Given how Legendary Pictures’ take on Godzilla is almost upon us, we here at Gravedigger’s Local 16 have decided to put together a list of articles which deal with Japanese monster movies in some way: Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales Mothra Madness 12 Interesting Things About Gigan 12 Interesting Things About Hedorah Freaky Tiki Surf-ari: Daikaiju …
Category: Articles
May 06 2014
The Finger of Nephren-Ka
I’ve been working on this particular project for a while, which is a bit embarrassing. In theory this is a trivially easy prop- a mummified finger. What made it so time consuming is that I wanted to do it with old school gaff techniques while making it realistic enough to meet modern presentation standards. Part …
Apr 26 2014
Beyond Innsmouth
When the subject of Lovecraftian films is discussed, it’s only a matter of time before someone suggests that any film containing a “Gill Man” of sorts fits the bill. The argument is that since Creature from the Black Lagoon came out in 1954 and The Shadow Over Innsmouth was published in 1936, H.P. Lovecraft deserves …
Feb 28 2014
Why We Need Another Take on “The Island of Doctor Moreau”
Normally I’m very against the idea of remakes. To me, a remake or a “reimagining” is basically the admission the studio doesn’t have any original ideas and have so faith in the quality of their work that they feel they have to piggyback on an established name in order to generate any interest. But sometimes …
Feb 26 2014
Lola Falana: The Vampira That Never Was
In 1981, Los Angeles TV station KHJ-TV was in the market for a horror host program. Although they had success with Fright Night in the past, its host Seymour (played by Larry Vincent) had passed away in 1975. Then someone got the idea to revive the program that started off the horror host boom: The …
Feb 13 2014
Movie Review: Scarecrows (1988)
Zombos Says: Good Scarecrows is one of those horror movies that with better acting and better direction, and a more coherent script, would be quite compelling as a good example of a horror movie. As it is, it’s still creepy with effective makeup and gore effects, and does manage to maintain its mood of unknown …
Feb 04 2014
In Tribute: Lux Interior
Lux Interior (aka Erick Lee Purkhiser) died five years ago today. A lot more will be written by those who knew him, who saw him perform, those who had a personal connection with the man and his band’s music. Since I’m a gravedigger, I usually find out about things after they’re dead, so I have no “The …
Jan 14 2014
Unknown Specimen
This is a followup to the Mongolian Death Worm gaff back in May. The basic idea behind this series of projects is to create a sideshow-style gaff using techniques and materials that would have been available in the early 20th century. For this one I used the same materials as before- paper, flour, glue, and …
Dec 13 2013
Guest Blog: 13 Horror Disappointments – 2013 Edition
13 Horror Disappointments: 2013 Edition by KEVIN T. FISCHER It’s easy to look back on the year and reminisce on all the wonderful, proud moments in horror. But there sure were a lot of questionable and downright mucky things going on in the genre as well. Despite our best efforts to forget them, these thirteen …
Nov 20 2013
Movie Review: The Funhouse (1981)
Zombos Says: Very Good Director Tobe Hooper, who did the unsettling Dance of the Dead episode for Masters of Horror on Showtime, as well as the family classic, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)—insane family, that is—presents a not so pretty picture of carnival life, and a somewhat pathetic, definitely homicidal, disfigured monster with a penchant for …
Nov 04 2013
Mongolian Death Worm Gaff
This “Mongolian Death Worm” was the result of an experiment using vintage gaff making techniques. I wanted to recreate the process of crafting a sideshow display using materials available in the early 20th century. Except for cheating on the teeth, which were made from epoxy putty, I used traditional paper mache for the entire specimen. …
Oct 22 2013
Pepper’s Ghost
Check out the image illustrating this article. It looks amazing, doesn’t it? If you show it to your average person, it’s practically guaranteed they’ll identify it as a hologram. It’s not, but it’s an understandable mistake. In addition to Bill Nye mistakenly asserting the Pepper’s Ghost-based effects at Disney’s Haunted Mansion were accomplished with holograms, …
Oct 21 2013
Bottomless Pits
It’s difficult to pin down the exact date the bottomless pit illusion came into being, but it’s so easy to accomplish that it’s probably as old as mirrors themselves. I remember learning in history class how the famous Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles was arranged so that the room seemed to stretch …
Oct 21 2013
Costume Crazyness 2013
It’s time for another collection of goofy costumes and things just wouldn’t be the same without the usual crop of Scream stuff. I don’t get why somebody decided to make skeleton and pirate versions of Ghostface. Was this due to an overstock of Scream masks and various costumes? I’m tempted to say “Yes,” but that …
Oct 20 2013
Trash Can Trauma
The year was 1996. That’s when Larry Lund contacted Mid-Island Appliance to obtain some used washing machine solenoids to use for the creation of Halloween props. As it turns out, owner Carl Chetta was also interested in mechanical Halloween decorations and was especially interested in Lind’s plans to pump air through the solenoids instead of …
Oct 19 2013
Axworthy Flying Ghost
Although Scott Axworthy created what he called the “ghost flight system” in 1988, it was dubbed as the “Axworthy Flying Ghost” (sometimes known as the “Axeworthy Flying Ghost”) when he posted it on the Halloween-L mailing list in 1995. The name’s popularity was only rivaled by that of the prop itself. After all, what haunter …