Days O’Horror #4: The Mummy’s Hand (1940)

Back To The Sand!

1932’s The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff as Imhotep/The Mummy, was an immensely popular film. It has remained popular over the years and has been rebooted twice by Universal with the successful Brendan Fraser film trilogy that started in 1999 and the less well-received Tom Cruise vehicle that flopped in 2017. Way back in 1940, however, Universal decided to give the classic Karloff film a slightly soft reboot with 1940’s The Mummy’s Hand.

Gone are Imhotep, Ankh-es-en-Amon, and the Scroll of Thoth. Instead we have Kharis (Tom Tyler), Princess Ananka, and sacred tana leaves. The film opens with the dying High Priest of Karnak (Eduardo Ciannelli) telling Professor Andoheb (George Zucco) about Kharis and his love for Princess Ananka. When she dies, he steals tana leaves from beneath the statue of Isis in the hopes that he can revive her. He is captured while stealing the leaves and sentenced to be buried alive. In order to prevent such a crime from happening again, Pharoah Amenophis has the tana leaves buried with Kharis.

After telling the story to Andoheb, the priest tells him that he is now the new protector of Ananka’s hidden grave and that he must use the tana leaves to sustain her protector, Kharis. If anyone discovers Ananka’s tomb, Andoheb is instructed to pour the juice of nine tana leaves into Kharis’ mouth in order to revive him and protect his love.

We are then introduced to our two heroes in the film. Archaeologist Steve Banning (Dick Foran) and his friend, Babe Jenson (Wallace Ford), are a pair of men who’ve just run out of research money and have been instructed to return to the United States because their adventures so far have proven to be fruitless. In a local market, Banning stumbles across a vase that might reveal the location of Princess Ananka’s long lost resting place. Excitedly, and against Babe’s wishes, Banning seeks out the help of Dr. Petrie (Charles Trowbridge) at the Cairo Museum. Professor Andoheb is also there and he dismisses the vase as a fake in order to prevent Banning from discovering Ananka. Still believing the vase to be authentic, Banning begins looking for someone to finance his expedition.

Banning and Babe find financial support for their expedition through a traveling magician from the United States named The Great Solvani (Cecil Kellaway). Solvani agrees to fund the duo as long as they agree to share any profits with him. Andoheb, aware of what’s going on, seeks out Solvani’s daughter, Marta (Peggy Moran), and tells her that a string of false expeditions are asking for financial support in order to steal the funds instead of use them for research.

Wary of Banning and Babe and intent on protecting her father’s investment, Marta tags along with her father on the expedition. Andoheb follows them, unleashes Kharis, and the mummy starts to eliminate members of the expedition one by one in search of tana leaf juice placed throughout the expedition’s campsite by Andoheb. Andoheb also plans to capture Marta and inject her and himself with juice from the tana leaves in order to become immortal.

Banning, Babe, Solvani, and Marta find themselves alone in the desert after Kharis kills or scares away the rest of the expedition. A battle ensues and Banning and Babe end up having to face off with Kharis and Andoheb, all the while attempting to save Marta from immortal misery! Can they do it? You’ll have to watch the film to find out.

Despite being a mild rip-off of its predecessor (scenes were even used from the original Mummy film), I really enjoyed The Mummy’s Hand. Unlike Boris Karloff’s mummy, who was only viewed in his wraps for a few minutes at the beginning of The Mummy, Tom Tyler spent the entire film under wraps except for a few scenes early on in the movie. Wallace Ford and Cecil Kellaway stole the show with their comedic performances. Dick Foran and Peggy Moran played their characters relatively straight, although Moran did have one very funny scene involving a gun and Babe. George Zucco was excellent as the devious villain of the film.

Tom Tyler had no lines in this film, but his shuffling mummy would prove to be popular. Another aspect of his mummy that captivated audiences was his blacked-out eyes and mouth. Despite a convincingly spooky performance, Tyler would not reprise the role of Kharis in any of the sequels that followed. Perhaps best known for his portrayal of Captain Marvel in the classic Republic serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel, Tyler starred in silent and early sound Westerns but never became a popular star. Rheumatoid arthritis would eventually slow his career and he passed away at the young age of fifty.

Thanks for reading my post. Get ready for another exciting entry in my Thirty-One Days O’Horror series tomorrow!

