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TV Recap: 'The Walking Dead' Episode 303 - 'Walk With Me'

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The Walking Dead Episode 303
“Walk With Me”
Written By: Evan Reilly
Directed By: Guy Ferland
Original Airdate: 28 October 2012

In This Episode...

Michonne and Andrea watch as a helicopter runs into some trouble and crashes in the woods. a rescue team sweeps in, save the injured-but-alive pilot, and brains the dead people so they don’t rise. Michonne’s pet zombies are starting to make a ruckus, so she beheads them. It is too late, and they are found - by none other that Merle. Andrea passes out.

When she wakes, she and Michonne are being examined by a doctor in a room - four walls, a roof, a bed, the whole nine. Civilization. Merle comes in to “catch up.” He is truly sorry to hear about Amy, but doesn’t believe that Daryl is still alive. The girls believe they are being held prisoner, and are extremely untrusting, especially Michonne, who wants her weapons back. Without coddling, the Governor assures them they are not prisoners. They can leave in the morning (for their own safety, the gates of Woodbury are not opened at night) and will be given back their weapons, plus food, medicine, ammo, even a car if they’d like. But he believes they should stay - Andrea is in bad shape and needs a few nights of rest in a real bed. The girls are given a bedroom with clean linens, fresh food, even hot water for showers. By morning, the girls are given a fresh breakfast and a tour of the quaint town, which currently has a population of 73 (with a pregnant woman about to pop out #74) and schools, hospitals, even a coffee shop. Andrea is starting to let her guard down. Michonne is not.

Under the surface, there is some darkness. The Governor has a mystery lab where a timid yes-man scientist, Norm, is studying zombies (among other things; this seems to be their R&D department.) He discovered that Michonne was likely keeping her zombie sherpas as cover. If they traveled with walkers, the other walkers wouldn’t notice them as much. Michonne cut off the arms so they couldn’t grab, and jaws so they couldn’t bite. Eventually they just stopped trying to eat anything because they couldn’t. They were starving, it is just a much longer process than for humans. It would also seem that Michonne knew her zombie pets, but refuses to elaborate. At the end of the episode, we see that the Governor has a secret, hidden room filled with aquariums that are crammed full of human heads. Some zombified; others not.

The pilot that the Governor pulled from the wreckage was traveling with a group of about a dozen or so men after their compound was overrun. They hit a roadblock, so the pilot and a couple other men took the helicopter to scout. The governor promised they would go find these other men and bring them back. Naturally, they don’t. The Governor and his men ambush the stranded soldiers. They are all shot dead, and their supplies scooped up. Upon return to Woodbury, the Governor tells people the soldiers fell victim to the walkers, but they should keep them in their minds when the town used the supplies they managed to find. The pilot’s head was among those in the aquariums.

Dig It or Bury It?

Well, I’m already annoyed with Michonne. Bad shit happened to you; we get it. You don’t trust the Governor; you have no reason to. You miss your weapons; who doesn’t? Either accept life in Woodbury or leave. Don’t just sit around and mope about it.

Since the guys the Governor killed were U.S. military, is it safe to say that there is still some form of military or government that exists somewhere? Sure, they could just be the few remaining hold outs, but it would make sense that the Governor really likes his new position and is killing those who would pose a threat to his new way of life. I assume that whatever is in the tea is kind of like the non-lethal version of Jonestown’s Kool-Aid: something to keep the masses docile. But what is up with the Governor’s Futurama room? Freaky.

Kill o’ the Week

Goes to Merle, who, despite limited medical resources, fashioned a metal fixture that would cover his stump, including a knife, effectively turning the stump into a bayonet. When a walker tries to sneak up on him, he jams the knife up into the zombie’s skull, all without turning around.

Prophecies?

Someone let the walkers in to the prison.


TV Recap: '666 Park Avenue' Episode 105 - 'A Crowd of Demons'

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666 Park Avenue Episode 105
“A Crowd of Demons”
Written By: Sonny Postiglione
Directed By: Robbie Duncan McNeill
Original Airdate: 28 October 2012


In This Episode...
It’s Halloween at the Drake. Hooray! Gavin is getting threatening texts from an anonymous cell phone, and Olivia is nearly run over by a speeding SUV, but they still hold the annual Drake Halloween party. During the party, Olivia is gassed by a man wearing an antique gas mask, just to scare Olivia. He then steals an ornately carved wooden box from Gavin’s safe and leaves the gas mask in its place.

The man/smoke monster who was locked up in the suitcase was Peter Kramer. On Halloween night, 1929, he went home and butchered his wife with an axe in apartment 5F of the Drake. It is unclear if he killed himself or not. The little girl ghost that has been haunting Jane was Peter’s daughter. She hid under the bed when daddy got the axe. Mom managed to make it into the room, covered in blood, and hand her daughter a necklace, telling her to keep it safe and keep it in the family. Then she dies. That is Jane’s grandmother’s necklace (see how all the pieces are starting to fit together?)

