NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 106: KILL Tour T-Shirt from Fright Rags

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Often, when something “limited edition” comes down the pike I just have to own it. A prime example is the KILL tour t-shirt that was released as a special edition by Fright Rags recently. Fright Rags is known for printing up genius, one of a kind horror tees, and this may be one of the best they ever conceived. Check it out and you can be the judge of that.

The KILL Tour T-shirt is inspired by the Destroyer album cover art from my favorite band, KISS. Anytime the world of horror combines with KISS, it’s a win-win. The t-shirt art includes Freddy, Chucky, Jason Voorhees, and Leatherface taking the place of KISS. What knocks this baseball style tee right out of the old Roosevelt Stadium is KILL’s tour stops are listed on the back just like an old vintage concert t-shirt! On KILL’s Decades of Destruction Tour, in honor of the release of the original Friday the 13th film, the band’s May 9th, 1980 tour stop was at Crystal Lake…in NEW JERSAAAY!

Previous releases that I also HAD TO HAVE included G.I Jason (the GI Joe/Jason Voorhees mashup) and one of their beautiful Friday the 13th The Final Chapter tees. Artist Jason Edmiston was responsible for the artwork on both the GI Jason tee as well as this KILL tour shirt, but the new one may take the cake. It’s a dead heat for me. What do you think? If you own the regular black t-shirt version of “KILL,” it’s slightly more accurate to the Destroyer cover, but I opted for the larger KILL logo on the baseball tee.

You can now see why I felt so compelled to make this shirt part of my wardrobe. But surprisingly, this shirt wasn’t released without criticism since it’s hard to please everyone. The flack on this shirt was that Michael Myers should’ve been in the artwork instead of Chucky. I’m not sure why that happened, but if Myers was on the shirt instead it would indeed be perfect. I’m not complaining one bit though, I think it was an awesome idea and I’d like to see more cool ideas like this from Fright Rags.

Enhance Your Halloween Viewing With Blinky Productions Horror Prequels

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Blinky Productions features can be seen at their YouTube site!

Living through numerous Halloweens has translated to me holding many solo horror movie marathons. I’m sure some of you can relate. But what should you do when you’ve exhausted all of your movie options? That is a question I’ve pondered for a while now, and I finally share my discovery with you. If you are looking to spice up your Halloween viewing, read on!

You’ve seen all the Nightmares, all the Fridays, and all the Halloweens, right? Well what if there were prequels that you never knew about? What if there were top quality extensions of those franchises to be seen? Based in New Jersey, Blinky Productions fills those voids! In addition to their original productions, they make independent short and feature length films that incorporate the characters we love. Some of their films revolve around superheroes, but many of them star horror icons. Usually their type of output would be considered “fan-film,” but the quality of their films is superior and sets them apart from most of the fan made stuff I’ve seen on YouTube.

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Blinky Productions films have been on my radar for years now, but I never got around to watching some of them until last year. At a New Jersey Batman Convention that I went to, I finally got to meet the man behind Blinky, a friendly movie making mastermind and Jersey guy, Chris Notarile. I picked up a few of their DVDs including one I’ll be reviewing in the future, but for now I’ll tell you about the one that has become a part of my annual Halloween viewing.

I snatched up a great little trilogy of horror shorts to add to my collection. Delving further into the mythos of the Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Halloween franchises, these shorts make me wonder why these franchises aren’t releasing good quality big budget installments when Chris does it with almost no budget in comparison. What’s great about these films is that you don’t have to lower your expectations before watching them as you do with many independent fan made shorts.

Out of the 3 shorts, the one I felt was the most interesting was KRUEGER: A TALE FROM ELM STREET. The short gives us a front row seat during one of Krueger’s interrogations, before he was “burnt up like a weenie” if I may quote the Fresh Prince. MYERS: RISE OF THE BOOGEYMAN adds a cool little twist to the Halloween lore and I enjoyed it. The only one that fell a little short for me was VOORHEES: BORN ON A FRIDAY. It deals with Mrs. Voorhees tracking down one of the very girls who was responsible for her son’s drowning. You can watch all of them rather quickly which works if you’re planning a mini-marathon. For instance, watching the Krueger short before watching your favorite Nightmare on Elm Street film will enhance your experience!

The Jersey based Blinky Productions’ motto is “High Quality Films…Without the Budget.” In addition to their horror inspired films, they’ve also created shorts featuring The Punisher, Batman, Flash, and Catwoman among so many others. Their original productions are badass as well (i.e METHODIC) so check them out! Up next I’m going to watch FRIDAY THE 31st: MICHAEL VS. JASON!! In the mean time though, go enjoy the wet-dream of horror fan films at their YouTube page, and by that I mean Freddy vs. Jason vs. Leatherface vs. Pinhead and many more!

