Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween 2018: Day 22: Twins Of Evil (1971)

Rob Zombie has inspired me to watch a lot of different films for Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween over the years whether it’s his films or films that he uses in his music and live shows. This year, he went on tour with Marilyn Manson on what he called The Twins Of Evil 2 tour and it was after the fact that I learned that Twins Of Evil was a hammer film that was released in 1971 So I decided to watch the film for today. The film stars Peter Cushing (Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed) as Gustav Weil, a man who believes he is doing the work of God by finding and burning witches to death even though a greater evil exists in his village. Gustav is forced to take in twin sisters after the death of their parents, but while one is good the other will test the waters of evil. The film also stars Dennis Price (Call Me Genius) as Dietrich, Mary and Madeleine Collinson (Some Like It Sexy) as Maria and Freida Gellhorn, Isobel Black (Ace Of Wands) as Ingrid,  Kathleen Byron (Black Narcissus) as Katy Well, Damien Thomas (Grave Tales) as Count Karnstein, David Warbeck (Notorious Woman) as Anton, Judy Matheson (Lust For A Vampire) as Woodsman’s Daughter, and the film was directed by John Hough (American Gothic).

The film can be a little frustrating at times, but it’s not for the reason you may think that I am referring to. The character of Gustav Weil is a frustrating one and maybe that was the point the writers were making. You have to think of the time frame that the film is based in and the amount of paranoia the church had when it came to Satanism and witchcraft so any woman that was not married was probably suspected of being a witch. So when you watch the film for yourself, you will understand why I find his character frustrating like most of the characters in the film did as well. I definitely thought that the film was an interesting take on the vampire genre that was different than most of the stuff we were used to from Hammer Films. This film explores it as a way of Satanism and the occult and while we are thinking we are dealing with a film about witches, it’s really about Vampires. I was definitely buying what they were selling and to be honest I had no idea going into this one that I had already reviewed a John Hough film. I loved the exterior shots and the shots inside the castle because the set was amazing. Obviously, they didn’t have the technology then to show you someone burning to death so you have to just work with it cause it was 1971. The acting is amazing all around especially from Cushing, Damien Thomas, and David Warbeck as these three helped carry the film. Mary and Madeleine Collinson were definitely nice to look at, but they held their own as well. Check this one out if you’re looking for something different. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.

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Album Of The Week: Heaven Upside Down by Marilyn Manson

Marilyn Manson is an artist that I have respected since day one of listening to him when I first picked up Smells Like Children. I have considered him to be the last living true rock star on this planet of ours because the man took himself out of obscurity and has reinvented himself. Two years ago, Marilyn Manson took the award for Album Of The Year at the fifth annual Monster Entertainment Awards for The Pale Emperor and this year he cleaned house. Not only did Marilyn take home the rock single and video of the year, but he also took him Rock Album Of The Year for his latest offering Heaven Upside Down. While 2017 may have been a turbulent year for the frontman as he faced injury and the fact that he had to fire longtime member Twiggy Ramirez. At least he can be proud of the album that he put out. Besides Manson, the album once again featured Tyler Bates as the instrumentalist and producer, but it also featured Gil Sharone on drums as well. The album did so well that it finished in the top 10 in 15 different countries with six of those being in the top five. Out of ten albums that Manson has put out, this becomes the 9TH album to finish in the top ten as it peaked at number eight on the Billboard Top 200 charts.

1. Revelation #12– The first track on the album kicks off with a hellraising riff in this industrial styled song that reminds me of Antichrist/Mechanical Animals days. Manson stated that the track is a reference to the Book of Revelations and The Beatles track Revolution No 9 4.5/5

2. Tattooed In Reverse– It’s a grooving track on the album that has a jazzier feel to it from Manson in what seems like a rebellious tone against the religious groups that have bugged him from day one. 4.5/5

3. We Know Where You F**king Live– an idustrial rock song from beginning to end, it was also the first track that Bates and Manson recorded for the album. The track talks about drone warfare, corruption in gov’t, and invasion of our privacy through global surveillance. 5/5

4. SAY10– the song’s overall sound is very reminiscent of the sound found on Mechanical Animals in what I also think is the modern day retelling of the Cain and Abel story. I love that he named Say10 instead of Satan, a very cool play on the word. 5/5

