Category: Horror

Bob Carter aka Sammy Terry – R.I.P.

Posted on by


I just learned that Bob Carter passed away yesterday at the age of 83.  Mr. Carter was better known to his thousands and thousands of fans as Sammy Terry.

If you grew up in the midwest (especially Indiana) in the 1960’s, odds are you couldn’t wait for each weekend to roll around and for Sammy Terry to present his unique brand of humor coupled with a monster movie or two.

From 1962 until 1989, Sammy Terry hosted Nightmare Theater [later called Shock Theater] and made personal appearances at events throughout the state.  Sammy was a big part of many kids’ childhoods, mine included.

Although I’m glad his Sammy Terry character will live on, I’m sad to report the passing of Bob Carter.

 A public memorial will be held Friday, July 5, 2013 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Singleton Mortuary, 7602 Madison Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46227.

The Evolution of Zombies in Film

Posted on by


Like most of you, I’m a fan of (most) zombie movies.  Recently The Hollywood Reporter took a look at “Night of the Living Dead” to “World War Z”: The Evolution of Zombie Movies.  The title of the article is a little deceptive since the first zombie movie they look at is 1932’s White Zombie that starred Bela Lugosi (which premiered 37 years before Night of the Living Dead).

But I digress, the article shows how zombies in movies have changed over the years.  Initially zombies were people put into a trance or raised from the dead.  Slowly zombies became anyone who had lost self-control and were influenced by some outside source (black magic, aliens, etc.).

George Romero reinvigorated the zombie genre with his classic Night of the Living Dead.  Romero’s zombies were the standard for several years and then folks started to play with the zombie concept.  This led to zombies that could learn, zombies that could run, zombie comedies, and even a zombie romance.  Yeesh.

Using just the films in The Hollywood Reporter post, here are my top five and a couple of closing comments:

  • Night of the Living Dead (1968): George Romero set the bar high, reinvented the zombie movie and NOTLD remains the standard to shoot for when making a zombie movie
  • 28 Days Later (2002): While pureists would argue that 28 Days Later isn’t a zombie movie, I disagree.  Not only is it a zombie movie, it’s a great one.
  • World War Z (2013): Yeah, I agree.  World War Z the movie is not World War Z the novel.  To those who complain that the movie isn’t the book, I say, “Of course not.  It’s a movie and a very good one! If you want the book, it”s still available.
  • Dawn of the Dead (1979): Romero’s return to the genre that made him world famous.  I saw it twice in the original theatrical run.  The first time was with my wife-to-be and we walked out after the helicopter scene.  The gore was just too much for her.  I returned to a later showing without her and my appreciation of a zombie apocalypse continued. 
  • Zombieland (2009): Zombieland wasn’t the first zombie comedy, but for my money it is the best.   

Some final thoughts: I love well-done apocalyptic movies and a zombie film can easily fill the bill.  I don’t care if the zombies move fast or slow. A little gore is fine, but I’m not there to see how many ways I can be grossed out.  I don’t want zombies that learn, talk or have romantic feelings.  That’s just gross.  And, as I said, I’m not there to be grossed out.

Z-View: “World War Z” [& That Doesn’t Stand for Zablo]

Posted on by

The Pitch: “Let’s make a zombie movie [zombies are hot] based on Max Brooks’ World War Z novel [that book is hot] starring Brad Pitt [he’s hot].”

The Overview: A worldwide zombie outbreak is spreading at such an alarming rate that it threatens to wipeout humanity.  Brad Pitt plays Gerry Lane, a former UN investigator asked to go with a young scientist and a team of Navy SEALS into a hot zone to see if the scientist can get information to stop the zombie infection. Nothing goes as planned… but does it ever during a zombie outbreak?

