Halloween Addict

Recipe: Halloween Chex Mix

2010-09-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

Right from the Chex Mix source, here's the HALLOWEEN CHEX MIX recipe!
I don't know what it is about Chex Mix, but for a recipe so easy it really seems like something unmake-able to me.
But looking over the ingredients and total start to finish time 15 minutes... seems very do-able.

Though I disagree with the website's tag here:

Trick or treat? Surprise little witches and goblins with this fruit, candy and cereal mix—they’ll gobble it up!

I'm a believer that homemade treats should be given out to family and friends at parties but not given out to unknown trick or treaters. Then the parents don't have to worry if crazy people put weird stuff in their kids treats and throw it away. That's just my thing.
Here's the link to Chex.com and the Halloween Recipe HERE.

Halloween Decoration: Zombie Silhouette Wall Art

2010-09-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic idea for a Halloween decoration.
So simple and yet so awesome.
A "why didn't I think of that" thing.
Papercuts by Joe out of Boston, MA has created a Victorian-era-inspired profile silhouette of a zombie suitable for hanging. And it's really exquisite, complete with tousled hair, rotten nose and dripping um, something.

Each undead head measures approximately 5" X 7," is cut from a single sheet of black archival paper and arrives mounted on a piece of 8" X 10" white illustration board. You need to provide the creepy frame yourself.

Cost? A "wallet friendly" $20. Get it from MakersMarket.com HERE. Here's my question, how did Joe get the zombie to stand still long enough to trace him on the paper? THAT'S talent.

T-Shirt Tuesday: Cult Classics Plan 9, Creeps, Evil Dead from Malgusto Tees

2010-08-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

Today's T-Shirt Tuesday is from a little Spanish speaking on-line retailer called MALGUSTO!

Can't read Spanish? Well the fine folks at Malgusto have provided an English translated link HERE to answer all your FAQs and in pretty well translated smart ass. As for what Malgusto is, I'll steal from their site:

We are a heartless corporation that, sick of not finding out movie based t-shirts that we liked, decide to produce them by ourselves, jeopardizing our personal fortunes.

Sounds like a plan to me.
The shirts are actually made in the USA and printed on American Apparel tees, so no sweatshops to worry about sweating on your fine wearables.

They have a small selection, but specialize in bright cartoon-like caricatures of cult favorite films like Plan 9 From Outer Space, Evil Dead and Night of the Creeps. Malgusto's imagery really pops on the dark shirts and some (like Plan 9) even have glow-in-the-dark ink! Shirts will run you 19.95 Euros which is about $25.24 and they DO accept PayPal and Credit Cards through PayPal so you don't have to strain your brain converting.

Halloween Videogames: Costume Quest!

2010-08-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Though there are tons of video games out there for a Halloween Addict and horror lover, there aren't too many that actually use the Halloween holiday as a key part of the plot. Sure there are games that feature werewolves, and jack o' lanterns... but to embrace Halloween as part of the game and use the devices and traditions of the holiday as play mechanics... well, I can't think of any.
Until now.

Fellow Halloween Addicts, I present to you--- Costume Quest.

Revealed two weeks ago, Costume Quest is an upcoming release from Double Fine Productions.
Who is Double Fine Prods., you ask?
Well they're only an award-winning independent game studio founded by video game industry veteran Tim Schafer.
Who's Tim Schafer, you ask? (Geez, this is going to take forever.)
Tim Schafer is the designer of the critically acclaimed LucasArts Games: Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, Secret of Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge and Day of the Tentacle.
Then he started his own company and made the critically acclaimed Psychonauts and the recent heavy-metal parody hack 'n' slash-- Brütal Legend (with voice acting by Jack Black). According to Wikipedia (so you KNOW it's true): "He is known in the video game industry for his story-telling and comedy-writing abilities."
Bottom line if you haven't played ANY of these games: he's a talented guy and he writes funny games.
Enough about Tim, Costume Quest actually is the brainchild of one of Double Fine's lead animators (and former Pixar employee) Tasha Harris who wanted to make a game around Halloween. Awwww a woman dear to my heart.

SO... backstory out of the way... what's Costume Quest you ask? (So many questions from you today...)
Costume Quest is an action adventure game that unfolds on Halloween night.
I'm going to steal the rest of the description from the website:

Go door-to-door collecting candy, points, cards, battle stamps and quest assignments to prepare for combat. Use your wit, bravery and home-made costumes with superpowers to rid the neighborhood of creepy monsters and SAVE HALLOWEEN!

This... sounds... awesome.
Seriously I haven't been this excited about a Halloween-centric piece of entertainment since Mike Dougherty's release of Trick 'r Treat on DVD last year!

As for levels, there seems to be a "peaceful suburban neighborhood," "mysterious village carnival," and "monster-infested shopping mall." What a perfect mix of levels. You've got the neighborhood to go door to door trick or treating in... you've got --what sounds like-- a Ray Bradbury-esque Something Wicked This Way Comes carnival... and a George Romero Dawn of the Dead-esque mall filled with monsters. Perfect.

There isn't much info right now on CostumeQuestGame.com so I dug a little through the wide wide world o' webs to find THIS exclusive preview from Ugo.com. From what the article reveals, the kids (brother and sister Reynolds and Wren) can take on the powers of their costumes to fight off the evil minions. So if a character is wearing a cardboard box of a robot costume, they'll become a giant Mech to do battle. Neat.

Where can I buy this wonderful game, you ask? (AGAIN with the questions!)
Answer: Your couch.
Hear that sound? That's your brain exploding.
That's right, Costume Quest isn't available in stores, it's available for download on either Xbox Live Arcade or the Playstation Network. Price? Dunno. 20 Ducats? A Tootsie Roll wrapper? Who cares?! It's a freakin' Halloween RPG adventure!!!
The fact that the game is downloadable is good news as I assume new characters, levels and costumes will become available for download so the game can constantly evolve and grow. Maybe even EVERY Halloween?

The only downside I see is that (according to the Ugo.com article) the game isn't available 'til Halloween Day. That's great and all but I want to be playing this for the weeks leading UP to Halloween (maybe with a special unlockable download on the 31st?).

UPDATE: According to THIS article on IFC.com, the game comes out in mid-October with "new content scheduled to be available on Halloween." SPEC-TAC-ULAR.

