Monthly Media Recap - February 2022

 I slacked a little getting this post ready so no witty chat at the top.

Here's what I consumed in February.

 

Series

 

The Book of Boba Fett (2022, Disney+)

I'm still a little mixed on this. It had some great moments (mainly flashbacks and finale), a really bad moment (that cartoon chase), and a lot of pretty okay moments. My main "issue" with it is I just didn't feel Fett was very competent in the 'modern' timeline.

 

All of Us are Dead (2022, Netflix)

This is where a lot of my movie time went this month. I really liked it from the start, ain't no zombies like Korean rage zombies! It had a lot of good character interaction, which they might have been able to trim an episode worth to tighten it up just a tiny bit. Still a good time and something fresh if you're Walking Dead out-ed. Might be the most competent military zombie response I've seen.

Monthly Movie Recap - November 2019

Recap is a day early for tomorrow begins the 13 Days of Creepmas! And as we're in the holiday season, I'll remind you the movie links go to Amazon where your purchase will drop a few coins in the coffers. There's also an Entertainment Earth affiliate link on the right if you can't find that perfect gift on Amazon.

Streaming

Daybreak (Netflix) - It's Ferris Bueller's Day Of the Dead after a missile strike turns adults into zombie-like creatures and high school cliques go Mad Max to control the city. The show is a lot of fun and might just unexpectedly punch you in the feels if you get attached to the characters.

The Toys That Made Us, Season 3 (Netflix) - These aren't the toys that made me, those were earlier seasons, but I am always down for learning more about toy history, The TMNT episode is by far the best of this go round for me.

The Mandalorian (Disney+) - I have yet to see anything but praise for the show and that's all I've had for it since the start. I'd love to see Favreau and Filoni tackle something for the big screen.

The Big Screen

The Scarehouse (2014, Amazon Prime)
This one was hard to watch for me. Not because of the violence but because of the way the story is told. After 15 minutes I thought about turning it off as it seemed it was just going to be two crazy girls torturing other girls one by one. After 30 minutes I did turn it off but I went back to it the next day. I watch some really bad movies and this isn't that bad just poorly told. I don't know if the writers thought it was clever to unfold the story in flashback but it's more clunky than anything. One of the few times I suggest watching the trailer first as it gives more context for the movie up front.

Rating: 4/10

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988, Amazon Prime)
I'm pretty sure I must have watched this before but if I did I didn't remember any of it. If you're watching a movie with Elvira as the lead, you should know what to expect. From the cheesy horror bits to the sex jokes to the gratuitous cleavage shots, it's Elvira through and through.

Rating: 7/10

Too Macabre: The Making of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (2018)
If you're a fan of the above movie, this is a must see. Plenty of interviews and behind the scenes stories. Also, I didn't even recognize the Wizard Master from Dream Warriors when I watched the movie.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019, Redbox)
I absolutely love the 1968 Halloween setting but that's only a portion of the movie. If you're not familiar with the book series, I don't know that you'd enjoy this as much without the books as a point of reference. They do a great job of bringing a few of the Stories' monsters to the screen even if the way it happens is a little clumsy. It sort of reminded me of the first Goosebumps movie where the beasties are coming to life from a book.

Rating: 7/10

Crawl (2019, Redbox)
My initial reaction to the trailer was "Really? An alligator movie?" Then I started seeing lots of positive reviews so I gave it a shot and I am so glad I did! It plays a lot like an 80s slasher film except with hungry, hungry alligators in place of a serial killer. There's plenty of "No! Don't do that!" and yanking hope out from under you moments.

Rating: 8/10

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019, Redbox)
I've said it before and will continue to do so, no one will ever mistake a F&F movie for being high brow entertainment. This installment goes even further over the top and strays into scifi. I like both the leads so it was a forgone conclusion that I'd see this. A lot of the movie kept making me think of Roger Moore era Bond and as long as you can stand the "we can't stand each other" buddy cop-ness, dick jokes, and suspend disbelief, it's dumb fun. My biggest problem is it's about an hour too long for dumb fun.

Rating: 7/10

Anna and the Apocalypse (2017, Amazon Prime)
High School Musical meets Shaun of the Dead! Not that I've ever seen a second of any HSM but it's high school students and a musical. What more can you ask for than a Christmas time zom-com? How about insanely catchy tunes? I am a sucker for bubblegum pop and bought the soundtrack after I watched it. The third act doesn't quite land right for me but it was still a surprisingly great time.

Rating: 8/10

Month

New: 7  Rewatch: 1

Year to Date

New: 69  Rewatch: 3

Monthly Movie Recap - April 2017

Well, here we go! Let the summer movie onslaught commence!

If you want to chat about Infinity War, please don't spoil anything.

Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2018, Netflix)

I almost shut this off in the first 10 minutes. It opens in the middle of a zombie attack then jumps back a few hours. I hate that method of story telling on TV and I really don't like it in a movie. A few minutes later, it jumps ahead a few years. The gore is good but just about everything between is passable at best. The acting is meh (that's not what we're here for anyway, right?) and the lead guy's haircut makes me want to punch him in the face anytime he's on screen.

Kill the brain: Might just be the best way to enjoy this one. It's not terrible but I expect more if you're trying to ride Romero's coat tails.

Rating: 4/10

Deadheads (2011, Amazon)

I think this is the first zomcom/buddy road trip I've seen. It's not really laugh out loud funny but it does have a low budget type charm to it. I have to applaud them for trying something different in the zombie genre.

