Archive for May, 2008
Posted by Horror Grinder on
May 30, 2008
Today 20th Century Fox provided Bloody-Disgusting with several new stills from M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening (trailer), which hits theaters everywhere Friday, June 13. Although once again the pictures don’t reveal all that much, there are still a few cool ones mingling inside. The pic, which will mark Shyamalan’s first R-rated effort, follows a couple who go on the run from an apocalyptic crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity.
Stabbed first by Bloody-Disgusting Horror News
Posted by Horror Grinder on
May 30, 2008
What movie made you fear having pre-marital sex? What movie made skinny dipping a death sentence? And what movie made us fear every Canadian who played hockey?
Friday the 13th!!
That right people, it’s coming up quick like college kid’s… er, um…you get the picture. The yearly holiDIE that commemorates the bastard child of an American slasher film: Friday the 13th or, to be exact for this year, June 13th, 2008!!
To celebrate this infamous date, we here at Fatally-Yours.com would love for all you F13 freaks to enlist in our…drum roll please…
F13: BATTLE OF BLOOD!!
Okay, your assignment is to photograph yourself, and/or others (the more unwilling the better) depicting a scene from any of the original Friday the 13th movies. Be as creative as you want but the picture must accurately display a memorable shot from one of the films.
The more realistic and the more creative the better. Funny, gory, silly, terrifying, campy (hehe…pardon the pun)…it’s up to you how to make it! We want to honor the slasher, not just copy him. Make sure you add a clever caption to grab our attention as well! The picks of the litter will be posted on the site, which means when you enter, your entry will become property of Fatally-Yours.com for us to do with as we like! Mwahahahaha!
Okay, okay…quit whining ’bout what you’re gonna win, we’ll just tell ya:
- Super Secret Prize Pack from our friends at Dance Party Massacre!! Read our Gory Gear article about DPM here to see what kinda goodies you’re in store for! Please note that their shirts in men’s run only up to L and only a few of their lady’s shirts come in XL.
- Super Sleazy Fatally-Yours.com Schwag, including an exclusive Fatally Yours shirt!!
- A copy of Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th by Peter Bracke, the definitive hardbound book for Friday the 13th fans!!
- …and some other crap we fished out of the lake…
So grab your camera and some victims and show us your respect for yo’ momma, Mrs. Voorhees!
The deadline to enter is Friday, June 13, 2008 at 11:59pm.
Send your scary submissions to: sarah@fatally-yours.com, along with your name, mailing address and t-shirt size.
All entries become property of Fatally-Yours.com.
U.S. entries only, please!
“Ki, Ki, Ki, Ma, Ma, Ma”
Stabbed first by Fatally Yours
Posted by Horror Grinder on
May 30, 2008
Fatally Yours had the pleasure of interviewing another like-minded horror journalist, Geoff Bough of Revenant Magazine! Geoff is the “deaditor”-in-chief of Revenant Magazine, an online rag that covers all you could ever want to know about zombies!
With plans for Revenant to become a print publication, it was the perfect time to chew the fat with Geoff and talk to him about his insatiable appetite for the undead!
Fatally Yours: Thanks for letting us pick your brain, Geoff! Your tasty, tasty brain…
Ummm, anyhow, tell us how and when you fell in love with horror films.
Geoff Bough: Well, my parents are old hippies so growing up there were always VHS dubs of films like Halloween, The Howling, Friday the 13th and various other slashers laying around. My Dad is also a HUGE Universal monster movie fan and so I was cultivated on a great horror upbringing.
As a kid in the 80’s, I was always trying to find ways to rent films like Creepshow and A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Before places like BLOCKBUSTER and whatnot, there were the little Mom & Pop video shops…they always had the good stuff. I remember watching Night of the Living Dead with my friend when I was 8 and I knew horror and I would be friends for life.
Fatally Yours: Why were you ultimately drawn to the zombie subgenre?
Geoff Bough: I think the horror genre as a whole is an incredibly diverse genre. There are a lot of excellent films that make a lot of statements about society, politics, and things that shape and define our character as people. I look at watching a horror film like going on a rollercoaster, you’re after the thrill and if you don’t get it then you are forever on the chase for one that will…it’s an endless cycle, like zombies!
I think if someone can convey a message about humanity in what some might consider an unconventional method such as zombies then it really opens you up to be much more introspective about your own life and surroundings.. I appreciate all aspects of the subgenre but I like the films that challenge your thoughts on existence or how we go about rebuilding society after an overwhelming tragedy.
