Archive for July, 2006

The Beast Must Die - DVD
Dark Sky Films

The Beast Must Die is a 1973 horror “whodunnit” film that tells the tale of a wealthy Big Game hunter who is after the one big hunt that has eluded him thus far - a werewolf. He narrowed down the suspects to five people who he has invited to be guests of his lavish estate for a couple of days. Little did these folks know when they accepted the invitation that they’d basically be his prisoner while he tries to figure out which one of them in the werewolf.

As he unsuccessfully tries to figure out who it is, night comes and he and one of his security guards are attacked by the werewolf, resulting in the death of his security guard friend. This just adds fuel to his fire of wanting to figure out, and kill, the werewolf and he then steps up his hunting leading to the eventual showdown and finding out who among the group was really the werewolf. For you Star Wars aficionados, Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarken) is in this movie as Dr. Christopher Lundgren, who is an expert in Werewolves as well as one of the guests suspected of being one.

The film was very much suited to drive-in theaters of the old days, so much so that at the start of the movie an announcer comes on challenging you to guess who the werewolf is, and near the end of the film, there is a 30 second break in the action where you are supposed to guess, then it cuts back to the movie and the ending where you find out if you were right. I can picture a group of couples in a drive in setting yelling out their guesses at the screen.

The movie is about 90 minutes long and is in anamorphic widescreen. The sound is the original mono mix. Visually it looks quite good for its age, with only a couple very short scenes of questionable visual quality (I’m talking a few seconds here and there). The sound is pretty evenly mixed and everything is easy to hear. Extras include theatrical trailers for the other two Amicus films that were released by Dark Sky Films on DVD (reviews of these are upcoming), and an interview with the director of the film that was done recently. The disc is packaged in a keepcase and comes with an insert with some interesting liner notes. Overall a really nice package for a rather obscure and forgotten film (I myself have never heard of it before until receiving this disc).

Related links:
Order the DVD from amazon.com

Dark Sky Films website

I’m moving this site to a new hosting service, so if the site is down for a couple days, don’t be alarmed. Thor, who has graciously hosted this domain for me for awhile now, is no longer able to do so. I would like to thank him for all the help he has given me over the years, especially lately in these lean times.

I failed to mention it but after five weeks of torture and three surgeries, I am finally repaired from the kidney stone fiasco and back in action (which should be obvious by the recent show photos you’ve been seeing on here). The downside though is I’m now hugely in debt due to my cheap insurance having a huge deductable. Since I’m currently only working part time to keep the lights on while still on the hunt for a real gig doing what I used to do, I certainly haven’t the funds to pay off the five grand I’m now in the hole. Does anyone want to do a benefit show for MXV’s medical bills?

There hasn’t been a “selection from the vault” in awhile but rest assured they will return soon. I’m waiting on stories from a couple different bands and in the meantime I’ve just been trying to catch up on all the stuff that got put off when I was sick, first and foremost trying to make some much needed money as I didn’t have any income for the five weeks I was down.

There’s some good shows coming up in the next couple of months. Avengers, Adolescents, Vibrators and X just to name a few. I should be attending all of them providing someone hooks me up with guest list/photo pass action.

That’s pretty much all the excitement around here for the time being I guess.

Last night, Liza, theboss, and I went to go see The Germs play at Double Door here in Chicago. Now I’m not really a big fan of the club for two reasons; they never open the doors on time and the stage lighting generally sucks for a club of that size. As usual, the doors opened late for this show. I happened to be the first in line and I had no less than 25 morons walk up to the club door, pull on it, and then ask me if the doors are open yet. As if I’d be standing in front of the club entrance in the way of the door if it was open! Asshats!

When the doors finally did open, I got my pass from Pat Smear and The Germs’ agent, so I could gain access to the one section of the club where its nice to shoot photos from and that the people weren’t allowed. After having a beer (thanks Liza!), the show started.

Johnny Vomit

Johnny Vomit

Johnny Vomit were the first band up. They sure liked drinking, as the singer often spoke about between songs. He also had a goofy beer hat on that you’d see normally donned by a portly fellow at a sporting event. The music was that brand of metal that was all the rage back in the late 1980’s when all the hardcore bands started growing their hair out and playing solos. The song titles/lyrics were fairly juvenile as well. I didn’t care for them for the most part and while they played a short set, I felt it could have been even shorter. They could very well have formed in the late 80’s and been in a coma the last decade, just now waking up and continuing the band where they left off before “the accident”.

Hewhocorrupts

Hewhocorrupts

Next up were Hewhocorrupts. I have seen them once before and they are pretty entertaining. In between songs they have cheesy 80’s songs playing and the singer would tell stories of various goofy business. As they played their brand of hardcore “power violence” metally thrash, three of the members who were donned in shirts and ties ended up playing in their underwear about half way through the set. I liked them but it seems a part of the crowd didn’t get it and they too were a very odd fit as far as opening for a 1970’s punk band goes.

The Germs

The Germs

After a bit of a wait, and them hanging a blue inner tube behind the drum riser, The Germs (version 2) took the stage. The crowd had filled in pretty good at this point as well. It was not sold out, but it was a pretty good sized crowd. They opened with “Circle One” which is the one song I feel they shouldn’t play since the opening line is, “I’m Darby Crash” but the fellow singing it is not Darby Crash, he is Shane West, so why not just skip that song, or change the words?

