The Crazies opens TODAY!

"We're never gonna survive... unless... we get a little... crazy."
Oh Seal, you are such a prophet.

The remake train has pulled into the station and this time it brings us the redux of George Romero's The Crazies.  

In the 'pros' column it's got Timothy Olyphant who I personally enjoy in just about anything, it's written by Scott Kosar who wrote The Texas Chainsaw Massacre AND The Amityville Horror remakes --which in the remake canon weren't TOO shabby--- and lastly a 72% Rotten Tomatoes rating--- which is pretty unheard of for a horror film. (The Wolfman had only 33% and Shutter Island 67%).

Early buzz is saying you'll get exactly what you see in the trailer, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  I believe it'll be much like the Dawn of the Dead remake, or like Poison says: "Nothin' but a good time."  (Boy I'm outta control with song references today.)

I never saw Romero's original (-gasp-) as I heard it was pretty much a plot contrivance of his previous Night of the Living Dead.  It's been floating in my Netflix queue for over 3 years now and if it was a Watch-Instantly I'd be watching it right now.  I'm sure I'll finally watch it and realize how much it's been cannibalized by other films I've liked such as 28 Days Later, Quarantine (or [Rec]), Right at Your Door and even Return of the Living Dead.

If you check it out, let me know what you think in the comments.
Happy horror weekend!

T-Shirt Roundup: Halloween Jack o' Lanterns, Zombies and Shred Shirts!

In my quest for cool new Halloween t-shirts that don't say something corny like "Have a Boo-tiful Halloween!" I stumbled through the thickets of internet webbing to find RedBubble.com.

After scrolling through page after page of equally hip mummies, zombies, skulls and the like, I finally hit paydirt: a jack o' lantern shirt. 

Featuring a plump-faced, buck-toothed jack o' lantern over yellowed crossbones it has to be the cutest, least threatening Halloween t-shirt I've seen... yet still endearing.  Get it HERE.

Next up is one of the best zombie shirts I've found.
Ever.
Appropriately entitled "The House that Romero Built" it has a montage image of key zombies from most of George Romero's "Dead" films.
Featuring the rotting flesh from Romero's Night of the Living Dead (Cemetery zombie), Dawn of the Dead (doorway zombie and Steve), Day of the Dead (Bub, autopsy zombie and Dr. Tongue), Land of the Dead (Big Daddy), and those zombies inspired by Romero's opus:  Tar Man from Return of the Living Dead, pit witch from Evil Dead, Fulci's worm-ridden zombie from Zombi and two others which I'm sad to say I can't place.  (Help me out in the comments...)
Buy it HERE from the ironically named  mediocreclothing.com.  

And for my third (Scary comes in 3's... no wait that's comedy...) I pulled from Mediocre Clothing's sister site:  Shred. 
Here's the math: Take 80s Heavy Metal t-shirts + Cinematic Pop Culture References + skate graffiti culture = Shred t-shirts. 

Head over to shredclothing.com HERE and see for yourself.
There's a shirt featuring a rampaging blood-soaked Cerberus, an Iron Maiden mascot "Eddie" inspired skeleton zombie rising from the ground amidst lightning, a headless horseman with a battle axe, a zombie T-Rex chasing an unfortunate Hummer, a trio of raptors chasing a woman through the remains of her companion, and a Return of the Living Dead-type skelezombie mummy reaching out from a Tutankhamen-like headdress.
The colors are bright, the images brazen and they pop on shirts blacker than Ozzy's soul. 
Get your Shred on HERE.

Check 'em all out and let me know if you partake in any.

Jason Chan's "Zombie Playground" Print For Sale

If you look closely at the Halloween Addict logo at the top of the blog, you'll see a zombie hand rising out of the ground showing that THIS Halloween Addict has a spot in his heart for zombies. 
So when I found THIS print by Jason Chan called "Zombie Playground" I lit up like a kid on Christmas. 
So simple, sweet and terrifying all at the same time. 
One image tells the whole tale but the ending is left to be wondered about. 
I prefer to think that the four characters from Left 4 Dead save them, but to each his own. 

Available at inprnt.com in 3 sizes HERE. 

The Gruesome Twosome Tour: Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper TOGETHER!

