POP! New Japan Pro-Wrestling – Kenny Omega

Jim Cornette has previously noted that he would prefer wrestling to go back to its territory days, but I feel like he doesn’t understand that it already has – just on a far bigger scale than anyone could have anticipated. Thanks to the internet and the rise of streaming, WWE no longer has a monopoly over wrestling product in a given market. Sure, they’re far and away the most dominant company, but there are viable alternatives in a way that simply didn’t exist when I was a teenager growing up in suburban NSW.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (or Shin Nihon Puroresu if you want to be that person) are one of the biggest alternatives out there. In operation since the early 70s, a number of WWE stars past and present have actually spent some of their formative years with them – Finn Bálor, Tommaso Ciampa, Daniel Bryan, A.J. Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura, to name just a few of the current crop. Yet they’re far more than a simple feeder organisation; for fans who love wrestling as an entertainment form but are burnt out on the WWE’s oft-simplistic approach, they offer something genuinely different. And if you pay close attention, you might see a few wrestling trends take hold before they’re exported to the world.  

Today we’re talking about one of NJPW’s current biggest stars – Kenny Omega. Love him or hate him, Omega has helped establish a model of success for a wrestler outside of the WWE. Admired worldwide for his distinctive look, clever character work and athleticism in the ring, he’s achieved a level of mainstream recognition that would once have been unthinkable for a non-WWE star. There are many others more qualified than me to give you a career overview, but his Wikipedia page is a good a place as any to start with.

In years past, this might have meant that he got an action figure. But in 2018, it means that he’s one of the first NJPW wrestlers to be transformed into a POP. However, he’s not the first. While Kenny’s box is marked as “1”, the Young Bucks 2-pack actually beat him to the shelves several months ago.

I guess the pose is meant to be a rough approximation of his in-ring gun pose, while not being totally overt. It works well enough, and it helps him stand out on the shelf among my host of other wrestling POPs. The outfit is a good look too; I can find a photo of Kenny in this outfit, but I’m not actually familiar enough with his wider career to pinpoint when this was. If you know, feel free to sound off in the comments. Last but not least, given that his distinctive curly hair wouldn’t necessarily translate well to the POP format, I think Funko have hit a good compromise with this braided look.

It’s not perfect, of course. There are some points where the paintwork could be a little better – particularly around the hairline – and the gluing could be a little less obvious, but it’s easily on-par with any of the WWE figures. My main complaint is more to do with scale.

While POPs have never been the benchmark for scale accuracy, Kenny appears to be slightly smaller than his fellow wrestling brethren. Kenny is billed as around 6’ in real life, while Finn Bálor is billed as slightly shorter – but would you guess that to look at this picture?

Granted, some of this is likely due to the initial waves of WWE POPs being released during a period when the style was considerably more cartoony than it tends to be today. Even the newer releases have preserved that aesthetic. But it irks nonetheless; anyone buying Kenny is more than likely doing it to include alongside a bunch of other wrestling POPs who now look disproportionately large. It’s not enough to suggest not buying it, but it’s annoying. Still, Kenny has quite a variety of looks, and it’s entirely possible we’ll see more of them released in future. Perhaps one of them will rectify the issue.

Back in the real world, there are serious questions as to whether Kenny will eventually make his way to the WWE. For myself, I’m kind of indifferent. I’m sure some great matches would come out of it but I can’t help but feel that the rigid nature of WWE’s creative system would probably curtail his best traits. Speaking to Singapore’s Business Times in November this year, Omega noted:  

“I am sort of very much a part of representing an alternative. If my motivation was money, I would already be in the WWE. I was down on the current product and I wanted to create a style and have matches that my friends, my family and other athletes could watch and enjoy. There's a certain kind of wrestling fan that will only like a certain style. They think that's the right way and that's okay but I'm not trying to impress those people. Those people are already kind of set in their ways. I'm trying to open the world to a different style, what pro-wrestling has the potential to be."

The rumours will likely continue for the foreseeable future – but in the meantime, you can still have your dream matches in POP! form. Scale issues aside, Kenny Omega is a great start for the line, which will hopefully actually include some Japanese wrestlers soon too.

Lupine Podcast Club

Podcasts are still a relatively new venture for me. I mean, back in 2011 I guest-starred on one that was associated with a now-defunct website I was writing for. But until 2016, I didn’t pay very much attention. The time and commitment involved just seemed like too much, and I didn’t want to filter through all the crap to find the good stuff.

Still, around that time I had a number of recommendations from friends, and I thought it was time to dip my toe in. Since then it’s been quite the voyage of discovery – so while I don’t want to be that guy who’s always telling you to check out podcasts, you might enjoy some of these if you like this site.

I Don’t Even Own a Television

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably spent your share of time watching or reading about bad movies, maybe even listening to a podcast or two on the subject. That’s fun and all – but what if there was an equivalent for bad books?

Well, I Don’t Even Own a Television – or IDEOTV for short – steps up to fill that void in your life. J. Williams Friedman and Chris Collision take you on a journey through some of the best and worst trashy books on the market. I’ll freely admit that I am not a particularly fussy reader; I certainly don’t always agree with their takes, and I’ve personally enjoyed a bunch of the books featured. But both J and Chris are very funny and very easy to listen to, and you do also hear about some interesting books that you might not otherwise have come across.  

Oh No, Ross & Carrie!

As I’ve noted in some of my posts about reading, I collect old books about the paranormal and the unexplained. But in day-to-day life, I tend to think things need to be viewed a little more sceptically. And this is where Ross & Carrie step in. Ross & Carrie are both former evangelical Christians who are no longer members of the faith but have retained a fascination with unusual beliefs. In their own words:

Welcome to Oh No, Ross and Carrie!, the show where we don’t just report on fringe science, spirituality, and claims of the paranormal, but take part ourselves. Follow us as we join religions, undergo alternative treatments, seek out the paranormal, and always find the humor in life’s biggest mysteries. We show up - so you don’t have to.

