I was hesitant to pick up Fear Factory’s newest effort Mechanize. My first experience with them was their highly popular album Obsolete, which immediately made me a fan. Then I picked up Demanufacture, which is slightly more raw and brutal, also a fantastic album.

But then things went weird for the band. Creative differences began to show through on Digimortal, the followup to Obsolete. It wasn’t a great album, and the band seemed to be in limbo for a while. Madman guitarist Dino Cazares left the band after a falling-out with vocalist Burton C. Bell. Bassist Christian Olde Wolbers switched to guitar, Byron Stroud (from Strapping Young Lad) took over on bass, and Raymond Herrera remained on drums.

They released Archetype — which I love. A few years later came Transgression, which was lukewarm (although I’d still listen to that over Digimortal any day). I figured they were still growing with the rearranged lineup, although they were pulling away from the element of death metal and getting awful pop-sounding on some tracks (like that U2 cover?!).

Then they kind of wandered away from each other. Christian and Herrera began playing in Arkaea, and Burton decided to reform Fear Factory with Dino back on guitar, Gene Hoglan (from Strapping Young Lad) on drums, and Byron remaining on bass. Controversy abounds, and you can read all the (supposed) details on the Wikipedia page.

While I love Fear Factory, I became disinterested in them. All the bickering and problems kind of turned me off. I’m not fully convinced that I like Burton or Dino. I like the Strapping Young Lad guys, Christian and Raymond.

Which brings me back to my original statement: I was hesitant to pick up their February 2010 release, Mechanize.

And to be honest, this is about what you would expect from a Fear Factory album. Dino has come up with some really cool riffs, and the mega-robot-drummer Hoglan adds larger-than-life heaviness to the mix. Burton adds some welcome growls this time around, but his vocals aren’t anything you haven’t heard before. He maintains his ability to do death metal screams and melodic singing within the same song, which ain’t easy.

While this is an album I’ll probably listen to fairly regularly, it’s really nothing new in the realm of Fear Factory. At times I feel like I’m listening to Demanufacture or Obsolete. I’m fairly certain that the purpose of this album was to re-establish cred with an increasingly disillusioned fan base.

Innovation it isn’t. However, it’s an enjoyable album that FF fans will appreciate. Hopefully, Mechanize is a stepping stone to further growth and creativity in the band.

Rating: 7/10

I’m very proud to announce the release of Dark, a horror anthology. It features a short story, “Redemption,” by yours truly. And there are a lot of other authors in the book whom I’m honored to be alongside.

Order your copy from CreateSpace or Amazon, or check out the official web site.

This past weekend, my wife was away on an extended shopping journey. Not satisfied with any of my video game selections, I hurried to GameStop, bound and determined to pick up a game or two. After spending the better part of an hour going back and forth over the Xbox 360 and Wii games, I finally decided on two unlikely choices: Prototype and Ghostbusters.

Why? They were each $19.99.

The teenage guy behind the counter wasn’t impressed by what I was buying. “Something to keep you busy,” he dully remarked as he bagged them.

I knew neither of these games were big hits — they both received pretty lukewarm reviews. But something pulled me toward these games. Today, let me tell you about Prototype.

This is an amazing game. You’re an shapeshifting anti-hero given free reign in New York City. You can consume people and steal their memories and appearance. Your powers include super jumps, super strength, super speed, and a vast array of weapons (like the giant claws seen above). As you go through the city slaughtering the police and military, you earn more experience, which rewards you with more powers and stronger abilities.

Sure, there’s some kind of story that goes along with it. But it’s so much fun to terrorize the good citizens of New York, that I really don’t care about actually doing the missions. I’m not ignoring them completely — you have to complete missions to gain more abilities and powers — but I spend an enormous amount of time between missions bringing death and destruction to the city.

My only real complaint is that there’s not much variation in the scenery or the people throughout the city. The playable map is very large, but everything pretty much looks the same.

I love this game. It’s a steal right now for twenty bucks — go get it.

