Suitable Candidate

Remember a while back when I posted a video of a pretty damn impressive short film titled "Impetuous"? Of course you do. Well, director Dave Thorpe got in touch with me about his newest film, a horror/comedy short entitled "Suitable Candidate" and asked if I'd be interested in sharing.

Description from vimeo:

Two young women, Leah and Victoria, are called for an interview for the same job. When Leah discovers that Victoria is offered the position, she decides to eliminate the competition.

Suitable Candidate from Dave Thorpe on Vimeo.

Exclusive New BB Images!

I've got yet another BB exclusive to share, thanks to writer/director CJ Wallis. Below are the first images from his upcoming horror film, hot off the presses. Check out my early preview of the movie here!

I'm going to continue to follow BB's development closely and  update as much as possible. You can also keep up with the film by liking it's official facebook page here, and following the official twitter account, (@bb_movie). 

Fist of Jesus

Never been a big Archie fan, in fact I think the only Archie book I own is the crazy Punisher crossover from a few years ago. The extent of my knowledge of Archie comics comes mostly from Kevin Smith's brilliant scene in Chasing Amy, in which Hooper X insists to Banky that Archie and Jughead were lovers. Still, my love for all things horror, and more importantly Francesco Francavilla's art, prompted me to give Afterlife With Archie a shot, and while there's only been one issue so far, I'm damn glad I did.

This book is just pure FUN. Jughead's dog gets hit by a car and dies, and in his distraught state, he visits Sabrina the Teenage Witch to ask her to get her Pet Sematary on and revive his beloved canine pal. She denies him in front of her Aunts, the older witches she lives with, but then secretly visits Jughead later and agrees. The spell works, but Hot Dog isn't exactly himself when he returns from the dead. He's a nasty, more aggressive version, and eventually takes a bit out of Jughead, which then begins to turn Jughead into a zombie! Just in time for the Halloween dance at school too...

I tell you, if Archie has always been this fun of a read, then I hang my head in shame as I have been missing out. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa handles writing chores, and while I know I've read a few of his books, nothing stands out in my mind as being particularly great, aside from his adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand. He also recently wrote the script for the movie remake of Stephen King's Carrie. The real star of the book though is Francesco Francavilla's beautifully creepy art. I'm so in love with Francavilla's work, it's ridiculous. The guy is a machine too, as he is somehow capable of not only drawing mutliple books monthly (his own Black Beetle, Afterlife with Archie, along with random Marvel books), but he's constantly throwing up sketches online. To say I'm a fan of his would be a gross understatement.

Check this book out!

All Hallows' Eve Review

Ah, the anthology. It's been a staple of the genre for years, and yes friends, I love them. There seems to have been a bit of a resurgence of late, particularly in the indie market, with films like The Theatre Bizarre, Scary or Die, and V/H/S and V/H/S/2 all doing relatively well. All Hallows' Eve is the latest in this trend, and comes to us from writer/director Damien Leone. As with most anthologies, it both hits and misses the mark at times, but in the end is pretty entertaining, and may have just given us our next horror icon to obsess over.

All Hallows' Eve is comprised of three short films, with a wraparound segment that ties it all together. It begins with a babysitter who is watching two kids on Halloween. While arguing about what to watch on television, they find a mysterious VHS tape in one of the kids' trick or treat bags. Reluctant to watch it at first, the babysitter eventually gives in and pops the tape in the VCR. On the tape are three short films, all tied together by the presence of a murderous clown.

The babysitter and the kids are the wraparound segment, and it's pretty good, although nothing to terribly original. The sitter ends up letting the kids stay up for the first segment on the tape before sending them up for bed, at which point, although she looked disgusted through the first part, she continues on with the rest of the tape. Eventually strange things start to happen around the house, she begins to hear noises, and of course the line between the tape and reality begins to blur.

