Fangoria Issue #6: Jason Lives! (I mean is born)

Dear dearest readers, Fangoria #6. The anniversary issue. Year one of Fangoria, the horror answer to Starlog, has the Empire Strikes Back on the cover! So what the hell was happening in the late 70's/early 80's? Was there a Sci-Fi block on magazine covers? This is a war. A war against the repression of horror icons on the cover of magazines. If Forrest J. Ackerman could do it, Fangoria certainly should be able to do it. Right? Who's with me? :insert speech from Animal House:


When I was a kid and used to get Fangoria fresh off the newsstand I was always enamored by the Don Post mask advertisements. They were absolutely gorgeous. This issue provides nothing different. Beautiful masks from Ape Man to Sargoth, Cobra... to THE GHOST SKULL (is this the same mask used in Halloween III... Gosh, I hope so). I use to love pretending that there was some way in Hell that I'd be able to afford one of these magnificent masks in time for Halloween. At $49.99-$64.99 per mask, my dreams were not fulfilled until I bought my first Michael Myers mask post Halloween 4. As soon as the hair got wet on Halloween night, Michael perpetually looked like a punk hair-do gone array.

So there's an article about the guy who acted in the C3P0 suit. Great (and that got the cover?). Then we have a duel selection of FX wizards. Rob Bottin, the apprentice of Rick Baker and Tom Savini (drools). Bottin was working on The Fog and gets to play the good Captain and then he goes to work on The Howling. Bottin doesn't know it yet, but his FX will change what it means to make a werewolf picture. It's exciting to know what happens at the end of the fairy tale, isn't it? Mr. Savini has just completed work on a little picture entitled Friday the 13th. He's also been working on Maniac. He discusses his fascination with Lon Chaney, how he learned to due make up by doing himself up in a mirror and how he almost got to work on Night of the Living Dead but he had enlisted in an Army training program. Booooo, but I guess it all happens for a reason right? I love when he recounts how he followed George Romero around the set of Martin trying to get the FX job and then did, in fact, get the job. It's like... TRIUMPH SAVINI! You know I can't stop saying enough good things about the man. His gore makes me want to go to medical school. Whatever that means.


Brief excerpt on the director of the Changeling. Couldn't have been more uninterested if I tried even though the picture is actually quite good. I love George C. Scott. Them movie's great. I really wish the folks at Fango had read the article first.

So we move on to the feature article with beautiful glowing pictures on FRIDAY THE 13TH. Can I get a ki ki ki ma ma ma!? How did this not make the cover? Who makes these decisions? You're telling me that "Friday the 13th: A Day for Terror" isn't a perfect tag line for a cover. But I digress... Let's talk about what Sean Cunningham was doing between Friday the 13th and Last House on the Left. He was making family movies, Manny's Orphans and Here Come the Tigers. :crickets: I suppose none of you find it as funny as I do that this guy makes a movie where this girl is forced to piss herself immediately followed by her murder and then, later, a castration via blow job and then the motherfucker makes... endearing sports movies for the little 'uns. You know what I think? I think he was trying to lure his audience into his horror flicks by making a name for himself in family films. It's totally possible. Totally! Anybody up for a game of strip Monopoly? Thought so.

There's a lovely little article about the Quartermass saga. I happen to think that Five Million Years to Earth (or in British: Quatermass at the Pit) is pure genius. Truly startling and the effects freak me out. Yes, they freak... me... out. Something about the end sequence that gives me nightmares and after talking to my older sibling on the subject, it may be genetic that we feel this way. They barely mention Five Million Years to Earth and start going off about the BBC and TV series from Britain and I just get so bored. I feel like I could be reading an article about Dr. Who which is great fare, but I don't care who played the doctor and why the actor changed. I mean I do a little... NOT.

Did you know that Vincent Price had a degree from Yale in Art History? Neither did I! He worked on the Mercury Theater Workshop with Orson Welles too. There's this beautiful little bio article on Price and "The Corman Years". Apparently, House of Wax is really good in it's original 3-D. I need to see that. Somebody get on that immediately. Then a lovely interview with the ever gracious Vincent. He talks about Roger Corman and AIP like they were family. The set creators, the camera men all get their praise. It continues in issue #7. Bet it doesn't make the cover either.


