Madhouse! The Price of Fame!

I caught Madhouse on the box last night, the Vincent Price shocker from 1974, an American International Amicus film.

I'm a huge Vincent fan, but then again, I love most old horror films and all their stars.

I've seen Madhouse a few times and I've even read the original book with a still from the film on the cover. The old novel's title was Devilday, which I wouldn't mind finding in a charity shop at all.

Madhouse is basically about Paul Toombes, a once famous but now faded horror star and his shaky comeback 12 years after his wife was decapitated and his subsequent mental breakdown. The action is in London, mostly on a film set or in a country house basement, where an orange haired madwoman lives dressed in bright green and likes to kiss spiders ( mostly rubber).

Every horror stalwart cameos in Madhouse. Karloff, Rathbone and Lorre all appear in old clips and Peter Cushing co-stars in the flesh. There are recognisable actresses from horror too such as Linda Hayden.

Everyone looks a little confused in Madhouse. It feels like a diluted Dr. Phibes or a sort of bare-bones lucky bag of the fantastic Theatre of Blood, only much tamer and let's face it, how could you ever equal Diana Rigg and Vincent in the same movie!

Even old Vinny looks a bit dazed and tired in Madhouse as clips from his Poe cycle keep popping up!

Yorkshire's very own Parky the interview king can't straighten things out either and he looks decidedly uneasy in this, perhaps his only horror stint.

It's a strange film and I read that for one critic it marked the end of the Seventies horror movie boom. I'm not sure about that but it is a self-reflective moment.

Still, I enjoyed Madhouse a lot and no doubt will do again in the future.

Have you seen it?

Rob's Pyro Big Indian Chief

Woodsy,

Here is another blast from the past, the Pyro Plastics Indian Chief, a plastic model figure kit first issued in 1958, then again in the mid-1960s as a "Paint By Numbers" kit, and finally in 2024 reissued by Atlantis Models.

Pyro produced many fun figurative kits, including several "Cowboys & Indians," plus their legendary "Prehistoric Monsters" line.

Atlantis Model went the PC route and retitled this kit "Native American Big Chief," but he will always be Indian Chief to me!

Rob C

USA

Does a Silhouette have a Shadow?

 For the first time in days I stepped into the garden today - to carry out some light duties  the Missus and me have been badly with the Grandkids' colds and they're always stinkers.

It's Spring in Blighty and the bees are out, so I thought I'd get busy too and take a few snaps in the sunny shade with my new Zylmex Bubble, Zee Toys' Silhouette, I bought last week.

Love My Tender!

This popped up in my feed, a great looking pair of red plastic vehicles that would not have looked out of place on a Gerry Anderson show . 

The Fire Engine is indeed a JR21 toy. I've got one, but if it ever appeared in Thunderbirds I'm unsure. 

The Lincoln Bulldozer looks incredible. Anyone got one?

Boy Oh Boy, look at the price of the fire tender! 

Thunderingballs!

Hello Moonbasers, my pal Arnum is always mooching around Auction Halls and he's picked up some bargains over the years..

A case in point is this vintage James Bond board game. It's actually a very clever game, as it requires deductive reasoning as well as the element of chance.

As an agent, you have to collect clues that can reveal where the stolen atomic bombs are hidden.

The only thing missing from the game is booze and dames -so I set about fixing that!

I've added girl and drugged Martini hazard spaces and modified the rules accordingly.

I also reprinted the original Secret 007 Notebook page, to more closely resemble the paperwork seen in the film!

" Oh, the things I do for England! "

Looey

Oz Base

Holy Spawning! The McFarlane Batboat

 I was amazed yesterday to see a whole range of modern Batman toys spawned by wunderkind McFarlane Toys.

They'd just passed me by! 

The batboat looks so gothamly fantastic, as do all these top-notch caped creations.

Cor! I want them all! 

See what you think.

Kevin's Scratchbuilt Star Trek Tricorder

Hi,

Just finished a scratchbuild of the tricorder from the first Star Trek film.

The Human Adventure is just beginning 

(47 years ago!)

Kevin

Spring Fever

The latest round of 2026 Hot Wheels are appearing on the shelves and along with the standard die cast, I picked up one of the larger Pull Back Speeder series - the 1969 Ford Mustang.

A classic design, this one has been modded a little with side pipes and peek-a-boo intakes in the bonnet. Hot Wheels do tend to be a little heavy handed with the decals in recent years, and the Mustang was no exception. Both doors were painted a light blue and plastered with pointless tampo stickers. For me, the beauty in a classic American muscle is the sleek shape and silhouette, so caking it in stickers does nothing to add to the appeal. I covered both doors in black, having to leave the front wheel arches pale blue and to tolerate the rest of the little decals.

Next up are two standard HW models, ‘Flippin’ Fast’ in its latest colour variation (4th) and the ‘Polestar TRX’ truck. Flippin Fast is a double sided car, which can happily roll just as easily on either top or bottom, with a swivelling pilot in the middle.The large wheels engage the track and the thin body works from both aspects.

The Polestar looks a little like a modern take on the classic Deora, with a flat bed carrying two surfboards. Unlike its 1968 forebear, the boards are molded into the casting.