The 31 Days of Halloween: Day 7

Halloween is the best time of the year. It's a wonderfully indulgent time, where your inner ghoul is given societal license to be put on display. To celebrate it to it's wicked fullest, the Midnight Cheese will be posting every day in October with excellent ways to enjoy the season. Whether it's horror films, video games, books or activities, check back every day for some new Halloween fun.

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Yeah, I'm totally going there. I don't want to hear any back sass. Strap on your nostalgia helmet and let's declare this meeting of the Midnight Society open.


Are you Afraid of the Dark was a horror anthology TV series that ran for seven seasons in the 90's on Nickelodeon. It followed the 'Midnight Society, a group of kids who met around a fire in the woods and would take turns telling spooky tales about ghosts, monsters, the undead and more. The tales were a take off of the old EC Comics stories, various Tales from the Crypt sources and urban legends, though toned down for a younger audience. It ran in the late evenings on Saturdays as part of Nickelodeon's "SNICK" lineup.

While the series was released on DVD a few years ago, they're well out of print and selling for ridiculous prices online. However, many of the episodes are available in pieces on YouTube. I was watching a few last week and it felt like a kid all over again. This show was woven into my childhood as an integral dose of horror. Yeah it was fun and goofy, but it was usually good for a scare or two. All of the episodes don't hold as well as some stand outs do (it was early 90's kids' television after all). Below are several episodes that really kept their charm and which I recommend you watch while you rock your Halloween nostalgia vibe.

The Tale of the Midnight Madness
(Link to the fist part)
Why you should watch it: This tale takes place in a turn of the 19th century movie theater that is struggling to stay afloat while competing with new multiplex theaters. One of the employees is passionate about keeping it going, for it's historical significance. He's offered a too good to be true solution in the form of a mysteriously compelling vampire movie from recurring series antagonist, the delightfully evil Dr.Vink.

The Tale of the Dead Man's Float
(Link to the first part)
Why you should watch it: I know; It's a stupid title. Hear me out: Two students find an abandoned swimming pool in their high school that was built on top of a graveyard. How this all happens, no clue, but damn is this a fun episode. It appeals to the kid in me that always hoped I would find some mysteriously abandoned part of my school.

The Tale of Water Demons
(Link to the first part)
Why you should watch it: Excellent episode that was likely inspired by John Carpenter's The Fog. Some kids deliver food to an old man, who stole items from a shipwreck and is haunted by it's victims.

The second and third parts of each episodes will be linked to the right in the "related videos" sections. If you want to search for more episodes to watch, just type "AYAOTD" in YouTube's search field.

I now declare this meeting of the Midnight Society, closed.

Manos: The Special Edition of Fate!

The best kind of DVD delivery is the one you completely forgot you ordered (and paid for). It's a scientific law- Uma Thurman’s dynamics of consumerism. So when I came home two nights past to find the Mystery Science Theater 3000: Manos the Hands of Fate two disc special edition in my mailbox, well I thought little Samhain (of Trick 'r' Treat fame) was dropping off my Halloween gift, early.


If you're unfamiliar with MST3K or it's treatment of the cheapie film Manos: The Hands of Fate shame on you let me illuminate you. Mystery Science Theater 3000 is the award winning TV show concerning the adventures of Joel, a man trapped in space by the (marginally) evil Dr. Forrester, and forced to watch the worst films imaginable, all in an effort to see what it will take to drive a man mad. Joel constructs two robot companions(Tom Servo and Crow) and, to keep himself sane, the trio mercilessly riff their way through the dregs of celluloid. Manos is considered by many fans to be one of, if not the very best episode of the entire ten season series.

Is it any wonder then that this popular episode has gotten the home video release treatment three times before (twice on DVD and once on VHS from Rhino)? What would motivate MSTies (MST3K fans) to purchase it yet again? For starters this two disk set is loaded with enough extras to bust Big McLargeHuge's pants at the seams. Most of them are excellent.

There’s a lot to love here, as far as features that would mutate this into a full fledged “special edition”. Most enamoring for me is the Group Therapy featurette, giving us more of the people we adore discussing the love and tender kindness they hold for Manos. Mary Jo, Trace, Frank and Joel spend about twenty minutes discussing all of the elements which came together forming the MSTie perfect storm. There’s certainly some retreaded information here for longtime fans but it’s mixed well with new insights while still being highly entertaining. The Mystery Science Theater Hour wraps, giving the stage to Mike Nelson in his Jack Perkins persona, are also included to sate the lust of the fans who so desire them. They’re charming and I always love the absurdly gleeful way Mike as Perkins delights on the oddest parts of the film being riffed.


