Screaming Soup!

SCREAMING AT PLANS FOR 2023!

30 Mar 2023 2 Comments

by screamingsoup in Uncategorized Tags: animated, cartoon, coloring book, cowboy, Deadwest, facebook, horror, host, killer tomatoes, monster, movie, movie dumpster, review, screaming, Screaming Soup!, skeleton, soup, twitter, youtube

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! It’s been a month since we premiered our long awaited passion project on everything Killer Tomatoes, and we’ve gotten one helluva response! Yes siree, buzz ’bout our Killer Tomatoes Retrospective has been makin’ its way down the horror fan pipeline with its debut on YouTube, Betamax TV, OSI74, and The Vortexx, and folks are ecstatic someone like us finally got the inside scoop behind the makin’ of this outrageous franchise with three hours worth of interviews featurin’ nearly every cast and crew member from the movies to the cartoon series.

The biggest praise we could hope fer, however, happily came from the comic masterminds behind the whole series, Four Square Productions. To quote, writer/Killer Tomatoes creator Costa Dillon, “No one does horror hosting better than Screaming Soup! They created the Citizen Kane of Killer Tomato retrospectives.” Director John DeBello called us the “consummate consommé of horror hosting,” and Steve Peace was so impressed with the retrospective, he says he’s gonna make this required viewin’ fer his grand young’ns. When documentin’ such a huge part of these fellas’ lives, we can’t ask fer better than that!

So, what’s next fer Screaming Soup! ya ask?

Well, fer now, we’re gettin’ back to production on our regular season and pickin’ up where we left off with us helpin’ Count Ted transition from hapless video store clerk to Dracula’s replacement as king of the vampires. Just like we brought Frankenstein in to mentor the befuddled bloodsucker, our next wild weird west adventure will have us huntin’ the Wolfman fer pointers in the Massacre Mountains where some previous nasties of nature we’ve encountered are still roamin’ ’round. Even better, we have a cameo planned with our amigos Joe and Sean from Movie Dumpster, a show where they talk ’bout our favorite kinda flicks while creatin’ their own little fantasy web world of co-existin’ movie properties called the MDU (Movie Dumpster Universe). Y’all should really check ’em out if ya haven’t yet, and get a taste of what yer in fer come time fer episode #53 to drop.

In other news, we’ve been itchin’ to do some quick and dirty art as of late and have been whippin’ up some fun colorin’ book drawin’s of us on adventures with different cohorts in the horror hosting community. Don’t know how long we’ll keep this up, but the response has been great, and we’re regularly addin’ more to our gallery page, so keep an eye out for these as they arrive, and let us see yer colored masterpieces!

Lastly, we’re givin’ a special shoutout to our longtime fan Brandon who’s a longtime supporter of our show. Brandon likes to bring some of horror’s more obscure titles to our attention and even goes so far as providin’ us with YouTube links to watch ’em all! In honor of a Super Scream Freak sharin’ this nostalgic entertainment with us, we wanna share it with y’all as well. Just check out the links below, and enjoy ’em ‘fore some higher power takes ’em down.

Other than that, please show your support for our show with donations through Patreon, Buy Me A Coffee, and Ko-fi, catch up on all past Screaming Soup! Seasons, check out this week’s Howl’n Hottie, read recent reviews for the newer horror films and comics we’re checkin’ out in our blogs, R-Rated Reviews and Sequential Slime, and help us get the word out about the web’s #1 animated horror host show! Please use our social buttons in the upper right corner of the site and follow our tweets, subscribe to our video channels, like our Facebook, watch and share all our vids, and keep that fan mail comin’. You can also warm up some Screaming Soup! leftovers with reruns currently playin’ on Beta Max TV, Sluggo’s The Vortexx, and Mr. Lobo‘s OSI 74 .

SCREAMING AT THE ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES RETROSPECTIVE!

03 Feb 2023 Leave a comment

by screamingsoup in Uncategorized Tags: 1978, ANGELA VISSER, animated, attack, Billy, cam clarke, cartoon, comic, costa, cowboy, CRYSTAL CARSON, Deadwest, debello, documentary, eat france, facebook, GAME, halloween, horror, host, interview, JOHN ASTIN, KAREN MISTAL, killer, MARC PRICE, MAURICE LAMARCHE, monster, movie, peace, retrospective, return, review, RICHARD MUELLER, RICK ROCKWELL, screaming, Screaming Soup!, skeleton, soup, SOUR GRAPES, STEVE LUNDQUIST, strike back, TOMATOES, twitter, video, youtube

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! After ’bout a year of video silence, we proudly return with our greatest triumph yet, provin’ once ‘gain why we’re the web’s #1 animated horror host show. Just as memorable as our epic season long crossover with Charles Band, as awesome as sharin’ the QnA stage with the likes of Kane Hodder, and as special as gettin’ worldwide recognition from Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder’s The Last Drive-In, we now cross paths with ‘nother icon of horror whose arrival sent shockwaves through the world of cult cinema that’s still enjoyed today. We’re talkin’, ‘course, ’bout Killer Tomatoes.

