Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween 2019: Day 13: Blood Harvest (1987)

Every year when I attended the annual Rock and Shock Horror Convention in Worcester, MA, I make it a point to not only chat with the special guests they have, but to also check out the various vendors like my personal favorite in Vinegar Syndrome. For the last two years, I have been featuring their stuff for Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween and this year I have a fun one in 1987’s Blood Harvest which was directed by Bill Rebane (The Giant Spider Invasion). Things have been rough in a small farming community in Wisconsin to the point that banks have been foreclosing on properties and poor Mr. Robinson has been taking the brunt of it because he is the figurehead of the bank. Poor Jill Robinson (Itonia Salchek) has come home to find out that her parents are missing and she is being stalked by someone who is taking out everyone she cares about. The film also stars Tiny Tim (Masters Of The Gridiron) as Mervo, Dean West (Twister’s Revenge) as Gary, Lori Minnetti (The Game) as Sarah, Peter Krause (The Truman Show) as Scott, Frank Benson as the Sheriff, Leszek Burzynski (Love and Action In Chicago) as The Priest, and William Dexter (The Capture Of Bigfoot) as Man In Cafe.

The film is very deceiving in a way because Tiny Tim is painted up to seem like he could be the killer because his character is a little deranged himself. As you’ll find out for sure in the film that there is someone more troubling to be looking out for. I do have some issues with the continuity of the film and some of it’s events as in how did Gary manage to get all the paint and the fake body out of Jill’s house in the amount of time it took for her to go to the sheriff’s office and back? Oh and he also fixed a broken window and disposed of all the glass as well. Other than that, it was actually a pretty good film that had some redeemable moments in it and Tiny Tim actually does a pretty good job himself. He actually really creeps you out after a while whenever he shows up on screen which is quite often. Itonia Salchek also does a really good job for someone who acted in one film and that was it especially as she bares a lot of skin in this film so if you’re into the T&A then this one is for you. You definitely have to stick around during the credits to hear the full Mervo the Magnificent song that was sung by Tiny Tim because it’s a real treat. Overall, the film has some flaws in the writing as far as some of the action, but overall it’s a really decent horror film. So, visit Vinegar Syndrome here if you would like to purchase the film or find any other great titles they have. Otherwise, I am sure it is online somewhere, but you should definitely check it out. I am going to give the film an B- for a final grade.

Sixth Annual Monster Entertainment Awards: The Winners

We are going to keep this short and sweet because the pictures describe it better than words can so here are all the winners for both the movies and the music sides. For the wrestling side of it, please click here to go to Mr. X’s Punch Out to see those.

Metal Video Of The Year:

Rock Music Video Of The Year:

Metal Single Of The Year:

Rock Single Of The Year:

6TH Annual Monster Entertainment Awards: Voting Begins: The Music Side

It’s that time of the year, it’s award season which can only mean one thing and that the Sixth Annual Monster Entertainment Awards is here. We have the usual categories for you guys like Bad Ass Movie Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Horror Film Of The Year, but we also have some new ones for you guys this year. We have new categories like Netflix Show Of The Year, Metal Music Video Of The Year, Rock Music Video Of The Year, Metal Single Of The Year, and Rock Single Of The Year to name a few. This year is definitely going to be better than ever and once again we are also teaming up with Mr. X’s Punchout Blog where they have Male and Female Wrestler Of The Year as well as some new ones like Match Of The Year and many more. The beautiful part of these awards is that you the fans get to pick who you want to win each category as always and that is what is beautiful cause your voice will be heard and it won’t be hacked by Russians cause Archer is on the case. What we have for you right here is the music side of the awards so check out all the categories, vote wisely, and you have until January 29TH to do so.

Sixth Annual Monster Entertainment Awards: The Nominees

It’s that time of the year, it’s award season which can only mean one thing and that the Sixth Annual Monster Entertainment Awards is here. We have the usual categories for you guys like Bad Ass Movie Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Horror Film Of The Year, but we also have some new ones for you guys this year. We have new categories like Netflix Show Of The Year, Metal Music Video Of The Year, Rock Music Video Of The Year, Metal Single Of The Year, and Rock Single Of The Year to name a few. This year is definitely going to be better than ever and once again we are also teaming up with Mr. X’s Punchout Blog where they have Male and Female Wrestler Of The Year as well as some new ones like Match Of The Year and many more. The beautiful part of these awards is that you the fans get to pick who you want to win each category as always and that is what is beautiful cause your voice will be heard and it won’t be hacked by Russians cause Archer is on the case. So, here are all the nominees for the Sixth Annual Monster Entertainment Awards:

The Music Side:

