New Commentary Tracks on the Way!

I have been very busy the past two months working two jobs and also fitting in helping to create brand new Blu-Ray commentary tracks for some obscure genre films. Luckily a couple of them have been announced this week and I can talk about them.

 

First up, from Vinegar Syndrome, Adrian Smith and I collaborated on a track for CURSE OF THE VOODOO (1965). This is producer Richard Gordon's follow up to the better known DEVIL DOLL (1964) and this release features both movies with new commentaries for both and a few other nice extras. We couldn't more pleased to be part of this!

Of course, the bigger surprise is the legendary (for various reasons) Italian monster/gore epic ALIEN TERROR (1980) is coming out on a new Blu-Ray that will have a commentary track by Adrian and I as well! Yes, this is the film also known as ALIEN 2: ON EARTH but it might not be as bad as you remember it. Really! Plus Adrian was able to talk to a couple of the actors that made the film 45 years ago (!) and they gave us some fun details about the production. I'm very pleased with how this track came out and I can't wait for others to hear it!

There will be more announcements in the next month or so! Stay tuned. 

 

Video - The Commercials of David Lynch

Although I've always felt that the various silly Obsession commercials have to be seen as comedy, or at least parody, the Japanese canned coffee commercials are fascinating. Seemingly filmed with the cast of Twin Peaks during the show's production, they now make me think that their detective storyline is going to shift into RINGU territory just before it all ends with more coffee drinking!

Poster Art and Lobby Cards made for BLACK SUNDAY (1960)

 

Video - Space: 1999 Episode 1

Every now and then I need to the comfort of the very first episode of this show. Perhaps you do too. 

Poster Art for TERROR CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE (1965)

The Bloody Pit #212 - Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-74)

I may have bitten off more than I can chew!

I am joined by a pair of Marks – Mark Maddox and Mark Clark – to discuss STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES. Since episodes with either of them alone can stretch to more than two hours, putting them together with a subject this big was clearly tempting fate. We survive the show but this is easily the longest episode of The Bloody Pit ever! It might be best to listen to it in chunks.

We dig into the Star Trek Animated Series and talk a bit about all twenty-two episodes. After some confusion we use the original broadcast order and give our thoughts on each one. This takes time and I complicated things by rereading the Alan Dean Foster Log Books for several of the stories. This means I can’t stop myself from dropping in details that were used to flesh out the 22-minute shows until both Marks request that I stop. Rude! But then I bring up Spock Must Die by James Blish and Maddox gets reeled into the book-talk like the sucker he is! Before things are over we have chosen our favorite and least favorites from the series and pulled a couple of episodes apart looking for the tasty bits. If you listen carefully you will hear the moment we realize that this show will be far too long. You can also hear the individual moments when each of us gets our second wind and press on through the second season. You might also hear weeping. You have been warned.

If you have any comments or sympathy for me thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. The plan is to get another episode out in a few weeks so keep your fingers crossed. And thank you for listening!

What I Watched in February 2025

I simply don't have the time to write up what I'd like to about COMPANION (2025). I'm swamped with far too much work while also trying to complete researching and recording four commentary tracks. Why does everything have to happen during tax season? I'll just recommend seeing it and express my wish that I hadn't known the first twist the film takes because the trailer gives it away. 

The List

JUROR NO. 2 (2024) – 7 (solid courtroom drama)

 

THE CLIMAX (1944) – 5 (rewatch on Blu)

AIR HAWKS (1935) – 6 (a little bit of everything!)

COMPANION (2025) – 8

 

THE EXECUTIONER II: KARATE INFERNO (1974) – 7 (Chiba’s back!)

 

CAPTAIN KRONOS: VAMPIRE HUNTER (1972) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)

 

GOD’S LEFT HAND, DEVIL’S RIGHT HAND (2006) – 5 (flat Japanese manga adaptation)

 

DICK TRACY (1945) – 7

 

DICK TRACY VS CUEBALL (1946) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

HEART EYES (2025) – 7

 

ZORRO THE AVENGER (1962) – 7 (fun Spanish adventure)

 

SOLOMAN KANE (2009) – 8 (rewatch)

 

TIGER OF THE SEVEN SEAS (1962) – 7 (rewatch)

SUDAN (1945) – 7 (colorful period Egyptian adventure)

 

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2025) - 8

 

THE VOURDULAK (2024) – 7 (French adaptation of the Tolstoy tale)

 

TWO WITCHES (2021) – 4 (an ineffectual mess)

TRIPLE FRONTIER (2019) – 7 (NetFlix crime/action film with strong cast)

 

ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN (1940) – 7 (Peter Lorre as an evil prison owner/slaver)

ALIEN 2: ON EARTH (1980) – 3 (rewatch on Blu) 

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

Don't drink too much!

Trailers From Hell - DOCTOR X (1932)

"Michael Curtiz’ perversely entertaining pre-code thriller would have been a perfect fit for Weird Tales Magazine. Lee Tracy plays a pushy reporter tracking down the so-called “Moon Killer”, Fay Wray is the soon-to-be damsel in distress and Lionel Atwill plays her father, the titular Doctor Xavier. The eleventh hour unveiling of the killer, bathed in eerie two-strip Technicolor, is the stuff of nightmares." 

Let inveterate jokester Michael Schlesinger tell you all about it! 

Planet of the Apes Joke

Maybe I'm just very tired, but this really made me laugh.

 

DC's Mystery In Space Cover Gallery

When DC comics briefly brought this title back in 1980 I was part of the target audience. I had been reading their cancelled science fiction dollar comic Time Warp and was just as happy to plunk down my fifty cents for this book as well. I think I bought each of the seven issues before they stopped publishing it again, so I suppose I was one of the few folks that looked forward to it appearing on the spinner rack. I remember the Joe Kubert covers you see here and I would love to reread these!

 

Poster Art for Antonio Marghertti Science Fiction Films

 

Video - Music by Francesco Lavagnino from SNOW DEVILS (1967)

Every now and then I just need to listen to this fantastic piece of music! And now I need to rewatch the film, too. 

Vintage Science Fiction Movie Posters!