Happy Halloween everyone.  It's 2023 and still... FULCI LIVES!   My tribute to HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY is here from the BLACK MARKET BRAINS project.  Play loud and summon FREUDSTEIN!

 A tribute to John Carpenter's PRINCE OF DARKNESS.  Tools include Arturia Microfreak and Minifreak as well as the Korg Volca Beats and Drum.  Still my favorite film by Carpenter!

Black Market Brains - The Erotic Fixations Of Irina

The first YouTube release for BLACK MARKET BRAINS had to be Jess Franco related of course.  My sonic soup is made up of industrial and ambient tones mixed to... my tastes. Instruments include Korg Volca Drum and Beats and the Arturia Minifreak on keys.  Only 900 plus videos to make now...

Jess Franco's INCUBUS...a sonic tribute!

Anyone that reads this blog will see that Jess Franco is one of my favorite subjects. Relentless in his film making and inspiration to all artists I would hope.  Here is a tribute to his ONE SHOT PRODUCTIONS film, INCUBUS. Made with a Volca Beats and Drum and Arturia's MicroFreak and MiniFreak.  And love. A lot of love!

Vortex Of Eros - A Tribute To European Trash Cinema

Tunes to make your head spin with trash film connections. All performed live using three Arturia Microfreaks clocked to a single IK Multimedia UnoDrum.  From ambient textures of dark sex to pulsing club hits... evoking a 1980s Giallo we never had!  All music by me as BLACK MARKET BRAINS.

Black Market Brains · Vortex Of Eros (A Tribute To European Trash Cinema)

Tenebre And Malediction - A sonic meditation on Jess Franco

Here at TOMB IT MAY CONCERN there is a lot of material about Jess Franco. His films NEVER leave my imagination and so... a sonic tribute to my favorite sequence and English language line from A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD!  Industrial into a sludge of noise as we drop into the lake...

AtmosFerox presents Black Market Brains LIVE

 

A live performance captured using 3 Arturia Microfreaks and a Volca Sample on a dark and stormy night. Gothic industrial ambient experiences abound!  All sounds by myself as BLACK MARKET BRAINS. 

Free Industrial / Dark Ambient release!

 

The latest BLACK MARKET BRAINS release on Mixcloud is live.  This is a 50 minute excursion into industrial, ambient and powernoise entitled THE ARCHITECTURE OF ENNUI.  It's soft sometimes, loud at turns and occasional rhythmic!  All sounds forged by me using a bank of 3 Arturia Microfreaks and a stitched together in the lab of Count Orlof!

Black Market Brains On MIXCLOUD

A new post!  My electronic music project, BLACK MARKET BRAINS, tackled the weird world of EuroSF of the 70s.  A thirty minute mix of SEVEN GOLDEN WOMEN AGAINST METALLICOR is up for your listening pleasure!  

This one started after my umpteenth run through the Al Brescia space epics and their uberweird scores by Marcello Giombini!  The instruments used were mostly just two Arturia Microfreaks (my favorite instrument by far) and an UnoDrum reloaded with emulations of the Roland drum machines of the 70s and 80s.  What resulted was a lot of fun! 

Soundcloud was the original home and this was an hour long but the persistence of ads in any extended listening there brought me to Mixcloud. The artists are all me as you can't use more than 4 by any one person on that service.  Some good fun and look for tributes to Yanti Somer, Antonio Sabato and of course Sirpa Lane! 
https://www.mixcloud.com/BlackMarketBrains/7-golden-women-against-metallicor-episode-1/

BOTTOMFEEDER - EIBON PRESS slams the sequential slime!

Time for a book review, Tomb Dwellers!  This one has been sitting too long, time to point you to the BEST indie series you need to read!

BOTTOMFEEDER

2017 EIBON PRESS

By Stephen Romano and Pat Carbajal based on a story by Shawn Lewis and Joseph Melendez Jr.

“We're all one wet cunt hair away from the worst thing that could possibly happen.”

    So says Lieutenant Joe Angell of San Lucifer. A man with seemingly nothing to lose, prowling his beat wielding weapons of scorn and insatiable appetites for his vices.  In the EIBON PRESS three issue comic series, BOTTOMFEEDER, it's a non stop orgy of gore, bad behavior and a gritty ruggedness that made me wonder if this is what SIN CITY would have looked like if it had been based on the works of Iceberg Slim or Joseph Nazel. More directly, step into a world that could have happened if Abel Ferrara had been approached early on by Roger Corman to direct HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP. The only directive was to keep his aesthetic while making it fun for the drive in crowd. Not an easy balance to find, right? Balancing on Angell's proverbial wet cunt hair challenging I'd say. And the reader sits, in awe that they made it all work. SEE! Tits and gore and monster cocks shredding nubile flesh! AND...FEEL...the depths of despair in a unique vision of an internal hell more agonizing than having that flesh torn away from the bone! 