In a stark contrast to many other pieces of skeptical media, they largely avoid a snarky or condescending tone. They’ve been doing this in one form or another since 2011, covering just about every fringe topic you could think of – and yes, they have done Scientology. 

DEATH // SENTENCE

The second book-related podcast on here. Do you like extreme metal, leftist politics, reading and crude humour? I sure as h*ck do. DEATH // SENTENCE is the most recent entry to my regular listening, and indeed it seems to be a fairly new podcast, apparently having debuted earlier this year. Hosted by a British guy named Gareth and avant-garde writer Langdon Hickman, they’re two very well-read guys who cover a lot of interesting ground. 

Shelf Life – A Collector’s Podcast

As you might have guessed from looking at this site over the years, I like collecting toys quite a bit – so it’s only natural that I’d be pushing a podcast about toys on here.

Adam and Blake take you through the wild, whacky world of collecting, along with all the fun and frustration that comes along with it. The show’s been running since last year, and it’s really hit its stride. Highly recommended, and both great about interacting with their fans on Twitter too.

How2Wrestling

Irish comedian/wrestling tragic Kefin Mahon and his life partner Jo Graham talk through the basics of wrestling fandom. I came across Kefin through an episode of the previously mentioned IDEOTV podcast, and subsequently discovered he had been podcasting across a few different shows for years.  

Kefin and Jo do a fantastic job of making the oft-impenetrable world of professional wrestling accessible to the wider public. If you’ve ever thought about checking it out but weren’t sure where to start, I can wholeheartedly recommend How2Wrestling a fantastic way to kick things off. There’s also a great, welcoming Facebook group that’s grown as an offshoot of the podcast too – Team Friendship.

New true crime piece at We Are The Mutants

As regular readers may know, I write the occasional piece over at We Are The Mutants. Well, another one went up this week -- I tackle true crime for the very first time, with a look at the sinister history of murderabilia. John Wayne Gacy's artwork features prominently, so depending on your workplace, you may find it a little NSFW. You can read it here.

You can see other guest articles I've written for various sites here, too. 

I got interviewed!

As some of you are aware, I released my debut novella Lost Tunnels back in June. So the other day I sat down with the Australasian Horror Writer’s Association (of which I'm a member) for a bit of a chat about it.

You can see the whole thing here.

POP! WWE - Shawn Michaels (Wrestlemania XII)

Long time between drinks, eh? Life has been a bit chaotic the last few weeks, in part because I’m transitioning into a new role at my day job. Fun fun fun! But here we are again today. Hopefully things will be back to a more regular schedule shortly, but of course we’ll have to wait and see.

Shawn Michaels was one of my favourite wrestlers as a teen, but I have no real memory of how that happened. I was pretty indifferent to D-Generation X, so I can only assume I saw him pull off an impressive match on an old VHS or something. Given the limited access we had to WWE TV product in Australia back in the late 90s, it may have even have been as simple as seeing a photo of him and being impressed by his look.

His flamboyant in-ring work and outfits helped endear him to multiple generations of wrestling fans, both as a member of tag team The Rockers, as a solo star and then part of D-Generation X. A good relationship with management helped keep him in the limelight throughout his long career, but these days he works behind the scenes as a trainer. Now there are plenty of stories about his backstage shenanigans – and of course, the Montreal Screwjob is always going to loom large in his legacy – but the man’s talent can’t be denied. He’s one of the absolute best to ever step in a ring, and was one of the few wrestlers who was lucky enough to go out on a high. 

We did already get a Shawn Michaels POP, a year or so ago. It wasn’t bad, but it also just kind of looks like a dude with long hair and flamboyant pants. This particular figure is quite a bit more distinctive; it’s based on Michaels’ entry gear for Wrestlemania XII. He ziplined to the arena, and it looked amazing! You can watch it here, if you’re so inclined.  

In POP form, it isn’t quite as spectacular as the real thing. There’s a bunch of sculpted detail to capture all the intricate elements of the real outfit, but many of them remain unpainted, which is a bit of a shame. The prototype -- pictured above -- had quite a bit more coverage.

Perhaps the biggest issue though is that the face doesn’t really capture Shawn Michaels' likeness. He’s a very distinctive-looking guy, but at the time he didn’t have facial hair – so it’s tougher to capture his likeness in the limitations of the POP format, in comparison to say, Mick Foley.

Still, the white and silver outfit is quite unique among the WWE POPs yet produced, and it certainly stands out on the shelf. So Shawn Michaels is a good, if not quite great POP. I feel like the definitive one may still be to come, further down the line.

Don’t forget, you can stay in touch with me via the following means:

Twitter – @lupinebookclub

Facebook – www.facebook.com/lupinebookclub

You can also buy my horror e-book, Lost Tunnels, here  

Lupine Record Club: Immortal - Northern Chaos Gods

Here we are in 2018, with a new Immortal album! Northern Chaos Gods comes a staggering 9 years after their last release, with subsequent years caught up in a mix of touring, legal battles and of course, the departure of frontman Abbath. It’s not an issue that I necessarily want to dwell on, but it is something that’s kind of inherent to discussing this album. It's tempting to use language like “Black Metal Fleetwood Mac” but I feel that would be kind of lazy and also insulting to people on all sides of the argument.

***

The splintering of Immortal upset me quite a lot when it happened. I was making a tentative return to metal after a couple of years off, and there had been rumblings of a new album after the solid but not spectacular All Shall Fall. Abbath and Demonaz still seemed like an unshakeable duo, coming across as a favourite wrestling tag team in more ways than one. But obviously not all was well…and, well, I don’t run a gossip rag here, but let’s just say that accusations got thrown around from all parties involved.  

