mark's blog

As Eric can attest, the "Twisted Metal" series is on the very top of my nostalgia list, as I wasted countless evenings blowing up pixely buildings, unlocking secrets and viewing Metal's trademark ridiculous endings. The oft-ridiculous, morbidly moralistic endings always manged to be satisfying in the way few modern games can match.

Most "Twisted Metal" fans will readily recognize the strange mix of extreme comic art, live action special effects, and extreme angles that defined the series' endings from the second game, but apparently, the situation with the endings of the first game is slightly more interesting. After originally stumbling on the so-called "lost endings," on the YouTubes, I tried finding out any information I could about them. All I could turn up was the fact that they were apparently scrapped for being too "violent and sexist." After watching a good number of them, I surmised that they probably had to be scrapped because they were not only some of the most hilariously shit-awful D-movie clips I've ever seen, but I'd be goddamned if these things wouldn't have given my 12-year-old self some SERIOUS nightmares.

Take a look at some of the funnier ones...

Spectre Gets a Second Chance

Mr. Grimm gets...Skeleton Arms?

Roadkill returns to the Jungle

Sweet Tooth gets his Paper Bag

Sleep tight folks!

My love for our horrorcast bretheren (NOTLP, Drunken Zombie, etc.) is well documented, but as with most of my 'cast consumption isn't limited to just one genre. Enter ¡Viva La Podcast!, my introduction of some of my other favorites, second to ours of course!


When you make a jump to listen to a podcast about a relatively nerdy subject, you run the risk of excessive mouth breathing and fanboy trivia. Thankfully, the Giant Bombcast features none of those things. Although it occasionally treads into ultra-dweeb territory, you get the feeling that these are normal, functional people that just absolutely love their video games. Their discussions are relevant, timely, humorous, and super in depth, as well as very digestible to your average video game layman.

The podcast is brought to you by Giant Bomb, which has become one of my favorite game site. The site is pulled together by a small team of former employees from some of the larger, more EEEEVIL gaming sites coming together to put together a great gaming resource, not just a corporate hand job to every new game that comes out. Their site also boasts a very, very in depth wiki type database that chronicles just about every wide-release game of the past 20-30 years, with every character, level, concept, etc. It's slickly designed, and easy to navigate (with the exception of some occasional slowness in the database).

Overall, all ass kissing aside, Giant Bomb and the Giant Bombcast are a must for any video game fan with a strong love of the medium and an equally satisfying "real life."

Before you go running of the nearest bridge, I'm talking about the GAME "House of the Dead" and not the film. Turns out the ball is now rolling on "Wii Violence" movement, which you know, is ok by me. Despite my giggles over this trailer, I don't think it's the best marketing strategy to make your in-game footage look as shitty as possible. Either way, I'm sure I'll have a Wii by then so I'll have to give "House of the Dead: Overkill" the old sporting go-around.

Note: NSFW if you work at a church. There are scantily clad ladies swinging around poles!

It was almost 3 years ago that I decided to plunk down $20 on a copy of Loudres Grobet's Lucha Libre: The Masked Stars of Mexican Wrestling on Amazon to continue exploring my love of Lucha culture. Although there was an overabundance of info about Santo, Blue Demon, and the more well known stars in lucha history, I found myself equally, if not more fascinated by the "character" of Super Barrio, who not only wrestles, but uses his character as a figurehead to enact social change. I was also surpised to find him featured in a minor role in Nattie Wild's 1998 documentary, "A Place Called Chiapas" about the zapatista movement in Mexico.

Fast forward 2 years, and Super Barrio finds his way into yet another documentary role, this time in "Super Amigos," a documentary featuring Super Barrio, Ecologista Universal, Super Gay, Super Animal, and Fray Tormenta, the wrestling priest whom "Nacho Libre" is loosely based on. The real shame in all of this is that despite a smattering of showings between 2006 and now, there's no real information about screenings or DVD sales, and more importantly, where I can go see the film. For now, all a boy can do is watch this trailer and dream.

I've posted comments about the upcoming Wii splatterfest "Madworld" a few weeks ago, but that doesn't mean I'm not waiting for it with baited breath every waking hour until the ever-elusive Q1 2009. Yesterday, The Escapist pointed out that some are worried that "Madworld" will tarnish Wii's family friendly image. First of all, as the french say, "no shit." Secondly, while I agree it's a bit of an extreme jump to release a game that features gruesome interactive kill sequences on a system popularized for fake hula hooping (sexy video here), cartoony driving, and wild stick waving, I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. Despite huge sales, the Wii still fails to capture the imagination and the perpetual engagement of the hardcore gamer crowd, even though that's been a huge problem of Nintendo's since the N64.