So big Halloween party at the Drake. Olivia leaves costumes for Jane and Henry: Tippi Hedren from The Birds for her; cowboy for him. They aren’t at the party for five minutes before Peter bumps into Jane, causing her spill her drink and run upstairs to change into her original costume, a sexy devil. While in her apartment, the little girl appears and lets Jane know that they let “him” out - her daddy. Jane checks the suitcase. It opens easily, and is empty. She finds, stuck in the lining, a clipping of the Kramer tragedy. She remembers seeing Peter in the elevator and freaks out. He had seen her necklace, equated it to his wife, and had to “finish” the job. Peter appears and takes a swing at Jane, but the power is cut and all goes dark in the Drake, allowing Jane to escape. In a fairly straight-forward slasher set-up, Peter chases Jane all over the Drake with an axe. She runs into a guy in the hall and borrows his phone to call the cops. He is concerned about her, but Peter takes care of that - with an axe to the back. Henry gets worried and goes looking for her. She finally manages to call him and let him know she is hiding on the fifth floor. Peter gets there first and traps Jane in a corner. His axe opens up the wall and the birds fly out. Henry bursts in and saves Jane. Peter is nowhere to be found. Both his axe and his one victim are absorbed into the building before anyone finds them.

Dig It or Bury It?
I think we have found a true calling for Jane: as a victim. She’s not nearly so annoying when she spends most of the episode screaming, running from a madman with an axe, and making poor decisions like wielding a pair of scissors upside down, or grabbing a box cutter and not actually  using it. Slipping into the traditional role of a female slasher “heroine” is so cliched it is enjoyable. Plus, there was actual murder and mayhem in this episode! All around, a fairly fun episode.

Meet the Neighbors
Dr. Scott Evans. Brian walks in on him examining Louise in their apartment. He is suspicious, but she assures him he was just checking her elevator injuries. Louise hooks Scott up with Alexis at the party. They seem to hit it off and go for a quickie in the stairwell, during which Alexis steals Scott’s phone. Louise is hurting, and Scott notices. She is out of heavy duty painkillers, and he agrees to hook her up. They leave the party without a word to Brian, who sees the two get on the elevator. The power goes out at this point, trapping them inside. Using the stolen cell phone Alexis has, she texts Louise something suggestive, which Brian finds and feels his fears are confirmed. However, in the elevator, Louise and Scott are talking. He thinks their open, honest communication (he knows she is hunting for pills, she admits to being a former speed addict who hit rock bottom and went to rehab, all things Brian doesn’t know about) is a come on, and he tries to kiss Louise, who instantly pulls away and yells at him. Even still, when they finally exit the elevator, Brian is there and punches Scott in the face.

Prophecies?
The police are still asking questions about the man who attacked Jane. She finally admits she was attacked by a ghost.
 

Daywalt Fear Factory Producing Debut Feature The Passengers'

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Emmy-nominated writer/director and FEARnet’s own School of Fear blogger Drew Daywalt is writing and directing a new feature-length film, The Passengers. Daywalt is behind awesome shorts like Bedfellows, Polydeus, Jack and The Laundromat.

The Passengers tells the story of a young trucker and his wife who are terrorized by the tortured spirits attached to a load of antiques that the couple has been commissioned to haul cross country. Edin Gali (Mad Men, Hemingway and Gellhorn) and Courtney Halverson (Death Valley, Red Clover) star in the upcoming film.

"We've been waiting for this opportunity for a couple years now.  And since we're being financed through private investors, my team and I have the creative control to tell an intelligent, terrifying story. We're finally getting to make the film we want to make, in the way we want to make it. The plan is simple; tell a good story that scares the hell out of everyone," Daywalt said.

Joss Whedon, Mitt Romney, and the Zombie Apocalypse. Wait, What?

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Joss Whedon is "endorsing" Mitt Romney for president, in that he believes Mitt Romney is the fastest route our country has to the zombie apocalypse. And since Joss is already stocked up on canned goods, he is ready. Here is his impassioned argument about why a vote for Mitt is a vote for zombies:

Thirteen Horror Anthologies You Might Have Missed

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The “omnibus” horror film – a feature length collection of cinematic horror stories – is one of the most beloved and respected horror movie genres for many reasons; but most importantly, horror is often very effective in concentrated doses (just check out our excellent short film collection for some great examples), especially with a storyline that's designed to set up one good shock or twist, saving the writer the effort of milking more scares out of a single tale. The field is overflowing with some landmark films, including the timeless 1945 classic Dead of Night (still creepy and funny after all these years); Roger Corman's Poe collection Tales of Terror; a ton of cool flicks like From Beyond the Grave from UK studio Amicus; EC Comics-inspired films like the original Tales from the Crypt (actually another Amicus film) and George Romero's Creepshow; made-for-TV faves like Trilogy of Terror; and stylish international chills like Mario Bava's Black Sunday, Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan and the Poe-inspired Spirits of the Dead. After a brief dry spell when short-form horror migrated to episodic TV and the internet (with FEARnet's own Drew Daywalt pioneering the field of web-based short horror), the feature-length anthology has picked up steam again, with recent arrivals like The Theatre Bizarre and Little Deaths, and new shockers V/H/S and The ABCs of Death scoring big on this year's festival circuit.

