Apr 07 2013

Vote For Us In The Rondo Awards!

The man who puts the 'Die' in

Today, Sunday April 7th, marks the final day of voting for the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. In fact, voting ends at midnight tonight!

Both Gravedigger’s Local 16 and Six Foot Plus have grown over the past year. But although there have been changes, our goals still remain the same: to examine all things spooky. We would all appreciate it if you voted for Gravedigger’s Local 16 as “Best Blog” and Six Foot Plus as “Best Horror Multimedia.”

The “Linda Miller Fan Artist of the Year” is the perfect place to write in a vote for our very own Monstermatt Patterson. In addition to his work on the podcast and the various articles he has contributed to our humble little blog, Monstermatt has also built up quite the portfolio of amazing artwork. You can see examples of his amazing work at both his official website and at Ha-Ha! Horror.

To reiterate:

Category 19. Best Blog – Gravedigger’s Local 16
Category 24. Best Horror Multimedia (Audio or Videocast) – Six Foot Plus
Category 31: Linda Miller Fan Artist of the Year – Monstermatt Patterson

If you’re looking for more voting suggestions, please check out the following:

For Your Consideration…Dr. Gangrene for the 2013 Rondo Awards
For Your Consideration…Tom “Jackson Phibes” Bagley for the 2013 Monster Kid Hall of Fame

You can find the ballot (and voting instructions) at the official Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards website.

Apr 05 2013

6’+ Episode 54 Is Up! (Special Episode)

2013 Logo IconTo quote the description given at the new listing:

“April 1st marked 6′+’s second year in existence. In this special episode, you’ll hear the debut of ALL THIS AND GORE, a discussion between Tammy and JR from TwistedCentral.com. As well, you’ll hear the first episode of HEATHER BUCKLEY’S ODDSCURITIES, a showcase of an often-overlooked horror movie.

As always, we have a bevy of great music. Songs from The Dead Vampires, Mad Sin, The Polecats and more – as well, as Monstermatt Patterson to pop out of the birthday cake.“

Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.

You can find all episodes of 6′+ over at the official site as well as on iTunes, Stitcher and now Spreaker. We’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

Mar 31 2013

The Testimony of Randolph Carter

Run Randolph Run!

Harley Warren is missing. The last person to see him is his friend Randolph Carter, who was with him on the fateful night of his disappearance and is the only suspect as a result. Finding himself in court, Randolph tells the strange story of how his friend was heavily into occult studies and had recently acquired a book written in an unknown language that Harley refused to explain in detail. The only thing he was willing to reveal was that it key to a certain theory of his. One night, he brings Randolph to an abandoned graveyard for an expedition into a tomb…

Shot in 1987 and released the following year, The Testimony of Randolph Carter is an adaptation of the short story “The Statement of Randolph Carter” (with some elements from “Through the Gates of the Silver Key” thrown in for good measure). Said story was based on a dream Lovecraft had, with his friend Samuel Loveman having the Harley Warren role while he had the Randolph Carter part. Some have speculated that the unnamed book in the story is the fabled Necronomicon, although Lovecraft didn’t create said tome until years later. But, given the overall plasticity of the Cthulhu Mythos, that interpretation is not entirely impossible. Interestingly enough, the prop book from the film was utilized as the Necronomicon in one of the HPLHS gaming sessions a few years later.

Let’s get something straight: this is NOT a film like The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society’s adaptations of The Call of Cthulhu or The Whisperer in Darkness. This student film was their first effort at applying their years of LARP prop-making skills to a film. As a first effort, it’s naturally a little rough around the edges.
Although the props are all incredible, the film’s low budget does show at times. Despite having access to a real stenotype machine, the lack of a location that looked like an actual courtroom resulted in the decision to keep the room as dark as possible. While not very realistic, it did have an interesting artistic effect. The film’s makers have noted how it also means this can be interpreted as the trial taking place in Carter’s mind. Being shot on videotape, the end result looks like some 80’s British import you’d see on PBS. But you know what? I don’t have a problem with that. In fact, I took more issue with how it uses the August Derleth version of the Elder Sign rather than Lovecraft’s original version.

