Gore-geous Plaything, Zombie Therapist, Evil Goats

Elvira, the legendary Mistress of the Dark, is a living doll. Now, thank to Mattel™, she’s a plastic one, too. As part of Mattel’s™ Monster High collection, which includes The Shining, Stephen King’s IT, Beetlejuice, and Gremlins 2, the Elvira Skullector Doll releases on January 13, 2023 and sells for a mere $65.00. You should drop everything (unless you’re holding a glass bowl full of beer and/or cereal) and buy it here. 

From Mattel’s™ website: “The Mistress of the Dark wears a ghoulishly glam gown with a peekaboo slit and screamium details like spooky spider stilettos, her signature dagger, and Great-Aunt Morgana’s magic ruby ring. Additional highlights include her iconic pitch black, stylized hair, while her eyes mesmerize with delicate spider-webbing in her irises. Dramatic makeup, a beauty mark and black painted nails add drop-dead gore-geous detail to her killer look. Comes included with displayable packaging and a black Monster High™ doll stand.”

While we inquire as to whether the Elvira Skullector Doll comes in adult size — and possible inflatable — here are a few out now/up and coming horror/sci-fi movies that may or may not be as exhilarating as Elvira’s trademark(s)…

THE ZOMPOCALYPSE THERAPY SESSIONS / Out now (VOD)

“An anxious therapist and her awkward clients wrestle to overcome personal issues and zombies.”

A better premise would be zombies who seek professional therapy for self-esteem issues, like why do people keep trying to shoot me in the head and/or running away screaming? Embarking on a journey of personal improvement with all that negativity in your un-life is a challenge no one should ever have to face. 

CANNIBAL CABIN Out now (VOD)

“A group of 20 somethings want to end the summer on a high, they take the advice from a girl they met at a festival about a secret rave deep in the valleys. When their route is detoured they have no choice but to venture into the unknown. Once they come across a derelict aqua park, they soon realize what they thought was their salvation turns out to be the heart of the Cannibal’s lair.”

The problem with consuming 20 somethings is that while they look appetizing, they taste bland. Kinda like eating the cheese-stained box a pizza comes in. 

KILL HER GOATS / January 13, 2023 (VOD)

Audra’s graduation gift is her dream house, but it soon becomes a living nightmare when some uninvited guests come to her homecoming party who aren’t very subtle about the fact they don’t approve of the home’s new owner.”

Audra got a dream house AND goats for a graduation gift? All I got was a one-way bus ticket to another state.

WALPURGIS NIGHT / Release pending 2023 (VOD)

“A wealthy couple, Imre and Justine, are visiting the deep forests of Romania and find themselves at the mercy of Waldemar Daninsky, a werewolf. Waldemar and Justine must travel to London to seek the help from Dr. Jekyll’s grandson.”

I wouldn’t trust any advice from Dr. Jekyll’s grandkid — I hear he’s as two-faced as his grandfather.

Demon Anniversary, Serial Killing Exorcist, Apocalypse Right Now

Hard to believe it’s been 30 years since Beetlejuice (1988),  the timeless cult comedy horror/fantasy classic, made everyone LOL long before the term was ever invented.

To balloon-less commemorate, Beetlejuice is back in theaters for a limited run, and Warner Bros. issued this awesome key art to entice you into buying a ticket. Count me in. And for those of you who haven’t seen it, here’s a little something from the press release: “Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis play a recently-deceased husband and wife who commission a bizarre demon (Michael Keaton) to drive an obnoxious family out of their home. Winona Ryder plays their daughter Lydia.”

While you’re printing out a movie ticket from Fandango.com (I’ve actually never done that), here are a few upcoming horror/sci-fi movies that may or may not be around in 30 years…

BOO! (2018)
“A torn suburban family refuses to heed the warning of an innocent prank left upon them, which causes the unknown supernatural force to wreak havoc.”

Really wish they had come up with a better title than Boo! It’s been used several times before — once in 2005 and more recently with Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween/Tyler Perry’s Boo! II: A Madea Halloween (2016 and 2017). Sure hope the new Boo! is better than all of the above. Shouldn’t be too hard.

PERIPHERAL (2018)
“Bobbi Johnson is a young literary sensation facing her difficult second novel. Already dealing with a crazed stalker and her junkie ex-boyfriend, Bobbi is convinced by her publisher to use new smart editing software and finds herself going head-to-head with an artificial intelligence determined to write her book for her. As the machine manipulates her work to suit its own nefarious ends, Bobbi begins to realize that she is being controlled in ways far more sinister than she suspected. She may, in fact, be a pawn in a conspiracy of social mind control. Too far down the rabbit hole to turn back, Bobbi must keep writing, fighting her own addictions and hallucinations as she rushes to beat her deadline without selling her soul in the process and becoming a cog in a monstrous machine.”