Rating: 6/10

Friend Request (2018, Amazon, Netflix)

I don't know if it's because I had low expectations with this being a social media horror flick but I mostly enjoyed it. It went in a different direction than I was expecting (I hadn't seen the trailer) and it had some cool visuals. At the same time, it's a bit odd the way social media plays into it.

Rating: 6/10

The Honeymoon Stand-Up Special (2018, Netflix)
Newlyweds Natasha Leggero and Moshe Kasher each do a 30 minute set then go on together to roast couples from the audience. I've been a fan of Natasha's for awhile, I love her character, but I thought Moshe had the better jokes. It might be because it's more a male point of view on things. Either way, the roasting is hilarious!

Rating: See it

Avengers Infinity War (2018, IMAX 3D)
If you didn't know, this is an Event Movie. Ten years is a crazy long build up but it totally pays off. It's a comic book fan's dream come true to see all these characters together. So. Much. Spectacle. I think some people are down on it because of the ending but at least you don't have to wait three years like I did after seeing Empire Strikes Back to find out what happens.
Also, I need to see it again due to missing some lines from audience laughter. You really should see this with an audience!

Emotional Rescue: I've seen people having all the feels but the comic geek in me has shrugged it all aside until I see the follow up.

Rating: 9/10, I could watch this all day!

Month Total

New: 5  Rewatch: 0

Year Total

New: 20   Rewatch: 3

Monthly Movie Recap - April 2017

I can't believe it's May already! I remember it being January and thinking "When will May get here so I can see Guardians?!?"

Not a lot of flicks this month. Although I did start getting into Bill Nye Saves the World on Netflix. I never watched him when he was on in the 90s. I loved Mr. Wizard on Nick when I was younger and I was into Beakman's World which came out a year before the Science Guy. The new show is not aimed at kids and you should check it out.

On with the movies!

The Burning (1981) free on YouTube

I had no idea this movie even existed until a couple years ago when I saw it mentioned on Strange Kids Club. It's definitely a step or to above the average 80s slasher and most of that is due to the cast. In most slashers the kids are there for the body count but I really liked most of them and wanted them to make it.

Cool: Jason Alexander!? Requisite nudity and gore.
Lame: The worst thing about this one for me are the kill scenes, not the makeup effects but the actual composition of the kills. Because the weapon of choice is gardening shears, it makes for some awkward angles.

Rating: 7/10

Train to Busan (2016, Netflix)
Stumbled into this on Netflix and loved it. Yes, it's a zombie movie. Yes, it has most of the tropes you'd expect in a zombie movie. But since it's not a US movie, it's done a little differently than what you'd expect.

Cool: The characters! Much like The Burning, I was invested in some of the characters and was bummed when some of them died.
Lame: Seems like no matter where the zombie outbreak happens there's always that a-hole that endangers the survivors to save them self.

Rating: 8/10

*Rogue One (2016)
Still love it!

Space Pirate Captain Harlock (2013, Netflix)
This is by the same animation company that did Gantz:O from last month. And like that movie, this is an existing franchise I knew nothing about. They do lay the story out so you can come into it blind and still have a good time. It's almost two hours but there's a good amount of sci-fi action to keep it going. His name is the title of the movie but he's not the main character. They go less is more with Harlock, which I guess they have to because he is such a bad ass.

Cool: Great character designs. Harlock's ship, Arcadia, is like the galactic Jolly Roger.
Lame: I wasn't as interested in the main character's relationships/story as I was pretty much everyone else.

Rating: 7/10

Month Total

 New: 3  Rewatch: 1

Year Total

 New: 18  Rewatch: 2

Monthly Movie Recap - January 2017

Happy New Year, welcome to the Apocalypse!

I usually rack up more movies in January but we've been lucky so far with the weather so I haven't been as house bound as normal for this time of year. That and I've been watching the second season of Voltron and Crazyhead on Netflix. Both highly recommended!

Yoga Hosers (2016, Netflix)

This is what happens when you can't decide on something to watch and after 20 minutes of browsing you pick something so you stop browsing. I swear Kevin Smith sat down with Charles Band, smoked a lot of weed, and came up with this version of Clerks for tweens. I honestly don't know if the girls aren't great actors or if they're perfectly playing their roles.

Cool: The Internet-style character intros. Some fun cameos. The yoga teacher Yogi Bayer (get it?)
Lame: Who would think you'd ever say Johnny Depp was the least interesting part of a movie?

Rating: 5/10

Not realizing this was the middle of a trilogy, I of course had to see the first movie...

Tusk (2014, Amazon)
I'd actually meant to see this earlier but never got around to it. I didn't read about the origin of this one until after seeing it so it was definitely an odd watch because I didn't know if I was supposed to be laughing or not. Up to the point where the dark humor comes in, it's a pretty decent horror movie with good performances. Then it takes a turn and...well, you need to see for yourself.

Cool: The makeup effects are good, even when they're weird.
Lame: There wasn't anything I didn't like about it but the ridiculousness makes it hard to figure out how much I liked it.

Rating: 6/10

*Death Race 2000 (1975)
I wanted to revisit this one with the "sequel" coming out. A lot of the charm of this one for me is the fact that it is over 40 years old but it still holds up. If anything, it's more relevant today than when it was made with the "reality TV" culture we have. This is one of my favorite Corman films and I love it!

Rating: 7/10

Death Race 2050 (2017, Netflix)
I was thrilled to see the first trailer for this because it looked like they were trying to carry on with the 70s vibe of the original. Unfortunately, it felt more like Wacky Races than Death Race. Every time they show the cars in action, I kept thinking of Banana Splits because the film would be sped up to make it seem like things were moving faster. There are some fun bits to it but it feels like it really wants to be the original.

