April 10th release date for MPI's collectible 131-DVD set!



Dark Shadows - New 'Open' 3D Package Art for 'The Complete Original Series' Shows Barnabas Asleep

Last week we showed off front cover art for MPI Home Video's upcoming 131-DVD release of Dark Shadows - The Complete Original Series, which is scheduled for April 10th. At the time we just had a "flat" 2D look at the front of this item. Now the studio has provided a 3D look at the collectible packaging, "opened" to reveal Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) laying in his coffin. The image of the show's star vampire is apparently made up of the spines of the various DVD cases, stacked inside the outer coffin-shaped packaging. Very neat! Stay tuned for more updates about this highly anticipated title.

Taken from:http://tvshowsondvd.com/n/16462#ixzz1kzO41Wqv



We reported this past Friday that MPI Home Video is preparing anApril 10thDVD release ofDark Shadows - The Complete Original Series. This is a $599.98 SRP collection with all 1225 episodes of the legendary gothic daily soap opera that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971, which is alreadyup for pre-order at Amazon.com at a nice discount! The listing at the big e-tailer has now been updated to show that it will be a 131-DVD set, coming in special coffin-shaped collectible packaging (shown below; we understand that it's going to roughly be the size of a shoebox).

MPI put the entire run of the series out on DVD in the past, with 32 different "volume" sets released between 2002 and 2008, and each of those sets usually containing 4 discs. So "131 discs" is a bit more than before. Fans have been wondering a few things about this new set, especially if the episodes would all be new transfers. The question also came up as to whether the 1970 and 1971 theatrical films,House of Dark ShadowsandNight of Dark Shadowswould be included on this release by chance? Also, in one episode (#451, according to reader Bruce A. Jasman, who we thank for his assistance with some of this!) the original DVD set's transfer accidentally removed a fan-beloved blooper. As Bruce describes it so well, the blooper is "that of an elderly actress playing a good witch who forgot her lines and...you could hear someone off-camera feeding her her lines" The blooper was present in syndicated re-runs and on VHS, but missing from the DVD that episode was originally on. Would it be restored?

First, about the films: 1970'sHouse of Dark Shadowsand 1971'sNight of Dark Shadowsare owned by Warner Brothers, and unfortunately has not been made available to MPI for inclusion onDark Shadows - The Complete Original Series. Fans might be disappointed to hear that, especially those who have been hoping to see these on DVD since getting their hopes up back in 2006 when a response during a live online Warner/HTF chat indicated that "A double feature DVD of the two DARK SHADOWS films" was "likely" for the next year. However, 2007 never saw such a release...nor any year since. We've dug deeply into our rumor mill contacts in the industry, though, and we're pleased to say that the grapevine has borne some fruit! We've been told that the DVD releases of those two films ARE in the works, and likely to make it to market for lucky year 2013. That's a bit later than they would prefer, of course, missing an opportunity to tie in with the new theatrical remakeDark Shadowsfilm starring Johnny Depp as "Barnabas." However, it can't be helped, we understand...and better late than never! Since those ARE theatrical films, we're not sure how much further discussion we'll give it here; we don't cover home video releases ofStar Trek: The Wrath of Khan, after all. However, if we hear something major, we'll try to bend the rules and slip in the word somewhere...just a tiny bit!

With that out of the way, let's turn to the questions concerning whether or not there might be new transfers on this massive set. After all, there's that removed blooper to fix, and plus there's the matter of Episode #211, which was when Barnabas first arrived at Collinwood, and originally had been put on MPI's first DVD release (Dark Shadows - DVD Collection 01) as an inferior transfer from a Kinescope...but then was later found and re-mastered and included as a bonus on the final DVD set release (Dark Shadows - The Beginning, Vol. 6: Episodes 179 - 209). So we wrote to a contact of ours at the studio, asking about this. The reply we received should set fan expectations properly about the episodes on the upcoming release:The episode with the blooper removed has been corrected for this new complete series boxed set. When Worldvision, the syndicator for television reruns of Dark Shadows, made new digital masters a few years ago, that blooper was edited out by a well-meaning technician by mistake.

