Comics
FIRST LOOK: Halo 8 Announces Illustrated Film: ‘The Long Knives’!
Well even though “WONDERCON” ended a few days ago we are still getting new info in that was announced over the weekend. Today we got word that publisher Halo 8 (“GODKILLER”) will be bringing comic book fans another of their unique “illustrated films” with the horror story, “THE LONG KNIVES” that is described as “a giallo horror, bare-knuckled revenge movie with an otherworldly Tim Burton-esque aesthetic.”. If that sounds as cool to you as it does to us then make the jump and check out the full press release and first photos on the project!
Here Is The Official Press Release…
“At WonderCon, Halo-8’s next original comic book & illustrated-film announced:
Giallo ‘The Long Knives’ by Matt Pizzolo
– Award-winning filmmaker to tackle giallo in next comic/film transmedia combo –
San Francisco, CA, April 6, 2010 – During WonderCon panel “Halo-8: Comic Books & Illustrated Films,” Halo-8 reps announced their next original comic-book/illustrated-film transmedia combo will be Matt Pizzolo’s The Long Knives, “a giallo horror, bare-knuckled revenge movie with an otherworldly Tim Burton-esque aesthetic.” That visual aesthetic will come courtesy of newcomer illustrator Ana Ludeshka.
“I wanted to do a gritty-realism horror with a dark-hearted toughness like the first Mad Max, which totally kicked me in the nuts when I first saw it as a kid,” explained Pizzolo. “But I didn’t want the over-the-top visuals to fall into torture-porn, so it seemed like an awesome fit to do this in a giallo style and tie-in the stylized-horror of my faves Mario Bava & Dario Argento. Ludeshka’s ethereal visuals and extreme use of color are a perfect fit, and I was super excited to discover her for this.
Similar to Pizzolo’s previous transmedia project Godkiller (which will make its feature film debut at Chicago’s C2E2 April 16), The Long Knives will be simultaneously produced as a comic book and an illustrated film. This will also mark the first time two Halo-8 titles take place in a “shared universe,” common to comic books but unique for film.
“Godkiller and The Long Knives take place in a shared world, so there will be crossover between the two projects,” said Pizzolo. “We’re going to do something fun for a Godkiller epilogue on the full-length DVD/Blu-ray [coming May 25], but we’re not ready to announce that yet.”
Though no formal announcements have been made about The Long Knives voice cast, Pizzolo has already begun assembling his ensemble. The Godkiller ensemble included genre-heroes Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Danielle Harris (Halloween 4, 5, I, II), Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects), Nicki Clyne (Battlestar Galactica), Tiffany Shepis (Night of the Demons), alt-culture icon Lydia Lunch (Hardcore), and rockstars Justin Pierre (singer of Motion City Soundtrack) and Davey Havok (singer of AFI).
‘Illustrated-films’ are a new style of animation developed by Pizzolo with his producing partner, Emmy-winner Brian Giberson. Starting with sequential still images, the illustrated-film adds 3D CGI, motion graphics, elaborate sound design, and dramatic voice performances for an edgy, sophisticated, intricately detailed new form of animation. Danielle Harris told iF Magazine “it’s more like moving art than animation, with very good writing.” Upcoming illustrated-films from Halo-8 include Tim Seeley’s Loaded Bible and James Farr’s Xombie: Reanimated.
About Halo-8 Entertainment
Halo-8 Entertainment (www.halo8.tv) is a Hollywood-2.0 movie studio using bleeding-edge strategies to create and distribute daring new films and lifestyle videos. Recent releases include the megapopular animated series Xombie: Dead On Arrival (which Bloody Disgusting called “one of the best online animated series to date”), the legendary NY hardcore documentary N.Y.H.C. (which Cinematical called “smashing… a terrific, well-told, engaging story”), the award-winning hardcore-punk thriller Threat (which Urb Magazine said “makes ‘Kids’ look like an after-school special”), and the campy, interactive horror-DVD-game Slumber Party Slaughterhouse: The Game (starring Tiffany Shepis, Joanna Angel, Melissa Bacelar, Masuimi Max). Upcoming releases include the erotic-art documentary The New Erotic (featuring XXX-auteurs Eon McKai, Kimberly Kane, Dave Naz, Jack The Zipper, Alejandra Guerrero), and the iconoclastic hero’s journey Godkiller (which Wired called “a horrific yarn of apocalypse, quantum physics, culture jamming & conspiracy theory”).”
Comics
‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’ – IDW Dark’s Next Horror Comic Will Make You Question Reality
Five friends. Four houses. One perfect life. Bloody Disgusting is excited to exclusively announce You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, a brand new horror comic from IDW Dark.
From Eisner-Nominated writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and rising horror artist Heather Vaughan, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is described as a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality, and reveal that this crafted world is more of a nightmare than the idealistic dream they were expecting.”
Phoebe Joplin has never questioned the world her parents built: a secluded community where she and her friends were raised to be smarter, stronger, and better than anyone else. No distractions. No dangers. No secrets. Until the night of their graduation.
When one of them dies under impossible circumstances, Phee starts to pull at the edges of her perfect life—and what she finds is something far more terrifying than she ever imagined.
Because this place isn’t a sanctuary. It’s a cage. And no one who discovers the truth ever leaves it alive.
Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, Star Trek: The Last Starship) co-write the upcoming IDW Dark horror comic, featuring art by Heather Vaughan.
Jackson Lanzing said in a statement to Bloody Disgusting, “You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is in many ways a spiritual successor to our last creator-owned horror, The Principles of Necromancy – a dive into the promise and consequence of playing god with the blood of innocents. But the Hivemind book this reminds me of most is Clayface: One Bad Day. This is a deeply human story with intensely raw emotions – five best friends and their five mysterious parents, tearing one another apart for the promise of some impossible glory that’s waiting just beyond their darkest actions. We’re thrilled to be bringing this story to life with our long-time partner in crime, editor Heather Antos, at IDW Dark – and we’re particularly excited to give our Clayface fans a new, brutal and emotional horror made just for them.”
Adds Collin Kelly, “We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next. YNLTPA is about growing up with the limitless potential of the future… and realizing how much it’s a lie we’ve been fed to keep us under the yoke of the past. Bringing this brutal experience to life is our artist and co-creator, Heather Vaughan, who brings an incredible amount of humanity to our cast. But it’s in our youthful leads that Heather’s art really shines – you are going to fall in love with these young people, even as they go through the worst experience of their lives. What we’ve all crafted together is going to be tragic, painful, but above all else, sincere – with a future so uncertain, there’s only one thing we can trust: you’ll never leave this place alive.”
“Some horror stories are about monsters in the dark. YNLTPA is about realizing the monsters raised you,” previews Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “Working with Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly on this series has been a dream in the darkest possible way. They’ve built a story that’s layered, brutal, and deeply emotional, and every issue gives artist Heather Vaughan opportunities to push the art into places that feel both haunting and deeply personal. Some horror comics will keep you up at night…this is one that will stick with you for years to come.”
The first issue of You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive goes on sale October 14, 2026! Make sure to pre-order at your local comic shop by September to guarantee a copy.
Exclusively check out the various covers for Issue #1 down below.
IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW DARK features comics like A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, Smile: For the Camera, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Twilight Zone, Event Horizon: Dark Descent & Event Horizon: Inferno, and more.
You must be logged in to post a comment.