The NEW Improved I'm So Excited Thread!!

[HectorHall]

[quote=. I figured one topic dedicated to me was self absorbed enough. quote]

Grodd would never show such humility!

[Bo-rilla Grodd]

Im trying to get you to fall into a false sense of security. Then, thats when my master plan comes to fruition. Bwahahahahaha!!!!

[secondwhiteline]

Had a killer weekend in Philly with my girlfriend! First, we saw Camera Obscura, who were amazing. I've been waiting to see them for ages. Laura Cantrell opened, and she was pretty great too. I need to pick up an album of hers sometime.



Then, an awesome Exhumed Films event, the Forgotten Film Festival! Five movies that have never seen official VHS or DVD release, including...
Skatetown, U.S.A. - Patrick Swayze's first movie! He's awesome in it. Only he could make roller disco seem butch. Great '70s time capsule with Flip Wilson, Billy Barty, Scott Baio, Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady), Ron Palillo (Horshack), and even...THE UNKNOWN COMIC.

Son of Dracula (1974) - Harry Nilsson as Dracula's son and Ringo Starr as a surprisingly good Merlin. Full of Nilsson's music, which makes it worth it for the soundtrack alone. Supporting role by Shakira Caine (Michael Caine's impossibly gorgeous wife) as a werecat.

Blood (Andy Milligan, 1974) - Loved this one. It's probably the most widely available of the five, but the 69-minute cut we saw is 10-12 minutes longer than most versions available on YouTube or bootleg. I'll probably still pick it up at some point. It's like an avant garde attempt at a Universal monster mash film, with surprisingly interesting characters.

Murder on the Emerald Seas - Surprisingly clever undercover cop in drag comedy/mystery. Obviously indebted to Some Like It Hot, but there's also a Keystone Cops running joke that was pretty great. More progressive about transgender people and drag queens than most modern films and TV shows, somehow.

The Satanist - Didn't stay for this one (my gf had work in the morning), but it's a softcore horror sexploitation flick. A friend described it as "The Creeping Terror with [breasts]."

[secondwhiteline]

Just went to Hudson Horror Show IX! It was a great, great show. Six films, all on 35mm. Here's the rundown.

The first two films were secret going in, and as is traditional with HHS, spreading knowledge of them afterwords is verboten. I can only tell you that the first film was a 70s killer animal film with some really familiar actors, and the second was an 80s psychos-on-the-loose flick with one of the best casts a horror film has ever assembled.

The rest of the films...
The Burning - Classic 80s slasher flick with killer Tom Savini makeup effects. The pacing is great, the cast is likeable (especially a young Jason Alexander!), and the chase and shock sequences are fantastic.


Lady Terminator - This is a seen-to-be-believed film. A Terminator ripoff crossed with an Indonesian legend about the South Seas Queen, this film is full of shameless swipes from Terminator, hilarious dubbing, mullets, cheesy mustaches, and most importantly, confusing, disturbing, gross sex scenes. Watch it with friends, it's an experience you won't forget.


Maniac (1980) - A dark, intense, unrelenting serial killer film with a truly great performance by character actor Joe Spinell as the irrevocably damaged title killer. Luckily Mad Max followed this up, because it's an exhausting, difficult film. It's remarkable, though, so see it, but follow it up with something fun.


Mad Max - You know it, you love it. It's the greatest.

[OneNineSix]

Dang secondwhiteline, that looks like it was one hell of a line up. I'd have loved to have seen that with other horrorheads.

[Tango X]

Dude, Maniac was an ordeal to sit through and by ordeal, I mean it was so graphic. lol. Insanely cool viewing experience too but I'll have to give it another watch, been a while. Killer set of flicks there. Capping it off with Mad Max? Superb.

[secondwhiteline]

Yeah, Maniac is a fantastic experience but a tough one. Ending the night with Mad Max was a great decision.

Hudson Horror Show is awesome. It's twice a year in Poughkeepsie, NY - if anyone else is in traveling distance, keep up with them on Facebook. I've been to 8 of the 9 shows they've done, and the lineups have always been phenomenal. They're also branching out into double features - they've got a screening of Tourist Trap and Tombs of the Blind Dead at the Alamo Drafthouse in Yonkers on September 20th.

[Princess_Amethyst]

Lady Terminator looks like a riot! Need to add to my current Must-See list.

[secondwhiteline]

Lady Terminator looks like a riot! Need to add to my current Must-See list.

Yesssssssss. My work here is done. Mwahahaha.

Seriously, it's such a fun experience with friends. Also, I managed to win a copy at Hudson Horror Show! If you ever go to a horror fest, brush up on your trivia beforehand, because they love giving away stuff.

I'll be inflicting it on my girlfriend's friends next weekend. She's having a get-together of her old college club, the Bad Film Society, and I'm gonna hit 'em with it. And maybe Boardinghouse or Raw Force if there's time.

[secondwhiteline]

Some comic shopping last weekend was pretty successful: the first trade of Umbrella Academy, a random First Comics issue of Lone Wolf & Cub (they were the first ones to bring it over here in the 80s, in a Westernized, single-issue format that's pretty kind to the amazing art), and the trade of Steve Gerber's Omega the Unknown, which was only $8!

I've got some pre-ordered Blu-Rays coming from DiabolikDVD: The Toxic Avenger, Legend of Hell House, Phantom of the Paradise, the spaghetti western Sabata, and Runaway Nightmare! I haven't seen the latter yet, but I was convinced on the weirdness of the trailers floating around on YouTube. And the limited run of the Blu - I figured it was better to buy it and probably break even if I didn't like it than pay an inflated eBay price six months from now when I'm inundated with horror friends hyping up its weirdness.

And I just got in the new edition D&D Player's Handbook! I've been playing the starter set with some friends, and I'm really enjoying this edition. 4th Edition was pretty disappointing, a stockade for miniatures fans and rules lawyers. The new edition is streamlined and...gasp, FUN. It's also focused on actual storytelling, character development, and role-playing (in a role-playing game? The Devil, Jack Chick says!), which is what my friends and I like. I hope this proves more successful than 4th Edition. It's the best thing they've since the board games a few years back.