Sunday, October 14, 2012

31 days of Horror 2012 day 14

Chillerama
2011
Image Entertainment DVD

Four horror directors came together and created a anthology film. Set at a drive in theater,that is having a marathon of rare films,during it's last night in operation. Richard Riehle is the owner of the drive in and gives a fun performance.

The first "film" shown is by Adam Rifkin. Titled "Wadzilla" it is a throwback to 60s era giant monster run amok films. Adam plays the lead who gets an experimental drug to raise his sperm count. Which causes him to produce this giant sperm AKA Wadzilla.This is a fun and silly way to begin the anthology.

Up next is Tim Sullivan's "I was a Teenage Werebear". This is a spoof of the AIP beach films plus "I was a Teenage Werewolf". This segment seems to divide people. Either you love it or you hate it. It is a musical about a teenage guy who gets bit by a werebear and starts killing people. The musical numbers are a good blend of serious and silly.

The third segment is directed by Adam Green. "Diary of Anne Frankenstein" is a nice parody of the old silent films. Joel David Moore is good as Hitler and Kane Hodder as Meshugannah. Meshugannah is a Jewish Frankenstein's monster. And Kane plays up the comedy of the character. Overall this is the best segment of the film.

Last we have "Zom-B-Movie". Directed by Joe Lynch,this segment happens at the drive in. When some zombie goop gets into the popcorn. While not horrible it could have been better if given more time to develop.

Chillerama is one of the better anthology films to come out in years. The dvd has a fun commentary Some deleted scenes and director interviews. Chillerama gets a B.


31 days of Horror 2012 Extra 09

It tolls for Thee
2009
Lawdog Comics

I discovered this comic thanks to Instocktrades.com. I was making a order from them and needed a few more items to reach the $50 that would get me free shipping. So I looked at the clearance section. Saw this comic was only $2. So being a horror fan and enjoying zombie comics I took a chance. The book is in the wide screen/sideways style that it seems most comic strip collections are printed now. The finished art is by Manuel Martin Penichio. Jason Millet does the colors. J.Matthew Crawley does the lettering. And the story/art/design is credited to James Heffron.

Set in 1208 AD this is a fun story about a farmer's daughter,a Templar Knight,an eastern ambassador,a nun and an executioner are the motley crew that has to save a village from a horde of zombies. Now the story is good ,but the artwork is the stand out of this comic. The artwork has a dark look to it that fits the story really well. And the detail all all the gore and violence is really well done. I like how the story ends where there could be another volume of this story. But it seems Lawdog comics is out of business so I doubt we will see another volume. That is why it is good the ending also is good enough to stand on it's own. After the end of the story we get 24 pages of sketches and background info on the characters.I always like seeing stuff like this in trades. It is nice to get to see behind the scenes stuff like this. It tolls for Thee gets a B+.