NBC has finally given Bryan Fuller's Hannibal series a premiere date: April 4th. As expected, this was quickly followed by a teasery promo video for the show.
Hannibal follows young criminal profiler, Will Graham, will a particularly elusive case. He enlists in the help of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, but unbeknownst to Graham, Dr. Lecter is actually the perpetrator. Hannibal stars Hugh Dancy and Mads Mikkelsen
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!
Batman No. 17
This issue concludes the stunning, disturbing "Death of the Family" storyline. The Joker, with his own sliced-off face sewn back onto his head, has Batman and all his loved ones captured and at the mercy of his maniacal whims. There's so much that goes on in these twenty-some pages it would be a shame to spoil anything more. But the stakes are as high as they've ever been, and The Joker has truly and completely lost his mind at this point.
Bag it or board it up? The Joker is a scary, twisted maniac. He's always been so. But this run of comics featuring everyone's favorite nut job is different. He's vile, brutal, and romanticizing his relationship with Batman. He's gleefully violent, perverse, and darker than ever. You get the sense that this Joker is just plain mad. Pissed off. And it makes for a stunning, dark, twisted issue. If you're starting here… don't. Go back, read from the beginning of this run. It's the pinnacle of dark superhero comics.
Bedlam No. 4
A group of detectives and a superhero attempt to get to the bottom of a series of ritualistic killings. The murder of a young priest (found in his tub, burned to death) spurs the group to action and unlocks another clue to the larger mystery. If you've been following the series, this issue is a serious turning point.
Bag it or board it up? I'm a fan of this style of artwork. It's quick, evocative, and gritty. The story, though I admit that I'm coming in in the middle, is very gripping. I went back and bought the back issues, and now I'm a convert. This is perfect for fans of Silence of the Lambs and that awesome Batman spin-off Gotham Central. There's so much to like in this series. Get on it.
The Dresden Files: Ghoul Goblin No. 2
Wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden has no time to recover from the events of the last run of comics (where he and his loved ones are attacked by werewolves). He's on a new job in a small town, hunting down an evil Goblin who's escaped from the Nevernever to wreak havoc on the natural world. With an election looming, and strange individuals all vying for power, there's a lot of ground Harry has to cover.
Bag it or board it up? What can I say? I'm a sucker for The Dresden Files. It merges my love of the fantasy genre, my love of detective stories, and my love of horror. This comic is awesome, written by the author of the books, and packed with the flavor and punchiness they're so well known for. This comic is action packed, kind of gory, and plain old awesome.
The Walking Dead No. 107
Negan has Rick's son. Rick is freaked out. The two fight. Simple, right? After the vile, horrible Negan shows promise as a reasonable man, Rick sets some dark plans into motion. Consumed with the need to keep his people alive, Rick is planning a covert strike against this villain of all villains.
Bag it or board it up? How can a comic make me feel so conflicted? The story is so amazing, but you get so little month to month. TheWalking Dead lover in me says buy this comic right now. But the writer/storyteller/story-lover in me says wait for the trades to come out. It's such a story-tease. But it's also so damned good.
Last week, actor Derek Mears dropped by the FEARnet offices to discuss a myriad of topics including his upcoming appearance in 'Hatchet 3', what it was like to co-star with friend and former Michael Myers Tyler Mane in 'Compound Fracture,' as well as his take on the iconic Jason Voorhees in the most recent 'Friday The 13th' movie. But right now, you can still catch him in theaters as Edward the troll in 'Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.' Below is a video clip from our exclusive chat in which Derek talks about the demanding task of bringing Edward to full life and what it was like to work with 'Dead Snow' director Tommy Wirkola on 'Hansel and Gretel.' Check it out!
As a horror fan and collector, one of the things I find utterly maddening is discovering that a title I’m dying to add to my collection is out of print and selling for a fortune. Rather than do the sane thing, and wait for the film to be re-issued, I usually cough up absolutely idiotic sums of money, because I am reckless, impatient, and highly impulsive. Since I am also thoughtful, I have compiled a guide to out of print titles (OOP), the going rate, and more. Included in the list below are ten films in various stages of manufacturing moratorium. Several of them are recently out of print, so we are providing you a ‘heads’ up to so that you have the opportunity to snag them before they become hideously expensive.