Cool: I got a good chuckle out of the new geographic regions. Great soundtrack.
Lame: They make it sound like a sequel but they re-do quite a few things from the original so it's pretty much a remake. The SyFy channel level of effects.

Rating: 5/10, I'm really torn on this one because I want to love it. Maybe in a few years it will hit cult status.

The Rezort (2015, Netflix)

Take Jurassic Park, replace the dinos with zombies and dumb it down a few notches and you get The Rezort. I thought the description and the title sounded like it might be so bad it's good. I mean they used a "Z" instead of an "S", right? It's actually a little better then I was expecting! It doesn't do a lot of the zombie tropes you'd expect, whether that's good or bad, you have to decide.

Cool: Zombies, I guess?

Lame: Didn't really like any of the characters so who cares if they make it?

Rating: 5/10

iBoy (2017, Netflix)
Terrible name, pretty decent movie. To be honest, the only reason I checked this out is because Maisie Williams (#TeamArya) is in it. I liked it enough that I'm interested in reading the book it's based on to get into the characters a bit more.

Cool: Cyber superpowers! They sort of call out the less than stellar title in the movie.
Lame: No major complaints.

Rating: 6/10

Month Total

 New: 5  Rewatch: 1

Year Total

 New: 5  Rewatch: 1

Monthly Movie Recap - September 2016

Dropping this a little early as I'm on my way to DisneyWorld(!) and won't be watching any movies from now until the end of the month. You'll also notice the Halloween decorations are up a bit early, because I didn't want to have to worry about doing it while away.

Singin in the Rain (1952)

Mrs Dex recently saw a live production of this and then had to see the movie. I'd never seen it. I don't get too into musicals usually but am I glad I had a reason to see this! Watch that clip up there. There's a lot of that going on in the movie.

Cool: Two words: Donald O'Connor, his performance is comedic genius! The dance numbers are, to use a word I rarely use, delightful in every sense.

Lame: They definitely don't make em like this anymore.

Rating: 8/10

R.L. Stine's Mostly Ghostly: One Night in Doom House (2016, Netflix)

Speaking of Halloween, I thought I'd get a head start on the festivities checking this one out. I didn't know going in that it was the third in a series but they pretty much cover the basics to get you up to speed. It's about what you'd expect from Stine.

Cool: Danny Trejo?! That Farkle kid.
Lame: Not enough spooky

Rating: 5/10

Stage Fright (2014, Netflix)

How can you see a horror musical with Meat Loaf on Netflix and not watch it? It was better than I was expecting. It's got a bit of comedy in it, some decent kills, and the story was good.

Cool: While everyone else is in musical-land, when the killer shows up they bring in this heavy metal music which is not only a great contrast but is also pretty kick ass.

Lame: Needs more heavy metal killer!

Rating: 6/10

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015, Amazon Prime)
I had forgot about this one! I remember seeing the trailer and thinking it looked funny and then it came and went in like a week. It feels like it's definitely aimed at a teen crowd but it's got a bit of heart to it, as cliched as it may be. It's a little Shaun of the Dead meets Zombieland.

Cool: Plenty of gooey bits. Some actual laugh out loud moments.
Lame: Nothing to report here!

Rating: 7/10

Month Total

 New: 4  Rewatch: 0

Year Total

 New: 50  Rewatch:3

Monthly Movie Recap - June 2016

Not too much going on last month movie-wise but there were a few fun ones.
Maybe you'll find something to check out over the long weekend.
Have yourself a happy and safe 4th of July!

Zoombies (2016, Netflix)
You pretty much know what you're getting when you sit down to a move from The Asylum, makers of Sharknado: bad acting, cheap effects, and crazy "plots". But once in awhile, they make a really good bad movie. This one was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. There's even some scenes where the effects look decent! The trailer should tell you if you might like it.

Cool: You haven't lived until you've seen zombified giraffe tearing a person apart!
Lame: When the effects are bad, they are baaaad (and that's not a sheep joke)

Rating: 6/10

*Battlestar Galactica (1978, Netflix)
I probably haven't seen the actual movie (aka pilot episodes) for decades but I still love it! Sure the effects don't hold up that well and there's several shots that get used over and over but it's got that 70s charm and I really like the story. I will take the original Cylons over the new ones every cycle of the secton!

Cool: The Star Wars ties of concept artist Ralph McQuarrie and FX master John Dykstra; The score
Lame: Ovions still kinda scary as an adult but not as freaky as those singers!

Rating: 7/10

X-Men Apocalypse (2016)
I think I'm getting cinematic X-fatigue and that's not a good thing considering they're my favorite hero team in comics. The last two movies were great and pretty good but this one's just missing...something. The short version is I just didn't find Apocalypse to be any sort of threat and was more intrigued with Magneto's story.

Cool: Nightcrawler; Quicksilver steals the show again
Lame: What happened to Quicksilver's little sister? Horsemen characters more mini-bosses than characters. Sophie Turner: great in Game of Thrones, not so much Jean Grey.

Rating: 6.5/10

Hot Rods to Hell (1967)
I don't know what it is in my DNA but I absolutely love these type of hot roddin' movies. Granted in this one, the teens are the bad guys even though they dress in tucked-in button down shirts. It's more of a drama about an all American family being threatened by the kids.

