31 Days of Halloween - Day 15: When Puppets & Dolls Attack

For the last few years I always do a 31 days of Halloween month. The past few years I re-read all the original Goosebumps books and before that I'd watch 31 horror movies. However I realized every single time I watched 31 Horror movies I exclusively picked ones I enjoyed. I decided to do something slightly different. I composed a list of every horror movie I owned and put them in alphabetical order. Then using a random number generator I generated 31 numbers and watched the movies that corresponded with those numbers. Some are great films and others… well… are less than fun let's say. I hope you enjoy!

Day 15: When Puppets & Dolls Attack! (Movie #506)

So part of the fun of doing these Russian Roulette style is that I own such a wide variety of films that I could get a movie I love (The Frighteners) as well as a movie I hate (Nightmare on Elm Street Remake) and/or something like this.

However that is also the downside to this. There is nothing to compliment or review really. When Puppets & Dolls Attack! is a compilation of death scenes from Full Moon pictures. There's some good nostalgic stuff as well as greatly disappointing clips.

Since there's no real plot line this is gonna be a short one. Its only advantage is that it's fun to remember how great those early movies and it also shows how the more recent films (while having a bigger price tag) seem cheaper somehow.

Matt Kelly is the host of the popular podcast The Saint Mort Show, a frequent contributor to Geekscape.net, the founder of Chords for Cures and the co-writer/co-director of the upcoming comedy Describing the Moon. He also loves it when people surprise him with purchases from his Amazon Wishlist… just saying.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 8: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

For the last few years I always do a 31 days of Halloween month. The past few years I re-read all the original Goosebumps books and before that I'd watch 31 horror movies. However I realized every single time I watched 31 Horror movies I exclusively picked ones I enjoyed. I decided to do something slightly different. I composed a list of every horror movie I owned and put them in alphabetical order. Then using a random number generator I generated 31 numbers and watched the movies that corresponded with those numbers. Some are great films and others… well… are less than fun let's say. I hope you enjoy!

Day 8: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (Movie #36)

When I first purchased The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms on DVD I hadn't see it before. I was actually trying to purchase Them! but the cheapest copy was a double feature with this film. This was not a bad thing as a child one of my all-time favorite movies was Jason & The Argonauts largely because of the stop-motion of Ray Harryhausen.

The film starts off with a group of scientists testing an atomic bomb in the Arctic. What they unknowingly do is awake a carnivorous dinosaur. The only witness is declared as delirious and released from the rest of the expedition but he persists in New York desperately trying to warn people of the danger that awaits them.  Eventually the dinosaur walks ashore and attacks New York.

Like many sci-fi/horror films from the 50s the film is mostly a slow burn. However I do applaud the immediately introduction of the claymation beast. Most films of that era (and beyond) would just hint at the creature and reveal it in the last 10 minutes but with a creature as impressive as this one I can imagine their excitement to show it off immediately. It truly is the star of the show.

This is not the greatest Harryhausen work of career (I'm still gonna give that to Jason & The Argonauts and 7th voyage of Sinbad) but it is a damn impressive creation regardless. This film doesn't feel at all like a Halloween film though and while I'm sure I'm watch it again and again for years to come I doubt it'll ever become a Halloween tradition for me.

Matt Kelly is the host of the popular podcast The Saint Mort Show, a frequent contributor to Geekscape.net, the founder of Chords for Cures and the co-writer/co-director of the upcoming comedy Describing the Moon. He also loves it when people surprise him with purchases from his Amazon Wishlist… just saying.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 1: Return of the Fly

For the last few years I always do a 31 days of Halloween month. The past few years I re-read all the original Goosebumps books and before that I'd watch 31 horror movies. However I realized every single time I watched 31 Horror movies I exclusively picked ones I enjoyed. I decided to do something slightly different. I composed a list of every horror movie I owned and put them in alphabetical order. Then using a random number generator I generated 31 numbers and watched the movies that corresponded with those numbers. Some are great films and others… well… are less than fun let's say. I hope you enjoy!

Day 1: The Fly Collection - Return of the Fly (Movie #167)

When I was a kid my parents showed me The Monster Squad. That was the beginning of my love affair with horror movies. While it took me until Junior High to be comfortable watching modern R-rated horror films (all thanks to my cousin Dave and a little film called Scream) I loved the old classics. I must thank Crestwood House Books for their amazing Monsters book series as they helped me discover all the classic titles. One of the titles they introduced to me was The Fly. However when I finally saw the original I was greatly disappointed. The monster in the movie didn't look like the monster picture in the book. It wasn't until years later I realized the picture they used was the monster from it's sequel Return of the Fly.

The Bible To 7 Year Old Matt Kelly

I was excited to rewatch this film. I always liked the look of The Fly in this movie more than any other Fly film (including the incredible remake). That being said I forgot how slow, boring and frankly… bad the first hour of this movie is. While the original film had the framing device of Inspectors trying to solve the murder mystery of Andre Delambre this film is totally linear.

That's not necessarily a bad thing but at least while the original dragged we were reminded of the violent opening that hooked us in. This film doesn't have that. Instead we're left sitting waiting for the film to get exciting without having any little tastes of whats to come until 45 minutes into an 80 minute long film.

The film never finds it's tone which also hurts it but the fly creature in this is still awesome (even though  it's obvious right away that the actor in the costume can't see). It's a shame it's so under used. I'm not sure why something as simple as giving it a larger head and fly leg makes it so much better but it truly does improve the look of the creature.

The movie takes place years after the original. Phillipe's (Andre's son) mother has died and the mystery of his famous fathers death has never been solved. Francois (Vincent Price) finally tells Phil the truth of his fathers death and Phil swears to continue his father's research. He asks Alan (an employee of Francois) to assist him in his research.

