From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: The Tripper (2006)

Posted on August 24, 2026 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. As you can see, we are at another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update, and for this one we will be heading out to a concert in the woods and instead of enjoying the music we will have to watch out not only for the fumes of pot that will be filling the air but also a crazy man wearing a Ronald Reagan mask that wants to ruin a good time as he has an axe to grind! This film was the brainchild of actor David Arquette and would also get the comic book treatment thanks to Image Comics! The film is called The Tripper and is an often over looked comedy slasher film that mixes laughs, bloody murders and drug humor into a blender to deliver one strange watch. So if you are ready, let’s put on our best tie dyed shirts and head into the woods and party like it’s 2006 and pretend that Reaganomics is still running wild and Nancy Reagan is still telling all of us to just say NO!

Let’s first take a look at Gus Riggs aka Ronnie, the masked axe murdering killer who wanders the woods looking for hippies as they ruined his and family’s life. Ronnie is a suit wearing, Ronald Regan mask wearing and voice personating, 40^th President loving psychopath whose appearance and voice scares the hell out of his victims as he comes calling for them. Ronnie truly enjoys killing and has no issues slaughtering and massacring both women and men and their deaths truly bring him joy. Ronnie has many tools that he uses to kill his victims as he is very skilled with even using his bare hands as he can snap necks with one twist. He also has a pack of German Shepherd Dogs with the main one being called Nancy that will attack on his command and protect his barn hideout in the woods. He will use a knife to slash and stab his victims as he is very fast with one and can take your life in seconds. Ronnie is also known to use a chainsaw to cut a person in half. His main tool is a double-sided axe that he swings to take off heads, body parts as well as cause major damage to those that are chopped with it. He also is a good hunter as he can track down his victims that try and run away through his woods; he also sets traps in the woods like bear traps and snares that cause lots of pain. Ronnie is also a psycho as he at times thinks he truly is Ronald Regan and sees reality very differently. Ronnie also can take a beating as well as even be shot and is able to survive and get away to kill another day. But Ronnie really is just a man, and therefore he can be hurt and killed like any normal person so that means shot, stabbing, crushed, burnt, drowned and other ways a life can end will work on him. Also his craziness can also cause him to be too much on a rampage and leave himself open for attacks as well as make mistakes. Over all Gus Riggs aka Ronnie is a masked killer that loves to kill and is a pretty deadly and dangerous slasher.

Now that we have talked about Ronnie, the crazed axe murderer we should now take a look that he is from and that’s the indie film called The Tripper! Like always, I will be taking the film’s write up from our friends at IMDB and after that I will be writing about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on it. So if you are ready, let’s get a little deeper in these woods and see what terrors await us.

The Tripper (2006)

“A Ronald Reagan-obsessed serial killer targets a bunch of hippies who are heading to a weekend-long concert.”

Actor David Arquette was a fan of the films of Wes Craven and Tobe Hooper and wanted to make his own slasher film that was a horror comedy and would pay respect to the genre that he was a fan of. Arquette was known for his role in the Scream series as he played Dewey Riley, and this helped get this film some attention before it was even released or in production. David Arquette would write the screenplay alongside Joe Harris, and Arquette would also star in the film as Muff, produce the film along with a few others including his then wife Courtney Cox and would also direct the film. The film’s plot would be based on a group of hippies heading to Woodstock in order to do drugs and drink and are stalked by a masked killer who looks like President Ronald Reagan that cares an axe. The film had a small but decent budget for an indie horror film and when casting Arquette was able to get some pretty well-known names to star in it that includes such actors as Thomas Jane, Paul Reubens, Jamie King, Jason Mewes, Marsha Thomason and Wes Craven even in a cameo. When filming the location selected was a state park in Santa Cruz, California as it was the perfect location for his vision of the film. David has always said that he came up with the idea for the film while at a concert in the woods and growing up witnessing the odd choices of then President Ronald Reagan did when it came to cutting funds for mental health. The filming had some odd moments like it rained a lot and at one point a real human finger was found in the woods near filming. Once the film was done, it was scored by Jimmy Haun and David Wittman with it being released for festival and small screenings on October 13, 2006. The film after release was met with mixed reviews from fans and critics and over the years thanks to home media would gain a cult following. In 2007 the film also had a lawsuit that was later thrown out from film producer Fritz Junker, who claimed the film was a rip off of a short film he was involved in called “The Truth About Beef Jerky” that was released in 2001. The film did have some similarities, but it was clear that there were not the same. The film in 2007 was released along side such other Horror Films as Slither, See No Evil, Turistas, Black Sheep, Snakes On A Plane, Final Destination 3, The Breed, Marty Jenkins And The Vampire Bitches, The Hills Have Eyes, Silent Hill, Stay Alive, Halloween Night, Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon, The Woods and Black Christmas, to name a few. While not a household name, The Tripper is a strange horror comedy slasher film that is sure to please some of you readers who enjoy a little trippy-ness with their scares and splatter.

The Tripper is a film that I got on DVD around its release on home media and was one that I can remember watching when I was not feeling all that well and spent the day in bed watching horror movies. I can remember that I thought the film was just ok as all the tripping out scenes got on my nerves as I am not a fan of drug humor in my horror films if it’s too over done. I re-watched the film in 2023 when working on this update, and the film was way better than I remember it being. While it is still no masterpiece of horror comedy, it was an enjoyable slasher flick with some laughs, cool kills and a hidden message on just how some of Reagan’s choices messed things up, mostly when it came to mental health help and asylums. The film has its fair share of splatter and kills as Ronnie goes on a rampage and makes many hippies dead in the woods, and while the Regan mask is a little jolting and weird at first…it kind of is really creepy looking and adds to the over all oddness of the film. The effects for the budget level of the film are well done and lots of blood is sprayed around. The film also is well cast with Thomas Jane as the hero sheriff and Paul Rubens who is best known for being Pee-Wee Herman as the shady, cussing and goofy concert promoter stealing the film. The leading ladies are all great actresses and are beautiful with them being Jamie King, Marsha Thomason and Paz de la Huerta being those actresses. Plus this is a movie that I think Jason Mewes does a great job in, as I am not a fan of the Kevin Smith stuff, but here he shows some acting chops. It’s also very odd just how forgotten this film is as I talked to several of my friends who are into horror films and only very small amount knew that this film existed, and that’s shocking given who made it as well as some of the stars that were in it, let alone the subject matter in the political time we live in. If you have not seen this film, used copies of the DVD can be found at second hand stores as well as on Ebay or Amazon.

So now that we have talked about The Tripper and the film’s killer Ronnie we should now take a look at the comic adaptation that was released by Image Comics! And again I have to say that it is really cool that an indie horror film like this got the comic book treatment as it does make for a good comic adaptation. I would like to thank an Amazon Seller for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So with that, let’s travel even deeper into the woods as I think I hear the band Fishbone playing…but I also hear someone eating jellybeans!

The Tripper # 1 ***
Released in 2007 Cover Price $5.99 Image Comics # 1 of 1

The year is 1967, and a young kid who has a sick dying mother goes to work with his father who is a lumber man. The site is being protested by hippies who want to save the trees and one even attacks the boy’s father who in turn is arrested when he pulls a gun, but the young boy attacks the hippie with a chainsaw and is taken away and locked up in a asylum. Now in present day Samantha is on a trip with her boyfriend Ivan and friends Linda, Joey, Jade and Jack as they are on their way to a music festival taking place in the middle of the woods and being put on by Frank Baker. This is Samantha’s time to have fun as she is away from her abusive asshole boyfriend Jimmy now. But while taking a rest break at the side of the road, Samantha and her friends watch in horror as a truck drives by and a hillbilly throws a bottle at Ivan splitting his head open, and worse now at the festival they are threatened by Dylan Riggs, the father from 1967! Meanwhile Frank Baker meets Sheriff Buzz Hall who points out that many of Frank’s concerts have reported deaths…and the two are clearly at odds. A masked killer wearing a Ronald Regan mask and armed with an axe has appeared in the woods and kills a nudist as well as an old man that lives in a cave, and Sheriff Hall after finding the body of the nudist wants to block off the roads as well as stop the concert as he thinks an animal is on the loose…but the Mayor is not having it. So Sheriff Hall goes and talks to Dylan Riggs about the traps set in the woods as Joey and Linda are attacked by the hillbillies who are shooting paint balls at them! Things get terrible for everyone when Ronnie attacks and kills Joey, Linda and the three hillbilly rednecks and sets his sights on all the concertgoers even leaving bodies for the Sheriff to find so that he can try and clear out the panic driven crowd away. Ronnie continues his killing spree even chopping up Samantha’s friends Jack, Jade, Ivan, her ex-boyfriend Jimmy (who came to stalk her) and takes the Mayor Hostage all the while trying to chase down and murder Samantha and kills anyone in his way. But Ronnie’s rampage is stopped by Sheriff Hall’s gun and a hammer being swung by Samantha…and once unmasked Ronnie is shown to be Gus Riggs, the young child who killed a hippie protester in 1967 with a chainsaw! But when they go to get the body of Gus, he is gone and is alive as he uses a chainsaw to kill concert promoter Frank Baker.

A very strange slasher comedy film makes a very strange slasher comic book is how I have to start off this review as this adaptation downplays the humor and amps up the splatter and makes for a entertaining read. The core of the plot is still here in this adaptation as we follow Samantha, a young woman who just got out of a terrible relationship who is going to a big outdoor festival with her friends, but things turn very bloody when a released mental patient who is obsessed with President Ronald Regan armed with an axe starts killing everyone he thinks is a hippie on drugs. Samantha is out main “hero” as she is a woman who has went through so much and is looking for a fun weekend away with friends and her new boyfriend, and when she is pushed too far and all her friends are dead she takes action with a hammer and bashes the killer down into the ground. Sheriff Buzz Hall is also a hero as he tries to save as many lives as she can by warning the concert goers, but he also has lots of obstacles in his way from a mayor who is only looking at money being brought in to a old time lumber worker who hates hippies and who’s son is really the masked killer setting traps in the woods. But good old Buzz and his gun helps bring down Ronnie for a short time. Speaking of Ronnie who is really Gus, he is a total crazy person who thinks he is Ronald Reagan and is taking the war on drugs a little too far as he has way to much fun chopping up bodies. And in his mind his pet dog is Nancy and Samantha is his daughter Betty who he thinks is taking drugs. This comic adaptation does a really good job of keeping the pace of the story going and remove many moments from the film that would bog it down and that is many of the tripping out moments between the friends in the woods, but I do feel that the redneck hillbilly’s clashing and fighting with Samantha and her friends in a small gas station store as well as Samantha’s bad acid trip that affected her mentally and made her even more fearful of her ex-boyfriend Jimmy should have been left in the comic as they added character development. The comic is pretty bloody and does have some gore as well making it pleasing for those comic readers who enjoy the red stuff. The cover is very cool and shows Ronnie in the shadows with an axe in one hand and a human head in the other while Nancy the dog is snarling. The interior art is done by Nat Jones and is really great stuff as he has always been a great artist when it comes to horror comics. Plus the way he draws Ronnie and the violence is sure to please horror fans. Over all this is a solid and entertaining adaptation that while removes and changes a few things still delivers a spooky read that still has that odd charm of the film. Check out the artwork below to see what artist Nat Jones did for this adaptation.

The Tripper really is one of those 2000’s slasher film that has been lost in the shuffle over the years as is the comic adaptation, but I feel that over time as the political climate of America keeps changing this film will be re-discovered and I feel will end up getting a bigger cult following…well or if Joe Bob Briggs ever hosts in on The Last Drive-In on Shudder. Before we go, I also think that I should say that the comic does cut down the part of concert promoter Frank Baker as him being very sleazy, trying toe get away with all the money and hiding in a port a potty buried in poop in order to escape the massacre of Ronnie only later to die should have been left in as all we have in the comic is him getting killed at the end with the money in hand. But with that let’s get out of the woods and head to the big city as we spend some time with Patrick Bateman the American Psycho, as we talk about the film as well as the Sumrian Comics adaptation of it. So until next time, read a horror comic of three, watch a horror movie or two and as always support your local horror host. See you next time for a crazy good time, and who knows maybe Patrick will end up playing us some Huey Lewis And The News.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Satan Place A Soap Opera From Hell (1988)

Posted on May 2, 2026 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink for this “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update that will be a fast one as we will be talking about a 1988 shot on video anthology horror comedy film that has been long forgotten by many and only got a VHS release back when it was completed, and that film is called Satan Place: A Soap Opera From Hell! And shockingly enough, this 1988 film would get a comic book in 1992 showing that no matter how small your horror film is in budget and viewers, it still can make for a great horror comic release. This is one that has been on my list to cover for many years now and I feel it is a perfect fit for this two year long look at horror comics based on horror films. So with that, let’s dust off the old VCR and put in the VHS tape as it’s time to take a look at the silly low budget anthology film known as Satan Place.

Let’s take a look at Sally Satan, a lady of the night who is a serial killer! Sally is a very beautiful blonde woman whose looks are stunning and cause men who see her to turn to perverts as well as forget common sense and ignore warning signs all around them. She can use her looks, sexual charm, and she is so hot that it can burn the chest hair off her male dates. She is also very kinky and likes to tie up her dates. She likes to also scare them by claiming she belongs to Satan and speaking in a demonic voice and then use plastic knives to try and scare them to death. Sally is also the bringer of bad luck and misfortune as when she interacts with other people they find themselves in very weird and bad situations that mostly end with them killing or being killed. But while Sally is a killer, she is also very much human and can be killed like any normal person like being shot, stabbed, drowned, crushed or even have a whole blown through her chest by Satan himself for playing games using his name. While not the most dangerous killer we have ever covered here, Sally Satan still has a body count and has help lead to others dying just by people crossing her path.

So now that we have taken a look at Sally Satan and her ways of tormenting and killing, I think that it’s time that we take a look at the film she is from and that is Satan Place: A Soap Opera From Hell that was released in 1988 via VHS. And like we do with all the From Horror Movie To Horror Comic updates, I will be taking the films plot from our pals at IMDB and then I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on the film, so let’s get to Satan Place and see what spooky laughs are to be had.

Satan Place: A Soap Opera from Hell (1988)

“A horror anthology, in which the beautiful bleach-blonde Stephanie Spencer fields a series of crude remarks from belching, T-shirt-wearing, pickup-driving character actors, then watches them die in grisly blood-spurting closeups after being visited by zombies, so that in the big final story of the video, she can dress up in black lingerie, tie her weenie boyfriend to the bed, and summon a demon into her body.”

In 1988 two directors came together to write and direct a horror comedy anthology film. They were Alfred Ramirez and Scott Aschbrenner and they had Melanie Johnson help them with the script and this would be the only film the three would ever work on. The film was clearly shot on video with a low budget and they would bring in such actors as Stephanie Spencer, Warren Andrews, Mark Rackstraw, Nora Miller, Sonja Etzel, Jon Kay, Marsha Malone, Lisa Hatter, Alice Ashbrenner and Mark Blouin to name a few. The film would feature four stories and would have backyard style special effects and once done would be released on home video. And sadly as fast as it was released, the film fell into obscurity and never was able to find its audience. In 1992 the filmmakers would continue Satan Place on with a comic book and this as well never found its footing and most horror comic readers do not even know about it. But those who do know about the film seem to really enjoy it, so it has what could be said a Micro Cult Following. The film would only be released on VHS and never get a DVD or Blu-Ray release yet as of this updates posting. The film in 1988 was released alongside such other horror movies as A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Return Of The Living Dead Part II, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, Pumpkinhead, Waxwork, Rabid Grannies, Night Of The Demons, Howling IV, The Blob, Child’s Play, Halloween 4, Maniac Cop, Phantasm II, Friday The 13^th Part VII: The New Blood, Critters 2, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Sleepaway Camp II, Return Of The Killer Tomatoes, Poltergeist III, Dead Heat and They Live to name a few showing that 1988 was a great year for horror.

Satan’s Place: A Soap Opera From Hell is one of those 80’s shot on video films that was released on VHS with hopes of it being on rental store shelves that faded away before it could even be discovered and even to this day a very small amount of horror fans know about it. I first heard of the film many years ago when I was part of an indie horror group that talked about small budget films and this one was brought up a few times, and then a short time later I found out that it also had a comic book based around it that was used to help promote the film. While the comic was easy for me to find, the film was not as used copies of the VHS were rare and when they did pop up they would sell for hundreds of dollars. So I would have to search the grey market and that is where I found a copy to watch, and spent one hot summer evening eating chicken wings and checking out this forgotten humorous fright flick. And the first thing that came to mind when watching it was the old Public Access films I use to watch as the production value was around that same quality. For me the best segment in the film was called “Disposable Love” were a terrible husband kills his wife over beer and then cooks here body as soup to put down the garbage disposal, and yes it has lots of twists and turns and a fun mix of Horror and Comedy. The other three segments are great and Satan in the final tale “Sally Satan” is amazing cheesy stuff that I love about SOV Horror films. I also really like the films score that was done by Scott Aschbrenner and Jon Kay as it has that sound that made so many of those style films special back in the day. And I am sure I am not the only one who thinks that actress Stephanie Spencer who plays Sally Satan looks like she stepped out of a 80’s Hairband music video, and with her looks she should have been in more indie Horror films! While Satan Place is not the greatest horror anthology in the world it is a fun little 80s watch that has some silly humor mixed with some backyard Horror that should get a release on modern physical media in my opinion.

