The Midnight Hour (1985) VHS Collection

This would certainly not be the first time I've posted about the1985 Made-for-TV Halloween classic, The Midnight Hour. In fact, it’s not even the first time I’ve posted some of my VHS copies of the movie (you can see that HERE). Regardless, The Midnight Hour is one that always deserves all the love, and I sure as hell don’t mind giving it some. That, and I have picked up a handful of very cool foreign VHS copies of the movie since I last posted about it in 2016, so I figured it would be a great time to share my updated collection with you. 

Vidmark (United States) 

Vidmark (Screener Copy)

Anchor Bay Clamshell (United States)

This copy is one that I bought when it was released in 1999, and this is more than likely the first time I had seen the movie again since its original TV airing. As a result, this release holds a very special place in my heart.

United Video Kauf Cassette (Germany)

Ixion (Japan)

Record Vision/MidWest (Spain)

Video Films/Video Elit (Greece) 

Each of these releases are simply very cool looking, but I find myself going back and forth between the Greek and Spanish releases as my favorite in terms of cover art. Both VHS covers just really hit that sweet Halloween horror spot for me. 

With that being said, I hope you've enjoyed this trip through my VHS collection of The Midnight Hour. If you haven’t seen the movie for yourself as of yet, then you absolutely owe it to yourself to do so, and what better time than this Halloween season?! Heck, you can watch the entire movie right down below!

Hell House ‘92: A Haunted Attraction Unlike Any Other

While many people across America enjoy various types of haunted attractions during the Halloween season, there is a segment of the population who enjoy a very specific type of haunt that isn’t quite the same as what most of us are used to. Of course the goal of a haunted house is to put the proverbial fear of God into their respective patrons. However, some haunts, often referred to as Hell Houses, take that idea to a more literal level.

This is best outlined by a 1992 VHS release of Hell House ‘92. Presented by Christian Retreat Family Church out of Bradenton, FL, Hell House ‘92 is essentially a hype video aimed at Christians and likely other churches looking for an alternative to the traditional Halloween haunted attraction. The term “Hell House” is a blanket term, and is best explained by the video’s unnamed host as “a Christian alternative for the traditional haunted houses at Halloween.” Before introducing a series of clips of what can be seen in this specific Hell House, the host goes on to describe the experience as “a powerful evangelism tool,” which is maybe more frightening than anything that Halloween as a holiday can throw our way.

On the surface, the footage of the Hell House plays out like any old Haunted House, featuring creepy images meant to instill fear in patrons. Where things differ here, however, are the stories and the driving forces behind these horror scenes. Instead of set pieces featuring creepy clowns and chainsaw-wielding maniacs, the mostly teen audience is subjected to scenarios featuring suicide, abortion and interestingly enough any sort of partying. Essentially, the moral of each story is simple: be good, otherwise you will fall prey to the devil and end up dead and, worse yet, burning in hell.

Throughout each set piece, patrons are led by a demonic tour guide, who continually encourages each teenager in the various scenes to do whatever awful deeds that are being depicted. Their only savior is to follow the word of God, and this all comes to a head when, during the final set piece, the viewer is subjected to a depiction of Moses discussing the importance of the Ten Commandments, which is then followed by a crucified Jesus, who makes a plea for all the patrons to not let his sacrifices go to waste. The presentation ends with the host going over the fact that after the teen patrons go through the Hell House, they can speak with counselors. Though, I feel confident that they aren’t the kind of counselors that these kids will need after experiencing such indoctrination. 

The entire special only runs about 15 minutes. However, and this is noted at the finish of the presentation, there are a handful of TV news reports featured after the fact, which is actually pretty fantastic for someone who loves old news footage concerning Halloween antics, especially with the bonus of it being focused on something as insane as a Christian Hell House. Unfortunately, with this being such a niche thing, info about the video and access to it is essentially nonexistent, which is exactly why my photos in this post are of the VHS playing on my TV. There are, however, numerous clips to be found featuring similar antics, one of which I will share below to give you a taste of the pure insanity that is a Christian Hell House.

Full Moon VideoZone: The Original Special Feature

In a time well before DVD and Blu-ray were the standard formats for cinephiles, there was the almighty VHS tape. Looked back upon with a fondness similar to that of a mother for her first born, especially for genre fans, VHS was where home cinema would truly come to fruition. It was the start of a revolution; a major evolutionary leap that continuously grows with each day that passes. Looking back at the VHS format now is a nostalgic romp, bringing many of us back to a time in our youth when hours were spent in front of a television, eyes fixated, with no more than the glow of the screen illuminating the room around us. This is a time when there was an innocence to watching movies and, in many ways, was the best time cinematically in our lives.

As much as I still love the nostalgic aspects of the VHS format, and even actively collecting it, can you imagine a world where special features didn’t exist? With the advent of DVD, Blu-ray and now UHD, cinema nerds have been filled to the gullet with multiple commentaries, trailers, behind the scenes, and anything and everything else you can think of. I doubt any one of us could fathom living without these “extras,” and it wasn’t so long ago where we settled for no more than a handful of trailers before our feature presentation (if we were lucky) after we pushed those beastly black beauties into our VCRs.

