Interviewing Yildiray Cinar and Mahmud Asrar!

New Face To Greg! I interviewed two fantastic artists, Yildiray Cinar and Mahmud Asrar. Check it out!

http://www.bludblood.com/content/view/707/51/

YES!!!!!! GIMME SOME STATIC!!!!!

STATIC SHOCK: REBIRTH OF THE COOL TP
Written by Dwayne McDuffie and Robert L. Washington III
Art by John Paul Leon and Steve Mitchell
Cover by John Paul Leon
Static, currently appearing in TEEN TITANS, is back in this new collection of classic stories from his hit Milestone series!
When a mutagenic gas accidentally gave him superhuman abilities, Virgil Hawkins was reborn as Static, the electrically powered teen Super Hero. And while Static tries to balance the pressures of his school work, after-school job and family life, he also protects his inner city neighborhood against villains including Holocaust and Commando X. Collecting STATIC #1-4 and STATIC SHOCK!: REBIRTH OF THE COOL #1-4.
Advance-solicited; on sale May 27 • 192 pg, FC, $19.99 US

Sippin Poet: Hmmm...

There’s nothing.
There is nothing to be said or thought of
Nothing but the burden of stillness.
Emotions being emotionless
And thoughts sitting by like the unblown sands.
There’s no real need to try to understand
Or any type of drive to walking on forward
Or a light or even darkness to run towards.
So what now?
A sense to finally be mentally at peace?
Headache finally at ceased?
A bit of slight R&R for the next few hours
Until hours are up and it’s back to being sour.
So for this moment I’ll be still.
Still with no real need or want to be filled.
Cause being alone in silence can be a reward
But at the same time… a double edged sword…

Oh, The Horror! #22: Gravedancers

I watched this with my godbrother, Rony, a few weeks back but never got to write my review. This was a strange one. A rather strange one. Dominic Purcell stars in this horror movie as a happily married man named Harris who reconnect with two of his older friends, Harris and Kira, after another one from their group passes away. After his wife, Allison, leaves him to be with his friends, one of them being his ex, they go back later in the night to their recently deceased friend's grave and drink to him, remembering old times, etc. Later on, Sid finds a letter in which he reads from. In reality, this letter is a curse which he misinterpretations to be a letter telling them to live life up and dance. So, well... they dance. Of course later on, the three of them start to get haunted by ghosts. Harris is haunted by a creepy looking woman who plays the piano and tries to kill you with an ax, Sid by a little boy who's obsessed with fire, and Kira is haunted by a sadistic man who loved to torture women when he was alive. These ghosts were the graves that the three friends danced on.

Although not particularly a great movie, there are in fact some enjoyable bits. The acting was a bit sub-par, characters I didn't feel were developed too well or the actors I just didn't care too much for although I thought Allison, played by Clare Kramer (Glory for the Buffy fans) was the more likable and believable character and Kira, played by Josie Moran, was lovely eye candy. A lot of it being a rather original script. And the make-up for the ghosts really adds to the creepiness and fun of watching. The ghosts always seem to have this extremely creepy smile to them and they just look... aww man. Sick. I read a bit of back ground on this movie and director Mike Mendez mentions how he had a dream where he was haunted by ghosts and they were smiling instead of the typical rage-ful looking monsters. That inspired their look for this movie. And I think it worked well in the movie. It was definitely the best part of the movie and a lot of the scary scenes were damn scary. I wouldn't fully recommend this film, maybe if you had nothing to do and needed to pass the time. Overall, you won't be too bored. Still some pleasing elements in the end.

I interviewed Phil Hester!

A link to my recent article where I interview Phil Hester where we discuss his books Golly!, Firebreather, and the Darkness and discuss plenty more. Kool guy, check it out.

http://www.bludblood.com/content/view/700/51/

I interviewed Phil Hester!

A link to my recent article where I interview Phil Hester where we discuss his books Golly!, Firebreather, and the Darkness and discuss plenty more. Kool guy, check it out.

http://www.bludblood.com/content/view/700/51/

Dead Snow Trailer

Okay, this movie looks awesome!!

