We Review Top New Comic ‘Blood & Gourd #1’

While the heat of summer is still very apparent, in a short month or so fall will be upon us, and that means Halloween will be just around the corner. Fans of horror will be binge watching their favourite movies and reading their favourite books. Hopefully, this review will persuade you to add Blood & Gourd to your list.

“It’s Devil’s Night in Olympia, WA- and out at Henderson Farms, the festivities are reaching a crescendo. Young and old have gathered to pick their own pumpkin, drink hot apple cider, and partake in the usual pumpkin farm fare. However, something has awakened from deep within the fertile soil. After years of abuse and humiliation, the pumpkins… are ready to pick us. You can beg! You can plead! You can scream! But these Hell’s lanterns are lit only with the burning desire to watch you die.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started to read Blood & Gourd. A horror story about pumpkins? It could have turned out any number ways, but thankfully I was pleasantly surprised. Horror is always subject to what a reader considers scary or shocking, while I didn’t find it scary personally the shock value is certainly there.

Jenz K. Lund & D.H. Shultis nail the pacing of the story and give you plenty of content for your money (48 pages which are more than two comics worth of story for $6.99 US)

Dave Acosta’s art is good but is particularly excellent when it comes to the gore; I love it. The way Dave draws the pumpkin vines is great and stood out to me for some reason.

Juan Antonio Ramirez’s cover is excellent and a little reminiscent of a villain you would see The Tick go against.

Fran Gamboa’s colours on the cover and interiors fit the tone of the book great and gives you a fairly authentic town fair feel. The gore scenes aren’t over highlighted with super bright blood, there just right.

Blood & Gourd is a story worth investing in. It leaves a lot of questions you want to know the answers to and is something different to try out if you have never gotten into horror comics before. If you’re tired of the mainstream comics, consider supporting this excellent indie title.

9/10

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You can purchase a digital copy of Blood & Gourd #1 Here

You can purchase the print copy and pre-order issue #2 (Available September 2016) Here

Follow them on Twitter: @bloodandgourd

I will have an advance review of Issue #2 up in the next few days, Monday at the latest. Keep checking back here at Skatronixx.com!

[UPDATE] American Horror Story Season 6? Teasers

Don’t Close Your Eyes

As American Horror Story’s air date is fastly approaching  the creators have been dropping little teasers on social media in the lead up to the air date which is on the 14/09/16. The latest teaser this week have been a picture of a woman with her eyes closed and spiders coming out of them. Other teasers include: A house in the middle of nowhere with smoke coming out of the chimney that resemble a six and a question mark (6?), then the sound of a chainsaw with blood curdling screams coming from the house.

In the previous AHS seasons you knew what they were about, but with season 6 it still remains somewhat of a mystery as to what the story line might be even with the last two hints and as we know the creators mentioned that season 6 was going to be a lot darker than previous seasons and that shows in the latest teaser.

I will be keeping you all up to date on everything AHS and I will also be the resident reviewer for this season and hopefully future season, I super excited for this season and I look forward to bring you my thoughts and reviews each week and I also look forward to hearing your thoughts as well. Below you will find all the teasers that have been released so far for season 6.

UPDATE: Teaser #7 of AHS has just been released check it out below

Step by step AHS6

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It’s happening AHS6

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We’re everywhere AHS6

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Raising hell AHS6

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Creeping… creeping AHS6

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Recovery AHS6

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Hang Tight AHS6 

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Don’t know about you guys, but I am eagerly awaiting the 14th September!! To stay up to date and informed make sure you follow Skatronixxx.com and me (@Presh81).

*UPDATE* American Horror Story Season 6 Teaser

**AHS UPDATE**

Finally AHS has released a teaser for the upcoming season 6 and OMG it was worth the wait, however it raises more questions and still remains a mystery, but a very intriguing mystery and now seeing the teaser I have a feeling it is going to blow all the other AHS series out of the water. Season 6 is definitely going to be darker than the previous series. The number six on the promo images is now joined by a question mark and based on these teaser trailers and several interview given by series creator Murphy, the popular theory concerning the plot of the season is dealing with a cult, Orphanage, or returning to Asylum’s Briarcliff manor as well as the storyline of The Antichrist, which has already been touched upon in series one, but in true AHS fashion they are not giving much away on theme of season six.

