Nightmare Theater - The Hottest Films in Horror Sci-Fi & Cult Cinema #2

Today I am featuring three more examples of Asian Cinema gems.
One of the most amazing works of animation  I have ever seen also happens to be an incredible interpretation of the Japanese manga by Taiyo Matsumoto.

TEKKONKINKREET

The 2006 release directed by Michael Arias  is the fantastical adventure of Black and White, two street urchins determined to protect their town; Treasure Town, a place run by Yakuza and plagued by rival alien assassins.

With an incredible mix of 3D animation and highly sophisticated and rich painted backdrops Treasure Town becomes a real and dimensional world made magical by the original soundtrack/score by Plaid and the compelling personalities of the stories main characters two little boys who know how to navigate the dangerous turf with both ass kicking ability and childlike naivete. 

Despite the the fact that inside this tale is a heartwarming story of brotherly love and loyalty between two small boys, this is  no kid's stuff. The violence is intense and is perpetrated both by and upon the young children but it is not merely gratuitous splatter. This is truly a triumph of animation (from the team that created The Animatrix), storytelling and collaboration between great Japanese and American creative minds and hands. Tekkonkinkreet makes it to my list of top 25 films of all time.

JUNK

Next it's Zombies vs Yakuza with the 1999 Japanese film "Junk" ("Shiryour Gari"). Writer/Director Atsushi Muroga brings us a well done action packed story of what happens when military experiments, Yakuza and petty criminal ambitions converge. An old military base housing the refuse of dangerous military experiments is probably not he best place for four amateur thieves trying to wrangle their way to the big time

to arrange a meeting with Yakuza heavyweights. This was a fun fast paced zombie adventure with generally pretty creepy zombies, squirming body bags, blazing gunfights, rich colors and all the traditional Zombie homage and gory bits.

Much fun!

Add to that the absolutely stunning Kaori Shinamora

While I have seen reviews that ravage this movie, it is as good as any Zombie movie out there, combining camp, gore and action in a low budget but well shot film that pays tribute to the George Romero Zombie films while tipping it's hat to "Reservoir Dogs" and "The Score".

What "Junk" might lack in budget and finesse is more than made up for in FUN!
So I give it 4 Skulls.

SAYUKA - THE SLAYER OF DEMONS

From the creators of Gamera, veteran creature filmmakers Tomo’o Haraguchi and Shinji Higuchi created this film in the tradition of Yokai Monsters. This sword girl vs monsters fantasy adventure is chock full of bizarre demons, some of whom are friendly and others that are bent on destruction. While Sakuya (Nozomi Ando) is the Star and Hero in the film who wanders the world with her half-demon brother destroying demons with her magic sword, I was left enamored of the Spider Queen and the amazing special effects that made her hands look like living tarantulas!

 Kappa monsters, undead samurai, and a giant werecat type beast are but  a few of the wonderfully fun and nicely crafted oddball monsters That Sakuya and her Ninja assistants must fend off with swords and "Bamboo Punk" devices.

Rare as it is to see on my movie lists, this one is entirely family friendly (so long as fighting and killing demons isn't considered too much for your household.

But take it from me, your life will feel more complete when you see the awesome Kaiju sized Spider Queen!

 

Sakuya _The Demon Slayer - Trailer

Sakuya is a fun adventure into the strange world of mythical Japanese Demons that I highly recommend!

Till next time, Happy Nightmares!

