In 1987, after struggling to work within the studio system and the unfortunate box-office performance of Big Trouble in Little China, John Carpenter decided to go rogue once again.
And rogue indeed, producing a straight-faced and strange (maybe even ahead of it’s time) film that I can’t imagine any major studio green-lighting. What emerged was an atmospheric, dread-drenched affair of Science converging with Religion to prove the existence of God.
Or perhaps more appropriately, the existence of Satan.
Sub-atomic. Moving within the atoms of things, where logic need not apply. Liquid evil. A green, putrid substance filled with all the abominations of the earth.
It was captured and sealed up long ago. A race of Humanoid Aliens, of which Jesus was a member, kept watch. But the truth was hidden. Wrapped in metaphor and buried under ritual.
Now, in light of our faithlessness, it has awoken, and it wants control.
I like Prince of Darkness. It’s a little talkie, sure, and maybe a tad slow, but I don’t mind. I could listen to Egg Shen spout off about theoretical physics all night. Donald Pleasence is solid, even if he feels like he’s just plugged in from The Devil’s Men, and A.J. Simon is only distracting if you actually used to watch Simon and Simon, which you probably didn’t. The supporting players do a fine in their respective roles, including Carpenter regulars like Victor Wong, Peter Jason and Dennis Dun.
And, once the scientists start being slowly absorbed by the evil and the hobos begin to gather, John turns on the gas a bit.
Speaking of the street people, Alice Cooper jumps in to play the pale-faced, beanie-rockin, head-hobo. He even kills a dude with a rusty, old bike. A dude who happens to be listening to this very song on his Walkman….meta.
Seems this bike was Alice’s own personal prop too, as he used to do this gag live during his stage show. Now thats pretty bitchin’.
Here’s reigning All-Star Alice Cooper rockin’ again with the patented Title Track Prince of Darkness.
A band named Halloween wouldn’t be worth their weight in candy corn if they weren’t coming correct with a song called Trick or Treat.
Thankfully, Detroit’s Heavy Metal Horror Show doesn’t disappoint. From Halloween’s 1985 debut album Don’t Metal with Evil comes Trick or Treat, just like it says on the tin.
Another British band singing about Halloween? What gives, Ed? You said the Brits don’t give a toss for All Hallo’s.
Well, I don’t get the impression that they do. I’ve never claimed to be the authority on any matter, not even Halloween Horror Music, and I’ve written far too many words concerning that subject.
Whether that impression is true or not is neither here nor there when it comes to this ‘digger, because it’s a clear case of a band disguising a song as a Halloween song.
Witchfynde’sTrick or Treat details the dealings of a two-faced sort of character that has much but always wants more. Eventually, not being able to satiate his desires, he takes to B&E, a bit of murder, and gets himself tossed in the clink. Not exactly a love song, but definitely not specifically about Halloween.
Still, it’s a pretty groovin’ tune from a weird, occulty band called Witchfynde where the lyrics “Trick or Treat” get repeated a number of times, so we’re lightin’ it up.
Throw in a little festive atmosphere from the Tales From the Darkside episode entitled Halloween Candy, and you’ve got yourself a perfect number for an Oct. 20th’s evenings.
The British don’t really give a shit about Halloween. At least not according to me and this blog on the occasions when we’ve previously stated as such.
Strange then that innovative British Post-Punkers and Goth pioneers Siouxsie and the Banshees have a song titled Halloween. Or maybe not, given their whole gothy aesthetic. To be fair though, their song isn’t a parade of Milky Ways, Don Post masks and burning orange gourds.
No, Siouxsie Sioux’s track is a more atmospheric affair that seems to deal with a loss of childhood innocence.
Doubling fitting then that we bookend it with samples from the aforementioned Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, where American creepster Martin Sheen sleazes all over British child Jodi Foster on the Eve of All Saints in a decidedly less-than-innocent fashion.
He also provides us with a pretty solid and concise description of what Halloween represents stateside:
“Oh, it’s a big day here when all the kids get dressed up in scary costumes and masks and go around to all the houses. When you answer the door the shout ‘trick or treat’ and you’re suppose to act scared, and if you don’t give them a treat, they’ll pull some dirty trick on you.”
Yep, that’s pretty much what we got going on over here.
From the original Night of the Demons comes a song not actually performed by Dennis Michael Tenney. How about that?
