Pop Culture Retrorama

Friends, earlier this week we were informed that at some point today the teaser trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein was going to drop – his upcoming adaptation of Mary Shelley’s famous novel for Netflix. I am pleased to say that has come to pass as it was just released a few minutes ago, and not only is the trailer itself astounding but it certainly looks as if it will be just as beautifully gothic as some of the previous films from the iconic Director of Pan’s Labyrinth and Crimson Peak.

While I am unabashedly a devotee of Guillermo del Toro, starting with 1992’s Cronos, this film looks to possibly end up being one of his very best. Shelley’s 1818 novel is of course ripe with powerful imagery, and I believe that the cast and crew are poised to successfully bring it to life as never before. Having said that, let us hope that Netflix will allow this film to also be shown in movie theaters?

Speaking of Frankenstein‘s cast, I think it is fair to say it would be very hard to top Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina) as the choice to play the lead role of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, and though I adore 1931’s Frankenstein, I am willing to bet that Isaac’s version of the character will get his comeuppance more in line with the source material. While we know that Mia Goth (Pearl) will play the part of poor Elizbeth Lavenza, the IMDB page states the likes of Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), Burn Gorman (Pacific Rim), Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds), Ralph Ineson (The Witch), and Lars Mikkelsen (Ahsoka) are also featured in the film. That is most assuredly what you would call an embarrassment of riches in regards to a cast, but what of the ‘Creature’ or ‘Monster’? That honor goes to none other than Jacob Elordi, who you might know from The Mortuary Collection, Euphoria, and Priscilla.

The only downside of watching that teaser trailer for Frankenstein is that we now have to wait until November before we get to enjoy it on Netflix. What about you though, what are your thoughts after watching the trailer?

Friends, as I was preparing to head out to work this evening at the Haunted Drive-In, I was sent a YouTube video link from Rockford Jay. It turns out that 53 years ago today, the 5th issue of Marvel Spotlight hit newsstands and comic shops, and it just so happened to feature the first appearance of Johnny Blaze aka Ghost Rider. Growing up a Monster Kid, while it is true that DC’s Detective Comics featuring Batman was one of the first superhero books I sought on the spinner rack of the local gas station, you can be sure that the likes of House of Mystery, Werewolf by Night, Swamp Thing, Weird War Tales, and of course Ghost Rider among many others were frequent purchases. To celebrate the first appearance of the legendary character, who made it to the big screen twice so far with Nicolas Cage in the lead role, Marvel Entertainment in conjunction with Wild Comet Media and Apus Estudio has produced this spectacular animated short. In addition to the eye-catching animation, the cartoon also features none other than Tara Strong (The Powerpuff Girls, Teen Titans) as the one and only Miss Minutes from the Loki streaming television series.

Like a lot of the commenters on this particular video, I too would have no issues at all with seeing the three studios putting out a regular Ghost Rider series. In fact, perhaps an animated show that was presented as an anthology would be just the thing, let us get to know the various other people throughout history who have served as a Spirit of Vengeance. Since Johnny Blaze’s first appearance in ’72 we have been given glimpses of a few of the poor individuals who made a deal with Mephisto for their souls and services as a Ghost Rider, wouldn’t be cool to get to know a little more about these lesser known characters?

You might find it of interest to know that Marvel published an earlier Ghost Rider comic book, this was a western hero by the name of Carter Slade, which was published back in 1967 and created by artist Dick Ayers (The Fantastic Four), and writers Gary Friedrich (Son of Satan) as well as Roy Thomas (All-Star Squadron). It would be Friedrich, Thomas, and artist Mike Ploog (Man-Thing) that would co-create the character of Johnny Blaze and revamp the Ghost Rider as a supernatural agent of vengeance with his introduction in Marvel Spotlight #5. Although I should add that while there is no credited inker in the comic book itself, the Marvel.com site it says it was none other than Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko.

In closing out this article, here is to 53 years of the character of Johnny Blaze, throughout the years his history and that of the Ghost Rider have constantly changed and evolved, but he will always be the first published Spirit of Vengeance!

Friends, as I am getting nearer to having written articles for almost two decades about pop culture, by now there should be one thing that stands out among the other subjects. That would be my overwhelming love and appreciation of Rod Serling and his groundbreaking sci-fi/horror anthology – The Twilight Zone. Both the original series as well as the TV reboot that began airing on CBS in ’85 were frequent subjects on the Saturday Frights podcast, in fact we covered the likes of “The Changing of the Guard“, “The Howling Man“, “Dead Run“, “Gramma“, “The Obsolete Man“, “The Shadow Man“, “A Game of Pool“, “Examination Day“, and even Joe Dante’s segment “It’s A Good Life” from Twilight Zone: The Movie to name a few.

On those past podcasts I have made mention that ages ago when I was a kid, my Father didn’t read bedtime stories to me when it was time to call it a night. But he would manage to make up the most interesting and thrilling tales about dystopian societies, time travel, mannequins come to life, and phone conversations with the dead. Fast forward about a decade though and you can imagine my surprise when I started seeing The Twilight Zone in syndication and knew most of the plot twists before they happened!

Having foreknowledge of the majority of classic episodes of The Twilight Zone did nothing to diminish my love for the series, or appreciation of the exceptional writing by not just Serling but Richard Matheson (I Am Legend), Charles Beaumont (The Haunted Palace), George Clayton Johnson ( Logan’s Run), and Earl Hamner Jr. (The Waltons) to name just a few of the talented writers involved with the series.

So you can probably understand why I was so very, very excited when CBS announced a new version of The Twilight Zone was set to debut on September 27th of 1985.

That first episode delivered two pretty fantastic if wildly different tales, the second segment was entitled “A Little Peace and Quiet” and featured Melinda Dillion (A Christmas Story) as a put upon housewife who stumbles across a pendant that allows her to halt time. While that second story in my personal opinion is the more powerful of the two, the preceding segment entitled “Shatterday” not only featured Bruce Willis (Die Hard) as the lead, but was also our first introduction to a more darker version of The Twilight Zone.

Based off the 1975 short story of the same name by the legendary Harlan Ellison, the teleplay for “Shatterday” was written by Alan Brennert (L.A. Law), with the opening scene penned by Ellison himself, and focuses on a man by the name of Peter Jay Novins (Willis). While enjoying himself at a downtown bar, he accidentally calls home, and is understandably shocked to find someone answering the phone… saying that they are Peter Jay Novins. After making a second call he is troubled when this other version of himself not only refuses to leave his apartment but starts to shine a light on how miserably Peter has been living his life, willingly wronging quite a few people with no signs of remorse, a situation that this new Novins is planning on fixing. For what it might be worth, during the segment we see firsthand how quick Peter is to take deplorable measures to try and ensure his dominance over his doppelganger, enough so that we can’t help but wonder if the new Novins shouldn’t replace the other Peter.

I think that “Shatterday” is certainly unique in that you could truthfully say it features both a tragic and happy ending. And while I wasn’t initially impressed with the segment when it first aired, over the years I have come to appreciate it much more. Fun fact, Ellison himself received the idea for the short story when he thought he was calling the phone number of his date who was running late, before realizing he had just called his own home. A simple mistake that led him to start wondering what he might have done if someone had answered that phone call claiming that they were actually the writer!

What about yourself though, do you have any opinions on “Shatterday” or the new version of The Twilight Zone?

Friends, before we talk a bit about Atari’s upcoming Missile Command Delta, I want to take a moment and apologize about the lack of articles over these last few months. To be completely upfront about the situation, I am working close to 70 hours a week at the moment, but it will all be for the better in the long run. I have something on the back-burner for the near future that relates to this sudden increase in my workload that I feel you might all enjoy. Having said that however, you can see why now when I have a day off… I have been a little reluctant to do more than just catch up on some much needed sleep. With that apology aside, take a couple of minutes and check out this recently released video from Atari for Missile Command Delta – a rather interesting departure from the classic arcade title designed by David Theurer (Tempest).

Naturally I was a little surprised to learn that this new Missile Command title, in addition to trying to survive the threat of nuclear annihilation, also involves solving the mystery of a most curious bunker. Watching the above video, it looks like that the protection of your bunker during the missile strikes will be carried out through a turn-based card system?

Thanks to the official Atari site, it seems that your investigations into the bunker that you and your friends are trapped in will also aid you with new defense options during the missile bombardments… as well as additional threats.

There is a comment that I appreciate on the video, that they believe we will find out the game actually takes place after the end – literally – of the arcade title. If you’ve played Atari’s original arcade game for yourself, you know what the commenter is referring to!

Atari is releasing Missile Command Delta on all of the major systems beginning on July 8th, if you visit the site itself you can already wishlist it for the Playstation 5 as well as Steam. As the original 1980 arcade title is one of my favorite games, I look forward to seeing what Mighty Yell and 13AM Games has in store for us.

If you have just a few minutes to spare, you might also like to check out this past article that focuses on a sort of rare commercial for Missile Command. One that featured the late and great Christopher Hewett, perhaps best known for his roles in Fantasy Island and Mr. Belvedere!

Friends, considering that today is the date picked by fandom to celebrate all things Star Wars, I thought I might take the opportunity to talk about some of my favorite characters in that series of films, books, games, and television shows. Droids. In my humble opinion I believe that Droids are the real heroes… and sometimes villains of the events that happened a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

As I always preface in these types of lists, remember that the order the Droids are listed has no particular significance. Having stated that, let me introduce you to my favorite Droids in the Star Wars universe.

1) 2-1B (Medical Droid)

First seen in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, this humanoid shaped surgical Droid helped oversee the healing process of Luke Skywalker on the planet of Hoth after he was savaged by a fearsome Wampa. It was also 2-1B who fitted Skywalker with his robotic prosthetic hand after the young Jedi’s confrontation with Darth Vader on Cloud City – the Droid was also seen on the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser, Home One, during the briefing scenes in Return of the Jedi.

The 2-1B Droids were manufactured by Industrial Automaton, who not only produced a number of popular droid series such as the R-series Astromech Droids (R2-D2) and BB-series (BB-8), but in addition they also manufactured the T-14 hyperdrive generators as seen on Queen Amidala’s Royal Starship in The Phantom Menace. Numerous 2-1B Droids were produced by Industrial Automaton and were put into service by both the Rebel Alliance as well as the Galactic Empire.

2) R2-D2 (R-Series Astromech Droid)

Well now, it is fair to say that it was love at first sight back in ’77 when I first saw R2-D2 in action on the big screen. I was already quite familiar with robots thanks to the likes of Robby from Forbidden Planet and B-9 aka “Robot” from the Lost in Space television series, to say nothing of the numerous cartoons and comic books of the era – but the design and personality of R2-D2 just blew me away. Frequently feisty, loyal, and as is evident throughout the Skywalker Saga, R2 and his fellow Astromech Droids are willing to risk themselves in the service of others – even if they are often looked on as nothing more than equipment.

While Industrial Automaton were responsible for the mass production of the popular Astromech Droid series during the Star Wars saga, a few of the more notable Droids also included R5-D4 (A New Hope, The Mandalorian), Chopper or C1-10P (Rebels, Ahsoka), and of course BB-8 (The Force Awakens).

3) HK-47 (Hunter-Killer Series Assassin Droid)

For those of you that have had the pleasure of playing 2003’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic or its 2004 sequel, I am sure you too have fond memories of chuckling at the remarks of HK-47 (voiced by Kristoffer Tabori), in particular his persistent description of organics as “meatbags”.

The sarcastic approach to situations by HK-47 would manage to stand out so much in the original Knights of the Old Republic game that he would earn the Game Developers Choice Award for best “Original Game Character of the Year” in 2004. And though the fate of the character gets a little muddy with what is considered canon from those hugely popular video games – the fact is it was revealed in Chuck Wendig’s Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy – which bridged the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens that the Battle Droid known as Mister Bones was built from scavenged parts of HK-47.

4) Professor Huyang (Architect Droid)

First introduced in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, Huyang (voiced by David Tennant) is an impressive and knowledgeable Droid that served in the Jedi Temple. Believed to have been built over 25 thousand years before the Battle of Yavin (Episode IV), he not only is a repository of Jedi lore but can recall every single lightsaber that he has ever built, which includes the sabers constructed by the likes of Yoda and Mace Windu as younglings. Professor Huyang survived the fall of the Jedi Order, the defeat of the Empire, and was able to team up with Ahsoka Tano in the hunt for Grand Admiral Thrawn.

5) C-3PO (Protocol Droid)

With R2-D2 on my Star Wars Top 5 Droids list, it shouldn’t come as any surprise to you that his rather uptight and easily flustered companion also made the grade. This memorable Droid is most often a comic foil to his Astromech counterpart, thanks in no small part to the acting and voice work of Anthony Daniels, who I believe has been in the Protocol Droid costume for nine of the Star Wars films so far. Having said that though, over the course of the films and televisions series, C-3PO is shown to be just as much a hero as R2 when all is said and done.

In fact, if you have a spare 50 minutes, why not let Anthony Daniels himself talk about C-3PO in this WIRED interview from back in 2020?

So, there you have it, my personal Top 5 favorite Droids featured in Star Wars. I must admit that after seeing the film in 1977, my life was changed while sitting in that darkened auditorium… a mere 48 years ago… and my love for the franchise shows no signs of diminishing any time soon.

Thank you for taking the time to check out the new article and May the 4th Be With You!

Friends, when it comes to movies, there are few films that I hold more dear to my heart than those featuring the Universal Monsters. While it may have all started ages ago when I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning watching 1931’s Frankenstein, I quickly embraced those classic icons of horror that are just as entertaining today as when they were originally shown on the silver screen. And it just so happens that on this day back in 1935, a mere 90 years ago, Bride of Frankenstein was unleashed – a darkly comedic sequel from Director James Whale (The Invisible Man) that manages to top his original 1931 masterpiece.

In addition to giving lovers of horror a chance to catch up with a Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) that possibly is a little more wiser for his actions in the previous film, it once again featured the iconic Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein Monster, and allowed the beautiful Elsa Lanchester in her five minutes of screen time to literally steal the show as the titular character.

Bride of Frankenstein truly benefits from a slew of solid character actors, such as Ernest Thesiger (The Old Dark House) who portrays the delightfully devious and flamboyant Dr. Pretorius. In fact as a former mentor to Henry Frankenstein, he manages to be the main antagonist in the film when he tricks the Monster into doing his bidding. The film also features the likes of the always entertaining Una O’Connor (The Adventures of Robin Hood), Valerie Hobson (Great Expectations), Dwight Frye (Dracula), and even future stars Walter Brennan (Rio Bravo) and John Carradine (House of Frankenstein).

While the screenplay for Bride of Frankenstein is credited to William Hurlbut and John L. Balderston (Gaslight), online sources cite the shooting script in the end was an amalgamation of various drafts. By the way, it has been rumored that James Whale wanted Elizabeth Frankenstein (Hobson) to perish in the picture, presumably at the hands of the Monster, so that the Bride would be the recipient of her heart – although this has never truly been confirmed.

Another element of course that helps Bride of Frankenstein stand out is the exceptional make-up effects by Jack Pierce, the artist largely responsible for most of the designs of the classic Universal Monsters. It just so happens that Pierce was the subject of the 78th episode of the Saturday Frights Podcast – if you want to know a little more about the legend.

Nearly a century after first being released to movie theaters, the character of the Bride shows no signs of slowing down – as they and other Universal Monster icons are featured prominently in the Dark Universe section of Orlando’s upcoming Epic Universe theme park. So, let us celebrate the 90th anniversary of Bride of Frankenstein and nine decades of entertaining us with “… a new world of gods and monsters!”

Friends, over the past weekend Disney dropped the first teaser trailer for the upcoming third film in the TRON franchise, and at the time of the writing of this article it seems to have captured some views – with nearly 11 million so far. After watching the trailer a couple of times it is easy to see why it managed to drum up so much interest, it’s a rather exciting tease of what we can expect this October when the movie is released to theaters. In fact I thought it might be fun to share some of my personal theories about TRON: Ares from said trailer.

Our first glimpse of TRON: Ares feels pretty reminiscent of both 1982’s TRON as well as 2010’s TRON: Legacy, the overhead shot of the city that originally was mirrored by the electronic World of the Grid. Thanks to a Police dispatch narration though we know that the light cycles are not only capable of speeds over 120 mph, but their light trails are just as deadly in the real world as on the Grid. As there are two light cycles seen during the high-speed chase I am going to assume that this is not only Ares (Jared Leto) but possibly also Cameron Monaghan (Star Wars Jedi), Sarah Desjardins (Yellowjackets), or Arturo Castro (The Menu), these are just a few of the actors I noticed listed on the IMDB page without a character name as of yet.

My hot take for TRON: Ares is that we might see the character of Julian Dillinger, played by American Horror Story‘s Evan Peters, take a different path than that of the villainous Edward Dillinger (David Warner) and Edward Dillinger Jr. (Cillian Murphy) from the previous TRON films.

If you take a good look at that close-up during the light cycle chase, the inside of the helmet appears to be a whitish blue, which in the TRON universe represent Programs or Users (Human Beings) that generally are not aligned with the forces of the MCP from 1982’s TRON or the followers of Clu in 2010’s TRON: Legacy.

Now while that shot from inside the helmet is most assuredly from a different part in the film, whose eyes we are seeing though is anyone’s guess. In fact during a later moment in this trailer, after we see that threatening Recognizer vehicle gliding past the Encom building (check the reflection in the window), you see a character whose suit glows whitish blue riding behind a character (Ares?) on a type of ‘rocket sled’ on the Grid. In fact it sort of looks like maybe the characters are attempting to race across what might be a staging area for the invasion into the real world – with the next scene focusing on some kind of flying craft heading towards what looks like a similar portal from TRON: Legacy.

In addition we get a very brief shot of a massive vehicle from the Grid with a battering ram just plowing into a trio of Police cruisers, perhaps to clear the way for those two light cycles? Beyond witnessing some kind of Light Jets defending that Recognizer from an assault by jet fighters – the most impressive visual from the trailer to me is what appears to be the construction of Ares himself. Which begs the question, even though we hear Jeff Bridges’ voice in the trailer… are we sure it is Kevin Flynn who has created Ares… could he not possibly be the work of Clu before the end of TRON: Legacy?

In an Empire magazine article that was published just the other day, in describing Jared Leto’s character of Ares they pointedly use the term antagonist – not protagonist. This leads me to believe that when Ares first leaves the Grid it will be as the leader of an invasion force, and in that same article, Director Joachim Rønning (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) states that “Ares wants to be a real boy.” To which I assume something is going to alter Ares’ worldview and he will indeed become a champion, defending humanity from the threats of the Grid. Make sure to follow that link to the article, for one thing you can read what Joachim has to say about that rather unique Identity Disc that Ares can be seen sporting on the movie poster.

Obviously this entire article is just a fan theory after watching a minute and a half teaser. I am probably going to be proven wrong on most of these thoughts by the time the next trailer drops, but at the moment I cannot express how very delightful it is to be able to look forward to a brand new TRON film. What about you though, what are some of your theories for TRON: Ares?

If you happen to have a moment, why not listen to two episodes of the Diary of An Arcade Employee podcast where I discuss the classic TRON arcade game as well as the Intellivision release of TRON: Deadly Discs?

Friends, it certainly feels as if almost every day of late we are turning around to see it is the anniversary for a beloved franchise or cult favorite film – the latter being the case for both The Changeling and the subject of today’s article. The Road to El Dorado was the follow-up picture to DreamWorks Animation’s highly successful The Prince of Egypt, which had been released just two years earlier, and looked on paper to be another sure-fire hit at the box office. You not only had Elton John and Tim Rice teaming up once again to provide the catchy songs for the film, but in addition you had the vocal talents of Kenneth Branagh (Henry V), Kevin Kline (Silverado), Rosie Perez (Do the Right Thing), Edward James Olmos (Blade Runner), and Armand Assante (Gotti) to name a few. And while it appeared as if The Road to El Dorado was going to be a slam dunk for DreamWorks, the animated throwback to the likes of the Hope and Crosby “Road” series of films simply failed to initially find its audience.

Sadly the film was a box office bomb and any hopes for the rumored series of sequels featuring the characters of Miguel (Branagh), Tulio (Kline), and Chel (Lopez) searching the World for other adventures and fortunes were left by the wayside. Which is really just a shame, especially with the chemistry that was evident between the three leads. I think you can see in this scene from the beginning of the movie why the filmmakers realized it was a smart idea to have Kline and Branagh record their lines in the studio together.

Looking at a handful of movie reviews from the critics of the day, they didn’t have the same appreciation of the characters of Tulio and Miguel with their sort of nod to Dravot and Carnehan from Kipling’s The Man Who Would Be King as I did. A handful of those reviews also took the style and quality of animation of the film to task as well as the work by Rice and John, frequently stating the songs didn’t rise to the level of The Lion King – to which I can only say I still love this soundtrack.

Thankfully it does appear as if The Road to El Dorado was lucky enough to find a more welcoming audience over the years, in no small part to those who grew up with it after the movie was released to DVD… and the fact that it appears to have become an unexpected internet meme?

So, let us raise a toast to the works of DreamWorks Animation and the cast of The Road to El Dorado, thank you for 25 years of animated adventure and a treasure trove of laughs.

Friends, a couple of days ago while I was down in the Vault and helping the Projectionist with some catalog work on his vast collection of media, I came across this charming short film that was produced in ’68 by Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. entitled The Hidden Treasure. It took a little fast talking but I was finally able to convince Haddonfield’s favorite shadowy cinephile to thread it up and screen it for the Vault employees when we finished for the night.

While the Projectionist obviously wouldn’t let me record any of the short film in the Vault’s auditorium, I was lucky enough find it uploaded on the official Topps YouTube channel. It features a young boy, played by Mark Celusniak, who ends up on a treasure hunt of sorts at the Topps plant in Duryea, Pennsylvania. In fact thanks to the video I stumbled across a website that shared some newspaper clippings from December 8th of 1968 that stated that The Hidden Treasure was not only going to be aired on local television that weekend, but Mark’s Mother was also an employee of the Topps company.

Unfortunately at my age I have to kind of pass on sweets overall but watching The Hidden Treasure and seeing all of that candy – sure made me want to pick up a couple of pieces of Bazooka gum. That was the brand where the company first really found some success back in 1947 – they didn’t throw their hat into the trading card game until around 1950. I was also surprised to find out that Topps didn’t start with baseball cards but actually secured the rights to produce trading cards featuring none other than William Boyd aka Hopalong Cassidy – a staggering 232 card set!

I might come up with a future article on just how popular and brilliant William Boyd was when it came to Hopalong Cassidy, but to get back on point, the Topps company would switch gears to baseball cards in 1952. That was thanks to an employee named Sy Berger, who along with Woody Gelman (Mars Attacks) would design the first series of baseball cards on the kitchen table of the former’s apartment in Brooklyn. The overall design that the duo first came up with is still in use today – in fact Berger who passed away in 2014 ended up working at Topps for 50 years – starting in ’47 when the company was rolling out the Bazooka gum and staying until 1997.

So, there you have it, my friends. Not only a bit of info on The Hidden Treasure but a little bit of history on the Topps company to boot. As always I appreciate you taking the time to check out a new article. In closing let me ask you a question, what was the first trading card series you remember collecting?

Friends, earlier this evening as I was getting ready for work I noticed a post by the esteemed Mick Garris (The Stand) on Facebook – it turns out that Friday marked the 45th anniversary of The Changeling. To this day I stand by my proclamation that Director Peter Medak (The Twilight Zone) as well as his cast and crew managed to deliver a very memorable ghost story. Granted the movie is benefited by the performances of an Academy Award-winning* actor like George C. Scott (Patton, The Exorcist III) along with his real life Wife, Trish Van Devere (One Is A Lonely Number), in addition to the likes of Melvyn Douglas (Being There), John Colicos (Battlestar Galactica), Jean Marsh (Willow), and Barry Morse (Space 1999) to name just a few.

For what it might be worth, I actually caught The Changeling when it was first released to theaters. Although like many of the films I cherish from back in the day, I too saw this one at the local drive-in theater of my youth. While The Changeling can certainly be described as a slow burner, it would be fair to point out that the emotional set up for Scott’s character of John Russell hits fast and hard – to say nothing of getting to the meat of why he becomes involved with the supernatural happenings in the film.

Much like with what Robert Wise accomplished in 1963’s The Haunting, Medak takes his time with the story, focusing more on character development and mood than with jump scares or anything resembling gore. That isn’t to say that The Changeling fails to scare though, in fact there is a scene in this film that still manages to give me goosebumps… even just thinking about it as I write this article. If you have seen the movie for yourself, you can probably guess to which moment in the movie I am alluding to, there is a short clip of it in that original trailer.

Another element that helped The Changeling not only land on Martin Scorsese’s top horror films list but reaching #54 in Bravo’s 100 Scariest Moments is the truly haunting score by Howard Blake, Rick Wilkins, and Ken Wannberg.

So, here is to 45 years of The Changeling, a perfect film to revisit or enjoy for the first time, especially late on a Saturday night. And while the Projectionist and myself never had the opportunity to tackle the movie on the Saturday Frights podcast – we did discuss 1981’s Ghost Story – which happened to also feature Melvyn Douglas.

*While Scott would win an Oscar for his performance in 1970’s Patton, as he promised before the nominees were named, he refused to accept the award. The actor was against the idea of a ceremony that would in effect pit actors against each other – which is why he didn’t even attend the 1971 Academy Awards. It would fall to Patton‘s producer Frank McCarthy to accept the Oscar on Scott’s behalf, with the award finally ending up at the Virginia Military Institute.

Friends, near the end of February those of us that were fans of Gene Hackman received the terribly shocking news that the actor as well as his Wife, Betsy Arakawa, had passed away at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Like many others on hearing the news, my first reaction was to immediately write an article listing my favorite performances to honor the Academy Award-winning actor. But with what at that time was an ongoing investigation into the tragedy, I felt I should hold off for just a bit before putting this article together.

Hackman was a legitimate powerhouse of a performer and narrowing down his 101 performances into a top 5 list was something of a task to say the least. As for anyone who has been patient enough to read one of my ‘reviews’ or even listened to a Saturday Frights podcast – it is evident that I am not a critic, but I do know what I like. And there was a lot to love about Gene Hackman’s career, who not only was able to pull off incredible dramas like Hoosiers but also roles in raucous comedies such as The Birdcage.

Gene Hackman was 31 years old when he received his first acting credit in film and television with 1961’s Mad Dog Coll, a gangland biopic about the notorious mobster Vincent Coll. While that first role was a then uncredited part in the film as a police officer, Hackman would earn frequent TV roles until ’64 when he appeared alongside Warren Beatty and Jean Seberg in Lilith. It would not be the last time that Beatty and Hackman would make a film together as just three years later they would be cast in the Academy Award-winning Bonnie and Clyde. As a matter of fact that hugely popular film would mark the first of five Academy Award nominations that Hackman received – going on to win two Oscars for his performances in 1971’s The French Connection and again in 1992’s Unforgiven.

I think it is fair to say that for all of us cinephiles, we are more than fortunate that Gene Hackman left such an amazing body of work as his lasting legacy. It doesn’t make the pain of losing such a talented performer any easier, but we can take some small comfort in knowing we can revisit such memorable roles and remind ourselves of his talent for many years to come.

As is usual when putting together one of these lists, the order of the films is by no mean an indication of a ranking.

1) The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Although 1970’s Airport was kind of the kickoff of the ’70s disaster genre, with the likes of Earthquake, The Towering Inferno, Avalanche, Meteor, and The Swarm – studios quickly realized that the public enjoyed watching their favorite actors being put in fictional life-threatening situations. Of the many films in that genre though, for my money the best one is The Poseidon Adventure, and that has more than a little to do with Hackman’s role as the rather angry Reverend Frank Scott. In a movie that boasts the talents of Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowall, Jack Albertson, Stella Stevens, Carol Lynley, and Red Buttons to name a few – it should drive home how amazing Hackman is that he manages to stand out throughout the entire picture.

While certainly a popcorn flick, you might be surprised by how well The Poseidon Adventure manages to hold up as a thriller today.

2) Superman (1978)

My friends, while the superhero genre has continued to dominate the box office over the last couple of decades, you might not believe just how mind-blowing and popular Superman was when it hit movie theaters back on December 15th of 1978. I can assure you that none of us that considered ourselves comic book fans were prepared for what Director Richard Donner and his cast and crew delivered. While the lion’s share of credit obviously goes to the talent and genial nature of Christopher Reeve as the last Son of Krypton, you just can’t have a great superhero movie without an equally entertaining villain, and that is something that Gene Hackman delivers in abundance with his portrayal of Lex Luthor.

Fun fact, it has been said that among a slew of popular actors of the day, none other than Warren Beatty was approached and turned down the role of Clark Kent/Superman. In addition there is a long-standing rumor that Hackman was extremely adamant about refusing to get rid of his mustache for the role of Luthor. Supposedly upon meeting each other, Donner extended a promise that he would shave off his own in a show of solidarity. As the finished film proves, the actor obviously agreed to this but the kicker is… Donner didn’t actually have a mustache… he was wearing a fake!

3) The Conversation (1974)

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation is a masterpiece of a thriller that I somehow missed in theaters when it was originally released, it would be almost two decades later before I had the opportunity to sit down and watch it. Hackman’s turn as Harry Caul, an expert in surveillance who is troubled by the deadly results of his actions from a past job – is one for the ages. The spiraling descent of Caul as he uncovers what appears to be a murder plot is downright Hitchcockian in nature. I hesitate to talk too much about this one, if you’ve not seen the film for yourself you should go in as cold as possible.

Coppola not only directed The Conversation but also produced and wrote the screenplay to boot, if not for another film he helmed that year, a little movie called The Godfather Part II – I really believe that the former would have cleaned up at the 1975 Oscars.

4) Get Shorty (1995)

While it would be disingenuous to say that John Travolta doesn’t carry Get Shorty with his memorable performance as Chili Palmer, the truth of the matter is that Barry Sonnenfeld’s adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel of the same name is an ensemble picture. A wonderful comedy with performances from Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Dennis Farina, Bette Midler, and of course Gene Hackman to name just a few. I personally think though that Hackman effortlessly steals every scene he is in as Harry Zimm, a B-movie director who has what you might call a turn of fortunes when Palmer enters his life… for good and bad.

Get Shorty is the perfect film to watch with your friends who really appreciate the magic of movies.

5) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Another exceptional ensemble film, The Royal Tenenbaums floored audiences with Hackman’s performance as the less than upstanding head of the titular Family, but in my personal opinion also managed to solidify Wes Anderson as one of the best Directors of our time. The movie has an embarrassment of riches in regards to the cast, besides Hackman it features Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Danny Glover, Owen and Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, as well as Alec Baldwin as the film’s narrator among others. The Royal Tenenbaums succeeds in not just being amusing but incredibly moving too, as Royal Tenenbaum (Hackman) attempts to make amends for his failures as both Father and Husband. With such a talented cast it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the film features many quotable lines, but the one that I use to this day is from Hackman:

“That’s the last time you put a knife in me! Y’hear me?”

