Treasures From The ComiCombs

Welcome Back! The fifth and final Wednesday of March is here. Sometimes it’s hard to wait a whole month for the next issue in your favorite series so today I have a few trade recommendations to feed that binge reader in you. I also have two more books going head to head so read on!

The Walking Dead Vol. 25: No Turning Back (Image)

The long running and immensely popular title is back with its 25th volume. If you’re a fan of the show and haven’t read the books yet, I highly urge you to do so. This has been a great read since its debut back in 2003 and volume 25, which collects issues #145-150, is no different. 

“After a devastating act of war by the Whisperers, Rick must chart a path for his community. But when his leadership is questioned, how will he respond?”

Tokyo Ghoul vol. 6 (VIZ)

After hearing the name Tokyo Ghoul all over the place I decided to check this out. This book has an interesting premise and I’m really enjoying the social commentary within its pages. 

“Things heat up in the 11th Ward as the CCG investigates the high rate of Investigator deaths. Kaneki has an explosive run-in with Aogiri Tree, essentially a Ghoul Gang, run by a Ghoul known only as the One-Eyed King.”

Unfortunately at the time of posting this, I noticed that Viz pushed the release of vol.6 to April. If you haven’t read this book yet now is a great time to give Vol. 1 a shot.

Book of Death Deluxe HC Edition (Valiant)

Valiant has the third largest (and my favorite) shared universe and some of the best writers out there. Book of Death was the last big event within the Valiant Universe and it is a great read. The deluxe hardcover edition contains the main story and all of the deaths of… stories for their biggest characters. 

“The Valiant heroes. X-O Manowar. Bloodshot. Ninjak. The Harbinger Renegades. Unity. This is how they lived. This is how they died. Now we know. The Book of the Geomancer has recorded it all.

But only a young girl - the last in a line of the enigmatic mystics who protect the Earth known as Geomancers - has seen this future come to pass, from the coming cataclysm to the dawn of the 41st century. Alone with her sworn protector, the Eternal Warrior - a soldier battle forged across five thousand years of combat - the duo must defy their allies to stop the Dark Age that now threatens to eclipse our world. Together, they are the number one target of every hero and villain on Earth. Either the Eternal Warrior hands her over...or they take him down. But can even he singlehandedly protect one child when the entire Valiant Universe wages war against him?”

Last week we had a great battle between two solid books. This week I have two more books that will be going head to head so read on to get familiar with the titles.

Men of Wrath by Jason Aaron and Ron Garney

“Ever since Great-Grandfather Isom killed a man over some sheep, a black cloud has hung over the Raths, an Alabama family caught in a generational cycle of violence.
Now, a century later, aging hitman Ira Rath takes a job that will decide his family's fate once and for all. Are all Raths doomed to live and die by the sword, or can one of them finally break the chain? Acclaimed creators Jason Aaron and Ron Garney weave the tale of a Southern family whose only legacy is violence.”

Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Vol.1 by Eiji Otsuka and Housui yamazaki

“Your body is their business! Five young students at a Buddhist university find little call for their job skills in today's Tokyo... among the living, that is! But all that stuff in college they were told would never pay off - you know, channeling, dowsing, ESP - gives them a direct line to the dead... the dead who are still trapped in their corpses and can't move on to the next reincarnation. The five form the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service: whether suicide, murder, accident, or illness, they'll carry your body wherever it needs to go to free your soul!”

I’m excited to check out these two very different books. Jason Aaron is a pretty big name in comics and mostly known for his titles with Marvel so it will be cool seeing something from him without any super powers every few panels. I’m not quite sure what to expect from either of these books, especially Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. This is going to be an interesting matchup so make sure to come back next week for a review and a winner!

-Creature of the ComiCombs 

Bluray Tuesday!

