Horror Horizon - October 4

We are certainly approaching the Halloween month. As companies amp up their horror film output, check back here weekly for a list of notable DVD releases.

Scream 4

"In Scream 4, Sidney Prescott, now the author of a self-help book, returns home to Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. There she reconnects with Sheriff Dewey and Gale, who are now married, as well as her cousin Jill (played by Emma Roberts) and her Aunt Kate (Mary McDonnell). Unfortunately Sidney’s appearance also brings about the return of Ghost Face, putting Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, along with Jill, her friends, and the whole town of Woodsboro in danger."

Dead Alive [Blu-Ray]

"A young man's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors."

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season [3 Disc Special Edition]

"After waking from a coma in an abandoned hospital, police officer Rick Grimes finds the world he knew gone - ravaged by a zombie epidemic of apocalyptic proportions. Nearby, on the outskirts of Atlanta, a small encampment struggles to survive as 'the dead' stalk them at every turn. Can Rick and the others hold onto their humanity as they fight to live in this terrifying new world? And, amidst dire conditions and personal rivalries, will they ultimately survive one another? AMC's The Walking Dead is an epic, survival adventure series from the director of The Shawshank Redemption and the producer of The Terminator and Aliens."

Friday the 13th: The Ultimate Collection

Includes Parts I through VIII, plus a special Jason hockey mask. These come with the deluxe editions of the films. It may be worth it if you don't already have the films; if you have the previous collection, like myself, it might not warrant a purchase.

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom [Criterion Collection]

"The notorious final film from Pier Paolo Pasolini (Mamma Roma), Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, has been called nauseating, shocking, depraved, pornographic . . . It’s also a masterpiece. The controversial poet, novelist, and filmmaker’s transposition of the Marquis de Sade’s eighteenth-century opus of torture and degradation to Fascist Italy in 1944 remains one of the most passionately debated films of all time, a thought-provoking inquiry into the political, social, and sexual dynamics that define the world we live in."

Aahh!!! Real Monsters: Season One

"Meet Ickis, Oblina and Krumm, three young monsters at the scariest school you’ve ever seen! But when they’re not learning the best methods of frightening humans from their headmaster, The Gromble, the trio is facing off against a determined monster-hunter named Simon. Can they keep the secrets of the monsters safe while on their crazy adventures?"

The Presence

"In this darkly romantic ghost story, a woman travels to an isolated cabin where she is stalked by an apparition who inhabits her space as his own. With the unexpected arrival of the woman’s boyfriend, the dark spirit’s haunting grows obsessive. Soon the woman begins to exhibit weirdly irrational behavior as the thin line between sanity and possession begins to unravel. Is she battling her inner demons, or is a much darker presence threatening them all?"

Snow Beast

"Jim (John Schneider) and his research team study the Canadian Lynx every year. This year, he has to take his rebelling 16 year-old daughter, Emmy (Danielle Chuchran), with him. But the lynx are missing. As Jim and his team--with the help of a local ranger (Jason London)--try to find out why, something stalks them--a predator no prey can escape." 

Elvira's Haunted Hills

"En route to Paris, Elvira's dreams of stardom are put on hold when she accidently winds up in a mysterious Carpathian castle inhabited by Lord Hellsubus (Richard O'Brien), a bizarre and sinister man whose late wife is a "dead" ringer for Elvira." 

Alfred Hitchcock: The Essentials Collection

"Includes: Includes replicas of all 5 original posters The legendary Alfred Hitchcock is recognized for directing some of the most unforgettable and groundbreaking films of all time. Now, for the first time ever, five of the most iconic films from The Master of Suspense are available together in Alfred Hitchcock: The Essentials Collection including Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho and The Birds. Starring Hollywood favorites James Stewart, Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Tippi Hedren, Eva Marie Saint, Kim Novak and Rod Taylor, this essential collection captures the most memorable moments in the career of a true cinematic master." 

Phase 7

"Coco just moved to his new apartment with his 7-months-pregnant wife Pipi, when their building is quarantined due to the outbreak of a deadly flu. Soon, neighbors become enemies and Coco is forced to join forces with the loony, but well prepared and stocked, Horacio to defend the contents of his fridge and keep his pregnant wife safe. Meanwhile, outside the quarantined building, the world as they know it is disappearing. No wonder no one came when they dialed 911."

