80’s Fantasy Unleashed: Clash Of The Titans (1981)

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and our third update for my blog’s 10 Year Anniversary. For this one I want to take a look at one of my favorite fantasy films based on myth and folklore and that’s the 1981 film Clash Of The Titans! This is a film that I grew up watching and even had the action figures from Mattel.  It was a staple of movie watching at our house in my youth and this is one update that I have been looking forward to since I started Rotten Ink all those years back and now for this big anniversary, it’s time to finally cover it as it’s long overdue. And I think kids of the 80’s and 90’s will really love this one as I am sure it will bring back lots of memories, so with that, let’s go on an epic quest with Perseus and Pegasus and try and save the day by bringing you one epic update

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The first thing I would like to do is take a moment to really showcase the 1981 film Clash Of The Titans as sadly many younger readers might only know the 2012 remake film that is not even in the same league as the original. Plus for many of you, just sitting back and reading about the classic film might feel you with nostalgia like it did for me writing about it. So I will be taking the film’s write up from our friends at IMDB, and from there, I will write about the film’s production and then my thoughts and connection to the film. So with that, let’s get to Clash Of The Titans, one of the many great fantasy films from the 80’s.

Clash Of The Titans (1981)

“Perseus is the favored son of the god Zeus, but he has unwittingly ticked off the sea goddess Thetis. Just to make things worse, Perseus falls in love with the lovely Princess Andromeda, who used to be engaged to Thetis’ son, Calibos. Soon Perseus is off on one quest after another, with Zeus helping, Thetis hindering, and lots of innocent bystanders getting stabbed, drowned, and squished.”

Fantasy films were very popular at the cinema in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Script writer Beverley Cross had an idea for a film that would be called Clash of The Titans, and he wanted a rating that would allow young and old to enjoy his adventure masterpiece. But many changes had to be made to the script before it could get a softer rating: removing nudity from the character Andromeda, the Kraken killing the flying horse Pegasus as well as part of the fight between our hero Perseus and the creature man Calibos. And once the script was green lit, stop motion effects master Ray Harryhausen was brought on board to create the creatures as well as co-produce the film and would retire shortly after the film’s release. While films like Star Wars, Star Trek The Motion Picture and Superman had newer state of the art effects, Clash Of The Titans relied on the more classic effects of cinema that was made popular in the 1933 film King Kong. The film had a rocky start when it came to distribution as Columbia Pictures was originally on board but dropped the film due to the budget being too high for them to want to invest. Then Orion Pictures wanted them to have bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the lead. He was coming off the films Hercules In New York and Pumping Iron, but the film’s producer rejected this so they had to try MGM who ended up liking what they read and saw of Ray’s creatures and the film found its home with MGM even giving more money to get more cast added. Many name actors and up and coming ones were brought into play parts in the film with Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, Maggie Smith, Laurence Olivier and Ursula Andress playing lead roles and director Desmond Davis was selected by producer Charles H. Schneer to helm the film as he had history of working on period pieces. The film was shot in many locations like England, Italy and Gozo and was a very normal filming production for the time. Once done, composer Laurence Rosenthal was brought in to score the film, and it was released to theaters on June 12, 1981. Clash Of The Titans would bring in $41,092,328.00 at the American box office and would be ranked # 11 for the year and would gross more then such films as Tarzan The Ape Man, The Fox And The Hound, Excalibur, The Great Muppet Caper, An American Werewolf In London, Halloween II, Escape From New York, Friday The 13^th Part 2, Mommie Dearest, The Howling, Caveman and The Legend Of The Lone Ranger to name a few. The film was mostly met with positive reviews from both film critics and viewers and has become a classic film over the years. The film went on to be released on cable TV as well as on home media and is well watched and loved to this day.

Clash Of The Titans is a film that I can remember my brother seeing first at school and rushing home to tell me how awesome it was, and a short time later I remember seeing it on TV and being drawn into the adventure it brought to the screen. As a kid I was always very much into mythology and the Greek and Roman ones captured by imagination and films like Clash Of The Titans helped fuel that love. The classic story of an epic quest to save the day as well as help a ladylove is stuff of classic fables and is why films like Clash Of The Titans, Beastmaster, Legend, Krull, Excalibur, Lady Hawk, Robin Hood and so many other films in the fantasy genre are some of my favorite films from my youth. I can also remember first time I saw the film on VHS and not on TV, I was mesmerized by the fact that the film had brief nudity and also just how awesome the effects are in the film as all of the monsters and strange characters look so cool and nothing can beat the effects of such an icon of movie special effects and that is of course Ray Harryhausen. While I liked the characters of Perseus, Medusa, The Kraken, Zeus and Princess Andromeda, my favorites as a kid were Calibos, Bubo and Thallo who I always felt was one of the film’s unsung heroes who is loyal to his kingdom and to protect the princess and when he died in the film, it held a big impact. I also remember reading the novel adaptation when I was a youngster and had many of the toys, but more on that later. Say what you will, but the 1981 version of Clash Of The Titans is one of the best fantasy films of the 1980’s and is one that I feel everyone should at least see once just for the effects alone. Really do yourself a favor and go and buy a copy of this film on VHS, DVD or Blu-Ray and sit back and enjoy the epic ride.

