Face Off Episode 507
“Living Art”
Original Airdate: 24 September 2013

In This Episode...

We start with a foundation challenge hosted by Elvira. The contestants are given two hours to create their own Mistress of the Dark. Elvira is looking for a hip, cool, young, edgy take on her look. She chooses Roy’s look, for being sexy, spooky, and funny. Roy wins immunity for the week as well as a makeup kit from Krylon.

The spotlight challenge this week asks each contestant to select an iconic art movement and create a character that could live in a piece of art.

The Creations

Laney’s art style was pop art. She wanted to show media’s effect on women. I thought the paint job came off as sloppy, but Neville thought she nailed the pop art style and made an interesting character. Ve thought it was fabulous.

Laura chose cubism. She had a beautiful asymmetrical sculpt and a brilliant paint job. Glenn thought it was stunning. Ve thought it was immaculate and exquisite. Neville simply loved it.

Eddie chose expressionism. He has always been inspired by Van Gogh’s “Starry Starry Night” so his version is “Stressful Stressful Night.” His swirling sculpt was cool, but the red paint job flattened it out. Neville thought it looked like burn makeup and it needed another color. Ve thought it was too monochromatic, and Glenn thought it looked too much like a mask.

Tate’s art style was surrealism. He ran into a problem on day two, when he dropped his mold on his hand, crushed several fingers, and had to be taken to the ER. Three hours and 13 stitches later, Tate returns. In the time he was gone, Roy and Laura spearheaded an effort among the contestants to help Tate as much as they could while he was gone. They opened and cleaned the mold and put in the first layer of foam. Unfortunately, his concept wasn’t really surreal - it was just weird. A castle, a sprite, glitter, vines... weird. Ve didn’t think it was surreal, and Neville thought it wasn’t “makeup-y” enough. It looked like a costume.

Scott also had surrealism and his makeup was inspired by his dad, who died of  complications due to alcoholism. A volcano / shot glass head represents his anger when drinking; a large ear in a cage represents his poor hearing; and a giant cigarette cane is a literal crutch. The whole thing felt like a mess. The volcano makeup didn’t work for Ve, and overall she thought it looked “too hard.” Surrealism should be softer. Glenn thought the volcano looked like a tree stump, and Neville just thought it was overall unattractive.

Miranda picked cubism and created a sorrowful musician. She is very disappointed in her makeups this week, but Glenn says it is very successful. Ve thought the face was unbelievable but wishes she had extended the makeup into the arms. Neville thought the paint was beautiful and the surfacing on the sculpt was good.

Other Creations

The Verdict?

Laura, unsurprisingly, won this week, while Scott was sent home.

Dig It or Bury It?

The outcome of this week’s challenge was pretty obvious. I liked the challenge, but I wish we could have had more time with Elvira. You can never have enough Elvira.

Prophecies?

The contestants must create Cirque du Soleil aliens. 

Last month we posted a story about a man in the UK who discovered a trap door in his apartment, which led to a frightening underground dungeon.  The whole thing creeped us all out something fierce, but even that story seems like child's play compared to what another man recently found, which led him to book an indefinite stay at a friend's house...

In a pictorial story posted over on Imgur, the man documented the horrific discovery, which began when he pushed his younger brother into a bookshelf in his family's home, a home that they purchased about a year ago.  When his brother fell, he pulled out the bookshelf, which revealed a spiral staircase that led straight into a wall.  Creepy enough, but what they discovered next will really make you think twice about the safety and comfort of your own home.

They found a crawlspace in the hidden room, which led into another hidden room.  Inside, along with a couple creepy dolls that belong in a James Wan film, they found empty candy wrappers, indicating that someone had actually been living inside of their walls.  According to the unidentified man (known only as TwoBiteBrownie), the wrappers were from his Halloween stash, which he believes the mysterious intruder stole from his bedroom and consumed in the secret lair.

Various other bizarre trinkets were found in the room, providing enough reason for the man and his family to instantly flee the home.

You can see more pictures and read the entire story over on Imgur.  Good luck sleeping tonight!

New comic book Wednesday has come and gone. The dust at your local comic shop has settled. An eerie silence descends as you finish reading your last superhero book of the week. Now it's time for something a little more sinister. Welcome to Bagged and Boarded: comic reviews of the sick, spooky, twisted and terrifying!

