Monthly Archives: October 2013

October 10, 2013 · 8:18 pm

MEXICAN MOVIE MONSTERS FOR HALLOWEEN

brainiacWelcome back to Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween! 
Mexican horror films of the 1950’s and 1960’s deserve to be as well known as the Hollywood horror films from the 30’s and 40’s. Just as Universal Studios churned out a series of memorable movies featuring the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman and the Mummy, studios from south of the border went on to give the world equally outstanding creatures.

These horror films boasted Universal- style production values and beautiful black & white cinematography combined with uniquely Mexican twists on horror themes as well as more sensuality and lurid violence than Hollywood had dared to present. This list aims to introduce Mexi- Monsters to younger viewers who may not be familiar with them. I’m omitting generic monsters like the various vampires from Mexican horror films (including Fabian Forte, Cristina Ferrare and a descendant of Nostradamus) and the werewolf wrapped in mummy bandages from Face of the Screaming Werewolf.  

7. THE BRAINIAC (1962) – Mexican title El Baron Del Terror. Many may be outraged at Continue reading →

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October 9, 2013 · 9:21 pm

COOL FOOTBALL HELMET: OKLAHOMA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY BISON

Oklahoma Baptist University helmetOKLAHOMA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY BISON

Location: Shawnee, OK

Division: NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)

Comment: The cool name and extra-cool logo of the Oklahoma Baptist University Bison have had me wishing for years  that this revered institution of higher learning would add football. This year I got my wish! The OBU Bison are Continue reading →

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October 8, 2013 · 11:18 pm

NAKED FEAR: FIVE ODDBALL HORROR FILMS FOR THE HALLOWEEN SEASON

The Nude Vampire

The Nude Vampire

Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween continues with this look at five unusual movies with that certain seasonal feel.

5. THE NUDE VAMPIRE (1970) – France’s Jean Rollin is one of those love-them-or-hate-them directors. The snooty French often bashed his films for their devotion to style over all else. Don’t believe reviews which claim that his movies have no comprehensible storylines. Personally I find him more straightforward than Lynch or Jodorowsky. At any rate the central figure of this arthouse Euro-horror is indeed a beautiful female vampire in skimpy outfits and less.

Members of a Suicide Cult have taken to offering themselves up to a vampress who turns out to be science-spawned rather than supernatural. Throw in various allusions to evolution, morality and mortality for good measure. There’s plenty of eerie and macabre imagery to go with the subtext which not only addresses the previous concepts but also examines the way in which the older generation of any time period always considers the younger generation to be figurative “monsters” who will quite literally inherit the Earth.

I’m not sure if Anne Rice was influenced by Rollin’s films but Continue reading →

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October 6, 2013 · 2:23 pm

COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM OCTOBER 5TH

Pittsburg State GorillasTHE GORILLAS RULE THE WORLD – Call it Rise of the Planet of the Gorillas or whatever else you might like. Yesterday NCAA Division Two’s PITTSBURG (KS) STATE UNIVERSITY GORILLAS played host to NCAA Division ONE’s Abilene Christian University Wildcats and pulled off the upset! In what was one of the tightest and hardest-fought games of the day Gus the Gorilla’s team came out on top in the end by a score of 28-20.

HELMETGrand_View_IANUMBER THREE TAKES A FALL – The 4th ranked GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY VIKINGS were on the road against the number 3 team in the nation, the SAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY COUGARS. This was the marquis matchup yesterday in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) but the Cougars seemed determined to give the game away with no less than FIVE turnovers. That inability to hold onto the ball helped fuel GVU’s 48-21 upset victory.

American River College BeaversNUMBER ONE TAKES A FALL – Meanwhile down at the CCCAA level of college football, the AMERICAN RIVER COLLEGE BEAVERS handed a rare defeat to the homestanding and top-ranked CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO RAMS. Even more surprising for fans of the storied CCSF football program was the sheer one-sidedness of the game. The final score in this humiliating smackdown was Beavers 34  Rams 13.  

Marian Knights helmet newNEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE HEART OF A CHAMPION – The defending national champions of NAIA college football, the MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS, at last bounced back from the three-game losing streak that caused them to topple from the rankings. The Knights were visited by the number 23 ROBERT MORRIS (IL) EAGLES and defeated them in a Continue reading →

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October 5, 2013 · 11:39 pm

BLOOD FREAK (1972) ON THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT: NOVEMBER 23RD, 1985

Blood Freak (1972)

Blood Freak (1972)

In the middle 1980′s/ Way down on Level 31 …

Before MST3K there was The Texas 27 Film Vault! Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of this neglected cult show from the 1980′s with another review of an episode where an original air date can be determined. My interview with Randy Clower, my research through VERY old newspapers and emailed memories from my fellow Vaulties are helping in this attempt to reconstruct elements of the show’s history.

EPISODE ORIGINALLY BROADCAST: Saturday November 23rd, 1985 from 10:30pm to 1:00am.

Blood Freak 2

Blood Freak 2

FILM VAULT LORE: Our machine-gun toting members of the fictional Film Vault Corps Randy Clower and Richard Malmos used to joke about how The Texas 27 Film Vault seemed to show every movie that had the word “blood” in the title. Previously I’ve reviewed the T27FV episodes featuring the movies Queen of Blood and Blood Beach but there are plenty more coming with sanguinous titles.

