MORE DASTARDLY POSTS ON THE MORROW READERS,
ALL HALLOWS!
Don't let the bed bugs bite!
Tuesday, 31 October 2023
IT WAS LOOKING OUT OF THE DOLL'S HOUSE
The phantom monochrome swill will clog the windows of the living night.
SOUL EATER
The greedy alchemist struck pools of gold
He ruled the world, a gluttonous King
But he failed to heed the jealous thing
That ate the forfeit soul he'd sold.
NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH
Just watching Hellboy II the Golden Army. One of the real horrors of the film are the tooth fairies in the first half.
These voracious little creatures like nothing more that human teeth, hence the name! No threepenny bits under the pillow from them!
There have been other little meanies in other flicks.
One I remember is Don't Turn out the Lights or similar. There's a dreadful scene where the mother of the household is dragged down the coal chute or something into the bowels of hell. She's dragged by, yes, little humanoid critters that terroriser the family in the house.
These voracious little creatures like nothing more that human teeth, hence the name! No threepenny bits under the pillow from them!
There have been other little meanies in other flicks.
One I remember is Don't Turn out the Lights or similar. There's a dreadful scene where the mother of the household is dragged down the coal chute or something into the bowels of hell. She's dragged by, yes, little humanoid critters that terroriser the family in the house.
The Gate is another. This flick will appeal to rocketry fans. The hero of the piece uses one to slay the band of ghoulies causing havoc and worse in his home. Like all of these films there's a hole, which you really should fill in!
Can you think of any more movies full of little nasty ghoulies?
TRAPPED!
Bit grisly but when you're a young kid its grisliness that catches the eye. TRAPPED was my favourite card in the Civil War News card set that my big brother had. I used to wonder, where the hell was his leg!?
Happy Halloween!
XTRO SPECIAL: ALIEN FARM
I've always liked the 1982 British horror flick XTRO, a cheapo alien spree set in the English countryside.
It got caught up in the Video Nasty furore in the late 80's, so be warned, its certainly not for the squeamish!
Besides the appearance of a life-size Action Man, featured before here, I did some digging into the location.
The early scenes are set in this lovely big house near a river and it always struck me as quite idyllic, the quintessentially English rustic backdrop for the gruesome terrors that unfold.
A little image searching of this house took me to this, Stockers Farm in Rickmansworth near London.
image: historic
Although looking slightly different, there are enough points of similarity to make me pretty sure its the same house.
Checking up on Stockers Farm, turns out its a well-known London rustic location according to IMDB.
Strangely their list does not include XTRO!
I wonder why?
What do you think?
If you only watch one Creepy film this Halloween watch this!
The ORIGINAL 1980's Woman in Black.
It's spooky as hell!
Signposts to Spooksville
Take your pick from this dripping platter of cold splatter!
The 40 Scariest TV Episodes Ever
Classic horror: the 10 most terrifying short stories ever written
The Whisperer in Darkness (film) - Wikipedia
11 Stunning Low-Budget Horror Movie Gems That Deserve Your Time! - YouTube
10 Abandoned But Gripping Sci-Fi Horror Movies From ‘80s and Early ‘90s! - YouTube
200 Best Horror Movies of All Time << Rotten Tomatoes – Movie and TV News
The Dragon's Teeth
These modern Papo skeletons really have that Jason and the Argonauts vibe! They glow in the dark too! I wonder if Ray Harryhausen Would have got some!?
Monster Toy Ads
Here is something that should be right up your street. A 21-minute compilation of 1980s and 1990s TV ads for various horror themed toys.
Not suitable for those of a nervous disposition.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
The Maitlands
The name Maitland appears in many old 60s and 70s horror films. You will often hear about the Maitlands.
Does anyone know why?
Finkin!
Last year I bought the Atlantis re-issue of the old Revell Angel Fink kit, from 1964.
This was one of a series of kits that Revell put out in the 1960s, all by custom car designer Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth. Angel Fink is a very simple kit, with just 19 parts, of which 12 make up the actual figure, plus the base, a pot for brewing up a batch of Nitrous Oxide, and a snake. She stands around 6 inches tall.
