The Horror Geek – News, Rants and Reviews From The Horror Geek!

First of all, a few words about the lack of updates: I took Christmas off because I’m out of town and in the process of moving. This means my PC is still in transit and I hate using someone else’s computer for much more than checking email. Hopefully, though, the stuff will be here this week and regular updates will resume. I just wanted everyone to know I’m not dead, the site isn’t ending, and I haven’t fallen off the face of the planet. So, thanks for putting up with the delay.

In more interesting news, Grindhouse has announced the DVD release date for their version of Lucio Fulci’s Cat in the Brain. The film, which trumped Wes Craven’s New Nightmare in blending real life with a horror film, will be available in a spiffy 2 Disc deluxe edition on March 31st. Here’s a list of extras:

• A high-definition, widescreen anamorphic transfer of Fulci’s uncensored director’s cut.
• An eye-popping, psychedelic lenticular 3-D cover, limited to the first 2,500 units only!
• Never-before-seen, in-depth interviews with Lucio Fulci and star Brett Halsey (Revenge of the Creature, Return of the Fly).
• English and original Italian-language soundtracks.
• Lucio Fulci’s heroic appearance at the 1996 Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in New York City.
• An extensive gallery of stills and poster art from around the world.
• Liner notes by Antonella Fulci, acclaimed horror novelist David J. Schow, and director Eli Roth.
• Original theatrical trailer.
 

I’m pretty on the fence about this film. I know it’s fashionable to hate on Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody (I’m not on that bandwagon–I’d like to see more of her work before making a decision as to what I think about her)  and the fact that this is a 20th Century Fox project doesn’t exactly inspire visions of classic horror-comedy, but the idea sounds pretty interesting–and Megan Fox is way easy on the eyes.

Anyway, Jennifer’s Body hits theaters on September 18th of next year. Fox plays a hot cheerleader (what a stretch…) who is possessed by a demon and starts killing all the teenaged boys in her small town. Her homely best friend has to put a stop to this, then escape from jail in order to stop the satanic rock band who brought out the demon to begin with.

Hey, at least it’s not another zombie flick…

The guys at Velvet Hammer Films and Arson Cuff Entertainment have released their first teaser poster for their forthcoming holiday horror flick, Silent Night, Zombie Night. Looks like the kind of low-budget splattery goodness I tend to love.

The film, which stars Lew Temple, Felissa Rose, and Vernon Wells, sets up a situation wherein an LAPD cop named Frank Talbot is trapped with his soon to be ex-wife and ex-partner (who’re having an affair) by hordes of the living dead.

Silent Night, Zombie Night is prepping for an early 2009 release date. You can find more info, as well as the press release, at ArsonCuff Entertainment’s Myspace page.

I have no idea what an “animaquette” is, but I’ll be damned if I don’t want this anyway.

Generally speaking, I’m not into the whole “anime” thing, but they somehow managed to get it just right in this figure. I especially dug the cool touches of the girl about to be eviscerated wearing a Crystal Lake t-shirt and holding a Jason doll.

You can preorder this badboy here.

Yep, the title says it all. Looks pretty good.

Catch it in theaters next month.

I think I just phoned it in on this post…

If you were to ask me “Mike, can you name one film that encapsulates exactly what TheHorrorGeek.com is about?” I’d point you in the direction of this post. Samurai Zombie is the kind of film that I envisioned covering when I started writing about this stuff over a decade ago. It’s nice to actually be able to write about a movie that interests me and isn’t a fucking remake of something else–plus I’ve got a thing for Japanese movies in general, gore in particular, and samurai flicks–and I think my love of zombies is pretty well documented. Using that criteria, Samurai Zombie may be the most perfect movie ever conceived.

Tak Sakaguchi (of Versus fame, which is another movie that pleases me to no end–just substitute the “samurai flicks” above with “yakuza” and you’re right on the money) directed this forthcoming splatter flick. I’ve been down on Japanese genre cinema for pussying out and buying into the whole “pissed off girl ghost” thing, but this looks like a step back in the right direction–a movement back to the days when Japanese horror cinema was gross and splattery.

The plot description for the film sounds almost nonsensical (which may well be because it’s been translated from Japanese) but who cares? You’ve got undead samurai running around hacking up people. Needless to say, I’m all in.

Just to get you in the mood, here’s the trailer (in Japanese with no English subs, unfortunately). If I’m reading it right, it appears as though this flick will be releasing in Japan on Valentine’s Day. If you find a chick who wants to see this on Valentine’s Day, you better marry her.

I think this post pretty much speaks for itself. If you still need convincing on the awesomeness of Steven Seagal dispatching vampires with a katana, then let’s mark this trailer as exhibit 1A in the Court of Amazing.

Can February get here soon enough? Probably not.

Sorry the video quality is kinda assy–but when you have a trailer this monumental, you have to run with it.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m goin’ huntin’.

Fresh off yesterday’s announcement that Rob Zombie would be returning to write and direct Halloween 2 comes more news about the sequel and a teaser poster.

First up, I’m not digging this teaser poster at all–it looks like someone took a picture of Myers and made a copy of it, then copied that about a hundred more times. The lack of color is boring and I really hope they’re not calling the finished film H2…because that’s a fucking awful title.

As far as casting goes, there’s no official confirmation as to who will be back and who won’t (and even if there were, that would be subject to change as Zombie works on the script), but early reports suggest that Scout Taylor Compton, Malcolm McDowell, Daeg Faerch, Sheri Moon Zombie, and Tyler Mane will all be reprising their characters from the original.

Back in October, I posted a story about Anchor Bay acquiring the rights to Roar Uthaug’s (still the coolest name ever…) Norwegian slasher flick Cold Prey. Things got quiet after that, but yesterday they did unveil the official English language trailer for the film. I gotta say, this is one of the better looking slasher films to come along in recent memory (whether the finished product is as good as the trailer remains to be seen). Have a peek at it below and see for yourself.

Basically, this is what the film’s about: Five young adults are out for a day of snowboarding in the mountains. When one breaks his leg after trying to pull off a crazy maneuver, his friends take him to an empty old hotel-only the hotel isn’t as empty as they thought. Before you can say “watch out, that dude has a pickaxe”, they’re being stalked by a madman.

Cold Prey is scheduled for a January 20th release.

Dante s Inferno – Exclusive VGA Trailer

Awhile back I posted some stories about a Hollywood bidding war that broke out for the movie rights to an unannounced videogame from EA based on Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Well, at the SpikeTV Videogame Awards show the other night, EA finally confirmed that the game is indeed coming (it’ll be titled Dante’s Inferno) and they unveiled a teaser promo for the game as well.

There’s not much gameplay on display in the trailer (or really any for that matter…) but it’s still nice to see the game officially confirmed. No release date has been set yet, but it appears that the game is tentatively scheduled for release in 2009.