Horror

Fatale #5

/ / Comics

fatale-5-coverHank wakes bloodied, chained, and with odd symbols carved into his chest. He’s a guest of the Satanic cult deep below the bowels of the city. Their Bishop plans to use him as a sacrifice to, as he puts it, “help me see my god again.”

Jo finds herself betrayed by her former lover Walter Booker who has found a way to lessen her hold on him and now it seems he plans to turn her over to the very people who he saved her from all those years ago, but appearances aren’t all that they seem.

Issue #5 concludes the series’ first arc “Death Chases Me.” And although Hank is saved from the cult and makes away safely with Josephine it’s clear evil has only been stymied, not stopped. As to whether Hank’s life is better today than before he met the woman he loves with all his heart, well, that’s a little murky as well.

Credit to Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips for delivering a noir/horror thriller that it appears is only getting started. Bring on Book Two. Worth a look.

[Image, 3.50]

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Gothic Melodrama

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Dark Shadows
  • IMDB: link

dark-shadows-posterLike most of director Tim Burton‘s work Dark Shadows, a humorous hyper-melodramatic update of the 1960’s television show of the same name, gives us an offbeat sense of humor and the macabre, Johnny Depp, and a big-eyed, pale-skinned, waifish young leading lady. Dark Shadows certainly isn’t going to rank among the director’s biggest successes (Sweeney Todd, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands), but for most of it’s running time it finds a way to entertain by showcasing a tale of an 18th Century vampire thrust into the 1970’s.

200 years after being buried alive by the witch (Eva Green) who cursed him and left him to rot, Barnabas Collins (Depp) is freed from his coffin by a group of construction workers making way for a McDonald’s. Confused by the nature of the new world, Barnabas makes his way to his ancestral home where he meets his descendants Elizabeth (Michelle Pfeiffer), Roger (Jonny Lee Miller), Carolyn (Chloë Grace Moretz) and David (Gulliver McGrath).

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Nine #9

/ / Comics

btvs-season-nine-9-coverAs Spike and the Buffybot track down a former enemy, and old friend, who is responsible for Buffy’s consciousness being trapped in the robot, Xander and Dawn help Detective Dowling hunt down his former partner turned zompire, and Buffy’s unprotected body finds herself at the mercy of crazy slayer with a grudge Simone.

Although I’m still a little disappointed but the abrupt change of direction the series took in the last couple of issues, there are some nice moments here. Andrew coming clean with why he put Buffy’s mind in a Buffybot has just the right mix of misplaced generosity and foolishness that the character has always been known for.

The callback to Xander slaying Jesse in the series opener “Welcome to the Hellmouth” was a nice touch and seems to be returning to more clear-cut version of vampires taking over (instead of taking on the character traits of) their human hosts than we saw in the last couple seasons of Angel.

The final panel suggests we’re going to get to see Buffy vs. Buffy in the next issue, which certainly works for me. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $2.99]

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The Cabin in the Woods

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Cabin in the Woods
  • IMDB: link

the-cabin-in-the-woods-posterDespite languishing in obscurity for three years (the film was completed back in 2009) Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard collaborative effort is a stunning success. Co-written by the pair, and directed by Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods pokes fun at horror movie convention before providing one of the most memorable final acts you’ll see in theaters this year.

The perspective of the film is broken into two groups. On one hand we have a quintet of college kids (played by Hollywood actors in their late 20’s and early 30’s: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Jesse Williams, Fran Kranz) out for some weekend fun in the mountains. On the other hand we have a group of scientists (Bradley Whitford, Richard Jenkins, Amy Acker) preparing for the most important night of the year.

Without giving two much away, the two stories are linked. Those in the secret compound are controlling the horrors that will unfold on the unsuspecting group of students whose every choice will lead to how they will meet their end.

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The Darkest Hour

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Darkest Hour
  • IMDB: link

the-darkest-hour-blu-rayAfter traveling to Moscow only to get screwed out of a lucrative business opportunity Sean (Emile Hirsch) and Ben (Max Minghella) run into an attractive American twenty-something (Olivia Thirlby) and her Australian friend (Rachael Taylor) at a swanky Russian bar just hours before the Earth finds itself invaded by aliens seeking to drain all electric conducting minerals from the planet.

The aliens appear as near invisible glowing clouds of light which can instantly burn through and disintegrate matter on contact. The foursome find themselves stuck in the storeroom of the club for days with the Swedish businessman (Joel Kinnaman) who screwed them over. With their rations exhausted finally the five journey out into a world vastly changed from the one they left only a few days before. Can they make it to safety? Will they find a way to fight back? Which ones will die? If only we cared.

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