So. The Winnie the Pooh slasher movie made enough money for a sequel. BUT! The Banana Splits horror movie did not. What does that tell us? Beside the fact that some people are so desperate for ideas they’ll try anything?
[MONSTER MOVIES] The Bloodthirsty Trilogy
This weekend I had the distinct pleasure of watching The Bloodthirsty Trilogy, three Seventies movies dealing with the Undead.
First it was The Vampire Doll/Legacy of Dracula (you’ll note a theme here). A man heads out to see his fiancée and never returns, mainly because she’s become a yellow eyed undead fiend. This one has less to do with Bram Stoker and more to do with another Gothic writer whom, if I mention his name, might spoil some of the movie. I didn’t see where this one was going and as far as I was concerned at the time, it made getting the collection worth the money for it alone.
Next was Lake of Dracula, where a past close encounter leads to heartbreaking danger for a young woman in the present. This is Grade A Vampire action here, with more yellow eyed Undead and a decent grasp of Vampire lore. The main Vampire, played by Mori Kishida, is great and I really think Kishida should be listed up there with Lugosi and Lee. He has a great presence.
Oh, and Dracula is only mentioned twice, in passing. And the Lake really doesn’t have much to do with things.
Finally there’s Evil of Dracula, where a new teacher at an all girl’s school learns that his charges are in dire danger from the Undead (and he’s not in any safe place himself). In my opinion the best of the three, it has Mori Kishida returning as a different Vampire. He seems to be having a blast in the part. Again, no connection with Dracula.
I don’t want to oversell these movies. They have their problems here and there. But they are delightful films, and not a one with sparkles.
Yes, I’m still irritated about that. Can’t be helped at this point.
[GAME] Cullen’s Super Grand Obstacle Course Mark I
This is the first actual honest to God computer game I’ve made. It was done on the Unity engine and following a tutorial, but the layout and the set up is mine, as is all the programing errors it no doubt has.
The essence of this game is as follows: the Player (inappropriately named Nemo Green) must go from Point A to Point B without hitting anything. There’s spinners, balls and bricks dropping out of the sky, even walls, which are surprisingly hard to avoid.
This little guy has a lot of problems. I don’t have the timing on the balls and brick quite done. The way Nemo’s movement is handled, according to the instructor, is less than ideal. There’s a scoring system in place that I was never shown to implement. And there’s no noise; the music you hear on the video is exclusive to YouTube.
All that said, I enjoyed making the thing and enjoyed playing it. And who knows? When I know more I might even go back to it.
[LOVECRAFT] Dagon
Spoilers for a short story that is over a hundred years old. Why haven’t you read it yet? It’s free on the internet!
Dagon is one of the first stories H. P. Lovecraft wrote as an adult. It is both typical and atypical of his Horror work. Typical in that its protagonist goes where he shouldn’t and is driven to suicidal madness. Atypical because the protagonist is he really doesn’t deserve his fate, as he doesn’t seek out what he finds.
Quick summary:
It’s World War I and the Germans have captured the main character’s boat. Not wanting to be a prisoner of war he escapes in a life boat. After floating aimlessly for some time an underseas eruption hurls what passes for an island up from the ocean floor. This imprisons his boat, forcing him to explore his environment. In this exploration he not only discovers that there are titanic fish people in the world but also get to see one up close. His escape from the situation leaves him mad, and, believing himself pursued by the fish man, writes his tale down before the fish man comes for him and he’s forced to kill himself.
All of this, is told in the first person from our protagonist’s perspective. There is a very slight chance we can interpret the whole thing as the ravings of a mad man. The ending helps in this regard, as it’s hard to believe that a desperate man would keep writing as a titanic fish person fumbles open his apartment door.
Outside of the ending and the reoccurring problem that Lovecraft thinks his readers are as well read as he is, the story is pretty good. I’ve seen it compared a lot to Call of Cthulhu, but in fairness it’s not trying to lift the same weights Call is going for. It does it’s job. It may not be one of his bests, but it sure isn’t one of his worst. Especially worth considering is how early it is in his career.
Not a favorite, but I reread it now and then.
[The Hell…?!] The Pot Sues Kettle?
