Often times Horror Movies feature great songs either directly related to the action, or just plain cool. Here’s a breakdown of all the Inclusive Tracks found on The Shindig.
Speaking of bizarre skin-flicks disguised as Disco Dracula films, let’s talk about Dracula Blows His Cool, a German sex comedy with a surprisingly interesting soundtrack.
When smut photographer and “Dracula” descendant Stan decides just shooting nudie pictures in his old family castle isn’t quite enough to keep it from being repossessed, he does what any self respecting Bavarian in 1979 would do. He opens a disco!
What ensues is a bevy of silly sex gags, tons of mistaken identity hi-jinx and some funny English dubbing. While certainly not even approaching good, there’s less amusing ways you could spend an hour and 20 minutes, if you like this sort of 70’s sex trash. I mean, check this out:
It’s at least worth a viewing.
Additionally, the film is filled with tons of fun (read: appropriately ludicrous if you have a horror-themed music blog) songs.
Most notable of course, and submitted for your approval this evening, is the 1979 hit Rock Me Dracula, performed by Mokka.
Mokka is an iteration from the brief musical career of Italian twins Nadia and Antonella Cocconcelli. Nadia and Antonella even appear in the film performing the tune. Or at least they appear dancing around with garden hoses and lip syncing to it poorly, anyway. But hey, we’ll take it!
Though played several times throughout the film, it is not included on the official Gerhard Heinz soundtrack for Dracula Blows His Cool, which has several potential Shindig inclusions like Graf Dracula and Disco Strip. Both of those songs are pretty great and may find their way into the playlist in their own right.
For now though, we’ll only indulge in the perfectly appropriate and extra referentialRock Me Dracula, from Mokka.
The Toxic Avenger Theme by Scott Casey is pretty damn Toxie, there’s no doubt about that. But for my money, nothing says “The Toxic Avenger” like Sandy Farnia’s leg warmin, synth-bassin, aerobicidin Body Talk.
Setting the stage for perhaps Troma’s most Tromatic and beloved film of all time – Lloyd Kaufman’s 1984 mold-breaking indie slasher, The Toxic Avenger.
While it’s certainly not out of place among the films featured on The Shindig, can The Toxic Avenger truly be considered a horror movie?
Well, being that it was Lloyd’s attempt to capitalize on the slasher craze of the early 80’s and that it started its life as The Health Club Horror, I think we definitely can. Toxie stalking his tormentors alone – one by one for his own horrific revenge – is the stuff of 80’s horror. Factor in his monstrous appearance and it’s Jaws-like slow reveal, and I think we’re looking at some genuine horror people.
All the humor and goofiness aside, Lloyd did something truly interesting and different with The Toxic Avenger. He made the slasher the hero (and a superhero at that) and simultaneously flipped both genre’s on their heads. He gave audiences a legitimate reason to root for the killer: an avenger for the common man, a slasher with a cause, a superhero that wasn’t affair to get his hands dirty.
Made a shoe-string budget and defining “reel” independence, this film gave a fledgling studio it’s mascot and craved their name into the history of cinema.
There’s just no denying the impact of The Toxic Avenger: the first superhero from New Jersey.
It had been a long time since I had sat down and watched Toxie’s back-to-back shot sequels, and I had completely forgotten about this tailor made tune sung by Scott Casey.
This one slightly jukes my (admittedly somewhat rigid) definition of a Title Track by being featured in the sequel and having the word “theme” tacked on the end, but I don’t think there’s any other word for this song.
It explicitly describes, in very detailed fashion, the events of the first film. And Scott enthusiastically chants the title over and over again, making for a textbook Title Track under any other circumstances.
So we’ll overlook the fact that it’s from Toxie’s second outing, and that it has the word theme slapped on there, and simply bask in the relentless 80’s power-synth-rock awesomeness of The Toxic Avenger Theme. Just listen to those falsettos! When Lloyd decided to give Toxie his own theme, he definitely didn’t skimp.
As I stated in an episode of Shindig Radio that you readers have yet to hear, most people seem to refer to our next song as “The Dead Are After Me.”
And once that chorus hits the first time, there’ll be no doubt in your mind why.
However, it is my assertion that this song, composed and performed by George Edward Ott, is actually a Title Track, despite its chorus.
See, the film itself only ever credits this tune as “Title Song” and George Edward does say the phrase “Raiders of the Living Dead.”
Says the title?
Claims it’s a title song?
Good enough for me, internet be damned.
Now, if George Edward Otthimself reaches out to me and says…
“No, ya moron. Listen to that chorus! Obviously the title of the song is “The Dead Are Are After Me.” What kind of idiot are you?
…then I’ll stand down. But until that day, I’m holding fast. This is a Title Track.
Either way, it’s a great little lo-fi piece of analog rock accompaniment that definitely belongs on this playlist, under any name.
As for the film, it’s a crack up. Featuring Flick from A Christmas Story as a industrious young inventor who accidentally turns his Grandfather’s laserdisc player into a death ray. Score.
There’s this Doctor on some prison island, and he’s turning dead convicts into Zombies, as ya do. That gets a little hairy and they’re running amuck. Then a reporter and a local librarian (yeah, it’s that kinda movie) get webbed up in this zombie business, but eventually they team up with Gramps and his recurve bow and Flick with his laser ray to save the day.
