It’s another edition of our podcast “Terror on Tequila” and we’re gonna cut right to the HEART of holiday slashers with our special BLOODY VALENTINE SHOW! Bartender, Jason Lucas, whips up some special Valentine Vodka with cranberries while joining Terror Dave Fuentes in a discussion revolving around February 14th Frights! You’re guaranteed to fall in love with our banter on MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981), MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D (2009), and VALENTINE (2001)!
Twenty years before I met the other Terror Dave (David Albaugh), I became friends with a charismatic guy named Jason Lucas. We worked together at a local grocery store back when we were teens and I remember stocking the shelves, him strolling past me with a flop mop as we’d discuss Halloween‘s Michael Myers. It was 1988 and the franchise was returning to its Myers roots after his absence in the previous installment, Halloween III: Season of the Witch. We were excited by both this news as well as the realization that we were now old enough to bypass our conservative parents and see him on the big screen.
Another great feature of this past DAYS OF THE DEAD convention in Indianapolis was the reunion of two POLTERGEIST cast members, Oilver Robbins (Robbie Freeling) and Martin Casella (Marty)! The two joined again for a Q&A panel to discuss the film while revealing some new insights on what went on behind the scenes! Thanks to our friends, Ron & Angela Urban, here are some juicy tidbits…
“Beware the 14th!” hisses a cantankerous bartender working in the small mining community of “Valentine Bluffs”…and not just because you’re about to get fleeced by The Hallmark Greeting Card company! The 1980’s were, without question, the golden age of the “slasher movie”; with particular emphasis on any special day on the calendar that could provide an excuse for some maniacal killer to start hacking away at horny young people. HALLOWEEN, FRIDAY the 13th, and GRADUATION DAY were just a few of those special occasions when you’d be better off locking your doors and hiding under your bed as opposed to going out and being festive.
There is no shortage of guilty pleasures so far as 1980’s horror movies are concerned. Whether its one of the multitude of slasher films that helped define the decade or one of those goofy GREMLINS inspired rip-offs (CRITTERS, TROLL, GHOULIES, etc) you had plenty of “fun with fright” movies to choose from.
Today I’m going to call to your attention one of my favorite lesser known 80’s films, WITCHBOARD (1986). As soon as it came out on VHS (after a limited release in a paltry 15 theaters), I rented it from my local (and now all but obsolete) “mom and pop” video store. I didn’t have high hopes but, within the first few minutes of snappy dialogue involving a debate between party-goers regarding the existence of God and ghosts, this 16 year old horror fan was hooked!
I was standing in the lobby of the main hotel at FRIGHT NIGHT FILM FEST when a young man came up to me and asked if I was Dave from TERROR FROM BEYOND THE DAVES. Although I didn’t recognize him, it turned out that he and I had met before during a brief, but memorable, moment at Horrorhound Weekend last March.
I remember at the time, the other Dave (David Albaugh) and I were standing in line to see Barbara Steele. Nobody likes being idle when there is so much to do around you, so we passed the time doing what we do best under these circumstances- staring at folks! Yes, both David and I consider ourselves to be avid “people watchers,” a skill that, no doubt, is something one the develops during an introverted, shy youth and gradually hones over time. While most people think the best subjects can be found at Walmart (as illustrated by the numerous viral emails that go around depicting the less refined members of their clientelle) it really doesn’t matter where you are nor the socio-ecominic satus of your subjects. The fact remains that we people, on the whole, are pretty darn funny!
Terror from Beyond the Dave 