The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has a cinematic legacy that is long, colorful, and pretty darn terrible.

Oh, sure. The original 1974 film still remains an unimpeachable classic of shocking violence and psychotic madness, but The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) and Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (1990) are little more than garish geek shows full of stupid splatter for splatter's sake. Fun enough in small doses, but hardly worthy sequels to such a great horror film. Then came 1994's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, which is so outrageously amateurish you won't believe it's considered a finished film. Then we got the slick-but-decent remake in 2003 and a pointless prequel to that remake in 2006. All up to speed now?

Good, because the producers of the brand-new Texas Chainsaw 3D want you to watch their film as if it's the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel ever made. That allows us to dispose of at least three pretty terrible sequels, so I'm on board with the producers' request. Beyond that, however, we'll have to part ways, because Texas Chainsaw 3D is every bit the afterthought of a money-grub sequel that almost all horror sequels manage to be. Chock full of atrocious dialogue, nonsensical plot contortions, and a frankly insipid attempt at turning the nefarious cannibal known as "Leatherface" into a T2-style anti-hero, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D went from a movie I wanted to like to a movie I wanted to burn after about 15 merciless minutes of running time.

Picking up "directly" after the end of the original movie, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D begins with the slaughter of the infamously cannibalistic Sawyer clan, but of course there are a pair of survivors. One is Leatherface the lunatic, and the other is a baby girl who will grow up to inherit a Texas mansion that has a maniacal murderer locked in the basement. Also she's Leatherface's cousin. Suffice to say that Act III is an absolute farce to anyone who remembers that Leatherface used to be a force of mad nature; a freakish man-child who kills to keep his family fed. In this movie he's almost like Freddy Krueger in his later sequels.

If Act I is five minutes of "sequel" and 25 minutes of painfully familiar character set-up, and Act III is like a misshapen combination of Jason Goes to Hell and Terminator 2 (don't ask), one may at least find some fun in the flick's middle section, because that's when the pace really picks up, people get killed in sharp or shocking fashion, and there's a good deal of running, jumping, hiding, and escaping going on. All the relative fun of Act II ends with a car crash, and from that point on the film becomes something almost monumentally stupid. I certainly wouldn't spoil anything for the horror fans who plan to see the movie, but if you like your Leatherface deeply, darkly, distressingly scary -- this is not the movie for you. What was once a primordially scary human monster is now a misunderstood anti-hero who hunts down bad men. No, I'm not kidding.

Beyond the meager moments of escapism offered in the film's mid-section -- and the painfully pretty presence of lead actress Alexandra Daddario -- there's nothing here that horror fans haven't seen before, and probably don't need more of. While it claims to be a direct sequel to a classic film, Texas Chainsaw 3D has no idea what makes the original film so damn scary. It's almost like the four (!) screenwriters and ten producers didn't even watch the original, opting instead for '90s flicks like Urban Legend and Valentine. None of it is scary, the gore is way too chintzy-looking, and the plot is an unnecessarily convoluted mess.

Just stick with the original.

Read FEARnet's Partner Reviews of TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D

Batman: Arkham City was easily one of the best games of 2011, managing to leapfrog over the more constrained aspects of its predecessor—particularly its linear Arkham Island environments—to deliver a full, rich experience that no Batman game had offered before.  Where other Batman games were more focused on the combat aspects, the Arkham games brought all of the Dark Knight’s wonderful toys into the mix, reminding us of why Batman is so damn cool: he’s basically James Bond with deep pockets and even deeper psychological issues.  Every man with a pituitary gland wants to be Batman…well, except for the whole dead parents thing.

Batman’s overflowing utility belt is pushed even more into the forefront with Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition, a port of the 2011 game for Nintendo’s tech-heavy new Wii U system, which promises to push us even further into the game’s world by basically turning the GamePad into your very own Bat-Computer.  However, those who’ve already tamed the wild streets of Arkham City may wonder if it’s worth a revisit.  The answer, much like the disfigured Harvey Dent, is quite two-faced.

First, let’s talk the GamePad integration.  From the first few moments of the game, it’s apparent that a lot of thought went into how to use the peripheral in an immersive but practical fashion.  Batman’s avatar in the game now has a glowing LCD screen mounted on one of his gauntlets (wouldn’t having an illuminated iPad on your arm be counterintuitive to Batman’s stealthier aspects?), and the game immediately reminds you that what you have clutched in your hands is that very system.  Communications are transmitted through the GamePad’s modest speaker, which threw me for a loop for a few minutes as I usually have its volume turned down, but it was a subtle touch that did give the game a fresh feel.  Inventory management is much more intuitive as well, as opposed to the original game’s attempts at managing your arsenal off of the D-pad.  Best of all was the always-on map screen, which saved me plenty of headaches as I navigating the mutilated metropolis of Arkham City.  The streets are as expansive as ever, and having the city map only a downward glance away is more convenient than you could imagine.

