Welcome to the last minute gift guide from yours truly. These are all things I'm really excited about. Mondo sent some records, Kino sent some great movies and Middle of Beyond sent a nifty Bigfoot sweater that I have a sentimental geek attachment too.
This is stuff I think you'll be glad you nabbed for under the tree. I haven't published a ton at the site this year but I'm more grateful than ever to be part of such a helpful corner of the internets. Happy shopping, happy holidays!
Up until now I’ve avoided getting into the explosion of interest in vinyl. Maybe you know someone like that as well. They like music, especially film soundtracks but they just haven’t seen the point of the new old media trend. i won’t get into a debate about vinyl sounding better when played on a decent sound system (it does).
I will say I’ve been resold on the old format of my youth when it comes to certain specialty releases thanks to the good folks at Mondo. When they offered to send some of their soundtracks this way I thought I might hang on to them as curiosities. Now I know I’ll be listening to them all the time and using them to front movie screenings I host in my home.
Mondo was kind enough to let me pick 5 double LPs and when they came in the mail my jaw dropped. These things are gorgeous and incredibly well packaged featuring dynamic gatefold artwork, and specially colored 180 gram vinyl.The sound quality is so warm and inviting it immediately makes you want to upgrade your sound system.
But I wanted to draw special attention to their release of Gremlins, which offers the complete expanded score of the film on vinyl for the first time. Curiously there are no liner notes beyond the list of players etc.
This release is so cool you might want to get it even if you don’t have a record player. To begin, the art by Phantom City Collective is so cool. The 2XLP is housed in a UV sensitive gatefold jacket - when exposed to daylight, it reveals additional artwork. The disc sleeves are water sensitive as well: when exposed to a damp cloth, they reveal additional artwork.
The packaging and the discs alternately feature Gizmo and Stripe. The pics here just don’t do this set justice. It’s a good idea to remember that when showing these features off you should be super careful not to damage the LPs or the packaging. Getting ahold of another of these might be hard especially if you are looking for the already sold out Mondo web exclusive version with Brown and White swirl/Green and White Swirl vinyl.
The Monster Squad - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
The 2XLP Is cut at 45RPM and pressed on 180 Gram Amulet Colored Vinyl. This the first time The Monster Squad soundtrack has been made available on vinyl. This is amazing packaging made to resemble the novelty ads from the back of a monster movie magazine.
Liner notes are by Ain’t It Cool News Eric Vespe. On the inside of the disc is a sheet featuring the production specs, thanks , etc. done in the same style. On the back of the sheet is a cutout mask. I got the Wolfman but you can bet yer nards I won’t be cutting mine out.
Pet Sematary - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
The 2XLP offers a 25th anniversary edition of the soundtrack that is more complete than any previous. It even has a dozen bonus tracks including "Pet Sematary," and "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" by randomly Inserted translucent green/blue vinyl with black haze. It has a production information insert but no liner notes.
Planet Of The Apes
One of my favorite film soundtracks ever, this 2XLP has exclusive liner notes by Devin Faraci ,original artwork by Matthew Woodson, and is pressed on 180 Gram Vinyl available in two editions. The Event Edition: pressed on Black and Yellow Half and Half Vinyl. Housed in a vinyl jacket with sound effects chip. Limited to 1,000 copies and an Online Exclusive version: pressed on Purple and Black Half and Half Vinyl (Disc 1) and Green and Black Half and Half Vinyl (Disc 2).
Crash
Lastly I was excited to receive the soundtrack for the Cronenberg film. This is a 2XLP on heavyweight vinyl features somber but seductive original artwork by Rich Kelly. If you’ve never seen Crash, the Howard Shore soundtrack is a real treat.
Of course, Shore has composed for quite a few Cronenberg projects but this is his most daring contribution to Cronenberg's filmography. It’s intense and utterly evocative of the twisting dark roads, both inner and outer, the characters and cars travel.
Mondo also sent along their new Jaws t-shirts. I’m more of a graphics colorful graphics guy but these three soft black tees each sport a quote from Chief Brody, Hooper or Quint and they’ve grown on me.
Another Jaws t-shirt.
One more Jaws t-shirt.
Middle of Beyond was kind enough to warm these old bones with a thick wool Bigfoot Cardigan that any monster geek would be proud to sport in public. I have a special attachment to this particular bit of swag.
When the Chicago Critics FilmFestival had Bobcat Goldthwaite in as a guest for a screening of his Bigfoot movie Willow Creek, he wore a sweater very similar to this one. To me, Bobcat was a person who had persevered as a creative soul even when he wasn’t always perfect at what he did. He was a decent but not truly great standup comic in the 80s. He was always a great part of the Police Academy films but never really took off as an actor. Hot To Trot was a good example of where his career was at the time.
But then he did Shakes the Clown and garnered a cult fanbase. Since then, he's directed such truly wonderful films as World’s Greatest Dad and God Bless America. He was so moved by the audience reception at the festival, he cried a little.