Below is the AHS teaser…. Enjoy!

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Familiar: Review Of A Horror Short

Familiar has won two awards at the Toronto International Film& Video Awards in 2012.

• ‘Best Director’ – Richard Powell, “Familiar” (2012)
• ‘Best Narrative Short’ – “Familiar” (2012)

Familiar is about a man John Dodd (twin brother of the main character in Worm), played by Robert Nolan, and his wife and daughter. We follow John and his thoughts during several days maybe weeks even. If this sounds familiar you are right, it is the same concept of Worm another short by the writer and director of this film, Richard Powell.

John’s thoughts are acted upon when time passes. The consequences of his actions are very severe. He is hurting the people he loves. As his actions are getting more brutal he is starting to doubt his own thoughts and actions. But are those his own thoughts…..  What is that strange thing …. As time progresses we see John dealing with his demons in more than one way. If he beats them, you’ll just have to see.

It’s a psychological horror with an open end or does it. That is the big question. The final scenes (without giving away too much) are, in my opinion, shot brilliantly. By shifting focus it creates a whole new level of angst. Which is off course a good thing in a horror.

The movie is available via iTunes for those interested.

 

Worm: Review Of A Horror Short

Worm is about a teacher Geoffrey Oswald Dodd, played by Richard Nolan, which we follow during a day at school. We hear his thoughts about his students and co-workers. The thoughts are slowly getting pretty darker during the day. Some are truly disturbing as they feel so close to home. Sad to say history has shown us that some of his thoughts have been carried out by some people. So the big question is will Geoffrey act on his thoughts or not?

This is a psychological horror/thriller that leaves you with a weird feeling in the gut. Because even though Geoffrey’s thoughts are dark and grim I can’t shake the feeling that each of us hadn’t had the same thoughts about someone else. Most of us won’t act upon it but it leaves me wondering what other people might think. Is this what really goes on in the mind of the really bad people. Who knows, but I must admit that scares me.

The “voice” of the thoughts is full of emotion. You can feel the frustration and the franticness in his voice. So major kudos for the writing on those thoughts and the actor who says the lines. It made me very anxious to see and hear what was coming next. Because is Geoffrey acting out what he is thinking or not. That tension build up is so nerve wrecking. But then again that makes it also great to watch. The suspense is kept during the entire film.

Worm was one of the first cooperations between writer/director Richard Powell and producer Zach Green and won 3 ‘Best Short’ Festival Awards as it came out.

This movie is available via iTunes for those who want to see it.

HEIR: a great horror short!

Heir is a 14 minute horror short starring o.a. Bill Oberst Jr, Robert Nolan, Justin Major, Jane Pokou, and Mateo D’Avino. This short is written and directed by Richard Powell, who did an excellent job I must say on both the writing and directing.

IMDB describes the plot of the movie as follows:

“After connecting with a stranger of similar interests online, family man Gordon and his young son Paul embark on an ill-fated road trip in which Gordon aims to indulge in a secret passion. Before the day ends a horrible truth will be uncovered and a harsh lesson will be learned.” (Written by Richard Powell)

I have absolutely nothing to add to that, without giving anything away. The storyline itself is haunting. It has left me guessing and wondering; what if. The scariest part about it is that is often not a what-if scenario. It actually happens and that is the most terrifying of all.

Heir has done something that horror movies haven’t done to me in a while; scare me. Recently horror movies have made me laugh, however this short with little dialogue and excellent music score made me shiver at times. So a job very well done.

The subtle sound of a clock ticking while you wait for what comes next is terrifying in itself. Without even looking at the screen what happens . There are more scenes like this; which I must admit I like very much. Have a look at the teaser from the film and you know what I mean.

To be honest I haven’t seen many shorts and from what I have seen they didn’t impress me much. This short surprised me in so many positive ways: the directing, the music, the casting and the acting.

Seeing this short it didn’t surprise me however that the short was nominated for Best Horror Short & Best Supporting Actor (Bill Oberst Jr.) at FilmQuest this year. (The results of this festival will be announced the 23rd of June.) Bill Oberst Jr. is perfectly cast in his role as Denis. His physique has added to the creep and scare factor of this short. His acting was suburb and gave me chills as to how scary it was.

