Not gonna lie, I'm missing the weird Veils I fell in love with on Total Depravity. These last few releases have been so... heavy. And yet... damn. These guys have so much emotional gravitas in each song... it's always breathtaking. The comparisons to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are unavoidable, but also, those comparisons most definitely sell The Veils short.
Watch:
I don't know very much about Resident Evil, so I am uninvested. I saw a handful of the previous cinematic adaptations and liked them as popcorn Action/Horror flicks. This is Zach Cregger's take, and, although the trailer starts with a deja vu moment to Barbarian, it has me.
I appreciate that those invested in the games and their lore might not appreciate his self-professed 'different' take on the material. I'm just hoping for a good flick. I was originally bummed that he made two outstanding original films and then got quickly co-opted to do a pre-existing IP. This trailer is making me feel better about that.
Read:
I took a brief detour from my Dark Tower reread to burn through an advance copy of Jessica Lacy's (i.e., the author formerly known as Ivy Tholen) newest novel, Fatally Yours, this week. This is the new version of Mother Dear, and I can say, while Jessica didn't change much, she definitely tightened this one, and I cruised through in just a couple of days, laughing and wincing all the way.
The thing I find so interesting about what Jessica does is, she takes 'chick lit' or 'chick flicks' and subverts the genre by splicing in Slasher DNA. And, as Stephen Graham Jones famously said about Tastes Like Candy, she doesn't go light on the gore."
There are images in Jessica's books that stand a head above anything I've seen in a Slasher flick in 20 years. Sure, there's also a lot of wedding stuff and fashion stuff in Fatally Yours that I either had to shrug off or look up (I kind of wish I could wear Louboutin combat boots), but that's also part of the fun.
I'll recommend this one to anyone who loves a great slasher, or anyone who loves a great laugh, or anyone who wants to see what Father of the Bride* would look like if it were remade by Damien Leone.
* I've never seen Father of the Bride, but I'd definitely watch a remake of it if helmed by Mr. Leone. Just saying.
Playlist:
Steve Moore - Christmas Bloody Christmas OST
Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon
Genghis Tron - Dead Mountain Mouth
Flying Lotus - Yasuke
Dreamkid - Daggers
Electric Youth and Pilot Priest - Come True OST
Genghis Tron - Board Up the House
Beach House - Bloom
The Soft Moon - Exister
Card:
I felt a pull to my Thoth again, but remember, you can grab Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot HERE.
• I: The Magus
• 7 of Disks: Debauch
• 6 of Disks: Success
This new idea might seem like it falters, but stick with it and something will come of it. Words of encouragement as I continue a fairly productive stint of days working on Shadow Play Book 2.
I've felt drawn back to several 90s female artists recently, and PJ Harvey is a big one. I don't remember when I first heard To Bring You My Love, but I know it was an instant "all-timer" for me. That said, it's also one that takes me to a very specific inner place, a place I don't often necessarily find myself drawn to these days. Lately, though, I'm all about it.
NCBD:
Another fabulous Wednesday pull from Rick's Comic City in Clarksville. Let's take a gander at what will be waiting for me after work:
For whatever reason, it feels like it's been months since the last issue of Thundarr. Excited to get back into this, as there's potentially some really interesting stuff going on in this book.
Here's a surprise - the unreleased "Swamp Thing meets Jesus" by Rick Veitch and Michael Zulli finally sees the light of day as a four-issue series starting this week and published monthly for the next three months. Reminds me a bit of when Vertigo made a big deal about finally releasing that Constantine story that caused Warren Ellis to bail on the book after only two thin trades worth of what could have been a long and completely brilliant run. For as groundbreaking as they wanted to be perceived as back in the late 80s, I don't think DC had fully acquiesced to Karen Berger's autonomy until after Sandman proved the brand.
We come to the end of the Sssilent Missions event with a Firefly issue. No better way to end things, in my opinion. Like Copperhead, another of my all-time favorite characters.
Another facsimile edition for Larry Hama's original ARAH series, this time issue 14, which I believe is the first appearance of Laird Destro!
One thing I learned years ago is to stay the hell out of comic shops on Free Comic Book Day, which is this coming Saturday. So I'm not sure I'll actually be able to walk away with this, or if I should just wait for the not-free version that drops next Wednesday.