Cool: Produced by the legendary Sam Katzman
Lame: Lacks a lot of the hi-octane hijinks you might expect from the title

Rating: 5/10

Elstree 1976 (2016)

This one was...interesting. At first I didn't think it was going to hold my attention but as it went along, I got more interested in hearing the actors' stories. There's not a ton of behind the scenes stuff to be had here, it's more about the handful of people they interviewed that had minor roles in Star Wars. Okay, there's one or two people that had more prominent roles but for the most part, they're background characters.

This doesn't come off as a documentary for the casual fan the way the actors are introduced but if you're more on the involved side, I say it's worth a watch to see some of these people that you barely see in the film.

Month Total

 New: 4  Rewatch:1

Year Total

 New: 33  Rewatch:3

Monthly Movie Recap - April 2016

Welcome back for another movie month in review. And check out that snazzy logo, huh? I figured it was about time I tossed something together so that when I post to social media there's some kind of image to entice people to click it.

As always, title links will take you to Amazon to purchase the movie (or anything else) and contribute a couple coins to the AEIOU coffers.

Jurassic City (2015)
Barely on par with your average SyFy Original Movie. I don't expect much of a plot but there has to be a better way to get a few sorority girls into a correctional facility than for a DUI charge. Also not sure why the dinos are being brought there, but to be honest, I wasn't giving it my full attention because it was so ho-hum.

Cool: I love Ray Wise but even he can't make this much fun
Lame: Mostly takes place in a prison and doesn't take on the titular city until the end

Rating: 3/10

Seeing BvS made me realize I'd fallen behind on my DC animated movies!

Batman vs Robin (2015)
Continuing the story from Son of Batman, lil Damien starts getting rebellious and falls in with the Court of Owls. I've been wanting to read the Court of Owls story but never got around to it. They managed to fit it in here but even without knowing about it, it feels like a lot may have been left out.

Cool: Seeing this may finally get me to pick up the comics
Lame: Damien is still a character I love to hate

Rating: 7/10

Batman: Bad Blood (2016)
I really like that DC is establishing an animated movie universe. This one opens up the Bat Family bringing in Batwing and Batwoman (Kate Kane) who, along with Damien and Nightwing dressed as Batman, have to rescue a captive Bruce Wayne.

Cool: More villains than you can shake a batarang at
Lame: Just like the live action, I don't like it when they kill off any of the bad guys

Rating: 7/10

The Boss (2016)
Not as many laugh out loud moments as you might expect but it was good. The plot is nothing new but it's the actors that make it fun to watch. I didn't know Tyler Labine and Peter Dinklage were in this!

Cool: Dinklage absolutely steals all his scenes. The troop vs troop girl brawl in the streets.
Lame: Melissa McCarthy...again, funny but playing pretty much the same character she always does. I really hope she does something different in Ghostbusters.

Rating: 6/10

#Horror (2016, Netflix)
When I found this on Netflix, I challenged myself to watch it. I mean, how many movies have # in the title? There's a really good story at its core, but I feel like it's a little hampered by the girls being pre-teens. If these were older girls and the script was tweaked, this could be a Scream for the social media generation.

Cool: I really like the plot idea of exploring cyberbullying. I thought most of the girls were really good in this for being so young.
Lame: I can't tell if this is supposed to be serious or satire at times and that makes it hard for me to figure out how much I enjoyed it. When the girls tag photos they use a hashtag at the start and end of the words...why?

Rating: 5/10

C.H.U.D II: Bud the C.H.U.D. (1989)
Straight to video PG zom-com. It's funny, but in a so bad it's almost good way. I got a very strong Return of the Living Dead vibe from it despite it not being a lot more tame. Almost like it could exist in the same universe. Also got a very strong Brendan Frasier/Encino Man vibe from Bud.

Cool: Plenty of familiar faces like Norman Fell, June Lockheart, and Robert Vaughn
Lame: Needs more gore! No C.H.U.D. creatures.

Rating: 5/10

On a side note, check out the link to see the 8 movie collection this is part of.
You can't spend a better $5!

Did you see anything good this month?

Got any Netflix recommendations?

Post 'em below!

Month Total

 New: 6  Rewatch: 0

Year Total

 New: 23  Rewatch: 1

Monthly Movie Recap - March 2016

If you like movies and need another social network, come find me on Letterboxd. They just put out an iOS app so you can take it on the go too.

Zootopia (2016)
Not surprisingly, this movie is a lot of fun, has heart, and some great characters. What is surprising are the themes of bullying, not judging someone based on stereotypes, and going against the odds to be what you want to be. I don't have kids, but if I did, I would want them to see this!

Cool: Having the animals maintain their normal size relative to each other makes for some great scenes and interactions.

Rating: 8/10

 

Stunt Rock (1978)
An Australian stunt man goes to LA and meets a stage magic/rock band act called Sorcery. The trailer makes it look more action packed than it is. Most of the action is just stunts, there's not much of a story or plot to the movie and there's quite a bit of Sorcery performing, which is a great thing! I liked the music so much, I picked up the soundtrack from Amazon (linked above).

Cool: Sorcery, with their mix of 70s supernatural rock and stage magic, are just as much the stars as the stunts of real-life stunt man Grant Page. If Deep Purple and Alice Cooper had a bastard son, it would be Sorcery!
Lame: There's the thinnest of plots but I didn't really mind as there's plenty of stunts and Sorcery!

Rating: 6/10

Re-Kill (2015, Netflix)
This found footage (or found on DVR) movie follows Re-Kill Division units Cops-style as they try to prevent a new zombie outbreak from happening. Since it's a found TV recording, there are fake commercials a la Starship Troopers every so often that keep it entertaining.