STILL can't get your head around this? Well check out the wonderful trailer HERE or in the embed below which features this little ditty that sounds like it could have been spoken by Disney's Magic Mirror himself:

Every year on Halloween,
Grabbing candy left and right,
Ghosts and Witches can be seen
Trick or treating through the night

This year it’s a different deal—
Someone new has come to town
Now the monsters are all real
And we have to take them down!

There’s a witch who thinks she might
Steal our candy ‘fore the dawn
We’ve got costumes built to fight!
Now the battle’s really on.

It's safe to say that HalloweenAddict.com will be following this release closely and playing and reviewing when it when it debuts in October. Good job Tasha and Double Fine. Can't wait to play it.

AMC's The Walking Dead: Debuts on Halloween Night!

2010-08-25T12:03:00.000-07:00

Ohhhhhhhhhh kids.
Ohhhh kiddies.
What exciting news to share. Revealed yesterday on pretty much every horror site imaginable, was news that AMC's new series "The Walking Dead" will have its 90 minute 1st episode debut on what date?
OCTOBER 31ST. HALLOWEEN.
The debut will cap off its 14th year doing FearFest, its horror movie marathon tying into the Halloween season.
Brilliant.
Don't worry, it'll be on at 10pm, long after the trick or treaters are done beating a path to your door. You can pop a Jones Halloween soda, or a pour a glass of EVIL Cabernet Sauvignon and plunk down for some fantastic zombie drama.

As you've heard me mention a little over one year ago, HERE , "The Walking Dead" is based on a series of fantastic graphic novels put out by Image comics and penned by Robert Kirkman. If you haven't read them, please go to the Amazon carousel links below and start ordering and catching up on one of the finest human dramas ever written that just so happens to be based in a universe where zombies walk the earth.
To add further excitement to the TV adaptation, the 90 minute pilot (90 minutes?! Isn't that really a FEATURE FILM?) is directed by none other than Frank Darabont! A man who knows human drama in extraordinary circumstances with a pedigree of films such as The Mist, The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption.

Still haven't whetted your appetite for this enough? Check out the FOUR MINUTE trailer (which originally showed at this year's San Diego Comic Con) below to get an idea of what you're in for.

T-Shirt Tuesday: New Threadless Zombie Offerings

2010-08-10T15:41:00.000-07:00

On this T-Shirt Tuesday, one of my favorite t-shirt vendors, Threadless, has released a comic-inspired zombie offering called "Every Night I Have The Same Dream, Issue 2, Vol. 1." It's certainly not subtle with the front splashed all the way to the bottom of the olive green tee with a drooling fly-mouthed zombie and friends reaching for survivors on a building's roof. The back has same survivors using their weaponry to fell same zombies into ludicrous gibs... and all in comic panels to boot.

The second takes Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and makes it more twisted by envisioning it with zombies. What's it called? "Zombies in Wonderland" of course. Poor Alice is swinging her samurai swords Kill Bill-The Bride-style at zombie versions of the White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts, etc. "I'm late, I'm late. For a very important date. No time to say Hello, Goodbye when I'm feasting on your brains..."

As always, Threadless tees are limited editions so get 'em while they're gettable.

Be@rbrick Halloween Figure

2010-08-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

I've never really been into Be@rbrick collecting.
Maybe it's the "@" symbol in the middle of the name that makes me feel like there's a hidden swear word in there. Maybe it's the fact that I dismiss them as too tiny for me to put out as a decorations.

But if you make that same Be@rbrick a FOOT TALL and my interest is piqued.
Make it glow in the dark and I'm listening.
Make it have the face of a glowing jack o' lantern and SOLD!

Check out the 400%-sized Bearbrick (sorry I refuse to hit "shift-2" again) from Medicom toys. Now THAT'S a decoration. I'm not gonna loose this baby under the couch. Plus, it can charge all day and then when I shut off the lights to go count sheep I get the treat of glowy-magical-goodness (check out the 2nd pic).

I've only seen this item on Sideshow Collectibles' website HERE and the little graphic says that there are limited quantities left so go forth and buy a giant plastic teddy bear under the auspices of Halloween celebratin'!

Halloween Scenes: American Splendor

2010-07-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

R.I.P. Harvey Pekar: 10/8/39 - 7/12/10
Alas Harvey Pekar, we hardly knew ye.

As a tribute to Harvey, I'm starting a new type of post called "Halloween Scenes." As the oh-so-clever title may suggest, these are scenes from films that embody the Halloween-spirit even though the film itself may not be a Halloween or Horror film.

Case in point: the film American Splendor. First, if you haven't seen it and are a fan of comic books, film, writing, creativity, the American Dream, unconventional storytelling and/or underdog stories--- you NEED to see this movie. An autobiographical film of Pekar himself (played by Paul Giamatti) and his ascent as a comic writer of the book American Splendor.

The Halloween Scene in American Splendor comes right at the beginning of the film as a very young Harvey attempts to trick or treat. The scene has all the Halloween trimmings a sucker for Americana (like myself) asks for: A mom answering the door holding a tray of caramel apples, a porch full of jack o' lanterns and spiderwebs and kids wearing Ben Cooper / Collegeville plastic masked costumes of Batman, Robin and Superman. You can see a truncated version of the full scene in the trailer HERE or in the embed below.

Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO Turns 50!

2010-06-16T13:49:00.001-07:00

Can you believe that Alfred Hitchcock's classic film, the film that many consider as the first "slasher," turns 50 TODAY?!

That's right, back on June 16, 1960, Hitch released Norman Bates on an unsuspecting world and horror hasn't been the same since. Universal milked the franchise for only 3 sequels (which is nothing compared to the 10 sequels that Friday the 13th had, 7 sequels that Halloween had and 8 sequels that A Nightmare on Elm Street had) but the original is the one that changed everything.

I was going to to do a whole write-up on the influence Psycho had on the cinema, but discovered Gary Susman's Moviefone article entitled "Psycho at 50: What We've Learned from Hitchcock's Horror Classic" HERE and really he covers everything I could have said and better than I would have said it. Give it a read and be sure to watch the YouTube trailer for Psycho embedded in the article. It's one of my favorite trailers of all time mainly for the winky-glee that Hitchcock brings to his tour of the sets. The way he foreshadows "... the baaaathroom." is really fantastic showmanship.

