Evil Dead

TRACK #38:

Evil Dead by Death

In honor of the trailer that’s mysteriously making everyone forget how mediocre and soulless the last 10 plus years in Remakewood have been, I’m bumpin’ up this track from gore-sicians Death.

In a fitting coincidence, this song is titled Evil Dead, rather than The Evil Dead, which could assist in one’s argument that the song isn’t actually about The Evil Dead, but rather just some run-o-the-mill dead of a generically evil nature.

Lyrically, I think it could go either way. While indeed Chuck Schuldiner doesn’t say anything wholly specific to Sam Raimi’s 1981 trailblazing gorefest, there’s enough material here to make an argument that it is referential. Lines like “Spirits within causing terror,” “All will die tonight” or even quite simply “Covered in blood,” certainly evoke images of The Evil Dead.

But if you told me Chuck wasn’t referring to the film at all, that wouldn’t surprise me either.
Cut in with tons of clips from The Evil Dead (as I am now forced to specify), here’s the ultimate experience in grueling metal.

Listen to this….this is the tape i found downstairs….

Witchfinder General

TRACK #34:

Witchfinder General by Witchfinder General

Sometimes bands name songs after horror movies.

Some bands even name whole albums after horror movies.

And sometimes they go full-bore and just name the whole goddamn band after a horror movie.

Such is the case with British doom-smiths Witchfinder General.

What’s more, they even have a band anthem. That’s a triple threat.

Led in and peppered with samples from the band’s 1968 namesake starring Vincent Price.

If you’ve never heard of the film, perhaps you’re familiar with The Conqueror Worm (which has this bad news poster right here) as it was billed in America. Huhwhaa?

The unnecessary title change was in an effort to sell the movie as another in the line of Corman/Price/Poe hits, which it most certainly was not.

It is however an interesting (albeit a little slow) abuse of power tale with a pretty creepy and understated performance from Price and lots of great shots of the English countryside.

If you’re down with movies like Mark of the Devil, The Blood on Satan’s Claw (considered by Tigon Productions to be Witchfinder’s successor) or even The Devils, then Witchfinder General might just have exactly what you’re looking for.

Nightmare

TRACK #27:

Nightmare by Tuesday Knight

When it comes to horror movie icons, no one quite has the pop music angle cornered like Freddy Krueger.

The Shindig features multiple offerings from Freddy’s eurythmic career, from metal, to 80’s dance pop and even 2 monster raps.

First up from Krueger and Co. comes the not-quite-Title Track from A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4: The Dream Master.

Nightmare is interesting as it is performed by actress Tuesday Knight, who plays Kristen Parker in the film, the role originally held by Patricia Arquette in Dream Warriors.

Ghouls Night Out

TRACK #25:

Ghouls Night Out by The Misfits

Webster’s defines Ghoul as

legendary evil being that robs graves and feeds on corpses
one suggestive of a ghoul; especially : one who shows morbid interest in things considered shocking or repulsive

So basically, we’re all ghouls. And if there was ever a night for ghouls, it was Halloween.

So, take it away boys.

(Cut in with Stephen Weber from Tales from the Crypt’s S3 Episode Mournin’ Mess, and well, that’s Bill the Butcher at the end there from Gangs of New York.)

Tales From The Crypt (Theme)

TRACK #23:

Tales From the Crypt Theme by Danny Elfman

With so much representation on the Shindig, in one form or another, it’s strange to see we’ve gotten this far without including Danny Elfman.

Easily my favorite anthology-form horror offering, HBO’s Tales From the Crypt positively scared the shit out of me in my youth, largely thanks to its creepy intro with that incredible model, the Cryptkeeper bounding from his coffin like a ghoulish jack in the box, and Elfman’s eerie theme here.

Perhaps my favorite theme of all time, and certainly my favorite of Elfman’s (maybe with The Simpson’s catching a close 2nd), creeping us a little further into the Shindig, here’s Tales from The Crypt.

TerrorVision

TRACK #22:

TerrorVision by The Fibonaccis

Before Full Moon became synonymous with “shitty movie”, Charlie Band had Empire Pictures, which produced a fair amount of good genre offerings like Re-Animator, Ghoulies, From Beyond and Prison, just to name a few.

Among them was TerrorVision, a 1986 film you can easily catch on Netflix these days and won’t be disappointed with,…supposin’ you like that sort of thing.

And that sort of thing is ridiculous (not ridiculously bad, however) horror. With Charlie Band’s name attached, we could be walking into that territory, but TerrorVision manages to be 80’s enough and fun enough to avoid such trappings and deliver a flick that doesn’t take itself at all seriously and has a good time with some silly creature and gore effects.

Plus it’s got The Phantom of Paradise’s Beef, Garret Graham as the Dad and Jon Gries as his daughter’s punked-out boyfriend named O.D., and that’s gotta be worth a viewing.

From TerrorVision comes TerrorVision, the Title Track performed by the Fibonaccis.

This Is The Night (Trick Or Treat)

TRACK #21:

This Is The Night (Trick or Treat) by Lou Rawls

I don’t know bout y’all, but when I was a kid, only one thing meant Halloween and that was Garfield’s Halloween special.

6 years before The Simpsons would forever lace itself in my brain to this Eve of the Dead, Garfield was digging through costumes in John’s attic, trick or treating with Odie, and getting lost in a row boat.