Cool: Plenty of bullets and blood
Lame: Shaky cam is shaky; Fast zombies

Rating: 6/10

C.H.U.D. (1984)

I've had this one on my watch list for a long time and finally got around to it. I guess I'd heard so much love for it that I was expecting more out of it. It wasn't bad, just not as good as I was hoping.

Cool: CHUD design
Lame: Not enough CHUD! End was disappointing

Rating: 5/10

Batman v Superman (2016)

Trying to to get too spoilery. The movie looks great when it's not too dark. Once we get to the Big Fight, it's good but the script reasons for it starting and stopping are not. I really liked it while watching it but the more I think about the details after the fact, the more I realize I shouldn't really think about the details.

Cool: I'm absolutely looking forward to the Wonder Woman movie now! The straight out of Arkham Knight fight scene vs the goons.

Lame: Luthor, I didn't like this characterization or how non-intelligent his plans are. Also, Supes should be more intelligent than this.

Rating: 6.5 averaging the bad writing against the action and being well shot

Month Total

 New: 5  Rewatch: 0

Year Total

 New: 17  Rewatch: 1

February 2016 Loot Crate - Dead

Disclaimer
The fine folks at Loot Crate supply me with a box o' goodies every month
in exchange for review and promotion

Ah February, the month of love. The month The Walking Dead returns to TV and Deadpool is tearing up the box office. Naturally this month's theme is Dead.

Let's dig in, shall we?

Plenty of fun to be had between the pages this month: a brief zombie apocalypse survival guide, an interview with iZombie's coroner, Rahul Kohli, and a recipe for Deadpool tacos. If there was one thing the Deadpool movie was missing, it was Mexican food!

The pin is an undead Loot Crate. Whoa, hold the phone! I just had to add 'undead' to my spell check dictionary. What kind of a world is this? Anyway...the pin has a secret code on the back to unlock Carl Grimes in the Road to Survival Walking Dead mobile game. Not bad!

Quantum Mechanix delivers an exclusive Deadpool figure. He's the perfect size for a desk, being only a few inches high. I'm still not entirely convinced the dark cloud behind him is smoke but it makes sense as he's jumping out of an explosion. Some people will get a variant X-Force outfit version.

What better way to get yourself clean after a day in the zombie apocalypse than this Walking Dead soap-on-a-rope? Or you could just leave it out in the bathroom when you have company over.

On the left is an exclusive Walking Dead big head construction figure from McFarlane Toys.

Here's Daryl against the inside of the Loot Crate box. These figures look pretty cool but as "construction" toys they suck. The parts don't snap in so as you try to assemble it, you end up popping off other parts. If you look close, you can see his right shoulder peg sticking out slightly. Once you get it together, set it somewhere to admire it.

And rounding out the Crate is a Deadpool shirt! I'm not sure why his guns are excited for tacos, but hey, it's Deadpool, so who knows? I promise this will be my last time griping about the shirts being made for 20-somethings and being practically see through.

Overall, this was a pretty solid Crate! I'd give it 4 out 5 Headpools.

If you want to get sweet swag delivered to your bunker every month, head over to Loot Crate. You can enter promo code AEIOUwhy for 10% off any subscription plan. Even if you only order one box, you can still save 10%!

Halloween 2015 MA Lottery Ticket

My home state can be hit or miss year to year for Halloween themed lottery tickets.
The good news is, we got one this year!

They did the Cash...they did the Monnn-ster Cash.

Nah, just doesn't have a good sound to it. But I did uncover a pumpkin icon which doubled the $5 winnings below it! Woo-hoo!!

Empty graves on this one :(

As of now, I think these are the only two variants of the ticket.

I started an open Flickr album for people to post their state lottery tickets. If you have any, please feel free to add them to the album. Or if you could send me pictures/scans I'd be happy to post them.

Before you run off to check out all the Cryptkeepers at Countdown to Halloween, here is today's audio Trick or Treat mix: Dr Demento's Demented Halloween.

Monthly Movie Recap - September 2015

Hey, folks! The Monthly Movie Recap comes to you a day early because the Countdown to Halloween starts tomorrow! Clicking on a linked title will take you to that film's Amazon page where you can not only buy it, but put a few coins in my pocket too. Win-win!

Welcome to Planet Earth (1997) aka Alien Avengers
I couldn't find a trailer for this campy dark comedy. I would have sworn it came out of the 80s because that's just how off the wall it is. Basically this couple and their daughter vacation (on Earth) and have a grand old time mopping up the street trash. If it had more violence, it would be a great Troma flick.

Cool: George Wendt beating up lowlife scumbags, what more do you need?
Lame: The plot doesn't make much sense, but then this is from Roger Corman so...

Rating: 5/10

Burying the Ex (2015, Netflix)
This is a pretty fun zom-com. It never really goes anywhere you're not expecting it to but it doesn't get boring.

Cool: Someone really needs to franchise the "I Scream" shop from this movie!
Lame: Undead, horny girlfriend.
Rating: 7/10

TMNT (2014, Netflix)
Ok, it wasn't horrible. It wasn't great either, but it didn't totally suck. That's the best thing I can say about it. This is coming from someone who didn't like the original cartoon when it came out so take that as you will.

Cool: The turtles looked realistic on screen; good fight choreography
Lame: I don't like the design of the turtles (mainly the faces) or the mecha-Shredder suit. On the other hand, the mecha suit is very comic book-y.
Rating: 6/10

Grandma's Boy (2006, Netflix)

Definitely funny but I was expecting a lot more. Mainly because when I hear people talk about it, it seems to have a cult status. I'm also not a stoner so maybe that has something to do with it?

