Nerd Lunch Podcast 288: Alien Movies Drive By

After my first appearance on the Nerd Lunch podcast, where I joined a panel to discuss "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", they must have liked that I didn't tank that episode. I can only assume as much since they brought me back on a regular episode in the 4th chair role joining the core Nerd Lunch guys (CT, Pax and Jeeg).  This time the podcast is doing their Drive-By format where we touch on the "entire" Alien film series.

The Alien series has always been a favorite of mine and been a part of me throughout most of my life as you'll hear. I had a great time with these guys chopping it up about the great and not-so-great stuff the series has to offer. If you are a fan of the Alien series give us a listen. It's like sitting around with old friends talking about your favorite films!

Nerd Lunch Podcast 288: Alien Movies Drive By

Archie Horror - Vampironica now available!

Back in December 2017, it was announced that a new title from the Archie Horror comic imprint would be "Vampironica". A take on the classic Archie Comics character, Veronica, as a vampire. Well it's finally March 2018 and this series is now available.

The following quote comes from the original December press release from Archie Comics about this series. I would love to read this series especially when the creators are coming from the place of classic horror films, at least in my book.

“I’d say that our biggest influences are American Werewolf in London and Fright Night. Both films can be quite horrific but there’s also a lot of strong characterization and humor to them,” said artist Greg Smallwood. “I think horror works best with a small dose of comedy for levity so we’ve used the same formula on Vampironica.”

Vampironica is here!

To add to this post and being that I'm a big music, soundtrack fan. I'm embedding the song "Nightkiller" by M.A.D.E.S. I feel it shall enhance and serve as a soundtrack to the imagery and imagination of this post.

Carpenter Brut - “Leather Teeth” album.

French electronic / synth wave artist Carpenter Brut has a new release out called “Leather Teeth” it’s a “soundtrack” to a film concept that Carpenter Brut came up with… I’ll let the official press release copy more eloquently say it…

“Leather Teeth is the soundtrack to a movie envisioned by Carpenter Brut, one that tells the story of a shy American teenager, Bret Halford, who can’t get the girl and will do anything he can to win her over, including becoming the singer of one of the most talked about bands in mid-‘80s glam-metal, Leather Patrol.

Musically, Carpenter Brut says the new album is a ‘pure frenzy like Master of Puppets, or any of the good old metal albums: eight tracks wrapped in 32 minutes of sound. Put it on repeat if it’s too short.”

It was released in late February, but I only recently discovered it on my own. It's quite a treat. It’s got the classic Brut synth wave stuff and some metal guitar stuff added to it to kick it up. If the genre is your bag don’t miss this one.

Michael Damian - “Rock On” VideoDream a Little Dream SDTK

Listening to old 80s/90s songs today in one of my more massive playlists the following song "Rock On" by Michael Damian came on. I have the "Dream a Little Dream" soundtrack from which the song appears. To the best of my knowledge, this was the biggest song on that soundtrack. I'd be hard-pressed to name another song on the soundtrack... which I own. The song is quite good by 1989 standards and listening to it know it's not a timeless classic. It's definitely of that era, but it's a good listen nevertheless.

If you aren't familiar with the film, it stared Corey Feldman and Corey Haim during their heyday, but honestly more near the tail end of said heyday. The young female star who I only know from this film, is Meredith Salenger. A quick glance at wikipedia, as I travel the the rabbit hole of "Dream a Little Dream" tells me she married comedian Patton Oswald in 2017. Not quite what I was expecting, but there you have it.  I'd talk about the film, but honestly I don't recall a whole hell of a lot of it. I keep wanting to re-visit it and see if it's a classic gem I overlooked. BONUS: this video features cameos from the three young stars.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)Method Actor

Recently I've been seeking old 1980s episodes from various anthology based TV series that I watched when I was a kid. There are some really enjoyable ones out there, Tales from the Darkside, Ray Bradbury Theater and Alfred Hitchcock Presents to name a few of the big guns.

Admittedly most of the episodes I don't remember or have a vague memory of. An episode that really stuck in my memory was from the Alfred Hitchcock Presents called "Method Actor".  It stars Martin Sheen and Marilu Henner. I only had a vague memory of the episode, but I do remember that Martin Sheen's performance was really intense and the way the story plays out really great right up until the end. 