So in conclusion Heir is a brilliant horror short in my opinion. To me this is horror at its finest. It will gross you out and haunt you. I for one am curious to see if you all share that same opinion. Unfortunately it won’t be released to the public until 2017 via ITunes, Google Play and other platforms. But let me assure you the wait is worth your while.

Heir was a cooperation between writer and director Richard Powell and producer Zach Green from FatalPictures.  We had an interview with the latter about this film and about what we could expect to see from him next.

The Conjuring 2 Review

Director James Wan returns to his horror roots with The Conjuring 2 after the colossal success of Fast & Furious 7, showcasing his formidable ability as a spine-chilling-provocateur and upping the ante on the Warren Ghost-busting franchise.

We reunite with Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) as they close the door on arguably one of their most famous cases in their career The Amityville Horror. As the action jump starts, we watch as  Lorraine’s physic walk around the house – a trope pulled straight from Insidious, Wan’s other horror franchise – bumping into a particularly scary Demonic Nun who will serve as an ever-increasing nefarious presence for the Warrens throughout the film.

This not only raises the stakes for the Warrens but it makes it clear that although we are meant to care about the Hodgson family of the Enfield Haunting case. It is in the Warrens were a majority of our focus and concern lies, a complaint I had with the first instalment that largely portrayed Ed and Lorraine as unsympathetic to the victims of their cases and seemingly held at arm’s length from the viewers.

Characterisation on whole, is a markable improvement this time around. As mentioned, not only do the Warrens feel more approachable as characters, but the Hodgson clan portrayal as a poor-working-class family brings a kitchen sink drama to a story that could easily have overlooked dynamics within the family in favour of the supernatural element. It is the moments in-between the investigation into the ghostly presence in the house where we find those human elements. One particular moment when Ed busts out an Elvis classic on the guitar does come out of left field but unites everyone and highlights the underlining theme that we are stronger together than alone.

Although The Enfield Haunting does tick all the boxes for horror clichés. Old house, tick, Jump scares, tick. Heroes placing themselves in needless danger, tick-tick. Wan impresses with his unique take on paranormal horror with fans of his other works finding some surprises mixed in. Spoiler avoidance here, but pay particular attention to Ed’s first meeting with the spectre of Bill Wilkins (Bob Adrian). Pure genius.

That being said the film does have problematic use of CGI when The Crooked Man enters the fray. I get that the film was going for a obvious fairytale-come-illstration depiction to the character (which is further explained at the films end) but the overall appearance was jarring to the overall aesthetic of the movie. Ultimately pulling me out of the film, spoiling my emergence, albeit for a brief moment but it stuck in craw never-the-less.

The Conjuring may have introduce us to Warrens but The Enfield Haunting makes you care about our heroes as they traverse a disturbing case that places their lives in danger like never before. Although Wan utilises all the tricks in the book, there are surprises to be had, which makes the wait for Conjuring 3 all that much more painful.

Oh, and you’ll never look at a Nun the same way again … you’ve been warned.

For all your Movie News & Reviews, stick with @mitch_rated only on Skatronixxx

The Horror Starts Again: Amityville Horror House For Sale

The house with the demonic eyes

The House in 108 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York is definitely the world’s most famous haunted house ever. It’s a 3,600 square foot big Dutch Colonial Home with a dark and scary past.

Let’s start at the beginning of its reputations as a haunted house.

Back in 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. killed six of his family members – his parents, two younger sisters and two younger brothers that he shot while they’re asleep. After that massacre, George and Kathy Lutz moved into the house with their children in 1976 and reported evil demon activity. The family fled the home and that story spawned the novel The Amityville Horror: A True Story, but more on it later.

The house is now listed at $850,000 with five bedrooms, including a large boat house on the Amityville River.

The latest owners did a few changes at the outside of the house. They for example changed the demonic eyes looking windows at the front of the house.