Now that we have taken a look at Satan Place: A Soap Opera From Hell as well as Sally Satan, I think now we should take a look at the comic book based on this 80s flick that was released by the people who made the movie! More indie filmmakers should do this as so many of these awesome indie horror films in the world should get the comic book treatment! And for those of you creators that do just that, good on you and for those who don’t you are missing a great tool to promote your film and give the fans of your film something cool to collect and add to their collections. But enough of that as we have a comic to review so first I would like to thank a Ebay seller for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. I would then like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So with that, let’s knock on the door at Satan Place and see if Sally is home.

Satan Place: A Soap Opera from Hell # 1 **1/2
Released in 1992 Cover Price $3.50 Thunderhill #1 of 1

Sally is new in town and is looking for the apartment complex she is to be moving into and meets a real jerk named Eddie who gives her the directions and then creepily hits on her…Sally gives him a punch for his attempt. “Disposable Love” Eddie comes home from work and his wife Doris and makes her feel like crap over what she made for dinner, he then starts drinking beer and watching wrestling on TV and is demanding more cold beer and when Doris refuses over his health, he hits her so hard that she dies! Eddie chops up his wife and cooks her remains and then puts her down the garbage disposal, with the bones being tossed in the trash truck. But things get spooky for him when the ghost of Doris appears and keeps haunting him even causing his fingers to be chopped off! In the end Eddie dies of a heart attack and you find out that Doris is still alive and she now is being haunted by his ghost as he even mean in death. Sally’s car has broken down before she can get to the apartment and Johnny just drives on by her “Say Goodnight Sophie” as Johnny keeps on driving as he is heartbroken over his lady breaking up with him, and while screaming at his ex on the phone he hits a old man with his truck. Johnny is able to get the old man to the hospital were he later dies as Johnny hits the bar to get drunk. That night on his way home Johnny finds the body of the old man in the road and freaks out and takes it home. In the morning after waking up Johnny takes the old man’s body out and buries it, only for that night to find that the old man is now a zombie and with his zombie lover Sophie they start eating the face of Johnny! Sally has finally made it to her apartment and meets the landlady Enid who is very rude and leaves for home. “Too Much T.V.” as Enid gets home her teenage daughter Lisa is ingnoring her as she is watching her favorite show that is hosted by Richard Slasher and as he keeps showing bloody movies Lisa keeps imagining that all the violence is happing to her mother as Richard Slasher is telling her to kill her mom via the TV! In the end it’s Enid that ends up killing her daughter by slashing her throat. “Sally Satan” Jonathon goes to the apartment of Sally as the two have a date, but once inside things are very weird as he finds a disgusting meal in the microwave, newspaper clippings about Sally being blamed for a murder and she herself is just acting odd when she ties him up to the bed. Sally then pulls out knives and tells her that she is with Satan and stabs him…but the knives are fake and she was pulling a prank. But Sally’s life comes to an end when Jonathon is Satan and kills her for playing games.

Satan Place is a comic adaptation of the film and is clearly being used to not only push the sale of the movie on VHS but also to help launch Thunderhill as a comic book publisher. This comic features Sally a woman new to town who when she comes across people bad things seem to happen for them that night and she is almost out host of four ghoulish tales that feature zombies, ghosts, killers and even Satan himself! The best story in the comic is “Say Goodnight Sophie” as I think it was the one that translated from movie to comic the best, plus you can never go wrong reading about face eating zombies! And I think that the one that did not make the leap very well was “Too Much T.V.” as that one is defiantly better on tape as the whole segment is about the movies Lisa is watching and the host telling her to kill her mom, on panels that spooky feel is lacking. The team behind this comic really did do a great job of bringing this shot on video film to the pages of the adaptation comic and it really reminds me of such indie Horror Comic titles like “Vault Of Doomnation” and even “Campfire Stories” with the later having a indie film made about it. The comic has blood and violence and the Horror comes from not only that but also the creatures and monsters that are roaming around with Satan and the Zombies being my favorites. I have to praise the makers of this film and comic as they understood the power of promotion via a comic as throughout the issue there was ways for readers to order the film on VHS, plus they also showed the films cover box at the start of the comic. The cover for this issue is really cool as it shows Satan’s eyes looking over a mound of fire. The comics interior art is a mixed bag as several different artists helped on this issue and these artists include Alfred Ramirez, Jackson Guice, Al Val and Jeff Guice. Some of the art is very classic Indie Horror style from the late 80s and early 90s, while some was a little more amateurish. But with that said I will say that I really do dig the style and feel of this comic as I feel they creators did a great job of staying true to the film its based on. If you are a fan of the film Satan Place or just enjoy Horror Anthology Comics make sure to track down a copy of this one as I think you will truly enjoy it. Check out the artwork below to see the styles used in this comic.

As you can see Satan Place: A Soup Opera From Hell is once of those micro films made in the late 80’s that made its way into the world of comics in the early 90s and for the most part it made a small impact in both as it really is a fun combo to checkout if you like micro budget films as well as comics that bring a series of spooky stories. But sadly our stay at Satan Place has came to an end but our time with Horror Comics based on Horror Films is still going strong as our next update will be about the indie film A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night and the comic book released about it. So until next time read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next update as we take a walk with the vampire called The Girl.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Motel Hell (1980)

Posted on March 3, 2026 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update. For this one we will be revisiting a series that I covered way back in 2013 as I feel that I could have done better and that it deserves this update formula treatment. The film and comic series I am talking about is the 1980 film Motel Hell and the IDW comics based around it! Farmer Vincent deserved better as he was an icon of my childhood when it came to horror just because of the image of him wearing a pig head holding a chainsaw that was on a cover of Fangoria Magazine…but that story will come later. And this will be only the first of many that I revisit as I also want to cover Strangeland, Pumpkinhead, Dr. Giggles, Jason Goes To Hell, Psycho and Terminator 2 better so look for them to get the “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” treatment over the coming years! So if you are ready, let’s pack our bags and head to the Motel Hello and stay for a bit as I hear they have fantastic smoked meats!

Let’s start by taking a look at Farmer Vincent Smith, the owner of a motel as well as the maker of fine smoked meats and his ways of dealing death to those travelers that end up on his ingredient list. Farmer Vincent Smith is a businessman who owns a motel as well as a smoked meat company alongside his sister Ida. Farmer Vincent Smith is sort of a local celebrity because of his smoked meat as it is considered some of the best in the world, and this makes people not look at the older man as a killer or a psycho and with his friendly good nature many people fall into his trap as he has a calming manner when around the public. But it is said that Vincent does suffer from syphilis of the brain and this makes him act very odd and violent at times and gives him an odd look on life. Vincent kills humans to use in his smoked meat, as it is one of his secret ingredients that make his meat taste better than anyone else’s, Vincent is very clever and sneaky as he lures his victims in by using traps alongside the road like shooting out tires, leaving fake road blocks and even spike strips to cause accidents. Farmer Vincent Smith, once he has a person, he will bury them up to their necks in his secret garden where he will cut their vocal cords and then feed them via a tube, and when it is their time to be turned into smoked meats, he uses hypnotizing lights to put them into a trance and then breaks their necks with nooses attached to his tractor. Vincent is also very skilled with many weapons that can help him deal death like knives, scalpels, rifle, shovel and even a chainsaw plus he uses knockout gas to sedate some of his victims out cold. And when it comes to killing these humans for his meat treats, he has no emotions and truly thinks he is doing great work, almost like gods work. He is also joined in his killing ways by his younger sister Ida who is just as crazy as he is and also seems to love killing, running the motel and helping him smoke meats! And once fully crazed Vincent loses all control and his brain turns wild as he wears a Pig Head as a mask and this sight is enough to scare a person half to death as he laughs like a madman while swinging a chainsaw. He is also a cannibal as he eats human meat and truly sees nothing wrong with doing so, nor feeding it to other people. And while Farmer Vincent Smith is very dangerous, he is still just a man and that means he can be killed by all methods like being shot, stabbed, crushed, burned, natural causes and all other ways a person can die. He also has other weaknesses that make him open for attack or heartbreak as he is a fool for a blonde as he falls in love with one of his would be victims, and this clouds his judgment. He is also very upset that he lies about his meats as he does use preservatives, and this weighs heavy on his twisted diseased mind. While Farmer Vincent Smith is a dangerous cannibal killer, when he fully mentally breaks he is also downright scary with his laughter and Pig Head Mask.

Now that we have chatted about Farmer Vincent and his madness and ways of dealing out death to those who are in his way, I think that its time we take a look at the film he is from and that Motel Hell! And like always, I will be getting the film’s plot from our friends at IMDB, and then I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on the film. So if you are ready, let’s grab some beef jerky and head out to the motel and see what kind of terrors await us.

Motel Hell (1980)

“Farmer Vincent kidnaps unsuspecting travelers and buries them in his garden. Unfortunately for his victims, they are not dead. He feeds his victims to prepare them for his roadside stand. His motto is “It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent Fritters”.”

The brothers Robert & Steven-Charles Jaffe decided to work on a horror film script together after being inspired by films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). They wanted to mimic its dark family weirdness, but they added comedy to their story and they got it done in 1977…but it took many years for a studio to decide to take the film on as many of them hated the script and wanted nothing to do with it. At one point the film was going to be made by Universal Pictures with them even going to bring on Tobe Hooper to direct, but they backed out once more due to them having issues with the script. Things looked hopeless until United Artists decided to give it a go even after passing on it before as horror films were becoming big again at the box office and they wanted something cheaply made that could bring the gross scares that they could make money on. The film was given a budget of $3 million by United Artist and Frank Cotolo and Tim Tuchrello touched up the script. The Jaffe Brothers would also act as the producers, and they would hire Kevin Connor to direct the film as many of you readers will know him for directing such horror & sci-fi films as From Beyond The Grave (1974), The Land That Time Forgot (1974), At The Earth’s Core (1976), The People That Time Forgot (1977), Warlords Of Atlantis (1979) and The House Where Evil Dwells (1982). When it came to casting, Rory Calhoun was hired to play Farmer Vincent Smith with Nancy Parsons casted as Ida Smith his sister. Other names hired for the cast included Nina Axelrod, Paul Linke, Wolfman Jack, Rosanne Katon and Monique St. Pierre to name a few. Filming would take place in California and would last a little over two months and once done Lance Rubin would score the film before it was released in theaters on October 18, 1980 and would be a semi hit for United Artists bringing in $6.3 million dollars at the box office. The film at the time of its release was meet with mostly positive reviews from both critics and viewers as they all praised its use of dark humor and weird characters. The film would gain a cult following thanks to Fangoria Magazine as well as its home media release on VHS as it was a big rental for stores, and later would be a must own DVD and Blu-Ray for horror film collectors. The film would also spark much merchandise over the years like t-shirts, toys and yes the IDW Comic series. The film in 1980 was released alongside such other horror films as The Fog, The Shining, Humanoids From The Deep, Mother’s Day, Terror Train, Friday The 13^th, Fade To Black, Prom Night, Island Claws, Alien Dead, Alligator, Maniac, Inferno, City Of The Living Dead and Nightmare City to name a few showing that this was a great year for horror!

Motel Hell is a film that I first learned about thanks to Fangoria Magazine as they had Farmer Vincent wearing his pig head with a chainsaw in his hands as one of the covers for their issues, and it became a film that I was obsessed with as I had no clue what the film was about but new that the Pig Head Guy had a chainsaw and looked liked he knew how to use it. As I said way back in 2013 when I first covered Motel Hell, I had no idea what the film was about and in my mind it was a slasher film that had a mutated pig running wild killing beautiful scream queens who would try to escape the blade teeth of his chainsaw. And it would be thanks to Commander USA’s Groovie Movies and USA Saturday Nightmares that would let me see the film for the first time, and I can remember thinking this was nothing like I thought it was…but also loved the weird and strange plot of the film plus the ending of Farmer Vincent wear the big head swinging the chainsaw and laughing like a mad man was awesome stuff and was always in my memory after seeing it. Rory Calhoun was the perfect choice to play Farmer Vincent as he is truly able to play the two sides of the character that is the sweet old country gentleman and the other is a human meat jerky making psychopath! And it’s crazy as Rory was mostly known for his roles in Western films and shows and was a popular leading man in the 1940-1960’s cinema, and was over all a really great actor. It’s sad to say that he passed away on April 28, 1999 at the age of 76 from the combination of diabetes and emphysema. In fact sadly Nancy Parsons who played sister Ida Smith who was a great actress and who was known for her role in the Porky’s films as Beulah Balbricker was a great choice as well for the part sadly passed away on January 5, 2001 at the age of 58, making Paul Linke who played the sheriff brother Bruce Smith the only one still with us of the Smith family. And as a kid I geeked out when I seen Wolfman Jack in the film and funny enough he was playing a Reverend and he had such an iconic voice. One thing about this film as well as when I was a kid I always thought that it was way more bloody then it really is, as don’t get me wrong the film does have blood being split and some gruesome deaths but its not a bloodbath like I remembered it being. Over the years I have owned the film on VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray and it remains one of the films I watch at least once every year or so. I even have the Farmer Vincent action figure from Trick Or Treat Studios that is in my horror collection, as this truly is a film that I have enjoyed since I was a kid. And in these modern times I am shocked that Motel Hell never got a remake or sequel film as in my opinion it would be easy to do a sequel to this film as you could have more of the Smith family taking over the family business of the motel and jerky making. But if you have never seen Motel Hell, make sure to give it a watch if you like horror films with a dash of dark comedy that is a slasher film from the 80’s with a crazy farmer and his sister who harvests human meat and try and run a motel in the middle of nowhere.

With that, we have talked about Farmer Vincent and his way of killing people to use for his meats as well as the film he is from and that is of course Motel Hell, and now it’s time for us to re-visit the comic mini series that was released by IDW Comics in 2010 as part of there Midnite Movies line, that sadly was very short lived. If anyone from IDW is reading this please bring back this line of comics, as it was great for us horror comic readers who enjoy comics based on films. And I would like to start by thanking Mavericks Cards And Comics, Bell Book And Comic and Game Swap Kettering for making this update possible by having these issues in stock. I would like to also remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s check into our room at Motel Hell and talk about comic books.

Motel Hell # 1 ***
Released in 2010 Cover Price $3.99 IDW # 1 of 3

Farmer Vincent Smith has now taken to making his own wine that sells for around $500 a bottle and he and his sister Ida Smith have just taken out a family to make into smoked meat, as Idea with a hatchet ends the husbands life and Vincent uses drugged wine to knock out the wife and the fate of the two young sisters is unknown. Meanwhile reporter Holly Bell has been chosen as a guest to stay at the Motel Hello along with the likes of shamed football player Freddie Stanford, oil man and sleaze ball Rupert Godrey, rich snob brat Desirae Childs, mortgage conman Joss Warburton and wannabe rockstar Gage Hardmiller and Holly is grossed out by all of the fellow guests. They are all ushered onto an old plane that is being piloted by Vincent and Idea as the guests are given lots of wine, smoked meats and drugs with Holly not consuming as she is working on her story about the experience for the paper she works for. Farmer Vincent leaves the cockpit and talks to his guests, with Gage rubbing him the wrong way when he uses the lords name in vein and snaps at him in front of everyone. Once they land and they are shown their rooms, Holly finds herself in the same room as Desirae and late at night they watch as the plane takes off, unknown to them the plane is filled with dead bodies as well as Gage who is strapped to a seat and Ida alerts him that he has to be the first to die as he annoyed her brother! And Ida uses a flamethrower to set the bodies on fire and then she puts on a pig head and parachutes out of the plane as it explodes killing Gage, and all the other guests look on in horror and Holly gets scared when she notices in the shadows Farmer Vincent in his pig head thinking he is a monster and freaking everyone out when she screams.

In this first issue of Motel Hell, the crazed Farmer Vincent and his sadistic sister Ida have added making wine to their businesses and have invited many rich and corrupt people to stay at the motel in order to get a look at the wine making, but also invited is Holly, a reporter for a newspaper who is looking at this gig as a fluff piece, but is clearly starting to see that this might be something more sinister, and when the plane that brought them in explodes in the air that night and she thinks she sees a monster in the dark…her suspensions could be true they are all in danger. Holly Bell is a reporter who is looking for a big story that will make her a bigger deal in her field, and while she is annoyed at first over this wine story she soon finds that it really could be the story of a lifetime. The rest of the guests are rich and weird people who have not been fully flushed out yet with one Gage already killed as he is blown up in a plane and crashes to earth on fire while strapped to his seat. It’s clear that the guests thought this was going to be a fun time of drinking wine and eating smoked meats, but are now a little scared as they watch the plane explode and cannot find Vincent nor Ida! Farmer Vincent has clearly decided to make some big changes to his business as while smoked meats are a big part of what he does, he has turned the motel into a spa retreat and his next big thing is making wine, and he is just as nice and yet crazy as ever. Ida is still around as well and doing what her brothers wants her to do, but for some reason now she wears a pig head a lot and even makes pig noises…just a strange change for the character from movie to comic made here. But what is nice is that the Smith siblings are just as weird and murderous as you would want them to be, and still think they are doing Gods work with all the killings. But one other puzzling thing about this comic is how did the Smiths live after the events of the film and who the heck are all the women that are working for them on the plane? The issue has two bloody deaths with one being a hatchet to the head and another being a man on fire falling to his death. And the horror of this comic of course comes from The Smith siblings as well as just the Motel Hello it’s self as it’s so far away from everyone and gives off a true spooky vibe. The cover for this issue is really awesome and showcases both Farmer Vincent and Ida looking all crazed and American Gothic styled. The interior art is done by artist Chris Moreno and is good stuff and while the characters don’t look like the actors that played them in the film, it’s close enough and you know who they are supposed to be. Over all I would say that I liked this issue a little more than I did back when I first reviewed it as I found it a great build to the story and a way to introduce our cast of characters, even if it does leave a lot of unanswered questions. With that, let’s see what issue two has in store for us once again.

