The Ghoulish Plot: A once-acclaimed director made a weird, fun and unique movie in 1988 about a rural couple dying and meeting a weird demon creature that somehow grabbed the interest of the public and became a Saturday morning cartoon show. Many years and famous actress girlfriends later and after remaking “Dumbo” for some reason, that director reaaaaaally needed a hit and miraculously decided it would be cool to make a sequel to that earlier movie in 2024.

You remember that one kid in high school that you initially thought was pretty cool who wore punk t-shirts and said lots of nihilistic shit, and then eventually you just realized they were an attention-starved weirdo who talked way too much and worked at Hot Topic?

This movie is that person, in movie form. Way too much try-hard plot points thrown at the wall, and instead of the clear protagonist/antagonists situation we got in the first movie, now we have no clear idea idea who we’re supposed to care about or why. They even create a subplot designed specifically to humiliate one of the stars of the first movie (who has since done plenty to disgrace himself) that gets the plot moving, then does nothing else of value the rest of the film. Which is a pretty good summary of the entire movie, I guess.

The Scariest Part of the Movie: That even when you’re dead, most subway cars are filled with people yelling and dancing to music and you can’t figure out where the damn train is going in the first place.

Spookiness Factor: just like that Hot Topic kid, it looks like it’s supposed to be scary but then you get up closer and realize it’s full of strawberry Pocky and probably has divorced parents.

Rating: 3 out of 10 Peanut Butter Cups

Years ago I would spend the entire month of October watching spooky movies, and then write up summaries here. I haven’t done it in ages because a) nobody really asked me to do this or b) gave a shit when I did.

But what the hell; it’s come up enough times from people who used to read it that they always looked forward to it and the world is a stress-filled hellscape and we all need a good excuse to watch some silly horror movies and eat candy and popcorn. So I’m doing it again. Starting tomorrow, I’m attempting to do 31 days in a row of horror movie write-ups. I’m going to start the month by trying to dive into stuff I’ve never seen before, and then near the end of the month we’ll start dipping into the old classics.

Will I get to 31? Will readership dry up and everybody stops caring? Only one way to find out!

More info/tickets:
10/4 Trenton 7:30 show 9:30 show (headlining)
10/18-10/19 Traverse City Comedy Club w/ Ben Bailey
11/2 Nashport OH
11/9 Ludington MI
11/14-11/16 One Night Stans w/ Mike Brody
12/5 Supernatural Brewing LIvonia MI
12/14 Stella’s Plymouth MI (headlining)
1/8-1/11 San Francisco Punch Line w/ Tom Rhodes

Grabbing a set this upcoming Tuesday 6/4 at the House of Comedy in downtown Detroit. Come hang out!

Happy to announce I’ll be performing as part of the Motor City Comedy Festival in Detroit this September. More info to come!

Lansing! Catch me tomorrow night 5/30/24 with a super fun lineup!

And hey: to the several dozen people still visiting here (or the one dude who visits here constantly), thanks for stopping by! I’ve been performing less as more and more shows are opting to raise ticket prices/drink and food prices but still paying comics like it’s 1997, and in the past six months I’ve officially gone from “breaking even” on travel stuff to “I make more staying home” so I’ve been keeping it local and doing the stuff that’s fun and working on house projects and going to bed at 9pm regularly and all that good stuff. I miss performing more but I also have a mortgage and a big-boy job that pays the bills so priorities have shifted a bit.

I have cool shows around Detroit and Michigan in the next few months and some fun stuff coming in the Fall and I’ll post here when more details and ticket info is available. Thanks to those who bother to visit here, I appreciate it. I’ll see you out there!

When you’re a comic and you get a new headshot you like, you put it up everywhere in the hopes that the next poster with your face on it isn’t some old grainy Facebook photo you were tagged in in 2013 (it still will be). Huge thanks to Libby Oclair for the new headshots!