As they have done in the past with shows like Dexter, Showetime is offering a free advance online preview of their new sereis Penny Dreadful to all (in the US).   What is Penny Dreadful?  It is being described as: 

"An erotically-charged, profoundly unsettling new saga, PENNY DREADFUL completely reinvents literature's most iconic and terrifying characters. Dorian Gray, Victor Frankenstein and timeless figures from Dracula join a core of original characters in a dark and brutal quest to save a soul -- even as they grapple with their own monstrous temptations."

The sereis, starring Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton and Eva Green is set to have it's cable premiere on May 11 but why wait when you can watch it right here now.

With only a few weeks until the film's release, Warner Bros. has just dropped the latest (Asian) trailer for the Godzilla reboot. It is HUGE!. There is a ton of new footage in this, with our first good looks at the other monsters that will be joining the big guy.  Enjoy.

An epic rebirth to Toho’s iconic Godzilla, this spectacular adventure, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, pits the world’s most famous monster against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.

In what sounds like the set up for and episode CSI: Miami or some other show of that ilk (hell it probably has been) a Florida woman,  Judy Rodrigo, is dealing with a very messy neighbor. It isn’t a case of a pack rat that has gotten out of control or someone with 100’s of cats.  No, this is a case of an explosion in one apartment causing extensive damage in another.  The catch here is the explosion was actually the body of the other neighbor.

As the story goes, an elderly neighbor passed away and went undetected for 2 weeks.  During this time, gasses inside her body began to build, so much so that the abdomen burst, releasing gasses and fluids that ultimately leaked into the unit below hers which belongs to Judy.

It turns out that cleaning up the goopy remains of people that have soaked into the floors and ceilings of buildings is not easy or cheap. Rodgiro wanted the full clean up to be covered under her personal property damage policy, but her insurer (State Farm) would only grant partial recompensation. The reason that the full claim was denied:  the buildup and subsequent release of gas and fluid from the body were not “tantamount to an explosion” and thus not covered by her policy.

They always get you with the fine print.  I am going to now go check and make sure I am covered for spontaneous combustions.

Source: Broward/Palm Beach New Times

FEARnet sat down recently with 1990’s bombshell and prolific actress Sherilyn Fenn on the set of director Hank Braxtan’s creature feature Unnatural to chat about the film, as well as the legacy of ‘Twin Peaks’, the David Lynch-created series and film that rocketed her to stardom, 1998’s erotic feature Two Moon Junction in which she starred, and much more. Read on.

Helmed by Braxtan (who’s upcoming psychological horror feature Chemical Peel is due out via Lionsgate this coming October), Unnatural was produced by Ron Carlson with cinematography by Marc Carter and editing by filmmaker Mike Mendez (Big-Ass Spider), and was shot this past January and February on location in Fairbanks, Alaska. In addition to Fenn, the cast includes James Remar (‘Dexter’), Ray Wise (Jeepers Creepers 2, ‘Twin Peaks’), Graham Greene (The Green Mile), Q’orianka Kilcher (‘Sons of Anarchy’) and Ivana Korab.

“They had sent me the script, and I thought it was interesting, and I think it’s (about the) stuff that’s going on in the world right now,” Fenn told us of her attachment to Unnatural, a flick with narrative shades reminiscent of 1979’s Prophecy (the official synopsis is as follows: ‘With many species on the verge of extinction,’ reads the official synopsis of Unnatural, ‘a notorious environmental corporation seeks to genetically modify several animals to survive climate change. When a fashion photographer and his small crew arrive on location in Alaska, they as well as their local guides find themselves thrust into a nightmare when they become prey for one of the escaped creatures. Isolated in the wild, the clock is ticking as they attempt to hold out.’)

“I liked the filmmakers when I met them,” Fenn continued affably, “and I got a really good vibe, and I love James Remar, so I shipped off to Alaska. It’s beautiful, (and) I didn’t have to experience the forty below weather. It was just like two below, but that was enough. You know, we made it work. Everybody was very much ‘on board’ and worked so hard. Hank (Braxtan) was also open to kinda’ as a director changing things in the moment if something didn’t seem to gel or match, and Ron (Carlson) was such a huge supportive system, and I had a really good time.”

