Category: Horror

Moonshine by Azzarello & Risso Coming This Fall!

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Just the names Azzarello and Risso are enough for a comic to make my monthly pull list. Probably yours too, right?  Add to the fact that Moonshine is a period crime tale with werewolves and I think that we won’t be the only ones.

MOONSHINE is set during the Prohibition Era, deep in the backwoods of Appalachia and tells the story of Lou Pirlo, a city-slick “torpedo” sent from New York City to negotiate a deal with the best moonshiner in West Virginia, one Hiram Holt. Lou figures it for milk run—how hard could it be to set-up moonshine shipments from a few ass-backward hillbillies? What Lou doesn’t figure on is that Holt is just as cunning as ruthless as any NYC crime boss and Lou is in way over his pin-striped head. Because not only will Holt do anything to protect his illicit booze operation, he’ll stop at nothing to protect a much darker family secret…a bloody, supernatural secret that must never see the light of day… or better still, the light of the full moon.

Source: Bleeding Cool.

32 Things We Learned from Zack Snyder’s “Dawn of the Dead” Commentary

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Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 32 Things We Learned from Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead Commentary.  Here are three of my favorites…

13. Snyder cameos during the opening credits montage as a soldier with a machine gun on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

19. The original’s Tom Savini, Ken Foree, and Scott H. Reiniger all cameo here as a sheriff, a preacher, and a general, respectively.

 

29. Someone after a test screening questioned Snyder as to why/how the zombies pause at the bottom of the stairs at 1:32:25, and it put him on the spot when they asked if the zombies could even do that. He replied, “in real life, no, but in film where you dramatize…”

Twilight Zone: “Hocus-Pokus and Fisby” [Season 3, Episode 30] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Hocus-Pokus and Fisby” [Season 3, Episode 30]
Original Air Date: April 13, 1962

Director: Lamont Johnson

Writer: Rod Serling based on a short story by Frederick Louis Fox

Starring: Andy Devine, Milton Selzer and Howard McNear.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Somerset Fisby [Devine] is known to tell tale tales about everything.  To hear Fisby tell it he has several advanced degrees and the greatest minds in the world seek his advice.

Everyone knows to take what Fisby says with a grain of salt except for the two strangers passing through town… they turn out to be aliens in disguise and believe Fisby would be the perfect example of a human to take to their planet.

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Twilight Zone: “To Serve Man” [Season 3, Episode 24] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “To Serve Man” [Season 3, Episode 24]
Original Air Date: March 2, 1962

Director: Richard L. Bare

Writer: Rod Serling based on a story by Damon Knight

Starring: Lloyd Bochner, Susan Cummings and Richard Kiel.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Aliens come to earth promising peace and shared technology. They seem to be making good on their promise to turn earth into a paradise, yet some doubts linger…

This is one of the best Twilight Zone episodes made.

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Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips – A Retrospective!

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Long time readers know that I am a huge fan of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips comic stories.  Perhaps David Harper summarizes my feelings best when he describes his admiration for Brubaker and Phillips by saying they are…

the finest and most consistent creative partnership in modern comics. When you hear Brubaker and Phillips are working on something, the question isn’t “will I buy it?”, it’s “when can I buy it?” They’re the type of team where your pull list simply has a “Brubaker/Phillips all” item on it. That’s rarefied air, at least for me.

Harper goes on to create an excellent overview of Brubaker and Phillips work in This Noir Life: A Retrospective of the Brubaker/Phillips Partnership at sktched.com.