The model is fairly easy to assemble, but there are a number of major gaps that need to be filled and sanded down. The plastic is rather thin, so be careful when sanding. The model is also rather top heavy, and not too stable unless it is glued to the base. The hands are fixed to the arms by small pins, which are a tight fit - I managed to break both of them, so the hands are now held by simple butt joins.
Rather than build the model as intended, as a Monster, I built mine as the Old Gypsy from the song Love Potion No.9. She is described as having a gold tooth, and the Love Potion as looking like Indian Ink and smelling like turpentine.
I did not use the snake that is included, and instead added a glass bottle for the Potion. This was made from a round plastic rubbish bin found in a modern 1/35th scale accessory set, with the top of a map pin for the neck and cap. Two paper labels were printed out for the pot and the bottle.
Other than that, the model is simply built straight from the box, and painted. A red cloak, black shoes, Humbrol Dark Flesh for the face and hands, and dark brown for the warts. Angel Fink only has two teeth, one of which is painted gold. I was trying to decide what colour to paint the eyes when I found a bottle of Tamiya Metallic Blue. This gives the eyes a slight sheen, and stands out well against the otherwise matt finish.
This was my first ever Monster kit, and great fun!
Paul Adams from New Zealand
Famous Monsters of Filmland
I have just discovered that the ever useful Internet Archive site has a sizable collection of the classic movie monster magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland (edited by Forrest J. Ackerman) in its collection.
The original magazine ran from 1958 to 1983, although it was later revived.
Never having actually seen a copy of this famous publication, I was delighted to get the chance to finally read them. I have a long way to go.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=famous+monsters+of+filmland&page=5
Paul Adams from New Zealand
Never having actually seen a copy of this famous publication, I was delighted to get the chance to finally read them. I have a long way to go.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=famous+monsters+of+filmland&page=5
Paul Adams from New Zealand
MASTERS OF THE HALLOWEEN UNIVERSE!
Hi Woodsy.
Just finished this display in time for Halloween. I have a bunch of spooky action figures that look like they have really been hitting the gym! So I decided to put them in Castle Grayskull/Snake Mountain with some Halloween lights and scenery.
Enjoy!
-BrianF
Monster Base
NJ USA
.jpg)
REVENGE OF THE LAB RATS
I think I have mentioned that Max from Max's Models was having a Halloween Group Build. Everyone who wants to take part builds a model, and sends in photos.
Max then puts these together in a Group Build video. This was my entry - Revenge of the Lab Rats.
After centuries of being used for experiments, the lab rats have revolted, and now it is Man's turn to tremble in fear. This would make a truly great horror movie, right up there with Night of the Lepus (giant killer bunny rabbits), or Attack of the Killer Shrews.
I had originally intended to use mutant killer Guinea Pigs, but I could not find any suitable toy Guinea Pigs. So I had to switch to rats.
The ones I used are black plastic Halloween decorations. I learned my lesson when painting the Man in a Monkey suit, and this time I primed the models before painting, and then used acrylics.
Light grey primer, dry brushed with white. Pink flesh areas, with metallic red for the glowing red eyes.
The doomed human trying to make a break for it is a 1/24th scale mechanic from a Fujimi Mechanics and Drivers set. The work bench is from an AMT car accessory set.
The cupboard and the shelf are made from cardboard. The cardboard box and various other parts are either from the AMT accessory set, or the spares box.
The large Scientific Apparatus on the bench is the engine deck from a WW2 German Tiger tank (1/72nd scale Hasegawa I think), backed with foamboard. Some of the other items are 1/25th scale car engine parts.
The laboratory set is coloured card, glued in to a cut-down cardboard box, which is a lot more rigid than trying to glue individual pieces of cardboard together.
Happy Halloween.
Paul Adams in New Zealand
THE TERROR!
Further to the recent posts on movie monsters here is The Trollenberg Terror (released in the United States as The Crawling Eye) from 1958. It was based on the BBC TV show from 1956 which my parents allowed me to stay up late to watch.
I haven't seen the movie in many years, I remember a mountain top building, the creature and a cable car so have cobbled them together for this shot. The idea was inspired by finding a strange shaped toy octopus that looked more like The Terror!
