Friday, October 19, 2012 Chi-Town Cinematic Chills
If you're looking for cinematic spookiness this season and you live in the Chicago area, you're kinda spoiled for choice.
This Saturday (October 20th) is The Masscre, a 24-hout marathon of classic horror that features some really great films. The marathon looks to be quite the event, with vendors and a charity auction and, best of all, appearences and autograph sessions from Jack "Spider Baby" Hill and horror icon Linnea Quigley!
Looks like the entire Portage Park area will be celebrating Halloween this weekend, with arts & crafts and a treasure hunt for the kiddies, live entertainment, and more on Saturday. On Sunday, the legendary Svengoolie will be presenting a screening of Beetlejuice,once again at the Portage.
Speaking of Sven, he will also be hosting a 3-D presentation of The Creature From the Black Lagoon at the Muvico Theater in Rosemont on Sunday, October 28th. Keen!
Also on Sunday is the kick-off of Halloween Havoc 5, a week long festival of horror favorites at, you guessed it, the Portage.
Personally, I'd love to attend the Saturday screening of Return of the Living Dead, but I'm going to a party that night all the way out in Naperthrill. The whole line-up for the Massacre is pretty solid, and it looks like most if not all of the films will be presented on 35mm film. I might swing by the first day of HH5, but I'm pretty sure the group that organizes it shows digital projections of DVD's; as I own pretty much all of the films on disc already the screenings lose a lot of appeal for me.
Finally, I'm tempted to make the long drive from the family Halloween part in Indiana all the way to Elgin for Nightmare on Chicago Street. It's not a movie, but a zombie-themed block party with live entertainment and precious, precious booze. Based in the photos from last year's event, it looks like a lot of fun.
Random Thoughts on Flashback Weekend, Pretty Much As They Occur
I clocked in 120 hours in the last two weeks, including one straight 24 hour run. (Thank Baby Jesus I am free from the burden of Socialist Overtime! No increased paycheck for me! Whee!) In lieu of actual compensation, I can leave work early today, and on a whim I decide to drive out to Rosemont and the Flashback Weekend horror convention. I have a really hard time emotionally with trying new activities, especially on my own, but it looks like I am coming into an "up" cycle and/or I am too tired to give a shit. Plus, I really want to meet Ken Foree, the star of the original Dawn of the Dead. Off I go!
The convention is held across the street from Wizard World Chicago, a con I am much more familiar with. It's 4:30 on a Friday afternoon and WW is already packed. I am attending tomorrow with a couple of friends, and I am already worn out just looking at the lines.
I come into the hotel the wrong way and end up passing a very long line. I really hope it's not for tickets. I may leave if it is. Nope! It's for the John Carpenter autograph session. I'm pleased for him, but it looks like I will be forgoing the pleasure of meeting him today.
Waiting in line for my ticket, the crowds are much smaller here than at Wizard World. On the other hand, the con did just get started. Already I can see that the female/male ratio is far, far more even than it is at the comic conventions. I've always known that horror fandom is dominated by women but I've never really experienced it before. Aside from a couple of friends, most of my encounters have been with male headbangers/slasher fans. This is refreshing.
The hallway is pretty narrow, and guests and vendors stream by. I catch whiffs of patchouli, greasepaint, and dread wax. Not odors I am especially fond of, especially the dread wax, but it beats the hell out of the standard con cologne, Eau de Unwashed.
The ticket booth is staffed by what appears to be a mom and her daughters. A ten-year-old is in charge of attaching the entry bands to attendees' wrists. She seems very excited to hold such a responsible position. Her older sisters display various degrees of boredom. Again, this drives home that Flashback is a very female-friendly gathering and despite my ginourmous reserves of testosterone this makes me relax for some reason. I think it's in no small part due to all the discussions at the geek forum I hang at about sexism and outright hostility towards women at cons. I don't think that shit is gonna fly here.
I enter the main room. It's pretty darn small compared to Wizard World, barely a step up from the neighborhood comic cons I would occasionally attend back in the 90's. There are a lot of arts and craft vendors here, and some of them are displaying really cool (if pricey) stuff.
There's already a long line for Linda Blair, and she hasn't even arrived yet. Tyler Mane has a pretty good-sized crowd queuing up, but not as long as Blairs' or the girl from Stake Land and the Halloween remake. Ken Foree only has one or two people coming by at a time. Most of the other guests are in the same boat, but it's still early.
Oh, look - it's Tony "Candyman" Todd walking around greeting various dealers and guests. He seems very friendly. And tall. There is already a line forming at his table. His daughter - most guests at these things have family helping them out, because who else is going to spend all day sitting around with you for next to nothing? - is also tall. Oh, and pretty. I didn't want to leave it at just "tall" in case it gave the wrong impression.