Gadget integration is also well implemented, with many of the game’s microgames for cracking passwords and descrambling radio chatter now translated onto the touch screen.  Shockingly, even controlling Batman’s radio-operated Batarangs feels novel and natural using the built-in gyro sensors in the GamePad, allowing me to take shots that gave me grief in the game when I played it on my 360.  There’s also the game’s new B.A.T. mode, which—as Alfred explains rather long-windedly—converts kinetic energy built up in battle into a handy-dandy energy store which you can activate to become even more efficient at battering the mentally ill.  It’s an interesting addition, but not one that felt as good as the other changes to the controls.  There’s even the ability to push all of the gameplay straight to the GamePad, which does strip out the cool controller aspects, but it does allow you to play Arkham City on the toilet (assuming your crapper is within range), which is commendable in its own right.

Thoughtfully, WB Games included all of the game’s original DLC on-disc, including the Catwoman side quests, although Catwoman now has her own version of the Bat-Computer strapped to her feline forearm.  Being a little liberal with who gets access to Wayne tech, aren’t we Bats?  There’s also the Harley Quinn’s Revenge add-on, as well as all of the various costumes you had to preorder/pay for in the past.  I guess if you’re going to ask consumers to pony up 50 bucks for a year-old game, you’re gonna make sure they get their money’s worth.

Unfortunately, and this is very unfortunate, Arkham City Armored Edition falls prey to the disease that plagues many a launch title.  Despite the promised horsepower of the Wii U, which is allegedly greater than either the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, the game is rife with choppiness and graphical glitches which certainly break the immersion that the GamePad establishes, and sometimes even costs you a combo multiplier when Batman’s smooth combat unexpectedly judders.  It indicates that the focus on the port, handled by an internal WB studio, was less on smoothly translating the game and more on adding the bells and whistles to justify the port in the first place.  It’s reminds me—and this is a weird and dated metaphor—of the old MTV show Pimp My Ride, in which cars were loaded with lots of sweet tech without any real care given to how the car actually ran.  It feels sloppy, and certainly knocks your enthusiasm down a few pegs for what is otherwise an excellent reimagining of an already amazing game.  Were it not for these inexplicable framerate issues, Arkham City Armored Edition would earn a hearty recommendation.  As it stands, it’s a fascinating tech demo for those that want to show off what cool stuff the Wii U brings and don’t feel like loading up ZombiU again.

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

Morbius: The Living Vampire No. 1
Picking up after events in Spider-man, this comic focuses solely on the scientist-turned-vampire Michael Morbius. This first issue lays down the laws of his vampiric universe. We get a check list of what kills him, what doesn't kill him, and how he feels about being a living bloodsucker. And we get right into a story about him versus a bunch of thugs in a bad neighborhood of New York.'

Bag it or board it up?
This is a fun comic. This is not the typical, sappy vampire comic. Like many other pillars of the modern vampire comic (30 Days of Night, American Vampire) this comic takes itself seriously. It's full of wit, fast paced Marvel-action, and even a bit of blood. Keep a blood-red, glowing, Morbius-style eye on this one.


Hellboy in Hell No. 2
Hellboy, now dearly departed, continues his journey through hell. This issue he sees things like the city of Pandemonium… now abandoned. He also passes the River Cocytus where he sees how the army of hell (that would be his to command if he wanted it) is forged. His guided then trades him off to another, and we see the actual birthplace of Hellboy!

Bag it or board it up?
This story is a dream come true for any Hellboy fan, but while reading this issue I realized… the story's not what's really shining here.The artwork in this comic, the use of color in a sea of darkness, is spellbinding. Mike Mignola's artwork in this comic is, at times, astonishing to behold. And the coloring by Dave Stewart is the best I've seen in a long time. Get this comic, get it now.

Vincent Price's House of Horrors No. 4
Vincent Price plays the star of a story in this comic. But seeing as he passed away in 1993 it's really just a cash grab using his likeness. The story told in this comic, all at once, is the classic "Build a Better Mousetrap" story about test mice that keep getting smarter and smarter. It's a fine little story in this short comic. But...

Bag it or board it up?
This comic is bizarre. I like the classic tale, but the artwork is clunky and awkward looking. Also, it's incredibly anachronistic. Seeing an illustration of Vincent Price tapping away at a computer just feels wrong. It's almost as bad as seeing a word bubble coming out of his mouth with him saying the word "iPhone" (yes, really). A fine story but I'm not digging the ugly artwork and the techno-upgrade to the story.

