Troma Entertainment has been around since 1974, when college friends Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz founded the fiercely independent film studio. The pair met at Yale.  Since its inception, the studio has become one of the largest independent film studios and distributors in The United States.

Troma has been instrumental in launching the careers of many of Hollywood’s biggest names. Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and Kevin Costner all worked in Troma films toward the beginning of their careers. Legendary genre writer/director James Gunn landed his first directing gig (Tromeo and Juliette) via Troma Entertainment. Troma is also responsible for lending source material to several high profile remakes. Darren Lynn Bousman (Repo! The Genetic Opera) loosely remade the 1980 Troma film Mother’s Day. Bousman’s reboot was released last year. Remake deals are reportedly in the works for some of Troma’s most recognizable films, such as, The Toxic Avenger, and Class of Nuke ‘Em High.  It may be a while before either of those happen, however.

Despite playing a major role in the film industry and contributing to the discovery of many household names, Troma Entertainment has the stigma, in some people’s minds, of being nothing more than a schlock obsessed, low-budget, nonsense machine. As a result, we see viewers (even genre fans) turning up their noses at the works of very talented filmmakers.  

Being very passionate about independent film and Troma’s contribution to the indie film scene, we wanted to take a moment to set the record straight and offer up five Troma titles that every horror fan should see. This is not a top five list. This is a history lesson for the un-inducted. Just like with any film studio, there are films in the Troma catalogue that aren’t great. But, for some reason, it seems that people lump all Troma titles together and are willing to write off an entire studio based on a bad experience. We’ve never seen someone do that with 20th Century Fox or Warner Brothers. So, because we are thoughtful and also passionate about independent filmmaking and Troma, we have put together some titles that will give horror fans not familiar with Troma’s brand of cinema a sample of what the studio’s films are really like. The Troma Team is responsible for some terrific films and we don’t want anyone to miss out on the opportunity to take in some fantastic flicks, based on a misconception. We wager that watching the five films listed below will make a Troma fan out of any genre fan. But, really, there is no need to thank us. We are here to help. We mean it. You can stop, now.

Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day was directed by Charles Kaufman, Lloyd’s brother, who has since left Hollywood. Mother’s Day has a couple of schlocky moments, but it’s ultimately a fantastic outsiders vs. locals film. It is in the vein of movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We don’t mean to say that Mother’s Day is as good as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; there are few fright films that are on the level of TCM. But, Mother’s Day is a brutal, suspenseful, and outrageous bloody good time. It’s a visceral and intense horror film. Mother’s Day is a great choice for someone who has never seen a Troma film before. If you first showed an un-inducted viewer something like Tromeo and Juliette, they may end up not wanting to watch another Troma film. And that’s not because Tromeo and Juliette is a bad movie, it’s because the film is a little "out there". Tromeo and Juliette did actually achieve a certain amount of critical acclaim. But if you showed it to someone with no perspective on the works of Troma Entertainment, they probably wouldn’t appreciate it in the same manner as someone who is familiar with Troma’s particular brand of zany.


Girl’s School Screamers
John P. Finnegan directed Girl’s School Screamers. It was his directorial debut and the only film he ever directed. Girls School Screamers is a great second film for someone still becoming familiar with the Troma Library. Girls School Screamers has some of the signature Troma campiness in it, but it has a lot in common with a run of the mill B-grade slasher film. It’s the story of a group of college-aged girls, in a house, being picked off by a baddie. That’s easy enough for even a casual horror fan to get on board with. There are a few scenes that are overacted, but that is something you will find in any title from the Troma library. Girl’s School Screamers is not necessarily one of Troma’s best films. But for the newcomer, it’s a good second title to watch while continuing their introduction to all things Troma.  

Girls School Screamers recently went out of print (OOP) on DVD. It is commanding nearly $30 for a new copy, via Amazon. For more on what’s out of print, check out our feature detailing some popular titles that are OOP on DVD.

The Toxic Avenger
The Toxic Avenger is Troma. The titular character, also known as Toxie has become Troma Entertainment’s mascot. The Toxic Avenger was co-written and co-directed by Troma founder, Lloyd Kaufman. After you’ve seen Mother’s Day and Girl’s School Screamers, you will have a better understanding for the Troma aesthetic and their signature sense of humor. Trying to watch The Toxic Avenger without that base knowledge may preclude a new viewer from completely "getting" The Toxic Avenger.  

This film is actually certified fresh by Rotten Tomatoes. It’s one of the best Troma films, ever. But, as we mentioned before, it’s really important that the viewer know a little bit about Troma’s liberal use satire before they tackle The Toxic Avenger. This was the first Troma film I saw, and I regret not seeking out some other titles from Troma’s sizeable back catalogue, beforehand. I liked the movie, the first time I saw it. But I didn’t completely "get it" until the second time I watched it. Upon my second viewing, I had significantly expanded my exposure to Troma and the film resonated with me in a completely different way. It’s one of my all time favorite Troma releases.

