Anne Rice Regains Rights to The Vampire Chronicles

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Just a few hours ago Anne Rice announced via her Facebook page that she has regained the theatrical rights to The Vampire Chronicles.

“A television series of the highest quality is now my dream for Lestat, Louis, Armand, Marius and the entire tribe,” said Rice. “My son Christopher Rice and I will be developing a pilot script and a detailed outline for an open ended series, faithfully presenting Lestat’s story as it is told in the books, complete with the many situations that readers expect to see.” read more

New Movie Poster and Release Date Unveiled for Alien: Covenant

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For fans of the Alien franchise eagerly anticipating another chapter in the futuristic saga, your wait time has just been reduced.  In addition to debuting a new movie poster featuring the iconic, shadowy image of a xenomorph, producers of Alien: Covenant announced on Wednesday that the film’s release date has been moved up three whole months.  The sequel to 2012’s Prometheus (and second prequel to the original lineage of films), Covenant is now set to hit theaters on May 19, 2017.

Moving the premiere up to that date will put Alien: Covenant in direct competition with the Warner Brothers’ horror film Annabelle 2, which is expected to draw large audiences to the theaters.  The newest Alien entry has several key factors in its favor, however.  The new poster, which was released for the first time in conjunction with the release date update, features the recognizable face of the alien creature itself amidst a dark and unsettling background.  Depicting the creature up front sets the upcoming film apart from its predecessor Prometheus, which took a more indirect approach in its link to the Alien franchise.  More importantly, legendary director Ridley Scott, who directed the original 1979 film as well as the 2012 prequel, returns to the big chair to helm Covenant. read more

The Walking Dead is Suffering the Steepest Ratings Fall Ever

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Entertainment Weekly reports that AMC’s The Walking Dead is suffering from some ratings problems. They write:

“AMC’s mega-hit fell sharply after its seventh season premiere last month, and has declined steadily each week since to mark the steepest ratings fall in the show’s history. In fact, Sunday’s fifth episode of the season delivered the show’s lowest viewership since season 3.”

It should be noted that “the higher you rise, the farther you fall.” While fans have been gobbling up anything related to the franchise over the past few years, recent episodes have aired content that has divided the fan community. Season 7’s controversial premiere had the second highest number of viewers per episode in the show’s history; so a fall towards more typical numbers would naturally look more significant. Also, some viewers were bound to stop tuning in after its season finale cliffhanger gimmick had been resolved. read more

The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series – A New Frontier to Debut December 20th

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A December 20th release date has just been announced for the third season in the critically-acclaimed series, The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series – A New Frontier.

This new season sees the return of Clementine, a girl that has grown up and faced devastating losses amid the horrors of the zombie apocalypse. She is joined by fellow survivor Javier, a young man determined to find his family.

At the July 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that the critically acclaimed episodic interactive adventure which is developed by TellTale Games, has sold more than 28 million episodes. read more

Fans and Critics Mobilize to Save Fox’s The Exorcist: How You Can Help!

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With just two more episodes of the first season of The Exorcist to go, fans are concerned over the fact that Fox has been silent about plans for renewing the series for another season. Horror News Network’s first review of the show was lukewarm at best, but the show has grown to become one of our favorite horror shows on television. Other media outlets followed a similar trajectory: Bloody Disgusting recently published an editorial entitled, “I Misjudged The Exorcist and I’m Sorry.” read more

Slayer Teams With Dark Horse Comics for Slayer: Repentless

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Fabled heavy metal band Slayer will have a three-issue comic series debuting through Dark Horse Comics in early 2017. Metalocalypse writer, Jon Schnepp is set to scribe the comic. Joining him on art duties will be Eisner Award-winning artist Glenn Fabry.

