Tuesday, October 6, 2015

The Ultimate Horror Movie: Arbor Day

Real horror-heads watch scary films all year 'round, 666 days a year-- and I've been seeing a lot of people doing a so-called "31 Days of Horror" or whatever where they watch a horror movie every single day throughout the entire month of October. So okay fine, but still, no matter what you watch, nothing will compare to the Jack Davis holiday themed, murder massacre-piece, "Arbor Day" from the Dec. '81 issue of Mad #227. If this one doesn't kill you (or make you laugh), you're DEFINITELY already dead. (FYI: yes I know I've been posting stuff here that I originally posted at THOIA, I'm getting caught up scanning TONS of stuff for later this month-- so gimme a break!!!)









6 comments:

JMR777 said...

For those of us who have to do things outside of the internet (called jobs or responsibilities or LIFE) we are more than willing to give you a break and cut you some slack.

I'm just glad you post as much as you do, it is much appreciated. Some bloggers shut down for a few months or even a few years so wise posters know better than to rock the boat or complain, thanks for all your postings, they are appreciated!


Getting back to the movie 'Arbor Day' I enjoy the humor more now as an adult than I would have as a kid back then. Maybe it took a while for me to catch on to the jokes, I was never the smartest kid growing up.

If Arbor Day were made into a real movie, I doubt the plot or story would differ all that much.

Mr. Cavin said...

It's always a great time to revisit Jack Davis stuff--and this one has always been a special fave of mine. Pretty sure I was the biggest MAD fan in my household, so this would probably have turned up in our house due to my ten-year-old's allowance.

As for theme movies: I am definitely watching one each day, all October long. But Halloween viewing isn't necessarily horror for me. I'd never find myself watching the kind of slashers Davis is skewering here, not for this holiday at least. I prefer fun seasonal supernatural thrillers to realistic grim murder-fests. This year I am mostly (but not exclusively) concentrating on candy-colored late-eighties horror, with all the Miami Vice clothes and big hair and keytar soundtracks. I don't own much of this stuff because I think most of it isn't very good; but being back in the states means I can rent. The mood is funky and nostalgic (it's the stuff I watched when I was celebrating Halloween as a kid), and I'm enjoying it--no matter how bad the movies themselves are.

Craftypants Carol said...

i love the chick with the rollers and the other chick with the fuzzy slippers!

mr. cavin have you watched the new series Scream Queens? it just started on Fox - i watch the pilot and there might be another episode out already - but you can watch it on Hulu and it's pretty good. it's campy and funny and slightly gory (very PG as far as I'm concerned) and has a lot of 80s action.

Mr. Cavin said...

I haven't. My style is usually to wait and check out whole seasons at once when it arrives on DVD. That's a habit I got into when I lived in a place that had terrible bandwidth. It's not as necessary anymore, but I still haven't done much experimenting with streaming. Sounds like a neat show.

I am checking out PENNY DREADFUL finally. We are on the third episode of season one right now. So far it's pretty fun (and very much the kind of thing I dig for October).

Mr. Karswell said...

I recommend Scream Queens as well, very very fun show... I'm actually really enjoying MTV's SCREAM series as well

Craftypants Carol said...

thanks for reminding me about Penny Dreadful, Mr. C. i totally forgot about that and i heard it was pretty good.

i haven't heard of the MTV Scream series though