Wraith No. 1

In this Holiday horror comic Joe Hill (Locke and Key) tells the story of a strange man driving a classic car- a  Rolls-Royce Wraith. In the car a young girl is told the story of Christmas Land, a holiday theme park full of bad omens and twisted, nightmarish delights. As the card speeds on we learn more about this monstrous man and his creepy dreamland, and get a taste of where all his ill-will, malice, and corruption started.

Bag it or board it up? This is one of those comics that is so creepily illustrated it's almost hard to look at. Both the character design and the eerie settings lend to the creeping unease. Everything in this book oozes strangeness and the bizarre... all with a Christmas tinge. The plot seems long-winded and moves slowly, but it's definitely worth a read. I like this comic because of how weird it is. It's worth checking out.

Constantine No. 8

Even though Constantine's playing for the DC Universe now they still keep him locked away in his own small stories. That may be for the best. It's just not right when the chain-smoking sorcerer teams up with Superman and crew. This final showdown with his southern nemesis Minster E shows Constantine battling on the astral plane and in the Alps. Will he be able to best his foe will Sargon the sorceress looks on impassively?

Bag it or board it up? DC Constantine is a sort of give and take. There are less tales of anguish, woe, and wasting away now. Constantine is less of an asshole. He smokes less. But, despite the mass-market tame-down, the comics still pack a lot of punch. This is an interesting, action-driven plot. They've taken an action-light character with amazing powers and put him through his paces. This is a fun one.

The Other Dead No. 3

All the animals in New Orleans are turning into zombies. Wild dogs, viscous squirrels, and zombie alligators attack in the streets. And a hurricane is about to hit land. And president Obama is in town. And punks may have used witchcraft to start the trouble. And so on and so on.

Bag it or board it up? From the lackluster illustrations to the dull storyline, this whole comic comes off as something akin to fan fiction. The plot is stagnant and seems almost stubborn in its refusal to move forward. Add to that President Obama? Huh? It's such a strange choice to add President Obama to the mix, it seems a very amateur move. All in all this comic is only interesting when zombie squirrels attack.

The Walking Dead No. 116

Rick's plan has finally come to fruition in his epic face-off against the evil Negan. Negan, the baseball-bat-clutching psychopath responsible for the death and maiming of several audience favorites, has thinks he's called Rick's bluff. But when Rick unleashes devastation in the form of hordes of zombies it's all Negan can do to run and survive.

Bag it or board it up? You know how some issues of 'The Walking Dead' are really slow? You know how some of them feel like ramp-up's or place holders? This is definitely not one of those issues. This is a quick little punch of a comic. Pick it up, read it, soak in the artwork and the tension, and enjoy!

It's everyone's favorite topic: could zombies exist? The Daily Show host Jon Stewart and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson debated zombies on last night's show. As is to be expected, the discussion devolved into giggles, scientific ghost stories, and space zombies.

Cheryl Blossom is having a bad year.  Over in the Betty & Veronica fairytale storyline, she’s been turned into the evil sea witch octopus from The Little Mermaid.  In Life with Archie, the alternate-universe continuity that presents the Riverdale folk as young adults, Cheryl is struggling with breast cancer and the implications of ongoing healthcare.  And now … well now, her quasi-incestuous schemes with her brother are about to be torn asunder by a bunch of townie zombies.

There’s a lot going on in Afterlife with Archie #2, with writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa working to not only forward the story, but also to deepen the world of this version of Riverdale.  As in Life With Archie (in which the subtext beneath the squeaky-clean “Earth One” Archie universe surfaces to create real pathos and tension), here the subtext is used to shade the town’s hidden passions and terrors.  Even before the bodies mount, Riverdale reveals itself as a timeless teenage Peyton Place.

Cheryl and her borderline psychopath brother Jason – dressed as Raggedy Ann and Andy and making deeply unsettling overtures to each other – are just the beginning.  Aguirre-Sacasa makes work of criminally underused second- and third-tier characters like Nancy Woods and Ginger Lopez, giving them a relationship whose secret nature is fascinating in the wake of Kevin Keller’s matter-of-fact gayness.  Perhaps most interesting is Veronica, whose ongoing rivalry with Betty has been more vicious in this comic than elsewhere, who uncovers hidden depths (and some of the awesome take-charge kick-assery she used to save Betty’s life in last year’s Betty & Veronica #257).  

