The trailer for flimmaker Andrew Traucki’s next tale of terror, The Jungle, has arrived, and this found footage flick looks like it has the chops to become one of the more interesting entries into the sub-genre. Dig it!

From the Press Release
Writer/director Andrew Traucki’s new feature film, The Jungle, tells the story of an Australian leopard conservationist who ventures into the remote Indonesian jungle with his documentary filmmaker brother to investigate reported sightings of an endangered species of leopard. Their trek into the jungle becomes ever more bizarre and sinister - with the realization they are being stalked by a deadly unseen predator.

The Jungle is the third film in Traucki's genre trilogy of terror, along with Black Water and The Reef, which he is calling "Three Colours Red." The Jungle is a co-production with Traucki’s Mysterious Light Production Company and represented for worldwide sales by Lightening Entertainment in the US, in conjunction with Richard Guardian of Guardian Entertainment.

Lance Henriksen has a new project to unveil, and it's not what you might think. We spoke with him not about a new film or television show; he's now a comic book writer and is proud to announce his upcoming title To Hell You Ride. Co-writer Joseph Maddrey also joined our chat.

Henriksen and Maddrey collaborated previously and have reconnected for the supernatural comic book To Hell You Ride. "Joe Maddrey and I wrote a book together, my biography, and in it we got comic book artists to do drawings of some of my movies, whatever movie they wanted to do," Henriksen said. "Suddenly we were plugged into the comic book world with (Bill) Sienkiewicz and (Mike) Mignola and Tim Bradstreet and Eric Powell and Tim Mandrake. All these guys are the best in the business and they wanted to do the illustrations for the autobiography, and we didn't want to just use photographs from the movies because we felt it would be visual snoot music that doesn’t mean anything. Then I went to Comic-Con and Mike Richardson from Dark Horse asked me if I wanted to do a comic and I said yes because I was already fascinated by the idea of how do you tell a story with no sound or music, and it all has to be very specific. It's a whole other world and I've been loving every minute of it."

Henriksen was thrilled by the entire comic book creation process. "How specific you have to be with storytelling in comics is just incredible," Henriksen said. "I'm used to doing a film where you do a long period of gathering ideas and then you start the movie and you forget about them, but they come leaking out in the role. So writing a comic book is a whole different process."

The inspirations for To Hell You Ride are quite varied, and Henriksen shared some of them. "I was traveling in the 70's and ended up in this place that was like the end of the road…high altitude, small little town tucked away. And in the history of the location, they had slave miners and the way they could do this was the cliffs were so vertical that a couple of riflemen up on the ridges could hem them in and they could contain them. So I was in this town after hearing the story of the slave miners and I had this feeling that all the people in the town I was with at that moment were reincarnated and had arrived back on the scene and didn't know why. Then I realized if there was such a thing as a curse…and certainly in Native American spirituality, there is no such thing as a curse…but what has happened is because the white man interrupted a ritual, it became a curse. So all that stuff was churning in my head, along with a line from a Dylan Thomas poem: 'The ball I threw while playing in the park has not yet reached the ground.' And here he was, an older man, and I thought, there's my story. Also, Native American culture... they don't have a timeline that's linear. Theirs is a circle and today is no different than 50 years or 100 years ago. It's simply the same events going on continuously. So that's what caused the story."

Henriksen also shared a story from his youth which he worked into To Hell You Ride. "I was a confused 16-year-old, with all that energy and all that range and I was tearing trees out of the ground along the sidewalk, little two-inch trees they had put in," Henriksen said, "and a buddy of mine says, 'I've got somebody I want you to meet. You've gotta stop this shit.' And the man he wanted me to meet was a medicine man and I hung out with him for about three days. It was like he gave me a three-day smack in the mouth spiritually and emotionally that never left me. Even to the point where he smoked Pall Malls and he only had a quarter of a lung left and I asked him, 'Why do you smoke if you've only got a quarter of a lung left?' and he said, 'Because I know when I'm going to die.' And I said, 'When are you going to die?' And he said, 'None of your fucking business.' He would trap me, he would trick me like that, then he told me a story about his grandfather."

And the story that medicine man shared with Henriksen was written directly into To Hell You Ride. "It was an actual event. There was a missing girl and they came and asked this man to help and he came and walked out of his house backwards," Henriksen said. "He was the medicine man's grandfather and he walked backwards for miles and walked into the woods and stopped and turned around and said, 'She's under this rock.' It was a big flat rock. And they opened it and there was the girl. And the medicine man who found her said, 'The man who did this will turn himself in'…and it happened. So he was a medicine man and had these kinds of powers, and when I was told this story... How can you not remember that story for your whole life? The medicine man was a wonderful person. We walked through the park in San Francisco and he would reach under some leaves and pull out a guava that no else in the park even knew was there. And I asked him how did he know these things? Well, he had gone from the northern tip of California to the southern tip and recorded every living plant. So that was a moment in my life that kind of woke me up. And so when this comic happened, it was included out of respect. The whole thing is about respect."