Nevertheless, before there was ever a Blu-ray disc, a DVD, or even a Laserdisc, there was Full Moon’s VideoZone. A bounce back production company that came after the fall of Empire Pictures, Full Moon Productions was the brainchild of Charles Band. Band had a clear vision for this new company: produce low-budget genre cinema with a polished look that the audience would associate with big budget productions. In keeping with the Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy elements found within the films that Full Moon produced, Band apparently wanted the company to have the overall feel of a comic book, which would tie into the birth of VideoZone.

Inspired by the positive response to the making-of segments that Full Moon had attached to some of their earlier films, VideoZone made its official splash in 1991 at the conclusion of a sequel that would prove to be one of the studio’s most popular flagship franchises, Puppet Master II. Occasionally introduced by Charles Band himself, each video magazine-style VideoZone featurette would come in at around 25 minutes and focused on the making of whichever film you had just watched. Filled with insightful and ambitious interviews with the cast and crew, a look at how certain makeup effects were done, and a chance to watch the film from the creative side of the lens, VideoZone was as groundbreaking as it was entertaining.

Growing up at this time, I simply loved the films that Full Moon churned out, and still very much appreciate the style of movie that the company brought to the table. However, as much as I enjoyed the features themselves, I can honestly say that the best part of any Full Moon production was the VideoZone segment. Being a kid that loved horror movies, it was quite incredible to be able to go behind-the-scenes with these featurettes. It was also something that worked as a learning tool for what would become a lifelong passion, which would be movies and the every intricate detail that goes into making them.

VideoZone played at the end of every Full Moon VHS release from 1991 to 2000, opening the door wide enough for fans to sneak a peek at how the films were brought to life. It also served as a great marketing tool for Band to hock Full Moon products and share the latest movie news, which was a brilliant way to keep Full Moon fans in the loop. Even though the innovative VideoZone is no more, the always market savvy (and maybe a tad sketchy) Band still keeps the interactive dream alive in the modern age with video blogs pimping classy cinema such as Evil Bong 3D and Gingerdead Man 3 and continuously promoting Full Moon on his social media accounts. And personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Spooky World (1994) A Video Visit to America’s Horror Themepark

Opening its doors to the public back in 1991, Spooky World is a Halloween horror theme park originally based out of Berlin, Massachusetts. Anyone who was lucky enough to visit this large-scale haunted attraction was subjected to what can only be described as a horror and/or Halloween fan’s dream, or should I say nightmare come true.

I’m originally from MA, so i was fortunate enough to make it to Spooky World with a couple of friends sometime towards the end of it’s run at the Berlin location (the park would relocate to Gillette stadium in 1998). Needless to say, as a lifelong fan of horror as well as being completely obsessed with Halloween, it was everything I had imagined and more.

This was probably about 20 years ago now, and while my memory of the experience is a tad fuzzy, I’ll never forget the overwhelming feeling of joy that came with being able to visit such a massive haunted attraction. It was my Disney World. Thankfully, however, with the help of a video tour VHS that Spooky World released in 1994, I can relive that joyous experience wherever I so choose.

Spooky World: A Video Visit to America’s Horror Themepark features some interesting horror talent behind the scenes. This 23 minute video tour was directed by horror/cult filmmaker Ted V. Mikels and produced by special effects legend Tom Savini. But the horror cred doesn’t end there, as this video is narrated by Jason Voorhees himself, Kane Hodder, who guides viewers on a behind the scenes look at what you can expect to find when visiting Spooky World.

During the brief runtime, the video features a live performance of the Halloween party classic, The Monster Mash, by Bobby “Boris” Pickett, something that was a staple of the theme park. From there the video moves onto the infamous haunted hayride, giving viewers a brief look at some of the insane set pieces, which includes decapitations, electrocutions and even a Troma-inspired section featuring everyone’s favorite Tromaville super hero, The Toxic Avenger.

Following the hayride, the video proceeds to give a short tour of Tom Savini’s haunted house, which is really nothing more than your typical indoor haunt. That’s not to say the haunt doesn't kick all sorts of ass, but having a name such as Savini’s attached to a haunt, the expectations are extremely high. These were my feelings when I went to Spooky World as well; I fully expected a gorefest of Romero proportions, but the haunted house was nothing more than what you would find at any number of haunted attractions. Surprisingly, the haunted hayride delivers the gory and violent goods in a way that Savini’s should have.

That’s pretty much the meat and taters of Spooky World: A Video Visit to America’s Horror Themepark. However, I’d be hard pressed not to mention one of my favorite elements of this video, and that is the absolutely awesome animations featured throughout. We’re talking the mid-90s here, and the animations totally have the look of something you’d see in a hokey video game cutscene. It fits in so well with the entire package, and this is especially due to the fact that the package comes wrapped in the form of a video tape.

While it’s marketed as a video visit, and it is that, Spooky World: A Video Visit to America’s Horror Themepark is most certainly a commercial for Spooky World, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it’s a pretty awesome thing. While this incarnation of Spooky World is no more, this video visit still lives on to remind us of how cool of a place Spooky World was while also working as a nostalgia trigger due to the retro nature of the content and format it was released on.

You don’t have to be bound by a VCR to check out this video visit for yourself, as you can give it a watch via the embedded video below. It’s only 23 minutes and certainly worth your time if you’d like a trip down memory lane, even if it’s not a memory you even have. 

My Favorite Halloween-themed VHS Tapes!