So, there you have it, my personal top 5 films of Gene Hackman. I appreciate you taking time to check out the article and sincerely hope that you will share your own list in the comments. In closing I want to share this quote from Hackman about his career:

“I was trained to be an actor, not a star. I was trained to play roles, not to deal with fame and agents and lawyers and the press.”

Friends, I have to start this off by saying my heart is hurting just a little bit, not due to any personal drama or the like but because there is a very good Looney Tunes movie in theaters right now… and it appears that no one is interested in heading out to see it. That is what I am assuming is the case for The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, at least judging by its box office take over the weekend. There is also the fact that the only patrons in the auditorium last evening for the film turned out to be myself and a member of my theater family.

The situation actually reminds me of another film produced by Warner Bros. Animation, a little 1999 movie called The Iron Giant. I remember lots of folks were singing the praises of that film back in the day but it just failed to find its intended audience. Much like that now beloved movie, this trailer for The Day the Earth Blew Up also has various entertainment sources giving their approval of the appropriately loony antics!

Director Peter Browngardt (Chowder, Looney Tunes Cartoons) and the team behind The Day the Earth Blew Up have really packed the film with a ton of love for the Golden Age of Warner Bros. animated theatrical shorts. Of course that doesn’t mean a younger crowd won’t be equally entertained, but for those of us of a certain age, I guarantee you will get a little something extra out of your viewing. Whether that be with the visual nods to iconic Looney Tunes animation directors of the past or even some memorable background characters from classic shorts. To say nothing of the choice needle drops throughout the film including Raymond Scott’s legendary “Powerhouse”.

The Day the Earth Blew Up gives audiences an all-new and hilarious history for why Daffy and Porky, both characters voiced by Eric Bauza, are lifelong companions and even provides a threat from outer space to boot. The movie does a remarkable job of making you side with both characters, understanding Porky’s growing annoyance at Daffy always getting them into trouble… and the thrill of letting the latter off the chain when it is time to get properly loony.

As with any comedy, while not every joke succeeds in The Day the Earth Blew Up, they come at you so fast and so frequently that you will at least be smiling throughout the film. And like with the original theatrical shorts of old, some of the humor might go sailing over the heads of a younger audience, but will surely elicit a chuckle or two from the older crowd. So if you count yourself a fan of Looney Tunes, do yourself a favor and head out to your local theater and check it out!

In closing, as someone who spent far too much time in their youth watching anything connected to animation, I could barely contain my surprise at the beginning of The Day the Earth Blew Up when I noticed a nod to the exceptional animated short Tom Thumb in Trouble. As a matter of fact you should treat yourself to this break down of said classic short, which was originally released in theaters on June 8th of 1940.

Friends, thanks to having the chance to take the day off from the Haunted Drive-In on Thursday, I was lucky enough to hit the early matinee screening of Mickey 17. This wickedly satirical science fiction film benefits from the performances of Robert Pattinson (The Batman), Naomi Ackie (Blink Twice), Mark Ruffalo (Now You See Me), Toni Collette (Hereditary), Steven Yeun (Nope), as well as Anamaria Vartolomei (The Count of Monte Cristo) to name just a few. Mickey 17 was directed as well as written by Academy Award winner Bong Joon-ho (Okja), based on the novel by Edward Ashton entitled “Mickey 7”, and presents a rather bleak look at the future where a person might be considered far less important than the equipment they are carrying.

Mickey 17 leans hard into its science fiction setting, I was actually a little surprised to learn after that trailer that the movie isn’t quite as comedic as you might think, in fact some moments of the movie could be considered horror. Oh, there is plenty of absurdist humor throughout thanks to the society presented in the film – but Mickey 17 is also a bit more serious and moving than you might expect. Perhaps a better description of the film is that it’s a dark comedy?

Joon-ho allows a good bit of the focus of the movie to center around the problematic nature of what could happen if the technology existed to allow a human being to be reprinted after each and every death. As you can see in the trailer itself, Mickey is unfortunately really only looked on by most as little more than a disposable ‘resource’ and pariah.

Perhaps this should be considered a minor spoiler but in the movie we learn that each of the ‘clones’ of Mickey, while containing the memories of those that came before, are sometimes a little bit different than the original or the one that preceded them. Pattinson as the titular character(s) deserves the lion’s share of praise for carrying the full weight of the film on his shoulders, he really makes you feel for Mickey and the distressing situation he finds himself in right off the bat. To say nothing of successfully pulling off the portrayal of two different characters who are not exactly on the same wavelength when it comes to what direction their future might take.

Mickey 17 also has something of a message about the dangers of a society falling under the sway of what at first might appear to be a heroic figure – a cult of personality? In the film that threat comes courtesy of the braggadocio Kenneth Marshall (Ruffalo) and his Wife Ylfa (Collette), the latter certainly being more than a little unhinged and devious.

The film overall is quite good, but it is far from perfect, I personally feel that some judicious editing would have really helped tighten the story in this case. Having said that though – Mickey 17 is a satisfying science fiction film with some surprisingly dark undertones – and is most assuredly worthy of your time.

Friends, earlier this morning it was brought to my attention that on Monday I had managed to miss a pretty important date in pop culture history. I guess I was so focused on that previous article about the evening of March 2nd of 1961 that I failed to realize that March 3rd of 1980 was equally as important… because that is the day the very first ShowBiz Pizza Place opened its doors to the public. As I have discussed in the past with the Diary of An Arcade Employee podcast, I consider myself extremely lucky to have grown up during a time when there were two exceptional arcades in my neck of the woods. And while both Games People Play and ShowBiz Pizza each had the latest arcade releases – the latter was made all the more memorable and magical due to the addition of the Rock-afire Explosion!

As many of you are probably already aware, ShowBiz Pizza Place actually came about thanks to Chuck E. Cheese. The founder of the former was Robert L. Brock who in June of ’79 had initially signed a co-development agreement to open a slew of Chuck E. Cheese restaurant and arcades in 16 states. That was certainly good news for former Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, who had purchased the very first Chuck E. Cheese from the video game company he helped to create. That first restaurant had opened in ’77 with Bushnell taking ownership the following year after forming Pizza Time Theatre, Inc.

As for why Brock decided to ‘create’ his own version of a restaurant and arcade instead of a Chuck E. Cheese, it appears he became hesitant about the future of the franchise. A lot of that appears to be because Brock felt that the animatronics being produced by Aaron Fechter of Creative Engineering, Inc. were far superior than those being offered by Pizza Time Theatre. So Brock decided to partner up with CEI and almost three months later the first ShowBiz Pizza was opened for business in Kansas City, Missouri. As you might imagine, Bushnell was less than pleased by this turn of events and took Brock to court, with the courts siding with the former that the concept of ShowBiz Pizza was close enough to that of Chuck E. Cheese to warrant financial restitution. In a rather ironic turn of events however, Brock would end up purchasing Pizza Time Theatre a mere five years later after Pizza Time Theatre, Inc. had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

That history of the founding of ShowBiz Pizza aside, I can assure you that the combination of being able to play exciting new arcade games as well as enjoying an animatronic show over dinner was a powerful combination. The fact that the characters of the Rock-afire Explosion covered songs from The Beatles to Olivia Newton-John didn’t hurt matters either. If you have never had the pleasure of seeing the Rock-afire Explosion perform for yourself though, enjoy this video from 2012, I am particularly fond of Mitzi Mozzarella’s cover of ‘I Wanna Be Free’ (4:05) as part of a tribute to the late and great Davy Jones of The Monkees.

Honestly, it is a little hard to believe that it was 45 years ago that ShowBiz Pizza made its debut. It is a place from my youth that is frequently in my thoughts, even if our local restaurant/arcade opened a couple years after 1980. According to the Cheese-E-Pedia, it states that my particular ShowBiz Pizza Place celebrated its opening on November 1st of 1982. I will have to admit that I was taken aback by this information as my memories dated it as being opened a year earlier, In fact if you will excuse the shameless plug, I shared some of those memories on the 20th episode of the Diary podcast.

So here is to 45 years of great memories of both ShowBiz Pizza as well as a continuing love for the Rock-afire Explosion – in my mind it was the greatest arcade of the day and still THE place where a kid could be a kid.

By the way, if you happen to also be a fan of The Monkees, you might want to hop on over and listen to The Retroist’s latest podcast!

Friends, it is an absolute fact that we are all so busy with work and the constant demands of everyday life that the important dates in history manage to easily slip by without us even noticing it. Obviously, as the headline states, this article is a gentle reminder of the historic event that took place 64 years ago today. I am not referring to the partial lunar eclipse that took place on that Thursday evening nor even the announcement that Pablo Picasso married Jacqueline Roque. I am referring of course to the incredible incident that took place outside of New York City.

Those of us of a certain age might recall hearing how on that night there was something of a commotion outside the city. As it was that evening over six decades ago, that 7 agents from what critics might consider a ridiculed Government agency were dispatched with an unnamed astronomer to meet some unexpected arrivals. By happenstance there also was a teenager named Kevin Cunningham Brown out on those very same back roads. A young man, whose original plan was to meet up with his girlfriend, but found himself instead presenting her intended bouquet to the leader of a group of refugees.

Of course I am referring to that historic first meeting of the Baltians and the Government agency we now know as the Men in Black. This was all revealed in the highly entertaining as well as educational docudrama from 1997 entitled Men in Black, which starred Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive) and Will Smith (Bad Boys) as the legendary Agent K (Kevin Cunningham Brown) and Agent J (James Darrel Edwards III).

So in closing out this reminder of such an important day in history, why not take just a few moments for yourself and step outside and gaze up at the beauty of the stars? Before you do that though I need to you to focus your attention on the Graphics Interchange Format that is embedded just below this article.

Friends, I think it is more than fair to say that Steven Spielberg delivered a game changer in the motion picture industry with 1975’s Jaws. Now it is obviously true that studios were not unaccustomed to having a hit film before that, but with Spielberg’s adaptation of the popular 1974 novel of the same name… Universal Pictures had a blockbuster on their hands like never before. The troubled production on Jaws is legendary as is the fortune it managed to earn, when the movie was released to theaters on June 20th of 1975, on a budget of just 9 million dollars, after its theatrical run was finished the box office receipts Worldwide totaled a staggering 476 million in revenue.

You could argue that Spielberg delivered the first of what we would come to accept and expect of the Summer blockbuster with that classic thriller in ’75. It certainly held the top spot at the box office until a mere two years later when a little film called Star Wars was unleashed on an unsuspecting public. Much like with the merchandising empire that George Lucas helped to create for his own film, Jaws to a lesser extent also had more than a few products released as a tie-in to the success of the movie. I fondly recall being able to pick up reproduction posters of the theatrical one-sheet, featuring that memorable artwork by the late and great Roger Kastel. In addition there were also T-shirts, beach towels (ironic considering how much the film managed to scare the viewing public away from beaches), novelty toys, an LP featuring the score by the legendary John Williams, as well as a rather awesome game by the Ideal Toy Company.

I actually did own a copy of the Jaws game by Ideal back in the day. Earlier this evening though I was pleased to learn that NECA is getting ready to release “The Game of Jaws” in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Spielberg’s classic film. And while the game of fishing objects out of the iconic shark’s mouth is the same… well… I don’t believe anyone will disagree that NECA has managed to capture the menace of the shark just a little bit better than the Ideal Toy Company did in 1975.

You can preorder a copy of “The Game of Jaws” on the NECA site right this second. Here is the official description of the game from their website:

“The Game of Jaws returns! Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jaws with a modern update to the classic 1975 game. Featuring state-of-the-art, detailed sculpting and paint applications, the infamous shark spans 15 inches in length and looks just like its movie counterpart. Get all the items out of the shark’s belly before the jaws snap down on the spear! Be sure to have a steady hand and not get too close to those deadly teeth! Includes over 15 different accessories to fish out of the beast’s belly, including an anchor, a boot, fish bones, a skull, a tire, a lantern, glove, and more. Fun for the whole family to enjoy! Some assembly required.”

Friends, as much time as I spend at the Haunted Drive-In, whether working or taking time to enjoy the films that the Projectionist has pulled from his personal vault to share with the loyal patrons, it might come as a shock to you that my better half rarely gets the opportunity to join me for the evening. Thankfully that was not the case tonight as we were able to catch Osgood Perkins’ (Gretel & Hansel) big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s The Monkey. And judging from the reactions of the audience, they were having just as much fun as we were with the over-the-top mayhem brought about by the titular character.

Just before I share my thoughts on the film, why not enjoy this video from Perkins, who perhaps is taking a page from Alfred Hitchcock with this extremely whimsical PSA. It not only gives the barest of plot for The Monkey but also serves to let you know what kind of wicked shenanigans you can expect from the film’s evil toy.

On the off chance you didn’t catch that video, The Monkey concerns twin brothers Bill and Hal Shelburn (Both roles ablely played by Christian Convery) and what happens when they come into contact with the supernatural wind-up monstrosity that will throw their young lives into total and bloody chaos… and manages to haunt them the rest of their lives. It is The Gentlemen‘s Theo James who easily carries the film as the adult Hal and Bill, the former finding himself at a crossroads with both his estranged teenage Son Petey (Colin O’Brien) as well as his own brother. An unexpected death in the Family brings Hal face to face with the very real threat of the monkey, posing the serious question if it will be possible to keep Petey safe… or even himself.

There are some obvious parallels with The Monkey to the Final Destination franchise, although I would say that Perkins’ film is more interested in entertaining the audience by allowing Hal to continuously be front row and center to ever increasing and hilarious horrors than a collection of Rube Goldberg demises. And if you react like our audience did, you will probably find yourself clapping a hand over your mouth throughout the movie both in shock and to stifle a giggle. But the reason I found the movie to be so memorable and worthy of a review is the grounded moments, Perkins who not only directed the picture but also wrote the screenplay, knows the point of the film is what happens when a Family is broken. Thanks to the dual character performances by both Convery and James you absolutely feel the weight of the tragedy… supernatural and otherwise… that has fallen on poor Hal and Bill Shelburn.

Make no mistake, The Monkey is indeed a horror comedy, but it also manages to pull at the heartstrings while entertaining you with all of the on-screen pandemonium. I also feel that I should point out that the movie happens to have a remarkable supporting cast that is no stranger to the horror genre. The Monkey features Elijah Wood (Cooties), Tatiana Maslany (Diary of the Dead), Nicco Del Rio (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Rohan Campbell (Halloween Ends), Laura Mennell (Goosebumps), Adam Scott (Little Evil), and Perkins (Nope) himself to name a few.

While the film differs in quite a few ways to the short story of the same name, which King first published back in 1980, be rest assured that Perkins has absolutely nailed the spirit of that source material. If you are looking for a wickedly fun time you owe it to yourself… to turn the key and see what happens… after you head out to your local theater and catch The Monkey.

Friends, although I am nearly as old as dirt itself, I have to confess that it freaks me out a little that Saturday Night Live is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. While the first episode actually aired on the evening of October 11th of 1975 – originally as NBC’s Saturday Night – NBC is going to be hosting a three hour star-studded extravaganza for the show this Sunday night at 8 PM ET!

In fact there was an exceptional 2024 comedy/drama about that historic opening night in ’75 entitled Saturday Night that is currently streaming on Netflix – do yourself a favor and check it out. I was incredibly disappointed to see that the movie failed not only at the box office but didn’t even garner a single Academy Award nomination for Jason Reitman (Up in the Air) or any of his talented cast and crew. If you happen to be on the fence about the movie, perhaps you should check out my review I was compelled to write after seeing it in theaters?

Back on point – it is absolutely incredible to realize that for five decades… a half-century… we have been fortunate enough to be able to look to Saturday Night Live for sketch comedy that is often topical, wickedly irreverent, sometimes shocking, and has managed to feature comedic performers and writers that have become absolute icons. Sure, in being completely honest, some of the seasons have been better than others – but I would point out that in over 980 episodes – there are certainly more good than bad. It is also amazing how many times it is the guest host that delivers some of the most memorable sketches or songs… say like this particular ditty featuring Ariana Grande?

Comedy is obviously subjective and trying to pin down a top ten Saturday Night Live sketch list from over its 50 years would not only be a herculean task but I think legitimately impossible – perhaps if you tackled each of the performers from the show it could be achieved. Instead of that though I felt it was more appropriate to share you with the first Saturday Night Live sketch I was able to catch on television. It was from the fourth episode of season one on the night of November 8th of 1975 – “Jaws II” aka the Land Shark. Featuring Chevy Chase in costume as the dreaded Land Shark as well as Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Laraine Newman, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, and guest host Candice Bergen. It was a sketch that I would frequently quote throughout my young adulthood… and still do to this day.

I would absolutely love to hear what some of your favorite sketches might be, let us know in the comment section, but let us take a moment and raise a toast to the first 50 years of Saturday Night Live!

In closing out this article I would recommend you take a look at this video from NBC News – a look back at the early years of the show with interviews throughout the years.

Friends, on Thursday evening I was able to get away to join some of my theater family to catch Captain America: Brave New World. The latest chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and when all is said and done, not only is it a quite enjoyable film but also an important brick in the groundwork of said MCU going forward. Director Julius Onah (Luce) as well as the cast and crew of the movie should be commended for what they have delivered – a film that is not afraid to focus on the characters over spectacle.

Please don’t misinterpret that last statement, in the World that Captain America (Anthony Mackie) now inhabits, you can be assured there are frequent calls to action with thrilling moments throughout the entire film. But what I enjoyed most was seeing the character of Sam Wilson making a much larger impact in the MCU, in and out of the uniform, even more so than we saw in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier steaming series.

Speaking of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, as was shown in that teaser trailer, the film benefits from the addition of Carl Lumbly (The Fall of the House of Usher) as Isaiah Bradley – a “forgotten” super soldier that served during the Korean War. Also making the leap from the Disney+ series is Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick) as Joaquin Torres, who easily steals the show thanks to being so effortlessly funny. While you do not need to have seen the streaming series before watching the movie, all important information you might need is certainly provided, it would be disingenuous to say that certain character arcs are not more satisfying for having caught the show.

As is evident in that teaser trailer for Captain America: Brave New World, Harrison Ford (Witness) replaces the late and great William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross, a former General and thorn in the Avengers’ side, who has now managed to be elected to the Oval Office. In addition, Giancarlo Esposito (Do the Right Thing) delivers an equally memorable performance… as a new threat to the MCU.

If you might be concerned that perhaps the trailers and even one-sheet posters have given too much away, I can assure you there are plenty of surprises throughout Captain America: Brave New World. And while keeping to the non-spoiler review as stated, I really believe that the film lives up to its subtitle, there are some pretty major and important additions to the MCU as it moves forward.

At the end of the day, Captain America: Brave New World is a very solid entry in the Marvel film series. If you count yourself a fan of the MCU, I think you owe it to yourself to get out there and see it up on the big screen.

Friends, the other evening I was able to join the Projectionist and a gathering of our loyal Fright Fans at the Haunted Drive-In for a special screening of 1980’s The Fog. I personally think that John Carpenter and the late and great Debra Hill’s theatrical follow-up to the monster success that was Halloween is oft-overlooked, but it happens to be one of my favorites from the iconic Director. Saturday happened to also mark the 45th anniversary of the film, giving us nearly a half-century of revisiting the fictional town of Antonio Bay… and thrilling to the supernatural vengeance visited upon the inhabitants by what lurks… in the fog.

Besides the fact that The Fog benefits from a stable of fantastic actors like Adrienne Barbeau (Swamp Thing), Hal Holbrook (Creepshow), Janet Leigh (Psycho), Tom Atkins (Night of the Creeps), and Jamie Lee Curtis (Knives Out), the movie really hooks the viewer with a solid ghost story courtesy of co-writers Carpenter and Hill. Furthermore, it must be pointed out that the memorable look and haunting feel of the film was courtesy of future Academy Award nominated cinematographer Dean Cundey (Jurassic Park). Not the last film that Cundey and Carpenter would work on together – besides the likes of Halloween and The Fog, they would both go on to tackle Escape from New York, The Thing, as well as Big Trouble in Little China.

Another important element of The Fog that deserves high praise is the truly incredible score, which was of course provided by Carpenter himself.

Now then, while it is true that I am nearly as old as dirt, I didn’t have the opportunity to catch The Fog when it was initially released on February 1st of 1980, as that was the date for its premiere in Los Angeles with a limited release in larger cities. I did however get to see the film at the local drive-in theater of my youth a couple of months later – as a matter of fact – we covered this fantastic film on an earlier episode of the Saturday Frights podcast. Not only were we joined by PCR co-founder, Rockford Jay, who delivered his take on the classic movie – but we also shared some of the more interesting behind the scenes trivia for the film too.

So in closing, here is to 45 years of John Carpenter’s The Fog – a movie most assuredly worth your time – and a wonderful way to spend a cold chilly evening. But let us remember to also take heed of Barbeau’s warning in the film…

“… look across the water, into the darkness. Look for the fog.”

Friends, during the time I was fortunate enough to write for the Retroist there were a handful of subjects that I would return to again and again. Much like with this very site, I am always eager to share my appreciation of films and TV shows, classic animated shorts, as well as the golden age of video games to name just a few. One of the things I wrote about more on the Retroist than I have on Pop Culture Retrorama though is my love of stage magic – in particular sleight of hand – as was expertly demonstrated by the late and great Ricky Jay.

The showmanship and skill that Ricky Jay possessed brings a smile to my face every time I watch clips of his performances. The countless hours of practice that Jay put into his art is a wonder to behold again and again, in particular I am quite fond of both 1996’s Ricky Jay and 52 Assistants as well as 2012’s Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay. In addition to being a stage magician, actor, and author – I am lucky enough to own a few of his books – he was also a collector and historian on subjects ranging from early automatons to sideshow performers.

As was featured in that 2021 video by Sotheby’s, Ricky Jay was well known for his ability to hurl playing cards upwards of 90 miles an hour at an intended target. This was a skill that began as a form of defense, but would go on to earn him fame from numerous television appearances as well as an entry in the Guinness World Records. It was this skill that allowed Jay to cross paths with another TV personality, author, and entertainer that I highly admire – Adam Savage of MythBusters and Tested.

It was about five months ago in fact that Savage shared his memories of first encountering Ricky Jay and how they ended up working together on the 8th episode of season 2 of MythBusters. Somehow I managed to have missed this video when it was originally released, I just stumbled upon it earlier this evening and just had to share it.

Friends, like many of you of a certain age, my first encounter with Doctor Who was through catching the rebroadcasts of Tom Baker (Little Britain) episodes on the local PBS affiliate. While it was Baker’s memorable role as the Doctor that most assuredly made me a fan of the series, my favorite actor to portray the universe and time-traveling Doctor happens to be Jon Pertwee (Worzel Gummidge). I suppose my love of the third incarnation of the Doctor has more than a little to do with Pertwee’s natural ability to go a little flamboyant with the character, at least as we had seen the Doctor up to that point in the television series. Having said that however, much like the way that Peter Capaldi (The Thick of It) would handle his turn as the Doctor, Heaven help those that exhibited signs of being narrow minded.

You might find it of interest to know that Pertwee first started making a name for himself on radio, especially in the long-running series entitled The Navy Lark. In fact it was almost a decade earlier that Pertwee was already being touted as ‘The Most Versatile Voice Actor in Radio’ – a fact bore out as he lent his voice to at least four different characters on that particular show. Beyond radio though, Pertwee was no stranger to the stage as well as feature films, but it is his turn as the Third Doctor that probably brought him the most fame.

Said popularity being what obviously led the actor as well as his Family to be featured in this 1973 commercial for Bisto gravy – which also includes his actual home if I am not mistaken.

I could do whole articles about Jon Pertwee, it can truthfully be said the actor had something of an adventurous life, from working in a circus in his younger years to being in naval intelligence during the second World War with none other than Ian Fleming. Perhaps though we should just leave that for a future series of posts?

Friends, earlier this afternoon I had the pleasure of joining my better half and visiting the local IMAX to see Wolf Man, the latest take on a classic Universal Monsters picture by Leigh Whannell (Upgrade). We had a blast with this rather gruesome entry in the werewolf genre, in fact while Wolf Man checks all the boxes of what you would expect, my first reaction is to say it sides closer to body horror. Much like Whannell accomplished with The Invisible Man, this latest film which was co-written with his Wife, Corbett Tuck (Insidious), adds a unique spin on the Wolf Man legacy.

As always in my reviews of a recently released film, especially since it literally hit theaters today, I will not tread too far into spoiler territory. I made mention of Wolf Man checking all the boxes of what I think you should expect in a werewolf movie – tragedy, inner turmoil, and thrills. And as the heart of the picture involves a family that is dealing with inner turmoil in regards to both of the parents… you can imagine what happens when you introduce the threat of a supernatural creature.

Christopher Abbott (Poor Things) portrays Blake Lovell, a former writer who is now putting more focus on being the best Father and Husband he can be. Blake’s Wife is Charlotte, played by Julia Garner (Ozark), a journalist who is more than a little concerned that he has a stronger connection to Ginger – their Daughter – and wonderfully played by Matilda Firth (Hullraisers).

When the opportunity arises to help Blake pack up the household belongings of his missing Father, the trio head out for what appears to be a much needed vacation. As you are already aware though from watching the trailers, what they find is a far cry from rest as the Family is plunged into a nightmare scenario – taking shelter in Blake’s childhood home after he is attacked by something inhuman. Even worse for the Family as quickly becomes evident, Blake was infected by said attack and he is rapidly transforming into something dangerous.

I was very pleased by the performances in Wolf Man, especially Abbott, who does a fantastic job of delivering the believable struggle of his character – especially after he becomes infected. In addition the effects in the film as I understand it are all practical, which is refreshing to say the least. It also happens to benefit from having a score by none other than Benjamin Wallfisch (Blade Runner: 2049, Twisters). Having said that though I must point out I did have an issue with some editing choices in the picture, after the movie was over I couldn’t help but feel like there were some important character moments involving Charlotte and Ginger that might have been excised to focus more on the horror aspects.

In closing, Wolf Man is quite good, while perhaps not reaching the heights of The Invisible Man, it is a film that deserves your patronage at the local movie theater.

Friends, were you aware that it was 53 years today that The Night Stalker aired on ABC? A must-see television event that shattered the Nielsen ratings with 75 million viewers tuning in to see Darren McGavin (A Christmas Story) face off against a serial killer stalking the streets of Las Vegas. A record number of viewers for a made-for-TV movie to be sure, a milestone that I believe was barely edged out by the 1977 final episode of the Roots miniseries. Those that were in front of their sets on that evening 53 years ago though were introduced to the memorable character of Carl Kolchak (McGavin), a Las Vegas reporter who finds himself crossing paths with an honest to goodness vampire!

I have talked about my early introduction to The Night Stalker on not only this site, but the Saturday Frights podcast and even during my days on The Retroist. The popularity of the made-for-TV film, thanks in no small part to the screenplay penned by Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) was enough to have a second TV movie produced the following year, The Night Strangler. The number of viewers tuning into that sequel started plans for a third film, until everyone involved decided perhaps a television series might be the best option. The result of which was entitled Kolchak: The Night Stalker, although short-lived with only 20 episodes, it would help to influence Chris Carter when he began pitching a little show called The X-Files. Things would finally come full circle when McGavin showed up in the 1998 episode entitled “Travelers”, sadly not as Carl Kolchak, but an equally memorable character named Arthur Dales.

Now then, as if today being the 53rd anniversary of the original airing of The Night Stalker wasn’t enough to write an article, this afternoon I just so happened to receive my deluxe limited-edition reprinting of Jeff Rice’s original novel from Monstrous Books. You see, Matheson adapted the original novel, which was unpublished at the time, into the screenplay for The Night Stalker. Thanks to James Aquilone, the founder of Monstrous Books, we can once again thrill to the source material, that also manages to restore text that had been excised in other editions – to say nothing of the fact it features a foreword by David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil), an afterward by Rodney Barnes (The Boondocks), in addition to a moving tribute to Rice by Mark Dawidziak (Everything I Need To Know I Learned In The Twilight Zone).

I am pleased to share that this appears to be just the beginning of Carl Kolchak’s return, as Monstrous Books also had a successful Kickstarter campaign for a 3-issue comic book series featuring the likes of Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), David Dastmalchian (Count Crowley: Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter), and Rodney Barnes (Killadelphia) – what are you waiting for – hop on over and pick them up before they are gone!

Friends, with the new year upon us, it brings prospects of even more entertaining and thrilling horror films for us to check out than the previous year. But that obviously doesn’t mean we should already forget about the high points of the genre from 2024, in the first half of the Top Ten list we already covered: The Substance, Nosferatu, A Quiet Place: Day One, Smile 2, and Heretic.

Remember that this list is in no particular order, these are just the films that I felt stood out from the pack of horror films released last year. Without further ado, grab your favorite beverage and come join me down in the Vault, situated far below the Haunted Drive-In, to check out the second half of our Top Ten Horror Movies of 2024!

Abigail

Bloody fun. That is certainly how I would describe the dark horror comedy that was directed by both Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, the duo that brought us Ready or Not as well as 2022’s Scream and it’s 2023 sequel. The screenplay was written by Stephen Shields (The Hole in the Ground) and Guy Busick, the latter having worked with the directors before on the previously mentioned films. Starring Melissa Berrera (Scream), Alisha Weir (Matilda: The Musical), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Kathryn Newton (Freaky), Kevin Durand (Locke & Key), William Catlett (Constellation), Angus Cloud (Euphoria), and the always incredible Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad). With that amount of talented actors in one picture it should not come as any surprise that Abigail is an ensemble piece, but it is Weir, Stevens, and Berrera that shine the brightest in my opinion. And while on paper it might simply seem like a kidnapping plot, the cast and crew bring us a story of second chances and Family amidst the thrills and chills when everything goes horribly wrong and the bloodshed begins. To say nothing of the fact that it was Brian Tyler (Iron Man 3) that provided the score… or even that Abigail earns itself an entry in the pantheon of Universal Monster films!

Trap

Now I can see how this film on the Top Ten list might raise some eyebrows, it certainly has when I have talked with my fellow cinephiles about it. In short, I really enjoyed how M. Night Shyamalan (Unbreakable) managed to give the audience more than a few surprises by the end of the movie, even though the ‘twist’ was rather evident in the trailer from the very beginning. Moreso I was amazed at how halfway through viewing the film, I realized I was kind of rooting for Cooper, who is most definitely a serial killer, in the hopes that he would be able to escape the concert with his Daughter none the wiser. Obviously the majority of how I felt about the character was thanks to the charm of Josh Hartnett (30 Days of Night), but Trap also benefits from the performances by Ariel Donoghue (Wolf Like Me), Saleka Shyamalan (Servant), Alison Pill (Star Trek: Picard), Jonathan Langdon (Run the Burbs), and none other than Hayley Mills (The Parent Trap).

