Once upon a time, a man by the name of Jerry G. Bishop played a horror host called “Svengoolie” on Screaming Yellow Theater. Although only on the air from 1970-1973, the series gained a loyal following. One fan by the name of Rich Koz submitted so many sketch ideas to the show that he was eventually brought on as a writer. Flash forward to 1979, when Koz got the okay to portray a character called “Son of Svengoolie.” Koz’s portrayal not only paid tribute to the original, but also showcased his own unique sense of humor and numerous musical parodies. Sadly, the series went off the air in 1986 when the station carrying it was sold to Fox and was stripped of most of its original programming in order to (presumably) streamline all of the participating channels into bland clones of eachother. But even in the face of cancellation, he had the time for one last amazing song parody…

According to Strange Jason, the musical mastermind of Gravedigger’s Local 16, this is a parody of Ray Charles’ “Busted.” Which certainly explains why Sven is wearing dark sunglasses throughout the segment. Some might view the line about Elvira’s physique as an insult, but I don’t. While Cassandra Peterson is a very talented person (I love her albums and her two films were hilarious), I’d be kidding myself if I said that her looks had nothing to do with her success. If you had some guy in black spandex telling jokes about his junk instead of Elvira, Movie Macabre wouldn’t have made it past the pilot stage. Another thing to consider is how a lot of the people who slag on Mystery Science Theater 3000 often give Elvira a pass on doing the same thing, simply because they’re attracted to her. Check out this video of the two hosts meeting at the 2008 “Flashback Weekend” in Chicago and there doesn’t seem to be an ounce of animosity between them:

Thankfully, Rich Koz was still employed and doing work television after the cancellation. In 1994, he was even granted permission to both revive the show and officially take the name “Svengoolie.” The revived show still runs to this day and is even shown on ME-TV! Oddly enough, Elvira’s revived version of Movie Macabre got cancelled…

According to this, the song was originally released as a special download via Bruce Springsteen’s official website on Halloween in 2008, as both a bit of spooky fun and as a tribute to his home state’s most infamous urban legend. A music video for it appeared on the deluxe edition DVD of Springsteen’s Working on a Dream and also online:

Fans of GdL16 might remember that the special release of the song on vinyl for Record Store Day 2009 was promoted here. It’s also worth noting that the song uses material from the classic Gene Vincent song “Baby Blue” (with proper credit)!

It’s no secret that I love stop motion comedy videos that pay tribute to horror classics, so it should be no surprise that I was very interested when I heard there was a claymation parody of John Carpenter’s The Thing floating around online:

In case you’re wondering, this was done in the style of the children’s show Pingu. While I’m not too familiar with the series, my buddy N. Oremac is a huge fan. Based on his recollections of the show and the information here (which also indicates the series did a few episodes with spooky themes), this seems to be a faithful homage.

Vampire Kids is rather bizarre 1991 horror comedy (with more comedy than horror). The premise is that a tour group gets stranded on a deserted island that has an abandoned WWII Japanese outpost on it (and Chinese hopping vampires). Said outpost has a vampirized Japanese general entombed in a wall, who gets partially free when one of the castaways takes a diamond that was being used to seal in the vampire’s power. For reasons that are never really delved into, the general is able to control a bunch of little hopping vampires and sends them out in order to get blood for him so he can get enough power to break free from the wall.

Their first attempt fails because a bunch of the castaways ate “poisonous tomatoes” that made them temporarily blind and insane with rage, leading to a bizarre sequence in which they chase and beat the hell out of the vampire kids. Think 28 Days Later with a low budget and high insanity. The other attempts fail mostly because none of the kids want to suck any blood for some unexplained reason. Meanwhile, the general manages to get some blood…

If you feel like importing a DVD of this, keep in mind that the movie focuses on the on the castaways and comedy than it does on the hopping vampires. I know there are people out there who can’t stand bizarre Hong Kong comedies and I suspect that if you fall into that category, then you’ll hate this movie. I’m a bit of a special case since I get more humor out of the fact that certain jokes were attempted (Like, say, a woman with big breasts getting dropped face-first on the beach and leaving two giant holes in the ground when she gets picked up), rather than finding humor in the joke itself. It’s far from being a masterpiece, but it might be worth your while if you can find a copy that doesn’t cost much.

