Tag Archives: horror

‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey’ Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Announced!

Rejoice all you Nasties! Winnie the Pooh and Piglet too are back and they’re not at all how we remember them. Just like a malignant growth that silently mutates in the shadows so have the friendly duo we all grew up with grown to insane proportions with a perchance for murder and torment on their twisted minds. We’re no longer in the nursery here, my dear reader. Pooh is all grown up, like a whole seven feet, and is full of murderous rage.

This title is our newest entry into the slasher genre and, if you’re one of the OG readers, you already know how I feel about slashers. Bring them on! This little movie was something that caught my eye way back last year when it was announced. I couldn’t believe someone had the balls to do this. But fuck a duck am I glad they did. This sick little twisted movie is a rancid wash of toxic air, the kind that makes your mind warp out of control and is pure mutant material.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey has already garnered a cult following by its name alone. But if this week is any indication it’s earned that cult status and those few fortunates who saw it this week are already drooling from the corners of their mouths and are a clamoring for a sequel.

One night only, on Feb. 15th, this movie aired in specific theaters. That’s right. It’s already played and is gone. I just happened to catch its screening thanks to happenstance and looking over Instagram stories. I rushed my manic ass to the cinema, snuck in my snacks, and watched a modern-day slasher splatter piece. It was pure dumb violent fun.

This isn’t something for people pissing themselves for the next Hereditary film. This is a movie made for the Drive-In crowd and you know who you are, sick fucks. I’m one of you. Sometimes it’s necessary to watch sophisticated horror movies, but, on the other hand, it’s very good to just see a silly premise and lots of blood.

One thing people ask me about this movie is ‘Is it really violent?’ Like does to go there?

Yes, it definitely goes all the way. It does not shy away from the gore. It’s not Terrifier 2 in its degree of violence, but it’s a red-wet slasher film just like from yesteryear. Plus it has the decency to remember slasher films used to show us a little bit of T and A, as the Good lord intended. So this is the whole package. It’s also a slasher film set in the woods just like other great titles such as Madman, The Burning, and Sleepaway Camp.

Now if you missed seeing this play on its one night only reveal fret ye not. This Spring Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is being released in a big way. And you know yours truly had to get this special edition set. It’s the book. That little booklet alone made me slap down my hard-earned cash and secure my own copy. That and look at the handsome slipcase it’s released in. As well as a pretty poster.

But this special edition promises deleted scenes and a small making of special. In case you’re wondering if you should add this to your personal collection let me ask you this. Do you like slasher films? Lots of blood? Some inappropriate laughs? And are you a sick fuck like me? If you can answer yes to all of these then you’ll want to consider sliding this one on your shelf.

This isn’t fine dining as it were as far as movies go so don’t expect as much. This is a quadruple greasy cheeseburger with melted cheese still clinging to the wrapping paper and it’s full of pickles, onions, and lots of mustard and ketchup just to make your farts extra toxic. It’s not good for you but it’s good and you know you like it. That’s the kind of movie this is. A greasy delight that you might be ashamed of if you get caught enjoying it. But who gives a flying fuck? Enjoy yourself my Nasty.

So check out the link here and don’t let this escape your collection.

Manic out!

Eibon Press Joins Forces With Vinegar Syndrome To Form Vinegar Syndrome Publishing

It would seem a match made in the dirtiest corner of Hell, but yes, the masterful talents behind the absolute best cult-classic horror comics in the whole world (Eibon Press) have united themselves to the house of cultic sleaze, Vinegar Syndrome. No doubt many of our readers are already collectors of the stygian wonders both unique companies have released over the years.

I personally love anything and everything Eibon Press has released over the years. So I’m very curious to see what’s in store.

This abominable union will be the start of Vinegar Syndrome Publishing and it sounds as if fans have a lot to look forward to according to VS’s own words:

Vinegar Syndrome is thrilled to announce the formation and launch of Vinegar Syndrome Publishing, along with the acquisition of legendary horror-comic publisher, Eibon Press! Eibon co-founder, Stephen Romano will also be taking the lead as Creative Director.

VS Publishing will specialize in original comics as well as comic adaptations and novelizations (both hardback and trade paperback) of some of your favorite films in the VS catalog, along with other genre classics. We’re also planning some artwork based coffee table books along with plenty of special merch and other fun surprises.

Additionally, VS Publishing will be reissuing numerous iconic titles from the Eibon catalog, kicking off this spring with a new and updated edition of the four-part comic adaptation of Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE. This upcoming edition will be sold both individually, as well as together in a collectable case. Each Eibon re-issue will come complete with all new cover art, new supplemental materials and stellar new packaging done as only VS knows how!

– Vinegar Syndrome

Eibon Press has been known for its fantastic work on many of Lucio Fulci’s fan-favored titles such as Zombie, Gates of Hell, and The Beyond to name only a few.

As well as a few original works that are pure sleazy fun. Eibon Press also combined two cult-classic killers in a showdown of blood and mayhem in their hellish crossover between both Maniac and The New York Ripper.

Each title released by Eibon Press is handled with the utmost respect for the source material and is made by fans who genuinely love the topic they’re working on. Combined with the expertly told stories is phenomenal artwork splashing across each page. Every new issue is a sincere work of grotesque art.

It now sounds like even more cult favorites will be given the Eibon treatment seeing how the VS video library will be on hand. So the future is bright with viscera as far as I can tell.