Motel Hell # 2 ***
Released in 2010 Cover Price $3.99 IDW # 2 of 3

Farmer Vincent and his staff alert the guests that the plane was stolen and crashed by Gage Hardmiller who was high on drugs and that they are all stuck there for the time being. Over breakfast of smoked meats Farmer Vincent during the morning prayer insults each of his guest and this angers Freddie Stanford who is then tased by Vincent and then again by Ida and this leaves the rest of the guest confused and scared. As Vincent takes the others for a hike around the farm an vineyard to show them all that there is no escape, Ida puts on her pig head and goes to work on Freddie as in the corner in a cage is the two young sisters who are now captives. Vincent mocks his guests and will not allow them to have any water and Holly Bell calls him out for his cruel actions to zero effect. That night the guests are all locked in their rooms as Freddie wakes up in a caged ring as Ida lets loose a massive wild hog named Hogsquatch that ends up hurting the football star. In the end Vincent and Ida have to pull the massive hog off Freddie as they need him alive in order the planet and turn into smoked meat later on.

The terror for these guests goes into full effect as they watch as their only way to escape exploded in the air and now learn that Farmer Vincent and his sister Ida have tricked them all into coming with the idea of teaching them a lesson and not allowing them to leave alive! And reporter Holly Bell now has the story of a lifetime as she tries her best to figure out what is truly going on as well as standup to Farmer Vincent when he tries to bully her and the other guests with harsh words and threats. The other guest all seem to be trapped and confused besides poor Freddie who ends up getting shocked by a taser twice and then mauled by a giant hog for trying to stand up to these demented Farmers. Farmer Vincent is a delight as he is crazy as ever and uses his religion as well as his own warped morels to try and “teach” his guests a lesson of two, he even allows a small dog to die of dehydration and does not think that he was cruel as he was not the one to bring the dog even though he is the one with the water that he did not share during the hot hike. Ida is just as twisted as she has went full pervert as she likes to do sexual acts with many of the male victims before they murder them or even planet them for meat. And the brother and sister also have a massive pet hog named Hogsquatch that seems to enjoy trying to kill humans. The issue has blood as well as violence with the hog attack being the most gruesome. This is a very fun and bizarre issue, and while Farmer Vincent and Ida are around, it also kind of only some what feels like a comic based on Motel Hell as the characters are slightly off as is the plot of a vineyard and a massive pet hog…now it’s not a bad thing for the most part, I do have to say that mega fans of the film might be a little more annoyed by these changes in feel and mood. The cover for this issue is ok and showcases mostly our series villains, and like before the interior art is done by artist Chris Moreno and is good stuff, but again I have to stress the characters look nothing like the actors. With the cliffhangers being the remaining guests trapped in their rooms and poor Freddie being injured and ready to be planted in the earth to be harvested for meat later on, it makes me look forward to reading the third and final issue once again.

Motel Hell # 3 ***
Released in 2010 Cover Price $3.99 IDW # 3 of 3

With Farmer Vincent and Ida out in the fields burring Freddie up to his neck, the other guests take this time to escape their rooms with Joss and Rupert escaping via a broken window and Holly and Desirae using a credit card to unlock their door, but before the two ladies can escape they run into Farmer Vincent who they knock out of the way to get their freedom. The two old con men Rupert and Joss do not get far as they run into Ida and her sledgehammer, the ladies however end up finding the secret human crop and the hidden barn were they set the twin girls free but Desirae is killed by Ida who strangles her to death and even causes her eyeball to pop out! Farmer Vincent ends up killing two cops that come to the motel looking for answers about the plane crash and the he arrives just in time to save Ida who has been hit with a hammer by Holly. Vincent and Ida end up going out to the farm and removing the eyes of the humans they are harvesting as they use them for the wine as Ida stomps on them, and they send Hogsquatch free in order to track down the twin girls who have found the dead cops and taken the gun and free Holly to give it to her so she can save them all from the giant hog and the crazy farmers. Holly allows Hogsquatch to bring her back to the farmers and she then pulls out the gun and kills the hog, she then shoots Ida in the face and shoots Vincent who is now in his pig head and slinging a chainsaw! As Vincent is dying he tells Holly he used anti-freeze in his wine as well as he got the idea of doing all this from cult leader Charles Manson. Holly and the twins then set the farm and crop on fire just as a police helicopter is arriving to help save them.

Farmer Vincent and Ida have meet their end…again in this third and final issue of Motel Hell as they are killed by reporter Holly Bell, who escapes their motel and is able to use a gun to end their reign of terror…but not before all her fellow guests end up killed! But you have to give Holly credit as she is able to save the two young twin sisters, plus I am sure she will become a big star with her report on this motel of terror. The fact that Farmer Vincent uses human eyeball for his wine is great and gruesome stuff as we get to see Ida stomping on the eyes that are in a tub to make them into liquid. And while he is still very loyal to his motel and smoked meats, its clear he things that God wants him to also make wine from people. I am not sure why Farmer Vincent also acts as if he got some of his idea from cult leader Charles Manson, as he keeps talking about how the two wanted to slaughter the piggies of the world. The one puzzling thing about this comic is that they never explain a lot of things like how Vincent and Ida survived the events of the film and who all the pretty ladies that helped them throughout the comic are and were they went by the final events. And again I think many fans of the film would possibly enjoy this strange mini series, but they might also get very annoyed by the extreme changes in the Smith siblings who do act slightly different than they do in the film. But one thing that will make fans of the film happy is that Farmer Vincent wears his pig head and his sister Ida does as well! Missing from the comic is the killer’s police officer brother Bruce Smith as well as the films female survivor Terry, it would have been nice to have seen them involved in this weird plot. The issue has lots of blood and gore with Ida squashing the eyes being pretty gross and Ida’s death being shot in the face is the issues best kill. The cover is very eye-catching as it shows Vincent and Ida with a gun pointed at them, and like two times before the interior art is one by Chris Moreno an is pretty good stuff as I like the way he drew Famer Vincent with the pig head on. Over all I have to say that I really enjoy this comic series more now than I did when it was first released, as while it is a strange take on Motel Hell and the characters from the film it adds a new tale for them, and I am ok with that as maybe this is how The Smiths would be in 2010! If you like the film, I think you should check this comic mini series out and I also think that if you like Farmer Horror stories also give it a read. Check out the artwork below to see the style used by Moreno in this series.

Motel Hell is a truly cult classic and one strange horror film that I have been a fan of since I can remember and even before I seen it thanks to Fangoria Magazine. And when this comic was released by IDW, it once more helped spark my interest in comics as during that time I was reading a little less than normal as I was not getting into anything Marvel or DC was releasing. And I really do hope that IDW will return to making comics based on classic, cult and current horror films as for readers like me we miss them. So in other words, IDW, bring back the Midnite Movie Comics as MGM has lots of great films to choose from that should be getting the comic book treatment. Well our revisit to Motel Hell has come to an endm and I hope that I did it more justice with this one and I am looking forward to going back and covering a few more in the future. Our next update will of course keep us in the world of horror comics based on horror films as we will be talking about Final Destination and the comic mini series based on it. So until next time, read a horror comic or three, watch a horror movie or two and as always support your local horror host. See you next update as Death has lots of strange ways to deal it’s self out for us to read about on the pages of a Horror Comic.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968)

Posted on November 27, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. One thing that I have been thinking about a lot lately is the films that I loved loved as a kid that had Horror elements to them, and while many had very small amount of “Horror” in them, they were a gateway of sorts for many to get into the world of the genre. For instance, such films as “The Ghost And Mr. Chicken (1966)”, “Frankenweeinie (1984)”, “The Blair Thumb (2001)” and “Escape To Witch Mountain (1975)” all brought humorous chills to viewers (with us already talking about Escape To Witch Mountain that you can read here if you missed it). For this update I have chosen the Disney made supernatural family comedy film “Blackbeard’s Ghost” as the topic as it was one I enjoyed as a kid, and I think that it fits the mold of what I am talking about as a gateway film into horror. So if you are ready, let’s head to Blackbeard’s Inn and see what this silly ghost has in store for us, and also Happy Thanksgiving 2025!

Let’s start off by taking a look at Blackbeard’s Ghost and his ways of scaring the hell out of the living! Back in the 18^th century Edward Teach aka Blackbeard was a pirate that tormented the waters of the West Indies before he was killed in 1718 during a battle. But in 1968, his spirit is brought back by a newly hired track coach after he accidentally says a spell out loud. The two are now bonded together in mischief and trying to right the wrongs that are going on in the town of Godolphin. Blackbeard’s Ghost is unseen by everyone besides the one who summoned him but his appearance has him in full pirate clothing, a black beard and at times he looks annoyed and mean…and this can scare those people who do set their eyes on him. Blackbeard’s Ghost who cannot be seen by normal people is able to also move items/objects around as well as cause extreme and sometime playful scares to those he has targeted. Not to mention that he carries a very sharp sword that could cut and go through the flesh of those he uses it against. This supernatural ghost is also very annoying and will use his playful ways to cause chaos and accidents as he does not care for the most part about other people’s safety as his enjoyment is more important, and really his messing with such things as guns, motorcycles and cars makes him very dangerous to the living. One other thing that Blackbeard’s Ghost has that frightens people is the legend of his cut throat ways while living as he was a truly bad person. But while Blackbeard’s Ghost is from the supernatural world, he does have some weakness, as his ego is so big that it leaves him into making terrible mistakes and even almost chase off his own “friends”. He is also a cheat and a drinker, as he smells of rum making it very easy to detect when he is around. He can easily get his feelings hurt and this as well causes him to go away and leave people alone. He also starts to build a soft spot for his newly made friends and also wants the curse of being a ghost lifted so this turns the once feared pirate into a friendly ghost who wants to help others to rejoin his crew in the afterlife. And once Blackbeard’s Ghost does a good deed and more ancient magical words are said, he is free from this mortal world and his chaos is over. While Blackbeard’s Ghost is not that deadly nor scary he does do his job of haunting the living.

So while Blackbeard’s Ghost might not be the scariest or deadliest supernatural entity, we have ever covered here… but he just might be the silliest one, so that’s something right? And now that we have chatted about him, I think that it’s time we take a look at the film he is from. And like always, I will be taking the film’s write up from our pals at IMDB and then after that I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on the film. So with that, let’s see what this kids silly comedy, family film with a pinch of “Horror” has in store for us.

Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968)

“An unassuming track coach accidentally invokes the spirit of a notorious pirate long believed dead, and who must now team up to lay the pirate to rest, and save a local hotel from a mobster.”

In the 1960’s Disney was locking itself to be the biggest studio to make family friendly entertainment and they were releasing many films to theaters as young moviegoers seemed to not be able to get enough! And when looking for their next film, they decided to adapt the 1965 novel “Blackbeard’s Ghost” by Ben Stahl into a film as many think that a big part of them choosing to do a Supernatural Ghost Pirate film was all due to the huge success of the Pirates Of The Caribbean attraction that had opened in Disneyland in 1967. The film’s screenplay was done by the team of Don DaGradi and Bill Walsh and Disney would hire Robert Stevenson to direct who had made many other popular films for Disney before hand including Old Yeller, The Absent-Minded Professor, Son Of Flubber, Mary Poppins and That Darn Cat! to name a few, showing that he was truly one director that the studio could turn to in order to have a hit film. When casting the film, they would hire Peter Ustinov to play Blackbeard and other actors in the main cast include Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, Joby Baker, Richard Deacon and in very cool casting The Bride Of Frankenstein herself Elsa Lanchester would play the part of Emily Stowecroft. The film was shot at Walt Disney Studios and was your normal production for them at the time and once done the score would be done by Robert F. Brunner and it would be released in theaters on February 8, 1968 and was meet with mostly positive reviews from critics and moviegoers alike who all enjoyed the performance of Peter Ustinov as well as the supernatural comedy elements of the story. The film would be a success for Disney as it did great at the box office for them doing over $21,540,050.00 and also was being considered one of their best films in from the past years. While this is not considered a horror film, it is truly a gateway film for young viewers to ease their way into that genre as it really is a supernatural, comedy, fantasy film whose main character is the ghost of a deadly pirate…and in 1968 it was released alongside such Horror Films as Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, Night Of The Living Dead, Rosemary’s Baby, Astro-Zombies, The Green Slime, Kong Island, Mark Of The Werewolf and Spider Baby to name a few.

Growing up a kid of the 80’s and 90’s, the animated films of Disney were all the rage among kids and man we had some great ones like Lion King, Aladdin and Hercules to name a small few. But in the village I grew up in, many times during the school year we would be able to have a class that would let us watch a movie and many of the time they would be the classic 50’s and 60’s live action Disney films and that is were I first seen the film Blackbeard’s Ghost and man when the teacher first said the title and I knew nothing about it my mind jumped to a classic style Universal Monster film about a pirate ghost scaring people to death…instead the film was a comedy were the ghost helps a man out…was I disappointed it was not a fright flick yes….but did I end up liking the movie… also yes! Something about the goofy nature of the film and the delightful performance of Peter Ustinov drew me in as he is really good in the role of Blackbeard as he gives the character charm and makes him very likable even if he was a blood thirsty pirate in real life. I also geeked out seeing Elsa Lanchester as what classic monster kid doesn’t geekout when they see her in films as she is truly an icon of Universal Monsters as The Bride Of Frankenstein is truly a legendary monster character. And after seeing the film I would also end up finding the film’s novel adaptation at a local second hand book store and had to buy it, and I can remember reading the book in my room right before bed for a couple of weeks. And I know what you are all thinking ,that Blackbeard’s Ghost is not a horror film, but it really does have many elements and here are just a few of those that make this film spooky as it has a ghost, pirates tales, a witch, a curse and even a eerie atmosphere. And again I truly think that films like Blackbeard’s Ghost act as a good way for youngsters to get into the world of Horror Cinema. I also have to say actress Suzanne Pleshette who plays the main character Professor Jo-Anne Baker is absolutely stunning and many of your Horror fans will know her also from her roles in the spooky films “The Birds (1963)” and “The Power (1968)”. Over all if you have not seen this film but do like your Disney films with a dash of supernatural spookiness make sure to give this a watch as you might just find yourself enjoying it.

So as you can see, Blackbeard’s Ghost is a friendly one, but he does have a little of mean streak that makes him a pain in the butt to those he decides to annoy. And now that we have talked about him as well as the film based around him, I think we should move on and take a look at the comic adaptation that was released by Gold Key Comics back in 1968. I would first like to thank Lone Star Comics for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to thank the teacher who showed this film to us students in Waynesville! And I would also like to dedicate this update to my Aunt Theresa who sadly is no longer with us, but who loved these classic old school live action Disney films. I would like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready like I am, let’s have a spooky, fun time with the one an only Blackbeards Ghost.

Blackbeard’s Ghost # 1 **1/2
Released in 1968 Cover Price .12 Gold Key Comics # 1 of 1

Steve Walker has arrived in town as he has been hired to be the new track coach at the local college and meets fellow school workers as Professor Jo Anne Baker, Dean Roland Wheaton and football coach Pinetop Purvis at the hotel called Blackbeard Inn that is holding a fund raiser to raise money to pay off a bank loan that the local mobster Silky Seymour is trying to get as he wants the land the hotel sits on. That night Steve goes to his room that was the one the pirate Blackbeard use to stay in, and while getting ready to wind down for the night he gets a visit from the Ghost of Blackbeard who tells Steve he needs his help to break a curse that placed on him by one of his own ex-wives! But Steve is freaked out and wants nothing to do with the ghost and leaves the motel only for Blackbeard’s Ghost to follow and get him into trouble with the law when he takes control of the cars wheel and then messes with a cop that pulls them over, but unlucky for Steve no one else can see Blackbeard’s Ghost so he is thought to be drunk or crazy. Once out of jail, word spreads of his arrest and Jo Anne tells the Dean she will try and figure out what is going on with their new track couch, and the two even have dinner to chat at one of Silky’s restaurants and gambling places. But while there Blackbeard’s Ghost steals $900 that was raised for the old ladies who owns the inn from Jo Anne’s purse and sneaks and places a bet that the college’s track team will win the big meet, and after dinner she finds the slip and thinks Steve did this and is furious. And then at the track meet Blackbeard’s Ghost starts helping the team win and this makes Steve super mad as he don’t want to cheat to win, but it also will help the ghost do a good deed by helping the team win and get the old ladies enough money to save the inn! And the team does win with Blackbeard’s help but only after he and Steve have a verbal fight and feelings are hurt, but the good cause becomes more important. But when Jo Anne and Steve go to collect the money from Silky, he rejects the beat and gives them the $900 back and tells them to try and win it big on the roulette wheel and they do with the help of Blackbeard’s Ghost! As Jo Anne and Steve now with the money to save the end make their way to the inn where the banker and old ladies are waiting Blackbeard’s Ghost ends up beating up Silky and his men who try to stop the couple. In the end the bank is paid, the inn is safe, Steve and Jo Anne are in love and the curse is lifted from Blackbeard whose spirit heads off to sea with his old crew.