It’s been many years since I have done anything Dumpster Diving for Gold related, but that doesn’t mean I’m not always out looking for a good deal. Be it on the internet or in the dreaded real world, I am still hunting hard for deals on VHS tapes, Blu-rays and the occasional DVD. Seeing as it is indeed the season of scary, on top of the fact that I have a sizable VHS collection of Halloween-set films and television specials, I thought it would be fun to share with all two, maybe three of you some of my very favorite Halloween-themed VHS tapes!   

The Midnight Hour (1985)

Originally airing on ABC in 1985, The Midnight Hour is one of the very best Halloween movies and certainly a favorite of mine. I’m lucky enough to own three VHS copies of The Midnight Hour: the Anchor Bay clam, a German release and a sealed Vidmark screener. If you haven’t seen this one, and are even remotely into Halloween, then you need to get on that joint ASAP!

_______________________________

 Hack-O-Lantern AKA Halloween Night (1988)

Two names, two releases, one film, Hack-O-Lantern was released by Legacy Entertainment under the Hack-O-Lantern title in 1988. In 1990, the film was released by Atlas Entertainment Corps under the title Halloween Night. Both releases are quite hard to come by, especially Halloween Night, so owning these two tapes makes me want to throw up a set of awkward grandpa devil horns.

_______________________________

HauntedWeen (1991)

While I adore all of the tapes featured in this post, I would have to say my favorites have to be these two copies of HauntedWeen. Self-distributed under the one-and-done label Consumer Video Distributors, HauntedWeen was a long-time holy grail tape for me, so to own not only one copy, but TWO copies is pretty rad. Furthermore, as you can see from the image, one of my copies was signed by director Doug Robertson, while the other copy is factory sealed, making things all the more rad.

REVIEW OF HAUNTEDWEEN

_______________________________

 Hollow Gate (1988)

Both of these copies of the supremely silly and equally entertaining Halloween-set Slasher flick, Hollow Gate, were released by City Lights Home Video in 1988. As expressed in my review from a few Chucktobers ago (link below!), I have a HUGE soft spot for this movie, and owning both of these VHS releases makes me so happy that I would almost consider not drinking alone in the kitchen while my pussy son embarrasses me with his lack of apple bobbing skills.

REVIEW OF HOLLOW GATE

_______________________________

Halloween (1978)

Seeing as Halloween is my all time favorite horror film, this final Halloween-related VHS tape holds a very special place in my heart. It’s also a bit of a conflicting one, as the slipcover of my copy is the 1979 MEDIA release – which is the second ever official VHS release of John Carpenter’s masterpiece – whereas the actual tape itself is the original (also 1979) MEDA VHS release.

Both releases are hard to come by, but the MEDA VHS is definitely the rarer of the two. Both the MEDIA and MEDA releases are longtime holy grail tapes for me, so sort of having both is pretty cool, but it’ll be a lot cooler when I actually own the MEDIA tape and MEDA slip to complete the Halloween package. Who knows when that’ll ever happen, but the hunt for such things is always a huge part of the fun!

‘There's Something Following Me’ Delivers Big Halloween Scares with Little-to-No Budget

After missing her bus, Cody Richards (Amanda Wells) finds herself having to walk home alone from school. Despite reports that a local youth has gone missing, and numerous warnings from one of her teachers, Cody isn’t too worried, as she has walked home from school a number of times without any incident. However, today is different than others, as it’s Halloween, and unbeknownst to Cody, an unknown force has sinister plans for the free-spirited young girl.  

Coming in at a brisk 40 minutes and made with little to no budget, There’s Something Following Me is a Halloween-set short film that not only harkens back to the more family friendly horror films of the 70s and 80s, it’s a throwback to the VHS era, which is shown both in its visual aesthetic and the fashion in which it was released.

Extremely low grade in every sense, the short gives off an authentic retro vibe that succeeds because the filmmakers clearly have a great understanding of how to achieve such a vibe without ever feeling insincere. In terms of picture quality, There's Something Following Me purposely has a low-definition look about it, as edges are blurry and the picture slightly washed out. As a result, the film has a wonderful aesthetic, which is only compounded and complemented by the fact that it was released exclusively on VHS.

To go along with the visual aesthetic, the film captures a specific time period through its locations and set design. What immediately stood out for me, unsurprisingly, is the vintage Halloween décor strewn throughout both Cody’s school and in her neighborhood, which is very much appealing to someone of my sensibilities. Accompanying the locations and set design, the simplistic yet well executed story is marginally creepy, as it is focused more on building atmosphere and tension than spilling blood. As a result, There's Something Following Me works quite perfectly as a mostly kid-safe horror film that, most importantly, never panders or plays it too safe.

Something else worth noting are the scenes of Cody walking home from school, which is very reminiscent of Laurie Strode walking home in Halloween. This comes through in the location, the way these scenes are shot and pieced together, and of course the score, which consists of a simple yet effective piano piece. And really, all of it works quite well as a nod to John Carpenter’s classic as well as on its own merits.

While There’s Something Following Me will live on with a small handful of people who have been lucky enough to discover it – due to its low budget nature and the format it's released on – it's a little unfortunate that many will miss out on this one, as it certainly deserves a place in the hearts of anyone who has love for independent horror and, more so, Halloween as a holiday. Thankfully, however, the filmmakers have uploaded the film to YouTube in 4 parts. Furthermore, if you’re still rocking a VCR, you can pick up the VHS, which has some cool special features and a handful of other shorts, for a relatively fair price via Briarwood Entertainment.