There's this catty little article where George Romero and Stephen King are talking about how they're looking for studio backing to make The Stand and how there's this little script that Romero hasn't seen sitting on King's nightstand called The Creep Show... They don't even fully know they're going to make one of my favorite movies of all time. It's a shame that it will take over 10 more years until The Stand is made and then, not worth the hype.

Note: I learned that there were seven Planet of the Apes features. Gee Golly!


Hammer Films get a full on retrospective in this one. You've all heard the stories or read a book or two about this beautiful production company. Noteworthy items in the article are the second appearance of Bray Studios in this issue of Fangoria in seemingly unrelated articles (I mean some of the Quartermass movies were filmed there). It was sold in 1971 and, of course, everyone's been talking about tearing it down (if it hasn't already been done). Also, Peter Cushing has this beautiful quote that just makes my heart strings get pulled like a marionette doll:

I first met Mr. Christopher Lee in his makeup for the monster in The Curse of Frankenstein. It is no wonder that when I passed him in the corridor after the day's shooting I didn't recognized the tall, good-looking stranger who said, 'Goodnight, Peter'! This was in 1956 - and since then I have found him to be a man of extraordinary and diverse talent. On top of all this, he is a most amusing and very dear, loyal friend.

:tear: Dracula 1972 AD is referred to as a "fangs a-go-go effort"; this article was clearly written with love and is a must read for Hammer, Cushing, Lee, Fisher fanatics.

We are just about at the end here sans yet another article about a fantasy art creator and some upcoming movie notes (Day of the Dead, The Thing remake, Funhouse and a Salem's Lot TV Series... LMAO!)

One last thing you must must must know about. This issues sees the introduction of Fangoria's endeavor into E.C. comics style humor ala Mad magazine with the creation of Count Fangor. The humor is bad. The illustrations are bad. It's a horror hosts wet dream. Go clean off your pants chaps.

Happy Birthday Starlog... I mean Fangoria (Starlog in Sheeps Clothing)
-Dr. T has spoken.

Late Night at the Horror Hotel: The Hee Haw of Horror

You know what I love? No, really. Besides surprise boobs in scary movies? Besides a veritable truck load of gore being dumped upon Perez Hilton? I love people who are actually out there keeping the horror hosting tradition alive and well. I especially love that this is being done not two hours away from the good doctor in Philadelphia, PA. That's right graveyard ghoulies... Late Night at the Horror Hotel is in full force in Philadelphia brought to you Thursday and Saturday Night at 12 Midnight on Philly's public access television - PhillyCAM on Comcast 66/966 & Verizon 29/30. I must admit that I have not actually had the pleasure to watch them "live" on public access as I'm fucking two hours away. The distance between me and the cool stuff is the bane of my existence. :sigh: OK, enough wambulance driving for Dr. Terror. Let's get take a look into the Freudian musings of two of the funniest, up and coming, gents in the horror biz.

You've got dueling hosts on this one. Rob D.(the D stands for Doomsday, Death and Dimension... OK it's really just for Dimension) and and Chef John Cannon (what kind of fuse is that? Cannon fuse. What the hell do you use it for? A cannon!). These guys are succeeding at resurrecting the comedy of Laurel & Hardy and/or Abbott & Costello only taking it to a very dark and magical place. Rob Dimension loves his phsycial comedy and is a master in the art of masochism (I've seen him blow himself up and cut his own hand off... that's dedication). Chef John will entice and dice your taste buds with some of the most interesting sounding meal preps I've ever heard (Armadillo eggs? yes please!). What you've got here is a combination of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 with Dinner and Movie and add some jokes straight out of the Munsters/Vampira/Zacherle playbook for garnish. It's like a variety show; Late Night at the Horror Hotel has magic tricks, genre commentary, movie and music reviews, and, SKITS! A perfect recipe for keeping your audience entertained and hungry. Now that I've sucked up enough (and I assure you it won't be the last time in this blog) let's get down and dirty with the show's content, format... the guts!

I watched three episodes of Late Night at the Horror Hotel and rather enjoyed them all. Their focus seems to be giant monsters from Japan which is absolutely fine, but I don't often classify these giant monsters as strict horror. I guess the title of the show is throwing me off. If it's the "horror hotel" why is it more like a "monster island". Maybe it's distribution rights, copyright obtained... or maybe it's just that I've wandered into three episodes in the middle of a genre exploration. I'll tell you that I've never been a strict follower of this genre, but I'm starting to love it post-Rob/John treatment. So the doctor wants a little more horror in his hotel (does the hotel have an hourly rate?).