This adaptation is very strange and yet also entertaining as many changes are made from the film with one of the biggest is Blackbeard’s Ghost’s first appearance as in the film he appears after Steve by accident reads the magic words of a witch and in the comic the ghost has always just been hanging around his old room at the hotel looking for someone to help him break the curse that is forcing him to walk the world between the living and the dead. Another change is that Blackbeard is over all a nice ghost who wants to do the right thing and almost every element of the films slight horror is missing in these pages as Blackbeard’s mean side, the curse, witch and atmosphere is cut down to nothing. The plot is still pretty much the same as it has Steve Walker being new to town after taking the job with the local collage and then getting mixed up with Blackbeard’s Ghost, helping the little old ladies who own the hotel to keep it, falling in love with one of his co-workers and lastly stopping the towns no good mobsters from taking the hotel. The main star of the comic is Blackbeard’s Ghost who is looking for a good deed to do so that he can be free of his supernatural shackles, and he is able to set his site on helping the old ladies who run the inn he haunts be able to keep the place safe from the bank as well as the local mobster. And while he is a ghost he spends most of his time helping in this comic and less time annoying and scaring. Track coach Steve Walker is kind of the pawn in this comic as Blackbeard’s Ghost attaches himself to him and uses his personal life and job in order to do his good deed, but mostly he just makes him look like he is crazy as Steve is the only one who can see him and the two argue a lot. But while Steve is being driven crazy by his new ghost friend its clear that he really does want to do the right thing even if that is allowing cheating to go on. Professor Jo Anne Baker is a good person who wants to do what she can to save the old inn from falling into the hands of the local mobster and by trusting and following Steve and unknown to her Blackbeard’s Ghost and this helps her get the money needed and for the inn to be saved. And of course the comic’s main bad guy is Silky Seymour who is just a sleazy scumbag who along with his goons bully people and run all the towns gambling, and he wants the old inn for the land to build a big casino. So when he losses lots of money and Blackbeard’s Ghost punches him in the face is a good time. The comic has some silly humor and if you like the film I am sure you would enjoy this comic as its very similar but does play out a little different as much is cut out and other things and smashed together in order to fit in the comics page count. The cover for this issue is just a still of Blackbeard on his ship and the comics interior art is done by Dan Spiegle and has that classic Gold Key Comic look, so that means the characters only sort of look like the actors who played them in the film. Over all if you like the film Blackbeard’s Ghost make sure to get yourself a copy for a read, but those who are looking for a kid friendly scare this one is not for you as the spooky elements are pretty much removed. Checkout the artwork below to see the style used in this comic.

Well it looks like Blackbeard’s Ghost has found his way back to his crew and they are now out on the seven seas roaming around, and I know many of you are still saying that this film is NOT a Horror Film, and again I will say I agree but I still say that it is a film that is a gateway for younger fans to discover the joys of Supernatural Horror! Plus it was a fun one to write and I hope that you all enjoyed reading it! Plus it was cool to read this comic for the first time plus it gave me a reason to watch the film again after all these years. But don’t worry, our next update will take us to the world of The Snailiens, a mostly forgotten 90’s toyline that will surly bring a smile to your face. So until next tim,e read a comic or three, eat a turkey leg or two and as always visit your loved ones. See you next update for a Snail of a good time!

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Ape Man (1943)

Posted on September 23, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update as these themed updates are so much fun to do and you readers really seem to enjoy them. For this update we will be taking a look at the 1943 B-Movie classic The Ape Man that stars horror icon Bela Lugosi as the title character and the Blood Scream Comics adaptation of the film that was done by Scott Scarborough who took the story of the film and added an Ohio touch to it as well as adds his own touches to make it more spooky as well as silly. Due to this comic being released by Blood Scream Comics I will not be giving the comic a star rating as that just feels gross to do as I am connected to Blood Scream and I am proud of everything we have released. I am a fan of the film Ape Man and really am looking forward to doing this update, so if you are ready, let’s dive into this From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update.

Let’s first take a look at Dr. James Brewster, the villain and killer of the film, and his ways of dealing death to his victims. Dr. James Brewster is a brilliant scientist who during a failed experiment turns himself into a half man and half ape being that is filled with anger and sorrow. Brewster has super human strength and can use this in order to squeeze and choke the life out of his victims, he can also use it to his advantage to keep them captive as well as at bay. His anger can fuel him into going into an almost berserk like rage and will cause him to rampage and during this time he can cause death as well as serious injury. His appearance as well can shock those that see him as his long jet back hair and crazed eyes as well a grunting noises and ape like walk is sure to strike terror in his victims. Dr. James Brewster also has the need for human spinal fluid in order to try and find a cure for his condition makes him dangerous, as he is desperate and will commit murder or have others do so for him in order to get it. Brewster also has a gorilla named Ape as a friend that he abuses as well as commands to do his bidding and that includes abducting and murder. Dr. James Brewster, while strong and brilliant, does have weaknesses that could lead to his death as while enhanced he is still a living breathing man creature. Brewster has temper tantrums that cause him to lash out and break things around him causing destruction and also make him very sloppy in protecting himself and this could lead to an accident or even him being killed by someone who is wise to his evil ways. Also his nasty temper and lack of respect for his gorilla sidekick Ape can lead to his death as if he pushes the primate to far the animal might just fight back and break his back or crush his neck. Dr. James Brewster can also be stopped by being shot, burned, stabbed, poisoned or crushed as well as could die from other natural things that kill humans. One of his biggest flaws that could lead to his destruction would be his slow decent into madness as it is mudding up his brain and causing him to truly become a savage animal. Say what you will but Dr. James Brewster aka The Ape Man is very dangerous and his rage and madness makes him a threat to anyone who gets in his way.

Now that we have chatted about Dr. James Brewster aka The Ape Man and his murderous and sinister ways of dealing death, I think we should now chat about the 1943 film he is from called The Ape Man. I would like to remind you readers that I will be taking the film’s plot from our friends at IMDB and after that I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on the film. So with that, let’s avoid Ape and try and sneak into the lab of Brewster.

Ape Man (1943)

“Conducting weird scientific experiments, crazed Dr. James Brewster, aided by his colleague Dr. Randall, has managed to transform himself into a hairy, stooped-over ape-man. Desperately seeking a cure, Brewster believes only an injection of recently-drawn human spinal fluid will prove effective. With Randall refusing to help him, it falls to Brewster and his captive gorilla to find appropriate donors.”

The Horror boom of the 1930’s continued into the 1940’s and during this time many smaller film producers as well as production companies got into the act of making spooky films to fill the theaters as movie goers seemed not to be able to get enough. Monogram Pictures was one of these companies and along with the producers Sam Katzman, Jack Dietz and Barney Sarecky they came up with the idea for a sci-fi horror film that would be called “The Gorilla Strikes” and would later have a title change to “The Ape Man”. The film’s script was written by Barney A. Sarecky and was based on the Karl Brown story “They Creep In The Dark” and they hired on William Beaudine to direct as he was a veteran of cinema as he had been making movies snce the 1920’s! When casting the film they brought in such names as Louise Currie, Wallace Ford, Henry Hall, Emil Van Horn, Minerva Urecal and the big star for the film was Bela Lugosi who would play Dr. James Brewster, the film’s main villain. At this time Lugosi was still working for Universal from time to time and was still a big name at the box office for Horror and that is why the indie companies tried to lock him in for these roles. The film began filming on December 18, 1942 and was filmed in only 15 days and was your typical fast paced indie production for that era. The film would be released in theaters on March 5, 1943 and was met with mixed reviews from critics and fans. The film was released alongside such other films as Son Of Dracula, The Mad Ghoul, The Return Of The Vampire, I Walked With A Zombie, Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman, Dead Men Walk and Phantom Of The Opera among others in 1943. The film would become a cult classic over the years once it was released on home media and new viewers discovered this fun and cheesy classic that has Bela Lugosi as a half man and half ape creature. The film would have a sequel in 1944 with “The Return Of The Ape Man” that was a very loose sequel and Bela Lugosi returns this time as Professor Dexter and the Ape Man is a Caveman. The film also starred John Carradine, George Zucco and Judith Gibson.

The Ape Man is one of those films that took me many years to track down and see as I had always read about it as I was a big fan of Bela Lugosi and had seen many of his films thanks to VHS releases as well as being aired on TV when I was a youth. But The Ape Man was one that seemed to not be carried at any of the rental stores my family had a card to and TV just seemed not to air it. But I finally got to see it when I was a teenager when I found a copy of the film on DVD released by Alpha Video at one of the local malls as my friend Josh Weinberg and I were on the prowl to find some classic Horror Films to watch while we scarfed down some fast food and talked about some shot on video movie ideas we had. And during that trip Josh bought the film “The Mad Monster” starring Glenn Strange and I have to say this made for a great double feature! When watching The Ape Man I was glued to it as I found it to be a very delightful cheesy z-grade film that showcased Lugosi doing what he does best and that was creep around all scary like and spook the viewers with his masterful performance. His appearance as The Ape Man was great as they gave Lugosi long black hair on his head, face and hands and the look of madness in his eyes made for some classic scares. After watching the film Josh and I even toyed with the idea of making a shot on video sequel to the film, that sadly we never did make, but man I wish we would have done that one as I am sure that it would have been a cheesy watch just like the original…and who knows maybe one day I will get the old Independent B Movie and Bloodline Video crews back together and make Ape Man 3 as I am sure the awesome company SOV Horror would love to release it! I feel that many of the Z-Grade Horror Films that Bela Lugosi made in the 40’s and 50’s are often over looked and tossed aside for being Golden Turkeys but I have to say many of these films are loads of fun. The Corpse Vanishes, Bride Of The Monster, Voodoo Man, The Black Sheep and Devil Bat are all great and entertaining films in their own right. In fact, if you have not seen Devil Bat make sure to check it out as it’s an over the top film that Lugosi shines in. But back to The Ape Man, I also have to point out that I really like the film’s score music done by Edward J. Kay as the opening them to the film is very exciting sounding and draws you in. I also have to say that actress Louise Currie who plays photographer Billie Mason is stunning and had worked with Bela Lugosi as well in 1944 in the film Voodoo Man. If you have not seen The Ape Man and love the films of Lugosi or just like 1940’s sci-fi horror, make sure to give this a watch as you can find the film on DVD as well as can watch it even on YouTube.

The Ape Man is truly a forgotten gem that blends horror, sci-fi, romance and even comedy together and was a fun film to watch Bela Lugosi act like an ape in as he would shuffle around the sets. And now that we have talked about the film as well as the main monster of it Dr. James Brewster, we are now at the part of this update that we will be taking a look at the comic book that is based on it! And I would like to thank Scott Scarborough for creating this comic for Blood Scream Comics and making this update possible. I would like to also remind you that due to this comic being released by Blood Scream Comics and by connection to this publisher I will not be giving this comic a star rating as that just seems very silly. So if you are ready, let’s head to the lab of Dr. James Brewster and see what kind of Ohio twist Scott put into this tale of classic terror. Oh and remember this review will have spoilers so read on if that does not bother you.

Ape Man # 1
Released in 2021 Cover Price $3.99 Blood Scream # 1 of 1

Dr. James Brewster is locked in a cage in his lab in Ohio, as he was trying to find a cure for polio as he had been diagnosed with the disease but instead of finding a cure has turned himself into a monster that is part man and part ape as he has to inject himself with the spinal fluid of apes in order to live. Dr. George Randall has called for Agatha Brewster, the sister of James who is also a scientist that is working in Africa, and the three are trying to find a cure. When there Agatha also meets the gorilla sidekick and friend of James named Ape who is very loyal as unknown to all James has been injecting Ape with human brain fluids to make him smarter as the two have plans to take over the world. Outside the Brewster estate, FBI Agent Richards as well as photographer Billie are watching as a newspaper reporter is peeking in the windows and this leads to Ape going outside and removing the head of the reporter! And Agent Richards calls his boss J. Edger Hoover for permission to investigate the Brewster Home as he and Billie saw Ape and The Ape Man. That night Brewster and Ape go after Wilber Wright at his home but things go wrong when FBI Agents bust in and wound Ape, the agents are both killed and Wilber escapes. But as Brewster and Ape are returning hope they run across Agent Richards and Billie and after Ape beats Richards bloody Brewster takes Billie to his lab as he wants to make her is bride and the mother of what will bring in the new race of super apes! Once at the lab Brewster is using his experiments on Billie and George tries to stop him only to have his neck slit, more FBI Agents also rush in and end up killing Ape with bullets as well as electrocuting him…as Brewster tries to get away with Billie he is as well shot and as he is dying he laughs as he knows that this is far from over as Billie is now half ape like he! And it was Agatha Brewster who had tipped off the FBI all along.

This is such a fun and creative take on the 1943 film Ape Man as when you read this issue it comes off more like an alternative universe version of what Dr. James Brewster could have been if he was in Ohio and working for the government to find a cure for polio when he was turned into The Ape Man. The new twists and turns for the story are also lots of fun as we get to see Ape Man and Ape be more of friends who have an idea to make Earth a true to life Planet Of The Apes. We get cameos from such historic figures as J. Edger Hoover and Wilber Wright, who of course is one half of the Wright Brothers who invented flight as we know it. Scott, the madman behind this comic, also takes away the humor and the newspaper reporter hero is traded in for FBI Agents and he adds in a good amount of blood and gore to make horror comic readers very happy. Dr. James Brewster is a madman who has turned himself into a Ape Man and instead of wanting to cure himself would rather stay this way and wants to make Apes smarter in order to run the world, he also enjoys killing and wants to use the fluids he takes from his victims to make his friend Ape smarter. Dr. Brewster is both sinister and smart and all signs of having human feelings are gone as he is truly a monster. Ape is Brewster’s gorilla sidekick and best friend who is super strong, smart and also very brutal as he takes human life with ease and will also die for his friend in order to protect him. Agatha and George are fitting parts who both want to help Brewster find a “cure” but also want to try and stop his killing ways to achieve it. The FBI Agents are brave and charge in to the rescue as the local cops are goofs and botch the capture of The Ape Man as the President wanted him taken alive, but instead he is shot and killed. In this comic as well it’s shown that Dr. Brewster did not start with apes but instead with wolves and one of his past assistants was injected with wolf spinal fluid and was turned into a weird wolf life creature that escaped into the woods, a very cool touch as I like the idea that Brewster tried other animals before the Gorilla and this makes him some what of a Dr. Moreau type mad scientist as we as a Dr. Jekyll as Brewster’s experiment gone wrong turned him into a cruel monster as well. The comic has two different covers both showcasing Ape Man as well as Ape and both are very cool and eye catching for fans of Indie Horror Comics. Scott Scarborough’s interior artwork is really great stuff and I love the way he draws both Ape Man and Ape and his gore is over the top and cartoonish that gives it a charm all of its own and for me that is awesome. Over all The Ape Man from Blood Scream Comics is truly an experience of it’s own and while elements of the film and characters are there it’s a whole new experience that will truly delight readers. Check out the artwork below to see the style used by Scott in this issue.

The Ape Man is a great comic by Scott Scarborough who brings the terror feel of the film more to the front and plays more on the sci-fi horror elements for his comic and that is one of the great skills that Scott as a creator has and that is he can bring out the scary elements but they truly have that b-movie feel that makes them very entertaining reads. And for those who are wondering, you can get a copy of Ape Man # 1 from HERE while supplies last and make sure to check out some of Scott’s other work that includes The Wolf Hunter # 1, The Cool Ghoul # 0 and Captain Scurvy # 1 with that last two being based on TV Horror Hosts and the first being the classic Shot On Video film by director Matt Hoffman. And with that this update has come to an end and before we head our separate ways, I would like to let you know that our next update will continue our countdown to Halloween 2024 and will keep us in the groove of another From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update as we look at Return Of The Living Dead! So until next time, read a horror comic or three, watch a classic horror film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next update as we party with the living dead!

Horror Host Icon: Zombo

Posted on August 4, 2024 by bloodlinematt

For many Monster Kids something that was near and dear to them was getting home in time to catch their local Horror Host on TV, and better yet when that Host seemed like their friend who made them laugh to ease the scares of the film of the night. And for me watching the likes of The Creeper of Moraine Playhouse Theater or Dr. Creep of New Shock Theater (and so many more) while a thunderstorm raged outside are some of my favorite memories of watching TV when I was a kid. And for little Eddie Munster, that strange kid who lives in that rundown house on Mockingbird Lane, his favorite Horror Host was Zombo who hosted the show House Of Zombo! For this Horror Host Icon update, we will be taking a look at Zombo and have a quick look at this Horror Host that was part of the sitcom The Munsters from the 1960’s and who helped inspire a generation of Horror Hosts in just one TV appearance! So sit back and be ready to be chilled to the bone as we enter the House Of Zombo!

Zombo is the host of House Of Zombo that aired in the late afternoon, and he was a host who was filled with wise cracks, had a sinister look and hosted from his creepy home. Zombo is a pale faced warlock with massive hands and thick fingernails. He has dark circles around his eyes, a long nose with a wart, long white hair and teeth almost like a vampire. He also has a very iconic sounding laugh as well dresses like a vampire sometimes and other times like a demented wizard. His catch phrase is “You Kill Me”, and this phrase has been quoted by his fans for decades now and is also always on his autographs. Zombo connected with his viewers and made them not only laugh but also makes them feel like they are his friends. A truly talented and funny Horror Host who is Eddie Munster’s favorite Host and even his role model. Actor Louis Nye was Zombo and was a well loved comedic actor who had a very long career in film and TV and who is known for roles on such TV Shows as The Beverly Hillbillies, Needles An Pins, The Love Boat, Curb Your Enthusiasm and did voice work for cartoons like Inspector Gadget, Foofur and The Real Ghostbusters. Sadly Louis Nye would pass away at the age of 92 due to lung cancer in 2005. And in 2022, an uncredited actor played Zombo for the made for streaming film The Munsters that was directed by Rob Zombie.

