You need a Gomez in your life!

The Poe House and Museum in Baltimore is auctioning off a cartoon painting of Gomez Addams. It is signed by John Astin, the actor who we all know played Gomez in the TV series "The Addams Family". You can find out more at the auction site.

Creepy, Classic Ghosties in The Woman in Black

Hammer Films has come back to classic ghost story (since their return to vampires in 2010's Let Me In, the remake of Sweden's Let the Right One In) with their latest film production of Susan Hill's 1983 novel, The Woman in Black. Starring the ever watchable Daniel Radcliffe as Arthur Kipps, The Woman in Black, is shot in Essex, England, including exteriors on Osea Island in the Blackwater Estuary. Locations include a few classic railway stations to transport you back to the turn of the century, remote village life in northeast England.

New-ish director James Watkins is not new to horror with having made The Descent 2 and Eden Lake. Watkins honors the novel in giving the film a respectfully ornate, gothic production that creeps under your skin. Art Direction is by Paul Ghirardani known for being the Art Director on TV productions of "Little Dorrit," "Great Expectations," and "Sense and Sensibility". The introduction to the isolated wilderness, the weather, and the haunted Eel Marsh House is a slight nod to gothic classics such as The Old Dark House and The Haunting.

However, the film, as well as Hill's novel, is more geared towards the purpose to which ghosts return and how the living investigate why a ghost obsessively directs them to their history. The ghosts lurk over their shoulders and cause havoc in The Woman in Black and Kipps knows he will get to the bottom of their wrath if only the living don't get in the way of the dead. Watkins' delicate method of showing blood only when it is absolutely necessary makes tragic situations all the more morose. The villagers are terrorized, with the muted colors, no one looks well-rested, nor adequately nourished, and there's a heaviness to all the unwelcome eyes cast down upon Arthur's visitation.

Janet McTeer portrays Mrs. Daily, who has a foreboding presence with a history of becoming hysterical. We are forewarned by her husband, who hosts Arthur Kipps for his first dinner at their home, not to mention children. She slowly unravels as does their story, and as do all the townsfolk's stories of tragedy. The villagers curse Kipps presence, but little do they know how he intends to help them, though all of his intentions do not lift the ghost's need for revenge. Eel Marsh House's ghost is beyond being able to forgive and forget no matter how Kipps understands the truth as he then tries to bury the sorrow and quell the angry spirit.

Five out of five headless dolls; for being creepifyingly excellent.

REVIEW: First two episodes of ABC's The River

There are spoilers here but I will try to not reveal everything. I will say that my primary reason for watching The River is to see Thomas Kretschmann be a mean bastard. He is kinda mean. Doesn't like to do much without a gun in his hands. He has a bit of character development going on that leads us to believe he knows a lot more about what Emmett Cole was searching for and it is not magic. But don't let son Lincoln Cole know that yet... he's got magic on his mind and mentions it several times. This show is perfect for creating a drinking game. Every time you hear "magic", take a drink. Everytime the shot is messed up by fast camera moves when there is nothing to see, take a drink. It's the only way to get through the dizzying, actionless first 45 minutes. I didn't get giddy drunk, but more of an upset stomach while watching the debut of The River on ABC, created by Paranormal Activity's Oren Peli. Two hours of shaky action sequences with very brief moments of stillness in stationary camerawork. It was as if I drank an Ayahuasca smoothie when the crew, looking for missing naturalist Emmett Cole, arrived at his abandoned boat on the Amazon River. There's no widening of a shot to capture the expression on faces. The jarring motions are so predictable that I usually felt like I could look away and not miss anything during large amounts of dialogue. On that boat is a room welded closed; no pause given to waiting to figure out if it would be safe to enter. Upon entering the room, the crew discovers what looks like voodoo-like ritual tools and a vessel under a blanket that harkens to one of those empty pods from the 70s version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Immediately, whatever was in that thing, fled the room into the jungle. Seriously, you have cameras rolling and you're not rewinding and slowing down the footage to investigate it? There's a lot of foreshadowing in the mechanic's story of his daughter's ghost friend he encountered when she was a child. It's a good story, listen to it. The camera is steady on the father so you can regain some balance until the vertigo-inducing shaky cam returns. Soon his daughter becomes possessed. Oh, well, we figured with all her "spirit" intuitiveness that this was bound to happen. Papa Cole's disappearance is connected to the "magic" he was seeking. We get it. We had to wait 45 minutes for a clever use of the photography. In hindsight, it seems quite ironic that this entity from the spirit world is really into this shaky style and, while the camera is still in the hands of the man, whom the entity just took out, it gets the man off the ground, spins him before the show cuts to commercial. It was pretty funny to watch. Second episode then airs and there's some interesting moments when the Billy Zane-ish a la Dead Calm producer starts to make me wish Papa Cole's wife, Tess, will sooner than later bash his head in; give it time, I tell myself. He likes to capture moments for his documentary like the forest of hanging dolls in the graveyard. Okay, clever work in having a monkey wearing a doll face. It was creepy, Japanese-style horror in a twisted, funny way. Tess calls, "Little girl," to set up the viewer into thinking that there's a child in the jungle, yet here we are again mystified that the cameraman isn't showing what she's seeing yet. Why is the cameraman in the back of the group all the time?! So friggin' lame. I also wondered: where are the battery chargers for the cameras? They're in the jungle all day and half the night and they are not changing the batteries. It is so unrealistic. Just when you think you'll not hang in for a 3rd episode next week, in the last 30 seconds they reintroduce a plot device involving a necklace given to the son by the father. That same symbol appears on the neck of a character and it hooks the viewer in... though it will not answer any questions if they reveal next week that this character got drunk with Papa Emmett one night and thought it would be a good tattoo to get as a rite of passage. I give the first two hours 3 out of 5 beheaded dolls. It means, watch it but don't worry about rewinding sequences where you think something went too fast by the camera. You won't see anything. It's just a bunch of prop people throwing things across the frame to jar you awake. 