Effectively used in an effectively creepy scene shortly after Angela’s possession where she treats Sal (and us) with some interpretive dance to Bauhaus’ haunted hit.
The radio flips on mysteriously, the strobe flickers ominously, and Sal looks on disconcertingly while Angela writhes and gyrates to the post-punk gothic sounds.
In a movie where Linnea Quigley isn’t shy about her body in the slightest, the fact that Angela can be as equally distracting in a feat unto itself.
Apparently actress Amelia Kinkade (who looks pretty damn fantastic twirling around in her gothic get-up) was actually a dancer and choreographed all the moves herself.
She’s also in Roadhouse, which is pretty fantastic too. Additionally fantastic is her appearance in My Best Friend’s A Vampire.
Is there anything Angela can’t do?
She reprises her seductive dance routine in Night of the Demons 2, which is also worth checking out, despite being inferior to the original in pretty much every way.
What the 2 have going for them each, however, is that they are both incredibly Halloweeny and make for great late-October viewing.
“You’re a sweet lookin’ babe Suzanne, but you and you’re friend Ang are just a little too weird-o for me.”
From 1985’s made-for-TV Halloween bonanza The Midnight Hour comes this creepy curio with so much mid-80’s budget-pop pizazz it even features a Soundwave-styled vocorder performance. Radical!
Harry Belafonte’s daughter Shari (pops wasn’t big on creativity, I guess) stars in the film and sings this tune, perhaps fashioned after the recent mega-hit Thriller.
In fact, the whole project seems to be an attempt to cash-in on Michael’s occult success; semi-spooky, family friendly, monster-mash madness with a throwback, 50’s drive-in flare. And this tune, an ensemble dance number staged at a Halloween party, appears to be the piece de resistance.
Though clearly made for TV and a little toothless, The Midnight Hour is a pretty enjoyable and festive addition to anyone’s October line-up. It’s even a fair bit more creepy than something you’d imagine was just made for TV.
You’ll get some fun guest appearances too, from the likes of Spaceball’s King Roland, Clarence Boddicker, that one guy from 21 Jumpstreet, UHF’s R.J. Fletcher, Yori from Tron and The Reading Rainbow Dude who wore that bitchin’ visor on Star Trek. Studded.
Plus there’s tons of Halloween ambiance, creepy Thriller-Lite graveyard scenes, a lot of cool make-ups and FX, a bunch of fun Halloween costumes, more monsters than you can shake a stick at and this kickin’ ‘digger. What more could you want from an October evening’s Televison adventure?
A Friday the 13th, in October? Now that’s a rarity. You know we gotta represent on this one. Good thing The Shindig is prepared with a poppy piece of Crystal Lake crooning from Jason’s later catalog.
A lot of people dislike Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood. I’m not one of them, but they exist and I can’t say I blame them.
Its heavily censored kills feel like highway robbery, it has one most disappointing endings in the series, the teenage fodder on display isn’t particularly interesting and the film just feels tired. Psychic girl unwittingly resurrects Jason? C’mon…
However, 7 has a lot going for it. I think of it as Jason’s last hoorah, for it’s the last time he’s in his element doing what he does best, before he takes off to Manhattan, other peoples bodies, Hell, Space, Elm Street, and ultimately Remakewood. Say what you want about 7, it never gets this good (or as true to itself) again.
But it is stretching its limits, as the whole thing finally succumbs to the Elm Street Effect and goes full-on supernatural.
The psychic angle, while a bit much, offers some interest though. Mainly, it puts a new spin on a formula that had already well worn out its welcome, having seen probably it’s best reworking in Jason Lives. It also finally gives Jason a formidable opponent, something really unseen up to this point in the series, silly as that opponent might be.
However, New Blood’s biggest plus come in the form of Jason himself, namely the addition of literal new blood, Kane Hodder, and the make-up work of John Carl Buechler.
Jason never looked this good before, or after. This is it. This is the most badass Jason around. With his spine-exposed and masked destroyed, he’s constantly dripping water and stalking around with a menace unmatched. And lets face it, that’s what we’re all here to see.
The soundtrack is coming up pretty short here though, in my opinion. Mostly just handed over to prog-wavers FM out of what feel like laziness, the songs never play much prominence, or hit any high notes. Even the score here feels a little wrong.
