Random Film of the Week(end), Too: Horror Castle

(thanks, sleazeorama!) 

Horror Castle smallGiven that it’s been released with no fewer than three titles (The Virgin of Nuremberg and Castle of Terror are the other two), it’s not surprise that I didn’t get to see this Italian horror flick until it popped up on TCM a few days ago. Of course, if I wasn’t up and half dying from the scratchy throat that mutated into the cold I’m now getting over, I’d have missed this frightening little import gem. Sure, it’s got a score that sounds a bit out of place, some odd dialog (although I’m not sure if this a translation issue) and yes, plenty of cliché gone wild moments that would sink a lesser effort. Nevertheless, the overall gloomy atmosphere and great color photography, a great extended cameo by Christopher Lee (misspelled as Cristopher Lee in the credits) and a pretty damn excellent scene involving rats, a cage and a young woman’s face make this one worth tracking down…

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Random Film of the Week(end): MARTIN

(thanks albademorti!) 

martin 1978 I think I like MARTIN the best out of all George Romero’s films because despite its age it still holds up one of the best modern takes on the vampire genre (even though the titular character only thinks he’s one) and is about as uncompromising as it gets from beginning to end.

It’s also an extremely hard to watch film if you’re squeamish about a few things like needles, fresh razor blades and blood, but everything clicks on multiple levels and there’s a powerful payoff at the end that offers up a bit of slyly amusing social commentary common to Romero’s work. If all you know about vampires is that tween sparkly Twilight crap or even the used to be interesting before it went into fairy fantasy crazyland True Blood, this one will stake a claim in your brain as soon as you meet the titular character doing his version of the bloodsucking thing he needs to slake his thirst…
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Yeah, I’m Back (With Some Bigger Fish to Fry)…

So, that nasty sore throat that was making my life miserable is pretty much dead in the water thanks to a few limes, some honey, hot water and a good knife. Peel and cut up 2 limes into bite size pieces, place them into a bowl, pour some honey on them and eat up. Yum! Well, it’s not supposed to be dessert, but that angry kitten with be gone from that throat. make some hot tea with what’s left and drink that if necessary. All I have now is this sneezing and a bit of stuffy nose action to deal with. I think tomorrow is a federal holiday anyway, so my fastest wi-fi spot may be shut down anyway, but I wanted to kick this stupid cold in the groin a few times so I’m all fresh and fancy for a few meetings coming up this week. Die, germs! I got your shutdown right here, POW!

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Saturn 3 Blu-Ray/DVD Bound: Heckling Hector and Company For Their Less Than Stellar Work…

Saturn 3 BDOK, I didn’t think it was possible, but it looks as if someone is actually putting the wretched mess Saturn 3 out on Blu-Ray. The otherwise great director Stanley Donen’s flawed folly of a feeble flick is headed out to retail on December 3, 2013 from the fine folks at Shout Factory.

This big budget sci-fi/horror non-epic non masterpiece (it’s not even a “so bad it’s good” experience) completely wastes the talents of all involved and is a total mess from start to finish. Thankfully, it looks as if the disc’s handful of bonus features just may save this one from being the “WTF did you get me this crap for?” movie of the year.  Trust me, there’s not one redeemable quality about the theatrical version, but I know some movie fans find elements of this junk heap intriguing enough to want to go back and watch this a few too many times.

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NYCC 2013: IDW’s Peanuts Artist’s Edition: Good Grief, Charlie Brown, That’s MORE Than Five Cents, Please!

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Boom. Well, it looks as if IDW is going to be breaking a few MORE wallets with this upcoming original art-sized collection of Charlie Brown and company. No release date or price has been set, but you can bet it won’t cost (wait for it…) Peanuts (ba-dum-bum!). Press release below the jump. Go read it, I need to cough up a half bucket of stuff that’s clogging my cold-packed throat (Yuk).

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Saturday’s Sick (For All The Wrong Reasons)…

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Ha. I’m not even downtown at Flu Central Station (aka New York Comic-Con 2013) and I’m feeling like someone’s scraping my throat with sandpaper wrapped in barbed wire. Yuk. It’s the damned library here with its wheezing teens, old people and kids and man, whatever I got socked with is fast moving and nasty. Bleh. Thankfully, I’ve some Throat Coat tea at home, enough limes to open a fruit stand and a fresh jar of honey. I may have to break out my chicken soup making skills for this one, but I’ll need to defrost that bird taking up space in the freezer and get to work cooking it for the carcass. Anyway, updates will be slow this weekend just so I’m alive for a few meetings next week I’ve already scheduled. I need to be careful with my health these days, as my current insurance plan goes something like this:

(thanks, frankpilarski!)