After a limited release and several appearances at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, The Testimony of Randolph Carter is finally available on home video. However, it’s in the form of a DVD-R with no extras, (not even a starting menu). I imagine this was done to keep people from confusing it with their more recent films. Said films are made to evoke the feeling of the period when Lovecraft was actually alive, while The Testimony of Randolph Carter has an 80’s feel despite its period setting. It’s only 50 minutes, but does feel longer due to the numerous reading scenes. While reading the official HPLHS page for the film, I couldn’t help but notice the reference to plans for a reedited, shorter version. I discussed the matter with director Andrew Leman via email and learned the cut of the film on DVD is only slightly shorter than original version.

The Testimony of Randolph Carter has an important place in history as it’s one of the oldest Lovecraft fan films (although not actually the oldest, as that honor goes to the 1975 adaptation of The Whisperer in Darkness). It’s also the longest of the first five and the only one that’s commercially available at the moment. AS it’s a well-made (but rough) first step, I definitely recommend seeking it out. Here’s hoping the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society eventually decides to give it a factory-pressed DVD release with extra features. Given their distribution of a German H.P. Lovecraft adaptation, maybe they could even include other early Lovecraft fan films as well.

Special thanks to the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society for use of the image!

Mar 31 2013

The 4th Annual GdL16 Easter Egg Hunt

This was marketed as a Halloween decoration. No, seriously...

The objective is the same as it was last year: Find all of the articles that reveal hidden “Easter Eggs” in the disc being reviewed that are hidden among other articles without them. The actual amount of Easter Eggs is low this year, but new players should feel free to visit the previously-linked installment for more fun. Let the hunting begin…NOW:

Appointment With Fear
The Mission Creeps, HALLOWEEN
Freaky Tiki Surf-ari: King Kukulele and the Friki Tikis
Freaky Tiki Surf-ari: Phase 2
Tales of the Frightened
Winter’s Majesty
The Price of Fear
Sticks
Spine Chillers
Great Classic Horror

Happy Easter!

Mar 30 2013

Puppet Master II

Fist pumping tends to look odd in Andre Toulon's troupe...

[NOTE: As I don’t have a Blu-Ray player, I had to review these at a friend’s house. At a party. In other words, this isn’t going to be as detailed as my usual reviews.]

Things haven’t gone so well for the survivors of the previous film. To be more specific, one has been mysteriously killed and the other is now insane. When a group of parapsychologists is sent to the Bodega Bay Inn to investigate, they soon encounter murderous living puppets…and the mysterious new owner of the inn. What they don’t realize is that he’s really a disguised Andre Toulon, brought back to life by his creations using the last of the serum they need to live. And he needs brains to make more of it. Human brains. Suddenly the mysterious death that sparked the investigation doesn’t seem so mysterious anymore. And the body count is only beginning. As if that isn’t bad enough, Toulon has special plans for one of the female investigators…

This is the first time I truly watched Puppet Master II. I say this not because of the new transfer, which I’ll discuss later in this review, but because of the way I used to see it. I used to occasionally turn in to random parts of the film back in the days when the Sci-Fi Channel constantly reran it (and didn’t have a goofy-sounding name), and seeing it from start to finish in a single was quite a revelation. I’ve come to realize how this is actually the last film of the series to maintain any sort of good continuity. Although the next installment is regarded as the best installment by numerous fans (including myself), I do have to admit it doesn’t connect to the first two films very well. The flame-throwing puppet Torch is a welcome addition to Toulon’s crew and it’s a shame he more or less vanished from the franchise after this movie. Seeing all the great stop motion animation, including the effective opening sequence featuring Toulon’s revival, has made me realize just how much I miss the old days of Full Moon. I also enjoyed the movie’s references to classic horror films, such as Toulon’s Invisible Man-style disguise and his alias of “Eriquee Chaneé” being a reference to both Lon Chaney and the Phantom of the Opera.