With the production eschewing a CGI realization of the film’s creature, we asked the actress of her approach in working with the practical creation (courtesy of Amalgamated Dynamics) at the center of Unnatural.

“That was cool,” she stated, “and I looked at the creature as kind of my own demons that I had to fight and deal with and work out. That’s kind of how I plugged into it as an actress, as just having to fight those things in myself that are destructive.”

Given the resurgence of interest in ‘Twin Peaks’ following Netflix streaming the entirety of the ground-breaking 1990-1991 series, which features Fenn’s iconic character of ‘Audrey Horne’, we asked the actress how its effected her, if at all.

“Younger generations approach me now, and people want to talk about it. It’s a gift,” she stated.

“I wasn’t (initially) written in the script (but) David wrote it for me, which was kind of amazing, because a lot of girls came in to be seen for either (the characters) of ‘Donna’ or ‘Shelly’ and then they called me to say, ‘They wrote you a role.’ I was like, ‘Seriously?’”

Delving further back into her career, we chatted about the Zalman King-directed 1998 film Two Moon Junction, in which Fenn starred opposite actor Richard Tyson as a young Southern debutante who engages in an erotic fling with a carnival worker, and in the process we related a previous conversation in regards to the film we’d had with Tyson. In 2006, while on the set of the creature feature Big Bad Wolf, we’d asked the actor his thoughts on appearing in his first horror film (and in his first creature role), to which he’d responded, “Have you ever seen Two Moon Junction?”

“Wow, how rude,” remarked Fenn regarding Tyson’s statement (writer’s note: the actor I believe has intended his quip to be harmless, and had nothing by love for Fenn during the remainder of that interview).

“That’s such a shitty comment to make,” continued Fenn.

“I had left (that film) feeling pretty exploited for the most part, because I was naïve and the movie that we were making in my head wasn’t the movie that was made, but there’s much worse movies than Two Moon Junction. In my mind it was a love story, but in the director’s mind it was a sex story, so there’s a fundamental difference.”

Given her prolific career (which includes such noteworthy films as 1992’s Of Mice and Men and 1993’s edgy, Jennifer Lynch-directed Boxing Helena, among others) we asked Fenn if there were as of now any passion projects she hasn’t yet had a chance to tackle.

“Some version of the Marilyn Monroe story, one in particular that I really love,” Fenn replied.

“I would be happy to just work with David Lynch and Jennifer Lynch for the rest of my career. And I loved doing the (Showtime) show ‘Rude Awakening’ that I did for three years. It was kind of a dark comedy multi-camera with no audience, and that was a lot of fun. But I think my only ‘passion’ thing is this Truman Capote story that I’ve always wanted to adapt. It’s like when I did (the TV movie) Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story and approached the role as the woman, and not the legend. You know, ‘Who’s that woman?’ In flying out to Los Angeles when I was seventeen, I got my first Marilyn book, and was kind of captivated with her. I’m just open. Life has a weird way of bringing you what you are supposed to do. That’s what I find. It just does. And it’s usually not according to my plan.”

“The best role for me is that I have two kids. I have a twenty-year old and a six-year old, and they are the most important things in my life. I recently wrote a children’s book, and that’s in the process of being published, so I’m open to what the future holds, it doesn’t only have to be acting entirely.”

Of her current project, the Liv Schreiber-starring Showtime series ‘Ray Donovan’ in which she’s been cast, Fenn concluded, “It’s an amazing show. The people are so professional. I hadn’t seen the show when I got the audition, and it was the first time I’d taped myself an audition, because I was going to be in Alaska on Unnatural. So I did it, and I got the part, and then I watched all of the (previous) episodes and thought, ‘Oh, I’m so lucky and so grateful.’ The show is wonderful. There’s not one miscast person. The show-runner (Ann Biderman) is so meticulous about everything. I’m really happy to be in that environment again. It made me rediscover my respect for the business, and the people who work really hard and get it right, and it does feel like art, and the tone that it sets, that everyone is respected and treated well, is just infectious. I’m just so happy.” 