Amer

"Three key moments, all of them sensual, define Ana's life. Her carnal search sways between reality and colored fantasies becoming more and more oppressive. A black laced hand prevents her from screaming. The wind lifts her dress and caresses her thighs. A razor blade brushes her skin, where will this chaotic and carnivorous journey leave her?"

Dracula: The Vampire and the Voivode

"The film is produced in association with the Transylvanian Society of Dracula and features interviews with leading international Dracula experts. Over the years there has been much confusion between Vlad Tepes (The Voivode)  and Count Dracula (The Vampire).  This film separates fact from fiction and looks at both characters in depth."

Fugue

"After moving in with her boyfriend, a young woman comes to believe her new home is haunted. But when she discovers the last nine months have been wiped from her memory, she must unearth what caused the condition ... before the past catches up with her."

Julia's Eyes [Blu-Ray]

"The story of a woman who is slowly losing her sight whilst trying to investigate the mysterious death of her twin sister."

Slashers Gone Wild!

"Every year a contest is held to see who is the most brutal serial killer in the United States. Each year that title has gone to Slasher Inc's employee of the year Rob the Slasher. One of Rob's former victims makes a demonic deal that allows him to ressurect and control the dead. Burning for revenge he threatens to flood the world with hordes of bloodthirsty flesh eating zombies if he is not granted as the winner."

The Great Ghost Rescue

"Young Humphrey is a ghost with a big problem. He and his family, the Craggyfords, have been ousted from their home and left without a place to haunt. As they search for new haunting grounds they soon discover that they are not alone. Ghosts from all over the world have been exorcised from their dwellings, with dark castles and ancient buidlings being destroyed by the living, and turned into shopping centers. with time running out, Humphrey digs deep inside and decides to help save his family and the rest of the haunting community by scaring his way to victory!"

Caesar and Otto's Summer Camp Massacre

"After unintentionally punching out the Chief of Police s mentally challenged brother, a flamboyant tough guy, Caesar, is on the run. Together with his slovenly half brother, Otto, the two take on false identities and get jobs as counselors at the strangely vacant Camp Sunsmile. The would-be summer camp has attracted a motley crew of Hollywood outcasts, all of whom seem to be hiding something. But when the mysterious Carrie (Felissa Rose) shows up, the counselors begin disappearing one by one. Soon, Caesar and Otto find themselves at the edge of a summer camp killer s blade as they run, duck, and swoosh for their lives!" 

Isolation

"Disoriented and weak, first-year medical student Amy Moore (Eva Amurri) wakes up quarantined in a stark hospital room with no memory of how she got there. Amy soon realizes that she's not alone and the doctor who's keeping her confined may have sinister and sadistic motives."

Lack of posts

The lack of posts the past two days is due to Halloween Fifteen, which I'm somewhat behind on. While I play catch-up, and work the entire day away, I might be missing a few daily posts. I'll be back tomorrow with a Horror Horizon - I hope.

Halloween 2011: The cereal monsters are here!

Finally, after months of waiting for Franken Berry, Boo Berry, and Count Chocula to hit shelves, the tedium is over. Today, I went into Target for a few odds and ends when I noticed an end aisle devoted to the marshmallow cereals. I jumped for joy, and probably caused a few startled reactions out of employees and customers.

Still, it's been a long wait for the three Halloween cereals. I expected to see them out mid-September, when most of the other Halloween goodies get tossed onto shelves. The Capn' Crunch Halloween cereal still isn't out yet.

But to make things better, there was one other treat waiting for me at Target: Halloween marshmallows. Yes, I found the Jet-Puffed Ghostmallows today, with the three different color ghosts waiting for me at the end of an aisle. Now I can finally drink hot chocolate again!

Movie Review - Blindness

There's an obvious irony within Blindness, the 2008 thriller from Fernando Meirelles: those that can no longer see are being watched by those who can see. That irony is what this adaptation of José Saramago's novel is supposed to provide - that the audience watches helplessly as the blind suffer undue grief and ravaging that resembles the concentration camps of the Nazi regime. It's like the old adage "the blind lead the blind", and that is metaphorically illuminated more than once in Blindness. But it's apparent that for all its attempts at literary merit and philosophical preaching, the film is less apt at providing useful social commentary than the novel, and that stems partially from the act of seeing rather than imagining through word.

