Full Moon Over Niagara.

I worked the Full Moon booth at Niagara Comic Con yesterday and it was a gas. It had been sometime since I'd been to a non-horror con and the cosplayers were out in force. It's always fun to see what those crazy and creative cats come up with every year.

I should take this opportunity to mention The Deadly Ten. Full Moon is making ten features back-to-back all over the world. In fact, Halloweed Night starts shooting in Vegas tomorrow. Now, the really cool thing is that by going to the website you can watch live streams of these films being made.

Even if you're not a fan of the FM catalogue, you gotta admit that is kind of cool and unique. No one knows how this is gonna go, so why not check it out and be a part of history!

Anyhoo, enough shilling. I was chained to the booth most of the day, but I did get to grab a photo with this super soul swallowing re-enactment of the Evil Dead cabin. I asked if I could sit in the chair and read the book and they said, “sure, just not out loud.”

Good times!

Pulled From The Ashes.

This week's VHS was Paul Rinehard's super obscure 1993 flick Ashes To Ashes.

A grieving family moves into an old house/diner only to realize it is inhabited by some pretty angry spirits.

A cool cat by the name of Ben Ruffett has been screening rare VHS flicks at a bar in Hamilton for the past few years and this was his latest offering. Ashes To Ashes is a movie so rare it doesn't even have an online footprint so alas, gifs will not be present this week.

So this movie is by no means good, but it was still an intriguing watch. I could dwell on the father's bizarre hand gestures, the daughter's ill-timed facial expressions or the son's weird almost Canadian accent, but instead I'll focus on the positives.

A Google image search for “Ashes To Ashes 1993 VHS”

Interestingly, Ashes to Ashes was actually quite progressive in that I can't recall any other horror films where the lead character is a mute paraplegic. She spends most of the movie listening to her father and brother bicker over who should be taking care of her, but during the climax in the attic – even though from the exterior shot there clearly isn't one – she's the one who ultimately saves the day.

I did catch an Evil Dead vibe in the middle act. This had, of course, one-tenth the ingenuity of Raimi's debut, but I appreciated seeing another example of what can be done with a single location and a handful of enthusiastic comrades.

Ashes to Ashes is worth seeking out just for its scarcity alone, but I think fans of bargain basement yarns might also get a kick out of it.

Short of the Week #69: Wild

This week's short film is the latest from the super talented Morgana McKenzie entitled Wild. I programmed this for last year's SFFF and was happy to see it recently hit the Web.

McKenzie has been making short films since her early teens and what has always struck me is her dynamic visual vocabulary. In between her own projects - which last I heard include a feature version of Wild - she works steadily as a cinematographer.

Blank Tape Bazaar!

I have done countless posts on VHS coverbox art over the years, but now I want to turn your attention to an item that some of us may have had hundreds of back in the day - Blank VHS. They were many companies cranking these out in the latter part of the twentieth-century and now they hold court in the landfills, crawlspace totes and buried shelves of the world. Me? Well, it should probably come as no surprise that I have still have the very first one I owned.

It must be nearly thirty-five years old and has Ninja III: The Domination, Krull and Strange Brew taped off First Choice. Now I say that it is mine, but I believe it was usurped from my father.

If I were to watch this tape, I might see old Premier league matches or episodes of Benny Hill or Dave Allen At Large in between my stuff. I have tossed the lion's share of my old tapes (mainly for space, but also because most of the horror stuff was upgraded to DVD or Blu), but I still have a few.

Looking though my stuff, I realized that these things had neat logos and colours to catch your eye, as well.

This is the only hard case I still have.

Over the next several weeks, I intend to post more blank tapes because between me and my mother we still have fourty-plus unique jackets lying about. I'll still be showcasing short films, but on Wednesdays and likely not weekly. Rather than just lift stuff from Alter - which is where I felt I was heading - I'll just hi-light the really significant offerings.

Anyway, till next time, kiddies.

They've Doomed Us All, Church Man!

This week's VHS is James W. Roberson's Superstition from 1982.

An old estate haunted by the spirit of an executed witch seeks revenge on all that cross her path.

I'd been waiting a long time to re-watch this, as it had been over twenty-five years since I had first seen it. I remembered it being pretty gory with a high body count – I was only five off the number of twenty I for some reason had in my mind as a reference point. I hosted a VHS double bill last weekend and paired this with the 1988 Lenzi flick Ghosthouse. I hadn't seen that one and was unaware what a fortuitous tandem they would make together.

James Houghton as Rev. Thompson in Superstition

Superstition was even more fun than I remembered it, with tons of gore, creative deaths and just the right amount of nonsensical storytelling. It got going right out the gate, spectacularly dispatching two unsuspecting goofballs. And in a clever switcheroo, this may be one of the only horror movies where the couple making out in their car at the onset actually lived. From then on, the special effects provided by Steve LaPorte & David B. Miller were on point.

At a brisk eighty-five minutes, this movie moves along at a good clip. My friend Jeff also made a good point when he said, “it really helps when you have a great location because you don't mind watching people wander around in the dark for entire scenes.” I would have to agree though, my muddy VHS notwithstanding, some scenes were indeterminably dark. When ubiquitous eighties kid Billy Jacobi met his end in the basement, we kind of had to go by his halted screams rather than anything we actually saw on screen.

I was surprised to find that Superstition was Canadian, even though it was shot in Los Angeles. I'm hoping that the Shout Factory Blu-ray – that I will no doubt be grabbing now that I have reaffirmed that this movie is, in fact, rad – will shed some light on this. People are finally discovering this movie due to that release and realizing that it is not just a pretty coverbox. To all those uninitiated, believe it.

The Rewind Zone.

Rue Morgue TV just started a new series hosted by Yasmina Ketita (of the Witch Finger Podcast) called The Rewind Zone. For those of us who grew up in the eighties, I'm sure this will get you nodding your head in remembrance. Enjoy!

Short of the Week #68: B(l)ackstage

Here is a short film by Austrian filmmaker Daniel Limmer entitled B(l)ackstage that I programmed at last year's Toronto Smartphone Film Festival.

Yes, this was filmed entirely on an iPhone. This year's TSFF runs June 21-23. For more info, click here.