The First Omen

Directed by Arkasha Stevenson (Channel Zero) and co-written with Tim Smith (Brand New Cherry Flavor) and Keith Thomas (The Vigil), The First Omen is a prequel of sorts to 1976’s The Omen. And while I personally feel the film plays a little loose with some of the elements of that original film, it cannot be denied that it manages legitimate scares and features powerful performances by Nell Tiger Free (Servant), Ralph Ineson (The Witch), and Nicole Sorace (Summer Limited Edition). I must add that the strong supporting cast for the film also include the likes of Charles Dance (Alien3), Bill Nighy (The Wild Robot), Sônia Braga (Kiss of the Spider Woman), in addition to Tawfeek Barhom (The Letter for the King). Besides getting the chance to visit the cinematic universe of The Omen once again, learning about what one of the legacy characters was up to, the thing that really blew me away is what The First Omen hints at if the studio happens to make this a new franchise.

MaXXXine

Both written and directed by Ti West (The Innkeepers), I found the third and final film in the “X” trilogy to be a fitting send off to that horror film franchise. Besides the stunning performances throughout X, Pearl, and MaXXXine by Mia Goth (Suspiria), I have been impressed at how each of the movies ‘feels’ like it was produced in the era it was set. While perhaps not reaching the level of Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, MaXXXine deftly manages to give viewers a glimpse at the glamour and grime of the Los Angeles of ’85 – in addition to answering the question on whether Maxine Minx (Goth) is going to achieve her dreams of becoming a star. MaXXXine boasts a pretty amazing supporting cast as well with Kevin Bacon (Tremors), Giancarlo Esposito (The Boys), Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby), Michelle Monaghan (True Detective), Bobby Cannavale (Ant-Man), Moses Sumney (Creed), and Halsey (Sing 2) to name just a few.

Alien: Romulus

This film and MaXXXine were actually the two movies I looked forward to the most in 2024, and as Alien: Romulus also made it on the list, you can tell I was pleased with both. Directed and co-written by Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead) along with Rodo Sayagues (Don’t Breathe), it is truly a love letter to the Alien franchise. In fact I was impressed enough with this entry in the series that I wrote a review of the film back in August of last year. Featuring performances by Cailee Spaeny (Civil War), David Jonsson (Deep State), Archie Renaux (Morbius), Spike Fearn (The Batman), Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold), and Aileen Wu – the sci-fi horror film really is just a whole lot of fun. With the added bonuses of the majority of the special effects being practical instead of CGI and featuring a great score by Benjamin Wallfisch (Blade Runner: 2049).

Before we close out this article on the movies I felt earned a spot on the list of Top Ten Horror Movies of 2024 – let me add links to the trailers of the movies that I believe earned an honorable mention.

Tarot
Lisa Frankenstein
In a Violent Nature (This different take on the slasher film just barely missed the Top Ten list!)
Never Let Go
Azrael
Infested
Arcadian

As always, I really appreciate you taking the time to check out a new article – were any of the films on my personal list one of your favorites of 2024 as well?

Friends, the new year has hardly begun and yet already we are receiving exciting pop culture related announcements. Such as the upcoming release of Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye, the latest pinball table to be released by Stern Pinball Inc., the legendary game company that started off producing arcade games before switching out pixels for the excitement of the silver ball.

There is quite a bit of awesomeness on display in that video by Stern Pinball, although I have to admit that the amount of talented they’ve gathered in the voice department for the table is more than astounding. Michael Dorn (Star Trek: TNG) as Rath the Relentless is an epic choice, as is of course the inclusion of members of Critical Role (Matthew Mercer, Laura Bailey, Marisha Ray, and Mica Burton). Let us not forget the addition of Brendon Small and Chris Prynoski of Metalocalypse, or Gerard Way (The Umbrella Academy), Kevin Smith (Clerks), Anthony Carboni (The Star Wars Show), and even Luke Gygax. Last but certainly not least is the announcement that the music for the table is being provided by none other than Chris Velasco, who just so happens to have worked on multiple game titles from God of War to Overwatch.

While there are many interesting features on the Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye table, I will have to admit that the option to let a Player save their progress in the game really impressed me. And with D & D celebrating it’s 50th anniversary just last year, it certainly seems like this is the perfect time for Stern to release a new table based on the beloved game franchise.

From the press release:

“In Stern’s DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: The Tyrant’s Eye pinball games, players are chosen members of the Dragonshield Guild, trying to defeat the dragon queen Tiamat, who is hatching a plan to rise again, triggering the War of Dragons, with Xanathar, Balinor and Sammaster all fighting for power. Players will experience the game’s fantasy world under the glass, fusing pinball with the iconic franchise like never before.

Battle Rath the Relentless, the red dragon, the most advanced animatronic mech in pinball, intelligently reacts to player action with multi-axis motion and features omnidirectional impact sensing technology. Voiced by the iconic Michael Dorn, players will attempt to defeat Rath the Relentless with pinballs and by hitting the 3-bank target, steal its treasure. When Rath the Relentless breathes his magnificent fire, multiple pinballs shoot from its mouth but be prepared. Players can activate a metal shield between the flippers to not only defend against attacks but also assist with playfield shots.

Enjoy mysterious and exciting features by navigating through hidden passageways, experience an electromagnet-powered gelatinous cube that freezes the pinball, and explore dynamic dungeon levels that are accessed through a disappearing playfield trap door. Other features include Fizmo’s store that allows players to acquire unique items, a treasure chest that unleashes mimic monsters, and more secrets to uncover.

Roll the dice with randomness as players unlock where shots and choices control the path of the game’s campaign, driving toward different story endings. Each path is different for players, spanning from characters to trinkets to weekly items and more; once the game campaign has concluded, additional characters will be unlocked.”

Friends, the other evening I had the privilege to join my fellow staff members at the Haunted Drive-In for an end-of-the-year celebration. The Projectionist was kind enough, a rare occurrence if you are familiar with the Saturday Frights podcast, to screen the recently released Nosferatu. After the movie was finished, the Projectionist and I were joined by Rockford Jay in helping to tidy up the concession stand and get everything ready for the next showing. The three of us started to talk about the amount of outstanding horror films that had been released in 2024 and I got the idea of slapping together a best of list.

I will preface the list by pointing out that the top 10 films of 2024 are in no particular order, in addition I will include a short synopsis (The Projectionist insisted!) and some thoughts on each of the films.

The Substance

An absolutely stunning entry in the body horror genre by Coralie Fargeat (Revenge), it features what I would say are incredibly brave performances by both Demi Moore (Ghost), Margaret Qualley (The Leftovers), and a memorable if off-putting character from Dennis Quaid (Innerspace). When superstar Elisabeth Sparkle (Moore) realizes that she has ‘aged’ out and is being replaced by a younger woman, she finds salvation might come in the form of a sketchy but powerful drug called the Substance. Delivering on its promise of a younger version of those who use it, Elisabeth becomes Sue (Qualley) and takes the World by storm… offering a bright new future… assuming that both versions of herself can follow the exact rules of the drug.

Nosferatu

While being released as the last horror film of 2024, I was rather impressed by Robert Eggers’ adaptation of 1922’s Nosferatu to say the least. Everything from the score by Robin Carolan, to the cinematography, and of course the performances by the entire cast, meld to deliver a truly gothic treat. It is probably not surprising to learn that in this haunting film that both Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse) as well as Bill Skarsgård (Barbarian) easily steal the scenes they are in, but that is not to dismiss the performances of the likes of Lily-Rose Depp (The Dancer) and Nicholas Hoult (The Menu) as well as the rest of the cast. Count Orlok (Skarsgård) is a far cry from the vampiric Count Dracula we are accustomed to through the likes of the classic Universal Monster pictures, a truly evil and menacing presence throughout the film to put it mildly.

A Quite Place: Day One

While this prequel to the first two films in the A Quiet Place franchise might not have been directed by John Krasinski, Director and co-writer Michael Sarnoski (Pig) most assuredly delivers an emotional and thrilling entry. Thanks in no small part of course to the exceptional performances by both Lupita Nyong’o (Black Panther) and Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things), with the addition of Djimon Hounsou (Amistad). The movie provides edge-of-your-seat thrills as the terminally ill Sam (Nyong’o) and unwanted ally Eric (Quinn) try to escape a deadly alien infested Manhattan. But for my money, the beauty however is it does NOT make the focus of the film on the hordes of creatures but on Sam and her emotional journey.

Smile 2

I was pretty blown away by the original Smile when it was released back in 2022, unfortunately my work schedule this year didn’t allow me to catch Smile 2 until it was streaming. After watching the latest film by creator Parker Finn, I really felt bad that I couldn’t manage to catch it in a darkened auditorium, surrounded by my fellow Fright Fans. I truly believe that Smile 2 is an even better movie than the original, building on the first story with a small hint at the lore of the Entity that hides within a smile. It is the fantastic performance by Naomi Scott (Lemonade Mouth) as Skye Riley though that carries the picture. Riley is a pop star who is attempting a comeback after a tragic accident, and if the stress and expectations placed on the young woman on the eve of a tour were not already bad enough, they also have to contend with the sanity shattering threats of the Entity… and the hope that she can escape it.

Heretic

As with Smile 2, this was another great horror offering released this year that I managed to miss while it was playing in theaters. Directed and written by both Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who also co-wrote the original A Quiet Place, the duo deliver a remarkably entertaining and thought-provoking thriller. Heretic features strong performances by Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets) and Chloe East (The Fablemans), but it is Hugh Grant (About a Boy) that easily steals the show with his equally charismatic and chilling performance. The film concerns Sister Barnes (Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (East), two missionaries for the Mormon church, who find themselves the unwilling participants in a ‘study of religion’ when they visit the home of the initially unassuming Mr. Reed (Grant). Without going into too much detail, I was incredibly impressed by how the Directors managed to constantly subvert my expectations of the film.

And that will bring us to the end of this first part of the top ten horror movies of 2024 – the second half should be published soon. Until then, I hope each and everyone of you has a very safe and Happy New Year!

Friends, even with the internet making it easier than ever to find out information on all manner of pop culture related entertainment, there are some interesting nuggets that have managed to remain elusive. Case in point, Wrangler, a television Western that was created, produced and written by none other than Gene Roddenberry (The Lieutenant, Star Trek). A show that aired for only seven episodes as a replacement program during the Summer break of The Ford Show Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.

New information on Wrangler has come to light thanks to the just recently released Gene-ology podcast, which I might add is co-hosted by both Earl Green and Ashley Thomas, two of the five co-founders of this very site. They are joined by the Mission Log‘s John Champion as well as Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry – who have been lucky enough to watch six of the seven episodes at the only place where it still is available – the archives of UCLA! As you will hear on the podcast itself, one of the contributing factors as to why Wrangler isn’t better known to Roddenberry fans is that it was shot completely on videotape, a probable cost cutting measure by Paramount Television Productions, but was shot skillfully enough that it earned a 1961 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Electronic Camerawork.

The pilot episode for Wrangler, which is entitled “Incident at the Bar M”, aired on the evening of August 4th of 1960 on NBC. Sadly this particular episode is currently missing, but on that night 64 years ago, audiences were introduced to a wandering cowboy by the name of Pitcairn (Jason Evers). Judging from this latest episode of Gene-ology, like with many of Roddenberry’s characters, Pitcairn wasn’t your average character and Wrangler… more or less… wasn’t your average oater.

Enough of my prattling, grab yourself a snack and your favorite beverage as you listen to John, Eugene, Earl, and Ashley talk about Gene Roddenberry’s Wrangler – a lost television series that I hope will someday be made available for all of us pop culture enthusiasts.

Header Image Provided by the IMDB.

Friends, over the years on both the Retroist as well as this site, I have had occasion to talk about my love of The Rocketeer. That applies to both the original comic book creation by the late and great Dave Stevens as well as to the fantastic 1991 film adaptation by Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger). A period picture that truly soars thanks in no small part to the wonderful ensemble of actors that Johnston put together – including the likes of Billy Campbell (4400), Jennifer Connelly (Labyrinth), Alan Arkin (The Kominsky Method), and Timothy Dalton (Hot Fuzz) to name just a few.

I was a fan of The Rocketeer quite a few years before the film adaptation, in fact the 1985 Eclipse trade paperback collection was my first purchase at the local comic shop in my neck of the woods – where I still have a pull list box to this day! It should go without saying that I was extremely excited about the release of the 1991 film, I was even lucky enough to catch it on a sneak preview, earning myself a cherished pin featuring that beautiful Art Deco design from the one-sheet theatrical poster.

Coming just two years after the box office success of 1989’s Batman, hopes were high that The Rocketeer, with its throwback to the action and fun of films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, would take off and start a new film franchise. There has been a lot of speculation over the past 33 years since the film hit theaters as to why it didn’t initially find its audience, including the way the marketing campaign was handled to even switching from Touchstone Pictures to a Walt Disney Pictures release. It is hard to deny though that the probable reason was a case of unfortunate timing, as it opened just a week after the hugely popular Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and a couple of weeks before the cinematic juggernaut that was Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

While it is true that The Rocketeer received some merchandising with a comic book adaptation, candy and trading cards, a lunch box, coloring and activity books, some children’s clothing, bendy figures, and even video games for MS-DOS, the NES and the SNES – somehow there wasn’t an action figure line produced for the movie – even though it has been rumored that Toy Biz worked on an assortment of prototypes.

Although I didn’t know it until yesterday, there was another bit of merchandise produced in 1991, a Tiger Electronics LCD handheld electronic game. Judging by the prices that the game is demanding online, this would seem to be something of a rare collectible these days.

Thankfully after sharing the information with Earl Green, one of the five co-founders of this very site, he learned that the game was available to play through MAME. And while of course it is missing the background elements of the handheld game itself – namely the Bigelow airfield hanger in the upper left corner of the screen as well as the Nazi Zeppelin pictured on the upper right – you can actually play the game through all five stages.

And what is a Player tasked with accomplishing in The Rocketeer LCD game? Well, much like in the movie itself, Cliff Secord has to keep the rocket pack out of the hands of gangsters, Nazis, and the likes of Neville Sinclair and his brutish henchman Lothar. Dispatching them with his pistol before they can shoot him as they stage ambushes from both the upper and lower sides of the screen, quite often in later stages at the same time.

The Rocketeer of course can use his rocket pack to dodge his foes, assuming he has fuel, which forces the Player to pick up extra fuel during the stages. In addition, Cliff has to keep his eyes peeled for his kidnapped friends, Peevy, Malcolm, and Jenny. Getting hit by an enemy’s shot or failing to rescue any of those three will cost a Player a segment of their life bar – you can at least gain a segment back with a timely rescue.

While obviously playing Tiger Electronic’s The Rocketeer on the original handheld equipment would probably be a little easier than MAME, I am honestly rather impressed by the gameplay for this 1991 offering. I will certainly be keeping my eye out for this LCD game at the vintage shops I frequent in the near future – hopefully I can add it to my collection for far less than what is being asked online!

Friends, the other evening I was able to attend a special screening at the Haunted Drive-In, as it is Thanksgiving, the Projectionist decided to show 1973’s Soylent Green. For those who are not familiar with my co-host from the Saturday Frights podcast, the Projectionist has a rather… unique… sense of humor. After parking my vehicle, as I was walking up to the concession stand, it occurred to me that our shadowy cinephile had probably picked the film as it does have more than a little to do with food, right?

After the movie, while I was helping the employees of the Haunted Drive-In close up for the night, everyone began talking about their plans for Thanksgiving… I can assure you though the staff wasn’t quite prepared for my answer. Eating tacos. In my household we celebrate the Holiday by always enjoying some incredibly tasty tacos, this naturally resulted in being asked why that was. I believe I have shared in the past, possibly on the Retroist forums or maybe one of the podcasts, how this tradition came to be.

The short answer is… Taco Bell.

Now for the much longer story.

Back in my early adulthood I was an employee of the movie theater in my neck of the woods, and besides a threat of inclement weather, a theater will never shut down operations – even for the Holidays. In fact, Thanksgiving is generally one of the busiest days of the year, after most patrons have feasted they really want to get away from the house and be entertained for a couple of hours.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that for employees at a movie theater, this can cause issues when their own family is trying to observe the Holidays. The way this is generally handled is that you will sign up to work either the morning or evening shift, so that an employee can pick which schedule will better suit their Holiday plans.

On this particular Thanksgiving I was working the morning and early afternoon, with plans to head to my Grandparents after my shift and enjoy some steaks. My Grandmother never saw the wisdom of killing herself preparing a ‘traditional’ Thanksgiving dinner for the Family, it made more sense to her to just pick something we all wanted to eat.

After finishing my shift, I drove to my Grandparents, and joined them in the living room where they were watching TV. After a couple of minutes of small talk I asked when dinner was going to be ready – to my shock I was informed by my Father that they had already eaten. It turns out that even though I had told him my work schedule, he somehow got it mixed up in his head, so there was no dinner to be had.

I was really kind of taken aback and took a second before excusing myself to go and try and find some place that was possibly open. On that early Thanksgiving evening the answer was Taco Bell… and as fate would have it… they were even serving turkey tacos!

I was somewhat in a daze as I ordered and picked up my food, which included three of the special tacos, before taking a seat. I picked up one of turkey tacos and stopped before taking a bite, because I realized there were only two other individuals in the entire restaurant with me. We made eye contact with each other, before giving a short nod, an acknowledgment that this indeed was our Thanksgiving feast.

Taco Bell to my knowledge never offered turkey tacos again, and for all I know, it was just our local restaurant that was doing that. After sharing that experience with my Family though, it was decided by my Grandmother that we would make a tradition of having tacos on Thanksgiving – all thanks to Taco Bell.

In closing, from all of us at the Pop Culture Retrorama site, we hope you have a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey there, friends. A little earlier this evening I was taking a break at work and noticed an editorial piece by the esteemed Megan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting, the subject being how fantastic Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech) was in 1999’s House on Haunted Hill. It turns out that today marks the 25th anniversary of William Malone’s (Creature, Feardotcom) remake of the 1959 cult classic of the same name – which starred the legendary Vincent Price and was directed by the iconic William Castle.

I am actually quite the fan of the two remakes of William Castle films, released under the Dark Castle Entertainment banner, which were House on Haunted Hill as well as Thir13en Ghosts. William Malone, using a screenplay by Dick Beebe (The Lazarus Man), delivered a perfect haunted house romp that featured legitimate scares and an embarrassment of riches in regards to the cast. Not only did you have Rush in the lead role, but you also had the likes of Famke Janssen (X-Men), Peter Gallagher (Sex, Lies, and Videotape), Bridgette Wilson (Mortal Kombat), Taye Diggs (The Wood), and Ali Larter (Final Destination). In addition, you had two actors that just stole the scenes they were in throughout the film, Chris Kattan (Monkeybone) as well as Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator, The Frighteners).

Another element of House on Haunted hill that really shines and helps to set the mood for the spooky fun is the score by Don Davis (Beauty and the Beast, The Matrix). I can assure you that this is one score that always finds a spot on my Halloween playlist!

Now I knew a bit about the release of House on Haunted Hill a little earlier than some, that was thanks to being in attendance at the San Diego Comic-Con in ’98 – where they handed out lenticular key chains featuring one of the frightening ghosts featured in the film. Furthermore, I was working at the local movie theater of my youth at the time of the film’s release – being a projectionist allowed me the opportunity to host an early screening of the movie for my fellow coworkers. We had something of the perfect weather for it too, as a rather heavy storm was providing pouring rain, driving winds and lots of thunder and lightning.

House on Haunted Hill was very well received by my coworkers and not to go into spoilers, but one particular jump scare really made us scream out in surprise. In all honesty though, the biggest fright we received that evening was after the movie, the grisly end credit sequence had just finished and the house lights were starting to rise, when the entire theater shook with a blast of thunder… and all the lights went out. Even the emergency lights had been knocked out – literally plunging the auditorium and the theater itself into pitch black darkness. For long seconds there was silence, replaced by nervous laughter when I suggested that perhaps the spirit of the infamous Dr. Vannacutt (Combs) was waiting for us out in the lobby?

Thankfully our general manager had a lighter on them and was able to guide us safely into the lobby – although the storms raging outside ensured we all stayed inside the theater for a good half hour – which gave us a chance to chat about our favorite parts of the movie.

So here is to 25 years of frightful fun with House on Haunted Hill!

Hey friends, I was lucky enough to get to head out to the local theater last night and catch Saturday Night, the new biopic from Jason Reitman (Juno, Ghostbusters: Afterlife) that focuses on the events of the night of October 11th of 1975. The 90 minutes before NBC’s Saturday Night was first broadcast, which as we now know as it celebrates the 50th season, managed to lay the foundation for a refreshing and irreverent new type of sketch comedy show. Saturday Night manages to tackle all of the hilarity and drama that was occurring in front of and behind the scenes with what I can only describe as an embarrassment of riches in regards to the ensemble of actors that Reitman has chosen for the film.

I am not going to be able to really add anything in my review of Saturday Night that hasn’t already been said – and more eloquently – by professional critics. Those of you who were kind enough to hang in there with the Saturday Frights Podcast know that all I can do is tell you what I like and how the movie made me feel. Saturday Night in my opinion is the best film of the year. Period. If you are a fan of television history as well as comedy… you owe it to yourself to head out and see this picture.

As I stated at the beginning of the article, Saturday Night truly features a stellar cast, although it has to be pointed out that the majority of the film is successfully carried by Gabriel La Belle as Lorne Michael. In addition, the performances by Cory Michael Smith (Chevy Chase), Dylan O’Brien (Dan Aykroyd), Lamorne Morris (Garrett Morris), Ella Hunt (Gilda Radner), and Matt Wood (John Belushi) completely knocked my socks off. I hope that doesn’t sound like I’m casting shade at the rest of the ensemble because I can assure you that everyone delivers with their performances – including other notable standouts such as Cooper Hoffman, Rachel Sennott, Tommy Dewey, and J.K. Simmons.

When the credits on Saturday Night rolled, I turned to a member of my theater family and remarked that it hurt my heart a little to know that the film wasn’t doing far better. For my money, Reitman has managed to not only capture a slice of pop culture history but even a bit of the feel of the era. Take it from someone who was lucky enough to be able to catch more than a few of the classic sketches they reenact or allude to throughout the film.

In closing, while a few elements of the biopic, such as when certain events originally took place and the like have been changed to fit the narrative for Saturday Night – take it from Dan Aykroyd himself who stated his own review on X (formerly Twitter):

“Cracking a Head to applaud Jason Reitman’s triumphant SNL film. Wow! What a propulsive, engaging, funny, beautifully cast and acted, suspenseful, adventurous, music-filled ride. A perfect window into the creative process at its highest level. Pretty accurate too. I was there that night and got to relive it wonderfully again. Congratulations Gil, Jason and Blumie. Don’t miss it whether you know the show or not. It is a stand-alone masterpiece and surefire candidate for Best Picture.”

Hey there, friends! Although this article is a little early, 95 years ago on October 29th of 1929, the Walt Disney produced Silly Symphony short entitled Hell’s Bells was released to theaters. A rather charming animated cartoon that is just perfect for this time of year, a comedic and brief journey through… well… Hell. Have no fear though, this classic short sets its sights on tickling the funny bone over attempting to raise goosebumps. Which really shouldn’t come as a surprise as the legendary Ub Iwerks (Steamboat Willie, The Birds) not only helped to animate it but also served as the Director, which is probably why so many gags abound throughout the short. Ub Iwerks of course was not only responsible for the design of a little known character called Mickey Mouse, but the animator had been friends with Disney since they worked together at the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio in 1919.

You might find it of interest to know that Hell’s Bells was released just two months after Iwerks knocked it out of the park with The Skeleton Dance, the latter short being far better received on it’s original release. Working uncredited alongside Iwerks on Hell’s Bells was Les Clark, who began working with Walt Disney back in ’27 on the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shorts, and would go on to help animate numerous theatrical shorts as well as many of the early Disney animated films. Hell’s Bells also benefited from the talents of animator Wilfred Jackson (Fantasia – Night on Bald Mountain) as well as Mary Tebb, who is credited as the ink artist and would go on to act as the ink and paint supervisor for quite a few of the classic Looney Tunes shorts.

Although featuring classical music like “Funeral March of a Marionette” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, Hell’s Bells was composed by Carl W. Stalling, who had befriended Walt Disney in the early ’20s. Stalling would work on a handful of the early Disney theatrical shorts before really shining in 1936 after joining up with Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros. – where it has been said he delivered a complete score for an animated short each week for the next 22 years.

In closing out this article, I found something interesting on the Hell’s Bell IMDB page – supposedly the voice for both Satan and Cerberus was provided by none other than Walt Disney himself!

Friends, a very happy 1st day of October to you one and all. Over the years that I had the pleasure to write for the Retroist as well as this site, I have shared why the month of October is so very special to me. Halloween is and will always be my favorite of the holidays. A lot of that stems from my days in grade school, growing up a Monster Kid meant that during this time of year I wouldn’t stick out so much. Those iconic Halloween decorations would be put up in the school hallways and classrooms, plus you were tempted by the myriad costume choices at the local stores. To say nothing of all of the animated specials and spooky films that would begin to play on television, event TV viewing that you waited the entire year to catch. Having said that however, the celebration of Halloween and things that go bump in the night, at least in regards to classic variety shows on television – sometimes that just depended on who you had as a guest that week.

Case in point, this clip from The Entertainers which aired back on the evening of January 16th of 1965 – featuring an introduction of sorts with none other than Boris Karloff (Frankenstein, Thriller) in a graveyard – before co-hosts Carol Burnett and Caterina Valente are joined on the stage by Chita Rivera (Chicago).

I do wish that the video had included all of Karloff singing “Chim Chim Cher-ee” but I am just grateful that we could see those three talented performers belt out “I Enjoy Being A Girl” – which was made famous by Pat Suzuki in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song in ’58.

You might find it of interest to know that during its single season run on CBS, The Entertainers started off with three co-hosts. Besides Burnett and Valente, the variety show also had none other than Bob Newhart, although apparently he left the series when the show was switched from Friday night to Saturday in ’65. In addition to those co-hosts, the variety show regularly boasted the talents of Ruth Buzzi (Laugh-In), Dom DeLuise (The Cannonball Run), and John Davidson (That’s Incredible!) among others.

While the series only lasted the one season with a total of 26 episodes, including a special dedicated to the Beatles’ visit to the States, the most watched episode over the years is this one with Boris Karloff and Chita Rivera – thanks to the episode being captured by Kinescope back in ’65.

Hey there, friends. There are those of us of a certain age that often look back fondly on the electronic wonder and glory that the Atari VCS (Video Computer System) brought into our homes. While the console carts are certainly dated in regards to game graphics these days, I can assure you that the VCS provided countless hours of entertainment in my youth. A majority of the entertainment was thanks to the eventual home ports of classic arcade titles like Space Invaders, Missile Command, Defender, Frogger, Berzerk, and Pac-Man to name a few. Having said that however, it must be pointed out that there were plenty of original games produced by Atari, and eventually third-party game developers like Activision and Imagic. While at the time they might not have been able to match the graphics of popular arcade titles, many of these now classic games were able to deliver the goods thanks to gameplay itself.

In past articles and even with many of the episodes of the Diary of An Arcade Employee podcast, I frequently have mentioned how the game cartridges from both Imagic and Activision quickly became some of my favorites. Case in point, Dragonfire, a wonderful and frenetic game that was designed by the late and great Bob Smith and released by Imagic on May 21st of 1982 – although some sources online claim it was in December of that year.

Did you notice that the dragon in that vintage television ad sounds like none other than the legendary Alan Oppenheimer (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Westworld)? Unlike the rather mischievous character represented in the commercial, the game manual for Dragonfire paints the Players as being a little more serious as they step into the shoes of the Prince. The goal is to retrieve all of the stolen and hoarded treasures of the realm for the King, in an effort to secure the backing of an army that will assist in driving out the dragons from the castle itself.

The first task is for the Prince to race across the drawbridge of the castle from the safety of the far right hand side of the screen to the entrance to the treasure storeroom on the left hand side – all the while ducking and leaping over the dragon fire that is launched in his direction as he goes. You might find it of interest to know that in the Intellivision version of the game the Player also has to contend with an archer shooting at him from a castle tower!

While the Prince might be crafty and is most assuredly fleet of foot… we all know that dragons are jealous of their treasure hoards… and will defend a storeroom by unleashing fireball after fireball at the Player as they race across the screen trying to pick up the treasures. As the levels progress the loot that the Prince comes across in the storerooms increase in value, with the lower levels featuring jugs, lamps, goblets, and helmets and the higher levels containing sparkling diamonds and even royal crowns. While the Player can always seek shelter by bolting behind the bottom right hand door – assuming the dragon isn’t faster and burns the Prince to a crisp – the exit will only appear after the very last treasure in the storeroom is picked up.

If you have a little time on your hands, you might want to give a listen to the 2019 episode of the Diary of An Arcade Employee podcast – the bonus episode listing the Top 5 Imagic games for the Atari VCS. Besides talking about the games that made the list, I go into a little more detail on my early experiences with some of the games and why even the package design of the Imagic titles made them stand out from their competition.

A very Happy Star Trek Day to you, friends! It was 58 years ago today that “The Man Trap”, the first episode of Star Trek premiered on NBC, giving viewers in the States their first glimpse at what Gene Roddenberry once pitched to CBS studios as “Wagon Train to the stars!”. An easy enough concept at the time for the executives of CBS to grasp, but Roddenberry also wanted the show to be a look at a brighter future where the prejudices of our times were a thing of the past…. or at the very least easily identifiable and addressed. While Roddenberry had a first-look deal with CBS, thanks to being supported by Desilu Productions, the studio would decide to pass on picking up the show due to Lost in Space. It would be NBC that would decide to pick up Star Trek for their 1966 Fall lineup, although this was after the original pilot “The Cage” was deemed too cerebral, obviously they saw the potential in the show as they opened the studio coffers to have a second pilot filmed – that would be “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. It was this second pilot that really laid the groundwork for a television series that is still enthralling new generations of sci-fi fans today, featuring the majority of the crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) that we would come to to know and love.

While I am almost as old as dirt, I managed to catch Star Trek in syndication, enjoying dinner while watching the almost nightly reruns. You might be curious to know that the first episode I saw was none other than 1967’s “Arena”, that iconic episode that gave us our first glimpse of the reptilian Gorn. To say nothing of the fact that it was my initial introduction to two of my favorite characters from the original series, Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan) as well as Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelly).

But Star Trek Day isn’t just about the original series of course, it is a time to celebrate all of the talented people from literally every entertainment medium, who have had a hand in carrying on that original vision of Gene Roddenberry over these past 58 years.

Most importantly, the celebration today is a time where we fans of all things Star Trek can join together and lend support to three worthy organizations that are working to make the world a better place. You can find out more about how you can help out by visiting the official Star Trek Day site.

In closing out this salute to Star Trek Day 2024, why not spend just a few minutes and enjoy the hosts of the MISSION LOG and other Roddenberry Entertainment podcasts as they share their first memories of the Star Trek franchise. Including two of our founding members of the Pop Culture Retrorama site – Ashley Thomas and Earl Green!

Friends, while you might think there is a typo in this article’s header, I assure you the name of the Popeye animated short we will be discussing today is spelled correctly. Obviously the title is perfect when you think of how the character of Popeye speaks, right?