However, I’ve chosen one of those FM tracks for the Shindig, mostly so I can rant a little about Part 7 and post some gifs. Besides, that opening narration is too cool not too use somewhere.
And as if the psychic girl wasn’t Elm Street enough for you, this song’s all about dreaming. Sure, it’s a more figurative kind of dreaming, but I still I think it’s safe to say that by 1987, Freddy was winning the fight.
Freddy Krueger: What can be said about the quintessential 80’s man-specter that hasn’t been said a thousands different times by a thousand different nerds? Who am I to pretend like I’ve got some groundbreaking shit to drop on you? I’m no one, and I don’t, so I won’t. I’m simply another nerd with a foolishly myopic blog, so I’ll just stick to the script.
Freddy (whether I’ve said this before or not I can’t recall) is the reigning champ of horror tunes. He owns the 80’s pop-music-via-monster-icon scene. The guy even cut his own album. He’s all over it.
Jason comes close, but the Friday people didn’t fully climb aboard this particular train until part 6, and they never really bought a ticket. Freddy was shoveling coal in it’s boiler room.
And from the jump too, as even his first outing got its own little referentially inclusive tune in the form of 213’sNightmare.
Well, who the fuck is 213? Apparently they’re no ones, as no one seems to have any information on these guys. Well, aside from the painfully obviously “they were some local LA band that provided this track” or the goofier and obviously nonsensical “they were Johnny Deep’s band” theory.
Whoever they were, they’ll go down in the Shindig’s book as they guys who churned out that thoroughly apropos end credit song from the original Nightmare On Elm Street, and baby, that’s enough.
So, up yours with a twirling lawnmower,…whatever the hell that even means.
If there’s one thing The Shindig hates, it’s when foolish producers try to bench a perfectly good Title Track. The Shindig lives for Title Tracks and finds this practice to be an affront to both the films and their visionary creators.
A great example is our next digger, a song we absolutely love, Fall Break.
Now this is a Title Track; tailor made, vaguely referential, tonally incongruous and totally bizarre. It sounds like an 80’s sitcom theme and it’s awesome.
But somebody with a suit and a wallet thought no one would watch a movie called Fall Break.
He was probably right. It’s a strange title. Is Fall Break even a thing? I’ve never heard of it outside of this movie. We certainly never got one growing up. Fuck, the school year just started, they need a break already? It sounds like some lame version of Spring Break in New Hampshire with no bikinis. Who’s getting jazzed for Fall Break?
Nobody, that’s who, and the money guys know it. They want rentals at the local Video Stop, and that same nobody is renting Fall Fucking Break.
Enter: The Mutilator.
People wanna see The Mutilator. Hell, I wanna see The Mutilator, it sounds tough as shit. It’s direct, violet, unambiguous, and a hell of the lot more intriguing then whatever stupid shit is happening in, what did you say that title was again? Fall Break? Yeah, that’s gotta go.
”But the movies already been made, cut and released as Fall Break. We even have a song called Fall Break playing during the opening credits and everything!”
Yeah, whatever to that bullshit, it’s The Mutilator now.
And a Title Track died.
Except, technically the film was released as Fall Break, so here on The Shindig we’re keepin it real; resurrecting all Title Tracks and returning them to their rightful seats on the throne!
Fall Break, like its title, is a strange song. It’s a great fit for the playlist, inspiring autumnal images perfectly befitting our night of All Hallows. As a Title Track to the film however, it feels a little out of place.
As mentioned above, it seriously sounds like a sitcom theme, with a tone straight off the Silent Night, Deadly Night soundtrack. There’s nothing ominous here. In fact, it’s a rather nice love song of sorts, ringing with the hopeful promise of an Autumn getaway; beer, football, leaves, skinny dipping and fun at a beach house. In a way, I guess it’s like the beginning of a slasher movie. No fear, just fun. Maybe it’s not so out of place after all.
Speaking of the beach house, here’s a warning to all would-be college kids seeking a weekend getaway at a similar beach front condo…
If the man who owns the house has a framed picture of a guy he “accidentally” murdered with his ski boat – leave. That’s it. Just take off. Politely excuse yourself, and say “Nope. Not stayin’ here. I hope you understand, but that photo is just too much” and leave. I don’t care if dude’s there or not. Doesn’t matter. Just terminate your presence immediately.