Blinky Productions Official Website
http://www.blinky-productions.com/

Today Is Jason’s Birthday…

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Jason Voorhees Birthday is June 13th, 1946

Jason Voorhees must totally feel like Samantha Baker in Sixteen Candles. I forgot today is his birthday. There’s just been a lot going on and sometimes, as people get older, things like this pass us by. I’m going to make it up to him with a post of badass birthday cakes in his likeness! Thanks to user zackzander50 for the video above!

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Take a look at another awesome Jason Cake over at Your Happy Baker
Looks like the folks over at that blog won’t be getting hacked up anytime soon!

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I found this one on Tumblr but there was no credit given, so if it’s yours please let me know! 
AWESOME JOB! Jason and his mom will be quite pleased. 

There’s also a red velvet Jason cake posted over at I Really Like Food, which isn’t as good as the others, but still cool. So, happy birthday Jason! I really hope we see you on the big screen again soon. Maybe even in IMAX?

Monster Mania 21 In Cherry Hill, NJ

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I really thought it might have been different this time. For some reason I thought Monster Mania ironed out some of its kinks. In some respects they did, but others remain the same. This report should be short and sweet considering I spent less than 3 hours there this time around.

Some friends of mine expressed the fact the MM con is so damn expensive, even for children. That sucks because if you want to take your whole family you can spend a lot money just on the entrance fee. Then factor in all the cool stuff that you see when walking around that you didn’t even bank on buying, but “needed” to have.

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Take the above photo for instance. Ever since the first time I saw The Shining when I was a kid, I always said I wanted the photo from the end of the film, but never knew how to get it. Before the days of the Internet, finding rare prints like this was nearly impossible. Within the past few years I was able to get a few large jpegs of the image, but nothing suitable enough for framing or hanging. Now, I finally have it, and for a mere $15 bucks. To me, that’s affordable for a picture I’ve basically dreamed of owning for years.

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I was intent on not going overboard buying crap this time. I had more festivities planned for the rest of the weekend for my birthday so I tried to be conservative. That didn’t mean there would be no impulse buys though. I talked for a while to Neil Meschino, the filmmaker behind the indy horror movie Mold! (moldthemovie.com). I had a very informative chat with him about his experience making the film. Lots of props to him and I can’t wait to watch it! Another purchase was for a good cause – I donated $20 bucks to Scares That Care and in return I got their cool T-shirt. Also, I couldn’t pass up the Friday the 13th art print shown below by Scuuum Inc. from their Slasher Babes series. That was pretty much it as far as “stuff” goes, and now onto the celebs!

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Back in an earlier preview post for Monster Mania, I was pumped to read the news that Robert Englund and the cast of the original Blair Witch Project would be appearing. Ultimately though, I wasn’t super set on paying to meet all these people because I had limited funds this time around. Perhaps the cast of BW2 may have twisted my arm though! My main reason for being there was to get a pic/autograph from Anthony Michael Hall since I have been a life long fan of his films, even some of the shitty ones. Luckily, since I got there fairly early I was able to get a good spot on line, and by the time he actually arrived (a little over and hour late), he had a legion of people waiting for him.

Anthony Michael Hall was really cool even though I didn’t really have a chance to say much to him. AMH is on a higher level of fame than some of the other stars that usually appear at the con. One of the benefits of meeting one of the lower tier celebs at these cons is that you can more than likely have time to shoot the shit with them about things you always wanted to ask them, but when the person has 100 people waiting for them, it makes it more of a challenge. Either way – Anthony Michael Hall was a good guy and happy to meet his fans. It was also cool to run into my friend Jessica Rajs – creator of the Gorgeous and Gory Zombie Pinup Calendar. If you missed her at the con you can pick one up at their official website. Hot Zombie Pinup Girls, what more can you ask for?!!

Even with so many drawbacks, I still can’t stay away from these cons. The entrance fee is high and the parking still is ridiculously atrocious. I wish I could refrain from going sometimes, but I feel like it’s a place to buy cool stuff, meet and talk to like minded people, and of course get some cool autographs. It also doesn’t hurt that the spring installment of Monster Mania usually falls on my birthday weekend so it’s a good way to celebrate. Did you go to Monster Mania 21? What are your thoughts on the various horror/pop-culture conventions?

G.I JERSEY: G.I JASON On T-Shirt Tuesday

G.I Jersey - The Sexy Armpit
In today’s post GI Jersey and T-Shirt Tuesday have joined forces to take on one of horror’s most notorious icons who happens to be from…NEW JERSEY!!!