Top all that off with a Title Track like this, and you got yourself a kind of a winner.
If you’re a Shindig Radio fan, you’re no doubt familiar with our next tune, which we clowned around on pretty heavily during Title Tracks Part 4 last season.
It’s Teenage Exorcist, the Title Track which says the name of the film incessantly, while never really talking about the film at all. Even the title doesn’t make any sense. There’s an exorcist, but he’s hardly a teenager, played by 66 year old Count Yorga thespian, Robert Quarry.
Additionally, I’m not sure anyone appearing in the film is even in their 20’s, much less a teenager. Brinke Steven, whom the exorcism is performed on, was 37 at the time. Pizza delivery “boy” Eddie Deezen was 34. So much for that, I suppose.
Though, to clarify our “uninformed” query from that episode, this box art here to your right seems to suggest that, yes, someone (at least someone in marketing anyway) did in fact consider Deezen to be the “teenage” exorcist. Ok then.
Whomever this song is about, it’s a fun tune which, as Mikey and Graham so easily illustrated, can perfectly accommodate any 5 syllable movie title.
So try it out with your favorite 5 syllable movie title while we rock a little closer to Halloween 2021!
Since we’re talking about 80’s Monster comedies, and that subject is near and dear to my heart, let’s keep that theme running with our next track.
Way back in 2013, when the Halloween Shindig blog was in it’s infancy, we dropped Maria Vidal’sHands Off from the film Once Bitten. It’s a prominent feature in the film, which plays during the very memorable 3-way dance-off between Lauren Hutton, Kim Coppins and a young Jim Carrey.
Now, why it’s taken 8 years to get that same film’s Title Track in the rotation is anyone guess, particularly since it’s been in the bullpen since before The Shindig ever made its way to the internet. For shame.
This one comes from the relatively unknown synth-pop band out of Boston called 3 Speed. They were pretty much a local act until they’re manager randomly sent a demo tape off to MGM. So impressed, the studio immediately flew the band out to do some recording for a new film.
They enjoyed some moderate success after this tune too, opening for the likes of Pat Benatar, but they were never offered a full-on record deal. Mostly, they just appeared on film soundtracks. Their song Cry can be heard in the Linda Blair’s awesome crossbow ladened revenge actioner, Savage Streets. Packed among all the tunes in bizarro 80’s sci-fi musical Voyage of the Rock Aliens is their song Back on the Streets. And Wind Me Up is featured in 1986’s BMX freakout, Rad – a movie I love that I’ll probably have to crowbar into an Action Distractions episode at some point.
But for now, let’s keep this spooky with 3 Speedand their synth pop title tracks Once Bitten.
So, yesterday I talked about how Child’s Play and My Mom’s a Werewolf both contain the same song by D.B. Night. Now that’s a rather obscure track to be featured on either soundtrack, to be sure. But both? That’s even more bizarre.
On the surface, Child’s Play and My Mom’s a Werewolf don’t have much else in common. Although only 6 months separate their releases, they’re both produced, written and directed by completely different people.
However, if you dig a bit deeper, a common name appears, and it’s music supervisor David Chackler.
And Chackler’s no slouch, as he’s responsible for uniting Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks with Fleetwood Mac, bringing Queen to the United States and recording 2 Live Crew.
In the early 80’s David began working as a music supervisor in Hollywood. And if you take a browse through his storied filmography, a lot of Shindiggery starts making a lot more sense.
First and foremost, he was the music supervisor for Quiet Cool in 1986. Then in 1987, he provided that same duty for Dream Warriors, which draws an immediately line from the replacement of Dokken’sInto The Fire with an instrumental version of Joe Lamont’sQuiet Cool for the opening credits of Dream Warriors’ home video release. Pretty nifty.
Now flashback to 1985 and you’ll see David was the music supervisor for Tom Holland’s original horror hit, Fright Night. That film features one of the greatest title tracks of all time by the J. Geils Band. But do you know who actually wrote that song? Why it was Joe Lamont.
Sidestepping Joe Lamont for a moment, consider that David Chackler was the also supervisor on 1986’s rap classic Knights of the City. That movie, if you’re not familiar, features an awesome jail cell performance from Kurtis Blow and The Fat Boys. Well, guess what? David Chackler was also the music supervisor on A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4 and is directly responsible for TheFat Boys doing Are You Ready for Freddy. That alone makes this guy a Shindig legend, you ask me.
And speaking of The Dream Master, guess who also shows up on that soundtrack? Yep, it’s Joe Lamont, writing and performing a song called Pride and Joy.
And, since it’s what we’re here talking about, is Joe Lamont featured in My Mom’s a Werewolf? You bet he is, singing (as it happens) a version of his very own Fright Night!
I’m sorry, what?! And it’s playing a during a Halloween party? Get right outta town. I need to hunt down this version of that tune, pronto. Though I must say, my initial surface search proved fruitless. When (and if) I find it though, you’ll definitely be the first to know.
Considering all of this, it perhaps comes as less of a surprise that both Child’s Play and My Mom’s a Werewolf each feature the song I’m Hangin’ by 80’s heavy-hitters D.B. Night. David Chackler makes it happen.
And then, connecting these 2 films even further is our next Shindigger, You Bring Out the Werewolf in Me, written and performed by Simon Stokes, whom some of you may know as the guy behind The Chucky Song. Yep, same the track unceremoniously axed from…Child’s Play.