We originally planned on a Screaming Soup! special on the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes movies to be our swan song after 100 episodes, but once we accepted the reality of our tedious production schedule, and the fact the talents involved with makin’ the Killer Tomatoes aren’t gettin’ any younger, we decided 50 episodes and the validation we achieved from receivin’ Joe Bob’s Silver Bolo Award in 2021 was a good ‘nough time to cross this off our bucket list. We’re still producin’ ‘nother 50 Screaming Soup! episodes, mind ya, we’re just sayin’ this passion project of ours got significantly bumped up.

As filmbuffs and lifelong fans of the Killer Tomatoes franchise since first seein’ the cartoon while gobblin’ action figures up with our Killer Tomato toys, we always hated how there were never any behind-the-scenes featurettes or tell-all books ‘yond the makin’ of the first Attack of the Killer Tomatoes movie from 1978. IMDb, magazine articles, online interviews . . . it was all the same decades ol’ scraps of information and movie plot synopsis. Nothin’ answered the real burnin’ questions we had fer how this cult flick oddity by a gang of nerds outta San Diego managed to explode into a pop culture phenomenon as a toy sellin’ Saturday mornin’ cartoon ’round the world. Frustrated by this constant lack of knowledge, we finally took it upon ourselves to collect these factoids for the sake of Killer Tomato fans everywhere, and be the first EVER to share the WHOLE story behind this underdog franchise.

It all started with us contactin’ producer/writer Steve Peace who fans know better as their favorite parachute draggin’ Tomato War vet Lt. Wilbur Finletter. Steve and his filmmakin’ partners producer/writer/director John DeBello and writer/Killer Tomatoes creator Costa Dillon formed Four Square Productions when they began their film careers as teenagers makin’ Super 8 movies, and we managed to dig up a phone number fer that business online. “You’re lucky I even picked up. This may very well be the last workin’ landline in the world,” Steve laughed after feelin’ a strange compulsion to answer our call. Fillin’ him in on us bein’ horror hosts and expressin’ our interest in doin’ a retrospective that finally paints the whole picture ‘hind the history of the Killer Tomatoes, Steve was more than accommodatin’ and connected us with DeBello and Costa who happily granted us our first interviews for the retrospective which greatly helped lay the bones for the Killer Tomatoes timeline additional interviews with cast and crew from each movie could add meat to.

With help from Four Square, IMDb Pro, and good ol’ fashion gumshoe work, we managed to round up and interview most everyone involved with the series fer the retrospective. Recordin’ our conversations over Zoom, we had an incredible year yakkin’ it up with Olympic gold medalists, Miss Universe winners, soap opera stars, folks who worked on sets like Super Mario Bros. and Married . . . With Children, stand-up comics, heavy hittin’ talents ‘hind The Real Ghostbusters cartoon, and not to mention — John “Gomez Addams” Astin which was the most unbelievable two hours spent durin’ all this as he shared nearly a 100 years worth of stories in the entertainment biz from Hollywood to Broadway. All these folks are such amazin’ talents and the nicest, funniest people anyone could hope to talk with ’bout killer veggies. Woulda been nice to say we got to chew the fat with George Clooney, ‘course, but believe you us — if there’s anyone missin’ from this sucker, it ain’t fer lack of tryin’! It either means we couldn’t reach ’em at all or they plain said, “No.”

So, that brings us to now. After ’bout a year editin’ twenty plus hours of interview footage down to a hair over three, we’re proud to present the most in-depth, be-all end-all tell-all retrospective on the ENTIRE history of the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes series includin’ Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Return of the Killer Tomatoes, Killer Tomatoes Strike Back, Killer Tomatoes Eat France, and both seasons of the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes cartoon series that originally aired on Fox Children’s Network. We cover Four Square’s first studio picture Sour Grapes aka Happy Hour, Elvira’s ribbin’ the original flick on late night TV, the unofficially licensed video games, the tomatoes’ resurgence thanks to the Muppet Babies, the reason why no restaurant wanted to use killer tomatoes for an ad campaign, the real story ‘hind the cartoon’s cancellation, and MORE!

And to provide as much Killer Tomato history as possible, we do include a few snippets of information gathered from home video bonus features and other content creators’ web shows, but all sources have been properly credited and handled much the same way as a research paper with links to their original work in the description of the video. The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Retrospective is strictly a non-profit documentary made for the purpose to educate and inform fans interested in the history of the Killer Tomatoes franchise under Fair Use (Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976) as well as a creative reunion of sorts for the talents who are excited to see one another after decades apart. Everyone involved with this video from Screaming Soup! HQ to the interviewees participated in this out of the goodness of their heart for no other gain than to laugh at rememberin’ the best times they ever had makin’ these movies.

Now, enjoy this love letter to one of our favorite movie franchises of all time! It ain’t perfect, but we gave it all we got and then some. TOMATOES!!!!

SCREAMING AT CHRISTMAS 2022!