Growing up, I was always a fan of The Munsters and can remember watching classic episodes on reruns on TBS as well as watching Grampa Munster host Super Scary Saturday who had Grampa hosting Horror and Sci-Fi films, as both where must see TV for me. And I mean let’s be honest, most Monster Kids had a crush of Lily Munster! So as you can see, this show and its characters have always been a big part of my life growing up and one of my favorite episodes of all time is “Zombo” as I have always been a fan of Horror Hosts and could understand why Eddie had a fondness for Zombo as growing up for me Commander USA was one of my favorite people on the planet and his show was something I had to watch. And I think what is really cool for Zombo is that he only made one appearance and only had a few moments on screen, but he made such a big impact and has truly inspired many to pursue becoming a Horror Host and that truly make him an Icon in my book. And let us not forget also that the character has inspired artwork as well as other Horror media showing just how impactful he was, and for some I am sure he also acted as a gateway to introduce some folks to Horror Hosting much like Count Floyd and Alister Cookie have as well. Say what you will about Zombo, but to me he really has made a big impact to the art of Horror Hosting.

So now we are at the point of this Horror Host Icon update that we take a look at the episodes I own and with Zombo we will be taking a look at the episode of The Munsters he appeared in. I will be taking the episode’s plot from our friends at IMDB, and I will be then writing about the antics of Zombo from the episode. And like always, I will not be rating or grading the show as these updates are not to review as much as they are to respect the history of the hosts and their episodes. So with that, the doors of the House of Zombo are open and that’s our invite to come in and see what he is all about.

The House Of Zombo!
Starring – Fred Gwynne & Yvonne De Carlo Not Rated 1966

Host: We open with an old abandoned house, the place that Zombo lives who welcomes us to the show and makes a few pun filled jokes, and then tells the viewers that today they will be picking the winner of the “I Like Zombo Because” contest! He then howls and reads another chapter from the book “Mark Of The Werewolf” and then a little later talks about Crumble Creature Crackers and how you smash them to eat them and then drown the pieces in milk! After that he announces the winner of the contest that is a young lad by the name of Eddie Munster. We then join Zombo later behind the scenes and he is out of costume as he meets Eddie and his mother Lily, and they watch as he gets made up in his makeup and costume, and sadly Eddie is very disappointed by this as he thought Zombo was real. Later on the House Of Zombo show, he sits with Eddie and introduces him to the viewers, but Eddie snaps and grabs and removes Zombo’s wig and fake nose showing the viewers at home that Zombo is just an actor and not a real ghoul and as Zombo tries to hid his real appearance Eddie runs wild on the set and the show ends due to technical difficulties. Back behind the scenes, the producers say that the Zombo show is done for good due to this, and Zombo thanks Eddie for his help as he wanted out of the show for months and tells Eddie to grow up to be like his Dad and not Zombo.

Movie: Eddie is under the spell of Zombo, the host of a television horror show, who he considers to be a hero. Herman feels neglected by Eddie who hasn’t got time for his dad anymore and is jealous of Zombo. When Eddie has won a contest and gets to go to the studio and meet Zombo in person, Herman tries to become just like Zombo so Eddie will consider his dad a hero again.

Zombo is a “Host” that really did leave his mark on the world of Horror Hosting as I have spoken to many hosts who have said he was a big influence on them and help inspire their characters and desire to became a host, so to me that is very impactful and I truly see him as a fully fledged Horror Host as his show inside The Munsters sitcom world has become one of the most iconic episodes in the series’ history. And with the 2022 Rob Zombie film reintroducing Zombo to modern viewers, let’s hope he inspires a new generation of Horror Hosts like the original’s appearance did all those decades back. And again I want to stress in the world of Horror Hosting there are all types of Hosts, and Zambo is one that in one appearance on a sitcom has become a truly iconic Horror Hosts. So with that our next update will take us out of the world of Horror Hosting and will take us to the baseball diamond, as we will find ourselves at the Rotten Ink Stadium to take a look at the rest of the Cincinnati Reds Mascots! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Film or two and as always support your local Horror Hosts! And I hope you are ready to chat about Schottzie # 1 and 2!

Forgotten Reels: Speed Spook (1924)

Posted on July 25, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to another Forgotten Reels, my update series that celebrates the Silent Films from our cinematic past as well as that amazing snack food known as potato chips. This update is the 1924 Comedy film The Speed Spook, a goofy movie that brought belly laughs to moviegoers as well as brought The Speed Spook driverless car to the big screens that blew the mind of moviegoers. And the chips we have at the snack bar are from Route 11 and you will have to wait until a little later to see what flavor they are. So let’s head on into the Rotten Ink Theater and find our seats as I think it’s time we chat about Silent Films.

The Speed Spook was released on August 30, 1924 and was distributed by East Coast Productions and was directed by Charles Hines with this film being his second feature film. Charles Hines was the brother of actor Johnny Hines who was also in this film as he played the lead character “Blue Streak” Billings. Other actors that made up the cast include Faire Binney, Frank Losee, Edmund Breese and Warner Richmond. The film was a comedy that had a hint of horror to it. When released, it was met with pretty good fanfare and reviews and over the years the film has sadly semi faded into obscurity. Even when it was released on DVD by Alpha Video, the film seems to have not gotten attention. The one thing that does get talked about in this film is the fact that the Ghost Car was being driven by a driver that was out of sight and was super close to the burning hot engine, and car lovers have always seemed to enjoy this modified race car as its very classic. The Speed Spook is a great example of a Horror themed movie that was turned into a comedy as cinema owners as well as studios just didn’t have faith that the scares of the screen would not get push back from moviegoers who back in the 20’s were a little more easy to shock and offend. Another reason that many Silent Film fans say that The Speed Spook is not as remembered as other films from 1924 is that Johnny Hines, who was a comedian was not an innovator but a duplicator and that his gags had been done better by many before and after him, making him lost in the shuffle of the emerging comedian film actor shuffle. But I myself find Johnny Hines to be a pretty funny guy who added his own style to the classic gags of the early vaudeville and talkie films.

The chips for this update was selected by Juliet just for this update as with this film being about a “haunted” car she thought what better chips then one from company Route 11 and we picked the “Sour Cream and Chives” kettle cooked chips to be the ones to go along with this spooky silly silent flick. Route 11 is a company out of Virginia and is a pretty well respected chip company that offers a variety of flavors. Check out the picture below to see the chips in the freshly opened bag.

I am looking forward to watching The Speed Spook as this will be a first time viewing for me, and I would love to see just how funny this film is. And remember I will be grading both the film and the chips on a classic 1-4 star scale. I also want to say on my film ratings I am basing it on a scale that is for silent films only and of all budgets and eras. So sit back in your theater seat, grab yourself some tasty chips and a soda and let’s head to the world of a haunted race car with Alpha Video.

The Speed Spook
Starring: Johnny Hines and Faire Binney Directed: Charles Hines
Not Rated 1924 90min Alpha Video DVD Full Frame

The stands are packed at a motorway as a car race is going on and in the race is “Blue Streak” Billings and he has his fans as they cheer him on to try and win the race, and he does! Chuck Brady is the mechanic and the guy who takes care of the race car and he is happy to see Blue Streak cross the line and get the fanfare and watches as Blue Streak is invited to a big banquet, and Blue Streak lets them know that he and Chuck will not be there as they are leaving for the city of Westwood a place that loves cars and is also the town of his lady. Once in Westwood, the townspeople are very happy to see Blue and Chuck and everyone rushes to shake their hands, and this makes them feel very welcomed and they shake the hands of almost everyone in town! Finally Blue and Chuck make it to Comet Six, the car sales business owned by Betty West and her father is the Sheriff who is running for re-election.

Inside Comet Six Blue is waiting for Betty who has rushed off to change out of her oil covered coveralls and while waiting around Blue finds the shops record keeping book and sees that they are in bad debit! Once Betty comes out of the backroom looking all nice in her dress the pair shyly chat with each other. Blue makes the mistake of asking how business is and after Betty tries to downplay how hard times have been, Blue talks about the dollar being what matters and this upsets her. He then asks how he and Chuck can help as they know cars, she says she has only sold one car and that it keeps breaking down on the main street and how people laugh at the owner for his broken car. And as they are talking Hiram Smith the man Sheriff West is against for the election and the man who bought the lemon of a car is outside and he is not happy. Blue goes outside and looks at the engine of Hiram’s car, he then drives it around the town and as people watch the car has issues and they all laugh at him. And as Hiram leaves Blue lets Betty know that he thinks that Hiram is doing something to the car to make it act up and that he is doing so to ruin Comet Six.

Judd Skerrit is a fellow car salesman and he sees what has happed and the spectacle that Hiram has caused, and he tries his best to block Blue from talking to Betty as it is clear he is also sweet on her. And Blue is able to sneak and ask Betty for a date that night, and she agrees. Late that night Judd dresses up in fancy clothes and heads to the West home himself as young kid buys itching powder that he uses on a cop, and when the cop gives chase the youth slips the package of powder into the pocket of Judd, who arrives to with it still in his pocket, and just on time Blue as well shows up at the West house ready for his date. Judd finds the itching powder in his pocket and sprinkles some on the seat and sticks around as Blue sits on the powder and as Judd talks to Betty, Blue starts itching really bad. And while sitting on the porch Betty brings out a radio and the three listen to some music, as Sheriff West asks for a cushion and Blue gives him his and he as well starts itching and all he wanted to do was read the paper. Sheriff West gives up and gets up as the family dog jumps on the cushion and as well starts itching. And as the night goes on, Judd offers Blue a ride back to his hotel, but Blue tricks Judd by acting like he got into the car and stays to be alone with Betty, Blue promises her that he will put over the Comet Cars in the town. Blue gives Betty a kiss goodnight and he meets back up with Chuck and tells him he is in love and that he has an idea to help get the Comet cars over that will turn the town into a circus.

Two weeks pass and Westwood is being shaken by a driverless car they have called The Speed Spook that has been zipping around town and scaring people. As Speed Spook drives through the townspeople gather around and watch it speed around and Sheriff West is worked up as he wants to stop the car as it’s breaking all types of road rules and speed limits. And many of the townspeople jump into their cars and go after Speed Spook and that includes Judd and the Sheriff who is in a side cart on a motorcycle holding a shotgun. And the chase starts as Speed Spook is zooming around and the others are hot on its heels. But we see that Chuck opens a hidden door that is covered by leaves and plants, and Speed Spook pulls in and looks like it vanished into thin air. And in the hideout we see that the driver of Speed Spook is really Blue as he and Chuck modified the car in order to pull of this hoax. And once they fully hide the car away Chuck gives Blue a ride to the home of Hiram who is hosting a pool party for all the rich and to do people of the town.

At Hiram’s house there is dancing, swimming and everyone is having a great time and Blue is goofily walking around shaking hands and being splashed by water. And Blue hits on an old lady that he mistakes for a younger woman and even passes out and falls into the pool. And once in the pool Blue just swims around and is a announce to many as he just splashes around and ruins many of peoples good time. And even the bratty kid with the itching powder returns and starts shooting his BB Gun and popping peoples pool tubes. While inside Judd is upset that Blue is there and is told to be nice as they need him if Hiram is going to win the election, and the rich old man confirms that he has indeed messed with the car he bought from Betty in order to boost the sells of Judd’s business. While Blue is out of the pool the bratty kid starts shooting him in the butt with the BB Gun and he thinks it’s a young lady by the pool smacking him on the butt, and after the ladies boyfriend gets involved a mishap has them all falling into the pool. Once back out and now inside Judd and Hiram are treating Blue like an old friend offering him drinks and cigars. And when Blue finds out that they want him to help Hiram become the towns new Sheriff he rejects there gifts and pledges his loyalty to Betty and Sheriff West and he storms out of the house. Meanwhile Judd and Hiram are upset but also are coming up with a plan that will help lock Hiram in as the winner of the election as Judd owns a printing press and claims he can just cheat and print out ballots that will have Hiram as the winner. The rich man says let him think it over.

Hiram Smith is starting his Campaign and holds a town meeting the night before election to talk to the towns people and even throw a little party to help push them to vote for him and its packed with people who are supporting Hiram. Meanwhile Blue and Chuck so up to the meeting with mischief on their minds as they use Hiram’s vote for plaques as cheese as they switch them out with the blind sandwich maker so people will eat these disgusting things and blame Hiram. They also use a monkey puppet to distract the man who is running the slide show for Hiram and replace them with slides of cartoons that are making fun of him. Blue then gets the towns people to go outside for real tasty sandwiches brought to them by Sheriff West and as the people head out Hiram gives Judd the green light to rig the election in his favor. As Judd and one of his men race off to the printing press, Blue gets into the Speed Spook and lets out flyers that challenges Sheriff West and the town’s people to try and catch him tomorrow at 3pm!

Judd and his henchman arrive at the printing press and they get to work on trying to print out fake ballots. Meanwhile The Speed Spook pulls up and as Blue looks out of his hidden hatch and notices Judd’s car parked at an old warehouse and gets puzzled and rushes off to change clothes and get his normal car in order to investigate as Blue knows something is not right. When Blue gets their he climbs a tree to open a hatch on the top floor and watches as Judd and his friend are cleaning the print plates, and by accident he drops the challenge flyer for the catch the Speed Spook and Judd reads it and sends his friend outside to look around, and as he leaves Blue drops down from the roof inside and gets into a fist fight with Judd. As the two are wrestling around Judd falls into the press and Blue sees that fake ballot printed on his back, and knows that they are truly up to no good. The henchman runs back in and clubs Blue upside the head and while he is knocked out they tie him up. And Judd and his friend continue to print out the fake ballots.

The next morning Judd has the ballots fixed and tells his friend that while the town is chasing the Speed Spook he will switch the ballots out and then will be the one to capture the driverless car. As they leave they make sure the ropes are still tight on Blue and then they lock him in the warehouse. Once they are gone Blue wiggles around and finds a magnifying glass and uses it and the sun rays to burn the ropes and set himself free, but can not find a way out of the warehouse yet. While in town it’s the final moments of the election and almost all the town has turned out for it, and besides voting they are also all worked up about the chase to capture Speed Spook. Meanwhile back at the warehouse Blue is looking for a way to escape and finds an old army tank and gets it up and running and even takes the printing plate with him to show that Judd was cheating to get Hiram to get elected. And with the tank Blue busts through a bricked wall and sets himself free and starts making his way towards town. Meanwhile Judd’s friend sneaks in and changes out the voting box at the poll while people are outside awaiting the arrival of the Speed Spook. Blue makes it to Chuck and tells him of the plot that’s at play with fake ballots, and then Blue gets into the Speed Spook and says first he has to let Betty West be the one to capture him so that her car sales will go up. As Chuck heads to town in order to alert people of the fraud, Speed Spook as well starts his quest to be caught.

Speed Spook arrives in town with its horn blaring and it’s Betty plus her father in one car given chase, and the other car is being driven by Judd who is working on ways to cheat to catch the car as well as dump the real ballot box. And the chase is going on at high speed and finally Betty is able to force Speed Spook to pullover and both she and her father are shocked when they find that Blue was the driver of the car that was made to look driverless. Blue tells Sheriff West that Judd has the real ballot box in his car and that the one at the poll has been rigged for Hiram to win and they all agree that the road he turned off on must mean he is dumping it into the river to get ride of the evidence. Blue in Speed Spook drives along the railroad tracks to cut off Judd as Sheriff West and Betty wait at the crossroads, and Blue takes a pair of handcuffs with him. Judd makes it to the river and tosses the ballot box in, Blue is able to get ahead of Judd and climb a tree and drop into his car and knock him out with a serious of punches. Blue handcuffs him and wakes Judd up and makes him sit in the driver seat of Speed Spook as he gets into the hidden driver seat and delivers him to the Sheriff.

Back in town Chuck is trying to tell all the towns people of the cheating plan of Judd and Hiram, just then Betty West in her car as well as Speed Spook with Sheriff West and Judd aboard comes pulling in and the townspeople flock to them. Sheriff West then tells the people of Westwood that the real driver of the Speed Spook has done them all a favor by exposing voter fraud, and that all his speed charges have been forgiven. West also makes sure to say that it was his daughter’s car that caught the speedster. He then shows the town that Blue Streak Billings was the driver and the hero of this election. Blue and Judd argue over the charges as the accused says he was framed and never did any of this that he is being accused of. But Blue outsmarts him and rips off Judd’s jacket and shows the ballot that was printed on his shirt when the two fought in the warehouse and this shows the town that Judd was a conman! And all ends well as Blue and Betty in the street next to the Speed Spook share a kiss as a random storm comes rolling in, and then the two get into the speedster and drive off in the rain.

Review: Speed Spook is one of those films that had a very interesting idea back in the golden age of cinema that sadly was not executed as well as the creators wanted it to be. Now let me explain film is named after the driverless car The Speed Spook that is really a hoax that is being pulled off by auto race car driver Blue Steal Billings and oddly enough The Speed Spook element takes a backseat to the over all story as the car rarely shows up in the film, and it’s mostly about Blue Streaks feud with Judd Skerrit who is a sleazy car dealer who is cheating and also going for the same lovely lady as Blue. The Speed Spook car is really cool and the design and look of the car is very neat and is the type of car that classic car lovers will very much enjoy. The story is a little weak and drags in spots as many moments are wasted on long drawn out comedy bits that add nothing to the story, and much time is also spent on the cars just driving around the roads and kicking up dust. With that said some of the comedy bits are funny and Blue Streak is a likable hero who while a goofball is also a slugger who fists fights, drives and out smarts the films baddies. Judd is a creep who tries to not only steal an election and the towns auto sales he also is trying the creep on our heroes lady! And when Judd gets punched in the head several times by Blue after dumping the ballot box in the river had me cheering. Betty West and her father are also good side characters and while they are not flushed out fully they do their part for the film as does Chuck and Hiram. The horror aspect of this film is a sand pebble and it’s mostly a comedy film that turns into an action film as at a certain point the slap stick comedy disappears from the film and it starts taking its self a little more serious. Johnny Hines who plays Blue Streak Billings does a great job and he does some good silly faces and some of his physical comedy is well done with his best bit being the stuff at the pool party. The thing about Speed Spook while it is entertaining and has moments that are great silent cinema stuff, it just kind of is middle of the road and the comedy bits are part of what slows the pace down as an example the bit of Blue shaking hands of everyone in the town of Westwood goes on way to long and even for that time the humor of the wacky handshake was dated and when done so many times in a row the charm it did have wears thin and the comedy aspect flees. I should also note that I like the friendship of Blue and Chuck as they are racetrack teammates and clearly also best friends. The Alpha Video DVD print of this film is pretty good and while it has scratches and such it’s a normal silent film print that has not been digitally remastered. Over all Speed Spook is a good film but not a great silent film that is filled with a cool car, cheesy classic comedy and a sand grain of horror and while over long it still brought the entertainment and laughs.

