Quarantine opens in theaters everywhere today. Check out this video about this classic style horror flick about the modern day dangers of being trapped between chemical warfare and the CDC. The video features star Jennifer Carpenter, writer/director John Erick Dowdle, writer Drew Dowdle, actor Johnathon Schaech, actor Jay Hernandez, yours truly, and more.

What would you do if you thought you might be in danger of being killed by people infected with a mysterious disease? What would you do if you were trapped with the people who might murder you and an illness which might kill you if you catch it? What would you do if you were quarantined?

In this original Blue Blood interview, Combichrist frontman Andy LaPlegua and I are drinking beer in, err, Mexico. I interview Andy LaPlegua about his Frost EP Sent to Destroy. We talk about horror movies, fetish, and what a dead hand smells like. How cute we look can be credited to Forrest Black who directed the video.

Asylum comes out on DVD in a few days and this is the red band trailer for the horror movie. I am really squeamish about anything to do with eyeballs. I think I was scarred by seeing Clockwork Orange at a young age.

This week the movie The Ruins comes out on DVD. I always found Mayan history really interesting, especially the idea that there was an ancient very advanced culture which could just disappear with only a few descendants and cultural and physical artifacts to tell their tale. The characters in The Ruins go seeking a vacation adventure in Mayan archeological hiking. What they find is a carnivorous and sentient plant, bent on destroying them. I don’t think a super-intelligent hungry vine is really what ended the society of the Maya, but watching humans being stalked by a vegetable can be good viewing fun. I couldn’t help thinking of Little Shop of Horrors while watching though. (more…)

The talented Calan Ree, whose Gingerdead & Friends comic strip I have mentioned here before, wrote about gathering paper frogs this week. According to Calan Ree, paper frogs are these partially translucent, pale, flat, dehydrated amphibians. The frogs apparently get flat from the absence of moisture and not being run over, so recent rains may have washed away the paper frogs which could normally be found in Calan Ree’s neck of the woods this year.

According to Calan Ree, paper frogs are seasonal and normally could be found this time of year. Her searches for them, perhaps due to the weather, proved fruitless. While hunting, she was, however, approached by, not one, but two creepy guys. The first one rolled up on her in a van and asked her if she wanted a ride. The second guy asked for directions to the nearest schoolyard, despite the fact that it was eight o’clock at night. After her van suitor left, she lamented that she had

“missed a golden opportunity. I should have answered, “Oh no thank you, I’m gathering frog carcasses!” It’s so rewarding to creep out the creepy. Sigh.”

Oh, in case the part where Calan Ree does a cutesie gothic horror comic was not a tip off, she, of course, wanted the paper frogs for an art project. I will admit that my research efforts to learn more about paper frogs just lead me back to GingerDead.com, but the artist’s mother used to have paper frogs in her walls too, so they must be real.

When, in his first inaugural address, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated that, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” he wasn’t necessarily talking about the nature of horror in television and film. The main thrust of his speech was that, in wretched economic times, hope and a positive attitude were integral to pulling America out of the Depression. Nonetheless, that one expression has, in the general zeitgeist, outlasted the rest of his speech about how “Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits.” And it seems fair to say that the line about the only thing we have to fear certainly outlasted FDR’s exhortations that there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people’s money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.”

Historically, comedy entertainment has flourished in times of economic strife and war and drama and horror have done better when the audience’s day-to-day lives have been more comfortable and free of fear. But we live in interesting times and horror is booming. NBC has an ambitious new television series starting today which showcases the works of thirteen top horror teams. In case this wasn’t obvious from my deconstruction of the origins of the expression about what we have to fear, the name of the series is Fear Itself.

I asked my unsavory pals and I asked the Blue Blood boards and I asked my sixty thousand close personal friends on MySpace what frightened them. They were all frightened by things besides fear, but hopefully they’ve got some optimism and some taste for the allstar horror series NBC is releasing.

Interestingly, Alien, The Exorcist, and Halloween tied for first place as scariest movies ever. Most people I know were quick to add that they absolutely 100% only meant the first Halloween movie when they were talking about terror. Poltergeist came in fourth and apparently scared a lot of viewers off of television. Pretty clever for the filmmakers, given that Poltergeist came out at a time before movies and television media had quite the synergy they do today. Hellraiser came in fifth, although I think some people I know liked the fashions more than they were genuinely scared, but I’ll accept it. Bizarrely John Carpenter’s The Thing and E.T. tied for the next slot. Apparently, I know some alienated-ass people, who didn’t trust their government or scientists as children, and who were just sick with fear over what was going to happen to that poor alien. I felt the same way actually about both E.T. and Short Circuit, if the truth be told, but no one but me thought of Short Circuit for this list, so I think it doesn’t make it. The Shining came in number eight and I would have felt that all work and no play had made us all very dull if it wasn’t somewhere on the list. Newer flicks like the SAW movies and 1408 and The Descent were mentioned, as were slightly older ones such as Event Horizon and Child’s Play and The Cell, and of course classics like Jaws and Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Nightmare On Elm Street. But none of those films got a real critical mass of respondents putting them in their top ten. I’d have to give the number nine slot to a special subgenre, rather than one movie. And the number ten spot actually is a movie I’ve never seen, but I’m vaguely creeped out at how many people thought of it in the top scariest movies and television of all time.

