MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974)

And now, continuing Horror Month 2017 in the only way we can! Covered in blood!

With surprisingly, little blood.

I admit, I'm not as big a fan of the Texas Chainsaw franchise as some. However, it is a landmark in the slasher film genre such as other films of the era like Black Christmas and Halloween. And, with the recent passing of its visionary director, Tobe Hooper, I would be remiss if I did not pay tribute to one of the directors who inspired other filmmakers to this very day.

Loot Crate Marvel Gear + Goods October 2017 - "Defenders!"

Defenders Defenestrate!!!

(It means to push out a window)

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MadCap's Comic Reviews - "Angel" #5: Time and Tide, Part One

Angel is one of my favorite TV shows of all time, spun-off from another of my favorite TV shows of all time, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Say what you will about the stigma around its creator, Joss Whedon, but the shows themselves are very solid works of fiction. If you want a very deep and intricate look at both shows, check out Passion of the Nerd on YouTube. At the time of this writing, he's been doing an episode guide and analysis on both shows and does a damn better job than I could in explaining things in deep detail.

However, for the sake of brevity, I'll give you only the details necessary for this particular quartet of issues I'm going to cover this month, Angel #5-8. In Angel, the titular vampire was once one of the most deranged, bloodthirsty monsters to walk the face of the Earth. However, he failed to follow the horror movie rule of "don't fuck with gypsies" and ended up being cursed with a soul...something the vampires of the Buffyverse (generally), do not have. Thus, he was doomed to remember every evil deed he had ever committed...and be weighed down under that guilt, suffering for all of eternity.

At least until 1999, when he left Buffy's supporting cast to go to LA. Getting together with a wise-cracking half-demon and Cordelia from the aforementioned parent series, Angel opened up a detective agency with the single goal of helping the helpless. Over five seasons, we were both introduced to and came to love a wonderful cast of characters, all of whom grew and develop during the series' tenure in a way that rivaled Buffy's, if not surpassed it's parent show.

Which brings us to where spoilers come in. So, with the final warning given, we begin.

MadCap's Game Reviews - "Resident Evil"

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, how did this game series ever get off the ground?

From MadCap's Couch - Tales from the Darkside: "Trick Or Treat"

Once upon a time, there was a movie called Creepshow. You might remember it as a horror anthology film in the vein of Tales from the Crypt and other 1950s horror comics. It was a hoot! And take a wild guess who produced it.

Go on, guess!

...Google's cheating, you know.

But yes, it's George Romero. Yes, that George Romero - may he rest in peace. Apparently, some Hollywood types wanted to make a series based on the concept, kind of following in the vein of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits. However, because Warner Brothers owned enough of Creepshow for that to not be used, the producers decided to change the title of the series to Tales from the Darkside.

The series ran for four seasons from 1984 to 1988, with a Pilot movie airing in 1983...which is the one we're here to talk about.

"Just try and leave a flaming bag of crap on my doorstep, assholes!"

"Trick or Treat" is the pilot for Tales from the Darkside...and it's pretty good. Very flawed and not making any sense when you really stop and think about it, but it's a spooky little tale that would set the tone of the series...which it often didn't follow. Ironically, despite having a very atmospheric and somewhat chilling title sequence, and being executive produced by George Romero, Tales also did science fiction, comedy, and even a few romance episodes.

But horror is what we're here to talk about, and "Trick or Treat" is definitely a good one. It's the tale of an old man by the name of Gideon Hackles (Bernard Hughes). He is rude, callous, and more worried about his numbers and books than people and souls...even his own. He's the model of a miser to make Ebeneezer Scrooge before his fateful Christmas night look absolutely saintly by comparison.

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Friday the 13th Part 3" (1982)

...good grief, this movie.

So, 3-D is a stupid gimmick. There, I said it. It has been used all of once to any good effect in a film that had literally nothing else going for it. I am speaking, of course, of Robert Rodriguez's cinematic opus Shark Boy and Lava Girl. But we're not here to talk about that horror movie, we're here to talk about this horror movie. For the third entry in the Friday the 13th series, it was decided to take the series into full-on 3-D! Then Paramount decided the gimmick was stupid and decided not to do it ever again in the series until they sold it off to New Line.

But to catch up on the plot, Friday the 13th Part 3 picks up after the rather ambiguous ending to Part 2, wherein protagonist Ginny (Amy Steele) was being carted away by paramedics while crying out for Paul (John Furey) - a character whose fate is still debated by fans of the series to this day - and Jason seemingly having escaped.

MadCap's Mad Rantings - "Randy Pitchford and Why I Cannot By Anything by Gearbox"

9 minute of me beating the deadest of the dead horses, because while I get accused often of not letting it go...Randy Pitchford still hasn't four years on!

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