Fatally Yours: Why did you decide to start a magazine based on your love for the undead?
Geoff Bough: At the time I started Revenant, there weren’t too many places that were covering just the zombie subgenre. There were places like allthingszombie.com but as a fan, I wanted more than what was offered.
I wanted to read interviews with independent film directors, comic book writers/artists, fx artists, original articles on the zombie mythos that I couldn’t find from just one site. I wanted to go beyond just the films and books and provide articles on how the mythos started throughout history all over the world.
Fortunately for me, my friend John Reppion was on the same page of thought as I was and he was really instrumental (and continues to be) in helping to establish Revenant Magazine by crafting thought provoking articles and reviews.
Fatally Yours: How did you go about starting Revenant?
Geoff Bough: As mentioned above, I wasn’t overly satisfied with the amount of coverage the zombie subgenre was receiving…that’s not to say that sites and publications weren’t doing a great job, I just wanted more than what was offered at the time.
Revenant Magazine was actually conceived from the forums at ATZ by me and a friend Dan Barnes in 2005. Dan had obligations with another publication and sadly had to bow out of the project. My aspirations were too high to let it slip away so I developed the site and created a following online with plans to bring a print version later down the road.
I also have to extend my sincerest thanks to the very awesome Abby Perry (Cutelucca) www.cutelucca.com – who provided some of the very early Revenant artwork.
Fatally Yours: In your opinion, what makes a great zombie film?
Geoff Bough: A unique blend of post-apocalyptic character study, original character dichotomy, good blood and gore/special effects, convincing looking zombies, good acting, vague reason for outbreak, an unresolved ending and sometimes a little sardonic humor.
There have been too many films that have created this clichéd, almost forced explanation for the cause of a zombie outbreak. I have always found it to be much creepier and more convincing when there is little to no explanation for the cause. Given the event, there really wouldn’t be a whole lot of answers, doubt and skepticism would far outweigh fact.
There is also this often unnecessary need to resolve the whole film and make it some pseudo-happy ending. Way to be a buzzkill! The thing about zombies is they’re relentless and virtually never-ending. That’s what is so terrifying about them.
Fatally Yours: If you could have played any zombie character in a film, who would it have been and why?
Geoff Bough: Wow, this is an excellent question…first off if I could play any character in a zombie film I’d have to go with Harry Cooper from Night of the Living Dead…just so I could scream the line “You’re all a bunch of yo-yo’s!” Haha! I still love that line.
As for any zombie? hmmm… tough call, I’d have to go with ‘Blades’ from Dawn of the Dead/Land of the Dead because Tom Savini is a badass and I for one would be terrified of a zombie Tom Savini with a machete.
Fatally Yours: Do you have an opinion on the fast zombies vs. slow zombies debate?
Geoff Bough: I guess I am of the more traditional persuasion. I favor the shambling undead to the tenacity of the runners. I think they would both be scary as hell but my suspension of belief has some bounds. I’m no medical expert but if anything, as the body decomposes it certainly doesn’t gain dexterity.
Fatally Yours: Have you been impressed by any new zombie flicks lately?
Geoff Bough: Indeed I have! Andy Davis’ recent film 2 was absolutely amazing and we have picked it up as the first official selection for the 2008 Revenant Film Festival! It’s a great film about 2 survivors and the mental anguish and emptiness they must deal with during and after an outbreak. I am really excited to have it be a part of our event this year.
I just saw some of Marc Price’s Colin which so far has been really excellent. It’s a very different film and tells the story of a man named Colin from his perspective as a zombie. It doesn’t have much dialogue which really adds to the ominous tone of an outbreak. I think in the event there wouldn’t be a whole lot of talking going on in favor of more action.
Spencer Susser’s short film I Love Sarah Jane totally blew me away. Definitely the best zombie short film I have seen in a long time.
I have yet to see [REC] (review), which I hear is amazing so I am on the hunt to procure the Spanish version.
There are a ton of zombie films coming up that I am looking forward to seeing…Stone’s War, The Dead Matter, World War Z, Dance of the Dead, The Book of Zombie and tons more.
Fatally Yours: Where do you think the zombie subgenre is headed in the future?
Geoff Bough: I think the future lies in the independent market. If it’s any indication of the popularity of these films with indie zombie films playing major film festivals like SXSW, Cannes, Toronto International Film Fest, Sundance, Seattle International Film Festival, Screamfest, Toronto After Dark, etc…a lot of these films are getting distribution deals from major studios at these festivals.
