Sister Mary Chopper is headed your way and she’s going to send you to heaven.
Vito Trabucco’s awesomely ridiculous bloodbath, Bloody Bloody Bible Camp is out on DVD, available On Demand and will be premiering at the LA Horror Fest during a midnight screening on October 26. Stars Tim Sullivan, Reggie Bannister, and Ron Jeremy will be there to sign autographs.
In case you aren’t familiar with Sister Mary Chopper and her stabbing habit, here’s a synopsis of the movie,
Bloody Bloody Bible Camp serves as "a throwback to the slasher flicks of the 80’s and finds beloved genre icon Reggie Bannister (Phantasm) as Bible Camp counselor Father Dick Cummings, who protects his young flock from stalking serial killer Sister Mary Chopper, played by writer/director Sullivan (2001 Maniacs, Chillerama), taking a turn in front of the camera. Rounding out the mix is adult film superstar Ron Jeremy (Boondock Saints) as no less than the son of God himself, Lord Jesus Christ!"
Writer/producer/director and cult favorite Tim Sullivan is the man behind the maniacal nun Mary.
“When Reggie called and asked me to play Sister Mary Chopper,” Sullivan said, “my first thought was that Kane Hodder had said ‘no,’ and it turned out that I was right. Having always dreamed of playing a slasher slaughtering naked teens at a summer camp, how could I turn down the offer? I just never thought I’d be doing it in a stuffed bra and nun’s habit. It’s an outrageous little throwback to the kind of slasher flicks our generation all devoured back in the proverbial day. Oh, yeah. I take a turn in front of the cameras playing transsexual killer nun Sister Mary Chopper (!) Hey, we ain’t talking The Exorcist here, we’re talking a cool little, unassuming flick made for peanuts by passionate filmmakers who are bucking the studio system and self distributing directly to fans in a drastically changing market place. It’s hands-on filmmaking of those doing it for the thrill and love of horror cinema (God knows nobody did this for the bucks! Lol! You think wearing a dress, falsies and a blinding devil mask in 100 degree heat is FUN? Lol)."
You can see the film at these upcoming screenings:
Oct. 20, 2012 - Flint Horror Con
Oct. 26, 2012 - Minnesota - Gore Fest
Oct. 26, 2012 - Los Angeles - Midnight Screening - LA Horror Fest (LA Premiere)
Watch the new Bloody Bloody Bible Camp trailer:
'Bloody Bloody Bible Camp' Gets Screening, VOD Treatment
Dean Koontz's 'Frankenstein' Coming to Television
Horror novelist Dean Koontz's series of Frankenstein novels have been optioned by TNT and is being developed into a television series.
Koontz's modern day take on the Frankenstein tale is set in New Orleans, 200 years after Victor and his creation have an epic Arctic battle. Both survived (Victor through science and the creature because, well, he's not actually alive) and both end up in present day New Orleans - unbeknownst to one another. When their paths cross, the old rivalries are reignited and "New Orleans is caught in the middle." The Frankenstein series, consisting of five novels, was originally turned into a TV movie / backdoor pilot for USA, but nothing ever came of it.
James V. Hart, who wrote Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula and produced Kenneth Branagh's Frankenstein, will adapt the script along with his son, as well as serve as producer with Koontz.
Source: Deadline
My Dying Bride: 'A Map of All Our Failures' – CD Review
Exclusive: We Get Metaphysical With Sean Stone, Director of 'Greystone Park'
Sean Stone (son of Oliver) makes his feature directorial debut with Greystone Park, a found-footage flick inspired by his own experiences in an abandoned mental hospital. In this exclusive interview, Sean talks about haunted hallways, ghosts, and his famous dad.
Greystone Park is “based on a true story.” Of course, I need to know what that true story is.
