Super Mates 94: House of Franklin-Stein Part 4

The final trip to the House of Franklin-Stein this season finds the Super Mates on the couch, with a commentary track on the 1987 contemporary classic, Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys! Can a band of teenage vampire hunters including Coreys Feldman and Haim defeat a gang of vampire punks led by Keifer Sutherland?

Then it’s off to the comic crypt to cover Superman: The Man of Steel #41-42, and wrap up the saga of Babe Tanaka, vampire rock star!, by Louise Simonson, Jon Bogdanove, Klaus Janson, Dennis Janke, and Mike Dutkiweicz!

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Clip credits:

Lost Boys (1987) directed by Joel Schumacher

“The House of Franklinstein” by Terry O’Malley, of Stop Calling Me Frank https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/haberdashed

“Cry Little Sister” by Gerard MacMahon

Main Title Theme from Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of by Jay Gruska

“Dead Man’s Party” by Oingo Boingo

29 responses to “Super Mates 94: House of Franklin-Stein Part 4

  1. Hi, folks….I always enjoy hearing the two of you discussing film and comics. I am a native North Carolinian, and listening to you both makes me feel at home. How lucky and blessed you both are, to have these creative interests in common! I have missed hearing new recordings since last year’s HoF. Please, if you can find the time, make new ones in the intervening months. Thank you for all you do!

  2. I saw Lost Boys when it came out and definitely thought it was pretty cool. I went through a period where I thought it wasn’t cool but then nostalgia has rebounded it back into coolness.

    The comic book connection is a win.
    Edward Herrman as the lead vampire is a win.
    Barnard (I was in Tron too!) Hughes is a win.
    Jami Gertz is a HUGE win.

    And then chuck in the total 80s-ness of it with the Coreys, the soundtrack, Kiefer Sutherland and it all works.

    I especially love the ending. The grand-dad knew all along!

    Thanks for covering!

    1. I should have mentioned Barnard Hughes was in Tron, and also, in ONE episode of the early, pre-Barnabas Dark Shadows. I was hoping he would stick around for a few episodes, but no, just the one!

      I hope you enjoyed my Cushing callback as well!

      Chris

  3. Happy Bernie Wrightson’s birthday! (Since this show is horror-themed.). More later.
    ComicsintheGoldenAge ‍♂️‍♀️‍♀️‍♂️ (@ComicsintheGA) Tweeted:
    A few DC horror covers by Bernie Wrightson. https://t.co/QsObO3Wsqd

  4. Great wrap up Chris & Cindy!

    Chris, if Pixar ever wants to do MATER: A CARS STORY, I think they should give you a call.

    I tend to like Jon Bogdanove (and Klaus janson)’s work, but maybe it’s not the best fit for Superman? And wow was Cindy right, that fishnet outfit on the cover to MOS #42 looks…uncomfortable.

    HOF is one of my favorite things the network puts out, and I’m always sad when it ends. As you said, let’s all hope this time next year things are less crazy for all of us.

  5. “Thorn is a German Shepherd of some kind.”

    You’re right, Chris. Thorn is a White German Shepherd. All white fur is a recessive trait in GSD’s, so White GSD’s are all very inbred and, as such, all look pretty much the same, so whenever our family sees one we yell “Athena!”, which was our (not too bright) version. Just ask Shag. He knew her VERY well. 😉

    Beyond my being the resident German Shepherd Expert, I also really enjoy this movie. I was 11 when this came out, so I certainly didn’t see it in the theater, but I’ve seen it quite a few times on TV. The heel turn of Max at the end was great and the additional turn of Grandpa being full aware of the vampires at the very end was terrific.

    1. Thanks for the clarification Gene, and yes, I recently heard Shag mention Athena on the Who’s Who show. I’m sure Athena never chased a poor lady over a fence like Thorn here!

      The ending with Grandpa is one of my favorite cinematic endings, full-stop. It’s brilliant.

      Chris

  6. Great show – shows, actually – as usual.
    I haven’t seen Lost Boys in ages, but I liked the movie well enough. And yeah, it’s cool that much of it was shot in Santa Cruz. After graduating from high school, my family moved down to the San Jose area of California, about an hour’s drive from Santa Cruz – so I spent many a weekend in the summers after that with friends, chilling on the beach and, of course, having fun on the Boardwalk. The best part of the latter was naturally the Giant Dipper, at the time and now one of the few functional wooden roller coasters anywhere in the world.

    1. Cool that you have been there, Edo! We have a fairly local wooden coaster, The Beast at Kings Island amusement park, not far outside of Cincinnati. They are getting harder and harder to come across, unfortunately.

      Chris

  7. I have to admit, I only got a couple minutes into the Lost Boys/i> commentary and zoomed ahead to Superman. I’m maturing slowly, so I’m still in Anj’s second stage regarding the movie. A rewatch might fix it. I still agree with him on Jami Gertz and with everyone on Grandpa’s closing line. That said, the parts of this podcast that I heard were excellent.