The River debuts February 7 on ABC: I really just want to watch Thomas Kretschmann be a mean bastard

If you are a fan of the Paranormal Activity movies, you should be already aware that The River debuts Tuesday, February 7, on ABC. It is created by Oren Peli who is behind all three movies with a fourth just announced.

One of the stars, Thomas Kretschmann, was interviewed in character as Kurt Bryndilson here. He is a "hired gun" in charge of the boat taking a group of searchers down the Amazon river to find Dr. Emmet Cole who's gone missing while making a documentary, according to ABC's site.

ABC offers some clips to which it is clear that the show will probably never show what exactly is terrorizing people when they start to discover the mystery. If you enjoy shows and movies with plots based on unanswered questions, then The River will be something to watch. I think the concept is overused ever since The Blair Witch Project and The X-Files, but maybe they think fans of Paranormal Activity will get into it.

I've mentioned Kretschmann a few times on the Korner, so I am a fan of his work and will be watching The River. If you watch it, let me know if you liked it.

Mary Shelley's Frankenhole

To my favorite monsters, ghouls, werewolves, zombies and vampires: Adult Swim has begun airing the 2nd season of the stop-motion, puppet-horror series Mary Shelley's Frankenhole on Cartoon Network, Sundays at 12:15 AM. The series was created by Dino Stamatopoulos (Moral Orel, Star Burns on Community). I first heard of him when he worked on Comedy Central's TV Funhouse. The series revolves around Frankenstein getting crafty with famous historical characters who travel through the "Frankenhole" from other time periods seeking Frankenstein's services.

Frankenhole's voices include Scott Adsit (30 Rock, Moral Orel) as Professor Polidori and Jeff Bryan Davis (Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza, Whose Line Is It Anyway?) as Victor Frankenstein. Both actors are nominated for an Annie Award in addition to the show earning four other Annie nominations. Awards are announced on February 4, 2012.

Here is a feature from Wired and from Animation Magazine about the show. Check out clips and episodes online.

Type O Negative "Red Water (Christmas Mourning)" animation

Here is an animated sequence for Type O Negative's "Red Water (Christmas Mourning)":
http://typeonegative.net/videos/redwater.swf

Full song if you want to hear it in its entirety. Makes me wish for more Metalocalypse, too.

James O'Barr and John Bergin comic collaboration in "IO"

This is an exciting piece of news; James O'Barr and John Bergin restored and published a comic called "IO" originally published by Caliber Press in "Caliber Presents". It is a limited edition so hesitating to buy is mightily discouraged.