Days O’Horror #3: Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943)

Before The MCU

While Marvel and Disney get all of the attention with their cinematic universe, the actual idea of a shared universe can be traced back to Universal’s classic monster films. Specifically, 1943’s Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man is considered by many to be the very first example of a cinematic universe film. It brings Lon Chaney, Jr.’s Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi’s version of Frankenstein’s Monster together, effectively tying the two characters and their cinematic mythology to one another. I’ll leave the history of Universal’s original cinematic universe to a brilliant article that I found on Den of Geek. Check that article out here.

Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man may be the first cinematic universe film, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a great movie. It has a number of problems that I’ll get to in just a moment. First, let’s take a look at the film’s plot.

The first half of the film picks up four years after 1941’s The Wolf Man. Lawrence Talbot’s (Lon Chaney, Jr.) corpse, covered in wolfsbane, is disturbed by two grave robbers who unknowingly revive him and his curse. He’s found in Cardiff the next evening and is placed in a hospital. As he begins to realize what has happened, Larry demands to be set free so that he can find a way to end his curse. His attending physician, Dr. Mannering (Patric Knowles), doesn’t believe Larry when he tells him that he’s a werewolf. Eventually Larry escapes and seeks out Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya, reprising her role from The Wolf Man), who tells him that she would take care of him like she did her son, Bela (Bela Lugosi), whom Larry killed in The Wolf Man, but that she had no cure for him. However, Maleva knew of a Dr. Frankenstein that just might be able to help him.

The second half of the film kicks off with Larry and Maleva heading to Vasaria in order to see if Frankenstein can really help Larry with his curse. They arrive in the village and the townsfolk tell him that Frankenstein has passed and that he brought nothing but pain to their small village. Eventually Larry is chased out of town and he ends up at Castle Frankenstein. There he discovers Frankenstein’s monster encased in ice. He frees the monster in the hopes that it will be able to help him find Dr. Frankenstein’s notes but this proves to be unsuccessful.

Desperate, Talbot poses as a potential buyer of the Frankenstein estate and lures Frankenstein’s daughter, Baroness Elsa Frankenstein (Ilona Massey), back to Vasaria in order to see if she can help him. She initially refuses to help him, but whenever Larry’s doctor from Cardiff, Dr. Mannering, shows up, the trio decide to work together to end Larry’s tumult.

In typical mad scientist fashion, Dr. Mannering becomes captivated by Frankenstein’s monster and decides to return the creature to its full power (you have to watch 1942’s The Ghost of Frankenstein to fully understand what’s going on with the monster). This leads to an all out battle between an angry Wolf Man and a fully powered Frankenstein’s monster……and a massive flood caused by a detonated dam. You’ll have to watch the film to learn why all of this chaos goes down.

The film was enjoyable, but it definitely could have been better. The cast was solid for the most part, especially Lon Chaney, Jr., Maria Ouspenskaya, and Patric Knowles. Ilona Massey was also very excellent in her role but didn’t have much to do in the film. Poor Bela Lugosi was tied down to a terrible version of the monster with a backstory from The Ghost of Frankenstein that’s completely ignored in this film. If you haven’t watched Ghost, Lugosi’s performance is incoherent and sad. If you have watched it, Lugosi’s scenes are edited and presented in a way that contradicts the character’s actions in the previous film.

The film also suffers from being disjointed. There are two very distinguishable stories going on in this film and they just don’t quite tie together. The first half of the movie, the Wolf Man’s story, builds the characters and remains linear throughout. The second half of the story, the Wolf Man/Frankenstein’s monster story, is muddled, poorly edited, and, at times, nonsensical. Plus, the fact that the actual battle between the two monsters is brief and interrupted by a flood leaves a sour taste in the audience’s mouth.

Despite being a little less than amazing, Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man is still worth watching. As I stated before, there are some great performances in the film that lift it up and over the generally disjointed feel of the film as a whole. It’s also great to see Lon Chaney, Jr. strike terror into the hearts of the innocents once more.

As always, thank you for reading my post. I’ll have another terror-rific post tomorrow! Also be on the lookout for a post this weekend about the Lake Charles Film Festival happening this Friday and Saturday!

Days O’Horror #2: Dracula’s Daughter (1936)

Keeping The Family Tradition Alive

Dracula’s Daughter (1936) is a rather unique film. It doesn’t fit the mold of your standard vampire movie. Instead of a vampire intent on drinking the local citizenry dry, this film features a vampire that wants to break free of its curse (at least in the beginning of the film). Instead of a dashingly handsome male vampire that uses his hypnotic eyes to lure young ladies away from safety, we get a striking female vampire that hunts both men and women with the aid of an assistant who brings the victims to her. She then uses a ring on her wedding ring finger to enchant them before relieving them of their lives. Also, the traditional stake through the heart or exposure to sunlight isn’t the method used to kill the vampire. Both psychology and arrows are used instead.