This year’s Cinema Wasteland just outside of Cleveland was the first one I’ve ever been to. I was really impressed with both the guests and the crowd — everyone was great.

A special thanks to Jason from SRS Cinema for really hooking me up this weekend! It was great to meet and hang out with him.

Kyra Schon was the first guest I talked to, and she was really nice. She was selling really cool, high-contrast Karen Cooper  posters, and I couldn’t resist picking one up.

Howard Sherman played my favorite zombie: Bub from Day of the Dead (1985). Great guy!

Ian McCulloch was the lead actor in Zombie (1979), and is completely astonished by the popularity of the movie. One thing that surprised me about Mr. McCulloch is that he told me he’s never seen any of Romero’s zombie movies — he said he just doesn’t have the desire to. He also told me that he met Romero recently, and Romero refuses to watch Zombie (or any of its sequels) because he thinks they’re all ripoffs of his work.

Al Cliver played Brian in Zombie. I learned some fascinating things from Mr. Cliver — namely that Brian’s voice in Zombie is not his. All his lines were overdubbed, and he doesn’t know who did them. Also, I asked him what it was like to work with Lucio Fulci. He responded, “He was a son of a bitch.” He explained that despite Fulci’s reported temperament, they became good friends and made many films together.

You know who Ottaviano Dell’Acqua is, whether you realize it or not. He’s the iconic Conquistador zombie that appears on the majority of Zombie materials (including my shirt). He was a really fun guy, and very energetic.

I also talked with Richard Johnson, who was really cool. For some reason I didn’t think to snap a picture with him. I love his first line in Zombie: “The boat can leave now. Tell the crew.”

Beatrice Ring played the lead role in Zombi 3 (1988), and is every bit as beautiful as she was when she made the movie. Zombie 3 is notorious for the nightmarish production it went through — Lucio Fulci directed most of it, but later on, Bruno Mattei stepped in to finish it at the insistence of the studio. I asked Beatrice about how crazy the process was, and she said that it wasn’t as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be. She worked with Fulci the whole time, and wasn’t even aware of Mattei’s part in it. “It happens all the time, in lots of movies,” she explained when she talked about reshoots and studios bringing in a different director to finish a film.

When I was at Horror Realm last fall, I somehow missed speaking with Jim Krut, the helicopter zombie from Dawn of the Dead (1978). So I made sure that I got to meet him this time around, and I’m glad I did. He’s very tall, and fun to talk to.

Gary Ugarek is the creator of Deadlands: The Rising and Deadlands 2: Trapped, and was there to support Jim Krut, who also starred in Deadlands 2. I ended up talking to Gary for a long time, and he’s a really down-to-earth guy.

This is the second time I’ve met Tom Savini. I’m a huge fan of his work, and he’s truly a master of what he does. Despite that, I haven’t been very impressed with him personally. Both times I’ve talked to him, he seems annoyed that I’m there — it’s like he doesn’t want to be there at all. Disappointing.

It was a blast hanging out with Tom Berdinski and the cast/crew from The Italian Zombie Movie. Tom is a good friend, and I was excited to meet him and others whose passion went into these unforgettable films. They truly know how to have a good time. And if you haven’t seen parts 1 and 2 of The Italian Zombie Movie, you’re definitely missing out on something special — so go buy it!

Speaking of good friends, here’s one that you’ll all know — Misfitboy. He’s every bit as cool as he comes across in his reviews, and I was honored to hang out and have a few drinks with him and Mrs. Misfitboy.

This double 8-string electric guitar made specially for Saw V is a thing of beauty. It belongs to Sonny Lombardozzi, whose shredding skills are inhuman. He’s a really cool guy, and now that I’ve checked out his music, I’m a huge fan! Find out more about Sonny at his web site.

I almost had my jugular ripped out.

What happens at Cinema Wasteland stays at Cinema Wasteland.

