R.I.P. BERNIE WRIGHTSON

Bernie Wrightson 

(October 27, 1948 - March 19, 2017) 

I am fucking gutted today by the loss of Bernie Wrightson, one of the greatest horror illustrators the world will ever know. I only met him once very briefly back in 2007 when he received a lifetime achievement award at Portland's annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, and, like the class act that he was, he used his five minutes of stage time to condemn what he considered "the real horror in the world": war. He was a gentle, kind, soft-spoken and ferociously talented and devoted artist. He will forever be missed. R.I.P.

WYRD WAR PRESENTS: EYES OF FIRE

April 30th is Walpurgisnacht - the portentous “Witches’ Night” of European folklore, when it is believed that nightside currents surge with sinister purpose - and Wyrd War summons YOU to Portland's historic Hollywood Theatre on Sunday April 30, 2017 for our second annual Walpurgis Night cinema celebration! 

Join us for a rare 35mm screening of Eyes of Fire (1983), one of the most beautiful, bewitching and psychedelic historical period horror films of the 80s that you’ve never seen! Long before The Witch (2015) rattled audiences with lurid satanic panic, obscure auteur Avery Crounse delivered his own transcendent meditation on blasphemy, witchcraft and place as active agent set in the uncertain American frontier of 1750. A fine art photographer by training, Crounse only directed three films before unceremoniously exiting the industry, and his only foray into the horror genre is an unexpected compositional wonder, meticulously attentive to detail and boldly meandering down its own path to perdition. Sadly, his masterwork was also destined for inglorious VHS purgatory, and still has not received an official domestic digital release. Eyes of Fire tells the tale of a dubious preacher who narrowly escapes execution for adultery, and ventures forth into terra incognita with a small band of loyal colonists, including an insane and psychically attuned young woman. Pursued downstream by Shawnee tribesmen, the exiles make their stand in a primeval wooded valley rife with dire omens and chthonic forces. By the third reel, all hell breaks loose...80s style! This absolutely must be experienced on the big screen to be believed. Do not miss this one-night-only screening on rare 35mm! You won’t guess the ending. I promise. Tickets on sale HERE.

April 30, 2017

7:30pm

Hollywood Theatre

Portland, Oregon

WE POKED AT IT WITH A STICK!

Here I am being strangled by Danny Roebuck while wearing his original jacket from the film. And a vintage Iron Maiden Purgatory shirt just like Samson wears in the flick, naturally.

The beautiful and historic Hollywood Theatre.
Total support!

"You're dead, dude. Here have a beer."
Photo by Greg Hamilton.

Photo by Greg Hamilton

Photo by Tammy Roebuck.

Samson lives!

Our partner in crime for this event, Greg Hamilton wearing "the jacket" from River's Edge!

TFW you bein' directed by Danny Roebuck and screenwriter Randall Jahnson. 

TFW you bein' killed by Randall Jahnson and Danny Roebuck.

TFW you pretend you sippin' Ouzo and Jack in Greece with screenwriter Randall Jahnson and Daniel Roebuck​. Opa!

Killer night, eh Portland? My deepest gratitude to the more than 300 people who filled Hollywood Theatre last night to give actor Daniel Roebuck a proper Portland welcome. Special thanks to Greg Hamilton, Doug Whyte, Dan Halsted, Jamie Victorino, Connor Kirkwood, Matt Cunningham, Erin Eave, Virginia Durost, Alison Hallett, Kristy Conrad, and EVERYONE at the Hollywood Theatre whose names I don't know or can't remember at the moment. It was a truly special night, and your support means the world to me. Very special thanks to our new friends Daniel Roebuck and Tammy Roebuck for delivering the goods. "You do shit and then you die."

UNTIL WE ROCK!

I am very proud to be delivering this amazing relic of heavy metal history to the world! Black Death is widely considered to be the first heavy metal band to feature all black musicians, and this digipack CD collects all of their earliest surviving material from 1983 (before their one and only release on Auburn Records in 1984)! I enlisted the genius of audio engineer Timothy Stollenwerk to digitally restore and remaster this material to sound as amazing as analog demo and live recordings from 1983 can possibly sound. In other words, expect raw unexpurgated noise! Headbangers are in for a real treat! Order NOW!