The film begins just minutes after the end of 1931’s Dracula. Policemen arrive on the scene to find Renfield dead at the bottom of the stairs and Count Dracula staked through the heart. They also find Von Helsing (Edward Van Sloan), who freely admits to murdering Dracula. The bodies are then taken to a local jailhouse and Von Helsing is arrested. Later, Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden) arrives, asking to see the body of Dracula. When she is denied, she uses a ring on her finger to hypnotize the jailer and proceeds to steal Dracula’s body.

Marya burns Dracula’s body and says a prayer hoping to free herself of being a vampire. Her loyal assistant, Sandor (Irving Pichel), doesn’t believe this will work, and discourages Marya’s hope after the body is burned. Later in the evening, Marya gives in to her longings and murders a random man on the street.

Von Helsing calls on an old student to defend him in his murder trial. The former student, a psychiatrist named Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger), arrives on the scene just in time to meet Marya at a party. Marya requests to meet with Dr. Garth in private. He advises her that the best way to defeat her temptations is to face them head on. He tells her how alcoholics have been successfully cured of their alcoholism by placing them alone in a room with a bottle of liquor and suggests that she attempt a similar test on herself.

Believing that Dr. Garth’s advice will work, Marya has Sandor collect a young lady walking the streets of the city. Sandor tells the young woman, named Lili (Nan Grey), that Marya wishes to paint her. Once Lili is brought to Marya, the countess asks her to remove her blouse in order to expose her shoulders and neck. Initially Marya fights off the urge to drink the young lady’s blood, but she soon succumbs to temptation.

Lili survives the attack and is treated by Dr. Garth. Soon enough, Garth realizes that Marya is a vampire and he sets out to stop her. Unfortunately for Garth, his assistant, Janet Blake (Marguerite Churchill), becomes a pawn in a sick game between him and Marya. The chase leads back to Transylvania, where Garth confronts Marya and Von Helsing rushes to his aid. You’ll have to watch the film for yourself to find out what happens next.

Edward Van Sloan is the only cast member from the original film to return for this sequel. For some odd reason his character’s name is changed from Van Helsing to Von Helsing. No explanation is given for this change. Otto Kruger, Marguerite Churchill, and the rest of the cast provide solid performances. Churchill is especially funny in her role as Garth’s snappy assistant. Pichel’s Sandor is an odd duck in the film. It almost seems as if he wants Marya to fail in her search for a cure for her vampirism. Another bright spot in the film is the performance of Claud Allister as Sir Aubrey. His brief appearance in the film is wonderful.

The strongest performance in the film belongs to Gloria Holden as Countess Marya. Her delivery is hard to describe. She looks both stoic and desperate at the same time. As the story moves along, there is a subtle shift from desperation to cold and calculated evil and selfishness. It’s a brilliant switch and was a joy to witness on the screen. Holden was supposedly hesitant to take on the role at first, fearing that she would be typecast like Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. She avoided being typecast and managed to have a sold film career that lasted nearly thirty years.

I really liked watching this movie. From the unique “look for a cure” angle to the callbacks to its predecessor (My favorite being Holden recite\ing the line, “I never drink wine.”), this film was quite a treat. While it isn’t exceptionally well known outside of horror circles, the film’s influence is felt to this day. Many writers and filmmakers list the film as an influence. Most notably, author Anne Rice has stated that Holden’s performance directly influenced the vampires in Rice’s Vampire Chronicles series of books.

There have also been a number of historians and others (Anne Rice included) that have pointed out lesbian and/or erotic undertones throughout the film, a major shock for fans of cinema in the 1930’s. Personally, I can see where people would pick up on this, especially in some of the scenes where Marya is fighting temptation, but I can also see these particular scenes in other ways as well. I would love to have a panel at a convention where people from all walks of life discuss this film, especially the lesbian aspects and their influence. It would be great to hear how others view this movie.

That’s all for today. I appreciate you for reading this post. Tomorrow will bring yet another Universal Monsters film to my blog, and I hope that you’ll return to read about it as well.

If you’d be interested in a round table discussion or a panel about Dracula’s Daughter and its lesbian undertones, I’d love to work with you on the project. Just message me and we’ll see if we can make a panel happen!

Days O’Horror #1: The Invisible Man (1933)

Seeing the unseen for the first time!

