If you’re aware of an event I can place here, or are planning one yourself, please send me an email at steven@thehorrorblog.com.

Notable DVD Releases

Feb. 13th - Masters of Horror: Pelts
Feb. 13th - 13 Tzameti
Feb. 13th - Evil Animals Triple Feature (Day of the Animals, Grizzly and Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell)
Feb. 13th - Driftwood
Feb. 13th - Gate II

Notable Theatrical Releases

Feb. 16th - Ghost Rider
Feb. 23rd - The Number 23
March 2nd - Zodiac

Notable Comic Book Releases

Feb. 14th, 2007

Friday The 13Th #3
Tales Of The Unexpected #5
Darkman Vs Army Of Darkness #3
Girls #22
Blade #6

Events

Feb. 15th (Toronto, Ontario) - Rue Morgue’s Cinemacabre presents Phantasm.
Feb. 16th - 18th (Cherry Hill, NJ) - Monster Mania Con 7 with Tobin Bell, Brad Dourif, Crispin Glover, The Monster Squad 20th anniversary reunion and tons more.
Feb. 17th (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) - Exhumed Films gives a belated valentine in the form of a My Bloody Valentine/Candyman double bill. Dibs on the back row.
Feb. 23rd -25th (Durham, North Carolina) - Nevermore Film Fest.
Feb. 23rd - 25th (Chicago, Illinois) - Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors including guests Doug Bradley, Jeffrey Combs, Ken Foree, Uwe Boll and many more.
Feb. 23rd (Montreal, Quebec) - Freaky Fridays lecture series. Ophidophobia: What is it with snakes? followed by a screening of Snakes on a Plane.

Mar. 2nd (Montreal, Quebec) - Freaky Fridays lecture series. Shrunkenhead Fever, followed by a screening of The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake.
Mar. 3rd (everywhere)- International Read A Comic Book Naked Day.
Mar. 3rd (Burbank, CA) - Dark Delicacies hosts an afternoon with 30 Days of Night scribe Steve Niles and master illustrator Bernie Wrightson.
March 24th (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) - Exhumed hosts a very special night with Roy Frumkes and his classic grindhouse film Street Trash. In addition, Frumkes will be screening his documentary on George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead, entitled Dream of the Dead, as well as other surprises.
Mar. 29th - April 1st (Toronto, Ontario) - The World Horror Convention descends upon the unsuspecting populace of Toronto, the first time the event has been held outside of the United States.
Mar. 30th - April 1st (Strongsville, Ohio) - Cinema Wasteland movie and memorbilia expo has some truly bizarre and wonderful guests lined up, including the ladies of Faster Pussycat Kill… Kill!

“Scoop” Carnacki throws down a recent Daily Show clip that uses a number of pop culture clips and stills to make its point. One of the most prominent is the appropriation of the original Dawn of the Dead. I was surprised to see how graphic it became. One scene in particular is the most wince-inducing in the entire movie for me. I wonder if anyone tuning into Comedy Central chucked their cookies at the sight.

Name your favourite romantic couple in a horror movie.

Louis Fowler

Joe Spinell and his greasy fuck-manniquins in MANIAC.

Dave - Rue Morgue’s The Abbatoir

Definitely May and her homemade doll, from Lucky McKee’s May. When May finally finishes stitching the doll together and literally gives a piece of herself to him/her/it, it’s horrifying, tender, heartbreaking and totally romantic all at the same time. Who needs a Real Doll?

Bill Cunningham - DisContent

Brian and Aylmer from BRAIN DAMAGE…

Nick - DVDTrash

It surely has to be Francesco and Anna from Joe D’Amato’s Buio Omega (aka Beyond the Darkness), a love that Frank wanted to last forever!

Jeff O’Brien

Jeni and Sofi in Insecticidal - I’m SHAMELESS…

Sean T. Collins - Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat

Obviously, Julia and Frank from Hellraiser. “Aren’t you gonna let me kiss the bride?”

Doug Nagy

Sarah Jessica Parker and Pierce Brosnan in Mars Attacks.