And of course, there are zombies.  Dear God, are there zombies.  Artist Francesco Francavilla outdoes his work of the inaugural issue of Afterlife, his panels drenched in black and red and midnight blue, and the tragic fates of more of our beloved Riverdale friends keep piling on.  He’s terrific at shock panels (you might have forgotten about Jughead’s family, but the creators haven’t; Francavilla uses the jump-cut nature of comic-book panels to great effect as he follows a shambling, hungry Mr. Jones), but it’s in the quieter moments that he really shines.  

Subtly referencing the fairytale stories going on in the regular Archie and Betty & Veronica continuities, Ethel Muggs appears as a Snow White awaiting her Prince Charming (complete with crown).  A graphic splash page playing on the original story’s deadly apple is at once gory and heartbreaking.  But it’s a single panel near the end of this chapter, once the gang finally realizes what’s going on with Jughead, that nails the deep tragedy of Afterlife With Archie.  Zombie Juggie is trapped in the Riverdale High locker room, trying to get out, while his confused and scared friends try desperately to figure out a game plan.  One panel is silent but for Jughead’s mindless bangs against the door, while Moose Mason – his arm around his sweetheart Midge Klump – can only watch.  It’s a startling moment of despair before the story cycles back into action again.

At the end of the story, we’re treated to a sidebar panel featuring the smiling faces of our heroes; in goofy Scooby-Doo font, we’re asked, “Next: One of these kids is already infected … but which one?!?”  It serves to remind us that we’re having our brains and eating them too: sure, this is a fun story in which somewhat corny characters are being turned into zombies … but there’s also some real emotion and story going on here, too.  It’s a neat balancing act that, so far, keeps holding up.

There’s a creepy back-up story included, 1973’s “…Cat!” written and drawn by Gray Morrow, taken from the classic horror/fantasy publication Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, edited by Morrow under the Archie imprint Red Circle Comics (in creepy black & white).  By including a story like this, Afterlife With Archie proves that attention to the wider world of characters and storylines is just the beginning of what it’s attempting: namely, to honor the history of both Archie and horror comics, while continuing in both traditions to attempt something new.  

Afterlife with Archie #2 hits comic-book stores and newsstands November 20th, with either Francavilla’s regular cover, or the retro variant by Tim Seely.

- - -

Kevin Quigley is an author whose website, CharnelHouseSK.com, is one of the leading online sources for Stephen King news, reviews, and information. He has written several books on Stephen King for Cemetery Dance Publications, including a book on comics and Stephen King, Drawn Into Darkness, as well as Chart of Darkness, Blood In Your Ears, and Stephen King Limited, and co-wrote the recently released Stephen King Illustrated Movie Trivia Book. His first novel, I’m On Fire, is forthcoming. Find his books at cemeterydance.com.  

Remember that moment early on in Shaun of the Dead where Shaun stumbles into frame like a zombie?  He has just woken up and he's barely able to even walk like a human - that's me... every single morning.  I'm not a morning person in the least, and I'm quite frankly shocked that my wife has never stuck a fork into my brain, while I'm making a cup of coffee.  Between my torn up pajamas, my messy hair and that weird crust that invades my eyeballs while I sleep, I must admit that I look more dead than I do alive, for at least the first hour of my day.

Presumably in an effort to ensure that my wife does indeed brain me at some point in the near future, the company WebUndies has just launched a snazzy new pair of officially licensed Walking Dead footed pajamas, which instantly transform you into a beat up and bloodied walker.  The pattern on the 100% polyester pajamas is made to look like the tattered outfit of a zombie, with the hood serving to give your face a serious make-under - no make-up required!

These unique pajamas are available in sizes Medium-2XL and you can purchase them over on WebUndies, for $38.

Dracula Episode 104
“From Darkness to Light”
Written By: Tom Grieves
Directed By: Andy Goddard
Original Airdate: 15 November 2013

In This Episode...

New vampires come to town. Jayne kills two of them on the train; a third escapes. The third is Josef, who heads straight to Dracula’s manor. They are old friends. Dracula made Josef, and the two fought together. Dracula considered him to be his right-hand man. It is a joyous reunion. Renfield is a little uneasy about this uncouth, undisciplined vampire moving in with them. Josef kills one of the cooks, recognizes Mina as the reincarnation of Dracula’s wife, and is offended that Dracula is sleeping with a huntress. 