Also worth noting is an upcoming in-depth documentary called "The Psycho Legacy" that's coming out on DVD in October (just in time for Halloween, woo hooooo!). You can check out the website ThePsychoLegacy.com HERE. After years of crappy 20 minute fluff pieces thrown on to DVDs by studios, we're really in a Renaissance of quality fan-driven documentaries that give more info and interviews than you ever thought were possible. Docs like Beware the Moon on the An American Werewolf in London DVD, Never Sleep Again DVD (on the Elm Street franchise), and His Name Was Jason DVD (on the Friday the 13th franchise) have really changed the way docs are viewed and made and I have a feeling The Psycho Legacy will deliver on par with those.

Until then, you can buy the 50th Anniversary Blu-Ray on Amazon from the links below and there's a ton of books on Mr. Hitchcock and his monumental achievement in black and white horror.

T-Shirt Tuesday: Tank Theory T-Shirts: Fab 5 Freddy and Vegan Zombie

2010-06-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while (and if you believe the subject of this post: every Tuesday) I like to give a shout out to independent t-shirt companies who I think have a little something different to offer horror and Halloween Addicts.

Today it's Tank Theory. Why TankTheory.com? Well for the plain and simple piece of brilliance called Fab 5 Freddy (see pic). The melding of the first hip-hop VJ on 1988's MTV show Yo! MTV Raps and the Dream Warrior Freddy Krueger really makes this a shirt worth wearing... if only for those over 30.

They've got a ton of shirts under various categories such as "Shirt of the Month" and "Artist Society T-Shirts" and though they're not all horror related, you've got a lot of freaky stuff on there featuring clowns, skulls and other dripping madness. Some of the really cool ones seem sold out so find something you like and purchase it immediately or be stuck wearing your "My other shirt is a shirt"-shirt for another summer.

And Vegan Zombie just made me chuckle. See? He's saying "Graaaaaains!" Get it?
"Graaaaains." Get it? No?
You see Billy, when a zombie and brains love each other...

UPDATED: AMITYVILLE HORROR House Up For Sale!

2010-05-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

Man it's times like this when I wish I had a spare $2 million lying around.

Whilst scrolling through my Twitter subscriptions I happened upon Mike "I made the coolest Halloween movie EVER called Trick 'r Treat" Dougherty's recent tweet that the real-life house from The Amityville Horror is up for sale!

Sure enough, after looking at the article on NewsDay.com and doing a bit of internet detective work myself, HERE's the official Daniel Gale/Sotheby's listing.

Perusing the pics, it looks like a fantastic Dutch Colonial place --complete with boat house... hard to believe that Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his six family members there just two weeks after Halloween on November 13, 1974.

Despite what the Lutz family says they experienced after moving in in 1975, and what Hollywood and James Brolin have acted out for us, the News Day article says that none of the other people who inhabited the house ever experienced anything out of the ordinary except for some "gawkers" who show up--when else?
On Halloween.

I say I would love to buy this place and turn it into a Bed and Breakfast and/or Horror Museum.
How cool would that be? How many people wouldn't want to spend the night in a legendary --supposedly haunted-- location?
I can see the reservations booking up already.
Plus, in October, it sounds like you've got built in visitors (and probably trick or treaters).
"Please be sure to buy a "I Trick or Treated at the Amityville Horror and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" T-shirt in the gift shop!" I'd remind the lined-up masses through my bullhorn.

I'd also invest the money in getting the "eye windows" reinstalled. They were replaced a number of years ago, but I'd put 'em right back. Seems counterproductive, but they ARE the iconic symbol from the film! Check out the comparison pic for the before and after shots I slapped together.
(Keep in mind this is NOT where the film was shot. The Amityville Horror was shot at another house about 2 hours away. For a great write-up of the 1979 film's shooting locations I defer to the master Sean Clark over at Horrors Hallowed Grounds.)

But in actuality, I don't know if *I* would want to sleep there. My imagination is too active and the neighbors would complain about the number of times I ran screaming from my own home because the sound of the water heater kicking on made me freak myself out.

So I pose this question to you, dear readers: if you had the money, would YOU buy this house?
Could you live comfortably in a place where a horrible thing happened?
If so, there's some property you should look into buying... and to riff on an old Mad Magazine joke: only $1.15 million! SUPER CHEAP!

You can read up more on the real-life events over truTV's write-up HERE or the expertly detailed Amityvillemurders.com complete with grisly crime-scene photos: you have been warned.
UPDATED 8/6/10: Well THAT didn't take long. According to Newsday via ShockTillYouDrop.com the house has been SOLD! Links HERE and HERE.

DIY CRAFT: Star Wars Action Figure Halloween Costumes!

2010-05-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

Well I thought I'd seen it all.
I've seen Halloween Star Wars costumes, I've seen Halloween action-figure costumes, but I ain't never seen Halloween costumes for Star Wars ACTION FIGURES... 'til now.

The Official (so you KNOW it's baked fresh) Star Wars site has an article up HERE about making costumes for your Star Wars ACTION FIGURES. We're talking old-school crafting with with felt and pipe cleaners. Good stuff and I have to admit, I think it's kinda fun.

My personal favorite is the Stormtrooper wearing the retro Ben Cooper vinyl C-3PO costume.
You could bend pop-culture even more by making that R2-D2 costume light blue instead of white and say he's the "Inky" ghost from Pac-Man.
I'm an idea man.

Halloween Food: Create the next Donut for Dunkin Donuts Contest!

2010-04-29T15:40:00.000-07:00

Those who are regular readers of Halloween Addict may know that I grew up on the East Coast and more importantly: on Dunkin Donuts coffee. Sure nowadays you can buy the DD magic beans in any major grocery store, but nothing beats getting a hot cup (or iced if in the summer) right from the source.

All that said: the doughnuts at Dunkin Donuts... have always been an afterthought to me.
Sure I'd probably buy one to go with my coffee, but I was really there for the coffee. I think part of the reason is that there isn't a signature DD doughnut (donut? doughnut?) that I crave or NEED to seek out.
'Til now.

What am I getting at dear readers? Well Dunkin Donuts is having a CREATE DUNKIN'S NEXT DONUT CONTEST.