     Angell is a man driven by the demons around him, seemingly unable to connect to reality when an even WORSE reality arrives on his slab of shit beat. There are crooks (that get pulped), a super science subplot (that lulls you into feeling all comfy at your brain's drive-in) and a horde of nifty cameos including “Crackhead Bob” that will leave European horror fans smiling...and monsters to boot. Look for Joe Spinnel to have the role of an unlifetime, but for all the faces you recognize, remember it doesn't pay to be paid attention to in this scumsberg! SPLAT for all!

So, it's monsters and tough dicks beating things up, right? Bonus tits and “look it's that famous face I like!” fun, right? WRONG.

    

 
 There is a moment that haunts me in BOTTOMFEEDER, it makes me want to create something so clear and precise. It kicked me in the fucking heart. So, when you have nothing left, nothing to lose...what if some THING takes one more chunk of your lost heart? Read and find out. It ain't pretty.

This is the power of Lewis and Melendez Jr.'s story and it's brought to screaming sequential life by Stephen Romano and Pat Carbajal. The artwork is crisp and clean amidst the viscera and does a great job in both the expressiveness of the characters AND the tough task of making the cameo appearances work. There is not a missed beat, not an imperfect frame to find... and for those of us that love the RED, you'll go back again and again to each “effects shot” and find new stuff to repulse your brain and leave you begging for more. It's essential reading. You can cling to old nostalgia for echoes of old heroes in your comics, or you can help keep the lights on for the people making things that push the boundaries and want YOU as the audience!

     It has to be said as well that this graphic novel is practically the last “film” starring Joe Pilato. You'll here his distinct voice in each bubble, and I'm sure he'd love the fucking book. I sure did. So empty your puke box first and get ready to absorb the slime of BOTTOMFEEDER! 

MIDNIGHT MAGAZINE Madness!!

Few things make me happier than wrapping my dingy Dr. Z like tendrils around a new print zine!  It's been a while folks, and I figured this was a good place to start.  After getting a complimentary review copy of MIDNIGHT! MAGAZINE I have to admit it was daunting to pick up the virtual pencil.  Been a few years... I've had a bunch of projects of varying success and failure, and I'll get into all those, but first... I'm rounding up on Midnight, quite literally... but this tome inspired me to get at what I want to do next with David-Z the blogspotter!  

MIDNIGHT! MAGAZINE is a nice and chunky black and white affair loaded to the gills with great art for the at first glance look. The cover boggles my mind with it's graven perfection!  Doug Randazzo's cover and inside art is so splattery it hits every grotesquely great spot in my brain.  He is joined by several excellent pencil punishers and Marvel horror fans will eat up the wildly groovy back cover by Don England.  There ain't a bad picture amongst 'em… art fans will enjoy just looking through the pages, highlighted by main man Eric Wright's slick design work throughout.  

But it's about the reads, and here is where MIDNIGHT! shocked me to my writing senses.  I have to admit I usually do NOT enjoy pieces written that work more as about the author than the writing itself.  I struggle to do it, instead bending my writing and perspective to serve the subject.  So many articles within these pages work it the other way, it's about the writer and the way the see whatever topic they tackle.  I guess I've done it, but there is usually an artifice that goes up, even just a little. Not so here, and it's inspiring!  I totally enjoyed DAYS OF VIDEO YORE: THE MEDIA EVOLUTION by Vanessa Alucarda.  I got my first job in a video shop in 1985 and worked in VHS, Laserdisc and DVD shops for...wow, 3 decades?  The writing made me see things that were similar, and also placed me in time with where I would have been in this piece (behind the counter, egging on my customers to try MORE HORROR!!).

Ben Newell covers the FRIDAY THE 13th PART 3 novelization, one of those items I had and was lost in a move somewhere along the line, and does a fine job.  On the book front, we also get THE EERIE ONE, Mike Howlett, covering books I need in  my life like MAGGOTS, WORM and TENDRIL!  Damn...as a horror book fanatic, I've never encountered these.  I'll fix that right up!  