Popcorn
This 1991 film is commanding nearly $80 on Amazon for a brand new copy. I impetuously shelled out a hefty pile of dough for this one. Popcorn is far from a perfect film, but it gets bonus points for paying homage to B-rated monster movies of the 1950s and featuring a supporting performance from genre veteran Dee Wallace Stone. Popcorn was recently slated for the re-release treatment, and then just as quickly as the re-issue was announced, the distributor pulled out. News of a re-release through a different company soon followed, but to date, the film is still out of print.
Dolls
The 1987 Stuart Gordon helmed flick, Dolls, has just recently gone out of print. It’s steadily been increasing in price, with a new copy fetching up to $27 on leading online resale sites. Dolls is one of my personal favorite Gordon films. The concept is very unique. And Dolls sets itself apart from a lot of other films of its kind with likable leads and a unique fantasy spin on the killer doll sub-genre. Dolls is somewhat of a modern fairy tale, with the moral of the story being ‘Don’t be a dick and you won’t get killed by satanic toys’.
Madman
Madman received a 30th anniversary re-release via Code Red Releasing, and just as quickly as it came back in to print, went out. This type of thing is not entirely uncommon for Code Red. Their OOP catalogue is considerably larger than most distributors. The re-released version brought fans higher quality picture and audio than past releases, and an anamorphic widescreen transfer of the film. The previous release was in widescreen format, but not anamorphic, which caused it to display poorly on 16:9 televisions.
The Brood
I lucked out, in that I bought my copy of The Brood when it was still in print, so I paid next to nothing for it. This is classic David Cronenberg. He puts his signature bizarre twist on the killer kid sub-genre in this highly enjoyable flick. Since The Brood hasn’t been out of print for an excessively long time, it can still be picked up for a lot less than films that have been OOP long term; it currently going for around $36 new, on Amazon. You can see more on The Brood in our picks for Essential ‘70s Horror Films.
Scanners
Scanners was in print at the time that I purchased it, about a year ago. But, has recently gone OOP and is currently fetching up to $30 for a new copy via Amazon. Scanners is worth picking up while you can still get a used copy for around $10. Unless this David Cronenberg gem scores a re-issue, it will be commanding a king’s ransom on auction sites, before long.
Fright Night II
I personally got hosed on this title. I picked up a used copy of Fright Night II online and received a homemade bootleg. While the original film is readily available on DVD and has been reimagined in a critically panned remake, the sequel cant even get a proper widescreen DVD release. The OOP version of the film is presented in full screen format, with poor audio and picture quality. A copy of Fright Night II, containing the awesome special feature that is ‘interactive menus’ will run you nearly $100 on leading auction sites. Considering that the movie pales in comparison to its predecessor, the smart thing to do would be to wait for a re-issue.
Sleepaway Camp Survival Kit (Films I-III)
I bought the Sleepaway Camp Survival Kit at Best Buy about ten years ago for $30. I was absolutely shocked to see that this out of print set is being sold for upwards of $150 through various online resellers. The Sleepaway Camp box set was released with two different sets of cover art. The first generation release had a red cross on the front. However, The Red Cross took issue with the similarity to their logo, thus leading to a second DVD box set release with re-designed cover art. The price difference between the two sets is negligible. The first Sleepaway Camp film is an epic cult classic, but the second and third films are average B-movie sequels, at best. The first film in the series can be picked up new for around $35. Though, the sequels are worth owning for the completist, I would suggest waiting for a distributor to issue a re-release, rather than forking over a small fortune.
Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
This 1970s classic horror flick is available as a digital download for $9.99, but OOP on DVD. Let’s Scare Jessica to Death will set you back about $30 for a new DVD and is probably worth picking up while it can still be had for a semi reasonable price. The film stars Barton Heyman, who two years later, went on to play Dr. Klein in The Exorcist.
Clownhouse
Clownhouse is one of the most controversial horror films of the past 25 years, but the controversy has very little to do with the movie itself. The film’s director, Victor Salva, reportedly committed a sex crime involving a minor (who had a starring role in the film) during the production of Clownhouse. Many have speculated that the reason the film was pulled from shelves almost immediately after its release was in response to massive backlash regarding the controversy surrounding the film. A new copy of the US release will run you about $85 on Amazon.
