It’s been a long time…

Wow, so it’s been forever (I exaggerate) since I’ve done a post here. I’ve done an interview with the Bumbloods creators and I need to get that up. I got stopped in my tracks because of a computer malfunction and had to rebuild. I’m still not 100%, but I’m guessing I never will be from the way it was before the crash so I might as well get back to it any way I can.

It’s been a heck of a year for collectors, which is where I want to start. I’ll just be posting some of my top items from the past year, if you feel like contributing to any of the great pieces you’ve picked up, go ahead and leave me a note in the comments or a picture or something.

 

Hero From The Sky Ash

Hero From The Sky Ash by N.E.C.A.

N.E.C.A. released a series of Evil Dead II figures including Henrietta, Hero Ash, Deadite Ash, and Farewell to Arms Ash. All of these were brilliant figures, but perhaps the best of them all was the SD Comic Con exclusive figure Hero From The Sky Ash depicting our hero at the end of ED II which would lead to the beginning of Army of Darkness. Made in a terrific sepia tone this one is special beyond anything I can express, not just because of the paint, but it comes with a terrific base and special packaging that just sets it apart from the rest of the figures in this series.

 

Tar Man

Amok Time Tar Man from Return of The Living Dead

If you missed out on this one, you should try to find it because any collection without this piece is going to be incomplete. This brilliantly crafted figure is sculpted to exquisite detail, including the canister in the wall of the base and the bloody brain with the bite taken out of it which is loose so not only can you place it on the base where it belongs, but you can pose this guy with his snack in hand! Not part of any series of figures, this guy is a one off collectible that we’ll likely never see again. If we do, it would be very challenging to make one better.

 

Cereal Killer Trading Cards Series 2

Cereal Killers Series 2 Trading Cards

If you haven’t caught on yet, Wax-Eye’s Cereal Killer trading cards are the coolest trading cards I’ve ever seen! Artwork by Joe Simko, these cards depict our favorite movie monsters in mock cereal boxes. The packs come as three boxes of mini cereal style boxes or as single foil packs. The boxes come with the entire base series and a few of the premium cards. They also each contain an eye ball gum keeping with the old gum in the trading cards packs theme from when I was a kid. This spin on trading cards is just awesome and I loved seeing what monsters they chose to do this time around. Series one was terrific, series two was better, here’s hoping for a series three!!

 

Eddie and Marilyn Munster

Eddie and Marilyn Munster by Diamond Select

Diamond Select continued their Universal Monsters theme throughout the year giving us such figures as Metaluna Mutant from This Island Earth and The Phantom from Phantom of the Opera and The Invisible Man as well as more Universal Monster Mini Mates. But perhaps their best was the series two Munster figures of Eddie and Marilyn. Why are these the best? Because it completes the family that was left out of series one. We had Herman, Lilly, and Grandpa, leaving open space for these two characters and when I found out they came in a two pack, I was just tickled that I wouldn’t have to spend a lot to complete my scary collection of one of the most ghoulish families to grace classic television. The best part next to these characters was the items that came with them. If you’ll notice you get their pet dragon’s collar and leash as well as Wolfie, Eddie’s Wolfman doll!

 

Well Zombie

 

McFarlane Well Walker Zombie

It’s been a while since I’ve bought any McFarlane figures, mostly due to them cancelling their Movie Maniacs line of figures. This year though they put out one of the most exciting figures I’ve seen in a while. The ‘Well Zombie’ as it’s being called in the packaging was the Well Walker from season two of the Walking Dead AMC show based on the Walking Dead comic. This guy is my favorite of this series of figures which included the Bicycle Girl Zombie, Shane, and the RV Zombie. Well Zombie comes with the canned ham that was used to initially try to lure him out of the well, but we all know Well Zombie doesn’t want canned ham. They ended up using a rope to pull him out and when they did he ripped in half! Gross yes, but it made for one of the most recognized scenes in the series (I think) and for a great figure too because he does indeed come with the rope around him and he rips apart in the middle with guts hanging out and all!