Popobawa is the Swahili name of an East African, bat-winged, cycloptic, evil spirit.  In terms of legendary creatures, Popobawa is very young.  Originating less than 50 years ago, the legend tells of an angry sheikh who lost control of a djinn he had been employing to exact revenge on his neighbors.  This story seems to be an allegory for the slave trade that had once existed in the area history. 

Sightings have been sporadic over the years, with reports picking during periods in the ‘70s and ‘80s, but it was in 1995 that there was a mass panic associated with this beast. (Interesting to note, the attacks seem to increase during political elections).  Locals would  gather in large groups and spend all night awake around the fire for protection.  The reason for panic is understandable when you learn what the Popbawa’s MO is.

He is a shape shifter, able to take both human and animal form.  He will attack men, women, and children with no prejudice.  These attacks sometimes come as simple physical assaults, like scratches, but sexual attacks are the greater fear.  He will go from home to home in a village sodomizing the men and women.  Yes, the Popobawa is a serial rapist demon.  To add to the psychological trauma, the victim is urged to tell people what has happened to them.  If they don’t he will return.

Devil's Due is out on VOD, Blu-ray, and DVD today and we have an excluisve interview with the creative team behind the movie known as Radio Silence. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett along with producers Justin Martinez & Chad Villella get into their motivations behind the scares, how special effects were used in the film, and the role that sound design played.

You have to respect the workmanlike filmmakers who keep working in our beloved horror department. Say what you will -- be it kind of critical -- of the films of Adam Gierasch and Jace Anderson. but there's always something to be said for indie-friendly horror freaks who simply keep churning out the movies. (Their better efforts include Autopsy (2008) and their early and underrated remake of The Toolbox Murders from 2004, although Mortuary, Night of the Demons, and Fertile Ground have their fans as well.)

And hey, the latest collaboration between Gierasch (director) and Anderson (co-writer) is a solid little combo of good ol' occult-based horror nastiness and an appreciable dose of downbeat film noir moodiness. While it has a few solid moments of straight scares and impressive gore, Fractured works best as a low-key character piece that feels like a respectful homage to The Outer Limits or Alan Parker's Angel Heart. Probably both.

Dylan (the excellent Callum Blue) is trying to piece his life together after spending time in a coma. He remembers very little about what put him in the hospital, but he's fairly certain he's done some bad things. The police don't have Dylan's fingerprints on file, which leaves him to work through his mysteries with little besides the guidance of a very devoted girlfriend (Ashlynn Yennie) and his own instincts.

Suffice to say that Dylan quickly pieces a few clues together, only to realize that, yep, he once worked side-by-side with a ferocious murderer who makes his living through human trafficking. So while Fractured is not exactly a plot-heavy affair, the viewer can certainly enjoy piecing the story together alongside Dylan. (An astute viewer will be a step or two ahead of our long-suffering protagonist, but it doesn't spoil any of the payoffs.)

In addition to Mr. Blue's quietly commanding lead performance, there's also strong support from Ms. Yennie (in the early segments) and Nicole LaLibertie (as a free-spirited stripper who opts to help Dylan find some answers), as well as a colorfully evil performance from the always intimidating Vinnie Jones -- but this is Callum Blue's film all the way. He makes the better scenes shine, and he helps to make the slower spots work a little better. Anderson and Gierasch's screenplay has its own merits, but it's Blue's performance that keeps the story cooking.

And, not to be gross about it, but this flick delivers one of the most impressive (practical effect) murders I've seen in a while. It's so dark, disturbing, and visually powerful that it allows one to overlook some rather egregiously cheap CGI gun play that pops up later on.

READ FEARNET'S PARTNER REVIEWS OF FRACTURED

Not wanting to let Jason get all the attention, Michael Myers is sharpening his knife for a return to the big screen.  Bloody Disgusting's  sources in Cannes are reporting that The Weinstein Company is looking to get their Halloween 3D project back into development.  Perhaps all of the news surrounding the Friday the 13^th franchise the last few weeks has reminded Bob and Harvey that they too have an iconic franchise at their disposal?