Be Kind to ‘Aminals‘ was the nineteenth theatrical Popeye short produced by Fleischer Studios, and premiered back on February 22nd of 1935. As it was released by Paramount Pictures, after a quick online search, I assume that the feature film it was attached to was All the King’s Horses – a musical comedy that was adapted from the 1934 Broadway production of the same name.

I must admit that there are a few interesting bits of trivia in regards to Be Kind to ‘Aminals‘, for one thing it is supposedly the shortest of the theatrical animated Popeye shorts, with a run time a little less than six minutes long. In addition, the actor tapped to lend his voice to Popeye the Sailor Man was none other than Floyd Buckley (The Perils of Pauline), not Billy Costello who had been the original actor beginning with Popeye the Sailor in 1933. I personally feel it is a little strange to hear Buckley’s voice in Be Kind to ‘Aminals‘ instead of Costello or Jack Mercer, who took over the role after Costello when he was let go by Fleischer Studios in ’35. Having said that however, it must be pointed out that Buckley was no stranger to Popeye, he was the voice of the character after all on the radio show, which was broadcast across the airwaves from 1935 to 1938.

All right then, just before you get to enjoy Be Kind to ‘Aminals‘ for yourself, be warned that Bluto is somehow even more despicable in this animated short than usual, due to his cruel behavior to the horse pulling his wagon. I am willing to bet most of you will be ready to down some spinach and help Popeye in making sure the brutish oaf is more considerate in the future!

Hey there, friends. I had originally intended to write an article today on the 1952’s Rabbit Seasoning, that iconic animated Looney Tunes short featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd. That was pushed to the side however when one of my fellow Pop Culture Retrorama writers shared this recent game announcement trailer. A heads up on an upcoming theme park simulator… that just so happens to be set in the Mars Attacks universe… I certainly did not have that on my bingo card for 2025!

Now take just a moment to check out Outlier’s official announcement trailer for Mars Attracts. You not only get a nice cover of The Animals’ 1964 hit “The House of the Rising Sun”, but a small taste of the horror that your… star attractions… will have to come to terms with when they realize they are on display for the amusement of the Martians.

Mars Attracts is being produced by Outlier Games, an independent game studio based in Ireland that focuses on strategy titles, like their earlier game, This Means Warp. While the latter is currently available on Steam, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X and S, as well as the Nintendo Switch – it appears that the former at the moment is set to debut solely on Steam in 2025.

The goal in Mars Attracts is to build, maintain, and profit from the greatest amusement park on… well… Mars. That will be accomplished by carefully choosing the right staff for your park, from the janitorial crew to keep things looking nice and clean to the research team who will be more than pleased to observe and run tests on the humans you abduct and put on display. You will also need some security to address safety concerns… when those pesky ‘star attractions’ decide to make a break for it!

While it is pretty obvious from the Mars Attracts trailer that making off with humans throughout the ages is going to be a big draw for Players, being a theme park simulator also means you need to put resources into building rides and amusements that will make those big brains on all of the Martian guests quiver in excitement.

Hop on over to the official Outlier Games spot on the web to check out some of the developmental artwork and screenshots from Mars Attracts, while you are there you can add the title to your Steam Wishlist and even join their Discord server.

Hey there, Friends. Earlier this evening I was able to join some of my theater family and catch Alien: Romulus, the most recent addition to the long-running Alien franchise. While Sir Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator) and Walter Hill (Streets of Fire, Tales from the Crypt) serve as producers on this film, it is Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) who not only helms the picture but co-wrote the screenplay along with Rodo Sayagues (Don’t Breathe, Calls).

So, how is it? As always, I will do my best to avoid spoilers for this review. Quite simply, I had quite a blast with Alien: Romulus – it is extremely evident that Alvarez is having fun playing in the Alien universe. Frequently the movie is claustrophobic, certainly gory at times, and does a good job of delivering a slow burn, but when things get out of hand… they REALLY get out of hand. While Alien: Romulus is its own story, it fits nicely into the Alien franchise, the filmmakers deliver something new while also giving tips of the hat to the films that came before.

Speaking of past films in the franchise, the amazing sets seen in the film look like they could have been transported through time from back when Scott was filming Alien and James Cameron was working on Aliens.

It had to be a boon to Alvarez to have such a talented cast for Alien: Romulus. Cailee Spaeny effortlessly (Pacific Rim: Uprising, Civil War) stands out with her character of Rain, but I felt that it was David Jonsson’s (Deep State, Industry) portrayal of Andy that really steals the movie. Both Spaeny and Jonsson play off each other exceptionally well… you believe these two have the long history together that is touched upon during the film. Naturally, the fact that I believe these two actors stand out in the film is not meant in any way to diminish the performances of Archie Renaux (Morbius), Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold), Spike Fearn (The Batman), or Aileen Wu.

Another element of Alien: Romulus that deserves kudos is that it appears the majority of the film relies on practical effects over CGI. It certainly helps the film to feel a little more like the original entries in the franchise than some of the latter movies.

I should also point out that I greatly enjoyed the score by Benjamin Wallfisch (It, Blade Runner: 2049), who is most assuredly having a good Summer as he also composed the score for Twisters. In closing out this ‘review’, why not listen to Wallfisch talking about the process of creating the score for Alien: Romulus?

Have you had the chance to catch Alien: Romulus yet?

Hey there friends, as Alien: Romulus was released to theaters this weekend, it felt like the perfect time to tell you about the Alien computer game by Paul Clansey for Concept Software. A rather tense strategy title based off Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror/sci-fi masterpiece of the same name – a game I should add I stumbled across back in the day at my local K-Mart for a mere five bucks. I really cannot recall how many hours I spent on my Commodore 64 trying to safely guide the crew of the Nostromo in defense against the deadly Xenomorph hiding on their starfreighter. It normally ended though with my scuttling the Nostromo… losing the crew but ensuring the Xenomorph didn’t reach Earth.

In space no one can hear you scream… in my living room though… late at night, I am positive that my Father heard my cries of surprise when the Xenomorph would pounce on a crew member.

The Alien computer game does follow the basic plot of the movie but there are a few key differences, for example at the start of a game it will randomly select a crew member to have been impregnated and killed from their adventures on LV-246. In addition, the Xenomorph is not the only threat during the game, a random crew member is also secretly an android… who can suddenly go on the attack against the crew.

In the Alien computer game the player takes control of each of the six surviving crew members, the goal being to destroy the Xenomorph or at the very least shoot it out of an airlock. I can assure you that is far easier said than done, even after arming the crew with the likes of electro prods, incinerators, fire extinguishers, pistols, and even nets. The Xenomorph obviously does not want to be found and the player can hear it moving around the ship, up and down the various decks of the Nostromo… with the audio cue of a floor grille being moved aside as it navigates through the ducts of the starfreighter. Which makes the game all the more intense when you have to pick a crew member to go into the ducts, either in an attempt to flush out the Xenomorph or try to locate where Jones the cat is currently hiding – so you can capture the latter and escape on the Narcissus.

Now if the dangers I’ve already mentioned were not enough, the Player has to also attempt to manage the stress levels of each of the crew. Keeping crew members together in the same room will generally raise their morale as can equipping them with weapons so they can defend themselves. Being a strategy game though means that the Player must make hard decisions, frequently sending crew members out to collect gear or deal with issues like a fire breaking out – all of this can easily send the crew from a confident status to shaken or even hysterical. When the crew member is too frightened they will stop following the commands of the Player – even when you are ordering them to defend themselves from an attack by the Xenomorph.

Since I have told you a few of the basics of the game, why not enjoy this longplay video of Alien?

While not everyone is so lucky as to have the likes of the Arkadia Retrocade in their neighborhood, which is where I took the photos I’ve used in this article, you can always play Alien for the Commodore 64 thanks to the Internet Archive.

Friends, over my many years I have found that I must come to this simple conclusion when it comes to movies. I really enjoy cult films and B-Movies, possibly far more than the average filmgoer. Or perhaps what I should have said is that I enjoy genre pictures a whole lot more than your standard big budget extravaganza. Having devoted over 100+ episodes of the Saturday Frights podcast to horror movies and television shows though… that statement won’t surprise the majority of you?

My love of horror and science fiction films as I’ve pointed out in the past is largely thanks to my Father. While it is true that I lean more towards the former than the latter, I most definitely can be considered a fan of all things sci-fi. And a subgenre of science fiction I adore over others is the robot genre… be that comedic offerings like Heartbeeps and Short Circuit to the heartfelt Father and Son story of Real Steel or even the big screen adaptation of I, Robot. Of course we must not forget to heap the appropriate COLOSSAL amount of praise on the likes of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim – which itself is from the ‘mecha’ subgenre – and definitely lands on the side of big budget films.

There was another mecha film however before Pacific Rim that I was quite enamored with, that is the wonderfully campy 1989 picture entitled Robot Jox. Directed by the late and great Stuart Gordon and featuring a cast made up of Gary Graham (Alien Nation), Paul Koslo (The Omega Man), Anne-Marie Johnson (In the Heat of the Night) and even an appearance by none other than Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator). If you have not had the pleasure of seeing the movie for yourself, I would highly recommend you try to track down the awesome Shout! Factory Blu-Ray release or the Arrow Video version.

As I consider myself such a fan of Robot Jox, it took me by surprise to learn that the Propstore is hosting an online auction that features not only concept designs for the film by Steve Burg (Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Spider-Man: Homecoming) but both hero mechanical puppets that were used in the film itself. You can go ahead and check them out thanks to Michael Corrie of Props To History – just try not to get too distracted while watching the video with all of those other cinematic treasures peeking out in the background.

If I suddenly were lucky enough to hit the lottery or something in the next day or so, I think I know what I would spend a little of that money on.

By the way, one of the many absolute pleasures I had while writing for the Retroist was getting the opportunity to submit an interview of sorts to none other than Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, Dagon) as well as some of the cast of Re-Animator: The Musical.

“Whatever you end up doing, love it. The way you loved the projection booth when you were a little squirt.” – Cinema Paradiso (1988)

Hey there, friends. I hope you are all well and doing fine since the last time I have had the opportunity to write anything for this page… which a quick check of the calendar says… was a mere 1,122 days ago. It might not shock you to learn that quite a lot can change during that amount of time, I can assure you, that to me, it feels like the last time I logged into the Pop Culture Retrorama site was a lifetime ago.

So what have I been up to over the last three years? Until last November I was assisting in the operation of what I believe is the best movie theater in my neck of the woods. Selling cinematic dreams, thrills, as well as nightmares one ticket at a time to thousands of loyal patrons – and more importantly – making friends who I am grateful became my extended family along the way.

Back when I began writing for the Retroist over a decade ago, one of the most valuable pieces of advice that he offered was to be true in every single thing I shared on the site. I mention that only in preface to this statement – there is not a day that passes that I do not miss my theater family.

If you were kind enough to listen to my farewell episode that covered the Saturday Frights, Diary of An Arcade Employee and the Pop Culture Retrorama podcasts, you might recall that like everyone else in the World, Covid-19 completely changed my way of life. The hotel I had worked at for 27 years found itself closing down for the first time in a little over 30 years of continuous operation. At that point I was only working the weekends at the hotel, with the rest of the week being spent at the Arkadia Retrocade, but that too was forced to close down shortly afterwards.

Even when things started to open back up and we were all getting our first taste of something resembling ‘normality’, the truth of the matter is that the arcade couldn’t support me full-time. Which is not only understandable but if you’ve ever listened to the Diary podcast, you know that anyone who worked there would make sure that no matter what – the continuation of something as special as the arcade was the most important thing.

As I was not going to ask for more shifts at the hotel, which would have taken hours away from a coworker, I needed to find another line of work. I was fortunate enough that one of my friends at the arcade happened to work at the local movie theater, and thanks to a good word from them I was able to secure an interview with his general manager. I landed a position and within three months I had been promoted to a manager – while this is something I do take no small matter of pride in – the truth is they were hard up for dependable help.

So, for three years I had the pleasure of working at the movie theater. I am pleased to say there were far more wonderful experiences and warm memories than there are negative ones. You probably noticed earlier though in this article that I wrote that I was at the theater until last November… so what happened after that?

I came home.

Another employee had decided to step down and I was given a generous offer to come back, which I gratefully accepted. One of the deciding factors was my Father had become ill and the hours available at the hotel were far more in line with trying to take care of him.

So, my friends, that is what I have been up to since last we had a chance to chat. As to why I am providing an update, that is because I felt the call to come back to the site, I have a little more free time than I did at the theater after all. The site will more or less stay the same, minus the podcasts, I am afraid those days are behind me… on the other hand… I might attempt something beyond the standard article from time to time.

Now then, just before I close out this article, I want to point out the group of talented people who helped make Pop Culture Retrorama such a treat in the first place. This site would not have been possible without the hard work of Rockford Jay, Ashley Thomas, Earl Green, Allison Venezio-Preston, Brett Weiss, IseeRobots, Javier Ojst, Rob O’Hara, and my former coworker at the arcade, the esteemed Gary Burton. Kudos of course goes out to the Retroist, not just for all the support over the years – but for being the definitive voice in all things retro for a great deal longer than most spots on the web have been around.

Friends, welcome back to Pop Culture Retrorama.

Friends, we have a very special episode for all three of the podcasts, a bonus episode as it were, that is meant to act as not only my official announcement but explanation for why I am retiring. I hope you will understand that for the past 12 years that I have been fortunate enough to be considered a blogger, writer, and podcaster…I have realized recently that I am very tired. I need more however than just a break or vacation from writing daily articles and producing podcasts – I truly need to step away from the laptop and microphone – it is the appropriate time to look back at what I, as well as my fellow Pop Culture Retrorama colleagues have accomplished.

As I state on the podcast itself, I am very proud of what Allison Venezio-Preston, Ashley Thomas, Rockford Jay, Earl Green, Brett Weiss, IseeRobots, Javier Ojst, Rob O’Hara, and Gary Burton have accomplished with this site. And while I will soon shutter the Pop Culture Retrorama site and step away from writing in general, I am extremely happy to announce that Earl Green has generously offered to host not only the content on this site – but any future articles that the Pop Culture Retrorama colleagues might decide to write – on theLogBook.com. So, while I am slipping into the shadows, Pop Culture Retrorama will most assuredly live on.

I do hope that those of you who have been so kind as to visit this page, or even remember my work on the Retroist, understand that I did not come to the decision to retire lightly. Having said that, it feels like this is right path to take, thanks in no small part to my new career.

Many thanks to all of you. You have made something that I originally tackled as a hobby feel far more important, giving me a desire to write over 6000 articles and produce over 300 podcasts in the past 11 -12 years. I am grateful for your time and support, but more importantly your friendship.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

“Good morning, and in case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!”

Feel free to keep in touch with me on Facebook or even Twitter. Or perhaps check out the Saturday Frights Facebook Page, and Diary of an Arcade Employee!

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Friends, although it took much longer than anticipated to deliver the eighteen episodes that made up season three of the Saturday Frights podcast, we have finally reached the end of the line. What better way to celebrate the 100th episode of the show than tackling an important movie that we’ve attempted to cover three or four times in the past. While you might consider it something of a spoiler, I will tell you that the Projectionist and I actually do get to discuss 1984’s Gremlins on this go around. In addition I will give you a heads up that this podcast is far, far longer than the standard show. It just seemed that for the 100th episode of the podcast, a feat that has taken a little over six years to accomplish, that we should attempt to blow the doors off our previous episodes.

Obviously with a film like Gremlins, we are fortunate to have an abundance of information on the making of the movie. In fact there might actually be too much information to share, we ended up cherry picking the trivia we felt would interest you Fright Fans the most. Including a bit of information from the Gremlins reunion for Empire magazine, with Nick De Semlyen chatting with the likes of Joe Dante (The Howling), Zach Galligan (Waxwork), Dick Miller (Chopping Mall), Chris Walas (The Fly), as well as Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London).

As I share in the podcast itself, Gremlins was a movie that I was extremly hyped about seeing, when it was originally released to theaters on June 8th of 1984. As is discussed on the show, the backlash from parent groups over both Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as well as Gremlins, caused none other than Steven Spielberg to help create the PG-13 rating.

There is a lot to cover on this 100th episode of the Saturday Frights podcast, but before we get to show, I thought I should give a huge thank you to some special guests:

Ashley Thomas aka The Nerdy Blogger has her work frequently featured on Fangirlish as well as the Sci-Fi 5 podcast. The daily five minute podcast that provides the best in sci-fi, fantasy, and horror history – produced by Roddenberry Entertainment.

We also are lucky enough to have the esteemed Earl Green join us on this special episode of the podcast. Earl is no stranger to the Sci-Fi 5 podcast himself, as well as running The Log Book.com – one of the longest running sites on the internet focusing on everything pop culture.

Last but certainly not least is Rockford Jay, my co-host on the Saturday Frights Facebook page – who does his level best to help me keep a lid on the madness of the Vault. He manages to share his love of retro horror on a nearly daily basis, and I am sad to add is frequently the target of the Projectionist’s schemes and explosive temper.

Without further ado, please join the Projectionist and myself at the Haunted Drive-In, as we discuss 1984’s Gremlins. As always we want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to listen to the show, and hope that you have enjoyed season three of the podcast.

If you have any suggestions for topics you would like for us to cover in a future episode – or possibly you have comments on the current show itself, email them to me at VicSagePopCulture@gmail.com You can also contact me on Twitter and on Facebook. In addition I certainly hope you will take the time to visit the Saturday Frights Facebook Page. There you can find posts from Rockford Jay, Preston Griffith and myself on a daily basis.

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…and you too can speak awful white street talk too!

It’s been about a minute since my last article on Pop Culture Retrorama!

I didn’t realize I hadn’t published anything since my article in May.  No particular reason for why I’ve been absent from the site, but I’ve always stepped back on writing a little bit. There’s been a few things going on in my personal life, some good, some crappy, but things have been improving.  Plus, it is summer, and a one that I have been able to enjoy so far.  Work and life keep my plenty busy, but the wonderful high of words never quite goes away for me.

Hence, today’s article, a follow up to my previous training video foray.  We’re back in familiar territory, the video game store for this one!

ESPN-style play-by-play commentary comingles with the training that comes with working in a video game store.

Hollywood Video answered the unnecessary call to create their own video game chain to lure in soccer moms, those nervous about used games, Soul Caliber fans, and chicks who apparently like Final Fantasy. Oh, and a redheaded woman delivers her “woman on the sidelines” commentary in some of the most awful street talk I’ve ever heard.

The result was GameCrazy, and its Keys to the Game (of selling!) were decidedly legit, but their training video…not so much.

Honestly, as soon as Zelda Scott opens her mouth, I’m embarrassed for her total whiteness, but my husband, whom I watched this with several years ago, was…in love.

Not with her goofy dialogue, but with her.

Ugh!

Anyway, GameCrazy was less than successful at being the next big chain of video game sellers, and by 2009, they were falling short in a market dominated by the big box stores they tried to compete with, as well as some other video game store.  Can’t figure out the name, but it also has “Game” in it.

But before they went under completely, they put out one last training video.  You could feel the desperation in this one, and even though it is from 13 years ago, the nostalgia is felt equally.

Mostly because it looks like the original video.

Can you tell the difference?

As the video begins, we’re welcomed by Greg Beck, and…wait a minute!

That’s the Soul Caliber guy!

Mr. Can’t Sell Me On the MVP Card works for GameCrazy, which means…everyone else in the video did too?

Man, I need to keep going, and see where the ends up.

Anyway, after a Standard Video Game Store Montage plays under distinctly early 2000s music, we’re introduced to the GameCrazy Experience.  He seems soooo excited about the whole thing, as he explains The Experience and what the store has to offer.

And by watching this video, he says you’ll understand why the GameCrazy Experience is catching fire!

Marc Mondhaschen chimes in to discuss the used game market, and why selling used games is more profitable than selling full-priced new games.  He says it has to do with shipping and overall costs.

Used Games must be cleanly displayed, organized alphabetically, and marked with the updated price.

Several store directors and shift leads chime in to ensure new hires that GameCrazy stands by their used stock, and allows customers to try game if they’re apprehensive, as well as offering a 90-day guarantee on the games.

The Trade Zone lets guests know the trade value on games, and also introduces guests to the idea of making money off of their used games.

Then there’s the MVP Program!

Aside from the upcoming Soul Caliber tournament, members get ten percent off the purchase of used games, as well as ten percent more value on their trade ins.  It all comes back to educating the guests on the value of used and trade in games.  This is especially important, since those guests spend up to eight times more at GameCrazy, as well as visit up to six times more than the average guest, they are valuable.

Next up – Pre Orders!Partners should be educated on new and upcoming titles – read magazines, search online, and talk about them with staff and customers.  Staff should always be aware of what the customer needs or wants.

Getting a guaranteed copy of a game takes just five dollars!

You’ve got the game and the console, but you need the correct peripherals to make it work!

Accessories ensure the best setup to get gaming going!  Controllers, memory cards, online play, strategy guides helps guests have the most fun they can have from their newly purchased consoles and games!

Games and consoles should always be taken care of, but what if something beyond your control happens?  That’s where a guarantee of replacement comes into play!

(No pun intended, of course.)

Game Guard and Purchase Protection ensures games and consoles can be replaced if they break or get scratched for one year.  Having Purchase Protection ensures that a console has coverage beyond that one-year warranty a console usually has.

And after all is said and done, Soul Caliber – er, Greg Beck – comes back with “The Rundow,” which recaps everything, and reminds us that a smile, positive attitude, and game knowledge are the true experience of working at GameCrazy.  And he wraps up with the fact that the GameCrazy Experience all starts with…

YOU!

Yes, YOU!

Oh, and there’s outtakes at the end, which seem super staged and ridiculous.

I can’t even begin to figure out how this company didn’t last.  I know it has everything to do with market oversaturation, but seriously, can a training video be the death knell of a company?  I thought that would have been the case with Zelda Scott, but apparently, not having her helps.  The seemingly most counterproductive person ever to appear in a training video was actually the key to a better training experience for a company that probably never had much of a shot in the market.

She certainly didn’t hurt.

And honestly, aside from the products in the background, doesn’t this feel more like the early 2000s?  Couple that with a serious lack of, well, everyone who made the original video great cheese gives this company that final nail in the coffin.

Not even Soul Caliber Guy’s presence as the real head honcho could save this!

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This was basically the end of GameCrazy, as well as Hollywood Video, the company responsible for the whole GameCrazy Experience.  Both companies, which were owned by Movie Gallery, ceased operations in mid-2010, as the video store concept was fading away in a world dominated by Netflix, big box stores, and some other video game store that I work a few doors away from.  Even the video store I worked for in the early 2000s was a victim of the times, closing pretty much around the same time as GameCrazy and Hollywood Video.

I’d like to think GameCrazy has some training video clout, but sadly, that rested in the bizarre hands of the 2003 training video.

I can’t believe I’ll ever believe having Zelda Scott in your training video, calling you names like “Ry-Dawg” and “G-Unit” could possibly save the day.

Friends, it is the start of the work week for many of you, so why not get it off to a fright start? At least we hope you will choose to listen to the brand new episode of the Saturday Frights podcast, with the subject of this episode being a 1985 segment of the CBS The Twilight Zone revival series entitled “Examination Day”. A rather memorable offering from the first attempt at capturing the lightning in the bottle of Rod Serling’s original 1959 television series. One that as I mention in the podcast itself was able to leave me shaken, with the segment itself being talked about in class at school the following Monday.

The Twilight Zone segment “Examination Day” is based on an 1958 short story of the same name by Henry Slesar, who was a prolific author, selling his stories in numerous magazines in the mid-fifties. Although the Projectionist and I discuss it on the show, his writing actually attracted the attention of Alfred Hitchcock himself, which is how Slesar found himself writing for such television series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, in addition to Serling’s The Twilight Zone to name just a few. Which was right in Slesar’s wheelhouse as he was quite fond of delivering ironic twist endings in his work.

“Examination Day” concerns a young boy by the name of Richard “Dickie” Jordan Jr, played by Over the Top‘s David Mendenhall, who is looking forward to taking his Government mandated exam.While the young boy shows no outward signs of being concerned or that anything is amiss, why do his parents Richard (Christopher Allport) and Ruth (Elizabeth Norment) seem so scared?

Without further ado, please join the Projectionist and myself at the Haunted Drive-In, as we discuss “Examination Day” on the Saturday Frights podcast. As always we want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to listen to the show, and hope that you are enjoying season three of the podcast so far.

If you have any suggestions for topics you would like for us to cover in a future episode – or possibly you have comments on the current show itself, email them to me at VicSagePopCulture@gmail.com You can also contact me on Twitter and on Facebook. In addition I certainly hope you will take the time to visit the Saturday Frights Facebook Page. There you can find posts from Rockford Jay, Preston Griffith and myself on a daily basis.

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Friends, last week over at the SHOW ‘N TELL PICTURESOUND VIEWER CLUB on Facebook, a member shared a link to Superman in The Flying Firefighter for the iconic GE Show ‘N Tell phono viewer. Just one in a series of DC Super Heroes film strip and 33 1/3 record combos produced by CBS Toys back in 1983, along with other DC characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman, and even the Justice League.

I have talked about the awesomeness that was the GE Show ‘N Tell phono viewer in a previous article, in which I was able to share some of the other stories produced for the combination filmstrip viewer/projector and record player. A ‘toy’ that lasted a remarkably long time, first being produced by General Electric in ’64 and lasting until the early ’80s, being released under a few brand names. And while I was never fortunate enough to obtain a GE Show ‘N Tell phono viewer for myself, I certainly enjoyed the model that was in the kindergarten class of my youth.

Besides the likes of DC Super Heroes, other ‘Picturesound programs’ included Marvel Super Heroes, Sesame Street, The Shirt Tales, Hello Kitty, The Berenstain Bears, and even adaptations of popular Disney films and animated shorts.

Of course the 33 1/3 records provided in the Picturesound programs meant the stories were generally kept to under 4 minutes in length, with the B side of the record offering music or in the case of Superman in The Flying Firefighter, something entitled Aerobic Adventures: Sailing Through Space.

The synopsis for Superman in The Flying Firefighter is by necessity pretty simple. While receiving an award for reporter of the year, Clark Kent must excuse himself and respond to the threat of a massive fire. On the scene, he learns of a small boy who is still within the burning building, the child was scared by the firefighters in their gas masks and gear. It is up to Superman to save the day and pass along some words of wisdom in the process!

“We don’t get a lot of things to really care about.”

Friends, that is one of the very memorable lines from the recently released trailer for Pig, the upcoming film starring Nicolas Cage (Willy’s Wonderland, Leaving Las Vegas) as a truffle forager who finds his cherished truffle-hunting pig stolen. It seems that Cage’s character of Rob, who was once a well-known and possibly celebrated chef, tracks the kidnappers from his backwoods home to the city. Sites such as Entertainment Weekly as well as others have been quick to compare Pig to the likes of John Wick. Personally I think we are going to see something quite a bit more somber in Cage’s performance when the film is released to theaters on July 16th.

“…I remember every person I ever served. You live your life for them, and they don’t even see you.”

I think that is another exceptional line from the trailer, one that stands out for all of us that have spent the majority of our lives in the hospitality industry. While we do not have enough to go on from the trailer itself of course, I cannot help but feel that Rob might have lost his wife, something that made him snap and has caused him to retreat from society and isolate himself. The only comfort in his life now is the quiet of the woods and his pet pig, who I dearly hope is somehow okay by the end of the film… although I highly doubt that will be the case.

Pig is directed by Michael Sarnoski (Olympia) who co-wrote the screenplay with Vanessa Block. Besides featuring the talents of Cage, the movie also boasts the likes of Alex Wolff (Hereditary), Adam Arkin (Northern Exposure), David Knell (Total Recall), and Nina Belforte (Wuthering Heights) to name a few.

In closing out this article, I really do think that Pig looks like a solid film, plus it gave me the excuse to share that clip from Freakazoid. And as I am now employed at the local movie theater, I will admit there is a part of me that looks forward to a patron stepping up to the box office and saying, “One adult for Pig?”

Hey there, Pop Culture Retrorama fans! Ashley Thomas aka The Nerdy Blogger here, getting back to my reviews of Marvel Comics’ 1995 Gargoyles series. In the time since my review of Gargoyles #4, I was able to secure the remaining 3 issues of the Marvel Gargoyles run that I was missing, so I’ll be able to give you the full rundown of the series here on the Pop Culture Retrorama! 

Let me give you a brief teaser on the plot of Gargoyles #5, and this time, no spoilers! After that, I’ll share a few scans. We’ve got lots of great time capsule ads for this book, so let’s get started. Enjoy my synopsis of “Venus in Stone!”

“Venus in Stone!” starts off with Elisa bidding her younger sister Beth goodbye at the airport. After Beth’s brush with the gargoyles in the last issue, she was more than ready to head back to school in Phoenix. After they say farewell, Elisa gives the gargoyle gang the rundown on the “discreet raid” she and Goliath are going to lead to what they suspect is a Xanatos Gen-U-Tech lab. What will they find? You’ll have to read Gargoyles #5 to find out!

Here are a few of my favorite panels from Gargoyles #5 and some delightful ads.

Beth Maza’s brush with the gargoyles really shook her up, but Broadway, undeterred, had to say goodbye. 

Gargoyles #5 wasn’t one of the books I had as a kid. If I had, I’d have learned the word, “slatternly,” which is a word I didn’t learn until I was in college! It amuses me that this is a book for kids, but it doesn’t dumb down the vocabulary. The Gargoyles cartoon played a huge role in my literary education. I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me that the comic book would expand the vocabulary of its young readership. 

I didn’t get into tabletop RPGs until I was an adult (thank you, satanic panic!), so whenever I run across ads for RPGs in older comics, I always stop to take a closer look. Take a peek at this ad for the Palladium RPG series! I’d definitely love to check out that Robotech book. 

We didn’t frequent our local Pizza Hut too often when I was growing up, so I was interested to see this ad for their “Munch Down Meal” promo with the Mascot Misfits. They look kind of like sports-themed MadBalls to me. Did you ever snag one of these? I’d love to know what they were like. 

Occasionally, we’d go to McDonald’s when my sister and I were out running errands with our mom. I want to say that I was able to secure either the Hobgoblin or Doc Ock toy while McDonald’s had these premiums from the 1994 Spider-man animated series, but I could potentially be conflating these with my Spider-man action figures. The fact that they took out a double-page spread is very impressive to me!

I definitely drank more than my fair share of Kool-Aid growing up. Truthfully, I still drink a fair amount of it as an adult! We were more of a Kool-Aid packet family than Bursts though, so sadly, I don’t think I ever got my paws on these super cool Spider-man collector cards. 

Finally, the back cover of Gargoyles #5 features a promo for Fleer Ultra trading cards from the 1995 Casper movie. They made trading cards for practically everything back in the day and I definitely watched that Casper movie. I don’t think I got to catch Casper in the theater, but I did get it on VHS for Christmas that year. I remember being so jealous of Christina Ricci, getting to kiss Devon Sawa at the end of the film. Then, the lucky duck got to kiss him AGAIN later that year in Now and Then, which I lamented in my review of Now and Then on Fangirlish a few weeks ago. 

I digress.