Being a huge Universal Monsters fanatic, it somewhat pains me to admit that until yesterday I had never viewed any of the films featuring The Invisible Man in their entirety. I have watched films influenced by these movies and read the book by H.G. Wells that started it all, but I never sat down and watched an entire film on its own.

The movie opens with a mysterious man wrapped in bandages entering an inn and demanding a private room. Patrons at the inn begin to discuss why he’s wrapped in bandages. This includes a humorous quip about him bumping his head while escaping prison. As the story moves along, we learn that the man’s name is Dr. Griffin (Claude Rains) and he has gone missing from his friends and fiancee, Flora (Gloria Stuart).

It is soon revealed that Griffin is completely invisible. He has gone into seclusion in order to find a way to return to a visible state. Unknown to Griffin, one of the items that he used in his original experiments is monocane, a drug that slowly draws him into madness. Soon enough, Griffin becomes enraged with the constant interruptions of the innkeeper and his wife (the rather humorous duo of Forrester Harvey and Una O’Connor) and he attacks them. This brings the local police into the picture and Griffin removes his clothing and bandages and rages through the town in order to escape.

Griffin then goes on a killing spree, driven by madness and a wild plan to take over the world. He forces one of his former research partners, Dr. Kemp (William Harrigan), to aid him in his crimes. Chaos ensues and eventually a plan is devised to capture Griffin. You’ll have to watch the film to find out how and if the police actually manage to capture Griffin.

One of the primary reasons that I decided to pursue watching The Invisible Man was the performance of its star, Claude Rains, in other Universal Monster films. Rains had a very commanding screen presence as Sir John Talbot in The Wolf Man (1941) and was brilliantly over the top as Erique Claudin, the man better known as The Phantom of the Opera in 1943. These performances made me seek out more of his work. Rains’ career spanned sixty-five years and included roles in films such as Notorious (1946), Casablanca (1942), and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939). He shared the screen with some of the biggest stars in film history including Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Lana Turner, and Rock Hudson, just to name a few. He won a Tony Award in 1951 and was a four-time Academy Award nominee. Rains passed away in 1967 and is buried in Laconia, New Hampshire.

Much like other Universal Horror films, The Invisible Man is noted for its special effects. The pioneering ways used to make Griffin’s invisible chaos come to life were the result of the work of John P. Fulton, John J. Mescall, and Frank D. Williams. Fulton was a trailblazing effects artist that worked on Frankenstein (1931), Rear Window (1954), The Mummy (1932) and many other major horror films. He was also nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning three of them: Wonder Man (1945), The Bridges At Toko-Ri (1955), and The Ten Commandments (1956). Mescall is best known for his camera work on films such as The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935) and Show Boat (1936). Williams worked with legendary performers such as Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Fatty Arbuckle. He is also credited as the developer of the traveling matte shot. This technique opened the door for blue screen work in the 1970’s/80’s, and paved the way to modern CGI.

I really enjoyed this film. Claude Rains’ entire performance was both cocky and sinister. His over-the-top delivery was both scary and funny at times. The supporting cast provided quite a few laughs as well, making this one of the more humorous Universal Monster films in my opinion. When compared to other films of the day, the special effects in The Invisible Man are simply amazing. They still hold up quite well despite being nearly eighty years old, and their success would lead to even more brilliant effects in the future.

I won’t call it my favorite Universal Monsters film, but The Invisible Man is definitely one of the best films in the bunch. It has humor, terror, and an excellent conclusion that makes you feel sad not only for those affected by Dr. Griffin’s insanity, but for the doctor himself.

Thank you for reading my post. I’ll have another for you tomorrow!

The Horror Starts Tomorrow!

Thirty-One Days O’ Horror!

Tomorrow I will be diving into the first of a month-long look at thirty-one of Universal’s classic horror films. Things will begin with a Universal film that I’ve never actually viewed before, 1933’s The Invisible Man, starring Claude Rains and loosely based on the popular H.G. Wells novel of the same name.

I’ll try to keep all of my reviews uniform over the course of the month. I’ll give a synopsis of each film and talk about certain aspects that really appealed to me whether they be a certain actor’s performance, the film score, special effects, or something else. Then I’ll tease the next film that I’ll be reviewing.

I will try my best to have each review written and posted by 3PM the following day. I’ll also be sharing the links to each review on my Facebook page. I’ll be watching The Invisible Man tonight so that my reviews will begin on the first of October and so that I’ll have the entire night of Halloween free to do whatever I want!