I think there is a kind of lackluster originality in Hollywood horror lately and it’s getting better but I think indie horror is a breath of fresh air.
There are also a TON of totally kickass original comic books and zombie fiction that have been optioned for film rights as well. Films like World War Z and Tag are in the works and we’re in for some good times as zombie fans!
Fatally Yours: Are you involved with a lot of the zombie walks and other horror events in your area? If so, what has been your favorite event and why?
Geoff Bough: Revenant is based out of Seattle, Washington which has a ton of hardcore zombie fans. I developed www.seattlezombiewalk.com to help organize local area events. We have a Seattle walk planned for October 4th to promote our film festival this year and I am also coordinating the Seattle zombiewalk for World Zombie Day on October 26th! I work in partnership with local zombiewalk organizer Miss Cleo – www.myspace.com/seattlezombiewalk to organize walks.
As for my favorite event so far…2 years ago we did a zombiewalk here in Seattle to an outdoor screening of Shaun of the Dead. It was through a very eccentric neighborhood here in Seattle and it was a lot of fun.
Fatally Yours: Can you tell us about the film festival that Revenant is hosting in October?
Geoff Bough: We are hosting the 2nd annual Revenant Film Festival here in Seattle on October 11th 2008 from 4pm to midnight at Seattle’s Museum of History And Industry. We’re an all independent zombie film festival and so far we’ve received entries from all over the world! We’re accepting entries until July 1st so if anyone out there has a project that you’d like to submit for consideration, check out www.revenantfilmfest.com for more details.
We will have some very exciting films this year that you might not see anywhere else!
If I may also take a moment to extend my virtual donation pot, ha! W are accepting sponsorships for the event this year which are only $50 and include the option to screen a 1 minute commercial or logo placement on screen at the event, a very unique advertising opportunity! If you’re interested in sponsoring the event, check out the sponsors page at www.revenantfilmfest.com
Fatally Yours: Name your favorite zombie films.
Geoff Bough: Dellamorte Dellamore, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, The Living Dead At Manchester Morgue, Shaun of the Dead, Zombie, Night 90’, The Beyond, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Dawn 04’, Dead Alive, ‘2’.
Fatally Yours: Besides zombies, what other horror subgenres/movies do you enjoy?
Geoff Bough: I’m a HUGE fan of the genre as a whole. I am particularly fond of ghost stories and hope that there are more interesting ghost stories in the works. I also have a love for werewolf movies and I am about to start a script for a werewolf film.
Fatally Yours: What do you have planned for zombie-lovers in the future with Revenant Magazine?
Geoff Bough: We are in talks to bring a print version of Revenant Magazine to the masses. It has always been my intention to bring the project to print and I am hoping that everything will fall into place and people will have our putrid mag in their rotting hands in the near future.
In addition to all of the awesome content and interviews that we always have, we will continue to keep our readers in tune with the undead.
Fatally Yours: Thanks for such a great interview, Geoff! I wish I could eat your brains to gain your knowledge…!!
Add Revenant Magazine on Myspace!
Stabbed first by Fatally Yours
Posted by Horror Grinder on
May 30, 2008
ILLUSION TELEVISION launches the first true horror mobile video network.
Cable VOD channel Illusion on Demand, known for their science fiction offering, is following their recent surge of expansion to operators like Charter Communications with another ground-breaking announcement. Beginning in mid-June Illusion will be launching “Fright Mobile”, the first true mobile horror channel. As part of this same announcement Illusion is releasing original mobile exclusive series, adding to a horror library…
Stabbed first by Horror Society
Posted by Horror Grinder on
May 30, 2008
“Poultrygeist is as savage as Dawn of the Dead, as slapstick nutzoid as Evil Dead 2, as gag-on-your-popcorn gross as Pink Flamingos, and as dementedly foulmouthed literate as a Kevin Smith raunchfest. It’s genuine sick fun, and there isn’t a boring moment in it.”
This is old news because the newer issue of Entertainment Weekly should be on shelves today, but I thought it was worth mentioning because EW’s horror reviews are normally not that friendly. Owen Gleiberman (the lesser of two evils in EW’s film criticism) gave Lloyd Kaufman’s Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead a great review (Read entire review here).
I caught this just days after our look at the state of the independent horror market and this is a real positive for horror fans. Hopefully Troma will release Poultrygeist on DVD soon, so everybody will have a chance to finally see it.
