Horns Book vs Movie for Ravenous Monster

As a very big fan of Joe Hill’s sophomore novel Horns, I was awaiting Alexandre Aja’s film adaptation with much anticipation. Piranha and Haute Tension are great movies, showing a diversity of ability.  Even his weaker efforts such asMirrors and The Hills Have Eyes remake are never dull, and his direction is always exciting and unique.

Horns follows Ignatius (Ig) Perrish after he wakes up hung over after desecrating the memorial placed where his ex-girlfriend, Merrin, was raped and murdered one year ago. He was never tried for her death, but nearly everyone in town believes Ig’s guilty of the crime.  The physical discomfort of his hangover is compounded by the horns now emerging from his forehead.  Ig soon makes a startling discovery, no one truly notices the horns, yet they now feel compelled to burden Ig with their most horrible thoughts when they see him...Click over to Ravenous Monster for the full piece.

The Vagrants Novella Review at Ravenous Monster

I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Brian Mooreland’s new novella The Vagrants.  With a page count of a shade over 100, Mooreland somehow manages to both create depth to his characters as well as create an entirely new world that could support an entire franchise if he wished it to.

The novella begins with Daniel Finely an ambitious college graduate with a journalism degree.  He is in the midst of spending six months living with the homeless population in Massachusetts, and begins feeling disconnected from his old life as the days pile onto each other.  He feels himself and his outlook on life changing.  The camp Daniel had been living is then begins to become overrun by a small cult.  This cult and its charismatic leader begin to recruit the occupants of the area into their ranks.  Daniel feels the appeal but escapes their recruitment.  Two years later when his book is being released the cult finds him, and try once again tries to bring him into their ranks...Full Review at Ravenous Monster.

Alien: Out of the Shadows Book Review

Ellen Ripely is back in Tim Lebbon’s Alien Out of the Shadows the first book in a brand new Alien trilogy from Titan Books.  Adding to an established and fan loved/obsessed universe it tricky, the novel has to be successful on multiple levels in order to please the passionate members of its audience.  The same ones the franchise was acquired for in the first place.  As a member of that demographic as well as a fan of Lebbon I’ll be breaking it down step by step. 

First off the Ellen Ripley of Out of the Shadows is the Ellen Ripley we all know.  This book takes place between the first and second movies and envisions Ripley’s escape pod taking a detour before the second film begins.  Tim Lebbon writes Ripley incredibly well.  He clearly understands all the elements of the complex character that Sigourney Weaver brought to life in the first three Alien films...Click either image for the full review at Ravenous Monster.

The Crow: Curare Graphic Novel Review at Ravenous Monster

Almost a full year since publishing The Crow: Skinning the Wolves, author James O’Barr returns to the franchise with a new tale entitled Curare.  If you didn’t think it was possible to surpass the high standard set with Skinning the Wolves, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with his new tale of anguish and pain...CLICK EITHER IMAGE FOR THE FULL REVIEW 

The Crow Skinning the Wolves Graphic Novel Review

The Crow Skinning the Wolves is a return to the franchise by long time absent creator James O’ Barr who has moved his current incarnation from gritty urban landscapes to a Nazi Concentration camp.  Even as a longtime fan of O’Barr, I was skeptical.  Can you pull off what is essentially a supernatural revenge fantasy in the midst of one of History’s greatest tragedies?  The answer is short is yes, by handling your supernatural elements with an emotional maturity...CLICK EITHER IMAGE FOR THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT RAVENOUS MONSTER  

Brian Moreland’s The Devil’s Woods

Brian Moreland’s The Devil’s Woods follows a widower—Kyle Elkheart and his expedition to find his estranged father and discover who the man truly was.  With his brother, sister, and their respective significant others, Kyle returns to the Native American reservation and neighboring town where they grew up to find his father’s expedition, who has been attacked by a creature teased in the book’s prologue...Click either image for the full review.

The Lords of Salem written and directed by Rob Zombie came and went from select theatres in the blink of an eye, never coming close to a major release.  I caught up with it after being dumped to DVD/Blu-Ray with little marketing and the sole feature being an audio commentary by Zombie.  I follow horror stuff pretty closely and even I missed it for a month.  Click either image for the Full Review at Ravenous Monster...

Night at the Demontorium by Naima Haviland

Naima Haviland’s Night at the Demontorium is a collection of short stories that harken back to the style of The Twilight Zoneand Tales from the Darkside.  While all the stories are unquestionably horror tales, they aspire to be more than just that with very original and clever flourishes throughout. ...

Click either image to jump to Ravenous Monster for the Full Review 

Riddick Review at Ravenous Monster

Vin Diesel returns to his cult favorite role as Richard B Riddick in a lean, gritty flick that returns to the franchise’s roots.  This movie is very much Diesel’s project and he reportedly worked for scale in order to get the project green lit. 

We first met the convict Richard B Riddick in Pitch Black a small sci-fi horror flick with a cool premise that came out of nowhere. Diesel’s performance as Riddick won audiences over if not in theatres but on DVD, paving the way for the inflated Chronicles of Riddick.  Though making in more money theatrically (though not enough to warrant a direct sequel), Chronicles of Riddick felt almost nothing like Pitch Black.  Riddick was no longer a cunning killer, but someone who lunged headfirst into danger while relying almost exclusively on his brutality to vanquish his foes.  Chronicles of Riddick ends with Riddick accidentally becoming the ruler of a violent alien race and beginning the search for his home planet of Furya.