The Toxic Avenger gave birth to a short-lived children’s cartoon called Toxic Crusaders. Only 13 episodes of the series exist. I remember watching the show during its short run in the early nineties. A box set featuring all of the Toxic Avenger films and all 13 episodes of Toxic Crusaders was released on DVD in 2008. It is still available on Amazon. Prior to its release, the complete animated series was impossible to find by any conventional means.

Class of Nuke ‘Em High
Like The Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke ‘Em High was co-written and co-directed by Lloyd Kaufman. Nuke ‘Em High is another essential Troma film. Next to The Toxic Avenger, I cannot think of a film that is more representative of the Troma aesthetic than this. Nuke ‘Em High is campy, cheesy, and satirical. It takes place in Tromaville, where the students attend Tromaville High School. The problem the students of Tromaville High are up against is daily exposure to toxic waste. It seems that the constant contact with this harmful byproduct is causing them to act out in increasingly strange ways. Nuke ‘Em High is one of my personal favorite Troma films and I think that after one has seen the three films we listed previously, they are more than ready to spend a couple of hours at Tromaville High Shool.

Return to Nuke ‘Em High (a co-production with Starz Media) is currently listed as being in post-production on IMDb.

Father’s Day
We started this lesson by introducing you to Mother’s Day and we will end our lesson with Father’s Day. We put Father’s Day last for a couple of reasons. First, because it is one of Troma’s newest films and we think it shows how far the studio has progressed since its early days, and inversely, it shows exactly how much Troma has stayed the same. The second reason we put it last is that Father’s Day is one of the most shocking exploitation films to come out in some time. The previous four films lead the viewer up to a place where they are ready for this story of a mad man who is on the loose and raping people’s fathers. It gets worse. But, we don’t want to ruin the fun for you.  

Father’s Day is a joint venture between Troma and the filmmaking fivesome Astron 6. Astron 6 took to the director’s chair for Father’s Day, but Troma took on the producing role, and Lloyd Kaufman made a cameo appearance as both God and The Devil. With a tagline like: “Sons, Lock Up Your Fathers,” you can only imagine the kind of good old-fashioned debauchery you’re in for with Father’s Day.

Troma is accepting donations, by way of crowd funding, for a documentary called Occupy Cannes. The documentary will focus on independent film studios and filmmakers and how they must fight to stay alive in a business that is dominated by the studio conglomerate. You can donate here until March 8th at 11:59 PM.
 

When an Antarctic expedition comes upon a series of undiscovered islands, the scientists on board must investigate. On these islands, they find plant and animal life unlike anything anywhere else on earth. Many of these species are large, possibly straight out of a pre-human era, and in order to record and photograph as many of these creatures as possible, the group splits up. Giant, Pteranodon-like beasts nest high above and immense beetles scurry in the thick foliage, as the scientists struggle to collect as much data as they can before nightfall. But when night comes, half the group doesn’t return to the ship. And the subsequent search-and-rescue becomes an all-out battle for survival.

Jason V. Brock’s Milton’s Children is a novella that will leave you longing for more, and a worthy continuation of the “lost world” subgenre. The style and storytelling structure read like something taken from a 1930s pulp, and I mean that in a good way. The story brings to mind its “lost world” predecessors: Doyle’s The Lost World, Burroughs’s The Land that Time Forgot, and Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, to name a few, but without the Victorian language. The story is at once modern and nostalgic, quite a fete.

My only major complaint about the story is the style used when the search-and-rescue party discovers the missing group’s video recording. It is laid out almost like a screenplay, which is a clever idea, but it doesn’t quite work. The character directions in this section overwhelm the dialogue, which slows the story and makes for choppy reading. Besides this, Brock’s tale offers a treat for fans of the genre, with allusions throughout (the title, character names, the creatures on the islands, etc.).

Over the last few years, Brock, editor of [Namel3ss] Magazine, and the man behind the films Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of Twilight Zone’s Magic Man and The Ackermonster Chronicles! has been mixing weird fiction’s past with its present in interesting ways, and Milton’s Children is no exception. Pick this up and then pre-order his forthcoming collection from Hippocampus Press, Simulacrum and Other Possible Realities.

Milton’s Children by Jason V. Brock is currently available from Bad Moon Books as a signed/limited hardcover for $25.00

Is there anything more special than taking a cherished childhood icon and turning it into a horrifying image of demonic decay? Artist Picasso Dular doesn't think so. He has turned Winnie the Pooh and the entire Hundred Acres Woods crew into Pinhead, Chatterbox, Butterball, and all your favorite Hellraiser cenobites. It is the perfect shirt to warn against the dangers of... well, anything really. "Look kids, Winnie the Pooh didn't clean his room. Look what happened to him!"

Available in both men's and women's shirts. 

$29.00 from Picasso Dular

I'm not sure if it is good or bad that mainstream film festivals segregate horror films to special "Midnight" sections. On the one hand, these special sections are rarely in competition, but on the other hand, it gets them in front of an audience that may not otherwise be exposed to it.

