Dino Drac After Dark

Scream Until You Like It!

I found this old music video hiding on a random tape, and oh God, it’s the besssssst:

From W.A.S.P., it’s Scream Until You Like It, aka the theme from Ghoulies II!

I was aware of the song and was probably at least subconsciously aware that it was a W.A.S.P. song, but I’d never seen the music video, and that’s the most important part. Aside from including random scenes from Ghoulies II, the movie’s creatures also appear with the band!

Totally amazing. I would’ve pegged Ghoulies II as being too “underground” to snag an official music video, but here’s this one, which actually got airplay on MTV!

Tonight’s survey:

Tell us about a music video you’re into, whether because it’s obscure-but-awesome or popular-yet-weird. (Include a link to it, if you can!)

Bonus points if your choice incorporates a character from a movie. Double bonus points if that character is also a monster.

Go on, give your fellow night owls something to new/old to watch/hear.

“Evil” Garbage Pail Kids!

Wow, this is a neat find, and it backs up all of the Garbage Pail Kids anecdotes I’ve been spewing online for the past 15 years.

In this 1986 CBS News segment, no less than Dan Rather himself introduced the world to Garbage Pail Kids.

CBS was careful not to be dramatically critical, but all of the important bullet points are here, including my favorite piece of GPK lore: The fact that many schools banned them outright, ostensibly to keep kids focused, but really because they were naughty cards.

(Well, naughty stickers. They were kind of both.)

Tonight’s survey:

Were you ever a trading card collector?

Which sets did you collect?

Share memories, in the comments!

(I could spend all day answering this one. I collected everything. For now I’ll just say that I never collected any set “harder” than the first series of Marvel Universe cards, which I still 100% credit for the early ’90s comic book boom.)

Arcade Playthroughs!

Here are complete playthroughs of two of my favorite arcade games, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons:

I think I preferred watching strangers play these games to playing them myself. Hiding out in dark, dank bowling alleys and movie theaters, they were like free cartoons. I’d stand there with a pizza slice and a Snapple and just soak it in. It was like the mini golf course version of a drive-in movie theater.

Tonight’s survey:

Name some of your favorite arcade games — from the mega titles that everyone knows to the more obscure games that just needed a little love.

Remember, arcade games only!

Spill it, in the comments.

1990 Commercials from Stephen King’s It!

It’s been many years since I’ve seen It, the 1990 TV miniseries based on Stephen King’s novel.

I distinctly remember watching It back in November of 1990. ABC spread the movie across two long nights. I guess nobody else in the house was interested, because I watched both parts on my tiny bedroom television, all alone. Given that I was around ten years old, It hit me pretty hard.

Aside from Curry’s amazing performance, the movie hasn’t aged well. Still, between It being a rare example of first-run “hard horror” on network television AND the movie being so stuffed with familiar TV actors, I’ll always have a soft spot for this mess.

The full movie is on YouTube, but only if you’re willing to pay for it. Instead, here’s a collection of the many television commercials that aired during It’s two day rule over ABC. At this point, they’re probably worth more to me than the movie!

Tonight’s survey:

Tim Curry is a treasure. Name your favorite Curry character, in the comments!

(And talk about the commercials, too. There are so many good ones in that batch!)