October Movie Challenge: Fright Night 2 New Blood (2013)

Fright Night 2: New Blood (2013)

Fright Night 2 is described as a sequel to the 2011 remake, but really it is the exact same story as the 2011 and 1985 versions.  It is also listed as a horror/comedy, but there is really little of either.  Sure there is some gore and killing of victims, but nothing really compared to other ones I have seen.  Lots of fake blood splatters.

The differences are this one takes place in Romania and Jerry Dandridge is now Gerri Dandridge and is actuality Elizabeth Bathory.

All the same characters but they lack any of the charm of the earlier movies.

There is a neat scene where Gerri/Bathory uses a bat-like sonar to find some kids in a sewer.   The vampire creature she turns into in the end of the movie is kind of cool too, but that is about all the movie has going for it.

Too bad really, I was hoping for more.


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Tally so far:  4 Total Watched / 3 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

October Movie Challenge: Fright Night (2011)

Fright Night (2011)

Remake of the classic 1985 Fright Night.  This time staring Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell and David Tennant.

The original Fright Night blended horror and comedy quite well, this one...less so, but it is still an enjoyable flick.

Colin Farrell makes for a good vampire, but lacks the suaveness that Chris Sarandon brought to the role.  Though he does make for it in being dangerous.
Peter Vincent is changed from Roddy McDowall's horror host to David Tennant's creepy extreme magician.  It's not a bad change really, Tennant is great in anything he is in.

Like the first Fright Night this one is a fun romp through vampire mythos and generally doesn't take itself too serious.  Chris Sarandon even makes a cameo appearance.

It's a fun update, but no real new ground here.

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Tally so far:  3 Total Watched / 2 New

What do you find scary?
October Horror Movie Challenge hosted by Krell Laboratories.

Movies Queued up so far

Here are some of the movies I am going to tackle in the next week or so.

Some I have seen, others I haven't.

Alucard (2008)
Alucarda (1978)
Billy the Kid vs Dracula (1966)
Black Sabbath (1963)
Blood + Roses (2010)
Count Yorga (1970)
Female Vampire / Erotikill (1973)
Fright Night (2011)
Fright Night 2 New Blood (2013)
Mario Salieri's Dracula (1994)
Return of Count Yorga (1971)
The Deathmaster (1972)
Zoltan Hound of Dracula (1978)

Should be fun!

Zatannurday: Maleficent Takes Over!

Maleficent is out in theatres now and she takes over Zatannurday!




Disney's Maleficent by hetosialvin on deviantART


Maleficent 2 by BobbyJackWright on deviantART


Maleficent/Dragon abandoned concept by J-Scott-Campbell on deviantART


::Maleficent:: by chaseau on deviantART


2013 Christmas Sketch Cards: Maleficent by spidertour02 on deviantART


Warm Up 2, 12-30-2013 Maleficent by Hodges-Art on deviantART


maleficent - My Version of Disney Classic by shonemitsu on deviantART


Maleficent - Disney Villains Designers Collection by NatIvy on deviantART


Maleficent Cosplay by NatIvy on deviantART


Maleficent Cosplay by NatIvy on deviantART


The Wraith of Maleficent by CarlosAE on deviantART

Yog The Monster from Space

It's 1975.  I am sitting down to a night of hopefully watching a monster movie on KPLR-TV out of St. Louis. Our baby-sitter for me and my younger sister is my older sister Terri and my older brother Pat*.  (It could have been my other older brother Mike.)

Anyway this movie had been advertised all week and I wanted to see it.  I was already watching Dark Shadows at this point and had seen a Godzilla movie.  Saturday came around and I got to watch a little bit of it; till my older sibs turned it off.  I remembered bits and pieces of it for years, but never knew the title.

A couple years back I asked people on Facebook.  All I could really remember was a giant octopus/squid, tentacles that reached out an grabbed people, and it all took place on an island in the South Pacific.  No luck.  I tried searching in back issues of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. No luck. The biggest problem was I didn't remember enough of the movie to give people enough clues to work on.

