Halloween | Feed Me Brains

Feb 05 2010

Skeleton Candelabra Halloween Prop

Here we have another old Halloween prop for which I don’t have a good deal of background info. As with all of my prop reviews, I appreciate any info you can share to help fill in the blanks.

Source Info: I got this prop from a friend, and I believe it was several years old. I don’t have an exact date or the original retail price. I suspect it was a Spirit Halloween prop, but don’t hold me to that…

Design: Lets start with the base – something you can’t actually see in the photos, but it’s made of thick heavy steel. It’s not tipping over any time soon! The latex “neck” of the skull covers this base and it does it well. Just watch when you place this prop on a table… the weight can be deceiving and the metal base will put a dent in a wood table.

The neck, head, and horns are nicely designed and painted. It all meshes well together and looks like one piece.

The actual candles are unfortunately nowhere near as sturdy as the quality base. All it would have taken was a better design for mounting the candle. Instead its just glued on, and this results in frequent trips to the garage for more super glue. But as long as the prop isn’t moved around too much you’ll be okay. The bulbs are replaceable and you can use standard lights or the more appropriate flicker bulbs.

Controls: This part is pretty simple and just what you would expect. Plug it in and turn the dial to ON or OFF. This is better than having it always on when plugged in. I like having options…

Final Thoughts: Overall this prop was made with good care and design. The candles are a bit sensitive so don’t let the kids near it. I would still suggest buying it.

Skeleton Candelabra - Photo Gallery

A few notes about the images. The yellowish line you see down the middle of the skulls face was glue that dripped down from the previous owner. I kinda like it!

You'll also notice one of the candles is crooked. This is not by design, but rather the glue not holding properly. This I don't like!

5 Photos

Rating:
Pros: Attractive Design, On/Off Control, Quality Base
Cons: Fragile Candles
Best Uses: Home Haunt, Halloween Party
Bottom Line: Buy it if you can find it!

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Tags: Halloween, Halloween Decorations, Spirit Halloween

Comments (0)

Feb 03 2010

Chest Splitting Zombie Animated Prop

Category: Halloween Prop Reviews — Zombie "admin" Joe @ 1:52 pm

Chest Splitting Zombie

This one is an oldie but a goodie! The “Chest Splitting Zombie” may be one of the older Spirit Halloween products but it doesn’t disappoint!

Source Info: I was lucky enough to get this prop from a friend as a gift, but I understand it was released around 2006 or 2007 and the retail price was $200. That seems a bit steep but considering it’s age, that seems about right for the time. Spirit’s line of animated props was more limited and you paid a premium for something like this.

Design: The base of the prop could use a little work. It’s sturdy and heavy, which is a good thing, but it looks fake. In comparison to the rest of the prop design the base is a disappointment. Is he rising out of a volcano? Why are there several hands reaching up? It cheapens the look of the prop.

The body itself looks great! The color of the latex on the body parts don’t match perfectly, but that’s not a huge concern in the dark. The head/face looks good and the hairs hanging in front of his face are a nice touch!

The inside parts (that you see when he rips his chest open) look good but they did a poor job of hiding the foam stuffing. You’ll see this if you look at him from an angle. This could have been easily fixed with a little extra latex on the insides.

Animation: The animation is sound activated. I’ll never understand why motion activation is ever excluded from these animated props. Home haunters want that option – so give us that option. Even if it raises the final cost for the addition parts. That issue aside, the movement is great! Once he’s activated, he pulls his chest open to reveal a beating heart. At the same time he slowly kicks his head back (as if looking up at the sky) and lets out a scream. Unlike many other animated props, the movement here is very fluid – making this one of my favorite props.

Controls: Normally these props don’t provide you with many control options. It’s either on or off. This time time Spirit added a much appreciated volume control for the screaming sound effect. A home haunt can vary greatly in size and location, so having the ability to adjust the volume makes sense. My only question is why have they stopped including this feature?

Final Thoughts: This prop was innovative at the time of its release and it’s stood the test of time. You’ll be hard pressed to find one available for purchase and if you do, I suggest you go for it!

Chest Splitting Zombie Animated Prop - Photo Gallery

Here you'll find several photos of this guy in action. I also added some shots of the box. More photos are available upon request!

8 Photos

Rating:
Pros: Attractive Body Design, Movement, Sound Effects
Cons: No Motion Sensor, Poorly Designed Base
Best Uses: Home Haunt
Bottom Line: Buy it if you can find it!

