X-Entertainment's Christmas Season & Advent Calendar, 2008.

09/17/2006: New Pitch Black & Old Shocktober Ads!

Welcome to the second week of X-E’s Halloween Countdown. Oh, the times we’ll have. Let’s kick it. You’ve heard the rumors, and the rumors are true: Mountain Dew Pitch Black IS BACK. Sort of. It’s back in ICEE Freeze form. This isn’t as big of a cause for celebration as a legit Mountain Dew Pitch Black III in cans & bottles would’ve been, but it’s something, and it’s allll good. Read all about it!

It got really hot this weekend. If the sun doesn’t knock it off and let the leaves do their orange thing, I’m going to beat it up.

Oh, remember my tribute to former NY television station WPIX’s old Shocktober events? If not, and you don’t feel like reading a two-year-old article, I’ll summarize: What later became the WB Network in New York was formerly WPIX, a mostly identity-less station that managed to stay relevant with its weekday afternoon airing of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and reruns Saved By The Bell. The station also ran popular-but-obsolete movies on a regular basis, but nothing was as cool as their “Shocktober” events, where horror/slasher/spooky films were broadcast with all the good parts and dirty lines cut out almost nightly.

If you want to know more about Shocktober, read the old article, but new for today’s post are two of the movie-specific promos that fell under Shocktober’s umbrella. In the original article, I talked about the Shocktober kickoff ad. Here are some of that ad’s children…

A lot of people like The Gate, and they should, because the movie holds up with equal levels of nostalgic and horror appeal, kind of like the less good-looking cousin of The Lost Boys. The Wraith was more of a science fiction film, and a pretty poorly received one at that. Both movies came off looking aces in their Shocktober promos, because Shocktober promos were AWESOME. They used WPIX’s standard voice-over guy, but that guy had range, and knew how to make something sound creepy even if it really wasn’t.

I have such fond memories of those long ago Shocktober months. Sometimes I’d watch ‘em alone, sometimes a few friends and I would feel all privileged by being able to both stay up late and watch scary movies. Some of the movies were better than others, obviously, but as every commercial break was littered with Hallmark Halloween commercials and promos for other Shocktober movies, who cared?

Click here to download the Shocktober promo for The Gate.
…or here for The Wraith.

Oh damn that rocks. Sad about no PB3, but I’ll take what I can get. The video was an awesome touch

Pitch Black, we hardly knew ye - rest in piece, my grapey friend. Even if you only showed up in Canada for like a week, you bastard.

Interesting observation about the Mountain Dew Pitch Black flavor of ICEE. I checked the ICEE corporate site, and there is abso-frickin-lutely no mention of either Mountain Dew or Mountain Dew Pitch Black anywhere on the site. I did, however, discover that there are 5 different locations within a 5-mile radius of my house where I can obtain an ice-cold ICEE treat.

Holy god those Pitch Black ICEEs are awesome. I had one on my last trip to Target and it was holy and good. Sad to see there won’t be a Pitch Black III, though. The ICEE is amazing but it’s just not the same as having a 12 pack of Pitch Black in the fridge.

On a slightly related note, am I the only person that always accidentally types “Mountain Dew Bitch Black”? It’s like my brain refuses to believe I could type a word ending in “itch” without swearing.

hey, im a target team member, and target makes sure that the icee flavors they sell are exclusive to target. That and the fact that every part of the store “decorates” for the season…so look for red and green icee’s soon! Christman begins November 1st in a Target near you.

Wow, it’s funny hearing about the wraith on here. I picked that up in the $5 bin at wal mart and was shocked at just how bad it was. I was also shocked that it was rated PG-13 yet had frontal nudity and downright horribly bad acting on Charlie Sheen’s part. It should have been rated R just for the crappy acting and dialogue. Scary stuff

Oh well, I guess if I was gonna hear about that movie anywhere it would be on this site.

Kevo - Does that mean the Freezes are a Target-exclusive ICEE, or just a Target-exclusive?

Also, I’ve finally given the blog its complete hallo makeover, along with the main page.

