Category: Horror

New Years Means Twilight Zone

One of our New Year’s Eve traditions [in addition to running movies, having good food, and setting off fireworks for my sons, nieces, nephews and well, myself] is to catch several episodes from Sci-Fi‘s Twilight Zone Marathon. I really love the idea of a TZ Marathon. Even though I rarely catch more than a few episodes, knowing that they’re available makes me smile.
For the last TZ Marathon, I recommended  Terror at 20,000 Feet and To Serve Man. They’re my favorites. If you can only catch two, then they’re the two.

Looking for more? The Invaders starts at 9:06pm on December 31st. An old woman alone, in a remote cabin with no neighbors or electricity is attacked when a small spaceship with invaders arrives!

The Shelter airs at 10:45 the same night. Several good friends who are also neighbors have gotten together to celebrate Dr. Stockton’s birthday. Everything is swell until there is an emergency announcement: the U.S. is in danger of an attack! The President warns everyone to seek immediate shelter — just the kind of shelter that Dr. Stockton has. Unfortunately there’s not room for everyone. Just what will friends do to each other in order to get a chance at survival? You’ll know if you watch!

  • Updated 5/14/23

Anomalies Unlimited

As you’re probably aware, if you read my Zablo Zone commentaries, I enjoy unexplained phenomena, conspiracy theories and the like. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fanatic but I do enjoy them from time to time.

If you do as well, then check out Anomalies Unlimited. It’s a site dedicated to strange stuff… UFOs, Aliens, Conspiracy Theories, the missing link… You can find all kinds of interesting stuff here.

Some will amuse you [optical illusions], some will surprise you [Disney secrets],some may intrigue you [aliens, ufo’s, etc.] and some will gross you out [odd pics]. And some items, like the one about the Evolution of Michael Jackson’s Nose will do all of the above.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Da Goon

Eric Powell writes and draws “The Goon” which is published by Albatross Exploding Funny Books. The Goon combines horror, sci-fi, humor, zombies, ufos, humor, gangsters, humor, werewolves… well, let’s just say anything that Eric wants to write or draw about would work in the series. And did I mention that it’s fun and funny?

Right now the second issue of the second series is out. But don’t worry, you can still get all of the back issues and a trade edition is coming in January. I’ll be getting it, even though I already have the issues off the stands. That should tell you just how much I enjoy Eric‘s work. I’ll bet you would too.

So check out his site, and tell him I sent ya! [If ya don’t expect a visit from The Goon — and I ain’t talking about Big Beatty or myself!!]

“Signs” starring Mel Gibson / Z-View

The signs were all there.

M. Night Shyamalan was back.  He had already written and directed the oh-so-cool “Sixth Sense” and the well done “Unbreakable.” Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix were to co-star. The trailers were suspenseful. They left you wanting more. Yeah, the signs were all there.

But you never know.

I saw Signs yesterday and it’s been on my mind. The story involves aliens.. but not in the way I was expecting. It’s as much about family, redemption, and faith as it is aliens. And it is scary. Very scary! It will also make you laugh, move you to the verge of tears, and more than likely leave you feeling happy.

Signs rates a solid 5 of 5 stars.

I think you’ll enjoy it.  The signs are all there.

Rating:

Join the TZ Marathon

When I was a kid one of my biggest pleasures was watching scary movies or tv shows. I still get a big kick out of ’em in fact. What’s even cooler is that now my kids enjoy them just as much as I do.

I’m not talking about today’s gory bloodfests, but instead shows like the old Universal Monster movies and American-International Films. As far as tv shows, none is better at this genre than the original Twilight Zone!

The Sci-Fi channel is running a two day marathon of Twilight Zone episodes starting at 7AM today. If you plan to check out any, let me recommend two.

The first, pictured above, is “Terror at 20,000 Feet.” A man who has just been released from a mental institution sees a creature on the wing of a plane trying to destroy the engine… only no one else sees it. Is he having a relapse?

The second, pictured above, is called “To Serve Man.” Aliens arrive on Earth and all indications are they come in peace… but do they really?

These are just two of many excellent episodes.

Even if you can’t watch them all [and who can?], maybe you can plan to tune in to see an old favorite or one you’ve never seen before. I know that I will…

And for just a little while I’ll be a kid again, up on the couch hoping that someone else besides me and Bill Shatner sees the creature on the wing!

Dark Shadows – Those Were The Days!

When I was a kid, there weren’t many things that I enjoyed more than a good scary movie. Most of my friends felt the same. We’d look forward to the weekend when we’d stay up late, turn off all of the lights, and watch Sammy Terry’s Nightmare Theater.

What could be better than a weekly fix to satisfy our horror cravingHow about a five days a week fix?

Dark Shadows was the first and only soap opera I’ve ever watched on a regular basis (if you don’t count professional wrestling). It told the tale of the Collins family… what a mess they were. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts…. whew! And we ate it up!

Dark Shadows was the must see show of it’s time. It spawned a series of novelizations, trading cards, and more. There are annual Dark Shadows conventions that continue to this day!

A new collector’s series of Dark Shadows DVDs are going to be released shortly. The price is right, so get your friends together and turn down the lights!

“Hellboy” Next for Del Toro

According to Countingdown.com, director Guillermo Del Toro said “I hope Hellboy is my next movie… It’s difficult for me to get a $60 million dollar movie financed with Ron Perlman as the star, but I’m not giving up, since Mike Mignola and I think he is perfect for the part. If you want to know what the movie will look like, just go get the comic book. I will be as faithful as I can…Abe Sapien is such a characteristic figure, that we will basically have to do him completely artificial through puppetry and CG, to make him *exactly* as Mignola drew him. But I think his voice could either go the Kevin Spacey way or the Steve Buscemi way. Two total opposites that would nevertheless make the character interesting”.

Although there was some speculation early on that Vin Diesel would get the role of Hellboy, I think that Pearlman is also an excellent choice. He won’t bring in the initial crowd that Diesel. would, but if the movie rocks, the audience will find it!
Updated 5/14/23

Del Toro Wants Perlman for “Hellboy”

Countingdown posted an item from director Guillermo Del Toro who said…

“I hope Hellboy is my next movie… It’s difficult for me to get a $60 million dollar movie financed with Ron Perlman as the star, but I’m not giving up, since Mike Mignola and I think he is perfect for the part. If you want to know what the movie will look like, just go get the comic book. I will be as faithful as I can…Abe Sapien is such a characteristic figure, that we will basically have to do him completely artificial through puppetry and CG, to make him *exactly* as Mignola drew him. But I think his voice could either go the Kevin Spacey way or the Steve Buscemi way. Two total opposites that would nevertheless make the character interesting”.

Thanks also to Dark Horizons.

Although there was some speculation early on that Vin Diesel would get the role of Hellboy, I think that Pearlman is also an excellent choice. He won’t bring in the inital crowd that Diesel. would, but if the movie rocks, the audience will find it!

Sammy Terry: Indiana’s Horror Host!

The scary looking guy to the left is Sammy Terry. If you grew up in the mid-west, there’s a good chance that you watched and enjoyed him as he hosted “Nightmare Theater” out of Indianapolis back in the mid 60’s through the 80’s.

I used to love staying up late to watch the monster movies that he presented. Thanks to Sammy and his “Nightmare Theater,” I discovered the classics (“Bride of Frankenstein,” “The Thing,” “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and many others]. Sammy would come on to introduce the movie and tell bad jokes… he would then be back after commercial breaks with more bad jokes… and of course, he would end each show wishing everyone “pleasant nightmares.”

I was happy to find a site dedicated to Sammy, the scariest guy that we all loved!