Did I mention I despise being sick (especially when it’s not my fault)? Eh, welcome to the human race, I suppose. I don’t even want to KNOW what my fellow writer types are going to be dealing with after NYCC is over. Usually, you’re hoarse, have tired legs and feet, maybe a few paper cuts and if you imbibed from one of those public fountains at the event, that combined with whatever bad food you’ve eaten will get you into solitary confinement in the comfort of your own bathroom for a wee bit too long. OK, that’s a bit of TMI for some of you out there, but I’m just telling it like it is…

NYCC 2013: IDW’s 2014 Lineup: Kirby, Steranko, Gibbons. Your Wallet’s Gone (And They’re Not Done Yet)…

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Every time I get a press release from IDW Comics, I fear opening it just because I just KNOW that it’s going to be for one of their spectacular new classic comic collections and I’ll want to add it to my already too long want list. Nevertheless, I forge ahead, click and drool away, knowing I can’t afford any of them, but hoping I’ll actually get to get my grubby paws on a copy someone I know buys when they see it here on the site. Anyway, the company’s 2014 lineup is rolling out in the form of a few press releases (below the jump), so ogle those covers above for as long as you like and then pawn off a kidney (preferably not yours). These books will be in the usual limited run actual art size editions IDW is well known for. OK, put on your reading shoes – you’ve got some press releases to pore over!

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SOMA Update: Freaky Friday Nets You Two New Videos. Or Three…

Frictional Games’ upcoming hybrid sci-fi/horror game, SOMA gets two nice new trailers in the form of another live action update and a gameplay teaser that’s popped up on Frictional’s YouTube channel and Sony’s PlayStation channel. That the game is coming to the PS4 as well as PC makes me smile because this may mean we see Frictional perhaps bring Amnesia: The Dark Descent to Sony’s new console or something all new and scary as hell to put horror fans under their couches.

And innnterestingly enough… the PS$ trailer is a WHOLE two seconds shorter than the PC version. Oooooh, creepy! OK, not creepy at all, folks – I have the window open and it’s chilly in here! Anyway, my eyes are peeled for this one to be a big fat sleeper hit. We’ll see. Of course, getting this on a DISC along with some of Frictional’s other games would be perfect, but we’ll see what happens with that soon enough…

BandFuse: Rock Legends Gets A Little Social D Kick…

Nice. I haven’t listed to Social Distortion in ages, but it’s cool to see my soon to be favorite new music game getting a Ness little addition (ho ho, I’m one with the lousy puns today, aren’t I?), Anyway, this is just another cool layer that’s going to add legs to an already comprehensive game that’s sure to shake things up when it hits stores on November 19. Get ready to be rocked, i say – BandFuse should be a winner that gets people up and playing like they mean it.

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Machete Kills… Some Time (If You’re Up To Another Trip to Camp Value)…

machete killsWelp, I knew this wasn’t going to be Gone With The Wind (unless you count how long it lasts in theaters, ha, ha), but it’s here, ready and more than willing to take some dollars from your wallet and beat you senseless with its non-stop Rodriguez-ness. I guess I’ll see this like I did the original Machete – on cable, and surprised that I didn’t know it was premiering so soon. Amusingly enough, I had a weird dream about Sofia Loren and Sofia Vergara standing next to each other on a subway giving each other the once over and I woke up laughing because by the same point in their careers, Loren had done the sexpot thing as well as more mature acting work and had multiple awards and international acclaim. Sofia needs to step it up, methinks… although you big fans of her body of work (Ah. Ha. Ha.) will probably disagree. On the other hand, Danny Trejo looks like he fell down a mountain on is face a few too many thousand feet, but that mug has brought him fame, fortune and a variety of roles that has cemented him a place in the hearts of many. Er, sort of. Given that he dies a lot in the stuff he makes, it’s finally good to see him playing a somewhat invincible dude you don’t want to mess with!