Tag Archives: Michael Raso

Horror Host Icon: Angus

Posted on by
Reply

Horror Hosts come in many forms. Some are Horror Hosts that live in the world of other TV Shows. For example Count Floyd and his Monster Horror Chiller Theater show started on SCTV, Zombo and his House Of Zombo show was part of the sitcom The Munsters, and Alister Cookie and his Monsterpiece Theater was part of Sesame Street. Today’s host was on a Public Access show from New Jersey called Meadowlands Showcase Presents, and the host is Angus! That is the thing I really want to stress, when it comes to the world of Horror Hosting is there is no too small or too big host as they all have their own fans and have made their own impact to the genre. I think many of you readers will not know of Angus, but I also think some of you will know about him and his short time on TV. So if you are ready, let’s take a short trip to New Jersey and take a spooky walk with Angus and his Horror Show as this is going to be a fun Horror Host Icon update.

Angus 1Angus 2Angus 3

Angus was a smooth talking ghoul who at first wore no make up and later would rock grey face paint while hosting short films on his show The Horror Show as well as The Meadowlands Showcase Presents. While Angus was smooth he also had a dark side as hosting spooky movies was in his blood and he would use his dark powers to scare off as well as brain fry those normal people that stand in his way. He was more of a darker host, and while he had some chuckles, he was more straight forward bringing the viewers the frights. Angus wears all black clothing and had long hair and would give spooky looks to the viewers at home. Angus also had a laugh that was oddly creepy and also had a dash of stage acting sound to it. Angus was played by David Weber, a local actor from New Jersey who also stared in the 1989 Horror Film “The Basement” as Mr. Adelman. David sadly passed away in the late 90’s and from what his friends say, he was a very nice person and was a joy to be around. While Angus only made two appearances, he truly made his mark on the world of Horror Hosting and has his own fan base.

Angus 4Angus 5Angus 6

The Meadowlands Showcase started in 1988 and was a Public Access show that was aired in New Jersey and was the creation of Michael Raso and John Pual Fedele. Angus, along with a female co-host Emily, first appeared on the episode “Creepy Tales” that aired in October 1988 and later in October 1989 Angus would return and take over the show calling it The Horror Show on the episode “The Halloween Takeover”. While Angus only appeared twice on the show in 1988 and 1989, the main show would run from 1988 to 1994 and was a well loved local show as the skits, music videos an shorts brought lots of joy to viewers. Each episode was around 30 minutes long. And while I wish Angus would have appeared on more episodes as well as maybe the creators would have turned Angus into a fully fledged Horror Host show, I would say Angus and his The Horror Show made their mark on the history of Horror Hosting no matter how big or small that mark is.

Angus 7Angus 8Angus 9

Angus is one of those hosts whose name has been spoken about by many diehard Horror Host fans for awhile as his name is on Egor’s Chamber Of TV Horror Hosts website and many people started to think that Angus and The Horror Show was a lost public access show that they had to see as many did not realize he was just a character for a non-Horror Host show and only appeared twice on TV. In fact I know that New Jersey host Halloween Jack and myself have spoken about him a few times over the years as we wanted to track him down as Jack wanted to meet a fellow Jersey host. Both of us were very bummed when we found out he passed away as it would have been great to see Angus make a comeback and even maybe host a show alongside Halloween Jack! For this update I have one of the episodes that Angus appeared on and will be taking the show’s write up from our pals at IMDB, and I will write about the antics of Angus in said episode. So if you are ready, let’s sit back and see what The Horror Show and Angus has in store for us.

The Horror Show Angus Halloween Takeover 89 DVD

Horror Show: Halloween Takeover
Starring – John Paul Fedele & Marc S. Lucey     Not Rated     1989

Host: Angus starts the episode walking down the road and running into Tex, a man who has been fired from the TV Station, and as they pair head in Angus talks to the man in charge and uses his mental powers to knock him out. Angus then heads to the studio and uses his powers against a host for a workout show and runs him off. Tex then gets to master control and Angus starts his show The Horror Show that has him showing short films and a music video while hanging out with The Grim Reaper. Angus even has the Grim Reaper remove the head of one of the filmmakers who he was annoyed with. In the end the head of the station wakes up and loved The Horror Show and wants to work with Angus as he shoves Tex out of the door as he is still fired.

Movie: David Weber as “Angus”, takes over a local television station using his demonic powers, so that he may have his own show – “The Horror Show”. He is assisted on his show by Marc S. Lucey as “The Grim Reaper”. During this 30 minute show, “Angus” presents the short films “Evil Vision” “Pete Jacelone’s – The Day The Shopping Carts Came to Life”, and the music video “Garbage Man” performed by “The Cramps”. “Angus” convinces Peter Jacelone to join his group. Reluctantly he agrees. “The Grim Reaper” leads Peter away, and loops off his head.

