EERIE Comics

EERIE COMICS (1966 - 1983)

Eerie was a magazine of horror comics introduced in 1966 by Warren Publishing. Stories were introduced by the host character, Cousin Eerie (who was drawn by Tales From The Crypt artist Jack Davis) and its sister publications were Creepy and Vampirella. The cover art stood out from other horror comics because of its great detail, fusing elements of horror and sci-fi over the course of the comic's 17 year lifespan.

The first issue in 1966 was black & white and produced over-night, hitting newsstands in limited numbers at only 35 cents a copy (color stories would not appear until 1974). Contrary to rumor, the comic was created not to rival Creepy, but rather to be its adversary. Unlike other comics of the time, Eerie was driven by reoccurring series, rather than a collection of short stories. The series went on to publish 139 issues, finally calling it quits in 1983 when Warren Publishing filed for bankruptcy. Art from the Eerie comics, inspired by EC's Tales From The Crypt comics printed in the 1950's, is some of my favorite horror work of all time, as it laid the foundation for all other horror publications to come.

Check out Eerie covers #1-31 here.

Horror Hospital: Movie Review #17

HORROR HOSPITAL (1973)

Brittlehouse Manor is more than just a health resort for young people - it is the laboratory of the deranged Doctor Storm, whose experiments in brain surgery create an army of household zombie slaves. Unsuspecting visitors arrive at the Manor through the recommendation of a travel agent, and they soon fall victim to Storm's scalpel. Played by Michael Gough (The Legend of Hell House 1973; more recently, Corpse Bride, 2005) the Doctor drives around with his sidekick, a midget named Frederick, decapitating escapees with a long blade that extends from the driver's side of his car and catches the head in a potato sack. No more needs to be said - watch this movie immediately. I give Horror Hospital 5 toes.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070190/

Drive Thru: Movie Review #16

DRIVE THRU (2007)

Hungry for a killer meal? Drive Thru is another roller coaster of a killer clown movie and one of my personal faves since Killer Klownz From Outer Space. The film opens in Orange County CA with a crew of white wanna-be gangsters craving HellaBurger, and when they roll up to a dark drive thru joint that resembles Jack in the Box, all "hell" literally breaks loose. Our villain Horny The Clown appears within the first 3 minutes with very little buildup or suspense, fully decked out in a Hot Topic evil clown get-up to wreak havoc on the hip-hoppers, killing all of them before the credits even roll (notable here is the "face in the deep frier" kill scene).

The lead role of Mackenzie Carpenter (played by Leighton Meester, your typical 20 year old playing 17, who later strips down to her black underwear and made me feel like a pedophile for smiling) kicks off the film by turning down her boyfriend who wants sex, claiming that she'll be "18 next week." Classic! At a rockin high-school house party, Mackenzie and a bunch of kids play with a Ouija board, asking what will happen to their boring lives. After receiving a creepy message from the board that tells the license plate of the now-dead white boys, they are later haunted by even creepier messages from a magic 8-ball, of all things!

Mackenzie then works late in the yearbook office and hangs with Lenny the Janitor (the best character in the film) who claims he has to "pull a brown gator thats cloggin up the staff shitter." After an uncomfortable encounter with Lenny she develops her film, revealing images of Horny committing the previous murders. She is chased down by the clown and ends up in the school gym, where Horny blows up her girlfriend's head in a microwave. The kill scenes are great in this film and Wikipedia did a great job of outlining them for us:

Tony - face burned by Deep Fryer
Brandon Meeks - slashed in the stomach off-screen
Brittany - axed in the head
Tiffa - killed off-screen
Val - face placed in microwave and head explodes
Lenny - hanged from the bathroom ceiling
Chad Baldwin - head decapitated
Tina McCandless - slashed numerous of time off-screen
Spany - axed in the head
Chuck Taylor - head bashed by an axe
Starfire - hand and head decapitation
Van - sliced in half by a machete
Detective Crockers - axed through the windshield of his car

The Town of Blanca Carne is soon under siege by Horny, who drops a series of terrible one-liners over noisy death metal before wielding his obviously rubber hatchet. Mackenzie's Mom is the genius that puts two and two together - remembering how her and her friends killed Archie Benjamin, the face of HellaBurger, when they were young. Archie, now resurrected as Horny, seeks revenge on the children of these guilty parents. Wow, how original . . .

The movie makes up for its awful acting and poor plot with some great humor - after discovering that Horny The Clown is really a killer, the kids claim "it's like finding out Captain Kangaroo's got pieces of Mr. Green Jeans in his freezer." And I love the TV commercials from HellaBurger that show sexy girls eating chicken wings! There's also a great cameo from Morgan Spurlock (creator of Super Size Me) who plays a HellaBurger employee. The movie is definitely in my top ten worst clown horrors of all time, and I give Drive Thru 4 toes.