Because this is not just any picture of the guy, mind you, it’s a photo of his actual corpse. Not the guy hanging out during better times, ya know, as a nice reminder of their friendship – it’s his dead fucking body, gore strewn, presumably only minutes after the incident.
This photo is crazy. Why does Big Ed have this picture,…and framed no less!? And why aren’t any of Ed Jr.’s friends even the least bit perturbed by this photo? It’s absolute madness.
As far as the movie is concerned, I’d say apart from a couple of pretty interesting murders staged by Anthony Show and Mark Shostrum (who would later go on to produce FX forDream Warriors and Evil Dead 2amongst other things) Fall Break is a rather throwaway mid-era slasher devoid of any laughs, intentional or otherwise.
There’s barely any skin and all the tension of an untied shoe, kind of like the prospect of a Fall Break. Essentially, this is a who-dun-it where you already know who-dun-it before they’ve even dun-it. What’s the point? I dunno, some cool gore scenes, I guess. Oh yeah, and an awesome title track.
Speaking of which, here it is, the best thing about Fall Break, its Peter Yellen and The Breakers with Fall Break!
Aerobicide/Woman On Fire by Mary Hylan/Jill Colucci
For a certain type of 80’s horror junkie, Aerobicide might be a wet dream come true.
There’s a formulaic and totally telegraphed whodunit plot. There’s an impractical and ridiculously oversized safety pin as a murder weapon. There’s an awesome hard-boiled detective. There’s even awesomer private investigator played by 80’s cheeseball-badass Ted Prior. There’s cheap karate, a rake fight, nudity and no shortage of 80’s babes in workout gear getting physical.
But above all, there’s the absolutely relentless 80’s synth-pop soundtrack.
However, there are a couple injustices besetting this soundtrack.
Namely, it was never officially released. Why? This thing is great. And why hasn’t anyone resurrected it yet? Where’s Death Waltz Records on this forgotten gem of a soundtrack?
There are rumors of promotional copies floating around that were release in ’84. It’s also said that all of the songs were released separately on 7″ vinyls by their various artists. Good luck finding any of those.
Secondly, and most unfortunately, the greatest of all these tracks is featured so briefly in the film it beggars belief. Worst of all, it’s the film’s Title Track. What? This isn’t the song played over the credits? This is the song that gets barely a minute of screen time so as we can’t even steal it properly? What cruel ruse is this?
Perhaps it can be explained by the inexplicable decision to retitle the film Killer Workout. Why would someone do such a thing? Is Aerobicide too high-concept? Too confusing? Similar to Land of the Minotaur, it’s not a bad title on its own, but when you compare it to Aerobicide, it’s no contest.
And because of that, this song should be all over this movie, or at the very least played during the credits. As a people, we need this whole song.
But, beggars can’t be choosers, so well provide what’s available of that track and just lead it into the aptly titled Woman on Fire by Jill Colucci, cause what else can we do?
On a side note, if you happen to find the voice of Jill Colucci sounds a bit familiar to you, it may be because she’s responsible for the theme to America’s Funniest Home Videos. Ok, that’s pretty weird.
For now, take what you can get and try to grab a copy of Aerobicide for yourself, which was finally made a whole lot easier last year when Slasher//Video released both a DVD and Blu-Ray of a video transfer.
Oh, and keep and eye out for this spray paint, which predates the film Death Spaby about 3 years.
Coincidence? I dunno, but these 2 would make for one heaving, sweaty double-feature.
There’s an 80’s horror fan reading this right now. Aerobicide is their favorite movie, they just don’t know it yet.
Is that reader you?
HUGE UPDATE! OCTOBER 2022!
It’s happened, Weeners. The impossible has occurred. The original soundtrack to Aerobicide has been dug up, brushed off, given a new pair of spandex and is out dancin’ in front of Rhonda’s Workout as we speak.
Thanks to the incredible sleuthing skills of Gilles Nuytens, this incredible soundtrack finally comes to life. He found them, I don’t know how, but he found them. He has apparently cleaned them up and remastered them a bit too, and they sound great. Not gonna lie, because I’ve been listening to the VHS versions for so many years, they sound a little weird; pitched a bit differently, have a slightly different tempo and sound…off. But they sound good and clean.
