Halloween '26: Group Photo #1

    It's FINALLY October! Yay!

    I had fun last year at this time, so let's play another round of "What's on the Holiday Horror Shelf?"

    1996’s Scream was a huge horror hit with my high school journalism students. It was pretty big news when it was announced that a sequel was being filmed. While we were waiting for that movie, someone (me) found a website the next year advertising a fan-made sequel called Scream Louder. I ordered a VHS copy with the intention of having a student write a movie review for our school paper. I don’t remember much about Scream Louder except the whole class laughed when we watched a clip of the killer trying and failing to jump out of a hot tub and attack someone. The actor hadn’t planned on their wet costume being so heavy and slippery.

I believe this was considered a "lost film" for a while, but someone (not me) recently uploaded the movie to YouTube.

The students had a lot of fun with Scream Louder, so the next year (1998) I ordered Writer’s Block from the same film makers’ website. I have since learned that there are no guarantees in education. A lesson that works with one class might fall its face the next year when you have different kids. That was the case with Writer’s Block. Not one student had any interest in watching the movie. Maybe it was the parent permission form that had to be signed before they could watch an “R” rated film. 

    I have seen references to Scream Louder online over the years, but not so much for Writer’s Block. I suppose it’s more of a "forgotten film" rather than a “lost" one. 

    It's cool that they included a supplements tape.

    I hope your October goes well, and you don’t have to be scared to walk by your hot tub at night anymore. That guy's not getting out there anytime soon.

MST3K ’26: Group Photo

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 original run on TV ran from 1988 to 1999 with a total of ten seasons. There’s been three revival seasons since then, but now, 27 years later, the original crew from 1999 is doing more episodes for Mystery Science Theater 3000: The RiffTrax Experiments thanks to crowd-funding. Yay! 

Let’s see what’s on the Holiday Horror Shelf!

    I found the 1996’s Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie DVD at Goodwill last weekend. This one’s an anamorphic upgrade from my old DVD, and it’s what got me thinking about the old crew from the Satellite of Love again. 

I think the back of the LaserDisc is more interesting than the front, so I flipped it around for this pic. The first DVD of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie went out of print pretty quickly, and it was really expensive and hard to find for a while. The LD’s widescreen presentation was upgrade from the VHS tapes’ full frame presentation. 

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide also came out in 1996. I had a friend who had a copy of this book, but his was autographed by the main crew. I think he pointed that out to me every time I visited him. I nodded my head, told him it was cool for 5th time, and was secretly green with jealous rage (Hot Rod).

I knew I had an old folder of MST3K stuff, but I was thinking it was just a beat up school folder.

     I had to smile when I found this wedged between some car magazines in a box on a shelf. Luckily, the magazines kept the folder in good shape. I doubt I have opened this up since the 90’s. Let’s look inside without any commentary. 

I bought the stuff in the folder and this pin from the catalog portion of the Satellite News newsletter. I never wore the pin, even I wasn’t that nerdy, but thought the pin was cool. Years later I bought the light switch cover from a seller on Etsy. It was a decoupage project that didn’t look very good when it arrived. Daphne upgraded it with some clear varnish. 

Speaking of art projects, here’s how to make Tom Servo’s puppet head: 1) Go back in time to go to the mall to buy a candy dispenser from the Mr. Bulky candy store (remember them?) 2) Tape off and spray paint the candy chute silver.  3)Paint the floor of the candy chute black with a small paint brush.  4) Proudly display Tom in your classroom for the next 25 years even if none of the modern students have a clue who he is. At least that’s what I did.

My favorite episode of MST3K is Mitchell. It was the first episode I had seen (I hadn’t even heard of MST3K before), and I watched it at a friend’s house with three other like-minded teachers. We each had a couple of beers and laughed out loud the entire time. I can’t think of a better way to be introduced to the show. 

    I'm glad to see the MST3K gang is back in town.

Shark Week 2026: Group Photo #4

 

    Like the movie Jaws, The Deep also stars Robert Shaw. 

    Like the novel Jaws, the novel The Deep was also written by Peter Benchley.

    Like the novels Jaws and The Deep, the novel the The Beast two-part TV series is based on was also written by Peter Benchley.    

    Today's LP is Deceptive Bends by 10cc. I chose the album based on the cover art work by Hipgnosis. The LP's title was inspired by a warning road sign in Surrey, England. I assume the art work was inspired by the word "bends" being associated with the decompression sickness some sea divers can experience.

    I999's Deep Blue Sea is the only proper shark movie on the shelf today. I saw this film in the theater, and at the time I thought it was the greatest shark film ever after Jaws. I probably still think that.

    Here's the back of today's shirt. Charlotte found it for me when we were thrifting in Oceanside, CA. Good eye, kid!

Shark Week 2026: Group Photo #3

    For today's post I'm picking the soundtrack to 2021's The Suicide Squad due to the King Shark character voiced by Sylvester Stallone. You can see him there on the left.