Interview with Hart D. Fisher - "The Scariest Man in America" - Part 2

T. Reed interviews Hart D. Fisher “The Scariest Man in America” - Part 2.   

Hart D. Fisher is the darkly creative Horror entrepreneur behind the comic publishing company {Boneyard Press}. He is also a writer, filmmaker, an avid Martial Artist and currently the Host of "American Horrors". You can catch Part 1 of this interview at FilmCourage.com  

Part Two of this interview includes more discussion about Boneyard Press, Hart’s work with Verotik and Glenn Danzig, the infamous Jeffrey Dahmer comic, and his time spent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
While not everyone knows it, it is fairly common knowledge that between Wisconsin and Illinois there is a sort of “Bermuda Triangle” of three of the most notorious serial killers of all time!  Ed Gien, the real life inspiration for Wisconsin author Robert Bloch’s “Psycho” (as made famous by Hitchcock and Anthony Perkins), “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, “Deranged” and others), Jeffery Dahmer (who tried to make “real” zombies out of his victims through back room lobotomy), and (just to the South) in Chicago, the infamous John Wayne Gacy for whom killing was just a matter of “clowning around”.

TR: As a Milwaukee native I am of course interested in how you came to the creation of the controversial “Jeffrey Dahmer”comic biography and what your interactions in Milwaukee were like. You also “did time” at Milwaukee’s Metal Fest and had a legal conflict with Miller Brewing Company. Could you tell us briefly about your experiences (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin?

HDF One of my old childhood friends, Dan Madsen, had just recently sold off his comic book company, Northstar (the original home of splatter classic Faust), but he still had the publishing itch. Since Dan knew I had just started up Boneyard Press, and we’d known each other since grade school, he called me up and suggested that I do something similar to the Nancy Reagan/Kitty Kelly bio book, only with serial killers and in comic book format. It was Dan who suggested I check out Jeffrey Dahmer.

By this point in my life, I was pretty bored with serial killers. I’d been reading about them, researching them since I was a tween. Hell, I even took some abnormal psyche classes in school, both my parents had degrees in psyche so I grew up around psycho babble, doing a piece on just another serial killer didn’t really appeal to me. So when I did get around to checking into the Dahmer case I was absolutely appalled at the distortions going on and the relentless marketing of this scumbag pedophile as some kind of handsome intriguing dark heartthrob. It was sickening. I decided I would do a very dry “just the facts, Ma’am” kind of a book and I hired a newspaper illustrator to draw the book. I did the best I could to handle a distasteful subject and handle it as tastefully as possible, while being true to the facts of the crimes.

When the book came out, a reporter in Milwaukee bought copies and then ambush-interviewed the victims’ families at their homes. I mean, this is exactly the kind of wreckless shitty behavior by the television media I was criticizing in the book. The families were very upset about my comic book. In their minds, comics were for kids. Then the “local community leaders” got into the act and started using the victims’ cache for their own political gains and to get on television. It was an awful thing to watch, let alone be in the middle of.

Hart Fisher On Sally Jesse Raphael Show 1993 - This round goes to Mr. Fisher!

I tried to have fun with this media bad guy thing but it got real ugly real fast. Death threats, vandalism, businesses refused to work with me anymore like my local copy shop. My house was robbed because the assholes in the local news broadcasted to the town that I’d left town to do a Fangoria Horror Convention. At the convention I found out that my house was robbed and now that too was on the news, in fact, it was a CBS news team that found my place busted into.

I’d been to Milwaukee plenty for conventions and promotions and always had a good time there, except for the court dates, those were humiliating. This included time at the Milwaukee Metal Fest, I mean, metal fans rule, man; they’ve always supported me all the way. That’s why I’m down with the fucking metal. When I needed them, the metal heads were there for me. They scooped me up off the ground, put a fistful of booze in my hand, and sent me back out into the fight. That means the world to me.

It’s just the last time I was at MMF that was brutal. The longer the Dahmer controversy went on, the more I was getting hunted and attacked. I had two different stalkers in Champaign, Illinois where I was living. One was a gay ex-marine who tried to spook me, stalkin’ me out at the local Goth bar hang. Another was a female stalker who liked to dress up as the killer from Brian DePalma’s Dressed to Kill, the one with Michael Caine, she’d stand across the room at Comic Conventions and stare at me.

