Not to get too far into the weeds with this stuff (too late, I know), but there’s a distinction between Underworld’s two major conflicts. The “Vampire-Werewolf War” (glimpsed at the start of Underworld: Evolution) signifies vampire Marcus’ crusade against his brother William’s lycanthropic plague. Eager to stop the werewolf’s decimation of the European countryside, Marcus converted warlord Viktor into a tool against them. Viktor then created the Death Dealers as foot soldiers to combat William’s rampaging pack. These adversaries are not humans who change from man to wolf, but victims whose humanity was stolen.

Related Stories: Before the Blood Wars Part 1, Before the Blood Wars Part 2

Rise of the Lycans bears that title to establish the start of a different war. The war that’s still in media res as 2003’s Underworld opens. The “Vampire-Werewolf War” closed with the capture and imprisonment of William and the enslavement of his species. The “Vampire-Lycan War” begins with the birth of a child. Rise of the Lycans opens just a few years after the first war, focusing on the birth of Lucian. He’s the first werewolf to toggle between animal and man, and this ability intrigues Viktor. He sees it as an asset for all vampires as werewolves are animals incapable of obeying commands. Lucian, however, can.

If my math is correct, Rise of the Lycans spans a few centuries. We meet Lucian as a baby and see him grow rather quickly into an adult (where Michael Sheen reprises his role from the original). The movie covers a lot of ground over its brisk 92-minute run time, but Patrick Tatopoulos’ film moves a little too fast, feeling almost perfunctory in its execution. Lucian is okay with his slave status at first, and Viktor trades usefulness for luxury while keeping him “leashed.” Specially designed shackles prohibit him from becoming a wolf, and he continues to be of great use to Viktor, forging weapons and creating soldiers.

The challenge of any prequel is to justify its story. Underworld gave us the Cliff’s Notes of this, and while Rise of the Lycans is a fun medieval monster mash, it offers no real surprises. It’s neat to see this Gothic, blue world in another time period, and the production design gives the castle interiors more style and culture than expected. Viktor rules the countryside with an iron fist. He uses werewolf muscle to keep his vampire clan safe during daylight hours. Viktor has no love for humanity either, despite offering nearby villages “protection” in exchange for goods and services. Problems arise when a pack of feral werewolves begin ransacking villages, making humanity question their agreement. Death Dealers ride out to squash these attacks, led by Viktor’s daughter, Sonja (Rhona Mitra).

It’s because of Sonja that Lucian tolerates his shackled existence. Their affair is secret, with both understanding the forbidden risk of it. She has to escort a caravan to safety, and Lucian senses the wolves are springing a trap for the Death Dealers. Viktor refuses to listen to reason, confident his daughter can handle it. Lucian goes against his wishes and removes his shackles in order to rescue Sonja from the werewolves, and Viktor sees this as betrayal.

Some refer to Underworld as Romeo and Juliet with Vampires. It has those aspirations, but the Selene/Michael romance was never that involving. It’s more important that the Lucian/Sonja dynamic works, and it does. Sheen and Mitra’s coupling is melodramatic in the best sense. Their romance is defined in broad strokes, but the actors understand how to sell it anyway. I’ve never understood the compulsion to knock this series for taking itself seriously. I like seeing good actors navigate low(er) budgeted fantasy with the same respect given to, say, Lord of the Rings. Rhona Mitra’s Sonja shares archetypal DNA with franchise figurehead, Selene, but she’s not as important. It’s her untimely fate that matters, not her actions.

Rise of the Lycans is Michael Sheen’s movie, and watching this chameleon actor give his all is a joy. The original Underworld wrote Lucian with a fair amount of complexity. He began as a generic villain who earned more layers until his appropriately poetic ending. Rise of the Lycans is fun because Sheen is the unlikeliest action hero. He makes this movie the inverse of a series built around a sexy heroine in a slinky leather catsuit. Here it’s Sheen who goes full-on beefcake while offering a fine performance to support his bulky physique.

I’ve already covered the joy that Bill Nighy’s Viktor brings, so of course I love an entire movie built around him. Nighy continues to give Viktor his snarling all, and the script embraces his villainy full-tilt. And it needs to. Viktor’s cruelty is the catalyst for the war, so everything he does is appropriately evil and over-the-top. Rise of the Lycans dares us to hate Viktor, but Nighy knows that we can’t.

It’s also the only film in the series to be overtly pro-lycan, the first and only one (to date) that focuses on the other side. I’ve always wanted to see Selene face off against the lycan equivalent of a Death Dealer, but that’s an opportunity the movies have yet to seize. At least Rise of the Lycans gives the monsters their due. The werewolf fanatic in me loves it for that reason alone. By the time we get around to an army of lycans laying siege to the vampire castle, it’s pure monster movie bliss.

Incredibly, this story is the subject of two books by the same author. A Rise of the Lycans novelization was commissioned for release in 2009. It was written by Greg Cox, who covered this ground previously in a 2004 book titled Underworld: Blood Enemy. Cox’s 2004 take on the Lucian/Sonja story flows differently, despite following the same basic events. Blood Enemy has a larger scope and juggles more characters, feeling more in step with what Len Wiseman and co. did with Underworld. We delve deep into the vampire’s traditions and get a better sense of their surrounding world. Kraven is also present, with Cox planting the seeds for his future betrayal. It goes without saying this one ends with a victory for the lycans. Lucian overthrows Viktor’s castle, making it a home for himself and his soldiers. At least until elder Kraven comes along to “save the day.” We know how that turns out, but it’s too bad the producers couldn’t have lured Shane Brolly back to play Kraven. It’s not a total loss because Tanis from Evolution is a suitable replacement. He’s Underworld‘s version of Littlefinger, constantly scheming for his own benefit.

