The Bloody Pumpkin is a Lie

Ever hear about that scene in Halloween where they find a bloody pumpkin with a knife sticking out of it? I used to hear about it all the time. That and how Michael Myers was based on a real guy. I'll get to the 'real guy' thing later, but for now I kind of want to chat bloody pumpkins and the Halloweens they weren't in. It's the weirdest urban legend as I never see anyone talk about it online. The Jason using a chainsaw thing? Yeah, I still see that occasionally. Bloody pumpkin? As offline as the official Bloody Pumpkin MySpace profile I planned on making in 2005.

It wasn't even that long ago my mom said it when I mentioned looking forward to the new Halloween (wait, that was 2018... ) and she said the original was 'so scary with that big knife sticking out of that pumpkin'. Clearly, it's folks mentally combining imagery. Maybe just a little excited playground exaggeration from the one kid who's parents let him stay up and watch it.

See the commercial up above? It's an old school homemade spot for a local stations airing of Halloween 2. Homemade commercials used to be pretty common back in the day. Did you uh... notice Michael? Somebody got creative to make him look 'badass'. Making monsters look badass is a staple of Halloween and teenagers really into Ozzy Osbourne. Named Chet.

I think it's from some of these type of commercials where folks get that bloody pumpkin imagery. A bloody pumpkin with a knife sticking out of it isn't exactly rare at Halloween. I know I've seen one or two in the past. I've even poured fake blood over a pumpkin myself. Why not? Make it look badass.

Originally Posted 8/13/2020

Mortal Kombat!!!! (you have to yell it)

I've talked about that college job at Office Max here before. I took advantage of the copy center to make an enlarged diagram of all the special moves in Mortal Kombat Trilogy. It came in handy.

Psychic in a Psycho World.

 

Sometimes a great game will get swept under the rugs of history. Considering how many great games come and go without a sequel, that's not really a surprise. However sometimes the great game might have been seen at one time as something special, so when it doesn't get a sequel and or gets ignored by history... well, it's a little sad. Psycho/Psychic World is one of those games. In those older days of video game magazines, it was one of those games that was clearly one of the more cool ones to be into. Originally released as Psycho World for the MSX2, it was later ported to the Sega Master System and Game Gear as Psychic World. 

I've mentioned before how many game magazines made micro computers like the MSX2 seem like a whole different level of hip. That's probably got to do with the entire vibe. Games like Valis or the MSX2 versions of NES games often got that treatment. Psycho World was in that camp. The MSX2 version was a more robust game than the SEGA version for reasons I cannot understand. Those systems have pulled off some great conversions. I'm not a developer though, so what do I know? I've never played the original, only the SEGA ones, and I think those are pretty great. The SMS game definitely has more watered down graphics, however on Game Gear they were redrawn to fit the smaller display better. Personally, I think it's the better looking of the three.

The game takes place in the year 19XX. Dr Knavik and his twin sister assistants study ESP and it's uses. One day there was an explosion and Cecile had disappeared. Lucia, the remaining sister, is told that experiments with ESP had been performed on monsters. Those monsters now had rebelled and taken Cecile. Lucia is sent to rescue her and defeat the monsters armed with the ESP Booster, which gives her the ability to use psychic powers. Game play consists of action platforming with plenty of running and jumping. Those psychic powers are used as various weapons which are collected along the way. These weapons also serve as abilities to help Lucia get through each level's challenges. 

I've seen some random criticism that the game is a Megaman rip off. I've never felt that way personally, but the graphics are a little similar. The Game Gear version more so than the others. It's a game firmly of it's era without a doubt and the story is definitely from it's time. As a kid, it seemed much more serious than it does as an adult who rolls his eyes at the idea of an employee cleaning up her bosses mistakes. Regardless, it's still a fun game with a cool setting. Perhaps some of those memories of how much cooler those old game magazines would make it seem as compared to others are still lingering. You won't hear much about this game anymore, aside from various play through and the odd blogger (cough). That's a shame, it's pretty great.

Make mine Mini part 2

 

I'm just now getting around to talking about this even though it was announced a few days ago. Partially because I was holding out for more info before I started talking about it. SEGA announced the Mega Drive Mini 2, following up the Genesis/Mega Drive Mini in 2019. It's not just in name either. A whole new line up of games including SEGA CD titles and the console is based on the Mega Drive/Genesis 2 version. This is super cool, I had assumed the Mini was a one and done type of deal. There's even a Mega Drive 2 CD add on kit as well! Right now they've only announced a Japanese release date, the more info I was hoping for would be a US release. Which thankfully was announced a few days ago as well, but I had initially missed. 

