Hack/Slash: Entry Wound released; new Alien/Predator comics hitting shelves this month

It's a big month for comics if you're a horror fan. Yup, that's right. Not only are we getting two Hack/Slash outings as opposed to the usual lone monthly release, but we will also be seeing Dark Horse return to one of their biggest cash cows ever, the Alien vs. Predator franchise. Two separate books (titled 'Aliens' and 'Predator', respectively) will be debuting on the 27th, and are planned to have four-issue runs each. Enough to last about the entire summer. I haven't been reading into any of the hype behind them, so I don't know for sure if I'll be making a purchase, but DH has always been able to thrive with these two creatures, so I have faith in them. Aw, who the hell am I kididng? There are about eighteen different volumes available in shops that consist of all the previous works that they've put out. If that doesn't scream excellence, then I don't know what does.

If you're new to the world of A&P comics, then you can pick up one of the omnibus collections at your local book store or comics retailer. I'm planning on getting volume one of the original Predator series sometime soon; I was flipping through it about a month ago, and despite its age, the artwork is pretty badass.

Dark Horse's run on the Alien and Predator mythos

first began in the late 1980's. In fact, the idea of

pitting the two against one another was first formulated

by the company.

I have yet to read sexy Cassie's $2.50 one-shot, but it looks to be the best that Seeley has cranked out in a while. These previews seem to indicate that the femme fatale's rogues gallery has greatly expanded; looks like we'll be seeing some new (bloody) faces in this issue. I'll probably go out and buy it next week. Hack/Slash #22 is supposed to hit stores then, so I'll wait for a little while and then knock out two birds with one stone. If anyone reading along at home has picked it up already, then please, enlighten me and tell me how it is. Umm...you know the comment button? Well, it doesn't bite!

The long anticipated Hack/Slash: Entry Wound

popped up on shelves earlier this week.

Movie Review--Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

Not many of the Elm Street sequels are very high on the list in terms of quality. For most horror fans, this fact is common knowledge. So, why then, after all these years, has the series continually maintained its cult following and its enormous box office intakes? I know it's been quite a while since the clawed psycho's last solo film was released, but Freddy vs. Jason raked in tons of cash. These movies do well because of two key things; Englund's consistently hysterical and excellent performances, and the sheer outrageousness of the way he does away with his victims. Freddy Krueger is one of the few characters in the film industry that can take a really bad movie and turn it into carnival of enjoyment and thrills. So, does he succeed in saving this entry from the gutter?

The answer is saddening, but no. This movie actually gets caught up in the campy factors that became progressively more prominent as the sequels pumped out. Freddy is no longer a menace, but more of a clown. It's almost like they tried to make him kid-friendly in this installment. I'll banter on about this later in the review, so for now, just keep reading...

The story opens with the last surviving child of Springwood attempting to escape his inevitable fate at Freddy's hands via an airplane; he figures that if he can get away from Elm Street, then that means he'll get away from him. However, this flight is quickly cancelled when he falls asleep in his seat and the man of our dreams (miraculously) transports him to a town in California, where a young girl named Maggie helps out at a local youth center. The kid is soon mistaken for a drug-addicted run away, and the police take him to the shelter where he is questioned about his identity. This problem child can't seem to remember anything about himself, but after some chit-chat, he recalls his town of origin, and Maggie volunteers to take him home.

Once they arrive back in Freddy's territory, they learn that three spritely teens from the center have stowed away in their ride, and are hoping to use their distance from jail as a ticket to freedom. As Maggie and John try to discover why all the townspeople are acting so mysteriously (and why there are no children present in the area), the three cardboard cutouts find an abandon house to crash in, and two of them quickly become Freddy fodder. The kills are pretty ridiculous in this.

Want to know something funny? This is an actual still from this movie.

I'm not even joking.

After more snooping around, it is suggested that one of the remaining characters is Freddy's child, and that he set up the film's course of events so that he could reconnect with his young. Hey, the guy's a family man. Before they leave Springwood, John bites the dust, so Maggie becomes the most obvious candidate.

Upon her return to California, the managers at the youth center have no recollection of the teens who were killed. She panics and ponders about this for a while, and then in a dream she learns about her father, and how her return to Springwood gave him the ability to transport himself to different locations, where he can cause all kinds of havoc once again ("every town has an Elm Street," as he put it). She comes to formulate the same battle plan that Nancy used in the original movie, and brings the madman out of the dream world to finish him off.