5. KILL4ME-One of my favorite tracks on the album itself that is catchy as hell and if you ask me it’s a song about devotion. It’s Manson telling his lover, how far are you willing to go for me? 5/5

6. Saturnalia– The album was a tribute to his parents and I truly believe that this one was a tribute that he wrote to his father. It gets as personal as he wants to, but there are some touching moments in the track. 5/5

7. JE$U$ CRI$I$– I feel like this is a track that Manson wrote about the record industry and how it’s a dog eat dog world so you better be ready to fend off vipers and cocaine.  4/5

8. Blood Honey– is a slower track in tempo, but it speaks volumes if you ask me. Manson is basically saying that he sleeps with tons of girls even though he knows there only in it for the money. 4.5/5

9. Heaven Upside Down– an upbeat tempo drives this rock track that looks like it’s talking about someone in the middle of an apocalypse or it could be about someone suffering from a mental illness. I was having a hard time with this track. 4/5

10. Threats Of Romance– While the lyrics are not the same as The Beautiful People, it has that kind of vibe. I say that in the way that he talks about his taste in women. He knows he can have the hottest girl, but he wants the damaged ones because their better and the pretty ones belong behind glass. 5/5

My Final Thoughts– I love everything Marilyn has done, but sometimes his songwriting can get a little lazy. He writes some brilliant stuff on this album, but some tracks he get lazy and just repeat verses over and over again like my least favorite track Heaven Upside Down or JE$U$ CRI$I$. My favorite tracks on the album are KILL4ME and Saturnalia which are just highlights. I am going to give the album a 4.6 out of five for a final grade.

The 7TH Annual Monster Entertainment Awards: The Winners (Music)

I have hosted this award post for seven years now and I never fails to bring enjoyment to me for a couple of reasons. One of the reasons being that each album that wins gets a review for the album of the week so that will be exciting for the next month. The second reason is that we get to celebrate and vote for what we believe was the best rock album of the previous calendar year and we voted for the best of 2017 and I have the results for you guys. Marilyn Manson seems to always be a big winner as he won album of the year for The Pale Emperor, but this year he takes home the award for Best Rock Album for Heaven Upside Down as well as Rock Single and Rock Video Of The Year as well. There is going to be a lot of arguments over the winner of the album of the year, but Link Park really did put out a solid effort with One More Light. Code Orange came out of nowhere and defeated some giants of metal to take home the Metal Album Of The Year award while Morbid Angel claims their first win in the Extreme Metal Album Of The Year with Kingdoms Disdained. Here are some of the other winners: Rock Single Of The Year: KILL4ME by Marilyn Manson, Rock Video Of The Year: We Know Where You F*cking Live by Marilyn Manson, Metal Single Of The Year: No Lives Matter by Body Count, Metal Video Of The Year: Nuclear Alchemy by Watain.  Check out the rest of the winners below:

7TH Annual Monster Entertainment Awards- Voting is now open

So, it has taken us a little while to get this out and we apologize for the wait. Some things have changed and we have decided that we are not going to run the Pedal To The Metal Tournament this year for lack of participation and scheduling conflicts. That is also why we have extended the voting process for this because we have been so far behind that we are starting to catch up now. You now have until April 1st to cast your vote for your favorite wrestlers, albums, and movies. We have a lot of great categories and some categories have already seen the voting process begin on Twitter. Nevertheless, we hope that you guys take the time to vote and to enjoy it because it is up to you to decide who wins and you can vote once an hour on every category. So, have some fun and spread the word.

 

7TH Annual Monster Entertainment Awards- The Nominees

I want to take the time to apologize to everyone for the wait, but we have been hard at work at some things for you guys which includes our March Madness style tournament. It’s hard to believe that we have been doing this awards thing known as The Monster Entertainment Awards for seven years now as 2018 marks the seventh annual presentation. A couple of things have changed however and you’ll notice that below, but each category will be handled by a different blog as we are working with the 365 Movies in 365 Days Challenge blog and Mr. X’s Punch Out blog. We here at Moshpits and movies will be handling the music side of things while 365 handles the films and Mr. X handles the wrestling side. As always, you are going to have a certain amount of time to vote for what album you loved more, what movie you thought was film of the year, and what wrestler you thought kicked ass. When all the votes are tallied up, we will present to you all of the winners that YOU chose because it’s all about the people. This award post has always been about you getting involved and deciding who is the best of the year and that is the way we intend to keep it. You will have until March 13Th at 10PM Eastern time to decide what is best so get involved and voice your opinion.