The plot is unique in the sense that instead of a zombie viral outbreak or a plague, civilization begins to go blind. The disease seems somewhat viral, but everyone contracts it very quickly and experiences what is described as a milky white with shapes floating around in it. Meirelles attempts to lighten the opening of Blindness with bits and pieces of comedic slapstick; however, the movie opens up quite darkly with a hint of human indecency and distrust.

But if you can imagine how most outbreak-style films begin, Blindness is more of the same. When the threat is relatively weak, things seem strange and scary, but as the victims begin to accumulate within the walls of a quarantine facility manned by an aggressive government, the film slows down into a new process of defining factions, exploring characters, and generally learning how to be blind in a new environment with the help of a woman (Julianne Moore) who fakes her own blindness to stay with her husband. The characterization and exploration of blindness as a physical and mental burden is not unwarranted; however, this exposition effectively kills the plot movement in its stride, meaning Meirelles has to create the source of tension all over again.

This comes in the form of a group of men in ward three who take the food rations for themselves and request women in exchange. In a sickening and strangely visual scene, the women are corralled and gangraped for food, and Moore's character is too weak at this point to make a move on the men. Disturbingly, this scene feels exploitative, an unnecessary depiction of rape that could have been hinted at without explicitly showing it. It's another way that Meirelles misses situations where the blindness of the audience would have been more powerful, a contrast to blindness' negative connotations.

Blindness does have a number of strong techniques for toying with the audience's senses, like startling feedback that seems to mimic the intensifying of the blind's other senses. Camera angles at times make it difficult to see; so does the lighting, with bright whites that threaten to blot out vision. But after a while these techniques stop feeling new, and it's during Blindness' duller moments that the viewer begins to lose interest in the film altogether.

Slash to the Point: The film is harrowing. But it's too awkward in its transitions, and it lacks the refinement of something a novel could do much better. The visual nature of a film highlights that quote I mentioned earlier, "the blind lead the blind." But a novel does something more: it makes the reader blind, who must see in the mind what a movie shows explicitly. Unfortunately, it's a lot of what makes Blindness such a lackluster film onscreen - there is certainly anguish in being an onlooker in the film, but there's so much more emotion in the metaphorical act of becoming blind in a novel. There's not enough of that in Blindness, and the vision portrayed by Meirelles' work is not as clear.

Blindness on Rotten Tomatoes

Horror Horizon - September 27

Notable DVD releases for the coming Tuesday. Selections are subject to Blu-Ray release as well.

Mimic (Director's Cut)

"From acclaimed director Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labrynth, Hellboy) comes "a terrifying film of great elegance" (San Francisco Chronicle). Starring Academy Award© winner Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite) and screen favorite Charles S. Dutton (A Time to Kill) and Josh Brolin (True Grit) this electrifying thriller brings the epic battle between man and nature to life when a team of scientists discover a glitch in their miracle cure. With the power to mimic and destroy its every predator and the threat of an entire city's destruction, their creation has taken on a horrifying life of its own. With the weight of extinction on their shoulders the team is forced to take matters into their own hands in this stylish hit that delivers heartpounding thrills from beginning to end."

Gamera: Triple Feature Box Set

"Join Dr. Nagamine, Inspector Osako and the lovely Asagi Kusanagi as they attempt to unravel the mysterious and deadly monster attacks of both the Gyaos and the Legion. With the help of the military, the survival of the human race depends on them. And the fate of the world depends on a gargantuan, aeronautic and flamably breathed reptile - Gamera, the guardian of the universe! This limited edition box set includes all 3 feature films from the Heisei Gamera trilogy, all beautifully remastered in stunning high definition. Also included is a wealth of Bonus Features!"

Torso

"A series of sex murders shock a college campus, and four beautiful young girlfriends head for the safety of an isolated country villa. But as they succumb to their own erotic desires, their weekend of pleasure becomes a vacation to dismember at the hands - and blade - of the lecherous maniac."

Basket Case [Blu-Ray]

"Carrying a mysterious wicker basket wherever he goes, Duane Bradley checks into a flea-bag hotel in New York’s Times Square. What’s in the basket, you ask? Why, it’s Duane’s hideously misshapen Siamese twin brother, Belial. Together, they’re in town to hunt down and wreak havoc on the sleazy surgeons who separated them..."