Stabbed first by horroryearbook.com
Posted by Horror Grinder on
May 30, 2008
WHERE MADNESS REIGNS: THE ART OF GRIS GRIMLY
A Limited Edition Book Launch Signing at Halloween Town “Where Madness Reigns”, the first book to showcase the art of Gris Grimly, will be released as a limited edition hardcover June 7th 2008 at Halloween Town in Burbank California.
On Saturday night of June 7th, join artist Gris Grimly at HALLOWEEN TOWN for the book release party. Not only will you have the opportunity…
Stabbed first by Horror Society
Posted by Horror Grinder on
May 30, 2008
Finally a website that every horror fan can enjoy. HorrorCollectors.Com – Auction and Community Website, created by horror fanatic, Venom Kills. A site that takes the best ideas of the Internet and places them all together in one spot!
“I wanted a fun place where fans could get together, like at a convention,” said the CEO Venom Kills, “so I basically borrowed from the best websites that had already done the work for me. Ebay, MySpace, YouTube, Wikipedia, then added the horror personality interviews, a babe section, radio stations that are horror themed, conventions, news, photo sharing, forum, chat room and there’s still more to come. I hope everyone out there will come and check us out.”
Here’s the rundown in a little more detail of each section of the site:
Auction – It’s like ebay, but ONLY deals in horror collectibles and is much more reasonable in pricing.
BooVision – just like YouTube, where you can download and watch videos from horror conventions, homemade horror movies, real haunted places, hot babes dancing, nostalgic horror trailers, anything you can think of that is horror related.
The Sideshow- where every month a new horror personality will be interviewed.
Horror Search Engine – look up anything on the net that deals with horror. Want to add your horror website…it’s just one click away.
Psychopedia – just like Wikipedia, it is a free, open content, community-built encyclopedia with articles on horror topics from A to Z. We need your help to make it huge. So create an account and start writing everything you know about horror, from movies to monsters and everything in between, tell the world what you know about horror!
Hot Naughties – what’s horror without a little sex. Check out the hot babes and their websites.
Radio Hell – add some mood music to your surfing. Got a horror or mystery radio show you want us to add, just shoot me an email.
Horror Conventions – keep up to date with all the horror conventions from all over the USA. Got one we missed, let us know!
Share-A-Scare – upload and share your horror pictures: conventions, tattoos, real haunted places in your neck of the woods, film locations, anything you can think of!
Ten Bloody Fingers Cafe – horror forum – you know what to do!
MyHorrorSpace – like MySpace, take us into your world and create your own home amongst friends!
The Chattering - live chat room – to discuss everything horror and meet some new weirdos!
Check out HorrorCollectors.com today!
Stabbed first by Fatally Yours
Posted by Horror Grinder on
May 30, 2008
The first “The Dead Matter” trailer coming July. Director and cast to appear at Comic-Con. Midnight Syndicate’s The Dead Matter CD coming August.
Plans are being made to debut the first trailer to “The Dead Matter” at the San Diego Comic-Con July 23-27 at the MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE SOUNDTRACKS booth. Also appearing at the booth (soon to be confirmed) are director Edward Douglas and cast members Sean Serino, Christopher Robichaud, Tom Nagel,…
Stabbed first by Horror Society
Posted by Horror Grinder on
May 30, 2008
“The Strangers” is an absurdly inappropriate title for this film, a more apt name for this flick would have been “The Familiars.” There is not one original moment or scene in the entire ninety minute running time of “The Strangers.” Its basic concept is a complete rip off of the imported horror films, “Funny Games” and “Them.” Perhaps first time writer/director Bryan Bertino thought that the other films foreign origins would allow him to release this movie that borders upon plagiarism with little notice. Sure maybe only the horror fans that have an interest in internationally released flicks would notice, but the correlation between the movies isn’t the only familiar thing about it. “The Strangers” not only creates it’s foundation out of a mixture of the aforementioned Austrian and French films but goes on to build the rest of it’s script out of eternally lamented horror movie clichés. Characters make decisions that even a seven year old would scoff at, uses the “Based on A True Story” tagline even though it’s not, the couple that is terrorized has just broken up, etc. So far, “The Strangers” is the worst horror film I’ve seen in 2008.
Win an autographed Strangers Poster here.