Tim - Mondo Schlocko

To me it would have to be Dr Phibes and his undying love and devotion to his wife, Victoria Phibes.

Gary Wintle

“Mom” and “Dad” from the People Under the Stairs.

That couple scared the hell out of me when I was a kid. The dad with the bondage suit and chainsaw(?), the psycho mom and that goddam rottweiler dog all acting nice on the outside, but crazy inside their house. Most horror movies I really enjoy, but kinda can’t get really scared because I “know it can’t be real”, but those people locking kids up could be happening in your own neighborhood! Man, I gotta watch that one again, but it’s so much better when you find it on TV. Just one of those movies.

JA - My New Plaid Pants

Shaun and Ed from Shaun of the Dead.

David Z. - Tomb It May Concern

Jess Franco and Lina Romay in anything they do by far. You get real life AND good performances from that pair every time.

Curt - Groovy Age of Horror

Oh, I guess I’d say David Hemmings and Daria Nicolodi in Profondo Rosso. They have a fun chemistry there.

The Horror Roundtable. Where romantics and smart asses collide. Do you have a favourite horror movie romance? Let us know in the comments below. And make sure you check out the various sites from the softies above. It’s cheaper than a box of chocolates, but it’s a lot more thoughtful.

A few weeks back I spent some time getting nostalgic over the gradual decline in stature for the practical special effects artist. One aspect of that equation that I didn’t take into account was the subsequent slide in demand for the people behind the prosthetics, or, professional monsters. The Toronto Star conducts an interview with Pan’s Labryinth star Doug Jones, the man behind the mask, and one part of their conversation concerns the fear one feels as technological advances threaten your livelihood.

“We all were worried. At some point you’re looking at the wave of digital coming in and thinking `We’re all going to be replaced one day.’”

The entire article gives a terrific behind-the-scenes look at an oft-neglected corner of the world of film, from Jones’ predecessors to how he fell into that particular line of work to the love for monsters.

Don’t worry. This isn’t turning into Brother Voodoo week. Though I wish I had enough material to make it happen.

If anyone has been associated with Brother Voodoo the most over the years it’s been cartoonist extraordinaire Fred Hembeck. For decades he alone kept Brother Voodoo in the public eye through his strips in Marvel Age. In fact, I wouldn’t doubt it if Fred Hembeck has drawn Brother Voodoo more than everyone else combined, an auspicious honour indeed. Hembeck has some interesting Brother Voodoo material on his site, including an explanation as to why he chose Brother Voodoo and a rough story devoted to Brother Voodog. In addition to the huge amount of art on display, Fred also keeps a regularly updated blog that’s full of great anecdotes from the world of comics and beyond, including the occassional creepy cover scan or three. Enjoy!

Like a lot of people in the creative arts, Quentin Tarantino has a hard time nailing down a project without being distracted by something else. The amount of films he’s enthused about that never came to be far outweighs all the ones that did make it to the screen. Fangoria digs up some of the highlights from Tarantino’s previous horror associations.

“I didn’t write it down, but what I would’ve done is [have HALLOWEEN 6 begin with] 15 or 20 minutes of just the man and Michael having left the jail. What it takes to get him out of sight. He literally takes him to a diner, they sit down, shit happens at the diner, they have to escape, they go to someplace else, shit goes down at the motel, they have to go someplace else.”

I had heard about Tarantino’s involvement with the Halloween franchise, but the anecdote concerning the Evil Dead remake is new to me. What do you think? Could he have made either of them work. Better the Devil you know…?

Movies

Literature

Comics

Misc.

New Comic Day!

If you’re aware of an event I can place here, or are planning one yourself, please send me an email at steven@thehorrorblog.com.

