Editorials
2010 BLACK FRIDAY CHOPPING LIST: TOYS & MERCH
We all know those people who seem to have seen every movie and T.V. show, played every video game, and read every book and comic out there (where do they find the time?), and trying to shop for them can make for a frustrating experience. That being said, there are always those off-the-wall items that even the most well-versed horror fanatics haven’t yet gotten their hands on, and that’s where the “Toys & Merchandise” section of B-D’s Black Friday Chopping List comes in. Along with the latest in toys and decorative figurines, you’ll also find such oddities as specialized license plates, zombie-themed Zippo lighters, and even real embalmed mice made into Christmas tree ornaments. Seriously.
COMICS & BOOKS | FILMS | MUSIC | TOYS | GAMES
List Price: varies
We included the Fright Rags t-shirt store on our Black Friday list last year, and we’re including it again because there are a bunch of awesome new designs to choose from this holiday season. You can check out the full, massive selection of original horror movie-inspired artwork over at their website, but don’t fret if you’re not sure what to buy for that special someone on your list – they also offer gift certificates.
List Price: $59.99
Part of Sideshow Collectibles’ original series known as “The Dead” – featuring limited-edition zombie busts and figures put out exclusively by the company – the “Hatchet Head” statue is, as the website puts it, a “plague-ridden severed head [that] depicts one of the many desperate attempts to combat the multiplying horde of The Dead.” Individually painted and finished by Sideshow-commissioned artists, this 9.5″ high bust is a great gift idea for any zombie-lovin’ collector type on your holiday shopping list.
List Price: Around $600 each
Limited to just 300 each worldwide, these two limited edition sets of Nightmare Before Christmas resin statues (ranging in height from 7-12 inches) are a must-have for any fan of the film. Series 1 features Jack, Sally, the Mayor, and a Vampire, while Series 2 consists of Jack (in Santa outfit), Dr. Finklestein, The Wolfman, and Harlequin Demon. Each statue is lovingly crafted and features amazing, movie-accurate detail and accessories to satisfy any aficionado. Sure they’re a little pricey, but worth it if you have the money to spend (or are able to split the cost with others).
Order Series 1 by clicking here
List Price: $209.99
This grotesque 16″ polystone statue of Jason Voorhees depicts the merciless killer –
holding a bloodied axe in one hand and a machete in the other – as he stands atop a pile of nubile bodies that have been slashed and torn to pieces. Each limited-edition statue comes gloriously hand-painted and finished, with a removable hockey mask that reveals Jason’s deformed visage underneath. It’s a little pricey, but worth it for hardcore Friday fans if you have the money to spend.
List Price: $71.99
This insanely impressive, studio-approved Freddy glove replica from NECA has blades made out of real steel, genuine copper armature and a movie-accurate design (based on the glove from the 2010 film, but we can just forget about that) that’s a dream come true for any Nightmare on Elm Street fan. The best thing about the convincingly weathered and “bloodstained” glove is it’s actually designed to be worn and comes with a black plastic handform that’ll give it a perfect fit no matter what size fingers you have. Just be careful the kinda person you buy it for – this bad boy has real-live blades on it. Like, don’t give it to anyone who’s ever complained about hearing “voices”.
List Price: $57.99
Release Date: December 1, 2010
This 12.5″ Alien Queen from Kaiyodo (based on the design from the ’86 film) is one of the latest from their “Revoltech” series of figurines, and it’s a doozy. The impressive, super-articulated Queen features 25 movable joints and 32 movable parts – including retractable inner jaws – that will have any lover of the movies peeing themselves with glee. It also comes with a display base that’ll come in handy once you’re done, you know, playing with it. Raaaarr!! NOTE: For those on a budget, the Revoltech series also includes “Alien” and “Alien Warrior” figurines, each about $20 less than the “Alien Queen” version.
Order Alien Queen by clicking here
List Price: $27.99
This 9″ Michael Myers figure from Mezco features the iconic killer clad in his trademark jumpsuit (made of real fabric), ghost-white mask (splattered with the blood of one of his victims), and oversized butcher knife (also bloody). The figure, which features 10 points of articulation, is an impressive one for the low price; Myers even boasts a pink princess comb to go along with his “real” hair! Ok fine, that’s actually not part of the package – though if you really wanted you could just borrow one from your younger sister’s Barbie collection.