The Route 11 Sour Cream & Chives are just okay as the chip itself has a good texture and crunch, but the flavor of the sour cream and chives is very light and didn’t pack a huge punch. But with that said sometimes its nice to have a chip that is not just covered with the flavor powder making it all you taste. And to be honest the more of them you eat, the more of the flavor does start to pop out and cover your taste buds. Route 11 is a good chip company and while this is not their best flavor I have had it was still an enjoyable one that made for a tasty movie-watching snack.

Movie: **1/2
Chips: **1/2

I love silent films and after watching Speed Spook for the first time I will say that while it’s a middle of the road film that is not a must see film it really is an interesting film of early car chase cinema. And also when you think about it the film even has elements of crime as the main plot is to stop voter fraud, and also has elements of early haunted object as people of the town of Westwood think that the car is driving on its own or is being driven by a ghost. And while the comedy of the film was your normal slapstick and nothing new, it still packed some humorous moments and I will say I am a fan of the film overall. The Route 11 Sour Cream & Chives potato chips as well were good and not great but was a tasty treat that made for a great snack attack eat. Well the lights are coming on here at the Rotten In Theater as Speed Spook is over and that’s our cue to head out and as we make our way out I would like to inform you all that our next update will be about the classic sitcom Horror Host known as Zombo! So until next time read a comic or three, watch a Silent Film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! And make sure for the next update to bring a box of Crumble Creature Crackers and some milk.

Top 22 Lost Silent Horror Film Countdown

Posted on October 2, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. For this update we will be talking about Silent Horror Cinema and to be more specific we are talking about Lost Silent Horror Cinema, those films that have been lost to time due to poor film preservation, studio vault fires and the greed of private collectors. The sad thing is that many film professors and historians think that over 90% of silent films are lost and many of them we have zero clue of what even was made way back when. So to be more direct we have zero clue on what all Silent Horror Films are lost that did not have remaining posters or stills found to prove its existence so it’s crazy to think that their was films made that no one will ever see again, heartbreaking I know. I grew up a Horror Movie fan from a young age I watched Universal Monsters, King Kong, Godzilla and Hammer Horror and was hooked and Horror Hosts like Commander USA, Grampa Munster, USA Up All Night, Saturday Nightmares and Dr. Creep with their shows introduced me to so many films with Commander really being the one to bring Slasher films into my life. Magazines and Books also showed me a world of so much different Horror Films. And the home media like VHS and Beta played a big part in me discovering Silent Horror Films as I would buy them cheap and hurry home to watch and I would find so many of them at a Dollar Tree in Sugarcreek Township in Ohio and that’s how I first saw the likes of Nosferatu, Hunchback Of Notre Dame, The Golem and Phantom Of The Opera to name a few. And for me Silent Horror has always captured my imagination and love for the genre of Horror. And that’s why I feel I need to bring you this list of My Top 20 Lost Silent Horror Films that I want to see!

This list is my personal Top 20 picks of what I would love to see found and I spent so much time going through lists and films that fit in the Horror genre and did research on each film and even followed leads to see if copies are at Film Archives in order to come up with this list, and heck I am sure that many of these if not all of them are and will be on your list as well, as each of these films I choose sound so interesting. So let’s dust off our Silent Horror Film knowledge and get to the theater and talk about these lost gems that we all hope one day are found.

# 22

Wasei Kingu Kongu
Year: 1933 Director: Torajira Saito Country: Japan

Very little is known about this lost short film from Japan that is one of the nation’s first “giant monster” movies. The movie’s plot is suppose to be about a man named Santa who is a loser who does not have a job and makes all his money finding loose change on the streets of Tokyo. When his girlfriend dumps him and starts dating a new man he does find a job at local theaters as he dresses in a gorilla suit and becomes King Kong to advertise for the film’s Japan release. Well, one night while on stage crushing fake miniature buildings he spots his ex and her new man and decides to go on a rampage of his own chasing after her new man and beating him up. The crowd loves it as they think it’s apart of the show and this gets Santa a raise and allows him to earn the respect of his former girlfriend and her father and the two love birds get back together. This sounds like it’s a mish-match of film genres that has part of drama, comedy and a hint of horror and that’s why I have this one so low as I feel its very interesting but it not fully a Horror Flick, but keep in mind it is a part of King Kong cinema history so that’s why it has made it to this list. The film is said to star Isamu Yamaguchi, Yasuko Koizumi and Kotaro Sekiguchi and this silent film is said to be lost forever due to the bombings of World War II, as sadly so many of Japan’s cinema was lost due to this.

# 21

The Ghost Breaker
Year: 1922 Director: Alfred E. Green Country: United States

This Horror Comedy is about Warren Jarvis and his servant friend Rusty Snow escaping a family feud and meeting Maria who owns a her family’s mansion that is haunted by ghosts, and she hires Warren and Rusty to get ride of them! But are the ghosts real or is someone after the gold that is hidden in the mansion? This sounds like it could be a very fun film that mixes in Horror, Mystery and Comedy and starred Wallace Reid as Warren Jarvis, Walter Hiers as Rusty Snow and Lila Lee as Maria Theresa. What makes me want to see this film is I have always been a fan of classic cinema Horror Comedies as they have their own silly nature of classic stage style antics. The one downside to this film but yet sadly was a product of its time is that actor Walter Hiers plays the character Rusty in blackface, and that is not something I enjoy about classic cinema. Also I really would love to know what the ghost effects of this film looked like and I should note that actor Wallace Reid died shortly after the film’s release of withdraws from a drug addiction.

# 20

The Dream Woman
Year: 1914 Director: Alice Guy Country: United States

This short Horror Drama feature is about a man who is plagued by a recurring dream about a woman in black standing over him while he sleeps and trying to stab him. On his travels he gets lost and stays at an inn were he once more thinks he sees the woman, and this causes him great stress and is a mental drain. Finally he meets a woman named Alice and falls in love with her, but she has a dark side, as she is an alcoholic and after a bad fight she threatens to kill her husband while he sleeps…and after separating Alice ends up finding her one time husband and kills him with a knife. The film’s final is said to take place in the spirit world. Or so it’s rumored that this is the full plot of this missing frighten thriller flick. The film starred Fraunie Fraunholz as Francis Raven the man tormented by his dreams and Claire Whitney played The Woman In Black and Alice Warlock the wife and the knife dream killer. The film sounds really interesting and is based on the novel by Wilkie Collins and I like the idea of a dream world knife swinging Woman In Black being a warning to what the future holds for our doomed lead character. Sounds interesting and I have heard that the film was a super short and as well have read that it was way longer then reported. Let’s hope that this film is found and we can see The Woman In Black for ourselves.

# 19

The Haunted Bedroom
Year: 1919 Director: Fred Niblo Country: United States

Betsy Thorne is a news reporter from New York that travels down south to look into the case of a man who has gone missing and worse she finds out that all reporters are banned from the area, and Betsy being quick witted scares a newly hired maid and takes her place at the home to get her story. But while there for two nights she sees a ghastly figure creeping around the chapel as well as the family cemetery! Can Besty and solve the crime of who the figure is, can she find the missing man and will she be able to do so with out alerting the police so she can get her big break news story? Well all signs point to yes but sadly this film is one of the many lost Silent Films from the Horror Genre. This Horror Drama sounds like a mystery film that would both scare as well as even have the viewers on the edge of their seats as the lead character Betsy tried to solve this case. The film starred Enid Bennett as Betsy Thorne as well as actors like Dorcas Matthews, Jack Nelson, Lloyd Hughes and Otto Hoffman. I think this one would be a blast to watch and almost feels like the early prototype of the classic Horror Mystery films that followed and even to a point Scooby-Doo. One can hope that this film is found someday as it seems like a really fun Horror Mystery film.

# 18

Alraune
Year: 1919 Director: Michael Curtiz & Edmund Fritz Country: Hungary

A scientist creates a child from a union between a mandrake root and a woman and the child is very demonic and evil. Not much is known about this film besides a very basic plot and the cast and crew thanks to some surviving posters. Also the release year as been reported as both 1918 and 1919 with many saying they think 1919 is right. This could also be one of the world’s earliest mad scientists films and that makes me really want to see it. Plus I love that it’s a Hungarian Silent Horror Film that has Sci-Fi elements. The film stars Rozsi Szollosi as Alraune as well as other actors like Gyula Gal, Kalman Kormendy and Boske Malatinszky. It makes me wonder just how demonic and evil Alraune is in this lost horror fright flick and if it played more with the Horror or Sci-Fi elements in its production.

# 17

A Son Of Satan
Year: 1924 Director: Oscar Micheaux Country: United States

A man takes a bet to spend a night in a haunted house that is filled with evil spirits and bad visions. The film is called a “Race” film as its cast and crew were all African Americans and of course due to this the film ran into some distribution issues that lead to many states not playing it and also is what lead to the film being lost now. The censorship board attacked the film for scenes that had a man choking his wife to death, a KKK member being killed and sadly they kill a cat on screen! They claimed all these elements and more that included the name of the film would be “offensive to Southern ladies” and so it was quickly shown and buried with sadly no fan fair. The film was said to star many members of Broadway Musicals with names like Aubrey Lyles, Adelaide Hall and F.E. Miller having parts. Other cast members included Andrew S. Bishop, Lawrence Chenault and Edna Morton. This film sounds very interesting and it would be great to see how well they pulled off a Haunted House and how “brutal” these deaths really are that caused all this drama with the film boards back then. Also it would be amazing to see this Race Film that is a major part of Horror History and more important Black Cinema. The reason it’s so low on my list is if the rumors are true of a cat being killed on screen are true, that element turns my stomach as I am a cat owner. But with that said let’s hope that one day this film is found and we are able to see it.

# 16

The First Men In The Moon
Year: 1919 Director: Bruce Gordon Country: United Kingdom

Samson Cavor is an old man inventor who created something called Cavorite and along with a man named Rupert Bedford they travel to the moon thanks to his creation that neutralizing the law of gravity! But things go south when Bedford leaves Cavor on the moon and returns home and steals the old mans invention. But thanks to the left behind old man’s niece Susan and a young engineer named Hogben they find away to talk to her Uncle and Susan turns down Bedford’s advances and marries Hogben and together they show the world the Bedford is a fraud! And Samson himself stays on the moon and lives with the Selenites the alien race that inhabits the moon. This film is based on the H.G. Wells novel of the same name and is even on Brittan’s “75 Most Wanted Films” list, and I would love to see the film as its clearly one of cinemas earliest Sci-Fi films as well as the aliens themselves look so cheesy and cheap that I would love to see them in action. With United Kingdom on the hunt for a copy of this film we can hope that it will be found sooner than later.

# 15

Balaoo The Demon Baboon
Year: 1913 Director: Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset Country: France

Dr. Coriolis has turned an ape almost human by the name of Balaoo the Dr. and his niece Madeleine look after this creature who ends up getting captured in a trap set by the evil poacher named Hubert who ends up using Balaoo to kill off his enemies as well as has him kidnap Madeleine…but can this creature truly be controlled and rampage or will it’s human side make the decision to stop these killings and know right from wrong. This sounds like it could be a very cool film if found as it was based on the story by Phantom Of The Opera writer Gaston Leroux and sadly all he have of this film is about four minutes of footage, posters and some stills. In the film Lucien Bataille played Balaoo and other actors include Camille Bardou, Madeleine Grandjean, Henri Gouget and Josette Andriot. The film sounds like it could have been a early version of Nature Runs Amok Horror and while the look of Balaoo was pretty much done with grease paint this is one film I would love to see in full and lets hope someday the missing footage is found and that we will all be able to see this film in all its glory.

# 14

The Last Moment
Year: 1923 Director: J. Parker Read Jr. Country: USA

Alice Winthrop is a young woman who has two men trying to win her hand and they are Hercules and Harry and the three make the mistake of going to a waterfront saloon and become the kidnapped victims of the sinister Captain Finn that makes them go to his ship and who himself wants Alice as his mistress and if she refuses she will have to be looked into a cage with a half-man and half-beast monster who ends up escaping and kills the crew and Alice, Hercules and Harry have to fight for their life in order to get ashore and away from the monster on the loose. This film starred Doris Kenyon, Henry Hull, Louis Calhem and Jerry Paterson and sadly the film has been lost for many decades now and what we have are the poster as well as some publicity stills and the monster looks amazing! This sounds like a very interesting early Horror Cinema creature feature that would be a great chilling watch if it could every be found, but as of this update no known copies are in any Film Archive. Let’s hope this film is found in a private collection or in an archive pile of films that have not been checked yet…we Horror Fans need to see this classic creature feature!

# 13

The Hunchback And The Dancer
Year: 1920 Director: F.W. Murnau Country: Germany

This film’s plot was about a man named James Wilton who has a massive hunchback who is a foul man who ends up becoming rich after finding a diamond mine in Java and he ends up dating a young dancer names Gina who is heartbroken after a bad breakup. But things get worse for her when she decides to leave James and return to her past boyfriend who dies after kissing her…as James has tainted her with a poison that really gives her the kiss of death. Gina once she figures it out tries to find out a way for James to kiss her as she wants revenge and only his life could pay the debit she feels she’s owned. The film starred John Gottowt as the Hunchback James Wilton and Sascha Gura as Gina. This sounds like an interesting Horror Thriller that would be a blast to see as its some early work of F.W. Murnau and seems like it could deliver some spooky moments. The film also stars actors as Paul Biensfeldt, Bella Polini and Anna Von Palen. Makes me wonder just how creepy this film is and how evil the character James Wilton is and just how Gina figures out how to trick him into kissing her to poison him and get her revenge. Let’s hope that this film is found in some film vault or even a private collection soon.

# 12

The Gorilla
Year: 1927 Director: Alfred Santell Country: United States

A killer wearing a gorilla suit is committing murders and after killing a man his daughter wants to find out who the costumed murder is as she has been blamed for the crime! This Horror film has elements of Crime and Thriller and brings a costume killer to the silver screen and even spawned two remakes one in 1930 and another in 1939! The weird thing about this film is that it also had elements of comedy, as many Horror films did this to bring in a bigger audience and downplay the spooky elements. This film starred Alice Day as Alice Townsend the accused Daughter as well as Charles Murray, Fred Kelsey, Brooks Benedict and Aggie Herring. What makes me want to see this film be found and released so I can see it is that I like the idea of a killer in a massive Gorilla suit causing death and our poor hero having to prove her innocence. But also the deeper you dig into this films history is that many enjoyed the Horror and Mystery aspects of the film…they did not like the silly comedy aspects. Only time will tell if this film will ever be found and how modern Horror Fans will react to this Horror Comedy.

# 11

The Wizard
Year: 1927 Director: Richard Rosson Country: United States

Professor Paul Coriolos is a man with a plan to get revenge on jury members who sent his son to be hung who he thinks was innocent. In his laboratory he creates a creature that he sends out to kill those he blames, and it’s up to Detective Murphy and reporter Stanley Gordon to uncover and stop the killings as the Judge and his daughter are on the hit list! This creature feature sounds like it would be a fun classic creepy watch that also would have had elements of crime thriller. One major thing I would love to see this film for is the Gorilla Monster in action as from the remaining stills of the film he looks great and he was also played by pro wrestler George Kotsonaros who was killed in a car wreck in 1933 when the car he was driven flipped over. The rest of the cast included Gustav von Seyffertitz as the Professor, Perlie Marchall as Murphy and Leila Hyams as Anne the judges daughter. Sadly the last known print of the film went up in flames in 1931when Fox had a bad studio fire. This film for many fans of Silent Horror is considered one of the most sought after to be found, and here is hoping one day it will be.

# 10

Life Without Soul
Year: 1915 Director: Joseph W. Smiley Country: United States

Dr. William Frawley created a Brute Man with a fluid who has a twisted mind and on the night of William’s wedding his creation kills the Bride and escapes into the darkness. As Brute Man travels across Europe his creator Dr. Frawley is hunting him and once he finds his creation he ends its life with a bullet, and then dies himself from exhaustion. This is the second film based on Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein and The Monster in this version is very toned down and is just a very strange looking man that was played by actor Percy Standing. I should also say that some people who cover this lost film say that Dr. Frawley killed his creation in the room of his dead wife, that Brute Man dies only after his creator does as well as The Monster was called The Creation and not Brute Man and some reports say that it was a statue given life while others say it was a corpse. Every classic Horror fan loves Frankenstein and I know that I am not the only one who would love to see this version be found so we can see how this one did at bringing the classic horror tale to the silver screen. Plus if Brute Man really was a statue to start with this also kind of has a Golem feel to it and that as well really makes me want to see it! Sadly no clips have survived of this film and only some production stills and ads have.