My problem with Rise of the Lycans is that it feels slighter than its predecessors. Yes, we get Lucian and Viktor. And sure, Sonja is an appealing heroine in her limited role. It’s even great seeing Raze again (and actor Kevin Grevioux wrote his own version of this story in comic form). Everything happens quickly, as if the movie is in a rush to reach the end. This undercuts the drama and produces less impact. Rise of the Lycans is fun. Moments are sad. And it’s stacked with better actors than material like this gets. You have to love Spartacus with werewolves, and I do. I just can’t help feeling like it’s also a missed opportunity.

The post Before the Blood Wars Part 3: Lycans Ruled the Underworld appeared first on Dread Central.

At last the trailer has arrived for Don’t Knock Twice, and along with that, we have a new poster to share courtesy of our friends over at Bloody Disgusting.  Dig ’em!

IFC Midnight will be releasing the film on VOD and in limited theaters on February 3rd. It’s also getting a release in the UK on March 31, 2017, through Red and Black Films.

Katee Sackhoff (Oculus, Riddick, “Battlestar Galactica”) stars alongside Lucy Boynton (Miss Potter, Ballet Shoes, Mo) and Nick Moran (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows).

Caradog James (The Machine, Little White Lies) directs from a script by writing duo Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler (Howl).

Synopsis:
“Knock once to wake her from her bed, twice to raise her from the dead…” So goes a disturbing urban legend involving an abandoned house supposedly inhabited by a vengeful, child-stealing witch.

When troubled teen Chloe (Boynton) raps at the door one night, she has no idea the horror she’s about to unleash. Fleeing to the country home of her estranged mother (Sackhoff)—a recovering addict who’s turned her life around to become a famous artist—Chloe must learn to trust the woman who gave her up years ago in order to stop the bloodthirsty, shape-shifting demon stalking them. This wild supernatural shocker delivers a barrage of nonstop jolts and searing nightmare images.

The post Don’t Knock Twice for a New Trailer and Poster appeared first on Dread Central.

If you guys want us to be around for the days and months to come, then the time to act is now. Simply put, we are running out of time. Should we not get our Patreon up to about 6k by March, then we’ll be shutting our doors for good unless some miracle happens or someone steps in to acquire us.

The clock is ticking. This is not a joke or a false alarm. The situation is grave. 10’s of 1,000’s of people read this site each day; yet, only a small fraction of readers have stepped up thus far. If you think you don’t have to do it because someone else surely will, you’re wrong. Nothing happens without community support so we’re asking our community, again, to please save us. If you fight, we’ll fight; but we cannot make it without YOU!

Since we launched our Patreon initiative a few weeks ago, we’ve managed to raise about one third of the budget we need to keep Dread Central indie with no one to answer to but ourselves… and YOU.

Check out this latest video from filmmaker B. Harrison Smith, who took it upon himself to get the message out there.

This is a history-making endeavor, guys. If you kick in, you can help us collectively change everything. There was a great article in The Hollywood Reporter regarding why what WE – meaning YOU and US – are doing together is revolutionary and important.

Those of you who have chipped in, we encourage you to talk about the ad-free experience below in our comments section. This can and will show people we mean business about doing exactly what we say… giving you guys the horror site and content that YOU want. All we’re really asking for is 4 cents a day. 1 dollar a month. 12 dollars a year. What will that get you right out of the gate?

For just $1.00 a month you get:

• Dread Central COMPLETELY AD-FREE
• Automatic contest entries to all Dread Central contests
• A special thank you on the Dread Central Patron Wall
• Exclusive news before it posts to the main Dread Central site
• Random chances to win free prizes just for being a patron!

Patreon accepts all major credit cards, as well as Paypal and one-time donations (though we prefer sustaining donations to keep us going), and all international currency so you can help from ANYWHERE in the world! This is historic, folks. If we can come together and make this work, we are effectively changing the game for not just us, but for everyone! Be a part of doing something special! If you can’t afford to subscribe, just please keep sharing the url. It WILL reach people.

Signed up? Have an account? Start by visiting the log in page HERE!

If you have a previously existing account with DreadCentral.com, your Patreon account must use the same email address in order to be connected properly.

PLEASE, IF YOU CAN FIND IT IN YOUR HEARTS… #SaveDreadCentral and show your support!

The post Listen Up! #SaveDreadCentral Update #2 appeared first on Dread Central.

A slew of international TV spots, a UK clip, and another TV spot for those of here in the good ol’ US of A have all arrived for Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.  Are you ready?

The film was written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and stars series regulars Milla Jovovich, Iain Glen, Ali Larter, and Shawn Roberts in addition to newcomers Lee Joon-gi, Rola, William Levy, and Ruby Rose.

Look for Resident Evil: The Final Chapter on January 27, 2017.

Synopsis:
Picking up immediately after the events in Resident Evil: Retribution, humanity is on its last legs after Alice is betrayed by Wesker in Washington, D.C. As the only survivor of what was meant to be humanity’s final stand against the undead hordes, Alice must return to where the nightmare began – Raccoon City, where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse.

In a race against time, Alice will join forces with old friends and an unlikely ally in an action-packed battle with undead hordes and new mutant monsters. Between losing her superhuman abilities and Umbrella’s impending attack, this will be Alice’s most difficult adventure as she fights to save humanity, which is on the brink of oblivion.

The post International TV Spots, New Clip, and More for Resident Evil: The Final Chapter appeared first on Dread Central.

I remain puzzled by the fact that one of the only genre films in theaters this past Halloween season was BOO! A Madea Halloween (review). Still, it was what it was, right?

The flick is getting set to hit home video, and we have all your details right here.

