PINUP TIME: HELEN SLATER IS SUPERGIRL

I SAW PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS

Go forth among the stars and seek only the strongest prey. They shall be your trophy. Become the killer of killers.

Yautja Codex

0522/74

20th Century Studio's Predator: Killer of Killers is an animated, anthology feature, available through Hulu. It's raw, virile, vicious and all the better for it. 

It's a gift by Dan (10 Cloverfield Lane) Trachtenberg, the writer/director of the previous, Predator chapter, Prey, with all four of the anthology's powerhouse installments cowritten by him and Micho Robert Rutare.

The stories consist of a Viking woman seeking revenge for her father's death, while her son proves his mettle against the Predators; an uncertain samurai finding the fortitude to match the Predators' combat tactics; a WWII pilot facing aerial Predators to overcome his inexperience and doubt; and the final segment teaming all three protagonists in a mind-blowing competition that echoes the barbaric exoticism of Heavy Metal. 

The segments flow with seamless steam, despite taking place in different times and locations, with the computerized animation (rendered by the Third Floor) sometimes passing for live-action  (in particular the WWII episode). The facial expressions of the human leads are exquisite in their nuances (a plus, since their circumstances provoke lots of anguish), and the Predators are top-tier, referencing the traditional, Stan Winston design, but holding their own beastly uniqueness. 

Killer of Killers is being promoted as a for-mature-audiences-only release, due to its blood-splattered violence, but trust me, this allegorical curation is suitable for viewers all ages, since it relies on principles that everyone should embrace and enact. With this said, pull your kids away from that sissified, Harry Potter junk and allow them to see what courage is all about. And if you're an adult, Killer of Killers can only ensure you'll better handle the hard stuff when it comes around (and trust me, it will). 

ST. GREGORY THE GREAT CARNIVAL 2025 (6/12 - 6/21: 6 PM - 11 PM WEEKDAYS; 12 PM - 11 PM WEEKENDS), 426 NOTTINGHAM WAY, HAMILTON TWP, NJ 08690

WE BELONG DEAD FEARBOOK: THE BEST OF 1993-1997 (ISSUES 1-8)

The Official, We Belong Dead Fearbook (The Best of Issues 1 to 8, 1993-1997) is a gem, with a striking front-and-back-cover wraparound, featuring some of our most fearsome favorites.  

The in-depth, nostalgic contents contain articles on Rupert Julian's The Phantom of the Opera (with Lon Chaney Sr.); Wallace Worsley's The Penalty (also with Chaney); John S. Robertson's Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (with John Barrymore); Ingrid Pitt's Countess Dracula and The Vampire Lovers; James Whale and William Hurlbut's The Bride of Frankenstein (with Boris Karloff); Karl Freund and John Balderston's The Mummy (also with Karloff); Tod Browning's Freaks (with Wallace Ford); Paul Naschy's vast queue of lycanthropic horrors, et al.; Stuart Walker and John Colton's Werewolf of London (with Henry Hull); Val Lewton's psychological experimentations; Night of the Living Dead 1968 and 1990; Roger Corman and Richard Matheson's Edgar Allan Poe adaptations (with Vincent Price); Tigon Film Production's diverse frights; Terence Fisher and John Elder's Dracula: Prince of Darkness (with Christopher Lee); Jess Franco's Count Dracula (also with Lee) and the director's Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (with Howard Vernon); Roman Polanski and Gerard Brach's The Fearless Vampire Hunters (with Sharon Tate); Vernon Sewell and and Peter Bryan's The Vampire Beast Craves Blood (aka The Blood Beast Terror, with Peter Cushing); Amicus' chilling curations; Paul Wegener and Carl Boese's The Golem: How He Came into the World; Jose Ramon Larraz and Diana Daubeney's Vampyres; teen-monster flicks; Erle C. Kenton, Waledmar Young and Philip Wyle's Island of Lost Souls (with Charles Laughton); Walter Summers and Edgar Wallace's The Dark Eyes of London (aka The Human Monster, with Bela Lugosi); character artwork; television listings from back in the day; and a grand splattering more.  