There will be spoilers in all of these reviews. The latest film in this batch was released in 1956 and the oldest film was released in 1925. For those of you who don’t want to do the math, that means that you’ve had sixty-three years to watch the newest film in this review series and ninety-four years to watch the oldest! If you don’t want anything to be spoiled about any of these films, skip their specific review!

I really hope that all of you enjoy reading my reviews over the next month. If this series proves to be a success with my readers, I might do a series of reviews for Christmas films in December!

Also be on the lookout for posts in October that are related to Universal Monsters beyond the screen. I’ll be reviewing Ravensburger’s Horrified, an official Universal Monsters board game, Funko’s Mystery Minis Universal Monsters series of collectible figures, and a documentary or two about Universal’s monsters. I might toss in a few other surprises as well.

Thanks for reading my post. I’ll have a few non-Universal posts this month as well, but things will be pretty spooky all month long in Ken’s Alternate Universe!

Outpost: Fouke, Arkansas

Southwestern Arkansas

My regular readers know how much I love Bigfoot, Yeti, and all of the other cryptids out there. They might even know that I’ve visited Fouke, AR, in the past and blogged about it here. While own my recent trip to northwestern Louisiana to see KISS with my son, we decided to take a sidequest north to Fouke, Arkansas, home of the Fouke Monster and the film, The Legend of Boggy Creek.

Photo taken by my son.

Sporting my Ghoultown shirt (I’ll get to their connection to Fouke in a bit), my son and I drove into Fouke on Saturday morning. The drive up there was beautiful but we didn’t get to see the Fouke Monster. We stopped at the Monster Mart in town and were blown away by how much the store has changed and yet remained the same since our last visit in 2014.

The convenience store itself had changed very little. It’s a standard convenience store with soft drinks, snacks, and a few roadside necessities for purchase. On the museum side, however, things had been expanded upon greatly. A large display that included a Fouke Monster and one of its children had been added to the museum, as well as two display cases full of photos, albums, footprint casts, and more items related to the Fouke Monster and the history of the small town. There were also newspaper articles lining the walls and a gift shop that featured books, t-shirts, caps, postcards, magnets, mugs, and much, much more.

I talked with the lady behind the counter for quite awhile. She told me a little bit about the upgrades on the store and I also learned that Fouke won their high school football game on the prior evening.

I ended up purchasing a magnet and Lyle Blackburn’s Beyond Boggy Creek book at the Monster Mart. You can read my review of one of Blackburn’s other books, The Legend of Boggy Creek, here. Yes, I could have purchased the book on Amazon or even directly from Lyle’s website, but that would have meant that I couldn’t have purchased the book with the Monster Mart stamp on the inside. I plan to get Mr. Blackburn to sign the book if I ever get the chance to meet him.

Oh, and for anyone still not sure about the connection between Fouke and my Ghoultown band t-shirt, Blackburn is the frontman from the Texas-based gothabilly band. I’ve become quite a fan in recent months. Check out their website here.

After making my purchase, my son and I drove around Fouke for a few minutes before heading on to Texarkana, TX. We had no real destination in mind when we arrived there, we just wanted to kill a little more time before heading to Bossier City, LA to see KISS on Saturday evening.

If you have any interest in cryptozoology and want to visit a key location in Bigfoot history, make a trip to Fouke, AR. You’ll learn about the beast, the movie that made it famous, and the wonderful little town that became the focal point of one of cryptozoology most famous cult films.

Thanks for reading. Check out the links and keep an eye out for my next post.

The Deep Blue Sea On The Red River

Shreveport, LA

In my last post I talked about attending the KISS: End of the Road tour with my son in Bossier City, LA. Anybody familiar with the area knows that right across the Red River is the city of Shreveport. It’s the third largest city in Louisiana and the center of a region known as the Ark-La-Tex.

Located downtown along the Red River and nestled between casinos and the Sci-Port Discovery Center is the Shreveport Aquarium. I decided that a visit to the aquarium would be the perfect way to end me and my son’s little vacation to northwest Louisiana.

All photos in this post taken by me.

To be completely honest, I wasn’t expecting very much from this aquarium. I read through a few online reviews and visited the aquarium’s website and came to the conclusion that this would be a fun place, but probably nothing too amazing.

Thankfully the aquarium far exceeded my expectations. Yes, it isn’t a very large aquarium, but it makes up for its lack of size with beautiful exhibits, tons of opportunities to interact with sea life, and a staff that was both friendly and knowledgeable about the animals and plant life in the aquarium.