I actually met Abbath in late 2015, when he was visiting Australia to promote his then-upcoming first album. I was lucky enough to be by the stage door as he was finishing up soundcheck. He was very kind; he accepted my compliments graciously and took time to take several photos with an overweight 30-year old starstruck fan who was trying to find his place in the world again. It was a small gesture, but one that has stuck with me in the years since. So it’s fair to say that I would like a reunion of a more classic line-up, but who knows whether that will happen or not in the future?

Regardless, the dust has now settled and the various legal issues appear to have been resolved; Abbath has pumped out one album and has a second in the works, while Immortal have regrouped as the duo of Demonaz and Horgh.  Northern Chaos Gods has been a long time coming, but was it worth the wait?

***

I decided to be fairly extravagant for Northern Chaos Gods – I picked it up on LP, opting for the white with black splatter vinyl (only 500 released, folks!). I had reasonable faith it would be a high-quality product, if not life-changing.  

The sound harkens back to a pre-At the Heart of Winter Immortal, though the engineering and production is more in line with Sons of Northern Darkness – not surprising, given that Peter Tägtgren is behind the decks again and also filling in on bass. Lyrically, it’s exactly what you’d expect. Blashyrkh and Ravendark feature prominently. Immortal’s lyrics have always had the qualities of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign sourcebook filtered through the Norwegian landscape, which is very much one of the reasons I enjoy them so much.

Now I can’t say I was hugely shocked by any of this; Demonaz was the guitarist of Immortal for years before Abbath and remained the lyricist even after departing from active musical duties. In 2011 he also released a solo album, March of the Norse, which definitely shared some auditory similarities with his main band – this should have been a clue, if nothing else.

Yet while it blasts in all the right places, is incredibly and is loaded with the Immortal tropes we’ve come to know and love over the years, I can’t help but feel that there’s a certain X factor missing. The easy answer is to point to Abbath’s absence, but I don’t necessarily think that’s true; one need only look to All Shall Fall to see that his presence is not a guarantee of excellence.

Perhaps it’s more to do with the way the genre has evolved over the years. In the decades since what we now call black metal was developed, it’s taken on a huge myriad of forms far beyond what Venom, Celtic Frost, Celtic Frost and their fellow pioneers could have imagined. Today, staunch retro traditionalists exist alongside the avant-garde – often on the same concert billing – all competing for the listener’s attention. Northern Chaos Gods’ production marks it as a modern product, but in many ways it could have stepped straight out of the mid-90s.

***  

Immortal are, and will likely remain, polarising. Their willingness to embrace the inherent silliness of the black metal aesthetic – if not always knowingly – sours many who consider themselves more trve and kvlt. Yet their lack of involvement in the far-right politics or illegal activities of many of their fellow Norwegians has meant that they’ve also been embraced by many who might have never dipped their toes into black metal otherwise. Whether or not you feel that is a good thing is largely irrelevant at this stage, because that Viking longship sailed literal decades ago. *EDIT* And just to be very clear, I do not think those activities were good. Nor am I in favour of gatekeeping. 

In many ways Immortal were in a no-win situation for this album. Release an album similar to older material and be accused of trading on past glories; deviate from the formula and alienate the core fanbase. Ultimately, my suspicions about Northern Chaos Gods were proven correct. It is a high-quality product, though not life-changing – it’s unlikely to win new fans, but I suspect the band themselves aren’t too worried about that at this point. Perhaps more importantly, it sets a promising precedent for further material from the “new” Immortal.

POP! Movies – The Pale Man (Pan’s Laybrinth)

I had pretty mixed feelings when I first heard about Pan’s Labyrinth. In 2006, the only Guillermo del Toro films I’d seen were Blade II and Hellboy – both a lot of fun, but not necessarily inspiring confidence in the idea of a literal fairy tale movie. 

Additionally, Tim Burton was having quite a commercial renaissance at the time, and I was worried that Pan’s Labyrinth would hop on that train and become an overload of *cough* delightfully quirky *cough* imagery*. But I decided to make the trip to Sydney to see it. Fortunately, my fears were misplaced – it was a fantastic film, and one I think of very fondly to this day.

Aside from the faun, one of the most memorable characters/monsters is the subject of today’s review – The Pale Man. I suppose to modern eyes the Pale Man probably looks most like Slender Man or something**. But this was a pre-Slender Man world, so its design actually draws from the tenome, a creature from Japanese mythology.

A hideous, child-eating monster, he’s terrifying when he shows up. We never get a lot of context about exactly what he is or where he came from, but it’s readily apparent that he’s been eating children for quite a long time. del Toro has described the beast as a criticism of the Catholic Church; hoarding luxuries and preying on children.

The POP itself is…okay. The limitations of the format mean there’s not as much emphasis on the hand-eyes as there probably should be. Instead, it’s all about his horribly jowly eyeless face. Far enough, but something is definitely lost in translation.  

Additionally, he doesn’t include a stand, nor do his feet have slots for them. This is a problem, as his inhumanly skinniness is quite integral to the character. In tandem with the front-heavy head, the slightest amount of warping to the legs will render him nearly unable to stand. Mine does, but he’s definitely kind of wobbly.  

Since it’s been 12 years since Pan’s Labyrinth was released, it’s not unreasonable to ask why we’re only getting merchandise for the film now. I don’t really remember any from the time – it seems there’s been a few bits and pieces in the years that followed, but they’ve mostly been high-end busts and statues, well out of the range of the more casual collector. I can only assume it’s partially fuelled by the massive success of del Toro’s most recent film, The Shape of Water, which in turn has helped spark greater interest in pretty much all of his past films.

While it’s nice to get an affordable and readily available version of the Pale Man, I don’t think he’s a particularly great POP. The balance issues and the loss of some of his most distinct features in translation place him squarely in the “okay” column. Instead, I’d suggest waiting for the upcoming NECA figure, which also comes complete with his throne.

