Gone
Ghoulishly Yours, William M. Gaines
The film will revolve around the banding together of an anti-establishment group of comic book creators, led by a reluctant William M. Gaines, as they produce their controversial yet hugely popular line of comic books like “Tale From the Crypt,” which later led Gaines to face Senate subcommittee hearings over accusations of perpetuating juvenile delinquency.
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story (Slamdance
A chronicle of the last great American showman, filmmaker William Castle, a master of ballyhoo who became a brand name in movie horror with his outrageous audience participation gimmicks.
Bone Orchard
A Western with Chinese vampires.
5 Underrated Horror Movies!!!
Time heals all things. For me, this rings especially true of film criticism and the public’s assessment of a film’s quality. When John Carpenter’s The Thing was released in 1982, it was rejected by audiences and critics alike. Meanwhile, MGM’s remake of The Amityville Horror grossed well over $100M worldwide upon its release in 2005. Who has even seen that movie in the past 7 years?
To that end, there are a few films whose legacies and merit I feel deserve some modicum of reconsideration. I’m not saying I’ve picked 5 movies that are secretly The Thing level of quality – none of them are THAT good. But I still think that these are deserving films that got short shrift. They’re the epitome of “underrated.”
Head inside to check out 5 Underrated Horror Movies!!! READ MORE
‘Chronicle 2′ Writer Says Movie Is Definitely Happening, Is “60-75 Percent Sure” It Will Be Good
A few months ago we filed this report on the state of the upcoming sequel to Chronicle, in which John Landis (father of writer Max Landis) stated that Fox wasn’t entirely happy with the new script, “He wrote a sequel, and it’s amazing, and the studio read it and said, ‘We want ‘Chronicle’ again!’ And he said, ‘No, this is the sequel, it’s the evolution, and they said ‘No, we want that movie again!’ So it’s difficult, we’re dealing with a difficult business.”
Max Landis took some time over the weekend at Middle East Comic-Con to speak with IGN about the film. Among other things, he clarified that his father was perhaps talking out of turn. “[He's] not involved in Chronicle 2. He doesn’t know the process. It was not his place to say that.” Landis added that the new film would be dark, and perhaps that’s the stumbling block. “The report came out that they [the studio] didn’t like my script. They liked my script. It’s just a really dark script. The question is more of ‘How do we all compromise to get something we want?’ And that’s an incredibly slow process.”
This still sort of sounds like they didn’t like it if you define “liking it” as “wanting to make it.” However, Landis concluded the interview by saying the movie is definitely happening and, “60-75% sure that it will be a pretty damn good movie.” I actually really enjoyed the first film, placing it on several “Best Of 2012″ lists for the site. Let’s hope that the odds for the sequel increase steadily as the process chugs along.
Rick Baker Gets A Star On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame!
Normally we don’t cover this sort of thing at Bloody-Disgusting, we’re not an award-centric bunch. But this is Rick Baker we’re talking about. Even if you’re not familiar with his name I guarantee that, as a BD reader, he has touched your life in some way. Proof? Okay… An American Werewolf In London, Star Wars, Videodrome, Starman, Silver Bullet, Captain EO, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Harry And The Hendersons, Gremlins 2, Ed Wood, Wolf, The Frighteners, Escape From L.A., Men In Black, The Devil’s Advocate, The Ring, Hellboy 2, The Wolfman Remake… the list goes on.
Baker is at least partially responsible, and in most cases almost 100% responsible, for the outstanding special effects makeup and creature designs in those projects. He’s also won 7 Oscars for best makeup, first winning for AWIL in 1981 (the year the category itself started), and has been nominated for an additional 5 Academy Awards. He’s also won a sh*tload of Saturn Awards.
Which is why it makes sense that a throng of people (including yours truly) gathered, in what amounts to torrential rain by LA standards, to see him receive his star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame this morning. Though the event was in part to celebrate today’s release of the better-than-expected Men In Black 3 on DVD/Blu-ray, it was really about paying homage to his entire body of work. Directors Guillermo Del Toro (whom Baker most recently worked with on Hellboy 2) and Barry Sonnenfeld (Baker worked on all three Men In Black films) were onhand to pay tribute to their colleague. Sonnenfeld characterized Baker as writer as well as a designer, breathing stories and verisimilitude into his work. Del Toro, meanwhile, praised Baker as an “actor” in his own right – his creations being a performance of their own. Near the end of the ceremony, a representative for the Guiness Book Of World records who presented him with plaques for “Most Oscar Wins” and “Most Oscar Nominations” for a makeup artist.