List Price: $12.99 each
Have you ever found yourself sitting in traffic thinking, “You know what, I really love horror movies, but it’d be great if that complete stranger in the car behind me actually knew about it”? If you have, then allow me to introduce two new limited-edition, embossed aluminum license plates from Tin 10 Collectibles featuring horror movie themes to pimp out your vehicle with. The first is “Zombie `More Brains'” (limited to 500 pieces worldwide), drawn by popular artist Rob Sacchetto and featuring a decayed, yellow-toothed zombie with glowing green eyes and an exposed brain. The second one features a painting of original movie vampire Count Orlok (played by Max Schreck in the 1922 classic Nosferatu), which features a close-up portrait of Schreck as the ancient vampire alongside a recreation of that famous “shadow creeping up the stairs” profile shot. Both plates measure six by 12 inches and will fit any standard sized car plate holder.
Order “Zombie `More Brains'” by clicking here
List Price: $80/portrait
Though he’s received attention in the press for “zombifying” celebrities (painting their undead portraits off of photographs), you too can now have “zombie artist” Rob Sacchetto do the same for your non-celeb friends and family members. All you do is a) go to Rob’s website http://www.zombieportraits.com/index.html; b) click on the upper left-hand corner where it says “$80 per zombie”; c) make your order through PayPal; d) email Rob a photo of the person (or animal!) you’d like for him to transform into a decaying flesh-eater; and e) wait approximately 3-4 weeks (possibly sooner if you pay an extra fee) and you or your loved one will receive a 9″x11″ original watercolor portrait of themselves as a ghoulish member of the undead. Couples and group portraits are also available by special order.
List Price: $39.99
Now available from NECA, this fully-licensed latex mask of Iron Maiden mascot “Eddie the Head” (based on the cover art from their classic 1983 “Piece of Mind” album) shows the hairless, lobotomized version of the famed zombie character in all its gory detail. Needless to say, this would be a great buy for any Iron Maiden fanatic on your list.
List Price: varies
Also included in our Black Friday guide last year was the Necromance online store, a collection of macabre jewelry, home décor and other curiosities that should please any horror fan on your list who enjoys receiving oddball gifts. And when I say “bizarre” I’m not kidding – there is some seriously whacked-out shit here. Products range from “Angel Mouse” tree ornaments (real mice, embalmed and adorned with feather wings), creepy lenticular paintings, antique medical tools, and bat skeletons encased in Lucite blocks. For those who are somewhat less adventurous, they also have some pretty awesome t-shirts in stock.
List Price: $19.99 each/$79.99 (set of 4)
Scheduled to arrive just in time for the holiday season, Taverncraft will soon be releasing a set of 4 lighters based on the Walking Dead comic book series by Robert Kirkman. Each black-and-white metal lighter – “Dead Head”, “Dead Rules”, “Fresh Meat”, and “Rise & Feed” – has been deep-etched with zombie imagery ripped straight from the pages of the comics. Buyers can order either individual lighters or the entire set, in which case you’ll also receive a special Kirkman-signed Litho Card. Great for any fan of either the comics or the hit AMC series.
List Price: $39.99
Released just last month in tandem with The Exorcist Blu-ray, this electronic figure boxed set – modeled after the famous “head-spinning” scene in the movie – features actual sounds and dialogue from the film (including the creepy “Tubular Bells” musical theme) and a hand-painted “possessed Regan” figure whose head spins 360 degrees at the push of a button.
List Price: $59.95 each
After last year’s release of the “House of Monsters” skate deck (featured on our 2009 Black Friday list), Monsterman Graphic has now come out with five new ones: “Lurking Zombies”, “Heavy Metal Monster”, “Medusa”, “Punk Rock Space Monster”, and “Halloween Lord o’Lanterns”. Each one comes with specially-designed artwork by Scott Jackson and can be ordered in a variety of different sizes.
List Price: varies
At Gelaskins.com you can shop for removable covers (“skins”) for iPhones, MP3 players, e-Readers, laptops, etc. that feature photo-quality graphics of artworks from both lesser-known artists as well as luminaries like H.R. Giger and Frank Miller. Indeed, the recreations are absolutely stunning and would be a great gift for horror fans whose idea of a good time is trawling around local art shows and museums. Buyers also have the option of customizing skins with their own photos and images. According to the website, the skins are easy to apply and don’t leave any sticky residue behind when you decide to remove them
Having grown up in a religious family, Christian movie night was something that happened a lot more often than I care to admit. However, back when I was a teenager, my parents showed up one night with an unusually cool-looking DVD of a movie that had been recommended to them by a church leader. Curious to see what new kind of evangelical propaganda my parents had rented this time, I proceeded to watch the film with them expecting a heavy-handed snoozefest.