The true story is really the one you see on-screen. You see the dinner table scene - that was the catalyst for this whole event. When my father was in New York shooting Wall Street 2, we all had dinner: my dad, Alex Wraith, me, a couple of friends. Alex was talking about Greystone, this haunted hospital. He had been exploring it for three years. He had taken his camera with him; he had been arrested a couple of times for trespassing. He was trying to document what was going on, trying to make a movie about it because he felt like it was such a rich location. He really convinced me it was worth exploring. The next night, he and I broke in. When we first went, I invited Antonella [who also appears in the movie], but she couldn’t come. As soon as we went through this first night of exploration, Alex saw a ghost, reacted to it, he appeared possessed, he kept taking us deeper inside... what happened was the groundwork for the story we wanted to tell. Then we wrote the script, but we kept going back and exploring, seeing more and more things happen: getting phone calls from demons; having things fly at us from nowhere; seeing people get possessed... the list goes on. What’s fun about the film is there is a script, but we are shooting in real locations that are actually haunted, so you’ll get things that happen, like Alex getting possessed on camera. I think that was real. That wasn’t part of the script. His behavior was beyond ordinary acting, and I think that translates.
Did you film in the real Greystone Park?
We couldn’t get permission to film there because the building is condemned. We ended up shooting in Letchworth Village in New York, which was a mental hospital for kids. We shot in Creedmoor in Queens, Snug Harbor on Staten Island, and Linda Vista in LA. All those are notoriously haunted locations.
What are some of the other events in the movie that are real - that were not scripted?
There is a sequence where Antonella and Alex are in front of me, in the basement. We are supposed to be reacting to sounds. They literally heard a scream for nowhere. I didn’t hear it, but they heard it. They started running and I caught up to them and they looked completely panicked. They go through ahead of me through a doorway, and they both take off screaming and running. I catch up to them, and Antonella is on the floor, crying. She saw a giant shadow that crossed her vision, and that is what made her run. Alex saw the same thing. Some may say their imaginations were acting up, but those are the kind of moments we have in the film that were not scripted that makes it fun to watch.
Is it safe to say you believe in ghosts?
Yeah. I believe in other dimensions.
You mentioned that this all began because Alex was trying to document the real Greystone Park. Will that ever make it to film?
Yeah. The problem we are having is that this film was a very difficult film to get made, across the board. It took three years. We started the process, we lost financing multiple times, so to get distribution is already a great triumph for us. Eventually, when I can get enough money together, I would love to take the real footage we have of the actual [Greystone Park] and turn it into a documentary. But that requires a certain amount of time, and right now I am focused on developing a new feature film, which takes away from my ability to work on the documentary. But yes, eventually I want that footage out there.
Maybe include it in the DVD extras?
Well, on the DVD extras, we already have some pretty cool stuff. There is a commentary with Alex and Antonella and I all talking about the film, what was real, what was staged, what it was based upon. We have two little featurettes on the real ghosts and hauntings and locations. So you’ll get some really cool footage.
What is the response you are getting from audiences? Do they believe it is real?
I don’t think anybody thinks that it is real documentary footage. I think we are at a point now where it’s “the boy who cried wolf.” You have The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, which were fake found-footage. Now you have a slew of wannabe found-footage films. So by the time a film comes out, they say, “e are not found-footage; we are based on actual events.” Everyone goes, “yeah, sure, whatever.” At the end of the day, I can’t convince every blogger that we lived this, that this is our story, but I think the film will stand on its own. If you watch it, and you feel creeped-out by it, you end up walking out of it and jumping at your own shadow, then it has done its job. It has activated something in you that is fundamentally afraid of the paranormal.
Why was this the right film to be your directorial feature debut?
There is a reason for everything. I have faith that there is a reason this became my first film. It wasn’t my intention. I had two projects I was developing, one of which was a surveillance footage film - like where you use surveillance camera footage to tell a story. The two films I was developing were nothing like this. I met Alex and we broke in to the hospital, and I knew this was a story I just had to tell. The location sold me. I was fascinated. That fascination drove me to making the film.
Was there anything about directing that took you by surprise? Anything that was more challenging than you expected?