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Some of the coolest, most collectible G.I Joe figures were those who weren’t actually Joe’s at all. For instance there was William “The Refrigerator” Perry, pro wrestler Sgt. Slaughter, and even writer Stephen King’s son had a figure in his likeness code name Sneak Peek to name a few. In this article, The Metal Misfit even revealed that the Italian Stallion Rocky Balboa was slated for his own figure and character on the show as well, but plans fell through when the Rambo toy line was put on shelves. I can’t be sure that there was ever a true villain or monster created in the image of a non-Joe related character before, until now. The Horror T-Shirt masterminds over at Fright Rags decided to bring Jason Voorhees to life on his own T-Shirt in the style of the old GI Joe action figure card backs!
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The REAL AMERICAN SLASHER, Jason Voorhees has never looked cooler. In this era of mash-ups, this is the ultimate ’80s indulgence. When I first saw the tweet from Fright Rags eluding to this t-shirt I lost my mind. Combining GI Joe and one of the greatest horror movie franchises of all time is one of the coolest ideas for a t-shirt I’ve seen in a long time. Not only does the shirt respectfully pay tribute to both properties, but it does it in such a way that if GI Joe was to actually release a Jason figure, this is EXACTLY how the card back would look. Please take note of Jason’s birthplace! That’s right folks, nobody in Jersey cares about Jersey Shore except kids in middle school. Who needs the shore when we have Crystal Lake to boast about! Who cares about the New Jersey budget? Governor Christie should be talking about how proud he is that Jason Voorhees now has his own official G.I Joe file card. This is the important shit, for real.

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If you are spazzing out like I did, don’t worry, the t-shirt is still for sale in limited quantities. Frankly, I’m surprised it didn’t sell out almost immediately, but now the site says there are only certain sizes left so get it while you still can! 

Valentine’s Eve Starring Jason Voorhees?

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Many people say Valentine’s Day is lame and stupid, but they’re mostly single people. Even though it is a pretty hokey holiday (if you want to call it a holiday), I usually just embrace it as I do most other holidays. If you have even the slightest degree of appreciation for your loved ones, I’m sure you’ve scanned the selection of Valentine’s Day cards at the local grocery or convenience store and found a bunch of generic B.S. That’s why I looked to Zazzle this year. It’s where I found one of the coolest Valentine’s Day cards ever.

*Spoiler Alert – I probably should’ve given this to Miss Sexy Armpit last night, but I hadn’t finished writing the message inside of it yet. Maybe she can act surprised when she opens it! This is a perfect V-day card for horror fanatics out there, especially fans of Friday the 13th!  It’s a little late now, but order it for next year and you’ll be prepared. Keep in mind, you won’t find this Happy Valentine’s Eve card in stores. Click over to Zazzle where you can get this card or its graphic on a t-shirt as well.

NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 66: Friday the 13th Part 3

Friday the 13th Green Valley NJ T-Shirt

No you aren’t imagining things. I did indeed post about Friday the 13th Part 3 previously in the Halloween Countdown. Not to slash a dead horse with a machete, but the film does a hell of a job honoring the Jersey history of the franchise even though it wasn’t filmed there. Thanks to that I was able to squeeze a whole other post out of it! There’s never a shortage of Jersey related t-shirts for me to write about every Tuesday, but it definitely gets repetitive. When I come across obscure finds like this one in the background of a movie, that’s when this column is most interesting. Think about it, how many people are blogging about that t-shirt in Friday the 13th Part 3? The answer is probably only 1 person, because anyone in their right mind who wants tons of hits wouldn’t give two shits about that t-shirt…but I do.

I came across the shirt when the young and attractive Vera (Catherine Parks) and prankster Shelly (Larry Zerner) head to the local convenience store in the fictitious town of Green Valley, NJ. There they attempt to buy some crap from this rotten bitch of a cashier who is in the running against Shelly for possibly the worst mop of hair in history. OK, we get it, you “don’t accept no food stamps.”

They’re just trying to get some munchies but then they run into an evil biker gang who attempts to steal Shelly’s wallet. Maybe if the movie wasn’t in 3-D then Shelly wouldn’t have recklessly tossed his wallet directly toward the camera only to have it fall on the floor. The wallet was on the floor so it was fair game, and in a strange twist of events, the felonious biker gang opted NOT to steal that luscious Green Valley Has Everything t-shirt that is seductively hanging on the wall enticing all the customers with it’s over the top sexual innuendo but grabbed the wallet instead.

Now, I’m not positive, because no human being can see lettering that tiny and blurry, but it looks like in parentheses the shirt says (including wildlife), which is completely unfunny if read literally. Hopefully that is what it says and we won’t have to go and solve some 28 year old mystery.