Filling the same role here, Simon’s light hearted track plays over the end credits in much the same way The Chucky Song should have. I guess the producers all felt it was more appropriate at the end of something like My Mom’s a Werewolf, and I can’t say I disagree.
Here’s Simon getting straight beastly with You Bring Out the Werewolf In Me!
Was there a bigger band in the 80’s than D.B. Night?
Yeah. All of them. Who the hell is D.B. Night?
I dunno, ’cause I couldn’t find fuck-all about them on the internet, but they do appear on 2 separate horror related soundtracks!
And it’s the same the tune too – a little piece of power-pop called I’m Hangin’, which shows up not only in the original Child’s Play but also in My Mom’s a Werewolf.
Apparently D.B. Nightonly had 1 album to their credit, the eponymous 4 track EP which thankfully contains I’m Hangin’. Here’s that EP in all its glory, hangin’ (as it were) in the Halloween Hole.
What I can tell you (other than that this EP cost next to nothing to have shipped to my door and is 100% responsible for the following information) is that D.B. Nightis the brain child of guitarist/vocalist combo of Bobby Boyle and Debbie Darnell. B.B. and D.D.? I guess that gets ya the D.B. anyway. The Night? Well, why not, it was 1983.
Back that up with the competent Bass work of Jim Bates and the impeccable timing of Dave Slap on drums and you’ve got yourself and engine room. Why Dave Slap isn’t on bass is anyone’s guess, as that might seem more appropriate. But hey, you can slap the drums too, so it’s not as out of place as it might seem.
Now, if you’re a big Child’s Play fan, you might be saying to yourself,
“Look, fellas. I’ve seen that movie 7 ways from Sunday, and I’ve never once heard no I’m Hangin’ by no D.B. whoever the fuck.”
And you wouldn’t be wrong.
Child’s Play has a fairly rare and strange soundtrack, in that it’s filled with a bunch of songs that are barely in the movie. I’m Hangin’ can be heard, if ever so slightly (and ever so briefly) as Chris Sarandon is getting choked-out by Chucky in his car. It plays for about 2 beats right as Chris is burning Chucky with the cigarette lighter. Trust me. I trawled the movie looking for this song, and it’s there, but man, it might as well not be.
As such, I’m gonna file this one under My Mom’s a Werewolf, as this song can be very clearly heard (also in a car, no less) as Suzanne Stokely is driving around town. She even sings along with it, which is always a nice bonus for this kinda thing.
So kick back in bask in some obscure 80’s power-pop courtesy of D.B. Night, Dave Slap and all.
With that bit of seasonal tabling setting out of the way, let’s move onto a straight up banger from Buddy Miles.
Buddy has quite storied musical career. He began early, playing in his dad’s band The Bebops. Then, as a teenager no less, he performed with acts such as Wilson Pickett and the Delfonics. Eventually Buddy teamed up with Mike Bloomfield to form Electric Flag and later became a founding member of Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys. Solid repertoire.
What’s more? Buddy is actually the lead singer of The California Raisins. Yep, Will Vinton’s iconically 80’s claymation spokes-band. That’s this guy. Well, I guess.
See, all of this info leads me to believe that Children of the Night, which sounds almost nothing like anything Buddy had been involved with up to that point, is sung by a totally different Buddy Miles altogether.
But apparently, no. After a bit of cross referencing, it seems that they are in fact the same Buddy Miles. Not shocking, given Buddy’s numerous musical projects, but if some new info came to light disputing that claim, I think I’d believe it.
But I’ll only I say “think” because Buddy here, whichever Buddy it may be, is straight belting it. And OG Buddy Miles can fuckin’ belt it. So yeah, maybe this really is that Buddy Miles, cause this tune is a stone cold jam.
You can find it playing during Cheryl’s dance at The Club 69 in Larry Cohen and William Lustig’s more than worthy follow-up, Maniac Cop 2.
Now, I never went to any in a strip clubs in 1990. At least none that I remember anyway, so I can’t confirm if this is the sort of thing they would have been playing. It certainly isn’t anything close to something I’ve heard in a strip club, but maybe that’s how they got down 30 years ago. I dunno. Or maybe I’m just goin to the wrong damn strip clubs, cause if I went to one that was bumpin tracks from the Maniac Cop 2 soundtrack, I’d pull up a stool and open a fuckin’ tab, real quick.
So let’s do just that, and maybe even hit the buffet, as we join Buddy and his new fiends, the Children of the Night, for a little October striptease.
If you’re here reading this, the chances are pretty good that you love ‘em too.
But for as influential and important as they are to Heavy Metal, they aren’t intrinsically tied to Halloween or Horror, at least not in my mind anyway.
Sure, I could throw on band anthem Black Sabbath, say it’s referential, add some samples and call it a day. But the fact of the matter is, that song’s not really about that movie at all. Besides, for as much as I like that tune, it’s a bit laborious for a party playlist.
Or, following a natural progression, I could tap Ozzy Osbourne himself and select generic Halloween Playlist mainstay Bark at the Moon, but I won’t.
Despite the monstrous nature of the song, and of course, Greg Canom’s fantastic prosthetic work for Ozzy’s wolf-like transformation, I’ve never really associated that song with Halloween.
It’s certainly a song you hear a lot around Halloween, but I dunno, doesn’t feel Halloweeny to me.