The Blood Trilogy [Blu-Ray]

"Herschell Gordon Lewis' pioneering "gore" films in deluxe special editions. First, Mrs. Fremont hires crackpot Egyptian cultist Fuad Ramses to cater a party--and he prepares a Blood Feast made from the grisly body parts of nubile young women. The world's first gore film. Then the Two Thousand Maniacs of a small Southern town celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Civil War by forcing a handful of Northerners to serve as "guests" in their macabre, blood-crazed fun and games. And when his girlfriend, Gigi, cuts her finger on a frame, maniacal artist Adam Sorg discovers a new shade of crimson that will make his artwork so special--human blood--in the shocktacular Color Me Blood Red."

Roseanne - Tricks & Treats

"Most TV shows celebrated the holiday season with warm & fuzzy Christmas specials. But for the cast, crew and creators of ROSEANNE, the year s best celebrations always belonged to Halloween. In these eight classic episodes, the Conners unleash tricks and treats in one of the greatest sitcoms in television history."

Maria's B-Movie Mayhem: Mardi Gras Massacre

Mardi Gras Massacre included. Alliteration is not.

Godfather of Gore: The Herschell Gordon Lewis Documentary

"Gory, Gory, Hallelujah! Take an outrageous ride through the wild world of exploitation films with this often-hilarious documentary, Herschell Gordon Lewis, The Godfather of Gore. Featuring interviews with cast, crew, and critics such as director John Waters, drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs, and Herschell Gordon Lewis himself, The Godfather of Gore traces Lewis’ start in the innocent bare-naked world of “Nudie Cuties” before he shocked the world with Blood Feast, the first-ever gore film. Lewis then continued to assault audiences with such audacious shockers as She-Devils on Wheels, Blast-Off Girls, Just for the Hell of It, Two Thousand Maniacs!, The Gruesome Twosome, The Gore Gore Girls, and the incredible Wizard of Gore. Experience a decade of motion-picture madness – with tons of clips, rare outtakes, and testimony from the people who were there – as Herschell Gordon Lewis, The Godfather of Gore leaves you laughing and screaming at some of the most amazing movies to ever play American movie theaters!"

Mother's Day

"Join three friends Abbey, Jackie and Trina on a family day out with this bunch of misplaced and mismanaged woodland misfits. See them entertain their hosts with trepidation and anxiety; see their hosts do their utmost to accommodate their every need. See their lust and deranged depravity scale to new heights of inhuman devastation, and butchery. Bond with Mother and her extended family for the day and you'll be sure, by the morning, to be released, and wake up dead."

Maria's B-Movie Mayhem: Scream / Barn of the Naked Dead

Contains both movies.

Dead Cert

"Freddie Frankham (Craig Fairbrass, The Bank Job) is working his way into the East End London big league with the opening of his nightclub, but soon realizes he’s made a grave mistake by building it on the sacred land of Dante Livienko (Billy Murray, Rise Of The Footsoldier): otherwise known as the legendary vampire The Wolf. Dante wants the club, but Freddie isn’t going to give up his turf without a fight, little realizing that he’s taking on a 500-year-old legend of mortal combat in a battle to the death . . ."

C.H.U.D. (Midnight Madness Series)

"Beneath the streets of New York city, there are hundreds of miles of subterranean tunnels unfit for anything human, unauthorized for anything experimental and unlikely to come to the surface...until now. Something horrible is loose in the sewers of Manhattan, and the city’s homeless population has begun to mutate into ‘Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers.’ They are C.H.U.D. - hideous, hungry and headed for the streets. John Heard, Daniel Stern and Kim Greist star in this wildly original horror shocker, filmed on (and below) the streets of New York City where hundreds of tourists every year are still devoured by actual C.H.U.D.." 

The Echo Game

"April Reilly must protect her daughter, Sarah, from a rogue scientist on a murderous rampage to steal the girl's psychic powers for herself."

Amer

"Three key moments, all of them sensual, define Ana's life. Her carnal search sways between reality and colored fantasies becoming more and more oppressive. A black laced hand prevents her from screaming. The wind lifts her dress and caresses her thighs. A razor blade brushes her skin, where will this chaotic and carnivorous journey leave her?"