So, in conclusion, here are the top 10 scariest films of all time, according to Blue Blood readers:

1. Alien
2. The Exorcist
3. Halloween
4. Poltergeist
5. Hellraiser
6. The Thing
7. E.T.
8. The Shining
9. Anything Japanese involving doing weird stuff to eyeballs
10. Jesus Camp

One Missed Call is a movie based on the Japanese horror film Chakushin Ari where people receive phone calls, apparently from their future selves, with information about how and when they will die. The flick stars Los Angeles DJ Shannyn Sossamon and actor/writer/director Edward Burns.

I’ve written about writer/director/producer Sean Abley’s Socket movie here before, when it first hit the festival circuit. Now the movie is out on DVD and available from TLA Video. TLA Releasing put out Socket and the TLA media empire is descended from the Theatre of the Living Arts experimental theatre group in 60’s Philadelphia.

A couple of days ago, Sean Abley and a couple hundred of his closest friends got together at MJ’s Bar in Silverlake to celebrate the release of Socket on DVD. The event was hosted by promoter Jovy Janolo and producers John Carrozza, Doug Prinzivalli, Matt Mishkoff, and of course Sean himself. The VIP goodie bags included an interesting-looking DVD of a spooky movie called Amnesia, a coupon for a discount on TLA releases, and a pass for thirty free minutes of VOD which promise to “put the HARD back in hardcore DVD.” Blue Blood’s Forrest Black had the honor of receiving the final goodie bag of the night. The doorman apologized to me and told me he guessed I’d be re-gifting because the stuff in there was for, you know, jacking off. I was expecting the DVD and such to be more like what I would get at a regular business convention for web professionals, but TLA in general and Socket and Amnesia in specific appear to be for the purposes of movie movies and not jack off vids. Then again, I couldn’t get the VOD site to load, so maybe my tender sensibilities would have been scalded. Oh, and I’m a chick, so I guess I’m expected to care whether fictional characters romance and fuck exactly who I would personally want and be able to romance and fuck. Or not. I’m a fan of quality, so you know I’m a pervert. Polite of the doorman to warn me, just in case, though.

I’ve already praised the fun story and killer funny dialog in Socket and I’ve already told y’all you should see it, so I’m just going to mention an awesome factoid about the film, which can only now be revealed. Velvet Candy Entertainment and Dark Blue Films are so resourceful that the whole flick was made for $45,000. Sean Abley says that it was very difficult to have people judging his baby like it cost many times what it did, when he and his team were really very clever about how they did things. The filmmaker says, “I’d learned through my previous producing projects that you should never reveal the budget of your film until you’ve sold it. “Well under a million dollars” is the standard response. So while Socket was making its way through the film fests and then on to the release date, being reviewed by every internet and gay rag critic on the planet, we kept our mouths shut and took the hits.”

My view of Sean Abley and Socket is that I know indie is usually just a buzz word, but this is truly what independent filmmaking and DIY are supposed to be about.

The DVD of the movie version of Stephen King’s The Mist came out this week. I think it is interesting that Stephen King is such a brilliant writer, yet his work does translate to the screen. It is rare that a good book can become a good movie. I think the key is the remarkable sympathy in Stephen King’s prose. I find it difficult to read his work because his characters are so likable and understandable. And then, of course, horrible things tend to happen to them, it being horror and all. Having horrible things happen to bad people can produce a certain schadenfreude, but watching bad things happen to people you like, people who make sense to you, can be painful and sad. King seems to have a unique comprehension of the human condition, which allows him to make people see what makes others tick in a sympathetic light. You always know why a Stephen King character would do the things they do and there is a certain strong and unusual comfort and appeal in that.

The movie version of the novel The Mist maintains a good sense of tension, as terrified townfolks try to figure out what is menacing them from inside the fog and try to make sense of why monsters would be after them. As neighbor turns on neighbor, The Mist asks the age old question of who the true monsters are. Bonus points for creepy religious zealotry. Triple word score for casting Emmy award-winner Andre Braugher, known for his role as Det. Frank Pembleton in Homicide Life on the Street, as Brent Norton.