I think, more to the point though, it’s an Ozzy song I don’t care for that much. It’s a good enough tune, don’t get me wrong. I won’t change it if it comes on the radio, but it’s not one of my favorites from the man.
But, if you’re Halloween Shindig, you’ve gotta have a more suitable solution to the problem, right? Surely Ozzy’s songs have been all over the movies, Horror movies to boot.
Well, not exactly. Strangely enough, Ozzy hasn’t really been tapped that often by the pictures. And the first time he was ever included on any soundtrack at all happened to be the same year this song was released. Coincidence? Knowing record execs, probably not.
That year was 1986.
That film was The Wraith.
And that song was Secret Loser.
From Ozzy’s 4th solo album, Ultimate Sin, comes this 4-on-the-floor, pedal-to-the-metal Rock ‘N Roll race car rumbler that kicks the tires and lights the fires.
Now, you could argue that The Wraith isn’t exactly a horror film, so this song doesn’t exactly qualify. And, to a certain extent, I’d agree. The Wraith doesn’t exactly feel like a typical horror movie.
But let’s check the facts.
A guy is killed and then returns from the dead as a ghost to enact deadly revenge on the people responsible for his murder. Sounds like a horror movie to me gang. In fact, it even sounds strangely familiar
I often like to argue that The Wraith was ripped off almost wholesale by a much more celebrated gothic-horror film of some report, known as The Crow. There’s even a character named Skank in both films. Coincidence? How bout the fact that The Wraith has a Gutterboy and The Crowhas a Funboy? Ok, that ones a stretch, but still kinda weird in context.
You could come at me with the fact that The Crow is based on a graphic novel by James O’Barr and that’s where those names and plot come from. You’d be right, but that comic was also published 3 years after this movie released and maybe James O’Barr was a big Charlie Sheen fan, I dunno. I’m just saying, smells a little Wraith-like to me.
All I’m really saying is, if I threw a My Life With the Thrill Kill Cult, or Nine Inch Nails song on here song from The Crow, there wouldn’t be any question. And since The Wraith is basically a more fun, 80’s, racecar version of The Crow, …with Sheryiln Fenn, Clint Howard and Randy Quaid mind you…it’s a perfectly reasonable addition.
So keep that in mind while listening to this much cooler song, from this much cooler movie.
As mentioned a few tracks back, the body jumping, insectoid alien creature from The Hidden has a penchant for loud music.
He’s also rude as shit.
He blast his loud ass music all over the place – on the sidewalk, at a nice family restaurant and from whatever stolen car he’s just peeled out in. He even beats the hell out of a poor record store clerk in order to steal a boom box. What can I say, the thing knows what it wants.
As such, The Hidden soundtrack is loaded with some pulse poundin’ tunes. My favorite of the bunch is On Your Feet. You can hear this one early on in the film, while the Hank Jennings form of the alien is recklessly tearing ass around Downtown L.A., killing cops and blasting through roadblocks. It’s a hell of a tune, and right up ole Shindig alley. And when you’re me, the first thing you think of when hearing a song of this nature, in a movie of this nature is “Who the hell is this, does it exist outside of this movie, and where can I fit it on the playlist?”
Well, it’s Shok Paris. Yes it does. And, apparently, right after a double-shot of W.A.S.P.
Now, Shok Paris was a band I was a little shoked to see in the credits of The Hidden. I’m no authority on music by any means, let’s get that out of the way. Sure, I have this blog here, and I can probably answer a few questions regarding the specific 277 songs that have preceded this one, but no expert does that make me, not even on those 277 songs.
You could certainly say I’m a guy who likes himself some 80’s metal. But again, I’m no scholar on that matter, either. I’ve heard of some bands, and I’m familiar with some of the ones that have had songs like this in movies like this. But there’s a metric fuck-ton of 80’s metal, of varying varieties, and I’m not up on all of them, Shok Paris included. My apologies, Lou Kiss.
So, I couldn’t tell you how familiar everyone else is, and how familiar I should have been with Shok Paris. But, what I can tell you however, is how familiar I am with them now.
Shok Pariswas a local Cleveland group who eschewed the typically cover-band trap and launch directly into writing original songs. In 1984, they released their 1st record, Go For the Throat. However, it was their 1986 album, Steel and Starlight, that produced the 2 songs used in The Hidden, a move which afforded the band perhaps it’s widest exposure.
After opening for such acts a Savatage, and fellow Shindigger’s Lizzy Borden, Shok Paris hung it up in 1989. Which, given the musical landscape’s shifting terrain, probably wasn’t the worst idea they could have had.
So here’s to Shok Paris, for tearing it up on The Hidden with On Your Feet!
I’m not sure really which way the Ghoulies winds are blowing these days. I’m not out there on the streets catching the general consensus regarding a 30 year old rubber monster franchise no one with real concerns has actual time to give a shit about.
A quick, but not completely unrelated sidenote: this is my cat named Ghoulie. Seen here when she was just a kitten, hangin’ out with some pumpkins back before this website existed. She didn’t come out of a toilet or anything, but we did find her in a bush. And I’m sure someone pissed in that bush at some point, so there’s that.
Anyway, back to the real, but still fake, Ghoulies.
So yeah, I dunno how people feel about this shit, but if you ask me, I’m a Ghoulies 2 guy all day long.