Angus 10Angus 11Angus 12

Angus had a charm to him that made him standout and he had that classic late 80’s Horror Host feel and he could have truly been a legend in hosting if he would have lasted longer and spun off into doing his own show. I hope you enjoyed this Horror Host Icon update about Angus, and I hope that this sparked your interest into looking up his appearances on Meadowland Showcase that can be found on YouTube. And for those who do not think that Angus, Count Floyd, Alister Cookie, Zombo and others like them are not Horror Hosts, I understand your standpoint but I and many others do see them as Hosts as they did their parts to bring attention to the art of Horror Hosting. But now it’s time for us to leave the world of Horror Hosting and head into the world of Pro Wrestling again to showcase the fan favorite wrestler Hillbilly Jim! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host! And remember readers, it is very important to archive your local Horror Host shows as well as local Indie Wrestling ones!

Hillbilly Jim Preview Logo

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Ghoul School (1990)

Posted on by
Reply

Ghoul School is one of those lost gems from the early 90’s shot-on-video, direct to VHS releases that seemed to never get the respect nor attention it deserved. The film was a Horror Comedy that had many amazing independent talents working behind the scenes like David DeCoteau, Matthew Jason Walsh, J.R. Bookwalter and Michael Raso, to name a few.  Not to mention that the film was directed by Timothy O’Rawe who did the film The Basement that is also very underrated! Grab your school books and bring some lunch money as Rotten Ink is going back to school and not just any school as this is the Ghoul School! So take your seat and get ready to learn this important From Horror Movie To Horror Comic lesson.

The Flesh Eating Ghouls are our villains of this horror comedy film, and they mean business. These chemically made ghouls are made up of high school students with the first batch of kids to become ghouls being the swim team, and from there it spreads to others that come in contact with the contaminated water and the ghouls. The Ghouls are killing machines that movie quickly, have pointed razor sharp teeth, unlimited stamina, bluish grey skin with some also having a zombie look. Their appearance alone strike fear in the hearts of their victims with their main way of killing being to rip apart their human meal with their bare hands and sharp teeth. Some of the ghouls even can use weapons like guns in order to try and snag their prey for a quick meal. The Ghouls also do not talk but make noises much like crazed animals that is also can shock humans. But while the Ghouls are killing machines they as well can be stopped and killed with multiple gun shots being the most effective way of stopping them once and for all. But while they can be killed they much like Zombies grow in numbers as the water of the town has been infected with the same toxin of the school making them grow in numbers and as we all know packs of any kind of killing hordes is a very bad thing. So in other words The Ghouls are a very menacing ungodly force of nature who want to kill and eat every human they come in contact with.

The Ghouls of Ghoul School are nothing to take lightly and really are a horde of foul creatures! But now we should break down this underrated film of shot on video cinema. This micro budgets film write up is coming from our friends at IMDB and after that I will share my thoughts and memories of seeing Ghoul School for the first time. So let’s take a look at Ghoul School a film that has now been turned into a Horror Comic!

Ghoul School (1990)

“Sex, babes and rock ‘n roll! Two thugs in search of hidden treasure mistakenly unleash a chemical into the school’s water supply, causing everyone it comes into contact with to become flesh-eating ghouls.”

The first time I saw Ghoul School was thanks to Alternative Cinema who sent me a DVD copy for review from their Camp Motion Picture line of releases. I can remember being super excited as I have always been into Shot On Video Movies, and one that featured flesh eating Ghouls and Howard Stern’s own jokester Jackie Martling I knew would be up my ally. I can remember I watched it along with several other releases I had gotten in for review and really enjoyed it. The thing about Ghoul School that I really liked is it felt like the movies Demons and Demons 2 and took place in a school instead of a movie theater or high-rise apartment complex. I can remember also enjoying the film’s gore effects and the characters were fun and funny when supposed to be. After watching the film I can remember giving it 3 stars out of 4 on the website and even showed the film to my friend Jason Gilmore who also enjoyed it. It’s crazy it took me many years after the film’s release to see it, but sadly none of the video stores in my area (Waynesville and Dayton) had the movie for rent and it was not until the DVD that I was able to. I want to also note that before Alternative Cinema released this film on DVD, Tempe did as well. In 1990, when this shot on video micro budget movie was released, it was lost in the shuffle among such titles as Basket Case 2, Bride Of Re-Animator, Child’s Play 2, Exorcist III, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, IT, Nightbreed, Psycho IV, Tremors and many more. So if you love low budget horror films make sure to check out Ghoul School as it’s a fun film from the 90’s that delivers laughs, chills and blood spills. Oh yeah and you can’t go wrong with a film that has a cheesy 80’s Hairband preparing for the school dance that ends up helping our surviving kids against the ghouls…this film is silly spooky fun and really does remind me of a fan film version of Demons.