Click either image to jump over to Ravenous Monster for the full review

Top 10 X-Files episodes at Ravenous Monster

The X-Files debuted on September 10^th 1993 and to celebrate the franchise’s 20^th anniversary we’ll be counting down the top 10 episodes here at Ravenous Monster.  How can I choose just ten from the series 203 episodes?  Very slowly and painfully cutting many of my favorites and you can be the judge of how well I fared.  The main criteria for this list was the strength of the specific episode, not necessarily its importance in the overarching mythology.  Most fans admit that by the end the overarching mythology was incredibly convoluted and the series finale fails to wrap it up in any satisfying way.  To remedy this (and score some money) a new comic series is currently being sold and billed as season 10.  I was very excited about this until four dead characters were resurrected in the second issue and this concept totally lost me in the process. 

Click either Image to Jump Over to Ravenous Monster for the list. 

Kiss Of The Damned Reviewed at Ravenous Monster

Writer director Xan Cassavetes's film Kiss of the Damned is a beautifully intriguing film guaranteed to divide its audience.  The vampire tale is equal part horror and romance, with a strong focus on internal conflict.  Each of the main characters is the greatest danger they face. ...click either image for the full review. 

Horror Authors’ Bookshelves: Dana Fredsti

Dana Fredsti on her collection:

"My bookshelves are an eclectic mix of books (more or less arranged by genres, authors, and sometimes themes) and stuff.  “Stuff” can range from old dolls to photos, seaglass (LOTS of seaglass) in shells, jars, antique teacups and ashtrays; little cat figurines; knives; hand-made cards from my best friend, a collection of pewter Vikings that my dad collected from the Smithsonian Institute collection…  lots of stuff.  As much as I love books (and the house is filled with them; not only on shelves, but also in stacks under tables and wherever we can fit them), I prefer the aesthetic of books and “stuff” together."

Click the image to jump over to Ravenous Monster to check out her collection.

Fatale Book Three: West of Hell Graphic Novel Review

I'm a big fan of Brubaker and Phillips noir horror hybrid series Fatale. Click either image to see how the third graphic novel collection stands up to the rest of their work.

Antoine Dode, interviewed by me at Ravenous Monster

 

This one is pretty cool in my mind, as I have been a huge Crow fan since my Dad told me I couldn't see the movie. (In his defense I was in 5th grade)  Click either image to read the full interview.

Were you a fan of The Crow franchise before your work on The Crow Curare?  If so which incarnation or elements struck you the most?

I think I was 16 when I saw The Crow. I loved the Alex Proyas movie with Brandon Lee straight away. I went to see it twice at the theatre. The comic was released in France after the huge success of the film.

Working as an artist on a Crow story written by James O’Barr is a dream come true. Actually, the first comic I did, Armelle et l'Oiseau (Armelle and the Bird), which was inspired a lot by The Crow. That’s not the same kind of story. It’s more like a kind of fairytale; it’s about a little girl who loses her mom, and ends up befriending a strange bird.

How did you come to work on The Crow Curare?

What happened is I met the artist Miran Kim in Anougleme a few years ago (during the biggest comic convention in France). She used to do some Crow covers in the late 90s (she also painted that amazing variant cover for the first issue of Curare). I told her I was planning to do some Crow fan art, and she suggested that I send some to James O'Barr. I was crazy lucky because...

Horror Authors’ Bookshelves: Mark Allan Gunnells

From the darkness has curiosity ever reached out and struck you?  Has it caused you to wonder about favorite genre writers and what’s on their book shelves?  Itreached out and struck me.  Do they have some classic pulp detective novels?  What about graphic novel collections?  Maybe the severed head of the poor unfortunate soul who sent them their first rejection…  

Like the person in a horror story who hears the strange noise, I ventured alone into the darkness to investigate.  And here at Ravenous Monster I will share with youhorror authors’ bookshelves and their personal thoughts on their collections, until the thing in the shadows finally reaches out claims me.     

Click below to visit Horror Author Mark Allan Gunnells...

Horror Authors’ Bookshelves: David Wellington

From the darkness has curiosity ever reached out and struck you?  Has it caused you to wonder about your favorite genre writers and what’s on their bookshelves?  It’s reached out and struck me.  Do they have some classic pulp detective novels?  What about graphic novel collections?  Maybe the severed head of the poor unfortunate soul who sent them their first rejection letter.

Like the person in a horror story that hears a strange noise, I ventured alone into the darkness to investigate.  And here at Ravenous Monster I will bring you your favorite horror authors’ bookshelves and their personal thoughts on their collections, until the thing in the shadows finally reaches out and claims me….

Click below for a Tour of David Wellington's personal collection...

Top 10 Alien Franchise Moments

Check out my favorite moments from the Alien Franchise, and no, Prometheus does not count.  Click either link to jump over to Ravenous Monster for the list.

House of Skin by Jonathan Janz

House of Skin is a fully developed haunted house story, with a full and well developed cast.  Janz wrings tension from each chapter creating a world that grows tenser with each chapter.  I can’t think of a better haunted house story to recommend.  Click Either image for a full review.

The Awakening review at Ravenous Monster

The film is anchored by Rebecca Hall’s amazing performance as Florence Cathcart.  Hall creates a layered character than is always strong, yet perpetually vulnerable.  The rest of the supporting cast is strong with other standout performances from Imelda Staunton(Harry Potter’s Professor Umbride) and Dominic West.  The characters are fleshed out people, so that they are not merely elements for the plot to move around.  The film is about more than the mysteries in the building, but the broken souls who inhabit it as they cope with the destruction of The First Great War.  Full review at Ravenous Monster, click either image for the link

Top 10 Moments from the original EVIL DEAD trilogy

I am a pretty big fan of Sam Raimi’s original trilogy (less said about Spidey 3 the better).  I revisit these films pretty often and here is my list of the top 10 moments.  My credentials for this list are a collection of Evil Dead and Army of Darkness figures, comics, shirts and video games.  Oh, and I have the cast score of the Evil Dead Musical as well.  Click below for my list on ...