March 29th 2016

Bluray Tuesday arrives once again! There are some great releases this week, my favorites are Cherry Falls and The Hateful Eight. If you pre-ordered from Scream Factory you've probably already received your copy of Cherry Falls but if not today is its official release. My only complaint would be that this release has no slip cover, which would have been really nice for this Bluray. Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight is finally released today with a few retailer exclusives. Target will have its copy with extra bonus features and an exclusive cover. Only at Best Buy, The Hateful Eight receives an awesome steelbook edition that looks better in person, a must buy in my opinion. For the first time on Bluray we have 1972's Pigs and 1983's Frightmare, both of which I look forward to checking out sometime soon. I haven't seen either one but both seem interesting. Overall a pretty good Bluray Tuesday this week to wrap up March's releases. What will you buy, rent or just skip all together this week? Let us know and don't forget to check out our Instagram page Here. We love conversation and talking all things horror. Lastly next week is Star Wars The Force Awakens released finally on Bluray. I'm definitely looking forward to owning that. Until next week.

Cherry Falls: Amazon - $19.99

A small-town sheriff, Brent Marken (Michael Biehn), discovers the presence of a serial killer in his sleepy hamlet. Since the perpetrator has been targeting only virgins, both male and female, the deaths cause panic in much of the local high school population. Sheriff Marken's daughter, Jody (Brittany Murphy), is among the potential victims, since she has yet to sleep with her boyfriend, Kenny Ascott (Gabriel Mann). Can the lawman stop the killer before he goes after Jody?

 

Frightmare (1983): Amazon-  $27.98 

Drama students decide to pay tribute to their favorite horror star by stealing his body from his crypt for a farewell party. They fail to realize their violation of the tomb has triggered powerful black magic, and Conrad hasn't taken his final bows yet.
 

 

Pigs (1972): Amazon - $29.98

Lynn Hart is a disturbed young woman who escapes from a mental hospital where she was committed for killing her abusive father who raped her. Stealing a nurse's uniform and car, Lynn ends up in a small California town where she meets and shacks up with Zambrini, an old farmer who runs the local motel and roadside café. Zambrini also owns a group of pigs that he keeps in a pen behind his house who have somehow developed a taste for human flesh. When Lynn begins killing a number of men who remind her of her dead father, Zambrini helps her out by disposing of the bodies to the pigs. Investigating the disappearances, the local sheriff eventually becomes suspicious of Lynn's past and a private investigator, hired by the hospital to find her, slowly close in on Lynn.

 

The Hateful Eight: Amazon - $19.99

While racing toward the town of Red Rock in post-Civil War Wyoming, bounty hunter John "The Hangman" Ruth (Kurt Russell) and his fugitive prisoner (Jennifer Jason Leigh) encounter another bounty hunter (Samuel L. Jackson) and a man who claims to be a sheriff. Hoping to find shelter from a blizzard, the group travels to a stagecoach stopover located on a mountain pass. Greeted there by four strangers, the eight travelers soon learn that they may not make it to their destination after all.

 

Best Buy Steelbook: $24.99 

 

Target Bonus Content: $22.99 

 

Point Break 3D (2015): Amazon - $27.99

2D: Amazon - $22.99

Thrill-seeking criminals perform a series of daredevil stunts to steal money and gems, only to give it away to the poor and less fortunate. Training for a job with the FBI, young recruit Johnny Utah suspects that only extreme athletes could pull off these heists. Utilizing his own special skills, Utah infiltrates the gang of thieves after befriending their charismatic leader, Bodhi. As Johnny experiences the rush of their lifestyle, his superiors fear that his loyalties are being tested.

 

Concussion: Amazon - $22.99

While conducting an autopsy on former NFL football player Mike Webster (David Morse), forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu (Will Smith) discovers neurological deterioration that is similar to Alzheimer's disease. Omalu names the disorder chronic traumatic encephalopathy and publishes his findings in a medical journal. As other athletes face the same diagnosis, the crusading doctor embarks on a mission to raise public awareness about the dangers of football-related head trauma.