Episode 3: Gammera. (Starting at this point in the shows life cycle is like watching Star Wars: A New Hope I'm certain). Our creepy cast members are still figuring out what works. On the menu was Armadillo Eggs which is just hysterical. There's a stake sandwich (yes, I spelled that correct) and an undying commitment to the love of schlock. Rob and John choreograph an entire military campaign against Gammera using army men and a toy replica and teach the audience how to cook something totally strange. This kind of entertainment is destined to jump off cable access and straight to AMC.

Episode 4: Attack of the Monsters (more Gammera and brain feasting aliens!). Best quote from this movie, "The spacemen won't hurt you. If they flew here, they're civilized. You're dumb." Perhaps my favorite scene is Gammera vs. the meteor. Thrilling and apparently Gammera goes Mach 33. Whoa! I think Gammera may be the new Mighty Mouse after this one (the music made me look more than once for Gammera's bright red cape). R/J do some reviews on a some more giant monster flicks. A man in a Luchador mask brings the mail. That's very creative and had me yucking it up for more than a couple of minutes (but I am easily amused). I'm a huge fan of Jambalaya, but the Turtle Soup recipe sounds delightful. When do we eat!? Make sure to label the dish Gammera Soup otherwise Gammera will come and get you at Mach 33.

Episode 5: With this one we go into a double feature format and celebrate the 100 Years of Monster Movies, "a yearlong multimedia event that celebrates a century of a very specific movie genre that is both terrifying and fun: the monster movie". The Late Night portion of the shows name is emphasized effectively with the opening sequence brought to you by "The Lord", a very spooky introducer indeed. The canned laughter/applause really works for this one (remember, it's filmed in front of a live studio audience). Yongary, Monster from the Deep and Cappa, Monster from a Prehistoric Planet are our film selections for the evening. Again, I'm learning to love this sub-genre a bit more with every installment from R/J, but these have got to be bordering on an historic low for the giant monster genre (but maybe it gets worse?). I definitely laughed this evenings selection, but I'm still waiting for the horror hotel to give me the turn down service and complimentary Continental breakfast the name suggests. There's a movie review: Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster (and I'm glad that we're environmentally conscious... this is definitely a great public service announcement).

Rob and John highlight an appearance at Severed Sinema in Stroudsburg, PA during this episode. The fact that this horror double feature is a mere hour way or so from me begs me to make the drive. Severed Sinema showed Freakmaker and Waxworks, that's like crack to the Doctor T. Rob and John make numerous public appearances around the tri-state area so keep your peepers peeled.

Also featured was Pigamortis and an assorted bag of magic tricks. I firmly believe this will set them up for a guest appearance by The Count from Sesame Street (guys... make this happen... it has definitely potential ans Sesame Place is so close!). Buttermilk Fried Chicken is on the menu, and I'm totally comin' for dinner. I think the only thing you miss with this double feature installment is the "MST3K" treatment. The movies are really just that bad and you need someone to show you where to find the jokes you're missing.



Chef John and Rob Dimension evolve with every episode and really find creative ways to get laughs out of you. If you're fan of truly B movies, then this is something you need to sink your teeth into. Despite my praise for this show I think I have two main gripes. 1. The show needs to focus on varying the selection of movies. While my giant monster movie education is clearly important to the future of America, I want some blood or some guts or some brains or a movie referenced in a Misfits song (although I realize that I've missed episodes and Night of the Living Dead was the first episode)2. I want to see Chef John cook those meals. I love getting recipes, but I'd love to see the finished dish (not necessarily it being cooked I suppose, but I'm sure that with enough knives around these guys can make cooking hilarious and gory). Keep watching the skies for these guys. I hope to good Hell they invade your living room (bedroom?) or wherever you watch you late night horror.

Late Night at the Horror Hotel won't scare the piss out of you, but you'll wet the bed laughing. To steal one of their own gimmicks: I think Late Night at the Horror Hotel is clearly the Philadelphia cheese steak of horror hosting: greasy, cheesy and sure to leave a stain on your shirt (but hold the onions, please)!

-Dr. Terror Seal of Approval... given

PS Work on getting one of your giant monster compadres to eat Perez Hilton and then vomit him back up... then eat him again... repeat.

-Late Night at the Horror Hotel Blog
-Late Nigt at the Horror Hotel on Facebook
-100 Years of Monster Movies
-Severed Sinema