Sunday, June 30

Robert Englund's Appearance on Japanese TV as Freddy Krueger...


Here's Englund at the Hollywood Collector's Convention in Tokyo just last month

Thursday, June 27




Tuesday, June 25



Saturday, June 22






Wednesday, June 19

The Promo Trailer for the unmade 1988 version of Teenage Exorcist


Sunday, June 16





(click to enlarge, they all look like crap)

Saturday, June 15

Concerning the Hatchet series, has Victor Crowley's make-up gotten progressively worse?


First off, please excuse the lack of updates, it's been a hellish work week. Anyway, the latest Hatchet debuted through several distribution methods yesterday and a picture of the newest variant of Crowley popped into my FB newsfeed. Can't say I'm impressed, but I didn't care for the bloated kidney bean design by Greg Smith in the follow-up. They're obviously honing the design for comfort and ease-of-application (also remember hearing it being an homage to the Friday the 13th series), but there's just something about John Carl Buechler's original take on Crowley that the redesign's sorely lack.

That something might be a sense of hyperreality both Jason and Freddy usually possess in their appearances. They look monstrous yet familiar, like through some insane genetic misfiring and physical disfigurement they could actually exist. The bulky rubbery look of the sequel Crowleys push the monster aspect of the sculpt into absurdity. It doesn't help Hodder played the character as more a pure enraged hate machine in Hatchet II than the big murderous kid throwing a confused tantrum in Green's original. In fact, all of the brownish colored gore effects in the follow-up lack the visceral brutality seen the first film despite there being more of them.    

I have other grievances with the second sequel, but I don't want to nitpick further (*cough* stupid unrated theatrical stunt *cough*). Although Buechler's absence certainly shows and the jury is still out on the latest installment since I'm in no rush to see it. The trailer gives off the impression it's the same ol' deal just with cops instead of hapless teens or hick commandos. Does anyone know why the veteran effects artist/director didn't return as effects coordinator for the second or third sequel?

Here's a excerpt from a Horror interview that kinda makes you wonder why Buechler hasn't returned : "...the starting point for me had to be the VICTOR CROWLEY make-up. If I wasn't inspired by his appearance, I wouldn't be inspired to take the next step forward. Adam Green allowed me to design one of the most satisfying characters that I've ever created. As I looked at my sketches and final sculpture, I realized that I’d created a new icon. And the make-up itself, as innovative and horrifying as the Jason Make-up I’d created for my friend Kane Hodder as Jason some 18 years ago. Having an amazing and intense actor as Kane play him made it work on a level beyond amazing."

Sunday, June 9

Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1987) - 2013 Sub Rosa Studios Productions VHS (#33/100)

Finally picked up this recent limited edition VHS of Fred Olen Ray's Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1987) from Sub Rosa secondhand after it quickly sold out a few months ago from their website. Originally my plan was to avoid this release all together but the right opportunity arose to grab it for no more than their initial asking price. If you follow BoGD and the recent VHS revival then you probably sense I'm not much for this new release boom. In this case, my love of Michelle Bauer's bodacious assets compelled me (Sorry Linnea, hope the pic makes up for it)...

Starting with MPI Video resurrecting their Gorgon Video label for a VHS release of Ti West's House of the Devil (2009) and then exploding overnight with the near-immediate sellout of Mondo Video's limited VHS of David Prior's Sledgehammer(1983), homebrew distribution upstarts have seen the benefits of releasing obscure cult product onto tape...sorta. Despite brisk selling, a given producer is lucky to just break even on their investment into the creation and replication of the their VHS releases.

The real money is in the collector's market, where many of these titles pull surprising auction action. So much so it's not common to see decades old rarities sell for substantially less than say, a "limited" tape just released last year. That's one of the big reasons I'm not keen on these, to re-use a previous term, hipster mantle pieces. It's become more a dick measuring contest than something fun. That and the whole ongoing Wizard Video saga that's blatantly designed to exploit the moneymaking factor, truth and honesty be damned...

Though this release is pretty cool and seems to have Ray's approval. This copy belongs to the first run, denoted by the red cassette and autograph, while the second run also of fifty featured a standard black tape. Aside from those two differences both runs feature a fold-out poster, a tiny B/W repro postcard of the lobby card set (useless), and a DVD-R of the twenty-four minute making-of and trailer seen on Retromedia's DVD releases. If I had a nitpick, it's the VHS/DVD combo case that reeks of being designed for instructional programs in the education or medical fields. It's also wider and squatter than any vintage VHS box design, so it's a bit strange looking on the shelf. Definitely a nice release, buuuutttt I'm still not itching to collect the others...

Friday, June 7







(click to enlarge, ugh.)

Tuesday, June 4

Eating Machine (The Deadly Spawn) (1983) - 1991 Daiei Video Japan Glassbox

If you're a fan on BoGD's Facebook, you might be aware that my already half-broken and ancient HP scanner finally fully broke over the weekend. I ordered a Canon CanoScan LiDE110 on Sunday and it arrived with lightening speed, so expect more cover scans!

This Japanese glassbox of The Deadly Spawn (1983) popped into the mailbox yesterday. It's not a terribly scarce VHS, but the unfaded spine and intact "second" spine make this copy more desirable. The reverse advertises their glassbox of Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive (1977). you dare tread upon the staircase?