 

Frankenstein

MEZCO Frankenstein Monster Scale Figure

So, Toys R Us surprised me when they featured this 9″ monster figure by MEZCO, I picked it up and found it was very heavy. I bought it. Then I found out that they made what Mezco is calling a Monster Scale figure at 19″ tall. I had to get him! It’s pretty expensive for a vinyl figure, and probably weighs the same at the 9″ figure because of the material it is made out of, which makes it feel really light. But it’s still solid and it’s a great sculpt of the character which is why I got him in the first place. I really think Mezco has outdone themselves with this and it’s not the last one we’ll see as they say they are releasing a couple other Universal Monster figures coming up.

 

Honorable Mentions

There have been a lot of great collectible toys that came out this year, and it’s hard to narrow them down to the best. We had some cool Freddy Krueger figures, some great Jason Voorhees figures (both by N.E.C.A.), and to keep step with all these great releases above and the ones I just mentioned, Funko continued their line of monster Pop! figures with a Leatherface and Jack Skellington and Sally figures.

Funko Pop! Leatherface

Jack Skellington & Sally Funko Pop! Figures

 

So, there’s my list of the best collectible toys of 2012. I’m sure I missed some because of how I choose to collect, but that’s why I’m leaving it open so YOU can share your favorites with me!

 

- Mr. Frights

http://www.facebook.com/frights

BumBloods

I found something pretty amazing online. I’m hoping you’ll come along with me and check out this very cool, very well done zombie comedy series. It’s four episodes about two unlikely roommates dealing with a zombie outbreak. I did an interview with the Matt and Joe, the creative team behind the series and I’ll be bringing that to you a bit later. For now, go check out what all the fuss is about.

http://www.bumbloods.com/

- Mr. Frights

http://www.mrfrights.com

Re-REVIEW: The Dead Matter

Written by: Tony Demci & Edward Douglas

Directed by: Edward Douglas

Starring: Andrew Divoff, Tom Savini, Sean Serino, Tom Nagel, C.B. Spencer

QUICK FIX:

A young woman is guilt-ridden and depressed over the death of her brother and hey, who wouldn’t be? After several supernaturally inspired attempts to contact him on The Other Side end in failure, by shear luck and good plotting she comes upon an ancient mystical scarab charm necklace that she soon finds out just so happens to control the dead. Or should I say undead, as he (or she) who controls the scarab also commands and controls an army of zombies. Not the always hungry, brain-eating kind. I’m talking the mindless, soulless, kill-on-command, at-your-command, by-your-command kind of zombie – my kind of army of darkness right there. It’s like having your very own platoon of Paul Walkers at your fingertips to do your bidding! But wait, there’s more…

There also just happens to be a couple of vampire dudes who have been fighting back and forth with each other for centuries – one who is embracing a new way of life in a very GODFATHER type of role and another who refuses to renounce the old ways – who are after the scarab, each for his own degrees of nefarious intent. And guess who’s caught in the middle of all this mess? Damn right – the guilt-ridden, depressed girl and her friends. Enter a fearless vampire hunter into the mix, and what we have here folks, is one hell of an epic G vs. E tale unfolding RIGHT HERE on our very own TV screens. So pass the Super Duper Nachos and Jameson, and make some room on the sofa for me – we got us a party goin on right here!!!

RAMBLINGS:

Let me start by saying this right out of the gate – I really wish this flick had gotten a nationwide theatrical release. Sparkly, sanitized vampires glowing with emo-angst-ridden lust preening about to a 30 Seconds To Mars soundtrack have been steadily littering our screens for the last few years and honestly, sitting through one of those lazily written tales of a boring teen torn between two different, even more boring, groups of vamps and lycans has been more than enough to make me want to drive a stake through my own heart, standing in the sunlight no less. I was very much afraid that the days of brutal vampirism in the vein (HA!) of 30 DAYS OF NIGHT had been forever whitewashed into a six-movie deal of a love triangle.

Now, finally, someone has stepped up and said, “There will be none of that shit goin down in MY house!! NOT IN MY HOUSE!!!!!”, and I will forever be grateful Mr. Edward Douglas for bringing back the true vamps of old. I’m not saying this is balls to the wall action in the 30 DAYS OF NIGHT style. There is action and oh yes, there is blood, but there is also style, substance, and much like onions and ogres, layers. Good old fashioned storytelling here, folks. I’m talking multiple story arcs and conflict-ridden characters all very well written and all coming to a believable culmination by the time all’s said and done.