The creatures of Clash Of The Titans are very epic as the main baddy is Calibos who was turned into a devilish looking satyr by Zeus, and besides his monstrous appearances, he is very sinister and sets up schemes and evil plots. For some reason his look always reminded me of the gargoyle leader played by Bernie Casey from the 1972 made for TV film Gargoyles. Calibos is a great movie villain and one of my favorites from the film as he just is so selfish and sinister. Another of the great monsters of Clash Of The Titans is Medusa who is half snake and half human woman who has crawling snakes as hair and whose stare will turn any man into stone. She is a character from classic Greek mythology and her appearance in this film is fantastic as Ray Harryhausen did a great job designing and bringing her to life on the big screen. And the big monster attraction of this movie of course is the monster of the sea The Kraken who wants to kill our film’s leading lady and is a truly sinister creature who kills with no remorse and keeps a whole city gripped in fear. While most reports of what a Kraken should look like is that of a giant squid, Ray Harryhausen made it more look like a Kaiju monster straight out of the world of King Kong or Godzilla films. And these three are only some of the monsters and creatures of the film as we also have the winged horse Pegasus, the two headed guard dog Dioskilos, a giant scorpion, the skeleton boatman Charon of the river Styx, a giant vulture, the three blind Stygian Witches and even the tiny golden robot owl Bubo. This movie has all types of cool creatures and horror themed baddies to make for a great watch for Monster Kids from all ages.

When I was a kid, Mattel was one of the biggest toy companies only rivaled by Kenner and Hasbro and in 1980 they decided to make action figures based on Clash Of The Titans with four figures around 3 ¾” tall, Perseus, Calibos, Thallo and Charon. And a figure of Pegasus and The Kraken was also made with The Kraken being a rare figure these days that fetches a good amount of money on the second hand market. Growing up my brother and I owned many of these figures. We had several Thallo as we would find him at garage sales all the time and would buy him and we also had Perseus and Pegasus and I can remember them all being on the side of good in my toy wars and teaming with Star Wars Jedi Luke Skywalker and G.I. Joe leader Duke. As I got older I was able to find Calibos and Charon at local comic shops and now have them in my toy collection. And sadly I have never owned The Kraken even though I have seen it for sale at local comic shops as well as at toy conventions, but the price is always super high. And after all these years, I still own the figures minus Pegasus who sadly broke when I was a kid as he was made of cheap plastic and cracked. These figures are super cool and fans of this film series should track them down and add them to your figure collection. And for those wonder my favorite figure of this series is Calibos with Perseus not too far behind in second. And no, the pictures below are not from my collection.

Besides the very cool Mattel action figures, many other cool merchandise was and has been released based on Clash Of The Titans that include a lunch box, comic book, t-shirts, posters, the soundtrack, novelization of the film, stickers, lobby cards, magnets, magazines and of course fan art. And for me the novel and soundtrack were must-have stuff and I have played tracks off the soundtrack on the radio show Alpha Rhythms. So again if you are a fan, there is lots of really cool stuff out there for you to collect.

Clash Of The Titans was always a film that was popular at our house when I was growing up as it was a great adventure with some great monsters and brought the classic stories of Greece to the big screen. And with that said, it’s also very cool that Golden Book decided to bring the film to the world of comics, just like they did with Gremlins another from them we have covered here on Rotten Ink some years back. And also I have to say that with Clash Of The Titans I have two copies of this comic book thanks to a vendor at Monster Bash Convention as well as Game Swap Kettering, so a big thanks to them for making this update possible. I would like to remind you readers that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So with that, let’s have Golden Book unleash The Kraken!

Clash Of The Titans # 1  ***1/2
Released in 1981     Cover Price $2.50       Golden Book      # 1 of 1

King Acrisius of Argos has angered Zeus when the King has placed a woman and her baby son Perseus into a wooden box and had them thrown into the ocean. And for this crime against the Gods, Zeus orders Poseidon to unleash a terrible storm as well as the last of the Titans, The Kraken, on the city as he wants them all dead…and the deed is done. And some time later Perseus and his mom are discovered and spend their lives in a new village and Zeus watches with pride as Perseus is really his son. But one goddess Thetis is not happy as Zeus has turned her son Calibos into a monster after he has hunted down and killed all the winged horses besides one named Pegasus, and this curse makes it so he can not marry princess Andromeda due to his monstrous look, but yet has given Perseus everything. When Zeus is away, Thetis sends Perseus to the city of Joppa that is very dangerous, and when finding out Zeus asks his fellow goddesses for help and they make his magical and powerful tools like a sword, helmet and shield. While in Joppa he also befriends the old poet Ammon who is watching after him and knows who he is. While in town Perseus meets Thallo, a royal guard who tells him that death comes to those who wish to win the hand of the princess Andromeda but cannot answer the riddle put before them, and just like that Perseus puts on the helmet and sneaks into the castle and watches as a giant Vulture takes the spirit of the princess away as he body remains on the bed. The next day Perseus and Ammon come up with a plan in order for our hero to follow the vulture to the lair of Calibos who they know is the one doing this to her. In order to fly, Perseus tames and rides Pegasus and follows the vulture that night to the swamps where he hears the answer to the riddle and also has a fight with Calibos who ends up getting his hand chopped off and later begs his mom to help him get revenge, but Perseus loses his magical helmet in the swamp. Perseus solves the riddle and on his wedding night, the goddess Thetis gets angry and curses Andromeda that she has to be sacrificed to The Kraken and if they do not the Titan will destroy all of Joppa! So now Perseus along with Thallo, Ammon, Andromeda, Guards and a robotic owl named Bubo begins a quest to find a way to stop The Kraken once and for all! Along the way Perseus gets the all seeing-eye from the Stygian Witches. He travels the River Styx to the island of Medusa, fights her two headed guardian Dioskilos, beheads Medusa to use her head to fight the Kraken but in the process loses his shield as well as many of his men. As Thallo and Perseus, sleep Calibos creeps into their camp and poke holes in the bag that holds Medusa’s head and her spilled blood turns into giant scorpions and sadly are defeated but not before killing Thallo and one other guard. But Perseus gets his revenge when he kills Calibos with a sword through his gut. In the end as Andromeda is chained to the cliff and The Kraken and Perseus appears riding Pegasus and uses the head of Medusa to turn The Kraken to stone and save the love of his life.

