The College Crowd Digs Me

"It's an iconic line at this point.  People scream that to me still to this day." ~Courtney Gains ~ We've all seen the original  "Children Of The Corn."  (1984)  Many, like myself, watch it whenever it pops up on the TV.  The redheaded horror icon, Courtney Gains , is known to fans everywhere as Malachai ...one of the young leaders in charge of killing any adults who happen through their town.  Sure, it's a guilty pleasure, but what can you do except grab a box of Pepper Jack Cheez-itz, pull up a nice piece of chair, and give in to the quirky horror fun.  We'll soon be coming up on the 40th anniversary of "Children Of The Corn" and October is nearly in our pocket.  The perfect time to revisit the friendly kids from the cornfield. However, if you thought that Courtney Gains was merely a one-and-done actor, better think again.  Gains has been working in this medium for decades and has racked up nearly 150 film and television credits since ...

"People always go away... so they can forget where they were." Martin - (John Amplas) To have been cast in no less than six of legendary director George Romero films is a nice box of dripping, bloody chocolates.  A wonderful bouquet of dead flowers for the holiday season.  Each one a cult film lover's delight.  But it's for  George Romero's lesser-known, but critically acclaimed, vampiric curio “Martin” (1977) that actor John Amplas will forever be tagged and flagged. With an apple pie innocence and a disturbing out of rhythm naïveté,  John Amplas plays the confused and conflicted title character Martin with relish.  Is he really a bloodthirsty vampire...or just a vampire wannabe serial killing weirdo?  The film is labeled "horror" and blood is as blood does, but Romero changes the rules of what we have come to expect a vampire to be.  Babyfaced John Amplas walks a thin wire between Martin's deadly thirst for blood and the empathy h...

" They won't be coming back... but their message will reach us. "  ~ The Embarrassment ~ Once upon a time, in the unlikely trend-setting Midwest metropolis of Wichita, KS, local time-traveler, guitarist Bill Goffrier and 3 of his college buds (Brent Giessmann, Ron Klaus, John Nichols) formed a little group that many fans revere as..."the best band you never heard of"... The Embarrassment . The Embarrassment were one of the original DIY indie bands.  Making tapes in basements and makeshift studios while flooding mailboxes with music.  Leaving phone messages with record labels and getting their share of late night college radio airplay.  And putting in the usual roadwork, of course, playing their way across the country. But despite receiving great reviews from underground music mags and top-crop critics The Embarrassment could never quite swing that elusive BIG record deal.   But they absolutely made their mark. The Embarrassment ...