Having seen the films out of order, it was quite a shock to see the normally kind-hearted Andre Toulon portrayed as a villain. Even though he received little characterization in Puppet Master, it’s hard to accept that a man who killed himself to keep the secret of bringing inanimate objects to life away from the Nazi would be so willing to kill innocent people just to keep himself alive. I know he mentions the afterlife not being what he expected, but he isn’t even shown struggling with his conscience over the matter. My own personal nerdy explanation is that it’s due to brain damage from his death coupled with the influence of the puppets. You see, it’s implied throughout the series that the puppets’ behavior is influenced by the personality of their puppet master. Since the person controlling them in the first movie wasn’t exactly a nice guy, it’s not unreasonable to assume his influence still lingers on them and is effecting Toulon.

The Blu-Ray presentation of this 88 minute movie really shines thanks to its beautiful high-definition, 16:9 widescreen transfer and 5.1 surround sound audio track. Although the audio sounded fine to me, I should note there are those who have issues with it. There’s no shortage of extra features: an all-new introduction to the film by Charles Band, a commentary track, the original making-of “VideoZone” segment from the film’s VHS release, a kill scene montage, a 90’s commercial for Puppet Master action figures (presented in fullscreen) and numerous trailers for other Full Moon titles. Said trailers are for Puppet Master, Castle Freak, The Dead Want Women, Zombies vs. Strippers, Demonic Toys 2, Evil Bong 3, Gingerdead Man 3, Killjoy’s Revenge and Puppet Master: Axis of Evil.

I know I’ve been pretty laid back about Full Moon’s new direction in my past reviews, but watching these old films has been slowly changing my attitude. Comparing their vintage and recent output side by side for so long has been very enlightening. I’d love to go into more detail about it. but I’ll have to save that for my upcoming review of Puppet Master III instead…

UPDATE: My enthusiasm over the widescreen transfer might be misplaced. Check here for more details.

Special thanks to Full Moon Features for the review copy!

Mar 30 2013

Haunted Spooks

Harvey, no!

Haunted Spooks is the classic story of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy meets other girl and immediately weds her so she can receive her inheritance, boy gets girl despite her scheming relatives dressing up like ghosts to scare them off.

Despite some similarities in subject matter this film has with Buster Keaton’s The Haunted House (I should note that Haunted Spooks came out a year before Keaton’s film), I personally feel that this film is funnier. While Keaton’s movie dragged at times, none of the jokes here do. When Harold Lloyd’s character is trying to get permission to marry a woman he’s in love with, the gags come at a fast and furious pace and they all naturally fit the setting without becoming repetitive. But Keaton definitely has the advantage when it comes to the sheer number of ghosts and creepy creatures that appear in his film compared to the handful of people in sheets (and a few cases of mistaken identity) in Lloyd’s. One of said ghosts uses the bizarre “ghost with ears” design that was rather popular back in the day and still occasionally pops up in modern times (such as in Stephen Mooser’s Secrets of Scary Fun).

Sadly, the fun is somewhat spoiled by the film’s racist depiction of its black characters. In addition to an offensive caricature in the film’s illustrated intertitles (along with the cringe-worthy decision to depict their dialogue in “dialect”), they’re all portrayed as servants who become very “comically” frightened and bug-eyed over the very idea of ghosts. It’s a small consolation that these characters play a very small part in the film as a whole.

Haunted Spooks is also notable for being the first film to be released after Harold Lloyd’s being injured during a publicity shoot in the summer of 1919. He was in the process of filming Haunted Spooks at the time and had stopped to pose for some publicity pictures on set. What was thought to be a harmless prop bomb was fetched for Lloyd to pose with (although no bombs appear in the movie). However, it was actually a working smoke bomb and went off when he lit a cigarette with it. The explosion cost him the thumb and forefinger of his right hand and nearly ended his career. A special prosthetic glove was made to conceal the injury from his fans. Why? Because it was feared that they would worry about the dangers of his stunts rather than laugh at his onscreen antics. Filming resumed after he recovered and Haunted Spooks was released the following year. All of his movies made after this focused less and less on physical humor.