Thank you to my fellow T27FV fan Dolores for this quote about Ken Miller, who played “Tex” on the show and who, tragically, committed suicide in 1988: “I loved the random bits of madness added by the gung ho Tex each episode! He always reminded me of Robert Duvall’s character Kilgore from Apocalypse Now. My favorite catch-phrase from Tex was when he would say “Commies don’t watch bad movies!” the way Duvall said “Charley don’t surf!” in Apocalypse Now.”  

Flash Gordon Conquers the UniverseSERIAL: Before showing and mocking the movie our Film Vault Technicians First Class showed and mocked a chapter of the 1940 serial Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe. Special thanks to my fellow Vaultie Channing for her providing the date and serial for this episode.  

THE FILM: BLOOD FREAK (1972) – This movie is about a man who turns into a murderous monster with the head of a turkey after he eats a Continue reading →

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October 5, 2013 · 12:26 am

AMERICAN MUMMY TALE: THE SQUAW HOLLOW HORROR

“I’m an Aztec Mummy, I must say!”

Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween continues! Recently I reviewed the neglected 1890’s horror stories The King in Yellow and The Great God Pan, two excellent pieces of Halloween reading. This time around I’ll examine The Squaw Hollow Sensation, originally published in serialized form in the California newspaper The Mountain Democrat from May 31st to July 26th, 1879. The story was set in Squaw Hollow, California, near Placerville in present-day El Dorado County. In fact the El Dorado County Historical Museum was where I obtained my copy of the story for this review.

THE SQUAW HOLLOW SENSATION

Our main character is Berlin’s Doctor Loerder Von Herbst, a man trying to prove that ancient Egyptians migrated across the Atlantic Ocean and that the Aztecs were really a colony of Egypt. His studies have led him throughout the American West, northern Mexico and part of California, wherever he believes the legendary region of ancient Aztlan to have been. Von Herbst theorizes  that the preserved figures called Aztec Mummies are not corpses but rather living beings who were put into a centuries-long sleep and can be revived.

The good doctor has created a special chemical solution that in experiments has restored body parts from dissected corpses to a condition resembling living tissue. He believes he can use this chemical solution as part of a procedure to bring an Aztec Mummy back to life. Ancient papyri refer to Continue reading →

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October 4, 2013 · 10:41 pm

COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM OCTOBER 3RD AND 4TH

* OCTOBER 3RD *

Harding Bisons helmetCLASH IN THE GREAT AMERICAN CONFERENCE – Two Great American Conference rivals met on the gridiron last night. The HARDING UNIVERSITY BISON were on the road against the SOUTHERN ARKANSAS UNIVERSITY MULERIDERS, the team Coach Tommy Tuberville played his college ball for. The Bison logged a valuable road win in league play by doubling up on the Muleriders by a score of 28-14.

West Alabama TigersROLE REVERSAL IN THE GULF SOUTH CONFERENCE – Oh how times have changed! There was a time when the UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA TIGERS were perennial doormats in the Gulf South Conference and the DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY STATESMEN were one of the perennial powers in the league. The Statesmen are down this year and the Tigers are very very up, coming in at number 14 in the rankings and crushing the visiting DSU team 48-14.

Mesabi TechHOME, HOME ON MESABI RANGE – The MESABI RANGE COLLEGE NORSE, playing on a short week after their clash last Saturday with  Rochester Tech, traveled to take on the ITASCA COLLEGE VIKINGS in a Scandinavian-themed gridiron Ragnarok. Both teams played hard as usual but when all the sturm und drang was over and done with the Norse emerged with a Continue reading →

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October 3, 2013 · 10:21 pm

SUMMER CUMMINGS: APPEARING IN BALLADEER’S BLOG’S HALLOWEEN SPECIAL THIS MONTH

Summer Cummings will be appearing soon in a Balladeer's Blog original horror story.

Summer Cummings will be appearing soon in a Balladeer’s Blog original horror story.

The world-famous sex symbol Summer Cummings is something of an expert on off-beat horror films. Summer will be appearing in an original horror story here at Balladeer’s Blog in just a matter of days!

Be sure to Continue reading →

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October 3, 2013 · 10:06 pm

MUSLIM FANATIC ROUNDUP

Religion kills

Religion kills

Welcome back to Balladeer’s Blog, where ALL religions are treated with skepticism and a critical eye, INCLUDING the blood-soaked beast called Islam. I’m not one of those gutless wonders who bash Christianity and other faiths while simultaneously crawling on their belly for Islam.

Here’s a little look at just a few of the recent activities of the most homophobic and misogynistic religion in the world at this particular point in history.

Boko Haram, one of the countless groups of Muslim fanatics in the world, burst into an agricultural college in Nigeria and killed four dozen students and injured many others. The students they killed WERE ALSO MUSLIMS, but because they had disobeyed Boko Haram’s threats against studying at a non-Muslim college were put to death. Boko Haram means “learning is sinful” which could serve as a motto for all of Islam if you stop and think about it.

Meanwhile hearings were held at Continue reading →

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October 3, 2013 · 5:16 pm

HAD ENOUGH OF THE DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS YET?

Balladeer's Blog

Balladeer’s Blog

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