Oh, The Horror! #21: Ava Adore by The Smashing Pumpkins

A band I really got into recently by my dear bud, tokka. I've had their Adore album for a few years but never seen a video from it until maybe a month ago. I freakin' fell in love with their Ava Adore album. Such a beautiful piece of art in my opinion, nice lil' horror nods and imagery.

Some nice little tid-bits about the video from wiki:
-The video, filmed in one long take, is notable for its use of slow and fast motion while the speed of the camera is apparently static, and the band continues to lipsync to the song in perfect rhythm. The calculations required to work out the speed changes caused massive delays on set, causing the band to nearly call off the entire plan.

Return of Face To Greg with various guest stars!

I ask various comic creators about that one significant comic book, series, creator, etc that influenced them to start thinking of becoming creators themselves. Tell me what you think!

http://www.bludblood.com/content/view/694/1/

Oh, The Horror! #20: Blade

One of my all time favorite comic book characters, the bad-ass Blade. If I was given the chance to write any book for Marvel, it'd most likely be Blade. There's just something about him. A bad-ass half-vampire who can dish out some sick martial arts moves to take out those creepy crawlies that stalk in the shadows. His head is focused on one thing: killing the vamps. And on top of that, he has their thirsts. He can easily slip and become one of them, but with enough self-control and a focused hatred against that kind, he instead works to protect the world from them. And the guy's a riot also. "Motherf'ker, are you outta your damn mind?!" Ha! I still crack up every time I hear that line delivered by Wesley Snipes when he's shot at by cops in a hospital.

In my last entry, I wrote a review about "The Unborn." The writer/director of that movie is the writer of the Blade movies. And like I mentioned in that previous entry, when other directors seem to have his script, they do a wonderful job in crafting it into the big screen. Directed by Stephen Norrington, we are transferred into a dark world where vampires exist, living in the underworld in their own sacred hierarchy where they have connections everywhere that include nightclubs, politics, and the police. Then enters Blade. A hard-hitting half-man/half vampire who hunts the vampires along with his mentor and closes thing to a father-figure, Whistler, played by Kris Kristofferson. We are also introduced to Karen Jensen, a hematologist who gets bitten by a vampired named Quinn who was burned earlier by Blade. Karen, played bad-assly by sexy N'Bushe Wright, is our every-woman who brings us into this crazy world that is just below the surface if we just open up our minds. Karen gets directly involved in the essential plot as she begins to help Blade with a strong serum to suppress his thirst for blood and she also creates nice batches of serums that explodes suck-heads and even cures herself from vamperism. Sheesh. And she was a tough lil' cookie who was able to stand with Blade in battle and interrogations.

So yes, we got the heroes down and a brief mention of Quinn, the main villain's second in command. We are also introduced to Deacon Frost, played by Stephen Dorff, who sees humans as simply cattle, food to vampires. He speaks against the elder vampires who plan out all the rules and who disregard him for what they see as "stupidity" as Frost presents his ideas to bring forth La Magra, an ancient vampire god. With the rise of the vampire god, vampires will be back on top and the humans will all be food. But there's one problem. Blade. Yep, Blade is the Boogeyman! And he's coming to get you! Heh, sorry, got over excited there. But yes, the rivalry between Deacon and Blade is actually a lot of fun to watch. Everyone in this movie is a lot of fun to watch. While you're awed due to the fights and effects, you're laughing and smiling due to how much the characters stand out. It generally is a fun action film to watch and you don't need to be dumb to enjoy it. Snipes is Blade in this movie and I don't think Blade wouldn't have been as much of a success without Snipes there playing him, producing the film, and choreography of the fights. Also, this was the film that got Marvel to notice that they could make more movies like this hence us soon getting X-Men and Spider-Man after wards. This movie also appeals to many. If you like a good solid plot, you can get into this. If you like horror, you can get into it. Heck, martial arts, all out action, bullet time, whatever it is. Just go and pick this movie up and see why I love this character so much. You most likely will not regret it. And c'mon. Who doesn't love that blood bath scene at the beginning?