Well thanks to my friend Dr. Theda at his eponymous Crypt I was able to piece the last bits of it all together.

The movie that has been bugging me for nearly 40 years is "Yog Monster From Space"!

I bought from a less than reputable website which I have to admit I feel a little bad about.

I got it in the mail last night and popped it in to make sure it worked. It did. It is the movie I remembered. The music and the sound effects were the clincher. The DVD looks like a VHS transfer (complete with "tracking" issues!). The cover was run off on someone's ink jet.

But sure enough this was the movie in question.

Yeah. I paid real money for this.

The way I see it I now have piece of mind. I know what the movie was and now I can finish watching it.
I am like Odysseus at the gates of Ithaca. My long search is over.

So of course what do I actually do last night?  Stayed up and watched Pacific Rim again!

Now I need to add more Kaiju to my games.

New Maleficent Poster

This was released yesterday.

Yeah.  I am really looking forward to this!

Oh no. There's goes Tokyo!

Can't wait for this.

D&D40 Bloghop: Day 24

Day 24: First movie that comes to mind that you associate with D&D. Why?

That's easy.  There really is only one D&D movie.

Star Wars.  Or "A New Hope".

Not only was it out at the same time (more or less) I discovered D&D. It became so much a part of my experiences as a kid that is hard to tease out where one influence begins and the other ends.

This movie has: A boy who would be the hero, a swashbuckling rogue, a princess to rescue, a wise old man/wizard/jedi, an evil warrior, an impenetrable fortress, magic, fights, side-kicks, monsters, sword fights and epic battle.  Everything here IS D&D.  They even meet the rogue in a bar!

Yes this another retelling of the monomyth or The Hero with a 1,000 Faces.  That's why it works so well.

If you have never watched the original trailer, watch it.  It gives you an idea of what Star Wars was in the late 70s, before all the toys and baggage.

This is also one of the reasons I like the d20 Star Wars game over the West End Games d6 one.  To me Star Wars and D&D are the same.

It should also be no surprise that Star Wars movie posters are the only movie posters hanging in my game room/office.

Maleficent Trailer 2

The next trailer for Maledicent is now out.  Angelina Jolie still has cheekbones you could get cut on but her evil is downplayed.  Sure we are told she is Disney's greatest villain (though I think Jafar might edge her out to be honest) we just don't see it.


Here is the synopsis according to Disney's site.  http://movies.disney.com/maleficent/about

"Maleficent" explores the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty" and the elements of her betrayal that ultimately turn her pure heart to stone. Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king’s newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Aurora is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy. Maleficent realizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced to take drastic actions that will change both worlds forever.

Not a surprise here really.  But in truth villains need to be more complex than simple evil for evil's sake. I still hope there is plenty of evil in her too.

Still though it's Angelina Jolie as Maleficent. It is  going to be fun.

Id still like to see this movie though:

Saw the Hobbit

I saw the Hobbit yesterday and I enjoyed it.  I was not expecting the book, but I do think some of the changes were a bit too much.

I consider myself a huge Tolkien fan.  I have read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings 12-14 times over the last 30 years. I have read the Silmarillion a couple of times and I loved it. Really. I have read many of the lost tales, the Tolkien Reader and tons of his works.   So I am approaching this as a fan.

Spoilers follow.







I liked the bits with Gandalf at Dol Guldur, that was all in the Lord of the Rings and expanded tales, so I am 100% fine with that.
The CGI didn't bother me. In fact Smaug looked fantastic.
I liked the addition of Tauriel. Yeah she was not in the books, but I don't care.

But the movie was too long and some of the things added to the movie had no real benefit.
In many ways the movie was exactly like the giant golden dwarf statue in the movie.  Large, overwrought, a monument to excess and ultimately ineffective.