Time will tell if these latest entries stack up against their mighty predecessors, but one 21st century omnibus film that pretty much landed instant cult-classic status is Michael Dougherty's supreme Trick R Treat... which, in case you didn't catch our reminder, FEARnet will be screening round-the-clock this Halloween. So I'm guessing you've probably seen most of the films listed above. But do you have any idea of how many other horror anthologies have been made over the years? The list is probably in the triple-digits, and includes not only some seldom-seen gems, but quite a few obscure flicks that are, frankly, probably best left buried. But I'm an equal-opportunity cinema gravedigger, and I've been busy with my trusty shovel lately. Below are ten more obscure omnibus films that stood out of the pile for one reason or another... either for their surprising creativity, or just straight-up WTF wackiness.

 
 
After Midnight
 
This late '80s entry was a late-night cable staple for many years, but dropped off the map for a while before finally finding a new audience on DVD. I almost didn't include it since the stories themselves are not that thrilling... but the framing device is just nutty as it gets, especially when it reaches its bizarre climax. What sounds like the dream college course with a creepy professor (Ramy Zada), who devotes waaaay too much time exploring the concept of fear, goes horribly wrong (or right, depending on where you stand in this scenario) when he offers a handful of his students – including the requisite psychic – to participate in an unusual storytelling session in his home. I have no idea what the hell is up with the ending of this film, so maybe you can rent the DVD and try and explain it to me.
 
 
Alien Zone
 
No one will be able to explain this thing to me. It's one from the “what the hell were they smoking” category: a '70s anthology of tales revolving around a collection of recently-embalmed corpses. Each dead person's demise is recounted in a fairly boring way... that is, unless you count the episode about a school teacher who is haunted by dorky kids, or maybe is just going insane and envisioning weird children with fake fangs so tacky that they make vending-machine Billy Bob teeth look like high-dollar Hollywood dental work. The best-made of the stories involves a duel between expert criminologists, but it doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes intellect to figure out how it's going to end.
 
 
The Burning Moon
 
This early shot-on-video project from notorious German gore auteur Olaf Ittebach is actually a fairly straightforward (though very sleazy) pair of stories – one about a stalker/slasher, the other involving an occult-obsessed priest – as told to a little girl by her junkie older brother. But aside from a disturbing final twist to the framing story, The Burning Moon is best remembered by gorehounds for an outrageously disgusting climactic torture sequence to the second tale which is crude but horribly effective... I won't describe it here, but it's inspired many a death metal album cover, and let's just say it was a long time before I carved the holiday turkey after seeing this one. Make a wish!
 
 
Deadtime Stories
 
This is a silly but ultimately fun and gory '80s offering with a framing story about an annoyed middle-aged guy whose young nephew keeps interrupting his porn viewing by insisting there's a monster in his closet. This prompts the grumpy uncle to tell some slightly more mature versions of classic fairytales (in other words, full of tits and gore) to ease him back to sleep. The highlight tale for me was “Goldilocks and the Three Baers,” about a backwoods serial-killing family whose brutish son takes a liking to a pretty blonde home invader... who has her own special taste for murder. Plus the movie's cheesy theme song is incredibly catchy, and at one point my band was seriously thinking of doing a cover of it... of course we were really drunk at the time.
 
 
From a Whisper to a Scream
 
Horror legend Vincent Price was starting to show a little wear and tear (bless his wicked heart) when this film was released, but he owns every scene of the film's wraparound story as a mysterious history buff narrating a southern town's horrifying secrets to a nosy reporter (Susan Tyrell). The segments are all pretty grim, with standouts including a Civil War-based tale of cannibal children and a flesh-crawling story of a meek man (Clu Gulager) whose obsession with a local woman leads to a totally bizarre and unexpected payback. This one just feels totally sleazy and wrong, but I 
mean that as a compliment. Good twist ending, too.
 
 
Grim Prairie Tales
 
One of the few interesting horror films set in the Wild West, this one is distinguished by a super-cool campfire exchange between the mighty James Earl Jones as a gruff, ruthless bounty hunter and Brad Dourif in surprisingly low-key mode as a naïve city fellow traveling horseback through dangerous territory. The stories themselves are nothing out of the ordinary, except for one freaky episode involving a pregnant woman seeking the help of a kindly gentleman, with an unexpected and totally insane “what-the-hell-did-I-just-see” conclusion. Well worth checking out, just to watch two great character actors work their magic.
 