Snuff Film: Death on Camera

"Snuff Film"" is an insane adventure into the perverted, sick and twisted mind of a true psychopath who has decided to share his wild escapades into depravity with his only friend.... his video cam. Through the eyes of the camera we get to see a glimpse of how far a tormented and disturbed individual will go to get himself off. Includes a special alternate version of ""Snuff Film"" where director Jason Impey (AKA: Joe Newton) has revisited his earlier cult classic ""Home Made." 

Unexplained Explained: Ghostly Paranormal Activity

"Unexplained Explained is a compelling documentary that looks deeply inside the world of the Paranormal and Supernatural. Producer Paul Wookey decides to go on a personal journey to investigate the universal ghost and spirit experience joined by psychic medium Diane Howe and a very curious film crew. Paul travels to Pendle known for its history of witch craft and medieval practices. The Anchor Pub based in a beautiful part of the Dales in England hold secrets and paranormal activity yet to be discovered."

Killer Priest

"Killer Priest deals with many controversial subjects, such as mind control, exposing that George Bush Sr., George Bush Jr., and Bill Clinton had knowledge of Illegal tactics by The CIA, using mind control on U.S. citizens. The main character is Joseph, a hit man played by Damian Chapa. He is hired secretly by a religious group, that wants to get rid of corrupt priests who have allegiances with secret societies of satanic and illuminati origin."

Terror Trap

"Don and Nancy find themselves stranded after their car breaks down while driving to a weekend getaway. Finding the couple on the roadside, the towns Sheriff tells them there will be no one to repair their car before morning and directs them to a nearby motel for the night run by Carter. At first glance Carter seems like a typical motel clerk, until they notice that everyone, including the Sheriff, seem to answer to him. By the time Don and Nancy realize what is happening, it is too late to flee. Now they must fight to survive the night, or be the next victims of the Terror Trap." 

The Photographer: Inside the Mind of a Psycho

"An ambitious young model, in a dead-end town, accepts an invitation for a glamour shoot from an unknown and eccentric photographer. As soon as she arrives at the location, she realizes that something's very wrong and her life, as well as her two friends' lives, will never be the same. A terrifying story based on real life events. Enter a world of grime and sleaze as you squirm at every action of The Photographer, a sick adventure into the very real world of porn, perversion and depravity."

Book Review - Low Town by Daniel Polansky

At first, a hardboiled detective thriller paired with sword-and-sorcery magic sounds pretty corny. Just try to imagine Sam Spade from The Maltese Falcon making a quip about a mystical rune while he courts a beautiful dame. But frankly, Low Town is just the type of image I've set before you: a surly, destitute detective wading through the bile of a city reborn after a deadly plague, held together by a sorcerer's magic and falling into drug-peddling chaos. And despite the expectations that Low Town would feel like two tough guys trying to play Dungeons & Dragons, Daniel Polansky makes it work with a strong, complex plot filled with a new world waiting to be explored.

This is Polansky's first novel, but it's written with a panache that indicates a strong grasp of style, structure, and language. Though the chapters are short, the content within them is almost always filled with emotion, a tour de force of rage, sadness, reflection, etc. that is easily comparable to the economy and society we are currently experiencing today. And though while most of main character The Warden's emotions are filled with spite and vitriol, Polanksy works a complex character into him in a short amount of time, combining flashback sequences with the current quest to show the Warden at his worst, or best, depending on the time.

The world of Low Town is populated with all new races, and like any fantasy novel worth your time, the world feels alive, realistic, and nuanced. The fact that Polansky refuses to provide a history for these races enhances the verisimilitude, as though the reader has been through the gamut and realizes the differences between them. New drugs and alcohol are abundant as well, and Low Town is befitting of its name.

All this makes for a complicated storyline already, but Polansky doesn't stop there. Instead, he creates an epic quest that misleads the reader at every turn. At first, the slaying of children by a mystical apparition seems easy for the Warden to solve; most of the novel, Polansky gives us the culprit. Except it's not, and the reader quickly learns that for all the Warden's tricks and bravado, he also can quite easily screw things up at the worst times. This is what he does, and the twist at the end might be slightly foreseeable, but it's also a fitting encounter for the Warden.