The more television shows I did, the more death threats poured in, particularly from Milwaukee. When I came up for the last MMF show, it was the summer of ’93 and it was one week after Michele had been killed and I was out of my mind nuts, packing a .357 revolver in my briefcase. I was stone cold out of my mind crazy. Sure, I sold a ton of shirts and comics at the show, but I didn’t know who was there for the show and who had a shiv meant for me.

Dahmer Cue Pt.1 - Protest March on Comic Publisher Hart Fisher's Home

Frankly, I don’t remember much from that weekend at all, it’s just one red hazy blur.

As for Miller Brewing… Same old shit. A dick sucking reporter, looking to stir up trouble, bought a couple of my Jeffrey Dahmer: Milwaukee’s Best t-shirts and sent them to Miller Brewing to get a reaction out of them. Heehehehe… That got a reaction out of them all right, Miller Brewing sent me a cease & desist order. I was tired of being in court so I said fuck that one. Hell, I can’t deny I took the logo for the shirt right off of a case of Milwaukee’s Best and slightly altered it.

Slightly…

Man, I laughed so hard when I got the cease & desist… I had that thing taped up to my fridge for at least a year after that…

Hart Fisher with Martial Arts Trainers Gokor and Bas Rutten

TR: Interestingly enough, while I was familiar with the Dahmer comic, it barely made a blip on my radar. Living in Milwaukee, I started to tune out the local media and District Attorney grandstanding that surrounded the case, so the whole controversy with the comic slipped by me without much notice.  I actually first became familiar with Hart Fisher indirectly. I was working on some storyboards for a horror comic inspiration that  was much more demonically grisly and risqué than my “normal” more cerebral horror fare. I had the thought that it was just too much for most publishers, but it had some real creative merit! Were there even any publishers that would touch it with a 10 foot pole? Then I discovered Glenn Danzig’s comic line “Verotik”. While my life got swallowed up by the music biz and didn’t leave me time to pursue that line of thought any further, I was always curious about the few comic companies that really dared to push the envelope – Enter Hart Fisher and Boneyard Press. Could you talk about your experiences in comic publishing with Boneyard Press, Verotik and the role that experience has played in your filmmaking endeavors? Are you through with the comic publishing business? … Or is that bug still inside you somewhere waiting for a future in which it can breed?

HDF: I’m returning to comics sooner than you think.

Clint Scott hired me to write his new series, Splatter Saint, I’m finishing up the writing chores on the first issue right now. He’s asked me to deliver to him the HAMMER; much like Glenn Danzig did when I brought him “A Taste of Cherry” for Verotika #4, so I’m bringing him something really dark, twisted and fucked up. It’s going to damage some fan boys out there for sure...

But to answer your question about comics and movie making… When you publish comic books on a monthly basis it’s much like managing your own mini-film studio. You have creative teams on your “features”. You have monthly deadlines you have to hit, ad campaigns that you have to create, manage, and gauge how well they do or don’t do… You have to be able to manage people well. You have to be able to budget, to plan for and overcome obstacles… You ship your “Prints” to your “Theaters”, just like you do in film.

Comics is actually a merciless business full of jealous back stabbing social rejects who don’t know how to interact with each other well… Don’t get me wrong... it’s a funny world too, full of awesome people, funny guys and artists… But Jesus jumpin’ Christ, do you deal with a lot of gossipy little girls who’re afraid of interacting with real human beings, who are threatened easily, who guard their turf like it’s their own personal fiefdom, and not a lot of insight of ability to laugh at themselves… You know, Hollywood without the pussy and the big money…

Yeah, I’d say comics is a nice starting business before getting into Film and Television, but you better be ready to play rough in the entertainment business, you better be ready for fuckin’ war in the gutters and death from above… but to me, they’re weak, they’re staggered and stunned… They’re ripe for a fall, for the blade, for my fire. I’ve got high tolerance for pain and pressure just pushes me to do better work. The more you pile on the pressure, the better and sharper I function. I mean, I started Boneyard Press while going to college full time, writing & drawing the books and training six days a week, 2 hours a day for my Black Belt test in Tae Kwan Do. A guy who does that for FUN is a driven dude.