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Tags: Animated Props, Gemmy, Halloween, Halloween Decorations, Spirit Halloween, Zombies

Comments (0)

Jan 29 2010

Life-Size Animated Michael Myers

Category: Halloween Prop Reviews — Zombie "admin" Joe @ 10:28 pm

Ready to Kill!

I knew the moment I saw this guy I would be buying him. I have many of the other products in this line (Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, etc) and I’ve always wanted Michael Myers to complete the collection.

Before I get into the review details, lets cover some of the basic info from Spirit’s site…

This is the Life-Size Animated Michael Myers (Item #01030071) which a Spirit Halloween exclusive product. The retail price is $249.99.

Greet your guests with the face of true evil. Evil has a destiny and it is in your home with this Rob Zombie Halloween life-size Animated Michael Myers figure. Hear the Halloween movie theme and heavy breathing as his head turns and his eyes move from side to side in search of his next victim – could it be you? You’ll be breathless with fear when you see his knife-wielding arm move in your direction! This motion activated prop will astound and terrify even the bravest guests and fascinate horror film fans and Halloween buffs.

* The officially licensed life-size Animated Michael Myers from the Rob Zombie Halloween film is an authentically attired jumpsuit-clad figure with an incredibly detailed likeness. His face was sculpted by the famous FX make-up artist Wayne Toth and it captures every tortured detail.
* The motion-activated figure stands an imposing and full six feet tall and his eyes move while his head turns from side to side; he plays the Halloween movie theme and heavy breathing while performing menacing and spooky arm movements with his knife.
* For indoor use only.
* Uses standard household electric and includes a six ft. cord.

Looking Shabby!

Ok, now it’s my turn!

Let me start off by saying this is a great prop but it still needs some work.

This guy is big and perfect for a home haunt. Some people may be turned off by the fact that its branded as a Rob Zombie Halloween 2 Myers and not the traditional white mask Myers. I would be happy to own either version so this wasn’t a problem for me. I was turned off by the typical base he’s attached to. Why can’t they come up with something better than a black base with a big purple button in the center How about putting the button in the back so its not too inconvenient to press but its out of sight. Not a big deal, but it seems like a simple and logical change.

I love the head. It really looks like a guy wearing a Myers mask. The hair looks much better in person compared to the online photos. His body needs a bit more stuffing to bulk him up a bit. He looks too scrawny when he comes out of the box – as seen in the photo to the left.

The body and head movement is great. It feels very random. He turns his body side to side, and he turns his head and eyes. He also raises his arm, but I was disappointed with this movement for two reasons. First, the up and down slashing of his arm looks very robotic. It’s too slow to come across as a threatening movement. I knew it would be like this from seeing the online video. The other bothersome aspect is the position in which he holds his knife. The knife points upward. It should be pointing downward as if he were stabbing someone. It just looks awkward. Now that I think about it, I might have been able to reverse the knife when I placed it in his hand. I’ll have to check when he comes out for Halloween 2010. One final complaint about the knife. I don’t know if this was a defect with my model or a problem with all the Myers out there, but getting the knife handle into his hand was difficult. The pre-cut holes didn’t line up nicely and it was a frustrating job to say the least! They should have done a better job cutting the holes or better yet, the knife handle should have come already placed in his hand. (The blade gets attached to the handle after assembly to keep it from getting damaged.)

I’m still really happy with this guy so I’ll end my review on a positive note. If you’re a Myers fan and you’re ok with the new Zombie version, this it a worthwhile buy. You’ll feel better about your purchase if you use a coupon code like I did. They’re sold out for now but I’m betting he’ll be back soon – and lets keep our fingers crossed for continued production of these life-size animated Halloween decorations!

Rating:
Pros: Size, Attractive Design, Movement
Cons: Delicate, Knife Position, Typical Base
Best Uses: Home Haunt
Bottom Line: Buy it! (only after seeing in person or online video)

UPDATE: After writing this post, I came across another image of this prop (the above photos are direct from Spirit.) I would have taken a photo of mine but he’s all packed up at the moment. I don’t have the photographers name but I remember I got it from the Halloween Forum (if you haven’t visited, I highly recommend it!) discussion on Gemmy/Spirit props and it was taken in a Spirit Halloween store.