My first review ever was for a local access horror show about 6 years ago. It was called “The Death of the Drive-In’s.” When I watched the show one night I was shocked to find the two hosts were going to read my review on the air! It was about the drive-in era dying out like a plague sweeping across the country. Everywhere you went (in Ohio alone), For Sale signs were all over the once majestic, towering screens that used to show some of the greatest films of our time. One in particular was the Memphis drive-in, one of the most popular ones in Ohio. It was so popular that people tried to get a petition going to make it a historical site. It never happened. So the “drive-in plague,” as I refer to it, continues. And why, you may ask? Well, mostly because the use of the film costs money, and in order to turn a profit, drive-ins rely on concession stands besides ticket purchases. Today, with movies costing in the millions to make, the price goes up. A drive-in by me did a smart thing and charged $5 to bring your own food, generating a little more profit, which in turn keeps it running to this day.

Okay, enough history lessons — let’s get to the plot. By the way, the 3D version of Creature from the Black Lagoon is amazing if you can find it. It does have great underwater effects! A large explosion is seen as a narrator gives a short speech on earth. The film then shows a beach with strange footprints coming out of the water. The waves slowly wash over them, leaving the viewer the obvious question: what was it?

Meanwhile, scientists are digging into a wall of dirt and rock, uncovering an odd-looking skeletal hand. Later that night, two men are wakened in their tent by a monstrous shadow. The thing tears down the tent, slashes one man with a sharp claw, and kills both of them. The skeletal claw is sent to a lab so it can be determined what species it is from. Dr. Carl Maia, who discovered the hand, assembles a crew of scientists to find more fossils in the “black lagoon.” Among the crew are Dr. David Reed, Kay Laurence, Dr. Mark Williams and Dr. Edwin Thompson. They board the boat, the “Rita,” driven by Lucas, who tells them a tale of “gill-man,” a legendary creature who, millions of years ago, may have been a throwback to the human and amphibious race — a cross-breed, if you will. It is then we get our first glimpse of the creature, coming up from the lagoon to grab a large bird and pull it down to the deep lagoon.

It soon becomes apparent that the legend is real and two battles begin. One is for the capture of the creature for study purposes, or to let it stay in its natural environment. Second is the ever-famous battle for the love of a woman (Kay), which was common in these types of films. In a brilliant scene, Kay goes for a swim in the lagoon. The creature sees her and has never witnessed such beauty before, swimming inches away from her, slightly grazing her leg, wondering what she is. Kay panics and gets out of the water. The gill-man then begins his pursue of Kay by jumping onto the boat and causing chaos.

Eventually it is decided that the scientists will use rotenone (a drug that is used to capture fish). Then they put the creature in a cage, but unfortunately it doesn’t hold the beast for long. The creature breaks out and seriously injures Dr Thompson. Lucas thinks it’s time to leave the cursed lagoon, but cannot, because the creature has blocked off the only exit with giant logs. Williams decides to go underwater to try to remove the debris, but is confronted by the gill-man and is killed. Using the rotenone on the creature gives Dr. Reed enough time to remove the barricade created by the gill-man. Later that night, the gill-man comes on board, kidnapping Kay and taking her to his cave somewhere within the lagoon. Yes, its’ like King Kong underwater, but I’m fine with that! The rest of the team manages to find the gill-man’s subterranean lair, and after a brief fight the creature is shot and falls into the darkest depths of the lagoon.

This is without a doubt my favorite Universal monster film, and seeing it in the 3D form (the way it was introduced to American audiences) was amazing, especially the underwater shots! Ben Chapman, who played the creature, would have to hold his breath for over a minute in some scenes.

On a scale from 1-10, Creature from the Black Lagoon is a perfect 10! If you should happen to want to buy the movie, I would recommend the legacy collection. It comes with all three creature films, several documentaries, anda lot of other photos, trailers, etc. You can get it at Amazon.com for around $20 — a steal in my book.

Well, that’s it for this time around. Once again, thanks to Corey for allowing me to continue reviewing some of the drive-in classics! See you at the drive-ins! This is Misfit boy and I’m out!