*I get why people like Tim Burton, and there are a number of his films I do enjoy. But he definitely has his signature style elements, and I had a very low tolerance for them at this particular time of my life.  

** Interestingly, Doug Jones did play a kind of ersatz Slender Man in a 2015 horror film.

POP! WWE – “The Demon” Finn Balor

POP! WWE – “The Demon” Finn Balor

Well, it’s been quite a few weeks since I last posted on here. Things have been a little chaotic, with me starting a new job, along with a variety of family illnesses. But here we are back again, and hopefully it won’t be anywhere near as long until the next.

As I’ve been watching wrestling again over the last few months, Finn Balor has become one of my favourite performers. He’s not being used as effectively as he could or should be, but he’s prominent on RAW and you can always guarantee he’ll put on a good show.

Now, at first glance he might seem an odd choice for a POP. He doesn’t tend to be the most flamboyantly dressed wrestler in the business – black, blue or silver trunks with matching boots. But every now and then, he’ll emerge for his matches as The Demon.

In layman’s terms, he essentially throws on a whole bunch of body paint to look like the demon king Balor of Irish mythology, who ruled over the evil Fomhóraigh. The look definitely has some similarities to Marvel’s Venom, but it’s still one of the better pop culture appropriations in wrestling over recent years.    

This isn’t the first time the Demon version of Balor has been released; originally there was a Chase of the regular figure which depicted him in makeup but without the headdress. I’d prefer the Chase to be the regular release, and this version with the headdress to be the Chase…but hey, that’s Funko for you.

The body sculpt is the same as the regular Finn, and the head appears to be a retool. It’s a surprisingly heavy piece as a result, though it doesn’t have any issues with balance. My only real complaint is that he looks a little too tall in comparison to most of his WWE POP! companions, but that’s simply a limitation of the format.

Now, the facepaint doesn’t work quite as well in Funko format as it does in real life, but the general effect is still conveyed. Additionally, they haven’t given him his usual back paint, but I can imagine this might have been a costing issue. It’d be covered up by the headdress anyway, so it’s not a huge deal. It all adds up to a fun, if slightly imperfect figure. In a line dominated by dudes with beards in tights, he definitely stands out.

Like many white people in Australia, I’m of partial Irish descent*. Accordingly, part of the reason I like Finn Balor** is because he doesn’t play to traditional and offensive “Oirish” stereotypes. You might be surprised to learn that there’s actually quite a bit more to Gaelic culture than potatoes, four-leaf clovers, Riverdance, Guinness and leprechauns. The fact that they haven’t forced him into a Lucky Charms outfit or similar is a shockingly progressive approach from WWE, an organisation which seems to aggressively seek controversy around race and ethnicity. Balor has helped give Irish mythology a bigger place on the pop culture landscape, and he’s a darn great in-ring performer.

It’s been quite a while since Finn has performed as The Demon, which is a shame. At the moment WWE seem to be using him as mid-card eye candy, rather than the guy who could convincingly beat the h*ck out of Kenny Omega. Still, with Summerslam and a high profile Australian PPV on the way, you never know what we could see in the near future.

*English, Scottish, Welsh and Finnish too. More Ancestry.com results to come from the other side of the family soon, hopefully.  

**Same thing goes for Becky Lynch

LOST TUNNELS is out!

So as many of you know, I’ve been working on a horror novella for quite some time now. Well, it’s now available on Kindle as an e-book!

That’s right, after months and months of writing and editing, Lost Tunnels has finally been unleashed on the public. If you like Lovecraft, Stephen King or grindhouse horror, you should get a kick out of Lost Tunnels.

You can purchase it now on Amazon here, though if you’re outside the USA, you’ll need to visit the Amazon site relevant for your own country. You can even read a preview, to get a taste of whether it's your thing or not. Hope you enjoy it – and if not, that you’ll let a friend know who may enjoy it more!

Braun Strowman (WWE Elite Series 58)

Ah, Mattel. You inspire such mixed feelings in toy fans. You’ve done some great lines (like DC Universe Classics and Masters of the Universe Classics) while also consistently refusing to listen to fans, making questionable management decisions, skimping on accessories and generally conflating “bare minimum” with “great work”.  

But one thing Mattel does do well is wrestling figures. Sure, not all of them are perfect – but they pump them out at a frighteningly fast rate, they consistently improve the quality and the pricepoint has been maintained at a reasonable level. So today, we’ll take a look at their most recent version of WWE’s terrifying heel Braun Strowman.

I’m pretty newly returned to wrestling, so I haven’t really seen Strowman's ascent to stardom. But from a newcomer’s perspective, he’s pretty likeable – and he’s getting a bit of a push at the moment, having recently won the 50-man Royal Rumble. Unlike certain other wrestlers we could name, he seems to have both the charisma and in-ring skills to leverage it successfully.

Strowman has had a couple of Elite figures before – once in Series 44, which depicted him in his Wyatt family garb, and another in Series 52 which came with a wheeled stretcher. Though all share some parts, this one looks to be a virtual re-release of the Series 52 figure; the primary difference at first glance is the head, though a closer examination reveals a few different paint apps on the pants. 

The likeness in the sculpt is quite good, much better than the (okay) paint would suggest. I’m sure there are already customisers out there already working on better paint jobs, but I’m happy enough with what I have. Normally I prefer more neutral faces on action figures, and Mattel certainly has a mixed record for delivering yelling faces. But for Strowman I’ll make an exception; he is a big unit who spends a lot of time yelling at his opponents. 

This makes for a fun figure, but he’s certainly not perfect. Though his articulation is mostly pretty good, his shoulders appear to be on pegs, rather than swivels. His arm movement is considerably more restricted than…well, any other Elite figure I own. This is a problem, because unlike many of his bigger WWE brethren, Strowman can actually wrestle, rather than simply delivering big hits. Additionally, the beard means it’s all but impossible to turn his head.

