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FEO NEWS FOR WINTER 2008:
- JANUARY -
The detritus of old Horror/Thriller history can be found here.

AWARDS

CommunistVampires.com has bestowed unto feoamante.com their CommunistVampires award

PlanetDoom.net has bestowed unto feoamante.com their Cool Site Award

JANUARY
These are archived news items, many of them outside of this website, so overtime, the links may not work.

JAN. 31

QUICK BITE
Robert Englund may return as Freddy for the Michael Bay, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, remake.

Read the Internet rumor at Moviehole.net.

TRANSFORMERS and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END. It’s not every vfx artist that gets to work on two Oscar-nominated movies in the same year. But 28-year-old Brad Herman is enjoying a good run at Venice-based Digital Domain, where he’s currently working as simulation lead on one of this year’s most anticipated releases, Speed Racer, the first directorial effort by the Wachowskis since THE MATRIX TRILOGY.

Continued at VFXWorld.com.

HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAY TO -
Writer Steve Elias Marx is 42 today. Steve has had numerous Horror Thriller short stories published. Visit him at MySpace.com/seliasmarx.

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JAN. 30

From Matt Maxwell
STRANGE MOON
Matt Maxwell, longtime comics commentator (Broken Frontier, Highway 62, and The Comics Waiting Room) officially launches the online preview of his upcoming original graphic novel STRANGEWAYS: MURDER MOON. Not content to sit on the sidelines, Maxwell has tossed his creative hat into the ring with this 144-page black and white tale of western horror; cowboys and werewolves if you like. Originally slated to be published by Speakeasy Comics, STRANGEWAYS and the publishing company parted ways, and Maxwell abandoned the idea of publication in a monthly format in favor of an OGN presentation.

"I really wanted to make sure that the audience had a chance to get the whole story," Maxwell says. "Smaller publishers were spending a lot of money trying to keep a string of monthly-style comics going. And the reality of Diamond's minimums made publishing in an OGN format a lot more attractive. I didn't want to be presented with the very real possibility of having the story cut off midstream, which is why the first issue was never published by Speakeasy. The whole point of this is storytelling, and if you're only getting through the first two acts, your audience is going to be disappointed."

Featuring writing by Maxwell and stark artwork by Argentine artist Luis Guaragña, STRANGEWAYS: MURDER MOON is the story of former army officer Seth Collins adrift in a haunted, post-Civil War frontier west. Answering an urgent letter from his estranged sister in the town of Silver Branch, Collins finds himself under attack by a strange creature that is neither man nor wolf. When his friend and partner Webster is accused of being the beast, Collins must track down the real threat. But which will kill him first: the Wolf, or the secret that the sheriff of Silver Branch is trying to keep buried?

The cover for STRANGEWAYS: MURDER MOON was drawn by Steve Lieber (CIVIL WAR, WHITEOUT). Gallery pieces by Guy Davis (BPRD, SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE), Fábio Moon (CASANOVA, SMOKE AND GUNS), and Gabriel Bá (CASANOVA, THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY) were specially commissioned for the book. "I've been very lucky with STRANGEWAYS," Maxwell said "in that it gave me an opportunity to work with these very talented artists, in some cases before they were really known in the U.S. And really, if you're going to have a monster designed, you go to Guy Davis. As for Steve Lieber's work, he's really an unsung hero in terms of comic storytelling. That cover was everything I could ask for, both evocative and arresting."

The first chapter of STRANGEWAYS: MURDER MOON is currently available as a PDF file.

From Brian Streethouse
KISS YOUR DEADLY END HELLO
DEADLY END, aka Neighborhood Watch, is being released unrated and uncut January 29th by Full Moon's Lunatic Releasing. The movie stars Pell James, Jack Huston, and Nick Searcy, and was written and directed by Graeme Whifler.

Audience causality saves DEADLY END. Fantasia Film Festival, Montreal, Canada, the movie DEADLY END was being screened. In the audience sat director Stuart Gordon of RE-ANIMATOR fame. As the movie grids to its climax, commotion breaks out in the packed theater as somebody goes into convulsions. It is none other than Stuart Gordon who rushes to the rescue and helps get the stricken man medial attention at a hospital. Witnessing first hand DEADLY END’S visceral impact, Stuart vows to find the movie a distributor.

As it screened at dozens of festivals across the US and Europe, DEADLY END built up a cadre of fans as well as a list of casualties. While most laughed with delight, a few vulnerable audience members were passing out, or breaking out in hives, or suffering psychological breakdowns. The last reported incidence was at the Utopiales Festival International of Fantastic Film, France, where a young woman in the audience required hospitalization, but is ok now. Yet with all these fantastic audience reactions, not one distributor would agree to take on this film… unless the movie underwent massive cuts and reediting to make it… nicer.

