Wow. There were a lot of crazy confessions and revelations on this past weekend's episode of Dexter'Argentina', huh? Bet you can't wait to see what happens next? Well, it looks like all of Dexter's multiple worlds are about to collide. How do Deb, Isaak and Hannah factor into what's in store? Check out these two clips for a glimpse. In "I Just Want To Talk", Dexter (Michael C. Hall) comes home to find Isaak (Ray Stevenson) in his apartment. And in "Leverage", Dexter goes to Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) to tell her about Hannah's kidnapping. "Helter Skelter" premieres this Sunday, November 25th on Showtime. Want a play by play of last week's episode 'Argentina'? Read Alyse's TV Recap of Dexter Season 7 Episode 8.
Hannah In Peril In These 'Dexter' 709 Clips!
Something to Be Thankful For: 'The Giant Claw'
BeforeThanksgiving, before Thankskilling, before Q: The Winged Serpent there was The Giant Claw.
What’s The Giant Claw you ask? Oh, just a little film from the late ‘50s about a mutant killer bird that terrorizes the world. Technically, it may not be a turkey. But it looks A LOT like an oversized evil flying turkey made from clay and wires. The bird was reportedly created by puppeteers and filmed after all the live-action with humans had been filmed. When you watch the movie you can see that is absolutely the case.
The plot goes something like this: Jet pilot Mitch and his nerdy girlfriend Sally struggle to find a way to defeat the oversized feathery fiend that, thanks to its natural anti-matter shield, can’t be killed with your average h-bomb. Turns out, all it takes is the empire state building and a meson emitter.
The Giant Claw is the main reason I will be partaking in Tofurkey this holiday season. True story.
Screaming down from the stratosphere!
First Look at 'Bates Motel'
Hollywood Reporter just posted the first still from the set of Bates Motel:
That would be Freddie Highmore as a young Norman Bates, seated beside Vera Farmiga as Mother Bates, in front of their inheritance, the legendary Bates home. It's not much, but it makes the show feel more real, doesn't it?
Bates Motel, set in the modern day, focuses on a teenaged Norman and his unhealthy relationship with his mother, Norma, after daddy Bates dies. The show will air on A&E sometime in 2013.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Zombify Your Xmas - Zombie Nutcracker
Nutcrackers scare me. I had a bad experience with a White Elephant gift exchange, a pair of giant nutcrackers, and a crotchety old woman that has left me scarred to this day. I'm not really sure what ties the nutcracker in with Christmas (aside from the ballet The Nutcracker) and nutcrackers nowadays seem to be more decorative than functional, but they are an inescapable part of Christmas.
So why not zombify them? Here is some inspiration to get you started:
Source unknown
Source: GhoulFriday.com
Source: ThemThangs on Etsy
Source: bdunn1342 on deviantART
Check Out the First Clip From 'The Host 2'
Breakout Korean monster movie The Host is unleashing a sequel on the unsuspecting public. The Host 2 does not have a release date, and appears to follow different characters. But when there is this much awesome monstery carnage, do you really care?
Source: TwitchFilm
Theater Review: 'Silence! The Musical'
Generally, I am not a fan of musicals, on film or stage. Those that I do enjoy rely on farce and/or transgressive themes to keep me entertained. With the recent surge in “horror movies turned musicals,” (i.e. Evil Dead and Re-Animator) the fear is that they will lose their transgressive-ness and novelty. There is no worry of that with Silence! The Musical.
Silence! The Musical is the song-and-dance version of Silence of the Lambs. Following the 1991 film very closely, the play sees FBI trainee Clarice Starling brought in to work with cannibalistic sociopath, Dr. Hannibal Lecter in tracking down psychopath-at-large Buffalo Bill. Sounds like the perfect setting for hilarity, doesn’t it? Well it is. Christine Lakin’s Clarice is dead-on, mastering Jodie Foster’s slurred drawl and wide-eyed faux-naiveté. It would have been funny had it not been so true. Davis Gaines’s Hannibal Lecter has a bit more levity than Anthony Hopkins’s but it is a sly levity that he delivers with a knowing wink to the audience.
The other stars here are the lambs. Silence! The Musical has a chorus of singing, dancing lambs (low-budget lambs; the company dresses in black and pins on lamb ears and gloves). When I first saw Silence of the Lambs, I was 12 years old and didn’t understand at the time why there weren’t any lambs in the movie. The 12 year old in me was pleased by the literal representation.
