It Came From The Man Cave!: May 2018

Slender Man

According to Variety ‘Slender Man’ is being Shopped to Other Studios while Sony and Producers Clash! Distribution rights for the upcoming horror movie are on the block because the film’s producers are having heated disagreements about the release strategy with Sony set to debut the film in August. Sony sees the film as a low-budget style release according to two insiders, while the producers have more confidence in the movie and are pushing for the picture to play on more screens. They also want a bigger marketing push, which will cost more money than Sony is willing to spend.

As for me, its the dark cloud over Slender Man that inspired two 12-year-olds to stab their friend Payton Leutner 19 times. Leutner survived, and the girls were institutionalized. Bill Weier, the father of one of the two girls who stabbed Leutner, has criticized the film as “extremely distasteful” and has said it is “popularizing a tragedy.” An online petition calling on the studio to pull the film from release has attracted more than 19,000 signatures.

Even though “Slender Man’s” plot is fictional and doesn’t reference the real-life stabbing it could be factoring into some of the release strategy disagreements. And I agree I have no desire to see this movie at all based on the events that took place I don't care if its the best film ever! How do you feel about this? Will you be heading to the big screen to watch?

20 Question's With Steve

It's been almost a year now and I'm still trying to get Steve to do some blogging sure it's not the easiest thing for him to do so let us get started with 20 Questions for Steve.

What’s your Favourite Book?

My favorite book of all time would have to be the Hobbit.

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?

Wow! This is a very difficult question to answer, there's so many to choose from. I guess if someone put a gun to my head, I would have to say Mint Chocolate Chip.

What’s your most embarrassing childhood memory?

I don't remember where we were but a stranger called my Mom a lady, and I said "That's no lady. That's my Mom!"

What are your 3 Favourite Movies?

1. Evil Dead

2. Star Wars

3. Goodfellas

What’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever been?

The most beautiful place I ever been definitely has to be Hawaii. My family and I had the opportunity to go for my Make A Wish, we spent a week on the Big Island. I was able to swim with some dolphins and fly in a helicopter over the volcanoes.

You lived in Florida and Illinois so which one do you prefer?

Well, both places are so different, it makes it a really hard choice. They both have advantages and disadvantages. Florida is great because of the weather and being close to extended family, but it kept me way to far from my Mom and friends. Illinois is great because my Mom and Brother are here and it's where I've met so many amazing friends. So it's way to hard to choose which I prefer.

Who would you like to live like for a day?

I would like to live as Bill Gates for a day because I would have more money than I would know what to do with.

When you’re having a bad day, what do you do to make yourself feel better?

I watch a good movie and eat my favorite junk food.

Using one word, how would you describe your family?

Entertaining.

Miller or Bud?

I don't like either so I would choose Angry Orchard.

What is the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?

The Exorcist scared the crap out of me as a kid.

Who’s your celebrity crush?

Mila Kunis.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to be a pro wrestler.

Who would play you in a movie about your life?

Ryan Gosling

What’s the one food you could never bring yourself to eat?

Squid and Octopus.

Ok, how about some MDA Summer camp questions,

Favorite Camp Food?

Wait... Camp had good food? The best thing I ever ate at camp was the turkey we cooked on the grill at our cabin. Best turkey I've ever had in my life.

The turkey was good but come on dude California Dog's all the way!

What is the one Camp activity you wish you could still do?

I definitely would like to be able to swim. I used to be a great fish reenactor.

Over the past 25 plus years, what was your favorite Camp Theme?

Another hard ass question... geez. There's been a lot of great themes over the years. I would have to say Horizon's 25th Anniversary year was my favorite out of both camps. Favorite MDA Camp theme would have a be the Pirates.

Heck Yeah, who else builds a huge Pirate ship that is handicap accessible!

What cabin was better our new one Shagbark or our old one Cedar?

No comparison! It's obviously Cedar, hands down! Don't get me wrong though, Shagbark is awesome as a cabin, but Cedar was where I met some friends that have since become my big brothers.

Once a C-Men always a C-men!

What is your favorite camp activity? And what is your least favorite?

My least favorite would have to be Arts and Crafts, only because I would've rather been outside. My favorite activities would definitely be Skit Night at MDA Camp and Carnival Night at Horizon.

