrical Trailer

Get it at Amazon

The explosive thriller takes place 200 years after Dr. Frankenstein's shocking creation came to life. Celestial forces name the creature Adam, and arm him with weapons to defeat the demons that are constantly seeking his destruction. However, soon Adam finds himself in the middle of a war over the fate of humanity and discovers that he also holds the key that could destroy humankind.

Special Features:

• Audio Commentary with Co-writer/Director Stuart Beattie
• Audio Commentary with Filmmakers Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright, James McQuaide and Kevin Grevioux
• "Creating a Monster" featurette
• "Frankenstein's Creatures" featurette

The 3D Blu-ray is currently only $20 at Amazon

Micheal Myers (Tyler Mane) meets Jason Vorhees (Derek Mears) in Compound Fracture - which sounds like a really lame death metal band, but is in fact a Horror/Thriller from director Anthony J. Rickert-Epstein.

Michael left home when he was a teenager and never looked back. Now, after the death of his sister, Chloe, hes returning home with his fiancee Juliette and his angst ridden nephew Brandon. On arrival, they realize that home isnt exactly what it used to be. With high walls surrounding the house and security cameras in every nook and cranny its more of a military compound than anything else. Enter Gary, Michaels estranged father who, while happy to be reunited with his son and grandson, seems more distracted by other things. As the strange family reunion commences, an uninvited guest shows up and we learn bits and pieces about the real reason behind Chloes death and why Brandon is so closed off from Michael. This fractured family will have to come together to fight the ghosts of their pasts and make it out alive!

 

Get it at Amazon

 

From director Carlos Tobalina comes one of the strangest hybrids of exploitation sub-genres ever released to the unsuspecting public. Combining the late 70s jungle movie craze with crime thriller and copious amounts of X rated action, JUNGLE BLUE tells the story of a group of sinister explorers hunting for fortune in the jungles of South America. Along the way they meet a tree-swinging wild man, his sex-crazed companion gorilla, and hoards of scantily clad natives.

Never released on video in the US, JUNGLE BLUE has been restored from 35mm camera negatives and is being presented uncut on DVD for the first time!

Director: Carlos Tobalina
79 minutes / 1978 / Color / AR: 1.85:1
Features Include:
+ 16×9 Anamorphic | Region Free | MONO
+ Original theatrical trailer
+ Scanned in 2k from 35mm original camera negative
Buy it at VS

Acclaimed director Wakefield Poole’s second feature, the surreal and trippy Bijou, set a new standard for explicit cinema when it opened in 1972. The film concerns a construction worker (Bill Harrison) who witnesses a car accident and pockets the female victim’s purse in which he discovers her invitation to a club named Bijou. There he enters a strange erotic world where dark fatasies becomes reality. A fever dream blending the erotic and the divine in equal parts, Bijou is a psychosexual puzzle that rewards multiple viewings.

Scanned at 2K from the original 16mm elements and fully restored, this new version of Bijou finally allows the film to be seen in all its original visual splendor.

Director: Wakefield Poole
75 minutes / 1972 / Color / AR: 1.33:1
Features Include:
+ Dual-Layer DVD-9 | Region Free | 1.33:1 | MONO
+ Original Theatrical Trailer
+ Director’s Audio Commentary & Video Introduction
+ Video Interview w/ Author Linda Williams
+ Video Interview w/ Wakefield Poole + Unused Audition Footage
+ Scanned in 2k from 16mm original camera negative
 Buy it now at VS

Franz Waxman's Bride of Frankenstein Score Limited Edition Vinyl Release

 

Ever since the classic Horror movie genre was at its peak during the pre-WWII era, Mary Shelley's The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) starring Boris Karloff still remains the true cream of the crop. The black and white movie, directed by James Whale, is a prime example of how suspense meets great storytelling, the film's thriller elements making it a benchmark for many film directors. Its score was written by Franz Waxman, the legendary German-American classic composer with an impressive number of Academy Award Nominations movies to his name. Waxman wrote engaging soundtracks for classic films such as Rebecca (1940), Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1941), Sunset Boulevard (1950), The Nun's Story (1959) and many more. 