The first thing I need to say is that I really do think Golden Books did a great job of capturing the film Clash Of The Titans in this kid friendly comic book adaptation and while they cut some of the more racy and violent moments, they really do capture the adventure elements of the film well. The plot is that of a classic quest as our hero Perseus must find a way to defeat a massive Titan that is set to kill his bride all because a goddess is jealous of his attention from Zeus. Perseus is your classic hero who is the son of Zeus who is a skilled fighter, brave and true to who he is. He is willing to risk his life in order to fight for the life of his new wife the princess Andromeda, but to be fair during is very dangerous quest he does have the help of the gods. But over all a very great hero and the comic does him justice. Bubo The Golden Owl who was sent by the gods in order to help on the quest really is a hero as well as he is the one who finds the way, saves the head of Medusa from falling into the ocean and even brings Pegasus to Perseus to make the rescue in time. And sadly Thallo is down played in the comic as they only had so many pages, and it’s a shame as his death in the comic does not pack a punch at all. All the baddies do their part with Calibos being the biggest pain in the butt as he wants revenge and to deal death out to those he feels wronged him. The Kraken as well is pretty cool and does his damage to people and that is what he is a major danger…but I should also say so is Medusa who can turn people into stone as well as have poison arrows and blood. I really do feel that Golden Books did a great job with this comic, and I would have love to seen them continue making comics like this as they covered the ones that the other companies like Marvel and DC failed to do that really should have had comics. The cover for this comic is pretty eye catching and showcases the classic painting as well as promo pictures from the movie, and I am sure if you were a fan of this film this would have gotten your attention. The interior art is done by Dan Spiegle and is simple and yet really great and reminds me of the adaptations done by companies like Gold Key and Dell Comics, and I feel his art for the monsters is great and who ever also did the coloring deserves praise. Over all if you love Clash Of The Titans you should check this Golden Book Comic out as it is very much worth reading. Check out the artwork of Spiegle below to see his style.

Before I wrap up this update, I would like to touch on the “What If” of other films that Golden Books could have made into these comic book graphic novels that would have been awesome to have in the world. I am sure remember you long time readers know that Golden also gave Gremlins the comic treatment as we covered it back in 2016 and you can read that one HERE. Let’s take a look at the years 1980-1985 and choose some films that fit the kid friendly nature of Golden as well as ones that did not get the attention of other comic companies going at the time. So for me these could have and should have gotten the Golden Book treatment: The Beastmaster (1982), The Last Unicorn (1982), The Secret Of NIMH (1982), Hercules (1983), The NeverEnding Story (1984), Legend (1985) and The Peanut Butter Solution (1985) and if they went a little into the PG era of horror since the 80’s was a hotbed for that genre I would say Poltergeist (1982), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) and Cat’s Eye (1985) would have all been great picks to get the comic treatment and give readers something cool to go along with the films they enjoy. Again just imagine these as a What If, that sadly never happened.

Clash Of The Titans is a great fantasy quest film that ended up getting the comic book treatment thanks to Golden Books. And if you have not seen Clash Of The Titans from 1981 make sure to give it a watch as it really is a fun film that has some really cool creatures in it and will surely deliver you with a few hours of entertainment. So for our next update, we are leaving Joppa and heading to Japan as we will be talking about Tomie one of my favorite Manga and Japanese horror films. So until next time read, a comic or three, watch a fantasy film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next time for a truly scary update that will surely send shivers down your spine.

Enjoy The All You Can Eat Blood Fountain Only At Blood Feast

Welcome back my fellow comic and pulp culture lovers.  Today’s update is going to be a quick one and will focus on a master of splatter film director and comic adaptation of one of his films. A few updates back I spoke about “The Godfather Of Gore” being Lucio Fulci, and some of my friends and readers say that that title really belongs to Pittsburgh born independent filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis who used lots of blood and guts in his films over the ages. At the age of 6, Lewis had his father pass away.  A few years later his mom remarried a man, and they all moved to Chicago where he spent most of his youth. Lewis got a masters degree in journalism, became a teacher, ran many radio stations and worked with a friend to make commercials under the company name Lewis And Martin Films. His first venture into film came in 1959 with the film called “The Prime Time” where he acted as the producer.  This film also marked the end of him not directing his own flicks for his company. In the 1960’s Lewis made more adult softcore style films like Living Venus, Bell Bare And Beautiful and Boin-n-g! making him one of the grandfathers of the modern exploitation films. It was in 1963 that he dove head first into blood soaked horror films with the film Blood Feast, and while after this film he made a few more non-horror pictures, none of them have the cult following as films like Two Thousand Maniacs, Color Me Blood Red, A Taste Of Blood, The Gruesome Twosome, The Wizard Of Gore and The Gore Gore Girls to name a few. In 2002 Lewis made a sequel to his first horror film called Blood Feast 2: All You Can Eat and showed that even after all these years he still can pack a gut punch that would turn your stomach.  While over the years Lewis has slowed done on making films, the director, who as of early 2014 is 84 years old, still makes a film from time to time with his latest being Zombificador that is due out soon. I have meet Mr. Lewis at Cinema Wasteland Convention some years back and will say that he was very nice and was swamped with people looking to not only get his autograph but also just to have a few moments to talk film with him. While many of his films are hit and miss with me, I have many friends that truly love Lewis and his work, and one thing is for sure, the man helped make micro/independent movies important for the modern horror viewers like George A. Romero did with Night Of The Living Dead in 1968.

