You Know You're A Monster If...

Growing up in the late 80s and early 90s I was always a big Mad and Cracked magazine fan. Re-reading a lot of issues now I realize that I probably didn't really get a lot of the jokes, but I never hesitated to bug my mom to pick up a new issue any time I saw one at Safeway or Crown Books. As a young horror fan as well, I absolutely lost my mind any time Mad or Cracked had a horror-themed article. Would you call a 3 or 4-page segment of a comic an article? That doesn't sound right, right? 

So, as I'm going through these comics for the first time in years I'll probably post some of the more horror-centric articles here. Articles. That still sounds weird to me.

From issue 257. Featuring art by Gene Colan (co-creator of Blade!), written by George Gladir. Credit to the scanner of this issue.

Own One of 500 1:4 Scale Leatherface Statues Today

Texas Chainsaw fans, this 1:4 scale Leatherface statue can be yours for several $41 dollar payments:

Preorder here

Not sure why they went with the Texas Chainsaw version though. A lot of people really weren't too into that one when it came out, so it seems like they should've gone with the one from the first film, or my personal favorite Leatherface, the one from Part 2.

I'm one of the few that did enjoy Texas Chainsaw, despite it being a bit on the goofy side - in fact I liked it because it was a bit goofy. "Do your thing, cuz!" was one of the most wonderfully stupid lines I've heard in years. It was dumb, sure, and yeah the girl should've been 10 years older, but I didn't really care. It didn't make me think one bit, but it kept me entertained and sometimes that's all you need.

I don't know, I think horror is getting too grim for me lately. Take TCM: The Beginning for example. It's a fine enough movie, but all I kept thinking the entire time is "Man, this is kinda bumming me out." You always hear of people being desensitized to violence, but I'm the opposite. As I'm getting older I'm finding myself to be a lot more squeamish than I was before being subjected to countless gruesome horror movies over the past 25 years. I'm not disgusted by it like I'm gonna hork or anything, I'm just finding it more unpleasant to watch as I get older. I still love horror, but I find myself steering clear of the overly intense hyper realistic stuff. Anyone else experiencing this, or am I nuts?

Toothless Werewolf Holding Human Head - More Absurd Movie Posters From Ghana

How about some more Ghanarian (that can't be right) style horror movie posters? If there's one thing to be said about Ghanaian movie poster artists, they are masterful when it comes to proportion.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 Gets Limited Edition Release From Arrow Video

I left one of the announced Arrow releases off the of the last post because I thought it was righteous and kick ass enough to warrant it's own post. This October 14th Arrow is giving The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 a limited edition 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD release that contains a pair of early Hooper films (Eggshells & The Heisters) and a 100 page book. This is Dennis Hopper's least favorite film he's ever worked on and my favorite film of Tobe Hooper's career, I'll be dropping some money for this one for sure.

If you plan on picking this one up, preorder it now because like the other Arrow titles I posted about any preorders put in before August 12th will be discounted. It's actually a pretty substantial discount for this title, it's currently listed at £19.99 if you order before 8/12, if you order after that it jumps up to £34.99.


Lick this press release, you dog dick!

Starring: Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams, Jim Siedow
Directed by: Tobe Hooper

Overview: AFTER A DECADE OF SILENCE... THE BUZZZ IS BACK!

In 1974, Tobe Hooper quite literally changed the face of horror with his landmark film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Although the hulking Leatherface and his trusty power tool left an indelible mark upon the cinematic landscape, it wouldn’t be until 1986 that the buzz came back… in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2!

Relocating the cannibalistic Sawyer clan to a cavernous, labyrinthian dwelling beneath an amusement park, Hooper’s deliciously demented sequel sees Leatherface and Co. continue their murderous exploits afresh. This time around, local DJ Stretch runs afoul of the Sawyers when she gets mixed up in the brutal slaying of two youngsters. Meanwhile, Lieutenant ‘Lefty’ Enright, is hell-bent on avenging the murder of his nephew Franklin in the first movie.

A cult classic in its own right, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 serves up a heady blend of gratuitous gore, socio-political critique and jet-black humour – whilst Dennis Hopper’s unhinged turn as Lefty needs to be seen to be believed! Whichever way you skin it, Leatherface’s second cinematic outing is an uncompromisingly delirious vision from one of horror’s great directors.

3-DISC LIMITED EDITION SET FEATURES:
-High Definition digital transfers of three Tobe Hooper films
-Original uncompressed audio tracks for all films
-Limited Edition Packaging, newly illustrated by Justin Erickson
-Individually Numbered #/10,000 Certificate
-Exclusive Limited Edition Extras

DISC 1 – THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2
-High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation from a digital transfer supervised by Director of Photography Richard Kooris
-Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
-Audio commentary with director and co-writer Tobe Hooper, moderated by David Gregory
-Audio commentary with stars Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams and special-effects legend Tom Savini, moderated by Michael Felsher
-“It Runs in the Family” – A documentary looking at the genesis, making-of and enduring appeal of Hooper’s film. With interviews including star Bill Johnson, co-writer L. M. Kit Carson, Richard Kooris, Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams, Tom Savini, Production Designer Cary White and more!
-Alternate Opening sequence with different musical score
-Deleted scenes
-“Still Feelin' the Buzz” - Interview with horror expert Stephen Thrower, author of Nightmare USA
-Original Trailer

