Thursday, July 3, 2025

MR. LOBO'S CINEMA INSOMNIA: SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT, THIS SATURDAY

 

It's Christmas in July this Saturday night (July 5) on Twitch, OSI74/Roku and Amazon Fire, with a reshowing of Mr. Lobo's Cinema Insomnia's 2023 Naughty Christmas Special. (The preshow commences at 10 pm.) 

Produced by Troma's Lloyd Kaufman and directed by Theodore Gershuny, who cowrote with Ira Teller and Jeffrey (The Sentinel) Konvitz, Silent Night, Bloody Night is revered not only as a pioneering Christmas, horror picture, but one that holds a noteworthy cast, which includes John Carradine, Patrick O'Neal, Astrid Heeren, Walter Abel, Philip Bruns, Jay Garner, James Patterson and sexy, cult-film sensation, Mary Woronov. 

Along the warm, Yuletide way, the movie takes shameless stabs at Psycho (with an arguable, Empire Strikes Back catch), bumping off a couple of its leads early, as they occupy an old mansion/former asylum where madness and carnage prevail, thanks to a shadowy fiend who flaunts the moniker, Marianne. Why does Marianne kill? Well, the answer lies in that age-old motivator ... back-story revenge!

To wrap the carnage in sardonic joy, Mr. Lobo (equipped with a Grinchy Necronomicon) leads an all-star, Cinema Insomnia roster, featuring Miss Mittens, Countess Bloodsuger (Jessie Seeherman), Sally the Zombie Cheerleader (Nicole King), Yella Fever (Eric Sabo), filmmaker (and Silent Night, Bloody Night connoisseur) Michael Verrati and the laser-disc-loving puppet with a huge heart, Igor (Ben Stansbery), who sprinkle enough cynicism on the proceedings to make any unreformed Scrooge sigh with sadistic respect. 

No ifs, ands or buts about it, Cinema Insomnia's Naughty X-Mess Special: Silent Night, Bloody Night is a gruesome, "misunderstood" gift to open any time of the year; so be there this Saturday night to do just that!

PINUP TIME: LINDA HAYDEN

FAREWELL, MICHAEL MADSEN

Your participation in a movie meant it was going to be good, for you never shared yourself with the lame and/or soft. Even if the subject matter was light on the surface, your fans could always count on you to make your portions nice and rough around the edges. 

The voluminous titles speak for themselves: Reservoir Dogs, Once Upon a Time in HollywoodThe Hateful EightKill Bill Vol 1 & 2, Outlaw Johnny Black, BlueberryWyatt Earp, Cole Younger and the Black TrainSpecies, Species II, Die Another Day, Sin CityGreen Lantern: First Flight, Batman: Book of the Dead, Frankenstein 2004 (USA pilot), Monster MashBloodRayne, Vampires Anonymous, The Bleeding, Infected, Forest of the Living Dead (aka The Forest), UKM: The Ultimate Killing Machine, Terror Trap, Conjuring: The Book of the Dead, Spirit Riser, Scary Movie 4, Lumberjack Man, House 2008, Lady Psycho Killer, The Chronicles of Narnia 2005, CrocCobraGator, Megalodon, Piranhaconda, Grindhouse Nightmares, Unbelievable!!!!!, Arena Wars, When the Devil Rides Out, WarGames, Shark Games, Major Baxter, Flipped, Straight Talk, The Sorrow, Prince of the City 2012, Prince of the AirDay of Redemption, Desperate Endeavors, Dirty Dealing 3D, Along the Roadside, Hoboken Hollow, Mulholland Falls, Donnie Brasco, The Doors, Kill Me Again, The Killing Time, Blood Red, Red LineRacing the Moon, The Last Days of Frankie the Fly, The Killing Jar, Sacred Blood, The Big I Am, Death in the Desert, Skin Traffik, The Maker, The Natural, Shadows in the Storm, Iguana, Against All Hope, Thelma & Louise, Fatal Instinct, The Alternate, The End of Innocence, Shadows in the Storm, Inside Edge, Final Combination, The Getaway 1993, The Ghost 2001, Chasing Ghosts, A House in the Hills, Trouble Bound, Outlaw, The Wrong Neighbor, Money for Nothing, Free Willy, Blue Tiger, Felidae, The Lion of Judah, Eldorado, Season of Change, The Girl Gets Moe, The 5th Execution, Ace of Spades: Bad Destiny, Diamond Cartel (aka The Whole World at Our Feet), The Ninth Cloud, Not Another Not Another Movie, Rough Draft, The Florentine, Detour 1998, Hangover in Death Valley, The Thief and the Stripper, Vice, Break, Ides of March, Choke, Extreme Honor, Pressure Point, L.A.P.D.: To Protect and Serve, The Last Drop, 42K, My Boss' Daughter, Bikini Inception, Pauly Shore is Dead, Being Michael Madsen, L.A. Dicks, All In, Crash and Burn 2008, The Real Deal, Machine, The Covenant, Afghan Knights, Last Hour, Cosmic Radio, Serbian Scars, Krach, Vigilante Diaries, Eyes Front, Water Wars, No Deposit, The Brazen Bull, Dead on Time, Rock Paper Scissors, Max Dagan ... and South of Hope Street.