Nostalgia Swells with 'Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of the VHS Collector' (2013)

Growing up, I was lucky enough to have parents who were not only able to afford a VCR, but enjoyed renting movies as well. With great clarity, I recall the first few times that we, as a family, went to one of the many local video stores, and just how excited I was at the thought of being able to watch any movie whenever I wanted to. It was a revolution that even I, as a young child, could completely comprehend. The fact that I no longer had to wait for Star Wars to be shown on TV to actually watch it was all I needed to know that this was something very special. But that was only the tip of the iceberg...

Being incredibly formative in my development as a movie fan, specifically a genre film fan, the video store (along with the local comic book shop) would come to be my sanctuary. I would spend countless hours staring at each and every film – mostly in the horror section – with complete and utter adoration. Each film had a specific cover, and each cover told a different story, and I could not get enough. This love and devotion to video stores and the genre cinema contained within would last all the way up until, well, now. But while VHS may have been long laid to rest by the average consumer, there are those of us who still find ourselves drawn to the format for our own various reasons. This fondness, obsessive as it can sometimes be, is the springboard for Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of the VHS Collector.  

Directed by Dan Kinem and Levi Peretic, Adjust Your Tracking is a Kickstarter funded documentary that shines the spotlight on collectors who refuse to believe that VHS is, or ever was, dead. Throughout the documentary, the various interviewees are given an opportunity to state their case as to why they collect a format that most would smirkingly scoff at, and quite often their arguments are driven by a tangible passion that is both charming and honest. Some of these collectors are driven by nostalgia (even if some of them are far removed from the era), others simply love the aesthetic, and some are well aware that VHS is the only format in which they will be able to see so many of the films that were never given a DVD release.

The documentary has a visually pleasing VHS style aesthetic to it, utilizing the imperfections associated with the format – such as tracking issues, video quality and color problems – as a form of presentation. The documentary even goes as far as to supply each of the interviewees their own handwritten VHS label to indicate who they are and what they do. Something I always enjoy about watching a documentary along the lines of Adjust Your Tracking are the various clips. Throughout the film, the viewer is showered with a plethora of wonderful retro footage, such as television advertisements for VCRs and VHS as well as a slew of great horror and cult movie clips that are sure to bring a smile to many a genre film fan's face.

The history of VHS is quickly glossed over with little depth, but as the subtitle ‘The Untold Story of the VHS Collector’ indicates, Adjust Your Tracking focuses on those who have come to find solace in collecting video tapes. The numerous subjects discuss everything from their humble beginnings as a collector to the judgment they sometimes receive from people who simply do not understand their passion. There are plenty of humorous anecdotes about the creepy and often filthy places in which the subjects have searched for tapes as well as discussions about how VHS cover art was often far better than the actual films themselves.

The various interviewees also discuss the limits they have set for how much they will spend on a tape, which leads to one of the most entertaining segments in the documentary, the eBay sale of the hysterically inept Tales from the Quadead Zone. Considered by many collectors to be the holy grail of VHS tapes, Tales from the Quadead Zone is famous, and slightly infamous, for not only being quite rare, but for garnering $660 on an eBay auction in 2011. This sale went on to have a huge impact in the world of VHS collecting. So huge in fact, that the sale, and VHS collecting in general, would come to receive a fair amount of mainstream news coverage. On an interesting side note, an unofficial release of Tales from the Quadead Zone more recently took in over $1,000 on eBay, causing a whole new stir of its own (Click here to read more). 

One of the highlights of Adjust Your Tracking comes from the Collector Spotlight segments. This is where the viewer is privy to the impressive collections of Joe Clark and Bradley Creanzo. Both collections will surely cause a tingle of excitement in the viewer’s lower region, especially Creanzo’s, who has gone as far as to completely convert his basement into a fully-stocked video store, complete with all the genres anyone could ask for. It’s truly a thing of beauty for anyone who has any sort of love for VHS.

As someone who grew up with the VHS boom and having it be such a huge part of influencing my love of horror and, eventually, film in general as well as still being a collector of VHS (though, not nearly to the extent of those featured in the film), Adjust Your Tracking is perfectly tailor-made for someone such as myself. However, even if you are not interested in VHS collecting, there is still much to be taken from the documentary. For anyone who is a true movie buff – especially one who loves horror and cult cinema – Adjust Your Tracking is a fascinating and genuine look at a part of movie history that lives on in the hearts of those who've allowed a seemingly dead format to envelop their lives and give them a veritable sense of happiness.

Set for a June 17th release, the Two-Disc Special Edition of Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story Of The VHS Collector is available for preorder on Amazon.

We Wish You A Turtle Christmas Holiday Special (1994)

It’s Christmas Eve, and Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael are about to wrap some Christmas presents when they realize that no one picked up a gift for Master Splinter. Worse yet, everything is closing soon! The only way to rectify this turtlelly terrible situation is to hit the streets and sing a bunch of shitty versions of Christmas songs while they search for gifts.  