Henriksen spoke on how society in general influenced the book. "Ambition and empathy don't fit together," Henriksen said. "If you're ambitious, you're not slowing down enough to be empathetic, and so, to me, the responsibility to each other as human beings has to come from somewhere because, in essence, we're all a tribe, the Global Tribe if you will. And unless we can develop ourselves enough to keep that alive…families are falling apart, the economy, our trust, all of those things that are going on right now have been going on for a long time. It's not like it just happened today."

With Henriksen and Maddrey providing the writing, the artistic duties are being handled by Tom Mandrake. "Tom Mandrake is a brilliant, brilliant visual storyteller," Henriksen said. "He really knows drama and knows how to do it."

Henriksen's co-writer Joseph Maddrey discussed their collaboration process. "We're doing it today," Maddrey said. "I'm here and we're sort of using a similar process to what we did with Not Bad for a Human, which is a lot of sit-down discussion. We talk at length at least once a week, and some weeks we talk daily, just hashing out ideas to figure out a linear plot without losing the core and themes of these characters that Lance has been living with for some time. It's a very personal story. It requires a lot of back and forth."

Henriksen added, "It's been a phenomenal experience because one of the things is the idea of channeling. A lot of ideas are coming to us and we have no idea where they're coming from. And the reason we know its channeling is that we have confirmation coming from really unusual sources. But there are absolutely confirmations. Imagine how free that is, us discussing a scene or an idea with a great deal of comfort while challenging each other."

"We're all very open to different sources of inspiration and to each other's ideas," Maddrey said. "Everything that I've read during the last year, it seems, has constantly found a way to be connected to this story that we are writing, and I think we've all had things happen in the past year that have felt relevant somehow. We've had dreams that have made part of the story clearer. When Lance says he's eating, breathing, sleeping this comic, we all sort of feel that. We're all immersed in this world."

Henriksen describes the pride he takes from this new work. "I'm proud of it in the sense that in a lot of ways it's much bigger than I am. It feels larger than life. It feels larger than my daily grind. It's got a wonderful nature to it."

When we asked Henriksen where the story goes from here, he didn't want to spoil the surprise. "Do you know that feeling of meeting a girl and you haven't gone to bed with her yet?" Henriksen said. "You're thinking about all the possibilities, the curve here, the curve there…the little bit of flesh on her leg. How beautiful her hands are…and, of course, the smell of her hair. That's more like what I would rather leave you with than tell you about the final act. Believe me, if you get on this journey, you'll see."

Maddrey closed with his impression of the work thus far. "Lance turned me onto this story initially when we were working on the biography and he mentioned he had written a script," Maddrey said. "I said, 'Well, tell the story.' And he was very detailed about what is now the first seven pages of the first book, that prologue which is incredibly enigmatic, and you don't know where that is going to go. It's something completely different. Really, the storytelling has unfolded and made the story something different, even from what was in the script. We've been letting the story tell itself to us. And I’m very conscious to how new agey that sounds, but it works."

Henriksen concluded with a bit of levity. "I've got an expression I used when we were writing the biography," Henriksen said. "I'd say to Joe, 'The damn thing is writing itself!' and he'd say, 'Well fuck that! I'm the one that's been typing for two weeks!'"

The first issue of To Hell You Ride will be available on December 12th. Be sure to track your copy down.

Horror fans love their icons. We watch our favorite movies repeatedly. We visit horror conventions to get up close and personal with the horror stars. We've worshiped the Romeros, Cravens, Hoopers and Carpenters and loved the Englunds, Moseleys, Todds and Hodders.

But in addition to them, we need new blood as well. Say hello to the next great one… Adam Green.

We need that next wave of horror icons. We love our horror stars, but to have the genre live on and thrive as it has, we need new horror superstars. But that is not an easy torch to take. We're used to Romero, Craven and Carpenter. We accept them and will go to see any film they put out. When a guy from Holliston, MA came out of the blue and threw his hat into the horror genre, we collectively said, "Who the hell is Adam Green?" Then he dropped Hatchet on us and we learned just who the hell Adam Green was very quickly. And because of his great success and continuously stellar work, we recognize Adam Green with a Doctor Gash Tip of the Scalpel.

Chad: Hey, man. Who's Victor Crowley?
Layton: Well, he's nothing. A local bogeyman story about a retarded maniac who haunts Honey Island. People just use it to keep kids away from the swamp.
Chad: You mean like a Jason Voorhees or something?
Layton: Something like that.
Chad: When I was eight, I lived in this town called Glen Echo. Our ghost story is about this man named Leslie Vernon...
--Hatchet II

Parker O'Neil: Okay then, Lynch, what *is* the worst way to die?
Joe Lynch: What...
Parker O'Neil: No, no, no, you have an answer for everything. What is you biggest fear?
Joe Lynch: That's easy. The Sarlacc Pit.
Parker O'Neil: I'm sorry, the what?
Joe Lynch: The Sarlacc Pit. From Return of the Jedi. Uh, hello. Being slowly digested over a 1000 years…worst death ever.
Dan Walker: [in a mocking whiny voice] Dan, why don't I ever have a girlfriend? Why?
--Frozen

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Green is the amazing diversity of his projects. From the pure slasher madness of the Hatchet franchise to psychologically thrilling films like Spiral and Frozen to slapstick comedy in The Diary of Anne Frankenstein segment in Chillerama to a traditional (well, maybe traditional isn't the right word. Archie Bunker didn't have Oderus in his closet) sitcom with "Holliston." Adam Green is not only a great writer and director, but he can deliver so many different styles of horror making his body of work incredibly diverse and impressive.

