Monthly Movie Recap - November 2018

Wow I can't believe it's December already! It's like once November hits, the rest of the year goes into hyperdrive. December first kicks off the 13 Days of Creepmas and as you can see, I put up my decorations a day early. Stay tuned for some wicked winter holiday goodness.

Streaming

Not much going on this month, just catching up on the latest season of Voltron. Still haven't had a chance to get into Sabrina yet but I'm dying to see it!

Suspiria (1977)

I watched this awhile back and just didn't feel like I "got" it. Everyone raves about it so I thought I must have missed something. Maybe with a few more years of horror appreciation under my belt I'd see something I didn't before. Turns out, I had it right the first time. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate parts of it like how gorgeous a film it is. The ending is fantastic but I found the first two acts boring. The soundtrack is great...on its own. Most of the time during the movie I feel like someone is playing death metal at 11 while I'm trying to read in the library. I know they're going for a nightmare experience but unlike Elm Street, I'll take all the Hypnocil I can to stay awake for this one.

Rating: 5/10

Phenomena, aka Creepers (1985, Prime)

I don't understand how (a) you come up with this story and (b) how you convince anyone that it's worth making into a movie. I was thinking it would maybe be like Carrie but with bugs instead of telekinesis. Nope! I can't even begin to explain all the levels of crazy going on in this thing. I have to review my lists for the year but this is a strong contender for worst movie of the year.

Rating: 2/10

It (1990)
After seeing the remake I wanted to go back and finally see the original but I was worried an almost 30 year old version wouldn't keep my attention. Happy to say I was wrong about that! I really enjoyed the flashback storytelling. My two biggest problems with It are that they kids are acting circles around the adults and the casting of John-Boy for the lead. Maybe it's him, maybe it's that terrible pony tail, either way he never fit the role for me.

Rating: 7/10

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
The remaining members of the band were involved in making the movie so I have no problem with the studio deciding to make a great story over something 100% historically accurate. And that's what this is, an amazing story instead of a straight documentary. If you even kind of sort of like Queen or just know the hits, this is absolutely worth your time!

Rating: 8/10

Death Race 4: Beyond Anarchy (2018, Netflix)
I've been digging this new Death Race series even though it's quite a bit different from the original I love so much. They crank things up in this installment giving you more boobs and blood which makes it a wicked B-movie ride! Although this is part 4, don't feel like you need to see the first 3, there's enough exposition to get you up to speed. Not the biggest fan of the main dude. He just looks like he should be a romance novel cover model...or a porn star. Maybe both, I don't judge.

Rating: 7/10, this is what I expect from a Death Race movie

Cam (2018, Netflix)

I'm all in when it comes to Blumhouse, so this was a no-brainer. I enjoyed it but really feel like it's a couple of rewrites away from an amazing episode of Black Mirror. The reason behind what happens in the movie isn't explored much which is where the movie dips a little toe into Black Mirror territory and decides not to jump in. After everything we see her go through, I need a why. That aside, Madeline Brewer does a fantastic job in the lead.

Rating: 6.5/10, it's not what I really wanted it to be but it's worth checking out.

The Christmas Chronicles (2018, Netflix)
We fired this up Thanksgiving night. It was cute if a bit by the book plot wise. I can see the kiddos getting into it and it making its way into family holiday "must see" rotations every year. Russell's Santa is everything in this movie and I can't praise the writers enough for making him something different.

Rating: 6/10, I prefer my Christmas movies to have serial killers, zombies, or Krampus. I'm old fashioned like that.

Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
When I saw the first trailers I was worried this was going to be a 90 minute promo for other Disney properties. Not only is that a small part of the movie but the scene with the Princesses turned out to be one of the highlights for me. I'm glad we get to visit these characters again and see them interact with a new world. I love the way the Internet is represented. There are some wonderful themes of friendship and growing up. It may not have the emotional punch of a Pixar flick but it might just poke you a little bit.

Rating: 8/10

There's still quite a few good movies coming out before the end of the year.

What are you hoping to see?

Month Total

New: 7  Rewatch: 1

Year Total

New: 70  Rewatch:5

Creepmas 2018!

If you're new to Creepmas or need a refresher, check out these links:

"What is Creepmas?" and "Why Creepmas?".