From the Press Release:
Kick off the new year, and those well-intentioned resolutions, with the Matriarch herself in Tyler Perry’s BOO! A Madea Halloween on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD), DVD, Digital HD, and On Demand January 31 from Lionsgate.

NAACP Image Award-winning director Tyler Perry returns as Madea along with fan favorites Aunt Bam and Hattie to prevent her teenage niece from attending the crazy frat party next door. The outrageously funny return of Madea – after a three-year theatrical hiatus – was number one at the box office two weekends in a row with a $74 million-dollar worldwide box office. The laugh-out-loud film also features appearances by Cassi Davis (TV’s “House of Payne”), Patrice Lovely (TV’s “Love Thy Neighbor”), Yousef Erakat (FOUSEYTUBE), Liza Koshy (TV’s “Freakish”) Bella Thorne (The Duff), Diamond White (TV’s “Transformers: Rescue Bots”), Rap Artist Tyga, Lexy Panterra (Dirt), J.C. Caylen (TV’s “Tagged”), and Jimmy Tatro (22 Jump Street).

Tyler Perry’s BOO! A Madea Halloween tells the story of Madea being summoned to keep a watchful eye on Brian’s (Tyler Perry) teenage daughter and keep her out of trouble. Little does Madea know, the trouble is coming for her. Fortunately, or not, she has her posse of Bam (Davis), Hattie (Lovely), and Joe to shield off ghosts and killer clowns.

Also on January 31, following a nine-month nationwide tour, Tyler Perry’s Madea on the Run (The Play) will be available on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD), DVD, Digital HD, and On Demand. On the run from the law, Madea hides out at Bam’s house, thinking she will lie low. Unfortunately, Bam’s house is packed with rambunctious family and friends, and Madea finds herself needing to lay down her own law and drop the hammer!

Tyler Perry’s BOO! A Madea Halloween home entertainment release bonus material features a look back at what makes audiences love Madea and how this film came to be. Tyler Perry’s BOO! A Madea Halloween will be available on Blu-ray and DVD for $39.99 and $29.95, respectively. Tyler Perry’s Madea on the Run will be available on Blu-ray and DVD for $24.99 and $19.98, respectively.

BUY IT NOW!

The post Say Boo! to Madea’s Halloween on Blu-ray and More! appeared first on Dread Central.

The cats over at TVLine scored the first image from the second half of “The Walking Dead” Season 7, and we have it for you right here, ginormous watermark and all!

In the upcoming Episode 7.09:
Jesus (Tom Payne) leads Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and company to the Kingdom in hopes of convincing King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) to team up with them and the Hilltop against a common threat.

“The Walking Dead” Season 7 stars Andrew Lincoln, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan, Chandler Riggs, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Lennie James, Sonequa Martin-Green, Alanna Masterson, Christian Serratos, Josh McDermitt, Seth Gilliam, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton, Xander Berkeley, Austin Amelio, and Tom Payne.

“The Walking Dead” will be returning to AMC for the start of Season 7B on February 12, 2017.

The post First Image from the Second Half of The Walking Dead Season 7 appeared first on Dread Central.

It’s over three years old, but the Killer Instinct reboot continues to stay relevant with some pretty neat new updates. The latest DLC offers the awesomely named robot Kilgore as a playable character, and I pity the fool who gets thrown into the ring with that thing. It’s got miniguns for arms, for Christ’s sake.

Kilgore joins a long list of badass characters to have been added to the game since it’s launch, including the Viking warrior Tusk, the demonic half-god Gargos, the undead skeleton pirate Spinal, and as we previously reported, Gear’s of War’s General RAAM.

If you already own the game, you can purchase Kilgore from the Microsoft Store for $9.99, with 50% of the proceeds going towards Killer Instinct’s 2017 eSports event.

Kilgore:
Before Fulgore and the Mark 03 units were introduced to the world, Ultratech created a line of failed cyborgs during the secret CCIX Program. These hulking battle machines bore twin overpowered chain guns that tended to overheat, making them unstable and unfit for service. But one cyborg—nicknamed Kilgore—became self-aware, and started rewriting his own software to account for this deficiency in his hardware. Saved from the scrapheap, this special unit has been brought out of retirement by ARIA to enforce her will…and Kilgore obeys.

The post Kilgore Brings Extra Death To Killer Instinct appeared first on Dread Central.

Starring Reggie Bannister, Angus Scrimm, A. Michael Baldwin

Directed by David Hartman

Distributed by Well Go USA

I just watched Phantasm: Ravager (2016).

That’s a sentence I’ll likely never say again. There are a couple of salient reasons why this fifth – and, sadly, final – entry in Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm series is a disastrous mess; chief among them being the decision to hand directorial duties over to David Hartman, a guy who has directed nothing but Saturday morning cartoons. What a director has produced in the past is not always indicative of their talents for future work, but I really don’t think the time to prove Hartman’s worth was for a much-anticipated entry in a long running horror series – one that has been helmed by the same man since 1979. To be fair, Ravager did start life as a web series devoted to following Reggie Bannister’s wandering ice cream salesman with no real plans to make it a feature. Coscarelli says he was with the project from the beginning, but I’ve heard differently…

Whatever the case, the real issue is that the transition from wannabe-webthing to legit feature film sequel was clearly rough. A fan service webisode is one thing – since they’re never expected to be incredible anyway – but putting footage of that caliber into a feature is dooming your picture to look like a SyFy Channel original. And this one does. The film’s ambitions far outweigh its abilities and in place of ingenuity or inventive camera tricks we just get loads of piss-poor CGI, from the flying spheres on up to full-scale cities. Nothing looks convincing. On top of that the plot is the most schizophrenic yet, jumping between “reality” and “dreams” so often that any semblance of an actual story is eviscerated. Even worse: classic characters popping in for fan service cameos that amount to jack squat in the grand scheme of things.