Well I gotta tell ya, I never in all my years thought I would see such a Marvel Team-Up of shock rockers.

Teased via Rob Zombie's Twitter feed yesterday:

"Big tour news coming on monday morning! It's a tour match up that you've asking me about for years. HMMMMMMMM?"

"What could it be?" I wondered.
GWAR and Zombie?  Probably not.
Marilyn Manson and Zombie?  HIGHLY unlikely.
Twister Sister and Zombie?  Not even with a time machine.
Then a lightbulb... nah... couldn't be... that's too good to be true...
But it IS.
Tickets go on sale TODAY for The Gruesome Twosome Tour featuring both Rob Zombie AND Alice Cooper ON THE SAME BILL!
This is a FIRST for the two gentlemen who have made a living singing about blood, fear and things that go bump in the night.  

That's the good news... the bad news is that there is only a small handful of dates and mostly for Canucks.

Man!  To go to a single evening where I can see the sexy Sheri Moon Zombie go-go dancing to "Dragula" in front of blasts of flame AND hear Alice's new single "Keepin' Halloween Alive" LIVE on the same stage is enough to make this Halloween Addict weep like the last vampire on earth.

Here's to hoping that the tour continues through the year and for much more of the U.S.

You can buy Canadian tix HERE... go to the official Gruesome Twosome site HERE and to the official site of Rob Zombie HERE and Alice Cooper HERE.

Also worth noting:  Alice has a new Halloween-dedicated page on his official site HERE featuring a Halloween countdown clock, Cooperoke Sing-along video, and cool new Halloween-inspired merch like this cool "Keepin' Halloween Alive" t-shirt in addition to signed copies of the CD single and a vintage-Cooper mask-on-a-stick.  Check it all out HERE.

Threadless: $10 Tee Sale Ends Today at 5pm Central!

You've heard me brag about Threadless.com before.  It's an awesome t-shirt company with limited runs of very cool, hip, fun shirts that severely reduces the chances of you running into someone else on the street wearing the very same cool, hip, fun shirt and making for an awkward moment and hurt street cred.

Well just a heads up that they've marked down their tees to 10 bucks apiece but the sale ends TODAY at 5pm CENTRAL TIME.  I don't... I don't think I've ever had to worry about CENTRAL TIME in my life. 
Madness.

Anyway!  They've got a bunch of cool shirts for the monster lover and Halloween Addict and have even added a "Halloween" category to make searching easier.  Poke around on the whole site, but grab something before that nefarious CENTRAL TIME sneaks up and snatches away your dreams. 

Dude Turns Into a Wolf: THE WOLFMAN opens TODAY!

In case you missed it, a film about a dude who turns into a wolf opens today.

The marketing machine has been in overdrive the past few weeks pushing a little Universal Monster movie called THE WOLFMAN.  A remake of the original 1941 Universal film The Wolf [space] Man which starred Lon Chaney Jr. in the titular role this one stars Franky Four Fingers, Hannibal Lecter, Agent Smith and... um, Emily Blunt.

Though I'm excited for a reboot of the 69-year-old franchise, I have a bad feeling about this one. 
Why?
Well the original director walked out 3 weeks before the start of principal photography.
Then its release date was moved from November 2009 to February 2010.
Then a new editor was brought in to re-cut the film.
THEN a new composer was brought in to replace some guy named DANNY ELFMAN.
You can read an interview with Director Joe Johnston where he details these trials and tribulations and his unenviable position of being the man to pick up the pieces in this LA Times article HERE. 

Interesting trivia:  According to this other Times article HERE, Gene Simmons from KISS and David Lee Roth from Van Halen did auditioned as wolf howls for the film.  AWESOME.

Now I realize that "that's the film biz" and stuff like this happens all the time and good movies still happen in spite of things like this.  But I also know that when I saw that first trailer, I was left with two feelings:  1) "Oh it's a period piece?" and 2) "ho-hum."

I know, too, that I tend to like my werewolf movies more WOLF than MAN and this make-up job by Rick Baker evokes the original film by being very much like the title.  A "wolf man." 

