Tag Archives: Turkey Day Marathon

Proud to Call Them Friends…

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Unholy Three

Your host, Bryan Martinez, and S.A. Bradley

 

One of the great things about the horror genre is that you get to meet so many great people over the years. Most of my closest friends, I’ve met at a horror convention. And while it’s okay to be just a fan, there are a few of us out there that take it a step further. It seems in this big family of the horror community, we have a lot of talent swirling around in there and we need to keep supporting each other to help keep that passion alive and thriving. In today’s world, it might be the one thing that keeps us from snapping! So I wanted to take the time to throw out a couple of links and information about a couple of friends.

The first one is Bryan Martinez, producer of the infamous Giallo Room, as well as being the writer/director of the short film Gelato Giallo. In all that free time that he has after keeping the good Baron (host of The Giallo Room) out of trouble, and watching Ninja 3: The Domination, he works on other little projects like this new short film, entitled My Friend Lisa. It is a short film adapted from a series of disturbing drawings by a little girl who has befriended an imaginary friend. However, the drawings have since been discovered to be a hoax. Or have they?

Just check out the teaser below.

 

If there is one thing that I wished I had more time to spend on, it would be podcasts. I have quite a few friends that do a podcast on a variety of different topics, from Hammer Films, Paul Naschy, classic horror, and much more. But my buddy S.A. Bradley has been creating one hell of a buzz with his podcast Hellbent for Horror, which we have probably mentioned here before. His podcasts are so much more than just a guy rambling on for 30 minutes, but are well written, very well articulated, has some great stories, and really, when it comes down to it, does a stellar job helping to promote the horror genre.

On one of his recent episodes, he discusses when he actually flew out there to my hometown to participate in our annual Turkey Day in May event. Crazy as it seems, yes, but he did just that. And I think he might have had a little bit of fun while here. But he gives a great explanation of what “Turkey Day” is for us, and why we love it so much. So check out the link below and I think you’ll be hooked. I mean, if Guillermo del Toro thinks these are pretty good, he just might be on to something!

Attack of the Killer Turkeys Episode

hellbent for horror

Turkey Day in May 2017 – The “Best Of”

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bloodfreak1

For our third year of doing our newer T-Day event in May, I decided to do something a little different. Since there have been quite a few movies screened over the last fourteen years, I know there were more than a few that some of the other participates had missed. So we decided to do a Best Of this time out. I sent out the list of all the movies that had been screen previously, and had everyone pick three titles they’d like to see in the lineup.  There were six films that got more than one vote, so we went with those. I know we usually try to get through seven titles, but this year was a little different and a little more relaxed.

Turkey Day in May 2017

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Turkey Day 2016

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On the Friday after Thanksgiving, just like we have for the last thirteen years, instead of fighting the crowds at the stores, a group of us have gathered together to fight another battle…the Turkey! It is beyond me how this event became just that…an actual EVENT, one that everyone seems to look forward to each and every year. But somehow it has. When you have a group of like-minded movie lovers getting together to not just watch, but really experience some cinema, that at their best are third and fourth class citizens, and we just have a blast. At this year’s T-Day, our crew consisted of a bunch of the usual suspects, and one new victim! Of course, Aaron Christensen was there, never having missed one since he started coming in 2005. Joe Wallace, who started popping in and out around 2010, was here again, bringing his girlfriend Sharon Gissy alone for the ride. Jason Coffman first came in 2011 and has made everyone since then. Brian Fukala started coming in 2012, and I think only has missed one event since then. Mr. Martinez made his T-Day debut last May, doubting the whole point to this event, but was soon absorbed into the collective! Matt Harding makes his return for his second appearance and Tim Palace came for his very first experience. Will he survive?

t-day-2016-group

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Turkey Day in May 2016

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Not sure what happend to make me get this report posted, but here it is, better late than never. In was in May of last year when we started to have our 2nd Turkey Day event, appropriately called Turkey Day in May. Basically we realized that there was just too much turkey for a single event. So Turkey Day in May began. And this last May, we continue that tradition, with a fine gathering of like-minded (sometimes called crazy) film enthusiasts to test our will and spirits against some of cinemas lesser quality films. But, while some of these films might not rate high on anybody’s grading system, we were all entertained by these titles. So while some of these might not be too high on anyone’s grading scale, we had a lot of fun with it.

TDiM2016 Group.jpg

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Turkey Day 2015

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Welcome to our 13th Turkey Day Marathon, where a growing number of crazy cinephiles gather together to feast on what we like to call turkeys. These are the ones that while they tried hard to make a good film, just missed the mark. Of course, that doesn’t mean we’re not going to be entertained by them. We were…and then some.

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Time of the Turkey

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turkeydayYes, it is that time again. Time to celebrate the Turkey. Although, regulars of this site know that I’m not speaking of the poor fowl that will be devoured in mass today, but that of the other kind, the films that some might call a cinematic Titanic. Yes, I speak of the Turkey! The kind of film that only the dedicated and die-hard film fans will not only sit through, but even stranger, will be entertained by it. Because as we all know, described best by author Stephen Thrower (which I agree wholeheartedly), “the only bad movie is a boring one.” There are plenty of movies that have a low IMDB rating that I find wildly amusing. Ones that make me wonder how they ever were financed, produced, directed, edited, and even more amazing…actually released to the theaters! But it happened, time and time again. Obviously they must have made some sort of impact with their audiences because we are still talking about them today! Films like The Giant Claw, Plan Nine from Outer Space, Blood Freak, The Creeping Terror, Monster Dog, and so many more.