You can also find out "How to Participate" so you can join the rest of the festive ghouls around the web. Even if you don't participate, we'd appreciate you spreading the Hallowday cheer on social media to drag in a few more bodies.

To join the frightful festivities, leave a comment on this page with your blog/website name and link. You can also get your Creepmas 2018 blogger badge at the same page and find the 2018 #MakingCreepmas Image Challenge list there.

Don't have a blog or website?
Join in on social media by tagging posts #Creepmas or #MakingCreepmas!

Blood drops on bones and black hats on witches

Gray slimy brains and warm gushing innards

Flesh hungry elves tying you up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Happy Creepsgiving!

To all the US readers, have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

The rest of you...carry on.

While you're psyching yourself up for Black Friday, head over to the Vintage Spooky Company on Etsy to pick up one of these great Jive Turkey wall decorations for next year. They also have other fantastic Halloween pieces, prepare your wallet!

Speaking of Black Friday, I got a lot of positive comments on my Jacklings post last month. The next drop is on Black Friday at noon EST.

These are being released in very limited qualities so be sure to hit Cryptocurium on Etsy before noon and have your F5 finger ready. I really love the Halloween colors but I can't resist a pumpkin head with a traditional Santa hat!

Now Hear This - Burning Witches

Hey kids, do you like the heavy metal?

If you're old like me, you'll remember going into record stores and flipping through albums to find something new to listen to. There was no previewing the tracks for 30 seconds so it was sort of a gamble to pick up something by an artist you'd never heard of. Usually the deciding factor was the album cover itself. There have been many times I found a new favorite band based on the album art.

I hadn't heard of Burning Witches until this week when I saw them on a new release list.

Now, I'd be lying if I said the cover alone gave me the impulse to buy the album. But it did intrigue me enough to check out a video. Within the first minute or so I was hooked and checked out the track list. Seeing song titles like 'Dungeon of Infamy" and "Maiden of Steel" pretty much convinced me this would be worth it and I pulled the trigger.

Burning Witches are an all female metal band hailing from Switzerland. Their latest, Hexenhammer, is their second album released since the band was formed in 2015. I've only previewed tracks from the first album and what I heard didn't quite grab me the way this album did. I'm sure I'll end up getting it because I am so into Hexenhammer right now.

If you're into 80s metal like, give 'em a listen below.
At the very least, check out their cover of Dio's Holy Diver at the end of the album.

If this gets you banging your head, pick up the album on Amazon.

Rhode Island Comic Con 2018

I went to Rhode Island Comic Con this past weekend for the first time and had a blast.

If you're a regular reader, you might recall me having gone to several Boston Comic Cons in the past. The last time I went was before they moved it to the new location so I don't know how it now stacks up now compared to RICC. But I will say RI seems to work much better than where Boston used to be.

The main drive behind checking out RICC this year was that celebs from Mrs Dex's favorite show, Smallville, were making an appearance. Not that I wouldn't want to go otherwise. Who doesn't love a good comic convention? We got to the con about an hour after doors opened and although there was still a line, it went very quickly and we basically walked through the queue area and right in.

After getting in we checked out some cosplay and herded ourselves to the autograph area to check them off our list to make sure we didn't miss them. The auto area was pretty well laid out but there were some congested areas. We walked around to see all the celebs. You can see the guest list here. The "headlining" guests were in a different building altogether and I didn't even try to sneak a peek at them fearing the crowds.

We got autos from Tom Welling (Clark) and Michael Rosenbaum (Lex). Laura Vandervoort (Supergirl) was there also. Tom was a lot taller than I expected and when I mentioned that he said thank you. He followed that up with something else which all of us were laughing about when the photo was taken. We didn't do a selfie with Michael (although he was super fun) because it's all about the money. I can understand having to pay for a selfie if you don't get an autograph but having to pay extra just for a photo taken on your phone is crazy to me.

I don't want to rant too much on the whole pricing thing but I'm interested to see where celeb con appearances go in the future. Between autographs, selfies, and pro photos I can't see the prices some people are asking lasting.

After the Smallville peeps, I wanted to meet John DiMaggio (Bender/Futurama, Jake/Adventure Time) but his line was capped because he had a photo op going on. We got lunch and went back to wait in line for him. It was still going to be about 30-45 minutes before he came back but I was second in line when he did.