We were greeted with a smile at the admissions desk and offered the chance to purchase a feeding token to feed stingrays. My son didn’t want to feed the rays but I went ahead and purchased a token for a small fee. We then entered the first wing of the aquarium. It featured tanks full of brightly colored fish and other animals. Lionfish, clownfish, pufferfish, and other sea life darted in and out of reefs and hid behind rocks. Throughout the exhibit, seafaring items such as anchors and cannons dotted the walkway.

As we left the first portion of the aquarium, we entered a large solarium that featured wood ducks, turtles, fish, and vegetation native to Louisiana. The area also had a small play area for younger children. Despite it being in the 90’s outside, the solarium had cooling units in place that kept the temperature reasonable. It wasn’t hot, but it was warm enough for the reptiles in the exhibit to remain comfortable.

We left the solarium and headed into the portion of the aquarium that featured starfish, clams, and jellyfish that you could touch in the water. It was fun getting to touch and feel these creatures in the water. There are obviously strict rules in place about touching the animals, so please respect these rules so that others can enjoy this experience. Also in the area, seahorses and baby sharks are in tanks for observation.

The next area that we entered was the massive aquarium featuring all sorts of fish including a number of sharks. Two “portholes” were available that allowed people to experience being at the bottom of the ocean with tons of sea creatures swimming around you. This is a perfect place for a photo op.

The final exhibit area was my favorite. I cashed in my token to feed fish to stingrays and touch them as they swam by in their pool. The rays were extremely friendly and didn’t seem to mind all of the people touching them. Feeding them is definitely a memorable experience and I recommend it if you ever visit the Shreveport Aquarium.

The final area in the aquarium was the SALT Cafe and a small gift shop. My son and I didn’t eat in the cafe, but it had a nice view overlooking the Red River. There was also a massive foot made out of plastic bottles that reminded visitors of the impact that plastic can make on our oceans.

This aquarium turned out to be a nice surprise and an excellent way to cap off our trip to the Ark-La-Tex. I have plans on bringing the rest of my family here in the future. Visit the aquarium’s website for more information on the exhibits and experiences that happen throughout the week including meet and greets with pirates and mermaids!

Thanks for reading this post. I have one more upcoming post about another experience that my son and I had while visiting the Ark-La-Tex, and you don’t want to miss it!

KISS: End of the Road Tour

Bossier City, LA, 9/7/2019

I’ve been a KISS fan for a very long time. I’ve been ridiculed, laughed at, and even accused of worshiping Satan because of my love for the band. Despite this fact, though, I’ve only recently been able to see them perform live. In total I have seen KISS perform live on three occasions. The first two times were in Houston and the most recent show was in Bossier City, LA. This show was a little bit more special than the other shows, though, as this show would be my young son’s first concert.

KISS didn’t disappoint.

Photo by me.

The opening act for KISS was a performance painter named David Garibaldi. I, along with most of the folks in line around me prior to the show, had serious doubts about a painter being the warm-up for the band. I, and everyone else that doubted him, was wrong about David Garibaldi. The guy painted three pictures within thirty minutes and had the crowd cheering the entire time. He did brilliant paintings of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Elvis, and KISS. To top it all off, the KISS painting was raffled off for charity. I’ve followed Garibaldi’s Facebook page ever since and he comes across as a genuinely nice guy. Check out his Facebook page for links to his website and other social media.

  • Photo by Greg Wood.
  • Photo by Greg Wood.
  • Photo by Greg Wood.

When it was time for KISS, they opened the show as they always open the show, “You wanted the best! You got the best! The hottest band in the world…..KISSSSSSSS!” This was followed by the dropping of the black KISS curtain and the band exploding onto the stage via lifts, all the while belting out the opening to Detroit Rock City. They went on to play a total of twenty tunes including an amazing drum solo by Eric Singer (it was a highlight of the show for me) and a solid guitar solo by Tommy Thayer.

Photo by me.

Gene spit blood and fire and tore through tracks like Calling Dr. Love and War Machine. Paul flew out into the crowd for two of his signature tracks, Love Gun and I Was Made For Lovin’ You. Eric Singer gave us his rendition of two of original drummer Peter Criss’ signature tunes, Black Diamond and Beth.

Photo from the web.

