Let's Talk About Horror Fiction and Film

[RJDiogenes]

The two pictures with Emily Blunt also seem to imply a two-legged Wolfman.

No final verdict on Monstrous yet; I took a break to read Consider Phlebas and some other things. That's no reflection on the book-- although I Posted about the editorial problems earlier-- because I do that with all anthologies. I have a habit of dipping into anthologies periodically and have a whole bunch that I haven't finished yet. What I've read of it so far is fun, though; the spelling and grammatical errors are a bit grating, but even the amateurish stories are enjoyable-- sort of like reading fan fiction. Actually, it's kind of appropriate, since these are homages to B-Movies.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Here's the Wolf Man trailer. It's definitely a two-legged Wolf Man, and it looks like they decided against mucking with Baker's design, which is a relief.

There are also a bunch of new stills here.

I still wish they hadn't gone CGI with his transformation--Baker was pretty vocal about his wishes to do it with practical effects, but the trailer itself looks a lot better than I'd expected. There are a couple of flashes in there of stuff I don't understand, but I'm keeping an open mind.

It has a Hammer-like quality to it, which I like. Del Toro's got the tormented Talbot thing down. I was kind of afraid they'd go the modern werewolf route and start off with him enjoying the transformations, feeling invigorated, etc. (That wasn't based on anything I'd heard about the film, it was just in the back of my mind.)

 

[RJDiogenes]

I was thinking Hammer, too, when looking at the stills earlier; especially this one.

The cinematography is beautiful. It's going to look great, if nothing else. It obviously bears no resemblance to the original, so I wish they had just changed the names.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Finally, Trick 'r Treat is available for pre-order.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Thanks, I've just placed my order. I haven't been buying many DVDs lately (trying to catch up on the ones I already own ), but I can't resist that one.

Another tempting pre-order is Phantasm II, which is finally getting its DVD release on September 15th. This one has been a really long time coming. There was some legal hold-up, so we had Phantasms 1, 3 and 4, but the second one had been annoyingly absent.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Hmm, that's weird....

I can't resist Trick 'r Treat, either. Looks classic. That and House Of Wolfman are what I really want to see this Halloween.

 

[SilentP]

Anyone got any suggestions for good horror fiction? Especially those with a sci-fi mix to them?

 

[RJDiogenes]

Well, technically, anything by Lovecraft is SF Horror. So is Frankenstein. SF Horror is also the theme of Apex Magazine, so you might be interested in that; they also publish books, so you might see something interesting in their catalogue.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

What are some examples of sci fi horror that you've liked in the past, SilentP?

 

[SilentP]

That's the problem, apart from reading some of Lovecraft's stuff, I haven't read any, so I don't have any ball park to work with. I forget that Frakenstein is technicially a SF Horror, shows how little I know of the genre I guess having a browse Apex Magazine to begin with may help.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Duh, I don't know why I didn't think of it right away. Earlier in the thread, I was praising Scott Sigler's Infected.

Infected: A Novel by Scott Sigler. This was an intense little read, and one of my favorites of the year. It's about these [alien] spores that infect people and turn them into murderous lunatics. At first glance, that sounds like a 28 Days Later scenario, but there are no zombies here. The book follows poor, poor Perry Dawsey from the moment of his infection to the inevitable results. Some parts of this book were just brutal, but it was quite a page-turner, and Sigler's not afraid to go straight for pulp.

Here's the description from Publishers Weekly:

In Sigler's riveting horror thriller, alien seeds from outer space infect a number of unlucky humans, who develop some unusual symptoms—itchy, blue triangular growths on their skin—that eventually result in the carriers becoming screaming, homicidal maniacs. CIA agent Dew Phillips must find out why these formerly docile citizens are running amok, aided by Margaret Montoya, a Centers for Disease Control epidemiologist, who reported the first of the strange cases. One of the infected, former football player Perry Dawsey, doesn't take any crap from anybody, not even the aliens residing in his body. Sigler (Ancestor) leads the reader from one startling detail to the next—the creatures learn to speak (feed us we hungry); they grow little black eyes—until even hardened genre fans will find themselves whimpering at each new revelation. This terrifying page-turner could be the author's breakout book, fueled by an extensive online podcast campaign.

And if you like that, the sequel, Contagious, is available. I haven't read that one yet, but you'll want to avoid the descriptions, as they're pretty spoilery about the first book.

 

[SilentP]

Cheers for the suggestion, that one's been added to the Amazon cart

Some of the Apex Magazine entries they've got on the site are interesting, but I haven't seem to find any that are real horrors, but perhaps I haven't dug deep enough or in the right places yet.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

You won't have to worry about that with Infected. There's some intense stuff in there. It's a great ride; there are even several moments that made me laugh aloud. It's been a while since a novel has made me do that and given me some pretty intense moments of dread.

Lots of "Oh no, he's not gonna ... oh God, he IS!"

 

[RJDiogenes]

Returned to the comic shop today and they did indeed find me a copy of new Creepy #1. Dark Horse has completely retained the format of the original (excepting the size), which is the type of respectful treatment I'd expect from DH. The art ranges from okay to good to excellent (Hillary Barta); I haven't read it yet, but I have high hopes for it.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

There was only one I didn't really care for. I'll have to look at it again to see which.

 

[RJDiogenes]

It was good, with some weak spots. The Nazi story was compromised by the artist not having any sense of storytelling whatsoever, and the "Fat Farm" story was a good idea badly executed. The reprint was good, but anticlimactic; I wonder if there was ever a sequel. Speaking of which, I'm glad they're continuing the first story; it's an interesting premise.

All in all, a good continuation of the original, so far.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Annoyingly, but not unexpectedly, The Wolf Man Special Edition is delayed until February because of the remake's delay. It was supposed to ship today, and when I didn't get a shipping notification, I checked Amazon and saw the "This title has not yet been released" bit. A peek into the sole review's comments confirmed the delay.

I was really hoping to watch all of those special features in October. Oh, well. They'd just better not screw with Trick 'r Treat.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I'm also worried about House Of Wolfman. There's still no sign of it on Amazon.

At least Trick 'r Treat seems pretty solid at this point, knock on wood.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I don't think House of the Wolf Man will be on DVD by October. The premiere is going to be October 1st.

250 seats have been allocated for the public to attend the cast and crew screening of House of the Wolf Man. You can watch the film with the cast and crew as they see it for the first time.

Thurs., Oct. 1st, 2009
The Vista Theatre
4473 Sunset Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Doors open at 9:00pm

So it's completed, but I'll be surprised if they crank out the DVD before Hallowe'en.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Ack, I thought it was supposed to go on sale in October.

Oh, well, better to be disappointed earlier rather than later, I guess. They'll probably synchronize this with the remake as well.