So as you can see, these Ghouls pack a wicked bite and are true terrors of micro budget horror cinema. And now that we have taken a look at the Ghouls and the film they appear in, I think it’s time we take a look at this comic adaptation of the film that was just released this vary month by Seduction Cinema Comic’s new branch called Camp Comix! I want to thank Alternative Cinema for having this comic in stock and Michael Raso for making this new comic branch possible for Horror Comic readers. I want to also remind all you blog reading Ghouls that I grade these 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’re ready lets see what these Ghouls have in store for this horror comic school.

Ghoul School # 1  ***
Released in 2018     Cover Price $9.99     Camp Comix     # 1 of 1

Steve and Jeff are the monster kids of their school as they spend class time reading horror magazines.  After school one day, they are going to sneak into the AV room to watch a zombie film as some of their female classmates are going to sneak into the auditorium to meet the band The Bloodsucking Ghouls who will be playing the school’s dance. Meanwhile two thugs have entered the school and have killed the janitor for hidden money he has and by mistake have pushed a button that puts harmful chemicals into the school’s water! This causes members of the swim team to become zombie ghouls.  They attack and kill their coach as well as his assistant and then start to roam the hallways looking for more victims! Steve and Jeff come across some of the ghouls and fight back killing one with an ax and trying to get the principal to call for help as he thinks they are on drugs! Meanwhile the Ghouls have attacked the basketball team, and after killing most of them with the coach escaping, they are now attacking the girls who were waiting on the band! Jeff and Steve meet up with the coach, and they get to the auditorium to save the girls as the ghouls attack and kill the principal and some cops. Now they want to kill our remaining kids! In the end, the ghouls attack and it’s all our war for survival as the coach becomes a meal as does one of the girls. Jeff, Steve and the remaining two gals escape and find that the whole town is overrun, and the military is dropping bombs leaving the fate of our survivors looking not good.

Ghoul School the comic is a little different than the movie and these changes help make this adaptation something of its own and a great read for fans of the film who always wanted a remake or a sequel. The plot of this comic is pretty simple and classic horror stuff as we follow two friends who are stuck in a school while flesh eating ghouls that are not only infecting the school but the whole town. The comic plays up on the comedy aspect of the film and cuts out many characters including the rock band The Flesh Eating Ghouls and comedian Jackie Martling and adds three schoolgirls who are there for sex appeal and comedy moments. Our main characters Steve and Jeff are likable gorehound students who enjoy everything the horror movies have to offer and are clearly best friends who bond over watching a good scary movie.  What’s nice about them is that they are nerds of the school but fight back and save lives showing that these horror fans are heroes. The girls are just around to be sexy and ditzy for the most part as they try and survive and do what they can to help. The Coach, Principal, Thugs and all the other side characters are well done and fit for their roles to further along the horror and comedy. The Ghouls themselves are very bloodthirsty, as they want to eat flesh and are cracking cheesy one-liners and jokes along their murdering rampage. The Ghouls are great villains for this horror comic as there are lots of them and they are brutal in their kills, as this comic does not skip out on the cartoon violence. The cover is very eye catching and brings out the horror and humor of the comic. The interior art is like a twisted version of Archie Comics done with gore and big chested women and is done by the talented Noel Scotch Anderson who has done all the comics for Alternative Cinema at this time. His style is cartoonish and holds a classic comic feel to it, and while the characters he draws don’t look like the actors who played them, it gives them a whole new life of their own as he makes them stand out and be the same yet different. Over all to sum up this comic adaptation, it’s a fun and humorous horror comic that I really enjoyed and I feel fans of this 1990 film will also enjoy. Can’t wait to see what’s next for Camp Comix as I know I will be buying whatever they release. Check out some of the artwork bellow to see the style of Noel.

Camp Comix is a cool new comic branch created by Alterative Cinema that has lots of potential to be a great Horror Comic company that will be great for readers who enjoy comics based on Horror Movies and get issues from Eibon Press and Blood Scream Comics. I for one am really looking forward to what Camp Comix has in store for us with future releases as Video Violence, Slime City, Cannibal Campout, Babysitter Massacre, The Basement and Beauty Queen Butcher could all be possibilities for future comics. If you’re a fan of Ghoul School and love Horror Comics, you’ll eat this comic up so make sure to get your copy from https://www.alternativecinema.com/ as it’s the only place to have it. For my next update we will be leaving the Ghoul School and heading into space as I turn the blog over to Juliet so she can talk about her all time favorite science fiction film, Forbidden Planet and the comic adaptation based on it! So until next time, read a horror comic or three, watch a Camp Motion Picture or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you guys all in space!