On the acting front, you’d better believe your ass that once again and as always, Divoff and Savini never disappoint. If only they had more screen time together to add to their epic battle…but hey, even if they were on screen together for every second of every frame and this were an eight-hour miniseries, I’d probably still bitch that they weren’t together enough. After all, this is the Djinn and Sex Machine on screen together dammit, so that’s just the geek in me coming to the surface again. Everyone else did their jobs extremely well…when you have great material to read from, you can’t go wrong. Only one small complaint about the whole deal…Sean Serino is a very beautiful young lady, but I just could not wrap my head around why such a pivotal character with so much happening to her and around her and with so much conflict in her life would be portrayed as so spacey and aloof the whole way through the flick. It was almost like she was about 37 doses too heavily into Prozac Heaven. More than once, it almost took me out of my viewing experience, but thankfully everyone else brought me back where I needed to be.

I must also send a special shout out to my kickasstastic SyFy Saturday Premiere Girlfriend – the lovely and talented Jen Sharlow, who portrayed Concubine. Tis a small role, sadly, but I’ll take what I can get. So watch for her, drool over her, want her for yourself, but most importantly, cast her…there’s a ton of heart, talent, and brains wrapped up in that body just waiting for a mass horror audience to revel in.

But now…NOW…that dream could very well come true hopefully sooner rather than later the more people that see it. Right now, THE DEAD MATTER is available at many places including your favorite online retail outlets. And before long…wait for it…WAIT FOR IIIIIIIIITTTTT…I can’t say just yet, sorry. But rest assured that soon…SOON, my fiends, you will know all the facts, and it will be in your face bigger and brighter than HD Blu-Ray porn.

LAST WORDS:

I reviewed this flick once already a couple or so years ago, as you may or may not remember. But in light of a huge announcement coming VERY soon from the one & only Midnight Syndicate, I’m coming out of reviewing retirement and resurrecting my review for a special return engagement. But still, after all this time, while keelhauling my brain for something more recent to compare this flick to in order to peak your interest like mine is, my mind became way too preoccupied with the pleasure of being keelhauled and went completely when it came to anything else. But it DOES defy every single page of the current Hollyweird rulebook of horror movie making by being neither a remake, a former TV show, nor edited in today’s standard quick cut Super Hi-Meth mode – it’s an actual story unfolding right before your very eyes, just like the old Dracula movies from Hammer Films did back in the late 60s to early 70s. So there you have it, I guess – it’s like a modern Hammer film! So get your ass out there, support incredibly well done indie horror, and put this sucker in your DVD collection!!!

- Craig

Twisted Central to Host Fundraiser

Twisted Central has joined forces with indie film maker Michael Stevens (Brutal) to help bring some much needed attention to homeless animals and victims of violent crime.

Brutal will be making it’s Texas premiere during a two night screening on December 7^th & 8^th at 7pm at the Angelika Film Center in Dallas, Texas. Director and actor Michael Stevens, star A. Michael Baldwin (Phantasm) and composer Alan Howarth (The Thing, Halloween) will be on hand for a Q&A immediately following the film on both nights. A raffle and silent auction will be held with items signed and donated by many of your favorite horror celebrities with all proceeds going to Operation Kindness, North Texas’ oldest and largest no kill animal shelter and For Those in Need, a Portland, OR based victims of violent crime organization.

Guests scheduled to attend include actor Bill Oberst Jr. (Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies), Camille Keaton (I Spit on Your Grave), Frederic Doss (Humans vs. Zombies), Kristen Hall (Sweatshop), model Courtney Crave and many more.

Tickets are $15.00 and will be available at the door or to reserve your seat early, you can preorder tickets by visiting the Twisted Central event page at http://www.twistedcentral.com/p/events_3.html. If you are unable to attend but would like to donate that option is also available on the site. Seats are limited!!

For more information and updates you can also join the event page at http://www.facebook.com/events/510672102294586/.

