For those of you who watched Cartoon Network back in the 90s you might remember these commercials that aired for the Scooby movies that used to play. It's pretty interesting to see that Cartoon Network got away with refrencing a horror film like Scream, then again if I remember right back in grade school the most popular costume was in fact ghost face.
I must say that the animation in this trailer is really good, even better than the majority of animation that is used for most cartoons these days.
Random fact: Did you know Mathew Lillird who played Stuart in the first Scream is now the voice of Shaggy in Scooby-Doo cartoons?
-Horrorwood Doll
P.S. I do in fact like popcorn with my Scooby movies.
Finally, some good news for Joss Whedon, his horror film The Cabin in the Woods is to finally be released and distributed by Lionsgate. The film is set to be released by October 28th and will be in 3-D. (YAY! A Halloween horror release that is not a sequel)
Joss's film was completed back in 2009 under MGM and was directed by Drew Goddard who also directed Cloverfield. Those who are familiar with Joss Whedon's work will see Amy Acker who starred in Angel as Fred/Illyria and Dollhouse as Dr. Claire Saunders/Whisky and Fran Kranz who starred in Dollhouse as Topher Brink.
Honestly, what is up with the film industry pushing back release dates of any descent horror films. First, we had Trick r' Treat, which got pushed back so much that it hardly had a chance to show in theaters. We have the highly anticipated Don't be Afraid of the Dark and we of course The Cabin in the Woods. You wanna know what all three of these films have in common? They've all received positive test screenings. Hollywood is just hates horror that's all there is to it.
Being that this is a Joss Whedon project there will be no shortage of humor. Here is some terrible device from the man himself on what you should do if you're at a cabin in the woods.(May I also add that if you find a strange book in a cabin in the woods, that it's probably best not to read it.
Just happened to stumble upon this and thought I would share.
"Former Playboy pinup and B-movie actress Yvette Vickers
died at the age of 82. But it wasn't until a year later—last
Wednesday—that her mummified body was found in her Beverly Hills home.
Neighbor Susan Savage found the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman star lying on the floor of an upstairs room, after
pushing open a barricaded front gate, "scaling a hillside", climbing
through a broken window and pushing through stacks of "clothes, junk
mail and letters" to reach her, according to the Los Angeles Times. MORE: Five Mysterious Hollywood Deaths
Although
Vickers generally kept to herself in the neighborhood, Savage decided
to check on her after seeing cobwebs and old letters in her mailbox.
"The letters seemed untouched and were starting to yellow," Savage said. "I just had a bad feeling."
Vickers' body, which was lying on the floor that entire time, was so decomposed that it was unrecognizable.
"We've all been crying about this," Savage said. "Nobody should be left alone like that."
In
spite of the circumstances, police suspect no sign of foul play, and
the cause of death has yet to be determined by the Los Angeles county
coroner's office.
During her career, Vickers starred in horror flicks like Attack of the Leeches and What's the Matter With Helen?
and earned a bachelor's degree in theater arts from UCLA. She quickly
rose to fame after playing Honey Parker, mistress of Allison Hayes (the
titular giantess)' husband in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman."
That is just so terribly sad. :( A whole year and no one bothered to check on her. I know she was never a huge star or anything, but its sad to see someone to be forgotten like that. In a way this is a case where fact is certainly stranger than fiction.
Films she is known for: Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (You can watch the whole film here.) Attack of the Giant Leeches (You can watch the whole film here.) What's the Matter with Helen? The Dead Don't Die Evil Spirits
This is old news, but I might as well post it here anyways. In 2012 there will be a new Buffy film (most likely in 3-d.) that will be and written by Whit Anderson whose a long time fan of the original show.
The producer will be Charles Roven (Produced Batman Begins) and Steve Alexander will produce the feature film alongside Doug Davison and Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment. The film is supposed to feature an older and possibly darker Buffy, which will have no relation to the show. The film will not feature anyone from the original show and of course the biggest uproar against this is there will be no Joss Wheadon involved.
If you have not heard of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" do a damn google search and look it up on wikipedia. To give you an idea you an idea how big the show is was voted by TV Guide as one of the top cult shows of all time. Empire magazine voted it No.2 as one of the best shows of all time. There was also a Buffy film back in 1992, but it's pale in comparison to the show. Did I mention it was a show about vampires before there was half a dozen of them like there is now?