Being only 25 minutes long, the film has only surfaced on video a few times. The best of these releases was its inclusion in the “The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection” DVD boxset, the transfer of which is also available in the much less expensive “The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection Volume 3” DVD. Even though the film has been remastered, I was never able to spot any telltale signs of the glove (a true testament to the director and maker of the glove). I don’t know if this will make any sense, but I feel that Haunted Spooks is the funnier comedy while The Haunted House is the funnier haunted house-based comedy. As much as I enjoyed the film (and its insight as to why Christopher Reeve based his portrayal of Clark Kent in the Superman film series on Harold Lloyd’s screen persona), I’m also torn about recommending this otherwise hilarious film due to its use of racial stereotypes. I’ll leave that decision up to you (but will vouch for the rest of the film being good).

Mar 29 2013

Still More Free Horror Movie Commentaries

Once again, I find myself discovering more and more free downloadable movie commentaries long after I thought I’d posted the final installment in the series:

Although Dr. Action and The Kick Ass Kid specialize in commentaries on action movies, they have been known to do ones for sci-fi films like Dark Angel (aka I Come in Peace) and Ghosts of Mars (among others).

iTunes is a great source of free horror commentaries. In addition to the above linked one, you can also find commentaries by Van Damme That’s Good, The Hellraiser Podcast and The Dream Warriors Horrorcast. That last one is connected to Horrorphilia, which also offers free downloadable commentaries.

SoundCloud is also becoming quite the resource for film commentaries. TheDoomedPlanet is offering a commentary for the horror film Would You Rather and Shitcase Cinema has one for Predator.

With a little help from the Doctor Who Reference Guide and a search engine, you can find tons of free official commentary tracks for various episodes of the Doctor Who revival.

Although Rely on Horror normally focuses on horror video games, their podcast has been known to do commentaries for movie based on such games, like Silent Hill: Revelation.

While JoBlo.com’s free commentaries covers a variety of film genres, horror is definitely represented there.

You’ve undoubtedly noticed that many of the commentaries in this article are for more modern fare. Thankfully, Horror Etc. and Vault of Horror DVD Commentaries more than make up for that with their focus on older films.

As always, Gravedigger’s Local 16 is not to be held responsible for anything that may occur (be it good or bad) as a result of downloading from any links given here. Attempt at your own discretion. Blah blah blah…

Mar 29 2013

Fund This: MONSTRUM

We get word here at gravediggerslocal.com about independent horror projects in need of funding. If you have a project that you want us to talk about, contact us at your whim.  

IndieGoGo Campaign for MONSTRUM

Knowing that a British-based horror-comedy would draw immediate comparisons to Shaun Of The Dead, filmmakers James J. Powdrill and Jonathan Kemp establish in the first minutes of this promotional video for MONSTRUM that this is more a horror movie with comedic elements. What drew me into the project is the structure of five individuals whose independent stories are tied together by the monster/myth of the movie’s title. 

The promotional video shows that Kemp and Powdrill have a good grasp on humor and timing, and that they value the crispness of audio. I understood everything they said, even through their impressive accents and even more impressive facial hair.

Since it’s their first feature film, they’re keeping it cheap. This has the chance to be an Evil Dead of the decade, the starter movie that can open up to greater possibilities. Either that, or it’ll be a fantastic romp that helps keep the independent spirit of creepy monster horror alive in the 21st century.

The IndieGoGo campaign is here. They’re looking to raise 5000 British Pounds in less than two weeks. They need as much help as they can muster, so give if you can. Definitely check out the video below if you need more convincing. 

Mar 28 2013

Trilogy From The Crypt

Tales From The Crypt was destined to go beyond its comic book origins. When you have a series which started off as an unrelated section of Crime Patrol and grew popular enough to take over the comic completely, there’s no other conclusion you can reach. Perhaps that’s why a live-action photograph of the “GhouLunatics” was staged years before Amicus tried their hand at adapting EC Comics titles. Once it was adapted into the television series we all know and love, its success naturally prompted spin-offs. The next logical step was to make the jump back into feature films. The original plan was for a trilogy of three loosely connected films, starting with a zombie tale called “Dead Easy” (aka “Fat Tuesday”). Things didn’t quite end up working out that way.