I’m diggin’ The Gate, and The Wraith! I have never heard of either, but now I just gotta see em’ I’ll add that to my list of, Things I Never Thought I Would Want To See Or Do, But Now I Need To Because Of X-Entertainment!

Heh, it’s great to know I’m not the only one who avoids places where you’ll run into old classmates, or anything that’s been “tainted with thoughts of beer pong and “shocker” hand gestures”.
Nice seeing the Halloween mood spread to the blog.

OK, this seems a little off to me. Review these 2 quotes from our beloved blogmaster:

“I hate grape soda. Like, you could hold a vial containing the cure to my rare disease against my face and offer it to me only on the condition that I drink a glass of grape soda, and I’d still sit there and die because, well, no fuckin way dude. ”

“Mountain Dew Pitch Black IS BACK. Sort of. It’s back in ICEE Freeze form. This isn’t as big of a cause for celebration as a legit Mountain Dew Pitch Black III in cans & bottles would’ve been, but it’s something, and it’s allll good.”

Contradict yourself much? Mountain Dew Pitch Black is GRAPE soda. Please explain.

“Granted, the taste was secondary to just knowing what I was tasting, but a Halloween without Mountain Dew Pitch Black is like a Thanksgiving without turkey.”

Bummer about the Pitch Black Icee; I have no idea where the Target around here is.

One of the advantages to living in southern New Jersey is most local cable companies pick up the independant (former WB and UPN) stations for both Philadelphia and New York. I have fond memories of the “Shocktober” commercials, though I would have avoided the movies myself, not being a horror fan by any stretch of the imagination. The commercials themselves were pretty nifty, though, with their wavy fall-colored graphics.

Will there be a Halloween contest this year? (Last year’s “Draw a horror icon doing a normal task” contest for example).

I LOVE the Gate! It is an amazing horror movie.
The Halloween Design is awesome Matt.

Hey Starwenn, they just opened a target in Millville, NJ and theres also one in Depford and Mays Landing. I dont know how far south you are. im in ocean county

Hey, the date on the battery in the “Count Duracula” commercial said “JAN 92.” Considering the claim that the batteries could be stored for three years, that makes the ad from either 1989 (me birth year!) or 1990.

Good old Mars, always joking about… and the whole career thing he/she has… and the Marscurse, that too. Good to have you back Mors.

YAY!!!!!!!!!1111!!!!1!1!!! Its Mars!!!!!!!! Mars is back, how have you been! Where have you been?

I was just thinking about Pitch Black yesterday… I have a couple cans of PB2 leftover from last year, but on two of them, the soda ate through a little spot, half of the can leaked out, and then the soda coagulated and stopped any further spills. Very strange.. Strange and evil!

When I read the title for this entry, I was *so* sure you were going to say PB3 was announced.

I’ll have to attempt to find the icee version when I go to a Target other than my most local one, which is remodeling and totally behind on having cool things.

After reading about the Pitch Black Icee I absolutely had to hop in the car and get myself a Slurpee. I got pulled over on the way back and totally got a ticket. Oh well…I guess $131.59 Slurpee is worth it, though:)

Just yesterday I remembered a post that someone made about getting a Pitch Black Freeze, and I couldn’t for the life of me remember who it was, or which thread, so, seeing this article is the highlight of my week!

I’ve never even stepped foot into the Target food court, but it looks like I will be visiting the unfamiliar territory very soon.

Thank you sooooo much, Matt! The Halloween-ness definitely just got jacked up a good 500 notches.

Hey That “wraith” movie has that girl from charles in charge in it! I should get a netflix subscription after I move on october 10th. I am moving into a great place. They actually have (I don’t know if a lot of places do this and I will probably be amused the first 2 weeks but then have watched all of the decent yet out of date movies) free rentals. You go down to the lobby and there is on an entertainment center a bunch of dvd’s (some VHS but mostly dvd’s thank god) and you pick one up and give it to the receptionist and she gives you the movie. 24 hours later you return it. Is this common? I don’t remember the movies there but I am assuming they are mostly family friendly, out of date ones that you would find in the libary.