There are two, count them (I know you won’t), two segments on Henry Jamison “Jam” Handy to behold. Jam Handy was, among other things, a prolific producer of educational film reels, mostly for the U.S. armed services and Chevrolet Motor Company. Many or all of these shorts are in the public domain and that’s how they ended up on MST3K. The shorts “Hired!” parts 1&2 feature famously on the episodes Bride of the Monster and Manos: The Hands of Fate. (Coincidentally, both are collected and shown together in this special edition release. “Just because we can” is the note from Shout! Factory. Marvellous)

The first segment, titled Jam handy to the Rescue! is a documentary that combines footage from an actual interview with Jam from 1966 with newly produced footage that serves as the framing story; it’s the “why” we would be watching this footage. This is fairly funny, though it misses on a few notes where the modern day interviewer (dressed, and with footage distressed ,to appear vintage) hams it up and plays on the cultural difference of 50 years ago.

The second segment on the subject of short educational films (and Jam Handy), titled My (Educational) Short Life, is an excellent interview with Joel Hodgson, creator of MST3K. The content of the interview is excellent, with some even more cool insights to genesisal evolutionary points of my favorite cow town puppet show. However, at least with my disc, the audio for this part was horribly distorted, as though Joel was speaking through a phone when it was clear this wasn’t the case.

There’s also another feature, this one on the film being riffed itself. Hotel Torgo is probably the weakest feature in this special edition, a fragility I’m willing to accept, given the meaty bulk already packed into this set. With walk-throughs of original filming locations it’s a retrospective worth watching, at least once.

If all of this isn't enough to whet your whistle (and you are an enormous glutton for punishment) the second disc also contains the entire original, unriffed version of Manos. Honestly? I'm betting you don't have the stones to watch this beast unriffed*.

*The Midnight Cheese takes no responsibility for your fragile, broken mind; the likeliest result if you attempt to watch Manos: The Hands of Fate, without the sanity preserving armor of MST3K.


Shout! Factory really knows what the MSTie crowd wants and is doing everything they can to placate us. The large release box sets continue to come fast and furious, including episodes never thought to be possible due to rights issues, and they're supplemented with barebones rerelease of popular out of print Rhino releases, of which there are certainly many. I can comfortably say that there hasn't been a better time to be a MSTie in the home video release market. I can only hope some other out of print, well beloved episodes get this level of treatment. cough Mitchell cough

If you’re in the Philadelphia area and can’t get enough of MST3K’s treatment of Manos: The Hands of Fate, you’re in luck! The Colonial Theatre, world famous for its role in 1958’s The Blob, is hosting a showing of it on November 11th. Until then, the Master is waiting for you. *haunting Torgo theme*

The Trailer Dump, Issue no. 7

The Ice Pirates

• What a cast! John Carradine, Ron Pearlman, Angelica Huston and Robert Ulrich!
• The wide shots of the domed city is actually footage from Logan's Run.
• The sport the pirates watch over their lunch is footage from Rollerball.
• This is only Ron Pearlman's second film after A Quest for Fire.
• When I first subscribed to Netflix streaming, this is the first film I watched.

Galaxina

• Actress Dorothy Stratton, who played the titular (har har) Galaxina, was Playboy's Playmate of the year, 1980. Sadly, she was killed by her jealous husband in a murder/suicide. She was only 20.
• Laser sound effects were lifted right out of the original Battlestar Galactica tv show and shipboard door effects taken right from Star Trek.
• Received a Blu Ray release this past March as a double feature with Crater Lake Monster.

Ator, The Fighting Eagle

• This film contains a lot of O'Keeffe. How much O'Keeffe? Miles O'Keeffe. (sorry, couldn't help it)
• This is the first in a series of 4 films featuring Ator by occult director Joe D'Amato.
• The second film in the series was spoofed on Mystery Science Theater 3000 under it's American title, Cave Dwellers.

Until next time, here's hoping you spend Saturday night at the movies, who cares what you go and see.

The Trailer Dump, Issue no.3

It's that time of the week again; the time to tuck in and focus on the movie appetizer sampler that is The Trailer Dump. This week's focus is a little more early 90's cheese as recommended by Noel, with one or two surprises thrown in by me. Bon appetite!

Dead Heat

Good cop Dead cop.

Night of the Creeps

If you scream, you're dead!

Arena

See how many Deep Space Nine alumni you can spot.

Intermission!

Aged cheddar? Ew

Slumber Party Massacre 2

(mildly NSFW)

A real Rock 'n Roll nightmare

Captain America

At least it's not Nick Fury: Agent of Shield!

Which one was your favorite this week?