Colder No. 3
Declan is the once-crazy, near-frozen gateway to a psychic realm. He and his caregiver Reece are hunted by a psychotic named Nimble Jack, who feasts on insanity. In this issue, the two run from nimble jack and have to dive into the chaotic world of insanity. But doing so pushes Reece's stable mind a bit too far, and we see the beginnings of a collapse between the world of chaotic insanity and our world. It's a lot to follow, and it moves quick, but this plot is truly inventive.

Bag it or board it up?
This is, overall, a deeply interesting and fun comic about insanity. The artwork is beautiful, and the storyline is unlike anything I've read before. But though I do enjoy this comic quite a bit, the "crazy" in this comic is beginning to feel a bit like mass-market crazy. The phrases crazy people in this issue blurt out when driven further insane feel a little too easy in a way that's hard to explain. The writer just grabs words and throws them together, and the insane people in this comic don't end up sounding insane, they end up sounding like a person pretending to be insane. It's a fine line to walk, and it's a lot to pull off, but that's the danger of doing a comic about insanity. Regardless, this is a fun comic with a lot going for it, and worth a read.

Even when he’s made of clay, Leatherface makes a serious mess.

You may know Lee Hardcastle from the short he made for the horror anthology The ABCs of Death,T Is for Toilet. It’s the one with the kid and the killer toilet. A seriously talented guy, Hardcastle actually won the open submission contest Drafthouse Films ran for The ABCs of Death, beating our 169 other submissions.  

You can watch Hardcastle’s other claymation, including at 60-second Hostel and Shaun of the Dead,here. Watch the clay-tacular 60-second version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre shot in super 8 below.

Added bonus, more Lee Hardcastle shorts on FEARnet below:

I love this poster for Sightseers.  I would wear it as a sweater, or use it as a pillow on my bed.  Its tongue-in-cheek design perfectly sums up the charm of Ben Wheatley’s tale of a killer couple on caravan. Really, the plot is something we all can relate to. We have a vision for a holiday and things outside our control threaten to ruin it. Some of us just react more strongly than others.

Here’s the synopsis from Twitch:
 

Chris (Steve Oram) wants to show Tina (Alice Lowe) his world and he wants to do it his way - on a journey through the British Isles in his beloved Abbey Oxford Caravan. Tina's led a sheltered life and there are things that Chris needs her to see - the Crich Tramway Museum, the Ribblehead Viaduct, the Keswick Pencil Museum and the rolling countryside that accompanies these wonders in his life. But it doesn't take long for the dream to fade. Litterbugs, noisy teenagers and pre-booked caravan sites, not to mention Tina's meddling mother, soon conspire to shatter Chris's dreams and send him, and anyone who rubs him up the wrong way, over a very jagged edge...

'Texas Chainsaw 3D' is now playing in theaters and in preperation for Leatherface's grand return to the big screen, we here at FEARnet have been celebrating the entire Chainsaw franchise for the last two weeks. In the off chance you missed any of these articles, fear not, we've got you totally covered! All our Texas Chainsaw themed coverage is linked below.

Interview with Texas Chainsaw 3D star Alexandra Daddario
FEARnet Movie Review: Texas Chainsaw 3D by Scott Weinberg
Post Mortem with Mick Garris Guest Starring Texas Chainsaw creator Tobe Hooper
Revisiting The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Revisiting The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Revisiting Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
Revisiting The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4: The Next Generation
Revisiting The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003 Remake
Revisiting The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning 

OK, by now I trust you've all seen the brand new red-band trailer for The Evil Dead remake? And if not, what are you waiting for?! Go check it out!

I can honestly say that I haven't been this excited for a horror genre movie in years. And it looks like those of you that were disappointed that 'Cabin In The Woods' wasn't a traditional "cabin in the woods" horror movie may finally have your blood thirst sated with this film. The April 12th release date doesn't seem all that far off, but the road of getting The Evil Dead remade has been a really long and complicated one. And believe it or not, it all can be traced back to Freddy Vs Jason. Let's go back and analyze the time-line.

2003 - Freddy Vs Jason opened on August 15th, 2003 to a stronger-than-expected box office and was a surprise success, so naturally New Line immediately started toying with ideas for a potential sequel. The pitch that made it the furthest in the development process was a proposed Freddy Vs Jason Vs Ash, based on a treatment written by Jeff Katz. A lot of people were excited at the prospect of pitting Bruce Campbell's Ash against a horror icon like Robert Englund. Well, except for one person. The big hold out on that sequel was Sam Raimi who didn't want to relinquish the rights to the Ash character as he still wanted to make an Evil Dead related film.