Speaking of the huntress... Dracula/Grayson must devise a plan. If he kills her, the Order will simply replace her. Grayson wants to destroy her - by violating her trust. Apparently in Victorian England, all that requires is being stood up for dinner at the Savoy. She sends for him the next night so that when he comes over, she dumps him. Grayson finds it “distressingly predictable” and starts to leave. Jayne won’t let him go after that, so Grayson explains: “You take pleasure in asserting domination over men, but soon grow bored. You tried that with me, and it failed. Failure to dominate me let you to be infatuated with me, and that threatens your dominance.” It is a tease that would have probably ended with them in bed had Jayne’s date for the evening not shown up. This also does not surprise Grayson. It’s all part of the game.

Josef is getting antsy. He follows Grayson and sees Jayne dump him, which makes Josef fiercely protective over his dissed master. He begs his old friend to let him kill Jayne, and Dracula, with tears in his eyes, agrees. “Make her scream.” Josef goes to Jayne as she sleeps, stalking her quietly. Grayson appears and tackles his old friend, stabbing him relentlessly. The two brawl noisily, break through a door, and Grayson is “knocked out” when he hits the floor. No one could sleep through that ruckus, and Jayne wakes, beheading Josef with one easy swoop of her sword. He explodes into ashes and Jayne throws herself atop Grayson. He awakes suddenly, and feigns fear. “There was a man!” Jayne calms him. “He is gone. You saved me.” They embrace... and Grayson smiles evilly. Later, in the bath together (they have to wash the vampire off them) what would have turned into raucous sex is merely Jayne kissing Grayson then snuggling up against him. 

Grayson volunteers his home for an engagement party for Mina and Jonathan. Mina stays past the planning part of the afternoon to watch the next power experiment. She is thrilled when the bulb in her hand lights up, but one of the boilers explodes. Grayson holds Mina protectively in his arms and loves every second of it, while the rest of his employees scramble for safety. Mina senses Grayson was acting out of more than just a concern for her safety and worries to Jonathan that he is showing inappropriate attention to their relationship. Jonathan defends his employer and Mina lets it go. Lucy is also upset about the impending marriage. She claims that once Mina is married she will never get to see her. Clearly Lucy is in love with Mina and she will lose her in more ways than one.

On to the Order. Jayne shows Browning the two train vamps she killed, and they both agree that they are not old enough to have killed the Seers. When she comes back with Josef’s ashes, both she and Browning agree: this was the vampire they sought. They can relax. Meanwhile, in a secret meeting with a couple military commanders, Browning and Davenport want to know why the Persian oil fields haven’t yet been taken. Ogilvy, the head of command, gives some long-winded excuse that the opposing army wouldn’t engage. So Browning has him garroted and gives Shaw, the (formerly) second-in-command, a stern warning. Shaw is going to invade.

Also: a beggar man urges Jonathan to visit with a a woman named Vera who should have some insights into Alexander Grayson. Davenport hires a woman on the DL to kidnap and interrogate Renfield. Van Helsing has developed a sunlight vaccine for Dracula, but because he doesn’t have a functioning circulatory system it only protects the area it is injected into. So they need to figure out a way to get his heart pumping. Mina discovers Van Helsing’s secret mini-lab where he works on his Dracula projects. Mina is fascinated, but hasn’t figured anything out yet.

Dig It or Bury It?

The Order of the Dragon, going after the Persian oil fields, is a hit-you-over-the-head metaphor for the Bush administration. But with better accents. 

I don’t know what else to say about this episode. It looks beautiful, has a little bit of vampiric intrigue, a lot of business bargaining, more crying than one should see in Dracula, and some surprisingly hot sex scenes for network television. At least the sexual mind games feel more Dracula-like.

Myths Revamped

It seems that in this vampire tale, the older a vampire is, the drier he is when he is killed. The younger vamps Jayne kills on the train look like desiccated mummies, while Josef, around for hundreds of years, turns to dust. 

Also, pouring a 40 is apparently not a new thing, as Grayson commemorates the death of his closest friend by pouring some booze into the fireplace. For his homie.

Prophecies?

Renfield is tortured and Mina is confused by her feelings for Grayson.

Grimm Episode 304
“One Night Stand”
Written By: Sean Calder
Directed By: Steven Depaul
Original Airdate: 15 November 2013

In This Episode...