Stuart Gordon rides to the rescue again. He screens the movie for long time associate Charles Band who loves what he sees. Charles Band agrees to distribute the movie under his new label, Lunatic Releasing with two conditions, not a frame will cut, the film will have to go out unrated, and for reasons legal and technical, the new title is, DEADLY END.

Visit the official website DEADLY END.

From M. Martinez
TALES TOLD IN TWILIGHT
Twilight Tales is Chicago's longest running Reader's and Writer's series, we have been meeting weekly since 1993. In November of this year we will be celebrating our fifteenth anniversary. Our main focus has always been providing a place where both developing and established writers can come and present their works to a wider audience. We are open to all forms of fiction and poetry, but we specialize in genre fiction, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Humor, and many more.

Twilight Tales was founded by award winning author Tina Jens, who stepped down last year after fourteen years at the helm of Twilight Tales. Our new President and CEO is author and editor Eric Cherry. Some of the past readers who have presented works at our weekly meetings are, Max Allan Collins, Jay Bonansinga, Mort Castle, Marcus Sakey, Barbara D'Amato, Gene Wolfe, and many more. Scheduled for up coming readings are Rob Katner, Paul VanHeuklom, and Ruth Souther.

We run a monthly open mic night, our most popular night, the first Monday of every month. Some of our popular annual event nights are Mardi Gras, Red Light Night (adult stories and erotica) up coming on February 11, and Monster Bash in October. We usually schedule at least one theme night a month to show the many faces fiction can have even under one topic. March will feature Newly Dead and Green Things on March 24, and The Earth's Revenge, a Twilight Tales Twist on Earth Day (April 21).

Twilight Tales also has a publishing arm under its own imprint. Our most recent anthology, Book of Dead Things

has been nominated for a Black Quill Award in the Dark Genre Fiction Collection catagory. Several authors in that anthology, and others we have published, have been nominated for individual awards also.

The recent remodeling of the Red Lion Pub has forced its temporary closing. In the interim our weekly meetings continue at the Mix Lakeview Lounge at 2843 North Halsted in Chicago. Our new venue offers a temporary stage to present our ever changing line-up of authors and insures our continued development of all types of fiction in the Chicago area until our return to the Red Lion when it reopens with a new face.

For more information about Twilight Tales visit our web site at twilighttales.com. To inquire about a possible featured reading, theme night, or open mic night rules, contact our scheduling team at, Scheduling@twilighttales.com

Monday, February 4
Open Mic: February
Brrr! Of course it's cold outside: this is Chicago! Warm yourself up from the brain outward by joining us for a nice fresh batch of readings.

Sign-up is at the door, and standard limits (20min prose, 10min poetry) will be enforced.

Tonight will be at our temporary home Mix: The Lincoln Park Lounge 2843 N. Halsted (don't forget, there's free parking in the adjoining lot!)

Monday, February 11
Red Light Night
Join us for an evening dedicated to Love in its many forms, from the "Shakespearean" to the "smutty" and everything in between!

With readings by John Everson, Sukie DeLaCroix, Mike Penkas, Larry Santoro, and Martel Sardina...and "inter-lewds" provided by the evening's co-hosts, Mike "Lyric Lust" Martinez and Darci "Poetic Love" Stratton.

Tonight will be at our temporary home Mix: The Lincoln Park Lounge 2843 N. Halsted (don't forget, there's free parking in the adjoining lot!)

Monday, February 18
Rob Kantner
(crime and mystery fiction)

The second half of our evening will be a short Open Mic.

Tonight will be at our temporary home Mix: The Lincoln Park Lounge 2843 N. Halsted (don't forget, there's free parking in the adjoining lot!)

Monday, February 25
Scott Kennedy
Jacob Boyd

Tonight will be at our temporary home Mix: The Lincoln Park Lounge 2843 N. Halsted (don't forget, there's free parking in the adjoining lot!)

From E.C.McMullen Jr.
SHINY HAPPY REMAKE LAND
There is only one reason that New Line Pictures exists and that's because of Wes Craven and his creation, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, New Line Pictures, showed us Horror Thriller fans how much they despised us and Wes Craven by belching up some of the worst NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET sequels. Some memorable highlights of this wet turd parade include A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: Freddy's Revenge, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: The Dream Master, A NIGHTMARE ON ELMSTREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD, FREDDY'S DEAD: The Final Nightmare.