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/film/1320

Creature From The Black Lagoon: Movie Review #15

CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954)

The Universal Monsters of the 1950's were the foundation for all of our modern day horrors. I remember watching this film as a boy, fascinated by the Creature who lived underwater. Watching the movie 20 years later, I couldn't help but find the man in the fish suit somewhat ridiculous. Something so scary as a child had no affect on me as a grown man. However, this film and this particular monster was the inspiration for my alias on The Big Toe Blog, so I guess I have indeed been affected by the film even today. Just the word "creature" raises the hair on my arms, a term I find identity with, a simple word that embodies all that I enjoy. Horror and monsters have always been an obsession for me, and I owe a great deal of that to the Creature and this film.

It's quite amazing how simple and straight-forward horror was in the 1950's. Creature From The Black Lagoon was shot in black and white in the supposed Amazon, where a team of archaeologists uncover the bones of a creature's hand. They gather a larger crew and financial backing to take the dig even further, hoping to discover a new species. The expedition takes them to the Black Lagoon, which men have entered but never returned according to legend. One by one, the team is soon terrorized by the Creature, a blueprint for the plot of the horror genre for years to come.

The underwater camerawork is impressive for such primitive times in cinema, and several close calls beneath the surface are the main sources of suspense and tension in the film. When our lovely leading lady Julia Adams is swimming in the lagoon (in a sexy one piece white suit, I might add) the Creature treads water beneath her, inches from her heels. Every time the Creature appears on screen we are bombarded with an intense orchestra sound, which is kind of like his on-screen entrance theme. Much like our present killers in horror films, the Creature takes a lickin and keeps on tickin. Throughout the film he is shot with harpoons, the lagoon water is drugged, he is taken captive by the crew, set on fire, but keeps on truckin. The team, determined to document their find, go up against the Creature above and below the surface, cumulating in several intense underwater battles. The Creature supposedly falls in love with Adams' character (Kay), kidnapping her to his cave, where she is of course eventually rescued and the Creature escapes back into the depths . . . or does he?

Rent this movie and get educated. It's a timeless film and entertaining from start to finish, if you can bear with the fish costume. Of course I give Creature From The Black Lagoon 5 toes!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046876/

Killer Klownz From Outer Space: Movie Review #14

KILLER KLOWNZ FROM OUTER SPACE (1988)

This is the movie that started it all. I remember watching it on cable over and over as a kid, and it still remains one of my favorite horror flicks of all time. Taking the common fear of clowns to a whole new level, The Chiodo Brothers used creepy clown puppets to craft a story that has become a classic in B movie horror. The storyline is ridiculous - a UFO-like circus tent lands in a field in the middle of nowhere, signalling the attack of balloon-twisting pyschos from another dimension. The clowns terrorize the town, turning their victims into cotton candy cocoons and drinking their blood through twisty straws. The Chiodo Brothers went on to create puppets for movies like Critters (1986) and Team America (2006), but Killer Klownz is, in my opinion, their best work. Many have tried to imitate the film, but none have succeeded in outdoing it. I give the film 5 toes and it still holds the number 1 spot in my top ten horror movies involving clowns.

http://www.chiodobros.com/

Cryptic Art by Unkle Pigors

CRYPTIC ART (2008)

The latest book of art from the sick and demented mind of Unkle Pigors is now available courtesy of Baby Tattoo Books. Filled with disturbing cartoon-like images in vivid color, every page is splattered with his signature style. Pigors himself encourages you to "pick your new tattoo from this book" and I must say, I'm tempted to do an entire sleeve of this guy's work. He's got a pretty neat website too, with all kinda of cool merchandise, my favorite being the Spookhouse DVD. Click here to view the trailer.

http://www.toxictoons.com/old_entire_site/index.html

Video Violence: Movie Review #13

VIDEO VIOLENCE 1 & 2 (1987)

When renting is not enough!

The 80's were wonderful! Not only did we get to see slasher films at their peak, but there is a wealth of really awful low budget films to dig up from this decade. Video Violence come to us from Little Zach Productions, a small film company responsible for only 1 other film. These are two of the worst movies I have ever seen, and I mean that in a good way (worth mentioning is that both films are on the same DVD, released in 2007 at the bargain price of only $13).

In the first film a couple open a video store in a small town, only to find that their customers exclusively rent horror and porn (what else is there really?). It all goes downhill when an unmarked tape gets returned to the store, showing the local postman being butchered on camera by two local murderers, Howard and Eli. Part 1 is rather boring, but the sequel comes through on all fronts.

In Part 2 Howard and Eli broadcast their own pirate TV show from an undisclosed location, gathering a cult following of splatter fans who submit their own homemade snuff films. It's like a twisted America's Funniest Home Videos, where the two killers introduce the video submissions all while slicing and dicing a naked woman on the set for the entire film. Videos are submitted by a husband and wife who electrocute a man in their basement, using a homemade electric chair. A trio of half naked college girls order a pizza and hack the delivery boy to pieces after getting him stoned and drunk. A hysterical commercial break about a pet named Wilbur, who parents can buy at the local pet shop to "do their dirty work" (aka kill their children). The movie is maniacal, the gore is low budget and over the top, the acting will make you cringe, and the music is completely ridiculous. I give Video Violence 4 toes.

http://www.amazon.com/Video-Violence-1-2/dp/B000MRNWFG