The Lupine Record Club -- Part 1

So every now and then, I post an actual Lupine Book Club, in the form of the Sunday Afternoon Reader. At the suggestion of a friend, I’ve decided it’s time to do some to expand it to albums, and hopefully also to movies. It won’t usually be anything current, but it’ll give you an idea of what I’ve been up to – and hopefully also turn you on to some stuff you might not have otherwise checked out. So here we go with the first instalment of the Lupine Record Club!

Tangerine Dream – Phaedra

Those of you who know me in person or via any of my various social media channels, know that I love metal. But I actually listen to quite a bit of early electronic and ambient music too, particularly while I’m working on writing projects. I’m still a relative newbie to the field, but you can’t venture very far into ambient music without running across Tangerine Dream.

Phaedra is routinely touted as one of their best albums, and of the TD albums I’ve listened to (there are lots) it’s certainly my favourite. It’s also a good litmus test to determine whether you’ll enjoy their stuff or not. Droning early-70s synths, soundscapes rather than songs – it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but for me it’s fantastic music for zoning out and writing.  

Standout track: Phaedra

Napalm Death – Live Corruption

Recorded in 1990 shortly after vocalist Barney Greenway had joined the band, this is an absolutely crushing live set from Napalm Death. These guys are grind and metal legends for a reason – I was lucky enough to catch them in Sydney last year at the Factory Theatre, and they are still destroying a good chunk of the competition.

This record also serves as something of a “Best Of” for Napalm Death’s early years – it’s well worth tracking down, particularly if you haven’t listened to much of their stuff and you want a convenient starting point.

Standout track: Rise Above

Christopher Young – Hellraiser (soundtrack)

Much like ambient music, I find soundtracks useful for listening when I’m writing. And this particular beauty has been getting a thorough workout as I go through edits on my upcoming horror novella.

Originally intended to be scored by the experimental industrial group Coil, the powers that be declared that Hellraiser needed a slightly more…commercial…soundtrack. Thus, Christopher Young was recruited. And boy, did he do a great job – it’s a wonderfully ominous score, which matches the disturbing visuals of the film perfectly.

Standout track: Hellbound Heart  

Judas Priest – Unleashed in the East

Two live albums in one entry? WHOA!

Judas Priest’s continuing influence on heavy metal is almost unparalleled, and when you go back and listen to their early stuff it’s really not hard to understand why.

Now while there’s certainly some debate about how “live” this record actually is, there’s no doubt it’s a banger. Get the expanded edition if you can, as it also includes some bonus live tracks from the Killing Machine album.

Standout track: The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)

Pint Size Heroes (Horror) – Pinhead

While many of us own scores (if not hundreds) of DVDs and Blu-rays these days, younger readers may be surprised to learn this was highly unusual back in the 80s and 90s. VHS tapes were expensive, not to mention incredibly space-consuming. Renting and home recording were the order of the day.  

But if you did grow up around the same time as I did, you probably remember the golden age of video stores. VHS was a far inferior format to DVD and Blu-ray, but I do have very fond memories of browsing through the aisles of the local store, trying to decide which video I’d rent that week – opt for something I knew I enjoyed, or take a risk on something I’d never seen before? A virtually immaterial question in these days of cheap DVDs and online streaming, but of crucial importance to a 9 or 10-year-old in the mid-90s.

For me, the horror section was particularly intriguing. This was in no small part because it was almost totally forbidden as a child. My parents were never been outrageously strict, but they were products of 1980s church culture. Horror films were just one of many things to be treated with suspicion, potentially touched by the taint of The Occult. But that aside, there was a healthy dose of pragmatism and good parenting in play here too – horror films really aren’t for meant for little kids, after all!

