The Comic Critic's Review of Higanjima Escape from Vampire Island

Why? Why? Why do I keep watching truly horrible horror movies? I could be spending my time watching any of the thousands of decent movies out there – truly entertaining movies. I could be basking the glory of Oscar winning performances. Or learning something meaningful and relevant with a documentary. I could be laughing my head off with a quirky comedy. But, no. When given an option of choosing from all those genres I find myself selecting an unknown horror film of questionable vintage. I guess it’s because I truly love horror movies. My search for that fantastic scary movie continues. But in my search for a prince of a film I have kissed so many frogs – icky, toxic, slime covered frogs. Higanjima Escape from Vampire Island isn’t even a frog, it’s a big fat toad.

The Comic Critic's Movie Review of The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Released in 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has never left theaters and continues to be the longest-running movie of all time. Rocky Horror didn’t draw much attention on its initial release, but found a home in the Midnight Movie timeslot. There night owls, loners, and children of the freaking night discovered it and made it their own through spontaneous bursts of audience participation. It quickly gelled into an orchestrated script including audience props, costumes, and the occasional call to the Fire Marshall. Your Rocky Horror cred is based on your knowledge and skills of interaction. For each generation that discovers it, Rocky Horror becomes a rite of passage of movie culture. I loved it when my friends took me to my first show. And I love it now as it’s not something you can stream, download, or fully appreciate on DVD. The full, unvarnished joy of The Rocky Horror Picture Show can only be experienced in a sticky-floored theater—with a bag full of props and a collection of your wild-ass friends.--w ged because as it stood, the theater had the bag and the collection.

The Return of Stickman #1539

Every time I lose my train of thought, this is what pops up in my mind as a visual. There is a lot more detail. If you remember the train crash scene from the recent Lone Ranger movie - that's pretty much what I'm visualizing. I know I'm boring people when I find the train derailment more entertaining than the topic I was yabbering on about.

The Return of Stickman #1538

One of my favorite bits of the Johnny Carson Show was Carnac the Magnificent, where Johnny would put on a huge, over-sized turban and cape and be a soothsayer who provided answers to questions via envelopes. To me it was a variation of the kid's game "One of these things is not like the other" refined for adults. Sometimes I think I should do the Carnac bit with Stickman. But, it's always been a Johnny Carson bit and maybe it should stay that way. Anyway, now you know my thinking behind this strip as I was drawing it up.