Snow Shark...

Ryne over at The Moon is a Dead World organized a blog-a-thon for the holiday month: The Gory Gifts of Christmas. He made up a gift packet to send to interested bloggers that included a holiday-themed horror movie - but the movie would be a surprise until you popped it into your DVD player. Along with said DVD he sent some goodies to help get you through the viewing.

It's a good thing, too. The movie I ended up with was Snow Shark - Ancient Snow Beast. Ryne says he didn't know which DVD would go to which blogger, but I feel like he must me angry at me. Why else would he send me this lump of coal to watch? Wait, no... Watching a lump of coal for 90 minutes would have been preferable.

Summary of the, ahem, film: A scientist and two assistants are out in the woods, apparently trying to find out why animals are missing. Might have something to do with a meteor, they aren't sure. Before you know it, they have determined - from one animal corpse - that the creature that killed it must be the biggest discovery in science! But, they never get to tell anyone - the creature kills them all. Seems the meteor unleashed a long-dormant, prehistoric snow shark. Yep. A shark that travels through land and snow and kills humans.

From there, we jump ahead 12 years and find the shark just keeps on killing, in between badly acted, written and shot scenes of people bickering back and forth about said shark. We do get a hot tub nude scene with two topless ladies, but it is actually worse than the badly done shark scenes. Much, much worse. And that is saying something.

There is even a Quint-like character, a shark killing expert who knows better than everyone else. Except he comes off just as dumb and inept as every other character in the movie. Add to all this the fact that the film feels like it was written and shot by teenagers for a school project and I was wishing Ryne had included some booze in the care package.

So... what good can I say about this film? Hmm... Well, a positive spin might be that the filmmakers learned what to NEVER DO AGAIN, which in my opinion is to never, ever make another movie. It is also good that I didn't pay for this (sorry, Ryne). It is also wonderful that I never have to watch it again.

I am glad I took part in Ryne's blog-a-thon and would do it again, but I just wish I had gotten something better than this pile of reindeer crap. Ah well... At least I can warn everyone else on the planet to avoid this movie. If you think it will be fun in a Syfy Channel bad monster movie way, you are wrong. All this DVD is good for is to hang in your garden to scare away pests.

When the film ended, the best I could do was paraphrase Clark Griswold - "Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where's the Tylenol?"

Halloween II - Bonus Doc Clip

On September 18, 2012, Shout Factory will be releasing a Collector's Edition of Halloween II on DVD and Blu-ray.

Included will be a bonus documentary about the making of the sequel.

I think I may be upgrading my Halloween II DVD to this Collector's Edition!

Halloween II 30th Anniversary

From Shock Til You Drop:

Universal Home Entertainment is prepping a 30th anniversary edition of the Rick Rosenthal-directed Halloween II for Blu-Ray.

The Digital Bits reports that the film will arriving on September 26 and extras will include an alternate ending along with...

Terror in the Aisles.

Featuring Donal Pleasence and Nancy Allen, the 1984 Terror in the Aisles is a compilation of horror movie moments and trailers and has long been unavailable on DVD. Needless to say, this marks Terror's Blu-Ray debut.

Hmmm... Maybe it's time to look into Blu-Ray... Hey! Don't call me old!

The Darkness Within

The Darkness Within (2009)

Writer/Director: Dom Portalla

Cast: Jimmy Scanlon, Ken Flott, Michelle Romano, Stephanie Maheu, Sean Pierce, David Erin Wilson

Plot: A young couple move into a new apartment only to find that their neighbor is a peeping Tom. If they don't unlock the secret to this mysterious voyeur soon, they may lose everything, including their minds.

I won this DVD via a giveaway by Geof at the great blog Enter the Man-Cave.
Thanks, Geof!

And I wish I could say I liked the movie, but I just couldn't get into it. There is an interesting story here, somewhere, but the acting from the leads just didn't live up to any potential the story held.

The directing also has a too-amateurish feeling that keeps reminding you this is a low-budget pic. And low-budget doesn't have to automatically mean a sub-par flick, but here it does. In the end, it all just feels like a "rough draft" to me. Yet, I would be interested in future stories written by Portalla, as I feel he just needs time to shine.



Trailer for the film @ YouTube.com

Day Eight: Pictures of Your Room

Day Eight: Pictures of Your Room
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Okay, don't have any pictures of my room that are worth showing, except this one I had for a previous post:



These are the horror DVDs and books on the shelf in our bedroom.

This was part of a post about My Horror Collection, so check it out to see more!