I pick up an autograph from Ken Foree. He is distracted by a phone call on his bluetooth, and he apologizes. I apologize for getting him at a bad time. This exchange totally derails my plan to get the autograph, read the signature and say, "Oh, I'm sorry! I thought you were Tony Todd!" Which is probably for the best.
Barbara Crampton is, if anything, more beautiful now than she was back in the 80's. As I note this, I realize that I sound like I am judging appearances a lot, so I want to make it clear that I am just recording observations. I am old and far, far more concerned with the pain developing in my left knee as I keep pacing the ballroom than I am with ogling women. Which is kind of sad on some level.
Meg Foster seems really, really nice. Both her and Tony Todd are really putting in an effort to make their fans feel special; asking for names, shaking hands, talking not just to the people buying stuff but the folks they are with and even passers-by. Very cool.
Lotsa folks dressed in costumes. Lotsa families, too. The little kids don't seemed bothered by all the ghoulishness. I pass by a tiny little girl with a halo of blonde hair being carried by her father. She has a smear of fake blood under her lower lip. I see another little girl walking with her mother. She has a hideous, bloody and bruised baby doll tucked under her arm while she happily chatters away. I experience mixed emotions.
The line for Jeffery Combs is starting to pick up, which makes me happy for some reason. I wish I had known I was coming here tonight. I would have brought my German DVD of Sabotage for Tony Todd to sign, and I might have found something with the JLU version of the Question on it for Jeffery Combs to sign. Dang it!
It strikes me that the lines to meet folks who played monsters are longer than those for the folks who played their victims and adversaries.
So many zombies milling about. They truly are the egalitarian monster.
I keep an eye out for back issues of Little Shoppe of Horrors and Cinema Retro, but no dice. Actually, the con is pretty light on reading material. Not as many DVDs as I would have thought, either, although Synapse has a booth. Too bad I already have the discs I really wanted from their label, and the prices don't entice me to give some of their other titles a try.
There's a group dressed as evil clowns roaming around and making a lot of noise. They appear convinced of their own awesomeness, but I can see several people who, like me, are not aligned with that worldview.
I scour the movie poster vendors, and walk away with original one sheets for two Hammer films. Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter is one of my favorite Hammer films, but the American poster is kind of lackluster. The Face of Fu Manchu is a much lesser Hammer, but the poster is frickin' awesome. Tracking down frames for the 27x41 posters is going to be a pricey pain, but I'm happy with my purchases. Again, I break free from the chemical bonds of my psychosis and have a nice little chat with the guy who sells me the Fu Manchu poster.
On the way out, I pass by an Indian wedding reception being held in the next ballroom. This is the real deal, with fancy saris and little gold idols and delicious food smells. I wonder what they think of the evil clowns and zombie girl scouts surrounding them.
I had a nice time at this little big convention and I am really glad I decided to become more spontaneous in my dotage. But I am worn out and decide to pass on the screening of Carpenter's The Thing tonight. After all, I have to rest up my weary joints and prepare to hit Wizard World tomorrow. Eek.
Friday, March 16, 2012 Slovak Batman Is Kinda Depressing
Reports of a Slovak Joker and Riddler have not been confirmed. From Reuters via Yahoo:
"Batman" brings order to southern Slovak townDespite the costume, this guy's not so much Batman as he is D-Man, a homeless superhero who turns up occasionally in Marvel comics. Comparisons to movies like Defendor and Griff the Invisible seem apt as, like D-Man, the man seems to be haunted by demons from his past. The redemption angle is also straight out of Hollywood, so maybe the poor guy will catch a break and somebody will pay him for the film rights. He does have a great civilian name - "Zoltan" beats the crap outta "Bruce".
Reuters – Mon, Mar 12, 2012
DUNAJSKA STREDA, Slovakia (Reuters) - His utility belt might not be as well-equipped as the TV version and he hasn't had to fight Penguin's henchmen yet, but Zoltan Kohari has nailed the superhero look and grit needed to fight evil in the southern Slovak town of Dunajska Streda.
Dressed in his home-made, all-leather Batman costume with the bat symbol proudly displayed on his chest and pointy ears on his cowl, Kohari, 26, cleans the streets, helps old people out and calls the police when he sees something suspicious.
"I have decided to do good for the people. I take care of order and help clean up the environment so we can keep living on this planet," Kohari told Reuters.
There are some slight differences in the storylines of the real-life Kohari and fictional millionaire Bruce Wayne, the man behind the mask in Batman comic books, TV shows and films.