My Bloody Valentine 3D Trailer

I've only seen this trailer today (movie comes out next week) but been seeing the posters on numerous occasions on walls, subways, etc. Someone on a message board was talking about it and how excited he was so I decided to check out the trailer. Looks alright, could be good fun. How often do you go to see a 3D Horror flick? I guess I'll check it out. Plus, it has awesome Jensen Ackles from Supernatural in it!

Oh, The Horror #19: The Unborn

Now this movie I was semi-excited for. You can tell given that I put that trailer of it on this blog not too long ago. I saw the trailer and I saw it as a movie that would probably attempt to go back to the roots of the type of horror movie I enjoy watching. One of my best buds, Nadia, ended up getting free advance tickets and saw it as a proper birthday present for me so we went to go see it on Tuesday. As soon as the movie starts you're taken into the plot and it hardly lets go as the horror goes and goes. The special effects were great, scares and shocks were damn well done, but the story was "eh." Now, as stated before, I felt it seem like a movie that was attempting to recapture the charm of old school horror and when you watch the movie you see that, but it falls rather short in trying to achieve it. The story just isn't completely there. It seems incomplete and very simple and just... there. The plot-slash-premise were very damn interesting and the back-story were very attention grabbing along with the constant scares but there was just something missing.

The story is about a girl named Casey Beldon, played by Odette Yustman, who gets haunted by dreams and strange events in reality by an evil spirit revealed as the Dybbuk. Along with her best friend, Romey, played by sexy Meagan Good who also serves as a bit of a comic relief, tries to uncover the mysteries behind why Casey is the one experiencing all of this. She begins to learn about her family past which connects to Nazi geneticists and demons attempting to come into our world by possessing people and hoping to completely get into the world by being reborn as a deceased twin that was killed in the womb. We find out that Casey's grandmother had to kill her brother when he got possessed and also Casey's mother, played by Carla Gugino, had to also deal with this demonic entity which left her in an asylum and led her to commit suicide. So now it is Casey who is now next and it's up to her to stop it. She seeks help from a rabbi played by Gary Oldman who at first isn't too willing to help Casey due to her lack of faith but then becomes very determined to rid of this demon. She also has a Christian priest who comes to help her, played by Idris Elba, and her boyfriend. Let me not forget we have sexy Meagan Good who is determined to stick by and help her best friend despite all the warnings she gets. Mmm... Meagan. But anywho!

This movie also has something that I always shake my head and have to wonder why do people do that. Why is it that every time a character hears something weird they have to slowly... and slowly... walk... towards the noise... to see what it is? And this happens in the movie many damn times too. It's like the main character doesn't learn. She's experiencing all this weird crap, stop walking towards something suspicious. If you hear some weird noise on the other side of the wall, leave the damn room! Ugh! And there's also a part of the end of the movie that got me and my friend Nadia saying, "Oh, you a stupid bi-- um.. girl!" It's something that really got me annoyed but that cliffhanger I guess you can say you could see coming and is a staple of horror films. I won't spoil it for those interested in seeing this.

As stated, the effects and shocks are good. Damn good, in fact. But if that's what you want to see in a horror film, it'll appeal to you. One specific scene I loved was when Casey goes to visit her mother. The effects of that scene was fantastic and a few scenes that include bugs haunting Casey. But if you want a good solid story, this movie probably won't do much for you. If anything, I'd say wait for the DVD or till it premieres on cable. Despite me not caring much for the movie, I'm glad to see the attempt of trying to explore the supernatural old school elements of horror that I feel is missing nowadays. Directed by David S. Goyer who's written works are usually damn good to watch as they're directed by other folks but seem to fall short when he's on the directing seat. So take that as you will.

