Great Horror Movie Villains

The 80's cultivated a lot of horror movies. Popular culture powerhouses were defining a genre for today's avacado toast generation and we were too close to see. Freddy was coming to get you if you fell asleep. If you had plans to promiscuously camp near a lake, you might want to stop living your best life for a few days. Want to petition Halloween to be on the last Saturday of October instead of the 31st? You would need to survive the pursuit of an impossibly whiter Captain Kirk.

These were the unholy trinity. Sure, there have been other greats that have spawned many sequels like Scream and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but the original three made it fun to see a horror movie. Freddy was the talkative one. So much so that he was able to get DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince to write an unauthorized song about his antics, be sued by New Line and subsequently "lose" their copies of the music video. Do yourself a favor and watch the music video that was recently unearthed. It's fantastic. 

I still remember Jake Bunts coming to my house when that song released. It was at the time that Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff were at the peak of their music careers. Jake had a cassette with the single, "Nightmare on My Street." My dad wouldn't let me near something that could possibly terrify my fragile child mind, but he was in the backyard and we were perfectly cognizant of that fact.

Jake saw his moment and went for it. He quickly dropped the cassette into the boom box in the garage and turned it up to a less than reasonable volume, considering the circumstances. The song immediately painted a picture so vivid in my mind of how this whole Nightmare on Elm Street series worked, that I can still remember most of that thought process today. I hadn't even seen any of the movies yet, only caught glimpses of my parents watching it on a VHS they rented from local favorite, Video Shark. Regardless, there was no way I was going to get a good night's sleep for at least the next month. 

 

This all leads me to something I found in a boutique shop. It's a book called Great Horror Movie Villains Paper Dolls by Erin A. Ellis. It feels like something that was made in the 80's because these days it is rare to see something with psychopathic killers marketed towards young kids. I mean, Aliens, Predator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day action figures were massively successful (by today's standards) R-rated movie toys, but that's not something I've seen attempted since. This is why I say it feels like something from another era. 

The art is definitely on point in here. I don't want to spoil too much from the book, but I snapped some shots to give you an idea of what you'd be buying. 

Freddy and Nancy are some of my favorites. The book even lists the actors names at the bottom of the dolls. 

We even get a nice little throwback to bag head Jason. The attention to detail is outstanding! 

Last but not least, a peek at Mr. Halloween himself. Although I found this in a boutique store, I was able to find it on Amazon. Enjoy the season folks. It's just getting started. 

Ecto Cooler

I never thought I would see the day that as an adult I would be drinking Ecto Cooler again. I tried to prepare myself once it was announced, but the marketing was so good with the advent of social media. 

I mean, just look at this! We are in a time where we can easily interact with the company producing the green nectar. It only took me stalking every Cinemark in the valley for the better half of a week, but it finally paid off!!

      So cool to see this in the theater! 

          $3.25 a can is SO worth it!

 I don't remember it being this green, but I love it!!

 I remember riding around on my Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Big Wheel, slimmer horn and all with a box of Ecto Cooler in tow. 

My random RGB intro ghost stickers were peeling off the front wheel and there was a few toys shoved into the holes that the adjustable seat could be moved into, but I didn't care. I was in heaven. Now instead of drinking a 6oz juice box full of the good stuff on said Big Wheel, I get an 11.5 oz can sans Slimer in my 2007 Toyota Yaris Sport ( it has a spoiler so I can go... faster?) But none the less, that first sip took me back to those days of wheeling around the sidewalks, watching The Real Ghostbusters cartoon in the afternoon, drinking Ecto Cooler and ending the night at Hardees to get a Ghostbusters II Sound FX keychain and Slimer Sunday. (None of the sounds were actually from Ghostbusters, but it had a sweet sticker!)

       https://youtu.be/CSE0Nh5D9Fc

Going to have to find some of these on eBay. 

Comment below with your Ecto Cooler/Ghostbusters memories!

Halloween Crunch

Picture this: It's 1980 something. You wake up Saturday morning and immediately turn on the tv. You flip through your basic channels because Cartoon Network hasn't been invented yet. And there it is... You've found it. Your favorite cartoon to wake up to. As you settle in you hear, "After these messages.... We'll be riiiight back!" in a singsong jingle. 

You notice your not alone. Something is just as cranky as your mom and dad would be if they were to awake at this hour: your stomach. You need to get something to eat during this commercial break. You've got your classics; Trix, Lucky Charms, Frosted Flakes. But what if we had this: 

Halloween Crunch! Oh how much better our Saturday morning would have been. I seriously wish I could time travel and give the younger version of myself a box of this on an early October morning, along with the replica Mattel Hoverboard I finally own, but I digress.  The Cap'n and his team finally got rid of the Soggies and turned it up to 11. 

The box art is nothing short of amazing with our favorite cereal scourge of the seas now donning ghost captain garb. They even we're kind enough to throw in some reading material on the back, for those mornings where there was nothing on tv and your attention span was too short to keep flipping through the channels only to find Rambo: First Blood playing on Fox again. 

So, you've seen the box. If you don't buy it based on this alone, you've probably looked in the corner and noticed that last piece of text that makes you shout to your legal guardian, "WE HAVE TO GET THIS!" 

You're sold! This is what really got me. Normally, as an adult, I don't care what color my milk turns. I'll usually just drink it. This time, it called for me to pull out my phone to document it as my significant other looked at me and realized her life had reached a new low. 

Not 100% accurate for a glow in the dark color, but it was close enough. It tastes just like regular Cap'n Crunch, if you care. The fact that it does something different than the normal pink berry color was enough to get me excited. My wife, not so much. So there you have it. Halloween Crunch. And a 1080p picture of greenish milk.

Let me know if you tried this stuff in the comments. Tell me about your favorite Saturday morning rituals. As sad as it sounds, I'd honestly love to hear them. 

- Kid Ecto