The enclosed wonders will boggle the mind and quicken the heart: just what any horror fan wants. 

We Belong Dead's Fearbook (The Best of 1993-1997) is a thorough, photo-laden triumph that belongs in everyone's library. Order at 

https://webelongdead.co.uk/product/we-belong-dead-fearbook-available-via-amazon/

WISE WORDS:

 

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

 

WE BELONG DEAD #45: HAMMER'S VENERABLE VIXENS ISSUE

We Belong Dead #45 is a devilish delight that tosses the spotlight on the ladies of Hammer Horror, though not the younger, buxom sort, but rather those of fiendish maturity, ushered by the bodacious Bette Davis and sensational Shelley Winters. 

In addition to this frightful, female queue, #45 holds an insightful article by my friend, writer/director/producer Ansel (Loon Lake) Faraj (as part of his "Asylum for the Psychotronic" column), where he details the Universal Monsters, adolescent books of the late 1990s/early 2000s. (I remember seeing these, but alas, never purchased one, and now I'm regretting it due to Mr. Faraj's insightful assessment. These sure do seem like a creepy ton of fun.)

To accompany the latter, there are perspectives on non-Hammer, British horror; folk horror, Bollywood horror, Italian-inspired horror; angelic, horror movies; electric-chair chillers; drive-ins featured in horror movies, horror-host tunes; fantastic, British TV shows of the 1970s; a rundown of cinematic "fembots"; a dissection of Eddie Romero's Filipino, Blood Island franchise; The Black Cat 1965, Rollerball 1975; The Woman Who Came Back; The Ice House; Hell Night; Parents; an essay on the Frankenstein Monster's brain; an interview with author Steve Guariento; an interview with podcaster Natalie Doig; a visit with actress/filmmaker Emma Dark; and last but not least, a respectful nod to the ever influential Scooby-Doo. 

There's much to feast upon in this walloping, 111-page volume, so much so that one will come away not only comfortably full, but edified. 

Order We Belong Dead #45 at 

https://www.amazon.com/We-Belong-Dead-issue-Cover/dp/B0F7HRX5G2

D-DAY 2025: IN HONOR & RESPECT (6/6)

 

SUMMER URGES FOR SUMMER READING

I learned that some folks have been revisiting my short story, "Summer Urges," each year prior to the season's advent. 

For the record, the story gained greater exposure through Eighth Tower's Dark Fiction volume, The Beyond: Stories Inspired by the Lucio Fulci Death Trilogy, and prior to such, a shorter version appeared in my long-ago, self-published, Wonderful, Magical, Literary Elixirs! 

The story is about a boy who meets a ghoul at the seashore. As a result of their friendship, the lad's bestial side surfaces. The remake ties the scenario into Fulci's "Death Trilogy" chapter, City of the Living Dead, aka The Gates of Hell. 

I got the notion to revamp "Summer Urges" (the original title being "Of Summer Urges and Sweet, Balmy Blood") when my brother, Freddy, and his lady friend, Terry, took me to an Adam Ant concert at Asbury Park several years back. It got real stormy before the concert, with the sky churning an ambiance that I found similar to the movie's. When Eighth Tower's CEO Raffaele Pezzella reached out thereafter for his authors to pen tales for his upcoming, The Beyond curation, I was more than set to embark on the revision.

I'm glad my concept has caught on, and it does seem to be one of my most popular, though one individual did go the extra mile to defame the original, Elixirs cut. 

He said that the story was "problematic" because it painted alternate lifestyles in a bad light (i.e., it was anti-gay). In truth, the concept is anything but that. In fact, it works as a counter-culture anthem that celebrates an uncommon existence. Condemning my vision is like condemning Dracula as a bad emblem for heterosexuals because the Count prefers to bite women. Anyway, I suppose I shouldn't place much stock in the criticism. The individual who spewed it also said that the people of Japan weren't responsible for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I mean, who the hell was flying those damn planes? The Australians?

