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Groundhog Day Part 12: The Fake Slasher Film in The Monster Squad

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Today is of course Groundhog Day, the one day out of every year where the fate of the seasons lies in the hands of a goddamn rodent. Ole Phil saw his shadow today, which, unfortunately for all of us, means that six more weeks of winter is headed our way.

In the 1980s, the slasher sub-genre pretty much mined every single holiday on the calendar for all they were worth, with films such as Silent Night, Deadly Night, My Bloody Valentine and New Year’s Evil becoming annual traditions for us horror-hounds.

Groundhog Day, however, was left out in the cold – one of the few holidays to not receive its own horror movie. Well, not a real one, at least…

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It’s not uncommon for movies to feature fake movies within them, as it can be quite costly to acquire the rights to use clips from actual movies. Released in 1987, The Monster Squad did just that, introducing a faux slasher franchise called Groundhog Day.

In the film, horror buff Sean Crenshaw desperately wants to go see the franchise’s 12th installment with his friends one night, though his dad informs him he has to stay home and babysit. In a later scene, Sean is using his binoculars to watch the drive-in film from the roof of his house, where we see a brief snippet of the fake movie.

All that we ever really learn about the franchise is that it centers on a guy with an axe who comes back from the dead with each new installment, and in Groundhog Day: Part 12 he once again crawls out of his grave to do some killing. Typical slasher fun, to say the least.

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Last year, nearly 30 years after the release of The Monster Squad, artist Nathan Thomas Milliner and co-writer/director Fred Dekker teamed up for a fun little art project, which saw Nathan designing a poster for the faux movie. He and Dekker also wrote up a little synopsis of the series, providing the villain with a name and fleshing out the story a bit more.

In Nathan’s words…

Groundhog Day

The Groundhog Day slasher series went on for a record 17 entries beating out the famous Friday the 13th series. The 17th film, GroundHog Day 17: LARS STARS which found our lunatic fighting aliens in space, was the final nail in the coffin. The story was of Gravedigger Lars Murmeltiertag–a Norwegian immigrant who was killed by a group of teenagers one night in 1958 while hanging out in a cemetery one cold night. Lars was pushed into the grave he was digging and broke his neck. It all happened on Groundhog Day and 20 years later, LUNATIC LARS rose from the grave he died in, donning a Groundhog mask and a pick ax and started his bloody revenge.

Not really…

This was the fake movie series within the movie THE MONSTER SQUAD. Fred Dekker and I collaborated on this piece and it was a real pleasure. I hope everyone enjoys it.

So, you see, Groundhog day did in fact get its own slasher series – if only within the confines of one of the best horror movies ever made. For now, it’ll have to do!

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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Spirit Halloween Unleashes Life-Size ‘Ghostbusters’ Terror Dog

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Halfway to Halloween and the licensed merch is already being released for the holiday. For instance, the seasonal retailer giant Spirit Halloween unveiled their giant Ghostbusters Terror Dog for the first time this year.

The one-of-a-kind demonic dog has eyes that light up in a glowing, terrifying red. It’s going to set you back a whopping $599.99.

Since this year we saw the release of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, it’s probably going to be a popular theme come October. Spirit Halloween is embracing their inner Venkman with other releases tied to the franchise such as the LED Ghostbuster Ghost Trap, Ghostbusters Walkie Talkie, Life-Size Replica Proton Pack.

We saw the release of other horror props today. Home Depot unveiled a few pieces from their line which includes the signature giant skeleton and separate dog companion.

For the latest Halloween merch and updates get on over to Spirit Halloween and see what else they have to offer to make your neighbors jealous this season. But for now, enjoy a small video that features scenes from this classic cinematic canine.

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‘The Strangers’ Invaded Coachella in Instagramable PR Stunt

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Renny Harlin’s reboot of The Strangers isn’t coming out until May 17, but those murderous home invaders are making a pit stop at Coachella first.

In the latest Instagramable PR stunt, the studio behind the film decided to have the trio of masked intruders crash Coachella, a music festival that takes place for two weekends in Southern California.

The Strangers

This type of publicity began when Paramount did the same thing with their horror movie Smile in 2022. Their version had seemingly ordinary people in populated places look directly into a camera with an evil grin.

The Strangers

Harlin’s reboot is actually a trilogy with a more expansive world than that of the original.

“When setting out to remake The Strangers, we felt there was a bigger story to be told, which could be as powerful, chilling, and terrifying as the original and could really expand that world,” said producer Courtney Solomon. “Shooting this story as a trilogy allows us to create a hyperreal and terrifying character study. We’re fortunate to be joining forces with Madelaine Petsch, an amazing talent whose character is the driving force of this story.”

The Strangers

The movie follows a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) who “after their car breaks down in an eerie small town, are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive in The Strangers: Chapter 1 the chilling first entry of this upcoming horror feature film series.”

The Strangers

The Strangers: Chapter 1 opens in theaters on May 17.

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