Released in 1994, We Wish You A Turtle Christmas is a live action, direct-to-video Christmas Special featuring everyone’s favorite pizza eating sewer dwellers, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We’ve seen the Turtles go through a variety of changes since their incarnation back in 1984, with a fluctuation that has ranged from being quite serious to pretty silly. But the Turtles seen in this Christmas special are possibly the most ridiculous they’ve been, being light years away from the heavy metal listening, violent characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.

Currently bestowed with a solid 2 out of 10 on IMDB, We Wish You A Turtle Christmas features the most ratchet version of the turtles imaginable. Their mouths hardly move, and if they do, they certainly aren’t in sync with what they are saying/singing. Furthermore, the voice acting is as broke as M.C. Hammer, but what would you expect from a group of characters covered in visible zippers? Maybe that’s just a part of the mutation.

Terrible costuming and voice acting be damned, for the real bad of this really bad Christmas special has to be the wall-to-wall musical numbers. We Wish You A Turtle Christmas is overflowing with offensively bad music that comes in a variety of awful flavors. Songs range from a reggae tune to a hip-hop song, fittingly titled Wrap Rap, which naturally occurs as the turtles are wrapping presents. There’s a scene where Michelangelo sings an opera song, and of course there are a number of holiday classics, all of which are given a TMNT makeover.

For example:

“Deck the Halls with pepperoni

Fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la la

Mustard, eggplant and bologna

Fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la la”

However, the cream of the crap-crop comes during a moment where I could not help but verbally exclaim, “Splinter, NO!!,” and that comes when Master Splinter spits his version of The Twelve Days of Christmas. Which in this case should be renamed The Twelve Hammers I Want to Lodge Into My Cranium Simply So I Can End this Pain Days of Christmas. But as bad as this never-ending song is, however, I am almost more offended by the gifts that the turtles give to Splinter, which include a framed pizza, videos games, a skateboard, yo-yos – you know, the kind of stuff that Master Splinter would love to own if he were a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and not Master Splinter.

We Wish You A Turtle Christmas culminates in an epic musical number ending that features a slew of street kids dancing in the background like generic strippers to the titular song, which seems like a brilliantly thought out idea. I mean, it’s not as if the turtles are trying to keep a low profile or anything. You know, it’s not like they’re teenage mutant ninja turtles who live in the sewers with a human sized rat that wears a robe and practices kung-fu.

In closing, We Wish You A Turtle Christmas is bad on a level that is challenging for my mind to absorb without creating a stream of blood pouring from my nose. But at the same time, I kind of love it, which I guess speaks to my tolerance for shit. I know there are those of you out there who, like me, will get a kick out of this one for how awful it is, but be forewarned, for there are moments where you will question your sanity.

You can watch We Wish You A Turtle Christmas in three parts on YouTube. If you can make it through all three parts, that is.

Dumpster Diving for Gold: Halloween Edition!

The month of October has been very kind to me in terms of VHS finds, so I decided to do a special Halloween edition of Dumpster Diving for Gold! In what might be my stupidest video yet, I go over all the goodies I have come across throughout the month of madness, all of which are of the horror/Halloween variety. Check out the video below, and I apologize in advance!

WNUF Halloween Special (2013): The Exorcism Will Be Televised!

It’s October 31, 1987, and WNUF reporter Frank Stewart leads a camera crew, a priest, a team of psychics, and a live television audience into the Webber House, where years before Donald Webber went on an occult driven killing spree, murdering both of his parents in a grisly fashion. Things begin innocently enough as they explore the infamous house looking for some ghostly activity, but soon this Halloween special goes from hokey fun to a living nightmare, and it’s live on the air for the world to see.

Directed by Chris LaMartina, WNUF Halloween Special is an interesting take on the found-footage genre in that it’s presented as an actual news special as it aired live on television in 1987. Complete with a live studio news broadcast featuring the day’s big news stories and retro-style commercial breaks, I’m honestly flabbergasted by just how authentic this faux-news special feels. While there is a clear tongue-in-cheek approach to the project as a whole, specifically with the hysterical commercial breaks, WNUF Halloween Special perfectly captures ‘80s local television and the VHS culture of the time.

In its 83 minute runtime, WNUF Halloween Special features retro-style commercials for orange juice, furniture stores, monster truck events, law firms, political attack ads, and so on and so forth. There are also a handful of Halloween-centric news features such as Trick or Treat safety tips and a look at a local dentist who is giving kids cash for candy to promote healthy dental care. One of my favorite stories comes from a news segment featuring a local conservative Christian group that’s protesting both Halloween and the news special for “turning our children into devil worshipers,” something that wasn’t at all uncommon in the 1980s (watch this Pagan Invasion video for further proof). These spots are as creative as they are amusing, but most importantly, they truly feel as if they leaped from the frames of a VHS tape filled with random shit recorded off TV in the ‘80s.

WNUF Halloween Special takes a good half hour to get to the actual ‘Halloween Special’, spending the first act with the aforementioned TV ads and the WNUF on set news anchors as they report the local news. When the special begins, host Frank Stewart spends some time with a live audience outside of the infamous Webber House where he talks about the history of the murders, which are also further explained in a nicely done docu-style overview of Donald Weber. After finally moving into the Webber House, Frank continues his “investigation” with the help of Father Joseph Matheson and a pair of clairvoyants named Louise and Claire Berger and their psychic cat, Shadow.

