Happy Birthday, United States Marines Corps...

238 Years Young! Thank you.

NEW COMICS...11.7.13...Uh Oh....

I did a bad, bad thing...

Not a bad cover in the bunch..first up two annuals - Hellraiser and Swamp Thing!





Incredible cover for Swamp Thing 25 and picking up an old Manhattan Projects I didn't have...#10...





Hot damn - war comics! Fever Ridge #3 and #4...

30 in 30..FINISHED...A Restrospective look back...

So after a bit of delay (and the new Call of Doody game coming out) I have finished with my yearly watch. I got a lot of new stuff in as well as some of the classics. In review:

Night Life (1989)
Pyscho II (1983)
Society (1989)
I, Madman (1989)
Pieces (1982)
The Warriors (1979)
The Monster Squad (1987)
NOES Part 2 (1985)
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Saturn 3 (1980)
Night of the Comet (1984)
Crystal Lake Memories (2013)
The Walking Dead
American Horror Story: Coven
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2008)
Death Wish 3(1985)
Hellraiser III (1993)
Halloween II (1981)
Freddy's Dead (1992)
The Exorcist (1973)
Outland (1981)
Maniac Cop 2 (1990)
Genocide (1968)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Friday the 13th part V (1985)
Hellbound - Hellraiser II (1988)
Machete Kills (2013)
VHS 2 (2013)
Hellraiser Bloodline (1996)
Omen III (1981)

That's a ton of flicks! Mostly from the Golden Age of horror - the 1980s - at least 15 titles. Ah, I miss those days. See ya next year!

Oh and by the way, Godzilla is helping me celebrate:

30 in 30...DAY 30...OMEN III: THE FINAL CONFLICT (1981)

I have to admit I've never seen Part III of this series. I was aware of it but that's about as far as it went. Of course the first (and second) parts are more popular and widely known, but that isn't to say this one does not have its merits. Wider in scope and expertly shot, this is a hidden gem amongst the early 80s horror sequel pile. Damien is now grown and leader of his corporate empire Thorne Industries. He manipulates his way up the ladder, eventually becoming an envoy to Great Britain for the President of the United States. Prophecy is being fulfilled as he learns The Messiah, his arch enemy, will be reborn somewhere in Britain. In addition, seven priests wield the seven daggers of Megiddo as they race to find and confront him before he can murder the Christ child. Of course, one by one they fall until the last one remains for the Final Battle.

Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, In the Mouth of Madness, Event Horizon) portrays the grown Damien. He nails it, right down to that evil stare and early 80s parted haircut. No other huge actors of note, but the story is strong and Jerry Goldsmith's wonderful score supplements the material.





Certain aspects of the character are retained, esp Damien's control over animals like dogs...creepy scene:



The movie (and trilogy) ends as you would expect - one priest, one knife, and the Antichrist all together in one place. Give this one a look.

30 in 30...Day 29...HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE (1996)

Fourth in the series of Hellraiser films and last to be released in the theatres to my knowledge. After this, the series would be reduced to a direct to video crapfest. Arriving on the heels of the lackluster Part III (watched earlier in October on this very blog) this was a surprisingly original and worthy entry. Granted it cannot even sniff the quality of the first two films, but we could have been given something a LOT worse than this. The film is bookended by a story set on a space station in the far future - Yes, Pinhead in space! - where the descendant of Philip L'Merchant (the original French toymaker who constructed the first lament configuration) has trapped Pinhead for a final showdown. The film spans three time periods...old France, modern day, and finally back to space where the final battle takes place. Connecting the three is a new female cenobite princess - Angelique - she is spawned in the old France time period and searches across the decades to find L'Merchant's ancestor in order to unleash the forces of hell upon the earth forever. Poor Pinhead - he's served hell loyally over the years and he still gets second fiddle to a woman in leather. HA! We get some new cenobites - a Twin creation and a Hell Dog that accompanies Pinhead through the labyrinth. Doug Bradley is great in this, and his character is much more reserved here than in Part III where the dialogue was a bit over the top.









Believe it or not, Merchant's ancestor succeeds in trapping Pinhead in his futuristic space station and sets the trap - effectively killing the Prince of Pain once and for all. Its a bit contrived but a nice ending to the story of the Toymaker and the evil that followed him. Minor quib here, to be as eternal and forever as Pinhead boasts thoughout the series and this film in particular, he sure is dumb to get caught in a pretty simple trap and killed after a millennium of experience. But I guess that is kind of the point..even Pinhead can get too big for his britches in the end. Ha!



Ohh, evil red eyes!

30 in 30...DAY 28....V/H/S 2 (2013)

I know, I'm about 5 days behind with my 30 in 30 viewing. No time NO TIME! A combination of being lazy and other things popping up but I'm almost there...so here goes...



The sequel to the previous year's installment (simply titled V/H/S) where a group of people find a room full of TVs and stacks of VHS tapes. When they watch them, the see strange and creepy events unfold from a variety of different locales/situations. To be honest, the first one was merely ok. It was a nice homage to the original Creepshow with its anthology type format. Part 2 is much, much better - trimming down the number of stories while seriously upping the quality. All stories are first-person "Cam" view, like the BLair Witch or Paranormal Activity movies...



Story 1 begins in a doctor's office with a guy getting an implant in one of his eyes as a result of an accident. Then he begins to see things...weird things.



Story 2 involves a biker who rides up on a group of zombies in the woods. Obviously he gets bitten and the camera follows him as he discovers a family having a birthday at a park shelter. Uh OH!

Now here is where it gets good! Story 3 involves a news team filming at a religious leader's convent in some asian country. They go to interview him, and things quickly escalate into a nightmare scenario...seriously gruesome and demonic.





And last but not least, a really creepy "alien abduction" story involving kids at a lake house. The camera is on the family dog's collar - doesn't seem like it would work...but it does. Freaky imagery...

30 in 30...DAY 27...MACHETE KILLS (2013)

They F'ed with the wrong mexican...again! HAH!!! If you liked the first one, you'll like this one is all I can say. Can't wait for part 3 - Machete Kills Again - IN SPACE!



Carlos Estevez as the President of the United States...



Mel Gibson as the evil Voz...who uses a klingon bat'leth to battle Machete at one point. Oh yes.