Well, make that third in line. There was a group at the front of the line with service dogs. John not only took photos with the people but also the dogs!

He was also genuinely nice and took time to chat with everyone. We then had a little bit of time to explore until we had to get in line for the Smallville panel.

The person that made these was never at their table which is too bad because I would have loved to chat with them about the Labyrinth stuff they did.

We got in line for the panel about an hour before it started. A lot more people that I expected ending up showing up so it was a good thing we got there early! After the panel, we headed to the photo op area for our scheduled time.

The people before us had to take a couple photos because the flash was reflecting off their glasses, so Michael is playing with my wife's glasses lifting them up and down during the photo. Usually these pro photos are a blink and you miss it thing and while we were only with them for a minute or two I didn't feel like we were rushed through like other times I've done these.

With the last of our scheduled things done by 5:30 we finally had time to walk the vendor floor. Of course there was a ton of cool stuff and lots of artists but I only bought one thing.

A Creature from the Black Lagoon Buddha! The photo isn't fuzzy, this "statue" was 3D printed. It looks a little better in person. The guy selling these had a ton of different ones. Pretty much whatever your fandom is, he's got something. This was also the smallest one but it was the best shade of green so I went with it. Definitely check out MuckyChris to see his 3D printed stuff, inlcuding a couple of light switch plates that are pretty neat.

The local Star Wars costuming and droid builder groups were there and had quite the crossover happen when they got a visit from another franchise.

These guys are amazing to see in person. Yes, the eye moves and makes the sound! I'm presuming these are the same guys I see at other local cons because how many of them could there be?

Normally this would be the part of the post where I send you to Flickr for the rest of my pics but there were so many great costumes I have to show off a few more.

Left is one of my favorite group cosplays. There was quite a bit of crossplay (gender swapped characters) going on at the con which is great. The dude on the right was rockin his Wonder Woman outift like nobody's business. Unfortunately, I was only able to catch him while going up an escalator and didn't get  his sword in the shot.

How awesome is that Red Fraggle?

This Gravity Falls group wasn't even together. The girl dressed as Mabel saw the other guys and rushed to get her photo taken with them. The wizard on the right goes by Brandon the Shapeshifter on Instgram. If you like incredible costumes, go check him out. It's hard to tell from the photo but the spell book lights up too.

And that's a wrap!

Even though we probably spent close to half our time at the con in line for something, be it autograph, photo, panel, or food, I still feel like we had a good day and got to see a lot. I know there are areas we didn't get near but I'm good with that. I'd still like to check out the new place where the Boston con is held and would definitely like to go back to RICC again.

Here's all the pics from the day.

Salem Halloween 2018

I hop everyone out there had a fun and safe Halloween. I know I did!
We had about 40 kids this year which might not sound like a lot but we wrap things up around 6:30 to head into Salem so not bad for about 90 minutes.

The Salem Creep (me) is on the prowl again!

I wanted to spotlight a few choice photos before the gallery slideshow.

Every weekend in October, there is a street fair in downtown Salem where people sell all sorts of crafts, art, and yummy snacks. Below is about one quarter of the fair's length.

This was a couple weekends ago and there are plenty of people out and about! Each of the tents you see is a different vendor.

A sampling of the fun things you can find: talented balloon artists and custom creepy dolls.

And it just wouldn't be October in Salem without "Jesus Guy." This guy has been around for what seems like forever, popping up at events like Pride Day in Boston and pretty much any Salem weekend in October.

Since we're all going to Hell anyway, let's jump ahead to Halloween night.

I don't know how this guy transports his costume but it's damn impressive! In case you don't recognize him, he's the Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming.

This little kid was a trip! He had no fear to speak of and even came up to me to shake hands and give me a hug! There was another group of little kids that were intrigued by me as well. One little girl kept asking if I was real despite the fact that I was standing there and interacting with them.

A couple of great classic TV costumers.

Sorry pal, all out of power pellets.

Some people say Salem is a circus in October. This year the circus came to town.

And we'll wrap up this Halloween season the same way it started, with Jack!

Here's an album with the rest of my Salem photos. Shout out to Mrs Dex and my parents for the night photos as I can't take any in costume.