Super Bowser Bros.

 

Video games are a weird thing sometimes. What may look like a throw away character might be a complete rabbit hole of it's own. Case in point: Bowser's Brother. Whats that? You didn't know Bowser has a brother? He does depending on the source. Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan is a different game. It's essentially a harder version of the original game for 'advanced players'. Released here as 'The Lost Levels', Super Mario Bros. 2 is a VERY HARD GAME. One such challenge is 'fake' Bowsers popping up in locations for a quick boss fight. However hitting these 'fake' Bowsers results in minor villain appearing as he dies. That's because it's a fake, get it? 

However in worlds 8-4 and 9-3 you'll meet a blue Bowser who doesn't revert into a minor Koopa minion. Why is this one different? According to some manuals and guides, that was Bowser's Brother. Does he have a name? So far no, Bowser's Brother is all we have to go by. Maybe he's Kerog. He does have a fake version of himself in level D-4 like his brother. Bowser's Brother also appears in All Night Nippon Super Mario Bro's (a special limited release) and in the upgraded Super Mario Bros. game in Super Mario Bros. All-Stars. Though he's green instead of blue there and depending on the source either a fake Bowser or Bowser's Brother. The blue coloration is often used in various Mario games as an alternative color set for Bowser, and it looks great. It's just not as interesting as a character who only exists depending on who you ask.

Bios: Lio Convoy

"The balance of nature must be preserved by an unceasing battle for survival."

As far back as his memory records extend, Lio Convoy has been entrusted by the Builders with protection of equilibrium in the ecosystem over which he presides. However, Lio Convoy's understanding is that if either the Maximals or Predacons were to achieve superiority over their enemies, the inevitable result would be an imbalance leading to the downfall of their society. He interprets the brutality of war as nothing more than natural selection at work.

Lio Convoy is never seen without his Typhoon Staff, which was presented to him by the Builders as a symbol of his authority. It continually emits a hypnotic pulse that paralyses any bioorganic Transformer within a 1 km radius. Unbeknownst to Lio Convoy, the same pulse exerts a limiting effect on his internal Energon Matrix, restricting a power the extent of which even the Builders fail to fully grasp...

Bios: Gigastorm

 

Function: Grand Duke of Destruction

 

This is Megastorm's new form, powered up under the influence of evil Angolmois energy. He transforms in three stages, from destroying dinosaur to monolithic base to attack fortress. His audacious offensives, making use of his tremendous power, force the Cybertrons into tight spots again and again. He is on the verge of no longer considering Galvatron his older brother, and the danger of a split in the camp now looms large. The Gigahorn on his head is harder than diamond, and can pierce through all manner of things.

Ghosts Love Hardee's

Hardee's used to be a place people liked to eat at. Now they're generally located by an off ramp with a 'under new management' sign up every few months. I can't tell if it's abandoned or just a Hardee's. Regardless of it's current state, they had a Ghostbusters 2 promotion in the summer of 1989. It's Ghostbusters Day (as I'm writing this) and a great time to talk about that.

I ain't 'fraid of no ghost. 

But I'm terrified to eat at my local Hardee's.

I've actually talked a little about the Ghostbusters 2 promotion here before. I wanted to talk about it again. Because I like Ghostbusters and am a sucker for fast food promotions. This one in particular had a ton of neat stuff. There was collectible cups which were large sized plastic cups proudly displaying the movies logo. At the time large plastic fountain drink cups were not a common sight, so it felt a lot more special than it was. Such a thing would generally be reused a few times before being repurposed as a pencil holder on your desk.

Then there was the Slimer Sundaes. It wasn't much in hindsight, a cup of vanilla soft serve with some green slime syrup. But 30 years later I'm still thinking about it. There was the Ghost Blasters. I specifically talked about them in that prior post. My Dad hated them. The coolest though, was the kids meal. Your food would be served in a plastic box shaped like an Ecto-1, a Gigameter, or one of two ghosts (Slimer or purple guy). Kid's meal containers shaped like things was a Hardee's specialty. They'd come with stickers for customizing. It was a pretty good time that I'd love to do even today. Like right now.

There was also posters for the movie available. Just in case all the Ghostbusters 2 signage around the restaurant wasn't enough, you could take more home and hang it on your bedroom door. The posters had attached coupons for return visits. Which maybe if you did, you would have gotten one of the plastic lunch boxes. I never saw these myself, but maybe you did. With Ghostbusters Afterlife coming soon (I swear if there's another delay) I can only hope for a burger place with a promotion as cool as the one Hardee's had.