24 Dec 2022 Leave a comment

by screamingsoup in Uncategorized Tags: animated, attack, Billy, cartoon, comic, costa, cowboy, Deadwest, debello, documentary, eat france, facebook, four square, horror, host, killer tomatoes, monster, movie, peace, retrospective, return, review, screaming, Screaming Soup!, skeleton, soup, strike back, twitter, youtube

Ho-Ho-Howdy there, Scream Freaks! The season of slasher Santas, rabid reindeer, and yuletide yetis is upon us ‘gain. Yup, it’s Christmas time! Brick up that fireplace, protect yer chestnuts, and don’t shake yer gifts under the tree too hard — they might just bite! This Christmas is sure to be the most frightenin’ one yet, and we owe a lot of that to a particular streamin’ service.

December kicked off beautifully with the theatrical release of Violent Night starrin’ Stranger Things‘ David Harbour as a kick-ass Santa rescuin’ a family of fat cat hostages from home invadin’ mercs in Die Hard fashion. A 5/5 romp full of serious silliness, we wanted to cover it as an R-Rated Review, but it clearly ain’t a horror flick with its top shelf fantasy/action sequences, so we decided ‘gainst it. That didn’t stop our favorite ghost girlfriend Mandy from sharin’ her two cents on what’s now our newest holiday tradition, however, and she was even quoted by Violent Night‘s Twitter account! So proud of her!!

Like every Christmas, while folks are on the hunt fer ’em perfect gifts that prove they’re not as selfish as everyone thinks, we’re huntin’ fer this year’s newest offerin’s of holiday themed terrors. We covered some of the more front and center promoted fright flicks like Weredeer, The Killing Tree, Nutcracker Massacre, and Shudder’s Christmas Bloody Christmas in bite-size reviews on our R-Rated Review blog, but putrid polecats — we just uncovered a whole treasure trove (or dung heap?) of Christmas horror movies on Tubi we never heard of!

Some new, some old, and all of ’em lookin’ like they were shot over weekends on a paperboy’s salary! Titles we discovered include Psycho Santa 1-2, He Knows, There’s Snow Escape, A Christmas Slay, Season’s Greetings 1-2, Slayed, Christmas Craft Fair Massacre, Christmas Blood, Happy Horror Days, Deadly Xmas, Axemas 1-2, Jack Frost (2022), Christmas Tapes, Christmas Vacation, Killer Christmas Elves: The Movie, Krampus: The Return, Krampus vs Big Foot, Vikings vs Krampus, Sister Krampus, Christmas Apparition, Stuffings, Mercy Christmas, Silent Night Zombie Night, I’m Dreaming of a White Doomsday, Leech, and Silent Night (2021). Most of these are still available to watch fer free on Tubi as of this post, and we’re tryin’ to get through as many as we can, so keep yer peepers peeled for these R-Rated Reviews!

In bigger updates, the trailer dropped for our upcomin’ Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Retrospective! Set to a rockin’ cover by Piss Ant (Click HERE for their YouTube channel), get a taste for what to expect from this Screaming Soup! special as we dive head first into the untold history behind the Killer Tomatoes franchise, speakin’ with nearly every cast and crew member involved with the makin’ of all four of the movies as well as the cartoon series. You’ll see the creators of the whole shebang John DeBello, Costa Dillon, and Steve Peace, hear from folks behind the scenes like the puppeteers and composers, and even get a peek at John Astin commentin’ on playin’ the series’ angry scientist, Prof. Gangreen. It’s all very excitin’ as we come closer and closer to releasin’ this sucker in the first quarter of 2023.

And even bigger updates yet, we now have Karen Mistal (Tara from Return of the Killer Tomatoes) joinin’ the fun, so this retrospective is really shapin’ up to be the definitive be-all-end-all killer tomato fans like ourselved have been waitin’ our whole afterlives for!

Merry Christmas, Scream Freaks!

SCREAMING AT THANKSGIVING AND RETRO-TOY CON!

30 Nov 2022 Leave a comment

by screamingsoup in Uncategorized Tags: 2022, animated, arthur burghardt, barry gordon, best saturdays of our lives, bloody social movie, cam clarke, cartoon, comic, cowboy, Deadwest, facebook, gijoe, greenville, hacksaw jim, horror, host, jem, killer tomatoes, mark mccray, million dollar man, monster, movie, ninja turtles, retro toy con, retrospective, review, rob paulsen, samantha newark, sc, screaming, Screaming Soup!, skeleton, soup, townsend coleman, toy federation, trandformers, twitter, warrington gillete, youtube

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! After weeks full of holiday parties, noisy parades, and belly bustin’ dinners, most folks would double over dead from exhaustion, but not us! We dropped dead forever ago and feel more alive than EVER as Thanksgivin’ returns, encouragin’ us to admit things we’re thankful fer.