When I met him I asked him where he got the sweater (which was a size or two or three bigger than he was) and he said his daughter had gotten it for him. So here’s this humble, really appreciative guy who had worked hard creating his whole adult life and he comes to the fest dressed in something that obviously doesn’t fit him -- except it does. You could see his eyes shine when he talked about his daughter buying it for him. I’ve wanted a bigfoot sweater ever since. This is a different one, but still reminds me of Bobcat and his humility.
STUFF TO WATCH FROM KINO
The Little Girl That Lives Down The Lane (1976) is a must see. Kino had sent this awhile ago but I love the film so much I want to let you know about it again. It stars a very young Jodie Foster who has to fend for herself after the death of her dad, pretending that he’s still alive to keep the authorities from placing her in state care. Her big problem is a nosy rich landlord and the landlords pervert adult son played by a young and very menacing, Martin Sheen.
To call this movie suspenseful doesn’t really do it justice. It was unavailable for many years until MGM released it as a barebones edition. A few months ago Kino released this Blu-ray chock full of extras. It's one of the best horror suspense thrillers of the 70s.
Something For Everyone (1970)
Okay I haven’t actually seen this but Ive always wanted to and it just hasn’t been available. This dark comedic fable was directed by Broadway legend Hal Prince and stars Angela Lansbury and Michael York. It’s very loosely based on a fabulous but still relatively unknown book by Harry Kressing (pseudonym) titled The Cook that I have long loved. Lansbury stars as a fading beauty unable to maintain her castle. York plays a young man who seems to have a knack for solving her every problem and whose social climbing reveals something increasingly sinister about his real identity, one body at a time. Unavailable until now. No extras.
Beware the Blob (1972)
This is a sequel to The Blob (1958), which starred a young Steve McQueen and is forever remembered as one the great golden age sci-fi horror movies. This sequel, on the other hand, is remembered for other reasons. It definitely has some 'so bad it’s good' energy. But a few things lift Beware the Blob out of the white noise of choices available to bad movie night programmers.
The film is directed by non other than Larry Hagman (who also appears in it). Hagman is best known as JR from the huge seventies TV show Dallas. Just prior to directing Beware the Blob he had been the male lead in the popular sixties TV show I Dream of Jeanie. He leads a weird cast here.
It’s understandable to see comedians Godfrey Cambridge and Shelley Berman getting involved with a movie like this. But the film also has Carol Lynley, Dick Van Patten, Burgess Meredith, and Gerrit Graham. Lastly, and weirdest of all, Beware the Blob features two of Christian rock's most notable performers. Larry Norman, who is often credited, somewhat erroneously, as having invented Christian rock, is all over the place here. He doesn’t have any spoken dialogue but he’s in the very front of almost every crowd scene. Randy Stonehill, one of the most influential and talented of the early Christian rockers, is actually the first victim of the blob in the film. His girlfriend who dies with him is played by none-other than future Laverne and Shirley star, Cindy Williams.
Kino have added a great commentary track by film historian Richard Harland Smith, and an alternative title sequence as extras.
Gog (1954)
Kino has been one of the leaders in restoring and rereleasing older 3D titles for a while now. A really important one is Gog (1954). Gog has all the earmarks of golden age science fiction fans look for. Neat robots, scientists demoing cutting edge tech that’s clearly made of cardboard and just the right touch of masculine overkill.
The story has an investigator roaming around an underground lab trying to determine just who has been killing off the scientists there. Bright colors pop off the screen in 2D and so does everything else if you watch it in 3D. It’s worth noting that Gog appeared at the tail end of the first wave of 3D and was shown flat for the most part. It’s a pity because it really is a great 3D film. Lothrop B. Worth supervised the 3D here as well as for House of Wax (1953), one of the best 3D movies ever made.
Kino offers two interviews on the disc. One with the director Herbert L. Strock ansd the other with the DP Lothrop B. Worth. Also offered is a great audio commentary featuring film historian Tom Weaver, Bob Furmanek and film music historian David Schecter.
Doomwatch (1972)
Many horror fans know about this film because of a full-page color picture from it that was used in Pictorial History of the Horror Film by Dennis Gifford. The monstrous creature haunted a lot of young imaginations back in the day and gave the film a kind of cache but you were a rare fan if you actually got to see Doomwatch. It was an English production based on a British TV show of the same name that never aired in the US.
It concerns a group of scientists who track down and neutralize threats to the environment from pollution, corporate greed and public ignorance. If that sounds a bit staid, just add some sci-fi horror peril to your mental picture. The film stars Ian Bannen, a very recognizable character actor and the great Judy Geeson (10 Rillington Place (1971), To Sir, with Love (1967). The director is Peter Sasdy, who turned in great work on Hammer films Taste The Blood of Dracula (1970), Hands of the Ripper (1971) and Countess Dracula (1971).