Tag Archives: Halloween season

October 1, 2016 · 2:20 pm

HALLOWEEN MONTH BEGINS:THE SONGS OF MALDOROR CANTO II (1868)

Maldoror

Maldoror and his Smile, by Lord Orlando

HALLOWEEN MONTH IS HERE! As always here at Balladeer’s Blog I will spend the month sprinkling in obscure or forgotten horror stories, movies, and so on. All of that will be in addition to the usual topics I cover here. We’ll start today with something YOU the readers requested – a handy guide to my examination of the surreal horrors found in The Songs of Maldoror. For the First Canto click HERE

SECOND CANTO

Second Canto, Stanza 1: This was simply an address to the reader from the author, Isidore Ducasse, the self-styled Count de Lautreamont, before resuming the horrific adventures of the supernatural being Maldoror. Continue reading →

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October 21, 2015 · 11:09 pm

DEATH SPA (1989) AND KILLER WORKOUT (1987)

Death SpaAs Halloween month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog how about we review a couple of “exercises in horror” (Thank you, I’m here all week!) in the form of Death Spa (1989) and Killer Workout aka Aerobicide (1987). 

DEATH SPA (1989) – Originally begun in 1986 but not completed and released until 1989, Death Spa is my favorite of the two Health Spa horror films of the 1980s. Part of the fun comes from the kitsch casting:

Merritt “Captain Kirk’s Son” Butrick plays David, a man whose sister Catherine killed herself under suspicious circumstances, causing him to blame his promiscuous brother-in law for her death.  

Ken Foree, the cult horror figure, is wasted as a maintenance man whose role is virtually non-existent yet this lame flick gets shown at Ken Foree film festivals. Go figure. Continue reading →

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October 14, 2015 · 9:57 pm

THREE BAD MOVIES FOR HALLOWEEN

Blood SongHalloween month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog! Links to previous lists of Halloween Turkeys are below.

Right now here’s a look at three more classically bad horror flicks for the season.

BLOOD SONG (1982) – Singer Frankie Avalon as a 1980’s- style slasher villain! The godfather’s Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana) as a co-star and co-producer! Who could possibly resist that? Frankie plays a homicidal maniac who escapes from an insane asylum with his beloved flute/recorder type thingee.

Turns out years earlier a girl played by Donna Wilkes – soon to star as Angel herself – got a blood transfusion from Psycho Frankie. In this movie’s logic-free universe that means that she has a mental link with our mad slasher. This link is causing him to track her down to kill her with the single-minded fury that Mike Myers showed toward Jaime Lee Curtis in the Halloween movies. Continue reading →

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October 10, 2015 · 11:57 pm

ASH VS (THE) EVIL DEAD COUNTDOWN CONTINUES

Army of Darkness monsterOctober 31st is still the date for the debut of the Starz series Ash vs (the) Evil Dead.

Here’s another cover from one of the various Army of Darkness comic book series’ that came and went over the years.

I’ll check in with a few more as we while away the days before Ashley J Williams once again takes on a variety of Deadites.  Continue reading →

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October 6, 2015 · 12:48 am

ASH VS (THE) EVIL DEAD IS STILL COMING OCT 31st

Army of Darkness big skull faceYes, it’s another cover from one of the many Army of Darkness comic book series to come and go over the years. It’s all part of building the mood for the Starz series Ash vs (the) Evil Dead on Halloween!

Ash Williams, the man with the boomstick and the chainsaw hand takes on Deadites galore in the new cable series just like he did in these comic book series.

I’ll have more covers between now and Halloween. Continue reading →

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October 1, 2015 · 4:55 pm

ASH VS THE EVIL DEAD ARRIVES ON HALLOWEEN

Army of Darkness CthulhuOctober is Halloween Month! And this Halloween brings the extra treat of Bruce Campbell’s character Ash Williams returning to fight even more Deadites in the Starz cable show Ash vs (the) Evil Dead.

