Filmed entirely on one professional photo camera in one continuous 72 minute sequence, The Silent House (La Casa Muda) is being compared to the likes of [REC] and Paranormal Activity. The comparison with these films may come from the format and the shakiness of the camera shots. From the little shown in the trailer and the synopsis, the plot feels more like The Strangers. The look and feel of this movie is dark and foreboding and we can't wait for the chance to see it. Visit the official website here.
Synopsis pulled from Dread Central: Laura (Florencia Colucci) and her father Wilson (Gustavo Alonso) settle down in a cottage that seems to be off the beaten track in order to update it since its owner (Abel Tripaldi) will soon put the house up for sale. They will spend the night there in order to start the repairs the following morning. Everything seems to go smoothly until Laura hears a sound that comes from outside and gets louder and louder on the upper floor of the house. Wilson goes up to see what is going on while she remains downstairs on her own, waiting for her father to come down. The plot is based on a true story that happened some time ago in a small village in Uruguay. La Casa Muda focuses on the last seventy-eight minutes, second by second, while Laura attempts to leave the house, which hides an obscure secret, unharmed.
There's a new zombie film shambling this way and it looks to be a good one. The Dead is a story set in Africa, where an American service man is trying to find a way home while battling the undead. The trailer reminded me of parts of Max Brook's World War Z, where you are introduced to how the zombie virus began and spread in various parts of the world and how different groups fought to survive.
The look of this film doesn't appear to be one of an all-out gore fest nor does it seem intent of making you constantly jump out of your skin. That being said, we're sure it has its moments here and there. It is, after all, a zombie film. The website Horror-Movies.ca likens it to classic Romero and that seems to be a pretty apt description going solely off the trailer.
After crashing off the coast, Lt Brian Murphy battles for survival across the vast terrrains of Africa in search for a way to get back to his beloved family. Joined by local military man Daniel Dembele who is also searching for his son, together both men join forces all the while battling
against the ever present threat of the living dead!
These creeptastic hypercephalic dolls are just the kind of bizarre and stomach-churning specimens we love. We can always appreciate the taking of something sweet and innocent like a child's dolly and morphing it into the stuff of your nightmares. Careful now, don't stare too long at these - you know they'll be haunting your dreams tonight...
Hands down the most disturbing recreation of a baby since "It Lives" that I've seen recently. Supposedly this beast, built by researchers at The University of California San Diego is intended to mimic the actions of a one-year-old baby. For research purposes. What exactly they are researching, I cannot imagine. Most one-year-old human babies are not four feet tall or made of metal and wiring. Nor do they look like Vern Troyer. Let's just hope it won't want to breast feed...
Mini-Me for the next century of Austin Powers sequels. Only bigger, apparently.
Vern Troyer, shown here actual size.
Sure to kill any maternal urges you might have had.
Leave it to Creep Machine to find the most whacked-out art. This cheery work is called “Four on the Floor” by Michael Hussar. If interested, you can visit Creep Machine to order your very own print.
I'm sure there's probably a deep meaning behind the four tiny Mickey Mice flanking a candy cane penis-nose, but what I'm most focused on is those damn Chesire Cats. I was always a little disturbed by the Disney take on the Chesire Cat, but now he's down-right nightmarish. Just try to get that face out of your head.
The site Coming Attractions has posted an exclusive review of the pilot script for the upcoming TV adaptation of the comic series The Walking Dead. I was excited enough at the prospect of finally getting a zombie-themed TV show, but from the sounds of the review, this will exceed my expectations and may actually garner a larger audience than just the horror fans out there. I've included just a blurb from the full review below for those who are pressed for time, but if you have the time, I suggest you go and read the entire review, it's pretty damn good.
From Coming Attractions:
If you were a fan of the comic book before, now you know that the pilot's set-up of the Walking Dead story follows a similar arc as the comic's but it's not exact. I'd guess that about half to two-thirds of the first two issues are contained in the pilot episode but there's also new material. For instance, we now get to see the incident that brought Grimes to the hospital (the comic begins with him coming to in his deserted room) and there's some changes with what happens when he is in Atlanta that differ with the comic's depiction of events. Darabont seems to know what he's doing and in the places where he chooses to include new material, with his changes/additions better serving the story and bring more characterization (at the beginning and middle) and intensity (at the end). In particular there was a new revelation concerning the plight of the other father that Grimes finds living in his old neighborhood that's not in the comic. This new material really underscored the sense of what kind of deep and unsettling world the survivors are now living in.