Clearly, Silence! The Musical does not have the budget that its Academy Award-winning film had, or even that a Broadway show has, but that doesn’t negate the quality of the performance. I was especially impressed with the staging. A few moveable screens and some desks are the only sets, but you hardly realize that because they are used skillfully and their movements are so perfectly choreographed that they almost become characters. The company - each of whom plays a number of roles (and will let the audience know when they are in a new role!) - is quite impressive. They have a lot of great singers and dancers among them (including Jeff Hiller, LaToya London, Karl Warden, Jesse Merlin, and Kathy Deitch) and all are “in” on the joke. I guess it is hard to be too serious when you are performing songs like “Put the Fucking Lotion in the Basket,” “Are You About a Size 14?” and “If I Could Smell her Cunt” (complete with a classical ballet accompaniment.)
Silence! The Musical is transgressive, hilarious, and entertaining. I had more fun with this show than with almost any Broadway-bound show.
Silence! The Musical is playing at the Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles with shows Thursday-Sunday. Tickets start at $45. There is also a New York production that runs concurrently.
'Paranormal Activity 5' Premiere Date Announced
When my husband passed on this "news" item to me, my response was, "That's not news!" Because of course Paranormal Activity is returning for a fifth film. And of course it is returning for Halloween. But now we have an official date: October 25th, 2013. This is about a week later than the Paranormal Activity films usually bow (normally, like this year, they premiere in the second week of October.)
Details, as always, are scarce, but Jason Blum returns to produce the film. I have to assume that Oren Peli, who wrote and directed the first film and has produced the sequels, will return for #5. A Paranormal Activity spin-off, geared towards the Hispanic community is still in the works, with a potential Spring release. If the teaser that played after the credits of PA4 is any indication, Actividad Paranormal will focus on the Santeria religion.
A New Cast Member Joins 'The Walking Dead'
Avid fans of The Walking Dead comics know that now is the time in the story line to introduce pivotal character Tyreese into the TV series. And so they will. Chad Coleman (The Wire) has been confirmed to play Tyreese. He could appear as early as the December 2nd episode of the series.
In the comics, Tyreese is an important character, one who acts as Rick's second-in-command and is romantically linked to both Carol and Michonne. As is the nature with The Walking Dead, details on TV-Tyreese's role is vague, but TVOverMind.com says that he will spend the majority of the season in Woodbury.
Mythical Beasts Retro Travel Posters
What happens when you mix two things that don't exist? You get Mythical Beasts travel posters. Inspired by classic travel agency posters (that's how your parents used to book vacations, kids) and some of your favorite mythical beasts, these posters are adorably retro. These posters come from Los Angeles-based designer Fernando Reza who has a sprawling portfolio of pop culture art, including An American Werewolf in London, The Brood, Re-Animator, The Dark Knight, The Walking Dead, and many more.
You can check out all the designs - and buy them - at FroDesignCo.com
How to Destroy Angels: 'An Omen'– EP Review
February Releases From Scream! Factory: Prison, Terrorvision, The Video Dead
Scream! Factory has announced a couple of collector's editions DVDs for die-hard horror fans this February.
First up is Prison, about a man executed for a crime he didn't commit whose ghost returns to to haunt the prison and seek revenge on an especially brutal guard. Extras include an audio commentary track with director Renny Harlin, an all-new "Making Of" featurette, and a PDF of the first draft script.
Then we have a double feature of Terrorvision and The Video Dead. Terrorvision is about a man whose satellite dish picks up a "signal" from a distant world, causing monsters to indescriminately pop up on his TV. In the same vein, The Video Dead is about an old, haunted TV set that only plays one old zombie movie - and seems to be bringing said zombies into real life. Terrorvision includes an all-new "Making Of" featurette and commentary tracks with writer/director Ted Nicolaou, and actors Jon Gries and Dianne Franklin. The Video Dead includes audio commentary with writer/director Rob Scott, stars Roxanne Augesen and Rocky Duvall, as well as the special effects artists, production manager, and editor.
Both discs will be DVD/blu-ray combo packs and hit the market on February 19th.
Lucky McKee's 'All Cheerleaders Die' Heads Into Production
With a title like All Cheerleaders Die, how could you not be intrigued? I know I am - but then again, I am fascinated by cheerleader slasher flicks.
Director Lucky McKee's latest project goes into production just after Thanksgiving and stars Caitlin Stasey (I, Frankenstein) and Sianoa Smit-McPhee (Hung). McKee will co-direct with Chris Sivertson, based on a video project the pair did in 2001 just after graduating USC Film School (fight on!)
Mäddy Killian is a 17 year old rebel at Blackfoot High School on a mission to take down the captain of the football team. She rallies a group of cheerleaders around her cause, but after a tragic turn of events the girls are thrust into a supernatural battle that culminates in a mayhem-filled night they will never forget.
'Silent Night' Rolls Out Its Theater List
Looking to get Christmas started early? Silent Night hopes so. The "loose remake" of the 1980s slasher Silent Night, Deadly Night hits theaters November 30th, in a very few, select theaters. Don't see yours on the list? The DVD streets December 4th, so you can still join in the fa-la-la-la-la lunacy as Malcolm McDowell and Jamie King hunt for a serial killer who dresses as Santa while their town hosts a Santa convention. It's like Where's Waldo with jingle bells.