Gilles doesn’t quite have the full soundtrack yet, there’s still a few missing tracks, one of which appears to be Woman On Fire, so I can only update the Title Track on this double shot, but boy is that good enough for me. If and when the other songs are unearthed, you better believe this fucker’s getting the full Super Soundtrack treatment over here at The Shindig.
Having somewhat given up hope on this one, I had stopped actively looking for these tracks, imagining if they popped up, one of the big horror labels would release a pressing.
If not for the vigilance of Shindig follower Austin Popdan, we’d still be without this knowledge.
Thank you Austin, and thank you Gilles. Hearing the full version of this amazing Title Track was a fantastic moment of pure joy I was never sure I’d experience. We hope all you Shindiggers enjoy it as well.
Click below to hear…and i never thought I’d say this…the full version of…
Ok, so Ghost Fever‘s a pretty shitty movie, right?
Oh, not sure you agree with me? Go see for yourself. I’ll meet you back here in 92 minutes
Alright, so now that we’re all on the same page, let’s talk this through.
I’m not sure how much Ghost Fever you actually came down with but chances are it wasn’t so much that you’ll be requiring any antibiotics.
That being said, I love Ghost Fever. It has the distinction of being the only movie where Sherman Hemsley plays corner man to Luis Ávalos as he boxes Smoking Joe Fraizer with the assistance of Southern ghosts. Well, the only one that I’ve seen anyway.
It’s also the only movie I’ve ever seen with a break-dancing mummy.
Now, that’s pretty awesome.
All of this however does not make Ghost Fever a good movie, it just makes Ghost Fever a singular thing, and that’s worth something. Admittedly, it’s a little more than hard to sit through, but if you can get behind a poor idea executed in the poorest possible fashion, with the most eye-rolling bafoonery this side of Pandemonium, it’s a certain kind of treat.
James Ross at Badmovienite.com probably puts it best in his humorous review:
“At times it’s like a live action episode of Scooby-Doo meets the Harlem Globetrotters. Except it’s not really fun, or funny, and there are no talking dogs.”
Well, there’s definitely no talking dogs, I’ll give him that. But I’m laughing (kind of), particularly when it decides to get all batshit crazy toward the end. It’s not always the kind of laugh Alan Smithee is intending, but a laughs a laugh, right?
Oh yeah, did I mention Ghost Fever is an Alan Smithee film? That oughta give you an idea of what’s going on here.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Smithee, “he’s” a pseudonym the Director’s Guild of America allows a filmmaker to use if they feel too embarrassed by the final product and can demonstrate a lack of artistic control.
Yeah, so even actual director Lee Madden disavowed this pile. I’m not quite sure it’s that bad, nor it even so bad it’s entertaining by virtue, but it’s definitely bad, that much I can say with confidence. But, dear Weeners, it’s not without its moments and with the right amount of intoxicants and the right amount of friends with the right sensibilities, it could be the right movie.
Of course, here on The Shindig, we don’t talk about this kind of nonsense without merit or a cause célèbre and Ghost Fever (as you might imagine) has a fucking doozy.
Submitted for your Halloween enjoyment, here’s George Jefferson himself spiriting his way through a disco title track of supernatural proportions.
Trick Or Treat – what more can you possibly give The Shindig? Haven’t you given enough already? Surely there are no more Halloween delights under your thin candy shell.
Oh, but there is – a thick nougat center of Monster Rap awesomeness.
In between all the Fastway rocking of the Trick Or Treat soundtrack, tucked away so’s you might not even notice, is this curve-ball of horrific proportions. From 80’s Hip-Hop maestros Whodini comes one of the finest Monster Raps featured on The Shindig, The Haunted House of Rock.
Played during the Halloween Dance sequence, just before Roger turns the speakers over to Sammy Curr’s backwards metallic cassette, Whodini rocks a rhyme about the monsters and mayhem taking place at the titular haunted abode.
What is this song doing on this soundtrack? What is this song even doing in existence? I don’t have an answer to either question, but in both cases I’m sure glad it is.
Succeeding in just about every way Lovebug Starski’sAmityville fails, The Haunted House of Rock features an actual Haunted House propagated by a multitude of real ghouls with no sign of any Starship Enterprise crew members in sight.
Amityville only outshines it for a brief moment when Dracula raps. That’s pretty huge and should not be ignored. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Amityville and it’s ridiculously unhaunted tale, but Whodini delivers the goods in way Starski only aspires to and they remain the champs of the Haunted Monster Party Rap game.