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Turkey Day Approaches

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Turkeyday2015Now that Halloween is over, there is something even scarier lurking on the horizon. Something so horrible, that it is rumored to rip the will to live right from your soul. No, I’m not talking about the Christmas shopping season, but Turkey Day! For the last 12 years, on the day after Thanksgiving, while many are out there fighting one another for to save a few $$ for the upcoming commercial holiday, a few of us brave souls take on something even more terrifying…the Cinematic Turkey! But this is one feast where gluttony is not only approved, but mandatory!

Each year now, we have traversed through an array of cinematic shipwrecks, usually getting through seven features, that most would shake their hand at and not waste their time. But for us, we revel in these miss-fires of film making, at least for the day. Continue reading →

Turkey Day in May

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IMG_9413As most of you know, since 2003, I have been holding an annual event on Black Friday in November that I call Turkey Day, where a group of die hard film fans partake in some of the finest in cinematic shipwrecks, all the while being entertained as a bunch of giddie school girls. Well, most of the time. My list of titles that I gather throughout the year keeps getting longer, which is not a bad thing. But a few weeks ago, I was talking to my friend and regular Turkey Day co-pilot, about getting some people together for a movie day. During that conversation that I mentioned about having so many potential titles already on my Turkey Day list. Aaron then threw out, “Why don’t we have another Turkey Day?” The minute that audio hit my brain, the wheels started turning. This was the early part of May when this conversation happened and it hit me that this was six months since our last Turkey Day. So then…Turkey Day in May was born! I quickly sent out a few calls to some friends and set the day for May 16th. My wife wasn’t going to be home most of the day, so the usual feasting on homemade pizzas was going to have to be replaced with some handy delivery pizza. Nowhere near as good as what we usually get, but it was suffice.

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And the Award for Worst Interview Ever Goes to…

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satansbladeblurayLast weekend, I had the pleasure of viewing the blu-ray release of Satan’s Blade, from producer/co-writer/director/actor L. Scott Castillo Jr. Followers of the Krypt all know about my annual Turkey Day Marathons that I hold every November. Well…I decided to do an impromptu event and hold the First Annual Turkey Day in May event! Yeah, it was kind of last minute, but I already had a plentiful list of titles for the next Turkey Day, I didn’t see a problem with doubling the fun during the year! Some of the usual suspects were there and I’ll have a full report posted at some point this month.

But this rant is really about the 1984 film Satan’s Blade. Actually, not about the movie itself, but one of the extras on this new blu-ray. There is an interview with director Castillo on the disc. Honestly…it is kind of hard to say it is in an interview with the director does 99% of the talking, while the poor woman interview is looking into the camera with the definite “shoot me now” look. Of course, that is when you can SEE her on camera. Let me explain. I’m not sure who they had working the camera, but when compared to the likes of Ed Wood or Ray Dennis Steckler, those guys should have been multiple Oscar winners for cinematography.

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Turkey Day 2014

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t-day2014 003For our 12th Annual Turkey Day Marathon, we had a record number of 13 crazy movie fans that came out this year to celebrate this crazy tradition that I started back in 2003. We had both regulars and a few T-day virgins this year, but I’m sure those will even be back next year. We got through another 7 movies this time, which I think is becoming the standard now. Plus, I think this event really showed what Turkey Day is all about. Yes, it is about watching and enjoying movies that your normal movie scholars would turn their nose up in disgust, but it is much more and this year really put the spotlight on those reasons. Besides the movies, it is about community. It is about a group of individuals of all ages, assembled together to watch some enjoyable ‘bad’ movies. The laughing going on throughout the day showed that we all had that same connection when it comes to these kind of movies and knew that it really is about having a good time with them with other like-minded film fans. Hearing the roars of laughter coming from everyone throughout the day reminded me of this each and every time, as well as the looks of “what did I just see?” that make these events so enjoyable.

This year our T-Day regulars that made it were Joe Wallace, Jason Coffman, Neil Calderone, Brian Fukula, Craig Clark, and Aaron Christensen, who was making this his 10th year coming. Putrid himself, Matt Carr made a glorious return after his last appearance back in 2009. Our T-Day Virgins were Sharon Gissy, and my son’s Nick’s friends Austin Robinson, Max Nolan & Charlie Morrison. Nick was there as well, when he wasn’t helping his mother in the kitchen creating one of the 17 pizzas we devoured throughout the day, which included breakfast pizzas, veggie pizzas, crab rangoon pizza, a spaghetti & meatball pizza (affectionately named the Drunken Billy) and a chili dog pizza, which was my favorite of the day. Major kudos as usual going out to my wife Dawn who created all of these (with Nick’s help) and always kept us wondering what was going to be next. It wouldn’t be a T-Day event without her and the glorious food that she creates for us. Okay…lets get to the movies!

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