Even without the forbidden aspect, the horror section was fascinating at a visual level. Weird creatures, odd graphic design choices, horrifying illustrations…they worked hard to get you to pick up the case and rent them. Graveyard Shift was one that always jumped out at me. It’s not much to look at now, but I was terrified of skulls as a kid, and the image has stuck with me to this day.  Of course, having subsequently seen plenty of these films as a teen or adult, I can attest that most of the cases were far more garish and upsetting than anything that happens in the actual films themselves.  

But what does all of this have to do with today’s review, you ask?

Well, the garish cover rule doesn’t apply to Hellraiser. Pinhead was terrifying on the VHS case, but the film itself is far more disturbing. In the last 12 months I’ve been fortunate enough to watch it with two separate groups of people who’d never seen it before, and each time I found myself a little horrified on their behalf at various points during the movie. It’s not a film for the squeamish viewer, with its mix of violence, skinned people, BDSM imagery. 

As such, the amount of cutesy merchandise that has been released in the last few years seems pretty incongruous with the license itself. Multiple Funko POPs, a Dorbz figure, Living Dead Dolls, fluffy dice…and now, the subject of today’s review, a Pint Size Heroes figure.

When I first ran across Pint Size Heroes, Pinhead was one of my only must-have figures. I’m a huge fan of the first Hellraiser movie, but my enjoyment of Clive Barker’s work in general has really expanded this year. While I was in the UK a couple of months ago, I read his debut novel The Damnation Game and am now working my way through the Books of Blood. A couple of other bits and pieces of his are also sitting on the “to-read” shelf at the moment too. So an additional Pinhead seemed to be the logical fit; not to mention that his design has translated quite well to the format.  

In stark contrast to his actual demeanour, Pinhead has never looked so cute. Unlike Jason, the tampographs are pretty excellent, and impressively detailed. Pinhead’s flayed chest, gruesome tools of the trade, and even his bellybutton piercing have made the transition. No Lament Configuration, but it would have been tricky to make work in the format. Though only the upper point of each of his pins is painted, it still creates a convincing illusion at a distance, and holds up when enough when viewed more closely.       

I’ve previously expressed hope that Funko makes more of the Cenobites – and though this wouldn’t be my preferred format, Pint Size Heroes probably aren’t a bad way to test the waters for their sales potential, which could lead to future POPs or Mystery Minis. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, of course.

Ultimately, Pinhead is a fun little figure. As I stated in my review of Jason, I have no interest in collecting the complete line, but I’m glad to have him up on the shelf. 

The Funko Wishlist

I'm now more than four years into collecting POPs, and the range that's on the market has absolutely exploded since those early days. Still, there are some figures that I would love to see them produce. Granted, many of these are highly unlikely, and are probably best relegated to customs, but Funko have managed to surprise us before -- so I'll throw the ideas out there and hope for the best.

Rat Fink

In their early days, Funko produced a very extensive range of Rat Fink Wacky Wobblers and other miscellaneous merchandise -- the company had different owners at the time, and their releases were very heavily based around the weirder side of Americana, particularly pop culture mascots. But when Funko was sold in 2007 to its present owners, there was a bit of a shift in focus to more mainstream pop culture, which has only been heightened since the POPs came to the forefront of their range.

So by doing some Rat Fink POPs, Funko would actually be coming full circle. But even more than POPs, I'd love to see a Mystery Minis set that incorporates Rat Fink and some of his Weird-Oh buddies -- along with their vehicles too.

Carl Jung

Funko has dabbled in real people from time to time, though they have primarily been sportspeople and musicians. But what if they branched out to other fields? Along with Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung is one of the two grand old men of psychoanalysis -- and he'd be a great addition to my shelf, though I concede that market for old dudes in suits may be a limited one, the success of the Bernie Sanders figure notwithstanding.

It seems likely that if Jung ever was done, he'd be part of a two-pack with Freud, given the two men's close association earlier in their lives. But if they ever do make him, ideally it would be based on Jung in his older years, when he really did become a senex. Ideally he'd be paired with his pipe, and possibly his Red Book/Liber Novus.