2004 - The Evil Dead remake was announced, much to the dismay of die-hard Evil Dead fans; so much so that on-line petitions to "Stop The Evil Dead remake" were surfacing and going strong. Also you have to think about this in context; this was at the time when Ghost House Pictures (Raimi and Rob Tapert's genre based production company) were producing PG-13 rated Japanese remakes like The Grudge. The general consensus was would Evil Dead be neutered in a market place that primarily relied on PG-13 horror for big box-office business? 

A glimmer of hope came in the shape of a very unlikely director rumored to be the front runner for the job, Korean director Chan-wook Park who had wowed audiences and studio execs alike with 'Oldboy' (currenly being remade by Spike Lee), as well as the other movies of his "vengeance" trilogy 'Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance' and 'Lady Vengeance' (also currently being remade with Charlize Theron).  Raimi confirmed in an interview with Empire "Actually, we did approach him, but I don’t think it was right for him. I don’t want to put words into his mouth, but he was either too busy or not interested."

2005 - While out promoting 'Boogeyman', both Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert announced that they would not only be remaking Evil Dead, but also making an Evil Dead 4 (tentatively titled Army Of Darkness 2) concurrently.  Raimi told Bloody-Disgusting, "There will be an Evil Dead 4, and there will ALSO be an Evil Dead Remake. The remake will be produced by Ghost House pictures and it will star a new cast and a completely new director. The point of Ghost House is that we want to bring new directors to Hollywood and give them a chance to make a good horror film. I love the original 'Dawn of the Dead', and I also really enjoyed the new 'Dawn of the Dead'. I mean, they are both really great horror films. I want to let somebody with a fresh vision bring The Evil Dead to a new generation and a new audience with a different vision."

Rumored names being thrown around for the role of Ash for the remake included Justin Theroux (who appeared in David Lynch's Lost Highway and Inland Empire, who later went on to write Tropic Thunder and Iron Man 2), Ashton Kutcher (ugh) and Sean William Scott. None turned out to be true as early on, the producers confirmed there would not be an Ash character in their redux.

In late 2005, Bruce Campbell told Mile High Comic’s The Beat, "We're going to do the remake and none of us feel bad about it because it's our own remake. We're not getting some 1970's TV show out of Aaron Spelling's file draw and making a movie. This is our own movie. So we're gonna update it for a new generation with new effects and tell a new story with a new cast. We'll be pulling the strings from behind. And hopefully they'll like it."

By the end of 2005, various sources were confirming that the remake was on hold/cancelled.

2009 - A few years go by, but in 2009 just coming off of Drag Me To Hell, Raimi jokes with Empire magazine that he and his brother Ivan (whom he co-wrote Army Of Darkness with) had started writing Evil Dead 4. "Every time I'm with my brother Ivan, we write another page of it. It's in Detroit and in my garage. There's some dialogue. Ash being an idiot. Ash taking some abuse. Some character stuff and then some structure of Act Two. Just other possibilities for things that could happen. It's ideas, jokes, things we'd like to see."

Uraguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez posts his super low budget short film "Panic Attack!" on You Tube. The technically impressive short only costs him roughly about $300 dollars to make, but immediately within a day, he gets offers and calls from everyone in Hollywood. Ghost House Pictures snatches him up in an exclusive 7 figure deal and attach him to develop a $30 million dollar sci-fi movie, something unheard of. Variety reported, "Most first-time helmers make $250,000, but Fede Alvarez scored his million-dollar deal based on the heat generated by "Ataque de Panico!" (Panic Attack), a four-minute, 48-second short about an apocalyptic robot attack Alvarez directed through his commercial production house for less than $500. After the short found its way to the Internet and Kanye West featured a link to the film on his blog, a 30-year-old who was not on anyone's radar outside the Uruguayan blurb market suddenly found the biggest agencies in Hollywood in a panic to sign him. That created a chain reaction of activity over two weeks that led to a trip to Hollywood, where he met with every major agency, management firm, and law firm that responded to the short."

Whether or not writer-director Fede Alvarez’s upcoming remake of Sam Raimi’s groundbreaking scare machine The Evil Dead is – as its poster boasts –  “the most terrifying film you will ever experience”, I’ve  little doubt, upon visiting the film’s set near Auckland, New Zealand , that Alvarez, his cast, and his crew are determined to return the Dead saga to its roots. For although Bruce Campbell’s Ash became an iconic figure of splatter comedy in the hilarious Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, the series owes its initial success to the lean, low-budget 1981 original that took the fright business seriously.

Not that there isn’t some room for visual gags, as prosthetics designer Roger Murray explains when he gives me and my fellow gorehound journos a behind-the-scenes look at some of Evil Dead 2013’s effects.  

“In one of our first meetings with Fede,” explains Murray, “one of the things that he said he wanted to do was to do as much in-camera make-up effects as possible. We also wanted everything to look as realistic as possible, so the effects had to have a sense of realism to them. We wanted the gags to be… not full-on gags. We have one of the scenes with one of the girls where her hand gets infected and her arm starts rotting off and she decides to cut it off with a kitchen knife.”