Trick Or Treating With Michael Myers

While the bag of Chucky capsule toys was pretty great, the best of NECA's surprise offerings is the Halloween II bag. Not only because Michael Myers is better than Chucky, but also because they made a better set of treats. Literally the perfect bunch of prizes for Halloween. As it should. It's the name of the fucking movie.

This bag is specifically themed after Halloween II from 1981. Considering the 2018 film reset everything after the 1978 movie, it's nice to see the original sequel get some love. It may not be the most critically praised film of all time... but movies people actually like never are. 

As much as I love the original movie, it never quite feels like it takes place on Halloween. Despite a few looks at kids in costume, it could be on any day. They captured that feel of the spooky season much more in all the sequels and I've always really loved them for that. 

The capsules are orange and black again, but this time with the Halloween II logo molded on them. I can't tell you just how much I appreciate that. It's just a little thing, but they could have just did a sticker or nothing at all. Mold toolings are expensive, considering the two different capsule logos when they could have just been plain is impressive. Inside each capsule is an individually wrapped prize.

I got shoelaces, a lanyard, a magnet, an eraser, a pin, a keychain,a patch, and two mini masks. The masks and the patch are the most awesome. Most of the stuff has a general Halloween/Michael Myers theme. The eraser has the Halloween II logo, but the patch takes it a step further. It's the patch an employee of the Hadonfield Memorial Hospital would wear on their uniform. Super cool way to go a little more in depth of the bags theme. But the mini masks? Those are the absolute best part of the whole set.

There's Michael's mask perfectly recreated and the skull Silver Shamrock mask from part III. Despite the set being themed after part II, they threw in a little love for good old Season of the Witch. The little masks are REALLY great considering they're tiny plastic toys based on 40 year old movie props. 

The skull mask looks just like the Don Post mask used in part III. It's hollow, has eye holes, and even the little slit on the back that most masks have so you can fit it over your head. The Michael mask though was the best. The same real mask touches as the skull, but they NAILED they was it looks. 

NAILED IT. 

WITH A HAMMER.

For those who may not know and for those who just like hearing things they already know, I'll go over the history of the Michael Myers mask. When they were making the original movie, the crew had a hard time finding the perfect Halloween. Eventually they took a William Shatner mask, altered it a little and spray painted it white. Voila, scary boogie man mask. 

Nick Castle (The Last Starfighter Nick Castle) played Michael in the original movie (among others) and pretty much just shoved the mask in his back pocket when not wearing it. Afterwards, Debra Hill threw the thing under her bed after filming. There it stayed until the production of part II in which they used it again.

Now after years of being in a heavy smokers house and the rough handling during the first movie it was a little worse for wear. Not to mention, it fit differently on Dick Warlock. That's why it looks a little different in the movie. They captured the way it looks in part II perfectly.

A little more trivia, if you watch part 4, you'll notice a scene in the school where the mask looks weird. They gave Dick Warlock the mask after making part II and recreated it for part 4 with a few new William Shatner masks. Somebody grabbed a non altered one when they filmed that scene and the crew didn't care enough to fix the mistake. Hollywood magic.

 

Ghost Toast

I watch this thing all year. I love it so. This or the 80's edition (that I also post a million times a year) would get shown to my class every year at Halloween. They'd roll in the projector and make sure us damn fool kids didn't do anything crazy Halloween night. Or get ourselves killed.

I don't think there really was much fear of any actual harm. Well, we were all afraid of a razor blade stuck in something. That was the only real worry most of us had. Parents usually checked the candy and threw out anything shady or unwrapped. But you never know.

One guy in my neighborhood always gave out donut holes. As in he had a box from Dunkin Donuts and would just throw a few in your bag. Now there's just random powdered sugar on everything. Dammit. Fortunately, I avoided the razor blades. A kid in one of the other classes had to go to the emergency room. That's what everybody said.

Be careful out there guys.

You just never know.

The Bloody Pumpkin Is A Lie

Ever hear about that scene in Halloween where they find a bloody pumpkin with a knife sticking out of it? I used to hear about it all the time. That and how Michael Myers was based on a real guy. I'll get to the 'real guy' thing later, but for now I kind of want to chat bloody pumpkins and the Halloweens they weren't in. It's the weirdest urban legend as I never see anyone talk about it online. The Jason using a chainsaw thing? Yeah, I still see that occasionally. Bloody pumpkin? As offline as the official Bloody Pumpkin MySpace profile I planned on making in 2005.