Album Of The Year

1. Starboy by The Weeknd

2. The Getaway by Red Hot Chili Peppers

3. Post Pop Depression by Iggy Pop

4. Hardwired… To Self Destruct by Metallica

5. Blackstar by David Bowie

6. Joanne by Lady Gaga

Rock Album Of The Year

1. Gore by Deftones

2. The Last Hero by Alter Bridge

3. Aggressive by Beartooth

4. Bad Vibrations by A Day To Remember

5. The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser by Rob Zombie

6. Unleashed by Skillet

Metal Album Of The Year

1. Hardwired… To Self Destruct by Metallica

2. Dystopia by Megadeth

3. The Stage by Avenged Sevenfold

4. Incarnate by Killswitch Engage

5. For All Kings by Anthrax

6. Transcendence by Devin Townsend Project

Extreme Metal Album Of The Year

1. King by Fleshgod Apocalypse

2. Varahtelija by Oranssi Pazuzu

3. Wildfire by Destroyer 666

4. Terminal Redux by Vektor

5. Rituals by Rotting Crist

6. In His Majesty’s Infernal Service by Witchery

Rap/Hip Hop Album Of The Year

1. The Life Of Pablo by Kayne West

2.1992 by The Game

3. Untitled Unmastered by Kendrick Lamar

4. Coloring Book by Chance The Rapper

5. Bobby Tarantino by Logic

6. Views by Drake

Metal Music Video Of The Year

1. Square Hammer by Ghost

2. The Black Pot by High On Fire

3. Shadows by Red Fang

4. Pride In Prejudice by Slayer

5. Embers By Lamb Of God

6. Insane by Korn

Rock Music Video Of The Year

1. Breaking Me Down by Escape The Fate

2. This Light I Hold by Memphis May Fire

3. 333 by Against Me!

4. Break Me by One Less Reason

5. A Quick Death In Texas by Clutch

6. A Spider In The Dark by Bobaflex

Rock Single Of The Year

1. Dark Necessities by Red Hot Chili Peppers

2. Bored To Death by Blink-182

3. Prayers/Triangles by Deftones

4. Paranoia by A Day To Remember

5. Sleeping Dogs by Zakk Wylde

6. You Have Come To The Right Place by Sixx AM

Metal Single Of The Year

1. Raise Your Horns by Amon Amarth

2. The Stage by Avenged Sevenfold

3. Blood Eagle Wings by Anthrax

4. Seal The Deal by Volbeat

5. Moth Into Flames by Metallica

6. Stormbending by Devin Townsend Project

Soundtrack Of The Year

1. Deadpool

2. Suicide Squad

3. Ghostbusters

4. Stranger Things Vol. 1

5. Trolls

6. Straight Outta Compton Soundtrack

Tour Of The Year

1. Not In This Lifetime by Guns N Roses

2. Black Sabbath The End Tour

3. Heart/Cheap Trick/Joan Jett

4. AC/DC with Axl Rose

5. Bruce Springsteen

6. Book Of Souls Tour by Iron Maiden

The Movie/TV Side

Movie Of The Year

1. Nocturnal Animals

2. Manchester By The Sea

3. Hell Or Highwater

4. Fences

5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

6. Deadpool

Horror Film Of The Year

1. Ouija: Origin Of Evil

2. The Conjuring 2

3. Lights Out

4. 10 Cloverfield Lane

5. Don’t Breathe

6. 31

Bad Ass Movie Of The Year

1. Jason Bourne

2. The Accountant

3. Star Trek Beyond

4. Jack Reacher

5. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers…

6. The Magnificent Seven

Comedy Of The Year

1. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

2. Sausage Party

3. Dirty Grandpa

4. Why Him?

5. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

6. Keanu

Superhero Film Of The Year

1. Deadpool

2. Captain America: Civil War

3. Suicide Squad

4. Batman Vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice

5. X-Men: Apocalypse

6. Doctor Strange

Animated Film Of The Year

1. Zootopia

2. Sing

3. Kubo And The Two Strings

4. The Secret Life Of Pets

5. Moana

6. Trolls

Remake Of The Year

1. Ghostbusters

2. Ben Hur

3. The Magnificent Seven

4. Pete’s Dragon

5. Cabin Fever

6. Kickboxer: Vengeance

Cameo Of The Year

1. Bill Murray (Ghostbusters)

2. Keanu Reeves (Keanu)

3. Johnny Depp (Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them)

4. Chris Hemsworth (Doctor Strange)

5. Dolph Lundgren (Hail Caesar!)

6. Sigourney Weaver (Finding Dory)

Netflix Show Of The Year

1. Stranger Things

2. Luke Cage

3. Daredevil

4. Fuller House

5. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

6. BoJack Horseman

Superhero Show Of The Year

1. Daredevil

2. Luke Cage

3. Arrow

4. The Flash

5. Supergirl

6. Gotham

Stand Up Comedy Special Of The Year

1. Hannibal Buress- Comedy Camisado

2. Theo Von- No Offense

3. Iliza Schlesinger- Confirmed Kills

4. Jim Jefferies- Freedumb

5. Russell Peters- Almost Famous

6. Kevin Hart- What Now?

 

