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Three Jess Franco Films Get the Deluxe Blu-ray Treatment
18 May 2013
Revered horror/exploitation auteur Jess Franco left us last month (you can read our tribute to him here), but his legacy is being preserved thanks to some excellent video releases of his many genre creations – the latest being new Blu-rays of three Franco classics via Kino Lorber and Redemption Films: The Awful Dr. Orlof, A Virgin Among the Living Dead and Nightmares Come at Night will be released in deluxe editions this August, all mastered from archive materials from Eurociné Paris. The deluxe edition of Franco's 1962 landmark The Awful Dr. Orlof is newly mastered in HD, taken from the original uncut French-language version. It will also feature one of the last videotaped interviews with the director, a new commentary track by Tim Lucas (founder/editor of magazine Video Watchdog), as well as newly-filmed remembrances by Franco's friends and collaborators. The new disc of 1970's Nightmares Come at Night, starring the lovely Soledad Miranda, »
- Gregory Burkart
Cryptid Catalog: 'The Aswang'
17 May 2013 4:00 PM, PDT
Although the appearance and behavior of today's featured beast varies widely from region to region, it's known through centuries of folklore as the most feared monster of the Philippines. Mainly regarded as their version of the vampire legend, the "Aswang" has also been described in stories and artwork as a kind of werewolf or other shape-shifting creature – often created as the result of a curse – which walks as a human by day and transforms into an animal at nightfall. Among the stories passed down over the generations, the most distinctive aspect of the Aswang is its hunger for small children (it's often the subject of fairy tales used to scare kids into staying away from the jungle at night). Even creepier, the Aswang's appetite extends to unborn babies as well; it's been said that a flying version of the beast called a “Tiktik” or “Wuk-Wuk” has the ability to suck »
- Gregory Burkart
Slasher Cinema Showcase: 'Boardinghouse'
17 May 2013 3:00 PM, PDT
When I started this feature, I never promised I'd focus entirely on the cream of the slasher crop, but I'd like to think every film I've discussed had some merit as pure entertainment for fans of the genre. Take my earlier pick Disconnected, for example: it's an incoherent, babbling mess (if it were a person, it would be that lady on the bus who wears seven sweaters and talks to her collection of doll heads), but it was a riot to watch, and never boring... and honestly, boredom is the only unforgivable cinematic sin in my book. The 1982 monstrosity Boardinghouse is not boring either... but damn, it's just wrong on so many levels. Made during the dawning days of home video, Boardinghouse has the dubious (and alleged) distinction of being the first shot-on-video horror film to be transferred to film for a legitimate theatrical release. In the digital era, even »
- Gregory Burkart
Bagged and Boarded Comic Reviews: Edgar Allan Poe, Scary Ponies, and more!
17 May 2013 1:00 PM, PDT
New comic book Wednesday has come and gone. The dust at your local comic shop has settled. An eerie silence descends as you finish reading your last superhero book of the week. Now it's time for something a little more sinister. Welcome to Bagged and Boarded: comic reviews of the sick, spooky, twisted and terrifying! Doomsday.1 No. 1 When comic book legend John Byrne first delved into dramatic comics he released a full-color comic called Doomsday +1. That was back in the seventies, and it was about a few survivors of a Cold War apocalypse surfing in a fantastical world. Now Byrne's released Doomsday.1 (pronounced Doomsday Point One) as a way to revisit his early story. But this time there's nothing fantastical or Cold War about the comic. This comic features a group of scientists who orbited earth as a giant solar flare burned the whole planet to a crisp! Now they »
- Giaco Furino
Official 'Dexter' Season 8 Trailer is Here!
17 May 2013 12:28 PM, PDT
I am so excited for the new season of Dexter, but at the same time, dreading it - this is it. Showtime has released the full, official trailer for the eighth and final season of the show, and it got my pulse racing. Deb is spiraling out of control, and a neuropsychiatrist is hanging out around the department... and Dexter. Take a look for yourself:
Dexter Season 8: Official Trailer
I can't help but wonder... will Deb be dead by the end of the season?
Dexter returns to Showtime on June 30th.