J.G. Jones and Phil Bram's dustbowl epic Dust to Dust finally comes to a conclusion with issue 8, and I'll be jumping in and rereading this one from the start sooner rather than later. I reread the first half a few months ago, but have held off on the subsequent issues due to publishing delays. I want a full-on, one-sitting reread on this one.
Watch:
While I now approach all YouTuber-turned-Filmmaker Horror movies with a certain degree of trepidation, I finally saw the trailer for Kane "Pixels" Parsons' Backrooms from A24, and I have to say, I'm excited and hopeful. This looks fantastic. I've expressed my fascination for the YouTube version of Backroomshere previously, and this film looks like the consolidation the admittedly sprawling episodic series needs to really lock in its power. Also, the inclusion of such a top-tier actor like Chiwetel Ejiofor adds significance, as does having Mark Duplass on board.
John Carpenter w/ Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST
Deafheaen - Lonely People With Power
The Cure - Pornography
Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• IV: The Emperor
• Two of Pentacles
• VIII: Strength
Structure, collaboration on a project, and instinct.
I have lingering questions about a particular collaboration, and I think I just got my answer. Well, the cards don't answer questions; they just point you to the answer you already know.
From their 2013 masterpiece Tomorrow's Harvest, which, to my ears, plays like the sweetest soundtrack to an 80s Horror film that never existed.
All this talk of the upcoming album has me excited to dip back into all the BOC music I love, and I love this one the most.
Watch:
After swearing off Lee Cronin's The Mummy for almost two weeks, I ended up seeing it last Thursday, and I actually really liked it. I hate the trailer and pretty much every single piece of art released for the film, which was a large part of why I swore the film off to begin with, but here's something that's not too obnoxious:
To crib directly from my Letterbxd review:
"Lee Cronin suffers from publicity that seems bent on ruining his films. The trailers take the weakest, most trite scenes from his films and blow them up as if they were the entire movie. It happened with Evil Dead Rise, "Mommy's with the maggots now," and it happened with The Mummy, "Don't worry, grandma, it's fun to be dead."
Both of those scenes are cringe-inducing in my opinion. Especially when they've been forced down our throats for months on end at the theatres. But against all the odds, The Mummy actually turned out to be fun and pretty intense at times. Kinda “Evil Dead Exorcist.” In fact, I almost wish it could have just been another Evil Dead flick, so they could have shaved 30 minutes of setup.
Jack Reynor did a great job. His performance buoyed some of the more goofy stuff. He sold me on his grief, anger and frustration. And Natalie Grace… I didn’t care for the makeup they used for her, but she did a really good job. Creepy movements. Nightmare fuel."
Seeing and liking The Mummy (for the most part) put me in mind to revisit Cronin's Evil Dead Rise for probably the third time since I bought the Blu-Ray. And at least a year has passed since my most recent viewing, and two since the movie came out, I find that, as I originally suspected, I can honestly say I really like this one. None of the things about it that bugged me at the time it came out still do, except, of course, I really wish the trailer hadn't ruined some of the imagery centered around Lily, as trying to see it with new eyes definitely makes me think it would have been far more effective had it not been ruined by that same inundation The Mummy just suffered.
Also, EDR has probably the best opening of any Evil Dead film to date. Just my opinion, but it's pretty freaking epic.
Playlist:
Steve Moore - Christmas Bloody Christmas
Electric Youth & Pilot Priest - Come True OST
Radiohead - Kid A
Telefon Tel Aviv - Immoliate Yourself
sElf - Gizmodgery
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd - Animals
Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
Big Business - Here Come the Waterworks
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Gnarls Barkley - Atlanta
sunn O))) - Pyroclasts
Blackbraid - Blackbraid II
Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• King of Cups
• Knight of Wands
• King of Wands
That's a lot of masculine energy. Let's look at some overviews here:
King of Cups - Emotional upheaval or conflict
Knight of Cups - Controlling those emotions with Will
King of Wands - Sometimes, to get control, aggression is required.
Being smart enough to recognize when my emotions are getting the best of me, and being strong enough to prevent my response to those emotions from getting out of control.
Total work pull. People piss me off all the time, and sometimes I get worked up enough where I want to say something. Here's the reminder not to say something. Grin and bear it. Stay dressed in the fatigues of the enemy. They pay your bills.