Otherwise they are the same DVD masters as the original individual 4-DVD sets issued over the past 10 years. The restored episode 211 will appear in the complete series DVD set as a bonus in the exact same context as in the 4-DVD sets, at the end of the pre-Barnabas episodes in the "Beginning" portion of the DVDs.That's all we know for now, but please keep in mind that things are still being finalized (including the packaging; the artwork shown below may not be final and could be subject to change). We're anxiously awaiting MPI's formal announcement and press release forDark Shadows - The Complete Original Series, which hopefully will be available soon. Stay tuned!

Taken from:http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Dark-Shadows-The-Complete-Original-Series/16451#ixzz1kzOwf9OT

She Dropped a Bombshell!!


Charles Band dropped a bomb on his fans today releasing photos of the new evil puppet Bombshell. The new puppet is part of Puppet Master X: Axis Rising.


Celebrating the latest evil puppet www.fullmoondirect.com is offering all 9 Puppet master films for only $45.00!!



Bombshell does not look to bad. But my only question would be why does she look like a man?? Only time will tell.

Svengoolie Saturday 1/21/2012


The House Of Frankenstein

After escaping from an asylum the mad Dr. Niemann and his hunch back assistant revive Count Dracula, the Wolf Man and the Frankenstein monster in order to extract revenge upon their many enemies.

Tonight @ 8 on ME-TV




The Phantom of the Opera (1943)
Pit violinist Claudin hopelessly loves rising operatic soprano Christine Dubois (as do baritone Anatole and police inspector Raoul) and secretly aids her career. But Claudin loses both his touch and his job, murders a rascally music publisher in a fit of madness, and has his face etched with acid. Soon, mysterious crimes plague the Paris Opera House, blamed on a legendary "phantom" whom none can find in the mazes and catacombs. But both of Christine's lovers have plans to ferret him out.

Today @ 11 on WCIU






Theater of Blood (1973)
Edward Lionheart (Vincent Price) stars as an actor overlooked for a critics' acting award, despite producing a season of Shakespeare plays. After confronting the Critics' Circle, an attempted suicidal dive into the Thames results in Lionheart being rescued by your typical paraffin/meths/turps swigging tramps. Lionheart then (presumed dead) exacts his grizzly, and quite amusing revenge on the critics who denied him his finest hour.


Today @ 3 on U-Too

** all times are based on Chicago times





I'm truly looking forward to The Phantom today I have not seen this version in years.


Hammer in the Blu...Ray

Hot off the heels of Universal's announcement of Frankenstein and Dracula getting the restored Blu-Ray treatment Hammer Horror quickly announced it will be collaborating with a few studio's. Anolis Entertainment and Pinewood (Germany) to name a few will be collaborating to bring 30 movies in the Hammer Horror collection to Blu-Ray

Hammer is in talks with US distributors Warner Bros and 20th Century Fox and Paramount.


Dracula Prince of Darkness is slated to be the first film to get restored. With the UK getting it in March and a US date following

In addition to this title, Hammer also expects to roll out a few more titles before year's end, including The Reptile, Plague of the Zombies, The Devil Rides Out, Rasputin the Mad Monk and The Mummy's Shroud. Other titles slated to arrive at a later date include the following:

The Curse of Frankenstein
Dracula
The Mummy
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell
Frankenstein Created Woman

The Vengeance of SheThis restoration will also include unearthed footage and restored deleted footage, including a more graphic, gory version of Dracula formally deemed "too erotic" by censors of the era. Hammer will also be searching for lost scenes from The Curse of Frankenstein and The Mummy, not to mention several other titles in their collection.


This week on Svengoolie 1/14/12


Phantom of the Opera! (1943) on MeTv tonight at 9c

Pit violinist Claudin hopelessly loves rising operatic soprano Christine Dubois (as do baritone Anatole and police inspector Raoul) and secretly aids her career. But Claudin loses both his touch and his job, murders a rascally music publisher in a fit of madness, and has his face etched with acid. Soon, mysterious crimes plague the Paris Opera House, blamed on a legendary "phantom" whom none can find in the mazes and catacombs. But both of Christine's lovers have plans to ferret him out.

Starring Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster, and Claude Rain.






The Deadly Mantis (1957) will are today at 11am central time on WCIU


The calving of an Arctic iceberg releases a giant praying mantis, trapped in suspended animation since prehistoric times. It first attacks military outposts to eat their occupants, then makes its way to the warmer latitudes of Washington and New York. A paleontologist works together with military units to try to kill it.










