The Daves would like to thank Rob Dimension for this coverage of Monster Mania!
MonsterMania 20 has come and gone, leaving the usually peaceful Hunt Valley, MD in ruins…well, not exactly. The Horror Convention hosted some of the greatest Horror Icons and Movie stars with names like John Carpenter, Anthony Michael Hall, Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Combs and many more. The crowd was the best yet for the NJ based convention..plus, it was a great time had by all who attended.
Still reeling from the experience of sitting through SHARK NIGHT 3D, I felt it was time to immerse myself in something a little less CGI and more “old school.” I had read on article on the new film, CREATURE, in the latest FANGORIA while also enjoying a preview of it a few weeks back. This film has a limited release and played at only a few theaters in my native Chicagoland. Therefore, I was forced to forgo my favored big screen location in favor of a less savory one. In some ways, however, this added to the overall grindhouse feel of the film and I felt it actually enhanced the experience.
I’ve noticed lately that some of the best genre releases have been coming from outside of the United States. Hollywood, it seems, has run out of ideas and would rather concentrate on remakes and sequels than actually paying someone with an original idea. I will say though that some of the more recent remakes have actually been pretty good.
LORD OF THE RINGS meets PAN’S LABYRINTH in the latest Guillermo Del Torror film I just returned from seeing – DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK. This is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name and was released last Friday. Let me say for the record that I am not as against the idea of remakes as my co-blogger is. I am absolutely offended by “shot for shot” remakes such as the 1998 PSYCHO abomination, but feel that, as long as a movie is original in its execution ( if not its concept), that’s not such a bad thing. Movies like John Carpenter’s THE THING, Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN, and the latest PLANET OF THE APES are all examples of movies that can stand alone without marring the good name of its originals.
EXCERPT FROM SVENGOOLIE NEWSLETTER 7/29/11
Our “Photo of the Month” is actually an autographed picture this time, thanks to our pal Dave Fuentes of the “Terror from beyond the Daves” website that he does along with Dave Albaugh. Dave went to a convention, where he met David Naughton- star of “An American Werewolf in London” – and those “I’m a Pepper/You’re a Pepper” TV commercials from the 70s. He told David about the old commercial parody we did years ago at WFLD where I combined the soft drink commercial with his werewolf transformation from the movie. Mr. Naughton said he had indeed heard of me, and thought the parody idea was “genius” (oh, now, you’re making me blush!). He also signed the below autographed picture for me, indicating that he drinks Dr. Rabies, too! He also told Dave to give me his congratulations on our program going national!
Let me start by being totally honest. I had NO idea what to expect when I received my copy of THE GIANT RUBBER MONSTER MOVIE: SASCRATCH VERSUS AFRODESIOUS! Sure it’s a great title! Sure a lot of the people who are in it had a lot of great things to say about it. But could it really be THAT good?!? The answer? ABSOLUTELY!!!