 

Murders in the Rue Mourge / The Dunwitch Horror: Amazon - $19.99

Murders in the Rue Mourge: In Paris, in the beginning of the Twentieth Century, Cesar Charron owns a theater at the Rue Morgue where he performs the play "Murders in the Rue Morgue" with his wife Madeleine Charron, who has dreadful nightmares. When there are several murders by acid of people connected to Cesar, the prime suspect of Inspector Vidocq would be Cesar's former partner Rene Marot. But Marot murdered Madeleine's mother many years ago and committed suicide immediately after.

The Dunwitch Horror: Dr. Henry Armitage (Ed Begley), an expert in the occult, goes to the old Whateley manor in Dunwich looking for Nancy Wagner (Sandra Dee), a student who went missing the previous night. He and Elizabeth, a friend and classmate of Nancy's, are turned away by Wilbur (Dean Stockwell), the family's insidious heir, who has plans for the young girl. But Armitage won't be deterred. Through conversations with the locals, he soon unearths the Whateleys' darkest secret -- as well as a great evil.

 

 

 - The Impostor

Screenings in the Bay (Monday to Friday)

Welcome back! I must say, this week has the craziest Wednesday I've seen yet. Double features, triple features, Weird Wednesday... we all have some serious choices to make. Take a look at your options for this very packed week below.

Alamo Drafthouse

Hardcore Henry (2015)

Monday 28th @ 7:30pm (1hr 36min)

Fantasy/ Sci-fi (Google)

"A man wakes up in a Moscow laboratory to learn that he's been brought back from the dead as a half-human, half-robotic hybrid. With no memory of his former life, a woman who claims to be his wife tells him that his name is Henry. Before she can activate his voice, armed thugs storm in and kidnap her. As Henry starts to understand his new abilities, he embarks on a bloody rampage through the city to save his spouse from a psychopath (Danila Kozlovsky) who plans to destroy the world."

Terror Tuesday

Firestarter (1984)

Tuesday 29th @ 11:15pm (1hr 55min)

Action/ Horror/ Sci-fi (IMDB)

"A couple who participated in a potent medical experiment gain telekinetic ability and then have a child who is pyrokinetic."

The Invitation (2015)

Wednesday 30th @ 8pm (1hr 40min)

Horror/ Thriller (IMDB)

"While attending a dinner party at his former home, a man thinks his ex-wife and her new husband have sinister intentions for their guests."

Weird Wednesday

The Apple (1980)

Wednesday 30th @ 10:45pm (1hr 30min)

Musical/ Sci-fi

"Young singers Alphie (George Gilmour) and Bibi (Catherine Mary Stewart) have big musical dreams when they leave Canada to compete in the Worldvision Song Festival. Though the festival's organizer, Mr. Boogalow (Vladek Sheybal), rigs the contest for others to win, he shows an interest in Alphie and Bibi, offering to sign them. But then Bibi is taken in by the evil, wild world of rock 'n' roll, and Alphie is determined to save her -- even though Boogalow says he owns both her and her soul."

Balboa Theatre

Super Shangri-La Show Presents 

Sherlock Holmes Double Feature

The Scarlet Claw (1944)

Wednesday 30th @ 7pm (1hr 14min)

Crime/ Mystery/ Thriller (IMDB)

"When a gentlewoman is found dead with her throat torn out, the villagers blame a supernatural monster, but Sherlock Holmes, who gets drawn into the case from nearby Quebec, suspects a human murderer."

-with-

Spider Woman (1944)

Wednesday 30th @ ~8:30pm (1hr 3min)

Mystery/ Thriller (IMDB)

"Sherlock Holmes investigates a series of so-called "pajama suicides". He knows the female villain behind them is as cunning as Moriarty and as venomous as a spider."

Castro Theatre

I Wake Up Dreaming Presents
Pre-Code Triple Feature

Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Wednesday 30th @ 6:15pm (1hr 10min)

Adventure/ Horror/ Romance (IMDB)

"An obsessed scientist conducts profane experiments in evolution, eventually establishing himself as the self-styled demigod to a race of mutated, half-human abominations."