So in the end I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted, but it was still a lot of fun.

I am not afraid: Disney's Maleficent Official Teaser Trailer

The new Teaser Trailer for Maleficent is now up.


Many thanks to +Joseph Bloch for getting this link to me!  We both will need to stat her up with our respective witch classes.

It looks fantastic.

You know I am going to see this...

It's been a good time for witches on TV lately, movies look like they are not too far behind.

Non-Gaming: So Long Blockbuster

A non gaming post this morning (plus I still have a bad migraine that I can't shake).

Blockbuster has announced it is closing the last of it's 300 stores and it's mail-in Netflix-like service.

While I am sad at the passing of an era and I feel bad bad about those loosing their jobs, I do not mourn the passing of Blockbuster.

Once Blockbuster could be found in every strip mall in suburbia and a store in every town.  That was it's appeal to so many.  Not to me.  I disliked that Blockbuster came in and more or less destroyed the Mom and Pop video stores that had sprung up in the 80s.  I remember renting many old horror movies on Laser Disk (yeah I had one of those) and VHS.  When Blockbuster came to town with their far cheaper rental prices I wasn't a fan.  I had rented Hellraiser once to show a girlfriend at the time and noticed how much of it was cut out.  Yeah they had either edited it themselves (not likely, but that is what I thought at the time) or only stocked edited versions.  No thanks.

While I marked the passing of Borders with sadness of something I had lost, I have not been in a Blockbuster in I don't know how long.  Between Netflix, OnDemand and Amazon Prime streaming services I have unprecedented access to viewing options.

So goodnight Blockbuster. Be kind, please rewind.

October Movie: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

Halloween just isn't complete without a Godzilla movie. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) was on recently. I had been thinking about it, so I popped the DVD in.
Watched this one, but have seen it many times before.  Typical Godzilla logic at play here.
Godzilla goes critical, hit him with a big weapon, side effect that some new scary monster comes up.

There is no plot, but then again why should there be.  This is about monsters beating the crap out of each other.

Destoroyah might actually be one of the scarier Godzilla monsters too. Very demonic looking.  So much so that I have used a Destoroyah toy in my own games.

Works great!

In fact here is Destoroyah's demonic type as an Eldritch Witchery Calabim demon.

Gargantua (Calabim demon)
#App: 1
AL: E
SZ: I (50+ feet)
AC: 8 -4
Move: 180' / Fly: 240'
HD: 30 (125)
Attacks: Claw/Claw/ (2 two-handed sword), tail-swipe, breath weapon (6d6 lightning bolt)
Special: Fly 240', Magic Resistance (fire) 90%, Immune to mundane weapons
Treasure: Nil
XP: 20,000

These horrors are destruction incarnate. These demons stand over 50 feet tall and are vaguely humanoid.  Each one is unique, but all have characteristics in common.  They are typically humanoid in shape, but could be covered in scales, leathery skin, fur, chitin, or any combination of these. Their intellect is below that of animals and they exist only to destroy.  Powerful Balor or even Arch Fiends can control them, but it is difficult to do.  Mostly they are sent somewhere where everything must be destroyed or eaten.  Gargantua will even fight and kill other demons.  All gargantua have massive claw and bite attacks.  Any roll of box cars (double sixes) on a bite indicates the victim has been swallowed whole.  Every gargantuan also has a breath weapon attack. Typically fire, but lighting and wind are also common.
Human wizards have been known to try to summon these creatures but the destruction they cause usually outweigh any perceived benefits they may offer.  The spells to do so are carefully guarded.

Tally: Watched 35,  New 30

What are you watching?

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October Movie: All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006, 2013)

Another one on my list to watch, this was the newest one to make the list.
I'll admit. I like watching Amber Heard.  She is not a terrible actress and maybe one day she will even be good.  But until then there are films like this.