But I digress. The Tribeca Film Festival announced today its Midnight Movies selections, marking a rebranding of the film block from Cinemania. Check out the lineup below:

• Dark Touch, directed and written by Marina de Van. (France) – World Premiere, Narrative. Niamh is the lone survivor of a bloody massacre after the furniture and objects in her family’s isolated house take on a monstrous life of their own. The police ignore her wild stories and the family friends and social worker who take her in try to introduce a new life. But in this psychological thriller, Niamh is unable to leave her violent past behind her, endangering everyone who crosses her path.

• Frankenstein's Army, directed by Richard Raaphorst, written by Chris W. Mitchell and Miguel Tejada-Flores. (Netherlands) – International Premiere, Narrative. In the waning days of World War II, a team of Russian soldiers finds itself on a mysterious mission to the lab of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. They unearth a terrifying Nazi plan to resurrect fallen soldiers as an army of unstoppable freaks and are soon trapped in a veritable haunted house of cobbled-together monstrosities. Frankenstein’s Army is the wild steampunk Nazi found-footage zombie mad scientist film you’ve always wanted.

• Fresh Meat, directed by Danny Mulheron, written by Briar Grace-Smith. (New Zealand) – New York Premiere, Narrative. After a poorly executed escape from the police, a gang of dysfunctional criminals flees to the suburbs and gets more than it bargained for when it crash lands in the garage of an upper-class Maori family whose refined palates have developed a taste for human flesh. This action-packed horror comedy tells a blood-spattered tale of basement butchery and shifting allegiances as these unlikely adversaries enter a deadly showdown. A Tribeca Film release.

• The Machine, directed and written by Caradog James. (U.K.) –World Premiere, Narrative. Caradog James adds another layer to the Frankenstein story in the latest gripping sci-fi adventure to come out of the U.K.. Already deep into a second Cold War, Britain’s Ministry of Defence seeks a game-changing weapon. Programmer Vincent McCarthy unwittingly provides an answer in The Machine, a super-strong human cyborg played by the impressive Caity Lotz (The Pact). When a programming bug causes the prototype to decimate his lab, McCarthy takes his obsessive efforts underground, far away from inquisitive eyes.

• Mr. Jones, directed and written by Karl Mueller. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. Scott (Jon Foster) is a filmmaker in need of inspiration. He and his girlfriend Penny move into a desolate house hoping to make a breakthrough. Then they discover their neighbor, the elusive Mr. Jones. Famous for his haunting sculptures, Mr. Jones has remained a mystery to the world. Scott and Penny, convinced that they have found the perfect film subject, sneak into his workshop and realize that their curiosity may have chilling consequences. Who is Mr. Jones?

• Raze, directed by Josh Waller, written by Robert Beaucage. (USA) – World Premiere, Narrative. Stuntwoman Zoe Bell (Inglorious Basterds, Kill Bill 1&2) headlines this sly subversion of the women-in-prison genre. After Sabrina (Bell) is abducted, she finds herself in an underground lair, forced to do battle with other innocent women for the amusement of unseen spectators. Each of these reluctant warriors has something to lose, but only one will remain when the game is done. Violent and relentless, Raze takes its video game aesthetic to the deepest and darkest places, rarely surfacing for air. Includes Rachel Nichols and Tracie Thoms.

• V/H/S/2, directed by Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto, Gareth Evans, Jason Eisener, written by Barrett, Jamie Nash, Tjahjanto, Evans, Eisener, and John Davies (USA, Indonesia) – New York Premiere, Narrative. Investigators break into a house, find a vast collection of VHS tapes and play them one by one. The videos include visions of the paranormal, flesh-eating zombies, a shockingly genuine scene of hell on earth and a slumber party gone horribly awry. This highly anticipated sequel to last year's horror breakout V/H/S features contributions from contemporary genre filmmaking’s leading talents, including the creators of Hobo with a Shotgun, The Raid, You’re Next and The Blair Witch Project. In English, Indonesian with subtitles. A Magnet Release.

The Tribeca Film Festival runs April 17-28 in New York.

Our new feature series continues with a look at the amazing work of DIY horror artist Rev. Chuck Jarman, whose eBay and Etsy stores feature an ever-changing inventory of horror movie replicas you won't find anywhere else. Every one of these one-of-a-kind pieces is hand-sculpted by Jarman, and the loving detail on these things will blow your mind. 

• Audio Commentary With Director Joe Dante And Actors Dee Wallace, Christopher Stone and Robert Picardo
• Unleashing the Beast: The Making of The Howling Multi-Part Documentary
• Deleted Scenes And Outtakes
• The Making of a Monster: Inside The Howling Documentary
• Horror’s Hallowed Grounds – A Look at the Film’s Locations
• Photo Gallery
• Theatrical Trailers

The Blu-ray/DVD bundle and the stand-alone DVD are available for preorder (just follow the links), and both will be released on June 18th.

Screencraft just announced their first ever ScreamCraft Horror Screenplay Competition. Writers can submit their dark works to the competition for a chance to have their screenplay considered by a panel of industry insiders for a place on The Blood List.