 

Especially for Halloween, we've managed to release Franz Waxman's The Bride Of Frankenstein OST on vinyl for the first time ever! First pressing available as 1000 hand numbered copies on slime green vinyl.

• 180 gram audiophile vinyl
• First vinyl issue of Franz Waxman's film score to the classic Bride Of Frankenstein movie
• Includes movie poster
• First 1000 numbered copies on slime green vinyl!

Release date is October 22nd, preorder now from Amazon.

Frankenstein's Bloody Terror - Filmed in Super 70 Chill-O-Rama

 

Dracula Vs. Frankenstein - Media Blasters DVD Out Now

Media Blasters announced that a remastered DVD and Blu-ray of Dracula Vs. Frankenstein would be coming last Summer. They ultimately scrapped the Blu-ray and pushed the DVD release back until "eventually". Well it looks like they have finally quietly released this thing, but just barely. It's only available through market place sellers on Amazon. And places like Walmart and Best Buy have it available to order but it's listed as backordered and won't ship for 5-10 days. So, if you're interested in this title, pick this up at once because who knows how long it's going to be out there. I got mine for under $9 from Amazon Marketplace, cheapest appears to be ImportCDs for under $6.

Dracula vs. Frankenstein

"Sensational sequel to 'The Curse of Frankenstein". - Uh, no it isn't

Director: Al Adamson

Writers: William Pugsley, Samuel M. Sherman

Stars: J. Carrol Naish, Lon Chaney Jr., Regina Carrol, Greydon Clark (future director of Final Justice!*)

Runtime: 90 Minutes

Dracula tracks down a wheelchair bound Dr. Frankenstein (under the alias of Dr. Durea)  who operates a spook show called The Creature Emporium. He offers Dr. Frank the body of his original monster in exchange for a blood serum that will make him immortal.

Al Adamson's Dracula vs. Frankenstein is cheap and inept, but a hell of a lot of fun if you're in the right mood for it. Zandor Vorkov makes for an entertaining Dracula. He's hammy and goofy, but he's kind of a hoot to watch and his odd facial expressions kept me smiling throughout the movie. Don't let the awesome cover art fool you though, the monsters both look like crap. Dracula looks like Ben Stiller in a 70's porn actor costume with corpsepaint slathered on his face. Frankenstein's mask looks like it was made entirely of play-doh and sadness. Despite the title of the movie you actually don't see much of Dracula, and even less of Frankenstein, but you do get to see a pretty entertaining final showdown between the two.

As expected, the DVD looks quite a bit better than the previous Troma release. Some scenes do look pretty bad, like a day for night scene of a battle between the two monsters, but day for night usually looks pretty awful, so that's to be expected. Overall things look good given the low budget nature of this movie. The DVD has so many features it's almost ridiculous. That makes the lack of advertising this release has received all the more baffling. Looks good, loaded with features. Let's release it and not tell anybody. Odd.

Gore

Most of the gore is just a bit of blood splashed on the faces of the victims. There are a couple of decapitated head shots that are well done. They were shot to hide the faces so you don't get anything as bad as something like in Wizard of Gore.

 Sex/Nudity

Not much. Regina Carrol has some pretty mesmerizing cleavage, especially in her stage outfit at the beginning of the movie. She has kind of a harsh face, but such a nice body that you are able to overlook the facial harshness to the point where she's actually hot in an odd kind of way. There is a very brief nudity shot with one of the girls Lon Chaney Jr. murders, but it's literally about a second long.

 

 

This movie looks cheap, but man is this a beautiful shot

Things to watch for:

Dracula speaking in echo

Weakest vampire bite ever
Play-doh Frankenstein

Amazing Terrible Dracula power ring effects
"Experimenter" - that can't be a word, right?
Midget Axe Faceplant

Here's a plot point I had a problem with. Dracula needs Dr. Frankenstein's help to make an immortality serum, but I thought Dracula was already immortal? Killable under a couple of circumstances, sure, but as long as he stays out of the sunlight, and he avoids a wooden stake stabbing I was under the impression he would just live forever. Am I wrong?