The trilogy actually started out with Demon Knight, a project whose script actually predated the Tales From The Crypt TV series and had been originally intended on be the second film in the trilogy. Why the change? Apparently the script for “Dead Easy” was deemed too scary to work as a Tales From The Crypt movie! However, Demon Knight had a post-credits scene where the Crypt Keeper plugs his upcoming film “Dead Easy” (which was only seen in theaters), so it wasn’t out of the running just yet. So what was going to be the next installment? The planned third installment “Body Count” was put aside at some point and The Frighteners was seriously considered to be the next installment, but the next film ended up being Bordello of Blood. Although it shared the “Blood Key” prop with Demon Knight, the box office take was drastically different. I’m personally not surprised that it failed, given that the wraparound segments were a lame reworking of the host segments from an episode of the television series. Plans for the next film were quickly put on hold, and that’s where things start to get murky…

The third film ended up being Ritual, a remake of the horror classic I Walked With a Zombie. However, it’s not quite clear whether or not it was originally intended to be part of the Tales From The Crypt film series. When it first came out on DVD in 2006, the story I heard was that it was a preexisting film that had been deemed unreleasable in America on its own (however, it had played theatrically in other countries in 2001) and had some Crypt Keeper segments hastily put together in order to make it more marketable. However, most online sources claim it had originally started out as a Tales From The Crypt movie and had all references to the series removed after the poor performance of Bordello of Blood. If true, the decision not to include the “Blood Key” from other other two installments in the series was a confusing choice on their part.

In any case, it can probably be agreed the trilogy ended with a whimper, not a bang. While I imagine that Ritual is stronger plot-wise than Bordello of Blood, the descriptions of the Crypt Keeper segments don’t fill me with any confidence that they live up to the standards set by Demon Knight (or the TV series). Although the series is over, the Crypt Keeper is still making appearances. Maybe one day someone will dust off the scripts for “Dead Easy” or “Body Count” and give the film series the send-off it truly deserves.

Mar 26 2013

More Links *I* Like

It’s been ages since I’ve done one of these and Atomic’s been hogging the concept for far too long. Now it’s time to reclaim what I started:

The Cinema Snob – Ever wonder what would happen if a snobby film critic tried reviewing exploitation films? Thanks to Brad Jones’ hilarious video reviews, now you don’t have to wonder anymore! As seen on That Guy With The Glasses.

The Dead Next Door: A Field Guide to Regional Horror Films – As I’ve said before, I LOVE regional horror films, so this site is like crack to me.

Scar Stuff – Although the music files are long gone, Scar Stuff is still the greatest resource of information about old spooky records available online.

The A.V. Club – Once a part of The Onion devoted to covering movies and TV, The A.V. Club has since grown into its own massive site. The humorous (but often lengthy) comments section of each article are well worth reading.

Hark A Vagrant! – Kate Beaton’s comics makes history and literature awesome. Well, more awesome than usual…

Foywonder – “One man. Many movies. No life.” Scott Foy tackles everything from mainstream theatrical releases to the rarest obscurities in his ongoing quest to mock the worst the entertainment industry has to offer.

Creepypasta Wiki – If you don’t know Slender Man from Jeff the Killer, this is the site for you.

The SCP Foundation – Serve. Contain. Protect. The mysterious SCP Foundation’s goal is to protect the world from paranormal threats. If you’re looking to kill some time, reading their current mission briefings and case files (or adding in some of your own) is the perfect way go about it.

Dinosaur Dracula – X-Entertainment strikes back from the grave!

The Drive-In Mob – Because making fun of bad movies on Twitter is much more fun if you’re doing it with other people.

Pop Culture Junk Mail – Or as I like to call it “the blog before blogs existed.” Long before Blogspot came into being, the PCJM website acted as an extremely well-written collection funny and fascinating information with (with much love for Halloween). Although the archives didn’t make the jump over to Blogspot, the mission remains the same.

Cocktail Nation – Koop Kooper serves up an amazing selection of exotica and lounge music every week.

Teleport City – “Yesterday’s Tomorrow Today!” Teleport City has been covering bizarre movies, long-forgotten music and unusual travel destinations since 1998. It also holds a special place in my heart since it’s been a major influence on my writing style. Technically this is a repeat, but I wanted to share the site’s alternate URL.