Considered the first splatter film, 1963’s Blood Feast was a bloodbath that viewers enjoyed and the critics hated. The film is about a food cater who kills woman in order to steal body parts to use in rituals of eating human flesh to please an ancient Egyptian Goddess. The film did pretty well at the box office, bringing in $4 million making it some major profit off the small budget of $24 thousand. The film’s reputation earned it a spot on England’s Video Nasty list, making it the oldest film to make the list.  For those who don’t know what Video Nasty list is, I will explain. In the 1980’s video rental was a major deal all over the world and many horror films were made just for this market let alone.  It was the only way viewers could see many of these films from all over the world. Well in England they didn’t want people to watch many of these films, thinking that the violent acts from the movies were bad for people’s brains and could cause major acts of murder and mayhem across their country. They decided to go in and cut many of the films into poor chop jobs and some films were just banned out right.  These films were dubbed “Video Nasties” and were illegal for people to watch uncut and could even cause a police raid of your house if reported you had copies of some of these films. Films like Blood Feast, Zombi 2, Night Of The Demon, House By The Cemetery, Cannibal Holocaust, Mardi Gras Massacre, Faces Of Death, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and so many more made up the list of films that were cut or just banned. Many films never made it to the Video Nasty List but were also confiscated by the police if found in your home such as Dawn Of The Mummy, Hills Have Eyes, Gates Of Hell, Basket Case, Friday The 13^th, Night of The Seagulls and many more. While the list and the punishments for watching/owning these films is still around to this day, it’s enforced a little less and viewers have since been able to watch many of the films uncut without fear of punishment. Wow, I just got way off topic of Blood Feast, but here in the US if you’re looking to watch the film, it can be found on VHS and DVD uncut and uncensored.

The fans wanted it, so in 2002 Lewis revisited his film Blood Feast and made a part two called Blood Feast 2: All You Can Eat. In this film we follow the grandson of the first film’s butcher as he follows in dear granddad’s footsteps. The film got positive reviews from critics but had trouble finding a distributor causing it to sit a year on the shelf before coming out via Media Blasters. The film is filled with more blood, guts and gore causing fans of the original to enjoy every crimson soaked second of it. Unlike the first film, the sequel never got a major theatrical release and really did find its home on the DVD market. The film also marked the first time in 36 years that Lewis teamed up with his old producer of the first film David F. Friedman, making this sequel as close to the original as possible.  The film also turned up the splatter making it a true follow up that tried to one up the film that came before it.

So while I will credit Lewis with being a master of Splatter and the Godfather of Splatter films, I would still have to stay with the decision that Fulci is the true Godfather Of Gore! And this does not take away from the fact that Lewis is one of the best America micro budget horror film directors of the 60’s and 70’s and his influences on filmmakers is still seen in many of the films of today. I just find that the effects and gore in Fulci films are better done and have more impact on me as a horror fan and viewer.  Nothing Lewis has done in the gore department has stuck with me like the gut puking and eye ball bleeding scene from Gates of Hell or the splinter in the eye effect of Zombi 2. But I guess the main question is, what director had the better comic adaptation of their film? Was it Fulci with Gates of Hell from Xmachina or Lewis with Blood Feast from Eternity? Well I will soon find out as I am about to tackle Blood Feast…But before I do, I want to remind my readers I grade these issues on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. I want to thank the team up of Mavericks Cards and Comics and Lone Star comics for having these issues in stock. So with all that, let’s not be late for dinner and find our spot at the table for this Blood Feast.

Blood Feast # 1   **1/2
Released in 1991     Cover Price  $2.50    Eternity Comics    #1 of 2

It’s 1963, and a young woman returns to her home only to be brutally killed and mutilated in her bathtub by a savage killer.  Her leg is taken in the attack, and the police are baffled by who the murder is as he leaves no clues behind. Fuad Ramses owns an exotic Egyptian catering store and is hired to cook an Egyptian feast for a young woman named Suzette, and he is happy to do so as he has a plan that will restrict the goddess Ishtar with the body parts he is taken from the young ladies he is killing.  Yep, he is the killer! Faud is not done with his killing yet as he attacks a couple on the beach and knocks out the guy and butchers the woman stealing her brain and later attacks a woman in her room and cuts out her tongue! The police are at a loss, and Suzette is upset over the murders but is looking forward to her party.  We end the issue with her going to a lecture about Ishtar and the Pharaoh Ramses.

