Category: Horror

Like Cheap Whiskey, Very Nasty and Satisfying

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Today while surfing the net I came across a couple of items that should interest most ZONErs.

The first is that several authors [including Stephen King, John Grisham, Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, Michael Chabon and others] are participating in an auction for charity where the winning bidders will get to name a character in each author’s novel. How cool is that?

The second item of interest is directly related to the first, in that Stephen King‘s participation in the auction involves a new novel titled Cell. King describes Cell as “a violent piece of work, which comes complete with zombies set in motion by bad cell phone signals that destroy the human brain. Like cheap whiskey, it’s very nasty and extremely satisfying.” Stephen King and zombies! Count me in.

And come to think of it… maybe I should take a shot at the auction as well. A zombie named “Big Beatty” is just too cool not to give it a go.

This Fall, Kong Will Be King

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Without a doubt,this fall Kong will be King

Pretty much every movie fan in the world knows that Peter Jackson’s King Kong will be released on December 14th. What many of us didn’t know until just recently was that Warner Brothers had finally decided to release the orginal King Kong to dvd on November 22nd.

What makes this release even cooler is that Peter Jackson is also contributing to the dvd release. Jackson has created a two hour, seven part documentary titled: “RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World.” What will really get Kong fans going is that “part of the documentary focuses on the mysterious ‘spider pit’ sequence deleted from the film before its theatrical premiere.” The dvd will also contain a recreation of it as well as features on director Merian C. Cooper, and commentary tracks by legendary stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen and others.

Of course to maximize their profits, Warners is releasing Kong in not one, not two, but THREE, that’s right – THREE editions.

I don’t know which version, I’m going to get, but you can be sure that one will find it’s way into my collection!

A Really Creepy Moment

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Last night I watched “Hide and Seek,” a psychological thriller starring Robert DeNiro and Dakota Fannning. The movie was pretty good, but that’s not the point of this post…

In the movie DeNiro keeps waking up at 2:06 AM. The first time that this happens, he discovers his wife has committed suicide. As the movie progresses 2:06 AM becomes a significant plot point and the audience is left wondering [until the resolution] why DeNiro wakes up at 2:06 AM.

It was pretty creepy. Especially late in the movie, as Deniro searches for a killer in the house and suddenly Dakota holds up a child’s clock set to 2:06 AM. Now THAT was very creepy, but it’s still not the creepy moment I’m leading up to.

Overall the movie was a fun way to spend a couple of hours and I really enjoyed how the dvd set up the alternate endings [there were several]. Ah, but I digresss… so on to the REAL creepy moment…

Later that night I woke up feeling the need to go to the restroom. Now most nights, I sleep through until the morning. Occasionally I’m compelled to get up in the middle of the night for a trip to the john, so it’s not totally unusual that this would happen. Last night when I woke to go, I looked to see what time it was… and you guessed it… the digital clock read 2:06 AM.

Now THAT was creepy!

“Hide and Seek” rates a B

Niles and Jones Create a Giant Monster

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Steve Niles, Rob Zombie and Nat Jones teamed last year to produce The Nail, which was one wild ride.

Niles and Jones had such a fun time working together that they’re reteaming to bring us Giant Monster, a 2 issue [@ 48 pages each] mini-series from Boom Studios.

Giant Monster is the story of an astronaut who, while in space, is infected with a parasite and upon his return to Earth, uh… runs into a few problems. ; )

Back from the Land of the Dead

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Sequels are rarely as good as the original. There are far more Jaws 2‘s than there are Godfather 2‘s. And the farther you go down the sequel path, the more likely you are to see a mess.

That’s why I’m happy to say that George A. Romero‘s Land of the Dead is a welcome addition to his zombie series.

My favorite is still “Night of the Living Dead.” I doubt that any zombie movie will ever top NOTLD, not only because everything came together on it [the low budget, shooting in black and white, a cast of unknowns, etc.], but also because it was the first zombie movie to really get to me. These weren’t island zombies or some mummy come back to life. These were our neighbors, our friends and even our family members who were crawling out of the grave to eat us!

Land of the Dead is my second favorite of Romero‘s quartet [followed by Dawn of the Dead and then Day of the Dead]. While I generally don’t like the idea of “smart” zombies, I was intrigued by the idea that these zombies were starting to learn. I thought all of of the actors were well cast. The use of fireworks as a plot device was a cool idea. Heck, I can even go with the idea that money still has value [although that plot element to me was the weakest].

Land of the Dead is supposed to be Romero’s final zombie movie, but I wouldn’t mind see him come back for another.

“Night of the Living Dead” rates an A+
“Dawn of the Dead” [original] rates a C+
“Dawn of the Dead” [remake] rates an A
“Day of the Dead” rates a C
“Land of the Dead” rates a B

War of the Worlds and War of the Words

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Tom Cruise has been in two battles lately. One, The War of the Worlds with Steven Spielberg; the other, The War of the Words with Brooke Shields.