What’s The Blood List? It’s “the top 13 most-liked screenplays in the horror, thriller, sci-fi, fantasy, or dark comedy/drama genres as decided by 100 industry insiders who vote on their favorite scripts each year.”  The panel includes executives from Sony, Lionsgate and Paramount.

Winners will receive cash prizes up to $1,000 and access to managers, agents and producers. First Place and Runner-up will receive a complementary screenwriting software package from Celtx, including their newly launched Script for Mac OS X, Script for iPad/iPhone, and a 1 year free subscription to Edge online workspace!

Click here to find out how to enter. Submissions are due June 1, the winner will be announced in August.

While films that pit notorious horror icons together to ‘face off’ are far from classic cinema, there is no denying that they can be fun if taken as the mindless entertainment they are intended to be. When Freddy vs. Jason was released, it surpassed expectations by grossing over $80 million domestically. The film almost spawned a sequel, Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash. The follow up never came to fruition, since Sam Raimi wanted to maintain the rights to the Evil Dead franchise.  A year later, we saw another epic pairing with AVP: Alien vs. Predator, which also grossed an estimated $80+ million. Then, in 2007, we saw AVPR: Alien vs. Predator: Requiem hit the market. And, of course, who could forget the Oscar contender (sarcasm) that was Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys.

There are plenty of hoops to jump through in order for studios to bring icons from different franchises together to duke it out. New Line, reportedly had plans to bring Fred Krueger and Jason Voorhees together long before they actually made it happen. The final scene in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday shows a Freddy Krueger hand (Also played by Kane Hodder) reaching up from Hell in the final scene of the film. However, it was ten years from the time Jason Goes to Hell was released until we saw the machete-wielding icon face off with the son of 100 maniacs. The long delay was attributed to New Line securing the licensing rights to both franchises.

To be clear, we are not seriously suggesting that each of the pairings we have dreamt up should result in a feature film or that the film would even be good if it did come to be. However, we know as well as the next horror fanatic that it’s fun to speculate about what could be, so here we are, doing just that.

Chucky vs. Leprechaun
These two maniacs are both of smaller stature than the typical homicidal horror baddie, but that doesn’t prevent either one from raising some major hell. Seeing the two go head to head would be great fun for audiences. Getting Warwick Davis and Brad Dourif on board would be essential, if a match up ever did occur. Trying to imagine anyone other than the two of them attempting to embody the voice of Chucky or the role of Leprechaun would be blasphemous.

Michael Myers vs. Leatherface
Both of these boys are the strong silent type and both have strong family values. In a battle to the death, it’s difficult to speculate who would prevail, but we would happily go along for the ride. In a match up, we would love to see Gunnar Hansen don the skin mask, one more time. But, Michael Myers has been portrayed by so many different actors, even being played by multiple people in a single film, that in his case, we are open to suggestion for who should wear the Shatner mask in a mash up.

Pamela Voorhees vs. Angela Baker
In a fight for survival, would Pam lose her head (pun intended) or would she make an unhappy camper out of Angela? Though, Pamela Voorhees met with an unfortunate fate in Friday the 13th, she wouldn’t be the first member of the Voorhees clan to be resurrected from the dead. It would be an absolute delight for fans to get to see Betsy Palmer reprise the role of Mrs. Voorhees, one more time. As for Angela Baker, if she were to face of with Pam Voorhees, it would have to be Felissa Rose. Though, Pamela Springsteen did a fine job of taking the reigns in the second and third Sleepaway Camp films, for us, Felissa Rose is the one and only Angela. You can see more on both Pam Voorhees and Angela Baker in our Underrated Horror Killers Feature.

Candyman vs. The Creeper
It’s difficult to assess just who would come out on top if The Creeper and Candyman found themselves taking part in a showdown. The Creeper has got mad hops, but Candyman has a mean right hook (pun intended). Since the likelihood of another Candyman movie is slim, we can at least speculate what it would be like to see him square off with the likes of The Creeper.

As far as realistically seeing The Creeper on screen again, it’s hard to say if or when that will happen. Jeepers Creepers 3 is one of those films that is always rumored to be headed in to production, but every time it’s been announced that a third film was on the horizon, it’s turned out to be nothing but unsubstantiated rumors. There is an IMDb page that says Jeepers Creepers 3 is in the script is written, but the page hasn’t been updated since last year, and the last we heard, the sequel was still up in the air.  So, until Victor Salva can give us another proper Jeepers Creepers film, we will have to settle for imagining what it would be like to see The Creeper face off against the ominous, hook-wielding, Candyman.

Damien vs. Rhoda Penmark
On the surface, these killer kids share similar sociopathic tendencies. But, if you look a little deeper, their motivations couldn’t be more different. Damien is evil incarnate, and Rhoda is driven by the desire to get what she wants and a lack of guilt. Damien has the whole ‘son of Satan’ thing working in his favor, but Rhoda has pizzazz, something that Damien is sorely lacking. And, while you cannot theoretically pizzazz someone to death, a little charisma goes a long way. Moreover, I would like to see Rhoda try to pizzazz Damien to death. It sounds fun.