Rating: 6/10

Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)
If you liked the first one, you like this one! If you haven't seen the first one, you really should check it out. They're a lot of fun and the kids will enjoy them too.

Lame: The whole theme of the movie revolves around Mavis' kid, whether he's a vampire or not, and the family accepting him for who he is. The ending (spoilers!) totally undermines this by having him turn out to be a vampire, which is what pretty much everyone wants. Why have a message of acceptance and then have the kid turn out the way you expect? But I"m probably over analyzing a kids movie.
Rating:7/10

Did you see anything worth watching this month? Anything on your radar that you're looking forward to seeing? Let me know in the comments.

Month Total

 New: 5  Rewatch:0

Year Total

 New: 57  Rewatch: 3

Monthly Movie Recap - November 2014

Posting just before month's end because Creepmas starts tomorrow!

This is the shortest Monthly Movie Recap I think that's ever been posted. I started a new job mid-month and good bye free time! But that's a very good thing.

As always, clicking on a movie link takes you to Amazon if you want to buy it. If you're not interested in one of these films and still want to do some online holiday shopping, please consider using the links over on the right for Amazon, Entertainment Earth, and Loot Crate. You can get cool stuff and give me some pocket change at the same time!

Call Girl of Cthulhu (2014)

This flick was a lot of fun and an indie Kickstarter project. The trailer pretty much sums it all up: girls, gore, and a dose of comedy. If you're into Lovecraft you should check this out because it's definitely different than anything else that's been inspired by him.

Rating: 6/10

Shock Waves (1977)
The other movie that came out in 1977 with Peter Cushing. A group of yachting friends wreck on a remote island to find a mad German scientist creating an army of Nazi zombies. It sounds a lot more fun than it ends up being.

Cool: Nazi zombies!
Lame: Cushing is seriously underused. Watching the zombies emerge from underwater gets old after awhile. Pacing is slow-ish, similar to horror from the 30s/40s.
Rating: 5/10

High Score (2006)
Couldn't find a trailer but it's available on Hulu right now. This documentary clocks in just under an hour and follows one man's quest to break the world record for Missile Command, and the machine that wants to stop him. No seriously, I think his game is possessed or something, it just does not want him to win!

Rating: Only recommended for those that have a love of classic arcade gaming.

Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever (2014)
If you insert the word "Movie" between "Christmas" and "Ever" it's right about on target. It wants to be Home Alone in a mall with talking animals and pretty much fails on every level. The one genuine time I LOL'd was at a single line about 5 minutes before the end.

Rating: In the words of Grumpy Cat, "no"

Month Total

 New: 4  Rewatch: 0

Year To-Date Final Total 

New: 96 (+1 incomplete)  Rewatch: 17

Monthly Movie Recap - October 2014

Well, as you might imagine, I watched some horror flicks in October. Although it's not much different than my past few months of watching history, I do try to cram in a few extra and some favorites.

If you're already in a funk because October has left us, just remember: It's only a month until Creepmas! If you joined in the Countdown to Halloween blog-o-thon, be sure to keep your internet dial tuned to Creepmas.com, which will be updating soon.

Leprechaun 3 (1995)

I don't know if it's because I'm coming off six more or less joyless Children of the Corn movies but I thought this was kinda fun! Despite how stupid it could be, it was still way more entertaining than any Corn movies I sat through. I was a little let down by the ending because there was no final "gotcha" scare.

Cool: Warwick Davis is fun to watch; A few inventive kills

Lame: How much time did we need with the guy in the pawn shop? Why introduce an amulet that's sort of the Lep's kryptonite and not use it at the end to kill him?

Rating: 5/10

Leprechaun 4: In Space (1997)

Before seeing this, I'd only heard jokes about the series going to space. If you haven't seen it, watch the above trailer. If you ever wanted a movie like Aliens but with a Leprechaun, shoestring budget, and effects that look like they came out of a mid-90s screen saver, you have arrived! Where 3 was guilty pleasure fun, this one is "so bad, it's good" fun.

Cool: The only thing that's good about this one is how bad it is

Lame: After this one, I'm convinced the series is an anthology because there's very little continuity from movie to movie. Did I mention how bad the effects are?

Rating: 5/10

Leprechaun in the Hood (2000)

Somehow, this one has the highest rating of the series on Rotten Tomatoes: 33%. As a white guy, I was finding this uncomfortable to watch. I've seen Blaxploitation before, this is more like Blaxploitation parody, just not very funny. I'm guessing there was just as much weed smoking behind the camera as in front of it.

Cool: The only thing mildly entertaining is the Leprechaun's rap video at the end and even that is really bad

Lame: I can't recall another horror movie I've seen recently where I've wanted the main characters to die

Rating: 3/10

Leprechaun: Back 2 The Hood (2003)
A little better than the first visit to "Tha Hood" but not much.

Rating: 4/10

This is Where I Leave You (2014)

I thought it was going to be just another one of those "family comes together after someone dies" movies. Turns out, it was really good. Everyone had great performances and there's a good amount of comedy throughout.

Rating: 8/10

Bloody Bloody Bible Camp (2012)
Does a good job of emulating a 70s/80s slasher. There's plenty of kills but they're at the start and end of the movie. My biggest complaint is that it never seems to follow any of the standard "rules" of a slasher. The final girl could have been any character, there's nothing redeemable in any of them. And the killer's identity seems to be shoehorned in. Ultimately it's a decent goofy horror flick.

