Purple Stuff Podcast: Universal Monsters!

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Halloween is here! The season has flown by unusually fast this year. If you’re like me, you’re savoring every last bit of it. To assist with that, The Purple Stuff Podcast is back with a new episode for you. We hope you will check it out as you’re making final tweaks to your costumes, or just hanging with your friends having some Pumpkin beer. Our subject this time around is one that permeates pop culture this time of year: The Universal Monsters!

You’d be hard pressed to find a horror or Halloween fan who doesn’t have at least a small portion of their heart dedicated to one of the classic roster of Universal Monsters. Even if you’ve never seen any of the original films, you likely have an affinity for Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, Bride of Frankenstein, The Creature, and The Invisible Man. Their likenesses have been with us our whole lives via movies, advertising, toys, and cartoons. Halloween is always better when they’re around in some fashion.

This episode of The Purple Stuff Podcast is dedicated to various incarnations of these characters. Par for the course, you won’t be hearing the typical entries from us. Matt from Dino Drac and I bring up some of our favorite instances of these horror icons that don’t get a lot of attention. It’s a fun one as we discuss breakfast cereal, action figures, and music videos. Hope this helps enhance your Halloween season! It’s not over yet Bay-bay!

As always, thank you for your continued support! We wouldn’t be able to do this without you. Thank you for reading, listening, and watching our exploits. If you would like to support the show, we’re on Patreon! Each month we record a special bonus show for our Patronies there. Other than that, have you watched The Sexy Armpit Halloween Special yet? If not, be sure to check that out after you hear the podcast!

Purple Stuff Podcast: Best of Halloween 2018

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Hard to believe that this Halloween season has already come and gone. Time flies is a total understatement in this case. It feels like a few weeks ago when I started hitting stores for Halloween stuff and filming the Halloween Special. Now here we are, it’s almost November. Crazy.

To me, one of the most fun things about Halloween is reminiscing about previous Halloween seasons.  We do that often on the Purple Stuff Podcast, but this time around, this season has demanded a bit of a retrospective.  Me and Matt from DinoDrac will be running through some of our favorite stuff from this Halloween season. At first, the season didn’t seem like it would yield much of a bounty, but it was surprisingly massive.

With so much to discuss, we had to narrow it down so we wouldn’t be recording for 3.5 hours.  Some topics included in this episode are movies, animated plush toys, old Toys R Us sites, and green bun burgers. Check it out wherever you like to listen to podcasts!

Thanks to all of you who are reading this. Much appreciation for the tweets, shares, and comments whether for The Sexy Armpit Halloween Special and The Purple Stuff Podcast. It’s awesome to have you on board and stay tuned for more podcasts and videos really soon! I hope you have a kickass Halloween!

PURPLE STUFF PODCAST: MICHAEL MYERS MISHMASH!

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We’re back with a new Purple Stuff Podcast for your Halloween season. This episode couldn’t be more appropriate. At least from my view, the one thing I’m laser focused on this season is the new Halloween movie. It’s not every year we get to experience an event like this. Witnessing the return to form of one of the most famous horror icons of all time, Michael Myers, deserves a commemorative podcast devoted to  this momentous occasion.

Previously on the Purple Stuff Podcast, in terms of horror, we’ve covered the franchises of Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street. We’ve been waiting for the right time to talk about the Halloween Franchise and considering that the new Halloween film hits theaters in October, now is the perfect time for this.

In this episode, you’ll hear Matt and I discuss the most random Halloween stuff. You can hear deep dives into the films and commentaries on each movie anywhere, so we are bringing you the things that linger around in the “Halloween Franchise” section of our brains. Yes, we do have that section up there and now you will have direct access to hearing about it. We’ll discuss everything from the insanely disturbing mask scene from Halloween III to absolutely whacked out posters and weird decorations inspired by the films. Some of the entries aren’t even from the actual films, but wouldn’t exist without Michael Myers or the Halloween movies. If you’re a fan of the Halloween films, this show is a must listen.