Anyway, I never snagged any of the Casper trading cards back in the day. I feel like I had trading cards for nearly everything else though!

That’s all I’ve got for Gargoyles #5! Thanks for your patience with me, as there was much more time between reviews than I intended. Stay tuned for my review of Gargoyles #6!

In the meantime, I’d love it if you’d recommend to me a few good episodes of the show Hill Street Blues. If you’ll recall, in my review of Gargoyles #1, I mentioned that Gargoyles creator Greg Weisman listed Hill Street Blues as influential in the creation of the Gargoyles series. I’d love to get a feel for the show and learn more about one of my favorite shows’ influences! 

Leave me a comment, and let’s talk Gargoyles. 

Friends, one of the things about returning to the theater that I’ve had to come to terms with is a strict no cell phone policy. While we of course are allowed to use our phones during our breaks and such, it understandable why they wouldn’t want a patron to walk up to the concession stand and see someone tapping on their phone. I bring all of this up because it does mean that I manage to miss out on some pretty important pop culture news, such as the fact that Netflix released an incredible trailer for Masters of the Universe: Revelation a few days ago. One that like that quite impressive fan made montage trailer we shared last year featuring ‘80s cartoon heroes, makes great use of Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For a Hero”. Executive Produced an co-created by Kevin Smith, prepare yourself for the first look at Netflix’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation, which as I understand it is a continuation of the iconic Filmation series.

Man-At-Arms punching Trap Jaw in the side of the head, He-Man riding Stridor, Tri-Klops causing havoc while flying what looks like a Sky Sled, and an older Orko wielding far more powerful magic than we’ve seen him cast before. There is a lot to take in with that trailer for Masters of the Universe: Revelation, but I have to say that it looks quite epic as well as fun.

You might be very interested to know that there is an embarrassment of riches in regards to the voice actors that have been tapped for the new animated series. He-Man will be voiced by Chris Wood (Supergirl) with the legendary Mark Hamill providing the voice for the infamous Skeletor. It seems to be something of an animated Batman voice actor reunion as Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) will voice Mer-Man, Diedrich Bader (Batman: The Brave and the Bold) is Trap Jaw, Henry Rollins (Batman Beyond) portrays Tri-Klops, and Kevin Michael Richardson (The Batman) is Beast Man to point out just a few.

In all fairness, that is just the tip of the iceberg with the cast of Masters of the Universe: Revelation, but I am happy to share that Alan Oppenheimer who was the original voice of Skeletor in the Filmation series, has been included in the show as the heroic Moss Man. Thankfully we do not have too long to wait before we get to see the series itself, at least the first half of the first season. In fact while the trailer reveals that the animated show will debut on July 23rd, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kevin Smith let it slip that an aftershow will be also be produced featuring many of the cast from the series.

We would love to hear what you think of the trailer, let us know in the comment section!

Friends, for as long as I can remember I have always been a fan of classic animation, whether that be theatrical shorts from Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Silly Symphony, or those Saturday morning and weekday afternoon cartoon series of my youth. That is of course why when Gary Burton asked if I might be interested in being a co-host on his podcast about animation, I readily agreed to join the Toon In podcast. At that time we were having an issue getting our schedules to coincide so I asked if I might use the name of the show for a series of articles on the Retroist. Not just because Toon In is a brilliant title for a cartoon related podcast, but in addition I hoped that it might help drum up some interest for the then upcoming show.

All my joking aside by using that GIF taken from 1982’s The Toy, while the Toon In articles might have been a little more popular on the Retroist than here on the PCR site, we had to put the idea for the podcast on the back burner while we attempted to figure out a proper format for the show.

Having said all of that, you can probably imagine how absolutely gobsmacked I was when the Cuphead game was announced. Combining my love of classic animation similar to the Fleischer produced Popeye cartoons with video games – I truly started counting down the days until it was finally released on September 29th of 2017.

When Cuphead debuted for Microsoft Windows as well as the Xbox One, I was blown away by how beautiful the side-scrolling run and gun title looked, it truly was like a playable classic theatrical short. I was also taken aback by just how difficult the title was compared to the standard games being released. Like legions of other Cuphead fans though I totally accepted the challenge of the game, always giving it just one more shot at trying to clear a particular level. And that usually resulted in my failing over and over and over again…

Even with those gamers who were turned off by the difficulty level of the game, it seems that everyone fell in love with the characters from the title. All manner of merchandise for Cuphead has been released in the four years since it was released, including T-Shirts, Funko Pops, plush dolls, and apparently an upcoming animated series from Netflix. So enjoy this short teaser clip from the soon to be released The Cuphead Show!

That was none other than Emmy award wining Wayne Brady providing his voice as King Dice, and online it has been stated that Tru Valentino (Fast & Furious Spy Racers) will voice the titular Cuphead, with Frank Todaro (Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy) as Mugman. There has been no official trailer or release date for The Cuphead Show! as of yet, but we will be sure to pass along the information when it is made available.

Friends, I am afraid that yet again we have managed to deliver a new episode of the Saturday Frights podcast a couple of days later than intended. In all honesty it has to do with the new job and the strain of attempting to find the necessary free time to devote to the show. Having said that though, we do have a very special episode of the podcast for you today, as the Projectionist and I are joined by three friends on this show. Fellow PCR authors who were kind enough to share their top 5 horror soundtrack picks with you, focusing on memorable music from all manner of film and television shows. I am willing to bet there are going to be a few on the lists provided today by our guests that you may not be familiar with!

Joining us to share her top 5 horror soundtracks is none other than Ashley Thomas aka The Nerdy Blogger, whose work is frequently featured on Fangirlish as well as the Sci-Fi 5 podcast. The daily five minute podcast that provides the best in sci-fi, fantasy, and horror history – produced by Roddenberry Entertainment.

We also are lucky enough to have the esteemed Earl Green join us on this special episode of the podcast. Earl is no stranger to the Sci-Fi 5 podcast himself, as well as running The Log Book.com – one of the longest running sites on the internet focusing on everything pop culture.

Last but certainly not least is Rockford Jay, my co-host on the Saturday Frights Facebook page – who does his level best to help me keep a lid on the madness of the Vault. He manages to share his love of retro horror on a nearly daily basis, and I am sad to add is frequently the target of the Projectionist’s schemes and explosive temper.

Without further ado, please join the Projectionist and myself at the Haunted Drive-In, as we discuss the top 5 horror soundtracks on the Saturday Frights podcast. As always we want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to listen to the show, and hope that you are enjoying season three of the podcast so far.

If you have any suggestions for topics you would like for us to cover in a future episode – or possibly you have comments on the current show itself, email them to me at VicSagePopCulture@gmail.com You can also contact me on Twitter and on Facebook. In addition I certainly hope you will take the time to visit the Saturday Frights Facebook Page. There you can find posts from Rockford Jay, Preston Griffith and myself on a daily basis.

Subscribe to the Saturday Frights Podcast:

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Friends, I have just finished watching The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, not in the theater this time but at work through the HBO Max streaming service. I have been in love with the horror cinematic universe started with 2013’s The Conjuring, which has managed to produced spin-off series such as Annabelle, The Nun, The Curse of La Llorona, with more films reportedly on the way. While I obviously would have enjoyed the opportunity to catch this eighth entry in the Conjuring cinematic universe at the local movie theater, my weekend job just doesn’t make that possible, so huddling in the back office I was able to catch the third Conjuring film with one of my best friends. Which I have to admit I was glad I didn’t have to watch it by myself – because the tension and scares in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It are raised to an entirely new level. As always in my non-spoiler reviews, I will be focusing on what you see in the trailers, but I will go ahead and tell you that the filmmakers and the cast really knock it out of the park with this one.

Both The Conjuring as well as The Conjuring 2 were directed by James Wan (Saw, Aquaman), with the original film being co-written by twin brothers Chad and Carey W. Hayes (House of Wax), based on a treatment by Tony DeRosa-Grund. The treatment was written by De-Rosa-Grund after he was inspired to get a film project in development, thanks to having an audio tape played from the Perron Family case by the real life Ed Warren. With The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, due to scheduling conflicts Wan handed over the directing reins to Michael Chaves (The Curse of La Llorona), although he provided the story idea that was turned into a screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (The Walking Dead). The third film in The Conjuring series is also based on a real life event, this time focusing on the Connecticut trial held in 1981, where Arne Cheyenne Johnson made history by being the first person in a United States court case to claim that he killed someone while under demonic possession.

Just as I mentioned in the recent review for A Quiet Place Part 2, the latest Conjuring film has an incredibly tense opening sequence. We find Ed and Lorraine Warren, exceptionally portrayed once again by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, with the aid of the Glatzel Family and a priest attempting to perform an exorcism on 8-year-old David Glaztel (Julian Hilliard). It appears that they are successful, although it comes at a personal cost to both the Warrens and Arne Johnson (Ruairi O’Conno), who is the boyfriend of Debbie Glaztel (Sarah Catherine Hook).

A few days after the exorcism, Arne is possibly experiencing hallucinations and begins to behave oddly… resulting in the murder of a landlord. The Warrens are contacted and attempt to aid Arne after his arrest, pledging to investigate what they believe might have been a possession, which leads them to the horrifying realization this is not random… the Glaztels were targeted… cursed.

The previous two films in the Conjuring series have focused on both hauntings and possession, the third film however presents something entirely new by adding a human antagonist along with the demonic entity introduced at the beginning of the movie. This naturally ramps up the tension as both the Warrens and others begin to unravel a very dark plot that is affecting a handful of families – it becomes a race against time to try and uncover who is behind all of this pain and death.

Of course the reason that the Conjuring films are just so good are the performances delivered by Farmiga and Wilson, they have an amazing chemistry together and the screenwriters have ground the supernatural elements by focusing on how much the two characters love each other. It is the characters devotion to each other, mirroring the real life relationship of the Warrens as I understand it, that are the anchor of these three films. But you can be assured that the rest of the cast in this latest film deliver strong performances too, in particular though the spotlight should be shined on the performance by John Noble (Fringe), who portrays a character who has seen the power of evil in his younger days as a priest.

In closing out this article, if The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It ends up being the last film in the series, it is a proper way to see off the characters of Ed and Lorraine. I do hope however that we will be seeing more Conjuring movies in the coming years. So, if you are looking for an entertaining film chock-full of chills and thrills with likeable and memorable characters, why not check out The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It in theaters or on HBO Max today?

Friends, the other evening after finishing my shift at the movie theater, I was able to check out A Quiet Place 2, the first film I have been able to watch since becoming an employee as a matter of fact. I had to work very hard to not get spoiled by anything, this was especially tough when acting as an usher, preparing to thank the patrons as they are leaving the auditoriums means that there are times I am standing in front of an open door with the last few minutes of the film playing. With a bit of luck as well as the fact I had some very understanding co-workers, I managed to stay away from anything that would ruin the film before I had a chance to see it. It has been a long wait to see A Quiet Place Part 2 and while I will only touch upon what you might see in the trailers for the film, I can honestly say that I personally felt it was worth the wait.

A Quiet Place Part 2 sheds some light on the origins of the sound sensitive monsters that seem to have rendered the world into a nearly silent post-apocalyptic place. I realize that there are hints given in the first film about where the monsters came from, if memory serves there are newspapers and notes written on the dry-erase board that Lee Abbott (John Krasinski) has set up in his family’s house. But after a pretty intense opening that gives us a glimpse of what it was like when the monsters first arrived in the town of Millbrook, as well as introducing an important new character, the film picks up right after the ending of the 2018 movie. And while the Abbotts might have a way to fight back against the monsters now, thanks to Regan’s (Millicent Simmonds) cochlear implant providing painful feedback to the violent creatures – they cannot stay at the farm due to the fire in the barn and the flooding in the house.

Emily Blunt, who delivers an incredibly strong performance as Evelyn Abbott, must attempt to protect her two teenage children, Regan and Marcus (Noah Jupe), and now a newborn baby in a world where just a rattled glass could bring quick death. It is Regan who notices a lone signal fire in the distant, offering the possibility of other survivors willing to lend them aid. But has a world of silence and the strain of just trying to live one more day without alerting the roaming monsters just changed humanity too much?

That is a very important question posed in A Quiet Place 2, and something that the Abbotts are confronted with when they reach Emmet, played by Cillian Murphy, who is holed up at an old steel foundry. It is pretty evident right from their first meeting that Emmet has prepped the place to not only be alerted of any of the monsters nosing around, but he’s barricaded more than the foundry, the man has done his best to pretty much distance himself from any feelings or connections to the outside world.

Being a post-apocalyptic world isn’t just because of the monsters, the end of the world can bring out the worst in people, even those folks who might have once been neighbors. But the takeaway from the film, which was written and directed by Krasinski, is that there is always hope or at the very least doing the right thing is worth fighting for. A Quiet Place 2 is a rare movie sequel that feels like a logical continuation of the story that delivers thrills and chills as well as plenty of heart. The performances from the entire cast are fantastic but I think special praise needs to be given to Millicent Simmonds, not only does her character carry the weight of the majority of the movie, but she is deftly able to hold her own with the likes of Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later, Peaky Blinders).

In closing out this article, if you liked A Quiet Place, you should do your best to head out to theater and check out the sequel for yourself. Here is hoping that the film will continue to do good business, that way we might get a trilogy out of the series.

Friends, we do apologize about the tardiness of this episode of the Saturday Frights podcast, I am afraid that the new work schedule has thrown a monkey wrench into the usual recording plans. This week though, the Projectionist and I tackle our first episode of The X-Files, that long-running series featuring the exploits of special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. As brought up in the show itself, this episode was suggested by a listener, and after we presented a poll of the Top 5 scary episodes of The X-Files, the Vault staff as well as the Saturday Frights Facebook group picked the 1993 episode entitled “Squeeze”. In all honesty I really thought it was going to be “Home” that won the poll, especially considering that it caused so much controversy when it originally aired that it was banned from being broadcast again for quite some time.

As this is the first time we’ve talked about The X-Files on the podcast, we have a bit of interesting trivia to share about the creation of the series. In addition to some things you might not have know about “Squeeze”, including a little trouble behind the scenes during the production of the episode. Or how the screenwriters, James Wong and Glen Morgan, were inspired to write the episode featuring the mutant serial killer and fan favorite Eugene Victor Tooms (Doug Hutchinson). In addition to how their popular Final Destination film series was based off what originally had been intended to be an episode of The X-Files. In fact I provide a quote in this episode from an interview with Jeffrey Reddick at Den of Geek on how it would have played out if it had been made into an X-Files episode.

Without further ado, please join the Projectionist and myself at the Haunted Drive-In as we discuss 1993’s “Squeeze” on the Saturday Frights podcast. As always we want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to listen to the show, and hope that you are enjoying season three of the podcast so far.

If you have any suggestions for topics you would like for us to cover in a future episode – or possibly you have comments on the current show itself, email them to me at VicSagePopCulture@gmail.com You can also contact me on Twitter and on Facebook. In addition I certainly hope you will take the time to visit the Saturday Frights Facebook Page. There you can find posts from Rockford Jay, Preston Griffith and myself on a daily basis.

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Friends, the fifth entry in the classic Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe belongs to Aegeus – an arch-nemesis of Wonder Woman! While some of the other characters from DC Comics that we have so far shared in this Who’s Who series of articles, I either knew well or at least had a passing knowledge of, I must admit that I knew nothing of Aegeus before I picked up the first issue. Furthermore, as I have mentioned in the previous articles, while The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe might have beaten their long-time competitor to the punch by three whole years – Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, and Robert Greenberger in my opinion topped the Marvel version in both quality and range of characters they featured in their encyclopedic series. The trio managed to fill 26 issues with an all-encompassing roster of major as well as minor characters of the DC Universe, the latter of which in my humble opinion is the category that Aegeus happens to fall into.

The character of Nikos Aegeus made his first appearance in the pages of Wonder Woman #297, which was published in November of 1982 in a story entitled “Thunder on the Wind”. I must also point out that particular issue featured an incredible cover by Michael Kaluta (who I’ve talked about in The Shadow episode of the Pop Culture Retrorama podcast) and also featured a back-up tale involving the Huntress, in addition to a story involving Superman aiding He-Man and the other Masters of the Universe in defending Eternia.

Back to Aegeus though, the character was co-created by Dan Mishkin, Gene Colan, and Frank McLaughlin – although I’ve seen online where it says that Curt Swan also had a hand in the creation. Mishkin along with Gary Cohn and Ernie Colon were also responsible for co-creating the cult favorite comic series, Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld for DC Comics as well as joining with artist Paris Cullins to produce the Blue Devil comic book series. Gene Colan however might possibly be best known for his work at Marvel Comics with the legendary Tomb of Dracula but he would also co-create the Falcon and even Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel. Frank McLaughlin not only helped create the character of Judomaster for Charlton Comics but he worked on the Gil Thorp newspaper comic strip too.

As is stated in the character’s entry in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe, which features artwork by Don Heck by the way (Iron Man, The Avengers):

Full Name: Niko Aegeus
Occupation: Terrorist
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: None
Base of Operation: Greece
First Appearance: Wonder Woman #297
Height: 5’10” Weight: 175lbs.
Eyes: Blue Hair: Black

As we are introduced to Nikos Aegeus in the story “Thunder on the Wind”, it is through a summons of Diana to return to Paradise Island by her Mother, Hippolyta – Queen of the Amazons. She shows a disturbing vision to her daughter of a possible future where many of their fellow Amazonians fall to some great threat, which of course Wonder Woman vows to track down and stop.

The threat happens to be making itself known at that moment in Athens, Greece, as a poor ambassador is brutally executed by Nikos Aegeus. Realizing the murder will undoubtedly attract the attention of the authorities, Nikos and his fellow terrorists decide to hide out among some ancient ruins upon what they believe to be a deserted island. Only to find out that the ruins aren’t really deserted at all, as the single resident is none other than Bellerophon, the Greek Hero punished for his attempt to fly to Mount Olympus.

The origin of Aegeus pauses there as we find out that days have passed with Diana Prince still attempting to locate the source of the threat her Mother sensed. She is doing this in her military role at the Pentagon as Captain Diana Prince but isn’t coming up with anything, which is when Steve Trevor invites her to participate in an inter-service combat exercise between the Air Force and Navy. During this exercise though is when Aegeus decides to make himself known, appearing in the sky atop the mighty Pegasus and striking down Trevor’s plane with a thunderbolt of Zeus that he fires from a magical bow.

Thankfully for Steve though Diana calls forth her invisible jet to help him land his plane while she confronts Aegeus. The encounter doesn’t go exactly as you might imagine as Aegeus is more amused than concerned by the heroine lassoing his flying steed. Wonder Woman attempts to force Pegasus to land but it is then revealed that it can only be controlled by Aegeus. Before she can reach her foe the villain uses one of Zeus’ bolts to teleport safely away, and when Wonder Woman goes to check on Trevor, as the issue ends we learn that Aegeus has whisked him away as his prisoner.

It would be in the pages of Wonder Woman #298 where it is revealed that Bellerophon is merely using Aegeus to help him achieve vengeance against the Gods of Olympus, Zeus in particular. Blinded and shunned by mankind, Bellerophon waited for the likes of Nikos Aegeus to arrive, and the reason he instructed the now magically augmented terrorist into capturing Trevor was to learn the location of Paradise Island. Doing so in an attempt to gain access to the Purple Ray of the Amazons, which can give Bellerophon back his eyesight and even restore his youth.

The conclusion of Aegeus’ origin story was in issue #299 of the Wonder Woman comic book. I’ll cut to the chase and let you know that not only does the Princess of Paradise Island best the still formidable Bellerophon but she also thoroughly trounces Aegeus… after a mighty swing of a tree up against the side of his head. However, the villain is able to make an escape with the aid of his single remaining thunderbolt of Zeus, vowing vengeance of course in the process.

As the Powers & Weapons section of Aegeus’ entry in the Who’s Who points out, Wonder Woman’s foe returns after managing to acquire the six daggers of Vulcan, which happen to be weapons that are able to cut and penetrate almost all objects, including our heroine’s lasso of truth and her bracelets!

Closing out this article, you might be interested to know that shortly after Aegeus was given the spotlight in the Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe, the character was wiped out – one of the many victims of the Multiverse collapsing courtesy of the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series. Since that time however, versions of Nikos Aegeus have made appearances in both the 2010 New Earth and 2015 Prime Earth versions of the Wonder Woman comic book series.

Friends, it would appear that 2021 is a very important year for all of us Godzilla fans. Not only did we have the extremely enjoyable and thrilling Godzilla vs. Kong to enjoy a couple of months ago, but apparently a brand new ride based on Godzilla opened up in the Seibuen theme park located in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan. The ride which is entitled Godzilla the Ride: Giant Monsters Ultimate Battle debuted on May 19th, certainly a fantastic way to mark the theme park reopening, after closing their gates to the public much like Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida due to the worldwide pandemic. Godzilla the Ride offers fans of the legendary Kaiju a unique opportunity, finding themselves caught in an attack on Tokyo by the monstrous and always frightening King Ghidorah. In fact as this short video by Luminous points out, the designs of both Godzilla and his foe boast new designs, although I will have to say I think they look quite similar to what we’ve seen from the MonsterVerse film series by Legendary.

It appears that Godzilla the Ride was filmed using not only miniature vehicles and buildings, which obviously is a wonderful throwback to the early Toho films, but it was directed by Takashi Yamazaki. The director is perhaps best known for his Always: Sunset on Third Street trilogy, with the second film containing a dream sequence featuring Godzilla by the way. But he has also helmed the likes of 2010’s live action Space Battleship Yamato as well as the astounding CGI animated feature Lupin III: The First back in 2019.

Now then, I think to set up the scenario for Godzilla the Ride I will leave you with the press release provided by Sci-Fi Japan:

“Built on a small hill seen from the shopping area of a Tokyo street sits a movie theater loved by the people of the city. The everyday peace of life as usual is disrupted when a mysterious giant creature, King Ghidorah, suddenly appears in Tokyo.

King Ghidorah moves toward Saitama, knocking down buildings in its path. Then, an emergency broadcast announces that another giant monster is approaching.

The park guests are instructed to get into the deluxe armored vehicles of the “Special Disaster Countermeasures” (特災対, Toku Wazawai Tai) response unit. But, when they are caught up in the unbelievable fight between Godzilla and King Ghidorah, will they be able to escape to safety?”

In closing out this article I must give a tip of the hat to Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting for the heads up on Godzilla the Ride. I hope that the video doesn’t get yanked any time soon as it is the only way many of us will be able to experience the new thrill ride for ourselves.

Friends, you might have possibly noticed over the last couple of weeks that I have not been sharing new articles every day like I normally do. The reason for this is I have a brand new job, one that takes up the majority of the evening, and in complete honesty when I return home I find I am a little too tired to write. While in the past, thanks to the arcade as well as my job at the hotel, it afforded me ample opportunity to crack open the laptop and work on a post or the script for the podcasts… I am afraid that type of behavior would be frowned upon at the local movie theater in my neck of the woods.

That is correct, although it has been quite some time since I last wore the vest, I am once again working at a movie theater. Things as you can imagine have changed in the past 26 years, not the least of which is helping to make sure the auditoriums are safe by disinfecting the seating. The added benefit of wearing that apparatus in the above photograph is that you not only get to feel like a member of the Ghostbusters but you can subject your co-workers to numerous quotes from the films.

One of the things I am quite happy to report that has NOT changed though is how much fun it is to talk with patrons about movies while serving them at the concession stand. It has been an absolute joy to see how very excited movie goers are at getting the chance to return to the theater once again, to enjoy the likes of A Quiet Place Part II, Mortal Kombat, Godzilla vs. Kong, and others.

That joy naturally extends to chatting with my co-workers before and after the movies begin, while we busy ourselves with restocking, cleaning, and further training. And when I have been assigned the role of usher, as I patrol the theater sweeping up popcorn from the floor and making sure all is well in the auditoriums and bathrooms – I also like to take a second and look at the movie posters on display in the hallways.

Which brings us around to the point of this article, the other day a brand new poster design as well as a trailer for Disney’s upcoming Jungle Cruise film were revealed. At first glance I thought the beautiful poster below, shared on the official Jungle Cruise Twitter feed, was done by the legendary Drew Struzan, but that is not the case as the artist was quick to clarify on his own feed. Most fans believe that it is the talented Kyle Lambert who is responsible for this eye-catching new poster.

All aboard Disney’s #JungleCruise!

Originally tweeted by Jungle Cruise (@JungleCruise) on May 27, 2021.

The brand new trailer for Jungle Cruise promises quite a bit of thrills and supernatural action, promising a throwback to the serials that inspired Steven Spielberg and George Lucas to create Raiders of the Lost Ark. It also seems to boast some familiar elements from such popular movies as The Mummy, Pirates of the Caribbean, and possibly even 1951’s The African Queen.

Jungle Cruise is scheduled to be released at the end of July and I am quite looking forward to joining Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Emily Blunt, Paul Giamatti, and Jack Whitehall on a thrilling adventure.

From the press release:

“Inspired by the famous Disneyland theme park ride, Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” is an adventure-filled, rollicking thrill-ride down the Amazon with wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff and intrepid researcher Dr. Lily Houghton. Lily travels from London, England to the Amazon jungle and enlists Frank’s questionable services to guide her downriver on La Quila—his ramshackle-but-charming boat. Lily is determined to uncover an ancient tree with unparalleled healing abilities—possessing the power to change the future of medicine. Thrust on this epic quest together, the unlikely duo encounters innumerable dangers and supernatural forces, all lurking in the deceptive beauty of the lush rainforest. But as the secrets of the lost tree unfold, the stakes reach even higher for Lily and Frank and their fate—and mankind’s—hangs in the balance.

Jaume Collet-Serra directs the film, which stars Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Edgar Ramírez and Jack Whitehall, with Jesse Plemons, and Paul Giamatti. The producers are John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment; Dwayne Johnson, Hiram Garcia and Dany Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions; and Beau Flynn of Flynn Picture Co., with Scott Sheldon and Doug Merrifield serving as executive producers. The story is by John Norville & Josh Goldstein and Glenn Ficarra & John Requa, and the screenplay is by Michael Green and Glenn Ficarra & John Requa. Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” releases in U.S. theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access on July 30, 2021.”

Friends, just like in numerous comic books over the years, it is an amazing thing to see crossovers take place in the Marvel and DC cinematic universe. And while it might be more commonplace in the comics from where the iconic characters of the Avengers and Justice League got their start, it still feels like something special when we see it take place on the big screen. However, it was an almost common occurrence taking place in the golden age of animation with many of the Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes animated shorts. Having said that though it generally saw the pairing up of characters such as Bugs Bunny with Daffy Duck, or even Porky Pig and Daffy. And while I absolutely love classic animation, I freely admit that until a few days ago I had never seen or heard of the 1965 short titled The Wild Chase. That was thanks to a post from Jerry Beck’s Cartoon Research Facebook page, my mind was completely blown when I realized it teamed up not just the Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales in a race but Wile E. Coyote and Sylvester the Cat in an attempt to stop them.

The Wild Chase was originally released to theaters on February 27th of 1965, and while distributed by Warner Bros., the animation itself was handled by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. The Merrie Melodies short was co-directed by the legendary Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt, the duo who were responsible for creating the animated intro for 1963’s The Pink Panther film.

I obviously have to point out that the DePatie-Freleng animation style is a little jarring, even when compared with the more stylized approach used by Warner Bros. Cartoons in ’62. And I am no expert but it certainly looks to me like some of the gags used in The Wild Chase were similar to those found in the shorts directed by Chuck Jones.

Doing a quick search online it appears that quite a few fans of animation are less than thrilled with The Wild Chase, especially with the animation. I can understand that viewpoint, but as I’m no historian I am thrilled to find an animated short that I’ve not had the pleasure of seeing before. In addition to the fact that even though they come to an explosive end, when all is said and done it was Wile E. Coyote and Sylvester the Cat who won the race. I am going to assume this was done as to avoid any fans of the Road Runner or Speedy Gonzales being upset at which of the two might have proven to be the fastest?

Friends, it has been a little bit since we’ve last had a Retro Radio Memories article to share with you. I thought instead of going with some classic old time radio goodness though, we would once again enjoy an offering from Michael Hanson’s iconic Mindwebs series. The radio series originated at WHA radio in Madison, Wisconsin in the ’70s and presented science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories by some of the most celebrated writers of the day. Just a small list of those whose work was chosen by Hanson include Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Ursula K. Le Guin, H.P. Lovecraft, Raymond Chandler, as well as Kit Reed. It is the last author whose story is the subject of the episode of Mindwebs today, a science fiction tale with a dark twist called “The Food Farm”.

Kit Reed, who was born Lillian Hyde Craig, had her first short story published in the April issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction back in 1958. Entitled “The Wait”, the tale involves a teenager who finds herself in a field amongst other women, curiously sitting on small boxes, a ritual known as ‘The Wait’.

“The Food Farm” was originally published in 1967 and focuses on a teenager named Nelly. Besides ‘plugging in’ to enjoy the music of a celebrity known as Tommy Fango, her greatest comfort in life is food. The young girl appears to have an eating disorder however, going so far as to steal out in the middle of the night to obtain food by any means necessary, from panhandling to perhaps selling herself to strangers. Her parents take drastic measures to attempt to curtail her eating but have no luck, shockingly resorting to having their daughter forcibly taken away to a most curious farm. Bordering on starvation from lack of food and a chemical regimen, the titular farm is place where affluent families might send their daughters to insure they will lost weight, so as not to be an embarrassment any longer.

Let us learn of the fate of Nelly and the others imprisoned at “The Food Farm” courtesy of Michael Hanson’s Mindwebs.

You might be interest to know that his episode of Mindwebs was narrated by Jay Meredith Fitts. Let us know what you think of the story in the comments below.

Friends, when you think back to 1988’s cult classic Mac and Me, what are the first things that pop into your mind? For myself I would say Coca-Cola as well as the fact there is absolutely an incredible dance number held in the lobby of a McDonald’s restaurant. Which I promise that I will share with you before I get to the gist of this article. Another thing that most people will remember about Mac and Me is the sheer amount of product placement found throughout the movie, that even includes the original trailer, which just so happened to feature Ronald McDonald.

Now if you’ve not had the pleasure of seeing the film before, there is a good reason that Ronald McDonald appeared in that ad. For one thing he does make an appearance in the film itself but the producer of Mac and Me, R.J. Louis, happened to have worked with Ronald McDonald House Charities in the past. To say nothing of actually having a hand in the advertising for the restaurant chain. As I understand it, there are conflicting reports on whether McDonald’s actually co-funded the film along with Coca-Cola – honestly, none of that matters. Because what truly matters is that the Ronald McDonald House Charities received a portion of the money from the ticket sales for Mac and Me. Plus there is that awesome dance sequence that I’ve been talking about… if you want to know what it was like growing up in the ’80s just watch this clip, it really is a wonder we ever accomplished anything we were dancing so much.

Okay, now as you saw from the trailer at the top of the article, Eric (Jade Calegory) develops a bond with MAC (Mysterious Alien Creature) as they attempt to find the alien’s lost Family. Which is why the young boy of course puts himself in harm’s way when the local Police began firing on the confused aliens outside of a grocery store. In the clip below you will see how things played out in the version of the film seen by American audiences.