The series looks to be in the spirit of the various Army of Darkness comic book series’ that came and went over the years so I will periodically post a few covers until the 31st arrives. Regarding this first cover it’s only appropriate that Ash tangles with Herbert West, Reanimator and even more appropriate that his clash with that graduate of Miskatonic Medical School leads to an encounter with Cthulhu himself! (I’m sure you’ll recall Miskatonic University possessed one of the few surviving copies of the Necronomicon.)  Continue reading →

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September 9, 2015 · 7:29 pm

ASH VS THE EVIL DEAD – DEBUTING ON HALLOWEEN

Ash vs the Evil DeadBruce Campbell, Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert are launching a cable television continuation of the movie that first brought them fame and big bucks – The Evil Dead. The Brucemeister General returns to his role of Ash Williams with tongue firmly in cheek  for the type of self-deprecating humor and gross-out fun that fans have loved for decades now.

In the new Starz series Ash vs the Evil Dead the dark forces unleashed in the original film have returned 30 years later to plague Ash and various supporting characters – including one played by Lucy Lawless (Tapert’s wife), who has grown almost as pudgy as Bruce Campbell himself. That’s not meant in a nasty way, by the way. I point it out because a lot of people fail to recognize Lawless in the series trailer I link to below.

Ash vs the Evil Dead debuts on Halloween of this year. The series’ approach seems to reflect the ghoulishly fun spirit of the Army of Darkness comic book series which saw the man with the chainsaw hand and boomstick battle legions of Deadites while plagued by his frequent bad luck. Enjoy the trailer, but be warned – for some reason NOBODY says “Join us … Join us”.  

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER:  Continue reading →

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October 30, 2014 · 7:41 pm

SON OF SVENGOOLIE: SOME HALLOWEEN SONGS

Rich Koz

Rich Koz

It’s Halloween month at Balladeer’s Blog! Rich Koz, the Babe Ruth of Movie Hosts, portrayed his comedic vampire character as Son of Svengoolie from 1979 to 1986, then again on his new show The Koz Zone in 1989 and 1990 before returning in 1995 as just plain Svengoolie. Along with The Texas 27 Film Vault, Koz’s original run was the closest in spirit to the later program MST3K than any of the other early Movie Host shows when it came to the “so bad it’s good” aesthetic.

Here are some of Sven’s fun song parodies adjusted to fit various psychotronic films presented on his show.  

HIT THE ROAD, DRAC (To the tune of Hit the Road, Jack)

BOOGIE WOOGIE BOOGEYMAN OF BERWYN (To the tune of Boogie Woogie Bugle Man) Continue reading →

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October 27, 2014 · 8:53 pm

THREE MORE BAD MOVIE CLASSICS FOR HALLOWEEN

Blood SongHalloween month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog! In previous years I’ve run my list of The Top Eleven Neglected Bad Movie Classics for Halloween and even a followup list of eleven more. The links to those lists are below. Right now here’s a look at three more classically bad horror flicks for the season.

BLOOD SONG (1982) – Singer Frankie Avalon as a 1980’s- style slasher villain! The godfather’s Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana) as a co-star and co-producer! Who could possibly resist that? Frankie plays a homicidal maniac who escapes from an insane asylum with his beloved flute/recorder type thingee.

Turns out years earlier a girl played by Donna Wilkes – soon to star as Angel herself – got a blood transfusion from Psycho Frankie. In this movie’s logic-free universe that means that she has a mental link with our mad slasher. This link is causing him to track her down to kill her with the single-minded fury that Mike Myers showed toward Jaime Lee Curtis in the Halloween movies. Continue reading →

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October 27, 2014 · 12:29 am

LA MALROCHE (1833): GOTHIC HORROR

La MalrocheLA MALROCHE (1833) – By Louisa Stuart Costello. Halloween month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog with yet another look at a neglected work of Gothic Horror, this one dealing with witchcraft, a monstrous child and supernatural beasts. Louisa Costello, the female author of this eerie tale, deserves to be much better known.

La Malroche refers to a mountain in a dreaded and generally avoided area of 1830’s France. At the foot of that mountain is the town of Escures, where only people too poor to have fled the area still live. Also near the foot of La Malroche is the home of the witch called La Bonne Femme (“The Good Woman”) by the local citizenry, a title bestowed on her out of fear rather than merit.   Continue reading →

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