My Christmas Loot: Part 7, Loot In Time.

Part 6.


Here we go...


The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987)

See here for the old review.

I hated it there, but y'know....I'm coming around on it.
Its kinda got an Ed Wood energy to it now.
It's like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, you're like "awww, you poor little guy, look at you trying".

If you set aside the movie you wanted it to be as a fan of the cards, and take it as its own thing, and notice all the "WTF?!?!?!", shit going on in this movie, both on purpose, and accidentally, it's a good irony watch.

Its aged like a fine wine.

Also, I just had to have it as a companion to "30 Years of Garbage".

There's interviews with the cast and effects guys, and they pretty much see it the same way.
It was a colossal flop in its day, the critics whipped out the chainsaws and the meat grinders, but its come back as a cult classic because of gen-xer weirdos like me.

This, "Sleepaway Camp", and "Killer Klowns From Outer Space", all had reversible case art that let you choose new art, or the classic poster art.
I went classic for all 3.
The new art is good, but I got these babies for nostalgia, so I gotta go classic flavor.

Speaking of...


Sleepaway Camp (1983)

See here for the old review.

Jesus, it took me 3 years to finally nab this?
It's better than the whole "Friday The 13th", franchise!

I've watched it 3 times now, once regular, twice for 2 of the 3 commentaries.
I love it more every time I see it, it's a fucking classic, how was this movie not in my life this whole time?
Well, good thing I waited, the Blu-ray came out in 2015, so now I get the best version.


Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)

Kind of a parody of "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers", and/or "Invaders From Mars", but with clowns.

The story is silly, but what its really worth watching for is the extravaganza of practical special effects.
I you loved the imaginative dream kills in the Freddy franchise, this flick is right up your alley.

Bring a dark sense of humor, and a love of 80's effects, and you'll have a goddamned hoot with this movie.

Same as with "Sleepaway Camp", I can't believe it took me so long to have this movie in my life.
But, again, this Blu-ray came out...in 2018!!
Yeah!! This fucking year!!
Once again, I waited both too long, and just enough.


VHS Massacre (2016)

See here and here.

So, this kind of completes a loose trilogy along with "Rewind This", and "Adjust Your Tracking".
Lloyd Kaufman is in all three.
He's the Stan Lee that links it all together.

"Rewind This", covered how the technology of VHS, and the business of VHS rental rose up, and then it sprinkled nostalgia for the actual films in there.

"Adjust Your Tracking", skimmed over the history lesson, and focused more on the fan memories, and nostalgia collectors, and nostalgia stores that have cropped up.

"VHS Massacre", gets more angry and political.
Because Troma put it out, Lloyd Kaufman could get more candid without getting edited down, and he knows specifically the laws the Republicans tore down in the 80's and 90's that destroyed fair competition, and lead directly to the death of mom-n-pop video stores in favor of fucking Blockbuster, and without mom-n-pop, indie film has suffered.

One of the guys in "Adjust Your Tracking", grumbles about Blockbuster, but they stop short of rolling up their sleeves, and really digging in to how evil they really were.
Guess they wanted the tone to be happy.
I can see that, but the truth is dark, and you need the truth.

Thankfully, "VHS Massacre", rounds out the triumvirate, so you get the whole story now.
This one didn't mind getting glum.
They even show the director's own favorite mom-n-pop shops getting closed down.
You see 'em morph from living organisms to empty husks.
Reminds me of my photo tours of the local mall.

The little glimmer of hope they leave at the end though, is that this mega-conglomerate, everything streaming, no physical media, every thing big studio, everything top 10 world is un-sustainable.

They can't meet the content demand without the indies, and you can't find the new talent without the new kids starting on the bottom rung, which is the indies.
And you can't get indie film out there without the equivalent of mom-n-pop shops, whether it's brick & mortar, or online.

And, little nostalgia/indie video companies are indeed cropping up now.

So....these are going to be interesting times to see how cinema evolves.

OH! And Joe Bob Briggs is in it too!!

It's a good one.
I recommend all three of these VHS docs.
If you were an 80's kid, you'll want these as history books for your kids.

Anyhoo, I'll retro-link this in the documentary compilation post.


Ghostbusters:
Spectral Shenanigans (2018)

Collects the first 12 issues of the ongoing IDW comic.
Takes place after "Displaced Aggression", and before "Mass Hysteria".

This is where Ron Alexander, IDW-verse Kylie Griffin, and Melanie Ortiz get introduced.
And two of the three ghosts they fight as mini-bosses in "Crossing Over".

Haven't dug into it yet, but skimming through, it's a juicy tome.


Secret Wars (1984)

One of the big events in comic book history.
A cosmic entity called The Beyonder vaccuums up all the heroes, and all the villains, and puts them on an uninhabited alien planet to fight.

It's the origin of Spidey's black costume that later became Venom.
So...transitive property, yeah, it's the origin of Venom.
Even though he doesn't become sentient here.

Interestingly, this all came about as a way to launch a line of toys.
In the back of the book, there's an essay on the history of the toys complete with photos.
Nostalgia joy!!
I had a bunch of them!!

Anyhoo, I'd love it if they did a variation on this for Avengers 5 in the MCU.
What better way to drop in X-Men and Fantastic Four?


The Incredible Hulk:
Crossroads (1984)

So, coming right off of "Secret Wars", Hulk starts going crazy, and the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men all decide he's gotten too dangerous for the Earth, and Doctor Strange banishes him to the Dimensional Crossroads.
Which is exactly as it sounds.
A crossroads of portals to everywhere in the multiverse.
Dr. Strange puts a spell on him so that if he runs into a planet where he's too destructive, or a planet that can kill him, Hulk will be poofed back to the crossroads to try again, and again, and again, until he finds a world where he can live out his life happily.

Every planet he goes to ends up being a little Twilight Zone episode.

This is my favorite run on the Hulk ever.
Weird stories, beautiful art.
I have the individual issues, but they're getting pretty ratty and fragile, so I needed the upgrade to a fresh book.

Maaahhhvelous!!


How Star Wars Conquered The Universe
(2014)

I haven't read this yet, but I've had it described to me on one of my podcasts.

Basically, every authorized thing on the making of Star Wars has been a tapestry of candyfloss and fairy dust from Lucasfilm.
But...we could always tell.
This one is unauthorized, and digs into the real story.
Not necessarily a dirty story, per se, just that Lucas didn't really plan out all 9 movies, he has his friends and ex-wife to thank for it as much as his own efforts, and he didn't fart it all into existence all by himself. Also, these films have been tinkered with multiple times long before "The Special Editions", came along.
A lot of the littler people behind Star Wars finally get to tell their stories in this.
They get ahold of everyone they possibly can.

They cover all 6 original and prequel movies in the order they were released, the ancillary stuff like the Ewok movies, and the Ewok and Droids cartoons, and the Holiday Special, the toys, the comics, the radio plays, every little detail.
I think it just stops short at the Disney deal being made.
So....episodes 7-9 will probably be volume 2.

Can't wait to dig into this.
This is the behind the scenes Star Wars story I always wanted.


And, the rest was candy and clothes.

THE END.