A significant number (possibly a majority) of Horror fans despise anything by Director Renny Harlin (A NIGHTMARE ON ELMSTREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD, DEEP BLUE SEA, MINDHUNTERS, EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING, THE CONVENANT) but especially when he fumbles their favorite franchises like A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET or THE EXORCIST (or just attempts to do anything in Horror Thriller at all). But those were just sequels. How do you feel about Michael Bay and his disposable remake of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE? Well Bay and crew, flushed with the success of Michael's first actual profitable movie, in the director's chair, from the last ten years (TRANSFORMERS) is now setting his sights on a remake / re-imagining of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. Yes, Michael fooled us once with the TCM remake - that is to say, great opening weekend thanks to the cache of the original and it dropped like a stone in the following weeks. He tried and failed to fool us twice with a sequel to his TCM (the original TCM had no worthy sequels so no cache) and his THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2: THE BEGINNING, swallowed any profit the first one made.

But That's Not All!
Other movies getting the remake smear are FRIDAY THE 13th. Marcus Nispel is directing. That's right! The guy who made his career directing videos for Amy Grant, Janet Jackson, Billy Joel, and George Michael (and if that doesn't hone your chops for a budding career making Horror Thriller movies, what does?) is making the remake to FRIDAY THE 13th! Not surprising, look at his runaway success with the remake of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE in 2003! Not to mention his smash hit PATHFINDER! It's not like Paramount haven't tried for years to thoroughly gut their own franchise. And it's not like FRIDAY THE 13th couldn't have a better remake, but holy shit! Marcus Nispel?

But Wait! There's More!
Platinum Dunes, the company behind Marcus, is also trotting out a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS. Scheduled for a 2009 release, the remake of the Alfred Hitchcock classic will be directed by Martin Campbell. Martin directed CAST A DEADLY SPELL and two of the best James Bond movies of the last 20 years, so he could actually pull this off (barring any attempts at crappy close-ups of cgi birds).
Unfortunately, these are the writers -
Paul Harris Boardman & Scott Derrickson (HELLRAISER: INFERNO, URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT, THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE)
Leslie Dixon (20 years of disposable comedies - look her up at imdb.com)
Tom Ropelewski (many of those comedies with Leslie. Maybe THE BIRDS remake is going to be a farce? Maybe the birds will talk with voices like Bruce Willis and Roseanne Barr/Arnold like in pervious movies by these two?)
Juliet Snowden & Stiles White (BOOGEYMAN [2005])
Wow! Six writers with lackluster to no credentials in Horror Thriller. And Michael Bay is producing it!

Michael is making sure to share the blame with other producers. Bay's BIRDS has five producers!
Andrew Form & Bradley Fuller: THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (2005), THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING, THE HITCHER (2007) - and the upcoming FRIDAY THE 13th remake.
Peter Guber: THE DEEP, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, BATMAN, THE JACKET.
Cathy Schulman: GODSEND, THE ILLUSIONIST.

So expect to see a massive car crash on the LA freeway, courtesy of a blinding cloud of birds. Meanwhile, the world's largest passenger plane will have its engines choked with a murder of kamikaze crows. It will crash into the city, through skyscrapers, knocking thousands of homicidal pigeons off of their perches, leading only to more bird attacks. But first, in true Michael Bay humor, the movie will start with something or someone getting crapped on by a passing bird. Because Michael likes a chuckle.

To establish himself once and for all as the rightful heir to the coveted crown of Renny Harlin and Uwe Bolls, Michael is also producing the remake of NEAR DARK.

Horror Thriller fans across the Internet are spitting up over these announced projects since they were first announced by HollywoodReporter.com. and Variety.com.

Check out

Blog/MySpace.com/Tim

FirstShowing.net

RottenTomatoes.com

SlashFilm.com

TS: THE FUTURE BEGINS will be directed by McG, who also directed the Charlie's Angels action flick (YAY!). Unfortunately, he also directed Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (Ugh!).

But the new sequel will be written by the team of John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris, who wrote THE UNBORN (cool) and TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (YAY!). But they also wrote Catwoman (Boo!). Yet they also wrote PRIMEVAL (YAY!). The third writer joining them is David C. Wilson, who co-wrote the screenplay for SUPERNOVA (Holy Hell!). But to be fair, he was writing the screenplay from the story written by two other guys.

So what about the producers? The guys and gals who get the coup d'état on a movie in the editing booth? There are four producers attached to this movie.

Derek Anderson - Executive produced and starred in a 2006 comedy about a cook off, titled Cook-Off!

Moritz Borman - Executive produced THE CROW: SALVATION (Ugh!). His only other production credits are on World Trade Center (arguably Oliver Stone's worst movie ever!) and Alexander. Alexander was notable for being one of the very rare (possibly unique) examples of a Director's Cut actually being far superior to the US theatrical release. Borman has lots of Executive Producer credits: over 20 years of them. So check him out at imdb.com.