 
Necronomicon: Book of the Dead
 
A lot of horror talent went into this Lovecraft-inspired trio of tales, with a made-up Jeffrey Combs portraying Lovecraft himself (with a weird Dudley Do-Right chin, for some reason), whose exploration of the notorious title book of arcane lore reveals short works from three filmmakers including Re-Animator's co-creator Bryan Yuzna. If this was a low-budget effort, it has some surprisingly high production values – especially the first story “The Drowned,” directed by a young Christophe Ganz (Brotherhood of the Wolf). I'm not sure why this film has not received a proper DVD release, but it's still well worth checking out. “The Cold,” based on HPL's story “Cold Air,” is stylish, and the final segment “Whispers” is gruesome as hell.
 
 
Nightmares
 
What began as a handful of leftover episodes for the canceled TV series Darkroom was assembled into a TV movie, then spiced up with a little R-rated knife action on its way to the big screen. Being TV episodes to begin with, the vignettes have that '80s television look, but feature Lance Henriksen as a disillusioned priest tested by a pickup-driving Satan (a riff on Spielberg's Duel) and Emilio Estevez as a teen video game hustler who faces his ultimate nemesis in the unbeatable arcade game “The Bishop of Battle.” Definitely worth it for that sequence alone, which employs some vintage lo-fi CG effects and classic punk tunes by Black Flag and Fear. The batshit final installment “Night of the Rat” will make you laugh until you pee, although I don't think that was the filmmaker's intention.
 
Screams of a Winter Night
 
This one's an early home-brewed concoction based on three urban legends, and despite a rock-bottom budget it does have its fans, thanks to some surprisingly creepy moments, and it does make good use of grim Louisiana atmosphere, at least when you can see what's going on (they couldn't afford too many lights). Of course, there's the oldie about the couple in lover's lane who hear a scraping noise outside the car, but it might have actually been a fresh idea on film in 1979. As a young fella I actually got more skeeved out by one chapter about a haunted room containing a sickly green glow (that must be where the lighting budget went) which has a literally captivating effect on anyone who looks at it.
 
 
Tales from the Hood
 
Clarence Williams III (The Mod Squad) is straight goth pimpin' as a funeral caretaker who guides a group of three criminals through a compilation of four horror tales produced by Spike Lee, each of which puts an urban spin on classic EC Comics fare, from the stories of how all the coffin-stuffers met their demises (inspired by the film adaptations of Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror), all the way down a the morbid moral to each story, with a special emphasis on social issues that is mostly unique to the genre. It's violent and intense, with a compelling third story reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange, about an unrepentant sociopath who volunteers for a very unorthodox experiment.
 
Tales that Witness Madness
 
While it's in the same vein as other more respected '70s omnibus film from the UK like Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Asylum and Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, for some reason this collection is overlooked on most best-of lists. I'm not sure why, because it's fun, creepy, sick and crazy as all hell. The voodoo-based final story, climaxing with a very unorthodox ritual feast, is moody, atmospheric and sinister, but the freaky-deaky award goes to the story of a neurotic woman, played appropriately enough by Joan Collins, who comes to believe that her husband is getting a little extra lovin' on the side... from a tree. A tree that looks a lot like a woman, boobs and all. Yeah, it's like that.
 
 
Trapped Ashes
 
This oddball art-horror collection is noteworthy for being one of the last projects to feature acclaimed director Ken Russell (The Devils, Altered States) who sadly left this world behind recently. While the basic setup is nothing to write home about – a group of Hollywood folks are invited to tour a haunted studio where their guide encourages them to reveal their greatest fears – there are some truly nightmarish vignettes by horror heavyweights like Sean Cunningham and Joe Dante, but the standout by a clear mile is a fairly subdued but compelling piece called “Stanley's Girlfriend” by Monte Hellman (the “Stanley” of the story is a certain Mr. Kubrick). Russell's entry “The Girl with the Golden Breasts” is not the best of the bunch, but it's just plain fucked up beyond all description, so I won't go there.
 
 
The Willies
 
Not a film about male genitalia as the title implies, this is a darkly comic flick capitalizing on the popularity of campfire ghost stories and kids trying to out-gross each other with “You know what would be really sick” routines (definitely a nod to Stand By Me and the literally chunk-blowing tale of “Lard Ass Hogan”). This collection of fun summertime creep tales is narrated by a group of youths (Sean Astin pre-Lord of the Rings among them) who each in turn try to top the others' spooky stories. It's actually a very tame film considering the epic puke potential – except for the one about the kid who builds elaborate dioramas out of dead flies – but it's also got some of the same Stephen King nostalgia that inspired it in the first place.

Gift Guide: Horror Icons Alphabet

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We've featured innovative ways to teach your kids the alphabet on FEARnet before, but this one is so cool it makes me want to learn my ABCs all over again. "Horror Icon Alphabet" comes to us from artist Mike Boon. Each letter is recreated as a horror icon: A is for Ash, E is for Elvira, J is for Jigsaw, P is for Pinhead, Q is for Quint, Z is for zombie. It is eerily adorable.