It wasn't even that long ago my mom said it when I mentioned looking forward to the new Halloween (wait, that was 2018... ) and she said the original was 'so scary with that big knife sticking out of that pumpkin'. Clearly it's folks mentally combining imagery. Maybe just a little excited playground exaggeration from the one kid who's parents let him stay up and watch it mixed in.

See the commercial up above? It's an old school homemade spot for a local stations airing of Halloween 2. Homemade commercials used to be pretty common back in the day. Did you uh... notice Michael? Somebody got creative to make him look 'badass'. Making monsters look badass is a staple of Halloween and teenagers really into Ozzy Osbourne. Named Chet.

I think it's from some of these type of commercials where folks get that bloody pumpkin imagery. A bloody pumpkin with a knife sticking out of it isn't exactly rare at Halloween. I know I've seen one or two in the past. I've even poured fake blood over a pumpkin myself. Why not? Make it look badass.

Five Not Alive

Ghostbusters, juice boxes, Ecto Cooler. Tale as old as time. Though for some reason Coca-Cola tied Five Alive to Ghostbusters 2 promotional output. I'd like to assume it had to do with the bag of sugar in every sip of Ecto Cooler... but seeing as they sold the stuff for years after... probably just an attempt to rub some ghost magic on a different brand. Spooky shit sells, it's a fact.

What's selling me in this commercial isn't the juice drink. Actually I don't even remember what Five Alive even tastes like. Crap? What does get me wanting some of this Ghostbusters tie in drank is those holograms. Look at them, they're majestic.

I'd probably buy guacamole if it had holograms on the container and for the record, I hate guacamole. Kinda amazed I spelled it right though. From what I've gathered, this was a Canadian promotion, so I wonder if Canadian movie theaters sell juice boxes? Or allow kids to bring in outside juice boxes? I can't imagine watching a movie in a theater without the aquarium sized soda or icee they normally sell for a mortgage payment.

Ted From Friday The 13th Part 2 Went On To Live A Normal Life

It's Friday the 13th! If you're superstitious, this is a very unlucky day! If you're at summer camp, you're probably gonna get murdered. Though for the rest of the world, it's a little mini-Halloween that randomly pops up during the year! There's probably a horror marathon or two on TV tonight. A bunch of Jason Vorhees memes getting shared on Facebook. Just a little spooky fun inserted into your routine. Did I say a mini-Halloween? You're damn right I'm running with it.

Friday the 13th part 2 is probably one of the better entries in the series. As a direct sequel to the original movie, it continues the story and keeps the same general vibe. It takes what made the original good and adds to it. One of the more cool aspects of this part is... several counselors live. I know, I know, but here me out. Jason (whom is somehow alive now because I guess) is killing attendees of a counselor training camp being held across the lake from the now closed Camp Blood Crystal Lake.

The camp has quite a few attendees as during the time summer camps were big business. So, the head honcho takes the group out for a night of fun before the hard work begins. Well, he takes out those who want to go out that is. The rest stay at camp and that's where the bulk of the murder happens. Aside from said head honcho and main girl who return to face Jason, the rest just stay and don't get killed horribly. One survivor is camp prankster Ted... who you pretty much wanted to see die.

Now, what happened to the survivors after? Well, they got off pretty lucky. Not only did they survive, but they didn't have the ordeal whatsoever. They just found out what happened the next day. Horrible sure, but you don't go Laurie Strode crazy after finding out some people you just met died while you were at Applebee's. Wait... Laurie Strode... mini-Halloween?

What we have here is a Halmark Halloween commercial from the late 80's. I'd give an exact year, but they reused it for awhile. This version with an added spooky sounds tape bit added on is from 1989, which is like eight years after the movie took place. I chose the picture above of Ted to help you all out, but if you didn't notice at around :25 there he is rocking a 'this is my costume' shirt. Not only did Ted survive getting killed in a slasher movie, but he chose to wear one of those shirts on Halloween. Because, he's funny, get it?

Golden Axe 2

Waiting for the SEGA Genesis Mini is

KILLING ME!

Switch Online June 2019 games

Double Dragon 2 The Revenge

This is the exact moment when shit got real.

Switch Online February Games

Two solid choices, wonder what/if the special saves will be?

GI JOE Street Fighter 2 commercial

It's been over 20 years since this happened and I'm still excited.

Street Fighter Toyata C-HR commercial

So, I really like this commercial. I probably don't have to explain why, I didn't want a C-HR enough already... good job.

Insert Coins

Takara is just baiting me at this point.