Nightmares
This flick was originally made for television and stands as the hardest to find selection on our list. A new copy will cost you around $300. It’s hard to imagine why it’s so expensive, seeing as how both the critical and audience reaction to the film was extremely poor. Nightmares’ saving grace is its eclectic cast; it features performances from Emilio Estevez and Moon Unit Zappa. If you still own a VCR, a used VHS copy of the film can be had for under $20.
I would like to extend a huge ‘thank you’ to my good friend Jimmy Squarejaw for lending his expertise and knowledge of rare and OOP titles to this piece and several others that I have contributed to FEARnet.
For those of you fascinated by true crime non-fiction stories, there's no serial killer story more shocking or notorious than that of Jeffrey Dahmer. And now IFC Midnight presents the docu-drama The Jeffrey Dahmer Files, which takes an in-depth look at the story of a seemingly ordinary man who became Milwaukee's most infamous killer. It's currently playing in select theaters and available on cable VOD & digital outlets, but for now, check out these four clips and trailer from the film, along with the full synopsis below.
Shout! Factory’s “Scream Factory” arm continues to release some of the most awesomely obscure and beloved horror titles ever and this coming Tuesday February 19 is no exception. Terence Winkless’ cult cockroach classic The Nest finally gets the high-definition treatment in the form of an excellent Blu-ray+DVD Combo Pack that features a commentary track from the director himself. Tasked with making a film about man-eating cockroaches, Winkless makes what is easily the very best (and probably the only) film about killer cockroaches ever made. It’s a horror fan’s dream come true. That is, if your dreams consist of a terrifying Man-Roach and a healthy dose of gore. Here at FEARnet, that’s all we dream about.
FEARnet sat down with Winkless to discuss working with Roger Corman, wrangling cockroaches in the middle of the night, and the infamous Cat-Roach.
FEARnet: I just re-watched The Nest again the other night and it holds up really well. They don’t really make creature features like that anymore.
Terence Winkless: No, it was really sort of an in-between time. CGI hadn’t blossomed yet and Roger has always been (and still is) in favor of putting a guy in a suit and having him chase people around. He really believes in guys in suits.
Later on, in working for him, he wanted to do a thing called Cyclops (which he did end up doing but, for a while, he was going to do it with me) and he said, “We’ll put a guy in a suit.” And I tried to talk him out of this. I said, “You know, they’ve got this thing called CG and we’ve used it plenty…” No. He wanted a stunt man in a suit and he’d be made bigger by putting some contraption on his shoulders. We’d build a fake eye and head, which would be operated by puppetry. And he wanted to make it for half as much as they finally made it. It was just impossible.
Anyway, that’s not about The Nest except that in The Nest the final monster – the final ridiculous monster – in the cave built of all the other victims is a guy in a suit, of course. No no, wait. It wasn’t a guy in a suit. In spite of all that, it wasn’t a guy in a suit. It was a puppet! I think Roger hated that thing so much he went back to wanting guys in suits.
What about the Man-Roach towards the end of the film? Was that a man in a suit?
That was a combination of an actor being willing to have a thing put on his chest so that when the sweater is ripped it reveals this gory, gooey, buggy mess. So that was a real guy and then we went to super close ups.
Actually, second unit thought they were doing me a favor and shot close ups of eyes and teeth coming out, but I had to redo it in pickups because it was too much of a medium shot. You could tell that it wasn’t real. When you got real tight on something, you only get the clues of what the brain can put together of what you’re looking at.
When we did that and just went ridiculously macro lens tight on the eyes as they got pushed out, it looked a thousand times more real than the medium shot that the guys had done. Same with the mandibles that came out of his mouth.
When you cut to the wider shot of the sort of walking beastie that they built, these things didn’t walk for beans! To get them to move it took three guys and you had to frame them out of the shot to get the thing to move at all.
My favorite shot is when the eyeball pops out and he steps on it.
Oh, well, thank you. That was not in the script and it’s actually one of my favorite moments too. [Laughs]
I have to think that writing The Howling had to help in landing this gig. How did you get involved in The Nest?
You know, there was no real direct correlation. There’s some peripheral correlation.
It was as simple as my agent finally gave my short film to Julie Corman, Roger’s wife, the producer of The Nest. She actively wanted to give a first-timer a shot, which they’re famous for doing, and she wanted to be the one this time to do it.