Notable DVD Releases

Feb. 6th - The Grudge 2
Feb. 6th - The Amazing Screw-On Head
Feb. 6th - Hellboy: Sword of Storms
Feb. 6th - Alfred Hitchcock 3 Disc Collector’s Edition (The Ring, The Manxman, Murder!, The Skin Game, and Rich and Strange)
Feb. 6th - Full Moon Classics: Volume 1 (Arcade, Bad Channels, Netherworld, Seed People, and Shadowzone)
Feb. 13th - Masters of Horror: Pelts
Feb. 13th - 13 Tzameti
Feb. 13th - Evil Animals Triple Feature (Day of the Animals, Grizzly and Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell)
Feb. 13th - Driftwood
Feb. 13th - Gate II

Notable Theatrical Releases

Feb. 9th - Hannibal Rising
Feb. 16th - Ghost Rider

Notable Comic Book Releases

Feb. 7th, 2007

Nightmare On Elm Street #5
Shazam The Monster Society Of Evil #1 (Of 4)
Dark Tower Gunslinger Born #1 (Of 7)
Ghost Rider Team-Up TPB
Ghost Rider Trail Of Tears #1 (Of 6)
Incredible Hulk #103

Events

Feb. 10th (Burbank, CA) - Dark Delicacies holds a signing for the animated film Hellboy - Sword of Storms, with guests artist Mike Mignola, director Tad Jones, composer Christ Drake and voice actor Doug Jones.
Feb. 15th (Toronto, Ontario) - Rue Morgue’s Cinemacabre presents Phantasm.
Feb. 16th - 18th (Cherry Hill, NJ) - Monster Mania Con 7 with Tobin Bell, Brad Dourif, Crispin Glover, The Monster Squad 20th anniversary reunion and tons more.
Feb. 17th (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) - Exhumed Films gives a belated valentine in the form of a My Bloody Valentine/Candyman double bill. Dibs on the back row.
Feb. 23rd -25th (Durham, North Carolina) - Nevermore Film Fest.
Feb. 23rd - 25th (Chicago, Illinois) - Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors including guests Doug Bradley, Jeffrey Combs, Ken Foree, Uwe Boll and many more.
Feb. 23rd (Montreal, Quebec) - Freaky Fridays lecture series. Ophidophobia: What is it with snakes? followed by a screening of Snakes on a Plane.

Mar. 2nd (Montreal, Quebec) - Freaky Fridays lecture series. Shrunkenhead Fever, followed by a screening of The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake.
Mar. 3rd (everywhere)- International Read A Comic Book Naked Day.
Mar. 3rd (Burbank, CA) - Dark Delicacies hosts an afternoon with 30 Days of Night scribe Steve Niles and master illustrator Bernie Wrightson.
March 24th (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) - Exhumed hosts a very special night with Roy Frumkes and his classic grindhouse film Street Trash. In addition, Frumkes will be screening his documentary on George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead, entitled Dream of the Dead, as well as other surprises.
Mar. 29th - April 1st (Toronto, Ontario) - The World Horror Convention descends upon the unsuspecting populace of Toronto, the first time the event has been held outside of the United States.
Mar. 30th - April 1st (Strongsville, Ohio) - Cinema Wasteland movie and memorbilia expo has some truly bizarre and wonderful guests lined up, including the ladies of Faster Pussycat Kill… Kill!

Most of the Toronto dates courtesy of Toronto After Dark.

I could spend all day wallowing in the excessive pop culture madness that is X-Y-Z Cosmonaut. I’m especially happy when he deals in horror, if only so that I can send even more people his way. Today I recommend you snag his sweet-ass Brother Voodoo collection, and while you’re there make sure you browse around. From disco to Doctor Who, from anime to kaiju, you won’t walk away disappointed.

The Messengers follows a dysfunctional family composed of a father, mother, sullen teenager and mute toddler as they escape the big city and a tragic past for life on a sunflower farm. Unfortunately for them, their new home is inhabited by spirits who communicate their sorrow in physically harrowing ways.

I’ve never understood the appeal of The Messengers directors the Pang Brothers. The Eye was only passably entertaining, and Re-Cycle was one of the few films I have ever considered walking out of. Maybe it’s because The Pangs were among the first successful South Korean creators to come out of the Asian horror boom, but taking into consideration all the talent coming out of that country I can only imagine their days are numbered. If so, The Messengers may be the nail in the coffin.

