retro toy con | Screaming Soup!

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!

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!

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 THANKSGIVING 2021!

24 Nov 2021 Leave a comment

by screamingsoup in Uncategorized Tags: 1, 2021, afterlife, animated, cartoon, comic, cowboy, Deadwest, facebook, ghostbusters, horror, horrorhound, host, joe bob briggs, LAST DRIVE-IN, monster, movie, retro toy con, review, screaming, Screaming Soup!, sgt slaughter, shrunk 3d, silver bolo award, skeleton, soup, thanksgiving, toy federation, twitter, youtube

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! It’s that sappy time o’ year ‘gain when folks reflect on everythin’ worth reminiscin’ ’bout and what better place to vent our tear jerkin’ thanks than here with y’all?

Most recent stuff first, we’re super thankful to the fine fellas at our favorite toy chest of yesteryear and today’s playful plastics, Toy Federation, and had an incredible time at their momentous event this past weekend, Retro Toy Con. It was a full weekend cuttin’ up with ol’ friends, networkin’ with new talents, and meetin’ excited Scream Freaks in person.

We drew doodles of fans with their favorite pop icons from Michael Myers to G.I. Joe, haggled fer a buncha new wall art to hang at the Howl Inn Grub & Spirits, and had fun makin’ joke announcements over the intercom like requestin’ Sgt. Slaughter move his Sherman tank ‘fore it’s towed for bein’ double parked. The most memorable moments, however, had to be the accidental encounters we had sittin’ down with the celebrity guests over lunches. We got to shoot the breeze with Sgt. Slaughter fer a bite while talkin’ ’bout his amazin’ career from cameos on Super Mario Bros. Super Show to bein’ a He-Man figure this past year, then later found ourselves discussin’ the value of takin’ an actin’ class over pizza with Dan Gilvezan (voice of the original Transformers’ Bumblebee and Spider-Man from Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends) and François Chau (Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze). Freakin’ awesome!

One truly amazin’ thing we saw that could be a new trend on the horizon for cons is a mobile service that turns folks into their own action figure size statues! Yup, a little company called Shrunk 3D hauls a trailer ’round the country containin’ this sophisticated camera booth, and when someone steps inside, it instantly snaps every visible nook and cranny of their essence. Feedin’ that info into a super computer, the photos are then crunched into a 3D image over the next few weeks that’s eventually spit out of a 3D printer in uber detail, colors and all, and shipped back to its life-size doppelganger. Jumpin’ jack-o-lanterns, that’s cool as hell! With six different size figures to choose from, we so badly wanted to create our first ever Deadwest figure but ultimately decided our miniature lifelike double would come out a little too fragile and misshapen compared to the sweet hand sculpted look we imagine in our heads. Still though, a fantastic idea fer anyone who ever wants to immortalize themselves in plastic, so look this travelin’ business up in time fer the holidays!

We’re also thankful ‘gain fer the Silver Bolo Award we received from Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder’s The Last Drive-In. The announcement was made back in April this year durin’ the premier of The Last Drive-In‘s third season, but we just now got the silver painted bolo and certificate in the mail which was just as excitin’! We value this win so much, we made a copy of the certificate to show off at Retro Toy Con and proudly wore the Silver Bolo from our necks for all to see over the weekend. It’s now a permanent accessory with our attire!

Somethin’ else we’re thankful fer is the new Ghostbusters flick not suckin’ and stickin’ with the canon of the first two movies which would have made up fer a lot of the problems we had with the 2016 version. Granted, we still had issues with the filmmakers recyclin’ the whole Gozer storyline, but it was still a fun and satisfyin’ return to a childhood favorite of ours.

GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (2021)

Ditchin’ the Ghostbusters decades ago, Egon passes away on a dirt farm and leaves his inheritance to his grand young’ns he haunts into continin’ his fight as junior Ghostbusters’ gainst Gozer’s apocalyptic return. A fantastic sequel in spirit that keeps within the canon of the first two Ghostbuster flicks, this amazin’ lookin’ film boasts heartfelt actin’, stellar effects, one of the best scores since Back to the Future, and the triumphant return of the original paranormal eliminators I know and love for one brief moment. My only gripes with this sucker is I wish the filmmakers had come up with a whole new big bad to threaten the world ‘stead of recyclin’ Gozer and all his/her predictable plot points. I also didn’t like how quickly the story rushes to the final fight with Gozer as soon as the young’ns encounter their first free floatin’ booger, and the inclusion of Ivo Shandor was cool but pretty pointless overall. Spook chasin’, RC car ghost traps, spirit photography, possessions, spectral comets, ghost traps galore, CGI Egon, ghost chess, hidey hole puzzles, proton stream crossin’, slammer sequences, metal munchin’ boogers, terror dogs, mini-Marshmallow Men antics, Real Ghostbuster toy nods, soul pits, and ancient ruins! 4/5!

And finally, we’re thankful fer everyone who gave our show an opportunity this past year. We’re thankful fer Mr. Lobo, Sluggo, and Uncle Pete fer sharin’ it on their platforms. Thankful fer the fine folks at HorrorHound Magazine fer includin’ us as guest hosts at their virtual film festival. And most importantly, thankful to all you Scream Freaks fer watchin’ our show and sharin’ it with whoever would listen. All this has helped the show grow and fuel the creative fires fer us to continue doin’ what we love.

Other than that, please show your support fer 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!

SCREAMING AT HALLOWEEN 2021!

29 Oct 2021 Leave a comment

by screamingsoup in Uncategorized Tags: 1, 1978, 2018, 2021, animated, card, cartoon, child's play, chucky, comic, cowboy, Deadwest, e-card, ecard, facebook, halloween, horror, host, interview, kills, michael myers, monster, movie, original, retro toy con, review, roger jackson, scream, screaming, Screaming Soup!, skeleton, soup, tony moran, toy federation, twitter, youtube

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!