Black Friday

Paint the devil on the wall.

Thanksgiving Prayer

LAWLESS WEEKEND

THE CULT IS ALIVE!

THE DEVIL RIDES OUT!

CALLING ALL SONS OF FIRE & DAUGHTERS OF THE BLACK MOON!

ACHTUNG PORTLAND!

There has been some confusion about the location of the Portland WATAIN assembly. The unholy legions will be gathering at the recently renovated BRANX space (formerly the Loveland under Club Rotture) on Friday November 12th. Tickets are now available.

DON'T BREAK THE OATH.

The Tom Savini Incident

So we drove down to Eugene, Oregon this weekend to catch Christian Mistress on Halloween for the final show of their first North American tour. They looked surprisingly unscathed after several weeks on the road and destroyed with a short but characteristically powerful set. I can't wait to see them in Europe some day so I'm not the only asshole banging my head in the room. It's no secret that I adore these Northwest rockers and they never fail to deliver the goods...

The Thrones presided with a killer set that consisted of new material, a welcome surprise for longtime fans who were getting bored with the same ol' set in recent years. What does all this have to do with Tom Savini, you ask?

Erratum: Mr. Preston says, "Wrong...same ol' warmed over shit set."

It's amazing what a good mood and Jamesons will do for the ears.

The real treat of the night occurred when Mr. Joe Preston directed my attention to a drunk man who was barreling through the doors of The Oak Street Speakeasy impeccably costumed as gore effects pioneer and stud actor/director/stuntman Tom Savini! I was actually stunned by the likeness. Needless to say, I had to get a photo with this genius of disguise. I approached him at the bar where he was having a difficult time standing up and ordering a drink at the same time and popped the question: "Are you dressed as Tom Savini?" His answer came in the form of a question. It was in fact the very same question I've heard from girlfriends most of my life right before I end the relationship: "Who's Tom Savini?" He went on to explain that he didn't have time for a Halloween costume and was actually dressed, "As myself!" Regardless, he was quickly pulled aside for the inevitable photo shoot.

As this picture was snapped he said, "So who's Tom Savini anyway?" "Don't worry," I shouted over the din of a lackluster Runaways cover band, "He's a ruggedly handsome actor. You'd love him!"

Will the real Tom Savini please stare intensely at the computer screen?

It was a fun night and a perfect close to perhaps my favorite holiday of the year. Not only that but today, November 3rd, is the real Tom Savini's birthday! That's right. The Sultan of Splatter celebrates his 64th year today and I personally send my most heartfelt birthday wishes his way. Tom Savini is of course responsible for engineering some of the most memorable moments in cinematic gore history and if you have even a passing interest in horror flicks you've undoubtedly marveled at his innovative effects and swaggering screen presence. His resume includes such genre defining classics as Deranged (1972), Martin (1977), Dawn of The Dead (1978), Maniac (1980), Friday the 13th (1980), The Burning (1981), The Prowler (1981), Creepshow (1982) and more recently From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Planet Terror (2007) and Machete (2010). And let's not forget one of my personal favorite cult 80's films Knightriders (1980). Let's review:

Christian Mistress rocks.

Diamond Joe Preston is one swell fella'.

Tom Savini rules.

This guy does too.

Happy Birthday, Tom Savini!

GROSS ANATOMY (part 11)

Welcome back, righteous reader of the ribald! I assume you survived Halloween? Well, I have another little treat for you on this blustery day of the dead. If you've been following the blog lately then you know I seem to do just about everything except draw these days. It's true. I enjoy spending my time pursuing other obsessions and occasionally I like to sit in an upright position for months at a time. But recently the Olympia Film Society commissioned me to draw the poster for their annual trash movie marathon All Freakin' Night and this event is simply too cool to pass up! So pour yourself a goblet of rotgut and grab your bag of candy because for this installment of Gross Anatomy we shall thoroughly deconstruct my latest abomination...

I started out mindlessly scribbling on scraps of paper as usual. At some point this little vampire dude made an appearance. I may revisit him at some later date. I like his style.

Eventually this crude motif emerged from the scribblings and caught my attention. This is a play on something I probably saw in Mad Magazine as a kid or maybe one of those Bill Elder postcards from the 50's. Regardless, I really liked this idea of self-mincing in a meat grinder as an obvious symbol of the cinematic grindhouse tradition. Well, and there's that great Judas Priest ditty...

Now I'm getting somewhere. I took the grinder motif and ran with it as I formatted all the poster information in this very rough sketch. That weird robotic face under the grinder on the right is actually a tape deck dripping blood (or toxic monster goo) which is one of my favorite scenes from The Being!

Once I nailed down the imagery I wanted to use, I transfered the basic layout onto illustration board freehand. I use pencil to make sure I can accommodate all the relevant information once I start inking and get carried away. The pencil sketch helps curb my enthusiasm for more detail and more imagery. More! MORE! MORE!!!!

Click on the eyeballs for a better view.

Here it is! Heavy on imagery but I think I still managed to maintain a relatively legible flow for the eye. Those of you who are professionally trained may note that this very clearly does not abide by the "50/50" rule. In other words, there is an unbalanced black to white ratio which is apparently something of a graphic design no-no. Whatever. This works for me. I hear these flyers have already popped up in Seattle and Portland so hopefully I'll see some of you on November 20th at The Capitol Theater. I'll be the creepy drunk guy in the back row. I've asked that this original art be auctioned off with proceeds to benefit the Olympia Film Society so check their website for details as the date draws closer.

Until next time, remember...
"Grinder is looking for meat! Grinder wants you to eat!"