On wednesday (my payday) I am TOTALLY getting a pitch black!! I saw them on thursday I believe and said I am getting one when I get paid but whateva Matt does we all havta do so I am totally getting one. Yeah. AND HEY MARS HOW ARE YA?!??

I usually ignore the concession stand at Target, but now that I know there’s a Pitch Black Icee, I’m SO getting one.

I went to Taco Bell last week and they still have that MD Baja Blast. It’s not bad.

Never heard of The Wraith (although I do watch Stargate Atlantis :)), but The Gate is one of those movies I’ve always wanted to see, but for some reason or other never did. That would make a good survey question. What movies have you wanted to see but never had. Since we’re in the Halloween spirit, I’ll limit my list to horror/sci-fi.

The Original Star Wars Trilogy in any form (only seen clips here and there).
Halloween
Exorcist
Evil Dead 2 (I’ve seen the other two)
The Gate
House movies
Blair Witch Project
The original Trilogy of Terror (watched 2 the other week)
The only Hitchcock movie I’ve seen is The Birds and it’s sequel.
Creature from the Black Lagoon (in fact, the only classic Universal monster movie I’ve seen is Dracula. It’s ok)
Sci-Fi films from the 50s (Day the Earth Stood Still and it’s ilk)
Arachnophobia

Icee? Why no Pitch Black-flavoured Slurpee? Now that I’d be willing to get excited about…

Matt, is the Target you visited for the Pitch Black across the street from Menlo? If so, I was there on Saturday. I don’t know if that’s the day you went, but if it was, you may have seen me. I was the one accidentally buying plain Halloween M&Ms instead of peanut Halloween M&Ms. LAME.

I have to agree about ICEE’s being better than Slurpee’s. When I was growing up, I hardly ever got a Slurpee, because we hardly ever went to 7-11. Now, K-Mart, we were there every damn week. I still think they are better - it’s like they are more mouth-friendly and have much more flavorful goodness, or something.

I dunno if I ever saw the original Gate, but I just dug through all of my old movie stubs I’ve kept over the years, and here’s mine for Gate 2. I saw it on March 2, 1992 at 7:50pm with a handful of my hoodlum friends. I remember liking it.

Channel 11 back then was one of the main influences in my young life in NYC. I remember shocktober vividly. Even earlier, 84-85 or so, I remember they used to play kung fu flicks, old horror movies like the blob, and great random stuff. Channel nine was great as well, especially when Stern had his show on.
good times…

random question: does anyone remember an early Fox show, it was a comedy set in a post apocalyptic world, I seem to recall a big ant attacking them. also, an early 80’s horror movie dealing with creatures (maybe aliens?) that come out of a familys television, and attack. I remember a big eye monster. I have my little sketch books from when I was 5 or 6 where I drew the monsters, but cant for the life of me remember the title.

OOPs it was called, Jesse. If anyone has OnDemand, watch this movie on Encore OnDemand called Lipstick and Dynamite Piss and Vinegar.

It’s a documnetary of Moohlah and Mae Young and these old lady wrestlers..its sooooo good!

Mountain Dew Pitch We Need to Recycle Old Ideas and Make them Fun Again (Black)?

Off topic, today at work (record store) I found MUPPETS ON VINYL. this is some hilarious stuff. Album art and tracklistings are in my blog. You’ll be surprised. Especially with song titles like “Good Things Happen in the Dark” and “Tit Willow”.

I was just at Target TODAY and didn’t pay attention to the Freezees…Oh well.

And they only had 2 Jones Soda Cans! Candy Corn & Berried alive, the 2 I had last year! But there was lots of boxes of candy out the wazoo (like 10 box of 10 packs of Orbit Gum and the 90 box of Airheads which are usually found at Costco) I’ll go to the other one near me tomorrow or so…

Costco carries cases of Dunkaroos. i have proven this fact. seeing as last year i ate an entire case of dunkaroos.

I seen Dunkaroos at a place we have here called grocery outlet. That is one of the reasons why I love grocery outlet (and I am moving really close to one!) you get the opprotunity to buy obscure stuff. I didn’t get any though I think I was on a tight budget, so tight I couldn’t buy cookies with a kangeroo on the box. Oh well the future is bright!