Available as a T-shirt, poster, iPhone skin, sticker and more, from RedBubble.com.

'Frankenstein's Army' Marches Forth with Official Stills

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It seems like Frankenstein's Army has been in the works since... well, practically since WWII. The film, directed by Richard Raaphorst and set in the last days of WWII, find the Russian army raiding Nazi-occupied regions and discovering secret, ghastly laboratories in which Nazi scientists experimented on POWs according to the diaries of Dr. Frankenstein.

This is Propellerhead, a Nazi automaton.

Oh Dr. Frankenstein... will dissecting unwilling victims ever lose its appeal to you?

What is Scarier Than Vampires? Disco Vampires

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Oh, the weird shit I find on YouTube at 2am. This is Spanish disco dance troupe Ballet Zoom, dancing to a song called "Soul Dracula" by novelty group Hot Blood. Watching this video is something you will never be able to forget - no matter how hard you try. Enjoy.


Check Out 2 New Clips From 'Dexter' 706

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This season of Dexter continues to impress and be unpredictable! Now that Isaak (Ray Stevenson) is behind bars and Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) is turning a blind eye to Dexter's extracurricular night time activities, where will the rest of this season go? Well, Showtime has released 2 new clips from this Sunday's upcoming episode "Do The Wrong Thing" which give us some clues. In the first clip "What She Deserves", it looks like Dexter (Michael C. Hall) has his sights set on Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski). In the second clip titled "Dirty Cop", Quinn (Desmond Harrington) tries to explain to Nadia (Katia Winter) that he's anything but a dirty cop. Check 'em out below and get yourself up to speed by reading Alyse's recap of Dexter Season 7 Episode 5. "Do The Wrong Thing" premieres this Sunday night, November 4th.

Producer J. Miles Dale Takes Us on a Tour of the 'Mama' Art Department

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One of the coolest parts of our visit to the Mama set was our tour of the art department. Not a standard part of most set visits, we got a sneak peek at some of the amazing visuals we can expect from the Andy Muschietti-directed, Guillermo del Toro-produced chiller. Of course, we can’t show you any photos, so here are some of the interesting tidbits that producer J. Miles Dale was able to share with us.

On the hospital set:

"Hospital...nothing too weird here. We have a bunch of stuff that’s set at this institute for child studies so we’re working at a hospital. There’s this thing called a Gesell Dome where these kids are held. They give them this environment to try to transition them into [modern society] and they’re being watched by this doctor who we’re not sure he’s a force of good or evil. The girls are in here in an environment made up for them that’s supposedly comfortable but kind of sterile. There’s a lot of disturbing video shot in there of the girls in their more feral state."

On Mama:

"The idea is that there is a strong water element, so she materializes with a stain in the wall. Kind of a moldy stain that forms up as she materializes out of that, which is kind of disturbing. She’s also represented by these moths that come out of places -  a swarm of moths. They’ll indicate her arrival, so when we see moths in the movie, we’ll know something is about to happen. She also moves in strange ways as you can see from the short. It’s disturbing to watch her move. Her hair moves a lot. Despite the absence of wind it kind of moves as though it were in water. There’s a water element to her."

On Annabelle’s apartment:

"Annabelle is in a punk band, so we see her in her world at the beginning of the movie, jamming with her band when Lucas comes and gives her the news that they found the girls. That kind of rocks her world and she has to dump the band for awhile, so there’s a bit of conflict there. She’s in her happy, musical, no-kids life, and gets torn out of it which makes us feel for her because she lost what she had. And we get some thrashy music at the beginning of the movie."

On Lucas’s art:

"He’s a cartoonist and an illustrator. He draws album covers and those kinds of things. Comics. He’s kind of in his own world that way, one that is very alien to raising children."

On cherry pits:

"There’s a question as to how these kids survive. Mama has a knack for conjuring cherries, so originally there were going to be thousands of cherries, an amazing amount. At one point it was practically raining cherries and that was deemed to be a little bit too supernatural. So, the first thing that happens with these little girls is a cherry rolls up to one of them out of nowhere. We put two and two together later and we understand Mama has the ability to conjure fresh fruit. The doctors can make sense that they’ve been eating some rodents and things, but they can’t understand the big stack of cherry pits that they find, so it’s a little creepy mystery there. The cherries seem to be an anomaly in this whole thing."

On the woods:

"There is a house in the woods where the girls are found, where their father dropped them off before being taken over by Mama. There’s a backstory to this that is kind of bizarre. It’s not the traditional gothic place that you would expect to see in a movie like this. It’s actually more of a ‘50s cabin, a little more modern. Anastasia [Masaro, the production designer] and Andy designed it with that in mind and we looked around for a little while to see if we could find something, and we couldn’t, so we built it. We’re building it outside in the woods for the exterior, and we’re building the interior, a big glass wall that looks out onto the lake. Some bad things happen there in our movie, so we thought it’d be better to have something that wasn’t traditional. Basically, at the beginning of the movie, the father has lost his marbles, they crash and the car goes down a hill and they’re stuck. They find this place in the woods and the girls are discovered five years later. We don’t see exactly what happened but we know that something bad happened to the father and he’s been sort of consumed by something. When we come back in five years, the place looks the same but the girls are looking a little older and little worse for wear from the last time we saw them looking pretty cute. They’ve survived in this strange environment for a few years. 