That’s hard to say. Growing up with my father [Oliver Stone] who has made 14, 15 movies, and I’ve seen the hardship of it. I’ve seen him work on movies that fell apart in the process of preproduction, even just a few weeks before production was supposed to start. There is no guarantee you will get a movie made until it is done, and it has been released. The difficulties were really more financial, location, and strategical. Some of the buildings that we really liked were condemned, so we were limited by that. We spent a lot of time exploring, going from mental hospital to mental hospital to try to find the place that work for the movie. I think that was the biggest challenge.
Going to all those institutions did you feel a little mad by the end?
Oh, not by the end. By the beginning! But there was definitely a point where I could have cracked up. You’ll see that in the documentary. I almost lost it. It wasn’t just the film, it was the fact that we picked up energies along the way. We went to places where Satanists were worshipping for a reason. When Satanists open up a portal and practice black magic, you’ve got to know there is a dark energy there, and it’s going to follow you. Places like Letchworth where children died. There are stories of children being murdered in one of the houses we explored. That place actually ended up burning down. I can’t wait for the documentary - you can’t really fake a documentary, as much as skeptics will accuse us.
Growing up with Oliver Stone as your father, is that pretty much the best film school one could hope for?
Yeah, it is. The best experience was Fight Against Time [the documentary Sean shot about his father filming Alexander.] When I worked on Alexander, I was there for three or four months of filming, on location every day, just living it with my father, by his side with a camcorder, talking to him, seeing what a director goes through, the decisions he is making in the moment... that’s as good as they come.
Greystone Park is ow available on DVD and VOD.
TV Recap: 'American Horror Story: Asylum' Episode 201 - 'Welcome to Briarcliff'
American Horror Story: Asylum Episode 201
“Welcome to Briarcliff”
Written By: Tim Minear
Directed By: Bradley Buecker
Original Airdate: 17 October 2012
In This Episode...
Much like season one, AHS: Asylum starts at 80mph and doesn’t let up. Set in 1964, Briarcliff Asylum started as a tuberculosis hospital. In 1962 the Catholic church bought the place and turned it into a sanitarium. Sister Jude runs the day-to-day of the asylum. She is a stern nun whose faith is unwavering and believes all her wards must adhere to a strict moral code. Above her is Monsignor Howard, a more progressive priest that is the object of Sister Jude’s unwanted fantasies. Jude’s second-in-command is Sister Eunice, a submissive nun who is easily frightened, given to tears, and believes that she should be severely punished for even the slightest transgression.
Also on staff at Briarcliff is Dr. Arden, who is in charge of the medical wing. He is as fervent in his belief in science as Sister Jude is in her faith in God. Similarly, he will go to extremes for his beliefs. Dr. Arden’s favorite treatment, unsurprisingly, is lobotomies, which he believes can drive the devil out of a person. Somewhere along the way, he created some kind of human-beast that dwells, unseen, in the woods surrounding the asylum. Sister Eunice sneaks out at night to leave buckets of offal for them.
We are introduced to Kit Walker, a young man who runs a gas station. He and his wife, Alma, must keep their marriage a secret because she is black and he is white and where they live, that is still illegal. One night after work, he comes home to a home-cooked meal and a warm bed. Blazing white light floods the house in what seems like a military action. Instead, it is an alien abduction - or what Kit believes to be an alien abduction, complete with probing and the whole nine. When we next see Kit, he is doing a perp walk on his way into Briarcliff, under arrest for being Bloody Face, a local serial killer who has decapitated at least three women - including Alma - and wearing their skin as a mask. Kit, naturally, insists he is innocent. When another inmate in the common room calls him Bloody Face, a fight ensues and Kit is sent to solitary. He is “rescued” from solitary by Dr. Arden, who believes he “doesn’t belong there.” He talks a hard game about lobotomies, but instead Dr. Arden cuts open Kit’s neck to explore a lump that is “too hard to be a tumor.” He pulls out what looks like a computer chip. After a few moments it sprouts legs and scurries like a bug.