Universal Monster Army – Their motto says it best: “Universal monsters and vintage monster toys unite in the Universal Monster Army!”

Eccentric Cinema – While many cult film review sites mainly focus on making jokes, Eccentric Cinema opts to look deeper into the subjects of its reviews. Just make sure not to read it at work (the same warning also applies to most of the review sites listed here).

Mar 22 2013

6’+ Episode 53 Is Up!

To quote the description given at the new listing:

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to dig a hole in which you bury yourself for a period of time. It’s the second-cheapest vacation you can take, beaten only by the escape offered in this episode. Can’t get cheaper than that. We have music from Tiki Bats, Atom Age Vampire, new music from both The Moans and The Spastiks. We try to bury Monstermatt Patterson up to his neck but overshoot the goal by a few feet.”

Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.

You can find all episodes of 6′+ over at the official site as well as on iTunes, Stitcher and now Spreaker. We’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

Mar 17 2013

St. Patrick’s Day, Svengoolie Style

Given today’s date and the recent birthday of Rich Koz (aka the man who plays Svengoolie), it seemed that the best way for us to celebrate St. Patty’s Day would be to share this comedy sketch that pits Sven against a leprechaun (but not *the* leprechaun):

In case you were wondering, the above video was uploaded by zoohorror5. New to the world of Svengoolie and want to see more? Then check these handy resources to learn more about the show (and to see if it plays in your area).

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Mar 15 2013

The Undead of Mars

It has been close to five years since Veronica Mars went off the air, and this show was set to remain dead until a few days ago, where a Kickstarter Project raised over two million for a movie. Currently, over 50,000 people have raised over three million for this movie.

All right.  At first, I was apathetic about the whole thing. Never watched the show and the fans hadn’t reached the Joss Whedon-levels of obnoxiousness so it didn’t really bother me that some five-year dead property had been resurrected for the sake of a movie.

Until, I thought about how much three million dollars could buy. Questions about responsibility started to pop up – if a group of people the size of the population of Pensacola, Florida can raise three million dollars for something superflous a movie for a dead CW/WB property, couldn’t they do something similar for a worthwhile cause, like clean water or disease vaccinations?

I don’t really care about Veronica Mars or its fans. Congrats – about a fifth of what an episode pulled in, rating wise, came together to fund a movie.

So here’s a proposition for me and I hope that everyone of the 50k+ (and growing) donors follow. 

I’m going to total up the money I’ve spent on music from the start of 2013 until the end of the year. Barring any kind of financial emergency that strikes my shoestring budget (and skin-of-my-teeth living) I’ll match as much as I spend on music to a charity dedicated to improving the living conditions of someone in another country. I don’t know what it’ll be (suggestions can be left in the comments or @StrangeJason on twitter).  I’ll add the 25 dollars I donated to DieMonsterDie’s campaign last year, as well as the BottleNose Koffins kickstarter. By the end of the year, if I don’t match what I’ve spent on myself, then fuck me. I’m a piece of shit.

Because that’s how I sort of feel about this endeavour and any future endeavour that funds ressurection art. This is the art that tries to bring dead properties back to life. This isn’t reincarnation, which somehow changes the form of the art. Ressurrection Business is the type of people who haven’t gotten over the truth that sometimes the things you love end and that’s how it goes. Things end. You accept it and get over it. If you don’t, you’re not a grown up.

I don’t really apply this to the scoundrels at major motion film studios because those pigfuckers are in the business of making money by selling movies with brand logos of comic book superhero and cartoon characters to the general public. Anyone going to see a G.I. Joe movie expecting art is a person panning for gold up a creek of shit. They have themselves to blame.

But this funding was a clear labor of love, albeit somewhat misguided in my opinion. These people clearly love this Veronica Mars show and its characters, its writing and its actors. I can’t fault that. But if you’re going to donate to bring a dead thing back to life, you could do the same to keep a living person from dying (or, at least, making their lives not as fucked.)

So I’m going to put my money where my mouth is. First update will be in June.

Mar 08 2013

6’+ Episode 52 Is Up!

