New On Vinyl: Soundtracks for Basket Case 2 / Frankenhooker

By Tim Murr

You know, I don’t talk enough about Frank Hennenlotter. He made six insanely funny body horror/exploitation films including the cult favorites Basket Case, Frankenhooker, and Brain Damage. If you take the heady, wet horror of David Cronenberg and the gleeful sleaze of John Waters and drag them through the gutters of 1970s 42nd Street, you’ll still be surprised at how crazy a Frank Henenlotter movie can get.

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Movie Review: X-Men: Apocalypse

By Tim Murr

My first X-Men comic was The Uncanny X-Men #234, from September 1988. From then on I was hooked, collecting every new issue for the next eight years along with as many back issues as I could afford. The Uncanny X-Men was one of the best mainstream comics out there and this was the era when Ann Nocenti and John Romita, Jr. were doing Daredevil and Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle were doing Detective Comics, so that’s really saying something. I stuck with the X-Men until their books narratively crashed and burned and didn’t come back until Grant Morrison made it all better.

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Comic Review: B.E.K. Black Eyed Kids #1

By Tim Murr

What’s creepier than creepy kids? Children Of The Damned, Children Of The Corn, The Brood, Pet Semetary—these are unsettling movies, because the epitome of innocence becomes the epitome of terror. Those cute little creatures that say silly things, making funny observations about a world that’s all new…to have them murderously turn against you is still one of the most fertile concepts in horror. It is not only the idea of killer kids, but also the idea of fighting them, or God forbid, killing them. It’s such dark and taboo territory.

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Fulci’s Zombie Lives On In New Comic Series From Eibon Press

By Tim Murr

We’re lumbering ever closer to the launch date of Eibon Press’s Fulci Comics! Preorders begin at midnight on June 10. The legacy of the Italian godfather of gore lives on in a new ongoing series based on the 1979 classic Zombie and 1980’s City Of The Living Dead as well as an original series called Bottomfeeder.

This is one of the most unique approaches to comic publishing I’ve ever seen and there is clearly a lot of hard work and love being poured into the production. These comics will be produced in full color, distributed in sturdy sleeves (like records), and are limited to 1,000 copies, with the first 250 being accompanied by signed art plates.

And if that wasn’t juicy enough, just wait until you see all the grindhouse legends “starring” in Bottomfeeder, like Zoe Lund from Ms .45 and Joe Spinell from Maniac (for starters)!

For more background on this production, check out this interview I conducted with writer and creator Stephen Romano on the Stranger With Friction blog.

Music Review: Voyag3r, Are You Synthetic?

By Tim Murr

Following up 2014’s Doom Fortress (review), Detroit, Michigan’s Voyag3r returns with a spaced-out concept album called Are You Synthetic? Artist and Acid Witch singer Slasher Dave provides the gorgeous album cover, outdoing his iconic cover for Doom Fortress. Musically Voyag3r continues to give fans what they want while growing and evolving.

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Music Review: Black Absinthe, Early Signs Of Denial

By Tim Murr

Toronto, Ontario’s Black Absinthe demand your attention and they have the songs to keep it! Blending classic and modern metal, Black Absinthe hasn’t just done their homework, they’ve innovated the game. Yes, you can hear Maiden, early Metallica, and Motorhead in their sound, but these influences blend into the band’s own flavor, rather than sounding like the source of its parts. As metal albums go, Early Signs Of Denial prove that new life can still be breathed into old monsters.

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Comic Review: ExMortis #1 – 4

By Tim Murr

I’d love to meet Mary Shelley’s spirit and find out what she thinks of how far her creation has come in the two hundred plus years since she released it into the world. Doctor Frankenstein and his monster are two of the most enduring characters in the history of literature and fit any number of genre interpretations. Not unlike much of Shakespeare’s work, Shelley’s Frankenstein can easily be adapted to any time period and any given version can emphasize the dramatic, the horrific, or the comedic.

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DVD Review: Emelie

By Tim Murr

It’s mom and dad’s anniversary and they hire a new babysitter to watch their three young children. She comes highly recommended and seems like a sweet, smart girl, but the parents aren’t gone long before she starts to strangely assert herself over the children, guiding them into the darkest night of their brief lives.

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Music Review: Dark Palms, Hoxbar Ghost Town

By Tim Murr

I have waited months to write this review. Why? Because I’ve had access to Dark Palms’ debut album, Hoxbar Ghost Town, since last year. I fell in love with this beast right away, but I couldn’t share it with anyone! No one could know the joy and energy I was devouring while waiting for it to officially drop. Now, friends, the time is yours, to join me on this journey into the weird, dark heart of this post-punk, Americana-goth adventure!

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Music Review: Grindmother, Age Of Destruction

By Tim Murr

Last year Windsor, Ontario’s Corrupt Leaders unleashed a sick grindcore EP called Grindmother, named for vocalist Rain Forest’s mom who provided guest vocals on the album. A video of this wonderful 67-year-old woman singing grind core went viral, leading the Grindmother to record a single and now her debut album, with guitars provided by her son and Tyson Apex on drums.

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