The book about the Amityville House

After George and Kathy Lutz published their story about the evil demon activities, American writer Jay Anson’s took this story in 1977 for his book: The Amityville Horror. A film adaption followed later in 1979 from director Stuart Rosenberg (Murder Inc., The April Fools), starring James Brolin (Catch Me If You Can, Beyond Belief) and Margot Kidder (Superman, Halloween II). A few other sequels also followed then but none of them were pretty successful.

Ghost spotted inside the house

Okay, believe it or not, but there are a few pictures going through the world wide web showing a little boy and a little girl walking around inside the house. Most people say they’re fake, but it’s up to you to decide if it’s true or not.

Everybody who wants to know more about the Amityville Horror House should leave a comment, if I should do a book review about The Amityville Horror: A True Story.

The Inspiration Behind Norman Bates **GRAPHIC CONTENT**

Since there was not Bates Motel episode this week i thought i would have a look into what or who inspired Hitchcock’s Psycho and the birth of Norman Bates and what I found was totally disturbing but very intriguing nonetheless. Norman Bates was a fictional character created by Robert Bloch for his novel Psycho and was portrayed by Anthony Perkins in Hitchcock’s 1960 film of the same name, but did you know that Norman wasn’t just purely fictional, he was actually based on a convicted murderer by the name Ed Gein.

*WARNING DISTURBING CONTENT TO FOLLOW*

Who is Ed Gein you ask? Well Ed was born on the 27th August 1906 in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. Ed also goes by The Mad Butcher, he was killer and a body snatcher and his crimes were all committed around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin where he exhumed corpses from local cemeteries and fashioned keepsakes and trophies from their bones and skin. Ed Gein confessed to killing Mary Hogan a tavern owner on December 8th, 1954 and Bernice Worden the Plainfield hardware store owner on November 16th, 1957. Gein had been in the hardware store the evening before Bernice Worden disappearance, the Police suspected Gein and searched his property and what they found was disturbing. Investigators found Worden’s decapitated body in a shed, hung upside down by ropes at her wrists, with a crossbar at her ankles. Her torso was dressed out like a deer and she had been shot with a .22-caliber rifle, the mutilations to her body occurred after her death. Upon searching the house the investigators were even more shocked, sickened and disturbed by what they had found.

The following is what was found in Gein’s house:

● Whole human bones and fragments
● A wastebasket made of human skin
● Several chairs covered in human skin
● Skulls on his bedposts
● Female skulls and some with the tops sawn off
● Bowls made out of human skulls
● A corset made from a female torso skinned from shoulders to waist
● Leggings made from human leg skin
● Masks made from the skin of female heads
● Mary Hogan’s face mask in a paper bag
● Mary Hogan’s skull in a box
● Bernice Worden’s entire head in a burlap sack
● Bernice Worden’s heart in a plastic bag in front of Gein’s potbellied stove
● Nine (9) vulvae in a shoe box
● A young girls dress and the vulvas of two (2) females judged to have been about fifteen years old
● A belt made from female human nipples
● four (4) noses
● A pair of lips in a window shade drawstring
● A lampshade made from the skin of a human face
● Fingernails from female fingers

All the items found at Gein’s house were photographed and then destroyed, he told investigating officers that between 1947 and 1952 he made as many as 40 night visits to three different cemeteries to exhume recently buried bodies while he was in a “daze-like” state (similar to what we see with Norman’s blackouts) On 30 of those visits he would come out of the daze while still in the cemetery and left the grave in good order and return home emptyhanded. On other occasions he would dig up recently buried middle-aged women he thought resembled his mother and took them home, where he tanned their skin to make paraphernalia. Soon after the death of Gein’s mother, he began to create a “woman suit” so that he could become his mother to literally crawl into her skin. His practice of donning the tanned skins of women was described as an “insane transvestite ritual”