The widescreen (probably non anamorphic) DVD by Mei Ah looks pretty good; judging by the print quality, I’m guessing that this was a direct port of the transfer used for their prior laserdisc release of the movie. You get your choice of Cantonese or Mandarin soundtracks, optional “Traditional”, “Simplified”, and “English” subtitles, and a “databank” that includes a film synopsis (the same one that’s on the DVD case) and a credits list. I should point out that the English subtitles aren’t translated very well and sometimes lapse into “Engrish” or “flubtitles.” Of course, this only enhanced the humor value for me. For more information about Chinese hopping vampires, please visit this thread at the Latarnia forums (which in turn spawned this review).

Happy Chinese New Year!

Chanukkah started today after the sun set and what better way to celebrate the Festival of Lights on a horror website than by looking at the legendary Jewish monster the golem? As Weird Jon’s planned article on the subject was put on hold due to time constraints, I thought I’d step in to celebrate with a video of a homemade golem costume made for a LARP session:

Happy Chanukkah!

As it’s the Big G’s birthday, I thought it would be nice to pay tribute to one of his greatest battles. I was stuck on what to do, until I discovered that the Peruvian fast food chain Bembos decided to do a humorous ad reuniting the two (well, reasonable facsimiles of the two) that’s probably going to be the closest thing we’ll ever see to a King Kong vs. Godzilla rematch:

Happy Birthday Godzilla!

I’ve been doing this for the last three years and the amount of knock-offs and bizarre costumes has yet to diminish.

It never ceases to amaze me just how many variations there are of the Scream mask, both knock-off and licensed. Seriously, look at all of the freaking knock-offs I found this year. The (what I assume to be) licensed stuff is just as odd. We have a Bobblehead variant of the costume, a women’s masquerade ball-style costume, a scarecrow version and even a “zombie” version! The “Zombie” name seems to be due to how it looks similar to the redesigned Michael Myers mask in Rob Zombie’s take on Halloween.

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Bela Lugosi’s battle with drug addiction is well known throughout horror fandom. Lugosi developed sciatica due to leg injuries he received in the first World War. As his leg pains grew worse and worse, he was eventually prescribed painkillers like morphine, Demerol, and methadone. Like many (but not all) people who are given such drugs, he became addicted. The fact that methadone could be obtained without a prescription didn’t help matters. Although his (then) wife was able to wean him off drugs in 1953, he relapsed after she divorced him and took custody of their son. Two years later, a private sanitarium advised Lugosi to get help, which led to him checking into the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norfolk, CA for a three month stay. The following video shows Lugosi’s interview with the press given right after he left the hospital. Although celebrities going into rehab is common these days, such things were unheard of back then.

For more on Bela Lugosi, be sure to check out this classic Gravedigger’s Local 16 article.

Seeing as how last year’s article about making your own Tiki stuff turned out so well, I thought I would revisit the subject this year.

If the wooden Tiki idol how-to from last year was not to your satisfaction, then perhaps you should try this article about making a cement Tiki garden idol.

What better way to spice up your Tiki bar than to build this nifty model of Thor Heyerdahl’s famous Kon-Tiki raft? If woodworking isn’t your thing, perhaps this papercraft Kon-Tiki replica would be more to your liking. Speaking of papercraft goodies, what Tiki bar would be complete without a dancing hula girl?

For something that’s potentially freakier, read up on making Tiki heads and designing Tiki pendants. The book that has the Tiki pendant instructions also has a perfect activity for those who are listening along to the music mentioned here: Drawing to island music.