UToo is Pre-empted by basketball today.

What you should be doing tonight!!


Fourth Castle Micromedia’s The Monster Channel, the only 24/7 interactive channel for horror fans, will launch Lunchmeat VHS Rewind Theater, spotlighting 1980s shot-on-video VHS horror, Friday night, January 13, 2012, at 12:00 midnight EST.

Hosted by Josh Schafer, the editor-in-chief of Lunchmeat Magazine, the fanzine for VHS aficionados, the series will feature selections from Camp Motion Pictures: Video Violence (1987), Video Violence 2 (1987), Cannibal Campout (1988), Woodchipper Massacre (1988), Splatter Farm (1987), Beauty Queen Butcher (1990) and Ghoul School (1990).

Links to purchase or download these and other Camp Motion Pictures titles will run concurrently during the screenings. Viewers can interact with hundreds of fellow fans in the embedded chatroom during the film, a feature unique to The Monster Channel.




I love the Monster Channel really worth checking out. When I'm logged in my screen name is Cursed. I remember the classic Woodchipper Massacre and Ghoul School. Again i love the low budget junk. LOL!

My Favorite Jason Movies

Happy Friday the 13th everybody. Just wanted to share the trailers to two of my favorite Friday the 13th Movies.

Friday the 13th Part 10: Jason X



 Freddy Vs Jason

The First Jason goes Metal !?!

Here is one of the days us Gore Hounds get all giddy! There is nothing better then getting together with a group and talk about our favorite slasher! So to celebrate I bring gifts to the party. A few years ago I meet Ari Lehman (aka the first Jason) at flashback weekend. He was really pushing his CD for his metal band. Well metal not to sure about that. After spending the $10.00 I sure wish I could have received a full refund!!! This is the worst piece of garbage ever!! SO today I will inflect this pain on you. If you do like it head over to his web site for more downloads. If you live in St. Louis you can catch him live tonight at:

HEARTBREAKERS ROCK & ROLL SALOON
700 N. 2nd Street
St. Louis

FIRSTJASON Headlines ST. LOUIS #1 Party Club Alongside THE HADDONFIELDS, FACELESS COMMANDOS & LOUG!!!
Friday the 13th, on The Landing
LIVE MUSIC BY:

THE FIRST JASON
(featuring Ari Lehman, the first Jason Voorhees in the original Friday the 13th movie)
HADDONFIELDS
FACELESS COMMANDOS
LOUG

Doors @ 7pm
$7 Tickets - $2 Minor Surcharge
ALL AGES






2 Bloody Brains out of 5

100 Th Anniversary Classic Monsters Collection

Classic Monsters Spotlight Collection (Dracula / Frankenstein / The Bride of Frankenstein / Creature from the Black Lagoon)

Product Details

  • Actors: Boris Karloff, Ernest Thesiger
  • Format: Box set, Black & White, DVD, NTSC
  • Language: English
  • Subtitles: English, French
  • Number of discs: 4
  • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: Universal Home Video
  • DVD Release Date: March 6, 2012





This is great and all but why not Blu-Ray? And I get it Bride is a favorite among many of the golden age but wouldn't "The Wolfman" been a better fit?? Any If you do not already own these gem's here is your chance.  

Djinn

Master of Horror Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist, Texas Chain Saw Massacre)  is finally giving us a look at his next film "Djinn". The film is set in 2015   America. We follow Khaled and Salama that discover their apartment was built on the site of the deserted fishing village witch is the home to malevolent beings. 

This officall trailer does not really sell me on the movie.  And if it comes out later this month dont you think they should be pushing it more? Just wondering. So enjoy "Djinn"

Happy 100th.



Charles Addams, who drew more than 1,300 cartoons during his lifetime, was born in New Jersey on Jan. 7, 1912. Today we celebrate his 100th birthday.






NECA Deadite Ash coming Soon!!



NECA toys has released a First look at Deadite Ash in packaging, hitting stores later in February. Evil Dead 2 - 25th Anniversary. This looks fantastic. NECA's detail is fantastic.
They have also posted pictures for there new Value Line. The first picture to surface is Boomer from Left 4 Dead.