»
- Alyse Wax
Genre Television We Want to See Resurrected
17 May 2013 12:00 PM, PDT
Genre television is becoming a major presence in primetime TV. Shows like American Horror Story, Hannibal, True Blood and Grimm are dominating the air and doing big numbers for cable and network stations alike. Subsequently, there is a new trend of reviving series once thought to be dead. Netflix is resurrecting Arrested Development, Fox is bringing back 24, TBS rebooted Cougartown. FEARnet is even getting in on the game, bringing back Reaper with an all-new reunion special airing May 28th.
We at FEARnet, being die-hard horror fans, have some ideas as to what we would like to see rebooted, revived, retooled, or resurrected for another turn in the spotlight. There are plenty of factors that play in to the viability of revamping or resurrecting a series. There are concerns of continuity, scheduling, the aging of the cast, and more. We are not proclaiming that a revival of each of these series is necessarily logical. »
- Tyler Doupe
‘World War Z’ Game Puts the Zombie Apocalypse in the Palm of your Hand
17 May 2013 11:00 AM, PDT
There’s certainly a lot of hype—and whispered production woes—surrounding Paramount’s upcoming film adaptation of Max Brooks’ book World War Z. Of course, with that hyped movie comes the obligatory tie-in game…except there may be some genuine hope for this film tie-in.
Coming exclusively to iDevices and Android, World War Z looks to capture the insanity of its source material, complete with living tidal waves of zombies, on the small screen. Powered by the Unreal Engine and developed by Phosphor Games (who also made the awesome horror-on-the-go title The Dark Meadow), the game has high hopes for the portable space.
“Our goal was to build Paramount a Aaa game,’ says Phosphor Games Studio Director Chip Sineni, “and with that came all our favorite bells and whistles, like ambient occlusion lighting, multipass blended textures, and hordes of enemies to fight.” You gotta respect a man who gushes »
- Carl Lyon
Gift Guide: Get the 'American Psycho' Look With Patrick Bateman Tee
17 May 2013 10:00 AM, PDT
Even though Patrick Bateman would never be caught dead (or caught killing ) in a T-shirt in public, this shirt may come in handy. It gives you an instructional graphic on how to dress like the anti-hero of American Psycho. The fine print includes different brands and products that you will need if you intend to dress like... well, like a psychopath.
$20 at BustedTees.com
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- Alyse Wax
TV Recap: 'Hannibal' Episode 107 - 'Fromage'
17 May 2013 9:00 AM, PDT
Hannibal Episode 107
“Fromage”
Written By: Jennifer Schuur & Bryan Fuller
Directed By: Tim Hunter
Original Airdate: 16 May 2013
In This Episode...
This week’s victim is Douglas Wilson, a trombone player with the Baltimore Orchestra. He is found with his neck broken, dangling almost behind him, a cello neck shoved down his mouth, throat cut open. The killer was trying to play the victim’s vocal chords like a violin. We know that Tobias is the killer. He owns a cello and violin shop, where he makes his own strings from human guts.
Franklin is on to Tobias. Or at least, he thinks he is. Franklin tells Hannibal that he has been concerned over some of the dark things Tobias has been saying, and checked off a multitude of psychopathy markers. Then Douglas shows up dead, and Franklin remembers that Tobias once said he wanted kill someone and play them like a violin. »
- Alyse Wax
TV Recap: 'The Vampire Diaries' Episode 423 - 'Graduation'
17 May 2013 8:00 AM, PDT
The Vampire Diaries Episode 423
“Graduation”
Written By: Caroline Dries & Julie Plec
Directed By: Chris Grismer
Original Airdate: 16 May 2013
In This Episode...
Bonnie needs to wait for tonight’s full moon before she can put the veil back up, so for now, everyone is spending time with their supernaturals. Elena is enjoying burgers in the cemetery with Alaric and Jeremy. Stefan is getting drunk with Lexi. Grams is helping Bonnie cope with being dead. But not everyone is having a good time. Vaughn shows up and shoots Damon in the shoulder. Connor threatens to kill everyone in town if Elena doesn’t hand over the cure. Alexander has Matt terrified on a pressure-sensitive bomb. And Kol is rallying the resurrected troops of massacred witches and hybrids. All the while, Caroline is still being Caroline, making sure that graduation goes off without a hitch.
Let’s get some of the non-stories out of the way first. »
- Alyse Wax
Blu-Ray Review: 'True Blood' Season 5
17 May 2013
Last week I reviewed the Dexter season seven blu-ray set to much disappointment. In complete contrast, the True Blood season five blu-ray set has everything that you want in a box set.
