{Review} Psychopath (1973)

First thing's first. The version of this movie I watched was labeled as being from 1985. Upon further research, I've just learned that it was originally released in 1973, with a VHS release in '85.

"Oh boyyy, chocolate cake...."

"Psychopath" from 1985 comes across at first as the sort of absurdly bad movie that wouldn't feel out of place next to The Room or Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2. The acting is stiff and inconsistent, the music is inappropriately cheerful whenever the protagonists are on screen, regardless of how grim their dialogue is, and the first death scene is so anticlimactic that it feels more like a slapstick comedy than a mid-80s slasher film.

Powering through the layers of bad, however, we find a surprisingly poignant examination of the culture of child abuse in a time when society was far more oblivious, if not accepting, in regard to the effects of mistreating children. Even to this day, it's not uncommon for my stupid Facebook friends to share memes about the "good ol' days" when parents were allowed to spank their children for misbehaving. They seem to think this form of physical discipline turned the children into upstanding, respectful members of society and not broken machines struggling to perform their function in the network and constantly fearing the point of obsolescence, when they expect to be destroyed and thrown away.

Throughout Psychopath, we see numerous cases of mental and physical child abuse occurring in front of the camera, and we see that the other children and adults in the area seem to give no fucks. Even when one of the other parents does seem uncomfortable with the situation, they almost never speak up. The only characters who do seem to have any regard for the well-being of these kids are the police, the doctors, and of course the Psychopath.

The plot itself is pretty basic, with the focus being on a mentally ill children's entertainer who, as a result of childhood trauma, never really grew up inside. He forms deep bonds with the kids he entertains, particularly those at a hospital where abused children are taken far too frequently. In an attempt to punish bad parents, just as his parents had punished him, the man sets out on a slow-burning rampage as local detectives struggle with the uncomfortable nature of the crimes as much as they struggle to solve them.

Like I said, there's a lot wrong with this movie and in some ways that works in its favor. It can be considered "so bad it's good," and there are definitely laughs to be had. The sheer vitriol the adult characters display for their children, however, struck a personal chord with me and became very difficult to watch at times. I think if it hadn't been so silly, this movie would have been more than a little too dark.

Be nice to kids.

Music Monster of The Month: Marilyn Manson

1993

  There's proof that people fear and loath what they don't comprehend, for reasons that are just and unjust, Brian Hugh Warner (know as Marilyn Manson) was man who brought out the profound shock and all of the common household family with common christian value in them. I remember the moment I realized that he was a pop culture icon and a man of his time when he would be mentioned in song, a cameo-esque referral appearance in an adult cartoon show, and even in to real movie roles, even mention in political agenda of the time school shooting of columbine.

  I remember when my brother had gone to see him in concert around 1997 (about the the time he had gone mainstream) and came back with tales of how there were people outside of the venue casting down their own wraith of god upon those attending the show not understanding (or never to understand) what flirting with the idea of satanism to understand an aspect of life was not something they wanted to confront and even more so with the children.

  Yes, manson had a short network with Anton Lavey, and to some that type of worship is false but that isn't here nor there because he had the following to say,

  Manson is still here, the sites staff are all a fan of his, millions of people to this day are fans of his, and millions of haters still keep him just as relevant today. But sure we can say he has an impact but what about the man's music? Surly, he's just all look and good brains to be a man with such impact without establishing himself as the musician he claims he is. Well, there is proof here as well that he can do such things with  great albums like 

  Antichrist Superstar, theme is all about just confronting, progression, struggling against the norm, and true commercial success. Catchy rhythm that the average country and disney pop households wouldn't normally be playing at the time. To some this was frightening but to many, Manson's lyrics combined with his metal sound  proved that gothic wasn't just emotion (although there's plenty of it in this album) and find examples are displayed in tracks like If I Was Your Vampire from the album Eat me, Drink Me which shows mansons growth into the new era where most has gotten over his shock value which most who have protested Manson before should really listen to because he express his humanity by showing his love and lost, and it feels personal.

  Another good one was also release in 2015, called The Pale Emperor, which feels like it has caught the scent of political blues, reflections of how pure attentioned angels can get mingled in tragedy amongst demons, if you know what he's saying . His most emo of albums in my opinion and I'm saying that in a good way. Manson's album from last year Heaven Upside Down shows he keeps his sound consistent with new energy to every release to this date.

  I strongly suggest to give Portrait of an American Family, Mechanical Animals, and Holy Wood all a listen to as well, each just as good but perhaps more so then others but that's for you to decide. More then likely people will be a fan of many of these albums those proving Marilyn Manson an artist worth his salt. 

  Marilyn Manson has earned his spot to be observed this month because his impact on American history and will forever be remembered as the ground breaking individual that meant well to the people from the start, forever to show he's here to express himself as the artist that he is.

Music Monster of the Month: Goblin

This month we listen to Goblin

  Alright guys, this month we are simply listening to Goblin. The world famous Italian instrumental band. What can be said about them? They're the most eerie of music makers. They captivated the sound that is mystery and suspense. Masters of  the mood of wonder and fear to any movie they have made a soundtrack for and we're gonna observe with our ears this month, The classic Goblin.

Modern Horror Classics Review: Don't Breathe

 A good witch doctor is surprisingly expensive, and yours truly isn't made out of money, and so I set forth on another quest to overcome any situation and found a   quick schemes instruction home video in the disguise of a horror film called Don't Breath, directed by Fede Alvarez and written by Fede Alvarez, and Rodo Sayagues.