Head inside for a few photos from the event! Also, what’s your favorite Rick Baker creature? READ MORE
[TV] Exclusive Stills From “Holliston” Season 1 Blu-ray, Update On Season 2
Season 1 of “Holliston” comes out on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, October 9th – that’s a week from today. It features all 6 extended-length episodes as well as over 90 minutes of bonus content including cast commentary tracks for each episode, the half-hour preview television special, deleted scenes, a gag reel, 7 behind the scenes featurettes, and all 6 full-length “Road to Holliston” promos (the 60 second versions aired on TV and on-line in the weeks leading up to the series premiere last April.) Guest stars in Season 1 include: John Landis, Seth Green, Kane Hodder, Danielle Harris, Tony Todd, Bill Moseley, Derek Mears, Ray Wise, Parry Shen, and Brian Posehn.
In true “Downton Abbey” fashion, an hour-long Christmas Special will air on FEARnet in December and then hit FEARnet On-Demand and iTunes the next morning. Season 2 of the show, which will feature 10 slightly shorter half-hour episodes, has now completed production and will begin airing in the Spring. Guest stars include Sid Haig, David Naughton, Kane Hodder, Danielle Harris, Bill Moseley, Bailee Madison, James Gunn, Darren Bousman, Rileah Vanderbilt, Derek Mears, Andy Nyman, Paul Solet, and Caitlin Upton.
Head inside for the pics from Season 1! READ MORE
Exclusive
BREAKING: “Thriller” Resurrected! John Landis Collaborating With Michael Jackson’s Estate!
*EXCLUSIVE*
While most of you were packing up for the holiday weekend, some monster entertainment news broke over at The Hollywood Reporter. The site reported that the estate of Michael Jackson has put the finishing touches on a deal with director John Landis and producer George Folsey Jr. that resolves litigation concerning net profits on the late singer’s “Thriller” video as well as a fight over a previously planned musical theater production of the hit song/video.
On Friday, the estate released a statement to THR indicating that the settlement had become firm: “The Estate of Michael Jackson, John Landis and George Folsey Jr. have reached an amicable settlement of the actions that were pending in the Los Angeles Superior Court relating to the legendary short motion picture Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and the documentary “The Making of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”" The settlement terms are confidential.”
Being that “Thriller” is my all-time favorite music video, and maybe even earliest horror inspiration, after reading this news I was completely scaled in goosebumps. I immediately obsessed over one thought: “Does this mean we’ll finally get a proper “Thriller” release?“ The answer? Read on for the scoop… READ MORE
[DVD Review] ‘Some Guy Who Kills People’ Is Witty Fun
A take on the fable of ‘don’t pick on kids because they’ll snap one day and kill you’, Some Guy Who Kills People is a simple story about Ken Boyd – a man recently released from a mental hospital. After surviving a traumatic beat down by the high school basketball team – and a subsequent suicide attempt –Some Guy adds an extra element to the tortured kid story by giving them a bullied child of their own to take care of. It’s a satisfying movie in that you can tune out and enjoy yourself while watching it, but by adding that little extra element – of a down and out type trying desperately to have a normal life – it makes it that much more enjoyable. READ MORE
Editorials
[Special Feature] Where Are All The Great Werewolf Movies?
The werewolf is the most under-appreciated and misused of all of the classic horror creatures. Sure, we get all kinds of movies with werewolves in them, but more often than not those films seem more concerned with mentioning werewolves and then showing some bizarre half-assed approximation of them. Like they’re checking off a box on a list.
Obviously one of the most recent and popular misuses of the werewolf would be in the Twilight films, but dissecting those is like taking candy from a baby and I don’t want to spend too much time on it. Suffice to say – they look more like foxes, transform in the daytime, communicate via telepathy and are generally pretty lame. They’re also prone to jorts, which makes them almost like Native American Incredible Hulks who turn into dogs instead of big green guys.
But it’s not up to some teen franchise to carry the torch of one of our best monsters. That falls under the stewardship of actual horror films. So why do most of them drop the ball so badly? Incompetence certainly plays into it and is probably the biggest factor, but there’s still a lot of people with actual talent out there missing the mark. Why?
One of my theories is that too many of these movies seem overly concerned with adding a unique spin or futzing with the rules. I’m not saying there’s not room for that – any genre should be open to reinterpretation. But there are so few great “classic” werewolf movies that maybe we should concentrate on getting a few more of them under our belts. I think that needs to happen before we can expect any spin or subversion of the genre to have any real impact, because right now we’re spinning and subverting something with such a decentralized compass that it just feels random. For example, if you’re going straight into your Nazi Demon Werewolf movie without even exploring some of the inherent possibilities the creature’s metaphor, you’re doing it wrong.
Let’s talk great werewolf movies. And why The Howling might not be one of them. Head inside for more. READ MORE
Exclusive
[Interview] ‘Burke & Hare’ Director John Landis!
Currently playing on VOD, SundanceNOW.com and premiering in limited theaters (NY and LA) starting September 9th, John Landis’ dark comedy Burke & Hare tells the story of the titular real-life serial murderers that terrorized Edinburgh, Scotland in the early 1800s.