This comic didn’t waste any time and is filled with lots of blood and murder mayhem and 100% captures the spirit and raw terror of the film it’s based on. The plot of this issue builds that the cops are clueless to who is killing young women around town, that Suzette is a smart woman who likes Egyptian history and comes from a well off family and that Fuad Ramses loves an ancient Goddess and is killing woman in a plan to bring her back to life. The plot is pretty simple stuff, right? It’s the fact it is so simple that makes the whole comic work so well it’s clearly not about plot as it’s about shocking murders. Suzette, who is clearly the lead, is not given much of character development and is hardly shown in the issue, but you know that she is going to be a major player in the second issue. The cops are trying to hard to crack the case of who is killing the woman, but are pretty much clueless and useless. Fuad Ramses is one evil man who goes into a craze when he butchers woman and selectively harvests parts of their bodies.  He reminds me for some reason of Jack The Ripper mixed with Norman Bates of Psycho. Over all Ramses is a great movie slasher that transferred to comics really well. The comic is printed on very cheap paper and the issue I have had ink bleed really bad on many pages, but I can’t hold it really against a company that was smaller and competing with Marvel and DC. The cover I have is called “The Graphic Cover Version” and I will say that it’s pretty bad and really cheapens the comic with a terrible shock image that’s a poorly blown up picture still from the movie. The art is great independent 90’s comic stuff and is done by Stan Timmons & Mike Matthew and for a black and white comic, they are really able to make the gore pop out. This first issue is a solid film adaptation and really makes me looking forward to reading the second issue and seeing just how well the comic series will look and translate.  So let’s get to it cause it’s time for that Egyptian Feast!

Blood Feast # 2    **1/2
Released in 1991     Cover Price  $2.50    Eternity Comics    #2 of 2

After the lecture Suzette meets up with Pete Thornton, an officer who is investigating the murders and is clearly a semi-boyfriend to the lovely young lady. While Pete is giving Suzette a ride home, a call goes out that another woman has been found and while she survived the attack, she was at death’s door as one side of her face had been cut off and one eyeball removed. The cops get to the hospital, and they get a few words out of the young woman before she dies. To make things worse Suzette’s friend Trudy Sanders has been kidnapped by Fuad Ramses and is being whipped to death in order to use her blood for the feast that will bring back Ishtar. At his desk Pete takes what little information he got from the faceless woman as well as info from a professor and puts it all together and figures out that Ramses is the killer! The cops rush to Ramses’s shop and find the body of Trudy as well as many other body parts and rush to Suzette’s party. At the party Ramses asks for Suzettes help in the kitchen and just as he is about to kill her and set Ishtar free, Pete and the cops pull in and chase him to the city dump where he is crushed in the back of a garbage truck as he tries to hide. All ends well as the killer is dead and Suzette’s party can continue.

The second issue is pretty fun stuff.  While a little lighter on the blood and gore, the storyline is more in full swing and we get to know Suzette and Pete a heck of allot better. Suzette is pretty likeable and is your average girl next door type who likes to learn and have fun with her family and friends.  It’s easy to see why Ramses targeted her to be the rebirth shell for his Goddess. Pete is a man with a quick mind as he took small clues and busted the case wide open and got the right man on the first try and saved his girl just in time! Fuad Ramses is out for blood again, and in this issue he skins a woman’s face, beats one to death with a whip and tries to use a giant meat cleaver to kill the comic’s lead gal. Ramses’s death is brutal as well, as he is crushed by a garbage compactor and some how it seems very fitting that the scumbag dies that way. This issue also seems to be filled with little touches of black humor that mostly comes from Suzette’s mom. The cover is very much an improvement over issue 1’s, and the art is once more well done by the team-up of Timmons and Matthew who knew how to capture the feeling of the film with ink. Over all this issue was a nice closing to a b-movie comic adaptation. Below is a look at the art style of these comics.

So we have covered a lot of horror comics in the past couple of months, and I have not done a Fantasy Warfare since The Predator took on The Cougar back in April, and to me it just seems like it’s time to have another battle! Coming out of the Red Corner is that undead priest of fright, Father William Thomas from The Gates Of Hell! And his opponent coming out of the Blue Corner, naked and ready to snap some necks Goddess from Lust For Frankenstein! And lastly their opponent out of the Green Corner is that master of the butchery, the bug eyed master of disaster, Fuad Ramses from Blood Feast! The battlefield will take place in a graveyard off of a wooded path that has not been in use for over 87 years in the small town of Corwin.  So let’s see what happens in this battle of Demon, Madman and Stitched Together Monster, shall we?

 

