Category: Horror

Top 26 Horror Films of All Time

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Recently Hollywood.com posted their choices for the Top 26 Horror Films of All Time.

Their list isn’t a bad one.  I’ve seen 22 of the 26 films.  Of the four I’ve not yet seen yet [Let the Right One In / Eyes without a Face / Rec / and The Blair Witch Project ], the one I want to see most is Let the Right One In. [I have it cued on Netflix!]

I’ve posted images of my five favorites of the 22 that I have seen.  Can you name the five? [Answers below]

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Night of the Living Dead, 28 days later, The Exorcist, Carrie and The Birds.

Stephen King: “Best Horror Series Ever”

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Quick – What’s the best horror series ever put on television?

My guess is that many of you immediately thought of The Twilight Zone [not only horror, but did have some scary episodes], The Outer Limits [Twilight Zoneish], The Invaders, The Night Gallery… and so on.

But… how many of you immediately thought of Thriller?

Stephen King did.  In fact King described Thriller  as…

“…probably the best horror series ever put on TV.”

Classic Film and TV provides a nice overview of Thriller with links to additional information.  If you’ve read this far, you’d probably enjoy clicking over.

 

10 Best Monster Movies of All Time

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Recently Variety posted a piece by Maane Khatchatourian titled 10 Best Monster Movies of All Time.

So, let’s take a look at her list…

  • Alien: is an excellent horror movie which basically takes the haunted house concept and moves it to outer space.  While Alien  would make many folks’ top ten, I prefer Aliens.
  • Jurassic Park: was a lot of fun.  It doesn’t quickly spring to mind when I think of monster movies, but okay, let’s include it… probably not in the top ten though.
  • Godzilla: Although I’ve seen most of the Godzilla  movies [including the most recent version], none would make my 10 Best Monster Movies of All Time list.
  • Jaws: is a great movie, but it is also one that doesn’t spring to mind when I think of Monster Movies.  If we agree Jaws is a monster movie it would be easy to argue it deserves a spot in the top ten.
  • Bride of Frankenstein and Frankenstein: are two that we cannot deny entry into the top 10 [especially since we’re allowed to pair them!].
  • Creature from the Black Lagoon: not only makes the top ten, we could argue over whether it deserves the number one spot [and I wouldn’t argue too hard against that].
  • Gremlins: probably wouldn’t crack my top 50.
  • King Kong: has to be on anyone’s list of best monster movies!
  • The Thing: of course has to make the list.  I suggest we pair it with the original Thing from Another World [which also needs to make the list].
  • The Fly: is one that I enjoy, but even pairing it with the remake probably wouldn’t get them into 10 Best Monster Movies of All Time list.

How could these monster movies be left off:

  • Them!
  • Dracula
  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers
  • War of the Worlds
  • The Blob
  • Night of the Living Dead
  • and so many others?

 

Z-View: The Saviors #4

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The Saviors is an on-going series created by James Robinson & J. Bone published by Image.

Writer: James Robinson

Artist: J. Bone

Cover: J. Bone

 

After last issue’s mayhem and slaughter, Tomas is alone, hunted by alien invaders in a strange town where the Day of the Dead celebration does little to help things.  And when Tomas manages to trap an alien to learn its secrets, is he unwittingly setting up his own death too?

 

 

The Good

  • The conversation between Tomas and a trapped [but slowly freeing itself] alien.
  • J. Bone’s art continues to be a joy.
  • Showing how Tomas survived the blast last issue.
  • Alien: “If I were you I’d stop being curious, and I’d stop being calm… and I’d run.”
       Tomas: “Why are you telling me that? That’s almost like you’re helping me.”
       Alien: “Not at all, I simply love the hunt.”
  • The last page sets up the next issue and makes me want it now!

The Bad:

  • Tomas alone in a foreign country with an alien hunting him.

The Ugly:

  • Nothing about the story or art.  That is for sure.

Saviors #4  is a comic for mature audiences due to violence.  If you’re a fan of 1950’s movies like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and the 1960’s tv series “The Invaders”  then Saviors #3 is for you.  

Rating: 4 out of 5

 

Laurent Durieux: 1 of the World’s 200 Best Artists

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Laurent Durieux is a...

…Brussels illustrator and graphic artist was only recently discovered in the United States, thanks to a number of high-profile awards and marquee commissions, including a 2013 screenprint of “Jaws”, which caught the eye of the film’s director, Steven Spielberg. The climb from relative obscurity began, though, in 2011, when Durieux  was named one of the world’s 200 Best Illustrators by the influential international advertising magazine Lürzer’s Archive.

Durieux is truly an amazing artist.  I had a really hard time trying to decide which of his pieces to use with this post.

Z-View: The Crow – Pestilence #2

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The Crow: Pestilence #2 is published by IDW.

