10 Things in My Monster Squad Tree House!

Thanks to Freddy in Space for this awesome idea! Read his list here!

1) Kenner Aliens Toys

Yes, these are awful, but I love 'em. Snake Alien and all. Actually, I'm trying to think of the most ridiculous one... probably the Mantis Alien or the Killer Crab Alien? That'd have to be one tiny Facehugger to get on a Praying Mantis. But hell, I don't care. They're awesome even Gatling Gun Bishop (did they even watch the movie?).

And I have to include their infamous 1979 18" Alien Doll, which I saved and saved for as a kid until I could finally buy one with its box (yes, I had to have the damn box too).

2) Monster in My Pocket

I didn't even remember what these guys were called until I saw them on Freddy in Space, but I fuckin loved these.

3) Ghostbusters Monsters

These were the most amazing things to me as a kid (ok, besides Cameron's masterpiece Aliens). The mummy toy always reminded me of Monster Squad because you could take off his arm and head with only his bandages holding them on like when the mummy came unwrapped in the film. If you're wondering (like I was) why the heck they called the cartoon (and these toys) "The Real" Ghostbusters, Wikipedia says it was added to the title after a dispute with Filmation and its Ghost Busters properties. Still seems stupid to me since they're obviously the same with the same characters, same song, etc. and I never even noticed "The Real" there before.

4) Robocop vs. Terminator (Genesis)

This game was so ridiculously gory. I loved it, and the Sega opening with the ED-209 growl... classic. Even the music kicked ass. I don't think I ever beat it though. I got to the end boss, but I couldn't kill it. Yep, I need to play this again.

5) Alien vs. Predator (SNES)

My brother and I only had a Sega Genesis as a kid so I had to play SNES over at a friend's house. Of course, if I had my own Monster Squad tree house, I'd have both. This was another game I loved to death. Basically, just Streets of Rage but you get to be Predator and beat the shit out of Aliens (and pick up skulls and food along with a ton of his signature weapons like his spear, throwing disc, etc.). The cut scenes were great for the time, and I thought the music and sound FX were excellent. Writing about this reminded me of F-Zero and Contra III, two other incredible SNES games.

6) Fangoria and Cinefantastique

Sorry I couldn't choose just one. When I was a kid, I'd flip through Fangoria and just look at the pictures. The same thing I did with my Dark Horse Aliens comics.

7) Cinefex and Famous Monsters of Filmland

Yep, I couldn't leave these out. If I had all these magazines, I'd never leave the tree house, but that'd be fine by me.

8) Halloween Masks

I remember always seeing a Predator mask up at Spencer's in the mall. I wanted that more than anything, but I never had enough to buy it (I was probably 10). It was pretty expensive, and now it's almost impossible to find because all you've got are crappy AvP masks, which I couldn't care less about. Of course, I'd love to have an Alien mask as well or the full freakin costume, but I'm dreaming.

9) Stephen King's IT

This movie traumatized me as a child. Every time I went into a book store, I would punch the cover of the book (it was the same as above with Pennywise front and center). In 8th grade, I read the full book and loved it. Then I started reading King's other books: The Shining, Insomnia, Salem's Lot, The Dark Tower, etc.

10) Godzilla Posters

Got to pay tribute to the king. I'd also have to put up one for Aliens, Predator, Robocop, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Exorcist, Versus, David Cronenberg's The Fly, etc. And yeah, I want a NES so I can play the two shitty Godzilla games. Actually, I think they were pretty awesome (yep, even the second one).

Hot Girl of Horror #19: Danielle Harris

My favorite horror movie of hers would have to be Stake Land even though I love her in the Hatchet sequels. She really made the Mary Beth role her own. Rob Zombie really showed everyone how sexy she could be with his Halloween remake, which is the only good thing I can say about that film. Actually, I like the fact that Michael's mask was rotting, and Malcolm McDowell did well as Loomis, but I much prefer Carpenter's original (you can't beat Donald Pleasence). Anyway, Danielle Harris seems really cool and down to earth. She is always at horror conventions and doesn't seem to mind interacting with fans. I love the photo of her with Michael, Jason, and Freddy. I think she's genuinely a talented actress too and you can tell she is giving it her all in the Hatchet sequels. She always comes off as nice too in interviews and everything. What more could you ask for? I hope she keeps doing horror films. She also did well in the movie directed by Michael Biehn called The Victim.

Does Lovely Molly suck?

A lot of people have been saying this movie is stupid, doesn't explain anything, has a confusing ending, etc. but I have to disagree. They could've easily written in your typical paranormal expert to spell everything out for the audience (like Sinister, Dark Skies, Paranormal Activity, Insidious, etc.), but instead they give you clues so you have to piece things together yourself, and at first, I was a little confused since you really do have to think for a little bit about what they show you versus what Molly thinks is happening. That said, it isn't that hard to figure out once you've seen the whole film, because the big clue is the last shot, and I won't spoil it, but it's awesome.

I'm just surprised so many people say it's not worth watching, didn't have a script, etc. That's ridiculous, because it's extremely well done with great performances, atmospheric cinematography, excellent sound design (I love the creepy feeling they establish right away during the opening credits), etc. I wouldn't say it's perfect since I like the Deputy Sheriff character a lot, but they forget about him after the first act, and I almost feel like the movie would've been better received if they didn't try to make it ambiguous to where you can interpret it in different ways when really it's pretty obvious what's true after you think about that ending (as well as a few other clues). I haven't gone to the website (or seen the extras on the DVD), but there are a ton of little videos on there to explain things too. I don't think watching those is really necessary to appreciate the film. A movie should really stand on its own in my opinion, and some will argue Lovely Molly doesn't, but I think it does (even if the director did intend for people to check out the website and look at the extras). It creeped me out a lot more than any other horror movie I've seen lately, and I would argue it's actually very smart.

Spoiler time. For anyone who has seen it, I've got to talk about the ending. I really thought the ghost of her dad came back to torture her and possess her or that she was just insane until I saw the last shot (and actually the earlier bit where Molly walks out completely nude to a demon in the woods, which really looked pretty frightening). But after seeing her sister stand at the closet and raise her hand in the same exact way that Molly did earlier, I think it's obvious Molly was possessed by a demon using the memory of her father to get to her, and that her sister was next in line at the end. You could say it was all psychological and Molly's sister went through a similar trauma, but come on, the hand motion was weird and exactly the same. Plus, of course, Molly taped horse heads over her father's face in the photo album. Anyway, I think the idea of a demon using something like that to get to a person is very creepy and clever writing on the part of the filmmakers. It shows how the demon could really control Molly and play off her fears and past.

Hot Girl of Horror #18: Katharine Isabelle

Besides the Ginger Snaps trilogy (pretty damn good), you've got Freddy vs. Jason, which I loved despite its flaws, and then a whole ton of other horror movies: the 2002 Carrie TV movie with Angela Bettis, Snoop Dogg's Bones, Ogre, Hard Ride to Hell (cool title but the rating on IMDb is pretty low), 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, etc. So she isn't afraid of the genre, which is definitely good news for us. Most recently, you can see her in American Mary. I really want to check that out, but I haven't had a chance yet. Of course, if you haven't seen the Ginger Snaps films, you should. They're a different take on your typical male-werewolf movie, and they're quite good. She makes them all the better too. She also made Freddy vs. Jason a lot better as well so I hope she is in more horror.

Killer Clown Museum

I'm sure I'm missing some, but I think I got quite a few. My favorites would have to be Pennywise (especially with half his face melted) and Killer Klowns from Outer Space.