More new music from Low Cut Connie ahead of their new album, Livin in the USA, out July 3rd. You can pre-order a copy directly from the band HERE.
Watch:
Tuesday night, I rewatched Marcus Nispel's 2003 Platinum Dunes remake of Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel's seminal Horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. For context, I actually owned this movie when it first came out on video. I didn't buy it - an ex bought me a two-pack DVD set of the original film and this. I no longer remember if that was how I first saw Nispel's film, a blind gift given to me. I will say, back then, before my feelings about Michael Bay had solidified, I still regarded this film as a mixed bag. It's also important to note that 2003 was also before we'd become completely inundated with remakes. So take all that into consideration, and I find that, despite ranting and raving about how bad this film is for years, my feelings remain pretty much the same today.
A mixed bag.
First, you have to ask, right? Why would anyone remake a classic like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a film that, by its very mangled, outsider nature, you'd have no hope of repeating its cultural impact? Well, because, like the proverbial mountain, it's there. Hollywood has something of a 'pave the world' ethos; they can and will remake everything.
My reaction to this film over the intervening 20+ years has been one of general disdain, primarily for two reasons: Final Girl Jessica Biel's performance, which, true to form, starts and stops at looking great in a pair of low-rise jeans, and the melodramatic fashion flavor to much of the violence is off-putting at best and downright laughable at worst. Biel stabbing Mike Vogel's Andy through the chest is among the most melodramatic Horror deaths I've witnessed this side of Hammer.
And yet, I saw this pop up on Shudder recently and something moved me to give it another go. This is something I do quite often with films I don't like. Because I can and often am wrong. So I reevaluate.
This time, I felt a little better about Nispel's film. Honestly, I've realized that part of my issue with Jessica Biel isn't about this film at all, but more a combination of disdain for her performance in this film and in another, Pascal Laugier's bafflingly bad The Tall Man from 2012, a film that, to this day, I still cannot believe came from the same man as Martyrs 2008 and 2018's Incident in a Ghostland. I'm not going to eat crow and say I think Biel's performance in TCM is good, but it's certainly not nearly as bad as some others I've witnessed in Horror from the 00s (Prom Night remake, I'm looking at you).
Biel is adequate, and so is pretty much everyone else. I've been a fan of Eric Balfour since his role on Six Feet Under as Clair's troubled boyfriend Gabe, and I've always thought he should have lived a lot longer than most of the cast. Also, after roles on Justified and Hannibal, Jonathan Tucker has become a recent favorite character actor of mine, and he shows a bit more range outside of 'deluded psychopath' here.
The elements to really love about this film are the lighting and the camerawork. There are something like five or six wide shots of the Hewitt house during various parts of the day/night, and each one is a thing of majestic beauty.
Now, that's not really enough to hang a movie on, but there are some other things about this one that work for me. I like the structure of the family and the town, which appear to be one and the same. Like the original, we meet various people in various places that seem like they might help, only to find out they're in on it, too. Here, though, those tendrils of malevolence feel like they stretch farther. Maybe it's the inclusion of R. Lee Ermey as the Sheriff, a position that makes the Hewitts' reach feel more omnipotent, or maybe it's the trailer with the two women, a scene that might pack the most creep factor in the whole movie. Either way, the conspiracy - and it has always been a conspiracy in this franchise, hence why Henkel goes so far as to add the Men in Black to part four - feels way deeper and, ultimately, perfect for a Horror film: inescapable.
*That probably didn't happen until around the time the first of his Transformers movies came out; I had not seen any of his 90s films, so M.B. was basically unknown to me when I saw this TCM
Read:
l Jane Schoebrun has a novel up for pre-order! Public Access Afterworld will be released by Penguin-Random House on October 27! You can pre-order this now wherever you get your books.
The "visionary director" moniker gets bandied about pretty loosely these days, so I'm usually hesitant to add to that quagmire. Schoenbrun is one where the term is appropriate. No one else has been able to translate the weird flavors of the post-millennial liminal space occupied by Hauntology in the early-to-mid 2000s the way Schoenbrun has, and it speaks to my soul. Those were weird, dark years - hilarious by comparison to now - and something We Are All Going to the World's Fair and I Saw The TV Glow have both helped me process and even reconnect with.