The most memorable aspect of Garfield’s Halloween Adventure, other than those goddamn ghost pirates scaring the living shit out of me, was the music.

The first cut from this classic holiday cartoon is the opening number by Lou Rawls, lead in by our old pal Binky The Clown. Enjoy.

See You In Hell

TRACK #18:

See You In Hell by Grim Reaper

Well, we’re almost 20 songs into the Shindig, and we’ve yet to supply any songs in the Devilish category.

What can i say? Its my least favorite category, as I don’t tend to think of the Devil or Hell as particularly Halloweeny. Yeah, the two go hand and hand, I suppose, but there’s a shit load of songs talkin’ bout the Devil, and you can’t fit ‘em all into one Halloween playlist.

But, I have a soft spot for this song, and it’s band, Grim Reaper, and I just like hearing it, and Halloween’s as good an excuse as any to get it into a rotation.

Perhaps the most ridiculous song you can imagine, sung by the most ridiculous group of dudes you can imagine, See You In Hell features one of the most repetitious choruses you’re liable to hear.

In fact, the phrase “See You In Hell” appears in the song a total of 38 times in a matter of 4 minutes. That’s an average of a “See You In Hell” every 6 and a half seconds. That’s pretty incredible. It’s probably a world record.

Ushered in with a little help from a Devilish Ned Flanders and a desperately hungry Homer Simpson, I’ll see you in hell, my friends.

Shocker

TRACK #16:

Shocker by The Dudes of Wrath

Once in a while a song is not only about a horror movie, or just featured in that horror movie but it’s named after the goddamn thing too. It’s the trifecta, the hat trick, the triple threat – it’s the Title Track, and little else ever competes.

Regretfully, Title Tracks mostly appear to be a thing of the past. Maybe they seem too corny or passe to modern filmmakers. However, dig around through the 80’s and early 90’s and these fuckers are everywhere, probably more out of some ridiculous sense of cross media marketing than any real attempt to make something awesome,…unless your talking about today’s Title Track, Shocker.

Whatever your opinion of Shocker (its definitely not Craven’s finest hour and a half) its soundtrack is out of control.

A supergroup like Voltron assembles from nowhere to rock your pumpkins off.

Paul Stanley, Desmond Child and Alice Cooper show up to sing.

Vivian Campbell and Guy Mann-Dude from Def Leppard stop by to shred.

Whitesnake’s Rudy Sarzo picks up the bass and Mötley Crüe hammer Tommy Lee keeps the beat.

Add in some backing vocals by Van Halen’s Michael Anthony and Cooper guitarist Kane Roberts and you got yourself a genuine fuckin’ supergroup to end all supergroups.

What’s more, these guys got together specifically for this soundtrack and never again. To top it all off they called themselves The Dudes of Wrath, a pun I’m not sure makes any goddamn sense, but is still pretty awesome none-the-less.

So bang your head for the dearly departed Horace Pinker, nobody may ever see him again.

I Was A Teenage Werewolf

TRACK #15:

I Was a Teenage Werewolf by The Cramps

I love The Cramps, so you can believe there’s as many Cramps songs on The Shindig as I can justify within my categorization. At present, I believe that number is 5.

First one from Lux and Co. is I Was a Teenage Werewolf, a groovy garage tune with plenty of monstrous overtones.

Lead in with claw-ripping attack by a clip from the trailer to I Was a Teenage Werewolf.

Nothing you’ve ever conceived packs such a spine-tingling jolt!

Partytime (Zombie Version)

TRACK #4:

Partytime (Zombie Version) by 45 Grave

Now it’s party time, literally. We’ve established it’s Halloween, now commence the rocking.

Fourth in line is the first of many selections from possibly the finest horror movie soundtrack ever – Return of the Living Dead.

Apparently the original version of this song was actually about a 5 year old whom is raped and abused by her family. Now, I don’t know if that’s more Halloweeny, but it’s definitely more horrific, that’s for sure.

Needless to say, the producers asked Dinah Cancer if she could rewrite the lyrics to make it a bit more relevant to the film, and a bit less, well, rapey.

The result? Our first official crossover song, and one of the most ass-kicking tracks from a kick-ass soundtrack.

So, do you wanna party? It’s not a bad question, Burt.

Oh, let’s do thaaaaat.

Halloween

TRACK #3:

Halloween by King Diamond

With the first 2 tracks simply serving as atmosphere, the the unofficial start to Halloween Shindig is here. And what better herald is there than King Diamond to usher in our festivities? Halloween (or our Shindig) doesn’t truly begin until King Diamond fucking says so.

But to King Diamond, every night is Halloween, and he looks damn prepared for it…always. Check it out.

Anything anyone who looks anything like this 90% of the time has to say about Halloween is probably true, so we should just listen.

But, I’m not sure how that works exactly. If Halloween is just constantly occurring, what’s all the fuss about? What are any of us doing here? Why is there a party, and why do you need music for it?

That’s because, in deference to whether King gets his sack out and goes trick-or-treating every night, Halloween is still Oct. 31st, and you’ve got a party to host. A party King Diamond will most likely not be attending…at least not physically anyway.

So, in the true spirit of Halloween, the eve of the dead…..crank it up, and let the spirit of King Diamond make an appearance at your Shindig.

Halloween Shindig

The Horror Fan's Halloween Playlist

80s