"This will be a pretty interesting place, pretty spooky. Our doctor goes looking for clues and he meets up with some trouble in this location. And this ties to the cliff - it’s adjacent to the cliff where the finale happens."

On the finale:

"This is where the finale takes place, here at this cliff edge. This is concept art of it with Mama doing her thing and - not to give too much away - beckoning to the girls here. There’s kind of an epic struggle for the girls at the end between Mama and our protagonist, and we’re doing this in an odd way. We’re doing half of it, this side, on a studio set. Anastasia has built this cliff here where a lot of action will take place. This direction is basically taking place on stage with Mama in a traveling rig on wires, wind machine and blue screen, this side of it, and this side we’re shooting on location. It’s very tricky, it feels like we’ve had about 50 or 60 meetings talking about how we’re going to integrate things, but this is the big finale of the movie."

Make Pumpkin Head Ravioli - A Halloween Treat Even Sam Would Love

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While it seems only fitting to devour candy during the gory sweetness of FEARnet's 24-hour Trick 'R Treat marathon, we offer up the alternative snack of Pumpkin Head Ravioli, courtesy of Supper and a Film, who created the dish specifically to eat while watching Michael Dougherty’s anthology.

These delicious and holiday-themed handmade ravioli, stuffed with the brains of smashed pumpkin heads, are a little more involved than other recipes we have posted, but the brown butter sauce is worth the work. If you don’t have ravioli cutters, you can use a cookie cutter, or even carve it up with your extra-sharp kitchen knife into a freestyle pumpkin-head shape.

Pumpkin Head Ravioli:


Basic Pasta Dough
1 1/2 c. flour
6 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg
1 T. oil
pinch of salt
1 T. ice water
extra flour for dusting

Combine all ingredients, and mix slowly starting from stirring the liquids to slowly incorporate the flour to form a dough. Turn the dough out onto the table and knead for a good 10-15 minutes.
Wrap dough in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
While the dough is resting, go ahead and make the filling for the ravioli.

Filling
1 1/2 c ricotta cheese
1 1/4 c pumpkin puree
1/4 c shredded Parmesan
1/2 c shredded mozzarella
2 T fresh parsley, minced
1 T fresh sage, minced
1 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/8 t ground clove

For the stuffing, just combine all the ingredients and set aside.
After the dough has rested, cut the dough into equal portions and roll out until very thin, almost transparent. You can do this by hand or just put the dough through a pasta roller following the manufacturers instructions.
Place one sheet of pasta over ravioli cutters.
Add a small amount of stuffing, making sure not to overstuff. If the raviolis are too full they may burst while cooking.
Next top the ravioli with another sheet of the dough, and roll over with a rolling pin, pressing down hard to cut dough on the perforated edges. Tear off the excess dough and pop the raviolis out by hitting the mold against the counter gently.
Repeat as needed with remaining dough. Once the pasta is done and ready to be cooked, go ahead and get the sauce going.

For Brown Butter Sage Sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 shallots, minced
1/2 c butter
1 T fresh sage, minced
1 T fresh parsley, minced
2 t fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t pepper
1/4 c red wine
1/2 c heavy cream

Saute shallot and garlic in butter until translucent. Add the herbs and spices and saute for 1 minute.
Add wine, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream and cook just until hot, making sure not to boil.
Once the sauce is done, cook the ravioli for 3-5 minutes in boiling water. Drain, plate, and add sauce!

Check out the original recipe over at Supper and a Film and don't forget to watch FEARnet's 24-hour Trick 'R Treat marathon on Halloween.

Countdown: 1 Day 'Til Our 'Trick 'R Treat' Marathon

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We're almost there! Only one day left until Halloween, and that means we're only one day away from our annual "Trick 'R Treat" marathon! Starting tomorrow morning, we'll be playing Michael Dougherty’s "Trick 'R Treat" non-stop from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. ET/3 a.m. to 3 a.m. PT. “Trick ‘r Treat,” the acclaimed horror anthology film starring Anna Paquin (“True Blood”) and Leslie Bibb (“The Midnight Meat Train”), presents four interlocking stories centered around people celebrating—or shunning—the infamous holiday, and the bloody consequences they face for their actions. For the third consecutive year, the fan-favorite 24-hour “Trick ‘r Treat” marathon returns, giving FEARnet fans both old and new, thrills and chills that will last throughout the day.