Oh, The Horror #18: An American Haunting

A few nights ago my god brother put this on and a few of us watched it. The story is essentially told from the basis of an old ghost story of American folklore taken place in the 1800s, the story of the Bell Witch Haunting. Donald Sutherland plays John Bell, the man of the house of his family who's house are being haunted by a witch. All the signs point to Kathe Batts, a woman who's land was stolen by John previously. She then curses John and his precious daughter. Soon enough, John finds himself being attacked by a spirit of a wolf while his daughter gets attacked and abused by an invisible force who pulls her sheets, tugs on her hair, makes her float into the air and then proceeds to constantly smack her face back and forth. This happens for many nights, the Bell family in shock and horror as nothing they do seems to work. Even trying to escape their house causes problems where the spirits track them down and nearly kills them until they have to get back into their house. Now, the story was in fact rather interesting but gets very repetitive. Characters outside the family start to help out, slaves, professor, etc, but nothing they do seems to help. As the attacks gets worse and worse, clues start to fall into place as to exact what the spirit wants and why it's haunting this family. The twist at the end when everything gets revealed I would say I saw coming but still was well done and felt it was one of my favorite parts in the movie. But I don't think it helped the movie in it's appealing factor. As stated previously, the movie seem to get rather repetitive and at times boring. It's the same thing over and over and it just leaves you feeling, "Eh, whatever. Next movie, please."

The performances are pretty good. Sutherland as John Bell, Sissy Spacek as his wife and distraught mother of Betsy Bell, the daughter being haunted and attacked. Overall, it's a whatever movie. I wouldn't recommend it and would tell you to just pass it.

Oh, The Horror! #17: The People Under the Stairs

Huh. Another Wes Craven movie that I had a great time watching. I guess I should look more into his stuff. I mean, I know he's a horror legend but previously I've only seen the Scream franchise (the first one was the only one I really liked as a kid) and Nightmare on Elm Street which I watched recently and really could get into. But my same god bro, Rony, who introduced me to The Serpent and the Rainbow, presented this one to me and my brother and I had good fun watching it. One thing that really made it a fun was just how original and rather outlandish the characters and ideas were but made it even creepier in a way that you can actually see it happening. The world is a scary world we live in. And the thought that crap like this can happen despite the absurdity is just... wow.

But yes, the movie is about a young boy, nicked-named Fool, from the ghettos of his city who finds out that he is being evicted by his money hungry landlords while his mother is sick and bed-ridden of cancer. His older sister is dating a man named Leroy who comes up with an idea to go into the landlords house and steal some money. The problem is that they do not know is that the landlords are crazy and seem to have "children" that they lock up in the basement who are all deformed due to their punishment. Some have gorged eyes, cut off ears, etc. All look like weird pale monsters and are fed pieces of meat from people who pass by. They also have a young daughter who is very pure and innocent but is punished by her "parents" due to their impossible standards of purity. If she speaks, hears, or sees evil, then she is damned to hell. The "parents"/antagonists are damn CRAZY! The father runs around in BDSM gear shooting the walls with his shotgun in hope of killing Roach, a child who runs inbetween the walls, while the mother is as over the top and insane shouting as she holds up a knife yelling, "Go to hell!"

So now Fool and Leroy are trapped in this house where it's literally built as if it were a prison. Locks everywhere with traps while being hunted down by a large hungry rottweiler. It's a crazy cat and mouse game that just puts you at the edge of your seat and has you cheering, afraid, and laughing your butt off. This is definitely a movie I would recommend and not have originally watched. So I guess I'm saying don't pass it down. Also, I found out a remake of this may be coming out. I'm not too sure how I feel about that as I feel this movie should be it. A remake would certainly not be able to recapture the weird charm of this entertaining flick. So yes, good fun weird film.

Oh, The Horror! #16: Let The Right One In

I first heard about this Swedish vampire movie on a few message boards a few months ago. Every review and opinion I've read essentially praised it so I indeed was interested. Why wouldn't I be? I like vampires. But yeah, a week back my brother told me that he was planning on going to see "Let The Right One In" and I immediately took interest and told him I've been meaning to see it. So for my birthday (2 days ago) I decided we should see it the day after and was hoping to have a guy's night out with some of my best buds although most of them wasn't able to make it so it was just me, Berto, and Lebert "TeardropJones." Overall, the praises the movie was getting I would say is pretty much justified. The movie had a lot of heart to it as it's essential a story about alienation and a boy finding a connection with a girl who moves in next door who is revealed to be a vampire. The boy, Oskar, is constantly picked on at school by a boy and his crew and Eli, the vampire, gives Oskar confidence to finally stand up to him. Also, Eli basically becomes his best friend and his girlfriend. Seeing their relationship grow through each day is very interesting to watch despite Eli's thirst for blood which causes a big set of problems and events in their Sweden town which includes the death of a few townsmen and infecting someone else into becoming a vampire which later leads to a fantastic scene with cats. You'll have to see it for yourself to see why that scene was simply amazing.