Egyptian Mythology

Though we've had a POP from the original Universal Monsters film The Mummy and there are more on the way from the 2017 remake, I would love an Egyptian mythology-themed line from Funko. The POP! Asia line has already demonstrated that mythical creatures can work -- and Ancient Egypt's animal-headed deities would be ideal for the format. Anubis, Osiris and Horus would be the bare minimum -- but imagine an Ammit, or a POP! Ride of Ra on his solar barque? This could be an amazing range, it wouldn't even need licensing costs, and you could have more obscure deities via simple repaints.

Naturally, such a line could be expanded to other ancient cultures -- why not also have a Zeus, A Cernunnos or a Thor? Or even go a bit left of centre, and produce something from the Aztecs or Sumeria? The sky is the limit (ha!) on this one.

Hellraiser 

Pinhead is the face of the Hellraiser franchise, but the franchise has a ton of interesting Cenobite designs. NECA has been the only company to ever really capitalise on these other characters, and their action figure line was released more than a decade ago.

Customisers have already given a few characters a whirl, and they seem to work in the format. So what's stopping Funko? Probably a couple of things -- licensing costs are bound to be one, but I suspect another reason is that Hellraiser is a graphically violent film series.

Pinhead's design is fairly unsettling, but it's probably the least gruesome of any of the Cenobites -- specialist retailers won't care that much, but mass market stockists might not be so keen to risk the prospect of little Timmy accidentally picking up Chatterer or Angelique, and the bad press that could follow. Nonetheless, it would be good to see Funko expand beyond just Pinhead variations.

So who or what would you like to see Funko make in future? Throw your two cents in the comments below.

POP! Movies: Pinhead (Glow in the Dark)

Company: Funko

Year: 2016

I’ve been in a Hellraiser kind of mood of late – I rewatched the first one over Halloween, and finally saw the second one a few weeks later. But the third film is the first one I actually watched, back in 2005; it was where Pinhead first made the transition from minor antagonist to main character and focal point of the series. It’s a pretty terrible film, but it has its share of memorable moments, primarily thanks to Doug Bradley doing a great turn in the role.

Now, as I said in my previous Pinhead review, Funko have been smart – officially, this figurine is licensed from Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth. The costume differences between this and the first film are pretty minor to a layman like me, and I’m sure the costs involved were a fraction of those for licensing the original film.

And it's a good variation on a previous release; I’m almost certain it’s the same head sculpt that was used on the previous Pinhead pop, though the cuts in his face do seem much “softer”. This is probably the result of it being cast in glow in the dark plastic, and the lack of paint and wash. The arms are now folded across the chest, rather than extended, and the Lament Configuration is nowhere to be seen.  The lower half of the body looks to be identical, probably using the original prototype or sculpt as a base. It’s distinct, but not miles away from the original; for me, the glow was the main differentiation.

Paint is not as tight as the previous version, but I didn’t look very closely at the options I had in the store; I was just too excited to come across it in the wild! The glow itself is quite bright too, displaying as a luminous green on the head and also the hands.

Considering that the Hellraiser films have many visually interesting characters/villains, it’s a bit of a shame that we haven’t seen more figures released in the line. I can appreciate that some characters are not as retailer friendly as others – skinless Frank and Julia would likely elicit a protest similar to the whole Breaking Bad/Toys R Us fiasco – but I hope that we’ll at least get some of the other Cenobites sometime in the near future. Butterball, despite being my least favourite design in the actual film, seems like he’d lend himself nicely to the format -- and this custom Chatterer is quite impressive.  

This new version of Pinhead originally saw release alongside new versions of Beetlejuice, Jason and Alex (A Clockwork Orange) as Hot Topic exclusives, randomised in mystery boxes. Fortunately, in Australia they’ve been released in much easier-to-obtain form single form, though I suspect they will end up vaulted much sooner than their regular counterparts. Though not an essential purchase if you have the existing Pinhead figure, it’s still distinct enough to be worth considering. As aterrible tragic for all things that glow, I simply had to have it; I probably would have skipped it otherwise, but a good use of glow will push me over the line every time. 