Right now, we’re most thankful for bein’ a part of Retro-Toy Con recently, which is this unbelievable toy convention thrown by our compadres over at Toy Federation. These guys know how to party, let us tell ya. Not only did they make sure to pack the dealer room with an unbelievable mix of toys from yesteryear and today rangin’ from obscure Freddy Krueger knockoffs to mainstream mainstays like Star Wars and G.I. Joe, they even booked all kinds of celebrity guests from our favorite Saturday morning cartoons, Friday the 13th Part 2, the WWE hall of fame, and let’s not forget — yer favorite animated horror host Deadwest!

Yessir, as part of the star line-up, we happily spent the weekend meetin’ you Scream Freaks who showed up while as well as tradin’ quips with wrasslers Hacksaw Jim and the Million Dollar Man, doin’ Cobra Commander impressions with Arthur Burghardt (G.I. Joe’s original Destro), sharin’ candy with Jem and the Holograms‘ Samantha Newark, slingin’ back drinks at the bar with Warrington Gillette aka the first Jason Voorhees to kill onscreen, hangin’ ten with the first gang of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles actors, Rob Paulsen, Cam Clarke, Townsend Coleman, and Barry Gordon, and catchin’ up with our amigos Mark McCray and Dan Klink from The Best Saturday Mornings of Our Lives podcast. Fanboy overload, right? Even better, we got to be Retro-Toy Con’s MC the whole time, makin’ important ’round the clock announcements while teasin’ the other guests with random messages. “Attention Hacksaw Jim. We checked, and we’re sorry, but you can’t use yer 2×4 when thumb wrasslin’ yer fans.”

Sure to go down as one of the greatest achievements of our afterlives was Rob and Arthur complimentin’ our pipes. Words can’t describe what receivin’ that kinda validation means to us comin’ from such talented voicebox dynamos. Only other moment that comes close to beatin’ it was at the end of the con, when we zipped from one cartoon superstar to the next for closin’ statements with the best one bein’ Samantha sayin’, “Show’s over, Synergy.”

This vendor had a beast of a My Pet Monster collection!

And if that weren’t ‘nough of a treat, we even had the honor of hostin’ all the celebrity panels! We asked Warrington ’bout his journey from Wall Street broker to bein’ celebrated as one of the few actors to play Jason over a little kumbaya campfire, and he pitched fans an offer to own a part of his newest flick, Bloody Social. Arthur Burghardt held our hand in shock as we revealed our interest in him takin’ us down memory lane to when he was a magic hobo in Full Moon’s Killjoy. The panel that was the most fun fer us, however, was forcin’ Hacksaw Jim and Ted “The Million Dollar Man” Dibiase to sit through a slideshow of their greatest hits in plastic as they gave their feedback on all the different toys made in their image over the years. We forgot to record our pow-wow with Arthur like dumbasses, but we’ll be sharin’ the audio from the panels with Warrington, Hacksaw, and Dibiase ‘fore long, so y’all can get a taste of the fun we had.

Speakin’ of yappin’ with talents, we even managed to steal Rob and Cam away from their turtle fans long ‘nough to interview ’em fer their work on the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes cartoon series for our Killer Tomato Retrospective we’ve been teasin’. Cam not only played Gangreen’s evil sidekick, Igor; he even voiced one of the killer tomatoes from the second season ‘long with Rob’s mutant veggie, Mummato. We still can’t believe our luck! We’re incredibly thankful fer their participation in our project and can’t wait to add their clips of ’em playin’ with their mutant tomato chew toys with everyone else’s stories of bein’ in such a wonderfully wacky series.

Speakin’ of the Killer Tomatoes Retrospective — UPDATE — We’re comin’ closer and closer to completin’ this bucket list of a dream project. Editin’ is just ’bout done, the animation shouldn’t take too long, and after we drop in the soundtrack –POW! We hope to have this sucker out there for y’all to enjoy ‘fore Valentine’s Day! What could be sweeter than the first ever behind-the-scenes feature of anythin’ and everythin’ Killer Tomatoes with ’bout 20 interviews of nearly everyone involved from the filmmakers to the cast and crew?! We can’t wait!

See ya later, Scream Freaks!

SCREAMING AT HALLOWEEN 2022!

31 Oct 2022 Leave a comment

by screamingsoup in Uncategorized Tags: 2022, animated, Billy, cartoon, comic, cowboy, Deadwest, halloween, horror, host, monster, movie, retro toy con, review, screaming, Screaming Soup!, skeleton, soup, twitter, youtube

And be sure to catch us November 18-20 at Retro-Toy Con where we’ll be rubbin’ elbows with other celebrity guests such as the original cast of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, Jem and GI Joe voice actors, WWF Hall of Famers, and Jason Voorhees actors! Tons of toys, lotta panels, more fun than you can handle!

See ya later, Scream Freaks!

SCREAMING AT KILLER VEGGIE FANDOM!