Album Of The Year

1. Emperor Of Sand by Mastodon

2. Concrete And Gold by Foo Fighters

3. One More Light by Linkin Park

4. Carry Fire by Robert Plant

5. Pure Comedy by Father John Misty

6.Villains by Queens Of The Stone Age

Best Side Project/Supergroup Album

1. Echolocation by Gone Is Gone

2. Dead Cross by Dead Cross

3. Hydrograd by Stone Sour

4. Psychosis by Cavalera Conspiracy

5. Where Is Duke Lion? He’s Dead… by Big Dumb Face

Best Metal Album

1. Gods Of Violence by Kreator

2. The Grinding Wheel by Overkill

3. Forever by Code Orange

4. Conformicide by Havok

5. Emperor Of Sand by Mastodon

6. Incorruptible by Iced Earth

Best Rock Album

1. Villains by Queens Of The Stone Age

2. Heaven Upside Down by Marilyn Manson

3. The Desaturating Seven by Primus

4. Concrete And Gold by Foo Fighters

5. One More Light by Linkin Park

6. The Stories We Tell Ourselves by Nothing More

Best Extreme Metal Album

1. Codex Omega by Septicflesh

2. Red Before Black by Cannibal Corpse

3. Evil Sound Screamers by Acid Witch

4. Kingdoms Disdained by Morbid Angel

5. Totenritual by Belphegor

6. Of the Dark Light by Suffocation

Rock Music Video Of The Year

1. Already Dead by I Prevail

2. Ain’t Much Loving by Me And That Man

3. Run by Foo Fighters

4. The Way You Used To Do by Queens Of The Stone Age

5. Spray Paint Love by Frank Carter

6. We Know Where You F**king Live by Marilyn Manson

Metal Music Video Of The Year

1. Nuclear Alchemy by Watain

2. Intention To Deceive by Havok

3. Doris by Suicide Silence

4. To Your Brethren In The Dark by Satyricon

5. The King Wants You by Avatar

6. Show Yourself by Mastodon

Rock Single Of The Year 

1. Go To War by Nothing More

2. Monster by Starset

3. Alone by I Prevail

4. Talking To Myself by Linkin Park

5. The Promise by Chris Cornell

6. KILL4ME by Marilyn Manson

Metal Single Of The Year

1. Forever by Code Orange

2. Sultan’s Curse by Mastodon

3. No Lives Matter by Body Count

4. Remain Violent by Warbringer

5. Kiss Of Death by Mutoid Man

6. I’ll Be Your Monster by GWAR

Cover Of The Week: You’re So Vain by Marilyn Manson

Marilyn Manson is a polarizing figure that has on the news off and on since the day he was brought into the mainstream light in the mid-nineties. Marilyn was in the news a couple of months ago for a couple of things like when a stage prop fell on to him causing him to break his leg or having to fire longtime bassist/guitarist Twiggy Ramirez who was accused of rape by Jack Off Jill singer Jessicka Addams. The year has been pretty big for Marilyn as he released Heaven Upside Down which is the follow up to his 2015 smash record The Pale Emperor. He is definitely one of my all time favorite singers in the rock world and I wanted to choose a Manson cover because he does covers right (most of the time). Back in 2012, Marilyn released his eight studio album in Born Villain which was a return to form for the band. The album contained a cover of Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain and what made the cover special is that it featured Johnny Depp playing guitar on the track. The track is bass driven of course, but it’s got a great beat and pace to it. The track also features Smash Mouth drummer Jason Sutter and Manson does an amazing job making the track his own. Check it out below:

Album Of The Week: Portrait Of An American Family by Marilyn Manson

This past week, we found out some unfortunate news as former Marilyn Manson guitarist Daisy Berkowitz (real name: Scott Putesky) passed away at the age of 49 after a long battle with cancer. Putesky was a member of the band right up until Antichrist Superstar (which he composed music on) as he left to start other projects. There is no band spookier than Marilyn Manson back in the 1990’s and this is October so I figured I would pay tribute to him by covering one of the albums that he performed on. The album we chose for this week is the band’s debut album Portrait Of An American Family which was released on July 19, 1994. Besides Daisy and Marilyn Manson (Vocals), the band was comprised of left overs from the Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids band that included Sara Lee Lucas (Drums), Gidget Gein (Bass), Madonna Wayne Gacy (Samples, Keys), and the band is joined by Twiggy Ramirez (Bass) who was just recently ousted out of the band over alleged rape charges. The album did pretty well as it peaked at number 35 on The US Heatseekers Charts and was certified Gold selling over 600,000 copies as it was produced by Trent Reznor.

1. Prelude (The Family Trip)– This is an intro track that features a sample from Cahrlie and The Chocolate Factory which he was obsessed with at the time. 4/5

2. Cake & Sodomy– a sample of Mink Stole saying “White Trash” opens up the track is an interesting track that was written by Manson after a trip to New York where he discovered Pat Robertson on access channel preaching about God and your credit card while a man was masturbating on another asking for your credit card as well. 5/5

3. Lunchbox- This is one of my favorite tracks on the record that has a six year kid open up the track while a sample of Arthur Brown saying, “I bring you fire” plays as well.  The track is about a kid who uses his metal lunchbox as a weapon to get revenge on the kids who bully him. In 1972, the US banned metal lunchbox’s from being brought to school. 5/5

4. Organ Grinder– The next track on the record which would be later remixed is a spooky track that features a sample of the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang saying, “Lollipops for the kiddie winkies.” 4.5/5

5. Cyclops– The preacher from Poltergeist II: The Other Side opens up the aggressive rock track as the group slowed it down as he says, “God is in His holy temple.” 4/5

6. Dope Hat– A great track from the album that features samples of Charles Nelson Reilly and some lines from his time on the TV show Lidsville. One of the things I love about the song is the creepy organ track playing on the song. The track is about how drugs can be an never ending circle sometimes. 5/5

7. Get Your Gunn– A track that was inspired by abortion provider David Gunn who was murdered by a pro-life activist. Manson talked about it saying, “the ultimate hypocrisy I witnessed growing up: that these people killed someone in the name of being ‘pro-life.” The track even features a sample of audio from a press conference in which Pennsylvania representive Budd Dwyer committed suicide in front of a live audience. 5/5

8. Wrapped In Plastic– This is a track that was inspired by the first episode of Twin Peaks which shows Laura Palmer wrapped in plastic. It features a cool bass groove throughout the track that drives the song. 4/5

9. Dogma– a track that Manson fires back at all the conservative religious groups who were on a constant witch hunt against him. The track features another sample of Mink Stole, but this time from the John Water’s film Pink Flamingos. 4/5

10. Sweet Tooth– This is the only track on the album that Gidget Gein wrote guitar and bass parts for and it’s personally a fav of mine. It opens with a cool drum beat from Lucas before Gacy and Gein come in on the track before the rest of the band eventually joins in. I think the track is about violence during sex or at least that is what I got out of it. 5/5

11. Snake Eyes & Sissies– The track opens up with a quote from the Night Stalker serial killer Richard Ramirez. It’s a cool track that is kind of punkish in a way while mixing some Deep Purple like organs in it. 4/5

12. My Monkey– The track opens up with audio samples from Charles Manson with noises from a child’s toy in the background. Then some ska like music starts to play while six year old Robert Pierce sings on it with Manson. 4.5/5

13. Misery Machine– This track features references to some writings of Aleister Crowley while it contains samples once again from Mink Stole during the hidden track. The track also contains samples from The Playmates. 4/5

My Final Thoughts– This is a great album from the band where you can see the foundation from what they would evolve to starts. Gidget Gein would leave the band, but he passed away in 2008. Sara Lee Lucas would also leave the band making way for long time member Ginger Fish before the recording of Smells Like Children. Check out the record for yourself, I am going to give it 4.5 stars out of five for a final grade.