 

 

Album Of The Week: Echo & The Bunnymen Self Titled Album

I have explored just about every genre that I can possibly think of on this blog from Metal, Death Metal, Rock, Hair Metal, Rap, and even 80’s Post Punk bands. I wanted to explore an album from another post punk band that I discovered thanks to The Lost Boys Soundtrack in Echo & The Bunnymen. I have decided that I am going to cove the band’s self titled fifth studio album which featured Ian McCulloch (Lead Vocals, Guitar), Will Sergeant (Guitars), Les Pattinson (Bass), Henry Priestman & Jake Brockman (Keyboards), and Pete de Freitas (Drums) who unfortunately this would be his last album due to his death via a motorcycle accident in 1989. The album was a little controversial only because of the trials and tribulations the band went through to release the album. Pete de Freitas at one point left the band after a drug binge in New Orleans on New Years Eve 1985 and so the band replaced him with former Haircut One Hundred drummer Blair Cunningham. After figuring out he didn’t really fit the mold, they replaced him with former ABC drummer David Palmer. After not being happy with the few recording sessions they had done, Palmer left and de Freitas basically begged to come back and the rest is history as they say.

1. The Game– A very keyboard happy intro that opens the album up with those clean guitars on a track that could’ve been a self reflection of where the band was at at the time. 4/5

2. Over You– Another keyboard driven track with that typical 80’s goth rock sound about relationships and how they can suck. 4/5

3. Bedbugs and Ballyhoo– a rerecording of a track that was released earlier as a B-side that features legendary The Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek on the track. 4/5

4. All In Your Mind– A great high tempo guitar driven track that features some cool keyboard/organ like layers over it.The track seems to be commentary on Doctors who are crooks.  4/5

5. Bombers Bay– A cool mid tempo track that I would describe as happy sounding, but the lyrics could be about Great Britain’s involvement in World War II. 4/5

6. Lips Like Sugar– My favorite track on the album that is very guitar driven with some nice hooks and Ian’s ability to go very low with his vocals is great too. What do you think the track is about? 5/5

7. Lost and Found– This is an OK track on the album, the sound quality of the track isn’t as great as the other tracks. 3/5

8. New Direction– a high tempo track whose lyrics could be about finding your new purpose in life hence New Direction. 4/5

9. Blue Blue Ocean– The lyrics to this track seem to talk about how no matter what life tries to throw at you, you have to persevere because there will always be haters. 4/5

10. Satellite– Ian McCulloch’s track where he goes all out with his deep, low vocals that remind me of INXS, an absolute rocker of a track. My favorite part of the track comes towards the end when it breaks down and the music is winding down.4/5

11. All My Life– a slower tempo track than what we’ve seen on the album, it’s almost ballad like. It’s a great track and great way to end the album. 5/5

My Final Thoughts– This is a great album to start off with, but I definitely suggest checking out their earlier material as well. This was an album that could have been great, but ended up being hated by the whole band. Nevertheless, I like the album and that is why I am giving it four stars out of five for a final grade.

Album Of The Week: The Sickness by Disturbed

A lot of noise has been made since the announcement of the return of the might Disturbed after the band’s four year hiatus (read the article here). So, I sat back and thought about who I would do my net album of the week about and it just naturally clicked that I would review an album from an artist that I hadn’t reviewed before and Disturbed is that artist. So, I decided to take the band’s first record The Sickness and review it for all of you out there. The Sickness was the band’s debut record that was released on March 7, 2000 which also means that it is celebrating it’s 15TH Anniversary. The band at the time was made up of David Draiman (Vocals), Dan Donegan (Guitars), Steve Kmak (Bass), and Mike Wengren (Drums). The album was very successful as it went 4X platinum and peaked at 29 on The Billboard Top 200 charts while going number 3 on the US Top Heatseekers Charts. So, I think it safe to say with all that info that the album was a perfect storm for the Nu-Metal scene at the time and it certainly made us believe that yelling like a monkey was a valid form of scat singing.