Now, I would never suggest Ghoulies is high drama. It’s plenty silly. But it’s not quite silly enough, given the context. It takes itself just a tad too seriously for a movie with little monsters raising hell.
On the other hand, Ghoulies III is almost too silly. It’s fun and all, and I likeseeing the Ghoulies in a cliched College romp, complete with threats of expulsion, panty raids and full scenes of Kevin McCarthy arguing with rubber monsters. But the concept is taken to its goofy extreme.
Ghoulies IV? That one’s just of a mess of a thing, really. It barely even feels like a Ghoulies movie for the most part.
Ah, but Ghoulies 2? Now, that’s silly in the best and most appropriate way.
Additionally, Buechler’s Ghoulie puppets are a definite improvement the 2nd time around. They look good in part 3 also, but I think I like their look best in part 2.
Plus, you get Royal Dano, genre vet Phil Fondacaro, and that guy from Dazed and Confused that never seems to be in enough shit.
Then they throw all of that into a carnival featuring an animatronic monster filled house of horrors called Satan’s Den? C’mon, what better locale for a movie about demonic little puppet monsters? They tie a guy to a pit and pendulum in front of a roomful of excited children that think its a gag. It’s great. What more do you want?
Well, how bout some rockin 80’s hair metal?
No problem.
Compliments of Blackie Lawless and the W.A.S.P. gang again, here’s Scream Until You Like It.
Where are my tunes!?
Interesting side note, Halloween fans: I just noticed while rewatching Shindig favorite Trick Or Treat, that this is the song Nuke fires up on that fine fine Rocktober morning. Now, I don’t know if everyone already knew this, but I’ve seen that movie I don’t even know how many times and that’s the first goddamn time I ever noticed. Granted, I happened to be editing something for the show using a clip from the movie, and had my headphones on. Perhaps that made the difference. But yeah, Scream Until You Like It can boast being featured in both Ghoulies 2 and Trick Or Fuckin’ Treat?
I might just need to update that Super Soundtrack…
A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 5 has a pretty notorious soundtrack.
2 Golden Raspberry nominations for Worst Song of the Year, including the recipient of that award, Bruce Dickenson’s unfortunately listless solo version of Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter. In fairness, that was a song even a fully assembled Iron Maidencouldn’t make much better.
The other nominee, Kool Moe D’s Let’s Go, isn’t such a bad song by itself. In the context of A Nightmare on Elm Street though, it does kinda feel like a lazy attempt to rebottle the lightning of Are You Ready for Freddy without any of the referential charm that made that song so great.
2 unspectacular Freddy tracks, to be sure. You won’t be seeing either turning up on the playlist, I can say that. Worst Songs From a Film: 1989? I dunno about all that.
Incidentally, that Kool Moe D song a diss track aim squarely at L.L. Cool J, as apparently the two had been feuding around that time. Way to go, music supervisors Kevin Benson and Neil Portnow. I’ll bet that isn’t the only ball you guys dropped on this production.
Nope, because buried on this soundtrack, almost so’s you wouldn’t even notice, is this pedal-down metaller from Blackie Lawless and the boys of W.A.S.P.
Savage, a preexisting W.A.S.P. song, is totally wasted in the film, playing only briefly as an ambient background track during a graduation pool party at Springwood High.
It’s even more of a waste knowing the following scene finds Dan being attacked in his truck by Freddy while listening to the radio. What a perfect time to utilize this perfect, 4-on-the-floor rocker that was just playing mere seconds earlier.
It’s even more of an inexplicable waste once you consider that immediately after this, Dan jumps on a Yamaha VMax and it turns into Moto-Freddy at top speed. This song is literally about driving the open road on a motorcycle…like a savage. A fully squandered opportunity.
But, that’s probably a microcosm of The Dream Child as a whole, which is easily my least favorite numbered installment. A rushed production, edited deaths and multiple script revisions all coming together to form the sort of under-cooked mess that is Freddy’s 5th outing.
Don’t get me wrong, like any Elm Street, it’s got some great moments. It’s got the aforementioned Moto-Freddy scene, a largely likeable cast, Super Freddy and his AH-HA dream sequence. But, attempting to illuminate Freddy’s origin, it’s seemingly desperate inclusion of a pregnancy, it’s nonsensical ending and it’s lack of any real Elm Street kids just make it definitely feel like Freddy in decline.
So, let’s unearth the goodness of W.A.S.P.’s unfortunately buried Savage. Let’s put it on Halloween Shindig’s open road of sprawling, horror-paved blacktop, so it can finally ride free.
Welcome back Weeners, to the abundant musical bosom of Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives.
When we last saw Court and Vicki, they were being assaulted to the smooth sounds of Alice Cooper‘s Teenage Frankenstein.
But we’re gonna jump back in time here a bit, to just before Court starts bombing down Forest Green Drive in Horrace’s RV. It is here, in that same RV, that couple takes part in a time-honored Friday The 13th tradition – banging at Crystal Lake.
Of course, this is never a good idea when Jason’s on the prowl, which he most certainly is if we’re allowed access, but that has never stopped any of these promiscuous youths before.
Here’s the big guy as he tries to make heads or tails of this RV’s a-rockin’.
Providing the beat for that rockin’ is none other than Graduation Day’s own Felony.