It was between me and another guy, and I simply showed more enthusiasm for doing a cockroach movie than the other guy did. He was a little more low-key.
A cockroach movie! I wanted to direct a cockroach movie my whole damn life. Please, let me do this! [Laughs]
The film is based on a novel, but there are so many horror movie touches throughout. I see a lot of Jaws in The Nest, from the island setting to the entomologist that reminds me a bit of Hooper. What were some of the films that you watched that served as inspiration for the film?
Every movie ever made. You know, the big movies that are still influencing us. At the time, even though it was 1987, the big movie was still Jaws. You couldn’t get away from Jaws. It had a huge impact. It, no doubt, spurred the writer to write the book.
What did you learn while making The Nest?
I learned a lot, obviously doing The Nest. The main thing I learned was to break down absolutely every single scene into shots and shot lists because, from that, you can figure out what the blocking should be. There’s an infinite number of places that the camera can go. It’s absolutely endless. There’s no wrong way. But once you choose a way, you have to follow it through, so be careful what you choose.
I still operate the same way. I sit down with a script and I read it just to know what the story is, and it’s not until around the third time that I actually start making shot lists and little pictures. My pictures are terrible. Some directors have these beautiful renditions of what the scene is. Mine are just stick figures. [Laughs]
How difficult was it to deal with these packs of nasty cockroaches that probably nobody wanted to touch?
This is an area of some of my favorite stories. These are some of the stories upon which I dine out.
You would think that if you had eight weeks of pre-production, and then a fairly long production period (we were shooting for twenty-four days), that once you’d hired your cockroach wranglers they’d be breeding these things in a controlled environment. They breed like crazy anyway, right? There’s nothing you can do to stop them.
So, I thought that they had hired somebody who had a barn or a lap or something. Well, I asked the guy one day when he looked kind of sleepy, “Where do you get the cockroaches from? What kind of lap or environment or controlled circumstance are you developing these many thousands of cockroaches?”
He says, “Ha! We just go out to Van Nuys and pick them up off the sidewalk in the middle of the night.” [Laughs]
[Laughs] So they were completely wild, feral cockroaches.
They were completely wild. They didn’t pay a nickel for them, but the kids (this was a whole bloody family) looked exhausted all the time and then I understood why. Well, they’d been out all night.
So when they said, “How many cockroaches do you want tomorrow?” and I said, “Five thousand” their faces would just drop. And I’m thinking, “What’s the big deal? You go to the cockroach factory. There must be zillions of them.” But, no. That wasn’t the case. [Laughs]
I remember, one day, we built these barricades for them. These little two-foot-high things with Vaseline on them. Ha. Ha. Ha. [Laughs]
It did nothing at all. In fact, all it did was get in the way of the rest of us jumping over the barricades to scoop up the cockroaches and throw them back in front of the lens before they escaped, which we did constantly. I constantly was picking up cockroaches and putting them somewhere in the shot.
I remember one day the kid from the cockroach wrangling family was gathering up cockroaches with one hand and, in the other hand, he had an ice cream bar. I kept waiting for him to forget which hand was which. [Laughs] It never happened, but it’s still an image that haunts me.
Speaking of haunting images, the one image from this film that will probably haunt my nightmares until the day I die is the Cat-Roach. That thing is terrifying.
Well, good. They gave me a puppet that could rub its ears and open its mouth, and it just sat there doing that. Then they gave me one that was a still puppet, like something you could put on your desk as a paperweight.
The script says that this thing pursues them around the lighthouse. Oh, fuck. How is it going to pursue them around the lighthouse? [Laughs]
As it turned out, if you do enough coverage and move the camera instead of the cat, you gave the illusion.
My favorite shot in the movie is from that sequence. For me, it was a great moment of discovery of how the camera could make this inanimate object fly around a room. It’s one of my favorite shots in all of my movies.
You didn’t really kill all the cockroaches at the end. You obviously left the film open a little bit. Was there ever any push to do a sequel?
There was a very limited push. The people who worked at New Concorde, who had a surprisingly amount of influence within the company, were encouraged to submit their sequel ideas, but I guess they never got one that made them want to run with it.
You acted in one of my favorite movies as a child – A Cry in the Wild– and then you went on to direct the sequel. How did that happen?