Maria is a 26 years old jogger and fitness fanatic.  Today she has decided to rundown an old path that runs through a part of the woods that is near an old cemetery that is said to be haunted, the local kids call it the mouth of hell but she has ran down this path a few months back and found the sites very pleasing and never seen a living soul let alone a dead one! Fuad Ramses has chosen this path to claim his next young victim but has been let down when he has not seen a person for the 3 hours he has been waiting in the woods near the path with meat cleaver in hand, just as he is about to give up Maria in her yoga pants comes running by and he knows that she has the left butt cheek he needs for his Feast. Ramses starts to follow her and when the moment is right he pounces on Maria who has stopped to tie her shoe, as Ramses is about to hack his victim, an unknown hand smacks him away and the killer goes flying and crashing through the old gate that leads to the cemetery.  As Maria sees who her protector is, she lets out a scream as standing before her is a naked woman with stitches making awkward and weird faces and let’s out the words “your pretty” as she holds out her hand and helps the jogger up. Maria thanks the woman who tells her that she is called Goddess and just at that moment Ramses sneaks up behind Maria and pulls her into the cemetery screaming “That Butt Cheek Is Mine!”  As Maria screams, Goddess moves towards the cemetery to save her new friend and possible lover from the hands of a killer. Inside the cemetery Ramses swings the cleaver and clips Maria in the leg causing her to fall, he raises the cleaver high and is about to place the sharp metal blade into her skull when Goddess grabs the back of his neck causing him to stiff up in pain.  She turns the killer over to look him in the eye before she snaps his neck, and as Ramses pleads for his life Goddess freezes for a moment and has a dead stare.  She looses her grip on Ramses and her eyes start to bleed and she begins to puke up her guts and falls to the ground dead once again. Ramses grabs his meat cleaver and turns to see Father Thomas standing there.  He then sees Maria who has made it out of the cemetery and is down the path.  He makes a run for the gates to exit and get his intended victim but the gates slam shut in his face.  He turns to see Father Thomas right behind him, and Ramses takes a swing with his cleaver. As Maria makes it back to her car, she sits in the driver seat and hears the last cry of life from Ramses, and she now truly knows why that path is compared to hell.

Winner: Father William Thomas

Like Ramses or Goddess stood a chance against the evil Father who can kill with a blink of his eye! So now I am at the point where I have to pick which series was better in comic form.  While I like the art and story of Gates of Hell, I would have to pick Blood Feast as the better comic series, mostly because the full set was released and didn’t leave me hanging on the storyline. But movie-wise I would say Gates of Hell is way better than Blood Feast so I would guess they are tied. I love the fact that Eternity Comics took a chance and made a comic book version of a 1963 film in 1991 and wish they would have done more comic versions of Lewis films. I would have loved to have had comic versions of Wizard of Gore and Two Thousand Maniacs to read and review on this blog. Wow I have written like a machine as of late and need to take some time away to get some work done on Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre.  So for the next update I am going to turn Rotten Ink over to my girl once again as she is going to talk to you all about IDW’s C.S.I comics! So until then, read a comic or five and make sure to watch a local horror film and enjoy nerd life to the fullest.

Lust For Lina Romay…I Mean Frankenstein

Spain has had many great horror and sleazy film directors and at the top of that list has to be the one and only Jess Franco…you do know who Jess Franco is right? Well if not, I am here to fill you in on the man and his legacy. Jess Franco, who was not only a filmmaker but also a jazz musician, started making films in 1959 when he made “We’re Eighteen.”  Throughout the 60’s Franco made many films that would gain a cult status, films like The Awful Dr. Orloff, The Secret Of Dr. Orloff, The Dianolical Dr. Z, Kiss Me Monster, The Blood of Fu Manchu, The Girl From Rio, The Bloody Judge, Count Dracula and many more! But the 70’s was when full-on sleazy horror and sex films came out to play and when he became a mainstay name in the world of Spanish exploitation films with films like Vampyros Lesbos, She Killed In Ecstasy, A Virgin Among The Living Dead, Dracula Prisoner of Frankenstein, The Bare Breasted Countess, Jack The Ripper, Zombie Lake and many other nudie horror and thriller films that pleased fans of grindhouses as well as drive-ins. Even in the 80’s he made films that had some major impact with the fans of his work: Bloody Moon, Oasis Of The Zombies, Mansion Of The Living Dead, Faceless among others, but sadly by the 90’s his films lost steam and he was making shot on video films that lacked the charm and raw feeling of his films of the past. Franco was married in 2008 to Lina Romay, an actress that he had worked with for over 20 years and had placed in his films at the age of 17! Franco never stopped making films even after his wife’s passing in 2012, but he sadly passed away in 2013 of a massive stroke.  Most believed he died of a broken heart, while many blamed the fact he smoked over three cartons of cigarettes a week. Franco’s films will live on thanks to DVD, Blu-Ray and even VHS, and his work has inspired many other filmmakers like Andy Copp. This was only a quick crash course on Franco, and for those who want to learn more about the man and his work, make sure to check out books like “Pornodelic Pleasures: Jess Franco Cinema” by Jack Hunter and “Obession The Films Of Jess Franco” by Lucas Balbo, Peter Blumenstock, Christian Kessler and Tim Lucas of Video Watchdog fame! While I myself don’t love many of his films, I do like many and respect the hard work and art that went into his early film work. Rest in peace, Jess Franco. May you and Lina enjoy your afterlife together.

I first laid eyes on the beautiful Lina Romay in the 1974 film Bare-Brested Countess, better known as Female Vampire, when my brother bought it from Renaissance Music when it came out as part of Image Entertainment’s Euroshock Collection. From the moment I saw her, I was hooked on her beauty.  My brother, who is three years older than me, was already a fan of her’s and I could see why! The whole film she walks around naked…yeah, she is naked in almost every shot.  At the time I saw this film, I was going through my blonde women craze, and Lina changed that back to dark haired women real quick. While at the time I found the film itself very slow paced (I later grew to like it) and forgettable, I was forever marked as a fan on Romay’s. Lina Romay, whose real name is Rosa Maria Almirall Martinez, had acting in her blood as after high school she studied the arts and worked on many stage productions.  During this time she briefly married photographer and actor Raymond Hardy. Her big break in film work came in 1971 when she meet Jess Franco who put her in his films, and a partnership was born. It was upon meeting Jess she changed her name to Lina Romay after a jazz singer and starred in over 100 films, most of which were horror/adult in nature.  In most of her films Lina had nude scenes as well as sex scenes, making her a sleazy icon to fans. Lina and Jess married in 2008, and she continued acting for him until 2010, still getting nude even at the age of over 50. Sadly in 2012, Lina passed away from cancer; her death marked a loss of a true Spanish exploitation actress and ended a long career of entertainment. In her prime Lina was a goddess and could easily be one of the hottest horror actress of the 70’s.  Lina is truly missed by her fans. Below are some pictures of Lina in her prime.  Don’t stare to long…because then it becomes weird.