Another important character is Lana, a journalist who is sick of doing household tips articles. She uses Briarcliff’s on-site bakery as a ruse to get inside and interview Sister Jude about it, but instead she really just wants a look at Bloody Face who was being transferred that day. She gets the sense there is a bigger, darker story there, and with the blessing of her lesbian partner Wendy, Lana returns to Briarcliff. She finds Sister Eunice out feeding whatever it is that lives in the woods and strong arms her into letting her have a few minutes in the asylum. While inside, she gets too close to one of the cells and is attacked. She wakes, strapped down line a patient. Sister Jude had gone to pay Wendy a little visit and blackmails her into having Lana committed. Despite having no legal backing to do so, Jude promises she can find a sympathetic judge who wouldn’t mind outing the two to the community, which would end Wendy’s teaching career and likely drive them out of the state.
Dig It or Bury It?
If you liked season one, you will love season two. It is more of the same insanity but personally I think the asylum setting is scarier than the house (and I like James Cromwell and Joseph Fiennes far better than I liked Dylan McDermott.) It is pure insanity - no pun intended - and over-the-top in an almost cartoonish fashion.
So far, my main complaint is about the segments shot in the present day. Meant as wrap-arounds of a sort, it follows a young couple on their “haunted honeymoon:” the are visiting the 12 most haunted locations in America and having sex in each one. Classy. Anyway, they are screwing on an exam table that probably saw lots of horrible things done to sick people, when they hear a noise. Naturally, they investigate. The groom, Leo, uses his cell phone to illuminate and record a narrow passage while his wife, Teresa, blows him. He screams - something had torn off his arm. Teresa runs, trying to find a way out to get help, and she runs smack into Bloody Face. Now, I’m sure there is a point to all this at some point, but as of right now, these two are obnoxious and seem to have only one purpose: freak audiences out with their weird sex life.
Meet the Inmates
We meet two tonight. First is Shelly, a nymphomaniac who is a caricature of herself. She cannot go one minute without touching herself or touching someone else, and every single word out of her mouth is a single entendre. We also meet Grace, a quiet girl on kitchen duty who befriends Kit. Naturally, because she seems so nice and sweet, she has got to be royally fucked up.
Prophecies?
That didn’t take long: an exorcist comes to Briarcliff.
TV Recap: 'Supernatural' Episode 803 - 'Heartache'
Supernatural Episode 803
“Heartache”
Written By: Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming
Directed By: Jensen Ackles
Original Airdate: 17 October 2012
In This Episode...
Dean has a new case: every six months, people are showing up with their hearts ripped out of their chests. Not surgically removed, but Kali Ma’d from the chest. The boys interview a man in Minnesota named Paul, who was jogging on the same path as the most recent victim, but he seems to have no idea what happened (of course, he was the one who did it.) The interview another man, Arthur, who was a witness in another murder in Iowa; he was crazy and talking in tongues.
Sam and Dean realize that both witnesses were recipients of donor organs. Even more, they both received organs from the same man: a former pro football player named Brick Holmes who died in a car accident. With the help of an anthropology professor, they discover that Arthur was speaking ancient Mayan and praying to the Mayan god of maize. A quick interview with Brick’s mom, and a search of the house later that night finally revealed the truth: that Brick had been a 1,000 year old Mayan.
The Winchesters confront Brick’s mom, Eleanor, and she admits everything. Brick was a Mayan athlete who made a deal with the god of maize that would keep him young and strong, as long as he sacrificed two human hearts per year in the name of the god. In the 1950s, when Brick was a boxer, he met Betsey. They fell madly in love and got married. When Betsey aged and Brick didn’t, he finally admitted the truth. Betsey was too in love to care. Every ten years or so they would disappear and reinvent themselves. Eventually, it just made more sense to reinvent themselves as mother and son. Eleanor is Betsey. The crash that killed Brick was no accident - he killed himself because he couldn’t stand to see his beloved grow old (or some such nonsense.) But with his organs being donated, the spirit of Brick beats on, and those who got transplants continue on the curse. Eleanor tells Sam and Dean that if they can destroy Brick’s heart, the others will be free of the curse.
