I shall use my devisualiser and vanish!

THE PHANTOM CREEPS (12 chapter serial, 1939)

Needless to say Bela Lugosi is Dracula! I'm not gonna try and debate whether the "real" Dracula is DRACULA from 1931 starring Bela Lugosi or Hammer Studio's DRACULA from 1958 starring Christoper Lee (and retitled Horror of Dracula in America). I love them both so I'm not gonna pour any petrol on the feud bonfire between Lugosi and Lee fans. Haha.



I won't take part, I choose them both. Anyway, I'm babbling. What else can you do after 12 chapters of this cool Bela Lugosi serial from 1939. Dinner in half an hour so no incisive plot description, sufficient to know this: The world and The United States of America was a peaceful place in '39, well except for the emergence of that madman Hitl... eh, doctor Zorka. Bela Lugosi is doctor Zorka, a mad scientist whose goal is to conquer the world ("...but I shall conquer the world with my army of atomic supermen", but, hey, that's a different Lugosi movie - same goal though!).



Our hero is an FBI man and his annoying (but very pretty) female sidekick (a journalist, obviously!). Lugosi has invented a box with an heinous content; with it he can DESTROY THE WORLD. Or conquer it, whatever he chooses. Unfortunately, other (non American, obviously) players are in the game too. Wauw, what a concept; not ONE but TWO bad parties fighting for world domination and our hero (and the pretty journo) are having a hard time saving said world. Oh, and did I forget to mention doctor Zorka also has a DEVISUALISER to go invisible with (a nifty devise not least if you want to use footage from THE INVISIBLE RAY from 1936, LOL).

They have betrayed me, but I will take the world with me!

Oh, and did I forget to mention he also has an amazing killer robot. So deadly it'll kill anybody who doesn't walk any faster than your everyday SNAIL. Argh. THE PHANTOM CREEPS is awesome!! Bela Lugosi is the bad guy but he totally steals the show, who is the good guy even? Forget the other actors except the pretty journalist and (incidentally!) the OTHER bad guy played by Edward van Sloan (who was also in DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN). But then again, would anybody think otherwise? How could Bela Lugosi as a mad scientist with a devisualiser, ray gun, killer robot, explosive robot spiders (!!!), and awesome one-liners, not steal the show!



The DVD from VCI is great! The picture has been restored and looks like it was filmed recently (I'm obviously exaggerating there). Yes, there's a few scratches here and there but you'll soon forget about that. There's no extra material apart from an old cartoon ("Porky's Midnight Matinee") but screw that, the 12 chapters are more than enough! Running time is approximately 4 hours.



PS: If you want to watch THE PHANTOM CREEPS, make sure you get the VCI DVD. There are releases from other companies but apparently they're terrible TV prints. It's around 10 bucks from Amazon.

Video Nasties The Definitive Guide - longer trailer

I've already posted one trailer for this hopefully awesome documentary about the video nasty era in the UK and here's another one. It's less of a trailer and more like an proper into to the docu film. I'm certainly looking forward to the DVD (out on Nov. 1'st).

Read my old post with into and description to the film here.

Alright, Magnus, you're right... THIS is a PROPER video for Halloween!!!

A wee horror trash toon to get into the Halloween spirit. xD

EATER (Stuart Gordon, 2008)

I watched the first episode of FEAR ITSELF (i.e. "Masters of Horror" season 3) tonight and I can't say I'm disappointed! The episode is called "Eater" and is directed by Stuart Gordon, and obviously it's pointless to tell you he also directed the legendary RE-ANIMATOR in 1985 cos you already know that. One of my all time fave films! If "Eater" is an indicator of the quality of FEAR ITSELF then I'm certainly in for a treat cos this episode is great!

The story takes place at a small police station during one snowy night. A handful of police officers are asked to look after a particularly dangerous prisoner until the next morning. But at some point the main character, a young female rookie cop, discovers that maybe the other cops aren't what she thinks they are. Not a fortunate situation since the guy in the cell (or where ever he is) is a Cajun "chef" with an appetite for human flesh. LOL. Without revealing too much let me just hint at the ending may be surprisingly downbeat! Not a bad thing in my book. :D
The only extra feature is a five minute interview with Stuart Gordon but at least he talks about how much he loves horror. xD

You can take your other holidays and shove 'em!

HALLOWEEN is where it's at, man! xD. And this is the weekend before the big event so here's a cool trailer for the zombie flick that started it all! Hmm, should I tell you which one it is, it's not like they mention it in the trailer (a few hundred times, LOL).

When guys dance. In the graveyard.

Best ever Sidaris on a Saturday night

Here's a trailer for Andy Sidaris' SEVEN. Along with STACEY! this is his best film me thinks! xD
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a trailer for STACEY! but here are trailers for two of this other highly entertaining films, HARD TICKET TO HAWAII (which I reviewed in Banned in Britain 2, DL it from the bar on the right if you haven't already) and DO OR DIE. Unfortunately, neither SEVEN nor STACEY! is on official DVD.

Dedication

JohnLydon.Com reader Claude showing off his tattoo of John to the man himself after the PiL show at Leeds, 02 Academy, December 16th 2009. John duly the signed the tattoo as a mark of respect.

o_O

So I'm at my aunt's birthday party yesterday.

Aunt (different one, not the birthday aunt): I've got a homepage for my practice now.

Me: Cool. How many hits do you get?

Aunt: Around a 100 a week.

Me: Cool. I've got a blog about B movies from the Philippines. The Stockholm Film Festival discovered it recently. They've sent me invites to their press meetings. I can get free passes if I want.

Aunt: [blank stare]

Me: It's fun to get discovered by a big festival like that. Of course, it's all just for fun, but still.

Aunt: [blank stare]

Me: Ehh, you know I'm the only one who does a blog about this. In the world.

Aunt: You could go to Stockholm. Stockholm is nice.

Me: Eh, yeah sure, but that's not the point, it was just fun to get the invite.

Aunt: [blank stare]


What is it with families??? o_O
They just don't get your hobbies or anything. Unless you tell them about a new job or that you're getting a baby they're just not interested. [blank stare]. Haha. o_O