DISC 2 [BLU-RAY] & DISC 3 [DVD] – TOBE HOOPER’S EARLY WORKS – LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE
-High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition (DVD) presentation of two of Tobe Hooper’s early works, available on home video for the first time in the world
-The Heisters (1964) Tobe Hooper’s early short film restored in HD from original elements [10 mins]
-Eggshells (1969) Tobe Hooper’s debut feature restored in HD from original elements [90 mins]
-Audio Commentary on Eggshells by Tobe Hooper
-In Conversation with Tobe Hooper - The legendary horror director speaks about his career from Eggshells to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.
-Trailer Reel of all the major works by Tobe Hooper

100-PAGE BOOK – LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE
-Exclusive perfect bound book featuring new writing on the film by John Kenneth Muir, an overview of the Chainsaw franchise by Joel Harley and an investigation of Tobe Hooper’s three-picture Cannon deal by Calum Waddell, illustrated with archive stills and posters with more to be announced!

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?

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.

Jason vs. Leatherface Comic Book Mini Review

This is Topps Comics' (you know, the baseball card/stale chewing gum people) 3-issue miniseries Jason vs. Leatherface. In one corner the Chainsawing Cannibal Bubba Sawyer. In the other corner, the Mongloid Marauder Jason Vorhees. Who will survive and what will be left of him? You'll have to read and find out.

Each of the 3 issues features an incredible cover by Simon Bisley with interior art by Jeff Butler. Nancy Collins is credited as the writer

For even more Jason and Leatherface fun, be sure to check out some of the fan made stuff on YouTube. Apparently, if you know two tall fat guys, live near the woods and own a hockey mask from the 70s and a chainsaw you can make your very own Jason vs. Leatherface movie. Sumbitch

Macabre Movie Poster Madness - American Horror: Japanese Style

I think my favorite country for movie posters just might be Japan. I like posters that are a bit out of the ordinary and Japan can tend to get really out there with their designs. I especially like what they were doing with American horror films in the 70s and 80s. A lot of the time the posters are like very chaotic collages - movie stills, art from other posters for the film, and Japanese characters splattered seemingly randomly around. It's fascinating really, I could look at them for hours.

The Evil Dead. This poster damn near out-kitsches Army of Darkness' Japanese poster. Not nearly as cool as the one for AOD (and really, what could be?), but this thing is still absolutely bananas.

Now a hysterical poster from John Carpenter's Halloween. At first glance, this poster is fairly kick ass. It's simplistic, but very moody and sinister at the same time. But wait! Take a look a Mikey's face. Whoops! I like to imagine this guy was just really blitzed while he was painting this at the last minute, desperate to make a deadline and he just accidentally went a little too "bulgey-eyed puppet man" with his depiction of Michael Myers.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The collage-like design really works quite well here. Like a page from some demented scrapbook that might've been kept on the premises of the Sawyer compound. What all the Japanese stuff would be doing on there, I do not know, but you see what I'm saying.

Re-Animator - A masterful classic, brimming with severed head eroticism. Gotta love the blood splatter to hide Barbara's business. I don't know if that's supposed to be funny, but....

Carrie - I've got no comment on this one, but I figured the post would look odd without something other than the title here.

Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3

Here's the soundtrack from the third installment of the Texas Chainsaw series, Leatherface: TCM 3, or Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III for long. Featuring Death Angel, Sacred Reich, and several other bands of less importance. Coincidentally, this is the second time I'm posting something with the song Methods of Madness by the band Obsession - That song was also in Sleepaway Camp 3 (soundtrack here). I'm a little disappointed that the punk band Leatherface doesn't have a track on the soundtrack. Having a band named after the main character in the movie appear on the soundtrack to a sequel seems like something you'd have to make happen if you were responsible for the soundtrack. TCM3 came out in 1990, they were around then, they should've called them. Bastards. Lääz Rockit (what the hell is a Lääz Rockit anyway?) has a song called Leatherface on here, but that's just not the same.

The film is not the best in the series (though certainly no TCM: The Next Generation) but there are some great casting choices, Viggo Mortensen, Ken Foree, Tom Everett and even Clu Gulager's wife Miriam Byrd-Nethery as Mama Sawyer. By the way, don't be shocked if it is eventually revealed that David Duchovny is the illegitimate son of Tom Everett. I mean come on!


Now that the word Leatherface has appeared more times in this post than it did in the entire script for the movie, I should finish up. Here's the tracklist:

1. LEATHERFACE (04:10)
Laaz Rockit
2. BORED (03:27)
Death Angel
3. WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (05:42)
Wrath
4. SPARK IN MY HEART (04:56)
Hurricane
5. POWER (04:05)
SGM
6. ONE NATION (03:20)
Sacred Reich
7. MONSTER MASH (05:31)
Utter Lunacy
8. THE GIFT OF DEATH (08:50)
Wasted Youth
9. METHODS OF MADNESS (03:24)
Obsession
10. PSYCHOTIC KILLING MACHINE (03:22)
MX Machine