Reggie (Reggie Bannister) is still a man on a mission, shuffling through the desert in search of the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm). His beloved 1971 Hemicuda has gone missing… wait, never mind, it’s right here being driven by some guy who looks like he works at the local H&R Block. Reg gets the upper hand and boots out suit and tie guy just as two flying spheres enter the picture, one of which kills the car thief. Suddenly, Reggie wakes up and finds he’s in a hospital being looked after by Mike (A. Michael Baldwin), who explains that Reg was admitted after showing signs of dementia. Unconvinced Mike is telling the truth Reggie proceeds to tell him a story involving a girl, a guitar, his car, and those rascally evil minions of the Tall Man. During a dream-within-a-dream, Reggie imagines himself in a hospital bed next to an old man who looks exactly like the Tall Man but whose name is Jebediah.

With no concrete confirmation as to what is real and what is part of Reggie’s dream, the film bounces around between these planes of existence. In one reality the Tall Man approaches Reggie with a deal – stop messing with his affairs and the Tall Man will bring Reggie’s family back from the dead. Soon after Reggie finds himself in yet another reality, this one set in a post-apocalyptic world where the Tall Man reigns supreme and massive flying balls have laid waste to major cities. Reggie meets up with a group of survivors who are intent on killing the Tall Man and ending his war on Earth. A skirmish on the Tall Man’s home planet follows, with more questions being created along the way at every stop.

For over twenty years, I have stuck with this series through twists and turns and confusion and questions because Don Coscarelli has always made the films interesting. My introduction to the world of the Tall Man came around 1996, when a buddy and I rented a copy of Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994) from Wherehouse. I had never even seen the first two movies and was completely lost watching the third, but it still made one helluva impression on me and it has been a favorite of mine ever since. I eventually got around to watching the initial two pictures and the rich mythology only reinforced my enjoyment of III. Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998) came around not long after the third entry and it once again managed to push the mystery box further down the road, providing some understanding while also opening up strange new possibilities. I have been legit excited to see where Coscarelli would take things next after producing four (arguably) strong pictures.

But then we get to Ravager, which began production ten years after Oblivion and is the only film not directed or wholly written by Coscarelli. And, man, does it show. I can’t pretend I know what caused such a lengthy delay – I do know Don had been trying to get various sequels off the ground for years without any luck – but how he let someone else take the reins I’ll never understand. I thought this was his baby? There is zero narrative flow to Ravager, making the experience of watching it painfully frustrating. Reggie and Angus are the sole bright spots in what should have been a fan-servicing swan song for the series. A. Michael Baldwin looks tired and defeated, Bill Thornbury pops in for a terribly unsatisfying cameo as Jody, and Gloria Lynne Henry gets a last-minute appearance as Rocky from III even though there is nothing of value for her to do. Just seeing a character appear is pointless if they have no bearing on the story. Even the enigmatic Lady in Lavender (Kathy Lester) shows up for a key scene but it just… doesn’t work. Ever. At all.

Being that this was a digitally-shot production the 1.78:1 1080p image is very clean and very, well, digital. The upside to this is that fine detail is often excellent and colors appear vibrant and lifelike. Black levels are a bit dicey, looking clumpy in the darkest of scenes. The worst aspect of the image is the CGI, which has a difficult time melding with the live-action footage. At some points it looks worse than modern day video game cut scenes. That aside, there isn’t much fault to find with the live footage.

The English DTS-HD MA track is available in either 2.0 stereo or 5.1 surround sound. The multi-channel mix provides some strong moments of directionality, especially when the flying spheres are bouncing around from every corner of the room. The classic themes of composers Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave are woven into new compositions by Christopher L. Stone, whose score for this entry flip flops between forgettable and respectable. Dialogue is presented cleanly, with no issues detected. Subtitles are available in English SDH.

There is an audio commentary with director David Hartman and writer/producer Don Coscarelli that I have yet to hear, though hopefully it sheds plenty of light on just what the hell went on during production.

“Behind the Scenes” – This is all-too-brief and contains few revelations or anything of substance.

A few deleted scenes are available, along with “Phuntasm: Bloopers & Outtakes”, and a trailer.

Special Features:

• Audio Commentary with Director David Hartman and Writer & Producer Don Coscarelli
• Behind the Scenes
• Deleted Scenes
• Phuntasm: Bloopers & Outtakes

BUY IT NOW!

The post Phantasm: Ravager (Blu-ray) appeared first on Dread Central.

Angel to some… demons to others… Mothman to believers… that seems to be the general consensus in regards to an image that went viral on Facebook from Richard Christianson who has since removed his original link.

Christianson originally snapped the photo in Phoenix, Arizona captioned only with this question:

“What the hell do you see in this picture… for reals? Anybody?”

Tell us… what do you see?

Explore The Gasp Menagerie!

Have a weird story? Potential evidence of the supernatural, or at least something hard to explain? Spot any creepy critters out there roaming the wilds? LET ME KNOW! I’d love to talk about it and possibly write it up right here in the Gasp Menagerie. You’ll get appropriate credit, of course, and everyone else will get fresh creepy (as opposed to fresh Creepy, which, trust me… nobody wants that) to enjoy. As always, I can be found at mrdark@dreadcentral.com. Now get out there, find some weird, and let’s get this party started.

The post Demon Spotted in Arizona – The Gasp Menagerie appeared first on Dread Central.

A big batch of teaser images arrived on “The Walking Dead’s” Facebook page today along with the following quote: “Worlds collide. Prepare to rise up and fight Sunday, February 12 at 9|8c.“

Obviously we’re getting ready for an all-out war, but how exactly these new photos will come into play is anyone’s guess… and if you have a few guesses of your own, be sure to chime in below with what they are.