POP! Movies -- Pinhead

Company: Funko

Series: POP! Movies

Year: 2015

The first Hellraiser movie brings an oddly… classy tone to subject matter and visuals that would not be out of place in some kind of sketchy grindhouse flick. It’s not a film for everyone, by any means, but it stands head and shoulders above plenty of its 80s horror contemporaries, even if it never reached the heights of fame that series like Friday The 13^th and Nightmare On Elm Street did. Perhaps it’s because it was just too visually unsettling to have the same audience reach, or perhaps because the whole slasher craze was dying down by the time it came out. Who knows? But either way, central antagonist Pinhead has become a true horror icon, despite the increasingly poor quality of the films he’s starred in.

And as with all true horror icons, it’s time for cutesy merchandise that is totally at odds with the creation that spawned it! There’s already been a Living Dead Doll and Fluffy Lament Configuration Dice from Mezco – but now Funko has come to the table with an addition to its POP! Movie range.

Actually, who would win in this fight? They're both from Hell,
love chains and black leather. and have monged heads. 

Funko have been smart here – officially, this figurine is licensed from the (dreadful but entertaining) Hellraiser III: Hell On Earth*. The costume differences between this and the first film are pretty minor to a layman like me, and I’m sure the costs involved were a fraction of those for licensing the original film. To my understanding, it’s also the film where Pinhead really transitions from antagonist – he’s certainly evil, but in the first film he’s more handing out punishment to the actual villain – to full-blown monster.   

I can’t imagine that leather outfit is comfortable to wear – but it’s been incredibly influential. Just as The Crow launched a thousand goths**, so too did Hellraiser. The influence of the film’s art design and costuming has reared its head across goth, extreme metal, and countless other – usually lesser – horror films. Hey, Ozzy even wrote a song about it – which Motörhead then recorded for the soundtrack of the third film, which as previously mentioned, this POP is based on. Funny how things come full circle, isn’t it?      

But even more than the outfit, Pinhead’s signature facial piercings that have cemented him in the public’s consciousness. It looks great rendered in Funko style, though as I mentioned earlier – it is kind of weird seeing him in such a cutesy style. We’ve been seeing these Freddy, Jason and even Leatherface for decades, but Pinhead…there’s something that just feels wrong about it on a subconscious level.   

There’s actually a lot of other gross detail going on too; it’s more obvious on the other Cenobites, so some of Pinhead’s particular features can escape your attention. Parts of his chest and ribcage have been flayed, and his fingertips are bloody. The tools hanging about his waist are also bloodied, though I don’t think you ever actually see him use them in any of the films. Good attention to disgusting detail, Funko!

Naturally, he’s also holding Lermachand's box, aka the Lament Configuration. Open it and bad things will happen, but fortunately it appears to be closed here. There was some explanation for how Pinhead got hold of it in the film, but last time I watched it was approximately ten years ago in a busy sharehouse and so some of the *ahem* subtleties have been lost to time.   

As for paint… well, if Funko had done this POP a few years ago, it would have been a disaster. The little details all over the sculpt would have been a sloppy mess. Things could be a little bit tighter, particularly on the pins, and the bloodied implements, but it’s adequate.

"I'm looking for something that says 'Dad likes leather' ".

On the whole, this is another fine addition to my expanding horror POP collection. I think I’ve picked up all the characters I want from the range, but we’ll see what the future brings. As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m still hoping for Zombie Flesh Eaters ones, but I might just have to make a custom one day.   

*Side note: for whatever reason, here in Australia the third film has always been the easiest to find on home media. I could never find a copy of the second film in my more avid horror-watching days, and the first one was similarly tricky to find – frequently outrageously expensive when you did, too. So the third film was the first one I saw. Pinhead is much more prominent than he is in the original film, but I would strongly suggest watching the first one instead.

**Actual number may be much higher