Backwoods Horror

Ok everyone, sorry I haven’t updated in a few days.  Might have something to do with the fact that I was HOSPITALIZED after having a seizure.  Seems your friendly neighbourhood horrormaniac has some health problems, but I’m back (sort of) and I plan on getting back on my regular updating schedule again soon.  In the meantime, here’s a few snippets:

Turns out the bigfoot hoopla I’ve been following down in Georgia was, as I thought it might be, a bunch of bullshit.  A rubber suit in a freezer.  Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait till the next big bigfoot craze comes around to get excited again.  Until then, pop in a copy of The Legend Of Boggy Creek and drift off to sleep.

In some news that’s FREAKING AWESOME, DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW, only one of the greatest TV Horror flicks of all time, is finally getting the DVD treatment it deserves.  So go ahead and sell your prized, expensive as fuck, VHS copy now, as it won’t be worth diddly shit when the DVD comes out.

And that’s really the only interesting news to hit me so far.  Expect a review or two up in the near future, along with all the horror news that anyone would really give a shit about.  ALSO: Keep checking out the site as I have a plan to try my fiendish hand at audio (and perhaps video) podcasting very soon.

KEEP IT CREEPY!
Aaron

Ok, the other day I mentioned a news article or two about how these hunters found a bigfoot body.  Well, they’ve released a picture and they’re supposedly going to have a press conference today at 12 noon Pacific Standard Time. Ok, this is a short post, so here’s the Pic:

I’m calling bullshit.  That thing looks fake as hell.  But hey, I’d love to be proven wrong.  Publicity stunt?  Maybe.  We’ll see.  Stay tuned right here boils and ghouls for more information.

These are the guys who found the body.  Can they be trusted?  We’ll see.

I don’t really have a lot of time to make a post right now, so I’m going to post a little Horror News Roundup…yeehaw.

Ok, although it’s been in the horror news for a few days now, Fangoria just picked up the news that Billy Bob Thornton is rumoured to be the next Freddy Krueger.  Seems the rumour was started by the man himself, Robert Englund.  Englund was quoted as saying that Thornton would be “an excellent choice.”  You might remember Thornton in such fright flicks as Chopper Chicks In Zombie Town and he was a voiceless, redneck in a crowd of rednecks that later fell out of a truck in Hunter’s Blood (at least I THINK that was him).

In other news, Horror Movies.ca reports that the Megan Fox topless/nude scene we’ve all been watering at the mouth about has been cut from the upcoming Jennifer’s Body.  I would say that this pretty much takes the movie out of the running of flicks to watch, but the lesbian makeout scene she’s in is still in the movie, so now it’s a “maybe I’ll watch it, but maybe I’ll just wait for the UNRATED DVD to come out that has everything” movie.

Fox News, CNN, and others have been reporting that two ‘ol boys in Georgia have a Bigfoot body!  Normally I’d call bullshit on something like this, because even though I believe in the big, hairy guy, there are way too many hoaxes and whenever someone in the past has said they have a body, it’s been, well, bullshit.  However, they say they’ve sent DNA off to be tested and are going to hold a press conference for the world to see on Friday, August 15th.  They also said that they plan to hand the body over to science for further study.  This could be interesting, and if it proves out, HA! to all you assholes that said I was just a crazy fucker.

Looks like my favourite movie monster, the werewolf, may be coming back into vogue.  With the Wolfman Remake, another Underworld piece of shit, and the upcoming LOBO: “Lobo follows a man who receives a letter and some photos from his mother’s will, and decides to travel to the Amazon to find out his true roots. What he discovers is a clan of lycanthropes whom he eventually helps in their battle for survival.” (Dread Central) I’m worried that it’ll suck though.  Unfortunately, most horror movies, well, no, all werewolf movies made today suck total donkey dong.