Two couples are hanging out around a bonfire on the beach. They are singing, laughing, drinking... typical twentysomething stuff. One couple, Dan and Anna, go for a swim. Sarah goes for more beer for her and Jake. Hiding behind the foliage, spying, is youngest sister Ellie, a deaf girl with a huge crush on Jake. She begs Sarah, “not that one,” Sarah dismisses her, marches back to the beach, jumps in the water, disrobes, and lures Jake out for a little aquatic sexytime. He is all too eager to join her. But things take a nasty turn when scaly, fishy hands (yes, hands) grabs the boys and drag them under. Sarah and Anna swim away, but Ellie can’t let this happen to Jake. She save him, and as he starts to wake, she gets scared and jumps in the river. Her eyes glow and she grows gills and swims away at inhuman speeds.

Dan’s body is pulled out of the drink, and the investigation begins. Jake is shocked and saddened that Dan is dead. He explains that the two of them were fishing when Anna and Sarah showed up out of nowhere. He takes Hank and Nick to the river where they see Ellie try to hide from them by diving in the water. After consulting with Rosalee, she thinks that they are dealing with naiads, who cannot be out of water for too long. Luckily, Ellie stole Jake’s cell phone and Wu is able to track the GPS signal. Whaddya know, it is coming from the docks.

When Ellie sees the cops coming, she hides in the water. Abel, the father, won’t let them in the house, so Nick calls the phone - sure enough, the ringing is coming from inside the house! That is when Nick sees the picture of the three girls inside. Then Sarah and Anna come home. Jake follows them like a puppy; they just blow him off and say they don’t know who he is. Adding to the chaos is a couple of good ol’ boys, Dominic and Jesse, who roll up ready for a fight. Abel gets frustrated and reveals his Wesen face. Nick has to take the girls in, and Abel blames Dominic and Jesse. The boys turn it back on Abel, saying “This is what happens when you don’t raise your women right.” Since Ellie was the one who saved Jake, they want to “cut her.” 

At the police station, Sarah and Anna are in individual interrogation rooms. Their skin is flaking and even after Nick confronts them about their naiad-ness, they won’t talk. Renard is unconcerned if the girls die of massive dehydration - “Their problem, not ours.” Abel, the dutiful father, arrives at the station and confesses to Dan’s murder, to protect his girls. Nick knows Abel is hiding something, and uses his confession to leverage the girls to talk. It works. Against Anna’s wishes, Sarah opens up and rats out Dominic and Jesse. She didn’t think that they would actually kill the boys - it is part of the “old traditions” and they didn’t really believe that Dominic and Jesse followed the old traditions. Which, I guess, includes murder. Male naiads are sterile, so the females must mate with a human male in order to continue the species.

Jake calls Nick in a panic. Ellie had sneaked into his house, then took him down to the pool to show him her secret. Jesse and Dominic showed up, beat Jake unconscious, and kidnapped Ellie. Sarah knows that Ellie will be “cut” - the webbing between her fingers and toes is to be cut, marking her an outcast.

The boys have tied up Ellie at the marina, then force her head underwater. Eventually she will need to breathe, turn naiad, and her webbing will appear for the boys to cut. But Ellie is a fighter, and after her first gasp of ocean air the boys are not fast enough. She returns to full human form. They go for a second attempt, and Nick, Hank, and the rest of the cavalry show up. The boys throw Ellie aside and focus on attacking Hank. Ellie knocks her head on an anchor and slips into the water, sinking quickly. Nick jumps in after her and pulls her to safety. Hank has handcuffed the boys and turns his concern to Nick, who was underwater for an unnaturally long time. 

Also: Renard is still icy towards Nick. He and Sebastian start putting the pieces together that the royal baby Frau Pech was trying to sell is Adalind’s, which of course makes Renard a little nervous. Monroe and Rosalee move in together. Juliette checks Nick’s email for word from the doctor (don’t worry - he gives her permission). In the process, a new emails rolls in, discussing the royal death, being unable to spend the money, and being in danger. It is signed, “All my love, M.” So, clearly, Nick’s mom.

Dig It or Bury It?

Meh. This was a pretty basic monster-of-the-week episode. Nothing special. I want to get back to the “mythology” episodes, exploring the royals and Adalind and all that. The procedural episodes all feel very slow to me, like the cops should be picking up on clues much faster than they are. 

I don’t understand why Dominic and Jesse are so offended that their girls are mating. If the male naiads are sterile, how do they expect to keep their race alive if they don’t let their womenfolk have set with others? Maybe the murder is supposed to take place after the fertilization happens.

Do non-Wesen crimes ever happen in Portland? 