I first became aware of Adam Green when a friend asked if I had seen the trailer for this upcoming film called Hatchet. As I hadn't, he quickly called up the trailer online. This is what I saw:

We're all gonna die indeed.

And in a brilliant stroke, being a horror fan himself, Green understood the genre fans' affinity to their heroes and went out and got Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Tony Todd and Joshua Leonard to appear in the film. The rest is history. Hatchet took the horror world by storm, Kane Hodder had yet another iconic character to add to his resume and Adam Green was on the map. Hatchet was everything horror fans had been looking for. It held back nothing. We had been looking for an R-rated hero and Green delivered Victor Crowley to us on a silver platter and he was, and continues to be, awesome.

Green would follow up Hatchet by co-directing the psychological thriller Spiral with Joel David Moore and producing Grace through his production company, ArieScope Pictures, but it was his next film that really drove the point home for horror fans.

Frozen takes place on a chair lift high above Mount Holliston. Three unsuspecting people find themselves stranded on the lift on a Sunday night when the realization comes to them that the ski resort won't be open again until Friday…a long time away. Too high to jump, too cold to stay, Frozen amazingly delivers a claustrophobic crush while being staged in the most open landscape possible. It has the same trapped feel as Cujo but it's filmed on a wide open mountain. Green scored a huge victory in the eyes of horror fans with this film that was so incredibly different from, but just as entertain, as Hatchet.

Of course Hatchet II was an absolute necessity and it wasn't long before Green unleashed Victor Crowley again. This time he brought in the lovely Danielle Harris (as well as a slew of genre favorites as bounty hunters) and took on the MPAA head-to-head. Confronted with a laundry list of cuts he would have to make in order to get an R-rating, Green took Hatchet II to AMC Theaters and struck a deal to have it released in mainstream movie houses with an almost unprecedented 'UNRATED' listing. It had been decades since a genre film ran mainstream as an unrated feature, but Green managed to pull it off. However, the film was yanked after the first weekend due to 'poor sales.' This seemed strange because another horror film, Chain Letter, opened the same weekend as Hatchet II and did 1/3 of the business, but still stayed around for two weeks. This was certainly case of the MPAA striking back at Green for going around their iron fist. Hatchet II would go on to be a huge success on DVD which allowed for Hatchet III to be green-lit and headed our way soon. And big respect went out to Green who refused to let his film be bullied into a watered down version of his vision.

And, of course, we must talk about Green's newest and longest marinating project, "Holliston." A new adaptation of Green's original film, Coffee & Dounts, "Holliston" was picked up by FEARnet as their first piece of original programming. Shot in the classic sitcom style, "Holliston" is a love letter to horror fans. It's incredibly funny and charming and bloody and disturbing all at once. Green gets to act with his best friend (fellow horror director Joe Lynch) and his boyhood hero (Dee Snider). Does it get any better than that? He's surrounded by a stellar cast that plays off each other like they've been doing this for a lifetime. And, just as he did with Hatchet, Green taps into the horror fans' love of their genre and brings in an army of horror-related guest stars into "Holliston" like Bill Moseley, Derek Mears, Ray Wise and John Landis. It is perhaps the funniest horror-themed project I've ever seen.

We need to keep the life-blood of horror flowing and Adam Green is a perfect candidate to take the torch from the Cravens, Carpenters and Hoopers of the world. His work is diverse, horrific or hilarious, Green knows how to entertain his audience. And that's because he knows his audience…because he was his audience. Green is making movies for people just like him and that is why we love him. He understands the genre, he understands the fans of the genre and he brings his best every time. And it's for this reason that we give a big tip of the Doctor Gash scalpel to the great Adam Green. Market Basket.

Some sad news has come in during this post-Thanksgiving weekend: Larry Hagman, star of TV's "Dallas" and "I Dream of Jeannie," has passed away at the age of 81 at Medical City in Dallas as a result of complications from his recent battle with cancer.

Along with those abovementioned iconic roles from most of our childhoods, horror fans will remember Hagman for his feature directorial debut, Beware! The Blob from 1972, which is also known as Son of Blob/Son of the Blob, the sequel to horror/sci-fi classic The Blob. Hagman co-starred in the film, and, like most actors of his generation, he also appeared in an episode of "Rod Serling's Night Gallery."

Per Dallasnews.com, his family said in a written statement, “Larry was back in his beloved Dallas re-enacting the iconic role he loved most. Larry’s family and close friends had joined him in Dallas for the Thanksgiving holiday. When he passed, he was surrounded by loved ones. It was a peaceful passing, just as he had wished for. The family requests privacy at this time.”

Mr. Hagman made his home in California with his wife of 59 years, the former Maj Axelsson. Despite obvious physical frailty, he gamely returned to Dallas to film Season One and part of Season Two of TNT’s "Dallas" reboot. Those close to him say he knew the end was coming and was glad to have his family in town for Thanksgiving.