Murray’s colleague, make-up and hair designer Jane O'Kane adds, “There comes a point where if you go too far with the make-up it becomes funny and that's not what we were going for at all. Sometimes less is more.”

Rest assured, the new Evil Dead will still offer chainsaws, demons, and hapless teens trapped in a cabin from Hell (which, when we see it on its soundstage, looks even more nightmarish and bloodier than the original’s). This time around, however, the beleaguered protagonist is Mia (Suburgatory’s Jane Levy), a former drug addict trying to recover while on a vacation with her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez) and their friends (played by Cloverfield’s Jessica Lucas, Carriers’ Lou Taylor Pucci, and Legend of the Seeker’s Elizabeth Blackmore). It’s these hapless teens who encounter the Book of the Dead.

My Friday night started much like Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven:" "Once upon a midnight dreary (or about 9pm), while I pondered weak and weary (I was getting over a cold) Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore (or television) ... Suddenly there came a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door (it was the doorbell.)"

Anyway, so someone is at the door late on Friday night, and we weren't expecting anyone. My husband goes to the door. No one there. He goes onto the porch. There is a long pause before he comes inside with a large box. "Alyse, I think this is a promo for you... I hope it's a promo."

Sure enough, this large head-sized box, covered with Poe's writings, was a promo - for Fox's The Following, starring Kevin Bacon. And sure enough, there was a head inside - or rather, a terrifying mask of Edgar Allen Poe, along with a cordial black "invitation" that contained the DVD screener of the show. According to a note in the box (sadly, not scrawled maniacally, but typed on official Fox letterhead) informed me that this mask features prominently in upcoming episodes. Enjoy the "unboxing" below.

The Following is about a serial killer, Joe Carroll, who taught literature before changing careers to become a murderer. He killed 14 girls, all as an ode to Edgar Allen Poe, before he was caught and put on death row. As The Following opens, Carroll has escaped prison, and former FBI agent Ryan Hardy - who captured Carroll the first time around - is brought in to consult on the case. The Following premieres January 21st on Fox.

Themed restaurants (at least in the States) are generally tired affairs: big-money chains with average-at-best food that are aimed towards tourists from other countries or small towns. But what may have very well been the world’s first themed restaurant was themed around Hell.

Le Café de L'Enfer (or Cafe Hell) was a restaurant and cabaret located in the Montmarte “red light” district of Paris. It operated from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s, not far from the famous Grand Guignol theater (which offered shows consisting of murder, mayhem, and spectacular special effects.) To enter the cafe, you would have to walk through the gaping maw of an angry hellspawn, securing your entrance to Hell. Once inside, a doorman in a devil suit would greet diners with “Enter and be damned!” The waiters would be dressed as demons as well. William Chambers Morrow wrote a first hand account in his 1899 book, Bohemian Paris of To-day:“One of the imps came to take our order; it was for three coffees, black, with cognac; and this is how he shrieked the order: ‘Three seething bumpers of molten sins, with a dash of brimstone intensifier!’ Then, when he had brought it, ‘This will season your intestines, and render them invulnerable, for a time at least, to the tortures of the melted iron that will be soon poured down your throats.’” Satan strolled among patrons, taunting them. The cavernous interior was decorated with hideous, writhing souls and the demons that were torturing them, and the lighting mimicked flames. Sounds like fun. For those who love irony, for a time, a similar themed restaurant called Cabaret du Ciel (or Heaven) opened up next door.

Just down the street from L’Enfer was another “death cafe,” Cabaret du Neant (or the Cabaret of Nothingness), perfect for an after-dinner drink and a show. While L’Enfer was bustling with constant, chaotic movement, Neant was far more somber and quiet. The lighting effects here made patrons look green and sickly. The maitre d’ and servers were all dressed as undertakers and pall bearers; the tables in the bar were overturned coffins. The walls were decorated with bones, battle scenes, and guillotines in action. Chandeliers made of human bones hung from the ceiling.  Keeping with the bleak atmosphere and sense of malaise, servers would put in drink orders like “One microbe of Asiatic cholera from the last corpse, one leg of a lively cancer, and one sample of our consumption germ!” When the drinks were consumed, patrons were led to another room where they would enjoy an illusion show that included paintings that shifted from humans to skeletons, dancing skeletons, and peepholes that reveal “gruesome tableaus.” It is thought that these illusions were the direct inspiration for a number of the effects in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion (most notably, the shifting paintings in the hallway; the ones in the attic; and possibly even the hitchhiking ghosts.)