For one, Kohari is a real-life person, whose path to the side of truth, justice and a tidy neighborhood once strayed to the wrong side of the law.
The trained house painter spent eight months in jail last year and attempted suicide after he was released, before realizing he had a mission to make life in his community better.
Lacking a full-time job, he moved into a dilapidated concrete apartment block on the edge of town where he turned an empty apartment - with no electricity or running water -- into his very own Batcave from where he launches his street patrols.
Kohari's Batman impersonation follows the emergence of a trend in the United States, where ordinary citizens began donning superhero costumes and performing public services in the wake of Hollywood films such as "Kick Ass" and Woody Harrelson's "Defendor", which tell the tale of "real-life" superheroes.
Kohari says he never resorts to physical violence and some people in his town think he is a bit batty, but his neighbors said he is an honest and good man.
"He's had a tough life but he is very dependable and we like him. He helps us out, keeps an eye on public order, and he is a hero for my son and his schoolmates," said Jana Kocisova, a mother of two who lives in a neighboring apartment block.
So what's next for the Slovak superhero?
After tidying up and helping the elderly, Batman's next mission will be making sure bouncers at the local disco do not rough up visitors.
When I first saw his picture, I laughed at his poorly constructed mask. Then I read that he was homeless and felt bad.
It is a pretty lame mask, though.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012 They Stole His Heart
From CNN:
900-year-old saint's heart vanishes from cathedralFrom the photos, it looks like the heart was taken from a beefed-up birdcage.
By Richard Allen Greene and Peter Taggart, CNN
Police in Ireland are studying security camera footage from a cathedral in Dublin after the preserved heart of the city's patron saint was stolen over the weekend, they said Monday.
The 900-year-old heart of St. Laurence O'Toole was taken from the iron cage where it is normally kept in Christ Church Cathedral, police and the Cathedral said.
The bars were wrenched open, allowing access to the heart-shaped wooden box that held the relic bolted to a wall in Saint Lauds Chapel, Irish police said.
Security cameras cover the cathedral's welcome desk, but not the interior of the chapel or the cathedral, police said.
The heart disappeared between Friday evening and Saturday noon, police said.
Adding to the mystery, there was no sign of a break-in, police told CNN.
Nothing was taken from the chapel other than the heart, although Irish media said gold candlesticks and other valuables were there.
Cathedral staff called the disappearance of the relic "truly awful and strange" and said they were "shocked and saddened."
St. Laurence O'Toole, an archbishop of Dublin in the 12th century, was born in 1128, lived until 1180, and was made a saint in 1225, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.
Christ Church is a Protestant Church of Ireland cathedral.
Catholics often preserve body parts from saints, believing they should be venerated. When Pope John Paul II was declared "blessed" - a step below sainthood - last year, a vial of his blood was displayed as a relic.
Obviously, the thieves were after one thing only, which leads one to wonder what they want with it. The lack of evidence for a break-in suggests an inside job, which makes me think that ransom is unlikely. Was it an overzealous devotee? Is there an underground market for relics like this? Or do the thieves hope to work some kind of ritual using the relic? A 900-year-old saint's heart has to have some serious mojo, after all.
Beware Springheel Jack!
Terrified Banstead family confronted by 'dark figure' on bypass
12:00pm Thursday 23rd February 2012
in Epsom By Lauren May
A taxi ride home on Valentine's night turned into a nightmare when a family were confronted by a terrifying apparition that looked and moved like the legendary Spring Heeled Jack.
Scott Martin and his family were travelling home by taxi from Stoneleigh on Tuesday, February 14, at about 10.30pm when they saw a mysterious ‘dark figure with no features’ dart across the road in front of them before leaping 15ft over a roadside bank as they approached Nescot College on the Ewell bypass.
Spooked by their seemingly supernatural experience the couple’s four-year-old son, Sonny, was too scared to sleep on his own that night, while the petrified taxi driver admitted he didn’t want to drive back alone.
Mr Martin, 40, the manager of a building company who lives in Blue Cedars in Banstead, said: "We were driving down the Ewell bypass and saw a man on the other side of the road. We didn't pay much attention until he started crossing over to our side of the road, the next thing he jumped over the centre fencing in the road and ran across our two lanes. On the side of our road is a bank easily 15ft in height and this figure crossed our road, climbed this bank and was gone from sight all in about two seconds. All four of us were baffled and voiced our sighting straight away with the same detail. A dark figure with no real features, but fast in movement with an ease of hurdling obstacles I've never seen. My last image was of him going through the bushes at the top of the bank. I'm not usually one to be freaked by these sightings but the cab driver was petrified. He didn't want to drive back alone. I am honestly baffled by this sighting and we are intrigued by it because it was so real but so strange."
