October Horror Movie Challenge: Saga of the Draculas (1973)

This is quite a bizarre movie but I enjoyed it.  I remember watching it on VHS back when I was in college and it became part of my own Dracula mythology for my AD&D 2nd Ed games.  I guess this was back in the very early 90s.

I never saw any reference to it in the various books on Dracula-related movies and it seemed to have been largely forgotten.   I did see a DVD of it at a Half-Price Books a few years ago for $350.00.
I went back to check on it and someone actually had bought it.  I recently found it again on Amazon Prime Video and knew I had to watch it again.

The movie itself is odd, but not bad.  It is dated feeling and the pace is slow.  But the tale holds up nearly 50 years later.

Berta de Tepes the now pregnant granddaughter of the current Count Dracula (not his famous ancestor) has returned home to her family's ancestral castle with her new husband.  Here she expects to meet with her Grandfather and her cousins only discover graves of all her family and the household staff.  She is a little surprised when they all ask her to dinner later that night.

Dracula's new wife seduces Berta's new husband Hans (with Dracula's approval) and then his two nieces take a turn with Hans as well.   Berta suspects something but is soon rendered helpless by her imagination and pregnancy.

We get some random murders, vampires gotta eat.  And then there is Dracula's inbred heir, Valerio, a one-eyed monster boy that likes to eat gypsy girls.

The story, interestingly enough, is close to the first few chapters of Dracula with Berta in the Harker role.

Berta eventually gives birth, but the baby appears to be still-born.  Berta then goes through the castle killing everyone.  She gets back into her bed and dies herself.  The baby, now alive, feeds on the blood of his mother.

The voice-over at the end implies that the spirit of the old Dracula entered into the new baby to live again.

The movie held up rather well, to be honest.  While it was never a cinematic masterpiece it was a good a Dracula flick.   Narciso Ibáñez Menta will not be remember as one of the great Draculas, which is kind of a shame because he put in a good performance here.

Cristina Suriani, who played Dracula's granddaughter Irinia looks a lot like Abigail Cowen who plays Dorcas on Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Watched: 10
New: 5

October Horror Movie Challenge: Little Witches (1996)

I was going to watch this one last night, but I got distracted by a giant shark.

Little Witches came out the same year as the Craft (1996) and in the video releases of it have tried to tie it more closely to the Craft (a vaguely Fairuza Balk looking actress on the cover, the Morpheus font, the back cover of the DVD claiming they "mastered their craft").

While watching this I realized I had seen it a few years back.

School girls, underground evil 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 exceptions here.   The demon at the end was neat, kinda like a poor man's Demogorgon.

It did not get any better in time really.


Watched: 9
New: 5

TBBYANR: Reviews from R'lyeh

I have not done one of these in a long time.  One of the reasons is of course is it much harder to know what people are reading or not.  So I really have no idea if you are reading the blogs I read or not.  But here is one that has been doing some good work of late and you should all know about it.

Mathew "Pookie" Pook runs Reviews from R'lyeh and he has been doing some cool things lately.
Now this is not a new blog by any stretch, Matthew has been doing his thing as long a many other blogs have, since 2009.  What has set his blog apart lately are his reviews of the B series adventures and all of the homages, clones, official and unofficial sequels.

He has done, to date, 1000 reviews, but it is his focus has largely been on B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands.  I mean by all mean read the reviews, but it is the B-series that has me coming back for more.

In addition to being a great overview/review of the classic B1 and B2 modules, the series also covers a lot of the "homage modules" as well, many I have never seen before.

I would have loved to have done this series myself, it is the sort of crazy, obsessive-compulsive type of in-depth review I love.  So just go over his site and read them all.  Then use his links to download all the related adventures.  There is enough here to make an entire campaign from these two adventures.  In fact, I think that is a great idea.

Then go back and read all his other reviews and posts.

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Meg (2018)

This is another one that I have been wanting to watch for some time.  Mostly because I really like Megladons after seeing the jaws of one in a museum as a kid.  Also because I like Jason Statham's movies.

This movie is as much humor as horror and a fair amount of action-adventure.

Essentially this is a monster movie.  The most obvious comparison is to Jaws and to Alien, but there is a bit more hop in this one; you actually think that Statham's character has a chance here.

Oddly enough I am also reminded of an old Aquaman cartoon about an ocean under the ocean, so there is a lot of things going on in this movie that I liked.

Statham's comes off as being cocky, but not a jerk, and even people he has a rivalry with he respects.  There are also some good performances from Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson (of course) and Ruby Rose.

I wish the shark had been a bit scarier though.  Still, a fun flick and the sequel should also be fun.

Watched: 8
New: 5

NIGHT SHIFT Quickstart Rules and Adventure

My co-author Jason Vey has created a set of Quickstart Rules and an adventure for NIGHT SHIFT.

You can get a feel for how the game plays and what sort of things you can do with it.

NIGHT SHIFT Quickstart Rules and Adventure: By the Blood of the New Moon

Grab it. Give it a run.  If you like it consider supporting our Kickstarter.