Victor Kubicek - Also Produced / acted on the obscure 2006 comedy movie Cook-Off! Perhaps the upcoming TERMINATOR movie is supposed to be a comedy?

McG - Yes, the director himself will have a say in editing his own damn movie.

Jeffrey Silver - Since 2000, Jeffrey has produced GOSSIP (Yay!), NATIONAL SECURITY (Yay!), MINDHUNTERS (E-gad!), THE RETURN (oh crap!), but also 300 (Freaking YAY!). Jeffrey also has a list of other credits and is the only producer on this roster who has had significantly more hits than misses.

So this movie is more of a crap shoot than the previous films. But for all I know about these guys (which is squat), the two most questionable, Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek, could be HUGE TERMINATOR fans. I sure wish George Lucas and George Romero had passed off their respective franchises to HUGE fans than attempting a legacy with their latest and respective sequels.

If you have any news on this, you know where to reach me.

HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAY TO -
Since 2000 and AMERICAN PSYCHO, today's birthday boy has turned his attention - for the moment - to Horror Thriller. Happy Birthday to.
Actor Christian Bale (REIGN OF FIRE, EQUILIBRIUM, THE MACHINIST, BATMAN BEGINS, THE PRESTIGE) is 33.
Look for his upcoming Thriller movie, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT, scheduled for a 2008 release.
Christian is currently rumored to star in TERMINATOR SALVATION: THE FUTURE BEGINS.

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JAN. 29

HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAY TO -
Writer / Actor Thomas Jane (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, NEMESIS, THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS, FACE/OFF, DEEP BLUE SEA, ORIGINAL SIN, DREAMCATCHER, THE PUNISHER, THE TRIPPER, THE MIST) is 39. Jane shares a January birthday with his THE MIST director, Frank Darabont.

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JAN. 28

E.C.McMULLEN Jr.

Winners for the Feature Screenplay Semi-Finalists were supposed to be announced January 15. On the 15th, they announced late in the day that the contest winners would be announced on January 25th. Hours before midnight, January 26th, Bluecat announced that the contest would be delayed to January 30.

Announcements were not sent out, but posted at the last minute on their website, leaving entrants twisting until the last hour on both delays. Bluecat's new winner announcement isn't expected to be any more accurate than their previous announcements. Considering that entrants pay for the privilege of having their work judged for this competition, this is one that writers may want to consider with caution.

BEST MOVIE POSTERS FOR 2007
Fans of movies and movie posters voted at the Internet Movie Poster Awards website - impawards.com - and the results are in.

SWEENEY TODD won for best movie poster of 2007 (displayed with this article). Nearly every poster in competition with SWEENEY TODD for year's best was from a Horror Thriller movie including GRINDHOUSE, PREMONITION, and ZODIAC.

The worst movie poster was not a Horror, Thriller, Mystery, or Suspense film, but there were two in the running, one of the HOSTEL II poster versions and the red US poster for FIDO.

For best blockbuster poster, fans again went for largely Horror Thriller movies with I AM LEGEND winning.

The "slab o' meat" poster for HOSTEL II won for worst teaser poster and it's easy to see why. If you are a Vegan or Vegetarian, the movie makes you think of all of those disgusting meat eaters. And if you are a meat eater, it makes you want to go out and have a nice juicy steak dinner. What it doesn't do is communicate Horror.

There is a category for creepiest poster and, it must be said, Horror films don't necessarily dominate this category as there are many posters on everything from comedies to family films that unwittingly exude the "creepy" factor. But this year it was all Horror Thriller with three posters from Lionsgate movies and two from After Dark Films. What these folks don't know about actually producing and choosing Horror Thriller movies, they sure do know about making an attractive Horror Thriller movie posters. Then again, Lionsgate also won for worst so... CAPTIVITY won with their buried alive poster version, which is likely the only award this movie will ever get - short of Raspberries or a Golden Turkey.

For the complete contest results, go to IMPAwards.com.

E.C.McMullen Jr.

This is what's coming out tomorrow, Tuesday, January 29, on DVD. Nearly every one a Direct to DVD release and one that should have been...

Collections -
THE VAL LEWTON HORROR COLLECTION - It sold so well that it returns in another pressing. In this second outing, Director Martin Scorsese presents the movies of Val Lewton in a special extra disc, THE MAN IN THE SHADOWS.
HOUSE OF THE LIVING DEAD / TERROR AT RED WOLF INN - Double creature feature
TARANTULAS / ANTS - Double creatures feature

HIGH DEFINITION -
BLU-RAY -
THE INVASION

And these are the DVD movies -

AFTERMATH / GENESIS - Director Nacho Cerda (THE ABANDONED) goes for insideous creepy gore making a Horror Thriller movie that revolves around the living and the dead without a killer in the bunch.

