American Scary

The terror-ific new documentary American Scary by filmmakers John Hudgens and Sandy Clark is officially being released today! The American Scary website can be found HERE

American Scary is a look at the nation's tradition of horror hosting, from Zacherley to A. Ghastlee Ghoul.

It features interviews and footage from hosts from the 1950s to the present, such as Zacherley, Vampira, Ghoulardi and others (like, ahem, DR GANGRENE), along with memories from celebrities and fans who were influenced by these hosts.

American Scary has been in production for a number of years - John and Sandy flew from coast to coast conducting interviews and gathering information. This is the most extensive look at the art of hosting horror movies ever put to film, and it is really an entertaining DVD. Highly recommended!

Here is the trailer for American Scary:



And a section on Nashville Horror hosts:

Friday the 13th Part IV

While I'm on the subject of the Belcourt Theater, the Belcourt is showing Friday the 13th Part IV... It's being shown both Friday and Saturday at Midnight - It's part of the Belcourt's Midnight Movie series, which is always a really fun time. They usually have some kind of themed events wrapped aound the movies, and attendance is usually really good. I am going to try and catch it on the 13th.

So if you're in the Nashville area put this on your schedule of things to do this weekend.

Fri & Sat, Feb 13 & 14 @ Midnight - FRIDAY THE 13 IV: THE FINAL CHAPTER -Come early to get your pictures with Jason in the lobby, it's like Santa, but not.

I made it down to the Belcourt theater in Nashville Sunday afternoon for the matinee of Planet of the Apes. I ran into a friend there, Jeff Thompson, who I didn't know was going. The show was well attended - probably 30 or 40 folks there, which was pretty impressive considering it was a gorgeous 70 degree day outside.

The print of the movie was beautiful - it was really a good time - thanks to the belcort for showing this!

Wonderfest Card

This is a Wonderfest exclusive freebie we gave away in 2006 during the live show. It was a mock "Mars Attacks" trading card featuring me and Bob Burns. The Wonderfest convention had these printed. We handed them out after the show while everyone was milling around listening to the band. Not sure who did the actual art but I intend to find out...think I'll give Conover a phone call tomorrow...

Rondo Awards - Best Independent Production on DVD

In my ongoing review of categories for the 2008 Rondo Awards, we come to the

Best Independent Production on DVD -

and my choice is
Trailer Park of Terror!!

Trailer Park is a really fun and well-made movie - I reviewed it here.


It is out on DVD now, and if you haven't seen it you should! It's my choice for Best Indy production on DVD, and btw, they announced yesterday that the Rondo Awards will begin next Sunday!! Woo hoo!

It's a Madhouse Matinee!

This weekend, Sat Feb. 7th through Monday Feb. 9th, the Belcourt Theater in nashville is showing my favorite movie of all time, Planet of the Apes.

This is, of course, the original version. I dismiss the remake as an unfortunate mistake, not worthy of inclusion in the apes franchise, below even the tv series, which I enjoyed. No, this is the original 1968 version, starring Charleton Heston, Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, and the lovely Linda Harrison, who I had the pleasure of seeing at Wonderfest recently and who is still beautiful as ever.

Accoding to the Belcourt website this is a new 35mm print courtesy of Criterion Pictures. Hell yes! I am really looking forward to seeing this movie on the big screen - showtimes below:

Sat-Sun, 2/7-8 @ Noon
Monday, 2/9 @ 7:00p

I'll be at the noon show Sunday. Don't let them make a monkey out of you - come see Planet of the Apes!!

Goodbye Lux - Long Live The Cramps

"You Ain't No Punk You Punk"

Lux Interior died last night. The singer for The Cramps passed away from a pre-existing heart condition. He's survived by his wife, band member and band co-founder Poison Ivy.

I've been on a major Cramps kick the past couple of years - this past summer in particular. I had, of course, heard them before, but never really dug in and consumed their music like I did over the past year or so. I can't tell you how many times I drove back and forth from home to work or around town on errands with The Cramps blasting on my car stereo in the dead of summer, windows down and diggin the wonderful weirdness that is The Cramps.

The Cramps are one of the pioneers of psychobilly music. Part punk, part garage, part rockabilly, part psychopathic - they are truly a gift to horror fans and rock music junkies like me. Pop culture, sex, sleaze, monsters and more abound in their music, and Lux is a fantastic frontman. Just type in The Cramps on youtube and check out their live performances for yourself. Lux writhes, twists, and slithers about the stage while eating the mic and owning the stage - you can't look away from him.

The Cramps were true pioneers of punk - the quote at the top of the page is from their song Garbageman, a commentary on poser punks who came after them but just didn't have a clue. The Cramps had a clue.

Long live the Cramps. Goodbye Lux.

City Council Proclimation Video

This is the video of the City Council meeting presentation of the proclamation at last night's City Council Meeting. Thanks to Bob Brown for taping this for me - it was broadcast on Gov access ch3.

Happy Birthday George Romero!

I woke this morning and turned on the news and saw a birthday greeting for George Romero - a quick trip by IMDB confirmed the master of horror turned 69 today! Happy birthday George! Here's to many, many more. And thanks for making more zombie movies - nobody does em like you!

150th Post!