Target should pay you…after I saw your jones soda blog I ran down there and bought it all!!!

I just needed something to add to JLAJRC’s “survey.” Only one movie comes to mind with me: Anchorman. I was supposed to see it with a friend but I had work and he ended up going without me. Bastard. I still haven’t seen it, and the only part I’ve ever watched is the famous fight scene between the news teams, which is hilarious

Anchorman’s hilarious! Apart from the Ben Stiller cameo, there is a Bear Pit Scene, and watch out for “Afternoon Delight”. I mean, really, really watch out! Bwahahahaaa!

We don’t get slurpees, icees, dunkees or anything here in the Southernmost African Country. Major downer. Of course MacDonalds tastes like cardboard to me, kfc makes me nauseous and I can’t afford Mars Bars, dammit, so killing time (last hour of work) by looking at this site just makes me even hungrier! I’ll have to try get some Cadbury Dream mousse, yummiest in the world and the company was founded by Quakers, little-known fact.

Er, what was the thread again? Oh yes: Mars! Welcome Back Mars! Happy to see ya, Mars! I wasn’t here for a year either so I dunno who you are, but welcome back anyway!

Target was the setting for 95% of the terrible 1991 film Career Opportunities I have a new movie to look for!
Not that I expected it to, but I am dissapointed that know I know your target looks exactly the same as mine. It would be great if they could add regional flair, or something. There is a target in seattle that’s 2 floors with an escalator for your cart.
(YAY Mars is here)

kb, replace “Target” with Wal-Mart, and you got the one in the mall close to me. Everyone’s so amazed of the Shopping Cart escalator.

Like everyone else posting now, I’m just killing time between classes (the class I usually have now got cancelled). So I’m coming up with a survey of my own:

What would an X-E-opoly consist of? The Spaces, the cards, the utilities, the tokens, etc. Will there be a Photog token? Will The Blog cost $400?

I have been addicted to this stuff for weeks. I could cry knowing that the canned version of the soda is not gonna make a comeback. That was pretty much the reason I kept going back even after I lurked through the Halloween aisles way too many times to count on my fingers. That really sucks! What a let-down. Anyway, I KNEW you were gonna mention these, Matt! Excellent tribute. Have ya’ll tried the Livewire one yet?

Heh, those of us on the West Coast are just getting ready for work, actually.
I just saw Anchorman for the first time. It was funny, but not THAT funny. Wedding Crashers and 40 Year Old Virgin were both funnier, IMHO. On the subject of movies you’ve slept on, I’m halfway through watching The Graduate for the first time. Just watched Freaks for the first time as well, and I thought it was pretty amazing, though it made me nostalgic for Carnivale. As far as other horror goes, I’ve missed out on basically all the major franchises, even F13. I CAN highly recommend Shaun of the Dead to anybody that’s missed it so far.
Could I use the word “just” any more times in this post? Ooh, I just did!

HBO plays Career Opportunities frequently. It’s ok, but nothing to write home about.

You’ve guys mentioned the two best things about Anchorman, the fight scene and Afternoon Delight. Otherwise, it’s just an ok film. Talladega Nights was better.

My survey was just on horror/sci-fi films. If we just added movies in general (movies like It’s A Wonderful Life, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, Tron, Raging Bull, Scarface, etc.) my list would be astronomical.

What’s the difference between a Icee and a Slurpee? We don’t have 7-11’s here. We just have Icee’s and the generic slushie drinks.

I liked the first version better, but the food coloring they used discouraged me from drinking it too often. It was too unsettling.

I’ve already gone to Target for Jones Soda but now I’ll have to go for the PB Icee. And because Target is my favorite store. If only they were open 24 hours.

You never write, you never call, of course we miss you, Mars. Now, did you bring us anything?

Man, my Target lied to me. I saw the new flavors in the ICEE machine (well actually Atric Blast at my Target but it’s the same brand) and they weren’t labeled as Mountain Dew, Pitch Black or Live Wire, just some generic halloween names for Orange and Grape.