30 Sep 2022 Leave a comment

by screamingsoup in Uncategorized Tags: animated, cartoon, comic, cowboy, Deadwest, facebook, horror, host, killer tomatoes, monster, movie, review, screaming, Screaming Soup!, skeleton, soup, twitter, youtube

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! Halloween’s just ’round the bend, and we’re burstin’ with excitement at what all this holiday season has in store. From revisitin’ Salem with the Sanderson Sisters to reimagining Hellraiser, we’re pumped to go into this spooky shindig with jack-o-lanterns blazin’, but it won’t all be monster movie marathons and stuffin’ our pie holes with Halloween Oreos (which we swear taste better than regular ol’ Oreos). No, in fact, we’re continuin’ to keep our noses to the grindstone and work diligently to churn out one helluva of a retrospective spotlightin’ one of our favorite franchises of all time . . . Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!

Now, we’ve already been teasin’ y’all fer what to expect from this passion project of ours, but as we draw closer to wrappin’ this puppy up, the more freely we’re willin’ to share more ’bout it. As mentioned ‘fore, this ain’t gonna be yer everyday talkin’ head review. No, siree. Inspired by documentaries like Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, Pennywise: The Story of It, and In Search of Darkness, we wanted to go all in on this sucker and dig up as much behind the scenes trivia as possible.

That’s why the first folks we looked up to satisfy our appetite fer factoids were the creators themselves, Four Square Productions. Director John DeBello, Writer Costa Dillon, Actor/Producer Steve Peace, and even the elusive Michael Grant from the Tomatoes’ initial inception durin’ Four Square’s college origins all lend their stories to what made this San Diego born idea into a pop culture phenomenon. These fellas are just as funny today as they were 30 years ago, and have been a blast to talk with. They told us all ’bout the infamous helicopter crash, their invasion on France, their dealin’s with big league studios, and goin’ from cult hit to Saturday Mornin’ fodder.

But we didn’t stop there. Bein’ the sticklers fer information we are, we wanted more than mere milestones in the Tomatoes’ history, and sought out juicy details from every one of the movies’ cast and crew member willin’ to talk to us — which it turns out — was a lot of ’em! From leadin’ comic hero Rick Rockwell and Miss Universe’s Angela Visser to the puppeteers and composers, we managed to chat it up with ’bout every talent behind and in front of the camera and collected ourselves a shoppin’ cart worth of stories worth sharin’. Malfunctionin’ puppets, alternate R-Rated cuts, sleazy fan letters — it hurts not bein’ able to share it all yet! Oh, and did we mention John Astin and Steve Lundquist are in the retrospective too?

We’re coverin’ Killer Tomato topics related to the toys, Elvira, Four Square’s flick Sour Grapes aka Happy Hour — hell, we even do a deep dive into the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes cartoon series featurin’ interviews with its head writer, Richard Mueller, and Maurice LaMarche, the voice of Zoltan! How cool is that?!

Anyway, we have to get back to it if yer ever gonna see this thing released. Keep yer eyes peeled!

See ya later, Scream Freaks!

SCREAMING AT EARLY HALLOWEEN GOODIES!

30 Aug 2022 Leave a comment

by screamingsoup in Uncategorized

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! If we didn’t know better, we’d think Halloween already snuck up on us. Seems the haunted season can’t get here soon ‘nough fer some of y’all, ’cause the web’s gettin’ slammed with all kinds of celebratory updates featurin’ mass purchases of this year’s spookiest decor. From big box lumber shops to pop-up costume emporiums, this October’s shapin’ up to be one outrageously blinged out spook-tacular, and we couldn’t be more excited! Curious what’s been catchin’ our squirrelly attention so far?

Spirit Halloween stores have ‘come synonymous with merch that costs an arm and a leg, but none more so than this overpriced sucker we ’bout shit bricks over. Standin’ a bit over a foot tall, this weighty Light-Up Killer Klown Popcorn Statue rings in at $90! You can get a full size Ghostbusters proton pack with all the bells and whistles for that price! Why is this over the top paperweight so much? Is it the lights, ’cause they ain’t all that impressive or bright. But don’t be discouraged, Scream Freaks. If yer a Killer Klowns fan like we are, there are much more affordable and cooler lookin’ popcorn clowns as low as $10 at Wal-Mart!

Blowmolds are makin’ a comeback this year, and there’s plenty to be found at Lowe’s Home Improvement. From licensed kiddie properties like Mickey and Minnie Mouse huggin’ jack-o-lanterns to generic black cats and tombstones, these nostalgic decorations are all the rage with mid-century obsessed collectors, and are a welcomed blast from the past.

The last item that pulled us in like a tractor beam and had us runnin’ to the registers with it in a death grip were these Mr. Halloween Trick or Treat Tunes radios. Sleek retro designs with some pretty bad ass decals, these babies tune into three modestly pre-recorded channels fer weather, sports, and organ jams. We found ’em in a Marshalls department store, but plenty are sold online for reasonable prices.

There’s plenty more frightenin’ furnishin’s and demented decor we could yammer on ’bout, but we wouldn’t wanna peak to soon, Scream Freaks! Plus, we gotta get back to work on our Attack of the Killer Tomatoes Retrospective we’ve been teasin’ y’all with. Editin’ 20+ hours of interviews with all the cast and crew involved with creatin’ such a cult hit series is provin’ to be a chore, but we’re havin’ a blast as killer veggie fans and can’t wait to share this passion project as soon as it’s ready. So far, it’s lookin’ to be a real couch potato marathon with a potential runtime of four hours. Sounds like a lot, but horror fans like myself had no problem sittin’ through ’em 4-7 hour documentaries on the makin’ of the Freddy and Jason movies, so why not go all out for this? Killer Tomato fans have been denied all the behind the scenes trivia long ‘nough, and I’m gonna pack in all I can!