In the upcoming Episode 7.09:
Jesus (Tom Payne) leads Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and company to the Kingdom in hopes of convincing King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) to team up with them and the Hilltop against a common threat.

“The Walking Dead” Season 7 stars Andrew Lincoln, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan, Chandler Riggs, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Lennie James, Sonequa Martin-Green, Alanna Masterson, Christian Serratos, Josh McDermitt, Seth Gilliam, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton, Xander Berkeley, Austin Amelio, and Tom Payne.

“The Walking Dead” will be returning to AMC for the start of Season 7B on February 12, 2017.

The post Hunt for Clues in this Batch of The Walking Dead Season 7B Teaser Images appeared first on Dread Central.

It’s no secret that this writer is a huge fan of Anne Rice and her The Vampire Chronicles series of books so when word came that she was doing a livestream Q&A today, you better believe I set aside some time to watch.

No doubt many of you did the same, but in case you missed it, we have the pair of videos for you right here, in which Ms. Rice discusses both the novels and the upcoming TV series based on them that she’s developing with her son, Christopher.

She shares lots of juicy tidbits so dive right in!

Want to chime in with your 2 cents?  Visit Anne Rice on Facebook, and also make sure you’ve bookmarked the official Facebook page for The Vampire Chronicles TV series.

The post Anne Rice Talks The Vampire Chronicles Books and TV Series in Pair of New Videos appeared first on Dread Central.

The first 2017 episode of Brainwaves: Horror and Paranormal Talk Radio is upon us, and as promised we provided plenty of shivers to kick off the new year!

Paranormal investigator Sean Austin (“The Demon Files”) joined us, and this dude had stories to tell along with some chilling EVPs. Bring your nightlights, and LISTEN NOW for all the scary.

It’s radio without a safety net, kids. It’s Brainwaves: Horror and Paranormal Talk Radio.

PLEASE SUPPORT BRAINWAVES: HORROR AND PARANORMAL TALK RADIO ON PATREON!

Brainwaves: Horror and Paranormal Talk Radio is available to subscribe to on iTunes. Not an iTunes user?  You can also listen right here on the site.

Also you can hit Dread Central on Facebook on most Wednesday nights to watch a live stream of the show as it happens.

Spooky, funny, touching, honest, offensive, and at times completely random, Brainwaves airs live every Wednesday evening beginning at 9:00 PM Pacific Time (12:00 midnight Eastern Time) and runs about 3 hours per episode.

Knetter and Creepy will be taking your calls LIVE and unscreened via Skype, so let your freak flags fly! Feel free to add BrainWavesTalk to your Skype account so you can reach us, or call in from a landline or cellphone – 858 480 7789. The duo also take questions via Twitter; you can reach us at @BrainwavesRadio or @UncleCreepy and @JoeKnetter using the hashtag #BrainWaves.

Have a ghost story or a paranormal story but can’t call in? Feel free to email it to me directly at UncleCreepy@dreadcentral.com with “Brainwaves Story” in your subject line. You can now become a fan of the show via the official… BRAINWAVES FACEBOOK PAGE!

Brainwaves: Horror and Paranormal Talk Radio is hosted live (with shows to be archived as they progress) right here on Dread Central. You can tune in and listen via the FREE TuneIn Radio app or listen to TuneIn right through the website!

For more information and to listen live independent of TuneIn, visit the Deep Talk Radio Network website, “like” Deep Talk Radio on Facebook, and follow Deep Talk Radio on Twitter. And don’t forget to subscribe to Brainwaves on iTunes.

The post Brainwaves Episode 28 – Paranormal Investigator Sean Austin – Listen NOW! appeared first on Dread Central.

If you thought you knew the depths of human intellect before this episode, you’re wrong. If you never felt like you have been challenged mentally, you’re about to be.

When the guy who hired you has to leave the room because he’s laughing so hard he can’t breathe and he doesn’t want it to pick up on the recording, you know you’ve got something special. This must be Prayer of the Rollerboys because we’re doing The Mist (2007).

Your mouth would make an interesting urinal; it’s the Who Goes There Podcast episode 98!

The Who Goes There Podcast is available to subscribe to on iTunes right here. Not an iTunes user? You can listen on our Dread Central page. Can’t get enough? We also do that social media shit. You’ll find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

The post Who Goes There Podcast: Episode 98 The Mist appeared first on Dread Central.

We’ve been talking about A Color Green’s directorial debut, Mute, for a while now; and finally you can all check it out for yourselves. The short has been made available for online viewing, and we have it right here!

Danish star Albert Bendix is in the lead as Mute Man, a tongue-chopping madman chasing three kids who stumble into his neck of the woods.

Along with Bendix, the cast includes Joseph Talluto, Catherine Beckett, Tripp Jakovich, and Lauren Culp. The executive producer was Kyle Garrett Greenberg, and the producers were Alessandro Santoro, Cameron Krause, Elise Nulman, and Tripp Jakovich.

The film was an official selection at numerous festivals last year, including San Sebastian Horror Festival 2016, Morbido Festival 2016, Sydney Underground Film Festival 2016, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2016, La Mano Festival de Cine Fantástico y de Terror 2016, Tucson TerrorFest 2016, Bogota Short Film Festival 2016, Mirror Mountain Film Festival 2016, Little Terrors 2016, Twisted Horror Film Festival 2016, South African Horror Fest 2016, Buried Alive Film Festival 2016, Morce-Go Vermelho Film Festival 2016, Glasgow Horror Festival 2016, Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival 2016, Haunted Oaks Film Festival 2016, Slash & Bash Film Festival 2016, Horrible Imaginings 2016, FilmQuest 2016, SEVERED 2016, and BK Horror Club 2016.