It is implied that Eric is caught in the explosion in that version of Mac and Me. The Japanese audiences saw a wildly different version of the film however, thankfully we can see that alternate version of the scene. I think you will agree it is pretty bugnuts, it is just all very bizarre that the scene was even shot this way in the first place.

Friends, it was 50 years ago today that American International Pictures (AIP) released The Abominable Dr. Phibes to theaters, one of the absolute best Vincent Price films ever made. While that might be a personal opinion, I stand by it, knowing full well that Price appeared in such classic films as The Fly, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Last Man on Earth, and House of Wax to name just a few of his memorable roles. The Abominable Dr. Phibes is an extremely dark comedy with an embarrassment of riches in the solid cast of actors that included the likes of Joseph Cotten, Virginia North,Terry-Thomas, Peter Jeffrey, Hugh Griffith, Aubrey Woods, Norman Jones and many others. It is a rare film indeed where you will find yourself actively rooting for the villain, thanks of course in no small part to the abundance of charisma on display by Price throughout the picture.

If you’ve not had the pleasure of seeing The Abominable Dr. Phibes for yourself, it happens to concern Dr. Anton Phibes (Price), a brilliant inventor and former concert organist believed dead after a horrible car accident. The wreck that disfigured him and forced him to fake his own demise in Switzerland, was due to the news of the passing of his wife, Victoria (Caroline Munro). The medical staff that were in attendance, who truly attempted to save the poor woman are the targets of Phibe’s revenge – using his expertise in theology to bring upon the Ten Plagues of Egypt upon their heads.

Directed by Robert Fuest (The Avengers) and co-written by James Whiton (Murder by Phone) and William Goldstein (The Amazing Dobermans), The Abominable Dr. Phibes received generally favorable reviews when it was released 50 years ago. At the very least it proved successful enough that it warranted a sequel, with Dr. Phibes Rises Again being released in July of the following year. To say nothing of the fact that many attempts at sequels and reboots have been attempted since, including a television series pitch in ’72 entitled The Sinister Dr. Phibes – where it certainly sounds like Phibes would have used his genius and vast resources to exact punishment on various evil doers.

In closing out this article, here is to 50 amazing years of The Abominable Dr. Phibes, a film that gave us one of Price’s most memorable characters and performances. And if you happen to be a huge Dr. Phibes fan… or is that Phan… you might be interested to know that William Goldstein as well as his son have written a book series featuring the character and his origins.

You might also be interested to know that The Abominable Dr. Phibes was the subject of one of the early episodes of the Saturday Frights podcast.

Friends, we have a brand new episode of the Saturday Frights podcast for you this morning, the subject of the show is a listener request. The Projectionist and I talk about the 1985 Amazing Stories episode entitled “Mummy Daddy”, one of the more comedic offerings from that particular TV anthology series. Although on this episode we might not have been unable to uncover quite as much information on “Mummy Daddy” as we did with The Birds, the Projectionist and I found out some surprising information on how long Universal was attempting to reboot 1932’s The Mummy. Including a rather surprising list of talented writers and directors that were approached before Stephen Sommers was tapped to bring 1999’s The Mummy to the big screen.

Although we have tackled Amazing Stories in past podcasts, both “Remote Control Man” and “Mirror, Mirror” as a matter of fact, we do provide a brief history on the television show itself – including its link to the long-running magazine of the same name.

In addition it might surprise you to learn that Amazing Stories wasn’t a huge hit when it was originally aired on NBC. Not even the legion of talented people in front of and behind the camera, attracted to the series thanks to Executive Producers Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall, were able to capture the necessary audience for Universal Television and NBC to support it beyond two seasons. Although having said that, and as we touch upon in the show itself, Amazing Stories did manage to earn quite a few Emmy nominations.

If you happen to be a huge fan of “Mummy Daddy” by the way, I think you will be interested to know that the teleplay written by Earl Pomerantz happens to be available to purchase on eBay at this very moment. Assuming of course that you have the spare change to afford such a unique collectible.

Without further ado, please join the Projectionist and myself at the Haunted Drive-In as we discuss 1985’s “Mummy Daddy” on the Saturday Frights podcast. As always we want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to listen to the show, and hope that you are enjoying season three of the podcast.

If you have any suggestions for topics you would like for us to cover in a future episode – or possibly you have comments on the current show itself, email them to me at VicSagePopCulture@gmail.com You can also contact me on Twitter and on Facebook. In addition I certainly hope you will take the time to visit the Saturday Frights Facebook Page. There you can find posts from Rockford Jay, Preston Griffith and myself on a daily basis.

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Friends, come this October there are a few things that all of us ‘Autumn People’ should be looking forward to. From the changing of the leaves and the merry glow of jack o’lanterns, to decorating our homes after paying a couple of visits to the Spirit Halloween stores. And if we are lucky we should also be sitting comfortably in theaters watching the likes of the Guillermo del Toro produced Antlers as well as Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho… oh… there is also the MUCH anticipated Halloween Kills too!

But as was revealed last week, there is yet another reason to get excited about October, because it will be around that time that General Mills releases their brand new Monster Mash cereal. A flavorful mashing of marshmallows from Count Chocula, Frute Brute, Fruity Yummy Mummy, Frankenberry, and of course the greatest General Mills Monster Cereal ever produced – Boo Berry!

Just in time too, as this year happens to mark the 50th anniversary of the General Mills Monster Cereals. It was back in March of 1971 that Franken Berry and Count Chocula hit store shelves, with the esteemed Boo Berry making his debut the following year. Fruite Brute as the cereal was originally called made its arrival in 1974 and managed to be produced until 1982. Fruity Yummy Mummy though was actually the newest Monster Cereal from General Mills, hitting store shelves in 1988 and being shoved back into his sarcophagus by 1990.

The fandom for the General Mills Monster Cereals is pretty large and quite loyal, waiting patiently every year for when Franken Berry, Boo Berry, and Count Chocula are released – a chance to enjoy that delicious treat once again. And while we do not know when the Monster Mash cereal will be released this year, at the very least from the Walmart site we have this information:

“CEREAL: Berry-flavored frosted cereal with frightfully-fun marshmallows.
MASH-UP OF ALL MONSTERS CEREALS: For the first time ever, pieces from all Monster Cereals are together in one bowl.
RETRO DESIGN: Classic character designs to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Monster Cereals (including the return of Yummy Mummy and Frute Brute).
MONSTER MASH EDITION: Special edition box that takes you to the Monster Cereals remake of the Monster Mash song.
MONSTER CEREAL HISTORY: Learn when all the Monsters stepped onto the scene and rocked the world.”

In closing out this article, a big thank you to Cerealously on Twitter for sharing the box art for the General Mills Monster Mash cereal!

Friends, Warp Warp is an arcade title that I literally didn’t know existed until it was rolled into the arcade about six years ago. And while it was released to arcades in North America by Rock-Ola, it was in actually developed by the legendary Namco. In fact I singled out Warp Warp as one of the early episodes of the Diary of An Arcade Employee podcast, a show that at the moment holds the record for being the shortest I’ve ever produced for that series. As at the time of recording the episode I was unable to find out really any information on those responsible for creating the arcade game.

When I first started playing Warp Warp I was quite amazed by its seemingly simple gameplay, although like many of the golden age arcade titles there is a beguiling amount of strategy needed to play it well. What I was not aware of when I was first introduced to the game was that my fellow PCR author, the esteemed Earl Green was also quite the fan of Warp Warp. Back in those early days of the Arkadia Retrocade, Earl managed to pop in for a visit with his two charming children, so that the two of us could participate in a Warp Warp challenge. It should come as no surprise at all though that when the dust had cleared, Earl had severely trounced me on the game.

Warp Warp besides being the subject of one of the Diary podcasts was also tackled by Earl Green on his Phosphor Dot Fossils series of videos on YouTube, all the way back in 2019 as a matter of fact. In the nearly 13 minute presentation, Earl gives a rundown on the basics of the game, as always allowing you to check out the game in action while he is playing. Best of all though is that he includes his personal memories of where and when he first encountered Warp Warp in his youth.

Friends, on this Retro Records offering we are going to be revisiting those two mascots used by the much missed Burger Chef restaurants, I am of course referring to Burger Chef and his teenage sidekick Jeff. In a previous Retro Records article I touched upon why I have such fond memories of the restaurant itself, it had a little to do with the fact they were offering 4 Star Wars posters back in ’78, to say nothing of their patented Fun Meal. I should add while the fast food restaurant closed its last location in 1996, it did beat McDonald’s Happy Meal to the punch by about seven years. With the Burger Chef Fun Meal you would receive some kind of small toy or collectible, in addition to your burger and even a dessert. I think those of us of a certain age will begrudgingly admit that McDonald’s really did one better with their Happy Meal, although having said that, I cannot ever recall them offering Flexi-disc records like Burger Chef did.

It wasn’t just because of Star Wars that I was so fond of Burger Chef, as I’ve mentioned before it had more than a little to do with the fact they had a cast of characters made up of monsters. There was Burgerilla the Ape, Count Fangburger, Wolfburger the Werewolf, Crankenburger, and of course Cackleburger the Witch. And while it is quite true that my Father could rarely afford to take us out to eat at Burger Chef, I think it ended up making those times we did visit all the more special.

The Flexi-discs that were offered by Burger Chef were 33 1/3 records, with a running time of under five minutes long, but they did allowe for Burger Chef and Jeff to interact with those monster inspired characters. You might be interested to know that Burger Chef was voiced by the late and great Paul Winchell. Whose voice I think you might recognize from the incredible amount of Saturday morning and children’s programming that he lent his voice to over the years. Just a few of his notable roles include voicing the likes of Gargamel in the Smurfs, Fleegle Beagle in The Banana Splits, as well as Dick Dastardly for many of the Hanna-Barbera produced animated series.

Friends, I hope you weren’t alarmed by that signal in the sky today, I can assure you that all is well and that it just means we have a brand new Super-Blog Team-Up. That time when the finest collection of bloggers and podcasters unite to discuss a subject that is too large for just one site. In this case it happens to concern comic book, comic strip, movies, television series, and even music that relate to doctors. While some of my esteemed Super-Blog Team-Up members will be sharing articles relating to the likes of such characters as Marvel’s Doctor Voodoo and the tortured Dr. Bruce Banner – I have decided to discuss an interesting character from DC Comics. Dr. Thirteen the Ghost Breaker, a man who decided to take it upon himself to prove to those in the DC Universe that the supernatural doesn’t exist, that there is always a rational explanation. That is a big order to fill when you consider the likes of The Spectre as well as the Phantom Stranger are wandering around.

The creation of Dr. Thirteen the Ghost Breaker, who is also known as Dr. Terrence (Terrance) Thirteen is interesting to say the least, a mystery worthy of the character’s “…razor sharp powers of observation and his keen analytical mind.” The character made his first appearance in the pages of the November 1951 issues of Star Spangled Comics in a story entitled “I Talked with the Dead”. And while it is known that the character was co-created and illustrated by Leonard Starr (Little Orphan Annie) and that the editor-in-chief at the time was Whitney Ellsworth (Congo Bill) – it is not known who actually wrote that debut story for Dr. Thirteen.

The origin for Dr. Thirteen presented in “I Talked with the Dead” sheds some backstory on how Terrence Thirteen took an oath handed down by his Father before his untimely death, to embrace reason above all and rebuke the supernatural and expose them as being fraudulent. It turns out that the Thirteen family has something of a tragic history, as their ancestors were accused of witchcraft and sorcery for embracing of science, having said that though it appears as if members of the family are often murdered or die prematurely.

As part of that sacred oath though, Terrence agreed to return to his family home of Doomsbury Hall at midnight on New Year’s Eve to see if he could make contact with his late Father. Bringing his fiance Marie with him to visit Doomsbury Hall, calling out and asking questions that were supplied by his Father – the duo are shocked to hear the elder Thirteen’s voice answering them. Dr. Thirteen however is true to his word, and after a quick investigation discovers a tape recorder hidden in a grandfather clock. It turns out that this was a test, one helped along by Marie, who swore to the elder Thirteen that she would challenge his Son’s oath. Having passed the test, the two leave Doomsbury Hall and prepare to get to the bottom of the so called “Curse of Thirteen”.

Dr. Thirteen ended up marrying Marie and thanks to their investigations into supposed supernatural happenings, Terrence decided to set up operations in an office in the city as a professional “Ghost Breaker”. It would appear that the two had a successful career, one that once found Dr. Thirteen investigating Wayne Manor, a case that eventually revealed a connection to the Man-Bat. Another time he found himself trying to debunk the vengeful and extremely powerful Spectre, which seems like a really stupid thing to do. Things would change though when Terrence crossed paths with the likes of the Phantom Stranger, as he was unable to explain away the supernatural abilities of the paranormal hero – especially when the entity stepped in to save Terrence and Marie on a few occasions.

In the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths era, Dr. Thirteen would retire and begin a new career as a popular writer, detailing his adventures in debunking the supernatural. In addition, Marie and Terrence in the post-Crisis stories have a daughter named Traci… who happens to be a sorceress. It probably goes without saying that Dr. Thirteen the Ghost Breaker is less than thrilled about this situation, right?

Check in on the other Super-Blog Team-Up participants and their “THE DOCTOR IS IN” offerings:

Between The Pages Blog: The World’s Most Popular Football Holder & Psychiatrist – Lucy van Pelt

Daves Comics Blog – The Immortal Dr. Fate

Magazines and Monsters: Doctor Voodoo

Comics Comics Comics – The Power Of Podcasting and Doctor Who

Radulich in Broadcasting Network – Doctor Doolittle 1998 & 2001

Metal Hammer Of Doom: Motley Crew: Doctor Feelgood

Asterisk51- Doctor Bong: For Whom the Bell Tolls

SuperHero Satellite – The 1970s Incredible Hulk Television Series: The Lonely and Tragic Life Of Doctor David Banner

Friends, in this day and age when the internet makes nearly everything known, it is indeed a joy to be able to stumble upon little nuggets of pop culture goodness you haven’t seen before. Case in point is this public service announcement, which originally aired in May of 1967 in the United Kingdom and focuses on the subject of road safety. It happens to feature none other than Adam West as the Caped Crusader , yes, we can now thrill to Batman demonstrating the Kerb Drill aka the Green Cross Code with the help of some willing British children.

At the time of the Kerb Drill’s release, the extremely popular Batman television series had probably just wrapped up its second season on ABC. Adam West’s appearance as Batman in this public service announcement probably has something to do with the fact that Batman: The Movie had been released in the UK in December of ’66. Although with the popularity of the television show, which was shown on Saturday and Sunday afternoons in the UK, is it any wonder that they recruited Adam West to speak to the kids about road safety?

Within the brief minute long PSA, Batman kindly explains that he has taken a quick holiday from Gotham City, to take in the sights of London and enjoy a breather from crime fighting as well. Although the Caped Crusader wants children to know that there is one danger they can never take a break from, the daily threat of vehicular traffic, and the need for them to obey traffic laws. Obviously it is up to Batman to explain the importance of the Kerb Drill, demonstrating it to a group of nearby children.

Not only is the Kerb Drill PSA rather charming and delightful, it was also considered for quite a while to be lost. It was in fact uncovered by the Birmingham based Kaleidoscope organization, a group dedicated to tracking down lost UK television rarities such as this public service announcement. Which as I understand it, when first shared in 2018 it marked the first time in 50 years that the Kerb Drill PSA was seen by the public at large.

Friends, we are shining the spotlight today on Adam Strange, the fourth entry in the fondly remembered Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe encyclopedic series. Not to belittle the other entries featured in our series of Who’s Who articles so far, but my initial feelings when I realized we would be tackling this science fiction hero is to state that we finally have our first entry in that 1985 compendium that isn’t a B-list character. Having said that though, while I truly love the character of Adam Strange, I will have to admit that he was probably seen as a second-stringer in the DC Universe by both fans as well as his creators. But that was what made the Who’s Who series so great – for 26 issues – Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and Robert Greenberger made sure that many such characters were honored with an entry. As a way to celebrate those artists and writers who had helped forge the legacy of DC Comics fifty years earlier at the time Who’s Who was published. And as would be proven in Adam Strange’s first appearance, he certainly lived up to his moniker of ‘The Man of Two Worlds’.

Adam Strange was created by Julius ‘Julie’ Schwartz and Murphy Anderson, first appearing in Showcase #17 in a story entitled “Secret of the Eternal City” from back in 1958. Schwartz was a legendary editor – with some notable personal issues I am sad to say – who helped to usher in the Silver Age version of the Flash and Green Lantern. In addition he helped both Dennis “Denny” O’Neil and Neal Adams make their mark with none other than Batman. Anderson had a long history with DC Comics and was a very well regarded inker, it turns out he had first crack at the cover of Showcase #17, but Schwartz rejected it, instead getting the equally legendary Gil Kane to step in and provide the artwork that graced the comic itself. However Schwartz did like the costume design that Anderson came up with and it’s more or less stayed the same since 1958.

Interestingly enough the creation of Adam Strange came about due to a mandate by editorial director Irwin Donenfield, as he felt that DC Comics needed some new heroes, science-fiction ones at that. So he presented a choice to both Schwartz and fellow editor Jack Schiff, one of the men would help create a sci-fi hero set in present day and the other would tackle a character that hailed from the far future. Schiff had first choice and chose to go with the future hero, co-creating Rick Starr aka Space Ranger, along with writers Edward Hamilton, Gardner Fox, and artist Bob Brown.

Schwartz, after giving the task of writing the Adam Strange stories to Fox for Showcase #17 through #19, then gave the penciling job to Mike Sekowsky. It was perhaps a surprise to all involved when Adam Strange wound up capturing the interest of the readers, so much so that he began a long run in the series entitled Mystery in Space (47 issues straight). The art chores for that comic book series went to none other than Carmine Infantino, with inking handled by Murphy Anderson. As a matter of fact the two also provided the illustration used for Strange’s entry in the Who’s Who.

As stated in the entry for the first volume of the Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe:

Alter Ego: Adam Strange
Occupation: Archaeologist
Marital Status: Married
Known Relatives: Alanna (Wife), Sardath (father-in-law)
Group Affiliation: None
Base of Operations: Ranagar, City on Rann, third planet of Alpha Centauri
First Appearance: SHOWCASE #17
Height: 6′ Weight: 175lbs.
Eyes: Blue Hair: Blond

We are introduced to Adam Strange in “Secret of the Eternal City” moments after the archaeologist has discovered the lost Inca city of Caramanga – deep in the jungles of Peru. Exploring the ancient city, Adam manages to find the buried treasure of the last Emperor of the Incas – Atahualpa. Seconds later though his joy at discovering such a find is soured when some understandably angry Incas decide to halt any attempt at his sharing the news… by hurling spears and firing arrows at him. Adam begins running and dodging the projectiles, stopping momentarily at the edge of a cliff before deciding to take his chances by leaping across the chasm. Which is fortuitous as at the height of his frantic jump for safety from the Incas he is struck by what we will later learn is a Zeta-Beam.

Strange finds himself whisked from the jungles of Peru to the jungles of Rann, with his life still in peril as a dinosaur-like beast chases him. Suddenly a futuristic flying vehicle appears and manages to capture the beast with a giant net in the nick of time. It is then that Adam comes face to face with his first citizen from the city of Ranagar, Alanna, the daughter of the brilliant scientist known as Sardath. Strange senses that Alanna means him no harm even though he can’t actually understand her language, and finds himself being flown back to the city, where thanks to a device called the Menticizer he instantly learns their language. After spending a little time answering questions from Sardath – Adam learns that the Zeta-Beam was originally intended as a means of communication between Rann and the Earth.

After explaining to Strange the reason for his arrival on Rann, Alanna is more than happy to give Adam a tour of some the cities and features of the planet. While in an open market the duo are shocked to see the arrival of three space craft, it turns out that Rann has no spaceships of its own, and quickly the vessels begin to launch an attack. They turn out to be an alien invading race known as the Eternals, because they gained eternal life from a metal called Vitatron, collected from a meteor that crashed on their home planet in the past. Unfortunately overuse throughout the centuries has depleted the precious ore, they have arrived on Rann because their sensors are picking up a deposit of the metal somewhere on the planet. Alanna informs Strange that she has a theory that the desired metal is located in the city of Samakand, a mysterious place that appears for a brief period of time every 25 years.

The young Woman is quite correct and the scientists of Samakand reveal they do have a block of Vitatron in their possession. They too have used it to prolong their own life but in the hopes that one day upon their return to Rann they will find conflict and war completely eliminated. With the threat of the Eternals as they arrive at Samakand to claim the Vitatron, the scientist decide to aid Alanna and Strange by lending them an experimental vessel that can travel into the fourth dimension. Strange leads the Eternals on a chase into the fourth dimension, both Adam and Alanna abandon the vessel, landing safely thanks to personal jet packs. Leaving the aggressive alien race trapped in the fourth dimension courtesy of the tech of the scientists of Samakand.

Perhaps Adam Strange would be celebrated as a hero of Rann upon his return with Alanna, but it’s then that the Zeta-Beam wears off and he is transported back to the jungles of Peru. As “Secret of the Eternal City” comes to an end, we can take some small comfort in the knowledge that Strange was at least given the location of the next Zeta-Beam strike. Knowing that soon Adam will be able to see Alanna and Sardath once again and experience a new intergalactic adventure on the planet Rann!

Friends, back in 1997 when director Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop) released Starship Troopers to theaters, he and screenwriter Edward Neumeier were doing more than delivering an adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s classic if controversial science fiction novel of the same name. In fact it seemed to me while sitting in the auditorium on opening night that the filmmakers had actually delivered a subversively black comedy, which was managing to tweak the nose of the source material itself a little. Having said that however it certainly felt like I was in the minority when reading the reviews for the film, it seemed like a few critics were missing the point of how Neumeier and Verhoeven were showing the rather alarming fascist nature of the Terran Federation – from the symbols and uniforms of the military to those memorable “Would You Like To Know More” ads.

Besides some incredible CGI and practical effects, Starship Troopers also happened to feature a pretty talented cast of actors from Clancy Brown (The Mortuary Collection), Michael Ironside (Scanners), Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), Jake Busey (The Frighteners), Dina Meyer (DragonHeart), and Casper Van Dien (Sleepy Hollow) to name a few.

However, as this short film entitled Far Alamo proves, with the use of digital effects we can see the likes of Clint Eastwood as well as other iconic and legendary western film stars attempt to defend a future Alamo from an invasion of Arachnids!

Far Alamo is courtesy of Fabrice Mathieu who took elements and characters from such films as both the 1960 The Alamo and the criminally overlooked 2004 version. In addition to A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, My Name is Nobody, and The Magnificent Seven among others.

Besides using obvious captures from Starship Troopers, Mathieu also incorporated elements from the direct-to-DVD Starship Troopers: Marauder and the CGI animated Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars. To say nothing of editing themes from movies composed by James Horner, Ennio Morricone, and Dimitri Tiomkin. Although it was rather surprising that Mathieu didn’t take the opportunity to share some of exceptional score from Starship Troopers by the late and great Basil Poledouris.

Perhaps it is a case that Mathieu figured that the score from the film didn’t exactly fit the western motif of his short film?

Friends, this week in particular has been extremely busy for me due to my work schedule, a reason that this week’s Saturday Frights podcast is unfortunately running late. I bring this up as it is my excuse for not being aware that a teaser trailer for Stranger Things season 4 had been released on YouTube. It was thanks to Rockford Jay, my fellow Pop Culture Retrorama colleague and contributor, who was kind enough to throw me a link to the trailer. Although there is probably very little chance that we will be lucky enough to catch the fourth season of Stranger Things on Netflix this year – you should probably consider the teaser videos below as definite SPOILER territory.

It certainly seems like some of the storyline for Stranger Things Season 4 is going to delve into the backstory of Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) at the former Hawkins National Laboratory. And while we were introduced to Eight (Linnea Berthelsen) in the second season of the incredibly popular Netflix series, that teaser hinted at there being quite a few ‘special’ children in Dr. Martin Brenner’s (Matthew Modine) ‘care’. In fact although it might prove to be nothing more than a red herring, it seems like the shot below hints at something important – as the slots that are filled include the numbers four, seven, and eight.

In addition to the Magic 8-Ball featured in the teaser trailer, it appears that the camera lingers on the child stacking the red blocks, actually there is a lot of red, right? As a matter of fact that fortune-telling toy and other items the children were playing with can briefly be seen in this short Hawkins National Laboratory video that was uploaded on Wednesday – as well as some disturbing imagery from the “Rainbow Room”.

Although I am not exactly sure that the Duffer Brothers and Netflix are trying to give us a clue to the new season – I should point out that in the description of the video it simply states:

“002/004”

Which could very well just mean this is the second Stranger Things Season 4 trailer, or perhaps it is a mistake and it hints that we are getting two more glimpses at the upcoming series? Whatever the reason for the mystery, I am grateful to have the chance to get excited about a new season of Stranger Things.

Friends, the other evening as I was closing things down for the night here at the Vault, Rockford Jay happened to share a YouTube video for 1959’s “El Paso” by Marty Robbins. The Grammy Award winning tune that tells the story of a gunslinger who slays another cowboy over the affections of Feleena, a dancer at Rosa’s Cantina, and in turn is gunned down himself later by a posse when he attempts to return to her. The song was written by Robbins and was included on his October 1959 album entitled Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, released as a single the following month with “The Running Gun” featured on the B-Side.

I am sure that there are a lot of you Fallout: New Vegas fans out that remember hearing Robbins’ song “Big Iron” on your Pip-Boy 3000 courtesy of Radio New Vegas, Mojave Music Radio, and the Black Mountain Radio stations. I bring that up as that was one of the twelve songs featured on Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, along with “Cool Water”, which you might be familiar with if you’ve seen 2018’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Although that stunning soundtrack features a cover by the esteemed Tim Blake Nelson, who portrays the titular character of the film.

You might find it interesting that it has been said that Robbins named the character of Feleena after a friend of his in school, although I highly doubt that the future songwriter and singer had to ever slap leather in his youth. As a matter of fact Marty Robbins would go on to write two more songs focusing on the events of “El Paso”. Starting with 1966’s “Feleena (From El Paso)”, the songwriter tells the early life and tragic fate of the dancer at Rosa’s Cantina – spoiler – but she picks up the gun of her lover and kills herself. Although it would seem that the two are reunited of sorts, they can be said to wander the town forevermore as spirits – heard by the townsfolk but never seen.

With 1976’s “El Paso City”, the songwriter basically recaps the events of the first song as he is flying over the city, mentioning that he remembers hearing the tune long ago. As the song continues though it is revealed that he seems to be the reincarnated gunslinger, as he’s never been to the city but he knows the old paths that the cowboy traveled on. In addition to frequently hearing a voice calling him to El Paso City – with another voice warning him that he might find his death there.

While “El Paso” continues to be a popular song, it was back in 1980 for an NBC special entitled Comedy Is Not Pretty! that Steve Martin proved that the tune could be improved on by adding chimpanzees, an elephant, Shetland ponies, and an Orangutan.

Friends, as most of you are already aware, today happens to be May the 4th – that day when the majority of fans choose to celebrate the lasting legacy of the Star Wars franchise. The celebration also seems to manage to tempt many of us to pry open our wallets for some fantastic merchandise, to say nothing of the fact that Disney+ has released both a brand new Star Wars inspired short for The Simpsons as well as the eagerly awaited first episode of the Star Wars: The Bad Batch animated series.

Originally I had played around with the idea of naming these new articles something like Pop Culture Combat, a silly tip of the hat to the likes of Mortal Kombat, but after talking it over with my fellow Pop Culture Retrorama Colleagues… we agreed that was a rather aggressive name to use, right?

So, with these Pop Culture Poll articles we will be taking two Pop Culture characters or properties, talk a bit about them (which is no different from what we usually do) and ask you the reader to tell us in the comments or on social media which is the winner in the proposed situation. And as today is May the 4th, I thought the first poll should be between two of the feared bounty heroes that were first introduced in 1980’s Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.

The Corellian bounty hunter known as Dengar is widely recognized for leaving a path of destruction in his wake while hunting his targets. Thanks to the excellent Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, we learn that Dengar and Bossk were working as bounty hunters during the three-year war that took place between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. In fact the duo worked for the bounty hunter syndicate on Tatooine known as Krayt’s Claw, along with the teenage Boba Fett who was the leader of the group.

Dengar it would seem as the Galactic Civil War came to an end had no qualms with augmenting his natural talents, honed as a gladiator in his early years, by undergoing cybernetic improvements. And while it has not been stated outright, there is a character in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker that bears a striking resemblance to Dengar, but is called Rothgar Deng.

The feared Bossk is a Trandoshan and the son of Cradossk, a famed bounty hunter in his own right who ended up making a good pile of credits working with the Empire during the Galactic Civil War. It has been said that Bossk’s first act upon being hatched on Trandosha was to devour the eggs of his other siblings. And while Bossk would be trained as a bounty hunter by his father, it would seem there is bad blood between the two, with some online sources stating that it involved the younger Trandoshan not being able to capture Han Solo and Chewbacca. It is noteworthy that the Trandoshans and Wookies have a long-standing rivalry, as the reptilian species delights in hunting, capturing, and skinning their prey to be used a gruesome trophies.

Make no mistake about it, the Trandoshans are extremely capable warriors and hunters, known just as much for their fierce nature as their cruelty. Although having said that Bossk would wind up acting as a mentor/bodyguard of sorts to a young Boba Fett, even sticking by the teenager during their period of incarceration in the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center on Coruscant to protect him. After escaping the prison the two would stay together as a team when Boba founded the Krayt’s Claw syndicate, although the two bounty hunters would find their paths finally diverging, only to meet up again when answering a job from none other than Darth Vader. The job being offered by the Dark Lord of the Sith was to locate the Millennium Falcon and capture those aboard… but no disintegrations.

Like with Dengar, Bossk ended up working for Jabba the Hutt and can be briefly glimpsed in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi – although as I understand it, in Star Wars canon as it is now, it is unknown whether the Trandoshan survived the rescue of Han Solo and the destruction of Jabba’s sail barge.

Enjoy this informative video focusing on Bossk and past lore now under the Star Wars Legends line of books, comics, and other media.

In closing out this article, let us say that both Dengar and Bossk are hired to bring in Preens B’oola, the Twi’lek criminal located on Corellia. Who do you personally think would be the one to succeed in capturing the target?

Today’s game – and training video – is all about selling!  No high pressure sales, or obnoxious sales pitch, but about identifying needs, building relationships, and maximizing the video game experience for guests!

It’s also about a white girl trying ridiculously hard to sound Hip Hop, but also about selling video games!

For the moment, we’re ditching the food service industry in exchange for time in a video game store.  The year is 2003, and we’re taking part in Hollywood Video’s answer to the competitive retail video game market – GameCrazy!

I actually wrote about this particular training video over on Retroist, but the article has been lost to the interwebs.  That in itself is a tragedy, but thankfully, the actually training video is alive, well, and complete with Zelda Scott, who I’m sure GameCrazy regretted.