His wife Sacha, 37, who is an accountant added: "It was more that someone was trying to cross the road of a dual carriageway that was weird. My little boy was really freaked out."
The family has since likened the figure to the legendary Spring Heeled Jack - a mysterious dark figure reported to be responsible for a string of attacks in the 1800s and known for his ability to leap great heights first sighted in Wandsworth in 1837.
Mary Stevens was walking home along Lavender Hill when a tall figure leapt out grabbing her and firmly kissing her before releasing her with a loud laugh, leaping high into the air and disappearing.
Sightings continued across Victorian London, others describing Jack’s red flaming eyes and claws, so much so that in 1938 the Lord Mayor of London declared him a public nuisance leading one vigilante group to attempt to capture him, albeit unsuccessfully.
However there had been no reported sightings in Epsom and Ewell, the last sighting recorded in Birmingham in 1986.
Mr Martin added: "It was something we all saw and it wasn’t imagination. I’m quite a sensible man but I have never seen anything move that quickly across the road and not been startled by the fact that we were driving toward him. It's the first time we have ever seen anything like this. If it was a burglar it is the fastest I had ever seen anyone run. That's the only other explanation. But it was just too quick."
Both Surrey Police and Nescot College confirmed they had received no reports of unusual incidents or sightings in the area that night.
Monday, March 5, 2012 Beware the Vampires of Mumbai!
And the cannibals, and the Monkey Man, and the evil clowns, and...
From Mid-Day.Com:
Vampires and cannibals prey on fear in the Mumbai
Varun Singh
2012-02-24
Over the past week, the fertile imagination of Mumbai's collective consciousness has been in the feverish grip of some dreaded creatures. Vampires, cannibals and monkey men all appear to have chosen the city as the site for their spring rendezvous. While Mumbai cowers under the covers, cops are having a hard time laying their fears to rest.
In Bhandup-Mulund, rumours swirl that a tribal group is on the prowl to snatch kids. Imaginations run wild in Ghatkopar-Sakinaka-Marol-Andheri, where residents claim to have seen 'vampire-like-creatures.' Another fantastical rumour doing the rounds in Andheri-Malad concerns a 'monkey man', who 'kills people.' And residents of Chembur-Trombay are convinced that hungry cannibals lie in ambush nearby.
Mumbai police have been inundated with reports of sightings of these creatures, but have found no evidence to substantiate them. As mass hysteria sweeps the city, terror-stricken residents are caving into fear and altering their daily lives.
Take Vrinda Thakur (name changed). She didn't send her 12-year-old son to school on Thursday, petrified by the news that a group of tribal child-snatchers who have entered the Chembur belt and were kidnapping kids.
"Last night, many people in my area were on the streets. They told me that there are cannibals lurking in the streets, looking for kids to kidnap. I got scared, and decided not to send my son to school," she said.
Residents too prefer to stay indoors after twilight. "We have heard many rumours. There is a group of criminals who enter the colonies, only to kill and loot people. I also hear that the police has taken in many people for questioning," said Dr Vijay Sangole, resident of Pestom Sagar.
L Mandalia, a resident from Andheri (East) said, "A friend told me that he knows of a man who had an encounter with a vampire-like creature in Andheri, and since then has called in sick." Cops, however attributed these to rumours. They have tightened patrolling measures, just in case. Qaisar Khalid, additional commissioner of police, Central Zone, confirmed that such rumours were making the rounds.
"The rumour originated in Mulund-Bhandup, and then spread like wildfire. We are adopting the ignore-and-kill-strategy ” whenever we receive a complaint, we go there, explain to the residents that there is no substance to their claims as no one has seen anything. This way, we hope to kill the rumours," he said.
From the Indian Express:
'Monkey man’ rumour: Cops arrest 72 in crackdown
Megha Sood
Mumbai
Sat Mar 03 2012
The Mumbai Police have finally cracked the whip on rumours about ‘monkey men’ and the ‘chaddi baniyan gang’ floated in city’s suburbs, by arresting 72 people for allegedly spreading the rumours.
Although the East Region police have made the arrests, mostly of local residents, the West and North Region police stations are yet to register a single case - in spite of a death in Kandivali in a stampede-like-situation sparked of by an alleged sighting of a ‘money man’.
According to Quiser Khalid, additional commissioner of police (East Region), 27 offences have been registered against people for spreading rumours and creating fear and panic.
“We traced the pranksters and arrested them,” said Khalid. “After the arrests, the rumours have died down considerably,” he added.
