In the late 60's and early 70's, anthology horror movies poured from low budget production houses throughout Europe, including the time-honored BLACK SABBAT from Mario Bava and EC Comics inspired Tales From The Crypt by Freddie Francis. Anthology horror on the big screen took on new life in the US in the 1980s with CREEPSHOW and sputtered out in the early 1990s with TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE: THE MOVIE. Meanwhile in Hong Kong, a ghostly anthology series called TROUBLESOME NIGHT has been going strong since 1997 and most recently the East Asian anthology films THREE and THREE: EXTREMES have been chilling audiences around the world.
But is there hope for a revival of this horror niche here in the United States? Writer Dennis Bartok would like to think so. Bartok, who has spent much of his career on the fringes of the film community as the head of programming at American Cinematheque in Los Angeles and as an interviewer for DVD featurettes, makes his screenwriting debut with TRAPPED ASHES, and with the help of some Japanese financing has brought along some top-name talent to back him up.
TRAPPED ASHES concerns six sightseers on a tour of a dilapidated Hollywood backlot, who convince their tour guide to let them explore on of the studio's grandest sets – a haunted mansion where all the built-in practical effects are still fully functional! But when the group gets stuck inside, the kindly tour guide reminds them that the plot for the mansion setting involved trapped visitors who must each tell a personal horror story in order to be released, and suggests that in order to escape they must do the same. Reluctantly, the tourists begin to spin their tales…
Rivals Lung and Tan have been at each other for years, trying to best the other in everything from martial arts skills to festival competitions. When Tan invites Lung to his home, only to show off what will be his entry in this year's lantern competition, Lung is jealous and humbled. But when Tan brings out a local prostitute in front of Lung and his wife, who Lung has been secretly seeing, Lung is humiliated. Vowing revenge, Lung turns to a master lantern craftsman (Shaw Brothers legend Lo Lieh) to construct a lantern guaranteed to win the competition.
Meanwhile, a psychotic madman with a mastery over monkey-style kung fu has vowed to take away everything that is precious to Tan and Lung. Dressed in black and donning a skull mask, the madman begins to kidnap women including Tan's sister and Lung's wife. Tan and Lung at once begin to suspect each other, and bring in the local police to place blame on one another. The police begin to search for clues, hoping to find the women still alive, unaware the kidnapped victims have already been skinned alive to be used as material for the madman's dazzling lanterns.
In 1930s China, Fung (Daniel Wu) and two brothers Kang and Hu lead a quaint life in their hometown village. But with dreams of finding a better life, the naive trio head off to Shanghai with visions of success and wealth. There, Kang gets a job as a waiter in the Paradise Club, while Fung and Hu pull rickshaws. When Boss Hong, a shady movie producer who runs the Paradise, is caught up in a gang turf war, he sends Kang on a mission to rob a rival boss, who in turn brings along Fung and Hu.
Before the three friends realize it, they are swept up into Hong's gang and turn to a life of crime and murder. Kang, a natural fighter, rises through the ranks quickly gaining power and respect. Hu, on the other hand, is unable to deal with the situation and turns to the bottle. Meanwhile, Fung becomes infatuated with LuLu, the club's main entertainment attraction, who also happens to be Boss Hong's girl. The pressure of the criminal underworld takes its toll on the trio's friendship, but when Chen orders them to murder LuLu (Shu Qi) who has been having an affair, they will be forced to choose sides that will forever sever their bond.
Is this a teaser poster for the next Batman movie THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS while THE DARK KNIGHT is still in theatres?! Absolutely not. Although as cool as can be, and proclaiming that The Riddler being the next villain, this is merely wishful thinking on some photoshop jockey's behalf.
While both director Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale are contracted for three films, there has been no confirmation thus far that they will return for a third time to the world of Batman. I'm all set for a third film, not doubt, guessing and reworking in my mind what the plot will be and what villains will appear, but for now that's all we get to do...
As children and later as young men, Buddhist monks Jun (Jet Li) and Chin were furiously inseparable at their monastery, and used their friendship and competitive natures to better each others teachings and martial arts skills. But when Chin's rash temper leads to a brawl between all the monks, both Chin and Jun are banished from the monastery and sent out into the world for the first time. Their journey brings them into a nearby town, and no sooner do they arrive then they witness the power of authority that the local Governor has on the town.