In addition to his wife, Larry Hagman is survived by a daughter, Kristina Hagman, a son, Preston Hagman, and five granddaughters. We here at Dread Central offer our condolences to his friends and family and send a big thanks to Larry for all the great memories over the years.

Easily one of the best genre flicks to grace screens this year, the Soska sisters' tremendous American Mary (review here) now has an appointment to hit UK DVD and Blu-ray on January 21st, courtesy of Universal Pictures UK. Mark your calendars!

From the Press Release:
The Soska Sisters (aka The Twisted Twins), co-creators of the award-winning cult indie smash hit Dead Hooker in a Trunk, make an awe-inspiring return with their second feature, AMERICAN MARY, a stylish, sexy, disturbing and darkly comic “body-mod” horror-thriller that many critics are hailing as the best and most genuinely original horror movie of the year.

Co-written and co-directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker in a Trunk) and featuring an outstanding, career-best lead performance by Katharine Isabelle ("Being Human"; Freddie vs. Jason; Ginger Snaps) in the title role, AMERICAN MARY has been wowing audiences at international film festivals (including London’s Film4 Frightfest) throughout 2012 and has already garnered five-star reviews from Horror-Movies.ca and BoxOfficeBuz.com and four-star reviews from Fangoria and Dread Central.

A provocative and thought-provoking combination of the horrors of a feminist “Frankenstein” with a fetishist twist and the visceral thrills of the “female revenge” genre, the film boasts a strikingly original script, laced throughout with a wicked sense of humour and a darkly erotic charge, that admirably takes the horror genre in a fresh and new direction. Simultaneously beautiful, repulsive, shocking and endearing, AMERICAN MARY is an unmissable experience that firmly establishes the Soska Sisters as two of the hottest new talents working in cinema today.

Synopsis:

Struggling to make financial ends meet while studying to be a surgeon, talented medical student Mary Mason (Katharine Isabelle) finds herself reduced to applying for work at a local strip joint in order to pay off her mounting debts. During her interview, she is unexpectedly called upon to perform some illegal emergency surgery on one of the club’s clients and is instantly rewarded with a significant cash payment.

Word of Mary’s scalpel-work soon reaches one of the club’s dancers, Beatress Johnson (Tristan Risk), who approaches her offering to pay handsomely for some off-the-books, extreme body-modification work on a friend. The ensuing surgery is a huge success and Mary’s skills soon attract the attention of an underground network of high-paying clientele, all looking for someone to administer procedures and body-mod work unavailable through the usual legal channels.

However, the allure of the easy money and the increasingly bizarre work she is commissioned to perform begins to leave a mark on Mary, and when an incident involving the established surgeons she once idolized leaves her traumatised, “Bloody Mary”, as she has come to be known, responds in the only way she knows how.

For more on the film, visit the official Twisted Twins Productions website, like American Mary on Facebook, and on Twitter follow American Mary (@_American_Mary) and the Twisted Twins, Jen and Sylvia Soska (@twisted_twins).

A new live-action trailer has come our way for Metro: Last Light, a sequel to the critically acclaimed cult classic Metro 2033 (review here), that introduces us to one of the survivors - Meet The Preacher!

Synopsis:
It is the year 2034.

Beneath the ruins of post-apocalyptic Moscow, in the tunnels of the Metro, the remnants of mankind are besieged by deadly threats from outside – and within. Mutants stalk the catacombs beneath the desolate surface and hunt amidst the poisoned skies above. But rather than stand united, the station-cities of the Metro are locked in a struggle for the ultimate power, a doomsday device from the military vaults of D6. A civil war is stirring that could wipe humanity from the face of the earth forever.

As Artyom, burdened by guilt but driven by hope, you hold the key to our survival – the last light in our darkest hour...

• Experience thrilling combat with an exotic arsenal of hand-made weaponry against deadly foes – both human and mutant – and use stealth to launch attacks under the cover of darkness
• Explore the post-apocalyptic world of the Moscow Metro, one of the most immersive, atmospheric game worlds ever created
• Fight for every bullet and every last breath in a claustrophobic blend of survival horror and FPS gameplay
• Next generation technology boasting stunning lighting and physics sets a new graphical benchmark on both console and PC

Look for Metro: Last Light for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC on March 31, 2013, from THQ. For more visit the official Metro: Last Light website, "like"Metro: Last Light on Facebook, and follow Metro: Last Light on Twitter.

Oscar winning director Barry Levinson's horrifying The Bay (review here) recently made its debut in the US On Demand, but fear fans on UK shores will be delighted to know that come March 1, 2013, they'll be able to experience the eco-terror freakout on the big screen courtesy of Momentum Pictures.

That's right! No small home viewing business here. Instead, you can share the experience of never wanting to drink from local waters ever again with the crowds at your local cinema multiplex. Just look out for anyone sporting a seriously nasty rash...