It has been a few years since last were heard any word on this film, and it isn’t clear if this is indeed the same project that would continue on from the Rob Zombie films or if it will be yet another reboot.

Sequel or reboot, what say you?

We are still 3 months out from the next Sharknado making landfall in New York City, but an advisory has gone out that another storm is a brewing.  Syfy and The Asylum have just announced that there will indeed be a Sharknado 3.  Details are pretty thin at this point, neither the city has been named nor has the cast been announced, returning or new.   The only real detail is it will be ready for summer 2015

Sharknado 2: The Second One, starring Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Vivica A. Fox, Mark McGrath, Kari Wuhrer and Judah Friedlander, and directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, will premiere on Syfy Wednesday, July 30 at 9PM (ET/PT).

Are you going to be in the lone star state this weekend for Texas Frightmare Weekend, May 2-4? If so, you will have the opportunity to purchase the first official George Romero figure.

Retroband Romero Figurine

The limited edition, hand sculpted, hand cast, hand painted figures have been created by Retroband Toys, and are only available at the 7:15 and 8:15 screenings of Dawn of the Dead at the Richardson Alamo Drafthouse on May 1st. They will be sold for $100 on a first come first serve basis to ticket holders. 

Zombies have truly hit the mainstream.  We have the obvious success of The Walking Dead to point to, but the undead seem to be everywhere you turn.  You have everything from zombie 5k’s to the  proposal to turn Detroit into a zombie theme park.  Well, now one state has brought zombies into the legal arena.  One guess which one it is.

Florida Senate Bill 296 would give gun owners in that state the right to carry concealed weapons without the proper permit during a state of emergency.  Opponents of this bill fear that a state of emergency is actually the last time you want to allow people, without the proper permits, to carry a concealed weapon.  See, these licenses are only issued to those that "provide proof of proficiency with a firearm,".  Simply put, training and background checks.

Democratic Sen. Dwight Bullard submitted and amendment which inserted into the bill  “An act relating to the zombie apocalypse."  His explaination:

“For me, as laughable as the amendment might seem, it's equally laughable that people who haven't gone through the proper training, the background check, the license to carry -- we're saying because of a hurricane or flooding or sinkhole, these individuals have gone from gun owners to concealed carry permit holders"

So, now the Florida Senate will be deliberating on an official bill that has zombie stipulations. I guess to be fair, Homeland Security did set a precident.

Receiving nearly unanimous praise while making the film festival rounds (read our review), the mockumentary 'What We Do In The Shadows' has just released a trailer. By all accounts this does not spoil the movies funniest moments.

Flatmates Viago, Deacon, and Vladislav are three vampires who are just trying to get by in modern society; from paying rent and sticking to the housework roster to trying to get invited in to nightclubs, they’re just like anyone else - except they’re immortal and must feast on human blood.
When their 8000 year-old flatmate Petyr, turns 20-something human hipster Nick, into a vampire, the guys must teach him the ropes and guide him through his new found eternal life. And in return they are forced to learn a thing or two about modern society, fashions, technology, and the internet. But it’s the introduction of Nick’s human friend, Stu, that really changes the vampire’s lives and attitudes towards the ever-changing world around them.
When Stu’s life is threatened, the vamps show us that maybe humans are worth fighting for, and that even though your heart may be cold and dead, it doesn’t mean you can’t feel anything.

Fans of the found footage anthology series will be happy to know that a 3rd (and final?) installment is on its way.

The new film, titled V/H/S/ Viral, sees vignettes directed by Nacho Vigalondo (Timecrimes), Marcel Sarmiento (Deadgirl), Greg Bishop (Dance of the Dead), Todd Lincoln (The Apparition), and  Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Resolution).

The film is currently being shopped around Cannes to distributors with the following description:

V/H/S Viral follows fame-obsessed teens who unwittingly become stars of the next internet sensation.