To my surprise, I was a few minutes in when Denzel Washington proceeded to dismember a band of cannibal raiders when I realized that this was in fact a real movie. My mom was horrified by the flick’s extreme violence and dark subject matter, but I instantly became a fan of the Hughes Brothers’ faith-based 2010 thriller, The Book of Eli. And with the film’s atomic apocalypse having apparently taken place in 2024, I think this is the perfect time to dive into why this grim parable might also be entertaining for horror fans.
Originally penned by gaming journalist and The Walking Dead: The Game co-writer Gary Whitta, the spec script for The Book of Eli was already making waves back in 2007 when it appeared on the coveted Blacklist. It wasn’t long before Columbia and Warner Bros. snatched up the rights to the project, hiring From Hell directors Albert and Allen Hughes while also garnering attention from industry heavyweights like Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.
After a series of revisions by Anthony Peckham meant to make the story more consumer-friendly, the picture was finally released in January of 2010, with the finished film following Denzel as a mysterious wanderer making his way across a post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book. Along the way, he encounters a run-down settlement controlled by Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man desperate to get his hands on Eli’s book so he can motivate his underlings to expand his empire. Unwilling to let this power fall into the wrong hands, Eli embarks on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of his faith.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Judging by the film’s box-office success, mainstream audiences appear to have enjoyed the Hughes’ bleak vision of a future where everything went wrong, but critics were left divided by the flick’s trope-heavy narrative and unapologetic religious elements. And while I’ll be the first to admit that The Book of Eli isn’t particularly subtle or original, I appreciate the film’s earnest execution of familiar ideas.
For starters, I’d like to address the religious elephant in the room, as I understand the hesitation that some folks (myself included) might have about watching something that sounds like Christian propaganda. Faith does indeed play a huge part in the narrative here, but I’d argue that the film is more about the power of stories than a specific religion. The entire point of Oldman’s character is that he needs a unifying narrative that he can take advantage of in order to manipulate others, while Eli ultimately chooses to deliver his gift to a community of scholars. In fact, the movie even makes a point of placing the Bible in between equally culturally important books like the Torah and Quran, which I think is pretty poignant for a flick inspired by exploitation cinema.
Sure, the film has its fair share of logical inconsistencies (ranging from the extent of Eli’s Daredevil superpowers to his impossibly small Braille Bible), but I think the film more than makes up for these nitpicks with a genuine passion for classic post-apocalyptic cinema. Several critics accused the film of being a knockoff of superior productions, but I’d argue that both Whitta and the Hughes knowingly crafted a loving pastiche of genre influences like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog.
Lastly, it’s no surprise that the cast here absolutely kicks ass. Denzel plays the title role of a stoic badass perfectly (going so far as to train with Bruce Lee’s protégée in order to perform his own stunts) while Oldman effortlessly assumes a surprisingly subdued yet incredibly intimidating persona. Even Mila Kunis is remarkably charming here, though I wish the script had taken the time to develop these secondary characters a little further. And hey, did I mention that Tom Waits is in this?
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
Denzel’s very first interaction with another human being in this movie results in a gory fight scene culminating in a face-off against a masked brute wielding a chainsaw (which he presumably uses to butcher travelers before eating them), so I think it’s safe to say that this dog-eat-dog vision of America will likely appeal to horror fans.
From diseased cannibals to hyper-violent motorcycle gangs roaming the wasteland, there’s plenty of disturbing R-rated material here – which is even more impressive when you remember that this story revolves around the bible. And while there are a few too many references to sexual assault for my taste, even if it does make sense in-universe, the flick does a great job of immersing you in this post-nuclear nightmare.
The excessively depressing color palette and obvious green screen effects may take some viewers out of the experience, but the beat-up and lived-in sets and costume design do their best to bring this dead world to life – which might just be the scariest part of the experience.
Ultimately, I believe your enjoyment of The Book of Eli will largely depend on how willing you are to overlook some ham-fisted biblical references in order to enjoy some brutal post-apocalyptic shenanigans. And while I can’t really blame folks who’d rather not deal with that, I think it would be a shame to miss out on a genuinely engaging thrill-ride because of one minor detail.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly curious to see what Whitta and the Hughes Brothers have planned for the upcoming prequel series starring John Boyega…
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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