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Godsmack’s Shannon Larkin Reviews BD Selects Yellowbrickroad!

Published

15 years ago

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Bloody-Disgusting Selects is quickly becoming the ultimate movie experience for horror fans. It’s not only because we’re so committed to bringing you the best films that we can find, but also because we love hearing your voice and seeing your reviews for each film. That’s why BD Music is beyond excited to announce that Shannon Larkin, drummer of multi-platinum hard rock band Godsmack, will be doing movie reviews for all future BD Selects films! Having spoken to Shannon, I can assure you doubters that he has a huge knowledge of horror and his love for the genre is just as deep and passionate as the rest of us. 

In celebration of this partnership, we’re bringing out the second half of Shannon’s review for the newly released BD Selects film, Yellowbrickroad. You can check out the first half here. Check it out after the jump and keep an eye out for a Bloody-Disgusting exclusive interview in the next few days!
shannonlarkin

Yellowbrickroad – Shannon Larkin:
   Hell-o fellow horrorhounds! It is my pleasure to review scary films for the mighty bloodydisgusting.com. A dream gig, actually. This is my first official review, so for the record, and for the last time, I will say that I am a long time working musician that has been blessed to drum with my idols and peers alike in the course of over thirty years. I have been in Godsmack for the last nine years. 
   My passion with horror began in the mid-seventies when I was a kid, and my father would wake me on Saturday nights at midnight for the Creature Features that featured mostly the classic Hammer films and monster movies like Godzilla and the like. My love for the genre far exceeds my modest collection of horror films, but I’m sure that if it is a movie that has made (or will make) my collection, it must have that something that makes the mind take the undeniable journey to the darkest and most uncomfortable place in the human psyche – fear. Horror. The bloodier the better. I will give a true fan’s review of each film and …enough about me! Bring on the nightmares…
   So, Yellowbrickroad, an official selection at the Slamdance Festival in 2010. First time directors and writers Andy Mitton and Jesse Holland conceived this idea in 2007 and developed it over a couple years. What they came up with is a typical plot (a group of eight people head into the woods on a mission to solve an urban legend), but what they did with it was very original. The character development was nice, with solid acting and good dialogue, and some authentic sounding New England accents. The script is smart and moves well, building tension and conveying a scary, isolated and lost atmosphere by the time the first kill occurs. Although they make you wait, the first kill is brutal and unexpected.
   For a quick synopsis, we learn about the bizarre tragedy in the small town of Friar, NH in the 1940’s when all the townspeople left their homes and marched up a mountain trail, never to be found (except the massacred bodies that didn’t make it up trail). We then meet the group of scientists and writers wanting to investigate and document the story of Friar, and learn of the urban legends shrouding the town with mystery. The “leader” of the expedition, Teddy (Michael Laurino), gets a hold of the trail’s coordinates, and it’s game on – except when they arrive there is no trail, but a creepy old movie theatre. With a little luck, Teddy meets Liv (Laura Heisler), a local girl working at the theatre who knows where the trail is and will take them there, as long as she can tag along.
   What is at the end of the trail? Heaven? Hell? There will be no spoiler here, but I will say this is a well-shot film that is quite prolific with deep dialogue and insightful, thought provoking themes (especially when Liv and Cy (Sam Elmore) break off and eat “bad berries” that are apparently like magic mushrooms). We only get four kills, and a couple suicides, with a little blood and gore sprinkled in effectively, but it still kept my attention and was an interesting thing to watch the well-developed characters spiral into their own madness with each step along the “road”.
   The best part was the way the music was used as a kind of magnet (or should I say lure?) to draw the characters along the path to madness and beyond, then becoming a violent, punishing thing. The idea was very original and believable in its direction and delivery, and ultimately sold me on this film. 
   If you like a bit of deep thought and beautiful, dark cinematography in a tense, isolated atmosphere outdoors, you will like this film.
   My way of rating is simple. “One” to “Five”, with “three” being really good and worthy of my collection. “Ones” go right to the trash, “twos” may get in if there’s something really special or memorable (like say an unforgettable eye gouging or the like), but very rarely. However, I do rate with “halfs”, as in “two and a half  – the movie sucked but earned the extra half simply because it stars Bruce Campbell, therefore makes my collection”. You get the picture. Oh, “fours” are brilliant must sees, and five stars means you should own and turn on to as many people as possible, or you aren’t a horror fan.
   Yellowbrickroad: 3 stars. I will proudly add this to my collection and recommend it to horror fans of the thinking variety. Personally, I say “more gore!” Give me chaos and carnage and cannibalism and torture and zombies, beheadings, monsters, boobies, Satan, headshots, blood, MURDER…
But alas, I digress…
Until next time, Apocalypse!
Shannon
Make sure to check out Shannon this summer with Godsmack on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival! Click HERE to get tour schedule and purchase tickets.
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Music

‘The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only Live’ Concert Event to Make Streaming Debut Next Month

Published

1 week ago

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July 14, 2026

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The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only Live

AMC has announced that The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE, the standing-room-only performance celebrating AMC’s premiere of its newly-released The Vampire Lestat at New York City’s iconic Beacon Theatre last month, will debut on streaming.

The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE begins streaming on AMC+ on August 23.

Ahead of its streaming premiere, fans can preview the concert event, featuring original songs from series composer Daniel Hart and performed by Sam Reid, in Hall H at Comic Con International on July 24. 

Our own Daniel Kurland attended the special event, highlighting how electric the Immortal Vampire is on stage: “It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.”

Based on Anne Rice‘s The Vampire Chronicles book series, The Vampire Lestat is the rock and roll-centric third season of AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” created by showrunner Rolin Jones.

The Vampire Lestat goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by “muses” from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rises, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population.

Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles and Jennifer Ehle star with Reid. Executive producers include Jones, Mark Johnson, Hannah Moscovitch, the late Anne Rice, and her son Christopher Rice.

The series finale airs this Sunday, July 19, on AMC and AMC+.

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