1. Voices– This is actually one of my favorite songs on the record. The song starts off very calm and you can hear the build up coming right before it explodes into this high octane full blast of energy in a track that is about someone listening to the voices in their head as they command him to do terrible things. 5/5

2. The Game– A quote online says that this track is David describing it as, “speaking about the manipulative nature of most people. That you should be cautious when playing with another person’s emotions or someone may make you accountable at some point in time.” The song starts with the techno like beats in the beginning before it once again explodes on full throttle. 4.5/5

3. Stupify– This was the first single released off the album that features more of their signature high octane styled music that is extremely fun to sing along to live.  5/5

4. Down With The Sickness– This is the track that features David Draiman’s world famous staccato scream that sounds like a monkey chant in a track that talks about how society looks down on those that are different. 5/5

5. Violent Fetish– Another high octane track that has an amazing bass line when the chaos calms down for a measure, but the track is about inner demons and how they can screw you up if they are not controlled. 4/5

6. Fear– The track starts off sounding like something out of A Nightmare On Elm Street before the band turns it up way past 11. 4/5

7. Numb– This is a different type of track on the album that is more melodic with the heavy distortion with it. The song could be about being hurt by someone or something that has happened. 4/5

8. Want-A track that could be talking about how you want something so bad, but your mind won’t let you take it. 4/5

9. Conflict– This is an excellent track on the later part of the album that is about the inner conflict or battle inside that we all experience. 4/5

10. Shout 2000– This was the band’s cover of the Tears For Fears song that is pretty decent. 4/5

11. Droppin Plates– The track has that Nu-Metal flavor to it as David does his best Faith No More styled singing/spitting lyrics in a song that is about not getting the proper support in their early days, but that no longer matters as they are dropin plates (records). 4/5

12. Meaning Of Life– This is the last track on the album and it starts off with the Ministry styled industrial beats matched with the power chord heavy guitars in a track about going psycho. 4/5

My Final Thoughts- This is definitely one of the essential records you need to own from Disturbed and one of the top albums from the Nu-Metal era. The band would kind of change their sound as they went for a more Metal sound later on in the next record and their careers. I am giving the record 4 stars out of five for a final grade.

Album Of The Week: Don’t Say No by Billy Squier

Just who in the world is Billy Squier? That is a question some of you may be asking yourselves and if you are then you are obviously too young to remember the heyday of MTV when they actually played videos. Billy Squier was a staple of MTV as he was named the most played artist of the 1980’s. It would be the Boston born and bred guitarists second album Don’t Say No that would kick everything off for him. The album’s release in April of 1981 coincided with the launch of MTV and as we know some artists became bigger than they were due to the fact people could put a face to the music. Billy’s band was made up of Alan St. John (Keyboards), Cary Sharaf (Guitar), Mark Clarke (Bass), and Bobby Chouinard (Drums). Billy had approached Queen guitarist Brian May about producing the record, but ultimately he couldn’t due to scheduling conflicts. So, May suggested that Billy use Reinhold Mack who was known for producing everyone from T-Rex, ELO, Deep Purple, and Queen’s The Game. Billy agreed and the rest as they say is history, but this was a good one. The album was a smash hit as it hit the top five on the Billboard charts and stayed there for 111 weeks.

In The Dark kicks off the album with it’s epic Zeppelin like fade in and blues rock infused with the keyboards to add texture. Billy’s raunchy rock hit The Stroke is the next track on the album and the song was a bigger hit on the radio then it was on the Billboard charts if that makes any sense. The song has remained a cultural icon as it’s been covered and sampled by many like Eminem (samples it in Berserk) and Buckcherry (who has performed it live). My Kinda Lover is another track on the record that I felt had a heavy Zeppelin/Deep Purple influence to it with the epic choruses and the keyboards. You Know What I Like is next on the album and it has that real Classic rock sound to it with a Heart like Barracuda riff, but during the track Billy manages to make it his own. Too Daze Gone is a real bluesy rock song with a lot of swagger. Lonely Is The Night is one of my favorite tracks on the record that has that Zeppelin like rock epiciness to it.

Whadda Want From Me is a classic rock and roll/ rhythm and blues track that can compete with the likes of Chuck Berry or even Jerry Lee Lewis. Nobody Knows is the ballad like/acoustic track that will eventually go electric. After listening to it, you can see where Tesla got a lot of their influence from for some of their tracks. I Need You is another blues/hard rock song on the album that has a real grooving bass line in the song. Don’t Say No is the last track on the record and it takes influence from just about every great rock and roll band in history to make a great track. This was one heck of an album from Billy Squier that brought him fame. Billy had some unbelievable success all throughout the 80’s until he reached the 90’s. This happened to a lot of artists from the 80’s thanks in large part to grunge. This still remains my favorite album from Billy and that is why I am giving it four stars out of five for a final grade.