Times have changed a little in intervening years though and they sound just a bit different. A little less Doobie Brothers and a little more Kenny Loggins.
Court just has to make it through the song here, and he’s home free. Vicki tells him it’s only 10 more minutes, which wouldn’t be far off if this was Gangster Rock. Fortunately for Court (and us,) it’s I’m No Animal, and it’s only 3 and a half minutes.
And for Court, it’s even shorter, cause Jason pulls the plug on this ugly-bump inside of a minute. Good call.
Understandably, Vicki’s a little freaked out by this. So, Court hits the gas and gets them speeding away from any trouble. Only Jason’s already stowed himself away on the RV, and now he’s just biding his time.
And we all know how that ends for them.
But Court and Vicki don’t. So, let’s allow them one final, blissfully unaware moment of lust before their Friday fates are sealed. And let’s let Felony set the mood.
Some songs that appear in horror movies aren’t referential. That’s OK. Some of the best songs on the playlist are purely inclusive. Fast As a Shark,Goo Goo Muck, Angel of Death. All great.
But sometimes they’re more than just not referential. Sometimes they seem totally out of place. But even that’s OK. Everybody But You, Computer Date, Love Is a Lie. Still good stuff. In fact, I’d argue they’re the backbone of this playlist.
Most often, you’ll get these if a band makes a surprise cameo in the movie, playing their tune live at a party or a school dance. Usually this is a nice treat, like Maria Videl in Once Bitten. Sometimes it’s a dirty trick, like The Offspring in Idle Hands.
And just as much might be the case with LA Rock outfit Felony, who are performing at the titular dance in the the film Graduation Day. Their song Gangster Rock seems just a little out of place.
But I get it. It makes plenty of sense that a band would perform a completely innocuous song that’s totally unrelated to the horrific goings-ons around them. Goings-ons of which they are completely unaware. It’s perfectly reasonable. Logically, I might even say it’s preferred. Why would a band, playing a normal Graduation Day dance be playing some spooky or otherwise horrifying jam?
But that’s inner logic. The outer logic is you’re a music supervisor and you should theme it up. And if you’re gonna hard pass on that, at least grab a better song than fuckin Gangster Rock. Which, while not the terrible (I mean, I am including it) is far from the best.
Classic rock fans will immediately note its flagrant similarity to a much more famous song called China Groove by the much more famous Doobie Brothers. Seriously, is this China Groove? It sounds exactly like China Groove. In fairness though, it’s probably the song’s saving grace. Making your tune sound like a more famous hit isn’t the worst move you can make. More famous have engaged in more overt and made more money doing it. So hey.
But more importantly, even under a favorable light, Gangster Rock overstays it’s welcome. Well overstays it.
Now, I could be mistaken, but I doubt Gangster Rock is a 7 and half minute song. But it keeps playing, in almost comic mockery, for what appears to be an impossible amount of time for a song of this nature.
It starts innocently enough, with Felony adorned in some vaguely prohibition-era mobster attire, playing live on stage while kids cut a rug and…roller skate? Sure why not, it’s 1981.
And that’s all well and good for a spell, but the song just won’t end. It powers on, rebelling against all previous notions of pop-rock architecture, approaching an, I’d almost say Prog-Rock level, if it weren’t so blatantly repetitive.
Ultimately, it gets dragged over poor Linnea’s Quigley death at the hands of an aggressive bee-keeper. Wait, he had a sword. Hmm, I’m gonna say he was a fencer. It’s easy to get confused with Gangster Rock stabbing at your cochlea.
Since I couldn’t track down an official release from Felony containing Gangster Rock, I’ve grabbed it directly from the film. However, for the sake of your own sanity, I’ve employed some clever editing to spare you it’s ungodly runtime. Cause no one should be ask to deal with almost 8 minutes of Gangster Rock. Hell, even the 3 and change I’m subjecting you too here is of suspect length.
So grab a fencing mask, strap on a pair of roller skates and do the China Groove…I mean Gangster Rock.
Too Farby Jim Cushinery, Ken Brown and Michael Linn
For the salacious among you, it may be of interest to know that Night Screams provides some much needed nudity no less than 10 seconds into it’s runtime. Not a record I’m sure, but disarmingly quick.
Eagle-eyed slasher fans could be forgiven for thinking it all looks very familiar. That’s not surprising, because you’re actually just watching Graduation Day, an act you’re sharing with 2 of Night Screams characters. And you’re gonna see more.
It’s a strange move, but not the boldest move Night Screams has on offer.
Seems that none of the film’s actresses signed on for getting buff, so director Allen Plone (Phantom of the Ritz) judiciously added in random clips of nudity to make up the difference. He even went as far as to use some actual pornography. Nothing graphic, but still.
You’ll be treated to classic porn icons like Seka and Honey Wilder. You also get Linnea Quigley, but only via the Graduation Day clips. You also get Bobby from The Karate Kid, but he doesn’t get naked.
You’ll also get, at no extra charge, a sometimes amusing, but largely yawn inducing, late-in-the-game slasher that can only be recommended to either completists or the terminally bored.
But, as you’re well aware, there must be some great music to be had, or else what the hell are we talking about, right?
Well, of a sort. There’s a good amount of garbage 80’s sub-rock on display and I think that’s definitely worth noting. Additionally, I rather enjoy the score for Night Screams. It’s minimalistic, synthy and very 80’s. But that’s not what we’re featuring here today.