Whew! That’s a lot of traveling for this little film that could.

If you like what you see, you can nab a Limited Edition VHS from acolorgreen.com/vhs.

The post Short Film Mute Now Available for Online Viewing appeared first on Dread Central.

He may be a heavyweight in the world of comics, but Hellboy will soon be venturing into the world of prose fiction with the upcoming anthology An Assortment of Horrors, which you can pre-order on Amazon before it arrives in August from Dark Horse Books.

Entertainment Weekly got the scoop on the new book, which will feature stories by a sort of Expendables-style team of acclaimed horror and fantasy authors including Chris Priestley, Angela Slatter, Laird Barron, Richard Kadrey, Seanan McGuire, and Bram Stoker Award winners Paul Tremblay, Weston Ochse, Jonathan Maberry, and Kealan Patrick Burke.

Although it’s a prose anthology and not a comic, it will include illustrations from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, so there’ll still be some scenery to admire.

The post Hellboy Finds an Assortment of Horrors appeared first on Dread Central.

If you were a fan of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, you might interested in another spin on Jane Austen’s beloved tale… Heartstone, Elle Katharine White’s debut historical fantasy novel that is instantly familiar, yet wondrously unique.

The book arrives on January 17th from Harper Voyager (pre-order on Amazon).  It recasts Austen’s Pride & Prejudice in an imaginative world of wyverns, dragons, and the warriors who fight alongside them against the monsters that threaten the kingdom: gryphons, direwolves, lamias, banshees, and lindworms.

Synopsis:
They say a Rider in possession of a good blade must be in want of a monster to slay—and Merybourne Manor has plenty of monsters.

Passionate, headstrong Aliza Bentaine knows this all too well; she’s already lost one sister to the invading gryphons. So when Lord Merybourne hires a band of Riders to hunt down the horde, Aliza is relieved her home will soon be safe again.

Her relief is short-lived. With the arrival of the haughty and handsome dragonrider, Alastair Daired, Aliza expects a battle; what she doesn’t expect is a romantic clash of wills, pitting words and wit against the pride of an ancient house. Nor does she anticipate the mystery that follows them from Merybourne Manor, its roots running deep as the foundations of the kingdom itself, where something old and dreadful slumbers… something far more sinister than gryphons.

It’s a war Aliza is ill-prepared to wage, on a battlefield she’s never known before: one spanning kingdoms, class lines, and the curious nature of her own heart.

Elle Katharine White infuses elements of Austen’s beloved novel with her own brand of magic, crafting a modern epic fantasy.

The post Historical Fantasy Novel Heartstone Puts a New Spin on Pride & Prejudice appeared first on Dread Central.

If you didn’t go bankrupt from buying people useless shit that they don’t need for Christmas, then head over to Chronicle Collectibles to purchase their Jurassic Park Velociraptor Bust.

Molded directly from the Stan Winston Studios model that was used in the film, the bust is an identical replica of the “Clever Girl” Raptor from the neck up. It stands at 30 inches tall and measures at 28 inches in length.

It call all be yours for the price of $1,199.00. Yeah, it’s not exactly cheap, but each copy will be personalized with the time and date of the order when they ship in the second quarter of 2017, which kind of softens the blow of the huge price tag.

JURASSIC PARK™ 1:1 VELOCIRAPTOR BUST
They show extreme intelligence… especially the big one… When she looks at you, you can see she’s working things out.

One of the most disturbing images in the 1993 film Jurassic Park is when John Hammond’s grandchildren are hiding in the kitchen of the Visitors Center and see a Velociraptor claw tap on the floor beside the table they have taken refuge under. It still sends chills up the spine thinking back on the first time anyone considered being hunted by such an intelligent creature. For a dinosaur that, at the time, paleontologists knew very little about, Steven Spielberg and Stan Winston Studios did a fantastic job of creating a monster of nightmares for many years after seeing the film.

Muldoon, the park’s game warden, was very outspoken about the dangers of recreating these dinosaurs. He mentions to Dr. Grant that they are lethal at 8 months, can run at Cheetah speeds and are “astonishing jumpers.” To make matters worse, Muldoon says the Velociraptors demonstrated problem-solving skills by testing the fences of their enclosure during feeding time for potential weaknesses and ways to escape. Enjoy being on top of the food chain… for now.

This full size 1:1 Velociraptor Bust features the “Clever Girl” Raptor from Jurassic Park. She is molded and cast directly from a Stan Winston Studios casting of the full 1:1 Velociraptor. The bust stands roughly 30” tall and spans 28” from the back of her head to the front of her jaws, making this one of the larger pieces offered by Chronicle Collectibles. This limited edition run will include individually numbered units that are assigned numerically by the time and date of the order.

The post Decorate Your Wall with Chronicle Collectibles’ Jurassic Park Velociraptor Bust appeared first on Dread Central.

With the “Twin Peaks” continuation arriving soon, it was inevitable that the 25th anniversary of the series’ companion film, Fire Walk with Me, would receive some recognition. Not only is Death Waltz Recording Company releasing the soundtrack on vinyl, but Alamo Drafthouse is celebrating the occasion with 25th anniversary screenings across the country.

Read on for the details, and mark your calendars for January 25th!

From the Press Release:
Mondo Music label Death Waltz Recording Company announces its release of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me on vinyl for the 25th anniversary of David Lynch’s nightmarish cinematic continuation of the beloved television series. The vinyl features Angelo Badalamenti’s gorgeous, eerie score with audio approved by the composer, and director David Lynch-approved artwork by Sam Smith and packaging by Jay Shaw. The clever design is the perfect complement to Death Waltz’s release of the “Twin Peaks” score on vinyl from 2016. The soundtrack will be available for purchase on January 25 at Mondotees.com.