The Germs

The Germs

From there they pretty much played the entire (GI) album sans “Shut Down” and some of the Cruisin sessions songs like “Lions Share” (a personal favorite of mine) and “My Tunnel”. The three musicians playing were pretty tight and just like the last time I saw this ensemble, they really seemed to be having fun up there playing these songs. Lorna and Pat were often smiling up there on stage. Shane West has the biggest shoes to fill in all of music history I think, and no matter who you put up there, it just isn’t the same, but he did an admirable job in his role. They closed their main set with a song called “Out of Time” which apparently is an old Germs song that never got recorded. Its a shame that it wasn’t because it was really good.

The Germs

The Germs

After a few minutes break, they came back for an encore and played “Forming” and “Sex Boy”, both sides of their first single that came out 30 years ago! It’s amazing it has been that long! Overall I enjoyed this more than the last time I saw them at Riot Fest (and the after party). Much like last time, I mostly tuned out the replacement singer and just listened to the music and sort of pictured what it would be like with Darby singing (or not singing, into the mic at least) and ended up enjoying the show much more than I thought I would, even knowing what to expect having seen it before.

I received a package in the mail a few days ago from my favorite lady in CA, Lisa Fancher of Frontier Records. Inside it contained a pretty sweet piece of vinyl which I will now show you.

This is the Adolescents Complete Demos LP on orange vinyl that was signed by three members of the band (the three that played on every song on this record). It comes on orange vinyl (dreamsicle colored) and is hand numbered on the back of the sleeve…

Mine was number 002!

There wasn’t many of these signed ones made and you can only get them by visiting the Frontier Records website. While you are there, tell Lisa and Betty that MXV sent you.

Saturday night, members of the Klown Army, Lewdd and myself piled in Lewdd’s vehicle (like true clowns!) and braved the heat to go see The Buzzcocks play at the Double Door in Chicago. Having seen The Buzzcocks three years ago at the same venue and being completely blown away by how great they still are, I was really looking forward to seeing them again, as were the rest of my traveling companions.

The doors were scheduled to open at 8:30pm so we got there a little before that and had a drink at a nearby bar. At 8:30 we went to the club and the doors weren’t open yet, and a line started forming. We sat out there waiting in the heat for at least a half an hour, they were really late opening. This really annoyed many people in line since it was still about 90 degrees outside.


The Strays

The Strays

The club was pretty comfortable temperature wise when we got there but that was soon to change. The first band up were The Strays. They were touring with Buzzcocks and I think they too were from the UK. They played some melodic, sort of 70’s influenced punk rock which wasn’t bad, they did have some enjoyable songs. Just when I was thinking some nice thoughts about them, they did a Clash cover and that immediately turned me against them.

The Adored

The Adored

Next up were The Adored. They were almost borderline emo at some points of their set. They had a somewhat effeminate singer who went on and on about being from Los Angeles and how being in Chicago was so great. I didn’t really care for them, neither did the rest of my friends there so we just sat back and drank and waited for The Buzzcocks.

The Buzzcocks

The Buzzcocks

After a bit of a wait, The Buzzcocks finally took the stage. At this point, the rest of the sold out crowd magically appeared as the place was completely packed. This also meant that with so many people packed in like sardines, and many of them smoking (sadly the smoking ban doesn’t affect bars for three more years), the temperature inside was equal or greater to the temperature outside! I was sweating just standing still and I had the luxury of being in a section of the club that had a fan and that people weren’t allowed to stand!

The Buzzcocks

The Buzzcocks

They opened with “Flat Pack Philosophy” off the new album of the same name. It sounded even better live than it did on that excellent album. Right after that they played my favorite off that new one, “Wish I Never Loved You”. After a few more newer songs, they busted out the hits. They played some different’ songs this time out from the last time including “Why Can’t I Touch It” which I was quite pleased to hear, and it all sounded great. Its amazing that nearly 30 years later that The Buzzcocks haven’t lost a step and are easily one of the best bands you could see live these days, and the 100 degree heat didn’t slow them down one bit!

The Buzzcocks

The Buzzcocks

They played about 70 minutes total that included one encore of five songs including “Noise Annoys” which ran right into “Orgasm Addict”. They closed the show with a great rendition of “Oh Shit”. After that, the overcrowded crowd high tailed it out of the club since at that point it was nicer outside than it was inside.

The Buzzcocks

The Buzzcocks

With some mostly unoffensive opening acts and a stellar set by The Buzzcocks it was an evening well spent. I’d easily go see The Buzzcocks every time they come to town for the rest of their existence if this show is any indication of what to expect when I go see them. Two thumbs way up!

My single complaint is the poor lighting in the Double Door. That place is tough to shoot at!

More photos can be seen by clicking below…

Lisa Fancher of Frontier Records sent over her latest colored vinyl release, and what a fine one it is!

Weirdos - Weird World Volume One on opaque blue vinyl

The record also comes with a two-sided lyric sheet, something I don’t recall coming with earlier pressings (though my memory could just be failing me).

If you want one for your own collection, head on over to the Frontier Records website and grab one before they are gone, I’m sure they won’t last long.