    Tanaka is a Japanese name. I know this because of Tiger Tanaka (the super-cool head of Japan’s secret intelligence service in You Only Live Twice), whom I have decided is Babe’s grandfather.

    X-Men #159 also covered the faith requirement for making crosses work. In that issue, Kitty Pryde and Wolverine both try to use crosses against The Big D himself and fail, because Jewish and empiricist, respectively. But then, in two very cool moments, Kitty’s Star of David pendant burns Dracula, and Nightcrawler brandishes a cross so effectively Drac admits it actually hurt him. Team religious diversity for the win! Anyway, I know this would have to overcome F&W’s unapologetic bias for DC, but I strongly recommend the X-Men’s battles against Dracula for future Houses of Franklin-stein.

    The wooden roller coasters I have ridden rattled too much for my comfort and the comfort of my kidneys. I eschew them. I prefer smooth, flowing near-death experiences.

    Hearing Loss Theater Update: It happened again! For the thirty seconds after the dynamite delivery dude finishes peeling out (approximately 2:26:37 to 2:27:07), I can tell Cindy is talking, but I can’t hear what she’s saying. It works better when I live stream it from my computer than when I’m in my wife’s car, but still not well. I can hear her just fine the rest of the time. Other than that, all good.

    Thank you for closing with “Dead Man’s Party.” I don’t know why I love that song, but I sang it all day Wednesday and got it stuck in my wife’s head, too. Neither of us minded at all.

  8. I have to admit, I only got a couple minutes into the Lost Boys commentary and zoomed ahead to Superman. I’m maturing slowly, so I’m still in Anj’s second stage regarding the movie. A rewatch might fix it. I still agree with him on Jami Gertz and with everyone on Grandpa’s closing line. That said, the parts of this podcast that I heard were excellent.

    Tanaka is a Japanese name. I know this because of Tiger Tanaka (the super-cool head of Japan’s secret intelligence service in You Only Live Twice), whom I have decided is Babe’s grandfather.

    X-Men #159 also covered the faith requirement for making crosses work. In that issue, Kitty Pryde and Wolverine both try to use crosses against The Big D himself and fail, because Jewish and empiricist, respectively. But then, in two very cool moments, Kitty’s Star of David pendant burns Dracula, and Nightcrawler brandishes a cross so effectively Drac admits it actually hurt him. Team religious diversity for the win! Anyway, I know this would have to overcome F&W’s unapologetic bias for DC, but I strongly recommend the X-Men’s battles against Dracula for future Houses of Franklin-stein.

    The wooden roller coasters I have ridden rattled too much for my comfort and the comfort of my kidneys. I eschew them. I prefer smooth, flowing near-death experiences.

    Hearing Loss Theater Update: It happened again! For the thirty seconds after the dynamite delivery dude finishes peeling out (approximately 2:26:37 to 2:27:07), I can tell Cindy is talking, but I can’t hear what she’s saying. It works better when I live stream it from my computer than when I’m in my wife’s car, but still not well. I can hear her just fine the rest of the time. Other than that, all good.

    Thank you for closing with Dead Man’s Party. I don’t know why I love that song, but I sang it all day Wednesday and got it stuck in my wife’s head, too. Neither of us minded at all.

      1. No problem, Captain. Cindy’s line there after the dynamite guy WAS really low, but honestly, I just couldn’t be bothered with a retake at that point. HoF is a lot of fun but also a lot of self-inflicted work (Rob is always after me to tone things down a bit and not kill myself with it). So when I heard that low line, I should have boosted it at the very least, but at the time I thought “it works”. I guess it doesn’t, really, and I apologize for my laziness in that moment.

        X-Men vs. Dracula is an X-CELLENT idea. I’m not sure why we’ve never covered those here. When Drac shows up again on HoF (and we know he will), that combo is going to the top of the list.

        I highly recommend giving Lost Boys another try. I think you’ll enjoy it. I guess I fell out of it a bit when the Coreys were so omnipresent, and then so over, but I found my way back rather quickly. I just love how it plays with vampire conventions, while turning everything on its head at the same time.

        Thanks for listening!

        Chris

  9. Chris, no apology necessary. I mentioned it not as a listener complaint, but to show I wasn’t crazy — or at least, not on this point. Please don’t go crazy with the production values on my account. I can enjoy this just fine without a couple lines of dialogue. You have at least three or four more important roles to spend time on than “podcaster.”

    I will keep Lost Boys in mind for when we’re through the current watch list (or don’t feel like watching anything on it). I don’t think my wife will mind an eighties night. Thanks for the show!

  10. You can learn important things from movies! As the man of the house, I remembered not to invite in any of the vampires who rang my doorbell last night. (#SmartHalloweening)

    Curious thing about the “Night Court” reference — is that generally thought of as a scary show? If so, that’s a new one on me, but then again there is a fine line between what’s funny and frightening, so I guess it shouldn’t be out of the question.