The operating dates of both these venues are a little hazy. The both seemed to open in the latter half of the 19th century, and closed around WWII. L’Enfer’s facade, however, still stood into the late 1950s.

Sources: Long Forgotten Haunted Mansion; Monster Kid Horror Forum; Voyages Extraordinaire

The Human Centipede 3 is ready to start filming in May - for real this time. Nearly a year ago, production was halted before it even began over contract disputes between writer / director Tom Six and Centipede 1 star Dieter Laser. The legal dispute has been settled, everyone is friends again, and Laser will appear in HC3 as Tom Six intended.

Ilona Six, Centipede producer and Tom's sister, told EW that Laser will star in part three, along with Laurence R. Harvey, star of part two. The pair will play "a new, villainous duo with a storyline no one will expect." Ilona also says that "a big American celebrity" will have a cameo, and she confirms that the human centipede will be over 500 people long.

On the script, Tom says: "I know my Human Centipede 3 will be very politically incorrect, but I didn’t want to change anything in the script. I am very happy Dieter will follow my vision for a full 100% now and know he is absolutely the most brilliant actor I could wish for.”

NBC just released a sneak peek video for Grimm, which returns to finish out its second season on March 8th. The first half of the video is recap, but then we get to the good stuff: Captain Renard, the royals, and what the diabolical plan against Nick is. It looks like we may be moving away from the procedural side of the show and giving more focus to the mythology. I'm all for it.

What fun it must have been to be a Stephen King fan in the 1980s! Stephen King was releasing new material at an exponential rate (twenty-two books between 1980 and 1989, most of which were bestsellers), King films were coming out left and right, the man appeared on the cover of Time in 1986, and an explosion of criticism centered around this relatively new author erupted.  In 1982, the first iteration of Douglas Winter’s The Art of Darkness proved a watershed moment in King study, catalyzing the entire King criticism movement.  George Beahm released what proved to be the most accessible book for a King dilettante, The Stephen King Companion.  Starmont House, a small publisher known for their innovative works of serious SF/Fantasy/Horror criticism, released no fewer than thirteen books on King.

Then things seemed to dry up.  I say seemed to; King criticism has never really gone away.  Many of the most important books on King – Spignesi’s The Stephen King Encyclopedia, for example, and Rocky Wood’s Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished– were still in the future.  But many of the contemporary books seemed to focus on King’s more established work, or to focus on an overarching facet of King’s career, such as the Dark Tower series.  Finding criticism of King’s recent work proves difficult; Twayne’s masterful United States Authors series gave up after Stephen King: The Second Decade… an unfortunate gap that only grows wider as King enters his fifth decade of publishing.  The Internet has democratized criticism of King’s newest work, but the fact that anyone can publish a review online is a double-edged sword.  For every diamond in the rough, there are a dozen blogs and forum posts that don’t even bother to spell the man’s name correctly.

How refreshing, then, to have a book like Bev Vincent’s Twenty-First Century King.  Bev Vincent, author of the unprecedented Stephen King Illustrated Companion and the career-spanning exegesis The Road to the Dark Tower, has been publishing Stephen King criticism since the Internet was in its infancy.  Now, happily, his criticism of King’s most recent decade-plus (2000-2012) is collected in this slim, accessible volume.  Drawn from a variety of sources – including Onyx Reviews, Vincent’s News from the Dead Zone column in Cemetery Dance magazine, and FEARnet.com – and focusing almost entirely on King’s book-length work, Twenty-First Century King is a whirlwind of criticism.  It’s breathtaking to see all these reviews in one place, and to comprehend the sweep of King’s output in this most recent decade.    

It also works as a series of snapshots of time.  Starting with King’s 2000 eBook experiment, Riding the Bullet, Vincent hasn’t excised much from his original review; thus, we are treated to the issues that Mac and WebTV (!) users had with downloading the story, back in the day.  Happily, Vincent reviews the story rather than the method of publication (a practice King mused was not common later in Everything’s Eventual), and – without calling attention to it – underscores the fact that 2000 was wildly different than 2011 and 2012, when King released eBooks like Mile 81 and A Face In the Crowd, and readers were far more concerned with the stories than their delivery.

From there, Vincent delves into the decade, never tipping too far into scholarly discourse and never becoming a sycophant.  It’s fascinating to read frank criticisms of a novel like Cell, while at the same time read wild praise about King’s landmark On Writing.  Interestingly, the reviews grow longer as they march toward the present; along the way, Vincent grows more insightful and digs deeper into each book to find out why they tick.  As interesting as it is to see the grand sweep of King’s books from 2000-2012, it’s just as exciting to watch Bev Vincent’s progress as a writer.  

Hopefully heralding more books of this sort, Bev Vincent’s Twenty-First Century King is a terrific first step toward recognizing Stephen King’s current work, and placing it in its proper context.

