THE THING Remake, er, Prequel News and Awesome Video

I've been trying to ignore the news that plans for a prequel to John Carpenter's THE THING are apparently full speed ahead. At least the folks behind it have the good sense not to try and simply remake one of the single greatest pieces of sci-fi/horror cinema.

Instead, they're angling to tell the story of what happened that made those Norwegian dudes get in their chopper and chase The Thing Pooch across Antarctica, though I'm alarmed by reports that director Matthijs Van Hejningen is pushing to make one of the leads the brother of Macready (Kurt Russell's character). It would have to be an older brother because once Mama and Papa Macready had a kid as cool as RJ they'd know it was time to stop. Why tamper with perfection?

Don't have the time to revel in the greatness of Carpenter's THE THING (itself a remake of a 1950s Howard Hawks thriller based on the story "Who Goes There?")? Check out this clip featuring the awesome music of Zombie Zombie and a streamlined version of the Carpenter classic. Thanks to ER co-founder Lou Goncey for the tip.

Romantics Sue Over Cover Version

Detroit rockers The Romantics have sued Activision over the use of a soundalike cover of "What I Like About You" in a version of Guitar Hero released earlier this year.

Arrive Hungry, Leave Stuffed

I've always been bummed that every other holiday seems to get its fair share of horror-based cinema, but Thanksgiving – maybe my favorite holiday since it revolves around family, food, football and drink (and not necessarily in that order) – has only had the obscure HOME SWEET HOME.

Could that all be changing? Director Eli Roth's spot-on faux trailer for the slasher-riffic THANKSGIVING was one of the many highlights of this year's GRINDHOUSE. While I'd rather Roth concentrate on making new stuff and leave the fake trailers and horror spoofs behind, I have to admit I'm amazed that THANKSGIVING seems to be taking on a life of its own.

According to a story at Slash Film, Hot Topic is now selling a poster and t-shirt for the non-existent flick and there's even talk of action figures (?!).

I Smell an ASTRONAUT!

Check out this great collection of TV commercials and trade spots for the Mego 'Planet of the Apes' line of action figures and playsets. I was – and still am – a HUGE POTA fan and had a bunch of these items as a kid. Love the narrative structure of some of these spots. And why do they give Cornelius/Galen a weapon in one of them? I thought chimpanzees were gentle thinkers, not like those damn gorillas!

So Many Possible Lawsuits

You've heard of The Justice League. You've heard of The Teen Titans. You've probably even heard of The Defenders and Avengers.

But there's one group of superheroes, cutting a path across all matter of pop culture iconography, that you probably have not heard of.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages... I bring you The Sense of Right Alliance!?

I couldn't help but take a picture of this spectacular knock-off superhero action figure set featuring: Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, Yellow Power-Ranger, The Thing and Johnny Storm. Wow, how many possible lawsuits can you find just in the artwork?

In all my years of knock-off toy appreciation this one ranks near the top with the blinking, sword-carrying Spider-Man that fell apart the moment it was exposed to fresh air and the phenomenal ROBO-COP bootleg action figure with hysterical packaging calling it ROBERT-COP (see image below that I found on a forum) that I found at the late, lamented Pennsauken Mart.


While we're on the subject here are some pages on Transformer knock-offs, a STAR WARS fortress knock-off available from Sears, even an on-line toy store with a whole page dedicated to knock-off items.