Grimm Tales

Naiads are water creatures, kind of like mermaids but with the ability to go between human lungs and fish gills. If they are out of the water too long, a naiad’s skin will get dry and peel, and the naiad will die of dehydration in roughly 24 hours. Male naiads are born sterile, so in order to keep the species going, the women must become impregnated by human men, but it must be done in water, which is also where they must give birth.

Prophecies?

“The Legend of El Cucuy.” A subtitle means a “very special episode.”

Tired of carrying your severed heads around in a bowling ball bag? Travel in style with this hand-formed leather skull purse. Okay, maybe it isn't the perfect back to carry heads in (hard to fly under the wire) but it is damned cool.  Artisan Brian Griffin warns that it should not be packed like a standard purse - it is first and foremost a work of art. So maybe pop in a lipstick, and ID and a cell phone, and scare people in a legal way.

$350 on Etsy.com

Though exploding heads and melting faces are often the kinds of gruesome effects you can only find in horror films, such glorious moments of gore have been known to pop up in many a non-horror film over the years.  One of those movies is Raiders of the Lost Ark, which has a finale ripped straight out of a horror flick.  After opening the titular Ark, archaeologist Rene Belloq and an army of Nazi soldiers meet a horrifying end (below) - a scene that you'd expect to see in a David Cronenberg film, rather than a Spielberg one.

Not surprisingly, the MPAA found the sequence to be a little too gruesome, and they forced Spielberg to add CG flame effects over the imagery of Belloq's head exploding, obscuring the Scanners-esque moment to the point that it was kinda hard to tell what was even going on.  Over 30 years later, a photograph of the original unobscured effect has just surfaced, which a man by the name of Will McCrabb tweeted out at the tail end of last week.

So if you want to see what the scene would've looked like had the MPAA not gotten their hands on it, check out the never-before-seen photo below!

The chair creaks as you settle onto it. The candlelight flickers. All around you the ravenous faces of your so-called friends twist in delight as you slowly open the box laid out on the table. Welcome to Dangerous Games! Each week, we'll feature a horror/thriller/monster tabletop game you should be playing. Don't be scared… roll the dice… what's the worst that could happen?

'Texas Zombies'- Moonster Games (2012)

It's another boring field trip for you and your classmates at the University of Texas. Just off to visit an abandoned military base in the middle of the desert. But as soon as you arrive you know something's not right here. The smell is the first thing you notice; a sour mixture of chemicals and rotting flesh. And then you see the operators of drug cartel, and then you see the zombies shambling along lifting boxes and crates, and then you see… something even worse.

In 'Texas Zombies' you and your friends have to think on your feet to stay alive and survive this terrible field trip. By quickly creating small stories about your survival you'll earn points from your friends and foes alike. At the end of this raucous party game the person with the most points wins.

Gameplay Mechanics

The goal of this game is simple: tell the most interesting story in this party game for three to six players. Each player starts with three item cards. They could be weapons, they could be useful items, or they could be totally ridiculous items. Your job is to work those items into a story about your survival. On your turn, you'll flip an event card. The event card could depict a situation where you're locked out of a room or being chased by zombies (or any other number of bad scenarios). No matter the event, you have to work in a certain (predetermined) number of item cards from your hand during the explanation of your escape from the situation.

Each player then votes on whether they like your description or not. The voting process is simple, a thumbs up or a thumbs down. To keep everyone honest, and to keep people from voting for or against players not on their team, each player is issued a team card. Those two teams are kept secret. No one knows who's on their team, so it's best to just vote honestly. At the end all team cards are revealed and the team with the most points wins!

Replay Value

Because of the "party game" nature of 'Texas Zombies' it's as playable as the people you play it with. If you and your group always stay the same, you'll get bored of this game after a while. But if you have a constantly shifting group of gamer friends this is a fun one to roll out every once in a while.

Overall Impressions

Moonster Games, the publisher of this game, touts it as "the first horror party game." I'm not sure if it's the first, but it certainly is a fun one. This is definitely more fun with more creative people playing it. You'll end up in tight spots describing how you used a banana peel, tweezers, and a shotgun to get away from the mutated freaks roaming the facility. It's an easy game, a simple game, and exactly the type of party game horror fans yearn for (because it can get as gory as you want it to).

There is no perhaps no movie that has been spoofed, homaged, parodied and referenced more times over the years than Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.  A movie that is absolutely chock full of iconic and memorable imagery, from the creepy twins in the hallway to Jack’s total destruction of the bathroom door, The Shining has pretty much become the go-to horror movie to reference, and countless movies and TV shows over the years have done just that.