The Beyond: Stories Inspired by the Lucio Fulci Death Trilogy can be purchased in hardback (along with its audio version) at

https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Stories-Inspired-Lucio-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B09GVRSC5R/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+beyond+stories+insired+by+Lucio+Fulci%27s+death+trilogy&qid=1646087833&s=books&sr=1-1-spell

A MIDSOMMAR NIGHT'S TERROR: ART & ODDITIES NIGHT MARKET (6/14), BENSALEM, PA

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: SUPERMAN, LOIS LANE & PAT BOONE

SCARY MONSTERS #139: MONSTERS KIDS FOR MONSTER KIDS

Scary Monsters #139 is a monster-kid treat that caters to monster-movie kids ("Chilling Children, Awful Adolescents and Terrible Teens," that is), packaged by Scott Jackson's vibrant, Village of the Damned, front cover and his terrific, back-cover collage celebrating the petulant personas of The Good Son, The Bad Seed, Bad Ronald and Twilight Zone's "It's a Good Life." 

But that's not all when it comes to youthful terrors, for Issue #139 commemorates Village of the Damned 1995, Children of the Damned, (These are) the Damned, The Innocents, The Omen 1976, Carrie 1976, Horror High (aka Twisted Brain), The Children, Death is Child's Play, Come Out and Play, Ruby and Untamed Youth, along with a historic look of the lethal Leopold and Loeb.

For added, demented fun, Issue #139 sports articles on The Horror of Frankenstein and Phantom of the Opera 1925 (as it reaches its 100th-year mark) and essays on such Jekyll/Hyde variants as the Incredible Hulk and Batman's Harvey (Two-Face) Dent, as well as shape-shifting entities (e.g. X-Men's Mystique and The Hideous Sun Demon), embellished by "50 Wonderful Things About Dracula" (adorned, no less, by nifty, Lugosi photos), plus creepy cartoons ("Roomies from the Tomb" and "Burn Notice") and those reliable, Scary Monsters' staples, "Kaiju Corner", "Secret Photo," "Caption This," "Monster Kid Trivia Quiz" and "Trilogy of Terror."

This 150-page treasure chest of chills and thrills is certainly worth having and can be purchased at  

https://www.mymoviemonsters.com/store.php/mymoviemonsters/pd10887339/_scary_monsters_139__chilling_children_awful_adolescents__preorder_for_june#images

PINUP TIME: HELEN SLATER IS SUPERGIRL

 

CLINT EASTWOOD: A PARADE MAGAZINE TRIBUTE

Parade has just released a commemorative issue of one of cinema's greatest. 

Clint Eastwood: Tribute to an American Legend (The Man Behind the Squint/Happy 95th Birthday, Clint) is a 100-page adoration that covers the actor/director's life from his earliest, pre-Hollywood days to his golden years as a revered artist and statesman.

Eastwood's prime titles are covered, of course: Rawhide, A Fistful of Dollars; For a Few Dollars More; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; High Plains Drifter; Hang 'Em High; Two Mules for Sister Sarah, The Outlaw Josie Wales, Pale Rider, Unforgiven, Joe Kidd; Coogan's Bluff; Bronco Billy; Dirty Harry; Magnum Force; The Enforcer; Sudden Impact; The Dead Pool; In the Line of Fire, City Heat, Bloodline, Where Eagles Dare; Heartbreak Bridge; Kelly's Heroes, The Eiger Sanction; Firefox; Thunderbolt and Lightfoot; The Gaunlet; Escape from Alcatraz; The Rookie; Any Which Way But Loose; Any Which Way You Can; Pink Cadillac; Space Cowboys, The Witches, The Beguiled, Play Misty for Me; Million Dollar Baby; Grand Torino; Bird ... The Changeling, plus a glimpse at his fledgling, contract-player parts.  

Eastwood's loved ones are featured, too, along with his stint in the Army and his political positions, with interesting, sideline facts that fans are sure to savor, including a particular, tenuous link to comedian Stan Laurel. And to sweeten the pot, the magazine is filled with sharp, pleasing stills, a number of which are full-page. 

Clint Eastwood: Tribute to an American Legend is an ideal item for Eastwood fans, and it's available at bookstores, drugstores and supermarkets nationwide. Grab a copy and feel all the more virile for it.