What we’ve chosen to highlight for the playlist is a bit more poppy. It’s my favorite of the low budget tracks featured in Night Screams, but it really only appears briefly during the film.
Then unfortunately, the movie ends on some lethargic trumpet jazz you wouldn’t even use to put your fish to sleep.
But wait, what’s happening here? Night Screamshas decided to show each of its low-rent murders again during the credits for no particular reason? By God, it’s another bold move. Wait, the trumpet music is fading…c’mon play it..play it….
And then it starts. The exact song I was looking to include. Sometimes you get a fortuitous lie. In this case, it’s an untitled Track I’ve given to calling Too Far.
Performed (I guess) by Jim Cushinery, Ken Brown and Michael Linn – the credits aren’t terribly specific. Their names are attached, but only generally speaking.
But the killings keep going. Oh man. What’s happening now? Oh, they’ve decided to replay some more of that budget rock. Ah, I remember this one. It’s that song from the night club called Chill Out. Hmmm.
Yeah, I’ll just pull the cord on this right here I guess. I think including Chill Out too might be going Too Far.
I love The Stuff. You probably do too. The Stuff is great. It kills all the bad things inside us.
Larry Cohen’s 1985 send up of consumer-culture plays like an Invasion of the Body Snatcherfor the Reagan Era.
It’s fun and light, yet still decidedly unsettling. Maybe that’s because, despite its outlandish premise, its various parts feel so completely believable. You can actually imagine everything playing out this way, should an invasive alien organism present itself as a tasty new dessert. From the corporate feeding frenzy, to the social obsession, to the aggressive marketing campaign, The Stuff’s absurdity feels genuinely authentic.
Which leads us here. There’s no shortage of commercial jingles in The Stuff. There’s even a pretty fantastic extended track about The Stuff. Unfortunately as of yet, despite my longing, this song has not presented itself in isolation.
So, I’ve taken the 2 instances of the song featured in the film and tried to splice them into something resembling a complete version.
Additionally, I’ve surrounded it with other Stuff related promotional material, just for kicks.
Hey, is that Ave Vagoda? Yep.
Graduation Daywill be right back after a word from our sponsor.
The Winnerby Lance Owg, Gabriel Rohels & David Cole
Whenever I throw on an 80’s slasher flick I’ve never seen, I want it to sound exactly like The Boogeyman. It lets you know, right out of the gate, that a certain vibe is headed your way. The shoulders relax a bit and you can settle right into that warm, grainy fuzz of analog era horror.
In the event that the movie doesn’t sound like The Boogeyman however, I want it to sound exactly like Graduation Day; the sort of upbeat, discoed-out answer to that sound.
Can you beat this song? Sure. There’s a whole host of of better songs. There’s even better songs that have started off other horror movies. But if you’re giving me some B-grade horror movie bullshit, raise the flag. And it’s a short list of songs raising that flag higher than The Winner.
Listen to this thing. Are you kiddin’ me with this song? Lance Owg (which is a great name by the way) teams up Gabriel Rohels and David Cole to produce a song so suited to its surroundings, so perfectly a product of its era, so seemingly at odds with the movie, yet so wonderfully in tune with it, that you almost have to stand in awe.
Played over an extended slow motion montage of a highschool track and field competition, it’s priming you for an evening of go-for-the-gold and give-it-your-all horror. Whether Graduation Day makes good on that promise is a bit dubious. Ultimately, that’s up to you, but I like it well enough.
From 1981, right in the thick of the action, it skimps ya a bit on the gore, but there’s plenty of hallmarks here for slasher lovers to embrace; sub-par acting, strange behavior, a live rock band performing at a dance (more on them later) and, of course, some nudity.
In fact, The Queen herself, Linnea Quigley, was cast to replace an actress that would not fulfill her contractual nudity clause. And when you’re in a tight spot, you need to bring in a big gun, and our girl Linnea’s about as big a gun as you can get. Maybe not in 1981, sure, but in retrospect, it’s a serious pull.
Sorry. Linnea gets me sidetracked every time. What were we talkin’ about again? Oh yeah, a song. And a questionable song, to say the least.
Is this a song people wanna hear? I dunno. I doubt it. It’s a song I wanna hear and that counts for something, I think. At least around here, anyway.
Is it a song people are gonna associate with Halloween? Probably gonna go with a big “no” on that one too. But there’s no shortage of songs like that on this playlist.
Is it a song your party goers are gonna wanna hear on Halloween? 2+2 still equals 4, so this one, maybe not such a big hit at the party. Though certainly danceable, you can’t deny.
But, is it Shindig Material? Oh, you better believe…it’s a winner. The Winner, in fact.
Haunted is one of those weird, toothless horror flicks that didn’t seem to get the memo about what the hell was going down with the rest of the genre in the late 70’s.
Mostly, it just feels like an overlong episode of some 70’s TV show you never liked that somehow managed to escaped to the big screen, doubled-billed with something people might have actually wanted to see.
Consensus seems to be that it’s a Horror film. I guess you could call it that, as there is the ghost of an Indian woman talking out of some weird payphone we see installed at the edge of a cemetery for no particular reason. Oh, and a guy attempts murder at one point.
Though only a refreshing 80 minutes in length, it takes about 50 for anything even close to horrific to take place. And then, it takes another 25 for something else resembling horror to come to pass. And even then, you’ll likely be pretty unimpressed.