Each episode has an option called “True Blood Enhanced Viewing.” Playing like a less-obtrusive Pop-Up Video, with this option on, you get lower third graphics with insights into the scene. I like that they slide on and off the screen without a little pop-up sound. These aren’t behind-the-scenes tidbits - those you get from the various commentaries. These are story-based: details on character relationships and histories; things from former seasons that you may have forgotten; biographies of minor characters; details that aren’t mentioned in the episode (like the name of songs playing and what is in Lafayette’s Cajun margaritas), and questions to ease you into watching a little more critically (like, “Jason is the only »
- Alyse Wax
After Dark Originals 2 Adds 'Children of Sorrow' to Lineup
16 May 2013 4:00 PM, PDT
After Dark Films, the company behind the “8 Films To Die For” horror film series (aka After Dark Horrorfest), has revealed that the fourth entry in their second “After Dark Originals” lineup will be the cult thriller Children of Sorrow. Directed by Jourdan McClure (read our interview with McClure about his film Rogue River) and written by Ryan Finnerty (Rogue River, Smosh), Children of Sorrow stars veteran horror actor Bill Oberst Jr. (who shocked the social media world in the interactive thriller Take This Lollipop) as cult leader Simon Leach, whose desert commune seems like the promised land for his troubled followers... who are unaware of his more sinister intentions. “Belongingness can be a terrifying subject, even more so when acceptance is disingenuous,” McClure says. “Children of Sorrow is the nightmare version of that." The first After Dark Originals series launched in 2011, and their current slate features Red Clover (directed by »
- Gregory Burkart
First Official Clip From 'We Are What We Are'
16 May 2013 3:30 PM, PDT
Jim Mickle's We Are What We Are, a remake of the 2010 Mexican film of the same name, is having its debut in Cannes this week. The first official clip from the film has been released:
We Are What We Are - Cannes Film Festival Clip
The official synopsis: A seemingly wholesome and benevolent family, the Parkers have always kept to themselves, and for good reason. Behind closed doors, patriarch Frank (Bill Sage, Boardwalk Empire) rules his family with a rigorous fervor, determined to keep his ancestral customs intact at any cost. As a torrential rainstorm moves into the area, tragedy strikes and his daughters Iris (Ambyr Childers) and Rose (Julia Garner) are forced to assume responsibilities that extend beyond those of a typical family. As the unrelenting downpour continues to flood their small town, the local authorities begin to uncover clues that bring them closer to the secret that »
- Alyse Wax
The Hipster Dead: Games That Featured Zombies Before it Was Cool
16 May 2013 3:00 PM, PDT
Unless you’ve been in a coma or trapped in a subterranean bunker, you’ve seen that zombies are a pretty big deal in games these days. Resident Evil was like Bill Hinzman in that lonely graveyard in Night of the Living Dead, the precursor to a flesh-hungry mob that’s infested every facet of gaming from cartoony strategy titles (Plants vs. Zombies) to multi-million dollar Fps franchises (Call of Duty). Except Resident Evil was far from the first…there were games that featured the living dead long before the first Playstation was every connected to that old Zenith tube in the living room. So put on your ironic black plastic glasses and take a look at these hipster zombie games…the games that had zombies before it was cool.
Halloween Harry/Alien Carnage
Borne out of the shareware boom of the early 1990’s, which gave us classics like Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, »
- Carl Lyon
Dangerous Games: 'Zombies!!!'
16 May 2013 2:00 PM, PDT
The chair creaks as you settle onto it. The candlelight flickers. All around you the ravenous faces of your so-called friends twist in delight as you slowly open the box laid out on the table. Welcome to Dangerous Games! Each week, we'll feature a horror/thriller/monster tabletop game you should be playing. Don't be scared… roll the dice… what's the worst that could happen? Zombies!!! The acrid smell of smoke hangs in the air. A gunshot pops off in the distance. You hear a scream a few blocks away. The terrible groaning and moaning rises in volume like a sick chorus. You're trapped in town center, and the only way out is the helipad. If only you could remember where it was… Zombies!!!, by Twilight Creations, takes all the wonderful, scary, and campy tropes of a classic zombie movie and recreates them for your tabletop. Two to six players »
- Giaco Furino
Check Out the New 'Pacific Rim' Main Trailer!