The Haunted House of Rock may even be the champ of the Monster Rap game in its entirety. But it does have some stiff competition.
If you Iike your Monster Raps a bit more specific, Are You Ready For Freddy might be your speed. If you like them a bit more ridiculous, then maybe The Maniac Cop Rap is the winner. Or if you like your Monster Rappin a bit more whack, then The Monster Squad is just what the doctor ordered.
But for my money, when it comes to legitimacy, Whodini is holding it down with this old-school hip-hop horror hit and its inclusion in Trick Or Treat just ups the ante.
I saw everybody there, except you. Let’s change that this year.
The one that started it all. This is a Super Soundtrack The Shindig has bumped for years. Upon a recent listening, we thought “Hey, we should post this. Maybe everyone that likes Trick or Treat will dig this deluxe version.” Don’t ask and you still might receive, I guess.
Trick or Treat is a special movie with a pretty special soundtrack. Not only is it a Halloween movie with a Referentially-Inclusive-Halloween-Title-Track, but it has an entire album’s worth of tunes for an almost out-of-the-box Super Soundtrack. This makes it a great choice to kick off our Super Soundtracks feature.
What’s also fun is how expository these songs are. Without being a musical or even a rock opera, this soundtrack describes almost exactly what’s happening on screen while it’s happening.
Eddie’s getting mad and ripping all his posters off his wall?
“Tear Down the walls! Tearing ‘em down!”
Eddie’s feeling so beaten down he just wants to give it all up?
“Don’t stop the fight! Don’t die now!”
Eddie’s finally getting a little revenge?
“Get tough! This boy’s had enough!”
It’s just so awesomely explicit.
Some of these songs though, provided by 80’s butt-rocker’s Fastway, barely get enough screen time. One song, Hold On to the Night (a personal favorite) only appears in the film backwards. For shame!
So we chopped, diced, sliced and spruced this Super Soundtrack to feature the entire album rearranged linearly with a ton of movie clips, plus an extra special addition that doesn’t appear on the original release!
It’s the closet thing to watching Trick or Treat without actually watching Trick or Treat, which you should also do this October.
In 1985, rap pioneer Lovebug Starski (best known widely for, well this song) decided it’d be a good idea if he just recorded some random track about Amityville. Not for any Amityville movie mind you, but rather during a 5 year lull in the franchise (3D having been released in ‘83, and Curse not for another 4 years.)
Hell, he didn’t even make it in reference to the movies really, but just cause he thought it’d be fun I guess and maybe even a hit.
And he was right! This sucker broke the Billboard Top 20 in ‘86, which means that, for a period of time in America, people were legitimately rocking out to this song. Which is totally understandable. This song is awesome and weird as shit.
Starski uses the real Amityville legend (I guess?) as a sort of jumping off point for some crazy-ass song about a vaguely Haunted House where nothing much happens, but everybody visits.
A Karloff-esque butler greets Starski upon his arrival, then later Dracula shows up for no good reason and raps. Now, that alone is plenty of reason for Amityville to make the cut for every Halloween party playlist ever created.
And as if that wasn’t bizarre enough though, just for the hell of it, Captain Kirk, Scotty and Spock arrive at one point to talk about Starski over the spooky beat. I’m sorry, what? Why? This song is fucking nuts.
Apparently, looking at the 45 sleeve above, you’ll note the record came complete with a “Free Black Hole,” ya know, for all the “time-shift special appearances.” I guess at least they tried to justify this nonsense with some kind of acknowledgement. Not sure if that makes it more or less weird, though.
So take a drive out to Amityville. You know, the house on the hill. You just make a left, then you make a right and……Amityville!
Halloween needn’t always be about ghost and goblins, right? Well, at least not according to Dead Kennedys front-man Jello Biafra, who uses the holiday as a jumping off point to throw some criticism at the socially repressed who use Halloween as an excuse to dress up like idiots and get drunk.
Your business suit and tie are your costumes, insists Biafra, satirically jabbing
But why not everyday?
Well, I somehow doubt your boss is gonna be too jazzed about you showing up to work everyday and getting hammered in a Batman costume.
Nor is that sexy cashier from the Jamba Juice gonna be too excited to go have dinner with some jackass dressed up like The Wolfman.