It’s also pretty common for commercials to reference Kubrick’s masterpiece, and that’s what we’re here to talk about today.  Let’s take a look at a handful of the best!

PREMIER INN

A seemingly innocent commercial for British hotel chain Premier Inn, this first one played up the idea that a stay in a hotel inferior to theirs could result in a restless night and a whole lot of grumpiness.  Starring acclaimed British comedian Lenny Henry, the commercial became the target of much criticism when it was broadcast on children’s network Nick Jr. in 2009, which led the Advertising Standards Authority to pull it.  Despite the comedic tone, they felt that the imagery was just too frightening for children.

THE GREAT KINODAGEN

The same scene was parodied in this Norwegian advertisement for a day-long event called The Great Kinodagen, wherein movies are shown for ½ the price they usually cost.  In it, a big time fan of The Shining hacks down a door like Jack Nicholson, and then realizes there’s nothing he was even trying to get to on the other side.  The words that pop up on the screen at the end translate to ‘Love Movies?’  Wannabe Jack sure does!

GRAIN BELT BEER

In this re-imagining of The Shining, Jack has snapped not because the evil in the Overlook has taken a hold of him, but rather because he simply wants more beer - I can relate, Mr. Torrance.  This was put together a few years back by filmmaker Jon Springer, for a contest Minnesota brewing company Grain Belt was having.  The incredibly well-made commercial is capped off by a pretty clever tagline: ‘Grain Belt Premium… the beer that makes you shine!”  If Springer didn’t win the contest, he damn sure should have!

GOT MILK?

Similar to the Grain Belt commercial, this spin on the popular Got Milk? advertising campaign has little Danny going crazy, rather than his dad.  Ya see, Danny’s just eaten a whole bunch of chocolate chip cookies, and he needs some milk to wash them down.  So he sets out on a mission to find some, all the while repeating the words “klim tog” over and over again.  What the hell is he talking about?  Watch this hilarious commercial to find out!

FILM INK

Award-winning filmmaker Julian Shaw put together this ad for Australian film magazine FilmInk, which takes a similar approach to the previous commercial by having Danny write and speak the title of the magazine backwards.  Keep your eyes peeled for three references to other Shelley Duvall films, hidden within the commercial!

APPLE iSPEC

This one’s a little bit different than the others, and it’s got a pretty interesting story behind it.  A concept advertisement for a faux iPod product of the future called iSPEC, this was directed by Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski, and it was in fact this very ad that brought Kosinski to the attention of Tron’s producer.  The faux iSPEC is a virtual reality device that allows you to literally walk around inside of your favorite movies, and Kosinski’s commercial for the device takes us inside of The Shining’s Overlook Hotel.  Pretty wild!

DEWAR’S

Dewar’s paired up with actress Claire Forlani last year for this sexy and intense commercial made by ad agency Opperman Weiss.  Though no direct mention of The Shining is made, the bar Forlani pours herself a glass of scotch at is an exact replica of the Overlook’s Gold Room.  Only thing it’s missing is Lloyd behind the bar.  Not sure how Jack would feel about this one, considering he's more of a bourbon kind of guy!

BING 

Someone over at Microsoft must be a big time horror fan because Bing has done some pretty cool horror-inspired things over the years, from commercials to a spooky interactive game that took over their home page this past Halloween.  I’ve always been a Google fan, but Bing definitely caught my attention with this commercial in 2009, which recreated all of the film’s most iconic moments.  Remember, folks: All searching and no deciding makes the web a dull place!

MORE4’S STANLEY KUBRICK SEASON

I’m a believer in the idea of saving the best for last, and I think you’ll agree that I’ve done just that with this post.  In July of 2008, British channel More4 ran a series of Stanley Kubrick films throughout the month, and cut together this brilliant commercial to promote the marathon.  Featuring lookalikes of all the actors and elaborate recreations of the sets, the ad conveyed the behind the scenes atmosphere of The Shining, as seen through Stanley Kubrick’s eyes.  We will of course never be able to go back in time and visit the set of the film, or see the world from Kubrick’s point of view, but this masterful commercial will more than fulfill your appetite for such desires.  Commercials don’t get much more awesome than this!

Do you know of any other commercials that referenced The Shining?  Comment below and let us know!