Alamo Drafthouse is also celebrating the film’s anniversary and soundtrack release with screenings of Fire Walk With Me at select locations nationwide. The screenings will take place in January, with optional ticket bundles including the 2XLP soundtrack. Visit drafthouse.com for tickets and more details. There will also be a pop-up show at The Regent Theater in Los Angeles. Visit theregenttheater.com for tickets and more details.

“Fire Walk With Me is an altogether more brooding affair than the ‘Twin Peaks’ series soundtrack. Badalamenti won a Grammy for the title track of this LP, and it’s not hard to see why – it’s dangerous and bursting with smokey jazz thanks to Jimmy Scott. We went back to the master tapes in the Warner Archives and had this recut to fit across two LPs as the score clocks in at 51 minutes. It sounds incredible and punchy, but super nuanced too,” said Mondo Record Label Manager Spencer Hickman.

“The simple truth is that, for years, too few people had heard the score because the film had been so widely, wrong-headedly dismissed. Today, Fire Walk With Me is recognized as a lost classic, and Badalamenti’s music is right at the heart of its reassessment. Having loved it from the outset (I gave the film a rare rave review on its first release), I remain utterly devoted to this superb soundtrack album and to the shimmering visions which it still conjures up after more than two decades of delirious, devoted listening,” writes film critic Mark Kermode (excerpt from the liner notes).

Details:

• Director-approved artwork
• Composer-approved audio
• Sleeve notes By film critic Mark Kermode
• Vinyl re-master by Tal Miller at Warner Archives
• Laquers cut by David Cheppa at Plush Vinyl
• 2 x 180G Cherry Pie vinyl
• 425gsm Gatefold sleeve housed inside a bespoke black die cut outer jacket with black spot varnish finish, complete with obi strip

Tracklist:

• 01. Theme From Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me (6:40)
• 02. The Pine Float (3:58)
• 03. Sycamore Trees (3:52)
• 04. Don’t Do Anything (I Wouldn’t Do) (7:17)
• 05. A Real Indication (5:31)
• 06. Questions In A World Of Blue (4:50)
• 07. The Pink Room (4:02)
• 08. The Black Dog Runs At Night (1:45)
• 09. Best Friends (2:12)
• 10. Moving Through Time (6:41)
• 11. Montage From Twin Peaks – Girl Talk / Birds In Hell / Laura Palmer’s Theme / Falling (5:27)
• 12. The Voice Of Love (3:55)

The post Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me Soundtrack Arriving on Vinyl; 25th Anniversary Screenings Announced appeared first on Dread Central.

We don’t get good remakes very often. It seems that Hollywood and the studios that put these flicks together are more than happy to bypass quality while holding their hands out hoping for major coin to come falling in.

But every once in a while a gang of creative minds come together to give classic titles the love and care they deserve…

Excluding remakes released prior to 2000, these are the best of the best. Get your mental notebooks ready; nothing here is to be missed.

10 My Bloody Valentine (2009)
Often overlooked when discussing successful remakes, My Bloody Valentine made just enough unique maneuvers to feel fresh and new, but also played faithful enough to the 1981 original to win over fans of the first big Valentine’s Day slasher. This is the film that helped reignite the 3D craze, although that, too, is often forgotten. It’s relatively creepy, technically pretty solid and boasts some very cool kills, impressive performances and the strangest nude scene to be featured in a genre film in a mighty long time!

09 The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)
The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a little bit remake, a little bit reimagining and a little bit sequel. It utilizes a meta angle that caught many off-guard, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t work surprisingly well. For my buck, the original is still the creepier of the two films, but this pic did proper justice to Charles B. Pierce’s 1976 effort, which went terribly underappreciated for years prior to the release of Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s film. Gomez-Rejon’s movie successfully breathed new life into the brand, and we should all be thankful for that gift!

08 Maniac (2012)
If you caught William Lustig’s unflinching exploitation feature from 1980, you know this story is dark, horrifying and risqué in all the proper places. This is savage film, and we all groaned a bit when we learned that the film was tapped for the remake treatment in 2012. A remake couldn’t possibly be anywhere near as revolting as Lustig’s film… it just couldn’t. But it could! And it is! Thanks to Alexandre Aja and Franck Khalfoun, the movie is every bit as gruesome as the original, and it differs from most other modern remakes because it’s put together with no bells or whistles. It’s just a brutal examination of a lunatic with an affinity for human scalps and a plethora of mental issues to live with on a daily basis. Maniac isn’t pretty, and that’s a major reason it’s so great.

07 Godzilla (2014)
Godzilla is the kind of franchise that really had nothing to lose in being remade yet again. Some of the Godzilla flicks are amazing, some are decent and some are downright embarrassing. Gareth Edwards – who helmed the amazing Monsters – took to the director’s seat for this one, and he pretty much passed every test thrown his way. There are a few issues to be had with the film, but honestly, this is one of the greatest Godzilla films ever made.

06 Dredd (2012)
Dredd was everything I’d hoped to the cinema gods that Judge Dredd would be. Well, there was about a 17-year additional wait, but the Dredd we all deserved finally made his way to the big screen. General moviegoers didn’t seem to eat it up initially, but the film quickly picked up a cult following that would grow to respectable size. It all happened for good reason, as the picture – a blend of thriller, action, sci-fi and a small dash of horror – not only helped erase the sour taste of Danny Cannon’s campy picture, it also felt like an honest adaptation of some of the comic work to feature Dredd. It looked great, featured awesome sound design and proved absolutely relentless. It’s not a sleeper anymore; now it’s just a badass remake that has fans practically begging for a follow-up that studios seem determined to ignore.