Low Town does have a harried ending, however, which leaves the reader wishing Polansky stuck around a bit longer to milk the scenario for all its worth. The mystical beings tend to slip toward the wayside after the initial encounters, and their presence is only hastily explained. Still, Low Town packs a wallop into three-hundred pages, a concise novel for such a large amount of exposition.

Slash to the Point: Don't be fooled by the premise of Low Town - I know I was at first, because fantasy really isn't my thing and I felt Polansky's novel would adhere more strictly to the genre stereotypes. Instead, Polansky develops a strong, noir-esque character out of the Warden, and even with his iniquities the reader begins to understand the difference between being a street thug: some for greed, but for the Warden, necessity. I must say this - I smell the faintest whiff of a Low Town sequel.

Halloween Fifteen - 2 bloggers needed!

It's getting down to the wire here, and October is almost upon us. I still need five bloggers to review one of the films below:

Blood of Dracula’s Castle
Akira
Captivity
Dementia 13
Land of the Dead

That means 10 bloggers have already signed up, and so far I have one review. If you can take one of these films, let me know! And tell your blogger friends, too!

Movie Review - The Plague (2006)

I've always thought that Clive Barker was a progenitor of horror, probably since the first time I read his Books of Blood. His strange, sexually-charged, and at times heretic, stories push the boundary between the horror that we've already established and a darker sphere yet to be explored. So I was surprised when I checked out The Plague, a hybrid of classic zombie movies and crazed kids flicks like Children of the Corn and Village of the Damned.

At first, The Plague captures that sense of atmospheric dread of the zombie movie without necessarily presenting those facets explicitly. Children begin to drop into comas at the same time, and for the next ten years all children born are immediately comatose. They also experience seizures twice a day at the same time, flopping around on hospital beds like hooked fish. The opening is genuinely freaky, and it's not just because the viewer is faced with a vision of humanity reduced to a final generation. Well-choreographed sequences find the children foaming at the mouth, eyes rolling back in their head until only the whites show. It's tension at its best, and director Hal Masonberg utilizes slowly expanding camera shots to show just how catastrophic this plague has been.

Along the way, James Van Der Beek becomes the main showcase of this plague outbreak after the kids start waking up on the wrong side of the bed. His character Tom went to jail for a little while after killing a man, but now he's out and apparently is one of the few who knows how to do anything in a time of crisis. Tom's past is rather unclear, as is the underdeveloped relationship between him and his ex-wife Jean (Ivan Milicevic); as a whole, though, The Plague is overly populated with characters we know little to nothing about, and that makes them rather easy, unsurprising fodder for the killer children.

The film catches the plague itself during its muddled action sequences, which have awful choreography and even worse dialogue. This is due in part to the unknown cast; it's difficult to feel any type of suspense with they spout their lines with such melancholic fatigue. Unfortunately, the writers couldn't sustain the tension of the opening during the more explicit terrors of zombie (or heavenly) children.

But the writers also can't succinctly wrap up the plot that they started. The Plague tries to envision the last judgment, the Ascendancy, but instead of explaining the origins of the plague at the end of the film, it actually makes things more muddled and confusing. Are the kids sent as angels to bring those ready to the afterlife? If so, they did a pretty shitty job of it; and if this is God's way of congratulating the human race, I feel bad for the kids who are stuck on Earth with sunken eyes and a hatred of everything. In any case, The Plague is a dismal picture of God, though I'm not sure we're supposed to take it that way.

Slash to the Point: A film that starts out so strongly, with its eerie familiarity of the classics, ultimately flops in its latter acts because of clumsiness and a weak script. And after pondering for a while what exactly I was supposed to take from The Plague's message, and getting no answers, one can compare it quite nicely to the Bible: multiple writers with no apparent cohesion. It just makes me wonder what Clive Barker saw in this movie that made him want to put his name on it.

Graphic Novel Review - Pherone

Before this graphic novel release of Pherone, the comic premiered in Heavy Metal magazine in bits and pieces. With the content of Viktor Kalvachev's noir plotline, it feels fitting that Pherone was serialized, like the pulp classics of the '30s. Kalvachev utilizes black and white textures with bits and pieces of color to highlight the antagonistic tendencies of a futuristic storyline that hearkens back to the hardboiled mystery classics. Despite the shift in writers over the course of the series (from Patrick Baggatta to Jim Sink), this compendium of Pherone feels nicely completed, a final resting place for Pherone complete with alternate storyboards and chapter outtakes.

