10/31/10

Vincent Price Wishes You a Happy Halloween

Viewer Mail: The Cast of Eerie Publications Performs the Johnson-Smith Horror Record



Just in time for Halloween, Jason of Scar Command found me through my Eerie Publications post to refer this video he made: a mashup of Eerie's cover illustrations and their contemporary, the 1973 Johnson-Smith horror record.

It's fantastic. I'm reminded of the Crazy Mixed-Up Dr. Evil spook show promo of the 60's, and it's pretty much what the inside of my brain looked like when I was pre-pubescent. Now I'll have to buy a pair of those LCD television glasses so this can soak into my retinas at all times. Again, fantastic.

As previously posted, these magazines were a little before my time, but I've been acquiring old copies of them since my teens. They're disturbing, to be sure, but I'm fascinated by kiddie culture during the Johnson and Nixon administrations; it was so grim and perverse. Remember, these magazines were sold in grocery stores and read by kids of all ages.

And I've forgotten how cool the Johnson-Smith record is. This 7" was only available through mail order from the company. This is one side. The other side is separate tracks of the same sound effects, as was common with cheap Halloween records of the era.

Read more about it at the resurrected Scar Stuff blog.

10/19/10

The Dungeonmaster

This starts a little slow, but give it time; it's an action-packed extravaganza. Helmed by seven different directors (including Futurechimp-Movie-of-the-Week favorite Charles Band), our hero travels through seven different realms to win back his girlfriend, conjuring up a variety of weapons with his magical wristband.

Lots of special effects, claymation giants, trolls, zombies, evil puppets, werewolves, mutant bikers, animated dragons… even the metal band W.A.S.P. shows up! Don't miss it!

10/15/10

Blank Generation on Google Video



This excellent punk documentary can be seen in its entirety right here. It covers both the New York scene (Ramones, Television, Patti Smith) and London (Sex Pistols, Clash, Damned, Buzzcocks) comprehensively. It's very well made, and limits its hour-long time to the most nascent years of the music, ending around the time the Pistols broke up in '78.