    I think buying Blu-ray movies just because they have a slipcover is dumb. I thrifted 47 Meters Down because it came with a slip cover...

    One of my biggest thrift store pet peeves is getting stuck in the checkout lane behind someone who is is buying glassware. I found 47 Meters Down: Uncaged today at Goodwill, but the woman ahead of me ended up buying $93 in stemware. I was standing there for over 15 minutes while the clerk wrapped the glasses in brown paper. I hope the movie moves faster than that.

    1979's Up from the Depths was supposed to be a horror comedy, but Roger Corman had all the comedic elements removed in the editing room to make the film an outright horror piece. That didn't work. The VHS cover looks cool, though.

    I almost forgot to add this Flix Brewhouse picture from 2017 ----> link

    Today's outfit is courtesy of Snorkel Bob.

Shark Week 2026: Group Photo #1

     Sunday night markes the beginning of the Discovery Channel's 38th "Shark Week." I haven't paid to stream the Discovery App, but I don't need it to watch shark movies. Physical media rules! 

    Let's see what's on the Holiday Horror Shelf!

        Ah, Jaws, the OG. I was six when this movie opened, and I didn't see it until it finally aired on ABC when I was ten. I wasn't allowed to stay up to watch the whole film (I had school the next day), and that was okay. In the opening scene when Chrissie is attacked by the shark, she screams, "It hurts!" That was enough to scare the crap out of me.

    Now I count this as one of my favorite movies. Jaws has everything. It's a horror film, a monster movie, a sea adventure, a thriller, a drama, and I'd argue it's a buddy film, too. 

    Let's see, we've got the 1995 letterboxed VHS, 2005' 30th anniversary edition DVD with the Commemorative Photo Journal, the 2012 Blu-ray, and the NES game from 1987. The game's storyline, if you can call it that, has more in common with Jaws the Revenge, the 4th Jaws film, and that's not a compliment.

    Peter Benchley's novel, Jaws, came out about a year and a half before the movie. Director Steven Spielberg was rooting for the shark when he first read the novel because the characters were so unlikable (according to IMDB). I have read this book, and I agree with him. 

    As for the other three Jaws books... I haven't quite absorbed them, yet.    

    This one of my favorite skateboard deck designs. Jaws, Robert Shaw, Narragensett beer, and skateboarding? Yes, please!

    Yes, I even dressed up for the beginning of Shark Week. 

    I'm such a nerd...

    

    Stay safe in the water!

4th of July 2026: Group Photo

    Happy 4th of July! Let's see what's on the Holiday Horror Shelf!

    Welp, it's not horror movies today. Today I'm going Sci-Fi. The film's title is pretty obvious.

    I want to explain the CD before I get into the film. I've got the Fountains of Wayne's album Utopia Parkway dead center on the shelf because it contains the song "A Fine Day for a Parade." Today Charlotte will be marching with her snare drum as a high school section leader in Urbandale's 4th of July parade. Marching band is a very big deal at our house, and Char cannot wait for today's performance. It's gonna be a hot one, but she's ready. 

    I found the VHS tape on the left at Goodwill last week ($1.40) and the 20th Anniversary Edition DVD on the right at Half Price Books ($1.80 with the teacher discount) on the same day. I'll confess that both were purchased for this display in mind. I had the thought while I was writing this post  Do I have this on Laser Disc? So I looked, and yep, I did indeed buy this sometime in the past on Laser Disc. So, that went on the shelf, too.

    I saw Independence Day when it first opened in theaters 30 years ago. I went with a friend from work. I had a really good time watching this movie, and I wasn't alone. The crowd was also really into it. As the movie was reaching its climax, I turned to my friend and enthusiastically whispered, "Isn't this movie great?" 

    He replied, a bit too loudly, "I don't know... I find this all to be bit too... implausible," and he dismissed the film with a wave of his hand. 

    Several people near us shot him an angry look. Man, was I ever embarrassed. Then a guy three rows behind us yelled, "Shut up... NERD!" Several peopled laughed.

    My friend sank low into his seat in response. 

    Did I feel bad for him? A little. 

    Did I agree with the guy three rows back? A lot. 

    Hope you have a great 4th!

Halloween 2025: Group Photo #31

 October 31: Halloween's back, baby!

    From left to right: Betamax tape, VCR tape, Criterion Collection LaserDisc, DVD, novelization paperback. 

    Yay! I made it. 31 displays in 31 days. I haven't blogged in awhile, and I was feeling rusty. It's been nice to brush off the cobwebs. 

    That was fun, but not as much fun as this: 

    I moved here in August of 1992, and for the past 33 years my favorite holiday has been anticlimactic. The calendar would flip to October 31, but trick-or-treating was already over. Boo. That's not a scary Boo, but a sad one.