Finally, a little eye candy.  Shock Till You Drop released the cover art for the release of Friday The 13th: The Series, which some of you may be interested in, even though the show was a complete piece of shit and didn’t have Jason in it.  Freddy’s Nightmares was much better.  Here ya go:

The boys over at Shock Till You Drop came across some news that Steve Niles (of 30 Days of Night fame) and company have created a new comic entitled SAVAGE.  The premise of the comic is as follows:  BIGFOOT vs. A PACK OF WEREWOLVES.  And if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a healthy dose of murderers and madmen.  This sounds like a pretty damn awesome project and I can’t wait to read it.  The book streets October 29th with the first in a four part series.  Check out the first issue’s cover art below:

During the 70’s, after the release of Legend Of Boggy Creek, we found ourselves with a burgeoning sub-genre that continues today (note the many Lance Henrickson sasquatch/bigfoot movies).  I have to admit that I’m a sucker for these, particularly the older ones.  The first horror movie I can remember watching was Night Of The Demon (1980), a movie which, at the time, scared the ever-lovin’ shit out of me and, at the same time, sparked my interest in both the bigfoot horror sub-genre and horror in general.

Creature From Black Lake finds itself sitting firmly within the bigfoot sub-genre of horror.  The movie begins as we follow two trappers (including Jack Elam, playing Joe Canton “The Trapper!”) as they go around checking their traps and finding that something’s been cleanin’ ‘em out.  Intertwined with this, we are also privy to an anthropology class where the professor is talking about Bigfoot (covered extensively in Anthro 101, obviously).  Just as the professor talks about no one ever being harmed by a sasquatch, one of the trappers is dragged into the bayou, never to be seen again.

After that, the plot follows two anthropology students (Dennis Fimple as Pahoo, and John David Carson as Rives) as they travel south (to Oil City, Louisiana) to find evidence of “a bipedal primate…it’s a scientific term.”  They don’t really get much in the way of help in town and are told to leave by Sheriff Billy Carter (played by Bill Thurman).  One of the townsfolk, Orville (Jim McCullough Jr. who also wrote the screenplay), however decides to run after them as they’re leaving and, catching a ride home, tells them his story of how the creature inadvertently caused the deaths of his parents. 

There’s an encounter at Orville’s farm, followed by some more time spent in town, meeting a couple of love interests (one of them being the sheriff’s daughter), followed by them getting arrested, and then we get to the exciting finale/standoff where Pahoo and Rives face off against the Creature From Black Lake.  I won’t ruin how it ends for those of you out there who haven’t seen it and suddenly find yourselves in the mood to watch it. 

What can I say about this flick.  It definitely rips bits and pieces from Legend of Boggy Creek.  They even got the same guy to do the music.  Unless you’re into the Bigfoot-run-amok movies, it might not be your cup of ’shine.  I kind of like the whole “laid back” nature of it, and I love how the DVD isn’t crisp and clear.  We get the lines and pops that came off the print they dug up for it.  I suppose they cleaned it up about the best they could, but, I mean, it’s not Star Wars, so I doubt they spent a ton of money getting it as clean as they could.  Overall though, the picture and sound quality is ok.  I like the washed out look of everything.  It just SCREAMS 70’s, which I find perfectly swell.  There’s not much in the way of gore or nudity, but plenty in the way of bell bottom jeans, boots, and 70’s nostalgia.  It’s definitely one to add to the collection if the bigfoot horror sub-genre is your thing.  If it’s not, this more than likely just won’t cut it.  I’d say check it out at least once though.  It’s particularly good after you’ve tossed back a few.  Hell, now I need to make a Creature From Black Lake drinking game.  I seriously need to get some sort of rating system.  In the meantime, I’ll give Creature From Black Lake a 7 out of 10.  Check it out…if you DARE!
 

Duane Graves and Justin Meeks, the same guys who did the independent flick HEADCHEESE, along with one of the writers and producers of the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, Kim Henkel, have created a new film along the same line as THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK, AND CREATURE FROM BLACK LAKE.  THE WILD MAN OF THE NAVIDAD. From the trailer alone, the film seems to have an aesthetic quality we haven’t seen since the drive-in era.  The colors appear a little washed out, the picture grainy with pops and scratches.  This is perfect if you ask me.  The look of films like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Eaten Alive, and The Legend of Boggy Creek among many others only adds to that gritty, grimy feeling I love.  Wild Man is also set in the south (Texas, I believe), which puts it up there on my list.  Any horror movie set in the south is a horror movie worth watching (even if they suck, I mean, you have to see it at least that ONE time).

You can find out more about the film by clicking on the cool poster below.