Related Story:Exclusive: Oscar Winning Director Barry Levinson Talks Horror on a Small Scale in The Bay

Synopsis:

The quaint coastal town of Claridge, Maryland, thrives on the safe, tranquil and abundant waters of Chesapeake Bay. During their annual Independence Day celebrations, a gruesome plague is unleashed, quickly infecting the residents and turning them against each other. A brutal and harrowing creature feature for the 21st century, The Bay graphically chronicles the descent of a small town into absolute terror.

No, of course we aren't lamenting the news of another fear flick hitting DVD shelves. Rather, we're bringing the news of the UK DVD release of director James Bickert's exploitation-laden Dear God No!, gearing up to smack you in the face on January 14, 2013, courtesy of Monster Pictures. Feast on the goodies here, and check out the VERY NSFW trailer!

Synopsis:

Dear God No! is a tribute to a lost regional drive-in film from 1976 that doesn’t rely heavily on computer gimmicks and cuts to the core of what made these low-budget films shockingly fun. Shot entirely on SUPER 16MM Fuji film and using equipment from the era, Dear God No! is a drive-in and grindhouse lover's dream. No pretty actors - just a rocking original soundtrack, bikers, babes, and blood and as many naked breasts as the script would allow.

Outlaw motorcycle gang The Impalers' tri-state rape and murder spree ended in a bloody massacre with rival club Satan’s Own. The surviving members sought refuge in a secluded cabin deep in the North Georgia mountains. What first must have seemed like easy prey for a home invasion became a living nightmare of depravity and violence. A young innocent girl being held captive may hold the key to the twisted secrets locked in the basement and the killing machine feasting on human flesh in the forest outside.

Dear God No! will be released in a two-disc "Impaler Edition" sporting the following special features:

• All new Grindhouse Cut of the feature (UK Exclusive)
• Exclusive full colour booklet featuring the words of director James Bickert and graphic illustrator Tom Hodge, production stills, and more
• Audio Commentary with writer/director James Bickert and composer Richard Davis
• Audio Commentary with actors Jett Bryant, Madeline Brumby and Shane Morton
• UK theatrical trailer
• Red band trailer
• Behind-the-scenes gag reel
• Poster and stills slideshow
• Zombie Parody
• Torture Porn Parody
• Vlog the Magnificent at the Dear God No! World Premiere
• Easter Eggs
• Animated short featuring two of the characters from the film (UK Exclusive)

You can keep up-to-date on the release via Monster Pictures on Facebook and at the film's official website .

Brandon Ford's an author we've had our eyes on for a while, and this week he released his latest novel, Merciless, which is based on true events and available from publisher Black Bed Sheet Books in paperback or digital e-book at a special sale price from now through Tuesday, November 27th!

Synopsis:
Kyra and Claire have never met, never spoken, but by the time this crisp autumn evening comes to a close, they’ll have formed an unbreakable bond and an indestructible unity as they face an evil nothing in this world could’ve ever prepared them for.

Kidnapped at gunpoint, they are bound, beaten, and savaged by a madman whose sole purpose is to enforce pain and impose suffering. Driving them far from their peaceful suburban community, he becomes more monstrous with each mile that separates them from any and all familiarity.

Kyra and Claire are mere innocents, taken against their will and brutalized by a man who, as they soon realize, is not a man at all. He is ruthless. He is relentless. He is MERCILESS.

Grab an e-copy via the EvilShop link below, or visit Black Bed Sheet Books for the paperback.

News of a new indie film festival devoted to short films with a special section for horror landed in our inbox, and since it also serves as a means to continue the Shawna Shea Memorial Scholarship Fund, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to let you all know about this very special event taking place December 17th in Millbury, Massachusetts.

From the Press Release:
A new short film festival honoring the independent spirit of the late Shawna Shea will bring together independent filmmakers and benefit the continued recognition of young women graduating from Uxbridge High School. The 2012 Shawna Shea Memorial Scholarship Independent Short Film Festival is set for Monday, December 17, 2012, at the Elm Draught House Cinema, 35 Elm Street, Millbury, Mass.

“Our family is very excited to establish what will be an annual short film festival in Shawna’s name,” said her father, Skip Shea. “Shawna loved theater, performing, and acting, and she would really appreciate this kind of film festival, one that brings together the best and brightest of indie film and showcases that independent spirit and innovative creativity of this corner of the film world.”

The deadline for submissions to the short film festival is November 30, 2012, and can be completed by going to the Shawna Shea Memorial Scholarship Independent Short Film Festival website. All genres are accepted, but there will be a special section of the festival for horror fans. Even if filmmaking is not your thing, anyone can contribute to the scholarship fund by visiting the website or the festival’s Facebook page.

The Shawna Shea Memorial Scholarship honors Shawna, who at 16 tragically lost her life in an automobile accident in 1999. Shawna's twin sister, Erin, and her classmates memorialized Shawna by raising $10,000 and establishing this unique scholarship, which is awarded annually to a female Uxbridge High School graduate who exhibits Shawna's special qualities and independence that imprinted a lasting impression on everyone she touched in her short life.

Since the establishment of the Shawna Shea Memorial Scholarship, dozens of young women who have graduated from Uxbridge High School have received this award to continue their education. “We are truly blessed to be able to provide this assistance in Shawna’s name since we know she would always want to help her friends and anyone who lives on the margins and deserves everything beautiful that life can give,” said Shea.