Lighting is an essential part of any Tiki set-up, from the dim (but inviting) lamps to the red glowing eyes behind Tiki masks (accomplished by using a red Christmas lightbulb in a nightlight positioned a safe distance behind the mask). Go here to learn how to make your own hurricane lamps and Tiki votive candle holders. Do you want fire in your Tiki bar? Be both safe (and smart) by using one of the many fake flame tutorials available at the Monster Page of Halloween Project Links. Also of interest is this article, which lists types of wood that glow certain colors under a blacklight without needing any UV-reactive paint. It’s the perfect way to make your Tiki stuff extra freaky.

Searching Amazon yielded several mask-making kits that can be used to create Tiki decor, along with a special mold for making concrete Moais you can use to turn any yard into Easter Island. But if you’re going to go on Amazon to order stuff, you might as well go whole hog and choose from the various masks, idols, and other Tiki essentials that are already made. While we’re on Amazon, I should note how I think this educational “Moon in My Room” toy would work great in both Tiki set-ups and home haunts.

While searching for the above tutorials, I also found some instructions on making musical instruments. While only a few would look good hanging around a Tiki bar, all could be of use for anyone who wants to try their hand a making their own exotica tunes. This article shows how to make a candolin and a bottle xylophone and the very next page of the same magazine shows how to make a boom-whacker and quick ‘n dirty castanets. Although the directions given here are for a “toy” ukelele, I’d imagine that scaling up the plans would result in a serviceable standard ukelele. Finally, you can learn how to make a homemade glockenspiel, triangle, drum, and cymbals here.

For more Tiki decor goodness, be sure to visit the list of Tiki bar ideas over at the amazing TikiBarPlans.org!

As noted in previous “How-To” posts, Gravedigger’s Local 16 is not to be held responsible for the content on or anything that may occur (be it good or bad) as a result of visiting any links on those sites (or constructing a project that’s detailed on them and downloading anything from them). Attempt at your own risk.

Given the widespread popularity of their sketch comedy videos (my personal favorite being Girls Are Not To Be Trusted), Derrick Comedy requires no introduction. A few years back, they took a break from sketch comedy to shoot the film Mystery Team, which details what happens when a group of grown up child detectives try to solve a murder. To help promote the film, Derrick Comedy released a short film detailing the trio tackling a classic case for junior detectives: investigating an allegedly haunted building. Given its obvious appeal to readers of Gravedigger’s Local 16, I thought I’d share it with you:

It should also be noted that Derrick Comedy sketches tend to be of the NSFW variety. You have been warned!

Some people might like their movies in 30 seconds with bunnies, but I prefer mine in 60 seconds with clay. NSFW? You bet! Enjoy:

Today is the final day of Zombie Awareness Month 2011. As the site’s zombie-related content got rather lean towards the end of the month, I thought I’d share a zombie video to give ZAM the send-off it deserves:

I love the way that video ends, don’t you? But don’t worry, I’m not only going to show a video that’s just over 20 seconds and call it a day. Here’s something you can really sink your teeth into, a music video starring Baron Samedi called “Thrill Me”:

The above was included at the end of the video cassette that came with the fourth installment of the Nightmare VHS game series (also known as Atmosfear), wherein a board game is used on conjunction with a prerecorded video. In this series, Baron Samedi is a zombie who acted as a “harbinger” that a player could control during his original appearance and later acted as the host of Nightmare II expansion in 1992. However, he returned to his role as a harbinger soon after and his last appearance was in 2006′s Khufu The Mummy, with DVD having replaced the game’s use of VHS in 2006′s Atmosfear: The Gatekeeper. But, given the series’ strong fanbase online, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Baron makes another appearance in the future. Happy Zombie Awareness Month!

Back when I was just a tiny tot, I once read a children’s “making of” book about Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. One of the facts listed inside was that some of the creatures in the famous cantina scene were actually recycled costumes from horror movies. It made sense to me, especially due to the werewolf-looking alien that briefly makes an appearance. Although disappointed by the book’s lack of information about which aliens came from which movies, I assumed that I’d eventually see the movies the costumes were from someday.

