THE ARENA (1974) Poster Art

Because sometimes this is exactly the right kind of movie! 

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL RONDO HATTON CLASSIC HORROR AWARDS!

The calendar says March so it's that time of year again! Yes, it's time for the Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards! This is the 14th year of the award and, as usual, the ballot is a lengthy one full of laudable efforts in the preservation, appreciation and amplification of the Classic Horror genre in any and all forms. If you needed a reminder to cast your vote for the various categories consider this a poke in the ribs to motivate your fingers to tap on over and help decide what the best additions made to the field were in 2015. Or, as I do, just choose what were your favorites!

In past years Troy and I have been lucky enough to have our podcast NaschyCast nominated but this year I was sad to see we didn't make the cut. This isn't much of a surprise as we have scaled back production in the last two years and shifted our focus to The Bloody Pit show to widen the scope of our monthly conversations. But I was quite surprised to see that this very blog was nominated instead under section 16 - BEST WEBSITE OR BLOG OF 2015! Wow! I'm stunned and a little self-conscious about my humble scribblings being considered worthy of award attention. But, maybe the nomination is for my meandering writing as well as the two podcasts we produce through the site? Yeah! I feel that has to be the idea. That's pretty cool. So - if you enjoy this blog and what we do on the shows please consider casting your vote for The Bloody Pit of Rod.

But that is hardly the only category I want to talk about! Let me point out the nominations of several talented friends whose work is very much worth you time and attention. First, podcasting buddy Mark Maddox is up for the amazing Rodan cover he did for the magazine Mad Scientist #30. As you can see it's a beauty that captures the color and grandeur of the monster in action.

My longtime friend Larry Underwood is up for multiple awards this year (having taken home a few in the past!) with his column for Scary Monsters magazine 'The Doctor is In-Sane' nominated in the Best Columnist category. Of course, I'm also a fan of Larry Blamire's Video Watchdog column 'Star Turn' so I'm not sure how I'll decided between them! This choice might be made easier by the fact that I could vote for Larry in the category of Best Multimedia Horror Site for his excellent series The Fantastic Films of Vincent Price. But in the same category is my beloved darling from Madrid, Mistress Elena, with her phenomenal podcast Horror Rises From Spain. Elena is a regular contributor to the Naschycast and has always jumped in to help us understand the stranger aspects of Spanish horror so maybe I should vote for her. This is more difficult than I expected. And also nominated in the same list is the fun and informative podcast from Derek M. Koch, Monster Kid Radio! Dammit! Is it possible to vote more than once? We certainly live in a time of Classic Horror podcasting awesomeness. 

Luckily the choice for Best Commentary is a little easier for me because, even though my buddy Tim Lucas is nominated for his BLACK SABBATH and BLOOD AND BLACK LACE tracks, I intend to write in a vote for his excellent effort on Jess Franco's EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN instead. Rarely do I feel the desire to listen to such a track a second time but I ended up revisiting Tim's informative run-through of this odd monster mash just to soak up the stories again. Great stuff!

And one final suggestion. When I first complied this list of friend's efforts that are up for Rondos this year my eye spied what I thought was the great podcast The B-Movie Cast listed under Best Multimedia Horror Site. Indeed, I composed a loving recommendation for that fine show in the hopes of pointing more folks toward Vince Rotolo's crew, not just for the sake of this award, but to get more attention to this very long lived podcast. The B-Movie Cast has lasted for years amusingly covering every kind of B-Movie they can think of and doing it very well. Host Vince, his put-upon wife wife Mary, semi-pro plot explainer Nic and movie nut Juan make their way through 50's monster films, 60's biker movies, psychedelic art flicks and incomprehensible ninja epics all in the name of enjoying B-Movies. And strange cinema. But the fact that this podcast was not nominated only means one thing! Well- two things, actually. One - you can still vote for it because the Rondos allow write votes to be cast! OR - and this is where I think we should concentrate our efforts - We can take the opportunity to name Vince Rotolo - the tireless podcaster with nearly a decade of shows behind him - as a new inductee to the Monster Kid Hall of Fame! That's right! The final category on the ballot is Monster Kid Hall of Fame and it is open for any and all suggestions. The idea behind the award is to induct ".. fans, pros, writers, researchers, horror hosts or others (who) should be inducted into the Rondo Awards Monster Kid Hall of Fame". I can think of no one more deserving than Vince! And to that end I ask that when you cast your ballot you give serious thought to naming him for this honor. It's past time he and his co-hosts were recognized for their fine work making fans of these film laugh as they find others like themselves by way of the B-Movie Cast! So, with a major hat-tip to Derek Koch for this fine image - 

So there are a few ideas for you to think about as you construct your 2015 ballot. Reward the writers, artists, filmmakers, horror hosts, interviewers, podcasters and magazines with a little recognition of their hard work. We all do this out of a love of Classic Horror and the joy we all share in these wonderful movies. Let the people that put a smile on your face last year know you appreciate their efforts. 

GO VOTE! 

Dr. Gangrene's Tales from Parts Unknown

One of the joys of living a geeky life that you end up with a lot of very talented friends. I know people who are painters, sculptors, filmmakers, writers, television directors, playwrights, special effects artists, musicians, disc jockeys and even the occasional Mad Doctor! It is under that title that most people know my buddy Larry Underwood because for the last 17 years he has been Nashville's TV horror host Dr. Gangrene. Starting out on public access and graduating to local network affiliates he presented a string of B-movies with a winning smile and a nefarious gleam that made him the talk of the town whenever a new episode would air. Over the past two years Larry has branched out into creating an ongoing video series that takes a look at the films of Vincent Price - ALL of them! Tackling this formidable task in chronological order is entertaining, fascinating and Larry does a great job of highlighting information that even longtime fans might not know.