When Joss Whedon found out about the news he released this statement to E-news.
"Kristin, I'm glad you asked for my thoughts on the announcement of Buffy the cinema film. This is a sad, sad reflection on our times, when people must feed off the carcasses of beloved stories from their youths -- just because they can't think of an original idea of their own, like I did with my Avengers idea that I made up myself.
Obviously I have strong, mixed emotions about something like this. My first reaction upon hearing who was writing it was, 'Whit Stillman AND Wes Anderson? This is gonna be the most sardonically adorable movie EVER.' Apparently I was misinformed. Then I thought, 'I'll make a mint! This is worth more than all my Toy Story residuals combined!' Apparently I am seldom informed of anything. And possibly a little slow. But seriously, are vampires even popular any more?
I always hoped that Buffy would live on even after my death. But, you know, AFTER. I don't love the idea of my creation in other hands, but I'm also well aware that many more hands than mine went into making that show what it was. And there is no legal grounds for doing anything other than sighing audibly. I can't wish people who are passionate about my little myth ill. I can, however, take this time to announce that I'm making a Batman movie. Because there's a franchise that truly needs updating. So look for The Dark Knight Rises Way Earlier Than That Other One And Also More Cheaply And In Toronto, rebooting into a theater near you.
Leave me to my pain! Sincerely, Joss Whedon."
I am of course a huge Buffy fan and the fact that they are making a film without Joss Whedon who gave the concept any depth annoys me. (Seriously, have you seen the orginal film? It sucks.) I find it odd that those behind this film feel that Buffy needs an update because when you go back and look at the show itself the writing and issues dealt within the show was slightly ahead of its time. The cynic in me beleives that this will be a pointless Twilight cash in or another mindless fail of a girl power flick. I will give the film a chance till I see the first trailer. The good thing this is an actual fan who is behind this and for all I know the film might be darker and take Buffy in a new direction, similar to how the Christopher Nolan films took batman in a new direction. However, those behind the film have failed to respect the actual creators wishes and for me that is the biggest no, no when it comes to this film.
Oh yes and if you want to give yourself a heart attack read this.....It's a joke of course.
You know Easter is actually my second favorite holiday right after Halloween, of course, many don't seem to realize that the two holidays have more in common than people realize. I can find a few reasons on how these holidays are similar and thanks to our little friend Sam from Trick r' Treat I have a reason to do so.
1. Sugar High children are Abound
Easter is the day when children wake their sleepy heads from bed and tip down stairs to see a basket filled with sugary goodness. There is no other holiday besides Halloween where children have access to the fantastical amount of candies and sweets. Now, some would point out that children have to earn the candy on Halloween, while Easter it's all a free hand out; this is not entirely true because these days, kids have to have to work for their candy by doing easter egg hunts. There is even a stronger connection between the holidays as night time flashlight Easter egg hunts become more and more popular, making candy gathering a night time activity.
2. The Celebration of the Dead
Halloween is a time where one takes the time to celebrate and remember death. Easter is the time when Christianity takes the time to celebrate and remember that their savior died and rose from the grave in zombie or vampire style. Either, way both holidays have to deal with the celebration of death in some form.
3.Animal Mascots
Quite a few holidays have only one animal mascot like Christmas or Thanksgiving. (Heck,some holidays have only one mascot, regardless.) Halloween and Easter seem to both have a plethora of animal mascots, its just one holiday has mascots that have been deemed cuddlier. Which is better? Bunnies,duckies,chicks,and butterflies or bats,cats,rats, and spiders?
4.Pagen Roots
From those who have seen Halloween, the holiday originated from a pagen holiday known as Samahain, which had to do with the end of Summer and had its links to remembering the dead. Easter takes its roots from the possible celebrations and feasts that were held in honor for the Great Mother Godess of the Saxons, Eostre. (That bunny laying eggs is actually a representation on fertility and isn't just some creepy holiday mascot.)
5. Acceptable to Wear a Bunnysuit
Easter is the only other day in the year, where one can dress up in a bunnysuit and not look like a complete lunatic. If you walked down the street any other day you would get pulled over by the cops,but on Easter and Halloween it is suddenly acceptable.
And yes we are half way through the year to Halloween. (By the way these comparisons are meant to be humorous and should not be taken seriously.)