In the vein of a Mountain Dew "Dewmocracy" social-media-marketing experiment (of which I am willingly participating) and to celebrate 60 years of doughnut-making they asked the masses to design doughnuts, culled those down from 90,000 entries to a scant 12 finalists and now allow the rest of us to vote on what the next donut will be.

Why would I mention such a thing on HalloweenAddict.com?
Well it seems the good people of Hardwick, Massachusetts and Orlando, Florida LOVE their Halloween because they have submitted two well-named, deliciously-designed entries: the "Pumpkin to Pie-n For" and the "Snack-o-Lantern."

As a fan of Massachusetts, Halloween and clever names my choice is a no-brainer: The Snack-o-Lantern.
(Side note: the only thing that would make the Snack-o-Lantern better were if the icing were orange.)

If Snack-o-Lantern won, I would make specific travel plans to fly in, buy my cup of coffee and proclaim loudly and proudly that I would also like a Snack-o-Lantern with that.

So c'mon fellow Halloween Addicts... let's get a Halloween-themed doughnut mass produced!

Happy THE FOG Day! The Elizabeth Dane Wrecks 30 Years Ago...

2010-04-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

"11:55, almost midnight. Enough time for one more story.
One more story before 12:00, just to keep us warm.
In five minutes, it will be the 21st of April.
One hundred years ago on the 21st of April, out in the waters around Spivey Point, a small clipper ship drew toward land. Suddenly, out of the night, the fog rolled in. For a moment, they could see nothing, not a foot in front of them.
Then, they saw a light.
By God, it was a fire burning on the shore, strong enough to penetrate the swirling mist. They steered a course toward the light.
But it was a campfire, like this one.
The ship crashed against the rocks, the hull sheared in two, mars snapped like a twig.
The wreckage sank, with all the men aboard.
At the bottom of the sea, lay the Elizabeth Dane, with her crew, their lungs filled with salt water, their eyes open, staring to the darkness.
And above, as suddenly as it come, the fog lifted, receded back across the ocean and never came again.
But it is told by the fishermen, and their fathers and grandfathers, that when the fog returns to Antonio Bay, the men at the bottom of the sea, out in the water by Spivey Point will rise up and search for the campfire that led them to their dark, icy death.
[bells ring distantly]
12:00, the 21st of April."

So begins John Carpenter's classic ghost (or is it "underwater zombie"?) story: The Fog as told by John Houseman aka Mr. Machen.
I always like to mark this day when I can remember it.
If the events of the Elizabeth Dane and Antonio Bay were real, it would have happened 30 years ago. And in actuality The Fog turns 30 this year. THIRTY! Crazy.
So how to celebrate today?
Here's a few ideas:

1) Well like I've said in the past, I always like to pop in Carpenter's classic for a view. I'm always looking for new ways to enjoy films I've seen a number of times. Tying it to a date of the week, even if it's fictitious, sometimes gives it an extra spin that makes it fun. (It's only on DVD right now, Blu-Ray doesn't drop 'til May 12th...)

2) Order (or wear if you already own one) one of these great The Fog-inspired t-shirts.
From LastExitToNowhere.com is this KAB Radio Antonio Bay t-shirt. Exploit your inner horror geek while being camouflaged from the rest of the world. It's subtle and wonderful.

3) If you live in Northern California (or can fly like Superman) you can make a quick day trip to the REAL Antonio Bay which is actually Bodega Bay (amongst other places).
Sean Clark has a great article HERE on BloodyDisgusting.com chronicling the whereabouts of the actual shooting locations for The Fog.

4) Watch another The Fog-like film. No I'm not talking about that lousy remake. Something else like The Mist, or Silent Hill. Something moody. Something... well, FOGGY.

So get out there! The day's half-over! Unless you're waiting for the night.
Enough time for one more story.
One more story before 12:00.
Just to keep us warm...

RED, GREEN and BLU: A Nightmare on Elm Street Blu-Ray!

2010-04-16T17:17:00.000-07:00

No matter how you feel about your beloved horror classics being remade you can look forward to them for one reason alone: NEW HOME VIDEO RELEASES OF THOSE HORROR CLASSICS TO TIE IN TO THE THEATRICAL RELEASE!
Woo hoo!

Out on Tuesday came the first hi-def release of Wes Craven's classic A Nightmare on Elm Street on Blu-Ray and thanks to the good folks at Warner Bros., they sent me copy.
What do you get on the disc?
Is it worth picking up?
Who invented liquid soap and why?
Settle down, I'll talk you through this.

I'm not going to bother going over the plot of A Nightmare on Elm Street. I'm guessing that you've seen it so why retread what you know. If you HAVEN'T seen it the below contains SPOILERS so go rent or buy the original right now and introduce yourself to one the greatest slasher villains in horror history: Freddy Krueger.

How's it look?
This being my first Blu-Ray I gotta say--- it's pristine. I'm not a techie who's going to talk about black levels, grain appearance and how many channels the audio pipes through. If you want that breakdown head over to IGN.com, I'm sure they can help you out. I judge it by doing this simple thing: I pop in the disc and watch it on my flat screen.
Anyway, the movie looks great. Thanks to hi-def I can clearly read the Los Angeles street signs in the background, see the flower sticker on Nancy's mirror and spot the jack o' lantern decoration hidden in the basement at the climactic end. Fun!

Interesting things I had forgotten about A Nightmare on Elm Street or hadn't noticed before:

Lin Shaye, who will forever be burned into my brain as the super skanky Landlady in Kingpin, plays Nancy's Teacher in the Halloween-like classroom scene.
A factoid I always forget 'til I re-watch (and apparently Brian at HMAD didn't know at all) is that Charles Fleischer (the voice of Roger Rabbit) plays the doctor who's trying to figure out Nancy's nightmare problem.
When Nancy has the TV on trying to stay awake she's watching Sam Raimi's Evil Dead featuring a shot of Mr. Bruce Campbell himself.
Johnny Depp is really really really young in this movie.
The front door to the Elm Street house is blue in this movie. BLUE! I always thought it was red. Crazy.
The guy who plays Saxon's deputy also played the Sheriff in Craven's Scream. Neat!

I also tried to watch the film with an unbiased eye, thinking to myself, "If I were a teen today what would I go with and what would I think is bunk."

What Still Works:

The Freddy head coming out of the wall above Nancy's bed looks fantastic. Amazing what a well placed light and some latex can do. No CG needed. So simple and yet really unsettling.