"This bile-exploding Zombie is not just disgusting , or one of the nastiest figures we ever made  but (its) FULLY ARTICULATED!" NECA's website













More Left 4 Dead Zombies Are Coming Out Too

On a recent interview, a really nice shot of the NECA Left 4 Dead “Smoker Zombie” – (Work-In-Progress) leaked. Here it is:

Westclox up date 1/4/2012

aerial photo of Westclox

Last night around 8:45 the phone started tweeting once again about Westclox. After most firefighters left the area more aide was called into the fire. The hot spots once again rekindled. Police once again blocked off traffic to allow Spring Valley to get in with a snorkel truck. While other area firefighters used an aerial truck and attacking the middle building on foot.

Small town efforts from Ladd and Standard were called in around 10:45 to bring the pumper trucks. I have 2 cousins from the small town of the Standard fire department. So my thoughts and prayers have been going out them.

Later in the night, LaSalle, Oglesby, and Utica were called in. Firefighters were on the scene until 4am.

When I brought the girls to school today we drove through a patch of thick smoke. I can't imagine living close the fire that could still be burning through the weekend.

This is bad news for the business that is losing work this week and would like to get back in. Most of the small shops are looking for other temporary locations.

Here in the LaSalle-Peru area, we do not have a tv station so the only way to get our news is the radio and paper. I would like to say to the reporters out there thank you. Do to twitter and youtube people can get updates much faster and stay out of the way of the firefighters.

Allison Ryan of the News Tribune even took the time to shot a video last night and post it on youtube.




Give Away over at....

AEIOU....and sometimes why.

From the site
Monsterwax Spookshow Cards & Giveaway

I don't remember how I first heard about the Spook Show poster trading cards fromMonsterwax but I do remember ordering them as soon as I found out about them.

Spook Shows are something that have fascinated me for many years. The closest I got was a showing of Monsters Crash the Pajama Party where they had "monsters" come out of the screen, run around the theater and grab a girl out of the audience and run off with her. They also handed out Faint Checks and had a lovely girl dressed as a nurse (a classy 50s style nurse, not a Halloween slutty nurse) "just in case."

Read more and enter at the site and good luck!!

Again go to 

Zombie Massacre!

The king of video game movie adaptations Uwe Boll is at it again. This time he has teamed up with Luca Boni and Marco Ristoni who are set to direct Zombie Massacre. Boll will sit back in the production chair. "I am the guy who finances the whole movie. I am the cash flow." said Boll.

 Based on the semi-obscure 1998 first-person shooter for the Amiga computer Zombie Massacre "[the heroes] have to put the bomb in the middle of the city to wipe out the zombies. That is the goal. There are no airplanes anymore, so they have to drive there, and of course, zombies are attacking you on the way in, and on the way out. This is what happens in the video game. It is a very simple Escape From New York-type story. Normally, these kinds of stories for genre movies work well. So I am very excited about it. I think it will be a great movie to watch if you are a zombie fan. It will, of course, be a very hard R-rating." stated Boll. "They have a lot of known horror actors already attached to it, like the guy from the new The Crazies movie [Brett Wagner]. They are all fans and have traveled to Italy to make the film with them." he continued to say.

Boni and Ristoni are Italian music video director's. They also made a small film "Eaters". So lets hope Uwe keeps his hands off their style so that this movie has a chance.



My New Year Resolution

OK so here we go its 2012 and the world is going to end again so I must change some of my ways right? If you don't think resolution's work then your wrong its up to you to make them work. So here is what I'm going to make work this year.

Ella's A1C score. We need to be under 8 so that's my big focus this year to help her get better with that. I will also start to teach her about crab counting and what she needs to do when she goes over. Ella is really smart for a 7 year old so its time to challenge her to talk some control over her diabetes.

Eat right. A few years ago I gave up fast food for lent and it stuck. So now to cut my soda intake down to one a day and I will be Happy.

The leads into lose some weight. I did so well a year ago losing 25 pounds. Then changing positions at work killed some of that. Now its go time to fix it! So my goal to lose 15 pounds by December should be easy.

Read More. This was one of my resolution's last year to read one book a month and I came so close! I went 10 for 12.  So this year I added one to my challenge. My teacher always told me its not how fast you read it that you read.