I just spent some time at Niagara Falls, Canada. It was the perfect time of year to go: the weather was cool and comfortable, and very few other people roamed around. I was amazed at the number of head shops.

I learned something funny from the girl who worked at Burger King on Clifton Hill, the main tourist drag leading to the falls. This was the coolest Burger King I’ve ever been to — nothing special about the inside, but the outside featured a giant Frankenstein monster clutching a burger.

Since American dollars and Canadian dollars are so close in value right now, it’s not really worth doing the currency exchange thing. Every place we spent money at in Canada accepted American dollars, and gave change in Canadian dollars. The girl who helped us at Burger King was thrilled when I happily accepted Canadian dollars as change. She told us that Americans get upset all the time about having to accept Canadian money, calling it “fake” or “monopoly money.” She seemed genuinely offended at this.

What I took away from my trip to Canada is this: you gotta respect their cash.

Last night, I ended up reading a bunch of articles about the White Van Speaker Scam. It’s the one where a couple guys approach you about buying overstocked speakers from their van at a great price. They show you all kinds of brochures and magazines pricing their speakers in the thousands of dollars, and then see how much they can get out of you. The speakers are actually very poorly-made, and the guys have been hired to give this spiel to their targets as a way of selling inferior speakers. I have been approached by these shady people three times so far. The first time, I bought speakers from them. The other two times, things got weird.

1. The Sheetz parking lot, Kittanning, PA

This was probably around 1998. I was living in a very small apartment just across the alley from the Sheetz convenience store in Kittanning, PA. I was just getting something to eat there before I went to the bank to cash my paycheck. A young Asian guy came up to me and asked if I’d like to get some really awesome speakers for next to nothing. I checked them out; they were tall Dynalab speakers in impressive-looking packaging. He and the driver of the van showed me magazines that priced the speakers at $1299.

The warehouse overstocked his van, giving him 6 but only invoicing for 4, he said. He wanted to get rid of them before they got back to the warehouse, where they would have to return the speakers. So the Asian guy asked me for $600. I had nothing close to that amount of money available, going to college full-time and working part-time. All I could spare was $200, but only after I cashed my paycheck.

They agreed, giving me an invoice saying something about two speakers being paid for. They put the speakers in my trunk and followed me to the bank. I gave them the cash and split.

My plan was to sell the speakers and make a few bucks. I didn’t have Internet access at my place, so I went to my parents’ house and got online. I was unhappy to discover that Dynalab speakers were part of the White Van Speaker Scam. But I took out a free ad somewhere asking $600 for them. Never heard anything. I called the number on the invoice, which indicated that the company was based out of Export, PA. I got an answering machine, and I left a message, but never heard back.

So the speakers sat at my apartment for a couple weeks. One weekend, I had a bunch of people spend the night after my friend Tony’s wedding. One was a fraternity brother, and he was really interested in the speakers. He gave me cash down on them, and sent me the rest when he got back home. I made $100 bucks on them, and he kinda got screwed.

2. Parking lot at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania

This wasn’t long after the first encounter. I was commuting to the main campus of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and would often go back and forth to my car during the day. After my final class one day, a white van was prowling around the parking lot beside the football field where I had parked. When I neared, a man leaned out the passenger-side window — the Asian guy!

He asked if I wanted to look at some speakers, and I just shook my head and grinned. This pissed him off, and he scowled at me, flipping me off. I didn’t expect that! They drove away.

3. Millcreek Mall parking lot, Erie, PA

A couple years ago I came out of the mall and was about to get into my car. A white van pulled up to me, and a guy asked if I wanted to buy some speakers. Once again, I shook my head. “No,” I smiled.

When they drove away, I decided to take action. I followed their van in my car and called the police. I explained that I had been ripped off by guys like these, and that they approached me at the mall. The police said they wouldn’t do anything — basically blowing me off. The white van turned onto the interstate, and I just continued home.

What did I learn?

Why didn’t I think of this first?! Tricking people into buying crappy speakers out of a van for 2000% profit, with the blessing of the law enforcement. It’s amazing what people can get away with.