Best Halloween Spider Decorations

Mr. Frights

Last year I walked into the office at my overnight job and saw this amazing decoration. It was a flat spider, as in paper thin, but it looked real. It looked 3D like a real spider. I wanted them badly, but we didn’t have any when I went to look for them. (I honestly work at Target store #666). I kept them in mind for this year and as soon as we put out our Halloween decorations for the season I ran back to work to shop and BAM! there they were.

Package of Target spider decoration

Spider package – Flocked 3D Wall Decals

It’s a good price if you ask me. I mean for the value of what the look like when you put them up and for how many you get in the pack, four bucks isn’t a lot.

What you do is, pull one out of the pack and then you’ll have to make some bends at the “joints” of the legs. Try to make the bends look natural, like how they would look if the spider were crawling along whatever surface you’re putting them on. I even made one look like it’s legs in the front were standing up in a threatening manor.

Spider on my wall

Spider on my wall

Like I said, these things are actually flat as a piece of paper. A little bend in the legs and suddenly they take on a realistic appearance. The further away you are the more real they look. It’s scary!

You can make the bends as dramatic as you like, but they are super thin and they only bend in the shape they are in. So, they are rigid in other words. You can’t make the legs point differently or anything like that, but you can get creative with how you place them and what you place them on.

They are self adhesive, using a small sticky strip under their belly. I was able to carefully remove and replace them to make sure I got them to look the way I wanted. The legs can be adjusted in their bends once they are stuck on.

Spiders on my wall

In my opinion these are the BEST spider decorations ever! They are big, they are easy to use, they look real! Again, sold at Target stores in their Halloween section. I stocked up on them so I’d have more for next year or even if I ran out or needed to replace one. But they go quick and there were not many in stock at my store. If you want these, you’d better hurry!

- Mr. Frights

Mr. Frights on Google+

What is Pinterest?

Mr. Frights

I have been using Pinterest for months now. I keep telling people about it and I keep seeing other people telling their friends about it, but I keep seeing these friends say things like “I don’t get it” or “I’m confused” and so on. I thought that since it’s been so helpful to me, that I would do a write up on the site, what it is, and why you should check it out at least. I’m going to try to stay in the confines of my own area of specialization, but it’s great for a lot of things, having something for everyone.

 

WHAT IS PINTEREST?

Pinterest, simply put, is social online bookmarking. It’s a website where you can bookmark things around the web for yourself like you would in your own browser, and share them with others. So, say you go to Martha Stewart Online and you find something there that you want to make or something you want to come back to like a recipe. Normally you would go to your “Bookmarks” button in your browser (i.e. Internet Explorer or Firefox) and you’d add a bookmark. Well, it’s the same thing! But on a website where others can check out your bookmarks or “pins”.

 

PINTEREST BOARDS & PINS

They call your bookmarks “pins” because it’s like a big cork board that you push pin things. You can re-pin things from people you follow. Pinterest also provides a toolbar button that you can click and drag from their page and place the button on your bookmark tool bar. This button lets you pin things from websites.

For example: If you go to the Martha Stewart Halloween page and you find a craft you like that you want to pin, then you just go to that page, click on the “PIN IT” button in your bookmark toolbar and suddenly a bunch of photos from the website pop up. You move your cursor over the image you want to pin and click the “PIN IT” button that comes up.

You can add a description with it (which I recommend) and then you can choose which board you want to pin it to of your own. I for one have a bunch of Martha’s Halloween tips in my Halloween Tips board.

You organize your pins in what they call “BOARDS”. You can make different boards for different themes. For example, I made a bunch of Halloween boards, but I wanted to separate them by Tips, Treats, and so on. So if you go to my page on Pinterest you find a bunch of different boards, and if you click on one of those boards it takes you to my pins. On these boards the pins are photos from the website you bookmarked. When you pin something, you usually use the photo that interests you most.

 

HOW TO USE PINTEREST

When you click on a pin, one of the photos you see in the boards, it should take you to the website that the photo belongs to. This is the bookmarking part. Sometimes this won’t work because it’s just a picture that was pinned (so you end up just going to that picture) and not a website. Also, sometimes you end up at the wrong place because someone pinned the front page of a blog instead of the actual blog post they were trying to pin. And of course, as with anything, since you have the ability to edit your pins, some people have changed a picture’s link to point to an inappropriate website or something that doesn’t match what the picture is.

