Rassle Inn #50

Several weeks back, Tony Schiavone made some interesting comments during an interview.  A source escapes me, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.  Hey, I wouldn't lie about something so trivial.  Anyway, he was making the case that AEW is in no way similar to WCW.  Granted, he was a little defensive.  And he did actually work there, but I was there, too.  As a fan.  We all were.  Before you belittle me, I'll remind you that without us, the viewers, Nitro never would have succeeded.  Okay, I'll get to my point.  For those of you who miss WCW, I got news for you.  AEW is, like, totally WCW.  It doesn't draw the same numbers, and there is no inter-promotional war taking place, but for all intents and purposes, AEW is WCW.

In the mid-90's, free agents in professional wrestling had two basic options in the United States.  With WWF, you had more structure up top.  Concurrently, you had less money.  With WCW, your bank account was sure to swell.  The caveat?  It was a creative shit show.  The roster was so large, it was easy to get lost in the shuffle.  Inconsistent booking didn't help matters.  Nowadays, free agents in professional wrestling have two basic options in the United States.  I think you can see where I'm going with this.  With WWE, you are guaranteed structure and a professional presentation.  With AEW, you are guaranteed a fat contract.  Plus, it's a lighter schedule.  Hmm, didn't WCW run less dates and house shows than WWF?

I should make one thing universally clear.  I'm not saying that one is better than the other, even if one is objectively better than the other.  You can be a WWE/AEW mark if you want.  Buy all the merchandise.  Just don't tell me there aren't parallels between late-era WCW and Tony Khan's pet project.  Of course, there is one main difference.  AEW won't be dissolving anytime soon.  At the very least, it's cool that these athletes do have options on the table.  We've seen what a monopoly can do to the wrestling business, and it's not pretty.

As an aside, what the hell was that random gauntlet match on Dynamite?  Shota Umino?  Hechicero???  Why not throw in Saba Simba and T.L. Hopper for good measure?

Vengeance: The Demon

This isn't a review per se.  I just have to tell you about an awesome comic book I just read.  A series, in fact.  I recently bought all five issues of Dynamite's Pumpkinhead run from roughly six years ago.  I do own a separate Pumpkinhead comic, and it's cool, but this one...woah.  If they ever go ahead with a Pumpkinhead reboot (they might as well), the sequel needs to be based on this stuff.  Why, you ask?  It introduces other monsters.  Yes, there is a demon for each sin, and they run the gamut from a thorny witch to a Lovecraftian mess of tentacles.  Imagine this material in the hands of a company like KNB EFX.  If they took the "old school" route, it could be epic.

A part of me wants to revisit Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes and Pumpkinhead 4: Blood Feud.  Maybe I'll review all of the sequels one day.  Maybe.

An experiment...

Had an idea.  We'll see if it's readable.  Let me know if I should do this again in the future.

Last Movie I Watched (that I didn't review)

1960's The Amazing Transparent Man...I've been trying to take in more straight science fiction as part of a balanced fanboy diet.  This crime thriller was kinda-sorta based on H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man.  Universal fixture Jack Pierce helped with the make-up effects.  The storyline sees an ex-military magnate bust a notorious safecracker out of prison.  He wants to orchestrate the ultimate uranium heist.  Or radium.  Plutonium?  The idea is to use a scientist's invisibility ray to assist in conducting grand larceny.  Of course, he's also holding the scientist against his will.  It's a lot of plot, but this is a cool little flick.  And I do mean "little"; it clocks in at a scant 58 minutes.

Last Album I Listened To

Sepultura's Beneath the Remains...I don't know what cosmic force impels us to revisit certain tunage, but I'm glad it does.  For years, this record hovered in one of my blind spots.  I dug it, but when it came to Sepultura, I always preferred Arise.  Now?  I'm not so sure.  This is a lean, muscular thrash attack.  Every song is killer.  Here and there, I'll pick up on clean guitar passages that add dimension to the whole affair.  I still love Arise, mind you.  I'll even listen to Roots, but I have to be in the right mood.  At the moment, my favorite track is "Mass Hypnosis."  Wouldn't it be weird if this thing clocked in at 58 minutes?  I mean, it doesn't, but wouldn't that be weird???

Last Wrestling Show I Watched

Raw...I'm grasping at straws, but I wanted to try to throw all of the main ingredients of the website into a single post.  Actually, I didn't watch all of Raw, but I will say, I'm totally here for Liv Morgan's eventual heel turn.  Now I can say that Dom and Liv are an item.  Ha!  Unrelated - aside from Bron Breakker, are any of the NXT call-ups over with the WWE Universe?  Like, at all?  You could hear a pin drop during the Creed Brothers match.  I hate saying that because I'm a bit of a tag team mark.  But Jesus, give us a reason to care.  And The Final Testament is just not working.  I guess I'm ending the experiment on an ambivalent note.  Sorry.