Early reviews are saying it's big on gore, low on scary, and so-so in the end.  But, hey, it IS a monster movie from the company that invented the classic monsters.  A good cast, a great make-up artist and a director with some hits under his belt, not to mention spooky forests, a full moon, and a freaking WEREWOLF are certainly all in its favor for a Halloween Addict.

Plus what other choice do you have in the theater this weekend?
Valentine's Day?!?
--shudder--

VEOH Dying: Watch Your Free Horror Movies Before They're Gone!

Another video sharing site heads for extinction.
Whilst perusing Cynopsis.com today I stumbled across this:

Absurdly funded online video start-up Veoh finally pulled the plug, laying off remaining employees and planning a chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in the near future, according to a report in AllThingD. The company has burned through more than $70 million in funding from a long list of prominent investors.

So start watching your free horror movies NOW because the site seems like it'll be going down any day now.  Head on over to Veoh.com.
You can watch such classics as Nosferatu, Night of the Living Dead, The Phantom of the Opera, Night of the Giant Leeches, etc. in addition to more modern schlock as Oasis of the Zombies, Bloody Pit of Horror, The Terror and more.

Of other interest to a Halloween Addict:   Casper the Friendly Ghost episodes, the animated version of Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree, David Letterman Halloween-themed bits, and more. 

Go!  View!  Then when it's gone:  mourn!

Veoh.  We hardly knew ye.
Now what's on YouTube.............

The Grinder: Vampires, Werewolves and Zombies Due on Halloween!

There's a new shooter in town... well... it's actually about a year and a half outside of town... really slow horse, I guess... -ahem- and it's called THE GRINDER.

It looks fantastic and a must-buy for those who love to fight off waves of evil and the creepy.  But don't hold your breath... unless you're a really good breath-holder.  Read on for the details on why any Halloween Addict would love this game...

Happy Birthday George Romero!

Jeez has it been two years already?
I last posted about Georgie's b-day HERE.
That's when he was a spry 68. 
Today?  HE'S 70!
Woo wooooooo!

Hard to believe that before George Romero made Night of the Living Dead, the concept of the modern zombie --that is the zombie that rises from the dead to feast on the flesh of the living-- did not exist.
What am I getting at?
Well thanks to this man you've got an excellent zombie canon of work featuring the classics:  Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead.

On top of that you've got Land of the Dead, a flawed but still fun late-quel.  (I just came up with that word.  "Late-quel."  That's a sequel that comes out WAY after the preceding movie in a series franchise.  Late-quel.  Use it and owe me a nickel.)  I'm going to ignore Diary of the Dead, because I have not seen it... and have not heard good things about it.

Then you've got ALLLLLL the zombie films that were influenced and spawned from his original idea.
The Return of the Living Dead
Shaun of the Dead
City of the Living Dead
Zombi
The Evil Dead
Night of the Comet
The Video Dead
The Dead Next Door
28 Days Later
Dead Alive
The Dead Hate the Living
Resident Evil
And on and on and on...
Check out a full list thanks to The Zombie Reporting Center HERE.


Remember the zombie infatuation isn't just something that was a fad 10, 20, 30 years ago.
Zombies are still alive and kicking (biting?) today with the success of such films as Zombieland, books such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and videogames like Left 4 Dead!
And it's ALL thanks to George Romero... who turns 70 today.
So celebrate the man by enjoying the fruits of his labors or his neighbors labors.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGE!

Norman Rockwell's Birthday: Saturday Evening Post Halloween Covers!

According to the Google Doodle, today is Norman Rockwell's Birthday!

I've always loved Rockwell's paintings.  The nostalgic paintings make me smile and encapsulate the idyllic American image.  My personal favs?  The Halloween covers, of course.

Each of his images contains all sort of things to look at and wonder about.  The 1925 cover features kids dressed as ghosts, holding a lit jack o' lantern, with a look of surprised-fear on their faces.  In the background, black cats hiss and swipe at each other while a stoic owl on a leafless tree looks on.  Great. 

Although he's most known for his Saturday Evening Post covers, he did some great ones like the man playing the violin by a jack o' lantern (below) for other periodicals like The Country Gentleman... which sounds like my grandfather's GQ. 

Check out more of the master's work in coffee table compilations like those in the links below.  They're great for flipping through on a crisp autumn night by a roaring fire. 

Three Major Horror Releases for a Halloween Addict!