Thanks, Steve for playing along! We look forward to hearing from you with Comic book news and Movie reviews and what ever else your little heart wants to tell us! If you have a question for Steve leave a comment below.

Love ya Little Brother.

Its unknown cargo: hundreds of deadly tarantulas.

Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo

1977 | Color | 1 Hr 35 Min | Horror | TV-14 | CBS

Director:

Stuart Hagmann

Writers:

John Groves

Guerdon Trueblood

Stars:

Claude Akins

Charles Frank

Deborah Winters

Synopsis: An airplane carrying coffee beans from South America has some unpleasant stowaways: a hoard of tarantulas which overcome the pilots as the airplane is flying over an orange-producing town in California. The airplane crashes, and the unlucky inhabitants of the town release the poisonous spiders into their midst. Once the town's officials discover that the tarantulas are responsible for several deaths, the tarantulas have already descended upon the town's only orange-processing factory. The town's citizens risk their lives to remove the tarantulas from the factory while the poisonous pests are rendered motionless by the transmitted sound of buzzing bees.

Oh, man who did not love these 1970's animals and insect's go amok movies? These where pure nightmare fuel for my seven-year-old self! I look forward to revisiting this bad boy soon. Tarantulas was also nominated for a few Day Time Emmys Outstanding Achievement in Film Sound Editing for a Special and Outstanding Achievement in Film Sound Mixing all though they did not win. Make sure to check out Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo tonight on Svengoolie.

Go Speed Racer Go!

Starring:

Simon Shocket

Nitzan Sitzer

Gabriella Lewis

Zach Cohen

Synopsis:

When a bolt of lightning hits their car, Speed and the gang find themselves 50 years in the future! Go, Speed Racer, Go!

Do you remember the god-awful Speed Racer Movie from 2008 staring the yummy Christina Ricci? If so do you remember saying to your self it could not get any worse than this? Well, kid's I'm here to tell you it does. Race to the Future is an Indian-American flash animated film based on Tatsuo Yoshida's Speed Racer manga franchise. And unlike Toonz's work on the second season of Speed Racer: The Next Generation, Race for the Future is set in the universe of the original animated series. Yep, I'm lost too and fear not it does not get any better.

Right out of the gate this movie could have dropped me to my knee's and scream why!!! The opening song... grrrr why would they change the iconic song like they did it hurt my ears so bad and put me in a lousy mood immediately. Even the movie changing the music up a bit was not bad nor that awful remake in the nineties but a rap group was not this bad but here it is screaming kill me.

Unlike using the anime-style tradition, which the Speed Racer series was known for, the film utilizes a different style of animation and it is not easy to watch. Flash Animation was cool way back in early days of video games but now not so much. They looked so goofy and chopping it really takes you out of the story and for me drove me a little crazy. Although this is what kids like these days yet I can not see any child sitting through a story about the future that talk's way above there heads.

I don't like to be negative when I talk about a film or tv show but sadly I can not come up with anything nice side to say about this. It's sad I love Speed Racer but this is a skip it at all cost's kind of show. This was on Con-Tv but I believe it is also free on Vudu but do not I repeat do not pay money to rent this one as you will not get your money back.

Sorry Speedy

One Infinity Gauntlet out of 5

A Fantastic Feast For Fans OF the 80's

Directors:

Kenneth Powell

Thomas Edward Seymour

Stars:

Mike Aransky

Alan Bagh

Troy Bernier

With

Lloyd Kaufman

Deborah Reed

Synopsis: This lively documentary explores the rise and fall of physical media and its effect on Independent and cult films. Ranging from the origin of home movies through the video store era, it's sure to entertain. With icons like Joe Bob Briggs (MonsterVision), Lloyd Kaufman (Toxic Avenger), Greg Sestero (The Room), Debbie Rochon (Return to Nuke 'Em High), Deborah Reed (Troll 2), Mark Frazer (Samurai Cop), James Nguyen (Birdemic) and many others.