Blood Capsule #198

SHADOW ZONE: THE UNDEAD EXPRESS (1996)

Before I settled on "Vampire Month," I was going to call this string of reviews "Vampire Movies That No One Cares About."  Too verbose, no?  It would have been an accurate title, as I'm positive that no one remembers or gives a flying flapdoodle (sorry for the coarse language) about Shadow Zone, a series of books similar to Goosebumps.  It was one of the more successful recapitulations of R.L. Stine's ectoderm.  I know that because there were two Shadow Zone movies, both co-produced by Showtime and Hallmark.  I'm honestly not sure if the other - 1997's My Teacher Ate My Homework - was released onto home video.  One would think so, but I haven't been able to find a copy.  You are forgiven for assuming that The Undead Express was a zombie tag team (managed by Jim Gore-nette, I'm sure).  Man, that would have been awesome.

Anyway, this flick goes down like a cap full of Pepto Bismol.  The taste isn't offensive, but you wouldn't rush out to buy more of it.  Our storyline follows a teenager who haunts a video store...hmm, poor choice of words on my part.  He isn't dead; he just likes to hang out at a video store.  While that makes him somewhat likable, he's an insufferable prick to his closest friends.  They don't believe him when he says that he was accosted by a well-mannered vampire at the subway station, and why would they?  As it turns out, the underground transit system is littered with pale bloodsuckers.  They are all subservient to Ron Silver, and I can't get over how weird that sounds.  Ultimately, Shadow Zone: The Undead Express is middling, yet entirely watchable.  High-grade special effects detonate whenever a vampire is exposed to sunlight.

I'm awarding an extra half-Z'Dar for a gratuitous Wes Craven cameo.  Recommended to fans of turnstiles.

Dom Goes to Hollywood

So here's something cool and way out of left field.  I'm going to be in a movie!  Yep, I'll be wearing my thespian hat in Bobby Canipe Jr.'s Venus DIE-Trap, a tubular throwback to b-pictures from the 1950's.  Shooting commences later this summer.  I'll try to write a diary about my experience, which should be super interesting.

Click HERE to check out the Indiegogo campaign!

Blood Capsule #197

NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS (1971)

When you last left your crippled curator (I couldn't think of a worse example of alliteration), he...er, I was lamenting the fact that I wasn't terribly familiar with Dark Shadows.  House of Dark Shadows was an amusing sit, but it didn't offer much to an outsider.  This follow-up bears only a tenuous connection to the series.  Apart from the setting, everything is brand spankin' new.  I think.  A couple has inherited the Collinwood Estate.  The husband, a painter by trade, is plagued with turbid visions of a witch hanging from a noose.  It doesn't take long for you to realize that we're grappling with a tired reincarnation plotline, and therein lies the problem.  Notice anything missing?  No.  Effing.  Vampires.  Okay, that's not a hiccup per se, but it sure doesn't help Vampire Month.

I could have thrown this one out with (or without) the bathwater, but it exists as a tangential curiosity.  I like tangential curiosities.  Of course, I was all geared up for a vampire flick, so this was a diminutive disappointment.  "But Dom," you interject.  "Is it an otherwise exemplary production?"  No.  No, it isn't.  The acting is rigid, and if you were watching these films back-to-back, you would notice that Night was furnished with less spooky ambience.  You can definitely tell that it was based on a soap opera.  Maybe that's your bag.  Personally, I wish I would have skipped it, mainly because I still have dates with actual vampires.  FACTOID: Director Dan Curtis was dragooned into shaving over thirty minutes from the final cut.  It doesn't look like we'll ever see the full version, which if I'm being honest, doesn't affect me on an emotional level.

Vampires, vampires everywhere!

I just wrote a Blood Capsule, and guess what?  My Patreon supporters can read it right now!  The rest of you will have to wait until next Sunday.  If you want in on the action, the lowest tier is only three bucks.  Mull it over.  I think we could be good friends, you and I.

Random Match Alert

The only real downside to WCW circa 1997 was that the NWO swallowed the rest of the show.  Here we have Mortis being a badass, but does the commentary team put him over as a threat?  Nope.  Schiavone is stuck talking about NWO's shenanigans.  Mortis still rules, though!  Gotta love that entrance theme.

Blood Capsule #196

KISS OF THE VAMPIRE (1963)

Here we have a non-Dracula Hammer vampire film.  There were others, but this one features a tsunami of bats enshrouding the night sky while a fanged cult cowers in fear.  Did I just spoil the ending?  Maybe, but you'll want to see it anyway.  Working off a screenplay by regular Hammer scribe Anthony Hinds, director Don Sharp lets the lavish costumes and set design do the heavy lifting.  Atmosphere is paramount.  As for the plot, we follow a couple in need of petrol for their motorcar (the Blu-ray should have come with a glossary).  Of course, they happened to break down in a quaint village, and of course, they receive an offer to stay in an august, magisterial castle.  It seems that the townspeople are sheepishly afraid of the Gothic stronghold.  Something about vampires.  It's probably nothing.