See ya later, Scream Freaks!

SCREAMING AT BEING THE HORROR HOST HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!

27 Jul 2022 1 Comment

by screamingsoup in Uncategorized

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! Hope y’all are enjoyin’ yer Summer so far, ’cause we sure as shootin’ are! From frigid treats flash freezin’ our brain baskets to beachside showin’s of Jaws 2 while William Castle fright tactics try scarin’ us outta the water, Summer can be every bit as thrillin’ as Halloween with the right twisted mindset. Whether it’s barbeque crashin’ cannibals, poolside pranks with carnivorous critters, or doomed vacations to hellish dimensions, there’s somethin’ scary to be found in everything.

The best treat this season, however, was the ultimate Summer surprise when we found out we won a hell of a prestigious title from a super Scream Freak! Thanks to Timber at tmbrwlff.wixsite.com/toxic-tales, y’all’s favorite animated horror host has been recognized as a Horror Host Heavyweight Champion! Yee-haw! A perfect follow-up to our Silver Bolo Award from The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, we’re incredibly humbled and appreciative to Timber for goin’ out of his way to show us how much our show means to him. Especially after he mailed us the championship belt to go ‘long with the title. Sweet tater stompin’ sasquatches, this thing is top shelf and a real ego booster! We’ve just been wearin’ it ’round the Howl-Inn Grub & Spirits for days now, lettin’ it act as a sign that begs onlookers to ask, “What’d you accomplish?”

In the meantime, we’re still focusin’ all our efforts on editin’ the most in-depth Attack of the Killer Tomatoes retrospective imaginable. With ’bout 20 folks involved from the cast and crew, all of ’em are eager to see this reunion of sorts come together, and we owe it to ’em fer their time and help to produce a top notch video with all the bells and whistles ‘fore returnin’ to our regular hijinks helpin’ Count Ted be educated in the ways of a vampire king. More on that later!

See ya later, Scream Freaks!

SCREAMING AT SUMMER READING HORROR!

29 Jun 2022 1 Comment

by screamingsoup in Uncategorized Tags: animated, cartoon, cowboy, Deadwest, facebook, horror, host, monster, movie, review, screaming, Screaming Soup!, skeleton, twitter, youtube

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! Remember how much it sucked when school tried to hi-jack our Summer breaks with homework? We’re ready to bust outta that classroom like the endin’ to Rock ‘n’ Roll High School with the Ramones jammin’ the soundtrack to our freedom from gruelin’ tests and quizzes, and teachers we haven’t even given a hard time yet wanna burden us with readin’ journals on snooze fests like Animal Farm and Madame Bovary. We earned our time off, dammit, leave us alone!

But what if we were allowed to pick the books? What if we got to steer our required pastime as bookworms into horror related territories of our choosin’, so long as the topics were educational, historically informative, and artistically relevant? That sounds way better!

That’s why this month, we thought it’d be fun to share some of our favorite books with y’all from our own collection ya might wanna check out this Summer. Whether you’re a filmmaker or a film buff, these selections of movie encyclopedias, filmmakin’ biographies, and coffee table art galleries are all must-reads fer any horror movie fan. (*For a closer look at the covers, just click the thumbnails)

EMPIRE OF THE Bs, THE MAD WORLD OF CHARLES BAND An incredibly thorough read on the history of Charles Band‘s first major film company that churned out a big chunk of the ’80s best flicks. Reviews of every Empire flick with tons of interviews and factoids! Must for Full Moon fans!

HEAVY METAL MOVIES The ultimate guide to head bangin’ cinema! Whether it’s guerilla documentaries, barbarian bloodbaths, or gore filled monster movies, if there’s an ounce of rock ‘n roll in it, you’ll find it ‘mong 666 reviews!

ATTACK OF THE “B” MOVIE POSTERS The illustrated history of B movies through posters! Nothin’ but cover to cover spreads of vintage eye catchers in color advertisin’ obscure titles. This series of books also includes volumes fer horror, sci-fi & fantasy, and more!

VHS VIDEO COVER ART An amazin’ gallery curated by one of today’s hottest poster artists showcasin’ hundreds of amazingly painted VHS covers (front, back, and spines!) from the ’80s! Terrific source fer forgotten flicks ya maybe haven’t heard of!

THE WINSTON EFFECT: THE ART AND HISTORY OF STAN WINSTON STUDIO The ultimate visual guide to the amazin’ career of special effects wizard Stan Winston’s! Tons of photos and trivia from his beginnings on Gargoyles and The Whiz to big budget hits like Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park to even a Gnome Named Norm!