 

Comics, I’ll come back to comics when I’ve got money to burn and unleash bloody hellfire like they’ve never seen. One thing I truly learned from running Verotik with Glenn Danzig’s muscle behind me vs. being the Boneyard Press outlaw- Money talks. Money changes the game, changes the rules, all of them. Everything else is window dressing. Hell, I’ve been working with Glenn again as his editor, and he’s been teaching me more and more about navigating Hollyweird and the entertainment game. How’s that for an advisor? Glenn’s been very generous with his time, he’s watched everything I’ve given to him,  he’s given me sharp constructive criticism of the American Horrors show that I’ve incorporated into the American Horrors Mobile Network. 

You name me one other fucking horror company with a guy like Glenn motherfuckin’ Danzig giving advice. Name one… go ahead. I’ve got a lot of sharp, experienced people behind me on American Horrors. That’s a major game changer.

Boneyard Press was my one man vendetta to be the scariest publisher of comics EVER. I brought a unique voice to horror with Boneyard Press, one that slipped under the radar, touched people where they didn’t expect to be touched. I started the careers of a slew of creators (like My Chemical Romance front man Garry Way, Village Voice critical darling and foster care reform advocate Stephen Elliott, Top Ten Wizard artist John Cassaday) in comics and I aim to apply that same ability to spot and develop talent to use at American Horrors. I’ve formed alliances with the tastemakers in the horror film festival game, and they’re steering me the talent. American Horrors is backed with serious professionals who bring their wealth of experiences and business relationships to my plate. I’m being groomed for the boardroom and the media world by serious men who’ve taken an interest in me and my vision for American Horrors.

It’s a great day to be alive and walking in my shoes. I’m doing everything I want to do with all the people I grew up respecting and wanting to work with. That’s the result of hard, hard work that people have noticed, a lot of pros have been waiting years for me to find my way out of the madness and into the light so we could have some fun, make some money, and bring down the nightmares.

You can find Part One of this interview at FilmCourage.com

Nightmare Theater - The Hottest Films in Horror SciFi, & Cult Cinema

I am happy to present a new feature here at Nightmare Sound Laboratory! In case you haven't guessed it by now, I sort of have a thing for Horror movies, as well as Sci-Fi, Cult, Asian Cinema and, well, just movies in general. As such I have a collection of over a thousand films, including many obscure titles. From "so bad it's good" to "so good it's terrifying" and everything in-between, I'd like to present some of my favorite picks in this feature I call "Nightmare Theater". I won't be doing reviews here 'per se', but I will present some recommendations and sufficient description to solve your movie night dilemmas. The hottest picks from my private collection, rated on a scale of 1 to 5 skulls.

Today's picks are from my Asian Cinema collection. Here are a couple of my all time favorites and definitely amongst some of the wildest films out there!

Hellevator

"Hellevator" or ("The Bottled Fools") the 2004 Japanese film written and directed by Hiroki Yamaguchi is definitely NOT for the kiddies:) It is gruesome, freakish, post-Apocalyptic cyber-punk in an elevator. This film makes M. Night Shamylan pee his bed while David Lynch laughs about it. It's weird, it's tense, and it's everything I love in a film. "A Clockwork Orange" get's stood on it's head, crammed through "1984" and dropped in to a brave New Tokyo most of which occurs while a group of strangers are trapped on an elevator with dangerous prisoners. Bored with "regular" old movies? THIS IS A MUST SEE FILM! Five Skulls!