The Shawna Shea Memorial Scholarship Fund also includes a memorial award in the name of Michael Liberty, Shawna’s cousin. This award is presented to a male Uxbridge High School graduate who exhibits the qualities of inclusion and respect for all abilities and interests. Each year Shawna’s family members and friends create fun and meaningful events to sustain The Shawna Shea Memorial Scholarship Fund to continue this legacy that honors Shawna, her character, and her values.

Turkey Day has come and gone once again. This weekend’s B-Sides stems from a real turkey that’s really more of a duck. The theme song to Howard the Duck is sort of like the turducken of B-Sides.

If you weren’t around in 1986, you missed out witnessing first-hand one of the all-time famous box office fiascos. Produced by George Lucas hot on the heels of finishing up the original Star Wars trilogy, based on the cult comic book published by Marvel, brought to the big screen in the form of a heavily hyped big budget summer blockbuster directed by Willard Huyck, Howard the Duck was not supposed to be such a critical and financial boondoggle that for years afterwards future box office flops were often referred to as “(title) the Duck”.

Howard was a wisecracking, cigar-chomping, four-foot tall alien duck-man unintentionally zapped to Earth. The sci-fi comedy followed Howard as he tried to assimilate into earthly society and save our world from a monstrous alien menace threatening to conquer the universe. In between all that he also found time to flirt with the idea of some hot girl-on-duck action with a rising rock star played by Lea Thompson. The film’s ending saw her band Cherry Bomb hitting the big time and performing a song about the movie monikered mallard.

The admittedly catchy “Howard the Duck” song inspired this little seen MTV music video in which you’ll see more of Lea Thompson and co-star Tim Robbins than you will the actual star both the song and the film are named for. That’s because the Howard the Duck marketing campaign was very much built around keeping the look of its star a secret until the movie opened. Depending on whom you talk to, many people probably wish the film had remained unseen as well.

Disney now owns both LucasFilm and Marvel. Could a Howard the Duck remake be in the future? Probably not.

In honor of their 50th anniversary, The Rolling Stones have released another greatest hits compilation, GRRR!, which includes two new tracks; and the video for one of them, "Doom and Gloom," has hit the Internet featuring a very familiar face.

The video was directed by Jonas Jonas Åkerlund and stars total badass Noomi Rapace of Prometheus and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fame. It also marks the first time that Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood have been in the studio together for seven years. The single was recorded in Paris and touches on a lot of current issues like corporate greed and poverty, war, and fracking; and the video definitely gives Rapace a workout. She flashes her boobs, battles zombies, panhandles, pukes, and lots more!

Check it out below, and marvel at the fact that Mick and the boys may be senior citizens, but they're still rocking - and relevant - after all these years!

A pretty intense new trailer for Storage 24 has arrived, just in time for the flick's December 6th Ultra VOD release and limited theatrical run set to begin January 11th. It promises to be a heart-pounding, gory horror film, and we can't think of a better to kick off 2013!

Noel Clarke, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, and Laura Haddock star.

Synopsis
London is in chaos. A military cargo plane has crashed, leaving its highly classified contents strewn across the city. Completely unaware, London is in lockdown, Charlie (Noel Clarke) and Shelley (Antonia Campbell-Hughes), accompanied by best friends Mark (Colin O’Donoghue) and Nikki (Laura Haddock), are at Storage 24, dividing up their possessions after a recent break-up. Suddenly the power goes off. Trapped in a dark maze of endless corridors, a mystery predator is hunting them one by one. In a place designed to keep things in, how do you get out?

Actor/writer/director Cuyle Carvin has provided us with an early gift this holiday season by posting his new short film, Amused, online in its entirety. Check it out right here and let us know if it amuses you.

Carvin (who has appeared in Assault of the Sasquatch and post-apocalyptic web series Revelations) produced Amused through his By the C Productions company along with Alex Tucker and Angela Relucio. The film stars Elise Rovinsky and Ryan Metzger. Cinematography is by Colin Rivera, who co-edited Amused with Carvin; the score is by Zach Letts.

For more info visit the official Amused website.

Synopsis:
After a routine morning filled with errands, Martha returns to her quiet and tranquil country home to find horror feasting upon her daughter’s scalp. A terrifying chase ensues through the frozen countryside. Alone and desperate, Martha’s left to face the vast isolation as terror lurks and awaits for its chance to pounce.

Amused explores a silent fear of rural living. The peace and quiet that the country life offers might not be worth much when no one can hear you scream.

Tired of Twilight's sparkling poser asshats masquerading as vampires? Then you'll want to keep an eye out for director Scott Leberecht's sombre Midnight Son (review here), coming off of an acclaimed festival run and into UK theatres for a limited run on January 11th, followed by DVD on February 13th courtesy of Monster Pictures.

From the Press Release:

From the director of The Blair Witch Project, MIDNIGHT SON is the story of Jacob (Zak Kilberg; Zombie Strippers, Lincoln Heights), a young man confined to a life of isolation due to a rare skin disorder that prevents him from being exposed to sunlight. His world opens up when he meets Mary (Maya Parish; "How I Met Your Mother"), a local bartender, and falls in love. Tragically, Jacob’s actions become increasingly bizarre as he struggles to cope with the effects of his worsening condition.