The only reason that I was in A Cry in the Wild was that I had dated Pamela Sue Martin, and Julie Corman knew this and thought it would be amusing to send to the set somebody that Pamela Sue had gone out with. I guess she wanted to embarrass her or maybe she thought some kind of sparks would fly again and it would add to the scene.
Anyway, it was perfectly pleasant. It was great for me. They flew me up to Reno and gave me a car and we went out to this beautiful forest and hung out and had some beers and shot a day. It was great. The AD even turned out to be one of my best friends later on.
What’s next for you? I see you’re directing Heart of Dance. Can you tell me a little about that film?
Heart of Dance is a nice little melodrama about a girl trying to live up to the bucket list, so to speak, of her recently deceased sister who died in an accident. On that list is the idea of becoming a ballet dancer, and this girl is too big. She’s just a big girl. Maybe like you’d find as a plus-size model these days. It’s written by a girl who is that girl but is also a dancer.
It’s sort of a teen angst story, which is particularly attractive to me because I’ve got a teen with angst. I’ve got a fourteen-year-old daughter and it’s okay with me if I can make something that she can stand to watch and maybe learn something from.
I also have another movie that I’m working on getting made that follows in the footsteps of the film Bloodfist that I made. It’s a fight picture starring professional women’s mixed martial arts fighter Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson. It’s called Fight the Power and I’m hoping that all starts to come together soon. It’s getting there.
The Nestarrives on Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack on February 19.
Being Human Episode 306
“What’s Blood Got to Do With It?”
Written By: Kate Burns
Directed By: Mairzee Almas
Original Airdate: 18 February 2013
In This Episode...
Sally’s brother, Robby, comes around. Sally panics and hides while Josh and Aidan meet him. He says he is the new landlord. (In actuality, he is just trying to scam a couple months rent from his dad, the true landlord.) Sally didn’t realize he is back in town and is terrified of bumping into him, thus dooming him to death. She is being super crazy, but Max still agrees to let her stay with him for a few days in the hopes that her brother will clear out of town quickly. He’s kind of a drifter screw-up. On the way home to pick up a change of clothes, Sally bumps into Robby - who seems unfazed by running into the sister who is supposed to be dead. Sally is in full panic mode and makes Josh take her to see Donna. She is desperate to save her brother, so Donna makes a deal with Sally. Her brother will be safe, and anyone she sees that knows her will be safe. In return, when Sally dies, Donna gets her soul. Sally agrees, against Josh’s advice. I have to assume that from this moment forward, strange accidents will befall Sally.
Aidan reluctantly returns to work and tries to pretend like Kenny didn’t see anything untoward. It doesn’t work, and he gives in and answers Kenny’s questions about vampirism. When Aidan explains to him about the virus, he insists Aidan take extra blood for himself. “I would hate to think I scared away a friend because he was too proud to accept help,” Kenny tells him in order to persuade him. Aidan agrees and takes a few extra vials while telling Kenny about how he became a vampire (Bishop found him while at war and promised to spare the rest of his unit if he agreed to become a vampire.) Kenny then broaches what he has been dancing around the whole time: he wants Aidan to make him a vampire. Aidan warns him that it is not all its cracked up to be, but Kenny turns 18 in a year. The day after his 18th birthday he is walking out of his “bubble,” whether he is a vampire or not.
Josh is having a hard time with Erin, but one day he comes home and finds she has cleaned up the living room and is taking a nap. He goes out to buy a treat for her, thinking they have moved into a better place. Erin was not sleeping, and as soon as Josh is gone, she jumps into action. Splicing in flashback scenes with Erin and Liam, we discover that he has welcomed her into his pack. She is no longer an orphan; she is part of his family. He needs her to help him kill Aidan. Liam tells Erin to taint his blood with some of her blood. When Aidan is weakened by the werewolf blood, Liam will swoop in and land the killing blow. Erin does just that, and hides while Aidan chokes on the poisoned blood. She texts Liam to hurry over - then stands over Aidan with a wooden stake while she waits.
Dig It or Bury It?
I wanted to pull out my hair out watching Aidan’s “origin story.” Besides the fact that he had a horrible accent (I said Irish; my husband said Scottish or British. Either way, it was terrible) it was the same old story we have seen in a zillion vampire stories: a time of war and a young soldier trying to do the noble thing by taking the hit from a vampire in order to save others. Boring.