Darabont's also done a solid job of knowing what works from The Walking Dead and sometimes reproducing it exactly in his screenplay, such as the case with the bicycle Grimes comes across and the reaction of its former owner to the officer's arrival.
The Walking Dead pilot doesn't sell out its concept for the sake of finding a wider audience. This is a show set in a world where families have died and the survivors haven't had the time to cope with their losses, much less come to terms with civilization collapsing around them. Knowing the course that Kirkman's comic book takes and now after seeing how Darabont's chose to make the pilot more of a drama than a flat-out horror action show, AMC's Walking Dead has fantastic potential. The Walking Dead could even do for horror what the new Battlestar Galactica did for science fiction. Cross your fingers and hope that the show comes together as well as it did on the page.
And a side note: Since this takes place in Atlanta, I'm assuming they'll be doing quite a bit of filming around here, so if you know the casting agency working this show, let me know, because I really really really want to be a part of this!!
This February is the very first Women in Horror Month. The creator, Hannah Neurotica, creator and editor of Ax Wound: Gender & The Horror Genre, wanted to create a time to recognize and celebrate all women connected to the horror genre.
From the Women in Horror website: Hannah Neurotica - It is a month to celebrate all the women in the horror industry. Not just actresses but fx artists, writers, directors, female fans, etc. Honestly there is no deep significance [in choosing February] but when I came up with the idea I immediately thought of Feb because often it has 28 days. And ya know, the menstrual cycle. Plus the hearts and horror combination always makes me happy. Just like with any other awareness month the key is the word “AWARENESS” when you have time set aside or an event to recognize something you are making people AWARE of the need for it and the lack of support out there. Women have long been fans and workers in the horror scene as well as the general art and film scene but given very little recognition. Most of them are invisible and we have to dig deep to even find out about them.
Tuesday marked the 201st birthday of Edgar Allen Poe. For 60 years, an unknown person or persons would visit Poe's grave on his birthday and leave three roses and a partial bottle of cognac. No one has ever discovered who the mystery gift-giver is. Yesterday, for the first time in 60 years, no gift was left. Has this person now passed away? We may never know what happened or who this person was. And while it's sad that such a long and interesting tradition may be over, it's nice that we had something like it for so long. There's very little magic, romance or mystery left in the world and this solitary act hearkens back to a time when it was seemingly plentiful. The absence of the roses and cognac deserves to be mourned as much as the recipient himself. RIP Edgar Allen Poe and RIP Mysterious Rose & Cognac Giver.
Ain't It Cool News has created a buzz that Tim Burton may be looking to tell the story of Sleeping Beauty's villain, Maleficent. Burton will soon be releasing his take on Alice in Wonderland, another Disney classic, which looks to be breathtaking and promises to be as twisted as the author intended. From the Ain't It Cool website:
I was chatting to a fella I know tonight, and this person heard that Tim Burton is developing another classic Disney fairy tale in a quasi Live Actiony kinda way. It seems that Tim has a hankering for SLEEPING BEAUTY... but not really... You see, he's going to tell the story from Maleficent's point of view. In fact, it'll be called MALEFICENT. She was always the most interesting character in that story, but we never knew why she hated those three little fairy wenches... or what indignity she suffered at the hands of Aurora's parents. Yeah, I'm on board... if only it ends with Maleficent with a sword in her heart in dragon form. Cuz that'll rule. Think about how long this plotline was carried out over. She has quite a tale to tell. Let's see where it pops up in Burton's filmography.
{Disney Dork Moment: I know why Maleficent got her knickers in a twist, it's because she wasn't invited to baby Aurora's coming out baby shower. I mean, c'mon, everyone knows this! As for hating the fairies, well, they were just plain annoying at times. Sheesh. End Disney Dork Moment.}
We all know that fairy tales are way older than the Disney Imagineers and way darker than any Disney-fied version, but to be honest most of us were introduced to these stories via the sugary versions The Mouse fed us. So to hear that Burton might be taking a darker twist to probably Disney's darkest animated movie makes me super giddy. Please oh please oh please....
A little while back we had heard about an awesome sounding British TV series called Dead Set. The plot revolves around those living in The Big Brother house at the onset of the zombie apocalypse. Below is a full description from the Dead Set website:
Britain has a big problem. The dead are returning to life and attacking the living. The people they kill get up and kill – and it’s spreading like wildfire. Curiously, there are a few people left in Britain who aren’t worried about any of this – that’s because they’re the remaining contestants in Big Brother. Cocooned in the safety of the Big Brother house, they’re blissfully unaware of the horrific events unfolding outside. Until an eviction night when all hell breaks loose.