Before Lina, Jess’s “IT” girl was the stunning Soledad Miranda, the shinning stare and breathtaking beauty of his films. Soledad broke into entertainment in Spain at the age of 8 when she became a dancer and singer, and by the age of 16 she was in films, only having minor roles and struggling.  She pushed on, making minor waves with audiences, and she was in all types of films from westerns to horror, finally retiring in 1964 for the first time after getting married and having a child. She returned with a roar when in 1969 she started working with Jess Franco and the pair made 7 films together in just that year. Franco saw that Soledad, who was going by the name of Susan Korda, was such a talent he wanted to sign her to a multi film deal. The day she was to sign her deal, she and her husband went for a drive and got into a wreck with a truck.  Her husband was banged up but okay; sadly Soledad was not.  She suffered fractures to her skull and spine and was in a coma.  A few hours after the wreck, she passed away at the age of 27. It’s a shame she passed away so young and to be honest, she had what it took to be a major star not only in Spain but around the world.  Franco went on record as saying the day she passed away was the worst day of his life. Soledad may be gone, but she will never be forgotten. Her key Franco films include Count Dracula, Vampyros Lesbos and She Killed In Ecstasy.

In the 90’s Franco seemed to have another beauty on tap and that was Ohio born Amber Newman, who was from Tipp City. Her first role in films came with the 1995 film “Vamps: Deadly Dream Girls” directed by Mark Burchett and Michael D. Fox about vampire strippers.  She later did a film called “Satanic Yuppies” for the pair of directors in 96. It was in 1997 that she started to work with Franco and got roles in his films Tender Flesh, Lust For Frankenstein and Mari-Cookie And The Killer Tarantula. Newman than stared in a string of Cinemax style adult films and even spiced in some horror films. I first saw Newman in a VHS copy of Vamps that I bought from West Coast Video, and while the film was pure cheesy, Newman caught my eye.  At the time I was hot and heavy making films for Independent B Movie and thought one day I would work with her on a film….that day never happened. As of 2011 Newman is still making movies and starring in TV shows and who knows maybe one day she will have a cameo on Terrifying Tales of The Macabre.

The 1980’s was the best time for horror films.  Not only could you go to your local theater and see a chiller, but you could also watch them on cable TV, horror host shows as well as rent them from a video store..the bottom line was horror was popular and was everywhere. The 80’s also was the boom period of what is known as The Scream Queen, attractive women who were always killed in the films who could scream and get naked in the blink of an eye. The Queens of B-Movie Screams at this time were Brinke Stevens (my favorite), Linnea Quigley and Michelle Bauer, all who thrilled horror fans with their powerful lungs and heavenly bodies. The Scream Queen we will be looking at is Michelle Bauer, who later in her career would work with Franco on a few films and would prove that even an aging scream queen still has some life in her career when working with him. Michelle Bauer in 1981 was the Penthouse Magazine Pet Of The Month for July.  This helped her get roles in some pornographic films like Cafe Flesh, Nightdreams and Bad Girls, but during this time she used the name Pia Snow and the story goes she used a double during the sex scenes. But her break in films came when her centerfold for Penthouse segment aired on the Playboy Channel and director Fred Olen Ray spotted her and gave her an audition that lead to her acting in his film called “The Tomb” in 1986. This team up kicked off a film acting boom for the actress as she stared in such films as Nightmare Sisters, Reform School Girls, Sorority Babes In The Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, Evil Toons, Vampire Vixens From Venus, Attack Of The 60 Foot Centerfold to name a few. It was in 1998 when Bauer teamed with Jess Franco on a few films that included Mari-Cookie And The Killer Tarantula and Lust For Frankenstein, and after that she went on to be in films like Gingerdead Man 2, Voodoo Dollz, The Naked Monster, Timegate: Tales of the Saddle Tramps and even starring along Paul Naschy in the final Waldemar Daninsky film called Tomb Of The Werewolf! Bauer at the age of 55 is still acting and still thrilling her fans with all her talents. I first seen Michelle Bauer in the film Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and became a quick fan as she ran around in shots topless wielding a chainsaw and looked not only sexy but also zany crazy! Michelle Bauer became one of the actresses that when I went shopping for Horror Films on VHS that if her name was attached I would buy it. Here is to you Michelle Bauer for being an icon in the world of Scream Queens and for all the films that you have made that has entertained us for many years. Below is some great pics of Bauer to show you just how beautiful she is.

