SLIFR’s “Professor Abraham Setrakian’s Virulently Vampiric, Malevolently, Monsteriffic Super-Strain Halloween Movie Quiz”

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

One of my favorite movie blogs “Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule” recently posted their annual horror quiz in celebration of Halloween, and I was more than happy to take part in it. Their quizzes are usually a lot of fun and ask some interesting questions for their users that allow for an interesting article, so I thought I’d take part in yet another fun Movie Quiz that could inspire some thoughts on my favorite in horror entertainment and fiction. SLIFR is never bereft of interesting questions that cause its players to think hard and long, so I tackled this with immense enthusiasm.

Feel free to copy this quiz for yourself and link back to “Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule,” or feel free to let us know what you think about my answers below!

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Love at First Bite (1979)/ Once Bitten (1985) [Blu-Ray]

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Felix Vasquez

Once Mel Brooks proved that horror could be lampooned while also paid tribute, Hollywood followed suit with a lot of horror comedies that were sometimes mild spoofs and other times very heavy (“Transylvania Twist”) to the point where it was literally nothing but winks and gags. In either case, “Love at First Bite” took advantage of George Hamilton’s star power and put him front and center in a full fledged Dracula spoof.

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Vampirella (1996)

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

It’s hard to believe almost twenty years ago, the height of superhero movies was “Batman & Robin” with studios not really clamoring to adapt any of the beloved superheroes. It took “Blade” to finally bring some tooth and maturity to the entire sub-genre. One of the more interesting precursors to “Blade” is the dreadfully boring vampire adaptation “Vampirella,” which is a tonally confused take on the pulpy pin up character mostly known for being beautiful and sexy, and not so much for her compelling story lines. “Vampirella” is never sure if it’s campy horror schlock, exploitative vampire softcore, or a stern horror epic. So director Jim Wynorski pretty much lunges for all three on the table, and comes out with this pretty gloomy and dull film.

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Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

I honestly can’t think of a better film where the opposite spectrum of film come together so seamlessly, it’s absolutely flawless. Abbott and Costello were always that comedy pairing that could walk in to any situation and find themselves in peril, but teaming them with Universal monsters is a gamble. It’s one that thankfully pays off in to one of the funniest horror comedies of all time. While I tend to like “Hold that Ghost” a little more, “Meet Frankenstein” is spectacular just the same.

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Sexcula (1974) (DVD)

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

“Sexcula” is like one big acid trip. There’s no sense of narrative, tone, pacing, or any kind of semblance of story. The director doesn’t even seem to be working on any kind of script. Take for example the big show where a stripper (glimmering in a spotlight seemingly appearing from nowhere) begins dancing with the castle owner’s pet gorilla. The gorilla is so enticed by the dancing, he attacks and rapes the stripper, and out of revenge, she rapes the gorilla. The two then seemingly die during the revenge rape, and then they pop up taking a bow as the characters in the film applaud. It’s this kind of nonsense that makes “Sexcula” irritating, but oddly alluring. I’d call it erotic and sexy, but the movie is just too stupid to muster up any kind of that flavor.

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Mail-Order Mysteries: Delightful Treasures from Vintage Comic Book Ads [Hardcover]

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

Kirk Demarais takes a novel idea and turns it in to an original book about—well—novelties! I grew up an avid comic book reader, and in almost every comic book from the eighties I read, there was a humongous page of novelties, gadgets, and tricks that the company in the ads offered to buyers. These seemingly magical prizes ranged in prices of anywhere between five cents, to five dollars, tops. Often times, these massive ads could also be found in hobby magazines, youth oriented magazines, and their promises were huge.

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The Impaler (2013)

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Felix Vasquez

At eighty five minutes in length, if you took out thirty minutes from “The Impaler” you really wouldn’t notice anything missing. I’m not even kidding, what’s drawn out to a painful degree in eighty five minutes could be told in fifty minutes, and we wouldn’t be subjected to a lot of the alleged scares that occur. The movie is so bad that it rips off “Spellcaster,” and hilariously its budget is so low it can’t even rip off the cheesy effects involved with the haunted castle that ensue.

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