Reviews, articles, rants & ramblings on the darker side of the media fringe

Posts tagged “Slasher

122 Years of Horror

A History of Horror from Diego Carrera on Vimeo.


The Tunnel – FREE Blu Ray or DVD

tunnel-posterTo celebrate the creepiest holiday of the year, Deadhouse Films are giving away, for FREE, either a DVD or BluRay of the worldwide phenomenon THE TUNNEL.

All they are asking is that you pay the cost of shipping this Australian flick to you from the Land Down Under.

One-week only, one disc per email address, but feel free to tell as many friends as you like!

The discs from this offer will be shipped together in mid-November once the promotion is over. Click on the link HERE and have your PayPal details handy…


The Boy – Trailer

The Boy is an original horror-thriller directed by William Brent Bell (The Devil Inside) starring Lauren Cohan (“The Walking Dead”).
Greta (Cohan) is a young American woman who takes a job as a nanny in a remote English village, only to discover that the family’s 8-year-old is a life-sized doll that the parents care for just like a real boy, as a way to cope with the death of their actual son 20 years prior. After violating a list of strict rules, a series of disturbing and inexplicable events bring Greta’s worst nightmare to life, leading her to believe that the doll is actually alive.


Friday the 13th: The Game

Jason Voorhees is unleashed and stalking the grounds of Camp Crystal Lake! Now we need your help to make this game an amazing reality! Check out the Kickstarter campaign HERE


The Invisible Man

The-Invisible-Man_regularThe-Invisible-Man_variantTwo new posters by Elvisdead: The Invisible Man. Available at Mondo Tees HERE

 


Tales of Halloween

tales-of-halloween_drew-struzanThe horror anthology Tales of Halloween boasts contributions from a small army of well-regarded genre directors, an even larger number of terror veterans in its cast, and opening theme music from legendary Bullitt and Dirty Harry composer Lalo Schifrin. The movie, brainchild of writer-director Axelle Carolyn, which Epic Pictures is releasing in theaters and on VOD, Oct. 16 The film has a new poster by Drew Struzan, the legendary artist whose work played such a seminal role in the marketing campaigns of the Star Wars, Back to the Future, and Indiana Jones movies, to name a few.

In a statement from The Descent filmmaker Neil Marshall, who directs one of the 10 interconnected Tales of Halloween segments, he explains how Struzan came to produce the image (turns out it doesn’t hurt to cast him in your movie).

To film geeks and movie poster collectors such as myself, Drew Struzan represents something that often seems to have been lost in recent years; the ART of movie poster design. The ability of someone to capture the essence of a movie in a single painted image and create a genuine work of art you’d be proud to hang on your wall.  So it’s an unbelievable privilege for our little film to be blessed by one of Drew’s beautiful paintings. It was incredible enough to have Drew play his first ever cameo (along with his son Christian) in my segment of Tales of Halloween. The poster itself came about when Axelle (Carolyn, my wife and also creator, producer and fellow director of the movie) plucked up the courage to ask him over dinner one night. I suspect though, since Drew is such a thoughtful and generous person, that he might have been upset if we hadn’t asked him. Either way, we’re honoured to have Drew’s incredible artwork grace our movie, and I for one will be making space on my wall for this beautiful poster.


Kermode Uncut: Wes Craven – Pioneer of Horror

Mark Kermode pays tribute to Wes Craven – one of the most gifted horror directors of our time.


Wes Craven R.I.P

wes_cravenDirector Wes Craven died on Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles. Craven was 76 and passed away at home surrounded by his family after battling brain cancer.

From his first feature film The Last House On The Left as writer, director and editor in 1972, Craven made his mark as a genre-bending, bracingly innovative horror director with a biting sense of humour. Craven also consistently demonstrated that he was a filmmaker with heart. Among the films that followed The Last House On The Left were The Hills Have Eyes and a sequel, Deadly Blessing (featuring Sharon Stone in her first starring role) and Swamp Thing (based on the comic book).

Craven reinvented the youth horror genre again in 1984 with the now classic A Nightmare On Elm Street, in which he turned Robert Englund into a cult icon with the role of Freddy Krueger. The movie spawned several sequels, none of them directed by Craven, however, he deconstructed the genre a decade after the original, writing and directing the audacious Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, which was nominated for Best Feature at the 1995 Independent Spirit Awards.