Ok so what is this movie?  Er well. it's Friday the 13th with a twist.  No seriously.
We have been over this ground many times. I suppose there is the twist of Mandy herself, but I was spoiled early on and did not see it as big surprise.

Still though. Good fun teenage slasher flick.

Tally: Watched 34,  New 30

What are you watching?

hosted by Krell Laboratories

October Movie Challenge: Weekend round up

Bunch of movies under my belt this weekend.  Though all disappointed me or fell short.

The Witching (1993)
This one gets my vote as the worst movie I have seen this entire challenge.  And I was on a Jean Rollin kick.
Awful.  Going after the acting in this one is a cheap shot...but I am doing it anyway. The actors where not just terrible I have seen better work from High School plays.
The plot such as it is concerns a 300 year old witch locked away in Limbo with demons and her pet demon dog-rat "Scully".  The gate to Limbo opens up in this guy's refrigerator.   Some one really liked Ghostbusters.  It is listed as Comedy/Horror. It's neither.

R.I.P.D. (2013)
Another gate opening and dead things coming back.  This time it's sorta-cooked, but all dead cop played by Ryan Reynolds and even more dead "law man" played by Jeff Bridges.  Cliches all over the place. Kevin Bacon (who should know better).   The only performance I liked was from Mary Louise Parker.
If you have seen Men in Black then you have seen this one.

The Countess (2009)
This on the other hand was a very good film. Julie Delpy wrote, directed, starred and produced this bio-drama about Countess Erzsébet Báthory.  Everything about this movie was good, save for my expectations of it.  There was little to no blood, and no horror save for the psychological kind. The film even makes a credible case that all the stories of the "Blood Countess" were nothing more than rumor and political power plays.  Which could be true.  Or not.  The film still retains the infamous scene where a maid pulls Erzsébet's hair and the Countess strikes her so hard that she is covered in blood.  The countess proceeds to bleed her for her precious virgin blood.
There is no vampirism. No allusions to Dracula. This is a historical piece and frankly a nice change of pace.

Interestingly enough Julie Delpy was 39 when she made this movie.  Delphine Seyrig was also 39 when she played Báthory in Daughters of Darkness (Ingrid Pitt was 34 when she was in Countess Dracula).

I kind of hoped to finish up this weekend, but I feel I need to see a few more, just to make sure I saw enough real horror.

Tally: Watched 32,  New 28

What are you watching?

hosted by Krell Laboratories

October Movie: The Coven (2002)

So I watched The Craft...er no wait. I watched a crappy little ripoff called The Coven last night.
Like The Craft it has four witches, one good, one bad and one shy and the other scarred.
The good witch is also the new girl and her arrival finishes the coven.

I could go on from there, but the movie was largely derivative, even more so than Little Witches.

Also not The Craft

Even bits taken from Charmed.  But to be fair Charmed was on for 8 years and they did a little bit of everything.

There are some interesting scenes (no not the extended sex scenes), and liked the character of Spence. She was one of the more interesting characters even if she didn't really contribute much to the plot other than to die. Spoilers? yeah not like you were going to watch this one.

The whole Christians vs. Witches thing was more funny than anything.  Imagine every stereotype and it is there somewhere.  So much so I almost have believe that that the writers knew what they were doing.

The special effects, such as they are, are terrible.  I could write it off as a student film and get some enjoyment there, but it was filmed in 3D, so there is some money in this just not in the right places.

The outtakes at the end were funny.

Still though. Bad movie.

Tally: Watched 29,  New 25

What are you watching?

hosted by Krell Laboratories

October Movie: Black Sunday (1960)

This is another one has been on my list to see for years.  Love Amazon Prime!

I first learned of this movie from scenes in the Queen video for "Under Pressure" which used a ton of old movie clips.  Some that they didn't have permission to use and had to redo it.