The Good:

  • Many thought that Max Brooks’ World War Z novel would be impossible to adapt into a movie.  Perhaps they were right.  Purists will be upset that many liberties were taken in turning World War Z  the novel into World War Z  the movie.  The writers did an excellent job of getting across the worldwide crisis and how different areas are dealing with it.
  • The movie starts off with action almost straight away and lets up only long enough for the audience to get a breath and to set up the next “are you kidding me” sequence.
  • I love the confusion when the outbreaks first hits.
  • Brad Pitt counting the time it takes a bitten person to turn and then counting again when he runs to the roof’s ledge is cool.
  • The scene when Pitt raises his hands to the cop and the officer walks past him to the baby formula makes it clear that priorities have changed and people are on their own.
  • There are several action sequences and they’re all well done.  I like that Pitt is not the man sent in to save the day, but instead he’s the man to keep “that guy” alive.

The Bad:

  • The zombie outbreak.  These zombies are fast.  Again, purists will hate fast-moving zombies.  They don’t bug me and in World War Z  they work well.
  • I was concerned that the ant-like climbing that we see in World War Z  previews would come off as hokey in the movie.  They didn’t.
  • I was also concerned that director Marc [Quantum of Solace] Forster wasn’t the best choice for this film.  I was wrong. Foster did an excellent job.
  • So really the only things bad in World War Z  [other than the outbreak itself] were my preconceived notions… oh, and that thing that happens to Brad Pitt after the commercial airliner sequence.

The Ugly:

  • What happens when you are given a firearm and aren’t trained to use it.
  • It’s also pretty ugly when you think that you’re safe behind a giant wall and start celebrating a little too soon.
  • Oh, and it’s really ugly when a zombie  makes it on a commercial airliner.

The Rating:  A

The Art of Sean Phillips is Coming!

Posted on by

Yesterday I put in my preorder for The Art of Sean Phillips.   It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Sean Phillips’ art and have been looking forward to his art book for a while.  The Art of Sean Phillips is an over-sized 9″ x 12″ hardcover with more than 300 pages!

Here’s how the book description describes it…

The Art of Sean Phillips is a lavish, career-spanning retrospective of the acclaimed artist behind Criminal, Sleeper, Incognito, and Fatale.

Sean has personally selected the very best, most interesting examples of his art for inclusion, from comic strips assembled with childhood friends in his bedroom, through his work for British girls’ comics and 2000AD, to his role as a key artist in the early years of Vertigo, through his superhero work for Marvel, DC, and WildStorm, and finally from his creator-owned series with Ed Brubaker.

Also, the renowned artist has been extensively interviewed, along with many of his key collaborators, for the book’s in-depth commentary on his work and career.

Here’s where you can see some preview pages thanks to Comic Vine.

The Art of Sean Phillips is available for pre-order now.

The Walking Dead 100 Project

Posted on by

Image Comics printed blank covers for The Walking Dead #100, and the Hero Initiative commissioned 100 top artists to do an original drawing on each cover to be auctioned for charity.  You can see the results here.

Talented artists including folks like Charles Adlard, John Beatty, Chris Ivy, Casey Jones, Karl Kesel, Peter Krause, Jeff Lemire, Shawn McManus, Paolo Rivera, Alex Saviuk as well as so many other turned in awesome art for a great cause.

I posted my favorite of the 100 at the top of this post — it’s by Ken Lashley.  Ken’s a new artist to me, but one that I’ll be following.

“The Wicked West” Should be a TV Series

Posted on by

The Wicked West (written by Todd Livingston & Robert Tinnell, art by Neil Vokes) should be made into a tv series.

  • “Texas.  1870.  An ancient evil has descended on the remote frontier town of Javer’s Tanks, resulting in an epidemic of bloodless corpses.  And the man the townspeople are determined to hang for these crimes is in fact the only one who can save them.”

Cotton Coleridge is a loner.  Quick with a gun and a man with a past. If the town folk don’t kill him the vampires might.

“Cowboys vs Vampires.”  ‘Nuff said, right.  Well, just in case it’s not…

Cotton Coleridge returns in The Wicked West 2: Abomination and Other Tales (written by Todd Livingston & Robert Tinnell, art by various)

The second volume of Cotton Coleridge tales contains 23 outings of the gunslinger facing supernatural horrors in the wild west.

Who doesn’t love a good western?  Who doesn’t love a good monster?  Throw ’em together and you’ve got the recipe for a fun tv series.