The 1998 Jess Franco film Lust For Frankenstein was a shot on video sleaze horror film that was released on VHS and DVD via Shock-O-Rama Cinema and is about Frankenstein’s Daughter who is getting visited by the ghost of her father who wants her to take control of the family castle and restore honor to the family name. While going back to the castle she sees the sleazy way her step mom is acting and also finds Goddess, her father’s latest “monster” who is a nude female with the body parts of both man and woman! They fall in love and rid the castle of the nasty sleaze. I first saw this film on DVD as I bought it from Suncoast in the Dayton Mall. I thought to myself, it can’t be bad as it was directed by Franco and starred Romay, Bauer and Newman the later two were even on the cover looking all hot….but boy was I wrong as the film was a boring mess that looked like it was shot on a consumer camera that was bought on sale at Wal-Mart that was the display unit. The films acting and dubbing was terrible as was the blood and gore and the sex scenes making this a film that missed at every thing it tried to do. I could forgive the fact that most of the nudity came from the aging actresses Romay and Bauer, but what I could not forgive is the terrible script and the dumb look to the rasta bleeding head ghost of Dr. Frankenstein. It would be safe to say that I downright hated the film and found it to be a film that almost seemed phoned in by Franco and its cast, I even lent the film to my friend Jason Gilmore who also disliked it, in fact I cant think of one of my friends who are into Euro-Sleaze movies that did like it! So you can imagine when in 2013 I found out that a comic book adaptation of the film was made how much shock I had and to add more puzzlement it was a photo comic….why…why was this made and who was to blame…Draculina.

Draculina is a Magazine in the same vein as Scream Queen Illustrated that showcases the sexy woman of B-Movies in photos and articles. The magazine would also do some reviews as well as interviews with filmmakers and actors. Draculina later also got into making comic books as well as some side magazines like Oriental Cinema and Sirens Of Cinema. Growing up my brother nor I ever had a Draculina Magazine nor do I ever remember seeing them on a news stand, in fact I think now and days they no longer print the magazine they take the lame digital only route. In fact I really don’t know much about this Magazine and I could find very little info on the web to try and learn about it so with that just know they are to blame for the Franco Photo Comics!

To be honest readers, I am not looking forward to reading this comic and can only imagine it being just as bad as the movie.  But maybe, just maybe, the comic will be good or at least entertaining. Plus when else would I get to talk about Franco and Romay. So I need to thank my friend Andy Copp for this comic, and I want to remind everyone once again I grade these on a standard 1-4 star rating and am looking at how well the comic keeps to the source material, its entertainment value, its art and story. So let’s head to Frankenstein’s Castle and spend some time with Goddess and try and enjoy the ride that is a photo comic.

Lust For Frankenstein # 1  *
Released in 1999   Cover Price $4.95   Draculina Comics   #3 of 4

Moira Frankenstein is the daughter of Dr. Frankenstein, and after his death she is visited by his spirit who tells her that she must listen to his records and find the Goddess to set the family’s name straight. Moria is puzzled by his message but goes to the castle to find that her stepmom Abigail has turned it into a house of decay as she sleeps with everyone from the paper guy to the creepy sleezy gardner! While her mother screws around, Moira sits inside her father’s old study and listens to his records and finds out that Goddess is really a naked female monster who is built with both male and female parts…if ya know what I mean, and I am sure you do. Moira finds out that Goddess is her love slave and that they will work together to clean up the castle and kill Abigail and her lovers.  When killing them, Goddess drains them of their power.  Moira goes out and tricks a stripper to come to the castle to feed her more power, but Goddess has her eye on a woodcutter and Moira finds her checking him out.  The two make love as they watch him chop logs, then go back and drain the life out of the stripper, and this makes Goddess more powerful. The comic ends with Moira tricking her soon to be ex-husband into coming to the castle where he is killed by Goddess, and the two ladies live together happily, in their minds, restoring the Frankenstein name to honor. 

The photo Comic is just as bad as the film and crams an already poor story into photos on cheap black and white pages. Moria, in the comic, comes off as a self centered woman who seems to do whatever her bloody headed ghost dad tells her.  She seems not to care about lives as she shows no remorse for killing her stepmom, a stripper and whoever else stands in her way of love and “honor”. I mean I get the fact she is supposed to be a little crazy as she has the blood of Dr. Frankenstein in her veins, but she just isn’t likable in the comic at all. Goddess is very robotic and just does what she is told by both Moria and Frankenstein’s Ghost.  She could be one of the worst of Frankenstein’s monsters as she really doesn’t do much besides break some necks and make love. Frankenstein’s Ghost is also crazy and also self centered and only thinks mostly of his own legacy. The rest of the characters are throw aways and none of them make an splash on the reader, making each of the side characters’ deaths have very little impact and mean very little. The comic’s plot also just seems very blah and leaves a sense of wow this could have been so much more if the makers of the comic did actual art and added something more to the story. The comic has ZERO art, and I guess I could say that the photos chosen are well selected, but I can’t stress enough that they should have done actual art and made this comic something more and better than the film it was based on.  Instead we just got a half assed comic that by no means is worth the $4.95 price tag placed on it. Over all I would say that this comic was pretty bad and its only charm is the fact it’s based on a Franco film and has pictures of boobs…but those two things don’t make this a good comic at all, I would say skip reading this. 

I hate to say it, but I think Lust For Frankenstein could be the worst comic I have read here at Rotten Ink thus far.  It just felt so lazy and uninspired. So to get the bland taste of this comic out of my mouth, I am going to order some pizza….thinking Dominos…but wait, that means I will have to try and avoid the Noid who is the topic of our next update..so make sure to check it out.  It will be like we are having one big pizza party! So until next time, make sure to watch a good horror film, read a good horror inspired comic, watch and support your local horror host and just enjoy life.