In case you’re about to click over to Expedia to plan a trip, don’t bother. There is no town called Green Valley in New Jersey, but there is a campground named Green Valley Beach in Sussex County. For the Google Maps enthusiasts out there, Camp NoBeBoSco (Camp Crystal Lake) is about a half hour away from there. Now enjoy that freaking awesome song by Henry Manfredini and Michael Zager (from Passaic, NJ!) that plays while they’re shopping in the convenience store:

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.47: Friday the 13th Part 3

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What do sexual escapades, skinny dipping, smoking pot, and getting murdered all have in common? They are all things that those punk ass teenagers from New Jersey like to take part in, hence, the state was the natural choice for the home of Camp Crystal Lake in the Friday the 13th franchise. Some of the films in the series don’t harp on it’s setting, while others are proud and throw in many references, some blatant, some subtle. Friday the 13th Part 3, was not only presented in 3-D, but it also featured overt references to New Jersey.

Friday the 13 Part 3 is one of my favorite installments of the series along with 1, 2, 4, 6, and Freddy vs. Jason. How could it not be on my list? There’s hot women, a Tommy Chong wannabe, and 3-D yo-yo-ing! And I also can’t forget the villainous biker gang led by Ali, who look like they were ripped out of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” video. In the scene pictured above, one of the gang members is about to siphon the gas from the kids van. Their van has a New Jersey license plate as well as a Bruce Springsteen “The Boss” bumper sticker. I think it’s cool that the filmmakers paid attention to the details and kept the film set in Jersey no matter how unpopular the state used to be. Nowadays the chances of seeing a film set in Jersey are much greater.

Halloween 1990

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Halloween 1990

I love to look at photos from Halloween years ago. It’s fun to reminisce about the various costumes my friends and I wore through the years, although sometimes it’s mind boggling. I’m still operating in the mode that 1990 was 10 years ago, but clearly my calculator has proven me wrong. This is a picture of my friends and I in front of our school, oh my Lord…20 years ago! I loved dressing up for Halloween when I was a kid but as I got a little older I started to grow tired of putting so much effort into going home and changing and putting on makeup etc. I phased out of getting dressed up when I stopped going trick or treating. So this photo marks the beginning of my lazy phase for Halloween, a phase that many of us have gone through.

Friday the 13th was one of my favorite horror film franchises and until that point I never dressed up as Jason Voorhees for Halloween so I wanted to see how it felt to live behind the hockey mask for a day. My least favorite film of the series, Jason Takes Manhattan was released a year earlier but it didn’t hinder me from deciding to be J.V. At that time, anyone who dressed as Jason for Halloween was considered to have a “copout” costume. That was the easiest way to go; the lazy man’s Halloween costume. I bought the mask real cheap and I recycled the knife from a Rambo Combat set I had and just slathered some fake blood on it!

My friends in the picture all had outstanding costumes. From left to right you’ll see my life long friend Greg who was way ahead of his time dressed in drag. This guy always had a great sense of humor and to think that he had the balls to dress as a woman when we were kids was awesome. I’m not sure if he would do it now though! I don’t remember too many kids dressed in drag back then. To make things even more bizarre, he was holding a bloody axe making him some sort of deranged cross dressing serial killer.

To the right of me is the absolute greatest homemade Flash costume ever. My best friend Frank kept his costume a secret for a whole month! Then, on Halloween day, after we all came back to school after going home to change for the school parade, he walked into class in full Flash costume and I was literally in awe. The Flash TV series was only a few episodes in and we were both hooked since we were DC comics freaks. The costume had that extra authenticity because there wasn’t even real Flash costumes or cowls available at that time so his mom just went ahead and made it for him herself! Beside The Flash was an awesome Invisible Man costume and underneath those wraps was my friend Steve. Superb costume!

Toxic Avenger vs. Jason Voorhees by deadhunterkd

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Toxie vs. Jason by deadhunterkd on Deviant Art

Horror buffs pined to see Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash in a Triple Threat Match. Eventually they got their chance in comic book form, but even as a huge horror fan I was never too interested in seeing Ash take on Freddy and Jason. I was actually left quite satisfied with the 2003 film, Freddy vs. Jason. It never seems to get much credit, but it stands up nicely with the rest of the respective films in each series. That was a feat considering it was made basically 10 years after the final films in the Freddy and Jason series (except Jason X).

After Freddy vs. Jason, there isn’t much more ground to cover. As the character of Freddy trades down to being inhabited by a new actor in the upcoming reboot of Nightmare on Elm Street, Jason is left scratching his hockey mask with his machete. Who better to face off with Camp Crystal Lake’s Jason Voorhees than New Jersey’s own superhero, The Toxic Avenger? As previously detailed at The Sexy Armpit here and here, the Friday the 13th series has several ties to the Garden State, so this sounds like a dream match to me! Of course, when you bring Lloyd Kaufman’s Toxie into the equation, there’s bound to be comedy involved, which works perfectly because Jason is usually the straight man. Imagine the possibilities? We may have the first Abbott and Costello of the horror genre on our hands.

Notice how Toxie sort of looks like Jason without his mask on? At the very least, I’d love to see this play out in a late night HBO animated movie or an online comic book mini series. Who do you think would win this freakish face off?