Forced by the disease to drink human blood for sustenance, he must control his increasingly violent tendencies as local law enforcement narrow their focus on him as a suspect in a series of grisly murders.

Directed by Scott Leberecht, a well-known name on the festival circuit, MIDNIGHT SON is a twisting, terrifying tale of vampirism and humanity and how the two conditions can intertwine. Having wowed audiences when it received its UK premiere at Frightfest, the film was recently screened to a packed audience at Horrorthon in Dublin. The film receives a limited UK theatrical release on 11 January 2013, followed by a DVD release in time for Valentine’s Day on 11 February 2013.

Catch up with more release details at the official Midnight Son UK website and Monster Pictures on Facebook.

Now that Rick is finally done with his hallucinations and met Michonne, maybe we will get some ass-kicking tonight? Someone's gotta go rescue Maggie and Glenn from Merle and the Governor. Tonight's episode entitled "When The Dead Come Knocking" was directed by Dan Sackheim.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read any further if you haven't watched the episode yet. This is a recap with specific details from the episode. Continue only if you have watched it.

This episode started with Merle menacing Glenn in a wooden shack. Merle was still upset about that rooftop incident back in season 1. Glenn explained that the group went back for Merle, even T-Dog, but when Merle learned that T-Dog didn't make it, he grimaced "I hope he went slow." Glenn still refused to talk even while being tortured. Maggie listened while also tied to a chair nearby.

After the opening credits, we are back at the fence with Michonne surrounded by walkers. When her wound started bleeding, the walkers started to attack her. More katana action ensues but Michonne passed out from her injuries. Carl, who ran to near Michonne, shot the nearby attacking walkers before going out with Rick to rescued her.

Inside, Michonne struggled a little with her rescuers before they were interrupted by Daryl. The group went into the cell block without her and found Carol. Michonne looked in at the teary reunion from the other side of the cell bars.

Rick offered to tend to Michonne's wound and give her some sundries before sending her on her way. But after a quick scuffle, they learned from Michonne about Woodbury and the Governor and that Maggie and Glenn may have been taken there. And Rick offered up Hershel to take care of Michonne's wound.

After some torture, a beat up Glenn finally volunteered that Merle and his gang could not fight them because "there are too many of us". Then he made the mistake of listing dead friends' names to Merle, no knowing that Andrea already spilled all the beans on Shane, Dale and Jim. "Really? Is that right?" Merle twiddling his imaginary-villainy mustache.

Hershel stitched up Michonne with nary a peep from her while she was eyeing Carl's gun. After a quick sidebar, Daryl, Oscar, Axel and Michonne were to go with Rick to rescue Maggie and Glenn. While packing up the car, Michonne was surprised to learned that this group cleared out the previously-overrun-by-walkers prison all by themselves.

Rick and Carl finally had their talk about Carl's euthanizing his mom. It played without much gravity as if Carl got a talking to after putting down a sick pet. "Daryl's been calling her ass-kicker" said Carl before naming the baby "Judith" after his third grade teacher. What happened to all the other names of dead female friends he suggested before?

The Governor brought Andrea into a secret room where a Mr. Coleman was being tended to by Milton while some 1950s vinyl music played in the background. (Jo Stafford's "It Could Happen To You" - I shazam'ed it). "You're doing us a great service" cooed the Governor before leaving Andrea with Milton. After Milton conducted a quick Q&A session with Mr. Coleman, they continued to wait.

Glenn was struggling to get out of his bounds when Merle threw a hungry walker in the room. In a fantastic sequence involve mattress bed springs and broken wooden chairs, Glenn dispatch of that walker. Glenn badass-dom now rivals Daryl!

Milton spewed out some scientific babble while Andrea nodded politely. I did the same from my couch. Mr. Coleman had volunteered to be the test subject for Milton to learn about the human mind when they transformed into walkers. Milton had not seen a transformation before because he "telecommuted to work". That must be the best excuse for telecommuting ever. "I want to telecommute so I can survive the zombie apocalypse!"

After learning from Merle that Glenn still hadn't cooperated, the Governor decided try his Clintonian-charms on Maggie instead. Untying Maggie, the Governor ordered Maggie to undress or he'd bring her Glenn's hand. He scared Maggie by almost raping her but she would not break either. Whoa!

Rick, Daryl, Oscar and Michonne stopped a while away from Woodbury, and continued on foot. The group was attacked by a horde of walkers. Falling back, the group got trapped in a deserted wood cabin where they found a paranoid crazy person. Michonne subdued him with quick stab and they used the body to distract the horde outside the front door while they escaped through the back. The horde tore up the body in bloody gore right before a voice announced KFC as a sponsor and that "fresh is better". Maybe not the best spot for this sponsor, just saying!

Back at Milton's experiment, Mr. Coleman died and transformed. Stupid scientist Milton released the restraint and the new walker tried to bite him. Andrea stopped it with a stab in the head.