Paint is solid, especially on the tattoos. It’s a shame he doesn’t have any stubble on the sides of his head, but at this price point I think it’s a forgivable admission.

Accessory-wise, he comes with an ambulance door (not pictured), and a stand with a stylised portrait of Strowman on it (also not pictured). The stand is handy, but I’m so-so about the portrait that it comes with. Personally, I preferred the backstage diorama look from previous series. What would be far better is interchangeable hands. I’m sure I’m not the first person to express this sentiment, but it would really take things to the next level. One open hand and one fist is okay, but it would be good to be able to get a bit more variety -- especially considering the guy's catchphrase is literally "Get these hands". 

Braun Strowman is a solid figure that looks great on the shelf, but the lack of shoulder articulation definitely hurts him. Also, given Strowman's inclusion in this week's Money in the Bank match and his overall popularity, it seems more than likely that we'll see more more Strowman merch in the near future. Recommended for diehard fans, but not strictly necessary if you picked up the Series 52 version. 

POP! WWE - The Iron Sheik

Pro wrestling has always been known for its larger-than-life characters, but in the WWF’s golden era of the 80s and early 90s, they went REALLY big. Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior…and of course, the subject of today’s review, the Iron Sheik.  

Born Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri (or حسین خسرو علی وزیری in his native Persian), the Iron Sheik was once a real Graeco-Roman wrestler, and former soldier in the Imperial Iranian Army, who moved to America and burst into the zany world of professional wrestling. Arriving in the then-WWF as the Iron Sheik, he’d grow to become one of the best-known heels in the history of wrestling.

Iron Sheik’s gimmick was questionable, even by the looser standards of the 1980s. Presented primarily as a sinister Middle Eastern heel to Hulk Hogan’s All-American babyface, he’d show up in the ring holding banners depicting the real-life monster Ayatollah Khomeini and denounce the American way of life. It was pretty edgy at the time and generated a lot of heat in the ring, but it seems pretty tasteless to modern eyes. Even more so when you look at the way aspects of the Cold War were played out in the region, all while this stuff was all airing…

There was plenty of drama in the ring, and it was far more extreme outside. Drug addiction consumed much of Vaziri’s life from the 1980s, and one of his daughters was murdered in 2003. In tandem with other events and injuries, his career and earning potential were derailed numerous times.

Still, he’s enjoyed something of a comeback in more recent years, establishing himself as something of a NSFW Twitter sensation. In character as his wrestling persona, the Iron Sheik shoots off all manner of profane insults at anyone and everyone, naturally reserving his worst bile for Hulk Hogan. Naturally enough, this means that he’s the ideal character to be rendered in the kid-friendly Funko POP style!

The POP looks fairly true to his peak attire; he’s wearing a white keffiyeh and a pair of paisley print trunks. His signature curled-toe wrestling boots have been sculpted, which is a great detail. All in all, pretty good attention to detail. There’s a Chase version which features a red keffiyeh, which is cool but non-essential.    

Now, Iron Sheik doesn’t seem to be flying off the shelves at the same speed as many of his WWE contemporaries. Granted, he doesn’t have the same profile among younger fans as someone like The Undertaker, but it does seem like a bit of a shame. Nonetheless, this does mean you should be able to pick him up for a reasonable price.  

Though there’s already been a “Hollywood” Hogan POP, there isn’t currently an era-accurate figure of the Hulkster to face off against the Iron Sheik. Given Hulk’s currently dubious status with the WWE, we’re unlikely to get one anytime soon. Of course, with the recently released Jake the Snake, you can re-enact one particular feud…

Iron Sheik is an interesting piece of wrestling history, marking a bygone era of WWF/WWE. While plenty of wrestlers are still big personalities, the reduced emphasis on kayfabe and greater real-life awareness of scandals in the industry has drastically changed the way the industry works. For better and for worse, the squared circle is unlikely to have anyone like the Iron Sheik step inside ever again.  

Lupine Film Club - Hereditary

Contains major spoilers – do not read if you want to go in unprepared. THIS IS YOUR FIRST AND ONLY WARNING.

Well, it's been almost a year since the last instalment of the Lupine Film Club. Thank you all for your patience; 

A friend sent me the trailer for Hereditary earlier this year, and I was immediately intrigued. When you’ve been watching horror for as long as I have, you get pretty wise to the tropes and clichés of the genre, and it’s easy to get a little jaded about the whole thing. I mean, the yearly franchise stuff that gets churned out like Saw or The Conjuring series is fun and all – but it’s nice to have something with a little more style and substance.

Based on that trailer, Hereditary definitely looked the goods. Having now seen it, I certainly agree it has a lot more style than your average franchise fare. The substance…well, I’m still not totally certain yet. But it absolutely did certainly throw my expectations for a loop.

Going in, I assumed that Hereditary would be a pretty straightforward ghost story. The grandma dies, the little girl is a conduit for her ghost (or at least something malign imitating it) and all manner of weird stuff unfolds from there. Nothing particularly original, but that’s okay. The successful execution of a well-worn formula can be very satisfying in its own right.  

But this isn’t quite how things play out. The film starts off this way, complete with “is it real or not” visions of the deceased grandmother – but not long afterwards, the little girl we’ve been assuming is the villain is brutally killed in a car accident. Her ant-riddled head on the roadside must surely be one of the most iconic (and disturbing) scenes in horror cinema this year.

From here, the film movies into more of an extended meditation on grief and dysfunctional family dynamics. This is arguably where the film is at its strongest, as it wrestles with some uncomfortable questions that none of us really like to address – what if we aren’t sad that a family member is dead? What if we don’t really love our kids? How do you deal with survivor’s guilt? And how do you cope with a family member who’s in the midst of a breakdown?