Let’s start with the one that most people can get behind, The War of the Worlds. This update is a worthy successor to the classic 1953 film. And although I’ve never read the book by HG Wells, what I have read indicates that the film doesn’t veer too far from Wells‘ basic ideas.

War of the Worlds is a movie that should be seen in a crowded theater. It’s a big, explosive, exciting summer picture worthy of the Independance Day Weekend slot. Cruise does a fine job of being a jerk of a father who finds himself forced to be responsible for the lives of not only himself but also his two children.

Dakota Fanning is, as always, excellent. She is one of the finest actors working today. Tim Robbins shows up in a supporting role and pulls it off better than I would have expected since he’s playing against the type of role we usually see him play. And of course, Stephen Spielberg rules. Any quibbles I would have with this film would truly be nitpiks and War of the Worlds was too much scary fun to do that. If you haven’t seen War of the Worlds, you should. And before it comes out on dvd.

Now for Cruise’s recent War of the Words with Brooke Shields and Matt Lauer. Tom‘s been acting strange lately. In fact, it’s been the talk all over the internet and entertainment news shows. I’ve avoided discussing it here, since I figured that Tom was just in love and attributed his jumping on couches and screaming, to his infatuation to Katie Holmes and her apparent conversion to Scientology.

Yet, Tom‘s recent behavior has gone beyond what can be excused by the excitement of a new romance. When Cruise spoke out against psychiatry and the use of medicine, well, that’s his opinion and he’s entitled to it [as wrong as he may be].

But when he personally criticized Brooke Shields for her use of medication while dealing with depression and then argued with Matt Lauer while claiming that he [Cruise] knew the “history of psychiatry” when he so clearly doesn’t have a clue… to me crosses the line.

I wonder what’s up with Mr. Cruise. He used to be such a respectful, polite guy. Something has gotten a burr under his sadle.. .

Or maybe he just needs to take a “chill pill.”

“War” of the Worlds rates a B+

War of the Worlds and Water

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It’d probably take an alien invasion to stop Steven Spielberg‘s “War of the Worlds” from being a blockbuster hit.

Not even all of the negative publicity that Tom Cruise has been getting in regard to his “enthusiasm” for Katie Holmes could derail this summer crowd-pleaser. “War of the Worlds” is going to score big from opening day and who knows how long the movie will rule at the box office? I doubt that the Fantastic Four will make much of a dent, and truly, what else is coming out this summer to challenge it?

And speaking of Tom Cruise, did you happen to see or hear about the “idiot” that threw water on Cruise? At the London premiere for the “War of the Worlds” a man squirted Cruise with a water pistol disguised as a microphone. Police arrested the prankster as well as three other men who filmed the incident. The four were working on a new comedy show for British TV which targets celebrities for practical jokes. I guess the joke was on them.

Kong is Still King

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I’m really excited about Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake. In fact, until Sin City II or Sly gets a movie rolling, Kong is the movie that I’m looking forward to seeing most.

Peter Jackson has a passion to create Kong. We all [well, most of us anyway], saw what Jackson could do with his Lord of the Rings trilogy. The mind boggles to think what he’ll accomplish with Kong.

In most cases, I’d say stay away from remaking classic movies. Unless you can do it better, then what’s the point? King Kong is a classic. I doubt that it’ll be better than the original and yet, I can’t wait to see the sequel.

The original King Kong inspired more than a generation of film makers from Ray Harryhausen to Peter Jackson. Sure, we’ll be able to give our opinion of how we think Jackson’s Kong stacks up against the original, but we won’t know for years if the new Kong has the influence and impact of the first.

That won’t really matter though, if we find ourselves lost for a couple of hours on Skull Island or running through the streets of New York as King Kong once again lives!

I have no doubt that Kong is going to be a winner. If you’re not sure, then you might want to tune in to see the world premiere trailer. On Monday, June 27th from 8:59:30-9:02 PM ET all nine NBC networks [NBC, SCI FI, USA Network, Bravo, MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo, Mun2 and Universal HD] will simultaneously run “an unprecedented motion picture preview.”

Even though I’m already sold on the movie, I’ll tune in for the trailer… and you can bet that I’ll be there the weekend that Kong opens.

Big Fan… But Don’t Like Most

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I’m a fan of zombie movies. The funny thing is, there are probably only three that I really like… and one of those isn’t really a zombie flick.

Ok, before we go further, and to put your mind at rest, they are
1] Night of the Living Dead
2] 28 days later and
3] Dawn of the Dead [the re-make].

Yeah, I know… 28 days isn’t truly a zombie movie.

Yes, I know… it’s blasphamy to leave out the original Dawn of the Dead.

And yeah, I have seen other zombie movies.