Alan turns out to be a traitor and when his trickery is discovered he fights with Phillipe successfully knocking him out. He drags Phillipe's body to the transporter and captures a fly as well as an additional fuck you. I think you know what happens from there.

All in all the film is a rough rehashing of the original but on a much lower budget. I really didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would but I will sing praise for the film's monster until the day I die.

Matt Kelly is the host of the popular podcast The Saint Mort Show, a frequent contributor to Geekscape.net, the founder of Chords for Cures and the co-writer/co-director of the upcoming comedy Describing the Moon. He also loves it when people surprise him with purchases from his Amazon Wishlist… just saying.

10 Horror Movie VHS Covers Forever Etched Into My Brain

I've talked about this multiple times on my blog but there are few memories I hold as dearly as visiting the video store. I would walk through the horror section every time (even when I was too much of a pussy to watch horror movies I'd still love just looking at the covers).

When I finally became brave enough to rent the videos I would be in my local mom and pops store for 40-50 minutes looking at every cover and considering "should I rent this?" I will say this in advance, 7 of these movies I didn't rent back the and four of them I still have yet to see. Regardless I will always remember these box covers.

10. Monkey Shines

This cover terrified me. TERRIFIED ME. Look at that fucking monkey! This movie would have scared me if the entire thing was just that monkey clashing it's cymbals while staring into my soul. I put this movie off until it was available on Instant watch a few years ago. I thought it was strictly okay (although I know many who love it). 

9. House IV

Don't get me wrong the VHS covers of House and House 2 also captivated my brain but this was the one I remember really freaking me out. The previous covers had an element of comedy that I always felt this one lacked. I've yet to see this one for a pretty ridiculous reason. Despite having multiple chances to watch it I kept putting it off until I had a chance to see House 3: The Horror Show even though I knew it wasn't a legit House sequel. Thanks to FearNet a few years back I finally did get to watch that so House IV you best not disappoint!

8. Bloody New Year

Until about two years ago when I saw this cover on VHSPS' website I thought I was going insane because NO ONE knew what I was talking about. This cover always captivated me (but never scared me). I've yet to see this one but I'll probably order it off VHSPS very soon.

7. Society

I saw this movie for the first time this summer but I've remembered the cover for years. It was one of those covers that looked so bizarre that it captivated me but I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to watch it. Years later I heard nothing but praise for it and decided to grab it off VHSPS. It is nothing short of a horror masterpiece. If you haven't seen this one you owe it to yourself as a horror fan to track a copy down!

6. Halloween 2

This might be one of my all-time favorite posters. This specific image, I've seen other versions that have been changed for DVDs but it's the simplicity of this one that I adore and will always remember. This is the only movie on this list that I saw the movie before I ever saw the cover. I caught Halloween II on television right around the point I was just beginning to get brave enough to watch horror movies. That has nothing to do with the cover, just a fun fact.

5. Elves

When I became a horror movie fan I started taking it seriously immediately. It was right in the beginning of the internet's popularity and I discovered a site called Video Graveyard which was (for about two years) my horror bible. If they praised a movie then I'd see it, if they hated it… I'd avoid it. They were not impressed with Elves so despite how much this cover intrigued me I never rented it. Now I regret it since it's a hard movie to find. That being said I've discovered it's also available on VHSPS so maybe I'll pick it up along with Bloody New Year to prepare for X-mas 2014 and New Years 2015.

4. Blood Beach

This was another notoriously bad movie that captivated me. I almost rented this movie more times than I can remember and constantly wanted to know why this woman was being pulled into the sand. I did eventually see it through VHSPS and while I didn't hate it it's definitely not a masterpiece. Despite all that it's tag-line "Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Back In The Water - You Can't Get To It" is one of the best of all-time.

3. The Funhouse

I was mesmerized by this cover for years, I saw it on Video Graveyard and thought it looked awesome but my local video store never had it. One night I was spending the night with my grandparents and my grandmother and I went out to rent a videotape. As I walked around her video store I saw that they had a copy of The Funhouse and immediately had her rent it for me. After everyone went to sleep I watched the movie and honestly I struggled to stay awake. I was beyond bored by it. Years later I kept hearing praise about it and rewatched it thanks to Netflix, it quickly became one of my all-time favorite horror films. I hate the new cover out there which is just a close up for the clowns face (with added drool), I'll always prefer this killer jack-in-the-box cover.

2. The Mutilator

I've yet to see this movie but based on the horror podcasts I listen to I'm not missing too much. But much like Blood Beach this was a VHS cover I would pick up and look at during every visit to the video store. One day I do hope to finally see this but I'm prepared to be let down after all these years.

1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

This is (and has always been) my favorite cover to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Before I was a horror fan I had an uncle who was. This uncle was the best uncle a geek like I could want. He was rich and owned hundreds of movies, toys and arcade games. I would frequently look at his horror movie covers and I was obsessed with this weird cartoon drawing (I was also obsessed with the cover to Groove Tube). I was so young that I didn't know the title to this movie so when I started seeing the more popular VHS cover for Texas Chainsaw Massacre in video stores I became convinced this was a different movie. It wasn't until google that I was able to look it up and confirm it was in fact an old VHS cover for arguably the greatest horror film ever put to celluloid.

Matt Kelly is the host of the popular podcast The Saint Mort Show, a frequent contributor to Geekscape.net, the founder of Chords for Cures and the co-writer/co-director of the upcoming comedy Describing the Moon. He also loves it when people surprise him with purchases from his Amazon Wishlist… just saying.