05 The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
Alexandre Aja’s picture will always hold a high position on lists of this nature. It’s a great but merciless piece of work that shows marked improvement over the great Wes Craven’s own 1977 film of the same title. It isn’t easy to outshine Craven, so when it happens, we’re all pretty stunned. All the greatness of the original has been ramped up a few degrees, and a few of the characters, while no more likable, are indeed a bit more memorable. It is fun, it is gory and it never ceases to entertain.

04 The Crazies (2010)
Without a doubt the least appreciated film in this entire lineup, Breck Eisner’s take on George Romero’s story is absolutely mesmerizing. It’s inventive in all the little places that allow the film to distance itself from the original, and it is mighty creepy. A number of huge sequences barrel viewers over, and once they do get going, on that damn baseball field, they don’t let up until the film has run its course. This may not be the most popular opinion out there, but The Crazies is a 2000-and-beyond, top five remake. If you missed this one, you’ve only done yourself an injustice.

03 The Ring (2002)
Ringu may generally be considered a darker, creepier version of The Ring, but that doesn’t mean this American remake didn’t deliver in a huge way. The film features one of cinema’s greatest jump scares, an amazing villainess and a video that’ll have you looking over your shoulders. You’ll probably dump all of your old OOP VHS tapes after watching this one – the movie has a serious impact, if you know what I mean. Gore Verbinski scored a huge hit here, and that was really evidenced by the flood of J-Horror remakes we saw arriving on the heels of The Ring. So, not only was The Ring an amazing remake, it was a front-running piece for a brief but dramatic change in horror scenery. Watch both versions of this film; you won’t be disappointed.

02 Dawn of the Dead (2004)
You knew this was coming, right? Zack Snyder’s feature-length debut also happens to be his greatest film to date. I know, his work has taken an incredibly strange turn, as Snyder goes bigger with each film he makes, and each film seems to be worse than the last. If you’re the man who makes Batman vs. Superman unwatchable, things aren’t panning out with your films, whether your pockets are fat or not. But let’s get back to what matters: this masterful retelling of George Romero’s timeless classic of the same name. The movie is arguably superior to Romero’s work, even if it does feel even more transparent from time to time. The performances are stellar, and the chemistry, all around, is damn organic. Loads of good zombie terror and atmosphere here, and if anything, Dawn of the Dead will leave you really wishing Snyder had kept it about storytelling rather than ridiculous visuals.

01 Evil Dead (2013)
The Evil Dead remake ranks right up there with some of history’s greatest remakes. It’s hard to even pretend to rival the genius of Sam Raimi’s original 1981 gem… hell, it’s hard to conceive of that timeless beauty actually being retold with any success. But Fede Alvarez wasn’t just successful in retelling the story, he hit it out of the park while managing to inject new and refreshing story elements. And the gore… sweet mother of god, the gore is brilliant. The cast is young, inexperienced and shockingly refined. The visuals never fail to impress, and they never lean on computers to generate terror. No, this is an old school film in a modern day landscape, and boy, does it shine. If you haven’t seen this one yet, you’re missing out on something absolutely amazing.

The post 10 Best Remakes from 2000 and Beyond appeared first on Dread Central.

Starring Jackson Rathbone, Diego Boneta, Maria Mesa

Directed by Kirk Sullivan

Director Kirk Sullivan’s slightly-supernatural thriller, City Of Dead Men, upon first looks, promised some ultra-creepy instances and visual thrills, but once all was said and done, the delivery just wasn’t there, and left me feeling a little…I guess “dead” would be the word.

Starring Jackson Rathbone (Twilight) as a military brat named Michael that’s spent a little time both here in the states, and in Medellin, Columbia. When his mother passed, he was shuffled off to live with a soldier-dad that couldn’t have given a deuce about his existence, making for an otherwise uncomfortable upbringing. Well, he’s now back in the Colombian forefront, and his means of making it through the days consist of some shady doings with his share of less-than-legal entities, and eking out his nights in the backseat of a vehicle on the street – glitz and glamour this isn’t, for sure. One night, he’s managed to piss off someone who feels that payback comes in fist-sized doses, and he’s rescued by a woman named Melody (Mesa) who leads him to a little party at an abandoned mental hospital – yes, because that’s ALWAYS the smartest move to make. Upon arriving, he’s introduced to the eerily malevolent stranger known only as Diego (Boneta). He acts as a leader to some wayward youths, and just gives off the vibe as if he’s meant to do damage in a myriad of ways.

Almost acting in a Lost Boys sense, Michael is offered up a place to crash, all for the promise that he’ll “be one of us” – sounds familiar, doesn’t it? His passage into his rightful place of one of the “dead men” relies on a small death, ritual-style, and after all’s said and done, he’s free to party like a rock-star, without the notoriety, safety, or money at his back. However, something isn’t on the up-and-up with this new group he’s running with, and Michael will soon find out what evil lies on the other side, opening up a disturbing peek into not only his past, but future as well. The sad thing is, that when this film finally does get to trucking along, we’re slammed into a brick wall of progression – anxious to see just where this is heading? TOO BAD, as you’re stopped in your search for enlightenment before the opportunity to uncover some real truth is presented – nothing like a big ol’ missed opportunity to sift through some plot rubble, but what can you do? Rathbone does offer up an interesting performance as the maligned Michael, but the biggest flaw here was the portrayal of Diego: so much more could have been done with Boneta’s performance, yet it really seemed as if he was limping through this one. Scares do come at a moderate clip, and with the glowing eyes of the masses echoing Carpenter’s The Fog, the tribute to a master is firmly being paid, unfortunately the pockets in which to pay more were filled with too many holes – take a pass on this one.

The post City of Dead Men (2016) appeared first on Dread Central.