Halloween is over until Christmas

There's a new film from Finland, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, coming out in time for the holidays that has a gothic-mystery theme to it. See the excellently suspenseful trailer.

Music Choice - Halloween Music 24/7 for October

Music Choice's Halloween Music is back. They said so on their blog. The first terror tune I heard when I switched to the channel was "Scary Monsters, Super Creeps" by David Bowie. Scores from movies, tv, and obscure songs that only Dr. Demento would spin are haunting the channel throughout Halloween month. It also shows you facts about the season and its rituals. I'm happy to see the channel also play The Kills "Night Train", and The Cramps "I Was a Teenage Werewolf", which you wouldn't get on the alternative channel. I recommend this to all the veiled in black out there needing a refreshing change from their music rut. No cable TV? Listen online.

True Blood is back and I'm on it like it's crack

Loving the first two episodes of True Blood, Season 4. I won't spoil it for anyone by talking about it here, but I will share links about it in my reader feed above. Click with caution is all I can say. I do recommend getting HBO for this season's shows. You can even ask a favor of friends who have HBO to lend you their login to watch it HBO Go online. I did this for a friend who is recovering from a surgery and she is really thankful that she has something to keep her mind off her pain.

There's a site that is tracking the songs used in the episodes, so check it out. You can also listen to the cover of "She's Not There," by Neko Case and Nick Cave. It's on iTunes now.

"Scream: The Inside Story" post-airing comments

Wednesday's Korner watched tonight's airing of "Scream: The Inside Story" and gives it very high marks. The back story of Kevin Williamson writing the script over the course of three days in the desert after watching a documentary about the Gainesville Ripper was truly a fascinating story. Williamson being alone while house sitting and being behind on his bills fueled his mind for a fantastic horror story. The producers, 1428 Films, also did well with getting the Scream production team to explain their choices behind the mask and the costume; key details we fans love to uncover.

(read this interview with Lito Velasco, Associate Producer of "Scream: The Inside Story")

Segments throughout "The Inside Story" feature voice actor Roger Jackson. "It's my job to try to scare the hell out of them," states Roger. Following his viewing, he humbly revealed to Wednesday's Korner that he "felt very chuffed" upon hearing what actor/producer/director Eli Roth had to say about his voice work in Scream. Roger Jackson, a longtime fan of Wes Craven's work, is looking forward to seeing Scream 4 at the premiere next week in Hollywood.

"Scream: The Inside Story" airs April 6

Roger Jackson and the rest of the Scream 4 cast as well as Wes Craven were interviewed for the Biography channel for "Scream: The Inside Story." Tune in Wednesday, April 6, for the special episode. A list of future air dates can be found here. There is a facebook page for the episode. See video previews here.

The 2011 Japan Crisis

Please help the people of Japan. They have a long way to full recovery. Radiation contamination is going to be a long lasting effect, too.

Dark Shadows remake to have Rick Heinrichs as production designer

Production designer Rick Heinrichs is confirmed to be working on Tim Burton's Dark Shadows movie. Heinrichs has previously worked on 14 projects where he and Tim Burton are both credited in a creative capacity. Dark Shadows crossed with Sleepy Hollow can be a real treat for fans of gothic soap operas.

REVIEW: Grimm Love

Grimm Love is a movie not for the squeamish. If a person thinks they can handle gory subject matter, then perhaps even the strongest person is unprepared for the heaviness of the true story of Armin Meiwes and Bernd-Jurgen Brandes. The story is of two lonely men meeting in a chat room focused around the fetish of cannibalism. Meiwes was seeking to consume and Brandes was seeking someone to consume him.

Martin Weisz directed the movie Grimm Love which was written by T.S. Faull. An interview with Faull sheds more light on how he approached the story. Names were changed and the story has a fictional element in having an American woman (Keri Russell) researching the story. Russell's solemn narration style keeps the haunting inner thoughts fresh in your mind.

The cinematography is exceptional; superbly showing how the grainy flashbacks depict desperate emotions. Oliver (Meiwes) is played by Thomas Kretschmann who also played the boat captain in King Kong and played the Pope that same year he played a cannibal. Kretschmann is excellent as the lonely, awkward Oliver; innocently unnerving and creepy, yet not maliciously cruel. Thomas Huber plays Simon (Brandes) and you may have briefly seen him in Æon Flux, but he's mostly known in Germany. Simon is unfulfilled by traditional love relationships and seeks to satiate a need to "make things right".