This scenario will undoubtedly never happen, for many reasons; not the least of which being that Rhoda and the original Damien are old enough to be grandparents. Also, we wouldn’t want to see classic cinema like The Omen or The Bad Seed sullied. However, that doesn’t stop it from being a showdown about which we enjoy speculating on.

Ghostface vs. Jigsaw
Both Jigsaw and Ghostface are always up for a game. Jigsaw forces victims to answer questions of morality; Ghostface forces victims to answer questions of trivia. In both cases, the price of a wrong answer is death. Since Ghostface is multiple people and typically dies in every Scream film, it’s hard to imagine who would don the mask for a show down with Jigsaw. We know that Jigsaw died early on in the Saw franchise, but if a team of writers can resurrect nearly every other horror killer for sequel after sequel, we’re sure that something could be put together.

Both the Scream and Saw franchises have been the source of sequel speculation, but as of this moment, neither Saw 8 nor Scream 5 are being developed. While we aren’t too bummed about not getting a Saw 8, we would be open to the possibility of one more Scream film to bring closure to the franchise.

Critters vs. Gremlins
Without Gremlins, there would probably be no Critters. It’s long been said that Critters ripped off Joe Dante’s 1984 film Gremlins. However, that didn’t stop Critters from being a gory good time. It would be great fun to see the pint-sized mischief-makers pitted against one another in a battle to the death.

As far as Gremlins is concerned, Internet rumors about a remake surface every couple of years. However, all we have to say about that is: we will believe it when we see it.

Let us know what you think in the comments below. Who would you like to see go head-to-head?

BBC Three is launching a new three-part series called In the Flesh which can be best described as The Walking Dead with the political currents of True Blood. Thousands of the dead suddenly rise from the grave, but once the panic settles down, Great Britain sets about rehabilitating the undead so they can reenter society. The government even passes legislation protecting those with PDS (Partially Deceased Syndrome) from discrimination. But like so many minorities, PDS sufferers are not welcomed back into society.

The series follows a young PDS man named Kieran who tries to return to his family in a small village, only to discover it is a hotbed of HVF (Human Volunteer Force - the undead equivalent to the KKK) activity.

Right now, the series is only airing on BBC Three, but hopefully it will come to BBC America soon enough. In the meantime, enjoy these clips and PSA-style ads.

This week in horror history, fans around the world were introduced to a few of the weirdest, and most iconic characters, to ever hit the screen: The Crypt Keeper, the Creature, and the king of shadowy gentlemen, Nosferatu.

The Freddie Francis-directed Tales from the Crypt is a classic - the best in horror anthologies. Based on the EC Comic franchise, the story kicks off with a group of people taking a tour of a crypt – as you do- who find themselves locked in a room with a strange man who turns out to be the Crypt Keeper come to tell the group how each of them has died. It has to be noted that this original Crypt Keeper is slightly less skeletal than the television we all know and love, but he's memorable in his monk-like ensemble, all the same. Each tales is well-crafted and fun to watch, the most memorable being ... And All Through the House, about an escapes serial killer, dressed as Santa, who stalks a housewife (Joan Crawford) who, in turn, has just finished murdering her husband. Like most Tales stories, each person’s death is some sort of punishment for transgressions in life.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon is the ageless story of beauty and the beast. An underwater dweller sees a lovely lady in a bathing suit and a misunderstood aquatic stalker is born.

Speaking of stalkers … Nosferatu wrote the book on creeping. F. W. Murnau set the bar for Dracula tales with his expressionist masterpiece starring Max Schreck as the count. Shadows elongate the already spindly and hunched Schreck creating the haunting and unforgettable image of the count climbing a staircase in search of his prey.

Title:Tales from the Crypt
Released: March 8, 1972

Our friends over at i09.com have an exclusive look at Joe Hill’s heavily-anticipated novel NOS4A2 (guess how it’s pronounced?)

So, what's this new story all about? As Hill explains, “Our hero is Victoria McQueen, a seventeen-year-old kid who has come looking for trouble and is about to find some. Vic believes she has found the hideout of a man who has a car that runs on human souls instead of gasoline. This man-known to her only as the Wraith-is impossibly old and has destroyed an unfathomable number of lives. If Vic doesn't want to be the next person he grinds up and spits out, she's going to have to watch her step ... ”

Well, it’s one way to reduce your carbon footprint. Read part of the excerpt below, and get the rest at i09.com

From NOS4A2, by Joe Hill

Vic leaned her bicycle against the wall, to one side of the big garage door, and pressed her face up to the glass. The garage contained an old black car with a small rear window. It was a Rolls-Royce, the kind of car Winston Churchill was always getting out of in photographs and black-and-white newsreels. She could see the license plate: NOS4A2.

That's it. That's all you need. The police can track him down with that, Vic thought. You have to go now. You have to run.

But as she was about to step away from the garage, she saw movement through the rear window of the old car. Someone sitting in the backseat shifted slightly, wiggling to find a more comfortable spot. Vic could dimly see the outline of a small head through the foggy glass.