AQUARIUM - Imagine a movie like SAW. Imagine a movie very much like SAW with, perhaps, a little CUBE thrown in. Okay but it's mainly like SAW. People imprisoned, they have to play a deadly game with their captor, they don't know why they are there but will soon be told. More SAW than CUBE, really. A teaspoon of Big Brother thrown in there but it's still more SAW than 1984. It's not more SAW than SAW but, damn! I guess my point here is, this movie is an awful lot like SAW!

AUTOMATONS - A wickedly understated movie that is just good enough to achieve cult status, and you just might be the kind of person who will love it.

BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD - From 1973 comes this tale of a zombie hootenanny hoedown. Why? WHY?

DEADLY END - Remember when you move into that new house, that you're not only buying a home, you're adopting a neighborhood - and that isn't always a good thing.

DIE AND LET LIVE - You love micro-budget comedy zombie movies? Do you REALLY love micro-budget comedy zombie movies? Well here ya go!

EUGENEI DE SADE - Director Jess Franco (SADOMANIA) returns to the writings of the Marquis de Sade for this rousing tale of Horror and nudity.

THE INVASION - 2007 brought Horror Thriller fans a number of Horror Thriller movies. The ones that followed the Hollywood / distributor ethos: You gotta have a name actor, nearly all hit the dirt face first, as they do every year. It's kind of like Horror fans telling Hollywood every single year, year after year and decade after decade, "Big stars mean nothing to us, we like a good scary Horror Thriller movie!" And Hollywood studios saying, "What do you know about anything? We make movies! We're the experts! You're just - huh! - insignificant audiences! Worse! Horror Thriller audiences!" THE INVASION, like AWAKE, THE MIST, I KNOW WHO KILLED ME, 1408, CAPTIVITY, BUG, 28 WEEKS LATER, THE MESSENGERS, VACANCY, THE REAPING, THE HITCHER, THE NUMBER 23, PERFECT STRANGER, RISE, and nearly every other big name Horror Thriller movie of 2007, with the exception of I AM LEGEND, proved yet again that Horror Thriller audiences know what they want and refuse to reward Hollywood for slapping down something they don't want. Stars Nicole Kidman (DEAD CALM, THE OTHERS).

LAKE PLACID 2 - Because we were all just begging for this sequel, right?

LYING IN WAIT - From 2000 comes this Rutger Hauer (THE HITCHER, HEMOGLOBIN, SIN CITY) film. And he wasn't lying when he said he'd be lying in wait!

PUNK ROCK HOLOCAUST 2 - Bloody, gory, vicious, violent, and all with a sense of fun. Psychotronic Horror comes to DVD.

RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR - Hey gang, can't get your fill of Saintly Hollywood moguls telling you how evil Republicans are? Well snap this sucker up! Snap! Snap!

SEXUAL PARASITE - If it's weird, it's from Japan. There, I said it!

SHADOW HOURS - Do you ever wonder why some movies take so long to get to DVD? Well wonder no more! SHADOW HOURS from 2000 will answer your question! Stars Peter Weller (ROBOCOP), Michael Dorn (STAR TREK: CONTACT) and Brad Dourif (CHILD'S PLAY [all], DEATH MACHINE, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS)

THE UNKNOWN TRILOGY - I can't tell you much more about it, it's unknown.

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JAN. 25

From Weird Tales to Femme Fatale magazine, actor Brinke Stevens (HYBRID) has long been reconized as a B-Movie Horror Thriller Scream Queen. This Saturday, January 26 at 2:00pm, Brinke will be signing her latest DVD release, EVIL EVER AFTER. Also present for the signing will be Director Brad Paulson (THE VAN), writer Chris Watson (ZOMBIEGEDDON) and actors Randal Malone (DARKWORLD), Joe Estevez (DARK UNIVERSE, ZOMBIEGEDDON), Mike Murga (CARNIES), Felissa Rose (DEAD THINGS, ZOMBIEGEDDON) and Heidi Martinuzzi (BEAST). Joe, Brinke and Felissa will also sign Zombiegeddon (DVD).

To get an autograph, all purchases must be made at Dark Delicacies, so don't be cheap.

Dark Delicacies is located at
4213 W. Burbank
Burbank, CA

From Nanci Kalanta
ITS A HORROR WORLD AFTER ALL
Pod of Horror kicks off 2008 with a return appearance from two of our favorite guests, James A. Moore (FIREWORKS) and J. F. Gonzalez (CLICKERS). Also on Pod of Horror #42, Nanci noshes on The Call of Kalanta, Scott Bradley reviews and answers listener questions, and The Tomb of Trivia is new. Pod of Horror #42 is hosted and produced by Mark Justice. Download it here.