Twilight Zone: “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank” [Season 3, Episode 23] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank” [Season 3, Episode 23]
Original Air Date: February 23, 1962

Director: Montgomery Pittman

Writer: Montgomery Pittman

Starring: James Best, Sherry Jackson, Edgar Buchanan and Dub Taylor.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

When Jeff Myrtlebank rises from his coffin the town folk are at first frightened but fear turns to joy at having Jeff back… that is until they notice that he is not quite the same…

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17 Bloody Facts About “Friday the 13th”

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Matthew Jackson and Mental Floss present 17 Bloody Facts About Friday the 13th. Here are three of my favorites…

1. THE ORIGINAL INSPIRATION WAS HALLOWEEN.
In 1978, producer and director Sean Cunningham was looking for a model on which to build a commercially successful film, and he found one in John Carpenter’s horror classic Halloween. The two films ultimately don’t share much other than very broad slasher tropes, but Cunningham says he “was very influenced by the structure of Carpenter’s film.”

7. SHELLEY WINTERS WAS THE FIRST CHOICE FOR MRS. VOORHEES.
For the now-iconic role of Mrs. Pamela Voorhees, Cunningham and company went in search of an actress with a recognizable name whose career was nevertheless on the decline, so she could be paid relatively little and the budget could stay low. Cunningham eventually made a list of actresses he was considering, and two-time Oscar winner Shelley Winters was his top priority. Winters wasn’t interested, and while fellow candidate and Oscar-winner Estelle Parsons actually negotiated to be in the film, she ultimately backed out. Cunningham also considered actresses Louise Lasser and Dorothy Malone right up until filming began, but ultimately the production wound up with Betsy Palmer in the role.

15. THE FINAL SCARE WAS SUPPOSEDLY NOT IN THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT.
The story of who invented the final scare in the film, in which a deformed Jason bursts out of the lake and grabs Alice (Adrienne King) from her canoe, is disputed. Victor Miller, Tom Savini, and uncredited screenwriter Ron Kurz all claim credit for it, Kurz because he claims to be the one who made Jason into a “creature,” and Savini because he claims the moment was inspired by a similar final scare in Carrie. Whatever the case, it left a lasting impression.

14 Flesh-Eating Facts About “Cabin Fever”

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Jennifer M. Wood and Mental Floss present 14 Flesh-Eating Facts About Cabin Fever.  Here are three of my favorites…

6. THE SAME STUDIOS THAT PASSED ON PRODUCING THE FILM ENGAGED IN A BIDDING WAR FOR THE FINISHED PRODUCT.
Though Roth’s original plan for the film was to sell the script and have a studio produce it, no one was interested in buying it (hence the aforementioned eight-year process of getting it made). But a successful showing at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival changed all that: the film sparked a bidding war, with Lionsgate ultimately emerging victorious. Roth was paid $3.5 million for the film, and promised $12 million in prints and advertising. Of the many studios competing to acquire Cabin Fever, most had already passed on producing it.

8. PETER JACKSON WAS A FAN.
After hearing about Cabin Fever from several of his The Lord of the Rings collaborators, Peter Jackson requested that a print be sent to him in New Zealand, where he was filming The Return of the King. Impressed by what he was seeing, Jackson shut down production on his own film—twice!—to screen Cabin Fever for his cast and crew. Eventually, Jackson invited Roth to The Lord of the Rings set, where he offered to supply Roth with a quote about the film for his production materials. It read: “Brilliant! Fantastic! Horror fans have been waiting years for a movie like Cabin Fever. I loved it!”

9. QUENTIN TARANTINO DECLARED ROTH “THE FUTURE OF HORROR.”
In a 2004 interview with Premiere, Quentin Tarantino talked at length about his admiration for Cabin Fever, and called Roth “the future of horror.” The admiration was mutual. Tarantino and Roth would go on to become good friends and regular collaborators. In addition to directing Thanksgiving, one of the fake trailers in the middle of Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse, and playing Dov in the film, Roth had a major role as Sergeant Donny Donowitz in Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (2009).

Twilight Zone: “The Midnight Sun” [Season 3, Episode 10] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Midnight Sun” [Season 3, Episode 10]
Original Air Date: November 17, 1961

Director: Anton Leader

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Lois Nettleton, Betty Garde and Tom Reese


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

The Earth has come out of orbit and is moving ever closer to the sun.  Most people have headed north or south to delay the inevitable.  With the city abandoned, with no police, no running water or fresh food deliveries, a pair of women are struggling to survive in their city apartments.