If you hang around Lloyd and Charles Band long enough you get the sense that the 80' and VHS drove them to the top of their game and now that we are in the digital age you can see how they struggle to adapt. Thankfully both of them understand that their fans still want to physically own a VHS, DVD, or BluRay. And VHS Massacre does a good job letting you know there are fans out there not willing to let go. (I raise my hand here as well)

A lot is covered in this documentary, and it is all set along a great subplot which is the main title’s VHS Massacre. During the course of filming the filmmakers have collected a mass of discarded discount VHS from the many closing stores. Not only does this document the closing of a long-holding-on Blockbuster Video, a mom-and-pop gem, and the last remaining Kim’s Video in New York City’s East Village, but it brings the film’s anticipated climax. The filmmakers celebrate the ending of the documentary with a festival from the found VHS cassettes. Leading itself to a very fun and promising ending.

All though a less polished film than Josh Johnson’s Rewind This!, which was better structured and had a little more substance. Still, there’s something very charming about director Thomas Edward Seymour bringing to the documentary his own personal tale of distribution challenges in a digital world and deep love for physical media. He carries a lot of the film, and it’s a noble attempt to structure what’s a lot of material covered. If you have not seen Rewind This! check that out first and come back to VHS Massacer both deserve a watch.

From someone who collects VHS and other physical media I highly recommend this Doc. If you have ever gone down a YouTube rabbit hole watching nothing but videos of Blu-ray hauls, box set unboxings, and, of course, VHS hunts at flea markets you will fall in love with Massacres charm.

3 Bloody Brains out of 5

And as you can see I picked up this crazy VHS tape the other day looking forward to doing a review on it soon.

Picked up this crazy #vhs today I did not know this was a thing!

A post shared by bob Johns (@mda4life1970) on May 16, 2018 at 4:58pm PDT

Mad Families will just make you Mad!

Director:

Fred Wolf

Writers:

David Spade

Fred Wolf

Stars:

Charlie Sheen

Leah Remini

Naya Rivera

Synopsis: Mad Families centers on three families - one Hispanic, one African American, one Caucasian - who find themselves sharing the same camping space on a Fourth of July holiday weekend. When none of them volunteer to vacate the site, they try to figure out a way to cohabitate peacefully but eventually decide on a series of competitions to determine a winner. As the families face off in a series of hysterical contests, the brassy, biting Charlie quips and complains his way through the great outdoors, but ultimately, with the help of his fellow campers, ends up realizing what's most important in life.

You know what they say the more stars in a movie the more it will suck, as is the case with Mad Families. Fred Wolf has written a few gems in his day like Black Sheep and Joe Dirt but He and David Spade for some reason tried to write a family movie about racism into a comedy. What The Hell!

This movie tries so hard to be too many things is it a family movie, and buddy movie, maybe a coming of age movie I still do not know myself. Under the layers of "your mama" jokes seems to be a heartfelt story that never develops. I think the message here is we can all get along if we sit around the campfire telling ethnic jokes to see who is funnier. But for some of us, we should have been telling the story of the families that sadly gets lost in the background.

Only saving grace for this film is the woman and their chatter in the background. They bounce their lines off of one another like true actors where the men are doing there best to outdo themselves. In fact what little screen time Leah Remini and Tiffany Haddish have is not enough they are wonderful together and the only time I laughed is when they were on the screen. It's a shame they wasted this talent on a story that could have followed a much better path.

I never watched Glee but Naya Rivera is wonderful to watch when she came on screen she really picked up this movie put it on her shoulders and tried really hard to fix the bad punchlines by herself. She was truly a joy to watch and again did not get enough time to build on her character. I keep forgetting this was a macho man movie, right?

Well under it all we get some sweet moments but they are covered up by all the testosterone fuel of racism, bad acting, and terrible humor. And why, why make a movie that builds on ethnic jokes giving the wrong people more reason to spew there hate towards others? Mad Families is free on Crackle and honestly, if you get past the men there is a good movie deep down inside of the trash can called Mad Families so it is worth the look if you really have nothing better to do. I wish they would have picked a different road on this one it really could have been a good summer movie.

2 Turkey Leg's out of 5

Don't say his name!

The Legend Still Lives: 30 Years of Madman

Director:

Victor Bonacore

Stars:

Paul Ehlers

Gary Sales

Harriet Bass

Synopsis: A retrospective documentary on the 80's slasher film classic Madman. Interviews with the original and available cast & crew, including Madman Marz himself Paul Ehlers.

Found this on Amazon Prime and got excited as I remember Shock Wave Podcast host Rob Galluzzo talked about being a talking head in this documentary that comes on Vinger Syndrome's new Blu-Ray for Madman.