Comics get a LOT of space, which is excellent, and I enjoyed all the coverage, especially the LAS MOMIAS DE GUANAJUATO article that showed me a whole bunch of things I'd never encountered.  Maybe THIS is why zines that don't hyperfocus are so important, I wouldn't know where else to get this information.  

Deep Red editor John Szpunar is interviewed and Kris Gilpin has a vintage interview reprinted that is must read stuff.  WHO was going to direct Cannon's SPIDER-MAN?  And how epic was it to be?  As a part of the DEEP RED staff, it was nice to see both fellas getting space to shine. And there is a lot more... Brad Sykes reviews movies (I've watched some of his!) and an Albert Pyun one to boot.  I still have an Albert Pyun blog to update, dammit.  

A class act, I'm not spoiling more, you HAVE TO BUY IT, because if you don't, these things don't exist. I give it my highest recommendation, and I'll prove it.  

I love Joe D'Amato films, I have written a lot about the guys work, including a Weng's Chop article that reviewed (if memory serves, and I'm being conservative) over 30 of his 90s porn films. Search this blog, they will pop up faster than Ron Jeremy's dick at a donut shop. I'm a fucking SNOB about D'Amato, which is like being a snob about urinal cakes being scented lavender or lemon. Silly.

I was ready to groan... I'm sorry, I was!  A review of ABSURD by John Shatzer had me ready to toss on my Massacessi Smoking Jacket and get all high and mighty, but nope... I really enjoyed it. A mixed like of the movie was fine, but it is so well put across that this was a blind watch it made me be able to forget the oh... more than a dozen...viewings of the movie I have. I mean, it's one of my favorite of D'Amato horror films.  There is a LOT to cover (pass the spaghetti for a fancy football party, baby!!)--but instead you get a nice look at all the Blu Ray has to offer (which is stunning for the record) and the feeling of chilling with someone that has fresh eyes on something I hold as a sacred cow of slaughter cinema.  

Well made, fun to read and it even includes some love for BLACK MAGIC WITH BUDDHA and SKATETOWN U.S.A.!

Get yours right now by clicking here!  You'll stay up late to partake in the manic delight of this MIDNIGHT!

I have AWOKEN! Halloween Horrors return!

After an extended hiatus and LOTS of interesting projects (including stories in FIENDS, HEAVY METAL, CARNOPOLIS and BLOODY GORE COMIX) it's time to revive this blog!  A post of catch up is important, but first... a few reviews.  I've had MANY Halloween horrors, so I'm going to represent a few different years and then catch up on this years prolific viewings to date.

So, here we go... first up is the BOOGEYMAN series!  Some goofy DTV junk based off a PG13 horror from Ghost House Pictures (remember them??)!

See you all soon, Tombsters….Tomb It May Concern,
David Z

It's October again, and it's time for another HALLOWEEN HORRORS!!!  I love this month, because each and every year I take time to slow down my slide into cinesludge and get back to the genre that started it all for this cinemanic soul.  From lying flat on a staircase to peek over my parents shoulders at Howard Hawks' THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD when I was 5 to today, the fun never stops.  So...in we go. 

First up, a TRIPLE SHOT of millenial horror.  I've wanted to see the Ghost House Pictures PG-13 film, BOOGEYMAN since it was released. But that was..wait a minute... 12 years ago???  There were several DTV sequels and I live for that kind of stuff. So, when a triple DVD set appeared in a budget bin for half off the 4.99 asking price, it was hard to look away. 

BOOGEYMAN was a theatrical presentation and it looks it.  High gloss visuals with lots of camera swinging and flinging can't disguise that there is absolutely nothing surprising going on. A young boy sees his father killed by The Boogeyman (in a pretty effective opening sequence) and later, after much therapy, decides to return to his home to confront his fears. Thankfully he also gets to bring his less than super understanding girlfriend AND meet up with an old friend who obviously has feelings for him. Romantic subplot? Check and checked off...not much there to really enjoy.  But wait..a ghost kid appears too?  OK...tropey trope trope'n up the path.  But wait, the Boogeyman IS real and he is back and ready to rampage all over the guy and his girls.  Yep..that is about it.