# 9

The Golem And The Dancing Girl
Year: 1917 Director: Rochus Gliese & Paul Wegener Country: Germany

This film is the second in the Golem trilogy and is also the second one to be lost from the trilogy and is a Horror Comedy that spoofs the original film. The plot for this one is very loose and is pieced together from many sources so we can not 100% be sure that this is really what the film was about. It’s said that in this film actor Paul Wegener plays himself and loves that the character he played The Golem has put fear in the hearts of movie goers and decides to have a little fun as he puts back on the costume and heads to a party in order to charm a young dancer named Helga as well as scare the attendees. This film peeks my interest because I would like to see how The Golem the first monster to have a trilogy of films become a comedy act in one of them. I am not sure how I would feel about this film and that’s why I hope that one day it’s found so I can see it for myself…will it be a great Horror Comedy or would if be a Unfunny mess, lets hope one day this second film in The Golem series is found. Sadly not much remains of this film besides some “Posters” and a promotional shot.

# 8

The Werewolf
Year: 1913 Director: Henry MacRae Country: United States

The Werewolf is a lost film that needs to be found for a number of reasons like it is the first Werewolf film made and the other is it’s the first Universal Monster film made! The film is about a Native American witch who’s daughter as well gets powers and turns into a wolf in order to get revenge on white settlers and does again 100 years after her death. The film is a short one running about 18 minutes and stars the likes of Phyllis Gordon, Clarence Butyon, Marie Walcamp and William Clifford and the last known copy of the film burned up in the Universal Vault fire of 1924 that sadly destroyed so many classic cinema films. I would be really interested in seeing if this silent film had a werewolf transformation scene and if it did would it be cross dissolve effects, happen off screen or would it be make-up? I am a huge fan of werewolf films and this is one I would love to see as it really is considered the first film to showcase that creature, plus its great that this film had a Native America legend to it. Lets hope that one day Universal finds another copy tucked away in a vault or some private collector comes forward with a copy. Only a “poster” remains for this film.

# 7

A Blind Bargain
Year: 1922 Director: Wallace Worsley Country: United States

This sadly is one of many of Lon Chaney Sr. Films that are lost to time due to poor film preservation from the silent era and is one that sounds like it would have been lots of spooky fun to see. Failed writer Robert Sandell is down on his luck and has an ill mother and decides to rob someone and chooses Dr. Lamb, but when the Doctor alerts him that he might be able to help his sick mother, and all Robert has to do is volunteer to help him in his experiments and want to become a published author. But soon Robert finds out that Dr. Lamb is a madman and has ruined many peoples life with failed experiments turning them into mindless monsters and in the end Robert must survive Dr. Lamb as well as his twisted creations. This film sounds amazing and had Lon Chaney Sr. playing two roles as he was Dr. Lamb as well as a hunchback assistant who was made that way because of Lamb. The film was rumored to have gotten a standing ovation at its premiere and the effects used for the experimented people looked fantastic with the Ape Man being the standout for me. Sadly the last prints of this film were lost in a vault fire at MGM in 1965 and lets hope one is found so we can all see this Lon Chaney Sr. Horror film. The film also starred Raymond McKee as Robert Sandell, Wallace Beery as Beast Man and Virginia True Boardman as Mrs. Sandell. Only the poster and some promotional shots remain of this film.

# 6

The Monster Of Frankenstein
Year: 1920 Director: Eugenio Testa Country: Italy

This is a very interesting sounding film as it was one of Italy’s early Horror Films and was made just before that genre was banned from cinema by Mussolini when he raised to power as well is the third film to be based on the Frankenstein story by Marry Shelley! The film also was considered too scary and was censored by many Nation’s as the film would screen in many languages all over the world. The films plot has Dr. Victor Frankenstein creating a life with not soul out of dead body parts and the creatures escapes the lab and goes on a rampage and must be stopped by Victor who confronts his creation in a cave and is forced to destroy it. The film has gone missing after it’s very long run and no print from any Country that showed is knows to have survived and all that we have left is some stills and promotional items. The film starred Luciano Albertini as Victor Frankenstein an actor who sadly ended up in an Asylum in his later years and Umberto Guarracino as The Monster who was not overly made-up like The Monster has been in more modern Frankenstein films. I would love for this film to be found as it being one of Italy’s early horror films as well as the fact it was censored so much due to its scary factor makes this a must. Lets home some day this one is found and is unleashed on viewers once more.

# 5

Das Phantom der Oper
Year: 1916 Director: Ernst Matray Country: Germany

Das Phantom der Oper is a lost German Silent Horror Movie that is the first film to be based on the novel Phantom Of The Opera by Gaston Leroux and is one that I would love to see found as one of my favorite classic movie monsters is The Phantom and I would love to see how this one compares to the more famous 1925 version that starred Lon Chaney Sr. in the role of The Phantom! This early version has very little knows about it but what has been said is that the film is about up and coming singer Christine Day who is being trained by a mysteries man in the shadows known as The Phantom and when Raoul comes into her life The Phantom is now pleased and sets out to force her hand in marriage as well as end the life of her young suitor. It’s said that at the end of this lost film The Phantom is killed when a boiler explodes and he is caught in the blast. The film was not only screened in Germany and the surrounding areas but also the Netherlands and its during these out of country screenings in 1917 is when it’s believed that the film was lost. The film has actress Aud Egede-Nissen as Christine Daae, Ernst Matray as Raoul and Nils Olaf Chrisander as The Phantom! And I am sure you readers as well would love to see how Nils Olaf Chrisander appearance and performance as The Phantom compares to Lon Chaney Sr.’s version. Let’s hope that this Phantom doesn’t stay lost forever.

# 4

The Head Of Janus
Year: 1920 Director: F.W. Murnau Country: Germany

The mastermind of German silent Horror films F.W. Murnau who was known for the films Faust and Nosferatu also had his own version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that was called The Head Of Janus, but like with Nosferatu with the novel Dracula by Bram Stocker he did not get permission from Robert Louis Stevenson estate to do the film so many changes was made to the story. The story fallows Dr. Warren a man who bought a statue bust of the Roman god of the doorway Janus as a gift for his lady Jane Lanyon who takes one look at the creepy bust and rejects the gift forcing Dr. Warren to keep it himself. That night the statue turns Dr. Warren into a sinister character that goes by the name Mr. O’Connor and he goes to Jane’s house and kidnaps her and brings her back to the lab, the next morning when he turns back to Dr. Warren he is shocked by his actions and tries to get rid of the statue at an auction and finds himself bidding and buying the statue back showing that it has a hold on him. He once more turns back to Mr. O’Connor and goes and a violent rampage and once the law comes after him the crazed man commits suicide by poison with the curse bust statue in his hands. This sounds like it would be an amazing spooky classic film to see and you know that with F.W. Murnau in the director chair this one would have been a masterpiece. Conrad Veidt who played Cesare in The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari played Dr. Warren and Mr. O’Connor so again you know that he had to have turned in a very amazing performance! Other actors in the film include Margarete Schlegel, Magnus Stiffer and most amazing is Bela Lugosi who played The Butler! This film needs to be found as I am sure that it will be another Silent Horror Classic that will be in the same prestige as Nosferatu, Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Phantom Of The Opera, Haxan and so many more. Let’s hope that its found in out lifetime and is able to be seen my viewers once more. Sadly all we have is a few promotional material for the film as of this update.

# 3

The Golem
Year: 1915 Director: Henrik Galeen & Paul Wegener Country: Germany

The first film in The Golem trilogy is sadly lost just as the second film is and this one is a film that I would love to be found, in fact I myself have written to film archives all around in order to try and see if a print is locked away in a vault someplace…and sadly at this point besides around 3 minutes of the film nothing has been found. The plot has Troedler an antiques dealer searching an old Jewish temple and finds the clay statue of a Golem that was brought to life by an amulet and helped save Jewish people from persecution, Troedler decides to take the Golem home and use him as a servant but sadly things go wrong when the Golem falls in love with Jessica the dealers daughter and when she does not show back the same affections the Golem goes on a rampage of damage and murder. This sounds like it would have been amazing and when you watch the three minutes of film that was found via YouTube it will really make you want this film to be found as it looks fantastic and super classically spooky. Paul Wegener is one of my favorite Silent Film Horror actors and this being the first in his Golem series makes it a must find and what is crazy so many rumors are around that prints are out in the world in the hands of private collectors who are hording them and not allowing them to be seen by Horror fans, in other words they want to be the only ones with the rare lost films. Let’s hope that one day this film is found or if the rumors are true a private collector lets this film be re-mastered and put back out so the world can see the horror of The Golem once more. The film has some footage and very little promotional material is what we have.

# 2

Dracula’s Death
Year: 1921 Director: Karoly Lajthay Country: Hungary

This lost Dracula film is not like your normal vampire Dracula fright flick as it plays more on mental illness, power of suggestion as well as a nightmarish dream world. The films plot is about a woman who visits an asylum and meets a man who claims to be Dracula and this torments her, as the man also seems to be in her dreams now causing them to become nightmares. The woman cannot take it anymore and escapes the asylum and later in life gets married and starts a new life…but she cannot escape Dracula in her dreams. And the big question is if that inmate is really Dracula or just a mentally disturbed man in the asylum. I think this film sounds fascinating and I for one would love to see if the man in the asylum was really Dracula and if so why has he targeted this young woman as a person to torment with terrible dreams. Many of rumors are going around about the film with most saying it is 100% lost and a few sources claiming a Hungarian Film Archive has a print in their collection and have never shared it. I reached out the film archive to see if I could get answers and as of this update they have never responded. Let’s hope that they do indeed have a print and one day they let the film see the light of the moon for us Silent Horror fans. As of right now we have a poster and production pictures to show us glimpses of this film.

# 1

London After Midnight
Year: 1927 Director: Tod Browning Country: United States

I am sure the # 1 spot is not a surprise as London After Midnight really is the Holy Grail of lost Horror films and is one of the worlds most wanted lost film to be found! Over the years so many rumors have circled around the film being found in private collections from all over the world, some even are saying that Cuba has a print in their archives and I tracked this lead and never got a response from the archive. The plot of this film has a man named Sir Roger Balfour being found dead in his home of what is ruled as a self inflected gunshot wound by Inspector Edward C. Burke who is also an amateur hypnotist! Time passes and the new owners of the house are being haunted by a vampire looking man called The Man In The Beaver Hat and a undead looking woman, and the couple calls in Inspector Edward C. Burke who wants to solve the case as he does not think that Balfour killed himself and wants to use his hypnotist powers on the dead mans family members to find out who killed the man who is now missing from his tomb! And who is The Man In The Beaver Hat and his undead female friend and how do they tie into Inspector Edward C. Burke? This sounds like such a fun film and lets be honest all us horror fans love the look of The Man In The Beaver Hat as Lon Chaney Sr. once more designed such a creepy and awesome looking character as the actor played that role as well as Inspector Edward C. Burke. Other actors in this film included Marceline Day, Edna Tichenor, Claude King and Polly Moran. We do know that films poster, promotional stills, the script as well as some still have survived as the films last print is thought to have burned up in the MGM Vault Fire of 1965 along with so many other silent films. London After Midnight is a film that has some many film buffs and historians looking for a print that I think one day we will all be able to see this film again. The film was remade back in 1935 by director Tod Browning and starred Bela Lugosi in the role of the vampire. And TCM also did a fan reproduction of the film using stills from the film and lots of text cards. Lets hope that London After Midnight as well as every film on this list doesn’t always remain lost films.

Well that’s my list of Lost Silent Horror Films that I hope are found sooner then later and that not only I but all you classic horror fans get to see in our lifetime. And to be fair there is a few more films that could have made it to this list with one being the 1913 film called “The Vampire” from England that is about a Vampire Woman who could turn into a giant snake as well as “Robbing Cleopatra’s Tomb” from 1899 about a man who chops up the body of Cleopatra and by doing so brings her back to life and this one was directed by Georges Melies. And I have not given up my own quest to try and track down these films and will do all I can to try and help bring these lost Horrors back to the silver screen and TV screens the world over, and not to even mention the Silent Film Universe comics that we are doing at Blood Scream Comics to keep these films and characters alive. And over the years this far I have been able to find one “Lost” film in a overseas archive and am working on trying to get the film re-mastered and screened at a local Ohio theater and then get it out on home media…that is if I can get the very large amount needed to do so, but keep your eyes open for details of the film found and if I am able to get it saved. And sorry for not sharing yet I just don’t want to jinx myself with this one and I will say this film is not on this list and is a Silent Horror Comedy film. Well sense this is the Countdown To Halloween 2022 season as well as apart of Rotten Ink’s 10-year anniversary we will be sticking with the Horror theme and will be taking a look at another Anniversary that happened way back in 1998 and I am talking about Halloween H20! So until then read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Silent Horror Film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next update for Michael Myers big 20-Year Anniversary of being one of cinemas biggest horror icons.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Love At First Bite (1979)

Posted on September 23, 2022 by bloodlinematt

It’s almost October and that means we are so close to Halloween 2022 and I have to bring you readers and friends another Countdown To Halloween update and of course that also means another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update and for this one I choose one of my favorite Horror Comedy films that I have enjoyed sense I was a kid and was even released the year I was born in 1979, a film that spoofs Count Dracula and I am talking about Love At First Bite a super silly, super fun look at Dracula coming to New York. And something I am sure many of you are not aware of is that Love At First bite was given the Photo Comic treatment in a paperback book, and that’s what we will be reviewing! So if you are ready lets put on our best cape, slick back our hair and head to a New York dance club and see what Count Dracula is up to as I proudly bring to you From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Love At First Bite!

Lets take a look at the one and only Count Dracula from this film and his way of dealing with humans that cross his path or ones he sets his sights on to become one of his vampire brides. Count Dracula has many ways of dealing with the living like he can change into a bat or dog and cause fear and chaos to those that cross him. He can use his cool and calm voice to help put his victim into a trance and make them do his bidding like fall asleep. He also has the ability to control devises like phones and TVs causing distractions and cutting off those from calling for help. He can call on “The Children Of The Night” like bats, rats and wolves to use against his victims, as he can also call on his faithful butler Renfield to help attack, get information from and subdue the target. He can also use a very powerful breath to push back against attackers as well as keep them off balance making them easier to bite. He has a super charm that makes humans feel at ease as well as draws them to him. And his main way to deal death is via his sharp fangs that he can drain the blood of his victim or even turn said person into a vampire and be under his control. But Dracula does have weaknesses like sunlight that will burn him up, he also can be killed with fire as well as a stake to his heart, he can also be stunned by a cross and garlic as both are very irritating to him. He also is very much out of touch with the times, is egotistical and sarcastic and this also leads him to trouble and can give his attackers a chance to stop him once and for all. Also this version of Count Dracula lacks the killer instinct and makes him less likely to take an innocent life and therefore not a massive threat as all he wants is love from his chosen lady, and that as well is a weakness. While this Count Dracula is not the most dangerous creature I have covered here on Rotten Ink he still is one that can deal death as well as charm the pants off any woman he wants.

Count Dracula from Love At First Bite is more of a lover then a killer but we have to keep in mind he still is a blood drinking vampire so he is dangerous. Now that we have taken a look at Count Dracula lets now take a look at the movie he is from and I will be taking the films plot from our friends at IMDB and will then write about the films production as well as my thoughts on it. So if you are ready lets take a night on the town with Count Dracula in New York!

Love At First Bite (1979)

“This vampire spoof has Count Dracula moving to New York to find his Bride, after being forced to move out of his Transylvanian castle. There with the aid of assistant Renfield, he stumbles through typical New York City life situations while pursuing Cindy Soundheim. But her boyfriend, Doctor Jeff Rosenberg, realizes she is under the influence of a vampire, and tries his bumbling best to convince police Lt Ferguson of what is going on, and to help him stop Dracula.”

This Horror Comedy started out when George Hamilton was doing an impression of Bela Lugosi for screenwriter Robert Kaufman and the pair laughed and decided that they should write a Romantic Horror Comedy that was about Count Dracula! The story they created had Count Dracula in New York during the 70’s falling in love with a woman who is engaged. When shopping the script around Melvin Simon was interested and bought the script for $1000,000.00 and while he was only a man who made his money from shopping malls he had a passion for films. Melvin Simon was the money man behind many cult classic films like The Manitou, When A Stranger Calls, The Stunt Man, Zorro The Gay Blade and all three Porky’s films, but later in life Melvin Simon would say producing films was a mistake as he lost millions of dollars doing so. When casting of course actor George Hamilton was hired to play Count Dracula and actress Susan Saint James was hired to play his love Cindy Sondheim and fellow actors Richard Benhamin, Dick Shawn, Arte Johnson and Ralph Manza were brought on to complete the main cast. The director brought on was Stan Dragoti who would go on to direct Mr. Mom and Charles Bernstein was hired to do the score, and he would go on to score such films as The Enity, Cujo, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Deadly Friend, April Fool’s Day and Rumpelstiltskin. The film brought in $43,900,000.00 at the box office on a $3 million dollar budget and was the 13^th highest grossing film in 1979 in America. It was released alongside other Horror Movies that year like The Amityville Horror, Phantasm, Tourist Trap, Nosferatu The Vampyre, Alien, Driller Killer and The Brood to name a few. The film was met with mostly positive reviews from critics and fans and was the top grossing indie film until the release of Amityville Horror that same year. The film would gain a following when released on cable and home media and is still well loved by classic Horror Comedy fans to this day.