A child. There was a child in the car-a boy, she thought. The kid had a boy's haircut.

Vic's heart was by now beating so hard her shoulders shook. He had a child in his car, and if Vic got on her bike and rode away, maybe the law would catch up to the man who owned this old ride, but they would not find the kid with him, because by then he would already be under a foot of dirt somewhere.

Vic didn't know why the child didn't scream or let himself out of the car and run. Maybe he was drugged or tied up, Vic couldn't tell. Whatever the reason, he wasn't getting out of there unless Vic went in and got him out.
She left her Raleigh where it was and went around the corner of the garage. She expected the side door to be locked, but when she turned the handle it popped open. Quavering, high-pitched, helium-stoked voices spilled out: Alvin and the Chipmunks singing their infernal Christmas song.

Her heart quailed at the thought of going in there. She put one foot over the threshold, tentatively, as if stepping onto the ice of a pond that might not be safely frozen over. The old car, obsidian and sleek, filled almost all the available space in the garage. What little room was left was jammed with clutter: paint cans, rakes, ladders, boxes.

The Rolls had a roomy rear compartment, the back couch done in flesh-toned kidskin. A boy slept upon it. He wore a hooded rawhide jacket with buttons of bone. He had dark hair and a round, fleshy face, his cheeks touched with a rose bloom of health. He looked as if he were dreaming sweet dreams; visions of sugarplums, perhaps. He wasn't tied up in any way and didn't look unhappy, and Vic had a thought that made no sense: He's fine. You should go. He's probably here with his father and he fell asleep and his father is letting him rest and you should just go away.

Vic flinched from the thought, the way she might've flinched from a horsefly. There was something wrong with that thought. It had no business in her head, and she didn't know how it had gotten there.

She tapped on the glass. The child did not stir. He was younger than her, twelve or thereabouts. There was a faint, dusky wisp of hair on his upper lip.

"Hey," she called to him in a low voice. "Hey, kid."

He shifted, but only to roll onto his side so his face was turned away from her.

Vic tried the door. It was locked from the inside.

The steering wheel was on the right side of the car, the side she was already on. The driver's-side window was rolled most of the way down. Vic shuffled toward it. There wasn't much space between the car and the clutter piled against the wall.

The keys were in it, the car running off the battery. The face of the radio was lit a radioactive shade of green. Vic didn't know who was singing now, some old Vegas dude, but it was another one about Christmas. Christmas was almost four months in the rearview mirror, and there was something awful about Christmas music when it was nearly summer. It was like a clown in the rain, with his makeup running.

"Hey, kid," she hissed. "Hey, kid, wake up."

The boy moved slightly, and then he sat up and turned around to face her. Vic saw his face and had to bite back a cry.

It wasn't anything like the face she had seen through the rear window. The boy in the car looked close to death-or beyond death. His face was lunar in its paleness, except for the hollows of his eyes, which were bruise-colored. Black, poisonous veins crawled beneath his skin, as if his arteries were filled with ink, not blood, and erupted in sick branches at the corners of his mouth and eyes and in his temples. His hair was the color of the frost on a windowpane.

He blinked. His eyes were shiny and curious, the one part of him that seemed fully alive.

He exhaled: white smoke. As if he stood in a freezer.

"Who are you?" he asked. Each word was a new puff of white vapor. "You shouldn't be here."

"Why are you so cold?"

"I'm not," he said. "You should go. It isn't safe here."

His breath, steaming.

"Oh, God, kid," she said. "Let's get you out of here. Come on. Come with me."

"I can't unlock my door."

"So climb into the front seat," she said.

"I can't," he said again. He spoke like one sedated, and it came to Vic that he had to be drugged. Could a drug lower your body temperature enough to make your breath steam? She didn't think so. "I can't leave the backseat. You really shouldn't be here. He'll come back soon." White, frozen air trickled from his nostrils.
 

We’ve been covering Franck Khalfoun’s remake of William Lustig’s cult hit Maniac for quite a while now. Read the FEARnet review here and an interview with Maniac star Megan Duffy.

IFC Midnight just announced the film will be available in theaters and VOD on June 21st, 2013. Good news for those of us who weren’t able to see it on the festival circuit. Until then, we'll just have to watch the red band trailer below.

via Horror Society

Though these aren't confirmed as official posters for [REC]4, they are still very cool, and feature Angela Vidal, who fans of the series remember managed to escape the quarantined building.

Here's the [REC]4 set up:

Angela Vidal, the young television reporter who entered the building with the fireman, manages to make it out alive. But what the soldiers don’t know is that she carries the seed of the strange infection.

She is to be taken to a provisional quarantine facility, a high-security installation where she will have to stay in isolation for several days. An old oil tanker, miles off shore and surrounded by water on all sides, has been especially equipped for the quarantine.