Well, what will they say?
Probably “You’re fired,” and “don’t ever call me again,” respectively.
Maybe that’s the right reaction. Maybe it just means you need a new job and a better girlfriend. Or maybe you are the asshole. Maybe leave the crepe hair and capes at home like a normal person, idiot.
But I get Jello’s point,…to an extent.
It’s metaphorical, in its way and we could all stand to live less reserved lives and quit reserving Halloween as the one night to break out of our social conformity.
But is that what’s really happening on Halloween? Is that what it’s really all about? Are these people to whom Mr. Biafra speaks seriously stuffing themselves into a costume for work? Is Halloween really the night they’re their truest selves? Should it really just be all the time? I doubt that, but maybe that’s the problem he sees.
Maybe we’re all so programmed into that 9 to 5 lifestyle that it’s no longer just a costume, but who we all really are now. Maybe that’s his gripe. Maybe he’s right.
I can’t say for certain, but that’s no reason to exclude it from a Halloween playlist.
One thing I am certain he’s right about is that you better plan all week, all month and all year, cause some of you are really phoning it in with these costumes. But that’s a conversation for another song.
For now, let’s just enjoy the Dead Kennedys’Halloween.
There’s a lot of reasons why everyone loves Return Of The Living Dead. There’s its great special FX, its endlessly quotable script, its moments of genuine fright, its fantastic soundtrack…
and then there’s Trash.
In the role that turned Linnea Quigley into a horror icon, Trash is the terminally insouciant, death-obsessed, gutter-punk exhibitionist who just can’t seem to keep her clothes on.
She also can’t seem to talk about anything but death, but I doubt there was one straight male horror fan in 1985 between the ages of 12 to Dead who gave one damn.
I love Linnea Quigley. She stars in one of my favorite Halloween movies of all time and appears in my favorite Christmas movie of all time. I love to see her in anything and I’ve sat through quite a bit of garbage (Deadly Embrace, I’m looking in your direction) simply because she makes an appearance.
You may not always get a Trash or a Suzanne (Night of the Demons) or a Spider (Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama) but you’ll always get Linnea. And whether she’s being cute and bubbly, or morose and sassy, she will always be refreshing compared to her surroundings.
This track from SSQ will forever remind me (and I’m sure countless others) of both Trash and Linnea and my first experience with the horror vixen, who takes almost as close a place in my heart as The Mistress of the Dark herself.
So, let’s get some light over here, Trash is taking off her clothes again.
Delivering back to back jammers from 2 Shindig All-Stars in your film and a great way to get that double-shot of hot rock ‘n roll represented directly onto the playlist. It’s just too perfect.
Oingo Boingo, who were no stranger to 80’s soundtracks themselves, found their music webbed up in this Sawyer family fiasco and it adds a lot of chaos to the intense opening chase sequence from Texas Chainsaw 2.
Rick the Prick wants to hear “Bright Lights, Big Titties,” or rather, he’d like to see them.
Unfortunately, all he’s gonna see is the bright lights of a truck carrying a corpse and a big fucking chainsaw.
Here’s Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo, with a track that might have just made the cut without even being featured in a movie, No One Lives Forever.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It’s status as a horror classic is indisputable, even if you don’t care for it all that much. Why you wouldn’t is beyond me but I’m sure there are some of you out there.
Personally, I love it. It’s subtle in all the right ways, despite it’s rather incongruous reputation as a gorefest. It’s not overbearing, it’s wildly disturbing and suitably intense when it needs to be.
As a franchise though, it’s one of the weaker offerings in my opinion. Troubled by lengthy lapses of inactivity, tonal shifts and studio bouncing, it never seems to catch a rhythm; never feels like a true series.
All the sequels seem detached from one another, almost like reboots rather than sequels.
Some people swear by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2and with plenty of good reasons. Savini’s on board with some great FX work. Billy Mosely comes out almost more iconic than the films real draw with an inspired (albeit over the top) turn as Chop Top. Dennis Hopper shows up to bring an added sense of gravitas. The perceived gore of the original is actually on display in this outing. And all in all, it’s a pretty fun, albeit very different, sequel.
One thing I appreciate most about this Texas 2 though (as is the case most times with The Shindig) is its soundtrack. Featuring some great swings from a couple of Shindig All-Stars that go yard.