New Orleans is a Werewolf Town!

Posted on by


Victor Gischler and artist Juan Ferreyra have a new series coming from Dark Horse comics called Witch Hunt…

Witch Hunt is the story of Cassian Steele, the boss of the werewolf mafia in New Orleans, who needs to kill an old witch Verona before she exposes a secret that could ruin him. A bounty is put out on Verona’s head, and she is forced to run from werewolf mobsters, vampire maids, voodoo wizards, and zombie ninjas that are out to kill her. What they don’t realize is that Barnabus Black, a demon desperately trying to regain his halo, is her protection.

There’s a short interview at Bloody Disgusting with Victor Gischer that will give you some more intell.

This will definitely be a pre-order for me.

Hey!  I almost forgot to mention the cool Dave Johnson cover!

10 Terrifying Unsolved Serial Murders

Posted on by


Serial killers sell.

Most people are fascinated with serial killers.  This fascination translates to big bucks in movies (The Town that Dreaded Sundown, Saw), television (Dexter, Hannibal), and books (The Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon).

We know their names: Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, Hannibal Lector (the only fictionalized serial killer in this group), Son of Sam, The Zodiac Killer, and the list goes on.

Speaking of serial killers and lists, here’s a creepy list of 10 Terrifying Unsolved Serial Murders.  Some of those cases are so out there that you’d think they were made up.  They’re not.  That makes them even scarier than what we see in the movies, on television and in novels.

Which is where we just might see these cases next — in a movie, tv show or book.  Because we know that serial killers sell.

Thanks and 911 shoutout to Bill Crider for the link.

The Walking Dead: Who’s Going to Die Before Season 3 Ends?

Posted on by


Recently Natalie Abrams of TV Guide posted her odds for The Walking Dead: Who’s Going to Die Before Season 3 Ends?

I’ll post her odds and my thoughts.  Beware there is a major spoiler if you’re not up-to-date with  watching the show.

Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln)
Odds: 100:1
Thoughts: Rick is the star of the show.  I can’t see them killing him off in the tv series unless The Walking Dead runs a long time.  I could see it happening (in the comic and tv show) once Carl is old enough to survive on his own.  Wouldn’t that be interesting if Kirkman had always planned for Carl to be the star?

Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs)
Odds: 99:1
Thoughts: I’d say Carl is one of the safest, if not the safest of all the characters.  He’s become interesting this season since he toughened up.

Beth Greene (Emily Kinney)
Odds: 80:1
Thoughts: I could see her character going either way… surviving or being killed off.  She’s a tough one to call.

Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride)
Odds: 50:1
Thoughts: She’s slowing toughening up and her (potential) relationship with Daryl could prove interesting.

Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus)
Odds: 35:1
Thoughts: Daryl is safer than Rick and possibly even Carl.  His character is too popular to kill.

Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun)
Odds: 30:1
Thoughts: Glenn’s days are numbered… if his character follows the path of the comic.  He should be okay to last this season though.

Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan)
Odds: 25:1
Thoughts: I’d be shocked to see Maggie killed off… although if they are going for shock value, she would be a good choice.

Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson)
Odds: 15:1
Thoughts: I’d hate to see him bite the dust, but Hershel’s days are numbered.

Michonne (Danai Gurira)
Odds: 10:1
Thoughts: Michonne is a safe as can be.  I see her right up there with Rick, Carl and Daryl.

Andrea (Laurie Holden)
Odds: 7:1
Thoughts: Andrea wanted to die in season two.  She may get her wish in season three.

Milton Mamet (Dallas Roberts)
Odds: 4:1
Thoughts: Milton is a minion of the Governor… and we all know what happens to minions.  If he was on Star Trek, he’d be wearing a red shirt.

Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker)
Odds: 3:1
Thoughts: If you’re caught up on watching the show, you know that Merle ended up wanting “braaains.”

The Governor (David Morrissey)
Odds: 2:1
Thoughts: The Gov is going to be killed at some point… but will he make it to season four?  I’d say, “Yes” but what do I know?