Our friends Alex Lopez and JH Rood spent several weeks traveling across the country, checking out horror spots near and mostly far.
Starting on Saturday, September 14th, 2019, the boys embarked on a road trip of epic proportions which took them through 21 U.S. states, 4 Canadian provinces and ran up over 9,338 miles on the “Ghoul Wagon.”
Now, they’ve finished the first episode of their video series that shows all of the places that they made it to, including Pittsburgh to see Monroeville Mall and attend the October drive-in event in Vandergrift, PA. In fact, I’ve been told that Becca and I may appear in that episode.
You can even see our friend Matt Hanke discuss Bill Van Ryn and the awesome Drive-In Asylum! Matt’s movie collection makes me jealous.
This is a really fun project and I hope you’ll check it out!
We were so happy to get the chance to talk to Rowdy Herrington this week. As mentioned in the last part of our series, he’s just written a book entitled Father Christmas that will release on Amazon in the next few days.
He’s already getting all sorts of praise for it.
Malcolm McDowell — yes, the Malcolm McDowell — said, “If you are looking for a wonderful book this holiday season, look no further than Rowdy Herrington’s Father Christmas. It is a beautifully written tribute to fathers and their daughters, mothers and their sons, and the true spirit of Christmas we all should share. It will touch your heart.”
Rafaella De Laurentiis, the daughter of Dino and the producer of Conan the Barbarian, said, “When Annie O’Neill comes face to face with Father Christmas for the first time it will touch the heart of every reader. This book is a holiday gem.”
And John Harrison, who directed the Tales from the Darksidemovie, said “Rowdy Herrington is a born storyteller – in any medium. And his skills are in full display here as he reminds us all, in the tradition of O’Henry, Dickens and the Grimms, how the Christmas season can restore our faith in each other.”
I’m really excited to read it myself. I’ll share the Amazon link when it comes out. Thanks again to Rowdy for being part of this site.
One of the BIGGEST names in independent filmmaking, especially drive-in/grindhouse flicks, is Bill Rebane. Straight outta Wisconsin, this guy has delivered some of the most memorable low-budget flicks to date. Slashers, giant monsters, cryptids, alien viruses, demons, monster trucks — Rebane has tackled them all. The Giant Spider Invasion, The Capture of Bigfoot, The Alpha Incidentand Invasion from Inner Earth are just some of his titles. We’re thrilled to present a lengthy interview with Bill in this issue about the highlights of his lengthy career.
Jack Perez is another monster movie maker, younger than Bill Rebane, but creating similarly wild films for TV networks and video. He’s our Guest List for this issue, and singles out five films that rocked his world.
DIA reviewers Lana Revok, Sam Panico, Roger Braden, Joseph Perry, Jesse Berberich, Paul Werkmeister, Donald Guarisco and newcomer Greg Hanson all serve up reviews of Devil Dog: Hound of Hell, The Legendary Stardust Brothers, Laurin, Curse of the Headless Horseman, Carnival of Blood, Curse of the Swamp Creature, Don’t Go in the House, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Blood Harvest and The Milpitas Monster.
I’m really fired up about this issue because not only did I get to write about Laurin, a completely bonkers German film about childhood and vampires, I also got to paint Bill Rebane for the awesome interview that appears in the issue. Check it out!
Please order an issue! So much work goes into every single page and there’s really no other publication like this. Thanks!
Matt Frame is one of the creators of Camp Death III In 2-D, which you can check out on Amazon Prime. We interviewed him last year and he was part of our recent list of top ten slasher movies. For more info on his film, head on over to its Facebook page!
He recently wrote to us about a new project:
“Matt Frame, Director of ‘Camp Death III in 2D!’ here.
I just released a new film this afternoon called Whites of the Living Dead.
It’s a 45-minute re-edit/re-dub of the original Night of the Living Dead.
The narrative has been altered so that it takes place on election night 2020 and the zombies are rabid Trump supporters attacking those who intend to vote against him.
It’s the first episode in a new series of re-dubs/re-edits that I’ll be releasing over the next few months.”
