Dr. Death Proof's 80's Flick Extravanganza and Shenanigans

bonus trivia:
One of the stop-motion animators on Caveman was Sneaky Pete Kleinow, pedal steel guitarist for the Flying Burrito Brothers, et al.

notice the Pterodactyl shirt.

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Captain's Log
My Collection

I need to check out Caveman again. I was probably 11 when it hit cable TV, but in my world Dinosaurs were serious business, so I had no time for this comedy nonsense. (I was a fun kid.)

Is there a thing such as too much embroidery?


No. The answer is no.

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Clash of the Titans (1981)







Swords, sorcery, boobs, monsters, boobs and Sir Laurence Olivier in a bedsheet. And I love it.

Zeus is a horny fellow. One of the results of his many trysts is the hero Perseus, born in Argos and sent floating into the sea as a baby with his mother. Zeus orders the monstrous Kraken to be let loose on Argos, destroying it. Wiped clean by the wrath of god.


Perseus grows up into a strong, handsome, well hung young man. Zeus has the gods of Olympus gift him with magic weapons, which must be nice... because we always had to roll for magic and got stuck with a crappy potion or a first level scroll with useless spells like Wall of Fog or Glitterdust.



Perseus gets hot and bothered over Princess Andromeda and successfully answers a riddle, winning her hand in marriage. (and severing the hand of Calibos, son of Thetis, who is not a nice man and looks like he smells like burnt bacon and a gas statio toilet.)


Perseus must slay the titan Medusa, then use her head's petrification power to destroy the Kraken before it eats his fiance and craps Andromeda all over the beach, because who the hell wants to clean that mess up.










Clash of the Titans was directed by Desmond Davis. (I Was Happy Here, Ordeal by Innocence)






A passable script, decent acting (although Burgess Meredith seems a little out of place) and good costumes/set design, but the real MVP here is the lord and master Ray Harryhausen. I would go so far as to consider this his masterpiece, especially the Medusa stop-motion. Harryhausen brings multiple mythological beasts to life - the Kraken, Medusa, Cerberus, giant scorpions, a Roc, and more. Unfortunately this was remade in 2010 and it just pales in comparison. Even the best CGI can't compete with good stop-motion animation. Worth seeing purely for Harryhausen's masterwork if nothing else.





4 scorpions out of 5

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This is a childhood favorite, but it was only a few years ago when I had a revelation. The main light source in the Medusa scene is a flame (or maybe multiple flames). So that means that in addition to animating the figure, and the multiple snakes on the head, he also had to mimic the flicker of the flame reflecting against her skin, frame by frame. Insanity.
I mean, maybe there's an easy way to do that, but it just seems extra complex to a laymen such as myself.

A few years ago I put all of my childhood action figures on Ebay, but the only two I couldn't part with were my original Chewbacca and my Charon from Clash, which now has a prominent place in my living room.

Only seen snippets of "Clash of the Titans" while blowing through the channels. But over the decades, I've probably seen the whole film.

Clash of the Titans still hold up as a great fantasy flick. Especially it’s special effects given the time.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS I had a few of the Clash figures including Charon. As I recall, I had Perseus, Pegasus, and Calibos as well.


I wanted the Kraken but this was 1981 so Empire Strikes Back toys were priority. It was either the AT-AT or the Kraken. I couldn't have both.

I had that Kraken. As I recall, it was pretty big.

*The Kraken was enormous and is a contender for Greatest Toy I Ever Owned.

*I remember one day my mom freaked out because she thought there was a lizard in the living room. Turns out my Calibos figure had just lost its tail.

*I wish I'd kept this packaging.

I know I had Charon but I don't remember the packaging at all.


Yeah... I wish I kept all the boxes/cardbacks. I still kick myself because for a couple of YEARS there was a Power Droid figure at the Woolworth's in our local mall. It had the cardback with the prototype toys on it and it was only like $4. I already had a Power Droid so it didn't occur to me to ask mom to get me the second one. I loved the prototype designs so I should have gotten it for that alone:

I am an unabashed fan.

That shit used to drive me crazy. When I finally started DMing (33 years ago), I made the executive decision of making my own table that only included decent shit for the characters so there was still some chance but everybody got to have something magical and worthwhile. Finally I just started having them all "discover" magic loot that I had pre-selected to benefit their characters.
I was a softie.