Plot-wise, the film plays out like three or four movies mixed together, but unlike most I found those disparate horror conventions worked fairly well. Where the cross-breeding failed was in its mixture of styles. The inclusion of the rather overplayed Asian ghosts with the other more Western menaces was a good idea gone horribly wrong and didn’t do either camp any favours. The Messengers other major failing is in its characterization, with the underlying tension between family members turning out to be both a let-down and downright unbelievable. The impression one gets time and time again is that this family has almost no concept of either personal safety or responsibility for others. They constantly let each other out of their sight when it would be inadvisable in real life, let alone during a crisis. I was half expecting a character to fall off the roof because another character holding the ladder saw something shiny and let go to investigate. These people are precisely why natural selection is a great idea.

Surprisingly, there are a few good ideas buried in The Messengers. It’s tricky to plausibly keep the victim of ghostly encounters from fleeing and never coming back, but in the case of a relatively powerless and voiceless teenager there really isn’t any choice. Having the protagonist chained to the location by social pressures, rather than imprisonment of a physical or mental variety, is a novel idea that would definitely resonate with the intended audience. What teenager doesn’t feel as if they know all the answers, yet no one is willing to listen to them? While Kristen Stewart is only passable in the role of the family’s daughter, she excels in screaming, sobbing and freaking out, and that puts her well above the rest of the cast who hack out their roles. Another interesting characterization is that of the youngest child, able to see the ghosts but unable to voice his observations. The intriguing part about his role is that at almost no point in the movie does he realize the extent of the danger circling around him. There is something refreshing about watching a character in a movie react to blatant horror with awe and wonder.

To its credit, The Mesengers is one of the best of the bunch for PG-13 horror films of the past few years, though that’s about the most damning praise I ever hope to heap on a movie. Recommended only if you’re a sucker for recycled J-Horror (via Korea), jump scares or butt cracks.

Movies

The Independent cobbles together a lengthy profile on Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg.

Taking a break from concocting elaborate erotic fantasies involving Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore, Sean of Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat returns to NSFW horror, specifically Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula.

Esotika Erotica Psychotica gives an in-depth review of Don’t Deliver Us From Evil.

Interviews

Dark, But Shining scores a terrific little interview with one of my favourite musical artists, John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, specifically concerning the horror lyrics he has sprinkled throughout his songs. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

I think a realistic portrayal of an exploding relationship is more likely to resemble a Hammer Horror film, or a Takashi Miiki dream sequence, than a Robert Altman one.

Bloody Disgusting conducts a video interview with “the face of vagina dentata”, actress Jess Weixler of Teeth.

Comics

Comic Monsters launches a new column focussing on illustrated horror magazines of the past, including Creepy, Eerie, Heavy Metal and many more.

DVD

A few days back Bill Cunningham of DISContent posted a call for free software, products or services that could help out the pulp filmmaker. So far there hasn’t be much of a response, which is a damn shame. If you’ve dabbled in film and have a few tricks to share, please do. Bill has given plenty to the DIY filmmaking community. It’s time to return the favour.

Literature

After Elton conducts an interview with Brent Hartinger, author of the gay teen zombie novels Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies and Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies. Now that’s a niche!

Misc.

I live in Canada and I have no idea what The Toronto Star is trying to get across by comparing Americans to flesh-eating zombies and how this would result in negative campaigning against the Liberal party.

If you’re aware of an event I can place here, or are planning one yourself, please send me an email at steven@thehorrorblog.com.