 BOOGEYMAN is not a bad little 90 minutes and it's got a good cast featuring BONES actress Emily Deschanel reacting to some offscreen shenanigans every few minutes.  It was fun to see Lucy Lawless pop up early on as well.
What struck me was just how similar it was to the Nightmare On Elm Street films, and how good even the least of the Freddy films really is for keeping the pace moving.  Under 90 minutes, it still lags a bit.  Once things pick up and we get some warping through reality stuff and actual attacks by a CGI (mostly) Boogeyman it's fine, but the monster has no personality and the intensity level stays low.  However, I must say that I really enjoyed ONE scene that had actress Troy Mussett reappear from what we assumed would be certain off screen doom as she is REGURGITATED by a bathtub.  THAT was unexpected.  So, it's a good 90 seconds and a bunch of bland.  Here...this.

It was with heavy thumbs that I began to THWAP at the remote to start BOOGEYMAN 2, but in tried and true DTV warrior fashion, I summoned the courage of David Warbeck attempting to win the Vietnam War in THE LAST HUNTER and pounded PLAY with vigor. Hey, it's an UNRATED DTV movie with a completely different creative team.  And you know what, THIS one is pretty damn good.  It plays around with the idea that you have seen the first film and have to acknowledge that BOOGEYMAN exists, but then gets a little funky and takes a left turn or 5, so that it doesn't just end up where it starts.

Henry and Laura Porter share a trauma, shown up front, as their parents were murdered in their homes when they were young.  It MAY have been the Boogeyman, but it doesn't appear that it was more than a home invasion. After Henry leaves a treatment facility, it becomes obvious that Laura needs help with Boogeyphobia as well. Yes, they actually say that.  So, swapping places, Laura checks in and finds out Tobin Bell is her therapist.  Wow. I'd leave, but OK...she stays.  As the original film had elements of Freddy-tude, I was pretty intrigued that this film seems to go right down the DREAM WARRIORS aisle to pick up some groceries.  Cutters, agoraphobics, overly romantic self loathers and Boogeyphobes collide as suddenly, the doors lock down and something is killing the patients (and doctors...and nurses...) 

I actually don't want to spoil much, because if you are going to watch ANY of these, I would highly recommend it being this one.  It's VERY gory (it even grossed me out a touch in spots) and veers all over the map between traditional Boogeyman is gonna get you stuff with elements of a SCREAM / SAW variety sprinkled on top.  Director Jeff Betancourt is an editor and it shows here, lots of fast paced scenes keep the pace fast and furious and everyone plays their part well. The inclusion of real physical effects instead of non stop CGI is very welcome.  Unlike either the first or third, you'll definitely get your moneys worth out of this entry.  It stands completely apart of the theatrical feature, so...here you have it.  Besides, fans of going "OUCH" with their gore will want to see what THIS THING does!  YOWZA. 

Also of interest, Bettancourt is editing the remake of Poltergeist and has a short film, starring Danielle Savre of BOOGEYMAN 2, entitled KNOCK KNOCK which has a release date of TODAY according to IMDB.  I'm in!  And if for no other reason, this whole rigged up effect is worth a gorehounds time...

So, I was PUMPED now, BOOGEYMAN 3..what do you have for me?  Well, interestingly it is tied to B2 in that Tobin Bell's characters DAUGHTER apparently finds some notes by her father about a real Boogeyman (uh...OK...they do mention that in the other film a little bit).  Bell even reads a few lines, though I thought it was someone impersonating him.  This time we have a college campus where the girls tend to wear pajama pants and low cut t-shirts all the time and the lads all look the same.  Seems a REAL boogeyman is back right from the get go, and our lead DJ, Sarah, can see him.  But nobody believes her. Even her professor has an issue with this, at one point refusing to believe that The Boogeyman can exist because it can't change it's own legend as it goes along (??) --but we know it does. At one point, Boogeyman appears in a bong. And then chases down a peeper putting a webcam in a ladies shower room (thank you, nudity quotient requirement).  Some of this might have sounded nice on paper, but it's either too silly and handled to straight forward with the editing and score OR it's just to serious for it's own good.  The effects are toned way down from 2, though I have to admit I did enjoy seeing things like industrial dryers put to bad use.  Definitely stuffing a person in and having them explode in a shower of blood will void the warranty. 

Charles Band definitely wants his EVIL BONG back by the way.  
While not terrible, this one is all kind of pointless in the end. It seems to want to jump on the J-Horror trend mixed with Nightmare On Elm Street (hey, the trailer for THE GRUDGE 3 is on here!) but nothing comes together to have any tension.  I did like the scripts attempt to find a way to defeat The Boogeyman, but the 5th left turn and double finale sort of deflates the entire thing!  Ah well... 