-with-

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1931)

Wednesday 30th @ 7:45pm (1hr 38min)

Horror/ Sci-fi (IMDB)

"Dr. Jekyll faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that transforms him into the animalistic Mr. Hyde."

-with-

Freaks (1932)

Wednesday 3th @ 9:45pm (1hr 4min)

Drama/ Horror (IMDB)

"A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance."

City of Women (1980)

Thursday 31st @ 6pm & 8:45pm (2hrs 19min)

Drama/ Fantasy (Google)

"This surreal exploration of male and female sexuality follows Snaporaz (Marcello Mastroianni), an Italian train passenger who pursues a beautiful woman. Trailing the lovely lady through a forest, Snaporaz ends up at a hotel populated by women gathered for a feminist conference. He soon realizes that he is an unwelcome presence and must evade hostile women, with some aid provided by the seemingly kind Donatella (Donatella Damiani). Can Snaporaz escape this strange ultra-feminine reality?"

Landmark Clay Theatre

Fargo (1996)

Friday 1st @ 11:55pm (1hr 38min)

Crime/ Drama/ Thriller (IMDB)

"Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson."

New Parkway Theatre

Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Friday 1st @ 10:30pm (1hr 41min)

Comedy/ Musical/ Horror (Google)

"In this cult classic, sweethearts Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon), stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), a transvestite scientist. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters, including a rocking biker (Meat Loaf) and a creepy butler (Richard O'Brien). Through elaborate dances and rock songs, Frank-N-Furter unveils his latest creation: a muscular man named "Rocky.""

Roxie Theatre

Bleed (2015)

Playing All Week

Thriller/ Horror (IMDB)

"It seemed perfect - a new house, a new marriage, a child soon to be born. But when Sarah and Matt invite their friends to celebrate, the situation turns deadly as they enter a burned-out prison on a ghost hunt."

Stanford Theatre

Hitchcock Fest

Vertigo (1958)

Thursday 31st & Friday 1st @ 3:05pm (2hrs 9min)

Mystery/ Romance/ Thriller (IMDB)

"A San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her."

-with-

Rear Window (1954)

Thursday 31st & Friday 1st @ 5:25pm & 9:50 pm (1hr 52min)

Mystery/ Thriller (IMDB)

"A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder."

Yerba Buena Theatre

Gothic Cinema

The Elephant Man (1980)

Thursday 31st @ 7:30pm (2hrs 4min)

Biography/ Drama (IMDB)

"A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous facade, there is revealed a person of intelligence and sensitivity."

-Huntress

Easter at Morningside Mortuary

What better way to celebrate Easter with the family and enjoy the beauty of nature than by going to the Morningside Mortuary / Cemetery for an Easter egg hunt!? A dream come true for a horror nerd like me who actually holds Don Coscarelli's 1979 classic film Phantasm in my top 3 genre films of all time.
This Easter egg hunt takes place every year at the real location of the Tall Man's humble abode, which is actually The Dunsmuir Mansion in Oakland, California.

Located at 2960 Peralta Oaks Ct., Oakland, CA

Unlike the film, the grounds do not actually have any grave sights or plots of any kind as these were fabricated. On this day hundreds of crazy egg hunting kids ran around in the sun, meeting the Easter bunny himself, who in my own twisted mind was the Tall Man in disguise. We were able to tour the inside of the building as well which was also a treat as this house was also the film location in and out for the cult classic Burnt Offerings starring Karen Black, Oliver Reed, and Bette Davis. 

Burnt Offerings turns this beautiful mansion into a home more evil then Amityville so the tour was especially creepy. All monster kid and horror nerd Moms and Dads get your families together and make this visit to Morningside a yearly tradition! It is lots of fun for the whole family and an exciting visit to horror history. Long may it stand! Oh, and make sure you find eggs and not skull drilling spheres by mistake :) Happy Easter from the KillDozer family!

-KillDozer

Creepy PastaMania!