Any dream stuff, for the most part. We've all had nightmares where things are odd: people talk in whispers for no reason.... leaves blow in the hallways... trying to run away is like running in quicksand. It works. The gags keep the audience off balance as to whether they're in reality or the dream world.

Freddy (or actually "Fred" in this film) is actually creepy. When Krueger chases Nancy in the boiler room in a sequence earlier in the film, the combination of his porkpie hat, baggy sweater and pants and burn make-up give the impression that the then 30-something Robert Englund was a creepy old gaunt villain with a penchant for toying with the minds of the young before dispatching them. Of the few lines spoken by Krueger, "This [while raising a clawed hand]... is God." certainly unsettles the viewer more than the puns that followed later in the franchise like "How's this for a wet dream?" (Don't get me wrong, I loved Nightmare 3 where the puns really took off. I'm just sayin'...) Freddy's also not front and center like the character he becomes in the later films. In fact his face is often concealed by shadows... by darkness... by jail cell bars and steam pipes. You never get a good look at the killer so your mind makes up anything scarier than what you could see.
The jump scares. There's a lot of them. Sure they're cheap. But that music sting got me a few times and made me giggle. Yes that's right. I giggled.
The rotating room gag. When Tina gets killed, with all the screaming she does... it's definitely unsettling. And the way the stunt was done was really brilliant. No CG. Pure mechanics and trickery.

What Doesn't Work:

Freddy clawing through the small window of the front door mimicking the mother's voice and then pulling off her face to reveal himself. Doesn't work at all. It looks like a crappy mask and the lips don't move. I'm sure they could do this better with CG.
Freddy chopping his fingers off then the piddly squirting that happens afterward. Not scary... annnnd a little silly looking.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
If you're a film buff like me Special Features on a DVD make or break your purchase. Well this has got plenty of them. Now, in full honesty, from what I can see these are the same special features that are on the Infinifilm edition. The only difference is that you get a great hi-def transfer of the film. But that's ok because the extras are great and the transfer is great. Win/win.

You've got two commentaries. Commentary one is ported over from the Nightmare boxed set from 1999 (and apparently THAT is ported from the Laserdisc). It features Director Wes Craven, Actress Heather Langenkamp, Cinematographer Jacques Haitkin and Actor John Saxon. It's a good commentary. I'm a commentary snob and can attest to this being a good one. They all take turns talking, not overlapping much. There's a nice mix of stories from the set, technical specs, and reminiscing.

The second commentary is touted as "new" but is a port from the Infinifilm double disc DVD release. It's made up of on-camera interviews that have been stitched together and laid in to relate to the picture. It sounds odd but it works and a benefit because you get to hear from various members of the cast and crew who may not all have fit into a recording booth for a live commentary.

You also get:

A mini doc called "The House that Freddy Built" that goes into how Elm Street MADE New Line. It's an informative, interesting watch for cinephiles.
"Night Terrors" is a mini doc on sleep disorders and nightmares. Stuff like this is an interesting watch given the subject matter but I find they don't pay off as much as a full delve into the subject would.
"Never Sleep Again" is the crown jewel and really goes deep into the film and the legacy the series left. If you're already a fan and have read a lot of trivia and watched a lot of making-ofs there might not be too much new for you here. But it's good to have it all in one documentary.
"Alternate Endings" & "Trivia Challenge" are exactly what you'd think.

Should you get it?
In a word: Yes.
It's a great deal. For $16.99 (on Amazon) you get a hi-def version of a classic horror film along with all the great special features from the best release of this classic thus far.

Horror Movies for an April Fool's Day

2010-04-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

Happy April Fool's Day!
No prank posts here at Halloween Addict today, I'm just looking for a reason to post on a weird "holiday" like today.

Originally I was just going to suggest a viewing of the classic horror slasher April Fool's Day. You've got choices of course: the original from 1986, which puts it smack-dab in the middle of the slasher genre's golden years... or the remake from 2008.

If you made your decision from poster artwork alone, I think the original would be your choice. The remake artwork seems to be using cleavage to distract you from the fact that it's an inferior 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Regardless of your choice, the Amazon links are below so you can pick up whichever strikes your fancy.

I started this post with "Originally I was just going to suggest a viewing..." I say "Originally" because I found a great post by Casey over on BloodyDisgusting.com of "10 Horror Movie Pranks Gone Wrong." It's a good post and gives a few other options for April Fool's Day-related horror films to check out. Careful on your read-thru if you haven't seen some of the films. There be SPOILERS.

REVIEW: "Hausu" or "House" - A Japanese Haunted House Film on Acid

2010-03-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

What the Alamo Drafthouse is to Austin, The New Beverly Cinema is to Los Angeles: a gem of a revival movie theater that's been going strong since 1978 and with a little help from Mr. Quentin Tarantino, hopefully way into the future. Thanks to a tip from Brian Collins of Horror Movie A Day fame, last night I went to see a 1977 film called House (or Hausu) there.

No relation to the 1986 Steve Miner directed, William Katt starrer film of the same name, House could simply be defined as a "Japanese haunted house horror picture."
That simple definition would be given if you had a gun to my head and said "You need to define this film in 5 words so that any idiot will know what it's about!" The real story is that this film defies explanation.

Take Evil Dead, add in copious amounts of nonsensical Anime dialogue and late 70s special effects, shake in some Terry Gilliam-esque animation, wind it up to Run Lola Run speed and put it all on a burner set to "explode."
You will see things you've never seen.

You will see a man turn into a pile of bananas.
You will see a piano eat a person.
You will see a freaky cat painting vomit blood.
You will see a lampshade kill a girl.
You will see a bear wear a uniform.
You will see a witch disappear into a refrigerator.
You will see a disembodied head bite a girl in the butt.
You will see more than that.

The film is certainly a fun watch and at 87 minutes will be over before you know what hit you. Film buffs will see where other directors from De Palma to Raimi got some of their ideas. (I'm now convinced the Evil Dead franchise was influenced by this film.)

I really don't know what else to say except SEE IT. It'll be an experience you can brag about to your other film aficionado and horror fan friends.
Don't believe me? Check out the trailer HERE or in the embed below:

As it's not available on DVD in the U.S. (though numerous fan sites have predicted its release this year) your best bet to check it out is on Janus's brand new print theatrical tour. See the list HERE and certainly go see it should it hit your city. Got a region free DVD player and can't wait? Then go to the Amazon link below to snag the UK Region 2 import.