Here are the theaters that will be playing Silent Night:
Baltimore
Owings Mills – AMC Owings Mills 17
Chicago
South Barrington – AMC 30
Dallas
Grapevine – AMC Grapevine Mills 30
Detroit
Sterling Heights – AMC Forum 30
Houston
AMC Gulf Pointe 30
Los Angeles
Van Nuys – Regency Plant 16
Orange County – AMC Orange 30
Orlando
AMC Downtown Disney 24
New York
Manhattan – AMC Empire 25
Philadelphia
Bensalem – AMC Neshaminy 24
Phoenix
AMC Arizona Center 34
Check Out Jamie Lee Curtis's One and Only Horror Convention Appearance
More than 30 years after Halloween made Jamie Lee Curtis a horror icon and what many consider the first "scream queen," the actress makes her first appearance at a horror convention. The "winning" convention was September's HorrorHound con in Indianapolis. An enterprising fan recorded the entire panel (over an hour long) and put it up on YouTube for the world to enjoy. Give this guy a medal (or a tripod.)
Gift Guide: Neil Gaiman's 'Sandman' Box Set
One of the most influential comic series of all time, Sandman is here, in a big-ass set. All 10 trade paperbacks of Neil Gaiman's landmark series (which he once summed up as "The Lord of Dreams learns that one must change or die, and makes his decision") are collected here in an easy-to-display slipcover set.
Something to Be Thankful For: 'Blood Freak'
Oddly conservative thematically for a movie that includes a scene of a man getting his leg sawed off, Brad F. Grinter’s Blood Freak is really a cautionary tale about the evils of drugs and gluttony.
Poor Hershell should know better than to eat modified turkey meat to feed his drug habit. When he wakes up in the woods with a turkey head, he finds he is still addicted to the evil sticky-icky and now needs to feast on the blood of other addicts to satiate his addiction and never-ending case of the munchies.
But the turkey-man-killer has a moral bend and only gobbles the blood of bad, bad marijuana addicts. In the end it takes the love of a good woman, who loves the Lord, to slice off his head.
This movie makes so little sense at times that writer/director Brad F. Grinter is forced to narrate the action.
Watch the Blood Freak get baked. Save a leg for him.
TV Recap: 'American Horror Story: Asylum' Episode 206 - 'The Origins of Monstrosity'
American Horror Story: Asylum Episode 206
“The Origins of Monstrosity”
Written By: Ryan Murphy
Directed By: David Semel
Original Airdate: 21 November 2012
In This Episode...
A desperate mother brings her young daughter, Jenny, to Sister Jude. The 10-year-old is clearly a sociopath; her mother thinks she is “troubled.” Jenny was out playing with Josie one day (a neighbor girl who was the closest thing Jenny had to a friend.) Josie shows up stabbed to death with a pair of scissors. Jenny claims that a bearded man in a brown coat killed Josie, while warning her to remain perfectly still or he would kill her as well. Mom believed Jenny, until she did the laundry and discovered a neatly tied lock of Josie’s hair in one of Jenny’s pockets. As much as Sister Jude wants to help, they are not equipped to handle children at Briarcliff. Joke’s on Jude, for the mom runs out, leaving Jenny behind. Sister Mary Eunice takes Jenny under her wing (sociopaths and demons have a lot in common.) She knows Jenny killed Josie, and commends her for it. Later on in the episode, mommy returns, but it isn’t long before Jenny is talking to cops, standing over the body of her mother, stabbed to death with the kitchen knife Sister Mary Eunice gave her. Jenny’s story of what happened to her mother (and her two siblings) is exactly the same as it was with Josie: the bearded man in the brown coat did it.
Monsignor Howard is called to the hospital for the last rites. No other priest in the area would come, and when the monsignor enters the hospital room, he can see why: the patient is Shelly, even more hideously deformed (if that is possible.) The monsignor performs the last rites, then strangles her with his rosary. He confronts Arden, who is not at all apologetic. Arden believes that the people who come to Briarcliff are societal waste; he is giving their life meaning by experimenting on them for the greater good. Howard is not swayed, and threatens to expose him. But, as Arden reminds him, going public will expose the monsignor’s dirty secrets, too. Howard becomes an unwilling colluder. Howard’s part in all this is that he must fire Sister Jude. She is reassigned to a house for wayward girls in Pittsburgh, which upsets her greatly (I’m not sure what it is about Briarcliff that is so important to her.) Sister Jude got a call from Mr. Goodman, who confirmed that Arden was indeed an Auschwitz scientist. He has Arden’s original documents, and needs a fingerprint to confirm they are the same person. This comes with a warning: Arden is dangerous and flight risk, so Sister Jude must tread lightly. She gets his print on a cognac glass after a farewell drink.