Cool: It says something about the movie when I say that Ron Jeremy as Jesus had one of the best performances in the movie; Gore effects were decent
Lame: It's got all the ingredients you'd want, they're just not in the right amounts
Rating: 4/10

*Hocus Pocus (1993)
I only discovered this a couple years ago but it immediately became an October staple. Plus, a fair amount of exterior shooting was done in and around the Salem area. See yesterday's Hocus Pocus-centric post!

Rating: 8/10

Vicious Lips (1986)
Couldn't find a trailer for this so here's the poster. You'd think an R-rated 80s movie with an all girl band in a sci-fi setting would be mind blowingly awesome. I have never been so disappointed in the promise of a poster. The girls have to steal a ship (which happens to hold a killer monster) to get across the galaxy to a gig. The ship crashes and the monster gets loose. At the end, you find out you just wasted 90 minutes watching it.

Cool: Some of the hair rock songs are pretty catchy
Lame: Just about the rest of the movie
Rating: 4/10

Bad Taste (1987)
This is one of those titles I've seen the cover for a million times but never actually watched. It definitely has a low budget 80s charm to it but overall the pacing up to the finale was too slow. I can see why it's a cult film but I won't be revisiting it.

Rating: 5/10

Hack O'Lantern (1988) aka Halloween Night
I wanted to see this one based on the title because I imagined it would be some type of mutant pumpkin that went on a killing spree. I need to make that movie. This one is about a grandfather that inducts one of his grandsons into a satanic cult. Just about everything in this movie is laughably bad: the acting, the plot, you name it.

Rating: 2/10, strong contender for worst movie of the year! Including that one I had to turn off halfway through.

*The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
I rewatched this the day after I got to meet Victoria Price. I felt it necessary to watch something of his and I just got the BluRay Vol 1 collection. It's not one of my top Price films even though he's fun to watch in it and the set design is fantastic.

Rating: 6/10

Street Trash (1987)
Weird, weird horror comedy with lots of melting hobos. I still feel like I need a shower from watching it.

Rating: 5/10

Housebound (2014)
Recommended to me by Chad Savage and well worth it! I can't really say much about it without giving away the good bits because they worked some great twists into it. Seek it out!

Rating: 8/10

Life After Beth (2014)
Zach's girlfriend dies and then mysteriously shows up at her parents' house a couple days later, seemingly fine. But is she? It's a little bit Fido and a little bit Warm Bodies and I thought it was a great zom rom com.

Cool: Great comedic cast; Fresh take on zombies
Lame: Dude, I know she's your girlfriend but stop and think about it for a second...
Rating: 8/10

Wicked Wicked (1973)
The only reason I sought this one is is for its gimmick: DuoVision! Most of the movie is presented in split screen. The beginning was interesting, the left side followed the killer and the right his victim. Unfortunately, the script starts to feel like a daytime soap after awhile as the house dick tracks down the murderer that we know the identity of. Although once they do catch up to him at the end, it's a little twisted and there's some morbid humor that feels out of place. It's not horrible, it's just not very engaging but it's probably the only film ever presented this way.

Rating: 4/10

*Trick R Treat (2009)
I can't believe it's been 5 years for this classic already! Love, love, LOVE this movie. 'Nuff said.

Month Total

 New: 13  Rewatch: 3

Year To-Date Final Total 

New: 92 (+1 incomplete)  Rewatch: 17

October 2014 Loot Crate - Fear

What's better than Autumn and October? Getting cool stuff in the mail! The Old Ones at Loot Crate have bestowed upon their humble servant another box of geeky goodness for review.

The theme for this month is Fear. Last October's was Survive, which would have fit just as well, if not better, with what we got.

Another amazing box interior: an auto shop under zombie siege. There are worse places to be stuck, just look at all the implements of destruction on the peg board on the left! What would you grab first? Baseball bat with nails? Cleaver? Spiked boxing gloves?



The cover of the monthly mag is a throwback to classic horror comics and is even in 3D! There's an interview with Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and artist JSalvador, who'll be popping up later.

 Next is a mysterious blood smeared locker and a handy survival guide.
We'll open up the book first.

As you can see, this survival guide will not only help you out during a Sharknado but just about any unnatural disaster the SyFy channel might throw at you. If you're a frequent watcher, you'll probably recognize several of these as movies. Personally, I'm hoping we see Dinonami and Bataclysm in the future.



Popping the locker open reveals a Loot Crate/Capcom exclusive: a sledgesaw hammer pen from Dead Rising 3. I've only played the original Dead Rising but I remember one of the coolest things about it was being able to combine weapons you find to make even deadlier toys. The chainsaw part of this is the pen cap. Even if you lose that, you'll still have a bloody sledgehammer pen. It may stand out in your pen cup at the office but I don't think anyone will try to steal it from you!



  Here we've got more zombie related stuff! Issue #132 of the Walking Dead with an exclusive cover variant, a tattoo sheet of various slashes and bites, and a SuperEmoFriends print by JSalvador of Daryl and zombie bro Merle. You should definitely check out the SuperEmoFriends page if you like this print. No matter what you're a fan of, you'll probably find something there you'll like.



Lastly is this Death by Kitten t-shirt. I don't know, I guess I don't get it. Yes, it's a bunch of cats making up a skull but...? Reaction in the Looter communities I hang out in has been mixed on this one at best.

If you want to get goodies like this in your mail every month, head over to Loot Crate and use code AEIOUwhy for 10% your entire order.

Before you head off to your next house, swing by Halloween Mixes.

They're posting a themed mix album every day of the month!