James Hoyt (Scott Speedman) and his girlfriend Kristen McKay (Liv Tyler) arrive at the Hoyt family vacation home in an isolated rural area following a friend’s wedding. The couple is in the middle of an ambiguous fight over the fact that Kristen had just turned down James’s marriage proposal for reason that are never fully disclosed. Kristen realizes that she is out of cigarettes and James offers to take a solo drive at four in the morning in search of a pack for her. Just before leaving a strange girl shows up asking for “Tamara,” when she’s told that there’s no Tamara in the house she leaves. But shortly after that the girl returns with a couple of friends that essentially pull sadistic pranks on Kristen and James until the obvious ending happens that is neither shocking, satisfying or even remotely interesting. The film’s only interesting or redeemable moment occurs when Glenn Howerton from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” shows up, but sadly his appearance lasts only minutes and the film fails to recover from his absence.
“The Strangers” is not a film for well versed horror fans, it’s predictable, overflowing with false jump scares and has scenes that drag on for far to long. Compound that with its false “R” rating (this is a PG-13 film if I’ve ever seen one) and it’s unnecessarily hip and overused soundtrack and you have the perfect film for tween horror fans whose only knowledge of the genre is the “Scream” franchise. “The Strangers” is not a scary film, it has creepy moments but they are few and far between and end up being fairly repetitive. How many times can you watch a dork in a Slipknot mask tilt his head left to right while standing behind the heroine? I hope it’s more than three or four times, because that’s “The Strangers” version of scary, a fucking music video.
On the subject of masks, the ones used in this film were obviously crafted with the intent of releasing them for purchase this Halloween. It’s not that they’re particularly striking or original, it’s just that they’re memorable enough to be hung on the pegs between the Voorhees brand goalie masks and ghostface disguises at Walgreens this October. Another valid sign that “The Strangers” was a hack job and that it should have been dumped straight to DVD is the fact that it was supposed to be in theaters a year ago, but its release date kept getting pushed back without any real reason from either Universal Studios or Rogue Pictures. Perhaps they were afraid of the similarities between it and the American remake of “Funny Games,” but its far more likely that negative test audience reaction lead to it’s delay.
Finally, will you douche bag producers stop slapping “Based on a True Story” tagline on films that are not based on a true story? I could not find a single news report or any bit of information relating to any actual murders that paralleled the events that occurred at the Hoyt family’s vacation home at 1801 Clark Road on February 11, 2005. The closest I was able to dig up was the Keddie Cabin Murders which were vaguely similar but were carried out back in 1981. So listen you fuckwad movie makers, stop lying to the people that go see your movies by saying your shitty flicks are based on “True Stories.” It was alright for films like “The Texas Chain Saw Massacres” to do that back in the seventies, but nowadays it’s just annoying and stupid, plus nobody believes you.
Wait, I take that back. I overheard a woman at the screening discussing the film with her friend. I’ll attempt to phonetically replicate her statement. ,” Gurl, ya know dis shit s’ rueal, just like dat Leathyface guy. Yeah dat stuff at da end was da only evidense dey found, (referring to the TCM remake) he still out dere, dats scurry s’ fuck!” Later on when some of the rowdier attendees at the screening began clapping loudly for the movie to start she stood up at shouted” Ya all need to cut dat shit out, ya aint in church!” After the house lights went up, I asked her before she left if she enjoyed the movie. She said “hell yeah, it was ruel scary!” I asked her what was scary about it, to which she replied, “I dunno” and then she turned and walked away. That is the perfect representation of “The Strangers” target audience, and if you enjoyed the film, your peer.
Read all of Tyler Shainline’s articles and reviews in his Archives
Stabbed first by horroryearbook.com
Posted by Horror Grinder on
May 29, 2008
Alone In The Dark, an adventure/action/horror game for PS2, PC, Xbox 360, Wii And PS3, is due out on June 24th. Taking the fear to a new level, the next-gen Alone in the Dark features the macabre style of the series played with new gameplay mechanics and a broader-reaching, action-packed play style. Explore fully-interactive realtime worlds, interacting with physics and roaming the wide-open, fright-filled environments.
This next-gen Alone in the Dark is also built around a unique episodic game structure – the story is split into a number of distinct 30-40 minute episodes, doled out one at a time as you play. Each time the player launches a saved game, the episode will begin with a video summary of the previous episode to quickly re-immerse the player in the story and removing the need to remember where they were or what they were doing. Every episode will close with a nail-biting cliff-hanger ending to rattle players’ nerves, and if the player is leaving the game a video teaser of the next episode will play to leave them wanting more.
Here’s a trailer for your enjoyment …
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Tags: horror video games, PC, PS2, Wii, Xbox 360
horror video games, PC, PS2, Wii, Xbox 360
Stabbed first by HELLNOTES