One notices quickly that Pherone is turning the noir styling of the femme fatale on its side; rather than a maculine presence who is blindsided by a traitorous female, Kalvachev envisions a strong, seductive woman as the protagonist. Eve is sexy and well-rendered (that's certainly one way of putting it), and her presence is both refreshing but a little exploitative as well. It does feel like, despite her dominant presence, Eve is a protagonist designed for the male audience. Her seduction is warranted, though less so than Baggatta, and later Sink, make it out to be; her dialogue and lesbianism are meant to play off male fantasies more than they represent her character.

But Pherone's plot is quite good, mixing mystery with suspenseful action sequences that highlight Eve's helpfulness and amnesia after taking the pherone drug. Backstory is limited, and it is mostly only alluded to, rarely expanded upon. It keeps Eve a mysterious, dark character, and that's okay for the reader. The less we know, the more we want to know about being in the moment, and Pherone progresses quickly from a simple hitwoman plot to a corrupt medical organization looking to make money off of a drug that inhibits the user.

As for special features, there are a few alternate comic chapters included with some sketches from Kalvachev. There's not a ton of new stuff here, so readers of the original might want to skip out on this one unless you're diehard collectors of the series. Ultimately, the graphic novel collects the entirety of the Pherone saga into one package, but it seems that it's really meant for new readers.

Slash to the Point: Pherone is a succinct, well-developed noir comic. In the vein of other Heavy Metal adventures, this compendium of the series brings together all three chapters for easy reading; Kalvachev's drawings look sleek, and the color styles are reminiscent of the gritty look of Sin City, highlighting the blood reds and deep blues of the ugly cityscapes. And you can't go wrong picking this novel up with its special features if you've never read it before; but for those who followed it serially, it might not be worth the money.

Halloween 2011: The Evil Item #7

For today's Evil Item/Evil Ad, I wanted to highlight something a little bit different for the season. I'm not talking about the Halloween cookies or cakes that have slowly made it to shelves; I'm talking about the beer.

Now most beers tend to steer clear of Halloween references altogether. Instead, they participate in Octoberfest brews, a traditional annual beer celebrating the eponymous German event. To the American drinker, Octoberfest cements the feeling that fall is in the air, and most Octie beers are like taking a big swig of the season.

Of course, I've already posted about Samuel Adams' Octoberfest brew, and the same goes for the Magic Hat Hex Octoberfest I currently have in my fridge. But let's highlight a few other blends of Octie that have slowly made their way to market.

Saranac Octoberfest

Though I often love Saranac's rustic, peaceful scenery pictures, I can't say I feel that their Octoberfest image fits with the feeling of the season. With that said, I love Saranac ales and I feel like it's a local (for me at least) alternative to Sam Adams. If you're looking for more variety, check out Saranac's seasonal 12 Beers A Falling pack, which features the Octoberfest, a Pumpkin Ale, Black Forest, Irish Red Ale, IPA, and the Caramel Porter. Definitely worth a taste, if only for the delicious IPA.

Saranac also makes a 12-pack of their Pumpkin Ale. I've had it once, but since I'm not really a pumpkin fan, I can't remember how it was. But I do always love the packaging.

Beck's Oktoberfest

Unfortunately, I've never had Beck's so I can't comment on the taste of this Octie. But I've seen it on store shelves and it looks reasonably priced, so I expect to be tasting it in the near future.

Blue Moon Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale

Another pumpkin ale, Blue Moon turns into Harvest Moon for the fall season. Blue Moon is a quality Belgian ale brewery, and though I didn't enjoy their summer brew that much (too much honey), I will vouch for the consistency of the company's taste.

Also available is a fall variety pack, containing the original Blue Moon brew plus Harvest Moon and the Pale Moon pale ale.

Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale

Paul Rudd loves Sierra Nevada. Watch him in any movie where he's at a bar and he'll have a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. So the beer's gotta be quality, right? With this Autumn Brown Ale, Sierra Nevada decides to envision fall a little differently. A little chocolatey, a little caramel-y, it's still a very pleasant way to enjoy autumn. And Sierra Nevada uses dark bottles so the brown ale has less of a chance of getting skunky, which tends to happen with this style of beer.