From Hal Masonberg
FILMAKER FIGHTS TO SPREAD THE PLAGUE
FeoNote: Movie studio Screen Gems have, in the last ten years brought us the following Horror Thriller movies: HOSTEL II, VACANCY, THE COVENANT, I'LL ALWAYS KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, ULTRAVIOLET, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION, 8MM2, THE CAVE, RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE, ANACONDAS: THE HUNT FOR THE BLOOD ORCHID, VAMPIRES: LOS MUERTOS, and GHOSTS OF MARS. Some line -up eh? Arguably the very worst of what Hollywood studios have had to offer in Horror Thriller. This is not cherry picking either, this is their entire catalog of the last ten years AS a production company. Now that you have that sense of history, read what Writer Director Hal Masonberg says about his film, THE PLAGUE.

Smart genre film dealing with children/violence grossly re-cut by producers
Writer/Director Hal Masonberg is fighting to get his film seen; a film he finished AFTER he was removed from the project. Now he's heading an international campaign to get his film released. The film in question is, THE PLAGUE, a thought-provoking, socially relevant horror movie dealing with the subject of kids and violence. THE PLAGUE was taken away from both its writers and director during post production after they'd spent a total of 8 years struggling to get it made. The film was re-cut from scratch by producers who chose to do so without the involvement of the film's creators. The new focus of the producers? To make what they called a "killer-kid film". Stock footage was added, new dialogue recorded, and the film completely restructured. This "new" cut of the film was released to dvd in September of 2006 at a running time of 88 minutes under the title CLIVE BARKER'S THE PLAGUE, though the film was not based on any of Barker's work. It was, in fact, an original screenplay by Masonberg and co-writer Teal Minton.

Not satisfied with having his name, or his writing partner's name, on a film he felt in no way reflected their years of hard work, creative input or artistic intent, Masonberg decided to finish the film on his own with the materials available to him –the dvd dailies and a Macintosh computer. Masonberg would have preferred access to the film's original 35mm negative which was shot by veteran cinematographer, Bill Butler (JAWS, DEMON SEED, CHILD'S PLAY, ANACONDA, FRAILTY), but such was not the case. Sadly, even Mr. Butler was not invited by producers to participate in the film's post-production process.

Using Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects and a host of other commercially available programs, Masonberg completed his cut of the film from scratch, teaching himself complex sound design and visual effects along the way.

Today, THE PLAGUE: WRITERS & DIRECTOR'S CUT has been seen by only a few, but the response has been through the roof: "It's amazing how people respond to this film," says Masonberg, "It's not a splatter film, not a gore film. We wanted to make a film that harkened back to when horror films were made for adults and were a reflection of our combined social fears. People who never think about going to see horror movies are now asking to see this one again and again because of what the film says and how it says it."

Unfortunately for Masonberg - and the public as well - the film's current distributor, Screen Gems, has no plans to release this cut. The good news is that there is a web site, growing quickly in popularity, that is devoted to that very cause. On it one will find, not only a link to a petition with an ever-growing number of signatures, but an hour-long documentary titled SPREADING THE PLAGUE: INTERVIEWS ABOUT THE WRITERS & DIRECTOR'S CUT which contains interviews with Masonberg and cast members, including one of the film's stars, Dee Wallace (THE HOWLING, CRITTERS, THE FRIGHTENERS, ABOMINABLE, THE LOST, Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN), as well as noted film authors/ journalists. All participants openly voice their desire to see this cut of the film released. There are also written interviews, radio interviews, links to forums and articles all focusing on getting this film out to the public.

These quotes were culled from the over one-thousand signatures currently on our petition:

It's important for the director to be truly independent, if only to provide us with a varied point of view. The public should not be made to suffer just because the studios and the major media conglomerates want to keep all the profits. The writer and directors, as principal visionaries, should have the right to produce their version of a film, the same way that an author can have a book published. It's not as if these two have had no input into the development of the story - they created your story in the first place. The company would have had nothing to edit in post if these two had not originated the concept in the first place.
-Mercedes Diaz

I have just viewed the commercial version of this film. I felt that there was a rather deep and mature element lurking somewhere in the film; however, scrambled and inconsistent plot elements made this hard to find. The film provides a hint, though, with the repeated images of a copy of John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath." The similarity of some plot elements and film structure to the novel underlined this, but the realization was weak and incomplete in the full film. Let's see the real story that was intended and not this hacked up, inadequately developed, hodgepodge of a kiddy-slasher.
-Dan Massey

This is a brillant and beauifully cut film. I'm not a fan of horror films and I loved Hal's cut. I was moved to tears twice because of the intensity and realness of the situation and choices the characters found themselves having to make. It's my hope that Screen Gems will have the good sense to release this cut for all to experience and enjoy.
-Sidse Powell