Sister Mary Eunice takes a phone call, posing as Sister Jude. It is Goodman, who wants to see her. Sister Mary Eunice pays him a visit, claiming to have been sent there by Sister Jude. Jude, meanwhile, is on her way with the fingerprints. When she gets to Goodman’s room, all his Nazi research has vanished. Goodman is bleeding to death in the bathroom after what was obviously foul play. He manages to ID “one of your nuns” as his attacker.
Dig It or Bury It?
This was truly a “middle” episode - not just because this is the halfway episode of the season. It was a transitional episode: Jude moving on; Arden’s identity confirmed; the monsignor’s loyalties are wavering. This was a very “talky” episode. A lot of backstories were fleshed out here, some more artfully than others. I really hope Jenny comes back. I like her. Child sociopaths are terrifyingly fascinating. I suspect she will be back as a cohort for Sister Mary Eunice. Sociopathy is often compared to demonic possession in that sociopathy (and psychopathy) is the closest thing to pure evil we have in real life.
Patient History
We have a lot of background tonight. Let’s start with Thredson. As a child, his young mother abandoned him, leaving him a ward of the state. His basic needs (food, clothing, shelter) were met, but there was no love, no physical contact. So it warped him a bit. He also tells Lana that he knew, since he was young, that he was “different.” That is why he chose to study psychiatry as an adult. During med school, he and his class are shown the cadaver of a young woman, who was about the age that Thredson’s mother would have been when she abandoned him. Even though he knew she wasn’t his mother, he felt a connection and realized that he was looking for a mommy. The skin was cold and stiff, so he began taking the skin from living victims. But with Lana, he makes her a sammich (which I am 100% certain is made up of Wendy meat) and she compliments him sincerely on it. He believes that she is the mommy he has been looking for. Lana is caught attempting escape, and Thredson goes from emotionally stunted man to Bloody Face and tries to skin her. Lana reverts back to mommy dearest, and the mask comes off. As disturbing, he decides he is hungry - and tries to breastfeed.
We also get more of Arden’s history. Monsignor Howard came to Briarcliff as the last tuberculosis patient was dying. Arden was in charge of medicine at the hospital, but with TB no longer the threat it once was, Briarcliff was turning into an asylum, presumably with no need for a staff doctor. He hints to the monsignor that it is a pity, because he was really making progress with his “experiments.” He explains to Howard that he is very close to creating an “immunity booster” that would prevent viruses from attaching themselves to humans. The next step would be human trials. Lured by the promise of fame and fortune if this works, the Monsignor agrees to keep Arden on.
Bloody Face
We get some modern scenes this week. An anonymous 911 call sends cops to the long-abandoned Briarcliff. They find three corpses, suspended from the rafters with outstretched arms and their faces missing. They confirm one of the bodies is Leo; the other two are a pair of teenagers. A phone call from “the killer” (the voice is very recognizable as Thredson) to Leo’s cell phone (still clutched in his disembodied hand) says that he “killed the impostors.” Teresa is still unaccounted for, but we get a brief glimpse of her, alive and terrified on Bloody Face’s gurney.
Prophecies?
Sister Jude confesses to a black angel that is haunting the place. Sister Mary Eunice and Arden get into a pissing match over who is more powerful. Sister Mary Eunice is the clear winner here.
Gift Guide: Monster Mash Art Print
Can't decide which classic Universal monster is your favorite? Now you don't have to. Artist Jason Edmiston has stitched together elements of Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, Wolf Man, and the Mummy to form this limited edition gilcee print. Signed and numbered, and limited to 100 prints, this is perfect for the monster lover who doesn't have enough wall space to fit four separate portraits.
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats: 'Blood Lust'– EP Review
Something to Be Thankful For: Dinner with the 'Texas Chainsaw’s' Sawyer Family
Sometimes, Thanksgiving with the family can feel like torture, but it’s nothing compared to the table The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Sawyer family sets for Sally Hardesty.
This family knows how to make an impression. The rustic table is decorated for company, decked out with skulls, a human face lamp and a turkey head. Drayton, whose skill in the kitchen is renowned, has pulled out all the stops for their guest with a delicious plate of human sausages.
Despite the fact that they built their house and business on the bones and innards of their unfortunate victims, the Sawyers interact like any other American family around the table. The brothers, Drayton and Nubbins, have unresolved issues and are constantly bickering. Following gender norms, the boys all gang up on the only girl at the table, taunting her and pulling her hair. Lacking in a motherly influence, the always -sensitive Leatherface is always willing to don an apron and take on a more womanly role.
But more than anything, the Sawyers just want to make Grandpa, the patriarch of the family, happy. What better way to do that than let him “carve the turkey,” so to speak? Watch him in action.