And if you've been following along this past week, then you've been treated to a batch of FEARnet exclusive Trick 'r Treat videos created by writer/director Michael Dougherty. Well then how 'bout we check out where Trick 'r Treat all began? Here's Michael Dougherty's original animated short film titled "Season's Greetings" which marks the first ever appearance of Sam! Check it out below and on behalf of FEARnet, have a safe and happy Halloween!

 

Leatherface Wields a New 'Texas Chainsaw 3D' Poster

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An early Halloween treat for horror fanatics: a new Texas Chainsaw 3D poster. You can almost feel the chainsaw teeth against your flesh....

Source: Yahoo! Movies

Collide: 'Bent and Broken' – CD Review

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LA-based musical team kaRIN and Statik, better known as Collide, have been FEARnet faves for many years now, and it's no coincidence that their brand of spooky and sensual soundscapes has warmed the hearts and chilled the spines of horror fans through their contributions to films like Resident Evil: Extinction and The Covenant, and darkly-inclined music lovers in general through their collaborations with artists like Skinny Puppy, Tool and The Cure to name just a few. In fact, I recently heard kaRIN's silken voice on a track from Chris Vrenna's excellent new Tweaker album, which just dropped last week (read the review here). With all those irons in the fire, it's amazing they find the time to release new studio material on almost a yearly basis... and this year's record Bent and Broken is one of their most ambitious collaborative projects ever, funded almost entirely from kickstarter contributions and featuring musical assists from Vrenna as well as Skinny Puppy's cEvin Key, dark electro artist Android Lust and over a dozen other musicians, producers and DJs.

 
 
Since their inception in the mid '90s, Collide has evolved from synth-driven gothic dance origins into a finely-woven blend of vast, dreamlike soundscapes incorporating both industrial-strength and acoustic guitars... but their sound has remained distinctive and unmistakable, thanks to a combination of kaRIN's hushed, seductive vocal delivery and Statik's intricate layering of pulsing, exotic beats (often with a Middle Eastern texture) beneath warm, reverb-soaked keyboard washes. With that structure solidly in place, the pair have previously opened up their world to remixes and team-ups, first compiled in the double-album Vortex, to which Bent and Broken serves as a kind of sequel, bridging the gap between the band's earlier sound and the more recent albums Two-Headed Monster and Counting to Zero.
 
The first half Bent kicks off with some of its most impressive tracks, beginning with an ominous, throbbing remix of "Mind Games" from Counting to Zero (which is an excellent single in its original form) by cEvin Key and Skinny Puppy collaborator Ken “HiWatt” Marshall; "Orgy,” an eerie, serpentine cover of a tune originally created by Cure frontman Robert Smith for his side project The Glove, featuring some of kaRIN's best vocal work; and an ultra-cool cosmic cover of Queen's "She Makes Me,” based on a solid foundation of acoustic guitar and now one of my all-time Collide faves. Another standout is the title track, which appears here for the first time, and pulses with the same dark energy of the opening cut, but with a lighter, more inquisitive touch. Bent is rounded out by a wide assortment of remixes from the previous two albums – many re-engineered by Statik himself, as well as by guest artists like Katarrhaktes, Tom Gipson, Alyssa Finnivan, Antigen5, iNGRUO, Matt Gatsos and The Black Sheep Project, most of whom were winners of a band-sponsored online remix contest. Black Sheep's inventive approach to “Pure Bliss” is my personal favorite from this group, flipping the original  song's dreamy sensuality into a creepy sex-magic ritual.
 
The second half Broken ventures down a slightly more freeform path, with highlights including Chris Vrenna's warm symphonic take on “In the Frequency” from Counting to Zero and the trippy, slow-shuffling “Million Stars Mix” of that album's title track by Eric Fisher from gothic industrial icons Tapping the Vein, which contains some creepy robotic vocoder effects and some sweet vocal harmonies in the chorus. Most of the remaining reinventions on this side come from from the same online contest, and include Psych-Nein, DJO2, LgVela, Synkraft, Diffuzion, DJ Forensic and Whitney Kew. Standouts include the harder techno sequences and tribal percussion of “Chaotic” by DJO2 and the delicate take on “Tears Like Rain” by Psych-Nein, but there's not a single weak link to be found among the collection. 
 
Normally when someone asks me to recommend a new band, I wouldn't choose that group's remix albums as a starting point. But in this case, Collide's musical core remains pure and solid enough throughout these 26 tracks that I'd actually make an exception to that rule. Not only have industrial-strength names like Vrenna and Key managed to heighten the dreamlike atmospheres and sensual pulse of the band's more recent records, but the colorful and energetic variety of the new mixers' work demonstrates how well the band's essence filters through a dozen different imaginations... while it can be bent in so many interesting directions, Collide's sound remains unbreakable.
 
Bent and Broken is available directly from the band's official site in both CD and download formats, and will be available soon via iTunes.

