Halloween 2018 Horror at Home – October’s Blu-Ray Releases

While Halloween has been underway since early September for some of us, October is the official start of the spooky season for many. One of the easiest and most fun ways to get into the right frame of mind is by sitting down with a big bowl of candy corn and your favorite adult beverage to enjoy some scary movies and TV shows!

Every Tuesday in October I’ll be running down some of the best spooooky releases coming to home media.

All release info is from the excellent Blu-ray.com.

Needless Things Podcast 236 – A Needless Halloween

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-mrxe2-9d6330

Join Dave, Beth, Rad Ranger, and Derek Tatum for a look at the past, present, and future of their Halloweens!

What makes this time of year so special to the Needless Things crew and what do we do to celebrate? In this episode the Irregulars look back at their costumes through the years and determine when and if trick or treating was no longer appropriate. As we grow older, we have to find different ways to celebrate, and the Irregulars are going to share how to keep things spooky when you’re old and decrepit!

PLUS! Check out the new HOWLOWEEN single from Philadelphia, PA’s Shewolf Dana Kain & the Mighty Incisors – “Bump in the Night”!

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Listen in as Beth, Dave, Derek, and Sean give out all treats, no tricks on this episode of the Needless Things Podcast!

Be sure to join the Needless Things Podcast Facebook Group and get in on the conversation for this week’s episode! Let us know what you think!

“Procrastibate” by LeSexoflex.com 

Interstitial music provided by The Mystery Men? 

You can follow Dave as Phantom Troublemaker on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all the latest on pop culture!

Halloween 2018 – A Different Take on Halloween

There are probably some spoilers coming up, but since the movie has been out for a week as of the time that this goes up it’s on you at this point. I mean Dave already wrote about it, so I don’t know how I could spoil it more. I’d also apologize for writing about something he’s already covered if I didn’t have such a different opinion. I hadn’t planned on writing about yet another horror movie this month, but I had so many problems with something that I was so excited about seeing that I feel like I need to talk about it. I was really looking forward to this movie, but I sadly didn’t find it as entertaining as Dave did. Apparently we’re going to disagree on movies involving Danny McBride since he hated Alien: Covenant while I liked it, and he loved the new Halloween and I was underwhelmed. I didn’t hate it, and I don’t feel like my qualms are nit-picky, but I had serious problems with the movie that others don’t seem to have.

Halloween 2018 TV Review – 14 Thoughts About The Haunting of Hill House

SPOILER WARNING – THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE NETFLIX SERIES THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE

I have found that the best way to enjoy TV shows movies comic books everything is to avoid any mention of them on the internet.

Obviously as someone who writes about such things I don’t think that’s good advice for you, but I try to stick to it as much as I can for myself.

I went into The Haunting of Hill House with very little knowledge of this particular adaptation. I think I read Shirley Jackson’s novel when I was in high school, though I don’t remember it well. I’ve seen both the 1963 and 1999 film adaptations. They’re very different and I enjoy them for different reasons, but the older one is the superior film.

If I’m being honest, my main reasons for being excited about and watching this series are Mike Flanagan and Carla Gugino.

I’ve been a fan of Gugino ever since seeing her in Son in Law, though she really became one of my genre favorites in the Cinemax film, She-Creature (I could write a whole other post about those weirdo AIP re-imaginings and the related action figure line). After that she became a regular fixture in films like Sin City, The Unborn, watchmen and Sucker Punch (which I still have unresolved feelings about).

As for Flanagan, he did two things that impressed the heck out of me – he created an excellent sequel to a shitty movie with Ouija: Origin of Evil, and he successfully adapted a Stephen King novel. And not just any novel, but Gerald’s Game, one that is basically a single protagonist tied to a bed for days straight. Obviously if you’re going to tie someone to a bed, you’re gonna want Carla Gugino.

Ahem.

But in all seriousness, those two working together produced absolute cinematic magic, and I was up for more of the same, especially with a longer format and a larger cast to interact with.

Did the show deliver on the promise implicit from Flanagan’s past, smaller scale projects? Read on.

Halloween 2018 Horror at Home – October’s Blu-Ray Releases

While Halloween has been underway since early September for some of us, October is the official start of the spooky season for many. One of the easiest and most fun ways to get into the right frame of mind is by sitting down with a big bowl of candy corn and your favorite adult beverage to enjoy some scary movies and TV shows!

Every Tuesday in October I’ll be running down some of the best spooooky releases coming to home media.

All release info is from the excellent Blu-ray.com.

Halloween 2018 – NECA Retro Horror Wish List

NECA’s line of 8” clothed action figures is one of my favorites right now. They’re essentially style updates of the classic Megos that were my first action figures, but with a focus on horror franchises.

They have released numerous non-horror figures from A Christmas Story, Planet of the Apes, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and more; but my focus is on the horror stuff. And Weird Al. And probably Ace Ventura.