Machines can do just about anything these days. Now if I could only find one to go to the bathroom for me so I don’t ever have to leave the couch…

OUR EVIL (aka, Mal Nosso/2018)
“Set in the seedy underbelly of São Paulo, Brazil, an exorcist uses the dark web to employ a serial killer to protect his daughter from demonic possession.”

Not much of an exorcist if he can’t even protect his own daughter from from being demonized. Then again, serial killers do seem to have somewhat efficient job skills.

GOOD OMENS (2019)
“A dark, comedic story set in modern day Britain centers on the stoic and sensible angel, Aziraphale and the suave man-about-town demon, Crowley as they join forces to prevent the coming of the Apocalypse. Why? Because they’ve grown to love the little idiosyncrasies of the human experience.”

Why is everybody always trying to stop the Apocalypse? I say roll the dice and let it play out. Couldn’t be much worse than what we have now.

Nutritious Horror, Fine Young Cannibals, Master of Puppets

Funko™ is known for its Pops™, which makes everything from Star Wars to Edward Scissorhands into annoyingly cute and collectible action figures. Now they’re turning horror icons into breakfast foodage. I’d rather eat Funko Pops™ than collect ‘em. My morning hunger cares not for reselling on eBay™.

This is what Funko Pop™ founder Mike Becker had to say about his company’s line of cereal: “One of the fun things is we are about to release our own line of cereal, with a mini-Pop inside. We got all the cool licenses like He-Man, Wonder Woman, Elvira Mistress of the Dark, Freddy Krueger and our own Freddy Funko. We start shipping to stores in June and we have the distribution set up and the product is pre-sold.”

Becker goes on to say that there are prizes in each $7.99 box of cereal and that when you add milk to the Freddy Krueger cereal, it looks blood red. “With the Beetlejuice cereal,” he adds, “when you add milk, it looks like slime.” I’ll assume the Elvira cereal makes its own milk. Ahem.

That said, I have GOT to have bloody and slimy milk for breakfast. Although, I’m wondering if anybody sees the irony in the fact that Freddy Krueger was a movie child molester/killer and is now being used to market enamel-eroding sugary cereal that would appeal to kids as well as adults?

While we ponder the moral ramifications of our breakfast choices, here are a few upcoming horror, sci-fi and fantasy movies to choke on…

THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS (September 21, 2018)
“10 year-old Lewis goes to live with his uncle in a creaky old house with a mysterious tick-tocking heart. But his new town’s sleepy facade jolts to life with a secret world of warlocks and witches when Lewis accidentally awakens the dead.”

I’d rather have warlocks and witches live in my walls than a noisy ticking clock. Those things can drive you bat-sh*t crazy with their non-stop drip-drip-drip and… Oops, sorry — I meant my leaky bathtub faucet. Clocks are okay. Hey, even the freshly woken dead need to know what time it is.

THE YOUNG CANNIBALS (2018)
“Seven friends summon a monster when they are tricked into eating burgers made of human flesh.”

Wait a second — I thought all hamburgers were made of human flesh. You mean to tell me I’ve been eating cow flesh all these years instead? I’m gonna throw up.

EL HABITANTE (2018)
When three sisters decide to break into a corrupt senator’s house to stuff their pockets. But prying it open isn’t as simple as they thought it would be. They have to drag the senator and his wife out of their bed and scare them into spilling the beans. But there are these strange noises coming from the cellar. When the girls go down to investigate, they discover not a squeaking boiler, but their victims’ paraplegic daughter. She’s tied up and looks to have been tortured. Their parents express no sign of guilt or remorse but only pure fear. They cry: ‘Whatever you do, don’t untie her!’.

Why does that sound like something my parents would say when I was growing up?

PUPPETMASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH (2018/2019)
“A recently divorced young man discovers a mint condition Blade doll in his deceased brother’s closet and plans to sell the toy at a convention in Oregon celebrating the 30th anniversary of the infamous Toulon Murders. All hell breaks loose at the Postville Lodge during the auction when a strange force animates all of the various puppets throughout the convention as they go on a bloody killing spree.”

This is one of those “are you serious?” movie franchises. Watching carved puppets go on bloody killing sprees lost its appeal right after Puppet Master II: His Unholy Creation (1990) — the first Puppet Master (1989) sequel — came out in 1990. And with the release of this 12th sequel (!), you only have yourselves to blame.