Friday the 13th: The Series Season 3 DVD

Yesterday saw the release of the first-ever DVD set of Friday the 13th: The Series - The Final Season (aka Season 3).



This has been a LONG time coming, since Season 3 premiered 20 years ago next month! For awhile there, I was afraid we weren't going to see this final season released. Just so happy to (almost) have all the episodes of this show on DVD!

I am waiting for my pre-ordered copy to arrive in the mail. Somehow, that isn't right. Shouldn't a PRE-ordered copy arrive AT LEAST on time? Oh well.

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If you are looking for some good, late 80s, TV horror fun, pick up your own copy of Season 3. And while you're at it, get Seasons 1 & 2 as well. Heck, there is even a Box Set containing ALL 3 Seasons!

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Dinner With Max Jenke: Epitaph For A Third Season: An Appreciation of Friday the 13th: The Series' Final Year

A review of the Season 3 set.

Check out Curious Goods for all things "Friday the 13th: The Series"

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REMINDER: One week left for my Blog Header Contest! Enter NOW!

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Trick 'r Treat trailer

Thought about saving this for October, but by then the trailer will be old news. And I really wanted to share it now, anyway.

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Yesterday, Horror Movies and The Horror Geek posted the trailer for the MUCH anticipated DVD release of Trick 'r Treat, a film that has been waiting for a release for two years. Despite this delay, those who have viewed the flick have been very vocal about their love for it. It has even won some awards.

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The synopsis from the official site:

Trick 'r Treat is a collection of creepy stories that mixes fun with fear, candy with poison, and laughter with screams.

In the tradition of Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt comes four interwoven tales set on Halloween night: A high-school principal who moonlights as a vicious serial killer, a young virgin whose quest for that special someone takes a gruesome turn, a group of teens who carries out a cruel prank with disastrous consequences, and a cantankerous old man who battles a mischievous trick-or-treating demon.

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The trailer:



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Okay, I don't know about you, but I think it looks freakin' awesome!

A new classic is just waiting to be discovered and then rewatched, year after year.

I can't wait to get my hands on it!

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The DVD is set to be released on October 6th.

You can pre-order the DVD on Amazon here.

This is the official site for Trick 'r Treat.

Follow Trick 'r Treat on Facebook or Twitter.

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Friday the 13th ALL MONTH!

Okay, so Friday the 13th isn't technically for three more days, but it has been a great week so far for fans of both the movie series and the show.

Last Tuesday, new editions of the first three films were released, with Part One in an UNCUT version and Part 3 in a 3D version, with 2 pairs of 3D glasses! Parts One and Two also had a bunch of extras, including some great interviews with past cast and crew, and even two new little "lost Jason" scenes. Great fun! And I have to give a big "thanks" to a fellow F13:TS fan and friend who was so kind as to offer me the copies he had obtained of the movies, free of charge. What a guy!

Also last week, the documentary "His Name Was Jason" was released. This is a 2 Disc edition with tons of interviews from many who were involved with the series over the years, from actors to directors and more. I haven't watched my copy yet, since I have been having my own marathon of the films (up to Part VIII, watching it as I type this), but it looks awesome - a great bonus for diehard fans of Jason's exploits. Can't wait to watch it, and if you have the Encore Action channel, the documentary itself is airing on Friday the 13th at 9:00 PM and then at 1:30 AM.

Today, the Second Season of "Friday the 13th: The Series" was released for the first time on DVD. This is the show that shared a name with the movies and not much else, save for some behind the scenes people. But it can be loved for what it is and I do love it. Wish it had gone on longer than three seasons, but what can you do. And I hope Season Three's release isn't too far off! And, my good friend Curious George has done something cool, an article he wrote on the show at Seattle Post-Intelligencer online - sweet!

Tomorrow, the SciFi Channel actually has a marathon of this show, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, of Season Two episodes. Tune in for some 80s horror fun!

Of course, the "big deal" this week is the release of the remake "Friday the 13th" in theaters. While I am very glad Jason will be back on the big screen once more, I am also worried about how this flick will turn out. I thought the "Halloween" remake was okay, even though it was a totally different (and less scary) film than the awesome original. But, time will tell. Hope it does well, cause that will, as always, determine how quickly we get to see the next sequel hit theaters.

So, all in all, it's an awesome month to be a Jason or Friday fan!

Two more things before I go:

1) Thank you so much to my lovely Mrs. for the awesome gift. You are too kind to me. :)

2) The Friendly Atheist pointed out this evolution poll at Parade Magazine's website - Go and VOTE!)