Ever since I was a young boy I have wanted to be blown away by 3-D but it always fell short.  The movies were always pretty lame pieces of work where the director tried to come up with reasons to keep pointing things at you from the screen.  You remember, a tree branch, a broom handle, anything that would "stick out" from the screen.

Well kids, it has all changed.  Last night I treated myself to the 3-D majesty that is MY BLOODY VALENTINE.  This event blew my mind.  The 3-D is AMAZING.

People in the know tell me that this is just the first in what will be an exceptional year of new 3-D technology and it promises to only get better with each release but I'm hard pressed to believe that it could get any better then this.

The film starts off very strong and only builds from there.  Even the opening credits are amazing to behold.  It's actually (at least it was for me) a bit disorienting at first as words seem to just kind of hang in mid air and fast movements on screen can leave you a little light headed.  After the first few minutes though you eyes adjust and you can really settle in and enjoy.

Once you make it past the 3-D you then become aware of yet another awe inspiring thing.  TOM ATKINS.  Man, was it great to see him in a starring role again.  He is fantastic in this film and is worth the price of admission all by himself.  He is also treated to one of the best 3-D moments in the film.

Fans of the original film will be pleased to see that the folks behind this retelling stay true to the original idea.  Harry Warden is still the main bad ass, Axel and friends are still the main focus of the events.  The Harry Warden character is franchise worthy.  The mining suit and pick axe are unforgettable and every bit as iconic as Jason's hockey mask or Micheal's Shatner mask.

This film is a hard R and with good reason.  It's a blood bath and there is a lengthy nude scene that is both awesome and hilarious.  3-D T and A, can it really get any better then that?  And kudos to the very attractive  Betsy Rue who is very, very naked for a very long time.  An interesting few minutes to say the least.

I have to tell you that this is the most fun I have had in a movie theater in quite a while.  I was glued to the screen and the what the film is lacking in story is more then made up for with spectacular visual effects and blood, blood and more blood.

Undoubtably there is going to be those that are going to tear this film apart frame by frame but you know what? Screw them.  This is great fun and cutting edge technology and I am going to see it again and take a couple of friend along so that I can watch them duck, scream and laugh as they have themselves one of the best times at a movie in quite a few years.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE is a mid winter gift to horror fans and don't wait for this one to come out on DVD, go see it on the big screen with a bunch of other people wearing the silly glasses and share in the joy that is cutting edge horror.

Be careful when you head out to the show though.  Not all theatres are playing the film in 3-D.  In my little town alone we have one showing it 3-D and a couple of miles away another showing it in 2-D.

The 3-D is a major, major reason to see this film and although I am sure it is still a decent ride in standard 2-D the 3-D is worth hunting it down and experiencing.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE opens today all over the country.  Have fun!

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Every now and again a film comes around that just surprises the shit out of me.  MIDNIGHT MOVIE is one such film.

Every year brings films that promise to be "the year's best horror film" and  so on.  For me though it is always the one that sneaks up on my that gives me the best thrill.  Everyone this past year seem to think that JACK BROOKS:  MONSTER SLAYER was the big fan favorite but I am here to tell you that if you or anyone you know feels that way then it is only because you have yet to see MIDNIGHT MOVIE.

MIDNIGHT MOVIE is a kick ass, fun loving, gore soaked romp that delivers the goods on every level possible.  A great story, exceptional acting, strong direction.  What the hell more do you want.

The storyline although just a little convoluted is original ( although it does borrorw just a tiny bit from LAST ACTION HERO) and well executed.  A few times when I thought they were going to drop the ball they instead picked it up and ran with it.  The director is obviously a fan of the genre as he handles things with a style and respect that few directors give the genre.

Although cast with bunch of basic unknowns and a handful of character actors the ensemble cast pulls it together and delivers a top notch performance that reels you in and doesn't let you go till the last frame.

So, I mentioned the storyline above and I wanted to give you a bit of a rundown on what this one is all about.

At a run down theater in a sleepy suburban town, a group of friends attend the midnight screening of a 1970s cult horror film. These unsuspecting teenagers are  unaware that the director and star of the movie made a bloody escape from a psych ward five years earlier and may still be on the loose.

As the midnight movie begins, the kids heckle the old black-and-white scenes. But they are jolted when the killer butchers one of their friends…on screen!

