Dream Drive -In Double Feature.....

People keep asking Yvette and I to go to the drive-in this weekend and that would be great- but this is the double feature I wish was playing. Ah, the Summer time madness of low budget monster movies.

Jess Franco coverage in Fangoria

I should have alerted readers of the blog to this a while ago- even before the magazine hit the stands- but better late than never. The latest issue of Fangoria magazine has a wealth of reading for fans of Spanish Horror and Jess Franco. It even has Lina Romey on the freakin' cover! Check out the lineup- 

*FEATURE: REMEMBERING JESS FRANCO, PART ONE Producing the director’s DVDs gave David Gregory intimate access to the man himself.

*FEATURE: REMEMBERING JESS FRANCO, PART TWO Tim Lucas helped popularize the Spanish auteur while discovering him. Plus: A backyard Franco-fest!

*INTERVIEW: JACK TAYLOR Playing good or bad, he was a constant in Franco’s supernatural and sexy features.

*INTERVIEW: MARIA ROHM The leading lady of many Franco flicks remembers the director and her legendary co-stars.

That's right! Not only a piece by friend-of-the-NaschyCast Tim Lucas but an interview with the ever elusive Jack Taylor! Woo hoo! Go grab your copy today folks - I got mine at Barnes & Noble last night.

NaschyCast #40 - THE NIGHT OF THE EXECUTIONER (1993)

THE NIGHT OF THE EXECUTIONER was the last film Paul Naschy directed before his decision to helm EMPUSA in 2010. By the 1990s he knew the most fruitful days of his career were behind him and I'm sure the opportunity to be back in the writer/director/star position was exciting.  He explains the dual genesis of this tale of vigilante justice in this autobiography so its clear that he felt inspired to create the film even if, in the end, it is a bit too much like other movies in the genre.

Troy and I discuss this low budget excursion into the dark heart of Spanish criminal life while touching on the justifications a victim has to exact vengeance. We even attempt to wrestle with the moral complications that come with living in a society where justice is handled by the government and the liberal vs. conservative arguments on the subject. But not to worry- we spend much more time talking about DEATH WISH, DIRTY HARRY and our mutual love of 1970s Charles Bronson movies. Somehow we are also prompted by this movie to talk about the gender structure of criminal gangs in SUDDEN IMPACT and CLASS OF 1984! Don't ask why- just listen and all will be made clear. And for those interested, my cat Katie makes her presence known multiple times throughout the show as she tries to distract us from our podcasting and/or influence our opinions. She's a good cat but a bit of an attention hog.

The mailbag section is great this month with a few good points made by listeners and a much deserved correction made on my sad mispronunciation of the lovely Nadiuska's name in last month's show. I can only throw myself on the mercy of the Naschy fans and promise to do better next time. As always the show is available from the link below or through the iTunes store or streaming from Stitcher Radio. We do prattle on! You can drop us a line at naschycast@gmail.com or join us over on the Facebook page and leave us a review in the iTunes store. Thanks!

MP3 Download LINK 

iTunes LINK 

ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES (1971) poster art

I only recently found this amazing poster art for my least favorite of the Apes sequels. I love these modern variants on classic film ad art in general and this one is superb capturing the start of the tale perfectly without giving much away to the new viewer. More, please! 

Star Trek comics

I don't think Star Trek was well served by the comic book industry until the pretty good run DC had in the 1980s. Marvel's brief 18 issue run was OK but suffered from following the dullest of all Trek movies - The Motion-less Picture (1979) which hung a pall over it that all the good intentions in the world couldn't raise.

The first Trek comics were the Gold Key run that lasted 11 years from 1967 to 1978 but produced only 61 issues. Not that those issues were particularly good- indeed every time I found one as a Trek loving kid I was disappointed enough to feel cheated out of my money! But in the past couple of years I've gone back to look at those almost indifferently produced books and I've found some joy in the pages. Usually that joy is in laughing at the banal, silly or often bone-dense stupid nature of the stories being told, but occasionally I have fun in a way that reminds me of the feeling I had watching the show as a kid. Not often, but often enough.

If nothing else, the covers were always fantastic!

The Tarzan Animated Show

In our last NaschyCast Troy and I talked a bit about how we first became aware of the character of Tarzan and I confessed that my first encounter might have been the Filmation cartoon. The show was first aired on Saturday mornings (remember that, fellow old folks?) in 1976 and a full 36 episodes were produced. I have great memories of the show I haven't seen an entire episode in years. It seems that only one has ever been released to DVD on the Saturday Morning Cartoons Vol. 1 set but I would love the chance to get the whole run. I love that this is the rare presentation of the character that attempts to adapted him as written by Burroughs. Here Tarzan comes of as an intelligent, thoughtful man instead of a grunting moron. If you've never seen this animated version of Tarzan here are some clips from YouTube. First, the intro of the show- 



And now for the first part of one of the regular episodes- 



Wait! I think I might have that DVD set! I gotta go look on the shelf! 

Star Trek images

I've been thinking about how little joy I got from STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS and trying to reason out what it is about the original series that keeps me interested all these years later. I am sure a part of my enjoyment of ST:TOS is that I saw it as a young boy and it became an ingrained way that I think about SF and entertainment itself. I mean- what else explains me getting real fun out of watch 'Spock's Brain' or 'The Way to Eden' other than the show shooting past my usual BS alarms? But I think there is something thoughtful in the old Trek that just hasn't been there in these new movies. They lack - for want of a better word- soul. Whether you think of older Trek as cheesy, silly overly simplistic tripe or as thoughtful attempts to bring science fiction to television I think we can all agree that in the beginning the characters mattered and the effects were just icing on the cake - not the other way around. I'd like to see TREK return to that one day.