If you have seen it, lived to tell the tale and want the merch to display as your badge of honor, check out the Criterion store for men's and women's t-shirts or the glorious demonic cat-visage poster HERE.

This Weekend: Horror Movies on TV

2010-03-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

As one of the first weekends in some time without a horror movie being released theatrically, those looking for some scary to watch should look no further than the warm glowing, warming-glow of their nearby flatscreen TV.

MTV's Home is Where the Horror Is:
MTV continues their experiment into the Saturday night horror movie-thon by airing James Gunn's Slither on Saturday night. As someone who really enjoyed the Dawn of the Dead remake written by Gunn, (relax, I love the original too) I can't believe I still haven't seen his horror directorial debut about alien slugs.

I think MTV's programming idea is pretty great. In a day and age when you don't really get destination programming much anymore, plunking down on the couch for a horror movie every Saturday night is definitely something I can get behind.
Here's the schedule they've had:

2/13 House of Wax
2/20 The Amityville Horror
2/27 Land of the Dead
3/6 The Hills Have Eyes
3/13 Slither
3/20 Deep Blue Sea
3/27 House of the Devil

Not a bad little line-up.
Plus you're getting modern movies that aren't complete crap or ancient direct-to-video garbage.
For instance Ti West's House of the Devil airs at the end of the month. That's only been on DVD for like a month!

Yes there will be commercials, but looking at the below plug it looks like we're still getting the gore.

Turner Classic Movies:
Thanks to a tip from Vinnie Rattolle's Blog HERE, you can check out Turner Classic Movie's more classic horror fare like Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Them! and --the most interesting-- Shanks.
What's Shanks?
It's only schlock-meister William Castle's last film starring Marcel Marceau. Piqued your curiosity?
The plot revolves around Marceau playing dual roles as both a deaf-mute puppeteer and a scientist who learn to manipulate the dead like marionettes. Not available on video so set your DVRs to check out this rare-seen classic. Read Vinnie's write-up HERE.

SyFy Channel (the artist formerly known as "Sci-Fi Channel"):
Look let me lay it on you right now: We're not getting an Evil Dead 4.
Bruce Campbell is too old.
Sam Raimi is too busy.
And have we not learned anything from the new Star Wars films?
Be careful what you wish for... you just... might... get it.
Soooooo time to pass the torch to the new crop of wise-cracking horror movie bass-asses.
Enter Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer. If I had to summarize: What if Mario (minus Luigi) fought Freddy Krueger?
I have not seen this movie and I have heard mixed reports from "It's fun" to "Terrible, dude."
Regardless, I have seen the trailer and I see what they're trying to do and why not chance a no-risk free-watch on television? SyFy has gotcha covered on Sunday.

Following up directly after that is the man himself, Bruce Campbell, doing his best Bruce Campbell doing a Don Coscarelli impression in My Name is Bruce. I have not seen this movie EITHER and I have heard mixed reports from "It's fun" to "Terrible, dude." Regardless, I have seen the trailer and I see what he's trying to do and why not chance a no-risk free-watch on television?
Whoah... deja vu.

So there are my picks. Give 'em a watch and report back in the comments on Monday and let me know what you thought.

Rest in Peace: Corey Haim

2010-03-10T12:16:00.000-08:00

Boy the 80s have really lost a number of its icons. In the past year we've had Patrick Swayze, John Hughes, Captain Lou Albano, Michael Jackson, Ken Ober (Remote Control), Farrah Fawcett taken from us... and now Corey Haim
My childhood is dying off!

Why profile Corey Haim on Halloween Addict?
Well mainly because, as I've mentioned HERE I make a habit of watching The Lost Boys every October and summer. It's part of my Halloween horror movie rotation, a fun horror film and probably the only movie from Joel Schumacher that I return to.
So I'm going to be a little sad when I pop that disc in this coming summer and hear Sam say to his brother "You're a vampire I knew it!"
Michael: "I am not!"
Sam: "So what are you? The Flying Nun?!"
-sigh-

Corey had a couple other horror movies under his belt, but nothing that stuck with me like The Lost Boys.
There was the movie adaptation of Stephen King's Cycle of the Werewolf, Silver Bullet, a movie I didn't see until about 5 years ago and thought was pretty mediocre (A Stephen King movie mediocre? Gasp.) Maybe the 13-year-old me would have liked it better.

(UPDATE: I just rewatched Silver Bullet as a final farewell to Corey and I've changed my mind. It's a charming little werewolf movie that's very much in step with other 80s-vibe horror movies. AND the final confrontation takes place on a full moon Halloween night. What's NOT to like?!)

I DO remember the illustration from King's Cycle of the Werewolf with the guy getting his cheek torn off. I would pull the book off the library shelf, flip the illustration and be both fascinated and disgusted at the same time. But I digress.

Then there was Watchers which I know I saw back in the day but for the life of me, can't remember a thing about.

Lastly I'm going to mention my 80s guilty pleasure License to Drive. I watched the CRAP outta License to Drive and can still recite the DMV Instructor's monologue word for word.
Not only do you get BOTH Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, but you get Richard Masur (Clark from John Carpenter's The Thing) and a very young Heather Graham. Not a bad line-up for an 80s teen comedy.

Mourn the loss. And maybe celebrate the Corey we still have with a viewing of The Lost Boys 2: The Tribe.
Mmmok maybe not.

UPDATED: Oscar Night: Academy Awards Tribute to Horror Movies

2010-03-07T23:00:00.000-08:00

If you watched the Academy Awards last night you may have noticed a number of nods to the horror genre, some subtle, some overt. But for a genre that is so often snubbed by Oscar it was refreshing to see nods at all.

First there was an honorary Oscar for Mr. Roger Corman. For those who don't know who Roger Corman is: after William Castle but before Troma--there was Roger Corman. The man directed over 50 films and produced more than 300. Not to mention starting the careers of such folk as: Jack Nicholson (duh), Gale Anne Hurd (Producer Aliens), Joe Dante (Director Gremlins, The Howling), Jonathan Demme (Director The Silence of the Lambs... in which Roger has a cameo), James Horner (Composer Avatar, Aliens), Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, etc. etc.