Welcome back Pasta lovers! This week I did a bit of digging through the Creepy Pasta categories and was intrigued by several of them, like Artifacts/Objects or Murders & Deaths. But the one that I decided to look further into was Locations and Sites because, while it is a specific category, it is still very broad. From there I just gravitated to one of the more cryptic titles. Let's see what we ended up with.

Are You Coming Upstairs?

(Pasta Served Here)

Author: Jess (Private profile)

Genre: Locations & Sites

Reading Time: 16 Minutes 20 seconds

Synopsis: You don't fear as much in childhood. Until you have a reason to...

Creepiness

(How Scary)

Pasta Quality

(How Well Written)


This is one of the longest pastas I've read, and I'm very thankful that it was so well-written or it would have been a rough 17 minutes. There is a lot of set up in this story and I found myself in a very unhelpful mind set, defending the non-horror set up against what I expected the comments to say about it. Just because the story is on a horror story forum, and we all know it's going to turn in that direction eventually, doesn't mean there can't be more substance to it. My defense ended up being very unnecessary, because that complaint was nowhere in the comments, which both surprised me and didn't. The descriptions are so detailed and adjectives so colorful that I questioned whether this was a house that the writer had actually visited before and maybe even experienced the horrors of childhood imagination in the dark. She gave this whole world so much texture and life, I don't think anyone could complain about reading it. 
There was one suggestion that the writer remove the mention of the apples in Evangeline's bag and let the wicked look in her eye do the talking instead, but I would argue a little bit of the opposite. If she had the apples in her bag but an innocent look on her face, that would leave the story in a more ambiguous place that is still incredibly unsettling. 

-Huntress

Screenings in the Bay (Friday to Sunday)

It's finally the weekend! This is not as busy as last weekend, but we are coming up on the end of the month, which means it's Video Vortex time again. The Roxie starts screening a new horror movie (just  month old!) today and continues showing it through next week. Read on to see the rest!

Alamo Drafthouse 

Video Vortex

Alyas Batman en Robin (1991)

Sunday 27th @ 10:55pm (1hr 40min)

Comedy (IMDB)

"Have you heard the news? “Paenguin,” Jokerman, and Catwoman are on a rampage in “Gothum” City. Banks robbed! Twinkies eaten! Songs sung to the keys of “Surfin’ Safari” and “Let’s Go To The Hop!” Luckily, two dudes named Joey and Kevin have decided to take salvation into their own hands by transforming into Batman and Robin! In the massive canon of Filipino exploitation lunacy, ALYAS BATMAN EN ROBIN stands alone. It’s like an alternate dimension version of the 1966 BATMAN TV show with the added bonuses of foot-long mullets, Paenguin shooting people in the face, and power ballads that help Robin to express love for his girlfriend. A certain comic book company attempted to block the release of this action-comedy-musical-fun-bomb in 1991. They were unsuccessful." -Joseph A. Ziemba

Landmark Clay 

Midnight Movies 

Find the artist's page here!

Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Saturday 26th @ 11:55pm (1hr 41min)

Comedy/ Musical/ Horror (Google)

"In this cult classic, sweethearts Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon), stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), a transvestite scientist. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters, including a rocking biker (Meat Loaf) and a creepy butler (Richard O'Brien). Through elaborate dances and rock songs, Frank-N-Furter unveils his latest creation: a muscular man named "Rocky.""

Roxie Theatre 

Bleed (2016)

Playing all weekend

Thriller/ Horror (IMDB)

"It seemed perfect - a new house, a new marriage, a child soon to be born. But when Sarah and Matt invite their friends to celebrate, the situation turns deadly as they enter a burned-out prison on a ghost hunt."

Stanford Theatre 

Hitchcock Fest

Rebecca (1940)

Friday 25th @ 7:30pm (2hr 10min)

Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th @ 3:20pm & 7:30pm

Drama/ Noir/ Mystery (IMDB)

"Story of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years earlier. The young wife must come to grips with the terrible secret of her handsome, cold husband, Max De Winter (Laurence Olivier). She must also deal with the jealous, obsessed Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson), the housekeeper, who will not accept her as the mistress of the house."