The stage lighting and pyrotechnics were the best that I’ve ever seen at any live show. They were also the best of all of the KISS shows that I’ve either attended or watched online. HD screens, laser lighting, flamethrowers, KISS beach balls, and the signature confetti were all used during the show. Sure, some of Paul’s lines were the same ones that he’s used for decades and his voice isn’t as good as it used to be, but you could tell that he and the rest of the band put their entire hearts into the show. Gene sounded great vocally and on bass. Eric’s drums and vocals were as solid as they’ve ever been as well. The real star of the show, though, was Tommy Thayer. Perpetually viewed in the shadow of Ace Frehley by far too many fans, Thayer fleshed out the solos and made them his own this time around. Tommy is proving to the world that he truly is one of the best guitar players to ever grace the stage with KISS.

Photo taken by me.

When KISS played Rock N’ Roll All Nite to close out the show, everybody was on their feet. Knowing that it will most likely be the last time that we get to see these four guys on the stage together in full makeup and with tons of pyro behind them in Bossier City, it was a tad bittersweet. I’m going to miss these guys.

With that being said, however, something wonderful happened that evening. Throughout the show I would glance over at my son. He never looked back at me, though. He was too entranced with the wall of sound, flames, and lights that he was experiencing. He loved every single minute of the concert. As the final piece of confetti hit the ground and the crowd exited the arena as the house lights came up with God Gave Rock N Roll To You II blaring over the CenturyLink Center speakers, I looked at my son. He was smiling from ear to ear. He was completely amazed by what he had just seen.

Photo by the Shreveport Times staff.

Prior to KISS’ encore, he had been wearing ear plugs for the entire show. He was worried about damaging his ears. When Eric Singer returned to the stage to perform Beth, however, he took his plugs out, nudged me, and said that he wanted to hear all of the encore. I was fine with his actions and my heart tugged just a little bit as well. I gave him the okay and he smiled.

Photo from the web.

After the show, I picked up a t-shirt and bandanna from the merch table. My son didn’t want anything. As we walked to our car he repeatedly talked about what happened during the show and how cool he thought that it all was. Once we got to our vehicle, we decided to wait out the crowd a bit before leaving. We talked even more about the show and it was so refreshing to hear my son’s point of view. His favorite performer of the night was Tommy Thayer. Unlike many KISS fans these days, my son only knows Ace Frehley’s work with the band from what I’ve told him and played for him. His Spaceman is, was, and always will be Tommy Thayer. It was so refreshing to hear someone not complain about Tommy but instead, praise his work.

Photo from the web.

This show will always be my greatest memory of KISS. It was my last show, my son’s first show, and something that we will talk about until I’m gone. Hopefully my son will share this memory with his own son or daughter some day and he’ll get the chance to share some other band’s concert with them.

Thanks for the memories, KISS. This might be the end of the road, but you’ll be playing in hearts, minds, and plenty of stereos for many years to come.

Here’s the setlist from the show:

  1. Detroit Rock City
  2. Shout It Out Loud
  3. Deuce
  4. Say Yeah
  5. I Love It Loud
  6. Heaven’s On Fire
  7. War Machine (Gene Breathes Fire)
  8. Lick It Up
  9. Calling Dr. Love
  10. 100,000 Years (Eric Drum Solo)
  11. Cold Gin (Tommy Thayer Solo)
  12. God Of Thunder (Gene Simmons Bass Solo/Spits Blood)
  13. Psycho Circus
  14. Let Me Go, Rock N’ Roll
  15. Love Gun (Paul On Crowd Stage)
  16. I Was Made For Lovin’ You (Paul On Crowd Stage)
  17. Black Diamond
  18. Beth (Encore)
  19. Crazy, Crazy Nights (Encore)
  20. Rock N’ Roll All Nite (Closes Show)

Throwback Thursday: I Wanna Go Back…(1980’s)

The Brimstone’s Totally Rad 80’s Party

I spent my childhood growing up under the influence of pop culture icons like Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox, Family Ties), ALF, and Macho Man Randy Savage. I listened to bands like Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, and KISS. I watched iconic films like The Empire Strikes Back and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and a few cult hits like Critters and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I am a child of the 1980’s and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Me, circa 1987 by way of 2019.

Last Saturday, the Brimstone Museum and the Henning Cultural Center in Sulphur, LA capped off their recent Chaos Theory Art Show with the Brimstone’s Totally Rad 80’s Party, a celebration of all things 80’s. I attended the event and have to admit that I really enjoyed myself.

A shadowbox display of a typical room from the 1980’s.

The party featured the Louisiana Ghostbusters, a public service fan group and fundraising group for charities. They were raising money for the American Cancer society. Attendees were given the chance to take photos with Ecteaux-1, the group’s version of Ecto-1 from the film, and also to take photos in full Ghostbuster gear. The original Ghostbusters film was also shown on a large outdoor screen at the event.

