Monster Bash 2017 Report: Part 1 – The Journey Begins

This year’s Monster Bash, held once again in Mars, PA, was their 20th Anniversary show. I can’t express how sad I am that I had only started coming to this show a few years ago. For years, I put some serious thought into setting up as a vendor there, but I always talked myself out of it because of the distance being too far and if it would really be worth it. Now, with this show becoming one of my favorite stops on our Kryptic World Tour, I realize just how I wrong I was.

This time out, I would be making the 500 mile journey to the show on my own, since my wife Dawn is taking care of her father. It sucks having to do the show alone, but there are certain things in life that are way more important, and family is one of them. It’s only a couple of hours past where we go for Wasteland, so it should be that bad. Though, looking at the weather in the area for that Friday, it was calling for rain…all…day…long! I’ve never had to unload for a show in the rain and was not looking forward to it. I decided to leave after work on Thursday, drive to Cleveland area and then stop for a few hours of sleep, then drive the last couple of hours the next morning to be there by 8am for set up.

More Naschy Blu-ray!

Such a great time to be a Naschy fan, or if you’re not, a great time to start! Having just received my copies of Mondo Macabro’s Inquisition and Scream Factory’s Paul Naschy Collection, we know the Year of Naschy will continue. Code Red had already announced titles like Mummy’s Revenge and Assignment Terror. But now, they have recently announced that they will also be releasing the first movie starring everyone favorite werewolf, Waldemar Daninsky, the 1968 film Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror! Okay, the original title is La Marca del Hombre Lobo, but most American fans first discovered this movie under the title Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror, after Sam Sherman came up with that moniker to sell it as a Frankenstein film, even though there isn’t nothing close to that character in the film! But I digress….

Code Red has announced that this new print will be from a brand new 2k scan and will be the uncut international version, not the edited American version. So once again, I will be more than happy to upgrade to Blu-ray to show my support of Naschy’s work, what companies like Code Red are doing to keep these films (and the people that made them) alive! And you should do the same! By buying this release, the fans are showing that we will support this kind of entertainment, than some of the dreck that is coming out of Hollywood these days that they are trying to pas off as quality horror entertainment.

Vive vivo Paul Naschy!

Book Review: The Werewolf Filmography

The Werewolf Filmography
By Bryan Senn
Published by McFarland, 2017. 408 pages.

Why a book like this has never been written before is beyond me. Yeah, there was the The Illustrated Werewolf Movie Guide by Stephen Jones, but that just quickly goes through titles with very little written about them, as well as it covering movies having ANY connection to werewolves or changing into a creature listed. A nice book to chew on, so to speak, but not one to go to for any real meat. But it can also be said that maybe the reason a book like this hasn’t been written before was, as author Senn puts it in his introduction, since the werewolf sub-genre is so huge, there are many, many titles that are far from good. So since the bad definitely outweigh the good, it would be a very tough hill to climb to watch and write about all of them. But Senn has taken on that task, and has done an admirably job!

The Year of Naschy Continues…

And yet we have even ANOTHER Naschy title being announced for a Blu-ray release. In fact, I believe this title never even got a DVD release, at least not here in the states. Up until now, we’ve had to deal with dupes off the old VHS tape. But today, Mondo Macabro announced they would be releasing the 1976 film Inquisition, a nice little tale of love, Satanism, and those purveyors of evil…the church!

Year of Naschy

When the news broke today of the Paul Naschy Collection coming from Shout Factory, I was notified by more than a few friends on social media about it. I’m guessing my fondness of Senor Naschy and his work has gotten around! With all the titles that have been released, or have been announced, or ones that I’ve heard rumors are still coming, I am just in awe that this man’s work is finally getting the treatment and recognition he’s been deserving for way too long. It’s one thing for a company like Shout Factory to release a Vincent Price collection, since we all know that Price is a horror icon (and rightly so). So to see them give the same kind of treatment and spotlight on Paul Naschy…well, it is just an amazing thing. Even after his death, I know there are plenty of us out there still waving the flag to bring attention to him and his work, and with all these Blu-ray releases does nothing but help that cause. 2017 really will be the Year of Naschy!

Naschy Fan Heaven!

Okay, so last week the news of Paul Naschy’s The Mummy’s Revenge was getting a Blu-ray release from Code Red, which since it had never even been released on DVD here in the states, this was pretty stellar news. Granted, we don’t know a lot of details, like if it is uncut or what the source is, but we have our fingers crossed.

Then a couple of days ago, we got more news of yet another Naschy flick will be hitting Blu-ray, his werewolf outing, The Fury of the Wolfman. This might be considered one of Naschy’s lesser quality Daninsky films, but I know more than a few people that just love this film. I may not be one of them, but it is still a Naschy flick, so it is more than worthy for my collection! Besides, if there is a Naschy film that comes out on Blu-ray, I will be picking it up just to show support! Plus…come on! It’s a Naschy Werewolf flick! How could you pass on this?!?!?

Of course, the real question is going to be which version is this going to be, since there has been a few different versions released on video over the years, some with nudity, some without, some footage in some and not the other. So we are hoping that not only is Code Red doing another splendid job re-mastering the film, but that it will be uncut as well. They have reported that it will have a brand new 2K scan, so that is a great start.

Naschy’s Mummy’s Revenge on Blu-ray!

One of the best bits of news I’ve heard all week, that Naschy’s 1975 film The Mummy’s Revenge (originally title La venganza de la momia) will be making its way onto Blu-ray, thanks to Code Red. They haven’t stated what extras this release will have, but honestly, as long as it is the widescreen version and hopefully uncut, then that would be fine with me. Sure, it would be great to have some interviews with maybe Jack Taylor or Helga Liné, but those definitely would be a bonus.