[REC] 4 Apocalypse is directed by Jaume Balaguero and is reportedly set to film this spring.
 

via Bloody Disgusting

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is one of those mythical films that could only succeed in the horror genre. After a huge premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival, Mandy Lane was one of the most buzzed-about films of the year. And the next year. And the next year. And yet it has never seen a Stateside release of any kind. Until now.

Directed by Jonathan Levine (whose surprise hit Warm Bodies no doubt made Mandy Lane far more appealing) the film starred Amber Heard (The Ward, Drive Angry) as "good girl" Mandy Lane, who is invited to an end-of-summer party where partygoers mysteriously drop one by one. The flick, produced for $600,000 and bought at auction following the Toronto screening for $3.5 million by the Weinstein Company, has languished on the studio shelves for nearly a decade due to a wide variety of studio problems and indecision. At one point TWC sold the property to a German distribution company who went under before they could get Mandy Lane to theaters.

The Weinstein Company's new multi-platform division, Radius-TWC, has finally secured the rights and is planning a strong release, including VOD and theatrical releases in the "top 50 markets." There is no release date as of yet, so I am not getting my hopes up. After all, the original deal promised a release on 800 screens. That never happened.

Source: Deadline

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!

Colder No. 5

The insanity-driven story of Colder comes to a close in this issue. Declan, our chilly hero, has been captured by the creepy Nimble Jack. After being toyed with for a bit, Declan is finally able to strike back and attack the insane antagonist for the first time in the series. It's crazy vs. crazy in this final showdown.

Bag it or board it up? I've been following this comic from the beginning, and I've had my ups and downs with it. I found the first issue very inventive and interesting. I think the characters are fun and creepy. The gore is fantastic. But the depiction of "crazy" always feels a little lazy to me. In this issue, we get some background and only spend a tiny bit of time in the madness of the mind. Otherwise, it's just an awesome slugfest (of the mind) between two great characters. This is a fun issue and I really enjoyed it.

Kiss No. 8

The rhinestoned foursome streaks across the galaxy on a quest from the Elder to fight Satan in his galactic hell. As they battle with the prince of darkness, they use their powers alone and in conjunction with one another. The fight is epic, with bursts of flames and evil bats, magical axes (get it?), and all sorts of explosions and blasts of magic.

Bag it or board it up? This comic is not good for a bunch of reasons. The dialogue is easy, stilted, and boring. Here's an example where Starchild speaks to Satan about KISS's magical talismans: "You lost them when your pathetic proxy failed to stop our human avatars on the elder's cosmic plane" -- uh, what? The action is fine, lots of jumps and punches. But what really burns me up about this issue is the way the female lead is portrayed. Let's talk about the role of women in comics, can we? All through this issue, there's a female character who questions the Elder (a god-like old man). She's kept at bay. She's dressed in skin-tight spandex. She's not allowed to do anything until the end. Her name? She. (Yes, really.) Finally, at the end, She's basically given permission to save the day by the Elder. This is the type of lazy, damsel in distress, objectified crap that I'm sick of in comics.

Steve Ditko's Monsters Vol. 1: Gorgo

Oh Gorgo, we love the way you smash apart London. We love the way you remind us of another giant green monster. And no one loves you more than Steve Ditko. The wonderful pioneer illustrator started his love affair with Gorgo as a promotional tie-in comic with the film when it was first released in theaters, and the series took off and continued. Here, collected, is that first comic, old covers, anecdotes, stories, and a great introduction to the work.

Bag it or board it up? There's a lot to love here. If you're a monster movie fan, this comic is a throwback. If you're a Ditko fan, some of his weirdest work is in this book. I swear, sometimes Gorgo looks like a sickly green man. The comic is vintage, kitschy fun. And there's also a wealth of knowledge about the comic and the movie crammed into this hardcover collection. This is a lot of fun to read, and as an object it's pretty nice too!

Hellboy in Hell No. 4

Hellboy and his guardian/guide recount the trials of hell so far. His guardian's true identity is revealed, the story of how that person came to hell is lavishly retold. Eventually the big guy is left to his own devices, and begins to slowly explore his new home. I could say more, but this is a series you should be reading and I don't want to spoil anything.

Bag it or board it up? Please bag it! Hellboy in Hell is the pinnacle of moody, atmospheric horror comics. There isn't a huge duel between Satan and Hellboy (that's been taken care of already). There aren't spouts of flame and lava. It all looks so dreary and sad, it's a vision of hell we don't much get to see. If you have the patience for an interesting, action-light comic, you need to be reading Hellboy in Hell. And if you don't have the patience for that sort of thing, take a deep breath, calm yourself, and read Hellboy in Hell anyway.

Grimm Episode 213
“Face Off”
Written By: Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt
Directed By: Terrence O’Hara
Original Airdate: 8 March 2013

In This Episode...

We pick up right where we left off last year, with Nick finding out that Juliette is hooking up with Captain Renard while he is still on his verrat-killing high. Monroe tries to keep Nick calm, because right now he looks like he could easily kill Renard. He is called down to a crime scene - the one he just created. Nick does his best to inspect the scene like it was all fresh to him, but Renard shows up and his anger again spikes. The victims have no IDs, no cell phones, and it appears they all died in hand-to-hand combat. At the crime scene, Juliette calls Renard - she doesn’t know what is going on and needs him. Before he goes to visit her, Renard speaks to his Vienna contact, convinced that his brother sent the verrat after him.