    Last year severe storms were predicted for Oct 30, so many towns in the area pushed "Beggars' Night" to the 31st, and guess what? Nothing bad happened. At least that what I was told. We had parent-teacher conferences that night, and I didn't get to hand out candy on Halloween night, again. I had my Flix Brewhouse employee costume all ready to go, and I didn't even get to wear it.

    That's another sad Boo. 

    But this year is different! After a survey was taken by Des Moines city residents, the Des Moines City Council voted last March to permanently move trick-or-treating to the 31st of October. Many local cities, like ours, made that move, too.

    I actually stopped my car and got out to take this picture. Yay!

    I'm not gonna lie. The name "Beggars' Night" has always rubbed me wrong. I'm so glad that tradition has been retired. 

    Our tradition, since 2018, is to project a Halloween family film on the garage door and hand out bags of popcorn and packages of M&M's. That combo is our favorite movie snack.

    I'm leaning towards showing Happy Halloween Scooby-Doo, but I know for sure what I'm wearing tonight.

    As the kids say, "Rate the fit."

Happy Halloween!

I Finally get to See the King!

I have had this VHS tape since I was a teenager.

Blow Out was written and directed by Brian De Palma. The movie stars John Travolta, Nancy Allen, and John Lithgow. With that kind of name recognition, Blow Out has been easy to find on cable, DVD, and Roku. The Criterion Collection even released a special edition Blu-ray of Blow Out ten years ago. There is no reason to own this film on VHS.

King of the Mountain was directed by Noel Nosseck. It stars Harry Hamlin, Dennis Hopper, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, and a modified Porsche 356. When HBO stopped airing King of the Mountain, my VHS tape became the only way I could watch this film for years. 

In the 2000's, I ordered a DVD copy of KOTM from ioffer.com, but that turned out to be a bootleged copy of a nice VHS tape. Every so often I'd see this DVD on my shelf and wonder, "Is there a legal DVD out, yet?" The answer was always no. I read rumblings that copyright problems with the soundtrack kept it from being released, but I don't know that for sure.

On Friday night  I was shopping eBay for spaghetti westerns, and I stumbled onto an auction that looked too good to be true.

Whaaaaat? There's a legit Blu-ray of KOTM? I checked Amazon, and yep, Scorpion Releasing (who?) put out a DVD and a Blu-ray of KOTM in Nov of 2020. How did I miss that? Well, there was a lot going on in 2020...

Anyway, I didn't mess around with an eBay seller. I punched the "Buy Now" button and let Amazon Prime work it's magic. The next day... fanfare, please!

Here's some Bootleg to Blu-ray comparisons:

I've already watched the Harry Hamlin and Noel Nossaeck interviews. They tell interesting stories of movie making in the late 70's and early 80's. This film could not be made the same way today.

Let's compare what's really importatnt: the image quality. VHS vs. Bootleg DVD vs. Blu-Ray

VHS:

Bootleg DVD:

Blu-ray:

The bootleg DVD was an improvement over my old VHS tape, but check out the Blu-ray's detail on that tree on the left. I hadn't even noticed the white lettering on the tires before. There's no way KOTM has looked better on home video.

That Porsche 356 is such a cool car. And that's really what all this is all about. I couldn't care less about the acting or the music industry storyline. This isn't a film review.

The cars in this movie are the stars. Dennis Hopper looks more dangerous than the night street racing. His alleged coke and alcohol fueled perfomance is truely unhinged, but his rat-rod 'Vette looks awesome. Joseph Bottoms's '69 Mustang is a stud. There are cameos by a Ferrari, a Superbee, a couple of Firebirds, a Datsun 240 Z, and some Porsche posers in the background at a German car repair shop. Deborah drives a cool, vintage Citroën. Even the beater pickup that Dennis races is sweet. 

These are the cars that I dreamed about when I was a kid. It's a lot to fun to see their details more clearly for the first time since then. Looks like I can finally toss my old VHS tape. 

How Did You Spend June 7? (National VCR Day)

National VCR Day is exactly my kind of holiday. Most people threw out their VCRs years ago. I think I still have three (or four).

This is a great day to celebrate in the garage! I pulled this JVC Hi-Fi Stereo VCR out of storage and dusted it off.

I ran this old head cleaner tape through the JVC, but that was mostly for nostalgia. I don't really think these tapes do much.

It's unnecessary, but I wanted to see if this universal remote would work with the JVC.

They don't print VHS codes for these remotes anymore, but the DVD/VHS combo machine code 0692 was successful.

I haven't seen this videocassette message in quite awhile. (See, it is Hi-Fi!) I wonder what the movie will be?

Charlotte's grandpa and grandma dropped off a box of VHS tapes awhile ago, and we found The Princess Diaries in the mix. Fun fact: Garry Marshall also directed Pretty Woman. Thematically, the movies are close, and Hector Elizondo plays a similar role in both films.

Daphne really likes The Princess Diaries, and now Char has become a fan. The VHS image looks pretty good.

The Princess Diaries is probably better than the VHS movie tapes that I picked out.

Yeah, much better...

Happy VHS Day!