Media Home Entertainment had the best video covers for early 80’s slashers – so good they managed to filter down to Australia intact whereas the region would usually get an altered style or campaign. Home Sweet Home is as good an example as any, indicative of the qualities that made Media stand out. Continue reading
With Code Red’s DVDs being some of the more expensive discs out there – which is well in line with with other smaller distributors who don’t get the subsidies the big studios do – I was looking forward to Amazon’s Black Friday deals to hopefully skim a bit off those prices. Turns out none of the Code Red DVDs are affected – at least not yet. The deals do rotate so I suppose I should have waited more than a few hours before crying in my cereal.
My Amazon cart is brimming with CR movies to fill out my collection (a meager collection due to said pricing). But maybe I shouldn’t bother waiting for imagined price drops – some CR titles do have decent pre-existing price deductions – The Undertaker is only $14.95, making it a no-brainer to replace that dusty old boot that Thomas reviewed, and The Redeemer (its back cover quotes seem to beg you not to buy it) skims in nicely at $15.49 but Madman and Riot on 42nd Street both come in close to the twenty dollar mark. I might be able to justify the former on basis of extras, but will have to question if my nostalgia is strong enough to pick up the latter. Probably not, but I’m noting for future reference that it’s two bucks cheaper at DVD Empire.
Lest you think me a nitpicker or penny pincher, bear in mind I have changing-daily currency conversion to deal with not to mention global mailing prices. So for me, the difference between a fifteen and twenty bucker can mean everything when making my quarterly bulk Amazon purchases. None of the above is a rant or editorial, just the out loud thinking of a collector whose head weighs heavy with the variables that will decide what he needs to pick up, and what he needs to let go of. Like completing any math, sometimes it helps to write it all down.
So, dear readers, what elements factor in when you want to make a DVD purchase?
Living in Australia I have no idea what Thanksgiving is, and prefer to remain clueless, filling the American minutia knowledge part of my brain with the history of Twinkies instead. But at Retro Slashers, Thanksgiving is still very special to us: an excuse to lavish praise on Home Sweet Home (1981, Review) starring Bodies-By-Jake Steinfeld. Continue reading
A pretty substantial update one of my retro projects: Fangoria have posted an article exclusively unveiling the Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor official poster art, plus copious quotage from me that’ll give you the comprehensive skinny on the lost slasher. Continue reading
[audio:http://www.retroslashers.net/choppingmall.mp3]
Chopping Mall Theme – Chuck Cirino
Holy hannah, will you take a look at this? Right now? Maniac (1980) scores a new poster in celebration of its return theatrical run via Grindhouse Releasing and Blue Underground. Sure, there was nothing wrong at all with the original legs-knife-scalp poster – in fact it was everything right about early 80’s grimy slashers. Even that denim bulge. But this new one is fantastic in its own right – eschewing the anonymous terror of the original to give the late great Joe Spinell his due, as well as Caroline Munro. A festering look into the internal mania of the maniac.
Stephen Romano aka The Best In The Biz is responsible for this crimson delight. Grindhouse Releasing are offering limited editions of the poster on their website – 100 copies, individually numbered and personally auto’d by director William Lustig & producer Andrew Garroni. $40 plus $10 shipping. Chase that up here: Maniac onesheet
For the purists out there, the Maniac 30th Anniversary DVD/Blu-Ray out now carries the original cover art. Which is cool with me because detailed art like this deserves to displayed large on the wall, not shrunken down to those puny-sized blu-ray covers.
Your living room may be a safe place to watch this movie, but the real experience is in watching with a paying, rowdy public, just like the 42nd st days. Maniac is playing at selected theatres across the US throughout November. Is one near you? Hit it: Maniac theatrical playdates
The four women in this article have two things in common. First, each one had an important role in a slasher. Second, they have found careers outside of the acting profession. There are plenty of horror stories about what happens to slasher stars after the cameras stop rolling, but this is a positive look at four who have flourished and prospered.
Ivette Soler plays Joannie in Popcorn, the Bob Clark produced tribute to late night horror-thons. After her love for acting soured, Ms. Soler channeled her love for gardening into a new career. She is known as The Germinatrix to gardening enthusiasts on her blog (http://thegerminatrix.com). Soler is still a horror fan and celebrates Halloween with scary movies and pumpkin carving parties. Her Oct. 26 blog post details why she left acting and how gardening gave her a chance at a happier life. Ivette Soler is hard at work on her first book which is tentatively scheduled for publication next year.
Harley Jane Kozak (http://harleyjanekozak.com) is best known to slasher fans as Diane, the sorority sister who goes out to the shed to start the van but never comes back in The House on Sorority Row. These days Ms. Kozak is a mystery writer with four novels to her credit and short stories in numerous anthologies. Her newest novel is A Date You Can’t Refuse.
The best thing about Splatter University is Forbes Riley’s performance as Julie Parker, a sweet, young teacher who discovers a killer is stalking the campus. She looks so innocent compared to the rest of the sleazy things going on in the film. Now, Forbes Riley, queen of the infomercials, can be seen on late night tv promoting juicers, blenders, and many other products designed to make life better for the average American household. Ms. Riley is also a fitness guru. The bio on her website (http://forbesriley.com) mentions her involvement with Splatter University and includes an image of the poster. It’s really nice to see she’s proud of her slasher movie past.
Some actors are accused of “chewing the scenery”, but in Visiting Hours Michael Ironside chews on Lenora Zann, literally. As the tough, streetwise Lisa, Zann eventually gets her revenge by destroying Ironside’s apartment and ratting him out to the cops. Ms. Zann also appears as Maggie, one of the special students in Happy Birthday to Me. Comic book fans might remember her as the voice of Rogue on several X-Men cartoons back in the 1990s. Lenora Zann is currently a member of the legislative assembly for Nova Scotia. She is also an assistant to the Department of Tourism, Culture, and Heritage and a member of the the Economic Development Committee.
We all have our favorite slasher victims. These poor souls never make it to the closing credits but they do entertain us before their date with death. I didn’t include victims from the major slasher franchises simply because those folks get enough attention on other sites. Continue reading
It won’t be available in supermarkets! Intruder is finally going to receive the justice it deserves, via Synapse. Note: Pictured is an uncut DVD from Denmark, which Synapse will obviously trump in quality and content, but we challenge them to match or better this cover art. Now onto the goodness… Continue reading
A quiet halloween for me. I’ve been sick all week, and as a result of carving my first ever jack-o-lantern way too early in the month, it has rotted and sunken in on itself, causing it to look a little like Abe Vigoda if his face imploded. So that’s two points against an enjoyable halloween. Now I need to salvage the night and I won’t be taking any safe bets either: Trick R Treat (2008) is on the slate and I’ve been puting off watching it forever.
Trick R Treat is a modern anthology movie. Creepshow (1983), which has been name-dropped as an inspiration for this film, has a special place with me but I’m generally not much of an anthology fan. My personal exception would be when slasher elements are present, but recently Amusements (2008) tickled my tastebuds then left a bitter taste after. So the win to lose ratio worries me. Peer pressure is at hand here though, so I’m going in. Wish me luck.
Below you’ll find a pop-art take on the poster art that went on sale today – and promptly sold out.
A quick reminder, our promotion with Crazy Dog T-Shirts ends tonight. Five buck discount off their halloween & zombie range by using code HALLO5 at checkout.