BD got on the phone with Landis recently to discuss the film, which marks his first feature directorial effort (at least in the narrative realm) since the 1998 crime comedy Susan’s Plan.
See inside for the full interview.
![[Interview] Burke & Hare Director John Landis!](/photosizer/upload/burke080311.jpg "[Interview] Burke & Hare Director John Landis!")
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Burke & Hare (VOD)
Limited theaters September 9: “Hare” is based on the true story a pair of the U.K.’s earliest serial killers, William Burke and William Hare, gravediggers who lucratively sold the corpses of their victims to a medical college for dissection.
Burke & Hare is a comedic take on the true story of the 1828 Edinburgh body-snatchers William Burke (Simon Pegg) and William Hare (Andy Serkis). These two Irish entrepreneurs discover that a dead body can fetch a hefty price when the demands of the leading medical professors Dr. Knox (Tom Wilkinson) and Dr. Monroe (Tim Curry) reach beyond that of the local supply.
Exclusive
‘Burke & Hare’ Clip Will Fake Scare You to Death!
John Landis’ UK horror comedy Burke And Hare will be available on SundanceNOW.com starting August 5th ahead of its theatrical debut on September 9th. The film will also be available on VOD via Comcast, Cox, Cablevision, Time Warner, and Bright House starting FRIDAY.
Bloody was provided with an exclusive clip from the film that will scare you to death. It features Andy Serkis and Simon Pegg as the title characters.
“‘Burke & Hare’ is a comedic take on the true story of the 1828 Edinburgh body-snatchers William Burke (Pegg) and William Hare (Serkis). These two Irish entrepreneurs discover that a dead body can fetch a hefty price when the demands of the leading medical professors Dr. Knox (Tom Wilkinson) and Dr. Monroe (Tim Curry) reach beyond that of the local supply.”
READ MORE
Fantastic Flesh: The Art of Make-Up EFX (V)
The doc takes an inside look at the creation and execution of some of today’s most spectacular special effects in Hollywood blockbusters, through one of its most prolific FX houses in the industry — KNB EFX. From animatronic critters to prosthetics and character makeup to aliens, monsters and ghouls, the KNB EFX group has been creating innovative state-of-the-art effects for movies for more than 20 years and over 300 films as diverse as Scream to The Chronicles of Narnia.
Bloodsucking Cinema (V)
Tune in to Starz this October for the fourth annual “Fear Fest,” a creepy collection of spine-tingling movies kicking off with the world television premiere of the Starz Inside original special Bloodsucking Cinema. Bloodsucking Cinema premieres on Starz Friday, October 26 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) and is followed by a 24-hour marathon of spooky films including Underworld: Evolution, Dawn of the Dead, Silent Hill and more. Come back Halloween night for a triple-feature headlined by Bloodsucking Cinema. Bloodsucking Cinema explores vampire films and their enduring hypnotic hold on audiences worldwide. Films featured in the special include Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, The Lost Boys, Blade, Van Helsing and Underworld. Bloodsucking Cinema features interviews with directors John Carpenter (Vampires), Len Wiseman (Underworld, Underworld: Evolution), John Landis (Innocent Blood) and Joel Schumacher (The Lost Boys), actors Kristanna Loken (BloodRayne), Stuart Townsend (Queen of the Damned), and critics Leonard Maltin and Harry Knowles (Ain’t It Cool News). Starz Inside is a new monthly series of original specials from Starz hosted by film critic Richard Roeper.
Masters of Horror: Season 1 (TV) (V)
‘Jenifer,’ dir. Dario Argento, Screenplay by Steven Weber; ‘Cigarette Burns,’ dir. John Carpenter, Screenplay by Drew McWeeny & Scott Swan; ‘Pick Me Up,’ dir. Larry Cohen, Screenplay by David J. Schow; ‘Incident On And Off A Mountain Road,’ dir. Don Coscarelli, Screenplay by Don Coscarelli & Stephen Romano; ‘Haeckel’s Tale,’ dir. Roger Corman, Screenplay by Mick Garris; ‘Homecoming,’ dir. Joe Dante, Screenplay by Sam Hamm; ‘Chocolate,’ dir/scr. Mick Garris; ‘Dreams In The Witch-House,’ dir. Stuart Gordon, Screenplay by Stuart Gordon & Dennis Paoli; ‘Dance Of The Dead,’ dir. Tobe Hooper, Screenplay by Richard Christian Matheson; ‘Deer Woman,’ dir. John Landis, Screenplay by Max Landis & John Landis; ‘Fair Haired Child,’ dir. William Malone, Screenplay by Matt Greenburg
An American Werewolf In London
Two American tourists in England are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
Schlock
A monkey-type monster falls in love with a blind girl, which thinks that he’s a giant dog. After kidnapping the girl and fleeing king-kong-like onto the roof of a gym, he gets involved with the army.
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[BD Caption Contest] Win “Texas Chainsaw 3D” On Blu-ray!!!