They soon realize that the killing is not a prank. They are locked inside the theater and the killer from the movie is after them! Caught between reality and the screen’s flickering shadows, are they becoming the unwilling stars of the very horror movie they are watching?

The killer in MIDNIGHT MOVIE could easily develop a cult status as his look and viciousness is very much in the vein of Michael Myers or Jason.  He has a decent look and the premise of where and how he exists opens him up to appearing over and over again.  It truly could be a franchise character.

MIDNIGHT MOVIE needs to be seen and you need to hunt it down and check it out.  It is out on DVD now.  It's a great one.  I can't recommend it highly enough.

You can order it right now through AMAZON by CLICKING HERE.

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Always considered to be the overlooked gem from the 80's MY BLOODY VALENTINE kind of got lost in the shuffle of the slasher madness that was the first few years of that decade.

I remember seeing it in the theaters and thinking that the miner character was awesome.  Never really did care for the ending much but overall it was a very solid film that for some reason just never really caught on.

Of course with the 3D remake hitting a theater near you in just a week or so it was inevitable that we would be seeing the original on DVD in one form or another and I am pleased to let you know that LIONSGATE has risen to the challenge and is about to release the classic in fine form on a special editon DVD that quite frankly kicks some major ass.

Of particular note is the fact that they have made available cut out footage that can be watched seperately or viewed in the context of the film.  Very cool.

Here is the official word from Lionsgate on what this presentation is all about:

The cult classic horror film My Bloody Valentine gets special treatment when it returns to DVD from Lionsgate.  A terrifying tale
 about a small town that faces horrifying consequences for holding a holiday dance on the anniversary of deadly tragedy, My
Bloody Valentine: Special Edition features all-new bonus features including never-before-seen lost footage, a featurette
examining the back history of the making of the film and the Ultimate Slasher interactive guide that allows the user to delve
into the evolution of the slasher film/horror genre.  The DVD will be available on January 13, 2009, coinciding with
Lionsgate’s theatrical 3-D remake of the film arriving in theaters January 16, 2009.  My Bloody Valentine 3-D, stars Jaime
King (upcoming The Spirit, Sin City), Jensen Ackles (TV's Supernatural) and Kerr Smith (Final Destination, TV's  Dawson’s
Creek) and is directed by Patrick Lussier.

On Valentine’s Day 20 years before, an explosion of methane gas took the lives of a group of coal miners working in the
Hanniger Mine near the small town of Valentine Bluffs. The accident occurred because supervisors left their posts to attend
the annual Valentine’s Day dance.  A year later, Harry Warden, the only survivor of the accident, retaliated by killing the
two supervisors and leaving a terrifying warning never to hold another Valentine’s Day dance.  After two decades have passed,
despite warnings, a group of young adults start preparations for another dance.  When a blood-soaked heart arrives at the police
station, accompanied by an ominous message, the dance is canceled.  However, a Valentine party is held in its place at the coal
mine and it isn’t long before people begin dying violently.  It appears Warden has returned to punish those who did not heed his
warning.

*DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
Never-before-seen lost footage
A making-of featurette
Ultimate Slasher Interactive Guide
Subject to change

CAST
Paul Kelman    Black Roses, Gas, TV's Street Legal
Lori Hallier     TV's Sticks and Stones, Bull, Heartstopper, TV's Black Widower
Neil Affleck     Wild Thing, Cross Country, Dirty Tricks, Visiting Hours
Carl Marotte     Skinwalkers, TV's Mind Over Murder, TV's Ice Bound
Helene Udy     Witches of the Caribbean, 12 FL OZ, If Tomorrow Comes

Harry Warden deserves to right up there with the big boys.  He is every bit as creepy, frighteneing and vicious as Michael, Jason or Freddy.

Maybe the attention that this remake will bring will finally bring Warden into his own. 

LIONSGATE gets it right with this release.  The first actual MUST OWN DVD in a while and I strongly urge you to add this one to your collection.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE SPECIAL EDTION streets on Jan. 13th.

Get it.....

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I'm glad I didn't rush out and see this one in the theaters.  When it came out it seemed that no one had a kind word to say about this new X FILES film.  It came and went pretty quick and it just goes to show you how negative word of mouth can ruin a fantastic film.

X FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE is a very good film.  It is intelligently written, very well acted and beautifully directed.  The one thing it doesn't have is aliens.  With the title I WANT TO BELIEVE I think fans were expecting a continuation of the FIGHT THE FUTURE film or perhaps a wrap up to the Mulder's sister storyline that has been on going since almost day one of the series.

Instead we get an intellectual journey into belief.  Believing in yourself, believing in your loved ones, believing in god, believing in the system.  All these things are challenged and done in a way that only the X FILES could do.

The story opens with an FBI agent being kidnapped.  As the search is ongoing and time running short a psychic is brought into the investigation after he contacts the FBI and tells them he has had a vision.

The twist is that psychic is a defrocked pedophile priest.  Things get a little to weird and the FBI contact Scully who is now working as a doctor at a religious hospital to see if she knows how to get a hold of good old Spooky Mulder.

Although reluctant at first of course Fox can't resist a good psychic and we are off to the races.  Through a series of inter meshed story lines the main storyline takes form and it is creepy and weird enough to warrant an X FILES classification.

Ultimately though the film ends up being about people.  The priest and his quest for forgiveness.  Mulder and his search for the truth.  Scully as she wrestles with a sick child she has as a patient and a hospital administration that just wants to send the boy along through the system.

I WANT TO BELIEVE becomes a journey of hope and salvation and the dark corners that sometimes lurk as you search for these things.

I am always excited to witness genre fare that doesn't dumb itself down to appeal to the masses and this go around with the X FILES is anything but dumb.  They actually kind of shot themselves in the foot a bit by being a little to wordy but I liked it and I'm thinking a lot of you may as well.

Don't listen to the trolls that bad mouth this one, they are wrong. 

The disc features the standard fare of extras but of particular note is the FX reel that highlights all the FX in the film that actually kind of go unnoticed in the film.  I didn't realize how impressive the FX work was till I watch this chapter of the special features.

That's just how wrapped up I was in the actual story in the film.

X FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE hits the stores on Dec. 2nd.  Make sure you pick it up.

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In this modern era of horror films we have found our selves inundated with these first person style of horror films.  BLAIR WITCH, CLOVERFIELD and of course DIARY OF THE DEAD have all attempted that "in the moment, watch it while it happens" style.  And now we have a new one.

An indie shocker titled THE ZOMBIE DIARIES tells the tale of a viral outbreak that over runs London and how a few bands of survivors cope with the hordes of undead and terror that they find surrounding them.

Genuinely creepy and very unsettling THE ZOMBIE DIARIES is what I think Romero was attempting to do with his DIARY film but somehow never managed to quite achieve.  Documenting an outbreak of the undead from the very beginning and all the confusion and disbelief and true terror that would accompany bearing witness to such events.

The film is broken up into chapters or diaries as they like to call them.  The film opens with Diary One - The Outbreak where we witness one group coming face to face with the horror of the dead returning.

Diary Two - The Scavengers takes us with another group as their supplies are running out and they are forced to head in and try to find food and water.

And so the film goes.

There are parts of the film, small details, that I feel really help set this one apart from all the others in recent memory.  Like when  a zombie is getting close in a lot of the cases you can hear the buzzing of the flies around their rotting bodies before you actually see  lumbering coprses.  Very nice touch.

Uncompromisingly realistic I have no doubt that the events that this film depicts are in fact pretty much exactly what would happen.  Panic, confusion, complete breakdown of any and all rule.  Ultimately the zombies would not defeat us, we would defeat ourselves. 

I completely enjoyed the new life that this film breathes into what has become a very stale and predictable sub genre and although a bit hard to follow at times and as is the case with all these "documentary" style films the shaky hand held style of shooting does wear thin but over all the film is very solid and very well done.

The zombies look great and gone for this go around are the fast moving vicious monsters.  These zombies are the slow, lumbering death machines of Romero's universe and ultimately what is even more terrifying are the living, still breathing monsters that the outbreak brings to life.

THE ZOMBIE DIARIES is must see zombie fare.  Dimension Extreme has done a great job on this disc and seems to have found its stride in bringing us little known, well put together indie horror gems..

The disc itself features a the normal menu of "making of" and "behind the scenes" goodies that we have all become accustomed which are both informative and interesting.

All in all THE ZOMBIE DIARIES is a welcome addition into Zombie lore and is a brilliant showcase for what appears to be a wealth of up and coming horror talent.

THE ZOMBIE DIARIES is  available now so go get it.

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