Love At First Bite no joke was a film that I have loved sense I was a kid and I cannot count how many times I watched it when it aired on HBO or regular TV! I can remember laughing at how silly the film was and this flick also made me a life long fan of actor George Hamilton as he was perfectly silly as Dracula and played the part straight faced for the most part no matter how goofy the world around him started to get. And for years a rumor has been going around that a Love At First Bite sequel was in the works and that George Hamilton got the rights for the film back in 2009 and it would take place in modern times and have Count Dracula going to Hollywood for his sons wedding and meeting the brides family that are TV preachers…sadly as of this update the film has not been made. The scene in Love At First Bite that always gets me is when the character Dr. Jeffrey Rosenberg goes to visit his one time fiancé Cindy Sondheim at her apartment and she tells him that she is marring Count Dracula and were they have registered for wedding gifts and he is a rage is screaming about how they will get nothing from him as he leaves on the elevator, no kidding I laugh every time. Also actor Arte Johnson who plays Renfield does a great job of being creepy, spooky and his laugh is based on Dwight Fryes with a touch of his own style. Richard Benjamin who plays Dr. Rosenberg is hysterical and next to Dracula almost steals the show with his crazy humor. And even Susan Saint James is funny as hell as Cindy Sondheim, and Susan I remember mostly from TV Show “Kate & Allie” as I remember my parents use to watch that one in the 80’s. I think that when it comes to straight Horror Comedies I would place Love At First Bite over such films as Dracula Dead And Loving It, Shaun Of The Dead and Dead Don’t Die but would say its not as funny as Young Frankenstein and Zombieland to name a few on both sides of the fence. If you like Dracula, Horror Comedies, George Hamilton and just having a good time make sure to check out love At First Bite.

So as you can see Dracula from Love At First Bite is both dangerous as well as humorous and this really is a fun and silly film that I am glad got the Photo Comic treatment so that I can make this From Horror Movie To Horror Comic possible. I would like to also thank an Ebay seller for having this FotoNovel in stock. I would also like to remind you readers that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So if you are ready lets head to New York and spend some time with Count Dracula.

Love At First Bite # 1 **1/2
Released in 1979 Cover Price $2.75 Fotonovel # 1 of 1

Count Dracula is in his castle in Transylvania with his assistant Renfield who delivers the mail including a fashion magazine that has model Cindy Sondheim on the cover and Dracula has fallen in love with her even though he never meet her, but yet maybe he has because her soul is an old one and keeps being reborn! At one point in time Cindy was even Mina Harker and many other loves of Dracula. Later that night Dracula get a visit from the Government who informs him that he must leave his castle as they are taking it over as a training camp for athletes. In two days time Dracula walks to his carriage as the towns people insult him and this forces him to use his breath to keep them at bay. Dracula and Renfield head to New York to find Cindy and while in his coffin in the luggage area Dracula tries to read up on the lingo of the 70’s in order to fit in. And once in New York a mix up happens and Renfield takes the wrong coffin with him to the hotel and Dracula ends up in a church in Harlem and has a run in with some people before finally finding his hotel and Renfield. The next day Renfield gets Cindy’s location from her agent thanks to his pet cobra and Dracula shows up and when held back by the cops as Cindy models he turns into a dog and gets close to her, but it taken to the pound for his efforts. Dracula is depressed as he drank the blood of a drunken homeless man that made him sick and has decided to just give up, that is until Renfield gives him the address of a club that Cindy is at and when meeting her the two fall in love and start an affair as Cindy is the girlfriend of Doctor Jeff Rosenberg who is a descendent of Van Helsing and when he notices the bite on the neck of Cindy he knows he has to stop Dracula before biting two more times as if he does so she will be damned to be a vampire forever. Cindy is in love with Dracula and while at a dinner out Jeff comes along and he and Dracula have a showdown at the dinner table, and their argument leaves Cindy to leave the pair and Jeff alerts Dracula to who is bloodline is. Later that night Dracula comes to Cindy’s apartment and tries to bite her for the second time but sunrise stops him, and this causes Jeff to have to try and get the help from the police and even breaks into Dracula’s hotel room and sets his coffin on fire with him still inside! Jeff is then arrested and taken to an Asylum and once out he tracks down Cindy and Dracula at a restaurant and shoots three silver bullets into the chest of Dracula and this attack fails and causes Cindy to faint and as Jeff is arrested Dracula takes his soon to be bride away and bites her for the second time. Jeff is taken back to the asylum and along with the cops tries to stop Dracula from taking Cindy back to England for the third time, and they even have a run in with Renfield. In the end Jeff confronts Dracula at the airport but before he can drive a stake through his heart Dracula bites Cindy for the third time and the pair turn into bats and fly off into the night as Jeff can do nothing but watch, and well take Dracula’s cape that he left behind.

This is a fun Photo Comic Novel that does a pretty great job of capturing the film’s goofy nature, but in comic form I do have to stress that much of the film’s humor is lost and does not pack the belly laughs. The plot is very simple: Dracula is kicked out of his castle and comes to New York to fund a Super Model he has a love for only to win her heart and must fight off her boyfriend and the cops in order to have his blood drinking happy ending with the love of his afterlife. Count Dracula is a vampire who is sick of being lonely and finds his true love in a model form New York and travels to try and win her heart, and yes along the way drinks a little blood from those who are in his way. He is not pure evil, but does have a little bit of an ego that tends to flare up. Renfield is loyal and dimwitted and does whatever Dracula tells him to do, but also it’s clear that he and Dracula are also friends. Cindy Sondheim is a magazine model who is a party girl who loves the night life and is drawn and falls for Dracula even though she is the on again off again girlfriend of a Van Helsing! And Doctor Jeff Rosenberg is our hero of the story a psychiatrist who is the grandson of Van Helsing and is part crazy, but also will do whatever he can to save his lady from the bite of Dracula, but does also have his folklore mixed up and fails many times to kill Dracula. As I stated before the humor is there, but is a little lost on the pages as the delivery from the actors is lacking. The Horror parts are still intact as they are light hearted to begin with and I do really like the parts in this Photo Comic Novel that has Dracula and Redfield stealing from the blood bank as well as the moment of him waking up in the coffin at the funeral in Harlem. The Photo Comic is bloodless and that’s fine as the film is as well, and for the most part this was a fantastic and fun read and a great way to kick off of Halloween Season for 2022! While elements of the film are missing in order to fit in this comic and at times the story jumps very awkwardly it is a must-read for fans of this very underrated 1979 Horror Comedy film. The cover is very cool and eye catching and the photos used in side are well selected. Give this one a read if you can find it, and check out the photo below to see the style of this Photo Comic Novel.

The Fotonovel version of Love At First Bite is a fun read and while it does not fully capture the silliness of the characters humor and feel of the film fully, it does do a great job of entertaining the reader. I for one would love to see a full comic book done based on the film with a solid artist on board like Jeff Potter, but sadly I don’t think that would ever happen. Well for our next update we will be leaving Count Dracula and New York behind and will be covering something that I have been working on for a very long time and that’s my list of my Top 20 Lost Silent Horror Films! This is something I really have wanted to talk about for so many years now and I think my blog’s 10 Year Anniversary is the perfect time to do so. Plus let’s be honest, it’s a great way to kick off October 2022 and I hope helps bring awareness to these lost films and one day they become found films. So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Comedy or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next time for a talk about Silent Horror Cinema.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Eating Raoul (1982)

Posted on September 3, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink! For this “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” we will be doing something a little different as the film and comic we will be talking about are not fully a horror film but a very dark comedy that has some major horror themes and is also one of those gems that I feel gets over looked and I am talking about the 1982 film Eating Raoul that was written and directed by Paul Bartel and would become a cult classic over the years. And Paul and the crew of this film did the right thing when they made a promo comic to go along with their move as I have always said Horror Films and Comic go hand and hand and comics are a great way to advertise for the film. With that said again I think it is time that we have dinner with The Blands and hope that it’s not human meat we are having for dinner!

Before we dive into the movie Eating Raoul we should first understand The Blands and their personalities and their ways of dealing death. Paul Bland is a highly intelligent man who loves wine and wants to open a restaurant with his nurse wife Mary who stumble into becoming killers by accident when they kill a swinger and learn that he has money that they need. Mary uses her sex appeal and good looks to draw in strange men and once she has them at the apartment Paul uses a frying pan to bash them on the head killing them, and yes even Mary used the pan to deal out death as well when she must. The two are super skilled and can only hit their victims once in the head with the pan to cause sudden death. They also have ways of getting away with the murders by hiding the bodies in the trash shoot as well as later given the bodies to lowlife conman named Raoul who sells the bodies, and yes even has helped them in a murder by using a neck tie to strangle the victim to death! Besides the Pan also at times things like a metal comb with a sharp end is used to stab into victims guts, and even electronics thrown into water tubs are used. And when in a tight spot to hide a body they have been known to eat the human meat! They are nice semi snobby people who are determined to open their dream restaurant and this also allows them to go under the radar, as no one would expect them to be killers. But while they are becoming skilled killers they are just human after all and run the risk of being caught and taken away to jail, and they can be killed by stabbing, shooting, burning, crushing and all other ways a normal human can die. Also Paul’s over protection of his wife can make him rush into things, and Mary’s want for sex can also cause some issues and drama. While not as psycho, unstoppable and brutal as other killers we have covered Paul and Mary Bland are still dangerous when they want to be and swing one mean frying pan.

So as you can see, Paul and Mary Bland are dangerous with a pan and are killers when money comes into play as nothing with stop them from getting their dream restaurant opened. But now let’s take a look at the film they are from the dark comedy horror flick Eating Raoul. Keep in mind that the film’s write up will be taken from our pals at IMDB, and after that I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on it. So with that, let’s pull up a seat at the Country Kitchen and see what is on the menu.

Eating Raoul (1982)

“When a Paul enters his apartment to find Mary fighting off a swinger who has gotten into the wrong apartment (and thinks that Mary is just playing hard to get) he hits the man with a frying pan, killing him. Their dreams of running a small restaurant seem to be in jeopardy until they decide to dispose of the body, keep the wallet, and to advertise for other sexually oriented visitors who are summarily killed, bagged, robbed and disposed of. This goes along quite well until one night a burglar named Raoul breaks in and cuts himself in for a piece of the action.”

Paul Bartel was a name in the horror and cult cinema scene throughout the 1970’s through the 2000’s and was a jack of all trades as he was a director, actor and writer in many films during his career including such films as “Private Parts (1972)”, “Death Race 2000 (1975)”, “Piranha (1978)”, “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979)”, “Killer Party (1986)”, “Chopping Mall (1986)” and “Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)”. And around the 1980’s he wanted to make a dark comedy film with a dash of horror and wrote a script with Richard Blackburn and had to raise the money that was put in by his parents and himself and they got around $230,000.00 raised. Paul Bartel, besides writing and co-producing the film, was also on board to direct and star in the film as one of the lead characters Paul Bland. Producer Anne Kimmel came on board as well, building the budget up to $350,000, and the film would be distributed by 20^th Century Fox. Other names brought into the cast included Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, Ed Begley Jr., Buck Henry, John Paragon and Susan Saiger, I should also note that Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov ended up being casted together in many films after this film. When the film was done it was released in theaters on March 24, 1982 and brought in around $1.1 million dollars making the film profitable. The film was released the same year as other Cult and Horror Films as “Jekyll And Hyde…Together Again”, “Cat People”, “Beast Within”, “Amityville II”, “The Beastmaster”, “Halloween III”, “Death Wish II”, “The Thing”, “Creepshow”, “Blade Runner”, “Tron”, “Friday The 13^th Part III” and “Conan The Barbarian” to name a few. The film was also well received by critics and moviegoers alike and over the years has become a Cult Classic Film that is well loved by fans of Dark Comedies. And one thing also that I have to point out is that Paul Bartel hired underground comic artist Kim Deitch to make a single comic issue based on the film in order for promotion, and this is something that I think modern filmmakers should be doing to this day!

Eating Roaul was a film that I had always heard about and always wanted to watch, but never got the chance to sit down and watch it until I was much older. I think a part of me put it off due to the fact it was not 100% Horror and was a Dark Comedy and it just always seemed to fall down my to be watched list because of this and it’s a shame as I really enjoyed the film lots and I think it has just the right amount of humor and horror killer elements blended together to make it just work as a whole. The writing and acting by Paul Bartel, who was prefect as Paul, and actress Mary Woronov was the right choice as Mary as she is sexy and also just so good at playing the role of a housewife who has to turn sex object. Growing up I do remember that this movie use to play all the time on Cinemax and I also seem to remember that my parents watched it as I seem to remember them talking about it with my Mom not liking it. I also remember when I worked for Blockbuster Video people renting the film out on VHS and I always saying to myself I should use one of my free rentals to check it out. To sum it up I sadly do not have any past memories of seeing the film as I waited way to long to see it and now that I have I really enjoy it.

So now that we have talked about Paul and Mary Bland as well as the film Eating Raoul, I think we should dive into the promo comic about it and see what it has in store for us. I first want to thank a seller on Ebay for having this comic in stock and making this update possible, and then I would also like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. I am very much looking forward to reading this comic as it will be a first time read for me and after seeing the film and liking it I want to see if the comic holds the same magic, so let’s dive in and see.

Eating Raoul # 1 ***
Released in 1982 Cover Price $2.00 Mercury Films # 1 of 1

Paul Bland is working at a liquor store and watches as his boss shoots a robber in the head killing him and then start yelling at Paul for the type of wine he ordered. Meanwhile his wife Marry is working at he job as a nurse and is sexually harassed by a patient who is really scuzzy. After their shifts are over the two drive home and talk about the idea they have of opening a restaurant that Mary would like to call “Paul And Mary’s Country Kitchen”. As the arrive home they get stuck on the elevator with a bunch of people who are heading to a swingers party that is happing in their apartment building. Once inside Paul alerts Mary that he has lost his job just as they have a knock at the door and busting in is a man who thinks he is at the swinger party, and when he goes after Mary he is punched in the stomach and gets sick and almost drowns in the Bland’s toilet! Paul walks him to the right apartment and is surrounded by people making out and he himself is trapped by Doris The Dominatrix, and while this happens the creepy man returns to Mary and tries to attack her but he is brought down by the returning Paul with a frying pan! Worse is James their relator shows up as they have a dead body in the kitchen that they latter drop down the trash suet, and James has a place for their dream restaurant but they need $20 grand as a down payment in order to get the spot! And after Paul gets ripped off selling some of his wine from his collection and Mary does not get a bank loan approved they find that killing swingers might be the way to get the money after a creepy patient from the hospital follows her hope and they kill him with the pan! Between the first two murders they have already made over a grand from looting the wallets. And that’s when the talk to Doris and come up with a scam to lure people in and take their money after they kill them with the pan, but they are discovered by Raoul a man who changed the locks on their apartment door but really is a thief and they make a deal that they Blands keep the money and he will take the bodies and sell them to a dog food company and make extra money! One night Mary is attacked by a late customer as Paul has left to get them dinner and its Raoul who saves her, and before Paul gets back Mary and Raoul smoke a drug and end up having sex, and do it again the next day at her work. Paul while leaving a shop is almost ran over by a car that was being driven by a masking wearing Raoul and Paul gets revenge by given in saltpeter via Doris acting as a nurse so that he could not make love. But bad news comes when the place for their restaurant has another offer and they need $25 grand by Friday to get it! So Mary and Paul have an idea and they go to a swinger party and electrocute everyone there when they get into a hot tub and steal the money as well as sell all the cars. Once back home Raoul with a gun is waiting as he wants to run away with Mary and kill Paul, but Raoul is the one killed with the pan and is later survived as dinner to James as they sign the papers and the restaurant is theirs!

This comic is lots of fun and does a good job of capturing the characters and the dark humor of the film on its pages. The story follows the films pretty close and is about a couple who kill swingers and perverts with a pan in order to get their money to buy a home that they want to turn into a country restaurant and along the way they meet a sleazy thief who helps them but also gets a crush on Mary and ends up becoming dinner one night. Mary and Paul Bland are two people who live a simple life and work hard and have a dream to open that restaurant together and stumble on being serial killers by accident and when they learn that they can make quick money and ride the world of creepy sex perverts they get into their kills as it almost becomes just a normal job for them. And even though they are killers they enjoy wine, food and good talks and by all accounts are your normal boring married couple. Raoul is a scumbag who is always working a con and trying to get money fast and easy, and he also sets his sites on another mans wife and will do anything to get the husband out of the picture so he can have her. But because he is so slimy this is what leads to his head being bashed and his body being used for an important dinner meeting. James and Doris are around and add that extra background characters to the Bland’s life that makes their journey into killing a little more interesting. The comic does add way more nudity and does cut out characters and kills like the Bank Manger and lots of the kills in the comic are fast paced and are not bloody. The dark humor is there are some parts of the comic or so over the top that I found myself chuckling a few times. The cover is odd and yet great and eye catching and the interior art by Kim Deitch and while the characters don’t look like the actors some how his art does capture their personality very well. This comic is by no means a blood bath, but is a great read for fans of Horror themed comics based on films. Checkout the artwork below to see the style used by Deitch in this comic, and if you are a fan of the film track down a copy as its lots of fun.

Eating Raoul is a great Dark Comedy Film that has Horror elements to it that I feel people should checkout as while the humor is very dray in spots it just some how works so well and I truly think that it has the perfect combo of a good script and fantastic actors that make it as good as it is. While the comic is most ways follows the film the changes do make the comic fly by and in a faster pace to the murders and delivers a highly entertaining read. But with that I think its time that we leave Paul and Mary’s Country Kitchen as our next update will take us to the world of Silent Cinema as we will be chatting about the 1925 Sci-Fi with a dash of Horror classic The Lost World! So until next time read a Horror Comic or two, watch a Horror Movie or three and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update as we have tickets ready and the Rotten Ink Cinema doors will be open to watch some dinosaurs running wild.