10 Wacky Vintage Halloween Commercials Part 1: The 1990s

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Commercials are generally something you fast forward through while watching television. But when they are at least ten years old, they become kitschy and entertaining. Take a break from your Pre-Halloween horror movie marathon and watch some commercials. I've picked ten of the weirdest, funniest, and kitschiest Halloween commercials from the 1990s I could find.

 

Leslie Nielsen for Coors Light, 1990

 

Not to be outdone, Miller Lite had their own Halloween party in 1990, with Clarence Clemons

 

Zima, 1993 - Zima was a long-running joke in the 1990s, notably because of its spokes-douche. Judge for yourself.

 

Pizza Hut, mid-1990s

 

Fruity Pebbles, mid 1990s

 

Dunkin' Donuts, 1995

 

McDonald's, 1995. Nothing is scarier than that clown.

 

Toys 'r Us, 1996

 

Duracell, 1999-ish

 

This one may have been from the early, early 2000s, but it is quite scary for a candy commercial.


Halloween Treats: First Photos Released from Adam Green and BJ McDonnell's 'Hatchet 3'

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Despite getting shot in the head at the end of Hatchet 2, Victor Crowley is back for Hatchet 3,  and we have the first photos from the film.

Hatchet 3 is written and executive produced by series creator Adam Green and directed by BJ McDonnell who worked on the Halloween reboots and The Collection.

Star Danielle Harris and Kane Hodder will return for the newest installment along with Derek Mears (Friday the 13th 2009), Caroline Williams (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), and Sean Whalen (The People Under the Stairs).
 





 

Green Day Releases 'Breaking Dawn' Ballad, 'The Forgotten' - No, This Isn’t a Trick

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File this story under things that make me feel sad and old.

I suppose it was only a matter of time after their song was used for the Seinfeld finale and their album adapted into a musical, that Green Day would show up in the Twilight saga.

I am embarrassed to watch these images of the forty-something Green Day members overlapped with images of a youthful vampire Bella and her sparkling Edward jumping and flitting through the forest. Honestly, this video is the modern-day equivalent of the video for Poison’s Every Rose Has Its Thorn. At some point I expect Bella to come out and carry and exhausted Billy Joe offstage.

But don’t take this bitter and elderly former fan’s word for it, watch The Forgotten below.
 

Elijah Wood Catches 'Cooties' from 'Insidious' Writer

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Synchronicity Entertainment debuts three new genre feature films including Cooties, from the co-creator of the Saw franchise and Insidious writer Leigh Whannell and Paranormal Activity franchise producer Steven Schneider, the recently completed Smiley directed by  Michael Gallagher, and Due Process starring John Cusack.

Elijah Wood, who is also behind the Maniac reboot, will both star in and produce Cooties. The film is co-written by Whannell, who also wrote the Saw films, and Ian Brennan who behind the teen musical phenomena, Glee.

In Cooties, a mysterious virus turns elementary school kids into "a feral swarm of mindless savages."

"My friend Ian Brennan and I wanted to write a film about one of life’s most universal experiences – hatred for precocious, adorable children. And so we started work on Cooties, a film about a virus that turns school children into monsters and therefore makes it okay to beat them up with hockey sticks,” Whannell said.

I think we can all relate to that. Cooties will begin production in April 2013.

10 Wacky Vintage Halloween Commercials Part 2: The 1980s - and Beyond

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We've gone back a little further, dug a little deeper, and uncovered even wackier vintage Halloween commercials from the 1970s and 1980s. Grab some of those fun-sized candies (the trick-or-treaters have enough) and enjoy. And don't forget to check out some (slightly) newer, but no less bizarre Halloween commercials with our 1990s list.

 

Hallmark, 1989 - starring Quintessential '80s Guy

 

I can't imagine why this stuff isn't still on the market. Spooky Goop, 1988

 

In 1987, Hallmark wasn't just about sappy greeting cards.

 

LaVerdiere, a local drugstore in the Maine area, late 1980s 

 

Hershey's candy, 1981

 

Possibly the worst Yoda costume ever. Toys 'R Us, 1980

 

Now you too can paint your face like an Easter egg! Paas, early 1980s

 

Wow, what passed for costumes back in the day. Woolworth, 1978. 

 

Local costume shop in Illinois, 1970s

 

Boo Berry joins the Halloween cereal brigade, 1973

 

Bonus! I just came across this one yesterday. Too late to include with Monday's local Halloween commercials, but I think Gary Busey being crazy is well worth it.

Check Out The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari with Live Score

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How cool is this?! The Alamo Drafthouse on S. Lamar in Austin hosted a special screening this past weekend of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Here's the cool part though - they screened the silent, color-tinted 35mm print of the film and had composer Peter Stopschinski perform a live score that he specifically wrote for this special event! It seems to be an annual tradition now for the Drafthouse as last year they hosted a similar special screening of Nosfuratu with a live score! Best of all, we've got video so you can get a taste of what the whole experience was like. To keep tabs on other cool events at the Drafthouse, be sure to bookmark their website at http://drafthouse.com. Happy Halloween!

 
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