Prophecies?
I’m guessing that shit will hit the fan when Josh walks in on his young charge (that he doesn’t like or want around) is trying to kill his best friend for a werewolf who wouldn’t mind Josh dead.
Lost Girl Episode 306
“The Kenzi Scale”
Written By: Sandra Chwialkowska
Directed By: David Greene
Original Airdate: 18 February 2013
In This Episode...
Bo is almost violent as she tries to get her friends to believe her that Kenzi is not Kenzi. Instead they lock Bo up in the keg room. Even Lauren doesn’t quite believe Bo. But we all know that Kenzi isn’t Kenzi - part of that is because “Kenzi” visits Kenzi in a cave where she is tied up. “Kenzi” is actually a fae named Anari who made a deal with the noorn. When Kenzi was leaving the noorn, it was Anari’s magic that spilled into her rash, which - I guess - meant that she was able to become Kenzi’s doppelganger or got her powers back or something... that was never really explained.
Anyway, Tamsin, for whatever reason, decides to believe Bo, lets her out, and joins her on a quest to find Kenzi. It sounds like a fox fae to Tamsin, who checks with a few girls she used to know. They confirm it and tell Tamsin that she is probably in a cave. Bo as of late has had a ridiculously acute sense of smell, and when fake Kenzi came to check on her, Bo smelled clay or mud on her. So she follows the scent into the woods to locate the right cave, and they find Kenzi, chained up and starving, but alive. She was about to fight a zombie fae of some kind, but we didn’t really get to see much of it before Bo killed it. Soon Dyson shows up and helps with the rescue effort.
And that was really it. So boring. There were a few other things that were thrown in (sometimes at random) that could prove important later on:
**Tamsin lets Bo feed off her.
**”Kenzi” tries to sleep with Dyson.
**The Morrigan makes Tamsin wake up coma fae to ask him to ID Bo as the one who attacked him. He dies shortly thereafter (something to do with Tamsin’s Valkyrie power) and she lies and tells the Morrigan that the dude died before she could get anything from him.
**Bo is going through “The Dawning,” some kind of fae evolution process, only this is 200 years ahead of schedule.
Dig It or Bury It?
What a snooze-fest. It was dull, it was anti-climactic, it was just weaksauce. Even the one fight scene with the zombie guards was dull. It was almost like the writers were bored with the Keniz/Noorn storyline, so they just did what they could to wrap it up, however boring, random, or nonsensical it was. Why, if Anari died, did she not revert to her original form? Was production too cheap to hire another actress? Again - weaksauce! And where the hell did this idea of the Dawning come from? How random was that?
Fae Tales
As a Valkyrie, Tamsin can create doubt in people and make them second guess themselves. It is a powerful weapon of war, and it makes her face this awesome skeleton. And apparently she can wake people from comas, but it almost always ends in death.
Anari was a kitsune, a fox fae. They don’t really tell us much more about it, other than the fox fae have a whole sorority, so that ought to tell you something about them. Apparently her special skill is “glamour,” but no further details are given.
Prophecies?
Bo goes back to “where it all began.”
Are you ready for a modern version of Norman Bates? Well, ready or not, A&E is ready to roll out it's new original dramatic series loosely based on Alfred Hitchcock's infamous film 'Psycho' and setting the story of Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and his mother Norma (Vera Farmiga) in present day. We've seen a handful of teasers, we've seen a cool behind-the-scenes featurette, but now as the March 18th debut inches closer, A&E has unveiled this brand new trailer for the series. Check it out below and get more info on the show via the official A&E website.
The horror anthology is back in a big way, and Sanitarium is the newest offering on the list. Premiering March 1, the anthology features three stories of madness from directors Bryan Ramirez, Kerry Valderrama and Bryan Oritz.
The half-hour tales kick off with Dr. Stenson, the physician at the Sanitarium, who guides viewers through the sanitarium relating tales of each patient’s specific madness.
The cast stars Robert Englund, Lacey Chabert, Lou Diamond Phillips, John Glover, and Walter Perez.
The Governor is no good. We all know it. He’s a desperate man, willing to do desperate things to remain in power. Merle knows this better than anyone. Watch the new sneak peek for next week’s The Walking Dead episode where Merle explains to Hershel just how methodically the Governor will destroy Rick and his gang.