Kiss of the Vampire is a suit-and-tie fright flick.  It doesn't do anything incredibly well, but it doesn't fumble the ball either (editor's note: that could be because it's playing soccer).  The climax is worth the price of admission alone.  Those bats I mentioned earlier?  They saturate the screen in a scene so eerily reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, Universal delayed the release of the film, both stateside and overseas.  I don't know if it trumps any of Christopher Lee's Dracula joints, but I like the attempts to tinker with vampire lore.  For instance, these bloodsuckers can brave the noonday sun if it's partly cloudy.  'Tis certainly enjoyable, though it's not must-see material.

Blood Capsule #195

HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS (1970)

Growing up, I had seen chunks of daytime television because of my mother.  Whether it was Guiding Light or As the World Turns, I guess you could say that I peeped at soap operas vicariously through her, or at least that's how I remember it.  I don't like to admit that I enjoyed them myself.  Of course, I watch pro-wrestling now, so I'm in no position to judge.  And if I was a slice older, I would have been eager to consume goblets of Dark Shadows, a show tailor-made for horror freaks who didn't mind their scares being stagy and episodic.  I should preface the rest of this review by stating the obvious; I haven't seen one solitary episode of Dark Shadows.  Unfortunately, this made-for-TV film wasn't timbered with outsiders in mind.  The first act is blurry, as it throws characters at the viewer without much of an introduction.

I was familiar with Barnabas Collins, however.  Here, the regal vampire is presented as a distant relative.  Most of the action takes place at the Collinwood Estate.  House is light on plot until bodies begin to pile up, bodies drained of plasma.  Survivors seem to be in a trance, and I'm sure you can figure out where we're going.  To be perfectly honest, this bat-winged b-picture (make no mistake, we're in b-territory) creeps along at a laggard gait, but then suddenly, everything clicks into place.  The atmosphere is intensified (as far as I can tell, half of the budget was spent on fog machines), the gore is thickened, and it becomes harder to predict the story beats.  Does House of Dark Shadows work as a companion piece to the TV series?  No idea, but probably.  There is a sequel.  Tune in next week to see if it sinks its fangs into yours truly.

I met Darcy and Joe Bob!

Photo credit: Bobby (from Bobby's World)

Yesterday, I attended a very cool event with one of my best buds.  Joe Bob Briggs hosted a unique double feature (Bubba Ho-Tep and Donnie Darko) at the Carolina Theatre of Durham, and of course, he signed autographs on top of peddling his wares.  He also hosted a Q&A.  I had been rehearsing a question all day, but I got gun-shy.  Actually, I got shy all over the place.  Did I even say words to Joe Bob and/or Darcy?  I honestly have no idea.  I intended on introducing myself as a budding horror critic, but the whole experience was a blur.  Having said that, it was an awesome blur.

PS-I did slip my business card across the table.  There is a chance, albeit remote, that Joe Bob and/or Darcy will see this write-up.  Great, now I'm nervous again.  In summation, Joe Bob was incredible.  We could have listened to him yammer for hours on end.  The movies were icing on the cake.  The drive-in will never die!!!

Now Playing #12

Endonomos - Endonomos

Credit YouTube for this one.  I wish I could remember the dude's name, but...nope, nothing.  Damn.  Basically, this was his recommendation, and I'll leave a link if I figure out his identity.  Do you like death/doom?  If so, this album should be your next purchase.  Vocals are split between unholy growls and sullen cleans, often multi-tracked.  A point of reference?  Imagine if Crowbar played death/doom.  The opening riff of "Weary" has Kirk Windstein written all over it.  It's worth mentioning that I haven't seen anyone else make this comparison, so I could be talking directly out of my anal cavity.  I don't think so, though!  Anyway, yeah, you need to hear this record right now.  It came out in 2022, and according to Metal Archives, they recently released a single featuring Daniel Droste of Ahab fame.  Huh, I didn't know that.

Listen to "Theft" OR just download the whole thing on Bandcamp.  I'll make it easy for you.  Click HERE.