I debated bringing this category back when rebooting this site. It had been so long since I came across something that made me go… the Hell…?! It didn’t seem worth the effort.
Then I found out something today.
There is a man out there by Demetrious Polychron. An author. Who is claiming Amazon and the Tolkien Estate plagiarized his works for the TV series Lord of the Ring: The Rings of Power.
Now this series has not gone over well. At all. So it is curious why anyone in their right mind would own to having any part of this. The things one does for their fifteen minutes of fame, right?
Only it gets better.
The novel Polychron claims got plagiarized? Is on sale at Amazon.
Wanna know what it’s about? Of course you do! Here’s the blurb in all it’s glory:
Long before Sauron, the original Rings Of Power were forged by the Elven Lord Celebrimbor and Dwarven smith Narvi in Eregion, near the Misty Mountains. These first magic Rings were far more powerful than those that came after and were corrupted by Sauron to be fought for in the War of the Ring.
Elanor, daughter of Samwise, is nervous before her debutante party in the Shire. In the 22nd year of the reign of the High King Elessar, the Blue Wizards return from out of the East bearing grave and perilous news: the rest of the Rings of Power have been found and they are in deadly danger. Thus begins the War of the Rings to End All Wars of the Rings. Before it is over Elves, Hobbits, Dwarves, Men and magical races long forgotten or never seen before will join the Quest to find Celebrimbor’s originals and the last of Sauron’s corrupted Rings of Power.
Elanor, two Hobbit friends, the Crown Prince Eldarion, his Elvish uncles Elladan and Elrohir join the Wizards Alatar and Pallando in a war across Middle-earth fighting for their lives. If they fail, they will witness the return of the Vala Morgoth, the source of Evil and former Master of the long-defeated Sauron. With all the Rings of Power at his command, Morgoth will enslave the whole of Middle-earth – forever.
The mind BOGGLES! Not only is this nothing like the Amazon show, it is, in fact, an unauthorized sequel to a classic work of fiction!!! On sale for almost $12!!!!!
The Hell?!
[POE] Annabel Lee
I’ve been a Edgar Allan Poe fan for most of my life.
Now when I say that, I mean I’m a fan of Poe’s prose. I don’t do poetry unless forced. Sorry. Just the way I am.
This isn’t to say I haven’t read any poems by Poe. The Raven is, without a doubt, a mandatory read for the Horror fan. The awesome Haunted Palace is located square in the middle of Fall of the House of Usher, and that’s hard to pass up. So I will drop my prejudice against the form from time to time. As a rule I don’t.
Today one of the people I followed posted Annabel Lee, and, being in a charitable mood, I read it.
That’s a creepy little poem.
It’s not very original to Poe. Guy loses love of his life and goes nuts. Doesn’t even need a black bird to do it.
It’s the rhythms and repetition that do it for me. Everything comes together with such great effect.
Kind of sorry I didn’t read it before.
Does this mean I’m reading more poetry?
No.
Of course not.
Don’t be silly.
[IMAGE] Last Dinosaur Family Post… For Now
Today I move on to the next set of lectures. But here’s the family, with additional parent. I fiddled a little with two of them to give them some variety.
[IMAGE] Final Touches
And here we have our scene in color with a few additions.
Once again I disagreed with my Instructor. He was content with pyramids for trees. It’s all Low Polygon and thus a little simple in style.
Me, I thought it looked terrible. Besides, I already had trees made. No harm moving them over.
My Instructor also had his dino a single color. That felt wrong, too, so I went on a coloring spree. Toes got colored, skin got colored, inside of the mouth got colored…
Can you even tell the inside of the mouth is colored?
It’s probably the lighting. Bear of a time working with it. Might fix it up tomorrow.
The eyes were originally white, but that got lost in the render. Black works. You can see they have eyes with black.
One last detail: My Instructor only had one dino. My one dino looked lonely, so I gave him a family to watch out for.
This series of lectures is almost done. The next one might be interesting. More notes!
As a bonus, below is the original coloration for the T-Rex.
[IMAGE] Entering the Final Stretch
Added some mountains.
He looks a little lonely, doesn’t he?
WELLTUN CARES PRESENTS: The Writer Journal (and So Much More!) of Cullen M. M. Waters 