Writer: Frank Bill

Artist: Drew Moss

Colorist: Oliver Lee Arce

Cover Shown: James O’Barr

Salvador heads to the Midwest to search for the men who murdered his family, only to find them involved in trafficking drugs…and humans. As The Crow watches, guiding him, he begins to exact his revenge. But why is one of the gang members speaking with the police?

 

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The Good

  • J. O’Barr‘s cover.
  • Frank Bill throws in a surprise that I didn’t see coming, although the preview quote above strongly foreshadows it.
  • Salvador blames himself for the death of his wife and child.  This story is shaping up to more than a simple tale of revenge.

The Bad:

  • Some people will be put off by the violence and profanity.
  • The way Salvador, his wife and child were killed and the vow that Salvador’s revenge would be 100 times worse — that’s bad for the killers.
  • What happens if you’re scared and you go to the boss’ house for protection.  Note to self: “Don’t lead a returned-from-the-dead-supernatural-avenger to the boss’ home.”

The Ugly:

  • Pouring a boiling vat of soup on Salvador.
  • When the chainsaws come out.

The Crow: Pestilence #2  is a comic for mature audiences due to violence and language.  

Rating: 3 out of 5

 

Trailer for Constantine: Exorcist, Deomonologist & Master of the Dark Arts

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NBC has released the first teaser trailer for Constantine, a new weekly series based on the DC/Vertigo comic of the same name.

Check out the trailer below and we’ll catch up right after.

I’ve never read the comic so I only have a little knowledge about the Constantine character [other than what I learned from the teaser].

I liked the trailer enough to check out the tv series… but it didn’t inspire me to want to search out the comics.

Perhaps the series will change that.

 

10 All Time Most Baffling Unsolved Mysteries

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Distractify recently posted 10 of the Most Baffling Unsolved Mysteries of All Time.  Here’s are the four that I would love to see solved …

The Disappearance of Amy Lynn Bradley:  Amy (in the red striped shirt) disappeared on March 24, 1998 at the age of 23 from Royal Caribbean International cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas. She was last seen with a member of the ship’s band, Blue Orchid, known by the alias “Yellow…”

Craig: No family should face the uncertainty of a missing child.  You would think this would be the most solvable of the mysteries listed.

The Roanoke Colony: One of the first settlements in America completely vanished. All evidence of 150 colonists vanished at some point during the Anglo-Spanish war while their mayor was detoured in England retrieving supplies To this day there has been no conclusive evidence as to what happened to the colonists…

Craig: I remember hearing about this colony in elementary school and wondering what happened.  I still wonder.

The Dyatlov Pass Incident: They set out to go on a ski hike, but days later the mysteriously orange-tanned, half-naked bodies of 9 hikers were found near their demolished tent and a note that read: “From now on we know there are snowmen.” Many of the poor souls also had crushing wounds, and it’s been reported that the bodies were slightly radioactive. And, strangely, one woman was missing her tongue…

Craig: The note “From now on we know there are snowmen” is creepy enough, add in the “crushing wounds” and slightly radioactive corpses and we have a real mystery.  I want to know what happened!

The WOW Signal: On August 15, 1977 Jerry R. Ehman on August 15, 1977 quite possibly detected a sign of intelligent life in the universe. The signal came from deep space almost 120 light years away. It lasted for the full 72-second window that Big Ear was able to observe it, but has never been detected again. Scientists say that if the signal came from extraterrestrials, they are likely to be an very advanced civilization because their transmitter would have to be much stronger than any we currently have on earth.

Craig: Discovering intelligent life on another planet [I’ve given up looking on this one] would be THE story of the century.  CNN would probably even stop their round-the-clock coverage of the missing flight to cover it.

Adventures in Pulp: 3 Free Webcomics

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Adventures in Pulp is a cool site where you can find three free web comics:

Dick Ruby and the Little Green Men:  DETECTIVE NOIR MEETS INVASION SCI-FI in “Dick Ruby and the Case of the Little Green Men. It’s New York in the 1940s and private investigator Dick Ruby is on the trail of a missing person. A trail that leads to little green men from outer space.

The Four Horsemen: THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING! A power-hungry Prince kills his father to steal the crown and kingdom. The only thing that can stop him, the Good Witch of the Dead Lands. Hiding in her place of power, she summons four warriors from across time and space.

Hawk and a Handsaw: ENTER A SUPERHERO INSANE ASYLUM in “Hawk and a Handsaw!” You’d have to be a little crazy to put on a brightly colored costume and fight crime, but how exactly would you know who is the real deal and who has simply latched onto the delusion of being a super powered being?

Brett Harris [writer] and Matthew Childers [artist] are the creative team behind all three strips.  I’ve read [and enjoyed] the first chapter of Dick Ruby and the Little Green Men.  I look forward to future chapters and their other creations.  If you like comics, give ’em a look.