If you are like me and have a life ambition of creating a fantastical library filled with beautiful books, then you'll love the Barnes and Nobel's Leatherbound Classics Collection. Surprisingly, horror literature seems to be a huge staple of their collection, which means that now you can own that edition of Dracula that will make your friends,family, and neighbors envious because they are stuck with some crappy paperback version.
Originally, each book of their collection was a compilation if an artist's work. For example one book might have the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe or the most notable works of an author like Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles.
I can not praise the overall look of these books enough. They are simply gorgeous with their specially designed cover,gilded pages, and ribbon bookmarks. These books are not just pretty, they're well made as well. I can tell you from personal experience that these books were built to last and are so well made that you'll most likely be able to pass it down for future generations.
The only drawback to these books is that they can be pretty hefty, especially if the book happens to be three books in one. You can pick up each book up for around $20 or so, which is a phenomenal price considering the quality you are getting. The books are often on sale, especially during the holiday season or you can purchase one of the bundles or the boxed sets for a fraction of the price. It aslso seems that new books are added every so often so be sure to check out the Barnes and Nobel website or the nearest store location ever so often.
Just recently, Barnes and Noble came out with single leatherbound novels, which you can purchase for around $14.
You can view and purchase the rest of the leatherbound collection on the Barnes and Nobel website. If you want to see more beautifuly crafted books, check out the Penguin's Hardcover Classics Collection. They are just as good visually, but the overall value and quality of the books just don't seem to match up to B&N's classics. Each book is around $20 and unlike Leatherbound Collection being a compilation of works, the Penguin classics are divided up to a single novel.
It has come to my attention that the majority of viewings of this blog is due to a Monster High post I did awhile back. At this point that post has had 3,804 views and it's probably all due to one bloody image. Oh, well I suppose it could be worse, there are signs that people actually look at the content of my blog. :D
I suppose that if this blog is mostly known for one little post then I guess there is no harm in giving the buggers a little more of what they want. Today, we will be taking a quick peak at what Mattel has in store for The Monster High franchise this summer.
Basic Line: *Abbey Bominable (Daughter of the Abominable Snowman) *Spectra Vondergeist (Daughter of the ghost) *Clawd Wolf (Son of the wolfman and brother of Clawdeen.) (Could also only be available in the gift pack)
As of right now Spectra Von Hauntington's doll is the only one to be seen. Oh boy, does she resemble Bombshell Hell. (The other contributor on this blog.) I know you guys have no idea what she looks like, but trust me if she would dye her hair purple again the resemblance would almost be uncanny. People have pointed out that no writing can be seen on her diary and the theory is that you need her little animal friend (possibly a ferret) to read it.
(Edit)
A crappy pic of Abbey Bominable. She is adorable,but not as adorable as Spectra Von Hauntington though.
Dawn of the Dance
Lagoona Blue
Ghoulia Yelps
Deuce Gorgon
The rest of the Monster High cast was felling left out when it came to the dancing scene. It looks like this summer we will be seeing Ghoulia, Lagoona, and Deuce on store shelves. It also looks like each doll will come with a nifty little dance CD, with the Monster High Fright Song on it, most likely. It's surprising that Draculaura doesn't make an appearance during the summer. Maybe, they want to do an exclusive Draculaura and Clawd Wolf couple pack for the next comic con?
Plushies(No pics as of yet. -tear-)
Ghoulia Yelps
Abbey Bominable
Spectra Vondergeist
Draculaura and Clawd Wolf Gift Pack
Looks like Clawd and Laura hookup and do they not make an adorable little couple. Box caption "A forbidden romance blooms under a full moon." The whole forbidden romance angle has been really popular since the whole Twilight craze, even though the whole forbidden romance thing has been around much longer than that. (I mean the whole plot of Underworld:Rise of the Lycans is between a forbidden romance between a werewolf and a vampire.) Not much else to say here,but these two will probably fly off the shelves quicker than the Cleo de Nile and Deuce Gorgon set.
Classroom Doll Assortment
Frankie Stein
Ghoulia Yelps
Blue Lagoona
Home Ick:
Mad Science
Physical Deadication
School's Out Assortment
Frankie Stein
Clawdeen Wolf
Cleo de Nile
Dead Tired Doll Assortment
Ghoulia comes with bloody popcorn.