Sanjay Shintre, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 7) claimed that these rumours originated during the recently held Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and have died down since.
Shintre said during the BMC election, due to heavy bandobast, the police did not allow political party members to sit idle on roads and streets. “In order to be on streets and restrict other party members from entering their locality, party members began spreading such rumours. They told the residents and the police that they were on the streets for patrolling and securing the locality,” Shintre said.
The police received many complaints about people spotting men from the ‘chaddi baniyan’ gang or the ‘monkey man’. “We visited the spots where a person claimed to have spotted the monkey man, many entirely denied the claim. We have arrested such people,” Shintre said.
When contacted about the rumours also allegedly floating in areas from Goregaon to Borivali, Additional Commissioner of Police (North Region) Ramrao Pawar said the police had not got any complaint as yet.
The monkey man and chaddi baniyan gangs are old Indian favorites, urban legends that sparked mass hysteria and caused mobs to attack innocent passers-by suspected of being the strange invaders.
The monkey man was first sighted in New Delhi in 2001. It was described as a very large monkey or a very short man covered in fur; some reports claimed it wore a metal helmet and had metal-tipped claws that it would use to scratch its victims.
Chaddi baniyan translates roughly to "undershirt and briefs". The mythical "chaddi baniyan gangs" are supposedly groups of robbers who sneak into peoples' homes dressed only in their underwear. Rumors of the gang date back several years, and some reports claim that the gang possess supernatural powers. Similarities to Indonesia's orang minyak are clear.
But according to the following column, Mumbai's monster mash involved more than just local favorites:
Of terrace-hopping creatures & child-eating ogresIf this report is accurate, Mumbai has hosted sightings of the orang minyak, child-snatching clowns, and the one and only Springheel Jack! Add in the vampires, demons, and other homegrown horrors, and it's a critical mass of urban legends.
Manoj R Nair
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
While the northerly breeze over Mumbai has been giving its denizens, albeit fitfully, some fair weather days, it seems the air is thick with rumours.
As this paper reported on Tuesday, policemen in some parts of the city have been kept busy by people who think the best way to spend a pleasant February afternoon is by indulging in the hobby called “rumour mongering.”
Some of the rumours are assuredly bizarre. In the eastern suburbs, there has been talk about ‘oil men’ who cover their lithe bodies with some slimy stuff so that they can easily slip away from pursuers.
Another part of the city has been so tormented by tales of child-lifting gangs with painted faces that mothers are worried about sending children unescorted to schools and playgrounds. Some stories, like that of bands of Africans picking up children, are offensively racist, at least for people who pretend they are sensitive about such things.
Policemen, who are not bothered about such niceties like racial and cultural sensitisation, told reporters that residents in some areas were worried about ‘negroes’ trying to kidnap children.
Other fantastical characters in the telltales wear shoes fitted with metal springs that enable them to jump from terraces of one building to another. Some shoemaker should patent this footwear; the invention should be the most revolutionary improvement in our footwear ever since we discarded our grass-and-twine sandals and wooden clogs for leather shoes. Mumbai police chief Arup Patnaik was obviously informed about the existence of these shoes by his men because he told our reporter that his men went around inquiring with shoe dealers whether such ‘custom-made’ shoes were being sold there.
One cast in this freak theatre wears boots that take away several feet from his height. A ghastly story doing the rounds is that of a man who devours children alive.
According to our reporters, this story whirled about in the northern plains of the country before it was blown into Mumbai by the northerlies. I think I know where the inspiration for the last story came from. A fortnight ago, policemen in the city came across an amateurish copy of Spanish master Francisco Goya’s nightmarish painting ‘Saturn devouring his son’. While the policemen’s story that they stumbled into a 19th century masterpiece in a ramshackle warehouse in Oshiwara was incredible, they nevertheless managed to convince some reporters that the master work could have been stolen and smuggled into Mumbai where art collectors were negotiating to buy it for Rs20 crores!
The story of a possible art heist with its epicentre in Mumbai was printed in local newspapers. The report must have been picked up by some four-page newsletter in the north and then woven into a fantasmagorical story of the kind that some news channels specialise in. From there, the regurgitated story found its way into Mumbai’s slums and housing colonies. But, unlike the humorous vein that this article feigns to assume, the rumours are no laughing matter. Driven to delirium by stories of child-eating ogres and spring-footed creatures, some people have been beating up unfortunate passers-by.
Is this just hyperbole by a columnist looking to pad out a story, or are the common folk of India really claiming to see Western bogies? It's fascinating to consider how the internet and omnipresent media might be transplanting folktales to take root in cultures thousands of miles from where they originated.
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