If you've never read How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime by Roger it's an educational and entertaining must-read for anybody interested in the filmmaking business (link to Amazon is below). You'll get some great anecdotes about some classic B movies like Deathrace 2000.
It was good to see Mr. Corman get some recognition for not only being a consistently successful filmmaker, B-movies or not, but starting the careers of many who have gone on to continue to make magic.

Then there was the "Tribute to Horror Movies." It began with a parody of Paranormal Activity featuring Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.
The bit wasn't bad.
It didn't pull an SNL and go on too long and got out when it got its biggest laugh (A sleep-walking Steve slapping an asleep Alec Baldwin). Oh: Spoiler alert.

Then they waltzed in the kiddies: Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner from Twilight. Kristen was her usual ticky self even turning her head to hack in the middle of her shpiel. And the shpiel went something like this:
"It's been 37 long years since horror had its place on this show when The Exorcist picked up two Academy Awards..."
Whoah. Wait.

I guess they're forgetting The Silence of the Lambs which, like it or not, IS a horror film.
Sure they'll call it an "adult thriller" but what's the movie really about?
A cannibalistic serial killer who is used to track another serial killer.
Hell, the 3rd Act of the film is a frightened woman trapped in a darkened basement with a killer.
Guess what my friend... that's a horror movie.
And to further drive home my point, clips from Silence of the Lambs were featured in the Horror Tribute!
The defense rests, your Honor.

Well maybe the fact checker was asleep when it came time for intros, but how was the tribute itself?
I was pretty happy.
(There's a few I don't recognize and I've thrown screen-grabs next to them so chime in if you know what 35, 51, 57, 65, and 90 are from. UPDATE: All mysteries are solved. Thanks to all who chimed in and set me straight.)

Here's a run down of the 100+ shots included in the piece:
1) The opening scene of Jaws with the female swimmer.
Then... the 'shadow' montage:
2) A Nightmare on Elm Street - Shadow of Freddy on the wall.
3) Child's Play - Shadow of Chucky on the floor with knife.
4) The Exorcist - Iconic image of a silhouetted Father Merrin in front of the house with light coming out of the window.
5) Bram Stoker's Dracula - Shadow of Vlad on wall.

Then there was the 'Knife' montage...
6) The shower scene from Psycho.
7) Halloween - Michael raises his knife.
8) Knife glinting in the night from Scream.
9) Poltergeist: Carol Anne in front of a snowy TV "They're heeeere."
10) Johnny Depp from A Nightmare on Elm Street giving 'scary hands.' This shot doesn't make any sense but, hey, everybody loves Johnny Depp, right?

Then the 'Haunted Houses' montage...
11) House on the hill from Pscyho.
12) Bates Motel from Psycho.
13) Eyes of The Amityville Horror house.
14) The Shining hotel in the night snow.
15) Jack swinging the axe into the door from The Shining "Wendy. I'm home."

Then the 'Faces of Horror' montage...
16) Ghostface from Scream.
17) Pinhead from Hellraiser.
18) Jason from Friday the 13th Part 3. (A good choice. It was when he first got the hockey mask. The red stripes are bright. No axe gouge in the head yet. And he certainly was not yet back from the dead.)
19) Jigsaw puppet on TV from Saw.
20) Hannibal Lecter restrained with mask and straight jacket from The Silence of the Lambs. (Seeeee??? HORROR MOVIE!)
21) Michael Myers walking in the dark from Halloween. (It seems like any Halloween shots were so dark you could barely make out it was The Shape at all.)
22) The Queen alien hissing from Aliens.
23) Leprechaun. Why include THIS? Ummm... I'm guessing so they can include Jennifer Aniston later in the 'stars of horror montage'... just wait...
24) Chucky with knife raised from Child's Play.

Then the 'Running away' montage...
25) Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. One of THE worst TCM's ever. EVER. EEEEEVER. Why include this one? See Leprechaun above.
26) Ash running from unseen forces The Evil Dead. Yay! Ash!
27) Wendy running toward elevator from The Shining.
28) Danny running through hedge maze from The Shining.
29) Tina running from Freddy --into Freddy's arms! Blammo! A Nightmare on Elm Street.
30) Freddy close-up from A Nightmare on Elm Street. They cut right before he says "THIS is god."
31) Anthony Perkins as Mother in the dress. Psycho
32) Samara looks through her hair from The Ring.
33) Rosemary's Baby "What have you done to him you maniacs!"
34) Misery: Kathy Bates says "It's for the best." Then she swings that sledge hammer. Oof. Gets me every time.

'Old school horror' montage...

35) Black and White film with a dead rat on a silver platter.
Somebody help! What's this from?! I got nothin'!
UPDATE: Thanks to Frog Queen for letting me know this is Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Which I still need to see.
36) Nosferatu
37) Phantom of the Opera
38) The Hunchback of Notre Dame
39) Dracula
40) The Wolfman
41) The Mummy

Then the 'Frankenstein' montage...
42) Dr. Frankenstein "It's alive!" from Frankenstein.
43) Frankenstein's monster from Frankenstein.
44) Bride of Frankenstein
45) Deniro as Frankenstein's monster from Kenneth Branagh's Frankenstein.
46) Peter Boyle as the monster from Young Frankenstein.
47) Clooney punches Tarantino in the face from From Dusk Till Dawn. Clip seems weird to feature. I'm sure it's just because both were in attendance from nominations.
48) Beetlejuice - Keaton says "What do you think of this?" Blargh!
49) Sleepy Hollow - The Headless Horseman rides through forest.
50) Tippy and kids run from the schoolhouse. The Birds

51) Blood on walls and stairs. I got nothin' on this too. Is it Amityville? Help!
UPDATE: Anonymous commenter confirmed this is from The Amityville Horror.
51) Vlad laughing. Bram Stoker's Dracula
52) Night of the Living Dead - zombies on the lawn.

'And then the screaming starts'-montage...
53) Mom surfacing with corpses. Poltergeist
54) Katrina Van Tassel screaming. Sleepy Hollow
55) Psycho - The shower scream.
56) Naomi Watts screaming. The Ring

57) What is this? Dark haired, wet woman screaming in front of a broken mirror. Got nothin'...
UPDATE: The Mike let me know this is from Dark Water. I always thought the trailer looked cool, but it didn't get very good reviews. Still may see it someday.
58) Drew Barrymore screams while holding the phone. Scream
59) Courtney Cox screams. Scream
60) Halloween - Jamie Lee Curtis screams
61) The blood bed geyser from A Nightmare on Elm Street.