Throughout all of this, the cast is solid but not especially sympathetic. Toni Collette easily acquits herself as the film’s primary likeable character. Gabriel Byrne is fine, but he doesn’t blow you away; anyone could have played the role, really. Milly Shapiro is particularly disconcerting as the introverted (and unlikeable) daughter. But the primary weak link is Alex Wolff, who plays half his scenes well and the other half as though he was portraying a 9-year old who’s afraid of the dark.  

After a séance, more overtly supernatural elements begin to emerge, causing issues for all the surviving members of the family. New Age figures like John Edwards and Alison DuBois tend to present the image that the dead are happy to hear from us and have plenty of nice words to pass on. But what if the dead were angry – justifiably angry, even – at the way they had been treated by their family?

It’s an interesting idea, but it ends up being another red herring – for the ghost is no ghost at all. Rather, as we discover fairly late in the piece, it’s a demon prince named Paimon, masquerading as deceased loved ones. Now, Paimon is a name that will likely be unfamiliar to you, unless you have an active interest in the occult and demonology. Kudos to the filmmakers for going in a slightly different direction for the supernatural foe, but it does create an issue with the film’s ending that I’ll detail a little more below.   

Hereditary effectively builds mood and tension throughout the piece, but it comes with some flaws. It’s a shade over two hours long, and it absolutely feels longer. It also plays pretty fast and loose with its own “rules” about the supernatural. Towards the end, strange stuff seemingly happens solely for the sake of being weird and/or violent. This is not a bad thing in principle, but I’m not quite sure Hereditary establishes its own dream logic or surrealism effectively and early enough to allow for some of its own conceits. Which brings us to the Suspiria and Wicker Man­-inspired twist ending!

It's a bold departure from the rest of the film, and it’s sure to polarise audiences. There are definitely clues peppered throughout as to the true nature of Paimon (even hidden in the soundtrack) – but unless you’re unusually conversant in Western Esotericism, you’re probably not going to spot them. Sure, you can do the reading and be impressed at the level of detail afterwards, but I don’t think this should be a prerequisite. Twists need to be effectively telegraphed; audiences should be able to go “Aha!” when they eventuate, drawing new significance from earlier elements in the film with this fresh knowledge in mind. 

Hereditary doesn’t exactly cheat on this front, but I’d argue that it does play on the audience’s assumed ignorance to force an extra level of bizarreness in the final scene. By contrast, Skeleton Key and The Wicker Man played similar moves much more effectively. The relevant lore and mythos was gradually introduced throughout the respective pieces, and then twisted at the final moment for an horrific reveal. Here, it feels a little more shoehorned in, though I suspect some will argue that it’s a natural extension of the occult themes that the film explores. 

These issues aside, Hereditary is well worth your time and money. It’s creepy, unsettling, sticks with you long after the credits have rolled and though it wears its influences on its sleeve, it feels remarkably fresh. To cap things off, it has a fantastic soundtrack too. Ultimately, I don’t know whether Hereditary will be the best horror movie of 2018, but I can almost certainly guarantee it will be the most talked-about.

The Westall UFO (We Are The Mutants post)

As regular readers will be aware, I write for other sites occasionally. You'll also know that I've written about UFOs and aliens from time to time, usually in the context of the Sunday Afternoon Reader articles.

Well, those interests have finally combined in my first piece for We Are The Mutants! A relatively new online magazine, We Are the Mutants focuses on the history and analysis of Cold War-era popular and outsider culture, with a strong emphasis on speculative (sci-fi, fantasy, horror), genre, pulp, cult, occult, subculture, and anti-establishment media. In other words, it's right up my alley, and I think a lot of you will really enjoy it too. There's plenty to be found for nostalgia buffs and more serious historians alike. 

I've put together a piece about the 1966 Westall sighting, a famous Australian UFO incident. With a huge crowd of witnesses to the event and possible government conspiracy to cover the whole thing up, it's a fascinating insight into the Cold War paranoia of the time -- and you can read the full story here.

This will hopefully be the first of several pieces from me for We Are The Mutants. As always, keep an eye on this page for updates, but you can also follow me on Twitter or Facebook too. 
 

Sunday Afternoon Reader, Part 8

Well, my local library had its annual clear-out sale this weekend. I bought a bunch of things, but these are the ones that will probably be of the most interest to you, dear reader. Let’s browse our way through the 8th instalment of Sunday Afternoon Reader!

Unscripted: World Wrestling Entertainment

Authors: Ken Leiker, Mark Vancil

Year: 2003

WRESTLING! I’ve recently returned to wrestling fandom after many years away, so this was a perfect find. Unscripted is a coffee table book, which ostensibly provides a bit of a behind-the-scenes (though still heavily curated) look at some of your favourite WWE Superstars.

“So what?” you ask. Well, in 2018 shoot interviews have been done to death, and pretty much every WWE star has mouthed off on social media at some point. But in 2003, this book would have been quite novel. Kayfabe was on the decline, but glimpses into the inner workings of the company were still rarer than today.

As with most coffee table books, the emphasis is on the images rather than the content. The photography is mostly quite good…but it is coupled with some exceptionally ugly early noughties graphic design and typesetting. There are some interesting tidbits shared within though – Matt Hardy and Lita at home together, Stone Cold with his hunting rifle, Ric Flair calling Triple H “the best performer in the business” (which exemplifies why I have never been a Flair or Triple H fan), Vince discussing his childhood and Undertaker summing up his experience in the industry.

Some of it rings a more than a little sad now. Undertaker has since divorced and remarried, Matt Hardy and Lita split over a decade ago and a number of wrestlers featured are retired or dead. Most depressing of all are the images of Chris Benoit, who was a big star for the company in 2003. Just four years later he would commit the most horrific crimes an already scandal-ridden industry had ever seen. 