I wish I could say more on the story but the story is very simple that saying much of anything else would surely spoil something and I wouldn't want to do that. It isn't like other vampire movies, it's really more about two outsiders befriending, accepting, and being there for each other. Although rather slow in the beginning, the story begins to really pick up when Eli's thirst really starts to come into the central plot. There were also some fantastic special effects. A few that took place in a hospital and one amazing one in the end when Oskar has his final confrontation with the bullies. I found it to be a really heart-ful ending and was beautifully shot. I can see a few film lovers buying the DVD just for those final shots of the confrontations with the bullies.

So yes, if you can definitely check out this movie. I looked up some stuff online and saw that it was previously a novel and there were a lot of themes that were omitted from the movie. And there's suppose to be an American version coming out which is supposedly suppose to be remade from thebook rather than the Swedish movie. We'll see how that comes out although my brother and I are a bit iffy about that.

I'll leave a final quote that Lebert said when we exited the theater that gave me a good chuckle, "Man, movies like this is what makes me think about being a vegetarian."

Oh, The Horror! #15: Serpent and the Rainbow

Man oh man! Where the heck have I been to have never heard of this movie until last night? For a little while now I've had a bit of an interest in learning some stuff on Haitian folk lore. I feel that there are many types of stories that can be seen as pretty darn scary back in my parent's homeland and I'm always interested to hear a story from the country. So when my god brother told me about this movie, it taking place in Haiti, I was automatically intrigued. My brother, Berto, and I watched the movie and just had an absolute blast. You should have seen the way we were freaking out at a lot of the scenes, mostly because it seems to hit close to home with us. Let me tell you that Haitians are some of the most superstitious folks you'll ever meet and a lot of things about the supernatural is driven into our minds since being very young. Heck, I lived there for a short while too. So a lot of the things in the movie scared some bit of craps out of me watching, not in jump out of my seat thing, but more of a mentally fear thing. And I loved every moment of it.

Bill Pullman plays a doctor who goes to Haiti to find the reasons why a once buried man is now walking around again. Of course, he's a man of science but he also gets haunted by these strange and extremely freaky dreams and we are introduced to the villain of the story played by Zakes Mokae And let me say that I do not understand why this guy isn't in a top villains list. This guy played no games whatsoever and was damn terrifying as he led his group of Ton Ton Machutes, a special police force in Haiti who are known for being quite... well...unlikable. As the movie goes on, we are pulled into the world of voodoo and zombies. And the movie just gets freakier and freakier. I can definitely see this movie scary folks from even visiting the country. So much twists and turns, enough to keep you at the edge of your seat and frightened for the main character and his love interest. And that torture scene. Oh man! When they strapped Pullman's character on the torture seat, I said to my brother, "Oh no! Haitians DO NOT PLAY when it comes to torture." And man, was I right. Sheesh. Another thing I loved about this movie was it being shot on location and hearing the Haitian language being spoken throughout. Everything seemed very authentic and helped with the creepiness. Fantastic movie that I fully recommend for horror fans. Below is a trailer.

Oh, The Horror! #14 : I Am Legend

What if you were the only man alive left in NYC?

I saw this movie when it came out and thought it was merely okay. I didn't enjoy the experience though due to annoying ass girls behind my friends and I who saw it fit to talk and give their own commentary throughout the whole movie. But anywho, that's besides the point...

