The Grady Twins from The Shinning by Funko Rock Candy

The Shining came out in 1980, back then I was way too young to go and see it at the cinema, but I did see it a couple of years later when it was released on video, and several times after that when it was shown on late night TV. 

At the time I was around the same age as Danny Torrance  played Danny Lloyd in the film. 

I don't know why I was so into the film it has so many creepy and weird moments and down right frightening ones too.

 I guess because Mum's first husband was an alcoholic and a vicious monster of one at that, I really related to the character Danny, he was around my age after all and had the ability to know things before they happened, I did too. 

imdb.com

He saw ghosts of people long since past, I'd had experiences with that too, he "called" Dick Hallorann when he needed help... I guess I somehow did that too!

 Once when I was really ill and at our caravan in All Hallows, Kent with my Brother, Nan and Great Aunt Ollie, I got ill from eating a savloy and was calling for my Mum who was at the time back home in Waltham Abbey (almost 50 miles away), as she had to work...

 The next day, I was fine and we went to a pay phone on the site to call Mum to let her know how our holiday was going...

 She asked me if I was ok the night before and if I'd been calling for her, I told her I had... 

She told me she had been hoovering the previous night and thought she heard me, she turned off the hoover and could hear my panicked voice calling "Mummy" it worried her so much she almost got in the car and drove to us, but after a few minutes it stopped so she assumed she had imagined it.

 Danny and I had things in common, and we both lived with a monster who was violent and terrifying one who thought nothing of threatening or attempting to kill us, so I could totally understand his fear, his connection to Dick Hallorann and his visions.

bloody-disgusting.com

Stanley Kubrick perfectly captures that atmosphere, the feeling of needing to walk on eggshells and never quite knowing what to trust even when the monster seems to have turned back into a loving family man... The tension he builds up in that film is something that I understand only to well, it's not easy to describe but the intensity is palpable...

Some parts of the film are too close for comfort like the scene where Jack Torrance is climbing the stairs looking for his wife and holding an axe...

That said I oddly love this film and always have, I think it's because in some ways I felt a kinship with the characters but it's more than that, it probably sounds perverse but there is a certain comfort to be felt when watching things from real life that don't make sense being played out on a screen, or maybe it's just because I can disconnect from it because it's happening to them... not us!?

I've always loved films and stories about possessions and ghosts, but again it goes deeper than that, I guess if I find the words to explain it I'll come back and write it down here.

New York Daily News

The worse thing for me was the Killing of  Dick Hallorann played by Scatman Crothers (I've always loved that actor, he reminds me so much of my Uncle Alf, looks-wise and he always came across as such a kindly man too. To this day I still have a very soft spot for him.) after he comes to help Danny after hearing his "call".

Jack Torrance kissing the decomposing corpse of Mrs. Massey in room 237 was pretty gross, but it's never really upset me in the way Dick Hallorann's death did.

 I was glad to find out several years later when I read the book and discovered a very different ending for his character and the Torrance's themselves.

Reddit

I think for most people some of the scariest parts of the film is the various appearances of "The Grady Twins" played by Lisa and Louise Burns. I was never really in that camp. Don't get me wrong they are creepy little things, but not scary in the way other themes the film explores are.

Not even the images of them shown in flashes, lying blood soaked on the floor bothered me that much although Danny's reaction to them certainly unnerved me, so did the way they said "Play with us Danny, for ever, and ever and ever".

google

More than anything, I've always been intrigued by them and their presence in the Overlook Hotel.

Like most I presume they are the daughters of a previous Caretaker, called Grady - whom the Manager informs Jack Torrance, prior to showing him and his family around the hotel - "run amok and killed his family with an axe". 

This has always confused me as the "Twins" or ghost girls are not mentioned in the novel, only in the film and so all we really have to explain their presence in the hotel is the story of Grady at the start of the film and the images of them as seen by Danny... 

In the scene of their murder an axe is clearly placed in the foreground and as we know Grady had two daughters and killed his family with an axe, it makes sense that they are in fact his children. 