GameCrazy was established in Wilsonville, Oregon in 1998, an attempt by Hollywood Entertainment, parent company of video store chain Hollywood Video, to break into a competitive video game retail market. Store locations were generally, but not always, adjacent to Hollywood Video locations. The ability to buy, sell, and trade video games, systems, and accessories inside of Hollywood Video stores was made possible though GameCrazy, and all “next generation” platforms were equally represented in their selection.  The store also offered a loyalty program, the MVP, and allowed customers to “try before they buy” when considering used titles.

In late 2006, there were 634 GameCrazy stores adjacent to Hollywood Video locations, but by October 2007, its parent company, Movie Gallery, faced financial difficulties and steep competition.  Movie Gallery filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2007, with 200 of GameCrazy’s 680 locations closing by October 2009.  By April 2010, the company and all of its interests were failing financially, forcing the company into Chapter 7 in May 2010.  It was believed that unprofitability on Hollywood Video’s part, due to competition from Blockbuster Video, Netflix, and RedBox, were the reasons behind Movie Gallery’s decision to close their stores.

As for GameCrazy, their website was relaunched in 2011 as a gaming blog, but went inactive by October 2014.

But back in 2003-2004, halfway between its beginnings as a GameStop/FuncoLand clone within a video store and its end as not competition for those other stores, GameCrazy created a training video, meant to look like a pre-game show for any sport, training employees on “The Keys To The Game,” and how to be an effective seller at GameCrazy.  This method of selling is a five-point system of selling customers on Hardware, Used Games, the MVP loyalty program, Trades, and Pre-Order.

No pressure, or loud, obnoxious sales pitches, just these five selling points, set to commentary by “Wish They Were ESPN Commentators” Keith Croft and Bobby Payne!

And how are the products sold?

Why, “The Keys To The Game!”

And Zelda Scott to provide play-by-play of the sales floor.

I mean, they say their methods aren’t loud or obnoxious, but, Zelda, their “woman on the sidelines” *is* obnoxious.  The store is the “hizz-ouse,” and all the fly new game titles are there.

And so is Zelda.

No lie, she drops gems like “Boo-yah!” and “playahs can get mad values!” (not even the best of her dialogue) as she explains each Key to the Game, all with total conviction and passion, like this is exactly the way you convince new hires to follow policies!

And thus begins the GameCrazy Selling Skills Challenge, at their King City, Oregon location!

First up, HARDWARE!

It’s associate Ryan Taillon versus Ann the Soccer Mom, and which console would be perfect for her almost-twelve-year-old son.

Second up, high bargains and great values in USED GAMES!

This time, it’s Gail Garely versus Ken the Casual Gamer.  He wants Madden 2004, but need convincing on used games.  Gail tries to selling him “this used thing,” which apparently doesn’t take much convincing once she tells him he can “try it before he buys it.”

Third, TRADES!

(Was this best photo they could get of Gail?)

Gail is back, and this time, it is her opportunity to convert Big Box Devotee Aaron.  She explains trading in games he’s already beaten so he can get store credit that can be used to purchase new games.  And then there’s the MVP Loyalty Program – ten percent more value for trade-ins, special exclusive deals, and special tournaments.  She totally sells Aaron on a Soul Calibur tournament, which is good enough for him to become an MVP!

Next up, Ryan is back for PRE-ORDERS!

Ryan’s challenger is Hardcore Gamer Tara.  He sees her Final Fantasy shirt, and sells her on pre-ordering the latest Final Fantasy game, because it will definitely sell out, definitely!  She initially hesitates because of the $5 deposit, but she’s an MVP member, and has store credit from trade-ins.  Oh, and there’s a pre-owned Kingdom Hearts copy that “looks pretty cool” to Tara.

The final step in the challenge is “closing the sale,” and these masters of sales, Ryan and Gail, are good at accomplishing this!  Ryan sells Ann the Soccer Mom on console accessories and Tara on Kingdom Hearts, and Gail sells Ken on trying pre-owned games before he buys them, an Aaron on Soul Calibur.  It is a very winning day at GameCrazy!

And once we’ve covered the methods, it is time for the Selling Skills Challenge post-game report, which goes over the Keys to the Game in a Readers Digest-style explanation. And then of course, there’s Zelda Scott and her attempt at speaking in a way that new hires could easily relate to.

I have watched many training videos over the last year, and even without the knowledge of these videos, I can tell you that Zelda’s ridiculous delivery absolutely does not work, but it makes for an entertaining training video!

Unfortunately, the only un-riffed version of the 2003 training video is edited, so it ends after the Keys to the Game are  displayed.  All the riffed versions include the post-game report that wraps it up nicely.  My favorite version is the one from The Spoony Experiment, which I’ll warn you in advance is a bit explicit.

But this is the original video, without commentary and shame!

Hardware, Upload via TeamDataDrain

GameCrazy’s Keys to the Game couldn’t keep them ahead of the competition, but they certainly knew how to make a great training video.

And it wasn’t their only one.

Despite being clearly in trouble, “The GC” decided to produce another video in 2009.  Like all the “wait, there’s another!” promises I make at the end of these articles, that’s a story for another time…and article!

Zelda will not return.  Because people can’t forget.

Friends, it has been far too long since I last tackled an entry in the ongoing look back at Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe, time just managed to slip away from me it would seem. Which is most assuredly something that the third entry in the first issue of the Who’s Who series would know all about, as Abra Kadabra hails from the 64th Century. Before we dive into the history of the character though, here is a brief recap on the Who’s Who series.

Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe originally saw publication back in 1985 and the initial 26 issue run was a rather amazing deep dive into the then current history of the characters of DC Comics. The series was headed up by Len Wein (Swamp Thing), Marv Wolfman (The New Teen Titans), and Robert Greenberger (Starlog). And for those of us of a certain age the Who’s Who series was a beloved guide into the rich lore of the Golden and Silver Age characters of DC Comics – many who can still be found appearing in recent animated and live action series. Such as Abra Kadabra who showed up in the 18th episode of Season 3 of The Flash and was played by David Dastmalchian.

Abra Kadabra first appeared in The Flash #128 in May of 1962 and was created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, the duo also co-created the characters of Detective Chimp, Elongated Man, and The Phantom Stranger among others. Broome would be hired by DC Comics in 1946, his first story is assumed to be “The City of Shifting Sand” in All-Flash #22. Infantino would join with DC about a year later and the first story he illustrated from a script by Robert Kanigher (Co-Creator of Sgt. Rock) was entitled “The Black Canary”, it was a Johnny Thunder feature and was the first appearance of Black Canary, who began as a villain but would show up as a member of the Justice Society of America just a few issues later!

The entry for Abra Kadabra in the first volume of the Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe lists this personal data:

Alter Ego: Unknown

Occupation: Former Stage Magician, now Professional Criminal

Marital Status: Unknown

Known Relatives: None

Group Affiliation: None

Base of Operations: 20th and 64th Century Earth

First Appearance: The Flash #128

Height: 6’6″

Weight: 195 lbs.

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Black

As we learn in his first appearance, Abra Kadabra is a devoted practitioner of stage magic in the year 6363, while it is commendable that the magician is devoted to his craft, the technology of the era has rendered it all but obsolete. This is something that is obviously distressing to Abra, although upon hearing that scientists have managed to develop a working time machine, the scoundrel decides that it is time to travel back to the 20th Century with his advanced technology, where a stage magician might properly find both an audience and admiration. Upon entering the lab Abra uses the “Hypno-Ray” installed within the gem-flower he wears on the lapel of his suit, stunning the scientists just long enough to get into the time machine and whisk himself away to the Central City of the 20th Century. The trip back in time will only work once, especially since the machine is destroyed when the stage magician arrives at his destination.

Abra Kadabra wastes little time in trying to impress an audience, performing sleight of hand on a busy street corner, while they are indeed impressed they fail to applaud. The offended stage magician then turns his Hypno-Ray on those gathered before him to force their cheers and clapping. And although it is not specifically stated, it is highly suggested that he uses that piece of technology dishonestly to obtain enough enough money to pay for a theater – unfortunately his big debut is overlooked thanks to the final game of the World Series.

Realizing that he needs to come up with an exceptional way to capture the attention of the public, Abra decides to steal the Statue of Freedom during its dedication at the Central City park. Barry Allen is in attendance at the event but as he is about to change into his Flash costume, the magician once again uses that Hypno-Ray to paralyze the stunned audience before teleporting away. This daring daylight heist gets the attention of newspapers as well as the Flash, but Abra Kadabra has no plans of slowing down just yet, showing up at the Central City library to steal (teleport) the oldest book ever printed. The Flash almost reaches the villain before he is blasted by the magician’s Hypno-Ray once again, forced to stomp his feet and clap his hands while Abra gets away.

Embolden by getting away with his crimes as well as showing up the Flash, the magician realizes that the hero could be a true threat to his crime sprees. Abra Kadabra decides to lay a trap for the speedster by publicly announcing that he will host a free exhibition – in addition to performing the greatest magic trick ever seen. When the Flash shows up at the theater to arrest the magician, Abra uses his ‘magic’ to rocket Barry Allen sans costume into space, thankfully the hero’s speed aura protects him while hurtling through the solar system. Landing upon an asteroid, the speedster runs so fast that he is able to launch himself back to Earth.

In an attempt to track Abra Kadabra down, the speedster vibrates until he matches the radiation left behind by the magicians ‘magic’. Upon finding where Abra is holed up, the Flash moves faster than light, physically placing the villain smack dab in front of his own paralyzing Hypno-Ray. The Flash not only returns all of the items that Abra Kadabra stole but deposits the paralyzed trickster in jail, wondering where the magician came from and how he came by his dangerous abilities.

In closing out this article, it should come as no surprise that Abra Kadabra eventually shrugs off that paralyzation beam and has managed to become a recurring thorn in the Flash’s side since his debut 59 years ago in the pages of The Flash #128. Over the years the villain has managed to obtain actual magical abilities instead of just relying on his superior technology – courtesy of making a deal with the demon Neron in exchange for his soul during the Underworld Unleashed mini-series event.

Friends, I was killing some time at work the other day by visiting Bloody Disgusting, which is an excellent source of horror news for all of you Fright Fans. I was reading an editorial from Luiz H. C. regarding Jurassic Park: Trespasser, the rather infamous computer game from DreamWorks Interactive and Electronic Arts that was released in 1998 and acted as a sequel to the events of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The game even featured the vocal talents of both Minnie Driver (Grosse Pointe Blank) as well as Richard Attenborough (The Great Escape). However, the article also happened to mention two other games that were based off of the Jurassic Park films, and while I knew of 1997’s Chaos Island: The Lost World as I owned it… I had no recollection at all of Warpath: Jurassic Park which was released on October 31st of 1999.

As during that time I was employed at the local Suncoast Motion Picture Company in the mall and was able to frequently visit the EB Games and the FYE stores, just a few doors down the hall, I really do not understand how I missed Warpath: Jurassic Park. Especially considering that it looks a little similar to an arcade title that I absolutely loved back in the day, 1994’s Primal Rage by Atari!

Warpath: Jurassic Park was developed by Black Ops Entertainment and released by Electronic Arts and DreamWorks Interactive for the PlayStation, the fighting game offered 7 modes of play ranging from arcade to a museum feature that let you learn about the dinosaurs themselves. At the beginning of the game, a player had to choose from eight dinosaurs, although as I understand it when beating the arcade mode an additional six dinosaurs would be made available in the select screen.

It might surprise you to learn that Velociraptor is not an option in this Jurassic Park fighting game, but considering the size of the dinosaur I suppose it is understandable. Having said that however, a player could choose the Megaraptor in addition to Acrocanthosaurus, Albertosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Cryolophosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Spinosaurus, Stygimoloch, Styracosaurus, Suchomimus, Triceratops, and of course Tyrannosaurus.

If you have an hour and a half of free time, you can watch a playthrough of Warpath: Jurassic Park!

Friends, it was just a few days ago that we saw the conclusion of the all too brief second season of Shudder’s Creepshow. Although it has to be said that over the nine stories or segments that made up Season 2, the love for classic monsters and horror films was most assuredly front and center. This season started off strong with the absolutely fantastic segments “Monster Kid” and “Public Television of the Dead”, with the latter basically being a continuation of the Evil Dead franchise. Having said that however is the staggering amount of horror alumni that Creepshow landed for this second go around, just a few notable actors include Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator), Kevin Dillon (The Blob), Ted Raimi (Evil Dead II), Ali Larter (Final Destination), Keith David (The Thing), Ryan Kwanten (Dead Silence), as well as Justin Long (Jeepers Creepers).

The iconic Greg Nicotero (Day of the Dead, The Walking Dead) wears many hats on Creepshow, being the showrunner, in addition to a writer, and director. In fact he directed the Season 2 finale entitled “Night of the Living Late Show”, from a script by Dana Gould (The Simpsons) – who just so happened to have starred in the Season 1 segment “Skinwalkers”. While the Season 2 finale benefits from having such actors as Long, D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place), and Hannah Fierman (V/H/S) in it’s ranks, it is the fact that it revolves around 1972’s Horror Express that is the really incredible part!

I will not be going into full spoilers as this article is not exactly a review of “Night of the Living Late Show”. But the basic gist of the story though is that Simon (Long) is an inventor who has created something revolutionary that he calls the immersopod, a virtual reality device that possesses hundreds of cameras that aid in inserting a user into any film they might desire. In the case of Simon, that means he can enjoy being an extra in Horror Express, interacting with the characters played by the late and great Christopher Lee as well as Peter Cushing. The advanced technological marvel that Simon has created though allows for total sensory input, meaning you can be an active participant in whichever movie you might choose.

As was touched on in both the original novel by Ernest Cline and the 2018 Ready Player One film adaptation, that type of virtual escape if it existed in the real world could be extremely addictive. At least that appears to be the case with Simon who quickly begins to ignore his wife, Renee (Carden), in favor of the affections of Countess Irina Petrovska, who was played by Silvia Tortosa in 1972’s Horror Express but is doubled by Fierman in this segment. Throughout the story though it is revealed that perhaps Simon hasn’t been honest with Renee for quite some time… and the poor woman might have had enough of it.

“Night of the Living Late Show” really does pull off some impressive merging of Long’s character of Simon and Renee into Horror Express, while it might not always come off without a hitch, considering the low budget of the Creepshow series it is an impressive feat nonetheless.

In closing out this article, I want to say that this second season of Creepshow has proved entertaining and I hope that we will have many more seasons of the series to look forward to in the years to come. Of course with any anthology series there were some stories that were better than others, but I wouldn’t say that any segment was outright a failure when all is said and done. And for what it is worth, Shudder has already given the green light to a third season of Creepshow – one can’t hope that come this October that we might be getting a treat instead of a trick, right?

Friends, while it is true that the Projectionist and I just tackled Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds on the latest Saturday Frights podcast, that doesn’t mean that the iconic director was the first to adapt the original story by Daphne du Maurier. Ten years before Hitchcock put the likes of Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor and the citizens of Bodega Bay in peril by the unexpected attacks of the birds, it was Lux Radio Theatre that featured an hour long adaptation that starred Herbert Marshall (Foreign Correspondent) in the role of John Waite, the narrator and main protagonist for the episode.

Like most adaptations, the script for the radio play by James Cole takes some liberties with the source material. For one thing the main character of Maurier’s story is named Nat Hocken and whose occupation is as a part-time farm hand. In the thrilling Lux Radio Theatre version however, Waite happens to be a writer by profession and resides with his Family in a modest home on the Dover coast. It is his journal that is being read from during the episode, giving us a firsthand account of the uprising of the birds. Beginning with multiple odd occurrences to the Waite Family and their neighbors, eventually becoming an all out aggressive avian assault by the end of the episode.

You might be interested to know that the Lux Radio Theatre began as a radio program that would adapt popular Broadway productions, being first broadcast on October 14th of 1934 and would continue until June 7th of 1955. As I understand it, after two seasons of popular radio plays, the format changed to adapting motion pictures and eventually stories like The Birds.

A legion of talented actors would appear on the show, often in adaptation of the films they were currently starring in after those first two seasons. Just a few include the likes of James Stewart (Winchester ’73), Bette Davis (Burnt Offerings), William Powell and Myrna Loy (The Thin Man), Errol Flynn (The Adventures of Robin Hood), as well as Fay Wray (King Kong).

In addition the long running radio series also found itself becoming just as popular when it made the jump to television as the Lux Video Theatre on October 2nd of 1950. Beginning on CBS it would jump to NBC in 1953, featuring none other than James Mason (Salem’s Lot) as host for the 1954 – 1955 season, and would last until 1957.

Friends, for this week’s Toon In offering we are not going with the traditional cell animation for this go around, but a classic 1947 bit of “stop-motion” animation courtesy of the George Pal Studio. One of his popular Puppetoon series of theatrical shorts, 8 of which you might be interested to learn were Oscar nominations. That includes Tubby the Tuba which was originally released to movie theaters back on July 11th of 1947, although I must point out that the Academy Award went to Tweetie Pie, which happened to be the very first Merrie Melodies animated short to feature the characters of Sylvester and Tweety Bird.

To be fair, the Puppetoon series was a subgenre of stop-motion animation called replacement animation. A technique where the animator uses multiple premade parts on the stop-motion model, many time those will involve facial features, with the artist just snapping them on and off. For a fantastic example of the replacement animation style, one need only recall the exceptional The Nightmare Before Christmas from back in 1993 or Coraline from 2009.

When all was said and done, around 70 Puppetoon shorts were created between 1932 until 1948, George Pal would have done more however but the cost of making them soared after World War II. As I have read online it has been reported that a theatrical short animated this way would take thousands and thousands of carved parts. Although the ceasing of making such animated shorts ended up being a boon for Pal, as he would go on to become a director of such live action films as 1960’s The Time Machine – which did in fact feature stop-motion animation.

In Tubby the Tuba we are introduced to a cast of characters that make up an anthropomorphic orchestra. The titular character is not happy though as he feels left out of the fun of playing beautiful melodies like those his fellow instruments provide. All seems lost for Tubby until he happens to come across a very helpful frog, who on seeing how depressed he has become gifts him with a tune that is appropriate for a tuba. The question of course is will this be enough to impress the conductor of the orchestra?

You might be interested to know that Tubby the Tuba was based off a 1945 song of the same name by Paul Tripp and George Kleinsinger, with the Puppetoon short featuring narration by Victor Jory (Gone with the Wind).

Friends, in the over ten years that I have been writing online, from my original blog to the Retroist and now with Pop Culture Retrorama, I think that I have successfully gotten across the point that I am a fan of horror. It has always been my go-to genre thanks to being raised as a Monster Kid on the likes of the Universal Monsters, The Twilight Zone, Creepy magazines, and Weird War Tales comic books to name a few. However it always seemed like that besides my Father, the rest of my family and friends never cared to discuss any of the horror movies that I saw on the weekends. That changed though when Gremlins was released to theaters on June 8th of 1984, because it seemed like every where I went I could find people to talk about the film.

Of course let us not forget that almost everywhere you went after the film was released you could also buy merchandise such as toys, video games, clothing, and Ralston Gremlins cereal!

Here is a fun fact for you, the first actor featured in that television commercial is Jonathan Ward (Charles in Charge), who would also appear in the excellent 1985 Twilight Zone episode entitled “The Shadow Man”. Which just so happened to have been helmed by none other than Gremlins‘ director Joe Dante – which for what it might be worth was featured in an earlier episode of the Saturday Frights podcast.

Which brings us back around to the subject for this article, this Gremlins promotional documentary which as I understand it was produced by Laurent Bouzereau (The Warriors) and features behind the scenes footage captured by the iconic Mick Garris (Fantasy Film Festival, Nightmare Cinema). Both Garris and Dante are two directors that I greatly admire, so it is a blast to get to see the latter kidding around with the likes of Hoyt Axton and John Louie on the set. In addition to featuring brief interviews with Steven Spielberg, Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, as well as Chris Walas – who was responsible for the design of the hilarious yet deadly titular creatures of the film.

Friends, we have a brand new episode of the Saturday Frights podcast for you today, and this time the Projectionist and I are tackling yet another classic picture. Most of you Fright Fans might recall that on the last show we discussed 1981’s The Howling… well… on this episode we are talking about 1963’s The Birds. While Alfred Hitchcock most definitely has legions of fans when it comes to his films and even his popular and long running television series, it kind of seems like a lot of people are rather dismissive of The Birds. That is something that the Projectionist and I bring up in this episode, in addition to possibly providing a little more background information than usual on the making of the film.

Although we do mention it in the episode itself, The Birds wasn’t exactly well regarded when it was originally released on March 29th of 1963. That might have had something to do with the box office success of Psycho in 1960, the popularity of which seems to have also caused Hitchcock to spend a couple of years attempting to find just the right movie to be his next project. And The Birds turned out to be a pretty daunting film to bring to the big screen, with a much bigger cast and lots of special effects.

I think it is safe to say that Alfred Hitchcock was up to the task though, although the film did have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the cast. From Tippi Hedren (Marnie) as the lead to the likes of Rod Taylor (The Time Machine), Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy), Veronica Cartwright (Alien), and Suzanne Pleshette (The Bob Newhart Show) to name just a few.

We thank you as always for taking the time out of your busy schedule to listen to the show, so without further ado, let us all take a trip to Bodega Bay… but beware of The Birds!

If you have any suggestions for topics you would like for us to cover in a future episode – or possibly you have comments on the current show itself, email them to me at VicSagePopCulture@gmail.com You can also contact me on Twitter and on Facebook. In addition I certainly hope you will take the time to visit the Saturday Frights Facebook Page. There you can find posts from Rockford Jay, Preston Griffith and myself on a daily basis.

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Friends, it has been a little while since we’ve had a new Retro Radio Memories offering. This time we are going to be enjoying an episode from the Dark Fantasy series entitled “Pennsylvania Turnpike”, which was originally broadcast on March 20th of 1942. For what it might be worth, we have actually shined the spotlight on Dark Fantasy in the past, with “W is for Werewolf“, but that story focused on a couple visiting a private island and getting involved with lycanthropy. “Pennsylvania Turnpike” would have made a nice episode to adapt for The Twilight Zone television series!

I was a latecomer to the Dark Fantasy series, in fact I found out about it thanks to my time writing at the Retroist. Debuting on station WKY in Oklahoma City on November 14th of 1941, it would be carried on NBC affiliate radio stations for a total of 31 episodes until June 19th of 1942. Although two of those episodes include a lost show entitled “Curare” and the final broadcast was a second reading of “The Devil Tree”, which was originally broadcast on December 5th of ’41.

In “Pennsylvania Turnpike” we are introduced to a most curious stranger. At the beginning of the radio show, we find out that this ‘old’ man has all sorts of bizarre mannerisms. From the way he is dressed to the coins he carries on him, in addition to the the fact he has never heard of a sandwich. It would certainly seem like this man is from a different period of time, which is of course exactly the case – no spoilers there, you will hear for yourself he is quite up front about the whole situation. Of course the question is why this man would appear in modern times? The desire for justice can be a powerful force, friends… perhaps strong enough even to sustain a person until they can right a past wrong? Although having said that, like with The Twilight Zone on a rare occasion, an innocent person might be targeted.

So turn down the lights if you are able and find out what is going down on the “Pennsylvania Turnpike”, courtesy of Dark Fantasy as well as the Old Time Radio Researchers Group.

While I have said it before in regards to Old Time Radio programming, it does bear repeating that it still is a valid form of entertainment. It’s ability, at least in the case of shows like Dark Fantasy to give us the creeps 80 years later – that is something pretty incredible, right?

Friends, Brett Weiss wanted to pass along this essay from his upcoming book, The NES Omnibus: The Nintendo Entertainment System And Its Games, Volume 2 (M -Z) which has begun a Kickstarter campaign.

Super Mario Bros. 2
Essay by Shane Stein, executive producer of The Game Chasers Movie
Excerpted from Brett Weiss’s forthcoming book, The NES Omnibus: The Nintendo
Entertainment System and Its Games, Volume 2 (M-Z), NOW ON KICKSTARTER.

We often make seemingly innocuous decisions that end up profoundly affecting us far in the future. These can be recognized only in hindsight, and we all likely have many such instances to marvel over and be thankful for. In my case, perhaps the most significant such episode involves the NES.

Virtually every kid who touched a control pad in the late ’80s loved Super Mario Bros. In late 1988, as whispers grew that a sequel soon would be headed to stores, anticipation around my neighborhood and at school (I had just started fifth grade) was, to put it mildly, off the charts. And on that first school day after Super Mario Bros. 2’s release date, I vividly recall sitting with my friends at lunch when a kid named Jake, who was a grade below me, ran up to our table, unzipped his backpack, and triumphantly pulled out the boxed treasure his parents must have just purchased for him. The facial expressions of everyone at our table revealed a singular shared reaction: You are so lucky!!

Now, Jake and I were not close pals at the time; friendly, yes, but I really only knew him because he was my good friend Mike’s first cousin. Indeed, he probably raced to our lunch table simply to ask Mike to play the game together after school. But at that moment, with little hope of soon owning SMB2 myself (I usually received NES games only on birthdays, holidays, and other special occasions), I knew exactly who I needed to hang out with, and pronto. And sure enough, I ended up playing plenty of Nintendo with Jake going forward.

Notwithstanding this superficial beginning, Jake and I quickly became close friends, and remain so to this day. Twelve years after our initial bonding over SMB2, he and I attended a party where he introduced me to an attractive brunette named Tracey, who I asked out after five minutes of conversation. She and I went to dinner two nights later and have been together since, marrying in 2003 and becoming parents to three wonderful kids.

I’ve already of course told him plenty, but thank you again, Jake. And thank you, Mario. My princess was indeed in the right castle.

The NES Omnibus: The Nintendo Entertainment System and Its Games, Volume 2 (M-Z) is a fun and informative look at ALL the original Nintendo Entertainment System games released in the US starting with the letters M-Z. More than 360 games are featured, including such iconic titles as Metroid, Super Mario Bros., and Tetris, as well as such hidden gems and cult classics as Mighty Final Fight, Trog!, and River City Ransom. In addition to thorough gameplay descriptions, the book includes box art, screenshots, reviews, fun facts, historical data, memories from the author, vintage magazine ads and quotes, and, best of all, nostalgic stories about many of the games from programmers, authors, YouTube celebs, filmmakers, and other industry insiders. Contributing authors include “8-Bit” Eric, Chris “The Irate Gamer” Bores, and John “Gamester81” Lester, among many other noteworthy gamers. Each game gets at least one full page of coverage in this gorgeous hardcover coffee table book.

Friends, I hope you are more than ready to take a trip back to 1982 with Video Games: A Public Perspective, which was a public service video for communities worried about video games and arcades. During the Golden Age of the arcades it is certainly easy to see why Atari would spend the effort to produce and fund the nearly 20 minute long PSA, the older people who are interviewed at the beginning of the video itself sum up a lot of the fears that were running rampant back in the day.

As was demonstrated in that video by Patrick Scott Patterson, it’s not like video game worries have ever truly ceased to be a concern for panic among certain groups. Before I dive into why you should set aside your time to watch Video Games: A Public Perspective though, I need to point out that until yesterday I didn’t even know it existed. It was all thanks to the historians over at Atarimania who have shared the 1982 Atari community awareness pamphlet, which besides offering a VHS copy of the public service announcement, also added the option for an industry spokesperson to appear in front of a concerned community group to discuss any lingering fears.

Now I feel that bit of Atari history is worthy of a post all on it’s own, to demonstrate how the legendary game company was trying to get out ahead of the very same fears that managed to cause pinball to be banned for so many years in most cities. Having said all of that however, Video Games: A Public Perspective also happens to provide an amazing look back at the Golden Age of arcades and video games. In addition it also features interviews with the likes of Dona Bailey, who of course designed the Atari classic Centipede back in 1981. Bailey just so happens to live in my neck of the woods, although as far as I am aware, she has yet to pay a visit to the arcade I work at.

Perhaps what is most surprising in the video though is how many level-headed concerns as well as solutions are brought up in Video Games: A Public Perspective. Granted most of them fall on the side of pro-video games, but my favorite comes from Vinnie Settembre – who looks like he could whip up a mean pizza!

Friends, when The Night Stalker was aired as the ABC Movie of the Week on the evening of January 11th of 1972, it was a massive success to say the very least. It managed to earn a 33.2 rating and a 54 share of the television viewers that night, the highest rating for an original television movie for that time. The lion’s share of credit for the popularity of that made-for-TV movie goes to the late and great Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak, a former Chicago newspaper reporter who has been sacked from the major papers and finds himself working in Las Vegas. Which is how the hapless Kolchak finds himself stumbling onto the biggest case of his career, a serial killer that is in fact… a vampire.

Of course it didn’t hurt The Night Stalker that it featured a slew of solid character actors like Simon Oakland, Ralph Meeker, Claude Akins, Elisha Cook Jr., Carol Lynley, and Barry Atwater to name just a few. Not to mention the fact that it was based off an excellent and at that point unpublished novel by Jeff Rice, with none other than Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, The Twilight Zone) adapting the story into an incredible screenplay.

The popularity of that 1972 TV movie led to 1973’s The Night Strangler, in this made-for-TV film Carl Kolchak finds himself running afoul of a serial killer in Seattle, Washington – one that is using his victims to prolong his own life and has been doing so for over a century.

It would have been an amazing bit of trivia to share on the Saturday Frights podcast, when the Projectionist and I tackled The Night Stalker on an early episode. But there was in fact a third TV movie written by William F. Nolan (Logan’s Run), based on a story idea by Matheson. Entitled The Night Killers, it would have taken place in Hawaii with Kolchak stumbling upon a UFO, people being replaced by androids, and a plot for aliens to take over the Earth. ABC decided that the popularity of the character however was better suited for a television series, with the first episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker airing on September 13th of 1974.

It was in 1974 when this interview between David Moore of KBAK-TV in Bakersfield, California and the legendary Darren McGavin took place. It sounds like it was just before the first episode aired and it sure seems to me that McGavin is excited about returning to the role of Carl Kolchak. My only complaint is that I wish this interview would have run for at least half an hour, as it is an absolute pleasure to witness the charm and wit of McGavin.

Friends, it was while writing for the Retroist that I learned there is an all-important question for fans of classic science fiction and horror B-movies with a sense of humor… Joel or Mike? I can recall being taken aback by just how passionate some Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans were when it came to which host they preferred. Although no battle lines were drawn in the sand that I can recall, some of the comments on the article were at the very least strongly worded. Having said that however I believe that the majority of MSTies know that both Joel Hodgson and Micheal J. Nelson are equally fantastic, as is Jonah Ray who joined the ranks of Human hosts thanks to the two seasons streamed on Netflix. But it was 25 years ago today that Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was released to the big screen… at least 26 theaters were lucky enough to receive the film that is.

I happened to be working at a local movie theater when Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was advertised to come out on April 19th of 1996. As the theater was literally run by cinephiles, we immediately began planning on how we would decorate the theater in an effort to promote the film. There was even talk of making a cardboard cut out of Mike, Tom Servo (Kevin Murphy), and Crow T. Robot (Trace Beaulieu), painting it black and placing it on the partition in front of the screen. And then one day we received instructions from the home office to remove the posters from the lobby as we wouldn’t be carrying the film.