The dream demons approaching Freddy with their offer, just prior to

his grim death by fire. Probably the only iconic shot seen in this flick.

So, yeah...I don't even know where to start. Umm...what's up with all the unexplained crap? Freddy always had a ton of power in the dream world, but he could never transport somebody's physical body to another location. He's suppose to have no effect on our reality. Also, how does Maggie's return to her hometown give him the ability to visit new areas? It's shown that he is able to stow away inside her body, somehow, and travel within her to California, but if he can use her body to do that, shouldn't he be able to do that to anybody?

As I implied earlier, the depiction of Freddy here is just awful. Despite the gore, the kills become increasingly jokey and light-hearted throughout, and Freddy seems quite harmless and goofy at times. I'd say it's a good thing that this wasn't the last outing, but it actually isn't...Wes Craven's New Nightmare was almost has bad as this.

Acting his fairly straightforward in this. Nothing bad, but nothing noteworthy. In terms of guilty pleasures, Lisa Zane (the lead role) is just gorgeous, and Lezlie Deane (Tracy) isn't bad either. Fans of 1979's Alien will need no introduction to Yaphet Kotto, who plays one of the youth center's employees. Besides him, no notable genre names are seen. The visual effects in this don't really hold up to any of those seen in previous installments, and since the kills that they enhance are (like I said) idiotic, no extra points are earned because of them. There's one scene where Freddy actually sucks a kid into a videogame and proceeds to beat him up by controlling a digital version of himself. I mean it. There's not a decent one here. Garbage.

I know I should be more dramatic and start swearing up a storm, but I'm making a conscious effort to refrain from vulgarity tonight. While this movie shows some initial potential towards the halfway mark, the ball is dropped almost immediately afterwards. It's definitely the worst in the series, and it should be avoided unless you're a completionist. Mainstream moviegoers shouldn't even bother with this, and while we're at it, horror fans shouldn't either. I'll give it a 3 out of 10, and actually, that's being pretty nice.

Robert Rodriguez to film Predator reboot; H2 trailer released on Youtube today

So, yeah...I know what all of you are thinking. Oh, wait...crap. Nobody reads this blog, so you probably aren't thinking anything at all. It's been a long time since I last posted something, I know, but I have been really busy with school and work lately. After final exams next week, updates can be expected regularly, along with more effort to promote this place. I'm going to talk a friend of mine into making me some pretty (and by pretty, I mean pretty bloody) graphics and banners, and I'm going to be toying around with Audacity sometime soon in hopes of getting some podcasts set up. The Predator 2 review I spoke of last month is still awaiting completion, and since it has been sometime since I last saw the movie, I don't think I'm going to finish it soon. The same thing goes for the Freddy's Revenge review, which I haven't even started yet.


However, our favorite mandible-faced alien did make headlines recently. Last month, it was announced that Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn, Grindhouse) will be helming the long-speculated remake of the original Predator, which is slated to begin filming sometime next year. My initial reaction was, of course, incredibly hostile; who does this bastard think he is? What makes him think that he is good enough to tackle such an iconic film? What the hell does he have on John McTiernian? Nothing! After doing some additional research, I found myself more open towards the idea; if he could somehow be convinced to turn this project into another sequel, then I think that all would be well.


John McTiernian's 1987 classic will be getting
an unwanted revision in the near future.

I mean, rebooting the Predator franchise will erase years of continuity in not just movies, but also comic books, videogames, and original novels. The Alien & Predator mythos starts in '79 and goes all the way out to today; is it really necessary to throw all of that in the garbage and start a whole separate series? In addition to washing out the aftertaste of the horrendous AvP movies, another lone Predator sequel could also bring back credibility to the franchise, if it's done correctly.


The interview linked to above proves that Rodriguez isn't an arrogant asshole like Rob Zombie, but that doesn't mean that he isn't capable of "raping a classic" like the aforementioned. The man behind the Spy Kids trilogy and sloppy Tarantino-style campfests is more than capable of doing such a dirty deed, and if this film isn't changed into a simple third installment, it should be cancelled.


Since I've already mentioned Rob Zombie, I suppose I may as well add that the trailer for his next stain on the Carpenter name was released last month. Old news, I know, but I didn't get a chance to post about it earlier. If you truly are interested in viewing such slop, then you can do so by clicking here. Most of the featured footage is also in the compilation of clips that I complained about last time around, but there's some new stuff in there, as well. Zombie's wife dressed in a skanky white outfit, a couple of teenage girls screaming their heads off, and a young boy asking Michael if he is a giant. Super awesome!