As someone drawn to layered, psychological suspense pieces, I would love to see THE PLAGUE: WRITERS & DIRECTOR'S CUT. I also think it would be educational to compare it with the producer's version - so I would be interested in a DVD containing both.
-Alpha Blair

As a screenwriter and a horror buff, I am extremely interested in seeing the writer & directors cut of The Plague. I've watched the released version, but would actually buy this version on dvd.
-Jeffrey Reddick (FINAL DESTINATION, TAMARA, DAY OF THE DEAD [2008])

As an artist I am aware of all the hard work and spirit that go behind any given or attempted work. I am a firm beleiver in give credit to whom credit is due. When you alter or restrict any work of art, it robs others of being able to grasp the entire artist's idea and message. I would love to see this work in its entirety.
-Joe Anthony

WATCH THE TRAILER

LEARN MORE

Also, Writer/Director Hal Masonberg's article HORROR STORY! Not Every Hollywood Story Has A Happy Ending is featured in the new issue of MOVIEMAKER MAGAZINE on newsstands now.

FeoNote: These are the producer's on Hal's movie. Prior Horror Thriller movie credits provided where applicable.
Clive Barker's THE PLAGUE was produced by
Michael Almog (TAMARA)
Clive Barker (HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II, HELLRAISER III: HELL ON EARTH, CANDYMAN, CANDYMAN: FAREWELL TO THE FLESH, LORD OF ILLUSIONS, HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE, HELLRAISER: RESURRECTION, SAINT SINNER [TV])
Rob Cacy
Joeseph Daley
Anthony DiBlasi
Corey May
Tim O'Hair
Jorge Saralegui (RED PLANET, QUEEN OF THE DAMNED)
Chris Sievernich (THE CROW: SALVATION, TAMARA)
Zach Tobacco
Michael Dooma Wendschuh
Martin Wiley (MUTATOR, TAMARA)

Jeffrey Reddick, who wrote the brilliant story FINAL DESTINATION (and co-wrote the screenplay), worked with THE PLAGUE producers Michael Almog, Chris Sievernich, and Martin Wiley when he wrote the screenplay for TAMARA. That said, you'll notice Jeffrey also signed Hal's petition.

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JAN. 24

Also

The new Jessica Alba (IDLE HANDS) movie THE EYE is coming out next week. I hope its good but I have my doubts. For one thing, they cast Jessica Alba in the role of the plain, introverted blind girl from the original Asian classic, THE EYE.

I mean, come on! Jessica Alba? I've got nothing against her, believe me, but Jessica has been listed as the sexiest woman in the world by Hollywood.com, Stuff magazine, FHM, People, Maxim Magazine, Askmen.com, E!, Playboy, Victoria's Secret, way more, come on! The sexiest woman in the entire freakin' world gets picked to be a plain withdrawn blind girl who blends into a crowd? This is why U.S. remakes of Asian movies SUCK and tank at the box office. For every successful THE RING there are way more GODZILLA, THE GRUDGE, PULSE, ONE MISSED CALL, blah, blah, Gah!

FeoNote: Just in case Jessica somehow stumbles over this site while doing a search or something (Hey, she's human like the rest of us. She pukes and shits too, you know?): I've got no problem with you or your movies, Jessica, but portraying this character! Damn!

And don't try and give me that, "I'm Jessica Alba! I don't puke and shit!" crap either!

From Creation
FANGO FOR FEO!
FeoNote: Hey! Check out what Fangoria and Creation Entertainment are doing on my birthday! It's a shame I won't be there, but major kudos all the same! Now let's turn my birthday into a National Holiday! YES!

Fango comes to the The Midwest for our annual visit on February 22-24, 2008 in CHICAGO!
It promises to be a bone-chilling celebration of all things gore and today we are very happy to announce the appearance of six new sensational guests being added to the already great line-up.

Today's announcements are ROBERT ENGLUND (DEAD & BURIED, A NIGHTMARE ON ELMSTREET [all], PYTHON, 2001 MANIACS, DANCE OF THE DEAD, HATCHET), KANE HODDER (ROOM 6, HATCHET), RAY WISE (ROBOCOP, TWIN PEAKS [TV], JEEPERS CREEPERS 2, REAPER [TV], ONE MISSED CALL [U.S. version]), SID HAIG (HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, KILL BILL VOL. 2, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN) and and more!