Madman was a fantastic low budget film on the same lines as Friday the 13th and honestly, I look forward to revisiting the flick after watching this documentary. For the most part, doc's about moviemaking are always a fun trip behind the magic curtain sadly tho Madman not so much. Seems like they found a few actors who are still living to interview, drove to the location where Madman was filmed and yeah get this (spoiler time) they find the old chain that they used hanging in a tree. Now that was cool and all but still pretty dry for a doc I found myself looking at the web or twitter feed more than watching.

Sadly this is a skip and really giving it this score is to be nice.

2 Bloody Brains out of 5

Legend of Madman Marz

Better Put a Ring on it Elvira

While Ryan Reynolds is tearing it up at the box office but his first Super Hero flick still haunt's him. Back in 2011 Warner Bros. released a half-assed attempt with Green Lantern starring Reynolds. The movie was a critical and commercial bomb. With its budget of $200 million the movie needed to break around $300 million to start making a profit. It made $219 million and is trending a whopping 26% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not all is lost tho coming out of this disaster Reynolds met his now-wife Blake Lively on the set.

Now Reynolds is blowing up the domestic and international box office with Deadpool 2, which poked fun at the animated suit he needed to wear in Green Lantern. Two years later, and nearly seven years after the release of Green Lantern, it looks like Warner Bros. doesn’t have any grudges about how it all went down. If anything they seem to be admitting, through humor, that they screwed up big time

We tried to put a ring on it! #GreenLantern @VancityReynolds pic.twitter.com/W9e0KhgbnU
— Warner Bros. (@WBHomeEnt) May 18, 2018

Sorry @VancityReynolds, we're going to need the ring back. pic.twitter.com/dPyfsRPUYg
— Warner Bros. (@WBHomeEnt) May 19, 2018

Ah, good times Warner Brothers Good Times.

Also heading our way this summer Elvira Mistress of the Dark from Dynamite Comics

The synopsis

The Mistress of the Dark has become unstuck in time! Elvira crashes Mary Shelley’s monster weekend, beginning an epic journey through horror history, stalked by the most terrifying nightmare to ever walk the Earth. (No spoilers!) Writer David Avallone (Bettie Page, Doc Savage, Twilight Zone) and Dave Acosta (Doc Savage) bring you the thrills, chills, and double-entendres in the first chapter of this four-issue miniseries!

Played by actress-writer Cassandra Peterson, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark has carved out a niche in popular American culture that is sure to endure for decades to come. Elvira’s reign as ‘Queen of Halloween’ has now spanned thirty-five years and includes two nationally syndicated television series, two feature films (Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and Elvira’s Haunted Hills), an IMAX movie and two motion control rides. She has appeared in National ad campaigns for Pepsi and Coors, recorded five music CDs, written four books and licensed over Four Hundred products including pinball machines, action figures, guitars, three comic book series, a beer, wine, soda pop, perfume, slot machines and the best-selling female costume of all time.

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark #1 goes on sale July 11th.

Ray Harryhausen classic tonight on Svengoolie!

Director: Nathan Juran

Writers:

Robert Creighton Williams

Christopher Knopf

Stars:

William Hopper

Joan Taylor

Thomas Browne Henry

When the first manned flight to Venus returns to Earth, the rocket crash-lands in the Mediterranean near a small Italian fishing village. The locals manage to save one of the astronauts Colonel Calder, the mission commander. A young boy also recovers what turns out to be a specimen of an alien creature. Growing at a fantastic rate, it manages to escape and eventually threatens the city of Rome forcing the military to take drastic action.

We've eaten them for years, now it's their turn!

Director:

Scott Wheeler

Writers:

Nathan Dalton

Chris De Christopher

Stars:

Justin Ray

Kassandra Voyagis

Michael Swan

Synopsis: A chemical accident in a sleepy town turns ordinary donuts into bloodthirsty monsters. Unaware of the donuts' danger, Johnny, Michelle, and Howard sell them to unsuspecting customers. When the donuts start eating their victims, the only way the three friends can save their sleepy town is to track down the Killer Donuts down and destroy them. The final standoff is where it all began: Dandy Donuts.