Focus. On life On family On work. To remember to breath and love what is around me.

Spelling and Grammar. When I started to blog it was to relax and find me time. I know I need to work on these two things for a better blog.

Church. I tried this 2 years ago and it work. So need to jump back on that wagon and make it work again. I did not stop going to the challenge is to go more like every Sunday that every other.

OK so good luck to everybody starting a new year.

Cheers.

Bob

Westclox Fire of 2011/2012


Westclox Fire 2011/2012
So on New Years Eve around 11:55 we heard and explosion and giggled stating that it was too early for fireworks. After 12:30 it was time to go to bed. That's when we heard all the sirens blaring. Now normally  on new years eve, you think it's a bad accident. But the sirens kept going. So we turned on the scanner to hear that the Westclox building was burning. Now this is a huge I mean huge building over 2 blocks wide and 4 blocks long. The building was built in the 1890's. There is a lot of history in the building for these 2 small towns. Firefighters from over 20 towns came in to fight this fire. They have still called in many tanker trucks from everywhere.
Back of Westclox 1902
So to many this is like losing a loved one. Westclox brought a lot of jobs to this town. And when it closed in 1980 brought on a depression. The town really started to dry up. The young moved on the older stayed and the businessmen that built their lives here struggled. I know for my father and grandfather had the contract with them. For years, they took the pictures for the catalogs and its parts. Not to mention all of their families.
Just how big this building is.
So when you hear how people are taking this hard I can side with them. It's an odd pain. We always wanted something to come off the building but not like this. Here are a few news bits and photos of the story.
Still burning 48 hours later
Firefighters have contained the blaze that destroyed part of the massive Westclox building, but officials say it may be a week before it is extinguished.
Peru Police Chief Doug Bernabei says the fire that broke out around midnight on New Year’s Eve at the Westclox complex in Peru is smoldering. He says the city’s fire department and departments from 15 other towns battled the fire with aerial trucks on Monday.
Bernabei says there is no danger of the fire spreading from the middle building to other buildings in the complex. The last of Westclox neighbors evacuated from their homes were allowed to return yesterday morning.



Duncan says the three buildings make up the property and that it was the middle one that was burning. He says that building has pretty much collapsed. He says they knew they weren’t going to send firefighters inside.

Rolls of film, plastic, and some Styrofoam were among the materials burning. He says there weren’t any chemicals.

Several blocks north and west of the building were evacuated but most of those areas have been reopened. Several homes on Franklin Street will remain evacuated.

La Salle Firefighter Steve Smith had to undergo surgery after being injured during the set up according to La Salle Fire Chief Andy Bacidore. He’s in good condition at Illinois Valley Community Hospital.

A 17-year-old boy from La Salle and a 15-year-old boy from Peru have been charged with aggravated arson.

Thursday is the next court appearance for the accused co-arsonist Steven Gallagher.

The teen from La Salle will officially be charged with one count of aggravated arson Thursday morning in La Salle County Court. He and a 15-year old boy from Peru are accused of getting into Westclox Saturday night thru an open window. They then allegedly found a boat that was being stored in the building and set it on fire.

La Salle County State’s Attorney Brian Towne says the pair was arrested just a couple hours after the fire started. He says Peru Police used information from an informant to arrest the two teens in the arson.

Gallagher is being held at the La Salle County Jail on 250 thousand dollars bond. The 15-year old is in the county detention home. He’ll be in court Tuesday morning.

Towne wouldn’t say if either teen had a criminal history.



A nice video showing the size of the building. I just read that firefighters have used 1 millon gallons of water on the fire. Thats enough to fill a pool 267 ft. long by 50 ft wide and 10 ft deep!


Some of the sources can be found on my twitter. Please feel free to visit our local paper for story's and updates.

WWW.newstrib.com
www.wlop.net

Or the following Twitter Reports

@NT_LaSalle

@am1220wlpo

@NT_Peru

@NT_Springvalley

And of course you can follow me 

@mda4life





You Better not cry or read for that matter.

You Better Not Cry: Stories for ChristmasYou Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The first few chapters had me laughing out loud. Then in is young adult life it started to drag. Then Bam! it went deep and lost its christmas charm. I was not ready for that. If I would have read this in November or January it might have been better.

View all my reviews