As WNUF goes back and forth between the investigative team and commercial breaks, there comes a point late in the movie where the shtick does begin to wear a tad thin. However, this is also around the point where things begin to pick up in terms of “paranormal activity,” so the lull is thankfully short lived. With that being said, while there seem to be paranormal events that occur, WNUF is not, in any way, effective as a horror film. It’s likely you will not find yourself a solid dose of white knuckled fright with this one, but in all fairness, that’s not necessarily what WNUF is trying to deliver.

The aim of WNUF Halloween Special is to capture a time period of television where Geraldo spent two hours breaking into Al Capone’s vault and George Hamilton explored Dracula’s castle live from Transylvania. In that sense, it certainly succeeds. Furthermore, WNUF effectively taps into the nostalgia that comes with popping in an old VHS tape filled with random commercials and whatever other weird shit people like me, who grew up with VCRs, would record off TV as a kid, and that is exactly the target audience of this sentimentally driven ode to horror kids of the ‘80s.

 

V/H/S/2 (2013): Tapes of Terror

The 2012 horror anthology V/H/S left me with feelings that were mixed at best. I enjoyed the different approaches to what were essentially simplistic classic horror stories as well as the film’s overall tone, which effectively projected a feeling of unease. On the other hand, more than a few of the stories weren’t really all too satisfying. Furthermore, and this is especially the case with the wraparound segment, some of the characters were quite deplorable in a fashion that really turned me off.

Regardless of my mixed feelings, I enjoyed V/H/S enough to where I was moderately excited about a sequel, especially considering the good feedback that it had been receiving at festivals and such. But was my slight anticipation for V/H/S/2 destined to be a letdown, or could this sequel actually deliver the goods in a way that the first film wasn’t quite able to do?

Tape 49
Directed by: Simon Barrett

Serving as the wraparound story, Tape 49 is very similar in both tone and setting to the first film’s wraparound segment, Tape 56. Tape 49 follows two private investigators searching for a missing college student, eventually ending up in the student’s home where they find a stack of VHS tapes and other various video equipment. One of the investigators, Larry, decides to investigates the house, while the other P.I., Ayesha, watches the tapes with the hope that she’ll be able to find some clues as to the college students whereabouts.

As was the case with V/H/S’s Tape 56, the contents of these VHS tapes serve as the gateway to the four tales of terror found within V/H/S/2. However, like Tape 56, this wraparound story brings little to the table other than a slightly eerie atmosphere, which mostly has to do with how certain shots are staged. There’s something inherently creepy about watching a character sitting in a room with an open background, as it portrays this sense of vulnerability that has a way of making my skin crawl. Outside of that aspect, and a cool moment or two during the finale, this wraparound does little more than serve as a conduit to the other stories.

Phase 1 Clinical Trials
Directed by: Adam Wingard

After an accident, a man named Herman (played by Wingard) is fitted with an experimental robotic eyeball. Seeing as this is the first time such technology is being used, the doctors inform Herman that they will be recording everything he sees as a way to collect data. He is also told that he might see some visual glitches while his new robotic eyeball adjusts. And soon enough Herman begins seeing strange things, but he chalks them up to his new eyeball; however, soon these visions begin to manifest themselves into something far more sinister.

The biggest strength of Phase 1 Clinical Trials is definitely in its visual style, and the first person perspective is handled in a way that effectively creates the opportunity for some nice jump scares. Overall it’s your typical transplanted organ body horror by way of Gaspar Noe’s Enter the Void, but maybe a Noe comparison is giving it a bit more credit than it deserves. Regardless, I found Phase 1 Clinical Trials to be a solid entry and an admirable way to start off the anthology proper.

A Ride in the Park
Directed by: Eduardo Sanchez and Gregg Hale

Adorned with a GoPro type of helmet camera, a young man falls victim to a zombie attack while mountain biking in the forest. What proceeds is a refreshingly original take on zombies, as much of the segment is shot from the perspective of the victim from his initial death to when he first becomes a zombie and eventually to the point when he begins to attack humans as a member of the living dead.

Anytime a filmmaker or filmmakers can give an audience a fresh take on the zombie genre is welcome, as that well has long run dry, no matter how popular it is with the youngsters. A Ride in the Park is not only immensely clever, it’s easily one of the highlights of V/H/S/2. Furthermore, it’s nice to see Sanchez involved in such a great segment, as something like V/H/S wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for him and Daniel Myrick’s The Blair Witch Project. It’s like seeing the whole found footage genre come full circle.

Safe Haven
Directed by: Gareth Evans and Timo Tjahjanto

A group of documentary filmmakers enter the compound of an Indonesian cult to interview their maniacal leader, not realizing that this cult has a very special surprise planned for their visit.

Honestly, there is very little I can or want to say about Safe Haven, because I wouldn’t dare spoil the experience of what is easily the best segment in both V/H/S and V/H/S/2. Safe Haven is scary, it’s smart, it’s flat out awesome, and V/H/S/2 is worth a watch for this segment alone. It’s truly refreshing to see something so creative and original in a modern day horror film.

Slumber Party Alien Abduction
Directed by: Jason Eisner

Already being perfectly summed up with its brilliant title, Slumber Party Alien Abduction follows a group of young kids who torture their older step-sister and her friends by constantly playing pranks on them, naturally capturing it all on camera for further humiliation. Taking place over the course of one night, and with their parents being out of town, the kid’s have the house to themselves, which means it’s pretty much anarchy from the word go. However, their night of innocent fun takes a horrific turn as the children find themselves under attack by aliens.