However, the Manager of the Overlook Stuart Ullman gives the Grady girls ages as being "about 8 and 10" so they can't possibly be "The Twins" Danny sees in his visions... Can they??

Well, whoever they are and whoever they belong to they look adorable as Rock Candy Figures by Funko... Just look at their little faces!

The box has a sticker on it stating that these figures are 2018 Fall Convention Exclusives and Limited Edition, but they have no number that I could see on their box and it's really hard to find any information on them apart from what can be gleamed from their packaging or the figures themselves.

The packaging it'self is perfect in it's attention to detail and they use the iconic orange and brown carpet Danny plays on as decoration for the front, back and sides of the box.

Another detail I really appreciated is on the right side of the box, which has an image of Danny's tricycle, then the Twins, then Danny with his hands covering his face, just like first scene they appear in in the film!

                                         
                                                           Classic VHS Horror

The figures themselves are moulded holding hands, so cannot be separated. They stand approximately 7 inches tall and come with a round clear plastic base so they can stand up independently as being joined together, they are quite heavy for this kind of figure.

Their little dresses are almost identical to the ones the girls wore in the film, they even have little splats of blood on them, this however, is nowhere near as widespread as it is on screen. In the film the girls are pretty much saturated with blood as they lay dead in the hall, here they have been depicted with tiny little splots on their abdomens.

Their hair is also in the same style as their onscreen counterparts, but is a much darker colour... these gripes are very minor and certainly don't detract from the cuteness of these figures at all.

From behind it's easy to see that they were made by Funko, something about the way the hair is moulded screams Funko at me, but as I have several Funko figures that is in no way a criticism, it's just an interesting (for me anyway!) point I thought I'd note.

They are so such and quirky that I can't help smiling ever time I look at them!

Ok, that's me done for now...

Take care,

Follow

🎈 Living Dead Dolls Presents: IT Pennywise (1990) 🎈

Google 

Anyone that knows me knows I have a deep rooted fear of clowns, they also know that I have always loved Pennywise - that demented clown monster created from the mind of Stephan King for his novel IT!

So it probably goes without saying if you read my blog, when I found out that Living Dead Dolls had immortalised him as played by Tim Curry, there was no way I wasn't going to fall in love with him and have to add him to my collection.

Screen Rant

Yeah, I know it's weird, but for some reason it's the evil clowns that I can bear, perhaps because they are not hiding their true selves behind their makeup, I dunno, I just know that in terms of IT or Pennywise The Dancing Clown, he's always seemed to me to be a quirky little weirdo and of course it doesn't hurt that in the 1990 Mini- Series, TV Adaptation of the novel, he was played by Tim Curry - one of my favourite actors! 

The promotional photographs they used made my need to own him even worse... his little face looking out of a storm grate, as he did in the novel and mini-series when he "made friends" with little Georgie Denbrourgh, right before chomping down on his arm!

In keeping with that scene the Living Dead Doll version has been moulded with his mouth wide open and his Huge pointy teeth exposed ready to chow down on some fresh frightened child meat!

The front of the box is designed to resemble the cover of the Mini Series dvd, which shows Pennywise having ripped through the paper and looking out above it from the right hand top corner, this is also the same image I used as a header at the top of this post.

 The back has the image from the promotional shot above with a really cute close up of Pennywise exposing his teeth just before he attacks in the top right corner, which is shown in the photograph below.

He comes with a little red balloon and has a whole in his right hand which enables him to hold onto it for posing.

 The red balloon is significant as it is often shown during the mini series to let the characters and audience know that Pennywise is nearby and so build up the tension.

His outfit is identical to the one worn by Tim Curry in his portrayal of Pennywise in the miniseries, which is much closer to the description in the novel than the one worn by Bill Skarsgård in the 2017 film.

real nobody

The "make up" his been given is also spot on, the only thing I would have loved would for him to have mini leds in the centre of his eyes with a little switch to enable me to turn on and off his "Deadlights" ... in fact I might actually do this to him if I can get small enough leds and work out how to do it without damaging his factory paint in the process. 