The 'Dentists Are Horrible People' montage...
62) Steve Martin looking at shiny dentist tools from Little Shop of Horrors.
63) Jack Nicholson "No novacaine. it dulls the senses" from Roger Corman's original Little Shop of Horrors.
64) Dustin Hoffman squirming in the chair from Marathon Man.

65) Some woman looking through slices of light. I got nothin' on this too. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
UPDATE: Anonymous commenter says this is Renee Zellweger from Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation or The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Different titles for the same crappy movie.

The 'We All Gotta Start Somewhere' or 'Stars of Horror' montage...
66) Steve McQueen The Blob
67) Kristen Stewart Twilight - Booooo! Not needed!

68) Matthew McConaughey - Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. Seriously this film is bad. AND to add to the travesty? The only TCM movie I've seen in the theater. Holy crap.
69) Jennifer Aniston - Leprechaun.
70) Winona Ryder - Beetlejuice Um... sayyyyy whatever happened to Winona Ryder? Oh right she was Spock's mom. Riiiiight.

71) Tom Cruise - Interview with the Vampire Whatever happened to THAT guy, huh?

72) Brad Pitt - Interview with the Vampire
73) Sigourney Weaver - Aliens
74) Johnny Depp - Edward Scissorhands Edward Scissorhands? That's not a horror movie, dude. Is it because you used the boogey-boogey hands clip from Nightmare on Elm Street earlier?
75) Kevin Bacon - Friday the 13th Because everything is better with Bacon.

The 'horror catch phrase' montage...
76) Danny riding his Big Wheel into the twins "Come play with us Danny. Forever."
77) Haley Joel Osment saying "I see dead people" - The Sixth Sense I don't care what happened to M. Night... this is a superb movie. Even when you know the twist.
78) Paranormal Activity - The final shot. Isn't it bad enough they spoiled this in the trailer? Jeeeeeez.
79) Zoom on 'Murder' in the mirror from The Shining.
80) Knife raised from Friday the 13th Part 2.

The 'surprise' montage...
81) Bram Stoker's Dracula - Girl looks afraid on the bed when a were-bat drops down in front of camera.
82) Alien - The chest burst.
83) Friday the 13th Part 2 window burst.
84) Leatherface with chainsaw from what I can only guess is TCM: NG. Cripes that movie is bad.
85) Salma Hayek morphs into a snake-woman in From Dusk Till Dawn.
86) Body spin in chair at the end of Psycho.
87) The Exorcist - Regan flops back and forth on the bed.
88) Carrie gets the bucket of blood dropped on her in Carrie.
89) Blood pours out of the elevator in The Shining.

90) Centipede crawling out of woman's mouth. What's this? The Ring? I can't tell!
UPDATE: Stacie "Final Girl" Ponder nailed this first: it's from A Nightmare on Elm Street. Centipede coming out of dead Tina's mouth.
91) The theatre exodus from The Blob.
92) Rats fleeing through the tunnel in 28 Days Later.
93) Iconic Heather Donahue close-up shot from The Blair Witch Project.
94) Clarice starling opens a door slowly from The Silence of the Lambs.
95) Bruce Willis lays shot on the bed. The Sixth Sense What's the statute of limitations on spoilers?
96) Gregory Peck about to stab. The Omen
97) Scream - Randy, Gale and Sidney stand over a body. Randy: "This is the moment when the supposedly dead killer comes back to life."

'Lurching forward jump-scare' montage...
98) Skeet Ulrich lurches forward. - Scream
99) Hannibal Lecter charges with his teeth bared - The Silence of the Lambs
100) Bruce the shark jumps out of the water - Jaws

So they ended as they came in.
Jaws to Jaws.
The circle of life.
Not a bad little piece. I certainly think they hit the major milestone classics. I should also mention that the Tribute contained the iconic music tracks from the following films:
1) Jaws theme by John Williams
2) Psycho by Bernard Herrman.

3) Tubular bells from The Exorcist.
4) Halloween by John Carpenter.

It was pretty neat. Just look at the reaction shot of Quentin Tarantino after it ended. He looks pleased.

I can't think of any other soundtrack I would have NEEDED in that montage. Except maybe Friday the 13th's by Mancini.

Didn't see the Oscars?
Well stop punching yourself in the face and go HERE to the YouTube video as long as the link lasts.

UPDATED: Abraham Lincoln: President, Patriot... Vampire Hunter.

2010-03-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

Let's play a game. I'll say a name and you free associate.
Abraham Lincoln.

You say:
President.
On the Five Dollar Bill.
Assassinated.
Freed the slaves.
Four score and seven years ago.
Stove pipe hat.
Gettysburg Address.
Tall.
Vampire Hunter.

Whoah... what?

Debuting in book stores TODAY is the secret journal of our 16th President detailing his battle with the undead. Written by Seth Grahame-Smith who wrote a little book called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies --maybe you've heard of it-- his follow up to that literary juggernaut: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter takes a slant on the history/horror mash-up wrapping true events around a vampire mythology.

I smell movie adaptation on this one. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is already entering production with an up and coming actress by the name of Natalie Portman. But who should play the tall and bearded one?
I got one answer for you:
Bruce Campbell.
The man has already played an undead-battling Elvis and has fought legions of evil dead so he already knows how to wear sideburns and wield an axe.
Seems a perfect fit to me.

You can watch the Official book TRAILER (Books have trailers? Really?! Well THIS one does.) HERE.
And you can buy Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in hardcover through the Amazon links below.

UPDATED: Well THIS didn't take very long:
The Hollywood Reporter is, er, 'reporting' that Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) are teaming up to produce Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for the big screen.
Check out the deets HERE.
I tell you what: HalloweenAddict.com will be first to report that Seth Grahame-Smith's next book, unwritten at this time, is already releasing a Criterion DVD. Yes, the window is that small now that it's existing outside of space and time.

The Crazies opens TODAY!

2010-02-26T11:32:00.000-08:00

"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!

2010-02-25T11:30:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-02-23T13:03:00.000-08:00

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.

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