Notable DVD Releases

Feb. 6th - The Grudge 2
Feb. 6th - The Amazing Screw-On Head
Feb. 6th - Hellboy: Sword of Storms
Feb. 6th - Alfred Hitchcock 3 Disc Collector’s Edition (The Ring, The Manxman, Murder!, The Skin Game, and Rich and Strange)
Feb. 6th - Full Moon Classics: Volume 1 (Arcade, Bad Channels, Netherworld, Seed People, and Shadowzone)
Feb. 13th - Masters of Horror: Pelts
Feb. 13th - 13 Tzameti
Feb. 13th - Evil Animals Triple Feature (Day of the Animals, Grizzly and Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell)
Feb. 13th - Driftwood
Feb. 13th - Gate II

Notable Theatrical Releases

Feb. 9th - Hannibal Rising
Feb. 16th - Ghost Rider

Notable Comic Book Releases

Feb. 7th, 2007

Nightmare On Elm Street #5
Shazam The Monster Society Of Evil #1 (Of 4)
Dark Tower Gunslinger Born #1 (Of 7)
Ghost Rider Team-Up TPB
Ghost Rider Trail Of Tears #1 (Of 6)
Incredible Hulk #103

Events

Feb. 6th (Toronto, Ontario) - WTF? Films screens a double bill of Pi and Tetsuo :The Iron Man.
Feb. 10th (Burbank, CA) - Dark Delicacies holds a signing for the animated film Hellboy - Sword of Storms, with guests artist Mike Mignola, director Tad Jones, composer Christ Drake and voice actor Doug Jones.
Feb. 15th (Toronto, Ontario) - Rue Morgue’s Cinemacabre presents Phantasm.
Feb. 16th - 18th (Cherry Hill, NJ) - Monster Mania Con 7 with Tobin Bell, Brad Dourif, Crispin Glover, The Monster Squad 20th anniversary reunion and tons more.
Feb. 17th (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) - Exhumed Films gives a belated valentine in the form of a My Bloody Valentine/Candyman double bill. Dibs on the back row.
Feb. 23rd -25th (Durham, North Carolina) - Nevermore Film Fest.
Feb. 23rd - 25th (Chicago, Illinois) - Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors including guests Doug Bradley, Jeffrey Combs, Ken Foree, Uwe Boll and many more.
Feb. 23rd (Montreal, Quebec) - Freaky Fridays lecture series. Ophidophobia: What is it with snakes? followed by a screening of Snakes on a Plane.

Mar. 2nd (Montreal, Quebec) - Freaky Fridays lecture series. Shrunkenhead Fever, followed by a screening of The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake.
Mar. 3rd (everywhere)- International Read A Comic Book Naked Day.
Mar. 3rd (Burbank, CA) - Dark Delicacies hosts an afternoon with 30 Days of Night scribe Steve Niles and master illustrator Bernie Wrightson.
March 24th (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) - Exhumed hosts a very special night with Roy Frumkes and his classic grindhouse film Street Trash. In addition, Frumkes will be screening his documentary on George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead, entitled Dream of the Dead, as well as other surprises.
Mar. 29th - April 1st (Toronto, Ontario) - The World Horror Convention descends upon the unsuspecting populace of Toronto, the first time the event has been held outside of the United States.
Mar. 30th - April 1st (Strongsville, Ohio) - Cinema Wasteland movie and memorbilia expo has some truly bizarre and wonderful guests lined up, including the ladies of Faster Pussycat Kill… Kill!

Most of the Toronto dates courtesy of Toronto After Dark.

I know they’ve been done to death already, but I just can’t get enough video mash-ups where otherwise innocent films and television shows are twisted into something dark, or vice versa. The Abbatoir presents yet another one, this time exposing the true colours of Jerry and the gang. It’s completely bizarre, and actually made me feel a little uncomfortable in parts.

The weekend box office take is in, and it looks like horror comes out on top for Super Bowl Sunday once again. The Messengers took the number one position, based more on it’s counter-programming position then actual quality, unfortunately. This marks the third time in four years that a horror film was number one for Super Bowl Weekend, the previous occassions being Darkness Falls in 2003, Boogeyman in 2005, and When A Stranger Calls in 2006. The tradition will no doubt continue next year with the release of the Prom Night sequel, already scheduled for that slot. What a sweet little scam they have running there.

The only other horror movie to place in the top ten is the unshakeable Pan’s Labryinth, holding steady at #8 and showing greater endurance then the equally critically acclaimed, and superior, Children of Men.