How can you go wrong with a low budget cheese fest about Killer Donuts!? Now, this is what I call a fun and entertaining horror movie that does not rip off a movie with a similar tile. We get some computer animated donuts sure but the best part we get practical effect's donuts as well. Bless you, Scott Wheeler for doing horror right. Wheeler may not be a household name but he has worked on many Asylum films as well as X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer television shows.

Even with a young cast of Justin Ray (Club Dread), Kayla Compton (Entourage) and Michael Swan they hold this movie together and play well off of one another. Their comedy is so dry with many laugh out loud moments make Donuts a killer treat. Director Scott Wheeler is a veteran special-effects artist, who handles the creature animation well. The doughnuts bounce around adorably and even carry a touch of grotesque menace as they leap at customers' throats, spewing a sickly green jelly.

The story makes for fair part buddy-comedy and part outbreak pic. It’s a strange blend of things, but it has a few tense moments and the jokes never disappear for long. Those comical moments only last for a moment or so. Soon Wheeler pulls out all the stops sucks us in but does not seem to know how to finish his masterpiece. The first hour is per golden long john that teeters on boring same old same old in the last reel.

Surprisingly the best part comes from actor Thomas C Howell playing one of the two (Greedy for free donuts) cops Rodgers and Hammerstein, yes named after music composers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Howell is so damned good he renewed my man crush on his fine looking career. Who new Howell had comedy chops?

So look if your buddies are over and you're looking for a throwback to the VHS style low budget glory days of movies then crack open some of those Keystone lights and enjoy one hell of a fun ride into a world filled with Killer Donuts! I absolutely adore this movie and would watch it again in a heartbeat.

4 Bloody Brains out of 5

Just check out the trailer you will feel so much better.

No Hammer. No Problem.

Director:

Taika Waititi

Writers:

Eric Pearson

Craig Kyle

Stars:

Chris Hemsworth

Tom Hiddleston

Cate Blanchett

Synopsis: Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok, the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization, at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela.

Can I be honest for a moment I have not like a Thor movie yet. The first one was ok and the second one well a waste of time. So when the trailers for this one came out I was excited yet annoyed at the comedy aspect. This is a sad case of the trailer selling it wrong and Disney has a long list of movies that are good but the trailer made me skip past it and wait for home video. Sadly I wish that I would have seen this on the big screen as it is a beautiful looking movie.

Always love it when an independent director gets a shot at a big budget flick like this. Taika Waititi has made some of the most moving indies that I have seen lately. In fact "Hunt For the Wilder people" was the best movie I watched last year it really stuck with me. Waititi understands the power of storytelling and Thor finally got its story right. Waititi described the film as a "1970s and 80s science fiction fantasy, the most 'out there' of all the Marvel movies." He cited Big Trouble in Little China as a major influence on the film: "It's a fun adventure film that has big stakes, but also has a breakneck speed and takes you on a crazy adventure."

I know fanboys everywhere could not wait to finally see Thor Vs Hulk they have a long history together and the battle does not disappoint. Believe it or not, this was not the highlight of the film for me that goes to Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster he was by far my favorite part of this flick the man is pure gold! And still sexy as hell giving Chris Hemsworth a solid run for his money. And let's not skip out on Tessa Thompson who lit up the screen and stole the show with her pure beauty on screen. This cast gives the Guardian's of the Galaxy a little competition for best on-screen assemble. As for the Banner/Thor buddy movie that this proves to easily show that they could do a non-super hero buddy movie together and we would all go see it.

The movie is breathtaking dropping us into different lands seamlessly and with little effort. The story is solid fun and yeah funny in a good way. I was really scared the comedy would take away from everything but it fit well and never takes you out of the story. Thor does a nice job keeping up with the Guardian's style right down to the music during big battle scenes. I mean come on who does not want to see a big battle to Zed Zepplins "Immigrant Song". This is noteworthy because Led Zeppelin is known for very rarely licensing out their music for use in feature films or television series. I also think its great that the Thor's "friend from work" line about the Hulk was suggested to Hemsworth by a Make-A-Wish child who paid a visit to the set on the day the scene was filmed.

Man, I had a blast watching Thor Ragnarok from the cast to the amazing director they finally got a Thor movie right!

4 Gauntlets out of 5

** again I should have watched this before Infinity War as some of it is starting to make more sense.

** You can see my review for Hunt for the Wilder people here.