Screaming Soup!

Howdy there, Scream Freaks, and Happy Halloween!

Last we wrote y’all, we were in mad preparation fer an unforgettable night with one of the original Michael Myers, Tony Moran. Thanks to our amigos at our favorite toy chest for today and yesteryear’s playful plastics, Toy Federation, we were lucky ‘nough to kick off the holiday season hostin’ a QnA with Tony, whose claim to horror fame is playin’ Michael when he’s unmasked at the top of the stairs by Laurie in Halloween ’78. Needless to say, the night was electric!

After spending hours at Toy Federation with arms full of Myers memorabilia for Tony to grace with his John Hancock, Halloween die-hards eagerly followed the slasher of the hour over to the theater around the corner for even more unforgettable face time ‘fore kickin’ back to a candid QnA followed by a big-screen showin’ of Michael’s screen debut. There were Michael Myers cosplayers roamin’ the theater, folks teasin’ each other with the jingle from Halloween III, deep geek discussions over who Michael can whoop in a fight . . . 

The highlight of the night fer us, however, was this one uber fan who rolled up without a clue what was even happenin’. With her car blinged out in bumper to bumper horror flick decals, we happily welcomed her, believin’ she could only be there for Tony and Halloween. Much to everyone’s surprise, she actually came to see Venom: Let There Be Carnage but began hyperventilatin’ at the mention of an actual Michael Myers actor makin’ an appearance. Things only escalated after she parked, ’cause she so happen to stroll up to the theater the same time Tony arrived, meltin’ her into a fan girl puddle. Ever grateful, Tony gave her one of the most genuinely down to Earth greetin’s we’ve ever seen from a celebrity and was kind ‘nough to sign the dashboard of her horror-themed ride with Michael proudly displayed ‘cross the top of the windshield. Class act if we say so ourselves.

After ‘nother round of photos and autographs in the lobby, we finally made our way to the theater to host the QnA, and let us tell ya —- Tony’s a hoot of a storyteller! Now, some convention videos on the web wanna spin Tony’s brash stories into portrayals of him bashin’ on the horror genre, its fans, and especially the Halloween franchise, but that’s all out of context. Tony does knock these things, but ’cause he’s sharin’ his initial thoughts and feelin’s as a twenty somethin’ actor bein’ cast in a little obscure horror flick. He admits he thought it was all nonsense 40 plus years ago, but has since come to appreciate the movie(s) and its impact on fans worldwide who he now has a deeper respect and love for.   

So, after ’bout an hour of where-when-how he became involved in Halloween with reservations over wearin’ a mask in a non-speakin’ role for what he feared was a porno for a hot second (on account of a prominent jar of Vaseline that was actually used to prevent his hair from stickin’ to the inside of the mask), Tony gave his final heartfelt bow of the night and exited to a uproarious round of applause as the flick that brought him there began playin’ ‘cross the silver screen. It was a pretty memorable night, and we’ll be sharin’ video of it as soon as possible.

Even better, Tony teased at his involvement in the newest Myers flick, Halloween Kills, which most of us were pretty pumped ’bout this month. We say most, ’cause if you saw our latest Graphic Violence video reviewin’ every Halloween funny book ever published, then ya heard our rant on how dumb we think Laurie’s mission to kill Michael is now that they’re no longer related. We still had alotta respect fer the 2018 resequel, however, and was moderately anxious to see the latest installment in this revised timeline of the Halloween continuity. Already goin’ in with low expectations, no one could’ve prepared us fer the dumpster fire of a storyline we would witness!

HALLOWEEN KILLS (2021)

An immediate follow-up to Michael Myers’ newest mulligan timeline introduced in 2018’s Halloween, the infamous bogeyman remains at large and continues ruinin’ Halloween for everyone in Haddonfield with an indifferent murder spree that gains the attention of a town wide lynch mob led by survivors of Michael’s first holiday massacre in 1978. Easily one of my least favorite sequels ‘mong the Halloween movies, Halloween Kills is just a string of ridiculous moments that feels like some teenager’s attempt at fan fiction that’s neither fun or rewatchable. The dialogue’s wildly over the top and repetitive (“Evil dies tonight!), there’s way too many folks spillin’ a buncha needless exposition, most the characters returnin’ from the ’78 flick are shoehorned in as opposed to bein’ organically introduced with an actual role to play, there’s the stupidest case of mistaken identity that drags out waaay too long in the middle, and the biggest dick slap to the mug is the anti-claimatic endin’ the movie spends its whole runnin’ time buildin’ up to. Besides an impressive stand-in for Loomis in flashbacks and the funny scenes of the couple livin’ in the Myers house, the only positive thing I can say ‘about this farce is it absolutely delivers what the title promises, and that’s a non-stop gore-fest of brutal deaths that’s perfect for background horror at Halloween parties. Stabbin’ galore, vigilante justice, street pizzas, fatal freefall suicides, head smashin’ galore, home invadin’, carjackin’, house infernos, firefighter massacres, axes to the face, saws to the fact, lotta broken windows, impaled faces, keep away, turkey baster injections of courage, gushin’ neck wounds, gunshots to the chest, and panicked mobs! 3/5!

Thank Craven we at least had Chucky to save Halloween this year with his new show on Syfy/USA. That sucker’s a homerun in our opinion! The last couple of movies struggled to back off the laughs in favor of the fear inducin’ tension the first three Child’s Play flicks had, but this series perfectly strikes that delicate balance with dark nerve wrackin’ humor as well rounded characters are given meaningful deaths in contrast to Chucky’s laughable antics. If you recall our previous posts, we threw our hats in the ring to be one of the few lucky artists hired to animate show bumpers and design thumbnails fer the episodes, but we’ll be damned if any of that’s been seen anywhere yet. What’s up with that?

In other news, we got some Halloween goodies fer y’all! Below you’ll find our newest Halloween Eeeh-Cards! fer y’all to share with yer friends and frienemies, and we just released our latest horror celebrity interview with none other than Roger Jackson, the creepy voice of Ghostface from the Scream franchise! Roger was a riot to corner fer a conversation, and he really shows off what all his pipes can do fer our amusement. A voicebox dynamo all ’round, watch the vid and learn all ’bout his work in video games and yapp happy toys.  

And BIG UPDATE! Screaming Soup! is back on the con scene! That’s right, November 19-21, 2021, we can be found at Retro-Toy Con in Greenville, SC. Yessir, we’ll be lined up with the likes of Sgt. Slaughter, a buncha G.I.Joe voice actors, and the fella who played Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, all thanks to our amigos at Toy Federation! So, if ya ever wanted to meet an animated horror host, stop on by, and we’ll shoot the shit while makin’ art and takin’ pictures together. It’s sure to be alotta fun, so don’t miss out! More information HERE!

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!

See ya later, Scream Freaks!