Suspicion (1941)

Friday 25th to Sunday 27th @ 5:40pm & 9:50pm (1hr 39min)

Drama/ Thriller (IMDB)

"Charming scoundrel Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant) woos wealthy but plain Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine), who runs away with him despite the warnings of her disapproving father (Cedric Hardwicke). After their marriage, Johnnie's risky financial ventures cause Lina to suspect he's becoming involved in unscrupulous dealings. When his dear friend and business partner, Beaky (Nigel Bruce), dies under suspicious circumstances on a business trip, she fears her husband might kill her for her inheritance."

-Huntress

The Overlook Theatre Reviews: The Final Girls

10 of 10 viewers "Liked" "The Final Girls" (USA, 2015)

Here's what the creatures had to say:

The Berkeley Blazer - "Plenty of others will talk about the homages, references, and postmodern superficiality of The Final Girls, but perhaps the thing that really makes it special is its unbounded and genuine sense of fun. Unbounded by what? Unbounded by the films that inspired it. The characters are trapped in what might be called a closed circuit loop, but there is a sense that anything could happen to these characters now that the world is populated by "unprogrammed" humans, a favorite example being the way the humans use a flashback to hide from the antagonist. These moments are timed perfectly and almost every joke hits home due to an amazing ensemble cast. In addition to the solid humor and shocking moments, the touching core of the story actually has some philosophical weight as well as emotional power. The relations between humans and the celluloid representations are fascinating to contemplate even though a cosmology was probably never developed for the story." - 4 Stars

Lord Battle - "I really hate the tiki mask and at times I felt the film was making fun of horror, not having fun with it. This is of course very typical for Comedy/Horrors, yet The Final Girls is anything but typical. With a crazy concept that seems impossible to pull off, The Final Girls is not only a charming homage to camp slashers, it's a poinent drama about the human condition. Awesome film!" - 4 Stars

The Impostor - "Cult classic in the making, The Final Girls is a fresh take on the slasher comedy-horror sub genre. Great casting, likable characters and genuine laughs make this film a must watch and definitely collection worthy. I've seen it three times so far and fell in love with the film even more each time. Don't let the PG-13 rating turn you off, there are plenty cool kills to go around. The humor is pretty cleaver and works around the plot. There are also a few powerful scenes I wouldn't expect to work in a slasher film. Overall The Final Girls is a must watch, it's sad that it's flown under the radar this long. I'm looking forward to whatever M.A. Fortin, Joshua John Miller, and Todd Strauss-Schulson do next." - 5 Stars

Math Mage - "An interesting character driven comedy that takes an abrupt turn to the super natural. Although the "trapped in a movie" is done well initially, the film loses steam in the third and fourth acts. I was honestly more interested in the movie's first half before it just turned into Buffy the Vampire Slayer." - 3 Stars

Book Wyrm - "This was a heartwarming horror story. It brought me to tears on more than one occasion and the star studded cast was great. I also really enjoyed the score and the homage to Friday the 13th. Definitely a new fave of mine." - 5 Stars

Creature of the ComiCombs - "Going into a movie knowing nothing about it can be a scary thing. There's always that chance you're stuck watching a horrible movie but that was not the case with The Final Girls. This was a fun movie to watch. An homage to classic slasher flicks, one in particular, but with a fun twist. There was a good amount of funny bits scattered throughout the movie. The Final Girls has a pretty cool soundtrack and some really cool shots. I really liked this one, definitely check it out!" - 4 Stars

Dabbles - "The Final Girls is a really fun poke at slasher films. This whole Pleasantville meets Friday the 13th is really fun and it actually made you feel for the main character. I thought this was going to be a real "Omg, make it stop" movie but it actually has more to offer than comedy/horror. Great cast, great time, this will definitely make it into my collection." - 5 Stars