You use PINTEREST to keep track of things you like. I’ve seen people have board for their favorite sports teams, Health & Beauty tips, cooking, decorating, music, videos, anything you are interested in. You can use Pinterest to plan events by making boards dedicated to a theme (i.e. Vampire Party). You can use Pinterest to get the word out about your blog. I post a new blog, I make sure I put photos into the post, then I PIN IT and use one of the photos to catch peoples interest (get it yet? Pin + Interest = Pinterest). This type of thing brings people to my blog. I can also use it to help promote other people by pinning their blogs or websites.

You can also “LIKE” a pin. Pinterest keeps track of your “Likes” and so you can go to your likes and look back on what you liked. This is good for people who don’t want to add a pin for something but want to still keep that pin on hand. For example… I might “LIKE” a cleaning tip, but because my pins are all about Halloween or Horror I don’t want to add something to the mix that is not part of that theme. I instead can “like” the pin and then go back to my likes to find it later.

 

OTHER STUFF

Pinterest also has some other cool features, so be sure if you sign up, go to ABOUT then go to the PIN IT button link and you’ll be taken to the GOODIES section. On the left side of the page you’ll see a bunch of things about Pinterest. One of those things will tell you a lot of what I just told you. They include tutorials and other things. On the Goodies page you’ll find ways to get other people to follow your boards, mobile apps, and other things to help make your Pinterest experience better for you.

One of the great things about Pinterest is that you can FOLLOW ALL to follow someone’s boards. BUT you can also UNFOLLOW specific boards. So if someone I follow is pinning a bunch of things I’m not interested in (i.e. a bunch of Sports team pictures) I can just go to that board and click the “unfollow” button. Alternatively, if you come across someone and look at their boards first, you can follow singular boards that interest you instead of clicking the “follow all” button.

 

THE DOWN SIDE

As with all things the site has some down sides to it. Like I said above, sometimes the pictures were pinned wrong. If you run into this, there IS a solution!! Open up a new window and go to Google, then go to their Image Search. Make sure you can see both windows so you can grab the picture you’re looking at and drag it to the Google search. Google will bring up websites where that image is located. You can usually find the original blog or website and then fix the link on the pin by clicking “Edit”.

The other thing I mentioned is that some pins might take you to an erroneous link, sometimes an inappropriate one. The best way to avoid this is just to check your pins before you re-pin someone elses’ stuff. If you run into this, just do the Google Image search thing, edit the pin so that it points to something else. Hopefully the real website where you want to go.

Another sticking point is that PINTEREST doesn’t have a privacy setting for making your pins or boards private to only you or only certain people. This shouldn’t be an issue, but if you’re concerned about that kind of thing for some reason, then keep it in mind when you’re pinning things. Someday this functionality might be available, so don’t let it stop you from enjoying Pinterest in the meantime.

I hope this helps you discover Pinterest and how it can help you with your personal interests as well as your social interests or even professional interests. If you have questions, I’m happy to help. You can also find a lot of help on the website itself just by checking out their ABOUT section. Now that they’ve opened it up to everyone, you don’t need an invitation anymore. So why not sign up and go try it out?! And be sure to follow me and my boards when you get there!!

 

- Happy Horrible Pinning

Mr. Frights

http://pinterest.com/mrfrights/

 

Frightful Friday

Mr. Frights

It’s another Frightful Friday, where I share with you my latest followers and their websites. Follow these fine folks on Twitter and while you’re at it check out their cool websites and what they have to offer.

 

 

@yeahgiancarlo
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Giancarlo-Dittamo/59361857128

@NIghtmaresOnElm
http://www.nightmaresonelmstreet.com/

@CostumeShopper
http://www.costumeshopper.com/

@mark_cassell
http://www.markcassell.com/

@thebloodtheatre
http://thebloodtheatre.com/

@theterrortrap
http://www.terrortrap.com/

@jhorton2003
http://www.mylifehasalowbudgetmoviemaker.com/

@ShiverTV
http://www.shiver.tv/