Read the recap of last week’s episode Home here.
Composer Danny Elfman and Director Tim Burton have worked together on Burton’s films for over 25 years and now they plan to collaborate on a live performance.
Next October, Elfman will sing live on stage for the first time in 18 years (remember kids, he was the front man for Oingo Boingo) accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra. Images from Burton’s films will provide backdrop for the event.
According to the Telegraph, Elfman is especially looking forward to singing parts of The Nightmare Before Christmas.
“The idea of performing some of Jack Skellington's songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas live for the very first time is immensely exciting," he said.
If you happen to be visiting Londontown next October, check out Danny Elfman's Music from the Films of Tim Burton on October 7 at the Royal Albert Hall. I am booking my plane ticket now.
Watch him in action singing for Oingo Boingo below.
Where would Rick be if not for Daryl’s trusty crossbow quickness? Last week's episode of The Walking Dead is a perfect example of how gang would be brainless without Daryl Dixon. Commemorate his awesomeness with this hand-made “Daryl Saves” patch. Sew it on your wicked metal jean vest, leather jacket, backpack or Girl Scouts sash.
The creator of this patch offers a number of other options including “Bad Wolf” for Doctor Who fans, Ash’s S Mart uniform badge, and a “Dark Wings, Dark Words” patch for Game of Thrones obsessives.
A recent story in USA Today shared the news that Clive Barker is working on an original comic book series for Boom! Studios entitled New Genesis. The premise is vintage Barker, who has never been one to shy away from twisting spiritual themes in ways that are bound to make some people uncomfortable. Barker, along with co-writer Mark L. Miller (fresh off a run on Boom!’s Hellraiser series) will be telling a version of the Bible’s Old Testament set in the present day.
Reading about that series (which I will have more to say about in the coming weeks) set me to thinking about Barker’s rich and varied history in comics. His work has always been uniquely suited for adaptation to comics, giving writers and artists a wealth of visually rich material to draw from.
Barker’s comics presence seems to come in fits and starts, with Boom! being his current home. IDW was in the Barker business a few years ago, turning out fantastic adaptations of The Thief of Always and The Great and Secret Show (which I’ll also have more to say about at a later date). This time around I want to concentrate on Barker’s first big foray into comics, a five issue series from Eclipse called Tapping the Vein.
Eclipse was a small indie publisher taking advantage of the growing specialty comics market in the late 1980s/early 1990s by publishing quality alternatives to the standard capes 'n' tights comics of mainstream companies like Marvel and DC. They pulled out all the stops with Tapping the Vein, producing each issue as a squarebound book on glossy paper that served as a fantastic showcase for the consistently excellent artwork. Each volume featured adaptations of two stories from Barker’s landmark short story collection Books of Blood: Human Remains and Pig Blood Blues in issue one; Skins of the Fathers and In the Hills, the Cities in issue two; The Midnight Meat Train and Scape-Goats in issue three; Hell’s Event and The Madonna in issue four; and How Spoilers Bleed and Down, Satan in issue five.
Adapting Barker’s work was a daunting task for the writers, who had to find ways to distill Barker’s lush, distinctive prose for a largely visual medium. Eclipse called on a mix of established veterans and talented newcomers to handle the writing chores, and they all succeeded in producing scripts that effectively used a minimum of words while preserving Barker’s voice. Among the scribes was a young Steve Niles, who went on to create the popular and inventive vampire series 30 Days of Night.
There were no weak points in the lineup of artists, but veteran John Bolton may have had the best run of them all, contributing a couple of series highlights in the first two issues. It was Bolton who provided everyone with their first impression of what Tapping the Vein was all about with his iconic issue one cover, which a depicts a smiling man with a hand protruding from his left eye socket, clutching an eyeball between thumb and forefinger. It’s an unmistakable and unforgettable image in a series full of them.
Bolton followed that up in issue two by illustrating Chuck Wagner and Fred Burke’s adaptation of In the Hills, the Cities, one of the most visually challenging stories this series would tackle. Bolton does an amazing job of capturing the story’s central image: thousands of people intricately lashed together to form mobile, battling giants. In one full-page splash and several close-ups, Bolton manages to bring this image to vivid life.