Slumber Party Alien Abduction is an entertaining take on alien invasions, and this is due, in part, to Eisner’s ability to capture the wild world of kids running free from supervision in a way that is surprisingly genuine. However, all the innocent fun and games are indeed fun and games until the invasion begins, and when the horror kicks off, Eisner delivers the goods. This is especially true during a superbly effective shot involving a boat dock that I won’t get into too much detail about as to avoid spoilers, but it’s a moment that’s at least worth mentioning. Overall, Slumber Party Alien Invasion is a satisfying way to round out the meat and taters of V/H/S/2.

In Conclusion:

Not only does V/H/S/2 greatly improve upon what was done only a year ago with the first V/H/S, it is easily one of the best horror anthology films I have seen in many years, and one that I believe I will be revisiting on a fairly regular basis.

 

Dumpster Diving for Gold 666

It’s been far too long since I last did a proper Dumpster Diving for Gold video, but after an unacceptable hiatus, I am back with a brand new video filled with all sorts of dumpster worthy goodies to tickle your shriveled pickle! Take some time out of your day to watch me awkwardly ramble on about all my recent-ish finds, which include VHS tapes, DVDs, records, and all sorts of other wonderful things. Also, I refer to a movie as being “great-awesome,” so there’s that.

Hollow Gate (1988): Do You Like Meatball Sandwiches?

What happens when you mix a children's Halloween party, an abusive alcoholic stepfather who enjoys drinking in darkened kitchens and a stepson who's too much of a pussy to be successful at bobbing for apples? The answer is the greatest catalyst for a serial killer as well as the greatest opening to a movie ever. Well, at least the greatest opening to a shot on video Halloween themed Slasher flick titled Hollow Gate ever.

Written and directed by Ray Di Zazzo, who is best known for writing and directing 1988's Hollow Gate and absolutely nothing else to speak of, Hollow Gate is a shot on video Slasher that does in fact open with a scene that is quite epic. As little Mark and all his friends are enjoying an evening of fun, the lingering threat of a drunken abusive stepfather waits to ruin the evening for everyone. Things aren't going so bad at first; however, once the apple bobbing gets-a-going, the proverbial shit hits the fan when Mark's stepfather nearly drowns Mark when he is unable to come up with an apple. Naturally, this might seem like a bit of an overreaction on drunken abusive stepdad's end, but you have to realize that there were other kids, more specifically girls, who were able to properly dig their teeth into an apple. And I mean, c'mon bro, if a girl can bob for apples, anyone can.

Flash-forward ten years later, a couple are introduced as they're about to embark on an evening of lustful romance on a patch of dead grass in an open field. I suppose the backseat of the Delta 88 parked right next to them didn't cross their minds as an option, but then again the open air does feel pretty nice on one's backside. Anyway, after the couple copulate, they decide to make a quick pit stop at the local gas station to mess with the resident weirdo, Mark aka Mark the pussy who can't bob for apples and is only good at embarrassing his drunken abusive stepfather. Here's where things get strange (well, stranger); you see, the couple's idea of screwing with Mark is by doing sex shit in front of him, something that is supposed to embarrass him, I guess. But what these rambunctious sexual deviants don't know is, Mark isn't bobbing for apples anymore, and making a mockery of Mark only leads to their car being turned into a mobile Molotov cocktail, sending the sex-crazed couple on an explosive one-way journey to hell.  

Flash-forward two years later (that's twelve years now, for those of you not keeping track), and once again Mark is faced with adversity, except this time it's from a sexy little dime piece who refuses Mark's advances. Big mistake, babe, because Mark don't take no for an answer, and this unlucky lass finds herself on the wrong side of dead. After this event, Mark is placed in a mental hospital for a period of time but is eventually allowed to leave under the care and guidance of his grandmother, where he will be cared for at her palatial mansion, Hollow Gate. While staying at Hollow Gate, Mark does appear to be well enough. He's been taking his meds, reading books, wearing v-neck sweaters, and even loving his sweet dear grandmother. All the makings of a sane, logical young man. Or so it seems…. Who am I kidding? Obviously Mark is not taking his meds, and the whole v-neck sweaters, reading books and loving grandma thing is just an act he's put on to gain the opportunity to kill! Which he does, in incredibly entertaining fashion, I might add.

After this massive setup that spans twelve plus years, Mark is free to reign terror on all those who dare come to Hollow Gate, more specifically the group of partying teens who (for reasons too insane/awesome to even attempt to explain in a review less than 10,000 words) are sent to deliver a bunch of costumes for the supposed Halloween party that Mark is throwing. What follows is some incredible over-the-top mayhem from Mark, as he slices and dices his victims while spewing out some crafty dialogue. And when I say crafty, I mean awful. And when I say awful, I mean incredible.

Every serial killer has his or her own hook, and Mark is no different. Not only does Mark dress up in the various Halloween costumes, he also likes to take on the specific identity of the actual costume itself. This leads to some pretty brilliant moments, as Mark hysterically assumes the personalities of a Texas rancher, an English foxhunter, a doctor, and a Vietnam era soldier, who has a habit of referring to everyone as "gooks." While being a fairly decent concept, this costumed approach is actually quite familiar to a film I reviewed, 1987's Bloody Movie (aka Terror Night), where the killer dispatches each victim while dressed up as various classic film characters. I actually really like this idea, but both Bloody Movie and Hollow Gate are not really the types of movies where good ideas can be properly realized.