In 1996 Craven experienced yet another rebirth in horror with the release of Scream, which he directed from a script by Kevin Williamson. Scream sparked multiple sequels and spoofs.

One of the last projects Craven worked on was MTV’s series adaptation of Scream, on which he served as executive producer. The series was recently renewed for a second season. “Wes Craven was a tremendous visionary whose sensibility for scares has connected with generations of MTV fans,” MTV said in a statement. “We are honored to have worked with him and proud to carry on his legacy with Scream. Our hearts go out to his family and friends.”

Craven took a breather from horror between Scream 2 and Scream 3, when he seized an opportunity to direct a non-genre film for Miramax, Music Of The Heart (1999), which earned star Meryl Streep an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. That same year he completed his first novel, The Fountain Society, published by Simon & Shuster.

Craven continued to stretch his creative boundaries with the 2005 thriller Red Eye, starring Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy and Brian Cox. The following year he switched gears again to write and direct a romantic comedy homage to Oscar Wilde featuring Emily Mortimer and Rufus Sewell as a segment in the popular French ensemble anthology Paris Je T’aime.

He then returned to horror as producer of remakes of two of his earlier films, The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and The Last House On The Left (2009). Craven’s most recent written and directed film, My Soul To Take (2010), once again brought together a cast of up-and-coming actors. It marked Craven’s first collaboration with wife and producer Iya Labunka, who also produced Scream 4, which reunited Craven with screenwriter Williamson, as well as with stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, joined by newcomers Emma Roberts and Hayden Pannetierre.

Remaining creatively engaged and active until his death, Craven had signed an overall TV deal with Universal Cable Productions. He had a number of projects in development including The People Under The Stairs and We Are All Completely Fine with Syfy, Disciples with UCP, and Sleepers with Federation Entertainment.

Craven also recently wrote and was scheduled to direct the “Thou Shalt Not Kill” segment for The Weinstein Company/WGN’s Ten Commandments miniseries. Additionally he was working on a graphic novel series based on his original idea “Coming Of Rage” for Liquid Comics in collaboration with Steve Niles.

Craven was an executive producer of the upcoming feature The Girl In The Photographs, which will premiere next month the 2015 Toronto Film Festival.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Craven was a nature lover and committed bird conservationist, serving as a long-time member of the Audubon California Board of Directors. A longtime summer resident of Martha’s Vineyard, he had moved there permanently three years ago before returning to Los Angeles for work and health reasons.


The Witch

The first trailer for Sundance winner Robert Eggers new film, The Witch, out in 2016.

Writer/director Robert Eggers’ debut feature, which premiered to great acclaim at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival (and won the Best Director Prize in the U.S. Narrative Competition), painstakingly recreates a God-fearing New England decades before the 1692 Salem witch trials, in which religious convictions and pagan folklore famously clashed. Told through the eyes of the adolescent Thomasin – in a star-making turn by newcomer Anya Taylor-Joy – and supported by mesmerizing camera work and a powerful musical score, THE WITCH is a chilling and groundbreaking new take on the genre.


R.I.P. Rowdy Roddy Piper

they-live-posterWWE legend “Rowdy” Roddy Piper died after suffering a heart attack in his Hollywood home. He was 61.

Piper’s agent Jay Schacter confirmed the news, first reported by TMZ, to Variety. “Rod passed peacefully in his sleep last night,” Schacter said in an email. “I am shocked and beyond devastated.” Piper had suffered a bout of Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2006 but was reportedly deemed cancer-free last November.

Born Roderick George Toombs, Piper joined the WWE in 1984 after getting his start with the NWA in the late 1970s. He and Hulk Hogan met in landmark matchups including MTV’s “The War to Settle the Score” and the first WrestleMania, where Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff took on Hogan and Mr. T.

Not being much of a wrestling fan I loved Piper for his film work, specifically They Live and Hell Comes To Frogtown. 

Hell Comes to Frogtown (1987) was created by Donald G. Jackson, set in an post apocalyptic wasteland where few fertile men and women exist due to atomic fallout and, as a result, the government places a high priority on those that can still breed. Sam Hell (Piper), a nomadic traveler who wanders the countryside is captured by an organization of warrior-nurses, who reveal that they located him by tracking the trail of pregnant women left in his wake. Awesome fun.