Back in January we told you about the push to erect a 7 foot tall concrete goat-headed Baphomet outside of Oklahoma’s State Capital.  Well we have an update to that story.

A quick recap of what is actually going on here.  Back in 2009, the government of Oklahoma allowed a monument of the Ten Commandments to be placed on the Capital’s steps. Its placement there caused a bit of an uproar but has been defended under the First Amendment.   In response, a group calling themselves The Satanic Temple raised money to construct the concrete structure mentioned above.  While the placement of the statue has not been approved (the application was submitted, but approvals have been suspended while a legal battle continues of the Commandant monument), construction is under way, and they are giving us a look at how it is progressing. 

The completed Baphomet will sit under the pentagram flanked by the two small children. It will all be encased in bronze.  

When asked what the goal of the monument is, Satanic Temple spokesperson Lucien Greaves had the following to say:

“The statue will serve as a beacon calling for compassion and empathy among all living creatures.  The statue will also have a functional purpose as a chair where people of all ages may sit on the lap of Satan for inspiration and contemplation.”

Free Comic Book Day is upon us once again.  What is Free Comic Book Day?  Well it is all right there in the name.  Every year, on the first Saturday of May, participating comic book stores give away selected comics to anyone that comes to their store.  That’s right FREE.

Comic books influence so much pop culture these days.  Movies, TV, video games and more are looking for the next story to adapt or character to exploit.  They make billions doing it.  We enjoy consuming it.  But the problem is, this doesn’t really help the men and women (mom & pop if you will) that run the local comic shop in your neighborhood. They struggle to get by.  This is what makes FCBD great, you get something for free and they get a chance to show you their wares.  Maybe you will come back again. Everyone wins. 

With that said, here are a few of the titles that you may want to pick up tomorrow should you decide to take advantage.

V-Wars (preview)

New York Times bestselling horror author Jonathan Maberry presents the chronicle of the first Vampire War in V-Wars! This all-new tale leading into this summer's ongoing V-Wars series offers the first salvo in the battle between humans and hundreds of new species of vampires!

The New 52: Future's End

Jump on board DC Comics' epic weekly series beginning with this all-new FCBD issue that features tomorrow's Dark Knight, Batman Beyond (making his first appearance in The New 52), battling an army of cyborgs to avert an Apocalypse in the future which could destroy the DC Universe of the present! But that's not all; there are still more surprises to come. Stay tuned for more details!

Rise of the Magi (preview)

The series follows Asa Stone, a young guard protecting the gates between his world and our reality. After discovering a secret never meant to be seen, Asa's entire life is turned upside down, leaving him with nothing more than a list of seven names -- magicians, sorcerers, thieves and killers that are the only means of protecting both worlds against a destructive evil: the Magi. Now Asa is forced to trust the untrustworthy as he fights to stop the "Rise of the Magi."

Zombie Tramp (preview)

Are you bold enough to take a ride with Janey, the Zombie Tramp?!? If you pick her up, she might just share the story of how she came to be the street walking dead!! Be brave so you can be ready for her all new series following this special issue! You also get a mind shattering sneak preview from the second volume of the coolest comic series you haven't read yet... Ehmm Theory!

Sherwood Texas/Boondock Saints (preview)

A story older than all of us, told now for the first time... After the same biker gang who murdered his father leaves ROB HOOD for dead, he returns to seek revenge on an epic, blood-soaked scale. Combining the biker gang epic with Spaghetti Western sensibilities, SHERWOOD, TX retells the legend of Robin Hood as a modern day, noir-action opus.  Hood is joined on his quest by Padre Elvin Tuck, Will Scarlet, and Little John, as they take on the crooked Sheriff of Nottingham, TX and his partners in crime, The Nobles biker gang and their leader John Prince.  Included in this 12-Gauge FCBD issue is a special BOONDOCK SAINTS co-feature, written by film-franchise creator/writer/director Troy Duffy and comic 

All You Need Is Kill

Now a major motion picture starring Tom Cruise! When the alien Mimics invade, Keiji Kiriya is one of many recruits shoved into battle armor Jackets and sent out to kill. Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to be reborn to fight and die again and again. He receives a message from a mysterious ally--is she the key to Keiji's escape or his final death? The official graphic novel adaptation based on the original novel! Also, in Terra Formars, the colonization of Mars is an epoch-making event, but an unintended side effect of the terraforming process unleashes a horror no one could ever have imagined...