Well this is the 150th post I've made on this blog. Not bad - for me, it's a record. Not that it is that huge of an accomplishment as far as blogging goes, but it is the longest I've been able to keep a journal online going, and this is the 3rd go around with it for me. I've been enjoying posting thoughts, ideas and random musings here, as well as news about the show. So I'll keep it up and we'll see how long it takes to get to 200.

Nashville City Council Meeting

Tonight I headed down to the Nashville Metro City council meeting with Nurse Moan-eek (Linda Wylie) and our director Cameron McCasland. We were there because tonight was the official presentation for the Go Green with Dr. Gangrene proclamation. It was really incredible to stand there before the city council of Nashville TN, the city where I was born and raised, and be recognized by the city leaders... I was overwhelmed, especially when the council gave us a standing ovation.

I made sure when I spoke at the meeting tonight that I thanked everyone who made it possible, and I also made sure to mention Sir Cecil Creape, the horror host of Nashville TN who paved the way before me. I also want to take a minute to thank Council member Duane Dominy for sponsoring the proclimation, and to thank Cameron for getting the ball rolling and making this all possible.

this pic was taken when we shot the "Two Lane Trash Stop PSA"

from left: Michael Creason, Nurse Moan-eek, Zombie Chuck, Doc Gangrene, Cameron McCasland

Now on to all the projects we have in store for 2009 -
it's gonna be a fun year!!

Rondo Awards - Best CD

The ballot is being finalized as we speak, and I expect an official announcement of this year's Rondo Award nominees soon. In the category of Best CD, my choice for 2007 is Nashville's own premiere horror band, The Creeping Cruds and their latest CD, Tennessee Bloodbath!


The official Creeping Cruds website is: http://www.creepingcruds.com/ and you can, of course, find them on myspace too at: http://www.myspace.com/creepingcruds

You can pick up this cd at either of these spots or on CD Baby, Interpunk.com, itunes, amazon.mp3 or emusic. This is a terrific batch of horror schlock and roll, with songs to make any true monster kid howl with delight such as Come Out Neville (Based on the movie The Omega Man and the Matheson novel I am Legend ), I Kicked Dracula's Ass (sung from the Frankenstein Monster's perspective), and Meat and Three about a man who discovers his baby is now a part of the menu. Big loud guitars, in your face rock and roll with a horror twist - highly recommended.


The guys were also recently interviewed on Rue Morgue Radio - go to
http://www.ruemorgueradio.com/?a=archives
and download the January 9th show.

The Frankenstein Monster

I've been on a bit of a Frankenstein kick lately, Mighty Marvel style!

I've been reading the Marvel Essentials THE MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN trade paperback and have to say I've really been enjoying it. I never had a chance to read these comics in their original format, which was published from 1973-1975. The original comic books were printed in color, but this book, as with all the Essentials line, is printed in black and white. This series, however, unlike Marvel's Tomb of Dracula series, really does work better in color, and it's a shame they haven't been collected together in that format. That said, it is still a great opportunity to enjoy a collection of stories that I otherwise probably never would get a chance to read.

The book was originally titled THE MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN, but starting with issue #6 they changed it to THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER. The storyline continued despite the slight name change, which I doubt readers even noticed or cared much about it, truth to tell.

Issues 1 - 11 were written by Gary Friedrich, who kept the series fairly faithful to the source material, Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, Frankenstein. Doug Moench takes over the writing from issues 12-17, and the final issue of the original run was written by Bill Mantlo. Pencils and inks were done by Mike Ploog, John Buscema, John Verpoorten, Bob Brown, Jil Kane and Val Mayerik. The series was edited by Swamp Thing writer Len Wein.

The main character is, as stated in the title, the Monster of Frankenstein. He is frozen in a block of ice and is found by a descendent of Robert Walton, the ship captain from the original novel to whom the story is told. The first couple of issues are basically Mary Shelley's novel told from the creature's perspective. It explains the monster's survival from the end of that novel and continues his further adventures. The early issues are really good, and the creature in these is a tragic character as in the novel, who is torn between survival and the need for human companionship, which he is forever denied due to his inhuman origin and hideous looks.

This series started off strong, but kind of degenerated into a murky mess as it went along. Somewhere along the way the comic loses focus and the character changes from a sympathetic character to a super powerful killing machine bent on the murder of every member of the Frankenstein lineage.

It was during the Doug Moench run of the series that the book jumps off track for me. The monster loses his ability to speak, which throws off much of his humanity. Perhaps he wanted to make the monster more like the Universal version. But with the loss of his speaking ability the monster also apparantly loses intelligence, and becomes little more than a super strong brute. He also becomes increasingly more powerful - where earlier in the series a single rifle blast almost kills him, he later becomes completely impervious to bullets.

The monster is brought into current times during the Moench run by means of being frozen in a block of ice (for the second time). The book runs even more off track for me at this point, as he is really out of place in modern soceity and the monster's motivation become even more muddled. He is just a dumb brute, and little of the humanity that makes him so appealing early on exists in the later creature.

Despite all this, I have to say I am still enjoying the series. I am about three quarters of the way through the book, and look forward to finishing out the series. Included in this collection are the original series issues 1-18, GIANT-SIZE WEREWOLF #2 (a crossover issue), and stories from MONSTERS UNLEASHED #2 and #4-10 which all feature the Monster.