A very cold, somber ending closes the story, thankfully not taking us through the routine arrest, trial and sentencing. It is a story of psychological horror, a view of the loneliness of these two individuals.

Deep Dimension: A Retrospective of Select Works By Winston Smith

Winston Smith's retrospective has opened (on September 15) and is the most thrilling collage art collection happening at the Robert Berman/E6 Gallery in San Francisco. Smith's collection dates from 1977-present, covering a stirring range of dystopian thoughts foreshadowing human mortality, financial doom, family dinner table horrors; menacing, cuddly bunnies scaling skyscrapers, and the ruinous lives of maniacal leaders. One can also find Dead Kennedys album art and illustrations created for Playboy among the 100 notable pieces at E6 for the next month.

Attending the opening reception was musician Neil Young, who bought two of Winston's favorite pieces, "The Lady and the Tyger" and "Ship of Fools/Neanderthals Attacking the Constitution." Winston's reaction was, "I'm so glad those pieces found a good home!"

The packed room held an assorted crowd of skateboard enthusiasts, fellow artists, authors, musicians, filmmakers, and photographers; well-dressed folks in 1940s-era fashion were right at home standing next to Winston wearing his trademark black fedora. Other associates of Winston's in attendance were Ted Falconi from Flipper, Klaus Flouride from Dead Kennedys, Lou Gwerder from The VKTMS, and V.Vale and Marian Wallace from Search & Destroy (RE/Search Publications and The Counter Culture Hour).

In late October-early November, Winston will be in Tokyo for the first time for a showing of his work. He muses that he may just get over the jetlag when it will be time to leave and adds, "I just hope they don't try to make us eat ice cream with chopsticks."

Deep Dimension: A Retrospective of Select Works By Winston Smith runs Sept. 15-Oct. 14, 2010 at Robert Berman/E6 Gallery, 1632 Market St B, San Francisco, 94102

Listen to True Blood Season 3 finale

SOUNDTRACK FOR PREPARING FOR THE SEASON 3 FINALE OF "TRUE BLOOD"

Grimm Love aka Rohtenberg releases September 28, 2010

CAUTION: adult information (not pictures) discussed here: Wednesday's Korner has had its eye on the psychological horror movie Grimm Love, based on a true story, ever since the story came out about a person in Germany placing an ad for someone to consume their dead body. Essentially the "victim" gives permission to have the person murder him and eat him by contractual agreement. You can actually buy the movie starting September 28, 2010. Will you be renting/buying the movie? A review of the movie will be published on the blog at a later date.

Grinderman - "Heathen Child" is Wednesday's style!

Please grind out a moment of your groovin' dance time of the day to listen to "Heathen Child," the new track by Grinderman. The album Grinderman 2 is released in the US on September 14. Here are the North American tour dates. Lyrics like, "You think your government will protect you/you are wrong," is Nick singing the truth! He can preach to Wednesday anytime!

Seth Grahame-Smith

The remake of "Dark Shadows" is going to be a Tim Burton and Seth Grahame-Smith collaboration. Smith wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies so it is apropos that he's into the gothic macabre end of literature. Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins with Tim Burton directing should make the movie tantalizingly dark emphasizing on the dramatic closeups.

The original "Dark Shadows" soap opera ran on ABC for 30 min. a day from 1966-1971. Stories of people running home from school to catch it have been told to me over and over. It was syndicated later on the SciFi Channel where new fans found it addictive. All the episodes are now available in DVD box sets for all to enjoy. There isn't a storyline of the series that I didn't like where Barnabas was in love with Victoria Winters or Josette Collins, or when Angelique bewitched Barnabas and Quentin Collins.

Memorable characters will hopefully be warmly reprised such as Dr. Julia Hoffman, Willie Loomis, Maggie Evans and her father Sam Evans, Prof. Timothy Stokes, Carolyn Stoddard and her mother Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Roger Collins.

Perhaps most underrated is the original music composer Bob Cobert. His suspenseful episodic music moments and the opening theme are timeless. Would a movie remake of "Dark Shadows" use different music? It just would be unthinkable; box office suicide.

The Dark Shadows Boards are where you can find a lot of updates on festivals and movie tidbits.