Like Invader Norbert, I also was at Target TODAY and didn’t pay any attention to the ICEE machine. And I was likewise disappointed that they only had Candy Corn and Berried Alive Jones Sodas (but I bought them anyway.)

I also bought The Office 2007 calendar, some cute baby clothes for a friend’s baby, and assorted other stuff. Somehow I managed to spend $49.49 on random stuff, when all I really needed was the baby present. But who can resist Halloween M&M’s?

Man, I was just searching for Pitch Black all weekend, what a damn let down…..my favorite Halloween beverage was Pitch Black mixed with Capt. Morgan Tattoo!!!! Now I’ll have to make a rum Icee.

When I get out of class today, I’m totally going to Target! My trek for frozen Pitch Black begins NOW.

I LOVE Target! My boyfriend got a $5 giftcard for buying Lego Starwars there, which he kindly gave to me to spend on halloween stuff. I bought a little pack of the Gourmet Flavored Candy corn (it was on sale), a bag of ‘limited edition’ vanilla tootsie rolls (which have actually been around forever, just not on their own and are BEYOND phenomenal)some Russel Stover stuff (the BEST candy is RS!) Oddly, it seems that my posts keep getting edited. If I mention my blog at all, the line gets edited out, but other people mention theirs and nothing happens! :’( As a side note, I stopped in at Claire’s (UG!, but for halloween stuff, I will go anywhere!)and they had some cute earrings, and some AMAZINGLY GOOD lipgloss, in Frankenberry and Boo Berry (they had count chocula, too) and betty crocker frosting… also popcorn and cheetos. Lipgloss is awesome.

I am assuming you were respnding to my 3d Freddy’s Dead post in the 3D Friday the 13th thread. It was definitely in 3d and I would be interested to know if it was ever released that way on DVD or VHS.

ICEE’s are everywhere down here, sadly though, slurpees are no where to be found.

UPDATE: Went to the other Target near me, and all all 7 Jones Flavors!! Didn’t buy em yet because I’m poor.

And I did pay attention to the Icee mahine and they only had Pitch Black in only 1 of the dispensers, and only the purple flavor.

Sonofabitch, I was at Target TWICE yesterday…even looked over at the food court, contemplating greasy Target lunch, and passed.

Old E: If you buy the Nightmare On Elm Street boxed set, it comes with a pair of 3d glasses and the original 3d ending to Freddy’s Dead.

Old E:

I forgot we were even talking about Freddy’s Dead, earlier. My bad! I honestly can’t even remember going to see it, though I do love Freddy, and I think I really would’ve remembered, if I had 3D glasses for it. Hmm…

So, Target ICEE’s… do you get them before you pay - or pay, then go get them? I’ve never been in the food court and don’t wanna look like a doofus.

You’re thinking of “Oops!” Or “Woops!” which was about survivors of an atomic blast. One guy survived cause he was in a Volvo. They joked about it the whole show through. “Wow, it is the safest car on the road!”

I went to Target today and got one of the Pitch Blacks. It was a depressing afair overall. Target reminds me of Tom Goes to the Mayor, and the whole vibe of the store reeked of lame.
The Icee was decent though.

Maybe I can enlighten you about the difference. It’s like an icee but coarser. It’s like a cross between a snow cone and an icee. When it goes into your mouth it doesn’t fall down it maintains a little bit of it’s shape (the shape of the straw of course) until you start moving it around in your mouth. I hope I helped answer your question

cross between a snow cone and an icee
Damn it, there shouldn’t be so many things you can do with smashed up ice.

hey jesse,
“they’re baaaa-aaaaack”
the movie you’re thinking of makes me wonder if its Poltergeist, i could be wrong though
and after a 2 month or so hiatus, IM BAAAAA-AAAAACK!!!!!

Love the new stickers. Especially the heart Dracullas. Awww like Im looking at my own childhood sticker book.

Annnnnnnd…. Just listened to the new hallo’jukebox and im daaamn glad to hear that halloween by the misfits is on it, my all time favourite band, now im officially gettin in the fiend-club spirit!!
And Matt: The countdown is awesome so far, cant wait to see what other crazy shit you have for us this year!

