All posts by Patti PaulterGeist

Owner, operator, and fuzzy retro feelers giver at NightmareNostalgia.com. Worshipper of our Lord and savior Boo Berry, Patti is a seasoned pro having written for the top horror websites and magazines over the past few years until she decided to go balls to the wall and make her own focusing on pure feel-good nostalgia. Mom to two humans and three furballs.
Editorials

[VIDEO] It’s The 1997 MTV Special: Beavis and Butthead Do Thanksgiving with Kurt Loder!

Image Leave a comment

Huh, Huh, Huh… Loder. Heh, Heh, Heh. Ask Beavis if he has a wish bone.

There are two kinds of people in this world. The ones who celebrate Thanksgiving with Charlie Brown. And then the ones who interview people’s butts at Times Square-like Beavis and Butthead.

The answer is both. I am both people.

In 1997, ahead of their final episode after a massive pop-culture-changing five-year run, MTV ran a half-hour special with Beavis and Butthead along with Kurt Loder to celebrate the Turkey Holiday in Times Square. Where they talk about what they do on Thanksgiving, interview people’s butts, and unload their charm onto the conservative Kurt-complete with bumpers from creator Mike Judge and, of course, it wouldn’t be a true Beavis and Butthead episode without a couple of videos thrown in for good measure.

“Boy. CHER sure has gone downhill.”

But let’s face it, this was a pure celebration of the iconic 90s dumbass duo in all its glory with just some Thanksgiving trimmings before the pair’s 200th episode, “Beavis and Butthead are Dead”. However, the added joy of the Beavis and Butthead parade balloons along with some of their commentary about why “the city was giving homeless people a parade with balloons” cracks me the fuck up every time.

“Hey, we’re homeless, and we’re starving but, hey, there’s a Garfield balloon! Ahhhh…” At the time, that kind of social commentary went way over our heads and we just laughed our ever-loving asses off. It’s still funny now, but we also get what he was trying to say. And that’s the brilliance of Mike Judge, folks.

This was the last time Beavis and Butthead were on MTV with anything new for 14 years until a small revival back in 2011. An end of an era and a transition into a different period of time. When considering the 90s, it is difficult not to mention these two and their impact on an entire generation of angsty and rebellious adolescents that began during the height of the grunge music era. And while this special was supposed to be a sendoff celebration, it has stayed with me personally throughout the years as an annual November tradition.

It’s just not Thanksgiving until I hear Butthead explain the meaning of the holiday, “Well Loder, Thanksgiving is a very special day. The first thing we do is get up and watch TV. Now keep in mind, most television on Thanksgiving morning sucks. But do we get mad? No. We just keep changing channels until we find something cool.”

Buttheadisms, folks.

Shout out to wny_vad13 for uploading this special to YouTube in its entirety! Happy Thanksgiving buttmunches!

Horror Nostalgia

[Video] The 1981 NBC Premiere Broadcast Of John Carpenter’s “Halloween” Complete With Commercials!

Image 1 Comment
[Video] The 1981 NBC Premiere Broadcast Of John Carpenter's "Halloween"!

October 30th, 1981, lives in infamy with HALLOWEEN fans as one of the greatest days the franchise has ever seen. All Hallow’s Eve ’81 not only saw the theatrical debut of the highly anticipated HALLOWEEN II but also the world premiere of John Carpenter’s 1978 “immortal classic,” HALLOWEEN.

And I got the embedded video right here, complete with commercials as it once aired for all our gluttonous entertainment for horror movie tracking nostalgia!

Horrors of Halloween

But first, a little background because I need to fill the page up here.

Upon the major success of the independent film with audiences, NBC Universal bought the television rights for HALLOWEEN for a whopping (at the time) 3 million bucks. It was eager to be the first to air it for the Samhain season. However, the FCC being what it is, wanted NBC to censor some of the film’s scenes, which ultimately led to the standard practice of editing down the movie for sensitive viewers but in the same act, shortening the allotted running time for said time slot.

