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In Search of the Universal Funkos

I managed to snag the top prize, the one I wanted the most: Dracula. It was the only one on the shelves at any of the venues I visited, which leads me to suspect that it, unlike the other figures, has been released in larger numbers. No matter, it’s still the one I most wanted….

Revisiting the Classics: BLACK SABBATH

First off, yes, the movie did serve as the inspiration for the name of the band. There are actually two versions of this movie, the Italian version and the American version. Some studio suit decided to “Americanize” the original to make it more “consumer-friendly” to American audiences. As to whether or not these alterations helped…

The Truth About JOKER

There’s that old saying, if you tell a lie, and you tell it often enough, eventually people will start to believe it. That’s exactly what has happened here. We need to put an end to this nonsense right now. There is no connection whatsoever between the Joker—either the upcoming movie or the character—and that shooting…

Cause and Effect

“Number of Witches rises dramatically across U.S. as Millennials reject Christianity” says the headline to this article. That is the effect. And here is the cause: “Christian prophet: The Red Cross is ‘kidnapping people off the streets to use their blood for sacrifices’” The second article explains the first. Why are more and more people…

IT and Cultural Appropriation

I kinda hate to admit it, but whenever I see a headline like this one, complaining about some pop culture phenomenon somehow being disrespectful or inconsiderate to some minority group, my knee-jerk response is an eye roll. It’s because of just how far the political correctness movement, which started out as something good, calling for…

Squishy Vampires and Godfather Vigo

I always visit the toy section of any department store I enter. It’s a deeply ingrained habit. Check the toys first. This time of year, I get to add to that by always going through the seasonal section, looking at all the Halloween decorations and such, masks, costumes, makeup, and whatnot. The other day I…

The White Lady of Sao Paolo

The “woman in white” is a fairly ubiquitous figure in ghost lore. There are a lot of them, showing up in ghost stories from all over the world. Intriguingly many of the stories contain similarities, as if they all spring from the same unconscious source, a true Myth with a capital M, in other words….

Catching Up On THE TERROR: INFAMY

Ah, the beauties of binge-watching. I’m going to risk an assumption here that if you haven’t been watching THE TERROR: INFAMY on AMC then you have at least read about it and are somewhat familiar with it. I can honestly say that, while I was skeptical of the process of them creating a second season…

Revisiting the Classics: FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

Back in the 60s and 70s, Amicus Pictures was a rival to Hammer Studios, producing similar fare. Amicus had enjoyed some success with a series of anthology films. DR. TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS came out in 1965, TORTURE GARDEN in 1967, THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD in 1970, ASYLUM and TALES FROM THE CRYPT in…

Mayan Bat Baby Rattle

It’s downright amazing if you think about it, that this piece could have survived the massive fire that destroyed Wolf’s Museum of Mystery in New York State. When the fire happened several months ago, I was heartbroken. As time passed, though, and owners Wolf and Ali Mertz were able to sift through the wreckage of…

Movie Review: THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA

Well, it looks good. Lead actress Linda Cardellini does everything she can with the material. In fact the acting across the board is fine. First-time director Michael Chaves handles his duties adequately. And visually, again, it’s lovely in a ghastly, black-soaked, cobwebby kind of way. Alas all of these ingredients can’t make up for a…

On the DARK SHADOWS Reboot

I have remained silent on this issue thus far, wanting to wait until I had more information before commenting. Unfortunately we still don’t know a whole lot about the proposed “revamped” series. It is tentatively titled DARK SHADOWS: REINCARNATION. Okay, I dig the title. What else? Here’s the official pitch: “The re-imagined show will be…