And if that's not extensive enough, you were in more than a decent queue of television shows, including 24, Powers, Big Brother, CSI: Miami, MTV Cribs, Tilt, Celebrity Ghost Stories, Master of Photography, Real Detective, Those Who Can't, Trailblazers, The Boonies, The Bronx Bunny Show, Real Rob, Emigratis, Hawaii Five-0 (revival series), Bob's Burgers and on a recurring basis, 2 Hopeful Spinsters, The Mob Doctor and Golden Boy.

You drew audiences in and kept them enthralled, Mr. Madsen, having accomplished more than most could ever attain or imagine. And you still had more to give, but the good Lord took you away to perform upon Heaven's stage. Perhaps we'll see you perform again someday, and if we do, there's little doubt we'll find your work as fulfilling as it was here on Earth. 

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: SUPERBOY & KRYPTO

 

DEXTER: RESURRECTION (NEW LIFE FOR THE KILLER OF KILLERS)


I don't know what Dexter: Resurrection may entail, beyond the fact that Jeff Lindsay's Dexter Morgan will return in the guise of Michael C. Hall (i.e., we now know that the character didn't die, as implied, at the end of New Blood, thanks to Original Sin's revealing narration). I trust I'll be surprised with this new track's twists and turns, and let's be honest, twists and turns are what distinguish this gripping series. 

I never liked the idea of Dexter perishing, at least not in a visible, concrete way. I mean, I know that deaths occur even in the fictional realm (and I don't mind them; that's why prequels and retellings exist). However, in Dexter's case, it feels only right that he would prevail in the dark corners of society, always lurking, always looking for his next, deserving victim. 

Dexter is rather like Norman Bates in this respect. On that basis, I always appreciated Psycho IV: The Beginning leaving the door open for another chapter. Sure, we didn't get it, but one's imagination can at least construct an expansion. (On the flipside, I didn't like it when--Spoiler!--Norman bit the dust at the end of Bates Motel. There was so much more to explore for that revisionist incarnation. Too bad the blaring obvious wasn't pursued.)

Oh, well, we'll see what this new Dexter stirs, but whatever it is, I'm betting it turns out as hoped and expected: nice and vengeful. 

Dexter: Resurrection hits the crime scene July 11 on Showtime/Paramount+.

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

 

THE PERSONA #3: SILVER SKIN PROGRESSING WITH ARTIST, AIDEN BELCHER

Per Airship 27 publisher, Ron Fortier, progression on my novel, The Persona, Vol 3: "Silver Skin," is moving along with Aiden Belcher supplying the illustrations. All but two illustrations are now completed. (BTW: Below are examples of Aiden's work for Jade Rockwood's The World of Albumtasia, and below that is a Green Hornet/neo Kato panel for an online comic that he created with his famous dad, Mike. Pretty impressive, eh?)

"Silver Skin" is more of a science-fiction submission than a mystical one for my character, Michael Mansford. In this instance, an alien world infiltrates Earth through the Amazon rain forest, as orchestrated by an insane, silver-skinned entity named Sentinel Sifer. 

I'll share more on the book's progression as I receive such. For now, hang tight. More details are on the way.