Saturday, April 23, 2005

DVD Review: Dead Birds


Now this is why I love B-Movies! This diamond in the rough has good acting, good setting, good music and good directing. It's about a group of bankrobbers in the 1800's, led by Henry Thomas(E.T.), who hide out in an old dilapidated colonial house in the middle of a cornfield. There's something in the house with them and it's not a maid! I like to talk about the atmosphere a film has and this one has atmosphere in spades! The use of sound effects, the lightning and rain storming outside, the music and the distrust of the robbers add up to an unbelievable amount to tension that just builds and builds. The movie unfolds itself as it plays along, it's not a fast paced movie, but a slow, arduous journey into terror. There's a sense of palpable dread hanging in every corner of the spooky old house and the fleeting images of the creatures are simply terrifying. It's a shame that a great spookfest like this can't get released in theaters but films like Alone in the Dark gets huge distribution. Says something about the Hollywood big wigs making the decisions doesn't it? Director Alex Turner gives us a real treat with Dead Birds and I anxiously await his next film. I was truly impressed with this movie and give it ****1/2 out of *****.

Friday, April 22, 2005

New Superman Photo


Here's the first photo of Brandon Routh as Superman in the upcoming Superman Returns. Looks pretty cool. I like how both the new Superman and Batman movies are taking a sort of old style look to their heroes.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm.


Hmmm, coincidence? Have they ever been seen at the same place at the same time? I think not! Seperated from birth or one in the same? Hmmmm.

Horror/SciFi DVD Releases for 4/26

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Blade: Trinity
Darkness
Actium Maximus: Wrath of the Alien Dinosaurs
Ancient Mysteries: Bigfoot
Ancient Mysteries: UFOs - First Encounter
The Black Gate
Devil's Harvest
Digital Prophet / Cybernator
Ghost in the Shell / Millennium Actress
Galaxy Angels Z Volume 2: Galaxy Size Combo
Hell's Gate 11:11
Horror Classics Collection
Horror Triple Feature
Larva
Land of the Lost: The Complete 3rd Season
The Manson Family
The Nameless
Panic Beats
Pure Blood
Smallville: The Pilot

Whew, if you can't find something to watch in that list, then I don't know what to say!

Charles Band Returns!

Charles Band, the mastermind behind the great Full Moon Studios of years gone by, has directed a new film called Decadent Evil. It has vampires, strippers, a monstrous puppet and even a little person as a vampire killer! Everything that made his Full Moon films so great. Click the link to check it out--caution, the trailer does have some minor nudity.

http://www.wizardentertainment.net/trailers/Decadent_Evil_Trailer/decadent_trailerweb.mov

Cursed Unrated and in the Red


If you waited to see the unrated version of Wes Craven's werewolf turd, then here's what to look for on the shelves on June 21. Their creative teams went all out to make this version's cover really special. They painted it red. And how much do they get paid? If a studio puts that little of a creative push on a film, what's that tell you?

To Stink or Not to Stink?

I came across a trailer for a cool looking movie last night and wanted to share it with you. The movie's called Reeker. A group of young people get stranded at a desert hotel type of location and they are being preyed upon by a rotting cadaverous creature. The trailer is actually pretty sharp and looks like it could make a really good picture. I hope so, just imagine the review titles if it stinks! Click the link to take a whiff.

http://www.fastmonkey.com/reektrailer.html

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Book of the Week: Swan Song by Robert McCommon


Often compared to Stephen King's The Stand, this apoctalyptic tale from Robert McCammon is just a bit better in my opinion. Everyone has their own opinion about these two books, but I just found Swan Song to be more entertaining. It's a broad epic featuring a slew of characters, but each one is enjoyable to read about and the 960 pages are done before you know it. The big difference between the two books is King's is a world after a plague hits and McCammon's takes place after a nuclear holocaust. The setting is bleak and dark and really makes for a good read. This book has it all, everything you want in a great end-of-the-world/rebirth story. It gets ***** out of *****.

Movie of the Week: Tremors


This solid, fast paced film from 1990 re-issued the creature feature back into cineplexes all across America. The movie practically came out of nowhere and soon the buzz was out that this little movie was a decent and fun homage to the 50's giant bug films. Starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, it's a combination action/horror/comedy and the two leads work really well off of each other. Michael Gross (TV's Family Ties) and Reba McEntire turn in great performances as the survivalist couple. The story's about a small desert town's desperate fight for survival against a group of gigantic, blood-thirsty tunneling worms. No CGI used here, strictly animatronics and it works for this one. Over the top acting, lots of action, clever writing and a great monster are the reasons why Tremors is the Movie of the Week and also why it gets **** out of *****.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Get Freaky, Dog Boy!

Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves teamed up for a little known movie after their Bill and Ted films titled Freaked. It has long held a spot in my heart as one of those little diamonds that rarely sees the light of day. But that day has come! Or at least it will on July 12, when Anchor Bay releases Freaked on DVD in all it's double disc glory!

Zodiac Cast News

David Fincher's upcoming take on the San Francisco Zodiac killer titled simply Zodiac, now has some actors definitely attached to it. Jake Gyllenhaal will portray Robert Graysmith, the author of the two books that the film is based on, and Robert Downey will play reporter Paul Avery. Mark Ruffalo is still in negotiations but he looks to be cast as the homicide detective in charge of the Zodiac case.

Clive Barker Movie News

Clive's been a busy man of late getting a few of his projects ready for the big screen. He'll be adapting The Midnight Meat Train from the ever popular Books of Blood, he's also going to be seeing a live version of Thief of Always being helmed by Kelly Asbury(Shrek 2). Also on the butcher's table is a horror movie called The Plague, which is being shot in Louisiana and of course his Abarat books are being adapted as well. It's been too long since a Barker story has been at the theater and soon the long wait will be over!

Final Destination 3 Rollercoaster Mayhem!

As we all know by now, the Final Destination films allways start out with a big time disaster and the third one in the series is continuing the trend with a slam-bang rollercoaster disaster in which alot of people get killed, mutlilated and/or dismembered. I didn't know how they were going to top the freeway pileup from the second--that's still worth watching and wondering how nobody got killed doing it!--but from all the advanced hype, this should top it in spades. I was excited before about FD3, now I'm amped about it, can't wait!

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Horror/SciFi DVD Releases for 4/19

Birth
Malevolence
Riding the Bullet
Primer
Horror 101 / Horror 102 / Museum of the Dead
Miracles: The Complete Series
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Vol. 7
Spectres
Subhuman

Malevolence is out after a short theatrical run and Stephen King's Riding the Bullet hits DVD in an R-rated version of the cable tv movie. Miracles, a short lived Skeet Ulrich show dealing with the end of days and the catholic church is released with a handful of never aired episodes.

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Trailers!!

Hide and Creep
http://www.crewless.com/hideandcreep/trailer/a_s3_sm.mov

Dead and Breakfast
http://www.dandbfilm.com/trailer_lg.html

Creep
http://www.cinemas-online.co.uk/content/run_trailer.php?tFn=creep_high.mov

Undead
http://www.lionsgatepublicity.com/epk/undead/trailers/undead_lg.mov

Mindhunters
http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/mindhunters.html

Return of the Living Dead 4 and 5
http://returnofthelivingdead4and5.com/movs/promo.html

Batman Vs. Superman!

Film Rot has snagged a pretty cool quote from none other than the new Batman, Christian Bale. The question posed was about how many more films will Bale don the Batsuit. The quote is as follows: "Two more actually, and then Brandon Routh, the new Superman, and I, are doing Batman vs. Superman as a movie". Now if that isn't some cool news, I don't know what is!

DVD Review: Ring of Darkness


Sometimes in life, there is a rare experience of watching a movie you expect to be bad and it turns out to be really good. Alas, this is not one of those moments. As a matter of fact, watching Ring of Darkness doesn't even qualify as a movie watching experience. It's the equivelent of stepping in a pile of dog crap. A really, really big pile. Ryan Starr wasn't good enough for American Idol, but she was a better singer than actor, as she takes lousy acting to the next level. Barely though, as her co-actors try their hardest to de-throne her. Even Adrienne Barbeau can't escape their crappiness, her Swamp Thing role could garnish an oscar compared to this role. The crap that is the plot of this thing is: the world's greatest boy band needs a new lead singer, only they're not just a boy band, they're zombies! At least I think that's what they were supposed to be. Ryan's boyfriend (against his rockin' rollin' attitude!) tries out for the troupe and discovers the ghastly truth. Do not and I repeat, DO NOT watch this crapola! If you do you will die! Ok, maybe not so harsh, but don't say I didn't warn you. This makes Goth look decent. If Ruben Studdard shows up in a horror movie, look out Seacrest, that's all I have to say! 1/2 out of 5 stars. Crap, Crap, Crap!!!