Edge of Sanity - Crimson II

It's kind of astonishing that this was essentially a solo project.  Dan Swano deserves his own federal holiday, if you ask me.  In doing research on the man himself, I was faced with the realization that some people...don't worship Dan Swano?  How is that possible?  This is, like, the third or fourth time that I've been on an Edge of Sanity kick in my adult life, and I'm working off the assumption that most other earthlings can say the same thing.  Oh, if you didn't know, this is a progressive death metal masterpiece.  FACTOID: Because this album was released in the salad days of file-sharing, its sole track (a 43-minute composition) was fractured into bite-size smithereens.  Sound strategy, but it didn't work.  I vividly remember being exposed to Crimson and Crimson II through Kazaa (or maybe it was LimeWire).

At this point, I might rank Crimson II over Unorthodox or Purgatory Afterglow, but it's splitting hairs.  I advise checking out Swano's back catalog.  He's a jolly good fellow, end of.

Vampire month?

Through haphazard happenstance, I find myself sitting on a stack of vampire movies.  I've set them aside for some time because hey, wouldn't it be neat to announce "vampire month" here at RR Inc?  A few things you need to know about Vampire Month...

8) It probably won't last a full month.

73) Aside from the obvious, there is no overlapping theme connecting the movies that I'll be reviewing.  It's a random lot, which shouldn't surprise anyone.

555) Can you identify the vampire in the image above?  Guess the correct answer and win...nothing!

Album Cover of the Whatever

Doctor's appointments!  They suck, and I've had a lot of them lately.  So I haven't been terribly productive, but give me a few days to realign my chakra.  In the meantime, listen to Ravaged by the Yeti.  They're a grindcore band.  Honestly, I'm not into grind, but I am into Rogga Johansson.  This is one of his 10,537 projects, and they're all worth checking out.

The contest is over...

...and the winner is...

Mike Mnemonic!  Congratulations!  You just won some cool, random stuff!

Decayed Decades

Heads up!  Exhumed have been uploading parts of a documentary to YouTube in piecemeal fashion.  It reminds me of Cannibal Corpse's epic Centuries of Torment DVD in terms of scope, although it's not quite as long.  Definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the band, which I have been for awhile now.

Fright Night Part 2

I haven't written a full-length review in ages.  I've been too busy writing Blood Capsules, and I must admit, I don't know if I can retrain my brain to write four paragraphs about a movie.  I might pull something, is what I'm saying.  Hold my hand?  We should probably start with the original Fright Night.  It's overrated.  Yeah, I said it.  I've always felt this way, and while I don't hold any trenchant hatred for the film, it's merely "a'ight" for me.  Fright Night Part 2 on the other hand...I saw it on television as a wee lad and enjoyed the muck out of it.  Having rewatched it for this review, I can confirm that woah, it rules.  A lot.  In fact, it might be one of my favorite sequels of all time.  Shocked?  Me, too!

This movie does everything right.  God bless director Tommy Lee Wallace.  Let's make it official; if you have Fright Night Part 2 and Halloween III: Season on the Witch on your resume, you're a certified badass.  I realize that he was given a meaty budget to work with (relatively speaking, of course), but you have to know how to execute and take advantage of your resources.  I like that the plot finds Charley as a rehabilitated student.  It switches the dynamics up a bit to present Peter Vincent as the feasibly crazy vampire killer.  If you've been living under a coffin, we meet Regine, the sultry sister of Jerry Dandridge.  Can we just take a minute to glorify the villains here?  By the way, I'm referring to Regine's gang of miscreants, not the Menendez brothers.  If you know, you know.

These bloodsuckers are so cool, it hurts.  At one point, they go bowling for the sake of going bowling!  Granted, they decapitate someone at the alley, but still.  And does Belle remind anyone else of Damian Priest?  It would be stunt casting, but if they ever commission a remake...yeah, I know that the 2011 redux has a sequel.  No, I don't plan on renting it.  Back to Fright Night Part 2.  The pacing is flawless.  The special effects are honestly incredible, and I have no idea how they achieved certain shots without the cushion of CGI.  We even get a werewolf thrown in for good measure.  Does the re-sequel have a werewolf in it???

I'm tempted to whip out five Z'Dars, but that should only be reserved for the stuff that stands the test of time.  If I toss Fright Night Part 2 into the ol' VCR a few years from now, and I have the same amount of fun with it as I did last night, then I'll consider a perfect rating.  Where is the affordable Blu-ray?  Don't get me wrong; I'm content with my tape, but if any flick deserves double-dipping, it's this one.  As for the first Fright Night, I could be talked into giving it a second chance.  No promises.  I can't believe that Stephen Geoffreys chose 976-Evil over reprising his role as Evil Ed.  Then again, he made several questionable career choices, didn't he?

Quick update...

Heads up!  I've retooled my Patreon tiers.  If you sign up, you'll get to see select Blood Capsules a full week before they hit the site.  Plus, you can even request a review!  Give it a looksee below.  I can't pour time into this thing without the Patreon support, so thank you again to anyone who has decided to throw a couple bucks my way.

Gyaos says, "Click HERE!"