We’re super excited to see the new installment so hopefully our new episode will get you juiced up for the movie also. Let is inspire you to pull out your favorite installments of the franchise and maybe watch it with the commentary this time! Dig a little deeper to absorb all the weird inconsequential details that potentially change the way you think about certain aspects of these films. That’s certainly something I do often since I’ve seen these films hundreds of times throughout my life. Most horror films I grew up watching would be rentals and it always felt like such a big event to take one home, regardless of the fact that I saw them all already. That’s one of the most fun things about this time of year. You can re-experience things you’ve seen or heard a thousand times, but they still feel new, yet nostalgic at the same time.

If you have any memories or favorite aspects of the Halloween franchise that you would like to share here, please leave a comment below! Thanks for reading and listening. You can hear this one on iTunes, Podbean, and Stitcher. Sharing the show on social media is the best way to help support the show. Tell your like minded friends about The Purple Stuff Podcast so they can join in on all the nonsense with us as well!

THE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2017

Shit is crazy, yo. That’s about the best I could come up with for an opening line.

During previous Halloween seasons, I’ve been able to ramp up the lead-up to my Halloween Specials. I loved posting a production journal on here for at least one or two of them, but it wasn’t in the cards this time. This year, even though free time is basically non-existent, I still magically whipped up a special, with the help of my friends of course! I ran into a bunch of speed bumps on the way.

A whole script basically went into the trash. I wrote this pretty epic script that, once it was too late, I realized would be entirely too much to film. Not so much about the length, but even the logistics, locations, and money. Although I love the script and it had absolutely everything in it, I came to terms with the fact that I just couldn’t pull it off so late in the game. I swore I would write the script early in the year that way it would give us extra time to film, storyboard, and even block everything out like actual filmmakers. Wrote it early I did. Threw it away late I did as well. To say I was pissed off at myself for wasting so much time and effort was an understatement. Continue reading THE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2017

Purple Stuff Podcast Minisode #3 – Dollar Store Junk!

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Dino Drac and I are back for another Halloween minisode! These have been a lot of fun so we bring you another installment of our aural lust for Halloween. In this episode we check out Dollar General and my old decrepit K-Mart. What we bring home may not exactly be considered “treasure” to most, but it brought us some more early signs of the season. We hope you enjoy this one! You can check it out on iTunes and Stitcher and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Thanks for listening and reading!

SAMMI CURR Pre-order Begins TOMORROW at NOON!

ETSY.COM/SHOP/CRYPTOCURIUM

12 PM EASTERN TIME FRIDAY 8/18/2017

In this video I show off The Sexy Armpit & Cryptocurium’s exclusive limited edition Sammi Curr sculpture. We are so pumped to bring this to you. There will be 31 of them up for pre-order tomorrow 8/18 at Noon Eastern time, so don’t miss out!

PURPLE STUFF PODCAST HALLOWEEN MINISODE 2

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The Purple Stuff Podcast’s 2nd Halloween Minisode is now available! In this episode, we decided to document our trip to the dine-in movie theater. Obviously, we wanted to see something spooky and Annabelle Creation was the perfect choice. I’m a big fan of the films in The Conjuring universe, although Matt hasn’t really seen them. In this abbreviated episode we run down the details of the trailers we saw, the food we ordered, and maybe even a little bit about the movie too! We hope you enjoy this fun little installment of The Purple Stuff Podcast. You can subscribe to us on iTunes and if you want to support the show, leave us a positive review on there! Thanks for reading and listening!

SAMMI CURR, a Sexy Armpit Exclusive From The Cryptocurium

This is an ultra-limited run of 31! Pre-orders for this horror-metal masterpiece will begin on Friday, August 18th at The Cryptocurium Etsy store. 

I’m extremely excited to announce The Sexy Armpit’s first exclusive collectible. This incredible sculpture of Sammi Curr from one of my favorite horror films, Trick or Treat, is a result of collaborating with my friend Jason McKittrick from The Cryptocurium. It’s quite a tag-team of New Jersey horror freaks and it’s been a long time in the making! Jason’s homemade horrors speak for themselves. His creations are sculpted and painted by hand and are versatile since they include magnets on the back as well as a d-ring if you want to hang them on the wall. With unparalleled artistry, he handcrafted a brand new vision of Rock’s Chosen Warrior! I can actually hear Fastway blasting in the background every time I look at this beaut. This is a must-own for Trick or Treat fans and horror fans in general. Do whatever you need to do to get this mega limited , crash the Etsy server if you have to. If you pre-order you’ll have it in time for Halloween. Show your support for Sammi and The Sexy Armpit by purchasing this over the top cool sculpture. Once you receive it, be sure to tag @SexyArmpit and @Cryptocurium! #NoFalseMetal

 

Attack of the Morningside Monster – Film Review

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Recently I watched the 2014 independent horror/thriller Attack of the Morningside Monster and in this post I’ll provide you with my spoiler free thoughts on the film.