But even with my knowledge of the various projects of Mr. Underwood I had forgotten about one of his other horror-tinged hobbies - he writes short fiction as well! And now he has bundled together 14 of his tales into one book that has just been released. Titled Dr. Gangrene's Tales from Parts Unknown it runs the table on geeky interests with stories ranging from the expected horror and monster tales to the Wild West and even off into the dark heart of the future. If you have an interest in fun, modern fiction that harks back to the classic pulp adventures of the 30's through the 50's you will find some true delights in these (possibly digital) pages. It's available as an e-book or in a good old dead tree edition from the link below and if you're a Kindle Unlimited subscriber it's even free! Check it out!

Stewart Granger Poster Art

Without planning to do so I have watched a few films featuring Stewart Granger in the past couple of weeks. And now that I've seen him in a variety of different situations, locales and costumes I have to say that he is becoming a new favorite. I've long been a fan of the excellent Canadian Mountie film THE WILD NORTH (1952) but now that I've seen the German western RAMPAGE AT APACHE WELLS (1965) and the amazing Italian made swashbuckler SWORDSMAN OF SIENA (1962) I am starting to look around for more of his work. He certainly knew how to make it all look easy! 

THE WITCH (2016)

Got out to see the recent Sundance Film Festival hit THE WITCH last week. It's being touted as one of the best horror films of recent years and I have to concur! Very much in the vein of Polanski's brilliant REPULSION (1965) it delineates a descent into insanity and death. And, like that horror tale, this is an exquisite film but a hard sell to most of the general horror crowd, I fear. This is a movie that takes place in a very specific time - the early 1700 in New England i.e. the colonies and it refuses to bend reality to fit modern audience's desires. The language is very accurate to the time and, according to the tag at the end of the film, the dialogue for the most part is taken directly from written accounts of the period in question. This makes for fascinating viewing for anyone with a knowledge of history and also an interest in a kind of social anthropology. But I suspect that for modern audiences the antiquated language will be a barrier that they won't even try to cross.

Let me state right up front that a lot of people are going to hear 'social anthropology' and wonder what the hell I'm talking about. Is this a horror movie or a drama? Well, that's the trick the film plays as we watch this family deteriorate over the course of 90 minutes and slowly destroy themselves. We see the burgeoning sexual feelings and their guilt-ridden repression, the religious dogma that cripples thought and the hypocritical nature of people unsure of the right path. We see these people sometimes trying to do the thing that will put them in the best light in a loved one's eyes and watching it all fall to pieces and slowly rip these characters apart.

Pride is the reason for this family to have isolated itself in the middle of nowhere but it is fear that guides these people's lives. Fear is the reason they are out in the middle of a harsh, unforgiving wilderness attempting to make it on their own. They wish to keep themselves pure of mind and body before their god but it is their pride and fear - preyed on by that religious belief - that makes their future impossible. When you believe mad things madness lurks around every corner giving any childish statement, silly joke, poorly considered remark or angry outburst more heft and meaning than it can honestly bear. When fear rules your life you can never be safe and that is truly horrifying. 

Japanese Poster Art for Carpenter's THE THING (1982)

Plus, this very cool snowglobe! 

The Bloody Pit #35 - GHIDORAH, THE THREE HEADED MONSTER (1964)

The Toho Kaiju films are a joy on so many levels and I'm thrilled that we are starting a new series covering a set of them for 2016. The focus this year will be on the various movies that feature that golden skinned villain Ghidorah and we begin with his (her?) first appearance in 1964's GHIDORAH, THE THREE HEADED MONSTER. Released in the U.S. in 1965 it became a favorite of monster kids and it's screenings on domestic television pushed this fifth Godzilla film to new heights of popularity. This is much more a Godzilla or Mothra film than a Ghidorah tale points to it being a direct sequel to the monster film released earlier that same year MOTHRA VS GODZILLA. Throw in the second appearance by Rodan and this becomes a sequel to his solo movie from 1956! That's right - this is a four monster film making it a Toho Monster Rally! Pop the corn, lay in a supply of dried squid and get ready to watch the fireworks!

As always with these giant monster movies Troy is the fanatic with years of reading and watching informing his thoughts and I am the neophyte trying to line these movies up in my horror loving head. We talk a bit about the differences between the Japanese version and the shorter English language cut while admitting freely that we simply cannot settle on a set pronunciation of the title monster's name. We both were impressed by the excellent commentary track on this film's Classic Media DVD by author David Kalat and we speak to some of his opinions as we go along. I have to say that he makes some good points even if I disagree with his take on some specific ideas. Troy gives me some backup when I question the film's U.N. meeting of giant monsters and the credulity stretching table tennis sequence, but has some love for the concept of a kiaju group hug. Also, neither of us can understand why one of this film's alternate titles isn't GODZILLA VS something something..... anything! The Big G is the star here, title aside.

Thanks for downloading and listening. Any questions or comments can be sent to thebloodypit@gmail.com where we'll be glad to hear from you. Remember that you can send MP3's or WAV files of your comments as well and we'll blend them into the feedback section next time out. 

Direct Download MP3 LINK 

iTunes LINK