Still, this was an interesting read for me, as it was published around the time I stopped paying attention to wrestling. I still played the WWE Raw Deal card game with friends occasionally, but mostly I was busy with the multi-layered commitments of senior high school. Wrestling necessarily took a backseat…also, John Cena was getting a big push by then, and I was entering some of my prime heavy metal years. White boy rappers were not my thing at all.   

Creatures of the Night: In Search of Ghosts, Vampires, Werewolves and Demons

Author: Dr Gregory Lee

Year: 2012  

Huzzah! Another addition to the ever-expanding paranormal shelf. I haven’t looked at this in great detail so far, so I can’t say much about it yet. I’ll have to come back to it once I’ve had a more thorough look. At any rate, Dr Gregory Lee has written a number of different books previously, all of them looking at esoteric subject matter.

Books on this kind of subject matter are becoming increasingly hard to come by, at least in my usual haunts. The supernatural publishing boom died off some years ago, and the older books from the 70s to the 90s really just don’t show up in second-hand bookstores as readily anymore.

Indeed, once upon a time I might have even passed this one over as it’s not expressly about UFOs or aliens. But times are tough, and you take what you can get – especially for only two bucks. Also, the cover is designed to look like an old issue of EC’s horror comics, which is a nice touch.

WWF WrestleMania: The Official Insider's Story

Authors: Basil V. Devito with Joe Layden

Year: 2001

Another wrestling book!

This time, we get an overview of the history of Wrestlemania, up to the year 2000. I’ve only skimmed it so far, but it seems fairly comprehensive and has some great photos from the mid-1980s onwards. Liberace once appeared a Wrestlemania? Amazing!

Importantly, you can really see the evolution of the company from cartoonish fun into the Attitude Era. The Attitude Era was still in full swing when this was published, and everything was ADULT and EDGY. Costumes get darker, matches get bloodier, stunts get wilder and the fanbase changes.

Your feelings about this transition will vary. The Attitude Era is apparently held in very high esteem these days, but I didn’t actually enjoy it much as a teen. Sure, it gave us some good characters and matches – but I don’t think it was inherently superior to what’s available today. I was never a big fan of The Rock, Stone Cold or Triple H (though I’ve come to appreciate them all to varying degrees) and the manufactured “edge” seemed contrived even to a wannabe goth kid like myself. 

Similarly to Unscripted, some of it makes for pretty sad reading these days. Given that it’s been more than 30 years since the first Wrestlemania, it’s inevitable that some of the faces you see are no longer with us…but it’s depressing to realise how young some of them went. Rowdy Roddy Piper, Miss Elizabeth, Macho Man Randy Savage, the Ultimate Warrior, Chyna… 

As someone once noted – maybe Matt from Dinosaur Dracula? – wrestling books are always a product of the time they were written. WWE plays pretty fast and loose with the kayfabe canon, but they’re just as happy to do it with their actual history. If you happen to be on their shitlist at time of writing, you’ll be written off as irrelevant, made to look terrible or simply excluded altogether. Given the controversy surrounding Hulk Hogan since 2015 – and the necessity of talking about him a lot in the context of early Wrestlemanias – WWE will probably want to save another instalment for the more distant future. 

The Ultimate Metallica

Author: Ross Halfin

Year: 2010

As I’ve noted elsewhere, I fall into the classic metal cliché of loving Metallica’s first four albums and not wanting much to do with anything after that. In 2018, belonging to their fandom can be slightly embarrassing, as many of their fans really seem to think they’re the final word in metal and this is in no way true.

I don’t say this to try and be trve or kvlt; I have a Master of Puppets poster flag on the wall of my office, I own a bunch of t-shirts and I even bought the Hetfield Funko POP a while ago. I was lucky enough to see them live in 2004 during a lightning storm, which was incredible.

But do I care to hear new music from them? Probably not. Still, for $5 I felt I couldn’t pass up this lavish hardback book, which no doubt cost at least 10 times that on initial publication.

Ross Halfin has been photographing Metallica on and off since the 1980s, so you can trace a course from their young and hungry days through to around 2010. How you feel about Metallica now will pretty much sum up how you feel about that, but either way there is some genuinely nice rock photography. Halfin is a talented guy, and it would be interesting to see some more of his work with other bands.

Interspersed among the photos there’s some notes from admirers and some thoughts from Halfin himself. But the real highlight was the obscenity-laden email on the very last page, which rips into Ross for a variety of perceived sins, including insulting “ROBB FLYNN of the TRULY LEGENDARY MACHINE HEAD” and being “the EXTREME epitome of POMPOUS BRITISH WANKERY”. This, dear reader, made it worth the price of admission alone.

POP! Rocks – Alice Cooper (Top Hat)

Though not the first shock rocker (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Screaming Lord Sutch all predate him), Alice Cooper has still become one of the most iconic rock frontmen in pop culture. Acts like KISS, King Diamond, Rob Zombie and Ghost – to name just a few – all owe Cooper a considerable visual debt. And though I’m more of a “Greatest Hits” kind of fan, he’s been an inspiration to me, too – if a skinny kid with a big nose can become a heavy metal icon, there’s hope for all of us.  

Naturally enough, Funko was going to come calling at some point and turn him into a POP. Today, we take a look at the results!

Now, I couldn’t find a specific photo where Alice is wearing this exact outfit. The corset/harness thing and ripped pants look like they’re from the Billion Dollar Babies era – which would fit with the snakeskin theme on the box – and the earliest pics I noticed of him with a white top hat and tails seem to be from the Welcome to My Nightmare album – so let’s just say it’s meant to be him sometime in the mid-70s. If you can identify the outfit more specifically, let me know in the comments below. 

Either way, a lot of Alice Cooper’s stage costumes are variations on these themes, and even those with only a passing familiarity of the man will recognise him easily. The only real surprise is that he isn’t depicted with a snake, considering that’s one of the things he’s best known for. Still, that may come in the future; though his basic look has remained the same for decades, there’s still been plenty of variations that would lend themselves to POP figures.