A Critters canvas that I purchased from a local artist, Malcolm O’Brien.

Local artists were also on hand to sell their wares. Original artwork, prints, magnets, books, crafts, and other items were made available by these artists. There was also a facepainting booth and Boombox Frozen Pops and Ice Cream was on hand to serve up some frozen goodies. I tried their “Pop You Like A Hurricane” pop and it was delicious.

Boombox Frozen Pops and Ice Cream’s “Say Anything” display.

The event also had a scavenger hunt that included everything from getting a high five from a Ghostbuster to busting a move on the dancefloor. I actually completed most of the items on the list but didn’t turn in my card for the prizes which included the legendary Maplewood sandal (only locals will get that reference). Other prizes included goods from Paper Heroes and dance lessons!

The infamous Maplewood Sandal!

Zoltar was on hand to tell you your fortune as well. He gave me some sound advice about a film that I am going to see.

Zoltar!

I left the event about thirty minutes before it ended. There was a costume contest well underway as I made my way back to my vehicle. I want to thank Thom Trahan and Kat Godsey of the Brimstone Historical Society and all of the volunteers and vendors for putting on such a great event! The bar has been set high for next year’s show!

Hurricane Pro 8/24/2019

The Great Sexy Love Invasion Continues…

Two months ago, Sexy Steve De Marco and his Great Sexy Love Stable made their presence known at Hurricane Pro Wrestling. They stormed the ring during the main event between HPW Champion Jordan Jensen and “SuperTex” Brent McKenzie and declared that they were going to take over HPW. In July, things ran rather smoothly for HPW’s Queens of the Ring event as GSL didn’t show up at all.

But HPW’s August show was a different matter….

Photo by Chad Cooper

Great Sexy Love arrived in full force, making their presence known by challenging for belts, disrupting matches, and basically stirring up as much mayhem as possible. While their antics outside of the ring drew a ton of heat from the crowd, their work in the ring left all but one of them in Loser column for the evening.

Photo by Chad Cooper

The highlight of the evening was for the Hurricane Pro Championship. Worthy challenger and all around monster in the ring, Edgrin Stone battled Jordan Jensen in one of the best matches of the evening. Jensen retained his title but his celebration was cut short as GSL attempted to close out the evening on a sour note. Thankfully Jensen had backup waiting for anything that might happen and Make Your Own Path and Don Rodrigo arrived just in time to prevent Jordan from getting another beatdown by GSL.

Photo by Chad Cooper

Here’s a breakdown of the evening’s matches:

GSL’s Loverboy Nate Andrews lost to Ryan Davidson.

Billy Fletcher III and Estrella Galactica’s match ended in a no contest when both were savagely attacked by an unknown wrestler.

Photo by Chad Cooper

Ricky Starks lost to Miranda Alize in an intergender match.

Photo by Chad Cooper

Johnny Flexx upset defending champion Don Rodrigo for the HPW Cruiserweigt championship after interference from GSL’s Punk’n Morrigan.

GSL’s The Great Ones fell to defending HPW Tag Team Champions The Pump Patrol despite attempted interference from Nate Andrews and Punk’n Morrigan.

Photo by Chad Cooper

Bu Ku Dao lost to defending multi-belt champion Sexy Steve De Marco (GSL’s only victory of the evening).

Photo by Chad Cooper

Edgrin Stone lost to defending HPW Champion Jordan Jensen.

While all of the matches were excellent, the matches between Ricky Starks and Miranda Alize and the Stone/Jensen battle were outstanding. Stone and Jensen were well matched and hopefully they forged a bond as friends since Stone would definitely add some bulk to HPW’s lineup as they continue their battle against GSL. Starks and Alize provided one of the funniest and most violent matches of the evening, with Starks repeating slamming Alize into the guardrail and Alize exposing Starks’ posterior and getting a face full of backside as a result.

Next month’s event promises to be a good one as newly crowned HPW Women’s Champion Heather Monroe returns to Beaumont to defend her belt for the first time at Ford Park. Her opponent hasn’t been announced yet. According to HPW’s Facebook page, rematches and international debuts are also going to occur. I’m sure that Great Sexy Love will also be returning to stir up trouble. I’ll be sure to let you know all of the results right here next month!

Thanks for reading. If you’re local to the southwest Louisiana/southeast Texas area, I highly recommend checking out Hurricane Pro wrestling. They provide excellent independent wrestling action and have brought in some of professional wrestling’s best athletes like Thunder Rosa, Brian Cage, Chelsea Green, and Masada!