I offered to give you the Gate 2 for a movie review.. and now here I see something about the Gate. ja heez

I wanted a pitch black icee today at work. Alls I got was a cherry one at BK. Shit.

There’s a small “mom & pop” 99 cent store that opened near my house and they have cases of last year’s Pitch Black II. Of course it’s way past it’s best by date, but how bad could it taste after a year? Should I buy it?

Deuce
As soon as I read that I bought it off of Amazon. My 3D Freddy deliciousness arrives overnight mail tomorrow. 44.95 is a small price to pay to see that ending again. I just wish there were multiple pairs of glasses.

Dear Matt:
Once again, by reading your words of wisdom, I have learned that I am not alone in the world. Sure, an abnormal affection for Stinkor and a firm conviction that no leader will ever replace Optimus Prime are traits that many people likely share across this country. Today, however, we sync’d on a whole new level…
You are the first person I’ve heard confirm my theory that the Taco Bell’s in stores or gas stations give you a lot more food for your money!!! Thank you for confirming that it wasn’t just the gas fumes at that Speedway station that made my burrito supreme feel massive in my hands.

I happened across the Pitch Black Icee totally by accident as well… I was in Target planning to get a cherry Icee (which they did not have) when I saw the Pitch Black and hear a choir of angels singing…or should that be devils? Anyway, it tastes heavenly. Or the opposite of heavenly. Whatever, it’s awesome. The best part is it tastes like the ORIGINAL Pitch Black with none of that disgusting sour aftertaste that Pitch Black II had.
Also, if you let the Pitch Black Icee melt, it tastes just like the soda (except less fizzy…)

Hey Matt, the PB ICEE reaches all the way over to Phoenix, so you’re not alone in your glory…

Pepsi Blue was the devil. And it sucked. I actually worked at Pepsi when it came out, and the sales bombed. And it sucked, too.

It’s funny, the first thing I thought when the Halloween season approached was if/when PBIII would be coming in. Fond memories will they be now when I’d come into the office and line up my three daily bottles of sweet grapey delight to the grimaces of my coworkers. Living in Vermont, the closest Target would probably be the one Matt went to. *sighs* So sad am I…

Do you think if enough people begged Pepsi, they’d bring back the Pitch Black soda next year? I mean, that was the ONLY Pepsi product I bought so they’ve completely lost my business by not selling it anymore

(ok except for the Icee version…)

I am drinking a Mountain Dew Pitch Black Icee right now. I can’t believe how good they are! I’m really glad they taste like the “original” Pitch Black drink and not like the “improved” Pitch Black II– I did not like that “sour bite” AT ALL.

Just to let you know, I went to Target (a thing that I, sadly, hardly ever do because it’s no-freakin-where near where I live)…

but I went in there JUST to check out their halloween goodness (because of YOUR recommendations - they should PAY you dammit).

I saw MANY sections of the store done up as Halloween special spaces:
- a dollar zone when you first enter the store
- a special candy selection area
- and a HUGE arena of so many wonderful Halloween items that I swear I almost wept for the sheer beauty of it all.

After buying some stuff (housewares mostly) I stopped at the food “court” (not sure WHAT it was. Not Taco Bell, Not Pizza-”anything”, but just a spot to eat hot dogs, kids meals, sammiches and generic pizza slices) and Lo! There was an ICEE machine!

Not being a fan of grape flavored ANYTHING (usually) this had a slightly deeper flavor that comforted my mouth like licking Vamerella’s breastesses (well… if they were ice freakin’ cold enough to give me a mild brain freeze, which, seeing as how she’s supposed to be “dead” or “undead” or something, they SHOULD be cold, but still comfortingly soft and intoxicating).

The wife… not so much.
Which only increased it’s halloween-authenticness with me.

When pitch black first came out two years ago, the 7-elevens around here had pitch black slurpees as well. They also had lime wire and code blue ones during the summer time. The one pictured above almost looks like a grape misty freeze from dairy queen.

The Wraith is my favorite movie ever! Clint Howard.. Charlie Shean. Magic. As I sit in my cube eating pumpkin seeds.. Im picturing going home and busting out the vhs.

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