  The movie takes place in Detroit (making this the second Modern Horror Classics(s) to take place in the state of Michigan in a row) where we find that we have a trio of protagonist are  delinquent house burglars who each have their own reasons for doing this, particularly one Rocky (portrayed by Jane Levy) who simply is looking for a way out for her sister and herself since they're stuck in a go nowhere in life situation. They get a lucky break when her boyfriend, Money (portrayed by Daniel Zovatto) get's a tip off that someone in this shit hole has some big time mula. Enter The Blind Man

Just because he's blind doesn't make him a saint

  The Blind Man (portrayed by Stephen Lang) is tragic yet not a character to rooted for. Due to an accident that happen that caused the lost of his child and thus making him have a fat stack of money he hasn't been the same. here in the house where most of the movie takes place are sinister things a brewing to say the least. To go further  into this movie would sure spoil it greatly even though this is a review and all but the least I can say it's truly worth the watch.

  The movie was actually made with a low budget and did extremely well at the box office this making back it's money and then some and there's isn't really much criticism that I can say other then that the only stupid thing is that Alex (portrayed by Dylan Minnette) has access to most of the houses they can rob due to his father having the keys to them thanks to the security business he owns which doesn't sound right to me.

 Well anyway, I got what I came for and made it out with the skin of my teeth and to the people I robbed and if your reading this... Thanks! Now pardon me, dear readers as I have to say good-bye one last time to my mutated, talking penis.

[Easter Special] a wolf points the spotlight at: Resurrection (1999)

A young wolfie saw part of Resurrection, late at night, on the TV box. It was way back before the internet was the TV. The art studio scene was happening [~42 minutes in] and I had to keep watching, because I knew I shouldn't. This movie might be part of what's wrong with me.

Image credit: critcononline.com

{Video} Munchies Special Part 1: Sarcanis Tries Szechuan Sauce

I gave the much-hyped McDonald's Szechuan Sauce a try in the first part of our Munchies Special. Personally, I think it's their best packaged sauce currently, but certainly not the best in history.

Music Monster of the Month: GWAR by Hardyhara

The Baddest Band on the Planet

  I remember when I was first introduced to GWAR... Well, sort of. It was more like the several times I was introduced to them. I recall seeing them on Beavis and Butthead, being one of the few bands that the duo didn't really make fun of all that much. Then I found out the main goal of the SNES/Genesis Beavis & Butthead game was to see them live, in concert. One day I spotted a (now out-of-business) Circuit City commercial featuring lead singer Oderus Urungus pushing video games, one of the many things I loved as a child. In fact, GWAR embodied a ton of things I loved as a child: Wrestling, horror, hip-hop (just for their second album, and only for one song), and much more that words can't express yet.

  Fast forward to my preteen years, having to grow up a little faster due to having my parents divorcing, and being depressed to the point where I simply wanted to die. Yours truly didn't know what to do with himself.  I never cut myself or anything of that sort, and masterbation got old fast. Drugs weren't really an option until I met my friend David. David was a smart kid who just so happened to have access to marijuana, and helped introduce me to my mind, so to speak. One day during the summer, David and I decide to go to Sounds of the Underground and at this point I have been reintroduced to the band. The few times I've spent the night at David's he had me listen to several songs like Ragnarok, Meat Sandwich, and Gor Gor, to name a few. Being young, high as a kite and not being too familiar with how GWAR rolls, I wasn't prepared for what I was in for as the stage hands set up the band's atmosphere on stage. Seeing fake dead babies, filleted and impaled on spears, lined all across the stage made me feel very uneasy, and it didn't help that I was stoned.

  Before I knew it, the band was there on stage. They must have being on stage without attracting attention down to a science, because I couldn't get how these guys in costumes that stand out just appeared. I rocked out like I never had before. Killings of political figures, jokes said on the fly, and a storyline that didn't quite pan out that would make WWE creative proud.

               some insight on the band

  The mythos goes that GWAR were an elite unit of Scumdogs that served The Master, The Master who farted the universe, which he hated, thus coming up with Scumdogs to systematically destroy and enslave the universe. One day, GWAR attacked the wrong planet and were banished to earth. Earth, being in it's primitive state, didn't really have much to offer but apes to fuck, thus creating the human race. At one point they froze during the ice age, and fast forward to the mid 80's. One Sleazy P. Martini, on the run from the feds, made it all the way to Antarctica and discovered GWAR.(well, his brother did first but got trapped under the lair of GWAR). Having drugs on him still, Sleazy was able to save his own ass because otherwise the band would have killed him once they thawed out.

  Throughout the years, the band had some different sounds that didn't really stick till the Violence has Arrived album, but besides that all the albums (to me) were concept albums. All of them have a story arc such as having to fight the morality squad, taking on all of America's "righteous" and holier than thou types like the pope, Jesus, and Cardinal Syn, taking on The Master, and leaving the planet once and for all to fulfill their sexcapades. Really all this is all in good fun, except maybe that one time they threw raw meat on crowds at their shows.

  The roster has gone through some changes due to things such as deaths, creative differences and health reasons. Not to detract from who the people that made up GWAR were, but there isn't enough space to cover all of the detail here. Bottom line, GWAR is here to stay and if I could, I would write about the history of the people behind GWAR, Slave Pit Inc., and everything in between, but that would be a biography and I would need to make a lot more things happen than simply writing this article. Hell, you're reading the words of a man who listened to them for a year and a half plus and I think I've earned that right if the chance ever happens.

 Join me next time as I finally reveal what how-to video I watched to cure my mutated penis. I'll give you a hint. It involved robbery.