The problem with most of them is that they simply become gore fests. They don’t have interesting characters. They focus only on how gross it is that the dead are eating the living or how cool it is when a zombie gets shot in the head.

And while it’s true that many [if not most of the] people who dig zombie movies are there simply to see the zombies eat people and get blown away, that’s not what I like about the genre.

What appeals to me is the world out of control aspect. I like seeing how the survivors come together from different backgrounds and with different ideas on what should be done next if everyone is to survive.

I’m looking forward to Land of the Dead. I hope that it’ll be more like Night than Dawn or Day. You see, a little gore goes a long way in my book.

That’s probably why I don’t like most zombie movies, but love the genre.

Aliens… Monsters…. UFOs and a Very Big Universe

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When I was a little kid, I used to love movies and tv shows about aliens coming to Earth.

If we were lucky, they were friendly and intelligent like Michael Rennie in The Day that the Earth Stood Still. He even looked human.

Then again, so did the aliens in the 60’s tv show The Invaders. [I haven’t seen an episode in years, and wonder how it would hold up.]

Sometimes the aliens were simply monsters out to wipe us out, like in the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers or War of the Worlds. [And, yes, I’m really looking forward to the update by Spielberg and Cruise.]

Occasionally, there would be just one alien. And boy, were we lucky that there was only one if the alien ended up being like The Blob or The Thing.

Growing up, I not only liked movies and tv shows about aliens, but I also read and watched programs about UFOs.

I still do.

Think how cool it would be if we could find definitive proof of intelligent life in outer space. Uh… as long as they weren’t out to wipe us out.

As I get older, I stil retain that sense of wonder about life in outer space. Most likely it’s out there. It’s just that the universe is such a huge place.

Don’t believe me? Click HERE and see.

War of the Worlds

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Cruise and Speilberg are teaming to remake “War of the Worlds” as a big summer movie… you just KNOW that it’s gonna rock.

The new trailer is out. I really like how the voice over works. Using the original lines with this updated version is creepy… still, the trailer left me wanting more.

Which could be a good thing.

Especially if the movie is as good as I’m hoping it’ll be.

The Wicked West is Like a Reese’s Cup

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The Wicked West is like a Reese’s Cup.

A Reese’s Cup combines peanut butter and chocolate which by themselves are great, but together are even better!

Well… that’s what The Wicked West is like. Writers, Todd Livingston and Robert Tinnell have teamed with artist, Neil Vokes to bring us a horror story wrapped in a western.

I’d been looking forward to The Wicked West since I first heard the tagline: Suppose Josey Wales rode into Salem’s Lot. Man, that is the best pitch I’ve heard for any movie, comic, book or tv show in years.
The cool thing is that Vokes, Livingston and Tinnell lived up to the tag line! They created an ambitious story which not allows us to see “what really happened” in 1870 when Cotton Coleridge rode into a town under siege by vampires but also how the story was adapted to the “silver screen” for a “singing cowboy” movie in the 1930’s. The art and story mesh perfectly.  I think that anyone who is a fan of westerns, horror or simply great graphic novels would love The Wicked West.

Neil said that he had a blast drawing The Wicked West and it shows. I know I had a blast reading it, and like after eating one Resse’s Cup, it left me happy, but ready for another!

Trick or Treat?

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Ah, Halloween is here.

And since I have a TON of work to complete before the Trick or Treaters begin to arrive… Let me leave you ZONErs with just this little treat.

Click HERE and see how many differences you can find in the pictures.

You may be shocked at the answer!

Dr. Jekyll has Two Secrets

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In the spirit of Halloween, I’ve been watching [and enjoying] quite a few horror movies lately. As most of you know, I’m a big fan of the genre especially the classic monsters… Wolfman, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon…

Until this week I was never a fan of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde [in any of the many movie versions]. I decided to watch the 1931 film starring Frederich March and Miriam Hopkins. I know I had seen it before when I was a kid and it didn’t impress me. Watching it again the other night was like seeing it for the first time.

Fredric March won a Best Actor Oscar for his role[s]. Miriam Hopkins is just right as the saucy barmaid who adds fuel to March’s fire. The special effects were excellent.

What suprised me most was the movie used Jekyll’s sexual frustration as the focal point of the duality of man’s battle with good vs evil. For a film made in the 30’s it was pretty surprising.

At any rate, if you’re looking for a good movie for Halloween, give the 1931 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde a view. You might discover that there’s more to both Dr. Jekyll and the movie than appears at first glance!

“Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hide” [1931] rates a B

White Noise

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Some people believe that the dead can speak to us and their voices and images are sometimes captured in pictures and recordings.

There’s even an organization dedicated to the study of the phenomena. And whether you believe it’s possible or not, I’ll bet that you spend a bit more time than expected if you visit their site.

I always try to keep an open mind to things and love the idea that it may be true. But true or not, the concept does make a great springboard for a movie.