THE GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS The original inspiration for bad cinema hecklin’ that started the trend Ed Wood flicks were the sorriest ever made! Over 400 movies from the 1930s-70s are judged for the bein’ the worst in over 30 categories. Perfect time capsule fer film buffs!

SON OF GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS The sequel to the granddaddy of cinematic hecklin’ with 23 new categories of the worst gimmicky cowboys, nude scenes, rubber monsters, conversations with God, etc. Hollywood had to offer from the 1930s-80s!

TALES FROM THE CRYPT: THE OFFICIAL ARCHIVES The ENTIRE history (up to 1996 at least) of EC Comics and the Tales From the Crypt TV show packed in one beautifully laid out book slammed w/ colored photos, episode guides, comic reprints, & behind the scenes of the first two flicks from the ’90s!

MONSTERS IN THE MOVIES A big-ass picture book that categorizes over a 100 years worth of movie monsters in magnificent color spreads with runnin’ commentary from director John Landis! Top shelf goods here!

PROFOUNDLY DISTURBING: SHOCKING MOVIES THAT CHANGED HISTORY Our favorite book of deep cut essays from Joe Bob Briggs that changed our entire perspective on the milestones of film history. Spotlights 15 important turnin’ points in cinema with tons of similar recommendations to watch!

THE ENCYLCOPEDIA OF MONSTERS A sweet collection of movie monster stats presented like ol’ superhero tradin’ cards with their origins, strengths, and weaknesses all listed out. Includes fellas as obscure as Billy from Laserblast!

THE WEIRD WORLD OF EERIE PUBLICATIONS The ins-and-outs behind one of the craziest publishers responsible fer some of the most exploitative comics and mags of the 20th century. Read how employees worked at gunpoint to recycle the same trash fer decades while skirtin’ pesky tax laws!

THE EVIL DEAD COMPANION One of the first goldmines of anythin’ ya ever wanted to know ’bout Renaissance Pictures & the Evil Dead trilogy. Includes a buncha black and white pics of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell’s road to fame and fortune, camera gag diagrams, and their complete Super 8 movie index!

CRAB MONSTERS, TEENAGE CAVEMEN, AND CANDY STRIPE NURSES: ROGER CORMAN, KING OF THE B MOVIE From Teenage Caveman to Dinocroc vs Supergator, beef up yer knowledge on the king of the exploits in this amazin’ one-stop resource packed with decades worth of behind-the-scenes trivia, colored pics, and interviews!

JOHN STANLEY’S CREATURE FEATURES MOVIE GUIDE STRIKES AGAIN Horror host hall-o-famer John Stanley’s New York size phone book bustin’ with 5000+ reviews as recent as 1994. The mother of all resources for any horror aficionado lookin’ to dig up truly forgotten gems of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy!

FORREST J ACKERMAN PRESENTS MR. MONSTER’S MOVIE GOLD Forrest Ackerman’s hodge podge collection of rare black and white stills from early to mid 20th century sci-fi/fantasy flicks. More lookin’ than readin’, fun tid bits of trivia, and some insightful history lessons!

GRANDE ILLUSIONS BOOK 1-2 Both volumes of Tom Savini’s do’s, don’ts, and how-to’s from his movie magic make-up bag with examples from his days at the playhouse theatre to all his flicks through Mr. Stitch. Must fer any aspirin’ special effects artist!

CHEAP SCARES! Low budget fearmakers behind classics like Slime City, Street Trash, and The Dead Next Door walk up-and-comin’ filmmakers through every stage of filmmakin’ from script writin’ to marketin’ on a microbudget. Little dated, but still a terrific resource!

THE FEARMAKERS A go-to biography from 1994 on 20 of horror’s greatest directors from early fear pioneers like Tod Browning and William Castle to modern fearmakers like Dario Argento & Stuart Gordon. Real eye opener to their struggles and successes as filmmakers!

IT CAME FROM THE VIDEO AISLE! The COMPLETE history of Full Moon (up to 2017) in one big-ass book with the inside scoop on EVERY one of their movies fer young’ns and adults, interviews with filmmakers and commentaries on bein’ one of the big dawgs in the home video market!

TELEVISION HORROR MOVIE HOSTS A terrific who’s who ‘mong popular pre-internet horror hosts circa 1991. Diggin’ up dirt on 68 hosts from all corners of the U.S., learn the history of this TV tradition with chronological bios from Vampira to Grampa Munster!

BARBARIANS AT THE GATES OF HOLLYWOOD A simple little book on ’80s sword and sorcery flicks that offers insight into the genre’s cinematic origins with humorous plot crunches. No pics, but at least it introduced us to a kick-ass movie like The Devil’s Sword!

WORLD GONE WILD: A SURVIVOR’S GUIDE TO POST-APOCALYPTIC MOVIES One MAMMOTH guide to post-apocalyptic themed movies, shorts, TV shows, animes, and pornos featurin’ alien invasions, nature gone awry, zombie viruses, and heavenly raptures with bonus interviews from the filmmakers behind them!