That being the case and after much debate with Debra Hill and Carpenter, Carpenter agreed to shoot extra scenes for the televised version to appease the corporate Gods; and wasn’t that much of an inconvenience for them considering they were shot during the filming of HALLOWEEN II. This brings a very interesting point to these now-infamous scenes as the movie and extra footage were being shot simultaneously, it better ratifies the sister films together; especially with the bonus scenes of a young Myers staring out a window (of which a snippet actually makes it into the theatrical cut of HALLOWEEN II via Laurie’s dream) and the extra scenes with Dr. Loomis. One of which, offers a more detailed description of how Myers escaped that night along with shots of his trashed room and scribblings on the door that say, “SISTER”. I’m assuming that was thrown in there purposely for the sibling plot twist element revealed in the sequel.

I want to make it a point to mention a rather ironically pointless note that since most of us are hip to the fact Jamie Lee Curtis had adopted her signature short haircut by 1980, her additional scene filmed at the Strode home with PJ Soles begging to borrow that notorious “expensive blouse” is shot entirely with a towel on her head. Presumably to hide her pixie-ish cut underneath.

It’s a small thing, but I always think about it when watching this version.

In 1981, I never got to witness this monumental night of new and altered versions of Halloween sister films, as I was a mere fetus in my birth mother’s belly and wouldn’t be born until the Summer of 1982. However, the ripple effects of notoriety from this televised version trickled over for years to come as I finally got to watch this edited treasure via my local Vegas horror TV horror movie host of the early 90s, Count Cool Rider-who is essentially Danny Koker of Counting Cars for you History TV and auto buffs. YouTuber Darth Awesome has re-uploaded this treasure that was once available on the platform but disappeared for a while. So kudos for making it available once again!

Welp. Enough rambling. Happy Halloween, nuggets!

News

New Documentary From “In Search Of Darkness” 1990-1994 Edition Up For Pre-Order!

Image Leave a comment


The ultimate visual guide to horror films by the decade, “IN SEARCH OF DARKNESS”, is back at it to stab our eyeballs with a 90s version. And the horror passionate campaign is underway for fans to preorder along with some goodies!

The creative minds behind the In Search of Darkness ‘ 80s horror trilogy and Aliens Expanded documentary, In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994 delves into an era of horror evolution marked by grittier, meta filmmaking, straight-to-video ingenuity, darker villains alongside franchise icons, and the birth of seismic digital-effects – leaving no shortage of terror tales on TV, at the local video store, and on multiplex screens. Landmark film favorites including Candyman , The Silence of the Lambs, Tremors , and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, Stephen King’s IT miniseries, Frankenhooker and Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive are deconstructed, re-contextualized, and revered with a nostalgic, celebratory lens in In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994 , which features new interviews with legendary film icons of the ‘90s, side-by-side with genre experts and famous fans – all assembled to reframe a fascinating period in horror history and hold up a cracked
mirror to the compelling socio-political issues of the landscape.


“The ‘90s was a much more exciting time for horror filmmaking, TV programming, and bold innovation than many of us may remember,” says In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994 writer/director David Weiner. “There was an abundance of creative visions, vibrant approaches, and insane indie entries. And it was also a time of major transition, growing pains and evolution for horror filmmakers. I’m excited to present a brand-new line-up of ‘90s horror legends and contemporary voices, alongside several returning ‘80s favorites, to reframe the perspective of this oft-maligned decade of great horror entertainment and risk-taking in In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994. ”

“I’m thrilled to invite superfans on an extraordinary journey with In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994, ” says CEO of CREATORVC, Robin Block. “Together, we were able to show the world a new form of documentary with the first In Search of Darkness in 2019, expanding the film into a trilogy and subsequent books. We are excited to take on a new decade in horror and explore it with our fans.”

With new interviews and insights from the likes of John Carpenter, Heather Langenkamp, Ted Raimi, and Clancy Brown-just to name a few– it’s going to be pretty exciting to hear the perspectives from the legends on the start of a new decade of horror!

In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994 Purchase Options:

● SOD: 1990-94 BLU-RAY PACKAGE (including Blu-ray w/slipcase; 2 posters; name in credits; sew-on patch; digital copy of film; digital soundtrack; membership card; and exclusive certificate)

● THREE-DISC ISOD ‘80s TRILOGY COLLECTION (including In Search of Darkness Parts I-III Blu-rays with exclusive trilogy slipcase; digital copy of film; digital soundtrack)

Pre-orders for In Search of Darkness: 1990–1994 are available October 8 through midnight October 31, 2024 exclusively at www.90shorrordoc.com!