Eleanor informs them that a skanky stripper has the heart, so Sam and Dean head down to her club and break in. She is there waiting for them. An uninteresting fight takes place which leaves Dean pinned to the floor, about to have his heart ripped out. Sam had been knocked out or something, because he is unguarded and smacks the stripper over the head with a bottle. This distracts her long enough to allow Dean to stab her to death.
Dig It or Bury It?
I don’t know what it was about this episode, but I just couldn’t connect with it. Maybe I was distracted; maybe it was because it wasn’t very funny; maybe it was just too obvious. But I just couldn’t get into it.
Spooky Humor
Sam’s fake name this week is Agent Sam Bora. Took me a minute - Sam-Bora, as in Richie Sambora.
Flashback to the Future
A single flashback, for Sam: Amelia and Riot surprise him with a picturesque birthday picnic. Sam is really determined to get back to that ideal life.
Prophecies?
Next week is a found footage episode.
Beauty Found in Darkness: Exclusive Interview with Composer Jill Tracy
I first came across the music of Jill Tracy when I reviewed a compilation of “Dark Cabaret” artists from renowned gothic label Projekt Records, and her song “In Between Shades” was one of the album's most memorable tracks. As fate would have it, while exploring more of her music (including an incredible live score to Nosferatu), I learned that she was closely involved in the short film The Fine Art of Poisoning, which is featured in FEARnet's ever-expanding horror shorts collection. One thing led to another, and soon we were chatting about her involvement in the film, her “musical séance” project, and her latest and most ambitious undertaking – a Musical Excavation of the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, with its intriguing collection of medical oddities.
'Paranormal Activity' Mystery Tweet- Who Is Jacob Degloshi?
Does this photo look familiar to you? It ended up in my inbox with almost no explanation.
One of the girls is obviously Alex from Paranormal Activity 4, but who is the other girl? The image is from the @JacobDegloshi twitter handle where he writes, “Sarah and one of her friends when they were younger.” He also links to a video entitled “Surprise for Sarah,” from the feed.
Hmmm... Really, no idea. The photo is a polaroid, so that’s something. Jacob also has a Facebook page. He went to the University of Nevada, lives in Henderson, is divorced and Sarah appears to be his daughter. Subscribe to it for more information or follow the Twitter feed for details on Jacob and Sarah.
Spanish Market 'Mama' Trailer Is Que da Miedo
Best not make mama mad.
The spanish version trailer for Guillermo Del Toro’s Mama looks a lot like the first trailer, with a few minor changes including more images of Mama herself and the destruction she causes. She's a harsh disciplinarian.
If the trailer tells us anything, it's to think twice before adopting children who have been living alone in the woods for five years, but if you’re going to, don’t let them write on the walls.
Watch it, it’s chilling. Mama is in theaters January 2013.
Dylan McDermott Returns to 'American Horror Story'
American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy has confirmed that Dylan McDermott will return for the show's second season.
In the premiere season of the FX show, McDermott played Ben Harmon, the unfaithful and increasingly scummy patriarch who moved his family across the country to get away from his mistakes. Murphy, who tweeted the news, offered no details as to what character he would play, or how many episodes he would appear in (surprise, surprise.) This marks another season one actor who has returned for season two (other returners include Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Zachary Quinto, and Sarah Paulson.) Connie Britton, who played McDermott's wife, Vivien, in season one, has said that she would love to return this season, schedule permitting. She is currently starring on the ABC primetime soap Nashville.
American Horror Story: Asylum airs Wednesday nights on FX.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
The Dude Designs 'Video Nasty' Poster Art
VHS is coming back. Not the format but the nostalgia, with found-footage film V/H/S and Mondo releasing a special edition VHS copy of Sledgehammer. Now, the Poster collective has revealed a new, limited-edition poster honoring this lost art.
The Dude Designs (aka illustrator and art director Tom Hodge) created this Video Nasty poster to honor the delectably dirty VHS box art of the 1980s.
The poster will be available for sale on October 19th at 10am ET at PosterCollective.com. The poster is limited to 150 prints and will cost $45 each. Plus, $1 from every sale will be donated to Keep a Breast, a breast cancer non-profit.