They Live follows a nameless drifter referred to as Nada (Piper), who discovers the ruling class are in fact aliens concealing their appearance and manipulating people to spend money, breed and accept the status quo via subliminal messages in the mass media (way ahead of its time!).

Director John Carpenter wanted Roddy Piper after they met at WrestleMania III earlier in 1987. For Carpenter it was an easy choice: “Unlike most Hollywood actors, Roddy has life written all over him.”

The movie featured Roddy’s now famous line: “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass…and I’m all out of bubblegum.” R.I.P. Roddy.


Jason by Sideshow Collectables

Sideshow Collectibles’ Jason Voorhees – Legend of Crystal Lake Premium Format Figure will be available for Pre-Order on Thursday, July 30, 2015 at their webpage HERE

jasonjason-2


F. W. Murnau Skull Stolen From Grave

Murnau-graveThe skull of director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, best known for vampire classic Nosferatu (1922), has disappeared from his grave in Stahnsdorf, outside of Berlin, German media reports said citing authorities.

The skull was discovered to be missing on Monday and slight damage to the grave led authorities to believe that it had been stolen. The theft is thought to have taken place between July 4 and July 12, according to the reports. Police opened a probe and called on possible witnesses to come forward.

F. W. Murnau died in a car accident in Santa Barbara in 1931 at the age of 42. He was buried back in German, and over the years, his tomb has become a kind of tourist spot for Satanists. His Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans won a two Oscars at the first-ever Academy Awards in 1929.


Damien

Here’s the official trailer for A&E’s upcoming TV series Damien, which quite literally follows the events after the 1976 psychological horror film The Omen. The trailer features many links the original, including footage from the film.

“Fans of that first movie will also be interested in finding out where Damien’s been for those missing 25 years since the last time we saw him when he was a boy and meeting him now,” showrunner Glen Mazzara told The Hollywood Reporter HERE

“I think ‘Damien’ is cutting-edge material,” he adds. “It’s trying to push the boundaries as far as violence and horror go. There’s a lot of really great drama on TV and that was not the case in 1976 when the film came out. So the bar is set so high given other great horror shows that are on TV. We have our work cut out for us; everybody is really interested in pushing the boundaries. I think we’ve got a few episodes that people are going to be talking about.”

Mazzara also reveals this is a conspiracy thriller:

“This really has a high-level of conspiracy. It plays as a conspiracy thriller because everybody wants Damien on their side or eliminated. There are a lot of different groups vying to either control him or eliminate him. There’s a thriller aspect to it, which is tricky and something that I haven’t done before and that comes directly out of the original film.”

But how will this work as a long-running television series? He explains:

“The antichrist is supposed to bring about the apocalypse, so the end game is exactly that. An end game with a capital E and a capital G. So it’s a question of if he fails — if he succeeds as the antichrist — he destroys the world. If he succeeds as preventing it, he saves the world, so the stakes are very high here. That’s a long story to tell.”

The ten-episode “Damien” follows the adult life of Damien Thorn (Bradley James), the mysterious child from the 1976 film who has grown up, seemingly unaware of the satanic forces around him. Haunted by his past, Damien must now come to terms with his true destiny — that he is the Antichrist, the most feared man throughout the ages.


Ash vs Evil Dead

“Evil is always waiting in the shadows.” See what’s waiting for you this Halloween in the STARZ Original Series Ash vs Evil Dead.


Crimson Peak – Mondo Poster Art by Daniel Danger

CrimsonPeak_Daniel-Danger_1CrimsonPeak_Daniel-Danger_2


Sir Christopher Lee – R.I.P.

Sir-Christopher-LeeSad news just in, one of my all time movie star heroes, for as long as I can remember, Sir Christopher Lee, has died at the age of 93 after being hospitalised for respiratory problems and heart failure.

The veteran actor, best known for a variety of films from Dracula to The Wicker Man through to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, passed away on Sunday morning at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, according to sources.

The decision to release the news days after was based on his wife’s desire to inform family members first. The couple had been married for over 50 years.

His film career started in 1947 with a role in gothic romance Corridor of Mirrors but it wasn’t until the late 50s, when Lee worked with Hammer, that he started gaining fame. His first role with the studio was The Curse of Frankenstein and it was the first of 20 films that he made with fellow legend, Peter Cushing.