THE ART OF GOOSEBUMPS A coffee table art gallery featurin’ the complete collection of Tim Jacobus’ unforgettable Goosebumps covers. Includes mini-bios, commentaries behind every masterpiece, and thumbnail sketches. Terror-ific source for artistic inspiration!!

CONFESSIONS OF A PUPPETMASTER Charles Band finally gives his fans a backstage pass to his crazy life as an unstoppable indie filmmaker. Full of conquests, comebacks, and compellin’ life lessons any reader can learn from, we couldn’t put this fun read down! Must fer fans!!

CHICAGO TV HORROR MOVIE SHOWS FROM SHOCK THEATRE TO SVENGOOLIE A nifty chronicle on the history of Chicago’s horror host personalities over the decades from Mad Marvin to Svengoolie with bonus lists of movies they played that includes the Shock & Son of Shock TV packages!

YOURS CRUELLY, ELVIRA: MEMOIRS OF THE MISTRESS OF THE DARK A no holds barred autobiography from the most successful horror host to date. Filled with every victory and misstep from her adventures ’round the world that led to her bein’ the most recognized movie host in the world from La La Land!

ON SET WITH JOHN CARPENTER: THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF KIM GOTTLIEB-WALKER It’s more lookin’ than readin’ at tons of amazin’ behind the scene photos from the glory days of John Carpenter’s film career makin’ Halloween 1-2, The Fog, Escape From New York, and Christine. Top shelf stuff!

JOE BOB GOES TO THE DRIVE-IN & JOE BOB GOES BACK TO THE DRIVE-IN Joe Bob Briggs’s collection of printed hits from his heyday as a film buff journalist that paved the way fer his endurin’ success as a TV horror host. Read all ’bout his redneck origin, the history of the drive-in, and bein’ cut from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2!

PHANTASM: EXHUMED Anythin’ and everythin’ you could ever wanna know ’bout one of horror’s most amazingly bizarre film series, this is a Phantasm fan’s VIP ticket to every bit of trivia behind the actors, stunts, special effects, and Don Coscarelli’s origin as a filmmaker.

See ya later, Scream Freaks!

SCREAMING AT KILLER VEGGIES!

31 May 2022 2 Comments

by screamingsoup in Uncategorized Tags: animated, cartoon, cowboy, Deadwest, documentary, eats france, facebook, four square, horror, host, interview, killer, killer tomatoes, monster, movie, retrospective, return, review, screaming, Screaming Soup!, skeleton, soup, strikes back, tomato, twitter, youtube

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! Things have been hustlin’ and bustlin’ ’round here at the Howl-Inn Grub & Spirits since we wrangled Frankenstein to show Count Ted the ropes for bein’ a king of the vampires. Yessir, with a little more free time on our mitts, we decided to throw ourselves into a passion project that’s been a long time comin’, and we’re finally ready to share a little ’bout it!

So, while there’s plenty on our bucket list we wanna accomplish sooner than later, there’s one particular goal of ours that can’t wait any longer. As y’all know, we end every review with the disclaimer, “But what do I know know? I like killer tomato movies!” Well, some of you out there think we’re jokin’, but NO! We are in fact longtime fans of the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes franchise. From its sequels to its cartoon series, we’re nuts fer this cult hit phenomenon!

As a horror host show obsessed with these vile veggies, we were always goin’ to do a review on ’em at some point, but then we started thinkin’. What can be said ’bout this series that hasn’t been said already? There’s plenty of information on the first flick from 1978, but very little to no information on the makin’ of the sequels or the cartoon adaptation, leavin’ online reviewers and even print publications nothin’ to work with but their own color commentaries on the flicks ‘long with repeatin’ the same plot print from the back of the video boxes. How can Screaming Soup! celebrate its fandom in a more special way?

Then it hit us.

Instead of a regular ol’ review highlightin’ the sweets and sours of each killer tomatoes flick per usual, why don’t we do a deep dive and bring y’all the filmmakers’ own experience makin’ this series!

That’s no typo ya read. For the past year, we’ve been workin’ closely with the creators of the killer tomatoes themselves, Four Square Productions, and have been bringin’ together the most comprehensive review/retrospective ever attempted on the history of the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!

Featurin’ nearly 20 interviews with numerous key actors, supportin’ players, and behind-the-scene dynamos, we’re leavin’ no stone unturned as we finally dig up every bit of film buff trivia we ever wanted to know ’bout the makin’ of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Return of the Killer Tomatoes, Killer Tomatoes Strike Back, Killer Tomatoes Eat France, as well as both seasons of the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes cartoon series. It’s been utter joy-gasms over here fer months talkin’ with all these fine folks responsible fer such a wild and hilarious source of entertainment for us over the years, and we can’t wait to put this out there for everyone.

That said, we still have just a little ways to go ‘fore we can present this to the world. All the interviews are completed and catalogued and currently bein’ edited into a BIG fun-filled Screaming Soup! Special that’ll be part documentary part animated comedy. As the project comes closer to completion, we’ll continue to post regular updates with steady reveals fer who else is involved and when it’s expected to premier.