FEARnet Movie Review: 'The Bay'
Every time I feel beaten down by a rash of mediocre new "found footage" horror flicks, I have to remind myself that HEY, I actually do like this gimmick. (Yes, still!) If I have to struggle through Area 407 and Crowsnest and Hollow to find buried treasures like [REC], Paranormal Activity, and Grave Encounters, then that's just fine with me. But just as this "DIY" approach to storytelling lends itself exceedingly well to lazy first-timers with no ideas and no money, it can also evolve into something quite novel and creepy when handled by smart, clever, and/or experienced filmmakers. Thankfully that's what has happened in the case of The Bay, a simple enough horror flick that could have easily become just another chintzy eyesore were it not for some clever writing, crafty editing, excellent special effects, and (best of all) a seasoned filmmaker who may by new to the horror game, but is obviously still a gifted storyteller.
Angry, Undead Rats in Uwe Boll's 'Zombie Massacre' Trailer
Director Uwe Boll’s latest project is the video-game-turned-film, Zombie Massacre. Boll is producing the adaptation which is based on a 1998 first-person shooter game for the Amiga computer. It’s directed by Luca Boni and Marco Ristori who made Eaters. Here’s the story:
A bacteriological weapon – developed by the US Government to create a super soldier – spreads an epidemic in a quiet little town in the middle od Eastern Europe. All citiziens have been turned into infected zombies. The plan is: to bring an atomic bomb into the nuclear plant of the city to pretend a terrible accident. No one has to know the truth. A commando of mercenaries is hired to do the mission. The battle is on. Hordes of monsters against a bunch of men. Who will survive?
The airport setting is faintly reminiscent of Quarantine 2: Terminal and maybe just a little of Nightmare City, but nowhere near as batshit crazy. There does, however, seem to be a fair amount of killing with Samurai swords and throwing stars, and some very angry zombie rats. Check it out:
Exclusive: 'V/H/S' Directors on Their Real-Life VHS Memories
Found-footage anthology feature V/H/S returns audiences to the good ol’ days of VHS tapes. Before DVD, before iTunes, there were VHS tapes and video rental stores. While it is unlikely that anyone misses the technology, what most people are nostalgic for is the culture that sprung up around VHS. So we asked some of the brains behind V/H/S about their fondest VHS memories.
Director Joe Swanberg, “The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger” - When I was first getting into films, I remember going to the video store and, if there was a director you liked, you had to turn over all the boxes and look for that director’s name. Everything was a sense of discovery back then. Now it’s easy to find whatever you are looking for in like five seconds. So I kind of miss that feeling of wandering through a video store and discovering things.
Actress Helen Rogers, “The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger” - I liked the staff picks section.
Director David Bruckner, “Amateur Night” - I had Terminator on VHS, and a handful of other James Cameron movies. I only really had what my dad had recorded off the television, and I must have watched those a thousand times, until the tape was really worn down. My first movies were edited on VHS, between two VCRs, pressing “play” and “record.” So you would have those static speckles between edits. I made a whole end of the world story on Mario Paint, that early Nintendo game. Because you could do like three second animations and record them straight to VHS.
Writer Simon Barrett, “Tape 56” - One of the things that actually brought me and Adam [Wingard] together was our love of 1980s Hong Kong action films. I grew up in a small town in Missouri, and there was this one Chinese grocery, and they had all these video tapes, all labelled in Chinese. I actually taught myself a little bit of Cantonese so I could see films like A Better Tomorrow and The Killer. Sometimes I’d rent the wrong movie and end up watching some weird drama, but that is how I found some of my favorite films, like The Tigers. Sometimes watching 12th generation bootlegs, your mind would have to do some of the work for you. Like when I first saw Meet the Feebles, it was maybe a 12th generation VHS. Then I saw it on film, in a theater, and had no idea how low budget that film was.
