Brett's Worthless Tat #4: Movie Stickers and Tats

A few more bits and pieces of worthless movie stuff unearthed from my collection:

Brett's Horror Movie Books #5: My Alien/Aliens collection

Had a root around in my book collection and dug out these treasures that were published when the films first came out...

Brett's Worthless Tat #3: Batman Promotional Catalogue 1989

Here we have a foldout catalogue depicting some of the crappy merchandise available when Tim Burton's Batman flick was about to hit the cinemas way back in '89. I picked this up (during a visit to the States, where I was lucky enough to catch a preview screening of the film with a couple of hundred other bat-fans) because it was a free keepsake. I wasn't actually going to shell out my hard earned cash for any promotional bat-tat, although the rhinestone jacket does look mighty tempting—a bargain at only $499.95 (which is probably a couple of grand in today's money).

Click the pics to check out the catalogue in detail—and be sure to look out for A Nightmare On Elm Street's Heather Langenkamp sporting some natty batty cycle gear.

Unlikely Stuff I've Found At The Local Car Boot Sale #2: Kill Bill 1 & 2 Japanese Releases

Those who have seen both the International and Japanese versions of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol.1 will no doubt have noticed the glaring differences between the two releases, the most obvious being the Crazy 88s fight scene which, in the cut destined for Western audiences, was presented in black and white. The Japanese DVD, however, was in full colour, making it the obvious choice for discerning fans of extreme cinematic violence, the blood from the numerous severed limbs and fatal wounds splashing across the screen in glorious fountains of crimson.

The fact that the UK got the watered down version stopped me from purchasing the film and its sequel on DVD (well, that and the prohibitive price of the Asian alternative), so imagine my joy when, at the local car-boot sale, I found the Japanese versions of both Kill Bill 1 and 2 for just a pound each. The menus are in Japanese, which makes it tricky to select the English soundtrack, but the effort is worth it, Tarantino's work looking so much better in vivid colour throughout.

Brett's Comic Collectables #2: 2000AD Prog 265 — with free gift!

Prog 265 of Britain's greatest ever comic came with a free pack of Bubblicious bubble gum. While most kids would have happily chewed and blown bubbles while reading the comic, I left my gum untouched. 32 years later and I still have the packet of gum with the comic; can't imagine I'd get very good bubbles from it now though, so there it stays...

Brett's Comic Collectables #1: Warrior Issue No. 1 — Signed by artists and writers.

I've had this copy of Warrior Issue No.1 bagged up and boxed ever since I bought it in the mid-'80s when I also got it signed by a good handful of its creators, including the legendary Alan Moore of Watchmen and V for Vendetta fame. It's in great nick and actually might be worth a bob or two (if anyone has an idea how much, please leave a comment—I'm no good at valuing my comics).

Brett's Movie Magazines #1: Film Weekly, March 10th 1933

I came by this issue of Film Weekly as part of a pile of vintage magazines given to me by my mother-in-law, Christmas 2012. I found all of them extremely fascinating (especially the old adverts), but for a lifelong fan of monster movies such as I, this particular magazine was easily the cream of the crop.

Why? The clue is in the date and the headline on the cover—'New "Shudder" from Hollywood'. What was the biggest and scariest thing to come out of Tinseltown that year? King Kong, of course!

Unlikely Stuff I've Found In The Local Charity Shops #1: Cool DVDs and Decent Music.

With little chance of getting to the car boot this weekend, I thought I'd hit the local charity shops instead, and was over the moon to find some real treasures going for a song...

Brett's Worthless Tat #2/Unlikely Stuff I've Found At The Local Car Boot Sale #2: Amy from Congo

Check out this adorable cuddly toy based on the loveable 'talking' gorilla Amy from the 1995 action adventure film Congo—surely one of the bestselling toys of the year.

Not quite….

Brett's Horror Movie Books #4: The Official Splatter Movie Guide Volumes I and II by John McCarty

Here we have two volumes from John McCarty celebrating precisely the kind of lowbrow trash I specialise in: splatter movies i.e. films in which the blood doesn't so much flow as gush uncontrollably. The covers say it all: Volume One (1989) shows a hand holding a bloody butchers knife while the copy exclaims 'more than 400 of the goriest, grossest, most outrageous movies ever made, and Volume Two (1992) depicts a gore spattered electric drill and promises hundreds more movies.

Unlikely Stuff I've Found At The Local Car Boot Sale #1

The local weekly car boot sale proves a great place to buy cheap movies on DVD; the only problem is that, on most occasions, it is the more popular titles on offer—big budget blockbusters that hold little appeal for a fan of obscure cult oddities like myself. Every now and then, though, a good rummage through the most unlikely of stalls reveals some real gems.

Like today, for example...

Brett's Horror Movie Books #3: The Deep Red Horror Handbook

Edited by the late, great Chas Balun, The Deep Red Horror Handbook is one of those books that just keeps on giving: 25 years after it's publication I still find myself returning to its essays and referring to its reviews thanks to the expansive knowledge and sheer enthusiasm of its contributors.

Brett's Horror Movie Books #2: Video Trash & Treasures Volumes I & II

Presenting two more of my dog-eared movie reference books—Video Trash & Treasures I & II by L.A. Morse (1989/1990)—each packed with more than enough horror titles to appeal to the serious scary movie fan, as well as musings on a wide variety of trash cinema.

Brett's Horror Movie Books #1: The Aurum Encyclopedia of Horror

With the recent publication of horror reference book Hidden Horror—which I had a hand in writing—I thought it would be a good time to take a look back at some of the horror reference books that have served me well over the years, starting with this indispensable and monumental guide: The Aurum Encyclopedia of Horror, edited by Phil Hardy.

Brett's Worthless Tat #1: Old concert tickets

While rummaging around for some insurance documents the other day I discovered a small plastic bag containing old concert/gig/festival tickets, most hailing from a time before I even had insurance documents. Looking at them brought back some great memories of drunken nights moshing, head-banging, stage-diving and crowd-surfing; even though I'm now way too old for that sort of energetic (and potentially crippling) malarkey, finding the tickets has made me vow to try and see some more bands now that my kids are at the age where they can appreciate good live music (I took Thora to see Green Day at Reading Festival last year and she had a blast!).

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory The New Musical — Drury Lane, London, 2nd Jan 2014

I'm not a big theatre-goer: the last time I went was way back in 2001 when my wife was too ill to attend the West End production of My Fair Lady—a 30th birthday treat from her parents—and I took her place. It was OK, I suppose… y'know, for a musical.

Hidden Horror: the great new horror reference book written by the fans, for the fans.

I'm going to kick off the NEW year and this NEW(ish) blog by pimping the excellent NEW horror film reference book Hidden Horror: A Celebration of 101 Underrated and Overlooked Fright Flicks.

Edited by Aaron Christensen, this compilation of reviews, by both professional writers and enthusiastic and very talented amateurs, highlights 101 movies which may have been missed by some horror movie fans. My involvement was with the cover and a piece on the amazingly gory fish/man mutant classic Humanoids From The Deep. If you're looking for a cool reference book on some lesser known flicks, this is definitely the way to go. Take a look for yourself at Amazon.co.uk

Alternatively, check out Aaron's previous book, Horror 101: The A-List of Horror Films and Monster Movies
for which I also designed the cover and wrote a review.