Edited to add: Now available, Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars. You can get the PDF from DriveThruRPG and both the standard and special edition hardcovers from Elf Lair Games.

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Craft (1996)

I figure since I am running the Craft girls for this week's Other Side Rewind it might be fun to rewatch the movie tonight.  Also, there are some great ideas here for my Pumpkin Spice Witch book.

So there is a lot that this movie gets "wrong" but I am less concerned with all that now and instead enjoy it for what it is and not what I think it should be.  This is the epitome of 90s movies. In the 80s the teens were the victims, in the 90s they were just as likely to be the "monsters".

The real gem of this movie, of course, is Fairuza Balk as Nancy.  Despite being "crazy" and the evil witch, she is the true star of the movie.

There has been talk over the years of a sequel, but it never quite happened.  Now I hear talk of a reboot.  So who knows.  I am not sure a reboot is a good idea, but there have been plenty of movies and TV shows that have been influenced by this movie; Charmed being the most obvious.

I have one queued up for tomorrow that has been described as "The Craft, but sluttier".  We will see.

Watched: 7
New: 4

Monstrous Mondays: Scarecrows for Basic era Games

There is one Halloween monster that I always look back on in fondness.  The Scarecrow.
Maybe it was because I grew up in the Mid-west.  Or maybe because it was because of the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. But I think it was more due to this cardboard Scarecrow Halloween decoration we had hanging in my bedroom.  The thing scared me at first, but soon it came to mean Halloween for me.  This would have been in the years 1974 to 1976.

Since then scarecrows have been as much as a part of Halloween as witches, black cats, and vampires.

So it is natural in my mind that witches are the ones to animate scarecrows to do their bidding.

Razzle dazzle drazzle drone. 
Time for this one to come home.

Razzle dazzle drazzle die. 
Time for this one to come alive!

- Parchment found near a risen scarecrow

Scarecrows are basic guardians similar to druthers, but not nearly as powerful. Like mundane scarecrows, their bodies are made of straw and cloth. They stumble clumsily about their assigned area and attack most anything that wanders through it. Some scarecrows are bound to a post and use their paralyzing (fear) gaze to imprison any trespassers.

Scarecrows are assigned to protect a particular area. They never leave the area, even when chasing an intruder. They will attack anything humanoid or animal-like in appearance that walks into its territory unless otherwise instructed by their creator.

Paralyzing Gaze: Anyone that meets the gaze of a scarecrow must make a saving throw vs. Paralysis or be paralyzed for 1d4+1 rounds.

Construct: Immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, disease, and similar effects. Not subject to critical hits, subdual damage, ability damage, energy drain, or death from massive damage.

Fire Vulnerability: Because of their straw bodies, Scarecrow Guardians are extremely vulnerable to attacks from fire. They take double damage from all fire attacks.

In addition, a scarecrow guardian will catch fire easily after any attack that would normally ignite mundane items. A scarecrow on fire receives 2d6 damage each round (do not double this damage).

Scarecrow
(Labyrinth Lord, Pumpkin Spice Editon)
No. Enc.: 1 (1)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 60’ (20’)
Armor Class: 9
Hit Dice: 3d8 (13 hp)
Attacks: 1 (slam) + Paralyzing Gaze
Damage: 1d6
Save: F3
Morale: 12
Hoard Class: None
XP: 65

Scarecrow
(Blueholme Journeymanne Rules)
AC: 9
HD: 3d8
Move: 60
Attacks: 1 slam (1d6) + Paralyzing Gaze
Alignment: N
Treasure: None
XP: 50

Scarecrow
(Old-School Essentials)
A patchwork collection of old clothes, straw and a pumpkin for a head.
AC 9 [10], HD 3 (13hp), Att 1 slam  (1d6)  + Paralyzing Gaze, THAC0 17 [+3], MV 60’ (20’), SV SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (3), ML 12, AL Neutral, XP 50, NA 1 (1), TT None
▶ Paralyzing Gaze: Save
▶ Fire Vulnerability: Because of their straw bodies, Scarecrow Guardians are extremely vulnerable to attacks from fire. They take double damage from all fire attacks.
▶ Construct: Immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, disease, and similar effects. Not subject to critical hits, subdual damage, ability damage, energy drain, or death from massive damage.

Animate Scarecrow (Ritual)
Level: Witch Ritual 3
Ritual Requirements: The witch and an hour-long ritual. Additional witches may be included.
Range: One scarecrow
Duration: One year plus one day per combined witch levels.
The witch must prepare the scarecrow's body out of hay, straw and old clothes. This should take at least an hour or two to gather materials and make the body. Longer times are needed for more complex scarecrows, but never more than three hours. Successful casting means the scarecrow is animated and will respond to the witch's commands.
Material Components: The creation of a scarecrow's body and an hour-long ritual. The witch includes three strands of her own hair to link the scarecrow to her. If more than one witch contributes to the construction of the scarecrow then each has to contribute a strand of hair.