Wow. It occurs to me more of my life has been lived in 'dark times' now than light. But I digress. Here's the solicitation, which thankfully tells us gloriously little, but just enough to stoke the flames of my anticipation:
"A mysterious realm on the other side of our screens. A dark force that draws victims into its static. The unlikely hero called to save them and herself from this electric hell."
Can't wait.
Playlist:
John Carpenter w/ Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST
Steeve Moore - Bliss OST
White Reaper - Only Slightly Expanded
Grotus - Mass
Flogging Molly - Live at the Greek
Me and That Man - New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1
Carter Burwell - Blood Simple OST
Atticus Derrickson - The Black Phone 2 OST
Meat Puppets - Dusty Notes
Tossers - In the Valley of the Shadow of Death
Tar - Roundhouse
Grotus - Slow Motion Apocalypse
PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
Poe - Hello
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Two of Pentacles
• King of Wands
• Queen of Swords
The Two of Disks, followed by the King of Wands, might suggest imbalance. The Queen of Swords reminds me that intellect, not emotion, will serve as the appropriate antidote.
I'm thinking this is a direct nod to an imbalance in my life regarding creative pursuits. I.E., too many podcasts, not enough writing.
Have we talked about how the Butthole Surfer's lost album, After the Astronaut, finally sees release next month on Sunset Blvd Records? This is one that, back when Napster was a thing, I used that platform to find as many of these tracks as I could and assemble the closest thing I could figure was the actual intended release as possible. Now I finally get to have this on vinyl? Damn!
I actually dug out my old burned CD and compared it to the track listing - looks like I got pretty freakin' close!
Pre-order After the Astronaut for a June 26th release HERE.
Watch:
Evil Dead Burn. I am going to go out of my way to avoid this and every other trailer for this film between now and July 10th, when I plan to plop my arse in the theatre and wait for Sébastien Vaniček's entry in the ever-expanding Evil Dead Universe. But I watched this twice and really dug it, so now I'm excited.
I get old school 80s Exploitation videos just from the opening shot of the house here. Reminds me of Don't Go In the House, or House at the Edge of the Park. And the entire sequence plays like something out of a Puppet Combo video game. Vaniček's Infested was in my top five of 2024, so when I saw his name get attached to this, my excitement began. This 'trailer' only ramps that up. I just hope that what happened to Evil Dead Rise doesn't happen here. The total saturation of that film's trailer just killed so many of the otherwise insanely disturbing images. Let's not do that again, okay?
NCBD:
Pretty big week. Let's go grab some comics!!!
Sharkticons and the pit of judgment? I'm still not sure I'm feeling the Quintesson War being as big a deal as it purports to be, but I'll show up for that on the cover, no problem!
This Spawn: The Dark Ages book by Liam Sharp has been a gorgeous reminder of what comics can be. I'm still stoked at all the Wrightson-worship with Sharp's character design, and honestly, this has been a pretty cool ride. One more after this. I can't say I'm invested in the story, but I'm enjoying the hell out of it regardless.
The second issue of The Peril of the Brutal Dark felt like it took twice as long to reach my hands as it actually did, so that definitely means this book has me. Outer Dark Crime Noir? How can that go wrong? especially in the hands of the That Texas Blood creative team. The short answer is, it can't.
I really dug both the Baroness and the Crimson Guard silent issues. The Zartan was so-so. But Copperhead getting his own issue? One of my all-time favorite Cobras, who really has not had hardly any 'screen time' since his creation over 40 years ago. Color me super jazzed.
One more after this! I have my bet on who is going to walk out of this alive, so let's see if I'm right.
I finally did that one-sitting reread of Event Horizon: Dark Descent and really liked it, so when I saw we're getting another chapter, this one a sequel to the film, I couldn't help but add it to my pull list at Rick's. I dig the fleshing out of the EH story, and am super curious to see what they do with this new chapter.
Easily the weirdest comic I've read in some time, I can't wait to get into more Death Fight Forever!