An armed man breaks in looking to steal what they have and we come to discover things are not as they seem.

Contains a classic Twilight Zone twist ending.

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Twilight Zone: “Deaths-Head Revisited” [Season 3, Episode 9] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Deaths-Head Revisited” [Season 3, Episode 9]
Original Air Date: November 10, 1961

Director: Don Medford

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Joseph Schildkraut, and Oscar Beregi Jr.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Nearly two decades after the end of World War II, SS Capt. Gunther Lutze returns to the deserted concentration camp he once rules.  As he walks through the rundown buildings, Lutz remembers with glory the wonderful feelings he had torturing and putting to death his inferior prisoners of war… that is until the executed prisoners return to extract their revenge.

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Twilight Zone: “It’s a Good Life” [Season 3, Episode 8] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “It’s a Good Life” [Season 3, Episode 8]
Original Air Date: November 3, 1961

Director: James Sheldon

Writer: Rod Serling from a story by Jerome Bixby

Starring: John Larch, Cloris Leachman, Don Keefer and Billy Mumy.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Little Anthony Fremont [Mumy] has extraordinary mental powers.  Anthony has made all of the world outside of his small farming town disappear.   He’s done the same or worse to anyone of anything that displeases him.

Anthony demands that everyone think happy thoughts.  The town people live in fear that they will displease Anthony and they will be next.

Tonight is Anthony’s birthday.  Let’s hope he’s not disappointed.

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Twilight Zone: “The Grave” [Season 3, Episode 7] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “The Grave” [Season 3, Episode 7]
Original Air Date: October 27, 1961

Director: Montgomery Pittman

Writer: Montgomery Pittman

Starring: Lee Marvin, James Best, Strother Martin, Elen Willard and Lee Van Cleef.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Late one night Bounty Hunter, Conny Miller rides into town.  At the tavern he learns from several men that the outlaw he had been tracking for months has been gunned down and buried by the town folk.

When Conny expresses displeasure that he had wasted months tracking the outlaw, one of the town men says that Conny only acted as if he wanted to meet up with the outlaw but the truth was that Conny was afraid. Arguments with the men lead to a twenty dollar bet that Conny hasn’t the courage to go to the outlaw’s grave and stick a knife in it.

This is episode would work even without the all-star cast, but is even better because of them.

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Twilight Zone: “Will the Real Martian, Please Stand Up?” [Season 2, Episode 28] / Z-View

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Twilight Zone: “Will the Real Martian, Please Stand Up?” [Season 2, Episode 28]
Original Air Date: May 26, 1961

Director: Montgomery Pittman

Writer: Charles Beaumont

Starring: John Hoyt, Jean Willes, Jack Elam, Barney Phillips, John Archer, William Kendis, Morgan Jones, Gertrude Flynn, Bill Erwinn, Jill Ellis and Ron Kipling.


The Overview: Beware of Spoilers….

On a dark, snowy night, two deputies respond to a call about a crashed spaceship.  Tracks lead to a remote dinner where seven bus passengers and the diner’s owner are waiting out the storm.  The funny thing is there were only supposed to be six passengers on the bus and strange things are starting to happen at the dinner.  Coincidence or is there an alien among them?

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Z-View Twilight Zone: “Long Distance Call”

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Twilight Zone: “Long Distance Call” [Season 2, Episode 22]
Original Air Date: March 31, 1961

Director: James Sheldon

Writer: Charles Beaumont

Starring:  Philip Abbott, Lili Darvas, Patricia Smith and Billy Mummy.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Billy Bayles [Mummy] receives a toy phone from his grandmother [Darvas] as a birthday gift.  Grandma and Billy claim that the phone will always keep them in touch.  After Grandma dies, Billy says she still talks to him on the phone.  His parents don’t believe him until…

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