As a shot on video Slasher film, Hollow Gate delivers the goods in a way that people with poor taste should certainly appreciate. Most of the deaths are as laughable as the emotional performances given by the "teen" actors (who deserve a review all to themselves). It's not too often you get to see a combine (which goes a whopping 5mph) used to chase down a victim. More significantly, Hollow Gate brings about what might be the very first ever on screen dog attack featuring golden retrievers. It's truly vicious, and never will I look at Brandon the dog the same way again. Nevertheless, as great as some of the kills are, and as magical as most of the characters and their dialogue can be, the king of this poopsicle is without a doubt B-Action film director Addison Randall, who plays Mark. This guy brings it in a way that nearly brought a tear to my eye, but thankfully I was able to hold it back. Otherwise my drunken abusive stepfather would have kicked my ass for being such a crybaby pussy.

Screaming in High Heels: The Rise & Fall of the Scream Queen Era

Every generation of horror fans has a specific era that they grew up with. Naturally there is a nice transitional overlap from what came before and after, but at the heart of it all there is about a decade of time that sits comfortably in the center of what each fan considers "the good ol' days." For me, personally, that time period would be the 1980s. Not only did I get the overlap of the mid-to-late '70s, but I also watched as horror evolved, and often devolved, into what might be the strangest (and most entertaining) time in horror cinema with the early 1990s. That entire time period from the mid-'70s to the mid-'90s is as gory good as it gets, and the main factor for it being such an awesome time for the genre is the bridge in between.

Horror boomed big time in the '80s, and there are a number of factors for this, most notably being the VHS format. VHS took film out of the cinemas and ushered in an era of home video that caused movie fans to go completely bananas, and at the forefront of it all was the horror genre. There was an evolution that genre cinema went through because of home video, and home video itself evolved due in large part to the popularity of genre cinema on the format. As a result, a very specific formula began to prove immensely successful (i.e. profitable) for "non-Hollywood" production companies. Video goers began to yearn for something specific from their rentals; they wanted blood and monsters; they wanted fun and entertainment; they wanted a pair of nice tits on a beautiful woman. And like a perfect storm, all of these things came together and combined to result in the birth of the Scream Queen era.

It is the almighty Scream Queen and the time in which they ruled that is the focus of 2011's Screaming in High Heels: The Rise & Fall of the Scream Queen Era, a documentary that, as promises, looks at the rise and fall of a specific group of extremely popular genre actresses: Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens and Michelle Bauer. Often considered some of most notable and certainly three of the most popular horror actresses of the era, "The Terrifying Trio" of Stevens, Bauer and Quigley made a major splash on the home video scene throughout the '80s and much of the '90s, completely changing the landscape of the role women played in low-budget horror. These were the women who went from being the faceless but very "healthy" background babes to being the main selling point of a slew of B-Movies in the '80s and early '90s.

Directed by Jason Paul Collum, Screaming in High Heels follows the typical talking head format that seems to be the gold standard for a majority of film related docs. Outside of the three Scream Queens and their generous insights, interviews come in the form of subject relevant film folk such as Fred Olen Ray, David DeCoteau, Kenneth J. Hall, and a handful of other people who were a part of the scene, all of whom deliver plenty of interesting stories and tidbits for the viewer to chew on. The doc runs the gamut of numerous interesting subjects that cover the era from start to finish, as each Scream Queen speaks of the incredible highs that came with their popularity as well as the negative effects that came along with doing the "types of films" the women were doing. Some of which has followed them up until this very day. The price of fame, I suppose.

For the record, I am a huge fan of film documentaries, particularly ones that are about specific genres or eras of cinema, and outside of the insightful interviews, the doc is chockfull of great movie clips, something that is often a highlight of any film documentary. Also enjoyable is seeing things like television appearances that the girls had made as well as the many ways in which they "busted" their way into pop culture.

Screaming in High Heels certainly delivers the goods by covering a lot of ground; however, while the doc is overall very satisfying, there are two problems that I have with it, one being the runtime (I like 'em long, baby!) and the other being the lack of a fanboy perspective. Now, when I say fanboy perspective, what I mean is Screaming in High Heels could have used some commentary from a celebrity horror fan like an Eli Roth, an Adam Green or whoever could step to the plate and bring that solid fanboy perspective that I, as a fan, can relate to. And in doing so, the runtime of just over 60 min would be stretched out a solid 15-20 min, making the doc's length less of a problem for me.

Regardless of these minor issues, I thoroughly enjoyed Screaming in High Heels: The Rise & Fall of the Scream Queen Era and have no qualms about recommending it to anyone who loves Scream Queens as well as anyone who enjoys this specific time in horror cinema.    

If you'd like to check out Screaming in High Heels for yourself, the horror cable network Chiller shows it from time-to-time, but if you want to see the unedited version, then Breaking Glass Pictures is releasing it on DVD on August 28th. And, depending on your sexual preference, you might want to see this one unedited. *cough-cough lots-of-boobs cough-cough!*