As is the case with all violent video games, it will be up to the parents to keep this devilishly wild game out of the hands of their sprouts. It will also undoubtedly be blamed for at least 200 separate violent incidents regardless of connection or context. In case you were worried that the "MadWorld" crew isn't up to the task of deflecting the heat, sample this little blurb from the MadWorld Official Website, that made me giggle more than a little:

It sounds as if the people behind MadWorld are representing the sociopathic teenager within all of us, and for that, we salute you! Stay tuned, because this is sure to be a doozy as the weeks and months pass towards MadWorld's release.

Just as a mini-note, I put up a temporary blog on Tumblr to give me a place to post about my professional/cultural musings that don't fit so well here (as if that ever stopped me) until I can really light a fire under my ass to finish my work with Wordpress. If you're the sort of person that wants to get to know me via links and snippits, swing on by Not A Fuggin Web Guru @ marknewell.tumblr.com. Thanks!

For those of you not all that familiar with the concept of the Uncanny Valley, it basically states that the more human-like that a non-human thing (usually an animation or a robot) appears, the more it freaks us out, until it becomes so realistic that we can virtually not tell the difference between the two. On one hand, you have something like the Real Doll (look it up, pervert) that from a distance can be mistaken for a human, save for the occasional hentai-esque humanoid. On the other hand you have this video (via Kotaku), featuring obscenely realistic mo-capped renderings of humans that may just be the scariest thing I've seen all year. For those of you keeping score, I'm about as far into the dip of the Uncanny Valley as I can be at this point...

In searching for pictures of the original "Splatterhouse" video game to go with a blog post begging for a modern revamp of the series, I stumbled on something that many horror and video game nerds have known for some time: IT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING. Granted, I've only played the "Splatterhouse" games on an emulator, but I was always fascinated with the featuring Jason-esque protagonist in ultraviolent (for the time) 2d beat-em-up mayhem. I would have been happy with a re-skinning for XBox Live Arcade, but this is something totally different and exciting!

Via 1up.com

Some have complained about the departure from the more human-esque rendering of Rick from the first three games, but honestly, how could this dude be any less badass? Plus, I'm not inclined to knock anyone that shows the same taste in cutoff jean shorts. Color me completely fucking stoked for Splatterhouse 2009, and shenanigans on me for not finding out sooner!

"Blast from the (Recent) Past" is a periodic feature where I reflect on films I saw and loved before the O.G. version of Bloody Good Horror bit the dust. Now that we're back in the saddle I owe it to the classics of (not so) old for getting me into the genre in the first place.

Release Date: 2000

IMDB Rating: 8.0 (as of post date)

Synopsis

I stated once on the podcast that my true test for a horror film is being able to show it in front of a group of non-genre friends (or civilians, as my friend Adam calls them) and have them enjoy, or at least react to the film. I can't think of a single horror flick that has passed that litmus test more handily than Kinji Fukasaku's 2000 joint "Battle Royale." As the plot summary suggests, "Royale" feels a bit more like watching an ultraviolent video game than a classic horror film. Don't let the ultra-high rating on IMDB fool you, "Battle Royale" is in no way a perfect film or even a totally coherent film in parts, but it has inspired a rabid cult following, of which I am a card carrying member.

On the surface, the political and social message behind "Battle Royale" is heavy handed and powerful. Although even at my most cynical I can't imagine things getting THIS out of hand, the premise is presented so matter-of-factly that its hard to dispute its validity. Once you get to "know" the characters, you are in no way surprised that they are colossal pains in the ass that can only be dealt with "Royale" style.

Poor translation, wacky weaponry, and enough nut stabbings to make even a woman flinch are just a few examples of over-the-toppitude that "Battle Royale" reaches. When you see Takeshi Kitano (a.k.a. MxC's Vic Romano) receive multiple grievous gunshot wounds only to (spoiler) get back up and answer his phone before dying, you know that you've just survived something unique, and absolutely fucking crazy. This movie comes up in conversations I have revolving around horror STILL, and I'll always cross my fingers for a video game adaptation (on the Wii perhaps?) although it will never come to be.

Until then, give the Battle Royale drinking game a try!

Theatrical Trailer

I know we've dropped hints pretty much everywhere we can already about us being on Twitter, but for the 5-10 of you that still haven't heard it, what are you waiting for! All of our content is posted directly from our RSS feeds, but we will also be adding periodic updates while recording the podcast and brainstorming ideas for the site. Basically, if you want to pick our brains a bit and get behind the scenes, set up an account if you haven't already and follow our happenings!

While you're at it, check out Twihrl to keep track of twitter updates on your desktop and send us a beer with Foamee, lord knows we could use it!

Follow us now @ www.twitter.com/bghorror !