I absolutely love this little guy, he's just perfect, and definitely one of the coolest Living Dead Dolls out there... I'm so glad I managed to get him and add him to my collection, he fits nicely between my Living Dead Doll collection and my Horror and Music Action Figures.

Well that's all for now, I'm planning to a review of my 2017 film Pennywise Action Figure when he arrives so stay tuned for more IT!

Hugs,

     Follow

🎃 Trick R Treat - Sam - Living Dead Dolls 🎃

cromeyellow.com/beyond-fest-vlog-trick-r-treat/

I've always had a thing for Portmanteau Anthology Horror Films, some of my favourites were made by Amicus Productions such as Asylum, Dr. Terror's House of Horror, Vault of Horror and Tales from The Crypt (not to be confused with the T.V Series). 

I love the way they tell the individual stories and link them together with a common thread. Amicus and Hammer Horror do this particularly well and unlike some, it doesn't seem forced.

It's very rare that I find a modern film in this genre that gets it right most have one or two stories which really leave their mark on me and the rest are just at best so-so or worse absolutely crap.

                             

So it was a nice surprise to discover how good Trick R Treat is, although not scary it is one of those films that I can happily watch again and again, it never gets old for me, and has many concepts and is so aesthetically pleasing that it really gets my creative mind going.

The stories in the film are tied together in a very unique way, time wise, the characters are shown in the background (starting their own Halloween stories) as another story is the focus by the end of the film all the fragments and stories tie together perfectly.

One recurring character is "Sam" he appears in each of the film's five stories, taking the form of a Trick or Treater until his real purpose is revealed.

He wears an orange footed pyjama suit with a burlap hood covering his face, carries a burlap sack to hold his "Treats" and is often seen with a pumpkin shaped Lollipop which he holds in his little hand as he wanders around, taking note of the film's events.

Sam is the keeper of the customs of Halloween and punishes those who he deems to have broken the rules of the holiday for which he is named. Throughout the film there are many instances of people committing these indiscretions and being punished by Sam because of it.

The Rules of Halloween:

1) Always give sweets to Trick or Treaters - Sam has a sweet tooth!

2) Always wear a costume - Sam hates people who don't get into "the Halloween Spirit"

3) Never extinguish the flame of a Jack-O-Lantern before Midnight. This rule includes destroying pumpkins - Sam has an afinity to pumpkins, you'll find out how later!
4) Always Respect The Dead.

The Living Dead Doll depiction of Sam is 10 inches high and wears his trademark grubby romper suit. It comes with a removable mask made of burlap, a mini Lollipop with bite mark in it and his "Treat sack" exactly as he appears in the film.

My Son, knowing how much I love the film and Sam in particular, bought me this adorable little man for Christmas 2016.

The only difference between the film version and Mezco's version is his hands, which sadly are plain white on the doll but look like normal children's hands wearing burlap finger less gloves in the film.

I will be fixing this on my Sam as soon as I get the chance!

His mask is removable and once removed reveals Sam's true face; his creator Michael Dougherty describes him as being "a cross between an embryo and a pumpkin". 

For me this is the perfect description, the more I look at him, the more I see the merging of both, not only in terms of his face, but the whole of his head.

He is just as cute from behind too, not least because his romper suit has a little bum flap but you can also clearly see the pumpkin shape of his head too!

When viewed from above you can see his little head even has a little stalk on top of it just like a pumpkin. Although unlike a pumpkin his head is not bright orange and the stalk is not green, this not only adds to the "realism" of him but is also very much inline with the film character which he represents.

Follow

🔪 Michael Myers - Halloween 2 - Limited Edition Living Dead Doll 🔪

Aaron is so awesome...he bought me a Living Dead Doll Mike Myers from the Halloween (2007  Rob zombie movie) with glow in the dark mask, for Christmas 2008, he went on a quest to find one 'cos he knew I've wanted one for ages now! wooooot

Promotional image copyright: Meco Toys

And even better he arrived from America early woot woot ...the bummer thing was poor Aaron got slapped with a £12.80 Customs Charge :( ... our kind Postman Kev' said we didn't have to accept the parcel if we didn't want to pay it... only Aaron wouldn't hear of that and coughed up the extra cash for me to have him!!