Playlist:
Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST
Grotus - Mass
Grotus - Luddite
Garbage - Eponymous
Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals
MC50 - 10xMC5 Live
John Carpenter w/ Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Nine of Pentacles
• Knight of Cups
• XVIII: Death
Finish it. Don't drown in self-satisfaction, but recognize and celebrate the win. It will lead to the next thing.
A few years ago, the IG account bocpages began posting about hints that Boards of Canada were preparing to release their first record since 2013's Tomorrow's Harvest. I didn't get my hopes up, but I've been trying to keep my eyes peeled for more news. Slowly this faded from my radar, and my hopes went silent until last week when brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin dropped the eerie "Tape 05." No word on a date or pre-order yet, but my eyes are not straying far until they appear.
I am a huge fan of Tomorrow's Harvest. I know a number of old-school BOC fans who didn't like the 2013 album, but for me, well, it's my favorite in their catalog. That's not an embellishment or an easy choice because all their music is fantastic, but Harvest feels the most like an '80s horror score, and for that, it wears the crown.
Watch:
RZA's debut film One Spoon of Chocolate played at Beyond Chicago a few weeks back, but it conflicted with other plans, so now I'm anxiously waiting for this to roll out in theatres. I'm assuming that the "Quentin Tarantino Presents" banner pretty much ensures that it will.
I expect this flick to be every bit as bombastic as one would expect from RZA.
Walk:
Two Wednesdays ago, Mr. Brown and I got to hang out with a very old friend. This was the first time the three of us had been together in the same room since the late 90s. When you're fifty and you hang out with your old friends, funny things happen. Mortality comes up, but also, the past. You just can't get away from it. None of us have ever been the kind of guys to sit around reliving our "glory days" because, honestly, the glory days are still happening in my book. Still, there were good times and some pretty crazy adventures, and it comes up. A reminder of who we were to better appreciate who we are, I guess. Or something like that. One of the things that came up from the past is a place I haven't seen or really even thought much about in the last thirty years, except, I dreamt about it recently, so it was fresh on my mind.
As teenagers and then young adults, we spent a lot of time up to no good, hanging out in the Cook County Forest Preserves. When we were just out of High School, we found something incredible in the woods surrounding the Cal Sag canal. I'm not going to say exactly where this was, and it doesn't really matter anymore, as you'll read in a moment. But out there in the middle of the woods, away from even a noticeable path, we discovered a place colloquially known as Stonehenge. This place consisted of a circular clearing with a flagstone floor and a slightly raised dais in a half-circle upon which sat flagstone thrones.
Thrones. Exactly zero BS here. Some enterprising stoners before us had built this place as a communal space, a liminal gathering spot of the locals cool enough to be let in on the secret.
Unfortunately, Stonehenge is gone. Long gone. Destroyed, I stood in the center of that dias and saw nothing but piles of rubble. My guess is the Forest Preserve patrol destroyed it to dissuade folks from hanging out in the middle of the woods at night.
Regardless, the fact that the three of us sought it out, actually did the trek and problem-solved our way into this now nearly unreachable place, well, it made for something special. So I guess it didn't really matter what shape Stonehenge was in, after all. It was more about the shape we were in as decades-long friends who could have just as easily sat in a bar or around a tv. Instead, we chased a dream.
Playlist:
Steeve Moore - VFW OST
Blackbraid - Celestial Womb EP
Flying Lotus - 1983
Massive Attack & Tom Waits - Boots on the Ground (single)
Fozy Shazaan - Dark Blue Night
A SOMBER FUNERAL - Since You Left These Shores
Nine Inch Noize
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
White Noise - White Noise 90s Minutes
Anthrax - Spreading the Disease
Megadeth - So far, So Good... So What?
Pestilence - Consuming Impulse
Flying Lotus - Yasuke
Gylt - I Will Commit A Holy Crime Random: Tandem
Gylt - In 1,000 Agonies, I Exist
Drug Church - Prude
Melvins & Napalm Death - Savage Imperial Death March
Anthrax - Persistence of Time
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Seven of Pentacles
• Five of Cups
• XIII: Death
Completing a long-running goal leads to emotional disruption, which in turn leads to a complete overhaul in what is deemed important. Disrupt success and learn from it, rethink goals and grow into something new.
Another on-the-nose writing prompt. I have to stop looking at what I'm working on as being the thing I think that it is and allow it to become the thing it is meant to be.