With the added wraparound of Stretch and the KOKLA radio plot, you got some Shindig gold.
Here’s a little double threat of Texas Chainsaw goodness from some of the ‘dig’s finest.
Leading off is Shindig Hot Corner The Cramps.
We all know The Shindig has a lotta love for The Cramps. Without being overtly horrific they manage to exude the genre subtly with they’re Shock! Theatre and drive-in double feature aura. 80’s horror producers took note and The Cramps found themselves mixed up with all sorts of genre offerings.
Here, within the Texas Chainsaw sequel, Stretch from KOKLA Red River Rock ‘N Roll radio has a soft spot for gang too, and we can’t blame her.
So what is a Goo Goo Muck? Well, it just sounds like a horny teenage monster or some ilk similar to that of a werewolf or a vampire.
Sounds like something Lux might just whip out of thin air. Ah, but interestingly enough, this Cramp’s cut is actually a cover!
Originally recorded by Ronnie Cook in 1962, this old rock and roller is perfect fodder for The Cramps’ spooky sound.
Let’s just 80’s metal it right into Halloween. Whaddya say, Weeners?
Much like Track 110 (Halloween by Halloween) here’s another titular band-anthem from a different band named after our haunted holiday.
That fact that 2 bands like that exist is a little bizarre. What’s next, Samhain by Samhain?
Oh wait.
Well it’s not the next song, does that count? But yeah, that exists too and is represented on The Shindig. Maybe we should make room for another category “bands just named after this fucking holiday.”
You only get this type of shit with Halloween. Don’t see too many bands running around named “Christmas” or “Yom Kippur” (both of which actually exist, for those of you playing at home.)
But I digress.
Atlanta-based thrash-metal pioneers Hallows Eve even have a similar tale to the aforementioned Halloween. Releasing some hard hitting early albums but never really gaining much notoriety, they dismantled due to heavy lineup changes only to reemerged after years of inactivity.
I became familiar with them (perhaps like many horror fans) through the inclusion of their song D.I.E. on the Black Rosessoundtrack. Thankfully these guys produced a Band-Anthem and sealed their Shindig fate.
Can we take a moment here to talk about this album cover for a sec? Look at that fucking thing. It’s incredible. It looks like you just started a metal band with those 2 burnouts from Mr. Finn’s Chemistry class then asked that hesher kid with the peach fuzz mustache to draw you this shit in a notebook at lunch. And then he turned around handed you the coolest fucking drawing you’d ever seen in your life.
“Hallows Eve, bro. Look at that shit.”
Awesome.
In an apparently unrelated aside, I’ll say that Brits don’t care much for Halloween. It’s not really a big deal over there – don’t really give shit, don’t see the fuss.
However, they due refer to it as “All Hallo’s.” So what better samples to integrate than these from Hammer’s Horror swan song To the Devil a Daughter.
Since it takes place around All Hallo’s, we get some nice satany Hallows Eve banter.
Coming off their debut album Tales of Terror, here’s Hallows Eve with Hallows Eve.
And just remember, 98% of so-called Satanists are nothing but pathetic freaks who get their kicks out of dancing naked in freezing church yards and use The Devil as an excuse for getting some sex.
Return of the Living Dead Part II gets a bad rap. Granted, it’s pretty well deserved, but it gets a bad rap all the same.
Honestly though, in its defense, it had a full count walking to the plate: take one of the most beloved, successful and awesome zombie horror/comedies ever, which wraps itself up pretty fucking tightly and expand on it. Go!
Yeah it strikes out, but that was to be expected. At least it doesn’t get caught looking. It goes down swinging.
It’s never very dark or scary or serious (as the trailer led people to believe) nor is it ever terribly funny. Comedy is tricky and when it face-plants, it does so hard and loudly. It’s not quite as cringe inducing as its equally I’ll-advised contemporary, C.H.U.D. 2, but unlike its counter part you at least feel like your watching an honest to god sequel, despite how shitty that sequel may be.
One thing Return of the Living Dead Part II gets sort of right is the music. While nowhere near the iconic status of its predecessor’s, there’s some good tunes to be had on this soundtrack. Whether it’s Anthrax or Leatherwolf or this turn from Joe Lamont.
Being that this really the only thing the Shindig ultimately concerns itself with, Return of The Living Dead Part II gets its day.