Save the Green Planet

"Save the Green Planet" (2003) is a Korean film from the mind  writer/director Joon Hwang-Jang. This Dark Comedy lives up to both characteristics to the highest degree. Again, this film is NOT for children, nonetheless it can be both heartwarming AND horrifying in the same moment. Byeong-gu (Ha-kyun Shin) suspects his boss is an Alien. With the help of his adorable hapless, naive but loyal girlfriend Kang Man-shik (Yun-shik Baek) they go to extreme measures to save the world from invasion! Madcap creepy fun! 5 Skulls!

Volcano High 

Another splendid Korean film by Director Tae-gyun Kim, "Volcano High" (2001) is a fun high flying fantasy FX film about violence between rivals at WanSanGo (Volcano High). This is silly comic book fun with plenty of martial arts madness, schoolgirls who kick ass and enough mystic Kung Fu to sooth the Taoist in me. Think Battle Royal but WAY cooler! Exciting cinematography and experimental tones give this a super comic book feel! The film centers around Kyeong-su (Hyuk Jang) a transfer student known for disciplinary troubles, who must unite the students to face a greater enemy than rival gangs. The DVD comes with an English version dubbed by famous rappers (Snoop Dog, Method Man, & others); DO NOT WATCH THE ENGLISH VERSION! It ruins the movie, and whether you like those artists or not, the dubbing is sub par and the entire flow and vibe of the film is lost. There is also something about the nature of the Korean language that is so critical to the actors' performances. Definitely watch the Korean version with English subtitles. You won't regret it! You guessed it: 5 Skulls!

These are three of my all time favorites so we got 15 Skulls up on the trophy wall!

Nothing like watching a good film with some great fiends!

That's all for now,  till next time at Nightmare Theater,

Beast Wishes,

T.Reed - Composer @TAOXproductions

http://www.taoxproductions.com http://www.imdb.me/treed

Guns, Girls, and Giant monsters - Assault Girls - Another Mamoru Oshii TKO

I think I love this movie and I haven't even seen it yet.

Here's why:

Did I mention, this movie has it all! The 3 Gs: Guns, Girls, and Giant Monsters. Don't know that I need to say more, but for those that need convincing, take into account that it is a Mamoru Oshii film ( The same guy responsible for the groundbreaking "Ghost in the Shell", Avalon, and perhaps less well known, but no less intriguing and bizarre "The Red Spectacles" (1987). The music was done by Kenji Kawai. http://www.kenjikawai.com

In case you are not convinced yet:

Check out the trailer:

"Assault Girls" is scheduled for a 12/19/09 Japanese release. I can't wait to get it here!

Horror and SciFi writer, Robert Hood usually beats me to the punch on these hot new films, I just toss one or two in that really strike my fancy. You can check out his fine blog @ http://undeadbrainspasm.blogspot.com

He's back...

Yeah, I disappeared there for a couple weeks;)
This is turning out to be a very busy Summer indeed.
In addition to all the music projects I have culminating simultaneously, I am also working on a screenplay for (oddly enough) an dark action comedy with a writing partner in San Francisco. Over the several weeks I have been in the process of making revisions in preparation for some film festivals. My writing partner produced an independent film for director Adam Orman last year called Fifth Form. (Sorry, again NOT a horror film at all) BUT... Fifth Form was accepted and will be screening next at:

Indiefest USA (Anaheim). AMC Downtown Disney, Thurs. Aug 27, 10pm

More to the point...We have a very close to solid new script/screenplay available to pitch by the week of the festival. We are working towards developing this screenplay into a new independent film, even as the script is being completed and fine tuned. I will announce more about this project when I can. After the fest I will be back to more horror oriented subjects, Rise of the Retrobots updates and other project news. Till then I will be busy doing all the screenwriting/editing I can. I'll still try and stab in article or two in between :)
T. Reed - TAO X Productions - Nightmare Sound Laboratory

My Monster Madness & the Book that Started It All!

