Comics Without Context...

#RPG For Tonight We Go Clothes Shopping...

Following on from the dramatic developments of our last session in Simon's 5e Dungeons & Dragons Ravenloft adventure, this evening the Tuesday Knights are poised... to go clothes shopping!

Seemingly distracted by a sidequest to our sidequest to our main goal of getting the hell out of Ravenloft, we've somehow been embroiled into finding a wedding dress for a a Frankenstein's monster-bride!

Pete can't make this evening's game, because of a work trip, but there has been discussion about getting him to Skype in, which our resident tech genius Kevin will be handling (if Pete isn't just off getting pissed with his work mates).

Musical Monday: Wolf Totem (The Hu)

Welcome to your new musical addiction: The Hu, Mongolian folk-metal band you didn't know you needed in your life (or on your playlists) until now.

Only Elsa Can Save Arendelle...

Has it been a month since the last Frozen II trailer? It seems like only yesterday.

Musical Monday: 8-Bit Haunted Dance Party (Felicia Day)

Felicia Day gets invited to a fancy Halloween soiree and ends up partying with some frightening guests.

Once again I have the wonderful Justin Isaac to thank for drawing this seasonally-themed old tune to my attention.

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Banana Splits Movie (2019)

Young Harley (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) is a massive Banana Splits fan and so his mum (Dani Kind) has got tickets for him, his 19-year-old brother Austin (Romeo Carere), her duplicitous new husband, Mitch (Steve Lund), and a school friend of Harley's, Zoe (Maria Nash), to see a live taping of the show.

What they don't realise is that the new Vice President of programming, Andy (Daniel Fox), has just pulled the plug on the show and this will be the last episode.

Now, this is the 21st Century and in this world not only are the Banana Splits still going but they are now robots in the furry suits, rather than human beings.

Unfortunately, their latest software update glitches and they don't take the news of the show being axed too well.

In fact, they very quickly take their command of the "show must go on" to violent extremes, butchering troublesome adults and corralling children to create to an eternal audience for a brutal, twisted mockery of their old show.

I have to say I have great respect for Hanna-Barbera for allowing these iconic children's entertainment characters to be used in such a perverse and gruesome way.

However, I'm not entirely sure who the target audience for this. Are there that many people who grew up on the Banana Splits that are interested in seeing them turned into giant killer robots?

Even to young me, the original Banana Splits was always kinda messed up, and I only really watched it for the cartoon inserts as I've mentioned on HeroPress before, but this darkly humorous spin takes that to a whole new level.

There's something especially creepy about watching the Splits torturing their captives while still spouting their catchphrases from their show.

The Banana Splits Movie is a slow burn, setting up the troubled family dynamics of the lead characters, but once the killing really starts, things get very gruesome very quickly.

The performances are what you would expect from this style of trashy horror, and the child actors - given the situations their character were put in - are surprisingly impressive.

Thematically, there are obvious parallels between The Banana Splits Movie and the latest iteration of Chuck in Child's Play, both are about animatronic creations designed to entertain children whose programming goes wrong and they carry out their core command to gruesome extremes (with Chucky it's protecting his "best friend" and with the Banana Splits it's ensuring the "show must go on").

FILMS WATCHED: 25
NEW TO ME: 18

Musical Monday: The Demon (Abney Park)