I got one very entertaining film and two happy horrors from the others..it's OCTOBER and it's time to watch more.  Nothing can be bad when you have the horror momentum behind you! 

Doc Terror Forever!

The world in general, and our tiny subset of humanity that loves the horror genre, has lost a true gentleman.  Doc Terror to many, Jimmy Harris to others and beloved by all who were lucky enough to know him be it online, website, podcasts or convention goers has left this mortal coil.  It's a terrible thing for anyone to have to end their battle with Cancer... but Jimmy was such a particular person that it hits home hard for many of us reading this.

Nothing I can type seems enough to do this justice.

If you made something cool, trust me...he would share it and bring his unique enthusiasm to bear upon it with all his might.  And he was ready to talk ANY kind of horror and genre film at the drop of a hat, always strong in his opinion and open to others at the same time. He LOVED the horror, he loved the fans, who he always treated like family... and you gotta know that he never ever left behind his friends no matter how hard his battle was.  Imagining James sitting at his computer, retweeting out cool projects on his twitter feed despite everything... while I'm saddened beyond reason that he is gone from our day to day life...the legacy continues and I'm glad we have it to look back on.

Nothing I can type seems to do this part justice either.

So... lets do this.  Celebrate what is left for us.  And also, if you have the means, and believe me he appreciated every single person that looked, helped and shared it equally... James leaves behind a beautiful family and they could use a little help.  Take a moment and read his story and know that there are others he has affected so much that continue on in his wake, I'm sure you'll see the love for James we all have. Thanks for taking a look.

The James "Doc Terror" Harris Fund

I'm going to watch a few horror films and I'm going to keep doing what Jimmy at times would kick me in the ass to do...SHARE the passion and keep the tribe of horror fans marching strong.  Doc Terror Forever is a mantra...from a great man to an icon...thanks for every bit of time we chatted late at night about whatever trashy horror we were enjoying in the moment.  And thanks for the inspiration that will never end.

And now, listen to Jimmy talk on chicken nuggets, horror and kids and the Halloween franchise as Big HorrorSexy spreads the love all over...   

Fantaghiro Animated series! Lamberto Bava cartoons?

I love the FANTAGHIRO series of television films produced and directed by Lamberto Bava. A mix of kiddie fantasy with European Trash Tropes and stars like Kim Rossi Stuart, Alessandra Martines, Brigitte Nielsen (as a wicked queen!!), Mario Adorf and more show up and the fairy tale story is brought to life with creature effects by Sergio Stivaletti!   After years of tracking them down in English dubbed movie versions, including CAVE OF THE GOLDEN ROSE, I was stunned to see an animated version had been produced. Some even exist in English.  So, happy birthday Lamberto, lets watch some really odd stuff you inspired!

First up... the feature length FANTAGHIRO, QUEST FOR THE KUORUM





And here is episode one of FANTAGHIRO...the series! There are even more online in several languages.  It's an enjoyable expansion of the television movies for the few fans that may frequent my blog.  At worst, all you horror adults can expose some kids to the work of the maestro that made DEMONS!

Peter Bark...DANCING!!

Who doesn't love PETER BARK?  I sure do, and I was pleased to post him in a comedic role as a boy scout RIGHT HERE!  In my never ending quest for more scenes that smell like death, I present to you a few clips from LIQUIRIZIA.  Now this rock and roll comedy is all in Italian and I have no clue what is going on, but it was fun watching it to locate the small role from our hero!  He only has one little speaking line and is dubbed in an absurd voice, but here is the real draw.
DANCING.
Peter.
BARK!!!!!

This post needed a little updating, and since the time getting this video KILLED my then PC with a virus it has been a groovy world for BARKers!  He appeared at a fest and can be seen discussing his films and there is even a PETER BARK SHOT GLASS from Severin Films!  Amazing...enjoy the clips!

First, the tryout for the rock band.

And then, we get to apply this to a ROCK N' ROLL SCENE!
The song is actually fun, but the file size would be really huge to give you the entire thing. Just stick tight, you can't miss 'em. And the crowd loves him.  MAMA MIA!!  It's Mother's Milk (*CHOMP*) to a Peter Bark fan!

It's days like this that make me love this hobby that I, and probably you, share. Always more to find, so much more to see!
Let's walk off into history with Peter Bark, hand in hand...