2000 AD Special (preview)

The Galaxy's Greatest SF anthology returns to FCBD with this stellar line-up of stories! Dredd races to save a fellow Judge in "The Badge" from Matt Smith & Chris Burnham; Sláine stars in "Lord of the Beasts" by Pat Mills & Rafael Garres; Rogue Trooper recounts his bloody past in "Glass Zone" by Gerry Finley-Day & Dave Gibbons; and Psi-Judge Anderson faces a magical monstrosity in "Golem" by Alan Grant & Enric Romero! Plus: D.I. Harry Absalom (by Gordon Rennie & Tiernen Trevallion), Durham Red (by Leah Moore, John Reppion & Jan Duursema), Future Shock (by Henry Flint), and classic Dredd newspaper strips by John Wagner & Ron Smith!

This is just a small sample of what will be available. Head to FreeComicBookDay.com for the full list of titles.

The Village of Nagoro, Japan is slowly dying.  It was never a bustling metropolis but there used to be several hundred inhabitants.  When the lone employer closed, people had little reason to stay.  Now only 37 people remain.  Those that left have been replaced by something else. Life size dolls.

Ayano Tsukimi, one of the few that have stayed, has begun to repopulate her village with doll-like scarecrows.  She has placed them around the town, along the roadside, and in the school. 

This short documentary by Fritz Schumann gives us a peek into Ayano’s life in The Valley of Dolls.

Valley Of Dolls

Badass Digest has just opened up voting for their Villain Death Match.  Unlike our recent Monster Madness where we focused on horror movie monsters, Bad's goal is slightly different. They are opening up the battle to all genre’s in hopes to crown the ultimate movie villain.   Here is how the brackets break down:

Bracket 1: The Sinister Sixteen

Darth Vader, STAR WARS
Jason, FRIDAY THE 13th
The Thing, THE THING
T-1000, TERMINATOR 2
Captain Rhodes, DAY OF THE DEAD
Lord Humungus, MAD MAX 2
Simon Phoenix, DEMOLITION MAN
Randolph and Mortimer Duke, TRADING PLACES
Emma Small, JOHNNY GUITAR
Cruella de Vil, 101 DALMATIONS
Ramrod, VICE SQUAD
Angel Eyes, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Bob Barnes, PLATOON
Edwin Epps, 12 YEARS A SLAVE
Anton Chigurh, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Connie Marble, PINK FLAMINGOS

Bracket 2: The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Khan, THE WRATH OF KHAN
The System, BRAZIL
Loki, THOR/AVENGERS Franchise
The Xenomorph, ALIEN
Harry Lime, THE THIRD MAN
The Wicked Witch, THE WIZARD OF OZ
Daniel Plainview, THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Dr. Christian Szell, MARATHON MAN
Cody Jarrett, WHITE HEAT
Doctor Octopus, SPIDER-MAN 2
Woo-Jin, OLDBOY
Chad, IN THE COMPANY OF MEN
Hans Landa, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
John Doe, SE7EN
Eli Sunday, THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Mrs. Iselin, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE

Bracket 3: The Legion of Doom

The Shark, JAWS
Hans Beckert, M
Janine Cody, ANIMAL KINGDOM
Voldemort, HARRY POTTER Franchise
Richard Nixon, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN
Magneto, X-MEN Franchise
Candyman, CANDYMAN
Ursula, THE LITTLE MERMAID
Amon Goeth, SCHINDLER'S LIST
Annie Wilkes, MISERY
Tajomaru, RASHOMON
Frank Booth, BLUE VELVET
HAL 9000, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
The Ancient Ones, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
The Heathers, HEATHERS
Agent Smith, THE MATRIX Franchise