My friend Paul Andolina runs Wrestling With Film, a site that celebrates the crossover between professional wrestling and movies. It’s pretty great — packed with insightful thoughts on these movies as well as interviews with some of the wrestlers who starred in them. You can also check out his Facebook page, which has even more.
This month, Paul is doing a wrestling slasher month. Here are some of the films he’s featured (along with Axeman, which he reviewed for our site). Check them out!
Wrestlemassacre: Randy is an awkward groundskeeper who is obsessed with professional wrestling. Longing for a sense of belonging with grandiose dreams of becoming a wrestling superstar, Randy is only met with abject humiliation and alienation. A brutal shaming at a local wrestling school coupled with a bizarre encounter with a demonic stranger pushes Randy over the edge and lights the spark for his blood lust.
Hot Blood Sunday: The owner of an ice-cream shop hires five attractive women to boost sales, and the plan works until someone starts killing the lovely ladies.
Wrestlemaniac: A low-budget film- maker takes his cast and crew to a ghost town with a horrifying legend, a crazed former Mexican wrestler carrying out deadly pile-driving murders.
Sleeper: Two detectives must find an escaped killer before he harms the object of his twisted affection.
Killer Campout: Two youth counselors bring a group of emotionally troubled teens deep into the woods for a weekend of solitude and confrontational therapy. The trip turns deadly when they are terrorized by a cannibalistic hermit with a thirst for blood.
Axeman 2: Overkill: An axe-wielding urban legend who dismembers evangelicals, murderous bank robbers and vigilantes that clash with one another in the woodsy Cutter’s Creek is in turn pursued by the town’s tough female deputy.
What slashers will come next? What wrestlers will be in them? Who will Survivor Series and what will be left of them?
Mark Gregory was born as Marco Di Gregorio, but it’s his acting — well, whatever you call it — that has made him such a memorable person in Italian exploitation junk cinema. The first film you need to watch out for is 1990: The Bronx Warriors, where he supposedly defeated 2,000 other hopefuls for the role of Trash after his girlfriend sent in his head shot.
Gregory is a strange screen presence. He walks strangely, he pouts throughout every scene and he doesn’t seem like someone tough enough to lead a gang, even if his head is all screwed up from that “Manhattan pussy” he’s been getting.
Fred Williamson has said in interviews that he had to teach Gregory how to walk and look tough. He did what he could, but follow-ups like Escape the Bronx and the utterly insane Adam and Eve vs. the Cannibalsonly serve to illustrate that Mark Gregory has a strange charisma all his own.
I’ve read accounts where Gregory’s “feminine mannerisms resulted in homophobic harassment from some of the extras.” Perhaps that’s why he disappeared.
He has superfans like Lance Manley, who runs the Bronx Warriors site, who was so concerned as to where Gregory went that he actually searched throughout Italy and met with director Enzo G. Castellari to find him. The new Bronx blu rays feature “THE HUNT FOR TRASH: Interview With Bronx Warriors Superfan Lance Manley,” a short film about Manley’s love for the films and search for the actor.
Gregory wasn’t in many movies. In fact, after the two Bronx films and the Italian exploitation version of Genesis, I thought I had seen them all.
How wrong I was.
The films this next week are every single appearance Gregory made on film. The great site Monster Hunter pointed me in the direction of some films I missed. Amazon Prime became where I found his films, except that for some, I had to search the darkest corners of the web. I’ve survived some of the roughest films I’ve ever witnessed to come back to you with the results.
Please don’t take the path I have. Be content to enjoy the more known of Gregory’s IMDB list. I wouldn’t wish War Bus Commando on you. But I’ve done it. I’ve accomplished something. And I ask you to come back all week long to read more.
UPDATE June 28, 2021: Check out our Mark Gregory Letterboxd list!
UPDATE March 20, 2022: Sadly, according to Cinema Italiano Database, Mark Gregory died in 2013. I won’t go into the sad details, only to say that I hope the actor, who has given me so much joy, has found the peace in death that he could not get in life.