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

Twice a year, the Television Critic's Association holds a week-long series of panels with producers and network executives to preview what is on the slate. All week, we will cull together the most interesting bits of genre television news so you don't have to slog through crap on The Biggest Loser to get to the good stuff.

Bates Motel

A&E has announced a premiere date for it's highly anticipated drama: Monday, March 18th at 10pm. The series, which will have an initial 10-episode run, promises to be "inspired by" Hitchcock; not an "homage." "The mythology that you think is what dictates the relationship between Norma and Norman is not what it's going to turn out to be," promises showrunner Carlton Cuse. Cuse also states that he doesn't foresee Marion Crane (the character made famous in Psycho by Janet Leigh and the shower) showing up on the series at all. The pilot seems to promise many a gruesome mystery, including the death of Norman Bates's father, and a diary that Norman discovers when his mom buys the motel, that details the torture and murder of a girl.

Hannibal and Mockingbird Lane

Some troubling news regardng Bryan Fuller's serial killer tale: NBC still doesn't have a premiere date for it. NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt says of the dark serial killer drama that if it doesn't make it to air by the end of the season, it could "fit nicely" into summer season. His comments of "It's very well crafted" seems like the execs found it a little too dark, and just don't know what the hell to do with it. Hannibal is "well into' production on its 13-episode commitment, so they have to do something with it. NBC does not have a great track record with Fuller. His The Munsters reboot, Mockingbird Lane, which was years (and allegedly $10 million) in development was sentenced to a last-minute Halloween run before officially getting the axe. As for another attempt at a Munsters reboot, Greenblatt says, "I'm not saying we won't maybe try another version of The Munsters again, it's a good idea, we just have to figure out how to get it right." In other words, "Never say never, but it's not going to happen on my watch."

Dracula

As of right now, this is still a go for fall.

Director David R. Ellis died early this morning. Best known for Snakes on a Plane, the director was 60 years old.

Ellis is probably best known for the Samuel L. Jackson shlockfest Snakes on a Plane. Other genre titles to his name include Final Destination 2, The Final Destination, Asylum, and Shark Night 3D. As a second unit director, Ellis worked on Clear and Present Danger, Waterworld, Sphere, Deep Blue Sea, The Perfect Storm, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Most recently, Ellis was directing the second unit on R.I.P.D. as well as prepping his next film, Kite.

Ellis got his start in Hollywood in the 1970s as a stunt man and later, stunt coordinator, with roles in such projects as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Scarface, Misery, The Addams Family, and Warlock: The Armageddon.

Ellis died suddenly in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he was working on his next film, Kite. Cause of death is unknown at this time.

Source: Deadline

Horror fans certainly know the name Jaume Balagueró. Known for his infectious and terrifying series of [REC] films (remade here in the states as Quarantine), the director stepped back from the world of hardcore effects, viral scares, and creepy found footage to frighten his fans with something a bit more quiet and realistic. Sleep Tight (out on Blu-ray and DVD on January 8 from Dark Sky Films) is a fantastic little thriller that deserves a much bigger audience. What it lacks in gory special effects and zombie craziness, it easily makes up for in its subtle, old-school horror feel and its characterization of one very twisted individual.

FEARnet recently sat down with writer/director Jaume Balagueró to discuss his latest horror film, his upcoming film [REC]⁴, and the appeal of realistic horror.

Sleep Tight actually reminds me a bit of what I think is your most underrated movie, Darkness. They both have more of a slow burn, thriller-esque feel to them as opposed to something like the [REC] films that are more pure horror. After being immersed in the [REC] films for the last few years, how different was it to go back to something like Sleep Tight that was a little bit quieter in tone and pacing?

After the experience of [REC], which was set up to be very intense physical horror in both plot and pacing, I felt the need to return to a more conventional and calculated film. The script for Sleep Tight came to me at just the right time. It was the perfect opportunity to develop a classic story and to explore horror from a more conventional sense. Being calmer, it allowed me to create a much more sophisticated brand of suspense – with classic elements of conventional film language, such as its music, editing, and staging.

In the beginning of the film, the voiceover says "there's always a way to be happy." Do you feel like Sleep Tight's main character César truly believes the only way for him to be happy is for him to make others miserable? Or do you think that's more of an excuse he tells himself to relieve the guilt of his urge to do all these terrible things he does to Clara (and presumably others before her)?

It’s hard to tell, but I'm sure that César has convinced himself of his inability to be happy. In that belief, there is something terrible but profoundly human. Satisfaction in the failure of others is much more common than we think, and although it makes us uncomfortable to admit it, we have all had those feelings. The problem here is that César takes this feeling far beyond what is acceptable, transforming himself into an extremely dangerous and unpredictable psychopath.