Jun tries to help a few of the locals being bullied by the soldiers and later joins a growing underground rebellion including an alcoholic scorned by her husband (Michelle Yeoh). Meanwhile, Chin becomes obsessed with obtaining the wealth and power he sees being used by the Governor and joins the local military to begin his ascension toward greatness, but only finds himself corrupted by his desires. Now on opposite sides, Jun and Chin have become the worst of enemies. As Chin, who has now gained control of the military, seeks to crush the rebels once and for all, Jun makes a singular attack against Chin using his newly mastered technique of Tai Chi!
With Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs under his belt, Steven Spielberg set out complete his trifecta of "Presents" cartoons by executive producing Freakazoid in 1995. With initial concepts by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, and using a hodgepodge of writers and voice actors from some of the best episodes of Animaniacs to flesh out the series, Freakazoid follows the life of Dexter Douglas and his titlular superhero alter-ego. As we learn from the Emmy Nominated theme song, Dexter Douglas is a nerd computer ace who went surfing on the internet and was zapped to cyberspace; he turned into the Freakazoid who is strong and super-quick and drives the villains crazy because he's a lunatic. And that is about all the background you'll get and need for this superhero.
Freakazoid is a superhero spoof that fires on all pistons as it lovingly pokes at the genre with incredibly witty dialogue and an inspiring array of supporting characters and villains. In addition, the show is very aware of itself, which works in the favor of its anarchic comedic styling. The show will often cut away to talk about tie-in merchandise that doesn't really exist or how well a test audience liked a certain segment. And being that the cartoon was produced by Warner Bros, the show gets away with taking digs at DC Comics characters, which Time-Warner owns. Increasingly strange and obscure pop culture references also help to give the show its unique voice. How many kids shows can you name that will reference Ed Wood?
In the Caribbean, Vincent, the designer for a nuclear power plant that is being built on a small island, along with a reporter named Sara who is on vacation, cross paths, and their past desires for each other are rekindled. This passion is doubled when a local native named Papaya takes them on a journey of uninhibited sexuality as she tries to persuade Vincent not to build the power plant, and becomes filled with lust for Sara. Vincent and Sara also become witnesses to a secret yearly voodoo ceremony in Papaya's village. While Sara becomes a strong believer in Papaya's cause, Vincent holds steady on his determination to build the plant, and the villagers have to make a decision as to what will become of the unwelcome presence of the white man.
The legacy of the Countess Wandesa, a woman who drank the blood of young women to stay alive, brings Elvira and her friend Genevieve out to a secluded part of Spain where it is said that Wandesa was buried. Though their search has a bad start when they become lost and their car runs out of gas, they are greeted by Waldemar (Paul Naschy), a man who has been living in a nearby mansion for several months now. Waldemar is aware of Wandesa's grave, and takes the two women to uncover it. But their curiosity and desecration has unforeseen consequences and the Countess returns to life as a Vampire.
Genevieve is quickly overcome by the power of Wandesa, and becomes her vampire slave. Even worse is that Elvira, who has fallen in love with Waldemar, learns that he is cursed to turn into a werewolf whenever there is a full moon! As a man, Waldemar knows of Wandesa's ultimate plan to bring Satan into the physical world and plague the Earth with darkness, but as a werewolf he is an uncontrollable beast! As the next full moon cycles closer, Waldemar along with Elvira prepare to stop Wandesa from completing her diabolical task, But with the werewolf growing restless inside him, will Waldemar be able to keep his murderous rage reigned in long enough to stop the vampire queen?
Gory Photo from Alexandre Aja’s MIRRORS Promises Good Times Ahead
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
Click the photo for a closer look.
Alexandra Aja, who's given us HAUTE TENSION and the remake of THE HILLS HAVE EYES, proves with this still shot that he's bringing us some more incredible gore with his latest film, a remake of the Korean film INTO THE MIRROR which has trimmed down to just MIRRORS.
In the film, Keifer Sutherland is a mall security guard who gets tangled up with some nasty spirits who can kill reflections in the mirror, and thus killing the person as well.