NECA has hit the modern standards of horror with this style – Freddy, Jason, Leatherface and family, Ash, and plenty more. They even released a Herbert West recently. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Michael Myers or two sooner than later.

The figures are great and fairly easy to collect because NECA releases one every couple of months, so they aren’t overwhelming. And as much as I love the 80s horror icons, I think it’s time to look a little further back and dig a little deeper.

I’ll go ahead and say right now that the Universal Monsters won’t show up here. I love ‘em and I think NECA would do a great job, but I have plenty of those guys. I haven’t even bought Super7’s great-looking new 3.75” figures yet because I’ve already got so many Draculas, Gill-Men, etc.

But there are some characters that I think would be great in this format, and that have been underrepresented in toys in general.

I realize there’s licensing involved and that in many cases we haven’t seen much merchandise featuring the characters and properties I’m about to run down because of how complicated these things can be. But if the Batman TV show could finally be released I believe that anything is possible.

Here are a few characters I’d buy in a second if NECA produced them in this style.

Movie Review – 17 Thoughts About Halloween (2018)

SPOILER WARNING – THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE NEW FILM HALLOWEEN

John Carpenter’s original Halloween is one of the most esteemed and sacred horror films of all time.

The resulting franchise, though it has had its ups and downs, is a cornerstone of what we think of as modern horror. Regardless of how individuals may perceive the 1981 sequel, the unrelated Season of the Witch, the so-called “Thorn Trilogy”, the later sequels, or the Rob Zombie versions…

Damn. That was so much different stuff I forgot what my point was.

Anyway, horror fans love different parts of the franchise for different reasons and some of us can even find reasons to love all of the films (except Resurrection).

It took some balls for Danny McBride, David Gordon Green, and Jason Blum to think they could just step into this beloved horror franchise and change 37 years of history that quite frankly didn’t make a whole lot of sense, anyway. But it still took balls.

Balls, and Jamie Lee Curtis. And John Carpenter himself, who, along with his son Cody and Daniel Davies provided a powerful score.

As I’ve said many times, I don’t have any issues with the idea of sequels, reboots, remakes, or re-interpretations. I’m always a big fan of new ways of looking at things I love. Sure – sometimes it ends up badly, but I don’t think revisiting familiar concepts is inherently bad.

I’m not gonna lie – I had reservations about the progenitors of the modern day white buffoon taking the reins of this franchise. While I saw great promise in Green from Pineapple Express, it’s always a sketchy proposition to see comics moving into the genre. Just because Jordan Peele was successful doesn’t mean everyone will be.

Having said that, everything I saw about Halloween leading up to its release looked not only interesting, but tonally spot-on. When I walked into that theater with our pals Ryan Cadaver and Nicole Ghouled, it was with minimum reservations.

Did the film deliver? Read on.

Needless Things Podcast 235 – Hack-O-Lantern Needless Commentary

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-fn7sf-9cbf99

Part of an ongoing series – the Needless Things Irregulars gather in the Phantom Zone to provide their own unique commentary on classic genre films!

Cashing in on the Satanic Panic of late 80s America, Hack-O-Lantern brings cults, spooky old dudes, and small town weirdness bathed in a satisfying helping of 80s cheese. When Hy Pyke (Dolemite, Blade Runner) is the marquee name, you know the Irregulars are in for a good time!

Listen in as our special guests school the Commentary team not just on the movie, but on the KISStory of the hottest band in the world!

Be sure to join the Needless Things Podcast Facebook Group and get in on the conversation for this week’s episode! Let us know what you think!

“Procrastibate” by LeSexoflex.com 

Interstitial music provided by The Mystery Men? 

You can follow Dave as Phantom Troublemaker on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all the latest on pop culture!

Halloween 2018 – The Horror Movies of 1988

There are so many great things about this time of year. One of the best is the ability and excuse to sit around and watch horror movies all month long. I wish tv channels had this kind of programming all year. I do have diverse tastes, but I also can’t think of a genre that I like better. Maybe sci-fi or fantasy comes close, but it’s always been horror that tops the list. Many of my favorites came from my formative years. I’m not going to try and say that they’re all good movies. Some of them are downright bad, but I’ve never been one to let popular opinion sway me. 1988 is an excellent example of the wonderful and the awful coming together to make a crazy year of horror movies. Join me for a look back at what I think are some of the most memorable (and terrible) scary movies to come out of 1988.

Halloween 2018 Toy Review – Savage World Horror from Funko

It looks like Funko has found the next action figure format to go completely bonkers with.

Their initial launch of Mortal Kombat characters didn’t exactly excite me, but once they added Conan, Thundercats, these horror icons, and most recently a crazy assortment of DC Comics characters; I had to consider myself a fan.

I suppose these horror figures are sort of divisive. If you’re a fan of weird stuff and different takes on or mash-ups of things you love, these are great. If you’re a stuck-up sourpuss that hates fun, they probably aren’t for you.