Eclipse brought the series to an end with the fifth issue, but they continued to mine Books of Blood with several standalone editions, many of which followed Tapping the Vein’s format of two stories per release. We’ll take a look at those stories when we return to this series in a few weeks.
Blu Gilliand is a freelance writer of fiction and nonfiction. He covers horror fiction at his blog, October Country, and contributes interviews to the Horror World website (www.horrorworld.org). Follow him on Twitter at @BluGilliand.
Cult Episode 101
“You’re Next”
Written By: Rockne S. O’Bannon
Directed By: Jason Ensler
Original Airdate: 19 February 2013
In This Episode...
Jeff is an investigative reporter with the Washington Post who was fired after lying in a story and is trying to rebuild his career. Nate is his younger brother, a recovering drug addict whose new addiction is a TV series called “Cult.” “Cult” follows a young detective, Kelly, who escaped a cult led by Billy Grimm. Kelly’s sister Meadow, and her nephew Andy, have disappeared and she is on the case. Nate has a panicked meeting with his brother at a diner. He is paranoid and convinced someone is after him. A red car drives by (a car just like one driven in “Cult”) and Nate flips. He tells Jeff that if anything happens to him, find Miriam. Then he gives Jeff a pair of high-end 3D glasses - one red lens, one blue - and disappears. Later that night, Jeff gets a call from Nate. The connection is bad, but Nate says, “Well, hey, these things just snap right off” (which is a common saying in “Cult”). There is a thunk and the line goes dead. Jeff goes straight to Nate’s house and discovers that he is not there. There is a huge pool of fresh blood in his desk chair and “Cult” playing on the television.
Detective Sakelik is happy to brush Nate’s disappearance off as a drug deal gone bad, so Jeff takes it upon himself to start investigating. He starts with the “Cult” set, where an unrealistically helpful publicist is ready to give him anything he wants - until she discovers he is no longer with the Post and kicks him out. “Cult” research assistant Skye overhears Jeff’s story about his missing brother and strikes up a conversation. Aside from the normal fandom surrounding a show like “Cult,” there is this whole underground, obsessive fanbase, which sounds like what Nate was a part of. Skye is not part of the obsessive fanbase, but she seems fascinated by it and understands it.
Skye takes Jeff to the fan.dom_ain, a cyber cafe built for fans. In a back room are the hardcore “Cult” fans, who (apparently) have some “Cult” network that can only be accessed from those computers. It is there that they discover “Cult” role players, who are having... whatever role players call a gathering. Upon arriving at a motel (the same one “Cult” shot at) dozens of “Cult” role players spill out and beat a hasty retreat. Inside one of the motel rooms, Skye and Jeff find Miriam, a middle-aged woman who was posing in photos with Nate, crying and hysterical on the floor. She is dressed as Meadow, one of the “Cult” characters who disappears, but then kills herself like another “Cult” character - a shot to the head. Detective Sakelik takes lead on Miriam’s case as well.
Jeff returns to Nate’s house and sorts through more of his belongings. He watches a few scenes of “Cult” from Nate’s DVR: the scene where Meadow is abducted; the scene where Joey (accused kidnapper of Meadow) shoots himself; the scene where Kelly uses her own 3D glasses to discover a CD and little Andy in a crate. Jeff discovers the same CD stuck between two pages of Nate’s “Cult” journal. Skye comes over, and tells him that the same disc on the show would upload all a person’s personal info to Billy Grimm. They pop it into his computer. All it shows is static. Remembering the TV show, Jeff puts on his own pair of 3D glasses and sees a screen of Hangman-style blanks. Jeff fills in the blanks with “Well, hey, these things just snap right off.” The bluetooth turns on, and Jeff gets a phone call. It is Nate, who again sounds static-y. He is mad that Jeff put in the CD. “How could you? Don’t try to find me.” And he is gone.
Also: the waitress at the fan.dom_ain cafe assists in kidnapping one of “Cult’s” studio executives in the same manner that Meadow is kidnapped in the show; and Detective Sakelik has a geometric tattoo that is significant to “Cult.”
Dig It or Bury It?
Barring the typical “pilot woes” (uneven acting, too much info jammed inelegantly into a single episode) I really enjoyed Cult and am looking forward to seeing where this shows goes.
Prophecies?
Skye and Jeff attempt to get closer to “Cult’s” notoriously secretive producers.