It isn’t a complete loss however, depending on how much you enjoy strange overdubbed dialogue, nudity for nudity’s sake, weird cigar-store Indians that look like regular-ass dudes and Aldo Ray drunkenly shouting all his lines in that awesome raspy voice of his. Those things go some distance for guy like me. It’s enough to make it mildly watchable in the moment, but not much beyond that. I doubt I’ll be firing up Haunted anytime soon to get a fix of anything. Well, except maybe Aldo Ray. He is pretty great here.
What does set Haunted apart however, as you might have already guessed, is a pretty fantastic opening credit song called Indian Woman.
Sung by Billy Vera, who’s hit single, At This Moment, initially fell on deaf ears when it was released in 1981. But then, it found its way onto an episode of Family Ties in 1985, where a little bit of that Michael J. magic rubbed off and sent the track to #1.
Michael and fellow Family Ties actress, Tracy Pollan, shared their first kiss to that tune while shooting the scene. Shortly after sharing the screen again in Bright Lights, Big City, the two got married. Michael J. later said the couple couldn’t get on a dance floor anywhere in the world for almost 10 years without hearing At This Moment come flying out of the speakers.
If you’re not one of those big Family Ties enthusiasts, or particularly up on your 80’s ballads, you may still be familiar withVera , albeit through another avenue.
As a struggling musician, Billy started taking acting gigs to make ends meet. He then landed himself a role as Pinky Carruthers in a little Peter Weller movie called The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. That’s weird.
Check him out here with his green fedora and John Parker. Yep. This guy, from this other weird-ass movie, sings this weird-ass song from this weirder-ass movie.
Hey, maybe you’re a 90210 fan! Maybe you even remember him as Brandon Walsh’s bookie, Duke Weatherhill?
Maybe not. I know I don’t. I just read that 5 minutes ago while researching Billy Vera. But, hey, maybe you do.
Either way, it seems Billy isn’t too proud of his work here on Haunted, as neither his Wikipedia entry nor his own website (containing his entire discography) makes any mention of Indian Woman. Can’t imagine why.
Perhaps it’s not the same Billy Vera? I dunno. Were there 2 different Billy Veras that were famous singers around this time? I guess it’s possible. I was wrong about Paul Williams. And there is that whole Cat’s Eye/Ray Stephens spelled Ray Stevens business. So conflating 2 different Billy Vera’s here is a distinct possibility.
All I know for sure is that if I was the guy responsible for this bizarro 70’s horror crooning, you better believe I’d be pullin’ up a table at the HorrorHound straight bumpin’ this shit, signin’ 8×10 glossies of Pinky Carruthers and Haunted one-sheets. Given, of course, I was in fact that same guy who did both.
Since I can’t actually do most of that, I’ll just do the one thing I can and bump this shit.
Here’s the sleeper hit of 2020. The probably retroactively offensive, and thus perhaps under-celebrated winner, Indian Woman.
I probably agree with whatever you just said to yourself, whatever it was. I’m pretty flexible on this one.
I will say that I mostly enjoy it, though. I like the tone and it’s late 70’s disco vibe. It’s what I want out of a slasher, aesthetically speaking. Donny’s pretty great too, and watching him be a socially inept weirdo is its own kind of charming.
And it certainly kicks off delivering the goods. Problem is, it pulls back on the reigns a little too much in the middle. Ultimately, it ramps back up again to a somewhat satisfactory level before the end, but you can feel a crazier movie just wanting to bust out here. Should have just keep the hammer down, you ask me.
That being said, it’s still a fun enough slasher with a some pretty memorable moments none the less.
More importantly for us though, it features one thumpin-ass disco banger of a Sweet Song in Struck By Boogie Lightning.
Though pretty discoed out itself, I’m still not sure if Don’t Go In The House should wrap it all up with something like Stuck by Boogie Lightning. You could accuse it of being tonally inconsistent. I don’t. But you could.
Personally, given the rest of the disco tunes scattered throughout the film, it doesn’t sound out of place at all. But, it does seem a little upbeat for whatever the hell we just watched. Sometimes that’s just what you need with a movie like this though.
So I’m glad it ends with this song though, cause it’s awesome and I wouldn’t know about it otherwise. So, hats off gang.
Though called simply “Boogie Lightning” in the film’s credits and attributed to producer/writer Bill Heller, the song was released under the moniker L’Etrique as Struck by Boogie Lightning in 1979. While essentially the same exact song, the film’s version plays for about 2 minutes and only features the words “Struck by Boogie Lightning.”
The official L’Etriqueversion, however, is a nearly 8 minute disco opus which will surely bring you to your boogie knees.
Somewhere between my almost autistic pursuit of purity and a sense of goddamn common decency, lies this truncated (though still expanded) Halloween Shindig version. It’s longer and more complete than what the movie provides, yet slices out a lot of the repetition and the open ended disco breakdown of the official release.
This is one of those Shindig tunes where, if you’re not familiar with the film, it just seems like a bizarre addition. But if you are familiar with the film, it’s one of those tracks that just needs to be included. This song grooves man, and it’s one my absolute favorite additions of 2020.
So, build a weird murder room and grab your flamethrower or hell, maybe just smash a candle into some innocent girl’s poor face and burn the whole goddamn disco down.