Director Adam Wingard, “Tape 56” - That’s the funny thing about how Simon and I got together in the beginning. When we first met, we both had this infatuation with weird Hong Kong cinema specifically, or just trashy foreign cinema in general. A lot of those, the only way you could get them was through crappy VHS tapes. That whole thing is kind of lost now. You can rip off something and you don’t suffer the generational losses. Now you feel nostalgic for it!
Exclusive: Director Scott Derrickson on the Sounds of 'Sinister'
FEARnet Partners with Todd Masters' MASTERSFX for 'Son of a bash' Costume Party at Son of Monsterpalooza
FEARnet—the cable industry’s premier TV movie network, VOD channel and online portal featuring horror, suspense and thriller content—will join forces with Todd Masters’ MASTERSFX to present “Son of a BASH,” an exclusive star-studded costume party celebrating the 25th anniversary of MASTERSFX.
“Son of a BASH” is the 15th MASTERSFX BASH, and the first BASH since 2007. This industry event will be a feast for the senses, featuring live entertainment, masterful makeup and a disturbing DJ set by the legendary CryptKeeper, himself, from “Tales from the Crypt.” The red carpet will begin at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 8 p.m. on Saturday, October 27 at the Marriott Burbank Hotel & Convention Center in Burbank, CA. “Son of a BASH” is being organized in conjunction with the Son of Monsterpalooza convention, starting Friday, October 26.
As part of the event’s charity component, 25 special VIP tickets will be sold for $250, with all proceeds going to benefit the Southern California Hospice Foundation. People who purchase these tickets will not only receive a monster grab bag, but will be able to enter the party in full-on monster makeup, created for them by Todd Masters’ own team of Hollywood makeup artists. There will also be opportunities for fans to win exclusive tickets online via the event’s Facebook and twitter accounts—fans can follow along at event #sonofaBASH—as well as other social media outlets. And celebrated genre filmmakers Jen and Sylvia Soska, a.k.a. the Twisted Twins (“American Mary”), will also be giving away tickets, as will the various vendors who will be attending Son of Monsterpalooza this year.
Todd Masters is an Emmy Award-winning makeup and character effects artist whose impressive recent credits include work on a variety of hit TV shows and movies such as “True Blood,” “Falling Skies,” “Arrow,” “Fringe,” “Sinister” and the upcoming feature, “Vamps.” He began throwing these Monster-Makers Bashes in the early ‘90s at MASTERSFX headquarters in the San Fernando Valley, as a way for some of the industry’s top professional monster makers to come together and show off their skills to other professional monster makers. Initially the party was invite-only and exclusive, but word eventually got out and the event’s notoriety and popularity grew.
The yearly BASH has always been non-profit, and, in the time following 9/11, the BASH raised thousands of dollars for the Families of Freedom organization, which benefits those who lost loved ones on 9/11. This year, proceeds will go toward the Southern California Hospice Foundation.
"We threw these Pro Monster Maker Events for over a decade, and it nearly took over our lives—a monster in itself! Years later, we still look back at the amazing costumes and makeup that professional artists would conjure up exclusively for this event, turning the venue into the ‘Star Wars’ Cantina Bar… from Hell! Now, working with Son of Monsterpalooza and FEARnet, both of which carry on the spirit of what these events were all about, we're excited to bring it back," said Masters.
MASTERSFX clientele includes some of the biggest names in the business, and each year the BASH guest list reflects this. Past BASH events have featured established genre icons such as Kurt Russell (“The THING”), Tobe Hooper (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”), Angus Scrimm (“Phantasm”) and John Kassir (“Tales from the Crypt”), as well as Seth Green (“Robot Chicken”), Nicolas Cage (“Drive Angry”), Traci Lords (“Blade”), Billy Zane (“Demon Knight”), Judd Nelson (“Dark Asylum”) and Paul Reubens (“The Nightmare Before Christmas”).