Here's another thing I found amusing. The Dr. is in a wheelchair. Now, there's nothing funny about wheelchairs, but I think once you're in a wheelchair you might want to cut out the mad science-ry. I mean by the very nature of your chosen profession you have to assume that at some point someone is going to try and kill you. Be it someone you're about to science on, a loved one of someone you're about to science on or one of your creations going berserk on you. You roll around all day in a large awkward chair with your head at perfect baseball bat swinging height. Unless the person attacking you is a midget or has no arms or legs you are pretty screwed.

House of Hammer Magazine 8-13

Here are 6 more issues of House of Hammer Magazine. Featuring comic adaptations of several classics like Plague of the Zombies, Curse of the Werewolf and The Gorgon, among others. I've gotta say I love the many Frankensteins, young and old, featured on the cover of issue 12. That would make for a cool shirt. See:

I'd also love to see an updated painting, featuring everyone to ever play a Frankenstein monster. Blackenstein, Herman Munster, Frank N. Stein from the old Monster Squad show, the Little Person Frankenstein from Full Moon's The Creeps, the Frankenstein that versed Dracula in Dracula vs. Frankenstein... I mean everybody. It would be a pretty huge painting, I think about 600 different guys have portrayed some kind of variation of Frankenstein's monster over the years. If only I could paint....

Macabre Movie Poster Madness - The Hammer Edition

Today, I thought we'd take a look a some Hammer posters. This set is a little one-sided, 80% Dracula, 20% Frank. Rasputin and The Reptile will just have to wait.

Dracula Has Risen From The Grave - This poster is way to cutesy and makes it seem like a wacky comedy - it would've been a great Love At First Bite poster - but something about this poster intrigues me. I think it's the pink band-aids. Yeah, that'll work.

Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell - The top half of this image was featured on my site's most popular banner. In fact, posting this one makes me kinda miss that banner. I lost the original file when I made the old blogger to new blogger transition, but I think I might have to do it over.

The Satanic Rites of Dracula - This stunning Japanese (see, told you they were good) poster would have to be in my top 5 favorite pieces of Hammer artwork. In fact I am in the middle of making a DVD cover using this poster. If it turns out okay, I'm sure I'll probably feature it here at some point.

Dracula AD 1972 - Another brilliant Japaneser here. When I become loaded (in the rich sense, not like drunk loaded) these two are essential purchases for me.

Dracula AD 1972 - Yes, another Drac AD72 poster - titled Dracula 73 on the poster.

I hope everyone is enjoying the new year so far. Things have been okay for me this first week. But I have had two sad losses so far. 1) Taco Bell is no longer making the Volcano Taco. Just as soon as they'd introduced this delightful red-shelled monstrosity to me they've taken it away. This not 3 months after I discover my favorite chips of all time - Fiery Habanero Doritos - have been taken off the market due to poor sales. It's a bad time to be a fan of hot.

2)My Zune has officially bitten the dust. I got a refurbished first generation model on Woot.com for $80. I loved the big bulky brown bastard. I even stuck up for it when people asked "what the hell is that thing, some kind of wallet?" But I'm looking at it right now, completely in pieces after an ill-advised attempt to repair it myself. I knew it was totally dead before I actually opened it up. Otherwise I wouldn't have actually done it. I tried the "open it up, look for something that came uplugged" approach. If it works with my car, why not my Zune? Oh well, I got 15 months out of it, not bad for a refurbished, out of date MP3 player.

As you might've noticed with the semi-frequent posting, I'm trying to get this site up and running properly again. I'm trying to post more, and different kind of stuff to keep the site interesting. I've even got a few little projects for the site I'm working on:
A Double Feature cover song compilation
A New Werewolf compilation (bands who play songs named after movie titles)
An attempt at a Podcast (Idea swiped from Cosmobells) -

The first two things should've been done some time ago, but I'm a slacker, so they are still in the "being worked on" phase. The Podcast, not going too well. I've gotten like 30 minutes, but I'm not happy with it. I like the song choices, not too obvious, but not pretentiously obscure. But it's just not going together too well. I don't know if I'll actually finish this thing up.