Sleep Tight is a very pure thriller/horror in the sense that there are not nearly as much effects work needed as something like the [REC] films. I can think of a few scenes that would have needed it (the fight, for example), but for the most part the film gets its scares through effective use of music, quietness, subtlety, and great acting. Did it feel good to be able to do something a little less effects heavy or do you prefer to work on the more fantastical films with loads of effects work?

In the broadest sense, I’m a lover of fantasy films. I love movies with special effects just as much as films that are based more heavily on characters and plot. I think every story calls for a different type of film. Sleep Tight is a horror story about the everyday world, based on the little things all around us that we recognize. The less special effects we put in it, the more believable it would be.

The first sleeping scene, when César crawls out and puts the mask on, is done in nearly complete silence. Most less-skilled directors would have placed some subtle score over it to build the tension. Tell me about your decision to keep it silent. Do you feel that silence tends to be creepier and scarier than emotion driven by music?

In this case, it was clear that the more realistic we presented everything, the more disturbing it would all be to the viewer. The absence of music and sound effects make the viewer feel like they’re there with our characters. Silence, having the scene in near real-time, the hyper-realistic sound of Clara breathing as she sleeps, and César’s small gestures are far more threatening than any music.

Are there any films that you looked at (or showed your crew) as inspiration before, or while, shooting Sleep Tight?

When I start working on a new film I always make the effort to clear my head of any references, which is not easy, I assure you! From scratch, I try not to be influenced by all of the movies I have inside my head – although I inevitably end up influenced by things I’ve seen and loved. A director is largely what he or she has lived and seen. Despite this, there was a movie that I did always keep in mind, although I avoided seeing it again: Roman Polanski’s The Tenant.

What's next for you? Is there anything you can tell us about [REC]⁴ Apocalypse?

[REC]⁴ will be my next movie. In fact, we’re already in preproduction. I can’t say much, really – only that it will reveal a lot of secrets, and will be a return to pure and simple horror.

Jaume Balagueró’s Sleep Tight hits stores on Blu-ray and DVD on January 8.

Frank Darabont has been brought in to do a final rewrite on the upcoming Warner Bros. / Legendary Pictures Godzilla reboot. The original script comes from Max Borenstein, who wrote The Seventh Son. Godzilla is set to go into production March, with a May 16, 2014 release date.

Further complicating the Godzilla project is a dispute between Legendary and producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee. It seems that the pair are exiting the project, though it is a little unclear as to who called off the business relationship. Hitfix declares the split to be amicable, while Deadline says the producers wouldn't lower the fees they signed on for and Legendary feels they are within their rights to fire the pair and cut them out of credit and future profits.

With all this drama, I am getting more and more nervous about this Godzilla. I am hoping that it will be an epically awesome giant monster movie... but right now I would just be happy if it is better than the 1998 Roland Emmerich / Matthew Broderick crime against humanity.

Looking forward to Mama? Quench your thirst for this new ghost story produced by Guillermo del Toro with a behind-the-scenes featurette in which del Toro, and stars Jessica Chastain and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau talk about what makes Mama unique. Mama tells the story of two young orphans who are discovered living deep in the woods, alone for years. They are brought back to civilization and deposited into the care of their uncle and his girlfriend. As the girls learn how to function in society, it becomes clear that whatever was caring for them in the woods has followed them into the suburbs, and does not want to be replaced. Mama opens in theaters January 18th.

Although Bryan Fuller's Hannibal has been in the works at NBC since last spring, it looks like there is a good chance it won't make to television until this summer. The series stars Hugh Dancy as FBI criminal profiler Will Graham who enlists in the help of Dr. Hannibal Lecter (played by Mads Mikkelsen) when he hits a brick wall in a particularly complicated case. Of course, Graham doesn't know that Lecter himself is a serial killer.

To help hold you over until NBC decides to air the series, here are some of the first photos from Hannibal - including your first look at Hannibal himself. (He looks far different than Anthony Hopkins's Hannibal.)

Texas Chainsaw 3D is killing it in theaters and Millennium Films just announced a plan to go ahead with the next installment of the reboot, Texas Chainsaw 4. Production will begin this year in Louisiana and will include producer Carl Mazzocone, as well as exec producers Mark Burg, Avi Lerner, Tobe Hooper, Trevor Short, John Thompson, Danny Dimbort, Lati Grobman and Christa Campbell.

No word on a writer or director as of yet, if it will be in 3D, or if Dan Yeager will return. Also, the title is a little confusing. Why Texas Chainsaw 4? Wouldn’t that mean they skipped an installment in this franchise?

We’ll update you on any news we get about the next chapter, until then check out our complete coverage of Texas Chainsaw 3D and the original franchise here.

via Deadline