The movie is so iconic I wonder how I was able to go this long without seeing it.  Barbara Steele plays the witch Asa Vajda who is found cavorting with the Devil and in particular a vampire named Javuto.  She is sentenced to death by her own brother.  Before she is burned at the stake she curses her brother's family.  However before she is burned to ash a storm is raised and puts out the fires.  She dies, but is buried in unhallowed ground.

Fast forward to 200 years later and two doctors arrive in the village and find the grave. They remove the coffin lid They proceed to the nearest inn to stay the night.  With the spirit of Asa now free she begins to get revenge on her brother's family which is now a man and his two children, including a daughter that looks just like Asa.

For 1960 it is a fairly violent movie. And like I mentioned there are few very iconic scenes that I have seen in later movies.  Heck, the entire music video (not movie) of "Lords of Salem" and even to an extent "The American Witch" by Rob Zombie are homages to this movie.  I am kicking myself for not seeing this one sooner.

I like the idea of the witch coming back every 100 years.  We saw something similar in the Robert E. Howard tale "A Witch Shall be Born".

Here is Asa Vajda as an Eldritch Witchery witch.

Asa Vajda, 10th Level Witch (Demonic)
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 11
Constitution: 13
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 16
Charisma: 18

Hit Points:  25
Alignment: Evil
AC: 6 (talisman of protection)

Occult Powers
Familiar: Imp
7th level: Witches Curse

Spells 
First: Black Flames, Bewitch I, Direct Gaze, Shattering the Hourglass, Sleep
Second: Burning Gaze, Discord, Fever, Youthful
Third: Bestow Curse, Cause Fear, Life Bond, Toad Mind
Fourth: Mind over Body, Withering Touch
Fifth: Control Weather

Tally: Watched 28,  New 24

What are you watching?

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October Movie: The Asphyx (1973)

This one has been on my list to see for years. With the Redemption Blu-Ray out now (they really should be paying me at this point!) I finally got to see it.

Worth the wait!

Great Victorian setting and like any good Victorian tale it mixes science with the supernatural.  In fact see if you can spot the portrait of Mary Shelly.
The story deals with a scientist that finds a way to photograph the moment of death.  On his plates he sees a shadow and believes he has captured the soul leaving the body.  On a happenstance he is filming his son and wife to be with his new moving pictures camera. His son loose control of his boat and dies.  On developing the film he sees the dark smudge rushing towards his son, not away.
Some experiments with a man being publicly executed our scientist, Hugo Cunningham, concludes he has found the fabled Asphyx or spirit of death.  Each living thing has it's own Asphyx so Cunningham devises a way to capture an asphyx and thus render someone immortal.  The try it on a Guinea Pig and it works.  Later Cunningham tries it on himself it works as well.

I don't want to give away more than that to be honest. The movie is a touch slow to get going, but you can tell it must have scared the crap out of people in the theatres back then.

I am glad I finally got to see this one.

Tally: Watched 27,  New 23

What are you watching?

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October Movie: Little Witches (1996)

Another one on my list of movies to see.

I think I expected this one to be a little bit like The Craft. Yeah...not so much.
It is fairly derivative of other movies I have seen.  Though one is tempted to compare this to the TV version of Buffy, it did come out before Buffy hit the airwaves.
School girls, underground temple, ancient evil cult.  Though there are a couple of highlights.
First it is the acting debut of Clea Duvall.  Zelda Rubinstein is in it.  Sheeri Rappaport is not bad in it. And it was only filmed in two weeks.

There is a kernel of a good movie here, buried under cliches and mediocre acting, again Clea Duvall and Sheeri Rappaport are the exception here.   The demon at the end was neat, kinda like a poor man's Demogorgon.

Not much I could find in this to extract for a game that I haven't seen elsewhere.  Even though, a good take on this kind of story would be nice.  Though it would make for a rather thin plot for a Hellcats and Hockeysticks.

I was hoping for something more to be honest.

(not Fairuza Balk)

Tally: Watched 26,  New 22

What are you watching?

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