To quote the description given at the new listing:

“Holy Hatton! It’s time for the Rondos again! 6′+ scored a nomination as did GdL16 and Dr. Gangrene! Learn about the campaign to get Tom Bagley into the Hall of Fame, with music from The Brains, Boney Fiend and VAMPIRA?! Plus much more. Monstermatt crashes the party and we all have some fun.

Edit: I forgot to mention that you can find more of Tom Smith’s music online at TomSmithOnline.com. The version of “I Want To Be Peter Lorre” came from his Live at DucKon 2010 recording, which you can get at his Bandcamp.”

Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.

You can find all episodes of 6′+ over at the official site as well as on iTunes, Stitcher and now Spreaker. We’re also on Facebook and Twitter.

Mar 05 2013

For Your Consideration…Dr. Gangrene for the 2013 Rondo Awards

rondo

For Your Consideration, Dr. Gangrene in the following categories:

Category 15. Best Magazine Column – The Doctor is In-Sane
Category 18. Best Website – Chiller Cinema
Category 22. Favorite Horror Host of 2012 – Dr. Gangrene
Category 34: Monster Kid Of The Year
Category 24. Best Horror Multimedia (Audio or Videocast)* – 6’+

Click HERE to go vote in the Rondos.

Click HERE for Dr. Gangrene’s Chiller Cinema website, with links to all his work (and social network sites, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

bone2 drgangrene2

For the 2012 Rondo Awards, Larry “Dr. Gangrene” Underwood earned three nominations; four if one were to include his tenure on the 6’+ Podcast, and possibly five (or six!) if he were to be considered for either the Monster Kid of the Year or Monster Kid Hall of Fame. For your consideration, presented here is Larry “Dr. Gangrene” Underwood for the 2013 Rondo Awards.

For nearly fifteen years, Dr. Gangrene has been a fixture in both the local horror scene in Nashville, Tennessee but also on the national scale, through self-syndicating his program and by adapting quickly to the Internet. His efforts proved fruitful, as 2011 left a hard act to follow for Dr. Gangrene. He started up Dr. Gangrene Presents, returning to a half-hour format, much like how his first show, Chiller Theater, was when it debuted. He was nominated for three local Emmys, for his Halloween special with Penny Dreadful, A Dreadful Hallowgrene Special, as well as for his ‘Go Green with Dr. Gangrene’ which incorporated horror elements in a public campaign to raise awareness about simple things one can do to improve the environment. He threw together the Horror Hootenanny, an event capping the Nashville Zombie Walk, and ended the year by appearing in the funny pages as a character in the Dick Tracy comic strip.

drgangrene

Not one to rest on his laurels, Dr. Gangrene took to 2012 headfirst. Dr. Gangrene and his crew produced an epic number of episodes of Dr. Gangrene Presents, ultimately wrapping up his current tenure as a television horror host. An audio foray had him conducting interviews with the likes of Ari Lehman, Jon Mikl Thor, Dee Syder, Dead Dick Hammer and more for Dr. Gangrene’s Metal Morgue, for the 6’+ podcast. 2012 saw Dr. Gangrene’s analytical mind take to the printed page. Always one to pen his ideas at his popular website, his ideas can be read in The Doctor Is In-SANE, regularly found in Scary Monsters Magazine. 2012 saw another instance of the Horror Hootenanny, where Forbidden Dimension returned to the US for the first time in what seemed like forever, thanks to the organizational efforts of Dr. Gangrene.

For Dr. Gangrene Presents, he could easily be considered a winner for Category 22, Favorite Horror Host. For his writing for both The Doctor Is In-Sane and his articles in Scary Monsters Magazine, he surely would be deserving to win in Category 15, Best Magazine Column. Even for maintaining an informative and constantly updated website, he could win another Rondo for Category 18, Best Website.

It would be sensible that Dr. Gangrene would be awarded one of these Rondos. He certainly has earned them. He would also have earned Monster Kid of the Year, for his cumulative efforts but also for the fact that Dr. Gangrene is an appreciative fan at heart. For 2012, he spearheaded the campaign to have Morgus the Magnificent inducted into the Hall of Fame and this year, he has nominated Count Gore De Vol, famed horror host who pioneered the way for people like Dr. Gangrene. Dr. Gangrene would not nominate himself for either the Monster Kid of the Year award or for the Hall of Fame, as he would (and has in the past) nominate people he think are much more deserving of the spotlight than him.

