Category: Horror

J. O’Barr and “The Crow” Reboot

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Many of you are going to let out a groan or even stop reading when you move to my next sentence; but please read on.

The cult classic film that was Brandon Lee’s last starring role, The Crow, is gearing up for a remake.

I know.  I know.

I agree.  There is no need to remake or reboot The Crow.  Heck, even James O’Barr felt the same way…

I  was 110% against it.  There was no point or need for a reboot.  In my mind, you could throw a $100 million at it, put Johnny Depp in it and had Ridley Scott direct and it wouldn’t top what Alex Proyas and Brandon Lee did.

But after talking with director, Javier Gutierrez O’Barr’s feelings changed and he came on board.  Principal photography starts in October.

The original Crow mini-series was published by Caliber Comics in 1989.  I loved it.  The Crow movie was released in 1994 and I liked it a lot.

Since the release of the first Crow mini-series by O’Barr there have been many attempts to bring back the character or to pass the Crow mantle on to others.  I’ve given each a chance but none has the power of the original.  I have to wonder can lightning in a bottle be caught once again?

Thanks and a wave of a crow’s wing to Shock Till You Drop.

“The Black Beetle: Necrologue” is Coming!

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Francesco Francavilla’s Black Beetle is a comic fans love to love.  Part of the reason is that Francesco is such a swell guy.  He gracious, humble and talented.

Francesco has a love — a passion — for comics, monsters, old movies, heroes, and basically all the things that we find cool.  So it was a real joy to discover that his comic mini-series The Black Beetle: No Way Out combined all of those things into a rockin’ story that was a hit with fans and critics alike.

Soon Francesco will be back with The Black Beetle: Necrologue.  You can learn more about it, here thanks to the fine folks at CBR.com.

 

EW Covers The Walking Dead

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I’ve been an Entertainment Weekly subscriber since the first issue, so I should find next week’s edition featuring three Walking Dead covers in my mailbox any day.

In case you don’t subscribe, I thought you might like a heads-up on the three Walking Dead covers that are featured.  Above is the Rick cover, you can also get an issue featuring Darryl or Carl on the cover.

The New “Walking Dead” Poster

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That’s the Alex Ross poster that will be available at Comic-Con to promote the up-coming season of AMC’s The Walking Dead.

I’m glad that the poster features art, but I’d have rather seen something from Charles Adlard or Tony Moore.  If they wanted to go with an artist not associated with The Walking Dead, then how about Steranko or Francesco Francavilla?

How John Carpenter Turned “The Thing” into a Horror Classic

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John Carpenter’s The Thing is a classic in the horror genre.  Most fans consider it Carpenter’s high-water mark.

What many don’t know is that The Thing  that was released to theaters was very different from what was originally planned and filmed.  When Carpenter saw a rough cut he realized that the movie didn’t work.  It lacked tension (can you believe that?), the pace was slow and MacCready (played by Kurt Russell) was just another face in the crowd.

Luckily a six-week break had been built into the shooting schedule.  During that time Carpenter…

…restructured the film, wrote what was essentially a new Second Act to conform to the editing he had done (including new death scenes for two characters), adopted MacCready as his spiritual doppelganger, and scrambled to get all of it shot on location in Stewart, B.C. Coming face to face with his own greatest fear – fear of failure –  he was able to make THE THING undeniably his…

Stuart Cohen was a co-producer on The Thing.  Cohen was on location during filming and in his blog,   details the changes that Carpenter brought about to turn a movie that didn’t work into a horror classic.

Bob Carter aka Sammy Terry – R.I.P.

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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

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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]

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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!

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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.