First, the synopsis. Set in the fictional small town of Morningside, New Jersey, we’re immediately introduced to an ominous figure in a black hooded cape whose about to apprehensively cut someone in half with an electric blade.

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After we’re acquainted with the central characters, a body is found in the woods. From there, the police force, Sheriff Tom Haulk (Robert Pralgo) and Deputy Klara Austin (Tiffany Shepis), begin to piece together what can only be described as a series of ritualistic murders in their quiet town.

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What’s stumping the cops is the symbol of a crossed out eye that’s left at the scene of each murder. Deputy Austin offers that it might be a gang sign similar to those she saw during her time working in the Bronx. The killer intentionally leaves this mark at the scene of his crimes in the vein of a ’60s Batman villain, which strikes me as silly. Why would the killer go out of their way to draw attention to themselves?

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With the assistance of a university professor, Sheriff Haulk deduces that the killer has stolen a rare Central American ceremonial mask and a tribal mace from their collection and the symbol is a ritualistic mark from this same tribe.

The killers mask itself is almost reminiscent of the Witch Doctor from Scooby-Doo:

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The movie had its quirks, quite a few of them actually. Here’s the biggest issue: I figured out the entire plot about 15 minutes in to the film.

The film gave too much away early on. Merely seeing the glimpse into the killers “lair” from the onset reveals that they’re in some kind of basement or unfinished area of a house. What the killer is doing to their prey, (removing their body parts and putting them into a bowl), combined with other glaring details, made it easy to figure out the rest of the movie.

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There’s a lot of time spent on creating dramatic scenes to divert the viewers attention when there’s really no mystery about who the killer is. If you’ve seen a decent amount of horror or mysteries, you will figured out the plot rather quickly.

More severe than the previous issues I had, is the peculiar drug angle of the film. In contrast with the bit in the summary on the back of the DVD regarding “deadly serious local drug runners,” their ring leader and his stereotypical goons are not easy to take seriously. The two street dealers who they supply are not written as if they are everyday weed dealers. In fact, you may know one or more people who buy or sell weed in your daily life and they are pretty much just like anyone else. In this film though, the girl Jamie talks about how she “really needs a hit,” as she looks all cracked out and addicted. Judging solely by the content of this film, with lines uttered by her brother like “I know where he grows it,” he’s definitely referring to smoking weed – a drug that only an extremely low percentage of users get addicted to.

Putting this whole notion over the top is the fact that after she exchanges the bag of weed with Mark (Nicholas Brendon) for his money, (with the typical “you got the money, you got the stuff?” Oh my Lord) she sweetens the deal for him, offering to orally stimulate him for another $20 bucks. BARGAIN. It seems to me that this film assumes that girls who smoke weed A) look and act like crack addicts B) are total whores. I don’t know who’s worse either, her brother/weed selling confidant, Haws, who’s constantly chewing on a match stick. Do you know anyone that does that? I’ll take back every criticism I have of this film if they can computer generate that shit right out of his mouth. Clearly, someone thought it was a good idea.

The Sheriff’s best friend from childhood, Mark has a wife with a terminal illness, so there’s no reason why he would have to go to crazy lengths to procure illegal street weed when he could easily have her signed up for medicinal marijuana. Why does he have to sneak around if his wife has a major medical reason to have it?

I realize how much painstaking work goes into making independent films and my critique of the movie is in no way an affront, since I respect the filmmakers and what they’ve created here. In fact, the writer of the film, Jayson Palmer, is a fellow Jersey guy. In an interview on the Whatever Works blog, he says that he is “…a Jersey boy, through and through. I was born in Dover and raised in Wharton, which is a small blue collar town in North, central Jersey. I have a lot of love for that small little town. Morningside is based on Wharton. Or at least the town how I remembered it growing up.” Palmer went on to mention that he “…wouldn’t be surprised if Morningside popped up now and then in some future project.”