The Guest List so far:

NEIL MARSHALL
Writer / Director: DOG SOLDIERS, THE DESCENT, new DOOMSDAY

ADRIENNE BARBEAU
Fan favorite from THE FOG, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, CREEPSHOW, UNHOLY

TONY TODD
CANDYMAN trilogy, FINAL DESTINATION trilogy, HATCHET and Masters of Horror: VALERIE ON THE STAIRS

FRIDAY THE 13TH REUNION

BETSY PALMER
Played Mrs. Pamela Voorhees in FRIDAY THE 13TH.

ADRIENNE KING
Played Alice in FRIDAY THE 13TH part 1 and 2.

ARI LEHMAN
Played Jason Voorhees in FRIDAY THE 13TH.

HARRY MANFREDINI
Composer for FRIDAY THE 13TH (Part 1, 2, 3, the FINAL CHAPTER, A NEW BEGINNING, JASON LIVES, THE NEW BLOOD, THE FINAL FRIDAY, JASON X, FREDDY VS. JASON), HOUSE II, and way more.

EILEEN DALY
Femme fatale from RAZOR BLADE SMILE, CRADLE OF FEAR, PERVERILLA, MACHINES OF LOVE AND HATE and new DARKNESS SURROUNDS ROBERTA

RAINE BROWN
Actress: BARRICADE, AUNT ROSE, new ANGEL'S BLADE: ASCENSION, 100 TEARS and DARKNESS SURROUNDS ROBERTA

JOE ZASO
Actor: BARRICADE, ANGEL'S BLADE, 5 DEAD ON THE CRIMSON CANVAS, RED MIDNIGHT and DARKNESS SURROUNDS ROBERTA

RYAN NICHOLSON
Director: LIVE FEED and new GUTTERBALLS

MARC SELZ
Writer/director: THE ROCKVILLE SLAYER, SHORT CUT ROAD, new SATANIC PANIC.

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JAN. 23

HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAY TO -
Actor Rutger Hauer (MYSTERIES, GRIJPSTRA & DI GIER, NIGHTHAWKS, BLADE RUNNER, THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND, THE HITCHER, DEADLOCK, PAST MIDNIGHT, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ARCTIC BLUE, BLEEDERS, BONE DADDY, LYING IN WAIT, KILLER BUZZ, TEMPESTA, SIN CITY, BATMAN BEGINS, MINOTAUR, and way more) is 64.

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JAN. 22

QUICK BITE
The long weekend has passed and so has my friend, Rose Griffith. Rose left her cancer ridden body Friday, January 18.

Also

Bad news for all concerned. At only 28, actor Heath Ledger has died. This is a blow for so many reasons, including the fans of Horror Thriller who have been hearing great things about his upcoming role as The Joker in BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT. The Coroner's report and autopsy hasn't been made public yet so all we can do is wait.

E.C.McMullen Jr.

TOP TEN TUESDAY: MYSTERY
I search the top 10 books on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com under the search words, Horror, Thriller, Mystery, or Suspense. This week's search word is Mystery, and these are the top ten returns that appear on these book sites.

Mystery
amazon.com

Mystery
bn.com

This week it's nothing but new Mysteries to the list at Barnes & Noble.
1. THE REDBREAST - by Jo Nesbo (new to the top ten)
2. PYRES - by Derek Nikitas (new to the top ten)
3. THE CRIME CLUB - by Lawrence Block (new to the top ten)
4. THE COMPLETE CONAN DOYLE SHERLOCK HOLMES (Compact Discs) - by Arthur Conan Doyle (new to the top ten)
5. ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE - by Daniel Stashower (new to the top ten)
6. THE NEW ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES Volume 1 (new to the top ten)
7. THE NEW ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES Volume 2 (new to the top ten)
8. THE NEW ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES Volume 3 (new to the top ten)
9. PLUM LUCKY - by Janet Evanovich (new to the top ten)
10. THE APPEAL - by John Grisham (new to the top 10)

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JAN. 21

E.C.McMullen Jr.

TOMORROW'S DVDS TODAY!
This is what's coming out tomorrow, Tuesday, January 22, on DVD. Not a lot going on this week.

Television -
THE KINGDOM (Series 2) - The Scandinavian hit series that Stephen King tried to make his own in the U.S.
SWAMP THING (the series) - Swamp Thing / You make my scum sing / anyway...
WHEN EVIL CALLS - From 2006 comes this Horror Thriller mini-series w/ comedy that stars Sean Pertwee (EVENT HORIZON, DOG SOLDIERS, EQUILIBRIUM) and is so short (76 minutes) you may not have time to be bored!

HIGH DEFINITION:
BLU-RAY -
SAW IV
HD DVD -
Diddle-y Squat

And these are the movies coming out on DVD

LOADED - A fictional Thriller about modern-day Orange County, California and the drug cartel that owns it.

SAW IV - When it comes to sequels, this is certainly another one.

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