Tuesday 31 October 2017

Happy Halloween!

I'm not sure when I first became aware of John Carpenter's Halloween, I certainly didn't see it at the cinema - I'm far too young for that!  I do however remember sitting down in a darkened room with friends to watch it on a video cassette player* with a picture so bad that you could barely discern what was happening save for the flash of light on Michael Myers’ blade.  Yet something of that time still fascinates me, perhaps it was Carpenter's own eerie, electronic keyboard soundtrack or the unsettling and disorientating movement of the camera, but a good horror story can be a winning formula and I certainly enjoy a celluloid scare!
*remember those?
I mention this here as it has bearing on a couple of matters, firstly this being All Hallows’ Eve and to make up for my woeful output during ‘Zomtober’, I thought I would mark the occasion with a couple more of the ‘Studio Miniatures’ horror characters range.   It somehow seemed appropriate to paint up this knife wielding pair as none other than Michael Myers himself.
Michael senior was not the most taxing of paint jobs, given that he is in a boiler suit, but his younger version more than made up for it with the clown costume and the addition of a carved pumpkin for the base.  
When it comes to this most wholesome of hobbies, I have always enjoyed a film or television tie in and it didn’t take make much persuasion to back this series of miniatures when they were launched as a Kickstarter, but what do you do with them?  
The short answer is that I am still not sure, but a chance comment by the ever creative Jeremy ‘Jez’ Winstanley has me thinking, albeit very long term, about a Survival Horror game possibly involving a haunted house, or mansion, and an intrepid crew of young investigators and their dog!
This has no real direction at present, more a collection of loose ideas that allows me to paint up some rather splendid miniatures once in a while, but it does allow me to hoist up another side banner to collect them under.  
Speaking of Survival Horror games, now might be an appropriate moment to confess that I have fallen foul of yet another horde of crowd funded plastic!  ‘Resident Evil 2: The Board Game’ launched by ‘Steamforged Games’ and produced under licence from Capcom really caught my eye, probably as a result of many a long hour scaring myself stupid with the original game nearly twenty years ago!  
So as darkness falls this evening, I need to keep a wary eye out for spooks and ghouls as the village children will come trick-or-treating.  This has, of course, been a wonderful excuse for me to buy far too many sweets and chocolate that I will inevitably have to finish off myself!

Happy Halloween!

43 comments:

  1. Nice figures, lovely painting surely they're just another pair of weird survivors after the zombie apocalypse? A bit like "All fools day " where the only people left are mad? Escapees from your asylum!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you Iain and I hadn't thought of them as survivors, what a great idea. I've not heard of All Fools' Day either, one to look up.

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  2. Great looking models Michael, I too remember seeing Halloween on video, with a young Jamie Lee Curtis as the damsel role.
    If your playing a horror game, will you have to roll to see if the teenager, runs towards safety, or straight back into danger, like the classic horror movies ?

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    1. Thank you Dave and what a genius idea! Running back into danger, a prerequisite for all the 70s/80s horror films.

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  3. Haunted house or mansion? I´d do An abandoned Hospital. Creepy places. Call it?? Ward of(f) evil with The second F struck through with a knife slash ?

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  4. Excellent paint job on this iconic horror figure! I always thought Micheal was more scary then Jason. Very true on eating the left over candy!

    Christopher

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    1. Thank you Christopher and I agree with you Michael over Jason, mind you it has been a long time since I watched either.

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  5. Creepy, beyond creepy. So well done, I think.

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    1. Thank you Mike, I shall take that as the ultimate compliment.

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  6. Top stuff Michael. That's some cool paintwork and photography

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    1. Thank you Roy, I had a lot of fun with the photography.

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  7. Both of those are brilliant!

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  8. I remember the films and yes I also watched them on a VCR. Great work sir

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    1. Thank you Andy, this new high definition viewing just takes the guesswork out of modern cinema. :)

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  9. Ah, the grainy picture quality of a second (or third) hand video cassette, trying to make out what was actually happening. The youth of today have no idea what we went through to get our fix of movies deemed not suitable for teenage viewing...

    I wasn't aware Studio had done this classic horror icon and it's probably cheaper than the LE Horrorclix one, so time for me to pay them another visit. Lovely work, Michael, and thanks for the nod - whilst I'm still considering doing 'Carry on Screaming', I think I MAY be able to fold it into my current Gothic Victoriana project. Perhaps Sidney Bung will join the forces of the Black Museum...

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    1. It was the tracking on ours that was always the problem, not to mention trying to get the 'not suitable for teenage viewing' past my parents! They are an awfully tempting range and a joy to paint. Please do Carry on Screaming, it is such a good idea and I keep thinking about it myself. I even have a Cluedo board.

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  10. Those figures look great Michael. Must admit never seen the film. But I'm a big fan of John Carpenter's The Thing! Ganesh Games do a rule set just for Teenagers plus dog investigating spooky goings on.

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    1. Now The Thing was a fabulous film, but also a huge fan of Escape from New York. Thanks for the tip off for the rules set too.

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  11. Happy Halloween over there Michael!

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  12. Another collection of wonderfully painted miniatures. Those Studio Miniatures are quite appealing. Enjoy your Halloween. We all seem to have our favorite Halloween movie, for my wife & I, it's Sleepy Hollow after the kids are done visiting.

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    1. Thank you Terry and what a great choice of film, another favourite of mine.

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  13. Excellent work with both, but the grown up Michael is especially imposing. :)

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    1. Thank you, he is definitely my favourite too.

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  14. First rate renditions of the horror classics Michael - you are to be congratulated on a suitably spooky post for Halloween (and fully deserve the left over sweets and chocolate) :-)

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    1. Thank you, really enjoyed this one and the treats were great!

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  15. Blessed Samhain! :)

    Lovely work on young and adult Michael there Michael. As a bonus for your proposed game, should the intrepid investigators (plus dog) capture Michael, maybe when they pull off the mask it reveals Dr Loomis

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    1. Oh yes! That would be perfect! Thank you Tamsin.

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  16. Just superb...and atmospheric! Excellent job...

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    1. Thank you Phil, I really enjoyed playing around with the photography.

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  17. Brilliant. Love it. Love the original film(s) too. Great fun post and happy Sowen :-)

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  18. Excellent characters!
    The black and white picture is a wonderful staged photo, a great reference to these old horror movies.

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  19. Excellent work, Michael - great looking figures.

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  20. More creepy ... read excellent ... work on these Halloween themed miniatures. You're really are on a roll now.

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  21. These are two very nice and likewise spooky additions. Very well done, Sir!

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