"A Pictorial History of Horror Movies" by Denis Gifford
Review by T. Reed - 2009

In 1973 Denis Gifford, a British author who wrote several books on the culture and genre of Horror and SciFi, published "The Pictorial History of Horror Movies"( © 1973/74 - Hamlyn).
I received this book as a gift as a kid less than 10 years old, and for years I carried this around , like a sacred tome, studying every word and picture .
From the original dust jacket picture one might get the mistaken impression that this was a book primarily featuring Universal's Monsters, but further inspection proves it to be far more. Most of those dust covers don't exist any more, like mine, they disintegrated. I actually recovered my copy from my parents house over 20 years later, showing the incredible wear and tear I put this thing through.
While most of the photographs in the book are black and white on cheap paper that easily yellowed, there are a few nice full page color glossies, one, most notably a full page picture from a rare and difficult to find film starring Boris Karloff called "The Sorcerers" (Tigon 1967).
The black and whites are easily every bit as fascinating, offering a good blend of images from many classic films as well as a host of rare and seldom seen images, such as pictures from Georges Melies silent films done at the edge of the 19th century, featuring amazingly well crafted demons, devils, skeletons, and assorted fantastical creatures and events, (including one of the first cinematographic ventures to to the Moon). Also striking were pictures from Terror in the Sun (Ungar 1961), and some of the Asian titles very few outside of Japan were seeing i.e. "The Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch" , Living Skeleton (Schochiku 1968), and "Horror of Malformed Men" (Toei 1969).
But beyond the awesome pictorial record, there are tidbits of information and very cool and obscure facts about many of the movies and artists we are all familiar with, as well as the many of the less familiar. From Melies to Poe, from "Fiend Without a Face" to the "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" and from all across the World, Denis Gifford presented an intoxicating look into the heart of the Beast that is the Art of Horror and SciFi film-making. To my knowledge, this book is no longer in print but can still be obtained as a used book via Amazon.

T. Reed - TAO X Productions - Nightmare Sound laboratory
http://nightmaresoundlab.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/monstermakerslab/
http://www.taoxproductions.com

Monster Makers Lab

In conjunction with the Nightmare Sound Laboratory,

I have just opened the Monster Makers Lab at yahoo groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/monstermakerslab/

Monster Makers Laboratory is for anyone who plays some role in bringing Horror and SciFi Monsters to life! Whether your an industry artist, media professional, or a hobbyist who likes creating monsters for fun, this is the place to be:) Every facet of Monster Making is on the table here, from creating models, sets, costumes, soundtracks, sound design, writing, acting or any other role in the production of Horror and SciFi Films, TV, Music, Comics, Toys, Literature, Art etc. This is meant to be an active forum created to pursue the mission of this group:
To keep the fine art of Monster Making alive and well by fostering collaborations, promoting member projects, exchanging tips, tricks,(and tales of our trials and tribulations along the path;), and sharing appreciation of fine works in the field.
I look forward to meeting you all and exchanging ideas.
Happy Nightmares,
T. Reed - TAO X Productions - Nightmare Sound

The Return of Blood Reaper?

Well, no, not really, But I just discovered that Unstoppable Pacific is offering up a way cool poster for a Horror film I scored back in 2002

"Blood Reaper"This Movie got some incredibly cool DVD box art devoted to it for the American, Canadian, U.K., S. African, and Japanese releases... and now this beautiful full size 40"x27" high quality 4-color process poster designed by New York Graphic Artist Brenda Trevethan. The artwork, in fact far surpasses the film, which featured Scream Queen, Brinke Stevens in a brief appearance.

This movie succeeds at being exactly what it is, and does so unapologetically, so despite it being a typical STV teenage slasher flick, for me it had a level of humor and charm others might not necessarily see.
I suppose that scoring this film, for weeks, and hearing the director's instruction in the background of the rough audio added to the humor that I alone would be in the unique position of engraining into my experience. I mean there's something hilarious about watching an actor looking at a dripping substance hitting the ground, and hearing the director in the background whispering

" You look up...and sure enough... it's blood!"