The main cast was commendable, full of indie and b-movie veteran actors. Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Xander, Nicholas Brendon, stars and co-produces the film. His agitated performance as Mark Matthews is easily the highlight of the film. Matthews is a school teacher caring for his wife who’s afflicted with cancer and he’s doing everything he can to help her, meanwhile trying keep his own life together. His lifelong best friend is Sheriff Haulk played by Robert Pralgo who provides an almost sickeningly sweet turn as the quintessential good cop. Let’s just say both of these characters have interesting twists which I won’t spoil. And not just the token hottie, we have Tiffany Shepis as the tough Deputy Austin working for the Sheriff.

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Even though the movie was filmed in The Peach State, the visuals of the town evoke the more rural areas of Jersey. Parts of Northwestern and Southwestern Jersey aren’t as city-like and overpopulated as what is typically associated on-screen with NJ. The filmmakers were careful to incorporate geographical authenticity. Morningside had all the nice little touches that I expect from a film set in Jersey. All the cars had Jersey license plates, Trenton was name dropped, and one of the guys in the woods sitting around with his friends by a fire even wore a hat that explicitly specified what state they were in! I love it.

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Will you enjoy Attack of the Morningside Monster? It depends. I tend to support independent films, but, in general, horror fanatics will likely feel neutral about it. The film would’ve benefited from trumping up the scares and dropping a good chunk of the drug dealer subplot. In fact, Mark’s wife’s cancer issue was better kept as a subplot as well even if that meant making major script alterations. At 93 minutes the movie is pretty lean, but there’s still moments where the movie is meandering. It’s described on the back of the DVD as a “race against time,” but it’s not as pulse pounding as it sounds.

The film is worth watching to see how it culminates. Too much is revealed early on to make the ending hit you in the gut, but it’s not without merit. The payoff was pretty satisfying and one of the more positive aspects of the movie. One of the reveals toward the end, after we find out the killer’s identity, had a slight Twilight Zone feel to it, although I wish the entire film had that same eerie quality.

Without a big scare or a cliffhanger at the end, Morningside succeeds in providing the viewer with the notion that there’s a slight possibility that we’ll see this killer again…maybe on Netflix? A sequel would be an outstanding way to highlight the masked Shaman killer, thereby creating a new low- budget horror franchise that would likely garner some buzz and thrive amongst the horror-con scene. Ultimately, without some major tweaking, it’s limited as a franchise. Technically, you’d be cheering the killer instead of fearing. There’s still some hope though, The Morningside Monster has built a nice back story for itself.

Aside from Jigsaw from SAW, it’s a challenge to incorporate cancer into horror films because I feel like horror is my escape from the real world. While watching horror movies, I prefer to turn off my brain and just have fun. Attack of the Morningside Monster became more of a horror-drama rather than a horror-thriller. If the sex scene and few moments of gore get cut out, I could totally see this on Lifetime during the Halloween season.

Attack of the Morningside Monster is available on Video on Demand and download from most of the major online providers. On DVD 1/20/15. The movie was produced by Blue Dusk Productions and Making Monster Productions. I was provided with a review copy of this film.

Kickstart “Pretty Fine Things” A New Jersey Horror Film by Ryan Scott Weber

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From fellow Jersey guy, Ryan Scott Weber, the writer and director who brought us the Mary Horror trilogy, comes a new independent horror/thriller called Pretty Fine Things. Here’s the basic plot as highlighted at the films Kickstarter page:
“When the search for a missing girl turns up empty, her friends encounter 3 serial killers that may be involved in her disappearance.”
The movie will be fully shot in New Jersey and judging by the teaser and the promotional shots, this one is sure to be creepy as hell! The campaign ends on 8/19 so you only have a short time to be a part of this film. There are several tiers of donations available for everyones price range that offer different incentives. Some options include an official t-shirt while others include the opportunity to actually appear in the movie itself.
Ryan is on a mission to make this the best production from Weber Pictures yet, but they’ll need a decent budget to work with first. For more information on Weber Pictures, visit http://weberpicturescompany.com/ or you can go directly to the Kickstarter page listed above.