Halloween is about witches in pointed hats riding their broomsticks over the autumn moon. Halloween is about black cats and skeletons dancing in the pile of raked orange leaves at the corner of your street. Halloween is about sitting in the dark in from of your TV set with a bowl of Halloween candy as a monster movie flickers across the screen. And Halloween is about the newly re-released DVD of Blue Mouse Studio's "GROTESQUERIES"; there's nothing better to get you in the Halloween mood as October dawns.
You may remember I extensively reviewed the new GROTESQUERIES dvd back in 2008 -- for a refresher click on this link for the original post. I said at the time that the DVD was a joy to behold owing to the obvious love and attention lavished on the project by creators Chris Buchman, Rex Schneider, Steve Stanchfield and the rest of their uncanny group at Blue Mouse Studio. Well, now they've revised and tweaked the dvd to improve an already perfect Halloween treat and I thought this was a golden opportunity to urge you once again to quickly snap up a copy if you don't already own it. The revisions are nothing major: artist Rex Schneider, whose spectacularly spooky drawings grace everything from the dvd's animated menus to slideshows and Halloween songs, wanted to improve the owl and dogs seen at the beginning of the "Ghost's High Noon" montage and there is also a new three-page fold-out of programme notes inserted into the dvd case.
That being said, GROTESQUERIES is really a must-have for every Halloween season and you owe it to yourself to own a copy. From the spooky silent short films
and fright fest Felix the Cat cartoons,
from the Halloween-themed songs
and the funny faux movie theatre preview slides, from the whimsical tombstone inscription "Crypt Ticklers" to the scary slideshows of Halloween antique decorations and postcards,
GROTESQUERIES is an obvious labour of love by its creators. This dvd is jam-packed with trick-or-treat goodies and is much more than just a collection of old Halloween cartoons and shorts; it's simply one of the best uses of the DVD format I've yet seen and the ultimate viewing for a Halloween night.
The folks at Blue Mouse Studio including Chris Buchman (seen here with his buddy the "Red Death" from a Halloween TV show a couple decades ago which is sadly not featured on the GROTESQUERIES dvd . . .here's hoping for a volume 2 someday!) are really a nice bunch of people who care very much about this DVD and produce it themselves out of love of the subject. For anyone reading this who loves Halloween and horror films, I urge you to support them by picking up a copy of GROTESQUERIES.
The dvd is always available from them at their Blue Mouse Studio site for $19.95 plus $3 insured shipping or at their address at Blue Mouse Studio, 26829 37th Street, Gobles, Michigan, 49055. You can also snag a copy at Ron Adams' superb Creepy Classics website or else from amazon.com for the first half of October. But act fast because you really don't want to go through a Halloween without the GROTESQUERIES dvd. It's simply too much fun to miss!
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