But as the years went by, I became more suspicious of this claim. Despite seeing more horror movies than I can count, I had not seen a single monster in one that looked like one of Mos Eisley patrons. Similarly, searching through numerous official trivia guides and countless websites yielded no reference to reused costumes. Was the fact I had read years ago false?

After much fruitless searching through the IMDB’s trivia pages for each installment of the original trilogy, the trivia section for 1978′s infamous Star Wars Holiday Special had something interesting in it. Apparently, a rat costume from The Food of the Gods was used to create an alien being in the special’s version of the cantina. Perhaps that book from my youth had gotten its cantina facts mixed up?

No, it hadn’t. After much research, I stumbled across proof of horror movie prop repurposing in the classic film. According to this, special effects legend Rick Baker recycled some monster gloves from It’s Alive for one of the aliens. He also reused a furry costume that made for a Halloween show based on The Exorcist given at Bob Burns‘ house and some masks he had made as a fun way to test his skills (which he also used for Halloween)!

In celebration of my finally solving this puzzle after so many years, here’s a song that uses the same title as this article:

When one watches the Vincent Price classic Witchfinder General (aka The Conqueror Worm), the actions and behavior of the titular Matthew Hopkins may make one assume that the decidedly nasty character was a wholly fictional creation. After all, the film was based on a novel. Sadly, Hopkins was all too real. Given his nasty exploits, both onscreen and real life, it’s no surprise that he has inspired various horror-related literature and music, along with a few parodies. One such parody can be seen in the following video, wherein the Witchfinder General is used in an ad for Walkers crisps (potato chips):

In fact, Walkers actually used the character in an entire series of televised advertisements!  ’tis not normal indeed.

Not too long ago, a friend made me aware of the fact that Blue Öyster Cult did a song called “Nosferatu” by linking to this video:

Given the massive use of their songs “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and “Godzilla” in countless broadcasts and CD compilations every October, I’m amazed that “Nosferatu” isn’t a Halloween standard.

But those songs aren’t the band’s only horror connections. Not only did they contribute to the soundtrack for Full Moon’s Bad Channels, but they have released songs with names like “The Old Gods Return” and “Monsters.” Even some of their albums have spooky names! Given that I’m only a neophyte fan, I’m sure that hardcore fans of the band can name even more spooky song titles by the band…

As a guy with a wide range of interests, simply one listing of links to websites I enjoy just isn’t enough!

Xenorama – Xenorama is “The Page of Heroes and Monsters,” along with an amazing article about an alternate version of The War of the Gargantuas.

Side Order of Ninjas – Funny and entertaining reviews of strange and amazing films.

Hauntcast – The internet’s premier online radio station for home haunters and Halloween enthusiasts.

Grindhouse Database – The cult movie community’s answer to the Internet Movie Database.

Weird NJ – Strange destinations and urban legends from New Jersey.

Home Haunt News – News and reviews no haunter should be without!

alt.horror.cthulhu – One of the few newsgroups out there that has regular, non-spam activity.

Skook – Tons of great artwork, including modernized (but faithful) renditions of Paul Blaisdell creations.

Tomb It May Concern – If Yor Week isn’t enough to convince you to read this, I don’t know what will.

Tough To Kill – An amazing look at European action flicks by Paul Cooke and the owner of the above site.

Home Haunter’s Haven – The name says it all.

The Laughing Reindeer – Back in the day, there used to be a website called “Monster Shindig” that reviewed horror movies, roadside attractions and the like. Although it died, one of its creators set up this blog. Did I mention that he was one of the people responsible for Carnivore?

Monster Shindig – I found this while looking for information about the now-defunct monstershindig.com. It’s not related, but still seems cool.

3B Theater – Any bad movie review site inspired by Strange Brew is okay with me!

Pink Tentacle – Crazy ‘n cool stuff from (and related to) Japan. The entry about Polish posters for Japanese monster movies is a must-see!