Kelly, (Jaime Winstone) the production runner working on Big Brother finds herself caught in the impossible position of trying to fend off the walking dead alongside the remaining housemates, Davina herself, a host of former Big Brother housemates, her producer boss Patrick (Andy Nyman) and boyfriend Riq (Riz Ahmed).
Over the ensuing days, in a cruel reflection of the game show they thought they were entering, the contestants fall victim, one by one, to the hungry masses outside. Staying alive requires teamwork – which is tricky when you’re a group specifically selected by TV producers to wind each other up.
Sounds fantastic! So I be-bop on over to the E4 website for Dead Set to watch the episodes online when I came to a sickening realization...I'm not able to watch them since the site seems to be UK-only streaming (if you're reading this from the UK, click here to view the episodes). Well crap! But hope is not lost...oh no...it turns out a lovely human being, JohnxXx91, has graciously loaded all 5 full episodes of Dead Set onto YouTube for the good ol' US of A. Since YouTube only allows clips up to 10 minutes, each episode, depending on length, is broken up into 3-5 segments. JohnxXx91 has clearly labeled each episode along with which segment, for example: Dead Set, Episode 1 part 1.
I sat and watched the whole series on Saturday and was not disappointed. It is well written, well acted and well produced. The irony of the Big Brother contestants wanting people to crave them and then getting it, albeit in a different manner than anticipated, is not lost on this viewer. In fact, if you've watched Big Brother, I'm sure you've found players on there that you wouldn't mind eviscerating if you were one of the living dead. Besides the basic E4 website, there is also a flash site that you can visit by clicking here.
One interesting tidbit to note is that the real host of the UK Big Brother, Davina McCall, appears as herself in Dead Set. I find it amusing that she guested in this very interesting set-up of her show. I'd love to see Julie Chen of the US Big Brother zombified and chasing after contestants.
To view all the episodes, visit JohnxXx91 on YouTube. For now, I'll leave with you with trailer to whet your appetite. Yum!
Irregular Magazine, an incredibly neat-o-riffic hobby web magazine, has just cranked out its third mag that is this time around heavily focused on the undead. The magazine itself is an eclectic mix of all thinks uber-geek such as RPG, how to's & short stories that are fantasy/sci-fi/horror themed, articles and interviews with artists/geek celebs and more. There's something different in each edition (I liked this ed's article on "Gender Equality in Zombies") and they are always looking for new contributors. Below is a description of this issue from their website:
This issue is jam packed with undead related content, as well as a campaign supplement for recreating your own zombie apocalyse. Taylor Holloway has worked really hard to bring you background material that can be used for both RPG and tabletop wargames.
Cover artist Ricardo has combined the undead theme with the wintry release date to create an atmospheric cover, evoking violence and the slow passage of time.
We’ve got not one, by two great interviews this issue – with legendary painter, Victoria Lamb and top sculptor Bob Naismith.
As some may recall, a few posts back we recommended following @willthedaybreak on Twitter. This Twit is, or was, a human witnessing and tweeting the beginnings of the vampire take-over that is to be seen in the upcoming movie Daybreakers. I say 'was' because he has since become a vampire himself, having been attacked by his neighbor and eaten his own cat. Fluffy didn't stand a chance.
Whenever I find new interesting characters like this fellow on Twitter, I like to check out those whom they follow. I've found some of the best people that way. I figured I'd find the predictable types in his list, vampire lovers, horror movie enthusiasts, etc. However, I didn't bank on one type of Twit whom he seems to be most fond...Glee. Yes, as in the show on Fox Glee. We're not talking just the main show Twitter account, oh no, we're talking oodles of Glee fanatics from all over the globe. Here are just a few from the first few pages of his Follow list: @GLEEisLIFE, @GleePodcast, @GleeForum,@gleeky, @gleequotes, @GleeFans, @gleeks, @GLEEonFOX, @GleekSquad, @gleebrasil_. There may be more, but with almost 2,000 folks that he's following, I'm too lazy to do more searching.
I'm not sure why this made me giggle or even why it stood out at all. Let's be honest, we've all always known that vampires have a flair for the dramatic. Lestat loved to wear frilly clothes whilst prancing around New Orleans and the Twilight book/movie series vampires love drama so much so they actually choose to hang out with high school girls, perhaps the most dramatic species that ever walked the earth. So it really seems only natural (or supernatural?) that a newly vampired being would gravitate to a show so overly dramatic (yet awesome, I do want to stress that I love Glee as well). Hmm, since I also like Glee so much, I wonder if I would make a good vampire? Probably not, I get annoyed by high school girls too easily, so I'll remain a blood bag for now.