Terranova47
USA
TINPLATE TERRORS BY TONY K
Rather ritualistically, the run up to Halloween always seems to find me looking for The Lost Boys on dvd, binge watching old horror B-movies on youtube and spinning the dusty vinyl of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Bauhaus.
I like the cooler temperature, the magnificent colours of falling leaves and the spooky vibe which prevails as the veil is said to become thinner and the bat decorations come out of the belfry. The media I consumed as a kid played an influential part in sowing the pumpkin seeds.
Old Universal and Hammer movies, childhood horror comics, Warren publications, Pan paperbacks, monster themed gum cards, ghoulish glow-in-the-dark Aurora kits and Mego's Mad Monsters all conspired! I was bitten by Halloween and spellbound for life.
Three old tinplate toys which personify the enjoyment of Halloween for me are - Hootin' Hollow Haunted House, Whistling Spooky Kooky Tree and Frankenstein, all sold by MARX in the early '60s.
Haunted House films, stories, toys and games have always been a popular Halloween hoot. Hootin' Hollow Haunted House is a beautiful example of a tinplate toy from this genre. It's a fun filled des res of cobwebbed spooks and spooky spectres.
Eight old fashioned typewriter keys make the magic happen.
They unlock the door to Hootin' Hollows hidden horrors. These included; a jumping black cat, a moving back-lit ghost seen through a window, a suspiciously welcoming vampire opening the front door, a window shade, a rattling roof, a friendly skeleton who pops out of the chimney, spooky noises and whistling wind sound.
As if all that wasn't captivating enough, the bewitching litho is a work of art which draws the eye and lures the imagination.
'Rudy's World' youtube channel gives an exceptional review of his own Haunted House and demonstrates it spooktacular functions.
'It's in the Trees!'... erm, well actually it is a tree... a Whistling Spooky Kooky Tree! This tinplate gem with a wacky appearance could be seen to laugh at our unease of scary childhood fairy tales and foreboding forests, or from an adult perspective, paganism, folklore and even folk horror!
A rare oddball amongst tinplate toys, this lavishly lithographed moving tree has big rolling eyes, a moving mouth, a twisty branch for a conk, all topped with a crown of moving leaves. Its long gnarly arms wave up and down as it moves through the mist.
To intensify the fear factor, the tree emits an eerie whistling noise to enchant those unfortunates stranded in the forest when darkness descends. This adorable tree trunk terror is definitely a cut above the rest for far-out Halloween fun. Incidentally, Marx branched out and made two versions.
The darker Autumn/Winter tree (seen here) and the lighter Spring/Summer example, which has identical functions but a different litho design.
Here's a very short youtube link which shows 'Tintoyman's' Whistling Tree in action. https://youtu.be/uHexwDpdjKo?si=c1W_JcHFI5qDthXQ
'It's Alive, It's ALIVE!'. My final Halloween fave is Frankenstein (The Monster). It isn't lightening or electricity which sparks him to life... it's a plastic battery operated remote control. By pushing various buttons he walks, he bows, he raises and lowers his long arms. He can also open and close them to grab torch bearing yokels. (These functions are also found in two other popular robotic toys from that era - Mr. Mercury and Dux Astroman).
Frankenstein's litho is based on Universal Studio's dark movie costume, which is polarised by a vibrant green Glenn Strange head sculpt and hands. The brooding box art could've been taken from an old cover of Eerie, Creepy or Famous Monsters.
For those with an interest, Raymond Castile has produced a lovely in-depth youtube review of his own Marx Frankenstein.
All three of my Halloween favourites come from a time when top toy technology was battery operated. All three feature ingenious mechanical functions. All three of these old childhood relics is beautifully lithographed with colourful detail and design. Each has a charm and appeal all of its own. Over the years, I've enjoy being their 'temporary custodian'.
It's a bit like looking after fragile old friends who were around when I was a kid. In return, they make me smile. They conjure up a happy carefree time when my world was full of imagination and wonder, where things were magical and anything seemed possible.
Happy Halloween 2023.
Tony K
UK