As for the short films, or segments, themselves, they vary in quality. The first one starts off with a pretty creepy scene with the clown, but turns into a "big idea, but poor execution" affair, which sadly takes away from the enjoyment. The second is the most original idea in the bunch, with an alien ship crash landing in a neighborhood. A home invasion flick, with heavy emphasis on "invasion". The last clip ended up being my favorite, as the clown, Art, takes center stage for a Hitchhiker-esque tale, that ups the creep factor, and especially the gore.

I'm not sure if Leone has plans for a sequel in mind or not, but I certainly hope so. For all the things All Hallows' Eve does wrong, there are things that it does brilliantly, and it's obvious that the main problems were budgetary. If nothing else, if Leone plays his cards right, he may have created the next big horror icon in Art the Clown. People love a creepy clown, and folks, Art is the scariest goddamn clown I've seen since Pennywise. If you're one of the more forgiving indie horror watchers out there, like myself, definitely give All Hallows' Eve a watch. Anthology fans will also find there's some fun to be had here, just don't have unrealistic expectations beforehand.

Big Ass Spider Review

Typically, once a sub-genre becomes over saturated, and things have well past run their course, the new entries tend to be each one worse than the last. But sometimes, admittedly rare, but sometimes, a movie comes along that, while it doesn't re-invent the wheel in any way, jams a syringe full of adrenaline into the long stopped heart and makes things fun again. The stopped heart in question is the giant killer animal sub-genre, and the syringe of awesome in question is Mike Mendez's latest, Big Ass Spider.

There is absolutely no need to go into a plot synopsis, you know everything you need to know straight from that title. You either want to watch a movie about a big ass spider, or you don't. For those of us who do, holy shit what a treat. Big Ass Spider simply is what it is, it doesn't take itself seriously in any way. There's a spider on the loose, escaped from the government, and it's growing at an accelerated rate. It's up to the military, with the aid of an exterminator and his sidekick, to put a stop to it before it destroys Los Angeles.

This is the kind of shit I used to write when I was a kid, that's the exact mind frame this movie put me into. It's at times pretty gory, when the spider spits it's acidic venom and melts faces for instance, it has some laughably bad CGI at times but some pretty decent stuff as well, and overall is just a downright hilarious good time. I laughed from start to finish. The cast is lead by Greg Grunberg, who I pretty much only remember as Parkman from Heroes, as the exterminator, and Lombardo Boyar as his trusty, and hilarious, sidekick. These two play off of each other perfectly, and they eat up every scene they're in together. Other notables are first and foremost Ray Wise(!) as Major Braxton Tanner, Lin Shaye, and Clare Kramer. Big Ass Spider also has a pretty hilarious cameo, which I knew nothing about until I saw it, and I won't spoil. You can check IMDB and see who it is, but I recommend just watching the flick and waiting for the scene.

It seems as if these killer animal flicks have run their course as of late, with the exception of the rare gem like Sharknado. Big Ass Spider may end up having something to say about that though. It comes as a hilarious breath of fresh air, and I absolutely loved it. If you dig monster animal flicks, especially the kind that don't take themselves too seriously and just have fun with things, Big Ass Spider is going to be right up your alley. The ending hints at a sequel, and you can bet I'll be first in line for it if/when that happens.

Halloween 2013 Trick or Treating

One last Halloween post for 2013, because you just know I'm going to show off my kids and their costumes...

As you can see, there ended up being sorta two costumes for the both of them. Obviously, my daughter went as a member of the Air Force and Jamie Lloyd from Halloween's 4 & 5. This is because I had her clown costume custom made, and it wasn't quite ready for our first Halloween outing. My son went as Darkman, which was the original idea, but it ended up being a bit too obscure of a reference for our little town, and we all got pretty tired of people asking what he was "supposed" to be. For our second outing, I added a pair of shades, and changed the bandages up a bit, for a "Invisible Man" costume, which as one would expect, was ALSO too obscure of a reference for our little town. I swear, if you don't just run out to Walmart the day before Halloween and pick up a cheap, lame ass store bought costume, then nobody knows what you're supposed to be anymore. Anyway, here are the pics...