As long as VS Publishing allows Eibon’s talent to stay true to who they are and continue on with what made them famous there should be lots for fans to enjoy in the coming months and years ahead. Be sure to stay tuned as I keep an eye on things as they progress.

I can already tell you that even though I already own everything Eibon Press has ever released I wouldn’t mind picking up that Zombie re-release VS Publishing mentioned. Sounds like there’s going to be new artwork released with older titles so… (sigh) more things to spend my money on. In this case, it’s well worth it.

In case you missed your chance to get your hands on many of Eibon Press’s macabre works in the past you’ll now be able to add their gruesome masterpieces to your personal library. Impress your friends. Disappoint your mother! Gross out your neighbors. Just don’t let this chance pass you by.

This news is bittersweet to me of course. The end of an era is on us as well as the dawn of a new one. So best wishes to Vinegar Syndrome Publishing. You better not suck because you have some big shoes to fill.

Manic out!

Bela Lugosi And The Insidious Charm of Ygor! ‘Son of Frankenstein’

Bela Lugosi needs no introduction among horror enthusiasts. Forever more will he be associated with the nocturnal Prince of Darkness, Count Dracula, for his phenomenal portrayal of Bram Stoker’s titular character. Laying the foundations for the future of talking horror flicks to follow in his haunted footsteps Lugosi also ensured the future of Universal as the House of Horrors. 

Doubtlessly whenever his name is mentioned people primarily associate the late actor with his immortal vampire role. Moldy castles, gargantuan spider webs, capes, shadows, and those piercing eyes are forever etched in the edifice of horror history. Had the man played only one role – that of Dracula – it is for certain he would have secured a timeless legacy. 

What many people sadly miss out on though are the other horror roles Lugosi likewise immortalized by that devilish charm and uncanny of his. Briefly, I am obligated to mention his monstrous role played in Island of Lost Souls, a retelling of the Island of Dr. Moreau, where Lugosi chews up his scenes with feral passionate intensity. 

And then there’s today’s topic at hand – the one and only Ygor, the lumbering grave robber who sensationally steals the show in the third installment of Universal’s Frankenstein legacy, Son of Frankenstein. Critics and horror enthusiasts alike praise James Whales’ horror legends Frankenstein and its celebrated sequel Bride of Frankenstein. Sadly though that’s usually where people stop watching the legacy. Probably assuming nothing that followed could match up to the two remarkable films Whales accomplished to make. Daring, frightening, and downright shocking were the first two movies. So much so that when Boris Karloff’s face was first revealed as the monster people hid under their seats in the theater. 

The third installment not only holds up but is just as magnificent as its prior movies. Mainly due to the combined charisma of Karloff and Lugosi working together. Both playing monsters, both shining with macabre excellence, but, if we’re being fully honest here, it is dear ol’ Bela Lugosi who steals the movie and brilliantly outshines Karloff’s uncanny monster. 

Karloff fought to get Lugosi in the role and insisted the man share in the top billing. Thankfully he won because otherwise the world would have been robbed of one helluva monstrous character! So iconic is Lugosi’s Ygor that to this very day people assume all hunchback lab assistants in gothic horror tales are Ygor.

The truth is the hunchback assistant in the first movie is called Fritz and there was no hunchback in the original novel at all. However, Lugosi immortalized the monster and cemented his hideous grin all across horror history.  Making him a gothic staple just as much as windmills, cemeteries, and crumbling castles.

Whereas Dracula was played seriously, grim, and downright dapper Ygor is polar opposite the image. Ygor is grungy, smells like deep earth from the graves he robs, dirty, and hairy. He was hanged from the gallows but didn’t stay dead, a fact to which Ygor gleefully gloats about in the film. “They die, dead! I die, live!” he says with a devilish smile. 

Synopsis

In the film, Basil Rathbone plays the son of Frankenstein returning back to his family castle where the village people are not too happy to have another Frankenstein in their midst. There Wolf Frankenstein (can we please take a moment to marvel at how METAL that name is) is met by a snooping Ygor who enlists the young doctor into reviving the old monster of his father’s making. Reluctant at first, Wolf finally agrees unable to pass up the chance to improve upon his father’s work. Meanwhile, Ygor has befriended the monster and uses him to kill the men who found him guilty and sentenced him to death. So on the one hand Ygor is using Frankenstein to revive his buddy the monster. And on the other, he’s using the monster to avenge his enemies. Ygor is the devil sitting on everyone’s shoulder instigating and manipulating as he wishes. And he’s laughing his ass off as he does it.

Someone said that Ygor is the instigator among all the Universal Monsters and I like that image. I like to think he lumbers around and stirs up mischief among the Mummy and the Gillman. He would steal the Wolfman’s bone and hide it in Dracula’s coffin as a way to make the two fight. Crazy shit like that and if confronted about it he’d just put his hands in the air, shrug his shoulders, smile, and say “Ygor not do wrong. Ygor was gone fishing.” Or something like that. 

Neca’s been releasing the Universal line right now and I’m hoping someone there has the foresight to make us a proper Ygor figure. I’d throw money at that quick as a lightning bolt.

So here’s to Bela Lugosi and the marvelous monsters and giddy ghouls he gave us. If you’ve not seen Son of Frankenstein this Halloween would be a good time to correct that. It’s also the final time Boris Karloff would play the iconic role of the monster and does so beautifully.

Manic out!