“One of our marketing priorities at FEARnet is to sponsor and promote local film festivals and fan conventions,” said Faye Walker, FEARnet’s vice president of marketing. “Grass-root efforts are a cornerstone of our marketing campaigns—we’re a network of fans, and we like sharing our programming and our love for the genre with other fans. Being involved in MASTERSFX’s ‘Son of a BASH’ is a great way to do this, while supporting an extraordinary company and a great cause; and we’re especially excited to support them in making their party the industry event of the year! As a special treat, the Cryptkeeper will be making an appearance at the event.”
With October, its most popular month, well underway, FEARnet has added special Halloween programming treats to its lineup. Highlights include the annual fan-favorite 24-hour marathon of the cult classic “Trick R’ Treat” on October 31, as well as airing episodes of the Emmy Award-winning anthology horror series “Tales from the Crypt” every Friday night from 7 to 9 p.m. Upcoming “Tales from the Crypt” episodes for October 26 are “The Sacrifice,” starring Michael Ironside (“Scanners”), about a murderous man being blackmailed for his deeds, and “Four-Sided Triangle,” directed by Tom Holland (“Fright Night”) and starring Patricia Arquette (“Medium”) as a troubled woman in love with a scarecrow.
Scream Queens and Female Directors Come Together for Aliens to Zombies Convention
Directors Jennifer and Sylvia Soska, Halloween star PJ Soles, The Crazies’ Lynn Lowry, Brea Grant from Halloween II, and Christine Elise of Child’s Play 2 fame will discuss women’s roles and their evolution in the genre as part of the Women in Horror and Science Fiction panel at the second annual Aliens to Zombies Convention on Tuesday October 30.
The convention runs for two days, October 29 and October 30, at The W Hotel in Hollywood and includes a film festival featuring The Hidden Hand, which explores “the possibility of an ET presence here on Earth.” It’s an annual event that features panels, film screenings and exhibitors examining everything from A to Z in the world of science fiction, horror, and the post-apocalyptic world in pop culture.
SyFy’s Monster Man cast will also be at the Aliens to Zombies Convention to judge the costume party and sign autographs. Visit the website for a full rundown of events.
Danny Trejo Back for More Slashing! Rodriguez's 'Machete Kills' Gets Distribution Deal
Heads will roll, again.
Machete Kills, the second installment in Robert Rodriguez’s planned trilogy, has been picked up for distribution by Open Road Films, and will be released in 2013.
The cast in this sequel is pretty bonkers. Danny Trejo and Michelle Rodriguez are back of course, with Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alexa Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding Jr, William Sadler, Marko Zaror, and Mel Gibson rounding out the cast. Let’s just think about this: Mel Gibson, Lady Gaga, and Cuba Gooding Jr. Gibson is reported to be playing the villain, while Charlie Sheen will be the President of the United States.
It’s tough to image how Rodriquez will up the kills from Machete, which included several decapitations, a disembowelment, someone having their face shined off, a shoe to the eyeball, and circular saw to the head, but he will undoubtedly find a way.
Here’s the official plot:
Danny Trejo returns as ex-Federale agent Machete, who is recruited by the President of the United States for a mission which would be impossible for any mortal man - he must take down a madman revolutionary and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war and anarchy across the planet.
This is the first image from the film, with Amber Heard and Danny Trejo snuggling on the couch. Hopefully we’ll be seeing a trailer soon.
via Deadline
Cool 'Halloween' Infographic Maps Michael Myers’ Kills
This awesome infographic shows Michael Myers' body count throughout the Halloween franchise, from Halloween to Halloween: Resurrection, with easy-to-follow icons.
Remember Big Al from Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers? I believe he took a knife to the stomach and was pushed off a truck? He’s on there. What about poor Nurse Karen who got it in the whirlpool in Halloween II? On there too.
For the full-size and embeddable version of this infographic visit Notchordamnatchoz on Visual.ly.
A Meeting of the Genre Minds: Christopher Lee Reads Tim Burton's 'A Nightmare Before Christmas'
It's a match made in the most beautiful hell: Christopher Lee reads Tim Burton's original The Nightmare Before Christmas poem. So sit back, grab a spiked hot cocoa and curl up with Scary Teddy, and enjoy this frightful tale of holiday fear.