Renard finally goes to see Juliette. They kiss at the front door before retreating inside. Nick is watching this and marches to the front door, homicide in his eye. Again, he is saved by the phone: Monroe calls. After speaking with Rosalee, they think they know what is going on with Juliette and Renard. Monroe tells Nick that whatever obsessive-compulsive spell they are under, Renard likely saved Juliette’s life, and it is likely that neither of them have control over their feelings. Nick agrees to help Monroe look for a possible antidote instead of slaughtering his boss.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Renard and Juliette are locked in a bizarre scene of violence and passion. They are kissing passionately, almost violently, before Renard pulls away - then goes back for more. This continues, back and forth. Juliette bites Renard during a kiss. Clothing is torn off. Lamps and curios are broken as they throw each other around the room. At some point Juliette grabs Renard’s gun and pistol whips him, which nearly sends him into a Wesen fit. She holds the gun on him, then starts shooting all around him before dropping the gun. This breaks whatever magnetic hold is between them, and Renard grabs his gun and leaves quickly. The police arrive moments later, responding to complaints of gunfire. Wu is on scene, and he calls Nick, pleased to hear that he was nowhere near the house, but tasked with explaining to Nick what happened. He is frightened and rushes to the house. Juliette has been sitting on the couch, still in her ripped blouse, in silent shock, since Wu arrived. All Nick can get out of her was that she thought she saw an intruder, she shot at him, and he took the gun. Nick tells her that he knows who the other man is. Juliette is surprised, but says nothing.

Renard anonymously arranges for Adalind to be released from jail. She doesn’t want to go. Once on the street, Renard grabs her and forces her into the car. Adalind thinks that he is taking her to Nick’s trailer so they can search for the key. Instead, he takes her to the lake. He won’t show her the trailer until she fixes him. She cannot do that... but she promises she can make it better. He just needs a release. They have Wesen sex. In the morning, back at Renard’s apartment, he seems refreshed and focused, and lets Adalind stay at his place for the day. Renard goes to the trailer and searches for the key. He is frustrated, then remembers Nick hiding something in his desk at work. Sure enough, Renard finds it in the back of Nick’s desk drawer. Hank shows up and they make small talk. 

Nick is with Rosalee and Monroe at the spice shop. They think they have a cure for whatever love spell Juliette and Renard are under. It will require Nick taking the same potion that Renard took to wake Juliette. Hank calls just before he can take the potion, and alerts him that Renard is snooping around his desk. Nick explains about the key and begs Hank to keep Renard at the precinct. He does his best, but Renard is in a hurry. By the time Nick gets there, Renard is gone. 

On the way home, Juliette calls Renard to warn him that Nick knows about them. She seems mad. When Renard gets home, Adalind is eager for the key. He tells her he couldn’t find it. She is somewhat smug as she leaves. Renard’s brother has a car waiting for her and she promises to tell him that Renard tried “really, really hard” to find it. Renard then calls Nick and arranges a meet.

The men meet up at a cottage in the woods, the scene of an early case. The moment Renard shows up, Nick starts fighting him. Renard doesn’t really fight back; he mainly just blocks the blows. He is there to give the key back to Nick. He reveals some of his Wesen face, a blistering, deformed pustule. It takes Nick by surprise - but he doesn’t stop fighting. Renard has known about Nick since his aunt came to town. But this isn’t about Nick; it’s about the key - and about keeping it out of Adalind’s hands. The key phrase, however, to calming Nick down, is that no one wants the Juliette thing to be over more than he does. So the men collect Juliette and go back to the spice shop. Nick drinks down his potion. And waits. He starts convulsing and drops to the floor, turning a bright crimson color.

Also... Adalind arrives in Vienna... and discovers she is pregnant. 

Dig It or Bury It?

I am surprised at how excited I was for Grimm to return, and how much I enjoyed this episode. The series got off to such a rocky and uneven start that I just didn’t think it would even out. Now I’m totally hooked. I love the mythology direction they are going in. It is much more engaging than the procedural format format season one stuck with. I am expecting Renard to finally reveal his whole game plan for the key, the royals, and Adalind next week. If he doesn’t, I am going to be very annoyed.

Big Bad...

...owl. The only Wesen in tonight’s episode (beside Renard) was an owl-man who was able to read the trailer lock and give Renard the proper key. He was in this episode for all of 27 seconds.

Fractured Fairy Tales

At the top of the show, when Nick gets the call for the quadruple homicide, he tells Monroe. “See, your life isn’t so bad.” Nick tells him that it is the four verrat they just killed. “Oh. Well, at least you know who did it,” Monroe offers unhelpfully.

Prophecies?

The Wesen community is up in arms when a gang of Wesen are robbing banks - in full Wesen face.