Dr. Gangrene is a man of many talents, all of which have been put to celebrate the culture of horror movies, of monsters and of weirdos both on and off the silver screen. In additional to being a personality of film, television and stage, Dr. Gangrene, or Larry Underwood, is a highly talented artist. His skills can be seen in both his digital and painted works. He has always pushed himself to not be constrained by one medium. So far, 2013 has seen Larry Underwood publish two short stories in his ’13 in 13’ series, currently available on Amazon.

For the 2012 Rondos, consider Dr. Gangrene for the above categories. Awarding him a Rondo would show gratitude for his efforts and offer encouragement for the future. The scene needs more ambitious supporters like Dr. Gangrene and one way to ensure that is those who put forth the effort receive their deserved recognition.

Click HERE to go vote in the Rondos.

*While Dr. Gangrene was not behind the creation of 6’+, his participation in it during 2012 is one of the main reasons why it was a banner year for GdL16’s companion podcast. But, more on 6’+’s nomination later this week.

Mar 04 2013

Funded and Beyond: The Phenomenauts and crowd-funding issues.

I don’t know how much longer this trend of internet fundraising will continue, though I hope it becomes a stable and viable option for bands (specifically, those that I like.) With numerous Kickstarter, IndieGoGo and similar sites out there, there’s a lot of competition for your dollar.

The Phenomenauts, a band I enjoy, are looking to fund their fourth album. Instead of going the prefabricated platforms like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo, they’re simply raising it themselves through their webstore.

I like that the Phenomenauts are “doing this themselves.” Sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo take fees (anywhere from 9-12%) of the finished amount, meaning that if you reach your $5000 goal, up to $600 of that just goes for fees. So you really only raise 4,400. By eschewing these fees, 100% of everything they raise goes to funding the new album. I think that avoiding the common stream allows the band to not drown along with the rest of the creative projects begging for your funding.

However, my initial concerns with this fundraising are those mirrored by the growing criticism of Kickstarter/IndieGoGo/crowdfunding sites in general. I don’t think people understand that there’s a certain amount of risk in ‘funding,’ and they treat these sites as if they were ordering from Amazon. I think that’s what will ultimately doom these sites, specifically when one project/company raises a substantial amount of funding, only to fail to deliver any actual results. Because, if that happens, that money is gone. This is the issue that most, including myself, don’t fully grasp. It’s really, really easy to think that the twenty-five dollars I gave to DieMonsterDie was a ‘pre-order,’ but it was more of an investment. And that investment takes time to pay off.

Though it’s not totally related, read the Policing Amanda Palmer piece when she got some flak for asking musicians to perform for free after she raised over a million dollars to fund her latest artistic project. It showcases some of the problems both with an artist and its audience/consumer base when using fundraising sites.  I thought the Amanda Palmer brouhaha highlighted some idiocies on both sides of the equation: Ms. Palmer paying too much for some services and how the audience was kind of a mob of drooling imbeciles, reacting negatively to something that wasn’t related to the Kickstarter campaign at all.

To their merit, The Phenomenauts are framing that you are purchasing a product that allows them to ‘fund’ their record, but if there’s already a pre-set release date (July, according to the site) then this campaign might allow them to shoulder any production costs.

When I write this, only a mere week has gone by since they announced this campaign to the world. So I’m cutting them slack because they’re trying something new. At first, there was no no visual indicator as to how much has been raised but as due to a message posted on 2/26, they’ve raised $1,825 of the base $5,000 goal. Also – for a band that posts to facebook/twitter DAILY, I don’t worry that they won’t communicate their progress adequately. And The Phenomenauts aren’t really dicks – they’re not going to take you cash and not give you money. They’re not Animal Collective.

I highly encourage you to support the Phenomenauts. And I also encourage you to be very cautious when committing yourself to funding campaigns. But support Science and Honor, and get yourself the newest album from a great band.

 

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