As usual, the paint could be a little tighter, but it’s fine for the most part. Additionally, check his cane before making a purchase, to make sure it hasn’t warped in the box.       

The sculpt makes him a little skinnier than your average POP, and he doesn’t come with a stand. Fair enough; Alice Cooper isn’t a particularly big guy. But given his very top-heavy construction, it creates some balance problems, and I have some concerns about his long-term ability to stay upright. Skinnier POPs like Elvira and Batgirl have a tendency to warp around their legs and feet over time; while he’s not that petite, I could see something similar happening further down the track.

These issues aside, I think it’s a solid piece. There’s also a straitjacket version available, which is a Hot Topic exclusive in the USA. Either one is well-representative of the character, and a fun addition to the shelf.

Novella Update 4: Writer’s Block and Death Metal

If you’re following me over at Facebook or Twitter, you would have seen in the last few days that I just finished a major edit of Lost Tunnels. Now I plan to go through it manually – which essentially means I’ve printed it off and will be working through it with a literal red pen, trying to spot any previously unseen typos or grammar issues.

This will hopefully be the final round of edits, though having spent plenty of time working in print media I know it’s entirely possible that weird inconsistencies can creep through even at this stage. Nonetheless, things are still on track for a late June release! As always, keep your eye on Facebook or Twitter for updates.  

Today, I also wanted to talk about Writer’s Block. As someone who’s spent many years working as a professional writer, I am not a big believer in writer’s block as it’s depicted in popular media. Writer’s block is typically shown to be a torment of some creative type who just can’t get their words onto the page. There’s some “terrible” blockage which preventing them from expressing their GENIUS to its fullest. This tends to manifest as an excuse for stuffing and acting like a huge jerk in pursuit of rediscovering their creativity – and doing pretty much anything but writing in the process. If you move in any sort of creative circles, you may have even met a few people like this in real life, and they are almost always a huge chore.  

Sure, I’ll happily admit that some days of writing are easier than others. On the creative front I’ve had days where I stare at a blank page and can barely get anything down. Lost Tunnels is a relatively short novella, but it’s been an incredibly difficult process working through it. In the workplace, though…well, that’s a different thing. When you’re working in magazines, try telling your boss that you didn’t turn in a piece of copy before deadline because you had “writer’s block”.

Writing is a learned skill, just like anything else. It comes more easily to some than others, but this is true of just about anything – IT, fixing cars, painting, fishing, whatever. Do it enough and you develop a toolbox (as Stephen King calls it) of techniques that you can draw on to fake it to you make it. Turns out if you sit there and try to write, rather than just talking about wanting to write, you’ll get more done. 

Writing requires discipline, and that’s quite distinct from how people tend to imagine the “creative process”. I was talking about this with a musician friend last week over a few beers and was quite explicit in saying that for me the process is to sit my ass down, work at what I need to work at and eventually the “Muse” will show up. It gets easier with time, and you develop a skillset you can draw on.  Pretty much any established writer will tell you something similar.

People who romanticise the “creative process” and cannot do their “thing” except under very specific (i.e. anally retentive) conditions are not going to get very far with any of their creative goals. There will always be an excuse to not do it, and hard work is virtually excluded by definition. I know I have my preferences about how, where and when I like to write…

 But to be honest, you can do it just about anywhere if you practice. The modern open-plan workplace is not a place sensitive to my personal “creative process”, but…well, I don’t see the Western Capitalist working system suddenly shifting to accommodate my particular wants anytime soon. I just need to get on with the job at hand.    

But enough venting. Over the next few weeks, I hope to talk a bit more about practical techniques for freeing up your creativity and preventing your own brand of writer’s block. Today, let’s talk about music. I find listening to music extremely helpful in freeing up my creativity. This is not revolutionary advice; many authors talk about it, and author/ghostwriter Roz Morris runs a column speaking to different authors about the music they use here.

Now, heavy metal is my first and foremost musical love, but it’s not always the best tool for the job. Unless I’m very familiar with the album in question, it can take me out of what I’m doing and serve as a distraction. Instead, I like to find something appropriate for the genre I’m working on, e.g.:

• If I’m writing something fantasy-related, I might listen to something like the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack, or perhaps Mortiis’ early work. 
• For sci-fi, I might crack out Tangerine Dream, Jean-Michel Jarre or some more modern synthwave.
• When I’m doing on a copywriting gig, I tend to throw on some kind of 80s pop mix. All of this helps me get into the right mood and headspace for writing in that particular world.  

Lost Tunnels is a horror novella, and it traverses a few different moods during the course of the story. Accordingly, I went through listening to different stuff during different phases of writing. Initially, I spent a ton of time listening to Fabio Frizzi’s film scores – specifically his soundtracks for Lucio Fulci’s Zombie Flesh Eaters and The Beyond. They’re two of my favourite horror films, so they seemed like good places to start.

But as writing went on, things began to vary a bit more; I listened to a lot of Amebix’s second album Monolith. The came Blood Incantation, particularly Starspawn – this where the death metal of the article title kicks in! There was also a bunch of Fleetwood Mac and Lindsey Buckingham solo work thrown into the mix, depending on the particular scene I was working on. One band to emerge to the forefront was Popol Vuh; probably best-known for their soundtrack work with Werner Herzog, they’re often thought of as an ambient group, but they really span a much broader range.

Some of these seem like more relevant influences than others – I mean, there’s nothing particularly terrifying about “Big Love” – but everything I listened to helped me get into the particular mindset I needed for a scene.

I don’t expect you to get the same stuff out of any of these bands that I did, but I would suggest that you try listening to music while you’re writing if you haven’t already. And if you are, maybe try listening to something new as well – see how it affects your mood, and accordingly your writing. Tell me how you go in the comments below!