    I won’t presume to argue with you, Chris, on where on the sex-appeal scale the iconic monsters’ phenotypes fall, but that scale — it must be said — has macrencephalic albino apes ranked at various places depending on personal preference 🙂

    You referenced the naming of Edgar and Allen, and Lucy — good calls on those. The names of our main guys in the movie (Michael, Samuel, David) were the ones that I noticed, being names from scripture … but Bible stories, as Dr. Pretorius would call them, aren’t my strong suit. Do these figures have a connection in the verses that I’m not aware of, or do you think it was just considered enough for the screenwriters to pick out Biblical names for the main players? I’d imagine “Max” is for the actor from Nosferatu but is also more ambiguous as a reference so it wouldn’t spoil the reveal. “Thorn” as in “thorn in the flesh” may be little bit more of a giveaway, but still not spoil-y overmuch.

    But the name “Laddie”? …I got nothin’.

    If Fred Gwynne had been cast in this movie, maybe it could have been known as “The Lost Yoots”

    This commentary and the Superman discussion were both excellent and a great conclusion to House of FS 2020! Stay spooky, House, until next year! In the meantime, here’s the club remix of “Cry Little Sister” —

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It4UdmVRIfY&w=560&h=315%5D

    1. Night Court was never scary, just racy. Cindy’s strict parents let her watch that, but not horror films. My parents just thought I WOULDN’T watch things they didn’t want me to. Their mistake!

      I think in one of the special features, it’s revealed that the Emersons names originally matched the Darlings from Peter Pan. Michael still does, obviously, and Nanook is similar to their dog, Nana. Great call on “Max” as in Schreck. you think I would have thought of that one!

      I love Fred Gwynne, but having the man who originated Herman Munster in a vampire movie would have taken me right out of things, I think.

      Thanks for listening, and the remix!

    2. On connections: Definitely between Samuel and David, as Samuel was the prophet, priest, and judge (unusual combo) who anointed David the King of Israel. An Old Testament judge (before the kingdom) was also often a military leader, and I believe Samuel was the last of these. David was not only a king, but also a shepherd, soldier, poet, musician, and prophet himself — another renaissance man. Michael is an archangel. He’s mentioned in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament (a few hundred years after Samuel and David) and again in the final book of the New Testament, Revelation, where he leads Heaven’s armies against Satan. Michael has no direct connection to Samuel and David I’m aware of. All three are mentioned in the Quran, so they’re figures of high esteem in all three Abrahamic religions.

      “Thorn in the flesh” is pure New Testament — Paul in 2 Corinthians 12. But thorns are also mentioned in Joshua 23 and Ezekiel 28 as a metaphor for neighboring tribes and nations that were harassing threats to the nation of Israel. Probably other places, too, but that’s as far as I got.

      This has been your Fire & Water Bible Minute. I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

        1. Well, I have to go back and listen, Chris (after or during my rewatch), but I imagine you had the movie going. The commentary track can’t stop and belabor things the way a pedantic commenter with access to Google can.

          By the way, I was really dumb. My nosing around on Wikipedia told me that Michael is the protector of Israel in rabbinical tradition. Samuel and David obviously protected Israel, too, from neighboring “thorns” like the Philistines. “So there’s your connection, right there!”, I say, in the voice of a mechanic declaring what should have been obvious to him.

          Now I really have to rewatch it.

  11. An excellent ending to the House for this year, Chris and Cindy! I’m sorry I’m a little late to the listening but better late than never, I hope? I think my favourite part of the commentary is how much you both got quiet because you were enjoying the movie too much. That’s a great sign of a fun movie!

    Having said that, I have to admit that Lost Boys is on my shame list of movies I’ve never seen. I’ve always wanted to, but never got around to it (that just makes me sound so lazy, but it’s true). Your commentary makes me want to watch it that much more and maybe I will finally will before NEXT Halloween! I’m thinking a double feature with From Dusk To Dawn (another shame list movie).

    And I enjoyed the review of the Superman comics. Mullet Superman is when I got out of Superman so I’m sorry I missed these issues as I always enjoy when Superman meets with the supernatural. I will have to hunt these issues down!

    Cindy – I don’t disagree with you but was quite unprepared for your reaction to men cheating. I almost did a spit take onto my computer. Remind me to never piss you off.

    Also, I agree with what you mentioned above about Night Court. That was one of my favourite shows from the ’80’s (more than Cheers, sorry Cheerscast!) but you were right, it was racy. Or at least, racy for the ’80’s. Dan Fielding is constantly trying to have sex so much that through 2020 eyes, I think he might have a problem!

    Once again, I have really enjoyed the House of Franklinstein this year and am looking forward to next year already! Keep up the great work!

    1. Thanks Mike! And don’t sweat it, there are plenty of films I haven’t seen that I “should” have. I crossed several off my list this Halloween, thankfully, trying to mostly watch films I had never seen, rather than “comfort” films, other than the HoF material. I haven’t seen From Dusk Til Dawn since it first came to home video. Definitely time for a rewatch of that one!

      Yeah, Dan Fielding would certainly go from laughably scuzzy to uncomfortably litigious nowadays, I think. I haven’t watched Night Court in decades, so I’m not sure how it would hold up, but I imagine it would require a mental disclaimer each time.

      Chris

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