I watched it again a few days ago this time with my baby sister and still can't seem to decide if I enjoyed it or not. I really loved the first hour of the movie with Will Smith doing his daily routines along with his partner-in-crime and best bud, Sam, his canine. He exercises and goes hunting for deers to eat in NYC. Oh, did I forget to mention that he's the only man alive in the city? He's walking around everyday, picking out movies to watch, and talking to mannequins. He also broadcasts on the radio a message out to any survivors out there. At home he's trying to find a cure for the disease that wiped out about 90% of people in the world with not much luck. One day on another hunting trip, something goes wrong where we are introduced to the Darkseekers, vampire-like creatures that only come out at dark in search of survivors to devour. The story really begins to pick up though is when Smith's character, Neville, captures a female Darkseeker to experiment, not knowing she was in fact the alpha female of her group. This leads to an intense rivalry between him and the alpha male of the group. And man, lemme say that it is intense and one of the most fun watching in the movie. Despite all that, the movie starts to take a bit of a downfall during the second half of the film. We find out that he just may not be the only man on Earth when he meets a woman and her son and a lot of the intrigue just seems to disappear from me. Also, a story of faith and God just appears out of nowhere. I didn't quite mind that part of the movie, bu I can understand how people may feel confused as to why it just appeared and seemed rather ham-fisted into the story.

The effects are alright, not great. I remember reading originally the Darkseekers were played completely by people until director, Francis Lawrence, decided to just turn them CGI. I think that was a bit of a mistake as they looked, well... very CGI. I believe that it took some edge and creepiness off of the Darkseekers themselves. Although once again the Alpha Male is just simply bad-ass.

Overall, I don't think I'd recommend this film fully. There's aspects I loved, especially the first half and I loved Smith in this movie. I absolutely loved his last scene in the film store. You really felt for him and understood his state of mind at that point of the movie. Man...

Oh, The Horror! #13: Sleepy Hollow

Man, it's been darn long, hasn't it?!? Now that school is over just for a month, hopefully I can bring this back on track. I've missed doing this. But yes, without further ado... SLEEPY HOLLOW!



Another one of my absolute favorite movies and another directed by my favorite film maker, Tim Burton. I've seen this movie quite a lot of times. When I had gotten the VHS, I've watched it so many darn times and hardly ever missed when it came on TV. A few weeks ago was the first time I've seen it after maybe 2-3 years and I still have a great time watching it. The imagery, the characters, Johnny Depp as Crane, the music, special effects, everything is an absolute blast to watch. Watching this movie always made me wonder what happened to horror. Why don't we ever get more horror movies like this? Now its all slasher this, etc. How come we never get any real solid story-telling with supernatural forces scary the daylights out of us? I want to see more movies like this and really showcase just how great horror film is rather than what;s clouding people's mind of what horror is. I don't mind what people proclaim as "torture porn" or whatever, but it's not the only type of horror in the genre. C'mon, now!

But anywho, if you've never seen this movie, you just HAVE to. The direction is absolutely amazing with a story that never lets go of you. All the characters play wonderful parts and just fascinates you into this mystery of the Horse man. If you're a fan of the classic tale by Washington Irving, I think you'll have a blast watching this interpretation besides quite a few liberties being taken, such as Crane being a constable instead of a teacher, and although still a bit of a coward he has the brass balls to stand and fight against the Horseman himself! And c'mon, who doesn't love Christopher Walken who plays the Hessian, the man who ends up becoming the head chopper. Although we know who the killer is, there is a mystery conspiracy plot throughout the movie as we wonder just how people are connected in this strange town of Sleepy Hollow and just why the Horseman is going after certain folks and why he lets certain people live. The special effects are magnificient. It's not a man wearing a cloak over his shoulders, but an actually man... headless! And he see him chopping off people's necks and cutting a man in half. The effects are just simply amazing and adds to the creepiness and chills of the movie. And Danny Elfman's music... ah man is it ever so nice to hear him with Burton adding more creepiness to this film. And to top it off, you get a wonderful performance by Miranda Richardson who I have to say really steals the show along with horror alumnis Michael Gough and Christopher Lee with small parts.

There is one thing that I do find weird about this movie and that's the flashbacks and dreams we see of Crane's character. Those scenes I have to say are probably the most beautiful scenes in the movie, but I don't quite understand why they're in the movie. They seem to not play much of any roles besides to look awesome. Like the scene when his mother is dancing in the forest and begins to float and finding out that his mother is a witch and his father was actually a man of faith, a minister. In one specific dream, when his father walks past a young Crane, the man turns into the headless horseman. Huh?

Heh, but anyway. Fantastic movie. Definitely a top of Burton's best.