Sheriff Art Schley from Waushara County, reportedly assaulted Gein during questioning by banging Gein’s head and face into a brick wall and as a result Gein’s initial confession was ruled inadmissible. In 1968 Art Schley died of heart failure at the age of 43, before Gein’s trial, its said by many who knew Schley that he was traumatized by the horror of Gein’s crimes and his fear of having to testify about assaulting Gein, caused his death. November 21st 1957 Gein was arraigned on one count of first degree murder and pled not guilty by reason of insanity, he was found mentally incompetent and unfit for trial and sent to Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane and later sent to Mendota State Hospital where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. On November 14th 1968 Gein was found guilty of first-degree murder by Judge Robert H. Gollmar and spent the rest of his life in a mental hospital. Gein’s house and property were scheduled to be auctioned March 30, 1958 , amid rumors the house was to become a tourist attraction but on March 27th the house was destroyed by fire and arson was suspected but was never officially solved. The car he used to haul the bodies of his victims was sold at public auction for $760 to a carnival sideshow operator Bunny Gibbons, later Gibbons charged carnival goers 25 cents admission to see it. Gein died on July 26, 1984 of respiratory failure due to lung cancer at the age of 77 in Stovall Hall at the Mendota Mental Health Institute.

Ed Gein’s story has had lasting effects on American pop culture by its numerous appearances in film, music and literature. His story first came to widespread public attention in the fictional version by Robert Bloch in his 1959 suspense novel Psycho, then in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film of Bloch’s novel. Gein’s story has been loosely adapted into a number of movies, including Deranged (1974), In the Light of the Moon (2000), Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield (2007), Hitchcock (2012), and the Rob Zombie movies House of 1000 Corpses and its sequel, The Devil’s Rejects. Gein has also served as a model for several book and film characters, most notably such fictional serial killers as Norman Bates (Psycho), Leatherface (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre), Buffalo Bill (The Silence of the Lambs) and Bloody Face from American Horror Story.

It goes without saying that Gein was a deranged human, but he will forever be a source of inspiration for all things dark and twisted.

References:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein

Damien SN1 EP5 – ‘ Seven Curses ‘

Wow! What an episode, it was dark with little twists that are slowly starting to unravel bit by bit. By far the darkest episode yet, and I believe its only going to get darker as it unravels more. Before we get in to the ‘Seven Curses’ let’s do a quick recap of ‘The Number of a Man’.

‘Number of a Man’ SN1-EP4

Detective Shay asks Damien to come in for further questioning, in regards to the recent deaths that are centered around Damien. They each threaten each other, before Damien mentions Ann’s interested in him. Shay visits Ann, she shows him the vault which is now a wine cellar and suggests Damien’s time spent as a war photographer has effected his mind. Simone’s mother brings in a witch doctor to put Kelly’s spirit to rest. The witch doctor burns her belongings which emits an orange flame before turning blue. In the ashes, they find her journal with the number 666 burned into the page. Shay’s son Jacob nearly drowns in the backyard pool.

Ok lets jump into ‘Seven Curses’ SN1-EP5

Like i said before, this episode was a cracker and Glen Mazzara, his team and the cast are killing it! Just to be clear they are killing it an awesome way, every episode just gets better and it hooks me in just that little bit more. This episode we see Damien looking for help which makes us believe he’s not just the beast in the making but also a man, will he be able to balance both sides of himself or will the beast take over? Damien seeks help from a Doctor which leads him to a veteran hospital where he runs into the woman who’s son he had saved from the on coming train, she was visiting her husband who was in the hospital and asks Damien if he would meet him.

We see an immediate connection between Damien and veteran, it pulls at the heartstrings and he photographs the veterans daily struggles in the hops of getting their story out. Simone believe Damien is the sole cause of he sisters death but Amani believes he is suffering mentally . We see Ann asking if she has been a good mother and keeping him safe, hinting she is actually his biological mother. Simone gets more than she bargained for while looking for photos at Damien’s apartment, two men in dark clothing and masks break in and ransacked Damien’s apartment looking for him. While at the hospital the veteran asks Damien to assist him in committing suicide, but he wants no part in it, he has had seen too much death. Damien searches the hospital when he finds the Veterans bed empty and he stumbles across a group of injured individuals that start chanting about the serpent with the number 666 when he enters the room. Damien’s connection with the vet leads him down a dark path as he photographs his suicide, its raw, dark and heartbreaking.

In this episode we are also starting to see a relationship form between Amani and Veronica and we have also learned that Veronica is Ann’s daughter and Damien’s sister. The Vatican also comes into play in this episode and you see the crypt where the daggers are held. This by far is the best episode to date, we are learning more about this life and the people surrounding him but there are still many questions to be answered.

Episode Rating This Week: 🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