Michael, as seen in Zombie's upcoming second installment. In a radio
interview, one of the cast members described the film as "a filthy
version of Scooby Doo."

Well, kids, that about sums this new chapter up. Before I go, I'd like to say that while the two expected reviews remain on hold, a review of the sixth Elm Street movie, Freddy's Dead, will go into progression. I saw that movie for the first time about a week ago, and (despite how bad it was) it will be fairly easy to write on. Everything from it's still fresh in my head...unfortunately.

First footage from Zombie's H2 unveiled

Even though not everyone appreciated the crap that Rob Zombie took on the Halloween franchise with 2007's unforgettably bad 're-imagining,' one thing was always certain; there would be a sequel. And now, come 2009, after about three months of shooting, production on the movie is almost finished and the studio is aiming for an August release date. Yikes, talk about rushing things along!

Despite his initial claims of having no interest in directing a second outing, Zombie revealed that he was attached to this project at the beginning of the year, and has since then shown great excitement over his plans to further ruin one of the greatest horror legends of our time with his shitty vision of 'what Michael Myers should really be like.'

Needless to say, I'm less than excited about this movie. However, I also know that there are (unfortunately) lot's of people looking forward to wasting their money, so I'm posting this bad news with them in mind. Yesterday, a compilation of footage from the film was screened on Entertainment Tonight. Clips include Danielle Harris being chased by a maskless Michael, along with some gruesome stabbings and a trippy dream sequence.

Michael will be shedding his iconic mask for

a good portion of the upcoming film, which hits

theatres this Summer.

Yes, that's right, I said maskless. A maskless Michael Myers. It's almost as if Zombie is actually trying to piss hardcore fans off by making all these unnecessary changes to the character. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Michael ends up speaking some dialogue in this movie, because that's the only thing I can think of that would be more ridiculous than showing him without his mask on.

I could talk about my disdain towards this project for hours, but I think I'm going to cut my post short here. So, what do you think? Has Zombie fucked things up, or is he on the right track? My opinion don't mean nothin', but yours does. Tell me what's up!

Hack/Slash--Living Corpse crossover released; Jackie Earle Haley announced as Freddy in remake of Elm Street

I'm pretty happy with the way my first review turned out, so I think I'm actually going to rack up a few more sequels before diving into some of the classics. The next film I've chosen, Predator 2, is a witty sci-fi slasher flick that is definitely on par with (if not better than) its predecessor. I'm also planning to have a review of the second Elm Street movie up soon afterwards, but I don't think there's much nice to say about it; it is notorious for being one of the worst Freddy movies ever, after all.


Classic Freddy (left) next to revamped Freddy (right).

Oh yeah, and in speaking of Freddy, some big news about the fedora-sporting psycho was released earlier this month! Apparently, Jackie Earle Haley (who recently starred in Watchmen) has been cast as the character in the upcoming reboot of the franchise. Good? Bad? What's the deal here? Personally, I think he's an excellent choice; he's shown his prominence as an actor through the high number of diverse roles that he's taken, and he actually bears some resemblance to Robert Englund, who created a horror icon with his unforgettable performances.


Before I get back to doing shit that's actually important, it's probably worth mentioning that Living Corpse Annual #1 was finally released on Wednesday. It has been quite a while since the last Corpse outing was released, but what makes this issue really special is its inclusion of Cassie and Vlad from the Hack/Slash series, who are loved and adored by both horror fans and comic fans alike. I picked it up, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. I'm hoping I won't be disappointed, because I've waited almost eight months for this damn thing to come out!


Cover A of Ken Haesar and Buz Hassan's
Living Corpse one-shot.

Child's Play 2--Movie Review

Most people always assume that the first entry in any film series--horror movie, or not--will be the best one of the litter, without fail. However, the Child's Play series sets itself apart from other horror franchises in the sense that the best outing wasn't the original movie, but the first sequel that followed. No, I really mean it, here. This movie is damn better than the original. And despite what a few asshole critics from the late 1980's might have you believe, this is a height that was not easy to reach.


While lacking in some areas, and paling in comparison to the likes of A Nightmare On Elm Street, and even underground classics like Silent Night, Deadly Night, the original Child's Play was a notable niche in the genre, simply because of its good storytelling, its original concept, its boundary-pushing special effects, and its believable and well-selected cast. Child's Play 2 follows in the steps of the original; the only difference here is that this time they pulled out all the stops and pushed everything up a notch. The pacing is much better in this film, the death scenes are much more creative and thought out, the acting is brought up to an even higher level, and all this is complimented by a musical score of epic proportions that will have you thinking to yourself, "did the guy who did the music for the LoTR films work on this?"