Oh "New Media Tuesdays."  How I love thee.

There are not one, not two but THREE major releases out today that any discerning Halloween and horror fan should be excited about.
What are they?
Well, come on along and I'll introduce you.
Wipe your chin first... you've got spaghetti or something there...

ZOMBIELAND
I was excited about Zombieland when it came out during the Halloween season last October (you can read about that HERE).  I was worried it may be a bit overhyped hearing the early positive-buzz, but after seeing it I can honestly say that it was an absolute pleasure to watch.  With all the good things being thrown around, one word that came up again and again was "fun." 

I agree with the masses:  Zombieland is big, dumb fun.  Though a bit more "comedy" than "horror" the allusions to it being an American Shaun of the Dead have merit.  To clarify:  it's not a "dumb" film in the way that, say, --oh I don't know-- Transformers is dumb.  It's just a simple little clever movie done with style, wit and panache that will leave you with a smile on your face by the time the credits roll 81 minutes later.
Americans ate it up to the tune of $75 million in ticket sales, becoming one of Sony's biggest hits of 2009.   Not bad for a little movie that only cost $23.6 million and stars that guy from Cheers.

What's my point of gushing about this film TODAY?
It's on DVD and Blu-Ray!
TODAY!
TO-DAY!
Go!  Consume!
Amazon links are below.  Click on 'em and order and I'll get 6 pence!

For the real film and writer geeks I HIGHLY recommend listening to the Creative Screenwriting podcast (it's FREE) HERE or on iTunes (HERE:  ) for a fascinating in-depth interview with the writers of one of the best zom-coms out there.  (You know... because there are SO many.)

ROB ZOMBIE'S HELLBILLY DELUXE 2
Rob Zombie takes a little time off from pissing people off with Halloween movies to sequel-ize himself. 

I love Hellbilly Deluxe. 
 I think it's a fine piece of schlock rock with a groovy beat that I put on every October... but I always get nervous when rock stars try and catch lightning in a bottle again. 

Has there ever been a GOOD "sequel" album? 
Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell 2, Metallica's "The Unforgiven II," the list goes on.  All were pale comparisons to the original.  Will Hellbilly Deluxe 2 befall the same fate?  Dunno. 
I've owned every one of Mr. Zombie's albums (going back to White Zombie) but Educated Horses left me feeling like he was starting to phone-it-in.  
The LA Times gave it a pretty positive review HERE but I won't know until I buy and listen myself.
Drop a review in the comments if you've purchased it yourself and let me know what you think.

HOUSE OF THE DEVIL
Ahhhh the piece de resistance!
I caught this movie on VOD last October hearing good stuff about it.   And I'm glad I did.  The film tugged at my retro-horror heartstrings and I've been waiting for its home video debut so I can take another gander at it.

Turning up on many horror site's "Best of 2009" lists, House of the Devil is an acquired taste.  The film was shot in 2009 but is made to look like it was dug out of a defunct 80s film company's vaults.
It's an experiment in replicating what came before.  The film has the grain and brown hues of a film from the 1980s and is even set as a period piece from that same time.  Complete with Walkmans, no cell phones, and a trade-mark of late 70s early-80s horror films:  the sloooooow burn.

It may not be for all, but for those who grew up and appreciate the VHS cassettes of horror's yesteryear, this is a trip down memory lane.
Speaking of videocassettes, most noteworthy should be the marketing for the film.  Posters look to be from the time period (complete with FOLDS) and now that it's on video the best promotional stunt yet:  THE FILM ON ACTUAL VHS.

That's right:  if you buy the special DVD set from Amazon (see link below) you'll get the standard DVD with a VHS copy of the film (complete with Gorgon Video logo).  Incredible.  I've never wanted something so stupid and yet so brilliant at the same time.  I don't even own a VCR anymore and I want this.
I'd want to take this tape with me to one of those cabin rentals that leaves you with a crappy TV and VHS player, and just slip it in the pile.  No one would ever know it was from 2009.  It's that accurate.
Do check it out and let me know what you think. 

So there you go.  It may be February when horror and Halloween seem scarce and October seems months away (wait... it is).  But there's some good stuff out there to keep us Addicts entertained through these bleary winter months.