16 May 2013 1:00 PM, PDT
If you recall, Guillermo del Toro recently shared more footage from his upcoming summer blockbuster Pacific Rim (which you can see in this article), and that was definitely cool... but you ain't seen nothin' yet. Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures just launched a new trailer that ups the awesome factor in a big way. The trailer sports plenty of new footage of Kaiju (giant monsters) clashing with Jaegers (piloted giant robots), including more epic disaster scenes, oceanic action and a narrated backstory... plus that Kaiju footprint shot is pretty sweet. Pacific Rim smashes into theaters on July 12th. Power up that trailer! Pacific Rim - Trailer 2 »
- Gregory Burkart
Watch the Red-Band Trailer for 'V/H/S/2' [Nsfw]
16 May 2013 12:00 PM, PDT
Magnet Releasing has just unleashed a new trailer for V/H/S/2, the sequel to last year's popular found-footage anthology, which you can watch below courtesy of Yahoo! Movies. It's loaded with new footage, including a fair amount of splatter (and a brief shot of boobies, so it's not work-safe). They also unveiled the new promo stills you see here. V/H/S/2 marks the return of writers/directors Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard (You're Next), joined by Blair Witch Project veterans Eduardo Sanchez and Gregg Hale, as well as Timo Tjahjanto (Macabre), Gareth Huw Evans (The Raid) and Jason Eisener (Hobo with a Shotgun). It's slated for theatrical release on iTunes/On Demand June 6th, and will see a limited theatrical run on July 12th. Check out the trailer now! V H S 2 - Red Band Trailer »
- Gregory Burkart
Giallo Fever: 'The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh'
16 May 2013 11:00 AM, PDT
An ambassador, Neil Wardh (Alberto de Mendoza), and his wanton wife, Julie (Edwige Fenech), arrive in Vienna for business in the midst of a vicious killing spree that has everyone in a panic. Julie's return to the city rouses memories of former lover Jean (Ivan Rassimov) and their sadomasochistic relationship. It also helps that her husband is utterly dull, busy, and inattentive. The restless Julie has a dark secret that only Jean knows about: blood frightens her, but it also arouses her unimaginably. Julie's cruel ex-boyfriend stalks her and sends unnerving love letters, but she finds comfort at swinging parties and in the arms of another man, George (George Hilton). As the city's body count begins to rise, and a mysterious caller threatens to expose her adulterous and kinky secrets, Julie suspects she's next and that Jean is behind the murders and madness. She escapes to Spain with George for a fresh start, »
- Alison Nastasi
Wyzae: 'Momento Mori' – CD Review
16 May 2013 10:00 AM, PDT
Baltimore-based artist Wyzae Crankfield, aka “Zombi Zae,” wears many creative hats, all of them drenched in blood and brains: in addition to his work in hip-hop, Wyzae has also acted in horror films (his latest being the upcoming Death Metal from Gore Whore Productions), released the comic book Allegionz in 2011, and delved into zombie-themed business ventures including the blood-red vodka cocktail “Brain Matter.” Although his official album debut came in the form of self-released CD Nephilim Orchestra: The Anak Prince, Wyzae's new record Momento Mori, released by Unearthed Music Group (a branch of cult movie distributor Unearthed Films), is a more fully-realized work that's worth a serious listen, with a unique approach to horror lyrics and a slick production style. Wyzae's love of horror and the macabre is clear just from the sheer volume of material laid down on this record, which weighs in at a whopping 19 tracks. While a »
- Gregory Burkart
FEARnet Staff Spoofs 'Battle Royale' with 'Cable Royale' Short
16 May 2013 9:00 AM, PDT
It's just another day at the FEARnet offices. You know, blood, violence, mayhem, zombies.
To celebrate FEARnet's premiere of Battle Royale (you know, the original Hunger Games) we created our own version of Battle Royale: "Cable Royale." We spent two days shirking our responsibilities in order to bring you this short film.
Our intern takes control of FEARnet and pits us against each other in a fight to the death. Enjoy!
Cable Royale
Like any good indie release, we have loaded up the extras: an alternate ending, and a blooper reel.
Cable Royale - Alternate Ending
Cable Royale - Bloopers
Tune in to the FEARnet premiere of Battle Royale on May 18th. Don't have FEARnet? Contact your cable carrier and tell them you want it!
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- Alyse Wax
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