Chucky moves in to finish off Miss Kettlewell, a gradeschool
teacher who made the mistake of locking him up in a closet.

Picking up two years after its predecessor, the story begins with some footage of Chucky being put back together again, accompanied by one of the excellent musical tracks spoken of above. You see, the PlayPals toy company is going bankrupt because of all the bad publicity surrounding the events of the first film, and naturally, they want to prove to the public that the whole series of events surrounding 'Chucky' were nothing more than tabloid myths. Around the same time this is happening, a pair of foster parents (Gerrit Graham and Jenny Agutter) pay a visit to the orphanage young Andy (played once again by Alex Vincent), whose mother has been placed in psychiatric care, is staying at. After initial hesitancies due to the boy's odd and traumatic past, the couple agree to take Andy home and care for him until his mother recovers.


All this seems fine and dandy, but little do they know that Chucky has hitched a ride with the slimey CEO of PlayPals, and is coercing him into taking an alternate route after he finds Andy's whereabouts in some company files (he calls the orphanage afterwards, and is then directed to the Simpson's residence). Initially Andy believes that Chucky is actually Tommy, a Good Guy doll that was already present in the Simpson house before he arrived, but he quickly realizes that his old tormentor has returned when he awakens one night, tied to a bed with a plastic face smiling down on him. Fortunately for him, the doll is unable to complete the voodoo chant. It soon becomes evident that Andy's only hope lies in the help of his foster sister, eighteen-year-old Kyle (Christine Elise), who is more likely to believe him than either of the adults he's staying with.


One of the things you'll notice early on in the movie is the vast improvement in the animatronics and special effects; Chucky is more animated and expressive than ever, and he looks more sinister and realistic than he did in the first outing. Brad Dourif also gives his best vocal performance as the doll, with the right mix of humor and sadism. The film only gets better as it progresses, and the climax inside of the doll factory is easily the best scene in the movie. Conveyer belts, machines and a maze of doll boxes all play a part in the obstacle course that Andy and Kyle must run through in order to escape Chucky, and director John Lafia does all the right tricks with the camera in order to make all of the location's visual advantages click in the film. The scene is, of course, complimented by the wonderful score of composer Graeme Revell, who would go on to do much bigger and better things after this movie (although he did return to the Child's Play series in Bride of Chucky, and even included a light reprise of his theme from this movie within his score for that).


The animatronic effects in this film are one of its crowning points.
Vastly better than those seen in the original.

The kills in this movie are another thing that makes it shine, with each one being placed alongside some nasty Chucky dialogue that could put even some of Freddy's greatest wisecracks to shame. The CEO at the beginning gets the best one, if you ask me.


As far as acting goes, most horror fans can't complain about a choice like Jenny Agutter, who exposed her volomptuous bare breasts and bottom in the cult classic An American Werewolf In London. Also adding to the eye candy is the young Christine Elise, who doesn't overshadow Agutter's good looks, but...forseeably outlives her. Star Trek fans will immediately recognize Gerrit Graham, who excels at portraying characters who are douchebags, and 90's TV fans will remember the brown-nosing CEO asshole as Greg Germann, who was a frequent on Ally McBeal. Rounding out the performances is Alex Vincent, who successfully evolves the character of Andy from the young and defenseless target in the last movie. He is clearly effected by the events of the original, but his bravery has increased, as well as his strength. Towards the middle of the film, he actually finds himself attempting to confront and kill Chucky, although things don't go as planned, and this escalates into the death of his foster father.


All in all, I'd have to rank this amongst my favorite slasher titles. I can understand a lot of mainstream moviegoers not having an interest in seeing this, but please believe me, this is a fun time, just like the first movie was. Horror fans who are having doubts about this movie should also know that famous film critic Roger Ebert (who is known for being a Nazi towards all things horror) said that it "delivered the goods", describing it as a "truly frightening thriller." He also went on to say that it was foul, disturbing, ugly and offensive, and as a human being, he wished he hadn't seen it. Is there anything else that could ease your doubts about this more? See this. You won't regret it.


I'm giving this movie an 8 out of 10. I'd like to be more generous with it, but it just doesn't belong in the ranks of classics like Elm Street and The Shining, which are far superior to most films in the genre. Not everyone will like this movie as much as I did, but if you enjoyed the first one, then give this one a shot.