Fashion Gift Set
The giftset comes with gift for their fried Clawdeen. How cute. ^_^
There is talk of there being a Phantom inspired doll called Operetta. I am terribly excited by this because Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera is my second favorite of the Universal Studio's monsters. It is apparent that Mattel is running out of ideas, when it comes to new dolls. What else could they do? They are limited to doing the more traditional monsters because I doubt that parents would be overjoyed seeing their 8-year-old daughter playing with a Fred Kruger inspired doll.
I wonder what other dolls they will make in the future? Bigfoot?, Witch? Spider Baby? or perhaps an Alien? Those bastards have become quite popular a of late.
Today Scream 4 makes its debut in theaters. It's interesting to see how much horror has changed in this past decade or so. The original Scream was a break through when it came to horror films because for the first time the characters in the film were aware of the rules of horror. Sense the first Scream horror films have become much more self aware, seven-year-olds still dress up as Ghost Face(Even though many don't know what movie he is from.) and the rules of horror films have certainly changed. It was time for a sequel that would put Scream back on the map again. After all Scream was one of the most innovative and scariest films of its time. Today's post is a quick look back at the original Scream in honor of it making its way back to theaters.
The opening scene in the original Scream has become iconic and faced what seems like hundreds of parodies right after its release. Lets face it, the original opening is pretty freakin scary, unlike the face-palm opening of Scream 2.
*Drew Barrymore
was originally cast in the lead role of Sidney Prescott, but her
schedule changed unexpectedly and she wasn't able to film the whole
movie. It was her idea to take the role of Casey Becker, a less time-consuming but ultimately iconic role.
*Dewey Riley wasn't intended to live through the first movie. In the script, Dewey didn't survive his injuries. Wes Craven also filmed an alternate ending where Dewey survived, and
when test audiences said they liked Arquette's performance the movie was
re-edited and Dewey lived to appear in all four scream films.
*Kevin Williamson's
script for the first film was originally titled "Scary Movie," and it
wasn't until late in the shooting that executive producers Bob and
Harvey Weinstein insisted on changing the title to "Scream."
The scary voice on the phone that taunts the victims before they're attacked is done by Roger L. Jackson. The same guy who does the voice of Mojo Jojo from the Power Puff Girls.
*From the beginning Wes Craven had Jackson on the set to actually talk
to the actors over the phone. In order to heighten the realism the actor's were never allowed to see Jackson face to face.
*He nearly turned down the option to direct the hit Scream (1996/I) because the first scene with Drew Barrymore reminded him too vividly of the climax sequence of The Last House on the Left (1972), his first film.
*To keep Drew Barrymore looking scared and crying, director Wes Craven kept telling her real life stories about animal cruelty.
*The infamous Ghost Face Mask was found by Wes Craven in a store while location-scouting in California.
* In the first Scream when the killer smashes his head through a window and Casey hits him in the face with the phone, Wes Craven is actually wearing the costume and was really hit in the face.
*The use of caller ID increased more than threefold after the release of this film.
*The killer was based on a Florida serial killer, the "Gainesville Ripper."
* Wes Craven makes a cameo in the film as janitor called Fred who is dressed in a similar manner as Fred Kruger from A Nightmare on Elm St.
Just a few months after the final Harry Potter installment, Daniel Radcliff (Harry Potter) is set to make a debut in a horror film called "The Woman in Black.". The film is set to be released in the UK on October 28th. (No word as of yet on if and when it will be released in the U.S) The film seems to be a remake of the 1989 made for TV film as well as a movie adaption to the book that was written by Susan Hill. You can now watch the teaser trailer, which is posted below.
"A young lawyer travels to a remote village to organize a recently
deceased client's papers, where he discovers the ghost of a scorned
woman set on vengeance."-Synopsis of the film.
The synopsis is a bit vague as well as the trailer, but it looks promising. I am curious to see if this film will start off Daniel Radcliff's career as an actor that is known besides his role as "The boy who lived".
If you wish to see the 1989 television film, you can catch it on youtube here. (I have yet to watch it myself,but one I get the chance. I will most likely post a review of it on here.)
You can purchase the book that inspired both film on Amazon here. You can most likely find it at your local library as well.
Note: For a horror blog there has definitely been a lack of horror film review material. I apologize. I'm trying to make a horror review system that will separate us from other horror blogs. Also to note the real world seems to keep me rather busy, but you will begin to see more horror film material either this or next month.