Lee’s most famous role for Hammer was playing Dracula, a role which became one of his most widely recognised although the actor wasn’t pleased with how the character was treated. “They gave me nothing to do!” he told Total Film Magazine in 2005. “I pleaded with Hammer to let me use some of the lines that Bram Stoker had written. Occasionally, I sneaked one in. Eventually I told them that I wasn’t going to play Dracula any more. All hell broke loose.”

In the 70s, Lee continued to gain fame in the horror genre with a role in The Wicker Man, a film which he considered to be his best… he’s right.

He was knighted in 2009 for services to drama and charity and was awarded the Bafta fellowship in 2011. Lee still has one film yet to be released, the fantasy film Angels in Notting Hill.


Prank – Short Film by Alex Weight

Written and Directed by Alex Weight, Prank tells the story of three young teenage boys Richie (Jesse Hyde), Bobby (Karl Beattie) and Sam (Benson Anthony) who come together for just one special night to catch up with an old friend they haven’t seen in years. It’s not until they arrive at their destination do things take a turn for the worse.

PRANK from Alex Weight on Vimeo.


Hannibal by Daniel Danger

To celebrate the return of Hannibal in season 3 on NBC, check out this beautiful poster by Daniel Danger, available from Mondo.

Hannibal


The Grand Overlook Hotel

Editor Steve Ramsden noticed how Wes Anderson and Stanley Kubrick frame their shots in a similar way – this was the result: “The Grand Overlook Hotel”! Awesome ‘trailer’ from what was my favorite film of last year mixed with one of my favorite films ever…


The House With 100 Eyes

The-House-with-100-Eyes_posterThe gory mockumentary The House with 100 Eyes is said to be the grisliest, darkest horror-comedy ever imaginable. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer meets This is Spinal Tap.

Ed and Susan are just your average, middle-class American suburban married couple: they have their quirks, their romantic moments, their hobbies. One of these hobbies has even turned into a small business venture for the couple…because Ed and Susan are also serial killers who sell snuff videos of their crimes through the internet underground. Since Ed is determined that their next video will surpass all of their previous work, he has decided that it will feature three kills in one night – but after they abduct their intended victims, things don’t go as planned.

The House With 100 Eyes arrives on DVD June 16th, 2015 via Artsploitation Films.


Ash from Army of Darkness – By David Hardy

An awesome caricature by David Hardy. After I posted Dave’s last artwork of Daryl from The Walking Dead, Dave asked who I’d like to see next! Who to choose… I went for everyone’s favourite undead slayer Ash from Army of Darkness. Awesome as usual.

Ash_boom- stick_Evil-Dead

 


Despite The Gods – Trailer

Despite-The-Gods-CoverJennifer Lynch, daughter of cult film auteur David Lynch, made her auspicious directorial debut in 1993 with cult classic Boxing Helena. She was the youngest American woman to direct a feature film, and after that she took an extended hiatus.

Fifteen years later, a recovering addict and hard-working single mother, Lynch returns to the director’s chair with an ambitious project that will test her skills and the entire crew’s sanity.

Despite the Gods brings us behind the scenes on the set of Lynch’s Bollywood/Hollywood action film about a man-eating snake goddess.

In the spirit of LOST IN LA MANCHA and OVERNIGHT, Penny Vozniak, friend of one of the producers hired on to do behind-the-scenes on HISSS, ended up chronicling Lynch slowly losing her grip over a much-extended eight-month shoot.


The Nightmare – Trailer

A look at a frightening condition that plagues thousands; sleep paralysis. Directed by Rodney Ascher (Room 237), The Nightmare recreates the hypnagogic hallucinations that these people experience… terrifying shadowmen, spectral cats, sudden spiders and menacing spirits…


The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – By Gabz

texas_REGULAR_final_1_1024x1024texas_VARIANT_final_1024x1024The Texas Chainsaw Massacre by Gabz: Being a huge fan of what Jason Edmiston and Florian Bertmer did for the same title before me, as hard is it was, I wanted my piece to be something completely different. I’ve been wanting to work on something more editorial-looking for months, and with a title as long as this one, I felt it’s a perfect opportunity not to be wasted.

Since viewers of this classic horror flick are meant to believe it’s based on a true story, custom-designed typo that looks like a front page of some crazy newspaper seemed like a right thing to do.Instead of focusing on just one scene or character, I included several plot points and all the essential characters destined (or not) to end up on Sawyer’s dining table.

Prints available on Thursday April 30 between 1-2 p.m. EST HERE