As you can see from the above photograph it was a very bad idea letting him out of his box as he got busy straight away worrying my poor chinchilla, Gizmo!

The boxes on the "Horror Film" Living Deads are so awesome...nearly as awesome as the dolls themselves!  

"Little Mikey's" box has images from the film as well as the doll himself on all sides, I made the above collage of it using pictures of each side, the inside of the front (Like Leather Faces box it opens like a book with a preview panel, you access the doll from the top) has an image of "Mike Myers" from the film (second image) then comes the doll and back of box (just as cool!!)

The other cool thing about him is, he glows in the dark!!

 

While I was looking on Amazon for Living Deads the other year I found several for sale and again, I was pretty shocked by the prices being asked for them, not that I plan to sell my little man ever, but it's good to know how much he could be worth.

Follow

🔪 Jason Voorhees - Living Dead Doll 2009 (remake) 🔪

He was an Early Birthday present from my Son!

WOOT!!!!

This version of the Jason's does not have a re-movable mask...but he does have a blooming great big knife...Woot hours of fun!

Yay... I did it!!

I finally managed to get Jason's mask off ...

I tried when I got him but it was stuck tight to the bottom of his face and so I emailed the living dead dolls website to ask if it was removable ... they said no but over the months I saw several others of these dolls being sold all of which said the mask was removable so I was a bit flummuxed ...

I even found one which showed a pic' of the doll with and without mask so I thought I'm going for it! 

I took out my trusty scalpel and set to work... the buggers had only glued his top lip and nose to the mask but ha ... didn't stop me and so here's my little boy's great unveiling...kinda cute ain't he? 

I'll be including this in a later post when I finally get pic's of my Living Dead Doll Collection together and uploaded *Grin*

💀 Living Dead Dolls (and Herbie!) Presents ... Leatherface! 💀

Leatherface was bought for me as a Christmas present by my Son when they were released in 2007, as he knew all about my soft spot for the Sawyer / Hewitts family, I have no idea why but I always root for them, they are a weird innocence and are oddly sympathetic characters even though they are right sadistic freaks that you really wouldn't want to meet!

Leatherface especially is childlike, this is further illustrated in the recent prequels where he is shown doing his lessons (spelling) using an electronic toy such as those made by Leapfrog for toddlers and preschoolers.

2008 Christmas pressie from Aaron ... wooot!

This doll is an Exclusive and was produced in a limited run only so they are quite hard to come by in the U.K. - I decided to double check that last line, having not researched him since Aaron bought him for me, so I hop footed it over to Amazon and wow, check out this screenshot...

Amazon.co.uk Screenshot - 2 minutes ago!

I'm shocked how much it would set me back to buy him now, Aaron saved up his pocket money for over a month to buy him for me, if he'd been the price he is now I'd of had buckleys of owing him!

I had to wait for him to arrive from America, he wasn't available for sale in the U.K at the time and after the two weeks of tenderhooks Customs held him to ransom for £10.00!

Even so, with the initial cost, shipping cost and Customs charge combined he's still 

I love this little guy so much, he's just the cutest... He's now £138.10 - £162,42 more than he originally cost in 2008 - almost tripled in value!!

Not that I'd part with the little guy, I adore him, he's just so cute..

                          

He comes in a really cool box which opens like a door at the front to reveal a clear viewing pane, to get at him you have to open the box at the top.

                                                  

The Back of the box reads... "The collectable you are about to purchase is an homage to the tragedy which befell a group of five youths. Had they lived very,very long lives, they could not have expected nor would they have wished to see as much of the macabre as they were to see that day. For them an idyllic Summer afternoon drive became a nightmare. The events of that day were to lead to the discovery of one of the most bizarre crimes in the annuals of American history... The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

He wears navy blue trousers, an ivory shirt, cowboy boots, a blood splattered apron and stands 12 inches tall and comes with his own little chainsaw (also covered in blood splats) and has the cutest little pot belly!!

He sometimes watches The Texas Chainsaw massacre with us at Halloween, although he always gets angry at the end and waves is chainsaw around!