In September 2015, Slayer released their 12th studio album, Repentless. The album received rave reviews and the highest chart debut of the band’s career. BJ McDonnell directed two high-concept and brutal music videos which featured horror heavyweights Bill Moseley, Derek Mears, Tyler Mane, and Danny Trejo. read more

James Wan to Produce New Mortal Kombat Movie

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Variety reports that a new Mortal Kombat film is on the horizon. Based on the popular video game franchise, the film will be produced by horror master James Wan (director of Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring), among others. Simon McQuoid, a prolific commercial director who has not yet broken into the world of movies, is currently in talks to direct the film.

The first Mortal Kombat movie, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson in 1995, certainly led to the greatest fifth grade birthday party I could ever ask for; while the 1997 sequel was super cheesy, even to my middle school sensibilities of the time. Hopefully this new attempt will feature a successful mix of outrageous characters and gory action that Mortal Kombat fans krave. read more

The Exorcist: The Series “The Griefbearers” Episode Review

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Chapter Eight of Fox’s The Exorcist, entitled “The Griefbearers” continues to prove the series’ reputation as a quality program that takes creative risks to achieve an expert level of horror storytelling. This episode raises the stakes with the ultimate exorcism of Casey Rance (Hannah Kasulka) and the deaths of two important characters… events which will certainly build towards the high stakes climax of this season.

Geena Davis gives her strongest performance of the season in Episode Eight. Three episodes after a major twist revealed that Angela Rance is actually Regan MacNeil of the original 1973 film, the show now provides Davis with more scenes and more material than ever before. Angela now feels much more like a main character, and her internal struggle over how she is in some way responsible for her daughter’s suffering plays out in numerous interesting ways. One particularly effective scene featured Angela seeing her childhood self in the dusty basement of the classic film, speaking to the Captain Howdy who captivated her as a child. An earlier Horror News Network review commented on how a scene depicting Captain Howdy slowly chipping away at Regan as she lets her guard down wouldn’t have felt out of place in the original film. Through a series of surprise events in the series, the viewers actually get to see that scene!Thankfully, it doesn’t disappoint. Robert Emmet Lunney is creepier than ever before with his bright red and white satin clothing, shoulder bird, and grey nail polish. His interactions with adult Angela and child Regan are perverse and manipulative. It is interesting that his technique seems to be tailored to each individual person he meets. His early encounters with Casey were grossly charming. His early interactions with Regan were creepily childlike. With Angela, he is confrontational and direct. It is clear that the fact that Captain Howdy has been waiting for Angela for over 40 years makes him just as eager to get to her as she is to free her child of this pain. read more

C.H.U.D. Special Edition Blu-Ray Early Review

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There is no better representative of video store culture of the 1980’s than Douglas Cheeks’ C.H.U.D.

This cult classic had all of the right ingredients to become a hit on the video market including a mysterious acronym, memorable tagline (“They’re not staying down there, anymore!”), and frightening vhs box artwork that would make any one looking for a fun Friday night stop dead in their tracks.

Thankfully, the fine people at Arrow Video have decided to give this well-loved horror-exploitation gem from 1984 a first class restoration and package in the form of their two disc special edition blu-ray release (available on November 22nd).   read more

American Horror Story Roanoke End of the Season Review

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American Horror Story Season Six has finally come to a close and I am happy to announce that so has the “long National Nightmare” that this season turned into.  What started out so promising, took a wrong turn down a road filled with gore for gore’s sake, inexplicable visual choices, and threadbare dialogue to create a true disaster, indicative of everything that is wrong with this franchise.

Fans of AHS seem to be split on their reactions to this season.  One group enjoyed the unique take on the “ghost docudrama” that seemed familiar to horror fans, but also forged new ground due to the fact that no one had yet satirized this popular staple of cable television.  Detractors said that it wasn’t scary enough and that the first five episodes were missing what made AHS great.  When the “big reveal” happened in episode six and watchers discovered that in the world of the show, a sequel bringing together the actors and their real life counter parts would be the focus of the rest of the series, some cried and others cheered based on their wildly different sensibilities.   read more