Huntress - "The range of emotions that The Final Girls touches on is incredible and probably the last thing people expected from a horror/comedy. The humor is handled in a way that can speak to both horror lovers and also casual horror toleraters, which I think is the result of having fans working on it behind the camera. The more I learn about this movie the more I appreciate it, and getting to watch it at the first Midnight Mass in years was a privilege." - 4 Stars

KillDozer - "I must admit that I went into this film expecting a goofy send up of all things "slasher" and was in shock of how wrong I was. Don't get me wrong, that goofiness does exist but is executed in all the right ways. First off, I was lucky enough to view this movie on the big screen at a midnight showing full of excited horror nerds who were ready to have fun (the way the film was meant to been seen). I am always excited when a film maker goes out of his or her way to have fun or spoof something near and dear to our hearts while still managing to respect and even pay tribute to the subject matter. Another aspect of the film I was impressed by was how seamlessly sincere and emotional the tone could be at times while never abandoning the slasher fun. The casting is excellent, the music is perfect and the quality of the effects is great. This is one of those titles that should have received more attention from the community as I will place it on my shelf next to modern classics like Behind the Mask. I highly recommend screening this film with a solid group of friends who are ready to laugh,cry, and have a good time." - 4 stars (Collection worthy)

Ice Giant - "If What We Do in the Shadows didn't exist, this would be my favorite comedy-horror ever. I love when a comedy-horror can still be respectful to its horror side. Taissa Farmiga is also becoming a very nontraditional but awesome scream queen." - 5 Stars

The Overlook Theatre Final Rating*

(Below is for after you've seen the film)

Horror/Comedies and Comedy/Horrors are two completely different monsters. Horror/Comedies like Shaun of the Dead take a serious approach and inject humor, either to help cope with the horror or as a device to get the audience invested in characters. Comedy/Horrors like Scary Movie tend to use the horror genre as a stomping ground, often making fun of it. The Final Girls definitely falls into the latter category. 

The Final Girls takes the summer camp slasher narrative and comes at it almost from an outsider's perspective, heavy-handedly making fun of the tropes that are so common to the sub-genre. In actuality this razing is a tool; it’s allowing the audience to let its guard down for the tonal rollercoaster that left Book Wyrm crying when Shy Girl with a Clipboard and a Guitar died. And that in itself is an achievement.

Last weekend, Peaches Christ revived her Midnight Mass with a screening of The Final Girls at The Clay Theatre. Both screenplay writers Joshua John Miller and M. A. Fortin along with director Todd Strauss-Schulson were in attendance. Besides the amazing night Peaches put together, she had spoken to Joshua Rotter from the SF Weekly about the screening and said something that I just had to include in our wrap-up.

Johua Rotter (SF Weekly) - One of the movie's strongest selling points is the strong, feminist female characters. 

Peaches Christ - For a lot of queer men, growing up, a lot of our attraction to horror surprises people, because it's seen as sort of a macho, heavy metal, violent genre, so when I get asked specifically as someone who's been really openly queer and is part of the horror genre, why there are so many openly queer horror fans, I always make that connection to the feminist final girl scream queens who end up defeating the monster. For a lot of us queer boys, we identify with the strength of the female up against the world, up against a boogeyman, up against a bully, so I know, for me, growing up, I really loved these women, 'cause I identified with them and saw myself as being more of a girl than a boy at the time. 

"I think that feminism has been overlooked in a lot of ways, so what's oftentimes dismissed as these titty films where these girls are being slaughtered — there's actually a deeper thing going on when you look at the final girl character and her strength, and I think this film really brings that out and talks about who's that going to be in this movie. They get to have a conversation about it, because it's their link to survival. So it's their understanding of the genre and the importance and strength of the final girl that actually is quite feminist, because it's a woman who has to go up against this man and defeat him. It is a genre trope. But for gay men to write this movie, it brings that out in ways we haven't seen before in the genre."

If you missed Peaches's return to horror hosting, you should be ashamed. It was an amazing show and without support Midnight Mass may just disappear again...

- Lord Battle

*Based on the star ratings turned in by character reviewers, others viewed and got to "Dislike" or "Like" but that does not effect the rating.