You can see a trailer for Blood Reaper here:

It was the first feature horror film I scored and I had fun doing it. I hope and believe that my music served it well. My favorite aspect of the film was probably the most understated, the scenes with a homeless woman who lived in a tent, played by Emalie Ortega. They had a very 'David Lynchian' vibe which I attempted to accentuate with the sound/music.

I wish all the best to the cast and crew of "Blood Reaper" and the Producers at U.P. and hope they continue to put out creepy films. Their latest short film looks pretty cool!
See Unstoppable Pacific's Trailer for "Eternus" Here:

Humans Only!

On a recent trip to San Francisco to do some recording, I noticed these AWESOME 'Humans Only' signs at the Bus Stops! That of course elicited a look at the D-9 website they list at the bottom of the poster. Turns out it's Peter Jackson's latest, "District 9" coming out August 14th 2009. Their website www.d-9.com and viral campaign are pretty cool, so here's to hoping this will be a movie every bit as cool as the promotions promise.

Welcome to the Nightmare Sound Laboratory

King Komodo/Cryotanks Image by Todd Tennant used with permission

I'd like to begin with a brief introduction and a story to help you make sense of the many oddities you will doubtless encounter herein. My name is T. Reed and I am a Composer, Music Producer and Artist. This affliction possessed me as a small child infatuated with horror movies, and obsessed with comics, monsters and robots (Oh how little has changed;). I believe I can pinpoint the exact moment in time when my course and purpose was set and permanently engraved upon my soul much like the Curse of the Werewolf that was placed upon Lawrence Talbot in the old Saturday Night creep shows.
At age two, I drew pictures of Batman and declared that I would be an Artist when I grew up, but it was Kindergarten, the ultimate horror story for some, destroyer of youth and innocence, that pushed me into what I am today. In my first encounter with the agencies of conformity and assimilation, I remember nothing of note upon that day until, much to my surprise and wonder, the teacher announced that we were all going to take a trip to the laboratory. As we walked in an orderly fashion down the halls, I envisioned a room with scales, skulls and bones, vials of glowing substances, and beakers of preserved specimens and creatures of unknown origin. I could see a mad scientist suspiciously similar to Boris Karloff in appearance, teaching Mad Science 101 in the Science Lab in my minds eye. On that first day of school, I was launched into society, into the Belly of the Beast, and for one brief shining moment I had hope for a life of excitement and joy. So this was School, eh? AWESOME! This momentary ecstasy was of course merely the product of my imaginings and shattered into pieces on the cold tile floor of the hallway that we seemed to have stopped in inexplicably.
As I waited patiently, I noticed that little by little, the teacher was allowing students to use the bathrooms. "Ah, I see, I told myself, a pit stop on the way to the 'real' laboratory" but even then, a sinking feeling had begun to build in the pit of my stomach that I just couldn't shake. It was confirmed when we turned around and walked back the way we'd come. Who came up with the word 'Lavatory' anyway, and when were we, (as 5 year olds), supposed to have assimilated that word? All I know is that those 8 letters spelled my first great disillusionment. Welcome to the 'real world': disappointment, misunderstanding, boredom, and waiting in line to crap out numbers and yesterdays food products....It was then, that somewhere deep inside, I cracked and made a solemn unspoken oath to fulfill the imaginary world of Laboratories and Mad Scientists I had envisioned waiting in that hallway. That hallway that crushed my childhood and my dreams in one fell swoop, also swung wide the doorway to my imagination.
I now open that door to you.
Never again will you have to face the annoying disappointment of utilitarian blandness! Here at the Nightmare Sound Laboratory there is a monster in every room and a robot doorman to guide the way. Mad science is the only science studied here, and outlandish sonic experiments are the rule and not the exception.
Welcome to my World.

T. Reed - Composer, Music Producer, Artist
King Komodo/Cryotanks Image by Todd Tennant used with permission