The Governor and his henchmen brought a shirtless Maggie into Glenn's room. The Governor knew one of them would talk and he pointed his gun at Glenn's head. Maggie gave in and told everything. The Governor playfully hushed the crying Maggie in front of Glenn before releasing her. A harbinger of more sadism to come? The Governor was impressed that 10 people took the prison on their own, something that Merle could not do.

Michonne led Rick and the group to near the gate of Woodbury. Inside, the Governor made Merle pledge his allegiance again because of Daryl. Maybe this would turn Merle against the Governor in the future?

Andrea came back to the Governor's home. "Mr Coleman died" she explained and fell into his arms. Only one more episode left this year!

To stay up-to-the-minute on all things walker related, follow @WalkingDead_AMC on Twitter and visit "The Walking Dead" on Facebook. For more be sure to hit up the official "The Walking Dead" page on AMC.com.

VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON!
Got news? Click hereto submit it!
"Like" us on the Dread Central Facebook Fan Page!

Discuss "The Walking Dead" in the comments section below!

I don't get some people's love for this season of "Dexter"; to me it's turned eye-rollingly bad, but there are two bright spots: First, we only have three episodes left, and second, Jim Beaver guest stars in next week's Episode 7.10, "The Dark... Whatever."

"Dexter" Episode 7.10, "The Dark... Whatever" Synopsis (12/1/12 Airdate)
Dexter is unnerved when Hannah's father pays him a surprise visit; the Phantom Arsonist's crimes become more vicious; and Quinn defends Nadia's honor and finds himself in a volatile situation. Meanwhile; LaGuerta asks a former superior for help on the Bay Harbor Butcher case.

Anyone who knows anything at all about young Carrie White can attest to the fact that her mother, Margaret, is batshit crazy; and we wouldn't have her any other way! Get to know Mom in this latest viral image!

Look for Carrie in theatres March 15, 2013. For more information visit WhatHappenedToCarrie.com!

Related Story: Official Carrie News Archive

Synopsis:
A reimagining of the classic horror tale about Carrie White (Chloë Grace Moretz), a shy girl outcast by her peers and sheltered by her deeply religious mother (Julianne Moore), who unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom.

The quiet suburb of Chamberlain, Maine, is home to the deeply religious and conservative Margaret White (Moore) and her daughter, Carrie (Moretz). Carrie is a sweet but meek outcast whom Margaret has sheltered from society. Gym teacher Miss Desjardin (Judy Greer) tries in vain to protect Carrie from local mean girls led by the popular and haughty Chris Hargenson (Portia Doubleday, Youth in Revolt), but only Chris’ best friend, Sue Snell (Gabriella Wilde, The Three Musketeers), regrets their actions. In an effort to make amends, Sue asks her boyfriend, high school heartthrob Tommy Ross (newcomer Ansel Elgort), to take Carrie to prom. Pushed to the limit by her peers at the dance, Carrie unleashes telekinetic havoc. Brian De Palma’s 1976 film version of CARRIE earned Oscar nominations for stars Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie.

MGM and Screen Gems’ CARRIE is directed by Kim Peirce and produced by Kevin Misher (Public Enemies). J. Miles Dale (The Vow) serves as executive producer, and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Big Love) wrote the script from King’s original story. CARRIE’s creative team includes Director of Photography Steve Yedlin (Looper), Production Designer Carol Spier (Eastern Promises), Costume Designer Luis Sequeira (The Thing), and Editor Lee Percy (Boys Don’t Cry).

Word has come down the horror-loving highway that writer/director Tedi Sarafian‘s latest horror film, Sighting, has finished editing thanks to Andrew Coutts, editor for Saw VI and Saw 3D: The Final Chapter, and is now in audio post-production and seeking distribution.

The film stars Kristina Anapau (Black Swan, “True Blood”), Brendan Fletcher (Freddy vs. Jason), Alexis Cruz (Drag Me to Hell) and Ed Corbin (True Grit).

Details are on the scant side, but we can tell you that it’s about a ghost-hunting team that investigates King’s Ransom Winery in California, home to a sinister history of recurring suicides.

More on this one as we get it!

While we all sit back and wait patiently to see if the world ends this December thanks to those pesky Mayan prophecies, Image Entertainment is hard at work killing off all the superheroes that the world has! If we make it through, you'll soon be able to see the fruits of their labor!

All Superheroes Must Die, starring, written and directed by Jason Trost (star, writer/director of The FP) and co-starring James Remar ("Dexter") and Lucas Till (X-Men: First Class), premieres on VOD January 1, 2013, and will soar across the big screen in limited theatrical engagements starting January 4, 2013.

The film follows four masked avengers - Charge (Trost), Cutthroat (Till), The Wall (Lee Valmassy) and Shadow (Sophie Merkley) - who find themselves stripped of their powers by their arch-nemesis (Remar), whom they defeated years earlier...or so they thought. When the sinister mastermind puts the heroes through a series of brutal challenges that are virtually impossible to overcome, they must battle the clock – and even each other – in a race to stop a deadly countdown that could mean total destruction. Will the superheroes prevail, or will they be forced to meet their demise as mere human beings?