And of course, check out all the other folks participating in the Countdown to Halloween!

Halloween Web - Ked

On the chopping block today is a ghoul that's always got something spooky going on at his place this time of year...

For the people in the home audience, tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Ked. I am one of Halloweens biggest fans. I am an avid home haunter, thrower of the best Halloween parties in the land and I also run a small little blog "Something wicKED this way comes". I have worked on an advisory board for 2 national haunted attractions and still work with local community haunts to fund charities. Thankfully my wife is also a Halloween nut!

What was Halloween like in your neighborhood as a kid? 

Halloween during my childhood has to be some of my fondest. My Great Grandmother was born on Halloween so we always had a HUGE costume party right before Halloween night (she wanted to be home for Trick or Treaters on Halloween itself) . Elaborate games, costumes, and decorations were just the norm for me. Even after she passed, we continue to celebrate Halloween in grand fashion!

Halloween night for me was just the greatest time ever. We lived in a great old town where you could go from door to door up until midnight with complete safety. The dentist down the road would give out toothbrushes. The teacher up the street would give out pencils and erasers.  The caterer across town would hand out hand made popcorn balls shaped like jack o'lanterns and hand dipped candy apples. Almost all the houses in between would hand out treat bags. I mean bags of candy! Like a popcorn bag FULL of candy! It was truly a magical time. We would always roll my best friends house with toilet paper...not because they did not hand out treats, simply because it was fun and he usually helped! I have to say...Halloween was truly magical for me...in every sense of the word.

Any favorite costumes from Halloweens past?

I always have liked the black robes and heavy cloak of death....but I think my favorite was my Zombie outfit from a few years back! It really put the fear into the kids...and most adults too!

Do you have a particularly memorable Halloween story?

A close friend of my mother's had asked us to come and scare her guests at a bonfire one night, right before Halloween. I was 17 at the time. My best friend, Uncle, Mother and myself all dressed up and headed over. They were in a big field near the woods by a farm. We parked down the road and made our way up to the hay bales laid in a ring around the bonfire. My mother was dressed as an old crone and looked quite horrific. My Uncle (who is about 6'7") was dressed as a backwoods hillbilly type. The best friend was a generic hockey mask and jumpsuit wearing psycho with a machete and covered in chains. I decided to be death complete with custom black robes and cloak with bones hand gloves and a large (real) scythe!

Needless to say, all the guests were unsettled and one in particular (a teenage girl) was on the verge of nervous breakdown and refused to look at us. We did not say a thing, just simply circled around them slowly several times before heading down the road. As we left, there was a large drainage ditch (about 5' deep) that I did not see and I fell in it. To the poor girl who was so frightened, it looked as if I had just disappeared into the ground leaving behind a scythe that seemed to balance in the air on it's own for a few seconds before falling loudly to the ground. They ended up having to take the poor girl to the ER due to hyperventilating.

Disclaimer: no kitties were hurt in the making of this picture

What do you think it is about Halloween that keeps it in our hearts as we get older?

What is there not to like? It comes during the season when everything is cooling off, the leaves are changing, and football! Halloween is a feeling more than just a holiday. It is the spirit that keeps us young as the days grow old. It is the celebration of the unknown, the what if, and the what we hope can never be! For one night a year, you can literally be somebody or something else! I feel that by celebrating death and the known of the afterlife, we tend to find that life is oh so much sweeter! Plus, who doesn't like the adrenaline rush of a good scare? Both giving and receiving!

What do you do to celebrate Halloween these days?

We have a HUGE Halloween party every year. Always the Saturday BEFORE Halloween.For decades it has been known as "The wicKED weeKEnD Halloween party". There is gross food, games, costume contests... truly an amazing party that has to be seen to be believed. Then on Halloween night, we have a yard haunt. We go all out with lighting, fog machines, animatronics, you name it! The kids get a real kick out of having to fight through "The wicKED Woods Cemetery" to get a treat. The decorations go up the last weekend in September and we just add to it daily till the high holiday itself!

Do you have any yearly rituals?

The Halloween Party and the Yard haunt is a given. We always start out the season by watching the Home Haunters Videos to get inspired. Down time always consists of pumpkin flavored ale and Trick R Treat, Halloween, Hocus Pocus, and a good mix of Freddy and Jason. My wife and I also carve a forever pumpkin...funkin...foam pumpkin...whatever you want to call them. We carve 2 new ones each year to remember our Halloween. We have a small army of jack o'lanterns now. Not to mention we start "Halloween Hunting" right after labor day, which is just scouring the nearby towns for the first signs of Halloween decor! There are also 2 local pay haunts that have been around forever in my home town and we always visit multiple times!

Inside the Spooksters' Studio

The worst thing to get while trick or treating was a toss up between toothbrushes, pennies, and peppermint candies.....I guess I hated the mints worse than anything. You see them all year long, especially around Christmas....besides...who really likes them?

My favorite thing to get was big fat treat bags brimming over with all kinds of creepy Halloween themed goodies....if I had to be more specific, I would have to go to the full sized or KING sized candy bars. It was like finding a pearl in an ocean of fun sized treats.

Where can folks find you online?

You can dig a lot deeper into my soul by checking out my Youtube channel, my Facebook, and my Blog.

Thanks for stopping by, Ked and sharing the great photos!

There's still time to enter to win the Halloween Mystery Box or a postcard from Salem MA.
Click here to find out how to enter.

Before you head off to your next house, swing by Halloween Mixes.

They're posting a themed mix album every day of the month!

And of course, check out all the other folks participating in the Countdown to Halloween!