I finally watched the episode after nearly 30 years and I wasn't disappointed. The whole production held up really well and was really enjoyable. The story is about an older actor (Martin Sheen) that was well respected for years, but now is aging and isn't at the top of his game anymore. He's going out for the role of his life, but things don't go as planned and that's only the beginning. I don't want to give away anything more, so I invite you to check it out. If you are in the mood of a classic episode with drama, thriller aspects and some gore then give it a shot. Martin Sheen's performance really makes the story great.

Teen Wolf (1985) - Transformation Scene

The first and most elaborate transformation scene from "Teen Wolf" (1985) was always a favorite werewolf transformation scene. Now it's by no means on the level of "The Howling" or "An American Werewolf in London", but that's ok. I always felt it was sort of a modern, for the time, throwback transformation process akin to the Universal Wolf Man movie. A little more of that with elements of the new stuff. Plus Miles Goodman's music absolutely elevates the scene to a greater level. It's just a spectacular piece of score my friends.

Dj Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - “A Nightmare on My Street“ (Song)31 Days of Halloween Music

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's "A Nightmare on My Street" (1988) is easily in my top five favorite Halloween-esque songs of ALL TIME. It's a perfect song. The concept of Prince meeting up with Freddy Krueger, the delivery of really telling a story and not just a bunch of metaphors. The story borrows heavily from "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2". Jeff's production is on point too, classic hip-hop beats and the inclusion of samples from the composer Charles Bernstein's "A Nightmare on Elm Street" score. All of the little callbacks to the movies are so much fun, including a guy doing a Freddy voice.

This track has some minor controversy around it as Prince and Jeff created it without New Line Cinema's permission, I believe in a hope to present it to them in the hopes of it being picked up for use in an upcoming Elm Street film. For some insane reason New Line turned them down and went at them legally for infringing on copyrighted material. Legend has it there was a fully produced video that Prince/Jeff were ordered to "destroy". A sad turn of events for such a fantastic song, but it give the song some type of legendary status

Evil Dead "You Will Die" Quote

I was reading a review of the 1981 horror film The Evil Dead and that reminded me of the scene where the character Cheryl turns into a "deadite" and confronts her friends with the quote "Why have you disturbed our sleep; awakened us from our ancient slumber? You will die! Like the others before you, one by one, we will take you." It's a pretty excellent scene and that quote was used/sampled by Northern Calfornia rap music artist Brotha Lynch Hung on his track "Die". The quote appears at the beginning and serves as the "chorus". The song uses the sample very effectively as the whole track has a very sinister and spooky vibe. Below I have the scene and a song "Die" so you can compare and enjoy!

Jay Chattaway Ft. Joe Spinell - “Inner Voices“31 Days of Halloween Music

Today's selection changes direction a little bit away from pop/rock music. I have for your listening pleasure the track "Inner Voices" from the soundtrack to the 1980 cult classic horror film Maniac starring Joe Spinell. The score was composed and performed by Jay Chattaway. It's a classic sounding 80s synth-score, but for the most part not an energetic piece of work. It's much more subtle and spooky as you'll here in a minute. This particular track is very minimal with some deep organs playing and some haunting higher elements moaning throughout. I choose this particular track because it features Joe Spinell in the role of Frank Zito, the titular maniac. The character is a mentally disturbed individual and he's carrying on a conversation with his victims in his head. It gives you some insight into the character in spooky fashion.

My Guest Appearance on the Nerd Lunch Podcast Extra Helping: Temple of Doom

Do you love "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"? Hate it? Then I recommend you listen to the latest Nerd Lunch podcast. I was an invited guest that joined Paxton Holley, Rob Graham and John Vanover in a  discussion of the film with very little restraint on my part on saying how much I love it. I even compare a scene to an episode of "Tales from the Darkside". Admittedly, the Nerd Lunch crew could make a case that I"m the Willie Scott of this episode. 

Interested so far? Then I invite you to check out this extra helping episode. It is worth noting that this episode is a companion episode to the previous episode 247 where Temple of Doom was originally discussed.