Bracket 4: Somethings Wicked This Way Come

Hannibal Lecter, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS Franchise
The Joker, BATMAN Franchise
Maleficent, SLEEPING BEAUTY
Biff, BACK TO THE FUTURE Trilogy
Det. Stansfield, LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL
Ivan Drago, ROCKY IV
Principal Rooney, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF
Zod, SUPERMAN Franchise
Blofeld, JAMES BOND Franchise
Nurse Ratched, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
Rev. Harry Powell, NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
Death, FINAL DESTINATION Franchise
Regina George, MEAN GIRLS
Hans Gruber, DIE HARD
Irma Vep, LES VAMPIRES
Clarence Boddicker, ROBOCOP

Will one of our beloved horror icons emerge victorious? Head on over to Badass Digest to vote. 

In Minnesota’s  Judge C. R. Magney State Park, you will find one of nature’s mysteries known as Devil’s Kettle.  As the Brule River makes its way through the park en route to Lake Superior, it is bifurcated by a large rock formation creating a pair of waterfalls.  Nothing too out of the ordinary, expect for the fact that nobody can figure out where one of them goes. See, the first fall continues on to the lake but the second dumps into a large pothole and vanishes.

Geologists have studied the formation and cannot figure out where the water terminates.  Not only do they not know where, they can’t even come up with an agreed up explanation of how.  John C. Green explains the problem in his book Geology on Display:

One [theory] is that, after dropping down the pothole, the river runs along a fault underground, or as a variant, that it enters an underground channel and comes out somewhere under Lake Superior. Both of these ideas have one valid aspect in common: they recognize that water must move downhill! But the main problem is creating a channel or conduit large enough to conduct the impressive flow of half the Brule River! Faulting commonly has the effect of crushing and fracturing the rock along the fault plane. This could certainly increase the permeability of the rock — its capacity to transmit water — but the connected open spaces needed to drain half the river would be essentially impossible, especially for such a distance. Furthermore, there is no geologic evidence for such a fault at the Devil's Kettle. Large, continuous openings generally do not occur in rocks, except for caves in limestone terranes. The nearest limestone is probably in southeastern Minnesota, so that doesn't help... Maybe the Devil's Kettle bottoms out fortuitously in a great lava tube that conducts the water to the Lake... Unfortunately for this idea, they are not the right kind of volcanic rocks! Rhyolites, such as the great flow at this locality, never form lava tubes, which only develop in fluid basaltic lava. Even the basalts in this area may not be the "right kind", being flood basalts that spread laterally as a sheet from fissures, not down the slopes of a volcano. No lava tubes have been found in the hundreds of basalt flows exposed along the North Shore. Furthermore, the nearest basalt is so far below the river bed, and even if it did contain an empty lava tube (very unlikely after its long history of deep burial) the tube would have to be both oriented in the right direction (south) and blocked above this site so that it isn't already full of debris. And there are no reports of trees or other floating debris suddenly appearing at one spot offshore in Lake Superior. The mystery persists.

Screen Crush is reporting from Cannes that Bill Lustig’s Maniac Cop remake is moving forward.  The fact that it is being remade isn’t exactly news, there has been talk for the last year or two.  What is news is that it is now officially on a production slate for 2014 and we have some names attached to the project.

Yes, I know, “another remake” but let me tell you who is involved before you rush to judgment.  First, Wild Bunch is the production company behind this.  They were involved with the excellent 2012 remake of Maniac (another Bill Lustig film).  Second, Bill Lustig is producing along with Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, Drive). Having the original director involved and another solid filmmaker is plus  Finally, the bit that gets me most excited,  one of my favorite comic writers, Ed Brubaker, is scripting.  Brubaker is known for his work on titles such as Criminal, Daredevil, and Captain America (a little story called The Winter Soldier is his).

The director is expected to be announced shortly at the Cannes Film Festival.

I will read anything that Ed Brubaker put out, so I am already sold on seeing this but what about you?