Tag Archives: Horror

From Frightful Predator to Prey, A Comic Book Reader’s Perspective on ther Prequel

12 Aug

Prey Movie PosterSpoiler Alert

Anyone who read Dark Horse Comics‘ Predator series (1989-2020) will be familiar with where Prey is headed. The thought of sending one of these hunters to Earth’s distant past is nothing new, and I’ve read enough of this run to know those times where they’ve intruded upon the past, ranging from 1718 to WW1, is often a bloodbath. No matter which civilization they meet, making peace with this alien species is nearly impossible.

In one corner of the confrontation is the said Predator and the other, a Comanche tribe. Caught in the crossfire are French fur traders, and I had to chuckle. The era this tale is set in is sometime during colonisation, and the land is more than a little wild. Its downright dangerous, as viewers will soon discover. Sometimes, these tales involve two differenct factions having to work together to succeed, but when we’re dealing with a franchise dealing with people dying, nobodhy is going to win! Fans must not forget the Predator usually makes situations worse for the heroes. They are often dealing with other threats and to save their own skin is the least of their worries!

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Mothmen 1966. Drawn to it Like a Moth to the Flame.

8 Aug

mothman 1966It’s rare to find hyper-fiction in any form these days, and Mothmen 1966 is such a game where it honours the tradition. This type of narrative is used in role playing video games in varying capacities. Sometimes, it’s just your traditional choose-your-own-adventure type scenario and other times, you can’t reach the end unless you follow that set path. In the games I’ve played, if you miss an important bit, it’s usually game over.

This game by novelist Nico Saraintaris and artist Fernando Martinez Ruppel, is a ‘Pixel Pulp’ more than the aforementioned style. And the defining details are in the 8 bit graphic design. It ranges from still images to a few frames of animated bliss. But as for whether you can beat the game, it means taking the time to read the many scrolling text pages, solve some puzzles–which includes card games (namely Solitaire) along the way–and surviving.

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Dale’s a “Cult Hero!” Busting His Way to Success at Fantasia 2022’s Premiere!

31 Jul

Cult HeroCult Hero is a lively throwback to the action films of yesteryear and writer/director Jesse Thomas Cook loves to camp it up! Anyone who loved his movie, Monster Brawl, will enjoy this one too. I was laughing throughout this horror comedy. Plus, the mashup of filming with a mix of old and modern equipment is perfect for to give this film everything a fan of 80s and 90s television would want. Even the titles are recreated with loving effect.

This movie about the life and times of Dale Domazar is hilarious. Ry Barrett is perfect in the role of a has-been television show host cum private investigator. He used to be the star of a television show called Cult Busters, and as the name implies, it’s about him breaking up ominous cults. But after the last broadcast resulted in a mass suicide, that can ruin one’s reputation easily. However, he believes he can get his mojo back.

This jab at reality TV is what I need after watching Conjuring Kesha. It’s not even a ghost hunting show (review link) because the direction is very Scooby-Doo and depends more on this singer trying to be like Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkly at the same time.

Conversely, thankfully Domazar pulls off the craziness like Sgt. Slaughter and be all gung-ho like Dog the Bounty Hunter. He’ll stop at nothing to stop secret societies bent on ruining people’s lives. Sadly, these days, he’s out of work, living in a recreation-vehicle and trying to sell a shtick.

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Conjuring Kesha Isn’t All That Scary or Compelling

31 Jul
Conjuring Kesha

Available to Stream on Discovery Plus

Kesha wants to be more than a musician these days. Now, she’s a wannabe ghost hunter in Conjuring Kesha—if that’s what she is doing. Instead of entertaining listeners with her good vibrations, she wants to make it weird. All she’s getting from these visits is the experience of getting spooked. This pseudo Reality TV program is allegedly a continuation of this singer’s short-lived podcast, Kesha and the Creepies, and if this show is any indication, I can’t wait to see her appear in the cartoon series, Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? (should it get a third season).

I suspect the idea to produce both series didn’t come to mind after appearing in The Haunting of eight years ago. She presented herself differently and I like this show more. It’s a lot more realistic than what’s shown in Conjuring Kesha. This new show feels like, in essence, to be very much like The Osbournes: Night of Terror.

Before this occupational switch, she’s an EDM superstar. Because of this, I knew she would eventually sing. However, I can’t tell if her voice will wake the dead. To be fair, I had to watch more than four episodes to see if that’d happen. Instead, the last two episodes saw her go camping in the woods at Mount Shasta, where she hopes to meet bigfoot! It’s a shame she didn’t go visit Devil’s Tower, where it served as a backdrop to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. She would have better luck for a supernatural meet-up there!

The latest concerns the Odd Fellows Lodge in Illinois–to which I doubt all the meeting places are equally haunted. Nothing was said about how this association has Lodges everywhere around the world and they aren’t necessarily a secret society. I have to wonder what other members elsewhere thinks. Between this outing (which offers nothing new when compared to other paranormal reality tv shows) and past, I can’t say I’ll bother with the finale, unless we hear from the news she’s quit because of some recent encounter giving her grey hair.

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Breaking Bad with The Breach at Fantasia 2022

29 Jul

The Breach PosterFans of Craig Davidson’s scary stories will be in for a treat in the film adaptation of The Breach. Technically, he writes under the pen name of Nick Cutter when crafting horror. Although changes were made, the cinematic version honours the literary piece well. It is like The X-files meets Psi Factor meets (a what if) Prequel to Evil Dead.

This movie from Rue Morgue Magazine founder and sometimes filmmaker Rodrigo Gudiño, and GnR guitarist turned executive movie producer Slash, is a brooding piece of terror. I’m glad his involvement lays more in crafting a few atmospheric tones instead of making it completely heavy metal.

To say H.P. Lovecraft’s works are an influence is a stretch. Ultimately, it depends on what fans understand of this author’s vision. I’ve read every work he wrote and also studied the various expositions about his life which have seeped into his work. His idealisms and attitude were a product of the times. His stories were about secret orders and eldrich mindless gods. At other times, what he wrote was simply about mortals involved in mad science experiments. Not every tale he wrote is about this subject, and often, what happens to his hapless protagonists are beyond their control. They stumble into incomprehensible situations and often go insane. What I like from this author are his tales of cosmic horror rather than Reanimator.

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