Writer/director Frank Darabont has also done the successful adaptations for Stephen King’s The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, Nightshift Collection Volume One: The Woman in the Room, and a variety of other genre films based on things besides Stephen King stories. He also directed the pilot of my favorite canceled show from this past year, Raines, starring Jeff Goldblum as a high-functioning insane detective.

For some interesting behind-the-scenes info about The Mist, you can check out this video shot at Comic Con by the good folks at Dread Central.

What comes to mind when someone says “Vampire”?

Throughout the world there have been all sorts of undead that feed off the blood of the living. Most vampires are not some romantic version of the undead a la Brad Pitt, Frank Langella, Bela Lugosi or even Kate Beckinsale. Vampires have become docile and over-eroticized in the past twenty years with books from Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton. Don’t get me wrong I love the humanization of the vampire and the sexual vampire has something because I think every single person deep down inside of them wishes they could give themselves to a lover forever. (Who could ever forget the 80’s The Hunger.) But in the last twenty years vampire movies, books and storylines have not grabbed me by the throat. (I know bad joke.) Classics like 1922’s Nosferatu where something that was not human was on the screen. Truly undead. Is there any hope for Hollywood’s version of the bloodsucking undead? I think there is and that hope comes in the form of a story that started as a comic book that came out in 2002 from IDW and the minds of Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith called 30 Days of Night.

Wish to know what it is to see vampires at their rawest form of true predator of the food chain? Then I suggest you pick up a copy of Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s 30 Days of Night. This award-nominated comic book/graphic novel not only captured the intensity of the undead as something not to be admired, but feared for what they are – killers of humans. Steve Niles is also one of the unique people in the comic/entertainment industry; he not only reinvented the horror genre of the old EC days before the comic codes ruined comics till the 1980’s, but, literally bringing horror comics back from the dead. (Darn my bad jokes), Niles opened the minds of the public to the idea that vampires are not cute and lovable a la Anne Rice and Bram Stoker’s. He proved that they are what they are Top Predatory beings. (Truly belonging to the night.) Like Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller and Alan Moore, he loves what he does and holds his storyline up for the world to see.

30 Days of Night is a story of what happens when a gang of vampires decide to go for a road trip to the one place they can truly enjoy. A small Alaskan village called Barrow, where it is truly night for long periods. And what do vampires do on a vacation? They eat like people when they go on a vacation or a cruise and with no fear of a diet. The anti-hero in this story is Sheriff Eben Olemaun and his Deputy/wife Stella. They are the last line of defense for the survivors of Barrow. The people are also just trying to survive on wits and survival instincts. The writing and the artwork in this comic/graphic novel is to be admired. Sort of water color pencil scratches that make you take note of how harsh the story really is. These vampires are filled with razor sharp teeth that not only pierce the skin but rip flesh from any portion of your body. As a reader you get the feeling of a watching an animal eating. No fine finesse of a dribble of blood from a fang. But an all out blood fest. Won’t tell you too much more except there is a subplot that links these new vampires to New Orleans. (A city infested by vampires?)

But since the inception of this book into our culture, it has even crossed the lines of entertainment. I am happy to say that 30 Days of Night is about to hit the big screen. With this movie being Directed by David Slade (Hard Candy) and produced by Sam Raimi (Evil Dead series and that Spiderman series), it should at least be a thrill ride. The movie Stars Josh Harnett as Sheriff Oleson (Notice the change of name here since I do not think Josh can pass for a native Inuit from Alaska.) I have to admit that, although I am also critical of his acting skills in his earlier films, there are a couple of movies that I truly liked Josh Hartnett in. In Sin City as The Hitman and in Lucky Number Slevin, he is coming into his own.

These are two items which will keep me happy until I see the movie. The interactive website and a little item called Fearnet on demand. The 30 Days of Night website will not only get you into the mood for this upcoming movie with downloads and an interactive game and bios of the director, actors and producers, but, as with all good movie webpages, it has great promotions and giveaways.

The interactive game on the website is something to play if you have the proper flash loaded on your computer. This game is about you being the sheriff and armed with only a shotgun you must kill as many of the new version vampires with the razor teeth as possible before they tear you apart. I have to admit over all I did okay with the game until they started assaulting me with seven vampires at a time. Remember if you play the game to always reload as soon as you can. Or you can become a bloody wet spot on the screen like I did.

Fearnet.com and Fearnet on Demand on your cable have something that will help you get prepared for 30 Days of Night. They have a short movie series called Blood Trails based on the New Orleans vampire hunter from 30 Days of Night I highly recommend this little series to get you ready for the movie. Not only did they perk my interest to the story line of the movie to come. But it answered some questions I had about the graphic novel.

I also am unhappy to admit it, but I will not be able to see the movie until Oct 19th like the rest of you. But I will be sending my review of it in as soon as I do.

30 Days of Night Desktops

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