Thanks to an oral history article by Adam Carston for The A.V. Club published earlier this afternoon, I found out some interesting facts about what the process was like for the cast and writers of MST3K to make the jump to the big screen. Such as the fact that the attempt to make a movie began when Joel Hodgson was with the show, it was one of the reasons he eventually decided to step away from the series he had created with the 107th episode – Mitchell!

I don’t think that I am spoiling that A.V. Club article too much to say that overall the experience working on the film version of MST3K wasn’t the best for the cast and crew. Although it certainly sounds like there were some high points, such as getting the opportunity to sit in a screening room and checking out the vast catalog of Universal Pictures movies and TV shows. One of the most surprising things was that they entertained the notion of possibly riffing the likes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker as well as Night Gallery.

My first chance though to see Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was when it was released to video stores in October of 1996. I have to be totally honest and admit that I was a little hesitant about the fact they were riffing on This Island Earth. I get a little defensive when it comes to anything related to the Universal Monster pantheon, a roster that the iconic Metaluna Mutant in the film is part of. Having said all of that however, I was giggling in a matter of minutes after the film had started.

In closing out this article, here is to 25 years of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. With a new and already successful Kickstarter campaign underway that is attempting to raise the necessary funds to produce new episodes without the assistance of a network, it looks like we will all be enjoying MST3K for some time to come.

Friends, I have talked about my love of The Prisoner television show in past articles and podcasts over the years, something about the 1967 science fiction/spy thriller which was co-created and starred Patrick McGoohan (Braveheart) really clicked with me. It might have had a little something to do with the fact that my Father would continuously tell me about the show while I was growing up, the ambiguity of the actual meaning of the series made it seem incredibly fascinating. It was after High School though when I was working at a mom and pop video store that I learned the cult classic TV show was being offered on VHS by Columbia House. As I had disposable income at that time in my life I quickly signed up and wound up purchasing all 17 episodes of The Prisoner, and while I have most assuredly picked up the series on both DVD as well as Blu-ray over the years, I’ve managed to hold onto those Columbia House video cassettes out of a sense of nostalgia.

After watching “The Arrival”, the groundbreaking first episode of The Prisoner, I was absolutely hooked and did my level best to share it with friends and even co-workers. Although much like when the series originally aired it was met with varying degrees of acceptance, from outright ridicule to thankfully a few seeing what made the show so amazing.

For such a remarkable cult television series however it has always been a little shocking how little official merchandise has been produced for fans to purchase. While there have been numerous books on the creation of the show as well as a few comic books, novelizations, soundtracks, and of course clothing based on the series for fans to pick up… what has really been missing is an action figure line.

With the subject matter of The Prisoner TV series, you can understand why toy manufacturers weren’t exactly beating down the door in 1967. But thanks to the Kickstarter by Wandering Planet Toys, one that has already been fully funded I should add, we can finally add multiple plastic versions of McGoohan’s Number 6 to our shelves – to say nothing of obtaining the nightmarish Rover and of course the Eric Portman version of Number 2.

Make sure to check out the Kickstarter which has 37 days left for you to find time to back the project. There are multiple levels of pledges from a single Number 6 action figure to a two-pack set based off of the episode entitled “The Schizoid Man”. Wandering Planet Toys has pointed out that these officially licensed action figures for The Prisoner are just the first wave, hopefully this Kickstarter will be a massive success and we might see even more iconic Number 2’s or perhaps a two-pack set based on the episode “Living in Harmony”?

If you’ve not had the pleasure of watching The Prisoner for yourself, I believe that thanks to Tubi TV you can stream the entire series for free!

Friends, before Back to the Future Part II was released on November 22nd of 1989, there was a behind the scenes special aired on NBC on the evening of November 17th. One that happened to be hosted by the late and great Leslie Nielsen, who was experiencing a rise in popularity thanks to 1988’s The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!. Although Nielsen obviously had nothing to do with either Back to the Future or it’s 1989 sequel, he was a fantastic choice to act as host for the television event. During the airing of the 1985 film as I understand it, Nielsen would narrate and host the behind the scenes segments from both films – keeping in mind at the time it was a complete secret that Back to the Future Part II ended in a cliffhanger!

I am not sure what I was doing the night the Back to the Future Part II special was shown, but until I stumbled across that video, I have never had the pleasure of seeing it before. Which is curious as I was and still am a huge fan of the trilogy of films, in fact I am that odd duck that really loves Back to the Future Part III more than the other two movies.

While I might have missed that NBC special on TV I was most definitely at the first Saturday matinee showing of the highly anticipated sequel to Back to the Future. And while even in my youth I did my best to avoid spoilers for films, I broke the rule and picked up the novelization for Back to the Future Part II the day before seeing the movie. Judging by the reaction of that packed auditorium when the ‘To Be Continued’ title popped up on the screen, I was the only one who knew that Marty and Doc’s adventures weren’t quite over. The massive groan that came from the crowd turned to grumblings as the majority of them rose from their seats and started to head for the door… just seconds before they rushed back to their seats as the teaser for Back to the Future Part III began.

Now before I end this article on that 1989 Back to the Future Part II special, I would be criminally remiss if I didn’t point out that if you are a fan of the films, you need to check out this interview with the esteemed Rob Klein – pop culture historian and archivist extraordinaire!

Friends, I was extremely lucky to have the chance to visit Walt Disney World in Orlando at a very early age. It was the Summer before I was to begin first grade and my Grandparents felt a trip to Walt Disney World was in order, taking a leisurely drive from our neck of the woods to Orlando, Florida. All in the comfort of a rather large RV, although we made plenty of stops to stretch our legs and visit one or two roadside attractions as well as a few beaches (Perhaps I might share the jellyfish or snake story one of these days). It was a magical trip to say the very least although it did confuse my Grandparents why I was absolutely terrified during the Snow White’s Adventures ride, covering my eyes with my hands and refusing to remove them until it was over. Having said that however I could not get enough of The Haunted Mansion, dragging them into the queue over and over again, cackling with joy as we rode our Doom Buggy through that delightful and welcome home for the 999 happy haunts that reside within.

And while I was able to experience the thrill of The Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World two additional times in my life, I have not yet had the pleasure of visiting Disneyland in Anaheim, California. But thanks to the Disney Parks blog, it was revealed that when the theme park reopens at the end of April, the Disneyland Haunted Mansion is going to have a few new additions. From a portrait entitled “April to December” that will now proudly hang in the portrait hallway to additional monuments to beloved pets such as Old Flybait the frog (“He Croaked”) outside of the mansion.

In fact thanks to the Disney Parks YouTube channel you can get a brief look at what to expect when Disneyland reopens on April 30th. As a bonus it appears that the video is narrated by none other than Disney Imagineer Kim Irvine, who just so happens to be the daughter of Leota Toombs, the original Imagineer who provided the face of Madame Leota and the voice of the Ghostess in the final scene of The Haunted Mansion!

Friends, one of my most cherished childhood toys was the Fisher-Price Movie Viewer Theater, which I believe was released back in 1977. The handheld movie viewer which was originally released in ’73 was obviously easier to take to school or on car trips, but it was that 1977 Movie Viewer Theater though that captured my heart. Thanks to being able to not just watch the Super 8 mm shorts on the much larger screen of the viewer, but I could also flip a dial and cast the moving images on a nearby blank wall or sheet. I am extremely happy to say that not only is that beloved toy still in my collection but it is in working order, to say nothing of the fact that I now possess nearly a complete collection of those Fisher-Price film cartridges.

As I understand it, Kenner actually beat Fisher-Price to the punch back in 1973 with the Cassette Movie Projector, although they didn’t stop there. Just two years later they would produce the Snoopy Drive-In Movie Theater as well as the handheld Snoopy Movie Viewer. While I believe that four Peanuts shorts were made for the Fisher-Price Viewer and Theater, Kenner would produce a total of 12 cartridges in their line.

Considering that I frequently discuss the local drive-in theater of my youth on the Saturday Frights podcast, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that I was blown away when I received the Snoopy Drive-In Movie Theater as a kid. From the plastic Snoopy sitting in his car looking up at the ‘drive-in’ screen to the fact that Woodstock was running the concession stand, it just managed to always make me smile.

Interestingly enough, besides those 12 carts focusing on Peanuts characters, Kenner also ended up releasing six cartridges for The Six Million Dollar Man as well as film carts for the likes of Speed Buggy, Grape Ape, and Scooby-Doo among other Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

Sadly my Snoopy Drive-In Movie Theater is no longer functioning, and I assure you that my finger hovers over the ‘Buy It Now’ button when looking on eBay, but at least we can enjoy watching it in action thanks to this YouTube video!

Friends, after finishing up that article the other evening on release of the Army of the Dead trailer, which as I pointed out was wise to use Kenny Roger’s popular “The Gambler” tune during the preview, I had the hankering to pull out his 1978 album of the same name. As I was sitting listening to the LP I couldn’t help but think back to when I first heard it at my grandparents on a weekend long ago. Which also reminded me of the time that Kenny Rogers was the special guest on The Muppet Show, a beloved television series that I would watch while spending the weekends with my grandfather and grandmother. While I was not the biggest fan of country and western music as a kid, it was these weekends with my grandparents that I did develop a love for the likes of Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Horton, The Oakridge Boys, Dolly Parton, and of course Kenny Rogers.

To be completely honest, my grandfather wasn’t exactly a fan of The Muppet Show, I think he found it to be far too silly. He would either fall asleep on the couch while it was playing or he would tinker on his motorcycle out in the garage when I was watching the show. I do remember him paying attention though when Kenny Rogers appeared on the October 1979 episode of the series, ending up performing “Love Lifted Me” from the 1975 album of the same name in addition to “The Gambler”.

The character of the Gambler during the segment was performed by the late and great Jerry Nelson. The talented puppeteer who brought us the likes of Count von Count and the original Mr. Snuffleupagus on Sesame Street, as well as Sgt. Floyd Pepper, Crazy Harry, and Uncle Deadly on The Muppet Show – to name just a very few of the characters he brought to life in the 47 years he was active as a performer.

You might be interested to know that Kenny Rogers was not the first artist to record “The Gambler”, that honor goes to Don Schlitz who also wrote the song back in August of 1976. As I understand it, Schlitz tried to get other artists and labels interested in the song for two years before Bobby Bare ended up recording it for his album entitled Bare. Besides Schlitz and Bare, Johnny Cash would release it on his Gone Baby album. The tune however didn’t take off until Kenny Rogers recorded a cover of it for his sixth studio album which he entitled The Gambler, so if you are keeping count that is four artists who recorded and released the song in 1978 alone.

Kenny Rogers would earn a Grammy for Song of the Year and Best Male Country Vocal Performance, to say nothing of the fact that “The Gambler” would reach #1 on Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs as well as nabbing the number 3 spot for Adult Contemporary and even taking the 16th slot on their Hot 100 list.

Friends, earlier today Netflix released the official trailer for the upcoming Zack Snyder directed Army of the Dead, which looks like it is ready to double down on zombie action and thrills when it pits Dave Bautista against a horde of the living dead in Las Vegas. This is actually the first of three projects though in this new ‘Army’ zombie cinematic universe scheduled to hit Netflix. As there is also an upcoming anime series entitled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas as well as a prequel film called Army of Thieves.

Snyder is no stranger though to the zombie genre thanks to 2004’s Dawn of the Dead, itself a remake of the classic 1978 film by the late and great George A. Romero. I was one of those many fans of Romero’s work that looked on the screenplay by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) as well as the trailer for the remake of the movie with a healthy does of skepticism. Being a huge fan of the zombie genre though, I scheduled a day off from work so I could catch the first showing… and ten minutes after it began I was grinning ear to ear and planning on catching the second matinee as well. That opening to the Zack Snyder version of Dawn of the Dead managed to give you a slice of normalcy and calm before aggressively letting you see it all get swept away overnight.

Perhaps the most surprising fact of 2004’s Dawn of the Dead was just how much fun it was – it was a still a horror film to be sure – but Snyder and Gunn definitely provided some dark laughs and action to go along with the zombie carnage. And judging by the trailer for Army of the Dead it is a return to form for Snyder, especially with the “Always Bet on Dead” tagline as seen on the official poster. Word of warning though before you check out the trailer for yourself, there is a brief moment of SALTY language, but thankfully it doesn’t cross the PG-13 line. And kudos by the way to the filmmaker for using the 1978 cover of “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers in the trailer below!

Dave Bautista plays Scott Walker, a former soldier who leads a team of mercenaries into the remains of Las Vegas in the hopes of securing $200 million dollars locked in a vault. Not only does the group have to contend with what looks like intelligent zombies and an undead tiger, but they only have 32 hours before a nuclear bomb is dropped on Las Vegas. If you listen closely to the news report at the beginning of that trailer, the city that never sleeps has been walled off to prevent the zombie hordes from spreading. So I think it’s safe to say that the $50 million pay out will still go a long way for Walker and his team… assuming any of them survive the job, right?

In addition to Bautista, the film also stars Theo Rossi (Luke Cage), Ella Purnell (Sweetbitter), Tig Notaro (One Mississippi), Ana de la Reguera (Goliath), Hiroyuki Sanada (Westworld), Omari Hardwick (Kick-Ass), Matthias Schweighöfer (You Are Wanted), Raúl Castillo (Ghost Tape), Nora Arnezeder (Safe House), Garret Dillahunt (Deadwood), and Samantha Win (Mortal Kombat: Legacy).

As I understand it from reading online, Army of the Dead will be released in select theaters beginning on May 14th with it hitting Netflix one week later.

Back To The Future was one of the original ReAction figure licenses back during the heyday of Super 7’s partnership with Funko. But after that heyday – with saw Back To The Future figures sharing retail peg space with licenses like Universal Studios’ classic movie monsters, Firefly, The Fifth Element and classic Star Trek, the two companies went their separate ways, with Super 7 retaining the ReAction brand and its aim to produce “Kenner-style” action figures for unlikely pop culture brands. Recent years have seen ReAction not only deliver long-overdue action figure lines for cult classic movies, but music brand such as Slayer, Wu-Tang Clan, and yes, they even did an action figure of Lemmy from MotÖrhead. A while, back, they even went further into the future with a line of figures from Back To The Future Part II.

But the original has not been forgotten, and now Marty and Doc are back in a variety of guises not previously produced in ReAction’s original Back To The Future line. Marty is available in two forms – as we meet him at the beginning of the movie, in the company of Einstein, the world’s first time-traveling dog (take that, K-9!), and in his full head-to-toe hazmat suit when he pays his father George a visit in the past as “Darth Vader of the planet Vulcan”. Doc Brown is back as well, both in his own hazmat gear from the beginning of the movie, and in his younger 1958 form, complete with his elaborate mind-reading helmet (“this thing doesn’t work!”). Best of all, the packaging has been rethought so that it forms a kind of diptych – the Back To The Future figures’ cardboard backing cards show the left half of the time-traveling DeLorean, while the Back To The Future Part II cards show the right half. (For those of us who like to leave a figure or two on the card here and there, this makes a great display piece.)

The only thing that would make this package sweeter would be a DeLorean to scale, complete with flux capacitor and Mr. Fusion. Hint, hint, ReAction. Get on that. (The sad fact is…we probably shouldn’t hold our collective breath, because it may well be more expensive to license the likeness of a DeLorean DMC-12 than to license the likenesses of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. Maybe they can borrow Luke’s landspeeder or the Batmobile and upgrade those for time travel? Use your imagination, kids. That’s what action figures are for!)

The new wave of Back To The Future figures are now available at Super7.com.

Friends, a surprising number of articles on this site have focused on my love of the Mortal Kombat video game series. And in almost every single one of those posts that I have written I do make a point that while I absolutely adore the lore of that series of games, comic books, animated series, and films… you would probably be hard pressed to find a worse player at fighting games than myself. Having said that I am extremely excited to check out the live action film set to debut on HBO Max as well as in select theaters starting on April 23rd, having been moved back a week from it’s original release date of April 16th (Most folks think that was to give Godzilla vs. Kong a little more breathing room at the box office). To help make that additional week wait a little more bearable, the main theme for the upcoming Mortal Kombat film has been released to help you make your morning just a little more enjoyable. The theme song which is composed by Benjamin Wallfisch (The Invisible Man, Blade Runner 2049) and entitled “Techno Syndrome 2021” as a nod to the 1994 track from Mortal Kombat: The Album by The Immortals.

Working at the retro arcade in my neck of the woods, I am willing to bet you will understand why we are pretty excited about seeing the new movie for ourselves. Although I am saving sharing my experience with 1995 film for a future Pop Culture Retrorama or possibly Diary of An Arcade Employee podcast, I can tell you that I was sitting in the auditorium on opening night… and I might have been the oldest person there. That probably had a little something to do with the fact that the Paul W. S. Anderson adaptation of the game had secured a PG-13 rating. With the upcoming movie by Simon McQuoid it has received an R rating for “strong bloody violence and language throughout, and some crude references.”

IGN As a matter of fact released a short behind the scenes video just a few days, giving us fans of Mortal Kombat a few more glimpses at what we can expect next week when the film is released. Although as I understand it, the complete soundtrack for Mortal Kombat by Benjamin Wallfisch is going to be released on April 16th.

Friends, you might not have realized it but yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of The Howling, the classic werewolf picture directed by the legendary Joe Dante (Gremlins, Small Soldiers). And while I do wish we could have released this latest episode of the Saturday Frights podcast on the actual anniversary, as you will be able to hear for yourself, things at the Haunted Drive-In have kept the Projectionist and I pretty busy. Although considering the running time for this particular episode of the podcast, I feel it is safe to say that we had quite a bit to say about the making of The Howling as well as the embarrassment of riches it possesses in regards to the cast, both newcomers and a staggering number of character actors and surprise cameos.

As mentioned in the episode itself, when The Howling was released on April 10th of 1981, it marked one of four films to play in theaters that year that dealt with werewolves. And it might surprise you to learn that some of the effects for Joe Dante’s modern take on the creatures of lore and legend were begun by Rick Baker (King Kong, Ghost Story) who had to go work on An American Werewolf in London – handing over the job to Rob Bottin of John Carpenter’s The Thing fame.

From classic animated shorts by Ub Iwerks to the fact that many of the characters in The Howling are named after film directors who made their own werewolf films, there is a lot of ground to cover. So without further ado we hope you will grab your favorite snack and beverage and join us as we tackle 1981’s The Howling on the Saturday Frights podcast.

If you have any suggestions for topics you would like for us to cover in a future episode – or possibly you have comments on the current show itself, email them to me at VicSagePopCulture@gmail.com You can also contact me on Twitter and on Facebook. In addition I certainly hope you will take the time to visit the Saturday Frights Facebook Page. There you can find posts from Rockford Jay, Preston Griffith and myself on a daily basis.

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I don’t know about you, but I LOVED Jem back in the day. I was very small, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-5 years old watching the show. Most of it went over my head, but I loved the music and all the color that came with each episode of Jem. That show was, and still is, truly outrageous. I had a Jem wristwatch, and while I never had any of the Jem dolls, my sister and I did get at least one of Mattel’s answer to Jem–Midge from Barbie and the Rockers. I can’t say with 100% certainty, but it’s even possible that the long-dormant subconscious influence of Jem led me to pursue music as a middle and high schooler. I still play music as an adult, and I may or may not have Jem to thank for it.

When I was in college, I happened upon a box set of seasons one and two of Jem at my local Borders Books. This was after the set was out of print and I had some textbook buyback money burning a hole in my pocket and some end-of-the-school-year steam to blow off. Needless to say, I snatched up that DVD set like a mom going after the last Cabbage Patch Kid on the day after Thanksgiving. That summer, my best friend and I spent an entire day watching through several discs of the set, munching on snacks, and laughing hysterically at the cheesy delight and unabashed ridiculousness that is Jem. 

Lines such as, “Jem, how does it feel to be the first rock star to win the Indy 500?” and song lyrics like, “We wear a sarong, but it looks so wrong!” from the song, “Misfits in Hawaii” brought the biggest laughs for us. Truth be told, I laughed just writing that down. 

A few years later, we were fortunate enough to actually meet the voice of Jem herself–Samantha Newark–at our local comic convention. Ms. Newark is one of the kindest celebrities I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. She took time to speak to everyone, take pictures, shake hands, and genuinely seemed to enjoy meeting her fans. As you can see in the photo, we were quite ecstatic to have met our childhood idol.

Getting to watch Jem again as an adult reignited my love for the series. In fact, I turned Jem on my TV last Saturday morning, just because I was feeling nostalgic. By the way, you can watch the entire series for free with ads right now on Tubi TV via the web or your favorite streaming device, along with several other classic 80s Saturday morning cartoons. 

All of this is to say, imagine my delight when I learned this week that Super7 is adding Jem and Pizzazz of The Misfits to their ReAction figure line! Jem comes dressed in her trademark pink dress and microphone, while Pizzazz is rocking out with her guitar, fully ready to shred the competition. The figures have 5 points of articulation and come packed in holographic packaging! Appropriate, right? These figures will set you back about $18 each. 

Have you gotten your hands on these truly outrageous figures yet? I know I’ll be hitting up my local comic shop for a set soon. Thanks to Earl Green for sharing the link to the announcement for this release. 

Were you a Jem Girl or a Jem Boy? Once you’re a Jem Girl (or Jem Boy), you’re never the same, you know. Do you have fond memories of Jem? Share them with us in the comments. 

Friends, while we fans of Ghostbusters were understandably freaking out yesterday over the release of a clip from the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife, it seems that Nintendo and Bandai Namco dropped an exclusive new title for the Nintendo Switch. A 99-player online battle royale featuring an updated version of the iconic Pac-Man, appropriately enough entitled Pac-Man 99. Did I mention that it is absolutely free for members of Nintendo Switch Online?

I assume that Pac-Man 99 has been released as part of the continuing 40th anniversary celebration of Pac-Man, which began on May 22nd of last year, proving the arcade icon shows no signs of slowing down since his initial debut.

Considering that it is a 99-player battle royale, it shouldn’t shock you to learn that there are a few new bells and whistles added to the overall gameplay. For one thing you are going to have to be worried about more than just the likes of Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde. The biggest threat now will come from your fellow online players, who are going to be doing their level best to throw obstacles in your path such as the Jammer Pac-Man. Whenever a player gulps down a Power Pellet and then runs down and eats a ghost, a Jammer Pac-Man will be sent to one of the 99 other players. These moving obstacles resemble a ghost-like version of Pac-Man and roam freely through the maze, if a player comes in contact with one however it will slow them down considerably – making them the perfect target for the roving band of ghosts.

Also in the mazes are what Pac-Man 99 describes as Sleeping Ghosts, these smaller chain of ghosts can be gobbled up by the player at any time, with each one attaching itself to either Inky, Blinky, Pinky, or Clyde. After swallowing one of the Power Pellets though, all of the attached ghosts will also turn blue and can be gobbled up by the player, which of course sends a slew of the Jammer Pac-Man to an opponent.

Pac-Man 99 offers up power-ups for a player to use to keep in the game, like a speed boost, or even the option to hurl more of those Jammer Pac-Man to opponents who are on the verge of losing their match. There is more though, while the standard version of the game is available free of charge to Nintendo Switch Online members, you can pick up DLC packs – which offers additional play modes or even allows you to change the game theme to resemble other classic Bandai Namco titles like Dig Dug, Galaga, New Rally-X, and many others.

So what are you waiting for, download Pac-Man 99 today and see if you can claim the title of leader of the Pac!

Friends, as a fan of the Ghostbusters franchise, from the original film in 1984 to the various animated series, toys, video games, and more – one of the hardest things to accept in 2020 was seeing Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife keep getting pushed back further and further from the originally scheduled release date. Of course with the pandemic it is more than understandable why the film studios decided that it wasn’t best to release any of their big pictures at the time, what with some theaters just now getting the chance to open their doors back up to the public. Having said that however I have been anxiously awaiting the proposed release date of November 11 of this year to finally check out Ghostbusters: Afterlife… or at the very least a new trailer since the last one was released back in December of 2019.

Now I personally feel that there is a whole lot of affection for the Ghostbusters series in that trailer, in fact that is pretty much exactly what I said when I first wrote an article about it. It makes a lot of sense though considering that Jason Reitman (Juno) is the son of Ivan Reitman (Heavy Metal, Stripes), who of course directed the first two films in the franchise.

In addition Ghostbusters: Afterlife, while I do firmly believe is going to act as a passing of the torch to a new generation, is allowing for a reunion of the the original surviving cast members as I understand it. Although it is somewhat heartbreaking to think of the likes of Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Sigourney Weaver, and Bill Murray getting back together without the legendary Harold Ramis… I think that trailer totally plays it’s hand in that Ghostbusters: Afterlife is honoring the actor and his character of Egon Spengler.

That is a long way around to the point of this article, earlier this afternoon a short video was released to the official Ghostbusters YouTube channel, a reveal of a familiar character from the original film. Well, sort of, because as Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd) is about to find out when he is introduced to the Mini-Pufts… sweet, sweet and horrifying carnage is afoot.

I absolutely love the Terminator 2: Judgement Day reference in that clip, but the gleeful way the Mini-Pufts go about setting themselves on fire is so very creepy. Although I am going to have to crib from one of the comments from the video, it is nice to see that people weren’t put off on the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man brand after the icon was used as the form to bring about the end of the World by Gozer, right?

Friends and roamin’ countrymen, lend me your ears, because I have soundtrack news to pour into them. That’s actually kind of a disturbing image now that I type out the words. Ever said something where it sounded a lot more clever before you said it out loud? This may be one of those cases. But hey, soundtrack news.

La-La Land Records has unleashed a brand new box set from what would now be called the Irwin Allen Cinematic Universe, and this is three discs’ worth of music from one of my favorite Irwin Allen TV series of the sixties – The Time Tunnel! I honestly never figured out how this show didn’t catch on like Lost In Space, or how it missed out on at least a two-season run like Land Of The Giants, because I love a good time travel show. And if it’s a good time travel show with good music, all the better! This box set covers early episodes such as “Rendezvous With Yesterday”, “One Way To The Moon”, “The Day The Sky Fell”, “Crack Of Doom” and others. That means music from such ’60s TV mainstays as Johnny Williams (I wonder whatever happened with his career?), Lyn Murray, Paul Sawtell, and Robert Drasnin. There are even bonus tracks, including alternate takes and, of course, several permutations of Williams’ memorable theme music. Over three hours of music from the series in all, with the promising “Volume 1” subtitle hinting at more to come! Only 1,000 copies of the set are being pressed, so you better snatch one up now – or be working on a reliable means of time travel so future you can come back to the present and snatch one up now. Really, snatching one up now is your only option, no matter how you slice it.

Jason’s back and he’s brought tunes – La-La Land is also rolling out a limited edition score release for Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, the first score in the Friday franchise with no involvement from composer Harry Manfredini. Part VIII was the first chapter scored entirely by Fred Mollin, who had composed additional music for Part VII and had scored the Friday TV spinoff. Not only does this release feature Mollin’s first solo film score for the franchise, but four songs featured in the movie, which haven’t featured on any prior releases. 2,000 copies of this soundtrack will be released.

La-La Land has been plenty busy this year, with some earlier 2021 releases still available, including the first-ever release of Quincy Jones’ score from the 1967 Robert Wagner golfing movie Banning (3000 copies), Christopher Young’s music from 1998’s Hard Rain (1000 copies), and one of my early favorites among this year’s soundtrack releases, the 2-CD set of music from the second season of The Orville, featuring music by John Debney, Joel McNeely, and Andrew Cottee, a release with epic widescreen sci-fi action music that, frankly, makes me wish that season three of The Orville would hurry up and get here.

Intrada Records has also been busy; their most recent releases are the world premiere CD release of Jerry Goldsmith’s score from 1959’s Face Of A Fugitive, an expanded 2-CD release of Michael Kamen’s score from Company Business, Elmer Bernstein’s score from Legal Eagles, and a 2-CD collection of music from Frank DeVol’s The Flight Of The Phoenix.

And our friends at Dragon’s Domain continue to be a powerhouse as far as releasing underappreciated scores – such as Joel Goldsmith’s score from Vampirella, Fredric Ensign Teetsel’s music from Adventures In Dinosaur City, and the third volume of the Mark Snow collection, gathering two Snow TV movie scores (Murder Between Friends and Shadows Of Desire) in one place.

In the realm of digital releases, very much like the first season (but not the second season) of The Mandalorian, the Disney Plus Marvel series Wandavision had a soundtrack release for each new episode. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier seems not to have followed this pattern, however; watch this space for news of any eventual release of that show’s music.

And lastly – an apology for not doing a great job keeping score so far in 2021! As some of you might have heard, I’ve been writing, editing, and occasionally even hosting a new podcast at the Roddenberry Podcast Network called Sci-Fi 5 – five minutes of science fiction history poured into your ears every weekday. Generally, if you hear a segment about a TV show that didn’t last long but had amazing theme music, I probably wrote that bit. Give it a listen and a follow if you like what you hear – and I’ll try to do a better job of staying on top of this year’s soundtrack releases.

Every time I believe I’ve found “the best training video ever” (or is it Best Training Video Ever?), I find something else that just totally unseats it.

A few weeks ago, I found a training video for the then-operating company that owned Jack in the Box restaurants.  It was from 1985, it had all the trappings of the perfectly delightfully cheesy training video, and it was perfect for a Pop Culture Retrorama article in the vein of the training videos I’ve been watching for over a year now.

It was also on Laserdisc, which in itself ups the nostalgia factor.

And then I found this one perfect moment, the most perfect four minutes and twenty-five ever to be placed within a just-a-hare-over 21 minutes-long training video.  And apparently, it actually first was glimpsed by Jack in the Box employees of the 1970s, but included in Welcome to a Winning Team by the company’s then-higher ups, as it was their training video!

Hence, we have…Deadly Dangers!

Horror lives within a Jack in the Box restaurant near you, when steps to ensure safety are not taken seriously!  Be it not keeping the back door closed and locked, improper footwear, not using a guard on the tomato slicer, not paying attention around the fryer, not knowing how to properly extinguish cooking fires, improper lifting, or not holding a handrail while using the stairs, danger is in plain sight.

And it seems to be caused by a moron named Ted.

Made to look like horror film trailers of that time, the killer should be, you’d think, actually Bad Acting.  But no, the actual killer – that of safety – is failing to follow proper safety protocols set forth by Jack in the Box corporate policy.

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My husband never saw this during his time with Jack in the Box (he said his training video talked about the E.coli deaths in the early 1990s), but he walked by while I was watching this video and laughed hysterically over the idiot putting their hand in the frying oil!

There is just so much to love about how terrible this video could be, but the quality of the film and where it took inspiration from really puts this one in a class all by itself.  And I believed that was a class only Jewel’s Own Joan could ever hope to achieve!

She now has competition in the “Don’t Do This!” section of training videos, and his name is “Ted from Jack in the Box.”

Next time, he’ll remember to use the handrail!