I’ve always been afraid of cannibal movies. They’re stomach turning bursts of the sheer bottom of the cinematic barrel, packed with guts, gore and often, real footage of atrocities. But I braved through seven of these films to face my fear and provide you with the written results.
Next week’s films are:
Cannibal Ferox: Drug dealers face off against cannibals and no one wins except those watching the carnage.
Cannibal Holocaust: What’s even more shocking than the depravity in this film? The fact that the story structure has stayed with me for weeks, as well as the haunting soundtrack.
Eaten Alive: Ivan Rassimov as a cult leader in a cannibal packed jungle? Yes, please.
Dr. Butcher, M.D.: I should have just stopped watching movies after this one, because I’m uncertain I can be shocked any further.
Emmanuelle and the Last Cannibals: Honestly, this week has numbed me to being upset at films. This genre-defying monster is beyond belief. And good taste.
Eating Raoul: Can the Blanks deal with their money woes and the swingers that are ruining their lives?
See you on Sunday. Try and not eat anything for at least an hour before reading, kind of like swimming.
All of these films — and more — are part of our three part “Video Nasties” blow out. Be sure to visit our “Section 1,” Section 2,” and “Section 3” featurettes for a complete rundown of all the films
Starting this Monday, we’re proud to present our very first theme week! We’ve specially curated only the finest films to bring you the most in movie watching joy.
Do you like heavy metal? Do you like horror movies? Would you like to chocolate in your peanut butter these two tastes into one blood drenched, Satan obsessed, loud as hell spectacle? OF COURSE YOU DO.
We’ll be covering:
BLACK ROSES – When the band Black Roses shows up to the small town of Mill Basin, parents are gonna die, teachers are gonna get seduced and demons are gonna take the stage!
TRICK OR TREAT – Sammi Curr died for rock and roll. Now, he’s coming back to make everyone else pay!
THE GATE – If you play your albums backward, a giant pit to hell in your backyard will unleash demons on your house, kill your best friend and dog, and then pull you into a wall!
ROCK ‘N ROLL NIGHTMARE – Can Jon Mikl Thor defeat Satan himself? And will his band survive?
ROCKTOBER BLOOD – A singer dies after recording an album. When the band finally tours, he comes back for revenge.
Words cannot explain the excitement that we have for these movies. Please join us here on Monday for an entire week of groupies, guitars and gore! RAISE YOUR HORNS AND CLICK BACK HERE!
And we’ve since reviewed:
MONSTER DOG – If you wanted a film where a rocker, played by Alice Cooper, is really a werewolf, you found it.
TERROR ON TOUR – A not-so-heavy metal band, the Clowns, are stalked by a fan dressed as one of the faux-KISS members.
HARD ROCK ZOMBIES – Will Adolf Hitler’s new Reich will be stopped by the zombied Holy Moses?
SHOCK ‘EM DEAD – Sell my soul to a voodoo woman so I can become a metal god and date Traci Lords? Yes, please!
THE DUNGEONMASTER – A demon recruits ’80s metal kings W.A.S.P as Blackie Lawless menaces the hero? Yes!
RAGING ANGELS – Released in 1995 but made during the late, hair metal ’80, a religious rocker fronts an organization pushing for a one-world government. An aspiring rocker tries to stop the Rapture and the coming of the Antichrist. Hey, Christian metal band Holy Solider, appears!
RICKY 6 – Okay, it was made in 2000, but it takes place in the midst of the “No False Metal” slew of movies inspired by the decade’s “Satanic Panic” craze. Unlike River’s Edge (1986) — which was also inspired by the exploits of Ricky Kasso — featuring era-appropriate music by Slayer, Fates Warning, and Hallows Eve, the best metal you get in Ricky 6 is a Krokus tune.
The coolest ’80s rock n’ horror banner, ever, courtesy of Collider.com/Spencer Whitworth for their “7 Rock ‘n’ Roll Horror Movies That Crank Cheesiness to Overdrive” feature.
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